Legendary Pokémon

This is a testing PotW for double battles written by me and Aluado. If it's enough good, will be posted at the main site. We tried to write about battle strategies for a couple of pokemon on double battling, because in double battles the style and the roles of a pokemon are different in order to singles battles. So, the first Duo of the Week is Swellow and Crobat, a couple of fast flying pokemons. Please read this article and express your opinion or suggest additional strategies and movesets


Duo of the Week: Swellow – Crobat
by JimLink and Aluado

1st Set
Swellow
Item held: Choice Band
Ability: Guts
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Sp.Attack)
Effort Points: 252Attack – 252Speed – 6HP
Facade
Aerial Ace
Steel Wing
U-Turn

Crobat
Item held: Black Sludge/Brightpowder
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Sp.Attack)
Effort Points: 252Speed – 248HP – 5Def – 5Sp.Def
Toxic
Haze/Protect
Screech
Bite

This is how it works: Crobat moves first and uses Toxic on Swellow. Now Swellow’s Facade has 140 Base Power cause of his poison status, 1. 5x by Guts, 1. 5x by STAB, 1. 5x by Choice band = 472. 5! Your Swellow will become a killer machine with that massive power, which approaches almost two explosions. Toxic swaps your health and if Swellow doesn’t be hit, you will have six turns to sweep until it faints by poison. Facade is going to be your main attack, the rest attacks are only if something bad happens and Crobat faint before use Toxic and if you decide to switch out your Swellow. The problem of Facade is that it doesn’t hit effectively rock, steel and ghost types of pokemons. For the ghosts let Crobat hit them with Bite and with 30% chance of flinching the opponent will be very helpful. Now for rock and steel pokemons, Crobat can Screech them to halve their defense stats. If any pokemons with Intimidate hit the arena, Crobat can use Haze to eliminate the stat changes. Also, another option for Crobat is Protect over Haze. With some prediction, Protect will save Crobat and let Swellow freely sweep on that turn.

2nd Set
Swellow
Item held: Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Sp.Attack)
Effort Points: 252Attack – 252Speed – 6HP
Protect
Facade
Aerial Ace
Steel Wing

Crobat
Item held: Black Sludge/Brightpowder
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Sp.Attack)
Effort Points: 252Speed – 248HP – 5Def – 5Sp.Def
Confuse Ray
Screech
Protect
Bite

Swellow begins with Protect while Crobat use Confuse Ray. At the end of the round Toxic Orb will be activated and Swellow will be free to sweep with Facade. Meanwhile, Crobat use Screech on the confusing pokemon. The absence of Choice Band made Facade’s power only 315 but gives Swellow more freedom to sweep with all of its attacks. Brave Bird’s power is doubled of Aerial Ace but with Poison status Swellow maybe KOed itself at the next turns by the recoil damage. So it doesn’t worth to do breeding chain for Brave Bird. With Steel Wing Swellow can face the rock types only by itself. It deals 210 amount of damage and with the aid of Crobat’s Screech reaches 420 for a secure OHKO.

3rd Set
Swellow
Item held: Focus Sash
Ability: Guts
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Sp.Attack)
Effort Points: 252Speed –128Def – 128Sp.def
Double Team
Endeavor
Quick Attack
Endure

Crobat
Item held: Black Sludge/Brightpowder
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Sp.Attack)
Effort Points: 252Speed – 248HP – 5Def – 5Sp.Def
Confuse Ray
Screech
Quick Attack
Mean Look

For this strange set Crobat should confuse the opponent while Swellow uses Double Team in the first turn. Swellow's Defenses are way below average so any super effective attacks will OHKO it. But with Focus Sash will leave it 1HP. Then use Endeavor to cut down the foe’s HP. You will have very small chances that your opponent miss, cause of 1st turn’s Double Team, but if it happened you can kill him with Crobat’s Quick Attack on the next round. Don’t forget to trap him with Crobat’s Mean Look on the second turn. Endeavor all the opponent’s team and finish it with Crobat. In Swellow’s moveset there is the Endure if Focus Sash can’t be activated cause of a weak hit. If any ghost appears switch Swellow immediately or use the Confuse Ray-Screech combo. Notice that Quick Attack is a breeding move for Crobat

Counters
Ghost, rock and steel types of pokemons can absorb the powerful facades and cause many troubles to our flying friends. Aggron is the best counter, it divides facade’s power four times, can OHKO both Crobat and Swellow and if someone of them decide to switch out, Aggron can get a free focus punch. On the other hand, you will rarely meet any Aggron due to their 4x weakness against ground, and earthquake is the most common move on double battles. Steelix with its high defense is an excellent choice along with Dusknoir, Weezing, Skarmory, Golem, Rhyperior, and Bastiodon. Also, very good choice is Gengar with its ghost type and the fact that most of the times carry Thunderbolt. If you want to over speed the bird and the bat, Aerodactyl is ideal for this job. It has the same speed base stat of 130 with Crobat, its rock type and its movepool can OHKO them pretty easily. After Swellow has killed something, your foe can sent out pokemons which are fast like Electrode, Jolteon or Weavile with Ice Shard to counter attack you. Also, a Rotom due to its ghost-electric type can wall you. Swellow and Crobat will be fainted by any super effective move and rock slide and discharge can bring them down both at the same time. If you have some pokemons with Intimidate, use them to reduce Swellow’s Attack stat. Also, a Bronzong with Trick Room destroys the backbone of this team.

Opinion and Notes
This Duo can be counter very easily but none said that you will win a battle only by Swellow and Crobat. You have to use them to destroy the key members of your opponent’s team. They have low defenses and some time both Swellow and Crobat will be fainted. At this time you must be prepare to beat him with the rest of your team. Swellow is the best user of Facade and Crobat can support it very effectively. Use their high speed and devastating power of Facade to bring down pokemons that the rest team’s members can’t counter.

Duo of the Week: Dusknoir - Bronzong

1st Set
Dusknoir
Item held: Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Relaxed (+Defense, -Speed)/Sassy (+Sp.Defense, -Speed)
Effort Points: 252HP – 52Def – 206Sp.Def/252HP – 206Def – 52Sp.Def
Imprison
Protect
Earthquake
Pain Split/Shadow Punch/Thunder Punch

Bronzong
Item held: Macho Brace/Power Ankle, Band, Belt, Bracer, Lens, Weight
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Brave (+Attack, -Speed)
Effort Points: 252Atk – 248HP – 5Def – 5Sp.Def
Trick Room
Gyro Ball
Explosion
Faint Attack

A Trick Room Duo combined with an Implosion strategy. Dusknoir and Bronzong with their low speed and strong defensive capabilities are two pokemons that can take advantage of Trick Room. Start the battle with Imprison and all your foes can’t use the same moves that Dusknoir have until Dusknoir is switched out or faints. Now they can’t Protect themselves and the move Earthquake is sealed. After Imprison, it’s time for Bronzong to switch the dimensions. For five turns slower pokemons will move first. A low speed IV, a speed lowering nature and no EP in Speed are all preferable. Also, the Macho Brace and the Power Items cut Bronzong’s speed and make its Gyro Ball more powerful. In the next five turns Bronzong will be attacking first and will be sweeping the arena with a strong STAB Gyro Ball. If your health gets down to danger don’t afraid to explode yourself and destroy everything except those pokemons who resist Explosion. Because of Imprison your opponents can’t use Protect to guard themselves from that massive damage. It’s a good idea to have more pokemon with explosion in your team, like Metagross, Golem, Regirock or Electrode. Your Dusknoir will attract many opponents’ attacks, because Imprison will be canceled if it faints. So, Protect saves Dusknoir and gives the freedom to Bronzong to sweep. Fire and Electric pokemons resist Gyro Ball, but an Earthquake from Dusknoir takes care of them. Also, Bronzong with Levitate is immune to ground attacks and only fire type moves can deal serious damage to him. In addition too, you will meet many ghosts trying to wall your explosions, so Bronzong have to carry Faint Attack with him. If Dusknoir lost some of its health in the turn which it used Earthquake, Pain Split fills in as both a recovery move and an offensive move. Note that to get both Pain Split and Imprison, you must breed a Gardevoir with Misdreavus and then a male Misdreavus which knows the above moves with your Duskull. If you think that it doesn’t worth the breeding chain you can replace it for Shadow Punch. It’s a good STAB attack that hurts ghosts and psychic types. Especially use it to hit foe’s Dusknoirs, which they can’t use their Shadow Punches, again because of your Imprison. Or Thunder Punch for the bulky water pokemons which resist Gyro Ball.

2nd Set
Dusknoir
Item held: Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Impish (+Defense, -Sp.Attack)/Careful (+Sp.Defense, -Sp.Attack)
Effort Points: 252HP – 52Def – 206Sp.Def/252HP – 206Def – 52Sp.Def
Shadow Sneak
Earthquake
Brick Break
Will-o-wisp

Bronzong
Item held: Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Relaxed (+Defense, -Speed)/Sassy (+Sp.Defense, -Speed)
Effort Points: 252HP – 52Def – 206Sp.Def/252HP – 206Def – 52Sp.Def
Reflect
Light Screen
Confuse Ray
Gyro Ball

In this different set Dusknoir has a more attacking role and Bronzong have to support it. Keep the physical sweepers away with Will-o-wisp and set up Reflect. If your opponents rely on Special Attack use first Light Screen to halve their hits. Bronzong’s Light Clay prolongs the effect of Reflect and Light Screen up to eight turns. When you will have finished set up Light Screen and Reflect you can confuse your foes or attack them with Gyro Ball. Another option is to pseudopass the above moves’ effects to a sweeper with low defenses. With Earthquake and Brick Break Dusknoir covers eight different types of pokemons. These two moves will be the main attacks and you can use Shadow Sneak to counter the opponent’s ghosts or psychic pokemons. This set doesn’t provide a recovery move for Bronzong, and because it is a slow defensive pokemon after some turns will faint. If you are not afraid Taunt you can replace Gyro Ball for Safeguard and Confuse Ray for Swagger. First create the protective field and then double Dusknoir’s attacks’ power.

3rd Set
Dusknoir
Item held: Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Bold (+Defense, -Attack)/Calm (+Sp.Defense, -Attack)
Effort Points: 252HP – 52Def – 206Sp.Def/252HP – 206Def – 52Sp.Def
Hypnosis
Mean Look
Dream Eater
Brick Break

Bronzong
Item held: Wide Lens/Mind Plate/Twistedspoon
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Relaxed (+Defense, -Speed)/Sassy (+Sp.Defense, -Speed)
Effort Points: 252HP – 52Def – 206Sp.Def/252HP – 206Def – 52Sp.Def
Hypnosis
Block
Dream Eater
Payback

4gen’s better Hypnosis’ accuracy can make this risky set work with a little help from Lady Luck. Put something into sleep and trap it with the other partner using Mean Look/Block. If Bronzong holds Wide Lens use its 77% acc. boosted Hypnosis or power up the STAB move Dream Eater with Mind Plate/Twistedspoon. With Dream Eater deal a serious amount of damage to a sleeping foe and absorb half the damage caused to heal your HP. It can be used as both an offensive and a recovery move. Continue doing this to all of your opponent’s pokemons, Hypnosis-Mean Look/Block and again to the next pokemon while you heal yourself with Dream Eater when it’s necessary. For Dark type that has immunity in Dream Eater, smash them with Brick Break. Payback is there for the many psychic pokemons with Early Bird or Synchronize that they will come in to counter Hypnosis. And because Bronzong attacks last in the turn it has many chances to be hit by the opponents, payback’s double power will deal them serious amount of damage.

Counters
This Duo is very slow, they always strike last unless they carry and manage to set up Trick Room. A quick Taunt cause many problems in all three sets. A fast Taunt-Gyarados is good option to come out and start using Dragon Dances, its water type resists Gyro Ball and has immunity to Earthquake. Unless Dusknoir has Thunder Punch, so it cans 2HKO it, cause of its 4x weakness. With Earthquake be a must on Dusknoir’s moveset, fire and electric types can’t resist Gyro Ball. So, only steel and water pokemons can wall Bronzong. Quagsire, Golduck, Poliwrath and Politoed with their type and Damp trait are immune to Explosion and resist Gyro Ball. Also, Quagsire, Swampert, Whiscash, Gastrodon can make Dusknoir regret to waste a moveslot for Thunder Punch. Other bulky water pokemons are good option like Blastoise with Counter, Kingdra, the physical sponge Cloyster, Ludicolo, Relicanth, Empoleon. Some steel pokemons like Steelix, Skarmory, Metagross, Bronzong can be used to counter this duo. Your opponent may be switch in some ghosts to avoid be hurt by Explosion. Gengar and Mismagius with Levitate are immune to Explosion and Earthquake, although the second one has low HP and Def., Dusknoir, Drifblim are some ghost types options. Dusknoir likes to use Will-o-wisp to keep away the physical sweepers and that makes Guts users great counters. Heracross is the most popular one, but there are also Ursaring, Raticate, Swellow, who are all immune to Shadow Sneak, Hariyama, Machamp and Milotic with its Marvel Scale. Flash Fire Pokemons can get their STAB moves boosted by Will-o-wisp, but with Earthquake it’s not wise to switch in. For the third set good counters because of Early Bird are Girafarig, Dodrio, Xatu, Ledian Kangaskhan and Shiftry, Houndoom with their immunity to Dream Eater. Primeape with Vital Spirit can’t fall into sleep and Gardevoir, Alakazam, Xatu, Espeon, Umbreon with Synchronize can cause you a delay to your strategy. To sum up, the best pokemons to counter this duo are an opponent duo by the same partners. To face another Dusknoir would be terrible because of its great defences. Only if it has also Shadow Punch and you manage to seal it with Imprison and hit it with your Shadow Punch or Bronzong’s Faint Attack. Dusknoir´s Earthquake kills the Steel pokemon that could also wall the duo, but the problem is if you face another Bronzong with Levitate. Then, the only way to beat it is to use ghost/dark attacks or to cause it the burn status condition by Will-o-wisp. Also, Skarmory can wall you, although isn’t very common in double battles.

Opinion and Notes
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl introduced many new attacks and Trick Room is a revolutionary new move among them. In pokemon battles speed is the most important stat, but because of this new move slow pokemons strike first and change the flow of the battle. Bronzong is born for this move which make him a powerful physical sweeper that can destroy many pokemons with Gyro Ball. Dusclops was key member in many teams, but its new evolution is even better, greater defenses and more physical power. The two of them if they combine their power and manage to switch the dimensions, they are unstoppable. They can face efficiently many different pokemons and can be stopped only by another Dusknoir and Bronzong. If you would like to build a Trick Room team, the heart of this team must be both of them. You should accompany this duo with other strong and slow pokemons that can take advantage of Trick Room like Rampardos, Rhyperior or with some exploders like Metagross, Golem, Electrode and you will have a good team for Double Battles. Such a good and strong Trick Room Team can face and beat most of the teams in the game and Dusknoir-Bronzong’s Duo are base members for the battle’s opening.

Well, this time, I´ll post the next duo. Actually, this one was ready some time ago, but I couldn´t post it.
Anyways... here goes, a funny "hax-for-the-win" strategy. We present... Togekiss and Aerodactyl!

1st set
Aerodactyl
Jolly@King´s Rock/Liechi Berry
Pressure
6 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spd
- Rock Slide
- Ice Fang
- Endure
- Fire Fang/Earthquake

Togekiss
Bold@Leftovers
Serene Grace
252 HP, 158 Def, 100 SDef
- Air Slash/Aura Sphere
- Follow Me
- Roost
- Skill Swap

The main strategy here is to skill swap Serene Grace to Aerodactyl. With Serene Grace, Rock Slide (which hits both opponents) will have 60% of chances to flinch the foes. If you´re worried about if the foe won´t flinch sometimes, Togekiss is there to protect Aerodactyl with Follow Me: If the foe doesn´t flinch, it won´t hit Aerodactyl either. It´s also good to have at least one more pokemon with Follow Me on the team (Clefable is the best option, im my opinion), in case of Togekiss being knocked out.
Since Aerodactyl is quite fragile and may be KOed before receiving Serene Grace, it must use Endure on the first turn - if it uses Protect, it won´t be attacked, but won´t receive Serene Grace either. You can choose between King´s Rock, to improve your chances to make the foes be flinched, or Liechi Berry, to boost your attack, since Endure will let you survive any strike, although with not much HP. I prefer Liechi Berry, because Rock Slide have its power halved on double battles, as well as any move that hits both foes only.
Aerodactyl´s other moves are for hiting foes that resist to rock moves: Ice Fang OHKOes the common Garchomp and Fire Fang or Earthquake are pretty nice against steel pokemon, like Bronzong and Metagross.

2nd set
Aerodactyl
Jolly@King´s Rock/Liechi Berry
Pressure
6 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spd
- Rock Slide
- Ice Fang
- Endure
- Earthquake

Togekiss
Modest@Leftovers
Serene Grace
252 HP, 6 Def, 252 SAtk
- Air Slash
- Aura Sphere/Nasty Plot
- Flamethrower/Nasty Plot
- Skill Swap

Almost the same thing as the moveset before, but now Togekiss is more offensive. You can use the free time given by flinches to use Nasty Plot and boost Togekiss´ huge SAtk. The downside is that if one of the enemies doesn´t flinch... Togekiss isn´t as fast as many common pokemon, so if Aerodactyl is beaten, this Togekiss will also be easily defeated.

Counters
Lucario and Gallade are pretty nice to counter this set, because of their Steadfast trait. But Lucario dies from Fire Fang or Earthquake and Gallade has a poor defence... So, the partner must be something that could attract Aerodactyl´s attention: a Follow Me-er partner, a partner which easily dies from rock moves but has potential to KO Aerodactyl (like Charizard or Articuno), etc.
Jolteon is also a good option: it has the same speed of Aerodactyl, so it depends on your luck to see who will outrun and beat who. Because of Togekiss´ Follow Me, in this case, Jolteon will need Discharge.
Another good option is to KO Togekiss before it skill swaps. Or if you can KO Aerodactyl on the first turn, do it. If you can´t do these things, try to boost your speed on the first turn or to paralyze Aerodactyl, since this strategy fails if Aerodactyl is facing a faster foe.

Opinion and Notes
I´ve faced (and lost against) this strategy a few times in advance generation and I can say that it´s something really annoying and dangerous to face. Aerodactyl is already strong without making the foe flinch almost everytime. With the chances to flinch doubled, it´s really troublesome to fight against and fun to try.
But it´s easily beaten by Rain Dance-based teams, because Surf surpass Follow Me´s effect and usually Rain Dance teams have pokemon with Swift Swim.

Nice guides guys. Keep up with the good work!

After a long time we will post the first Duo of the Week in the Uber environment. It's Kyogre-Manaphy, a little predictable but very effective couple.

Duo of the Week: Kyogre – Manaphy

1st Set
Kyogre
Item held: Wise Glasses/Expert Belt
Ability: Drizzle
Nature: Timid (+Speed, -Attack)
Effort Points: 252Speed – 252Sp.Attack – 6Sp.Def
Water Spout
Thunder
Ice Beam
Protect

Manaphy
Item held: Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
Nature: Bold (+Defense, -Attack)
Effort Points: 252HP – 252Def – 6Sp.Def
Calm Mind
Rest
Rain Dance
Ice Beam

Kyogre is the best friend of the “Prince of the Sea”. Manaphy was born to team up with the creator of the ocean. Kyogre’s ability to cause heavy rain in the colosseum power up water STAB moves, let him use Thunder with 100% accuracy but most important activate Manaphy’s Hydration. At the end of the turn any statuses that are affecting Manaphy are automatically cured. This is the standard Kyogre, a special sweeper with a speed boost nature, which covers many types with its attacks. For the last slot Protect is better than Calm Mind and Rest in double battles to defend itself from strong physical hits. Water Spout has a base power of 150 if Kyogre’s health is on 100%, x1.5 by STAB, x1.5 by the weather, x1.1 by Wise Glasses, it can reach the significant power of 371.25. With Timid nature and with Kyogre’s great Sp.Attack stat if you take the first strike you will deal a huge amount of damage right from the start of the battle to both of your foe’s pokemons. The disadvantage of Water Spout is that the lower the Kyogre’s HP, the less powerful it becomes. For that reason I suggest Wise Glasses or Expert Belt than Life Orb. If your Kyogre isn’t fast enough to overspeed the other pokemons in the Uber environment, it will better to go with Surf and Life Orb. It’s less powerful but you will have more chances to use your water attack in the second turn. While Kyogre is sweeping let Manaphy to use Calm Mind twice to double its Special Stats. After that it will have Sp.Atk over 405 and it will be free to hurt a lot your opponent with Ice Beam. Although the STAB and the boost by rain dance, Surf isn’t preferable because you will also hurt Kyogre and weaken its Water Spout. In addition to, Ice Beam hurts more Ubers especially Zapdos, Lugia, Groudon, Rayquazza and Giratina. When raining Manaphy can use Rest to restore its health and its sleep status will be cured at the end of the turn because of Hydration. The Duo relies on the raining and your opponent will try to change the weather. That’s why Rain Dance should exist in Manaphy’s moveset and you have to make sure that raining will be continuing to fall in the colosseum.

2nd Set
Kyogre
Item held: Chesto Berry
Ability: Drizzle
Nature: Bold (+Defense, -Attack)
Effort Points: 252HP – 252Def – 6Sp.Def
Water Spout
Thunder
Rest
Calm Mind

Manaphy
Item held: Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
Nature: Timid (+Speed, -Attack)
Effort Points: 222Speed – 252HP – 36Sp.Atk
Tail Glow
Rest
Shadow Ball
Ice Beam

Manaphy has access to Tail Glow a move that boosts its Special Attack by two stages and can make it a very good sweeper. Ice Beam and Shadow Ball cover more than half of the Ubers like Mewtwo, Mew, Lugia, Celebi, Latios, Latias, Groudon, Rayquazza, Deoxys, Cresselia, Giratina. Manaphy can learn and other special moves like Energy Ball/Grass Knot, Psychic, and Surf/Brine but can’t offer anything more than Ice Beam and Shadow Ball. The Rain Dance-Rest combo is very important and because of that it is worth Rest to be in the moveset. Probably your opponent will change the weather so you should have another pokemon in your team to start the rain again, don’t waste a Kyogre’s moveslot with Rain Dance. With a Timid nature and 222EP in Speed, Manaphy outruns Modest Latios-Latias and all natures of Groudon, Kyogre, Rayquazza and the defensive form of Deoxys. If you have less than 31IVs in Speed you should invest more EPs to hit 320 Speed Stat. You don’t need any more EP to raise your Sp.Atk, Tail Glow will boost your stat nearly at 500 that is enough to deal serious damage. 252EPs and around 400HP will let you to endure a strike and double your Sp.Atk with Tail Glow and you will offer you a nice recovery with leftovers. Kyogre’s EPs distribution focuses on its defenses, so it can start raise its special stats with Calm Mind. With Rest and Chesto Berry it can recover anything lost in the process, maximize its health and with the addition of a few Calm Minds will unleash a powerful Water Spout against the opposite corner. Thunder is for the case you face another Kyogre.

Counters
It’s easier to face this Duo if you change the weather. You can start the battle with Abomasnow that resists Water Spout and Thunder and kill Kyogre and Manaphy with Wood Hammer. Or Hippowdon to summon a sandstorm, but switch it out immediately or attract the Duo attacks, while Protect itself. Tyranitar raises its Sp.Def during a sandstorm, but don’t start to use Dragon Dance because the 1.5x boost in Sp.Def by sandstorm it won’t save you from Water Spout. Instead of that, Protect yourself in the first turn and let your partner strike to cover you. Also, a slower Groudon will cause the sunrays to intensify, remove the water weakness and attract Ice Beams from both Kyogre and Manaphy. Switch it out and have a special wall to absorb the Ice Beams like Blissey or even better Regice. After that, your special sponge can use Thunder Wave to paralyze the Duo and hit them with Thunderbolt or Charge Beam. Another option is to try to switch the dimensions. A Rhyperior with Lighting Rod and Protect can attract Kyogre’s Water Spout and give the time to its partner Slowbro/Slowking or Bronzong with Charge Beam to activate the Trick Room. At the next turn Rhyperior will attack and Kyogre will be a goner. You can also take advantage of the Rain Dance using some Thunderdancers or pokemons with swift swim ability. Raikou is the number one choice, along with Jolteon, Electrode, Manectric and Timid Zapdos. Lanturn resists all of the Duo’s attacks except of Manaphy’ Shadow Ball, Electrivire can take advantage of Kyogre’s Thunder and become faster and Magnezone can switch in only if Kyogre has low HP to avoid be KOed by Water Spout. Ludicolo is the only Pokemon that can take down Kyogre with relative ease but also a Dragon Dancer Kingdra is a good option. Mewtwo is always a threat in Uber environment especially when it carries Thunder/Thunderbolt. The same attacks can have the Eon pokemons, Latios and Latias and deal great damage. A faster Lugia with Roost/Recover can wall them and force them to hit it by both of them at the same turn. Also, Cresselia can make a good wall, only in case Shadow Ball isn’t at Manaphy’s moveset. Dialga and Palkia can face the Duo because neither Kyogre nor Manaphy have a supereffective move against them while they can hit them hard with their STAB dragon moves like Roar of Time, Draco Meteor and Spacial Rend.

Opinion and Notes
Manaphy and Kyogre are ideal partners for each other. Manaphy can take advantage of Kyogre’s Drizzle just like Cherrim can use Groudon’s Drought. From the above sets I prefer the first one, as Manaphy can be a long lasting Wall with its defensive capabilities and Hydration. These two pokemons are difficult to obtain and because of that you have to train them according to the Natures you got. The couple relies on the heavy rain and it will be wise to have in your team some other pokemons that have access to Rain Dance, a Swift Swim ability or be effective thunderdancers. Gorebyss and Kingdra are very good swift swimmers, Ludicolo with Rain Dish is very annoying and for the positions of thuderdancers prevail Raikou and Zapdos along with Manectric with Lighting Rod or an explosive Electrode to accompany Zapdos’ Detect. To sum up, the Duo of Kyogre and Manaphy are one of the best Uber couples and you should combine them with around one more swift swimmer and two or three thunderdancers to build a very powerful Rain Dance team.

Hello, everyone! I´m really sorry for not posting here for... 3 months? o.o Anyway, here goes the next duo!^^

Double Intimidate & Leviquake

This time, we´ll show you a nice duo with OU pokemon that works well with both offence and defence.
Here goes... Gyarados and Salamence! (it rhymed! >=D)

1st set
Gyarados
Jolly@Focus Sash
Intimidate
90 HP, 252 Atk, 168 Spd
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang/Protect

Salamence
Adamant@Focus Sash
Intimidate
146 HP, 252 Atk, 112 Spd
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Fang/Rock Slide/Protect

Sending out Gyarados and Salamence at the same time will cut both foes´ Atk by half. Quite useful, don´t? - specially considering that physical sweepers are the most common things on double battles.
Sometimes, your opponent will start switching out to make their pokemon´s Atk be back to normal. So, you can use this free turn to dragon dance.
168 EVs of speed on Gyarados and 112 on Salamence will make them have 264 speed points. It´s enough to outrun all pokemon with base stat equal to 130 - any pokemon faster than it isn´t very common on double battles - so, you can spend the rest of the EVs to make your HP higher and be able to survive some attacks. If you want, you can give them more EVs on speed, but that´s unnecessary.
But remember: the amount of EVs needed to make your speed be high enough (264 points) vary from pokemon to pokemon, because it depends on the IVs. Use stat calculators to see how much EVs you really need to make your pokemon have 264 speed points.
If the opponent doesn´t switch, Focus Sash is there to ensure that your pokemon will survive. If you´re playing under item clause - which forbids you from using repeated items -, make Gyarados hold a (electric) berry or Salamence hold a Yache Berry, since only electric moves can OHKO Gyarados and only ice moves can OHKO Salamence.
Well... if you noticed, both pokemon are flying and have earthquake. So, you can use Earthquake twice in a row without damaging yourself - for those who doesn´t know, Earthquake hits all pokemon on field.
About Salamence´s last move slot: you can choose Fire Fang, which is super-effective against Skarmory and Bronzong that completely wall this strategy, Rock Slide, which hits both foes and may cause them to flinch, but has a lower power - moves that hit both opponents only have their power halved on double battles -, or Protect, to make Salamence survive a little more.
Don´t use Outrage, because it attacks a ramdom foe pokemon in double batles. So, if you´re unlucky, you may attack the wrong opponent.

2nd set
Gyarados
Jolly@Focus Sash
Intimidate
90 HP, 252 Atk, 168 Spd
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang/Protect

Salamence
Modest/Timid@Choice Specs/Life Orb
Intimidate
6 HP, 252 SAtk, 252 Spd
- Hydro Pump
- Flamethrower/Fire Blast
- Dragon Pulse
- Protect/Hidden Power electric/Draco Meteor

It´s almost the same thing of the previous one, but now, Salamence is a special sweeper. You can choose between power (modest nature) or speed (timid), both vitals for double battles. Something about Choice Specs: if you use it, you obviously can´t use Protect, so replace it with Hidden Power or Draco Meteor. Draco Meteor is really risked, because you may need to switch out after, although with some prediction, you won´t have problems.
If you choose Life Orb, to boost your power and be able to use more than a single attack, then use Protect. Protect is really necessary for double battles and, with prediction, is the key for victory.

Counters
Tyranitar or Hippowdon´s Sandstream ability cancels the effect of Focus Sash, as well as Abomasnow´s Snow Warning. Tyranitar´s Thunderbolt - if you consider using one - will knock out Gyarados instantly. But Tyranitar is slow and, usually, can´t survive if both Gyarados and Salamence try an Earthquake.
If Sandstorm or Hail are in effect, any pokemon faster than Salamence with ice moves and a good Atk stat or an average SAtk stat will defeat it. Ice Shard is also an option for powerful but slow pokemon.
Jolteon and Aerodactyl are also nice for countering this duo. Jolteon´s Discharge will hit both Salamence and Gyarados and may paralyze one of them. If Gyarados´ Focus Sash protects it from an instant KO, Aerodactyl´s Rock Slide is there to beat it anyways.
In general, you must not let them use Dragon Dance, unless you have pokemon with good resistance.

Opinions and notes:
Salamence and Gyarados are quite powerful pokemon. Together, they´re even better. Their only common weakness is the rock type, but their trait cancels it, since nobody uses special rock attacks.

After a long time with no posts, here goes a duo which I personally like a lot. Cherrim and Groudon!

1st set

Groudon
Adamant@Shell Bell
Drought
252 HP, 252 Atk, 6 Def
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Rock Polish
- Protect/Fire Punch

Cherrim
Bold/Careful@Leftovers
Flower Gift
252 HP, 252 Def/SDef, 6 SDef/Def
- Solarbeam
- Helping Hand
- Protect
- Aromatherapy/Hidden Power Fire/Leech Seed/Worry Seed

Groudon´s trait will activate Cherrim´s, boosting both pokemon´s Atk and SDef by 1.5 times. Groudon has already an amazing attack, with Flower Gift´s boost, it becomes a monster. Groudon´s medium SDef also gets a nice boosts with Flower Gift´s effect, so Groudon turns into a pokemon with outstanding attack, impressive HP and nice defenses.
Use Rock Polish to double Groudon´s speed in the first turn while Cherrim Protects. Done! Groudon is uberly than ever. Now, have fun with boosted Earthquakes or Rock Slides. You can choose between Protect and Fire Punch depending on your preference: Protect may let Groudon survive more time (specially if you predict that both foes will attack Groudon) but Fire Punch is boosted by Sunny Day and has a good type coverage.
About its item: Shell Bell recovers some HP each time a foe is hit by Groudon. So, it can be healed twice in the same turn, or even three (if you hit Cherrim with an Earthquake).
About Cherrim, I prefer to make it more physically defensive, but it´s your choice. Use Bold with 252 EVs in Def or Careful with 252 EVs in SDef. It´s last moveslot is up to you: Aromatherpy heals burns, sleeps and other stuff that really messes with Groudon, Hidden Power Fire is another sweeping option (although it´s irrelevant if Groudon is using Fire Punch), Leech Seed recovers Cherrim´s HP little by little and Worry Seed´s mainly effect is to negate Levitate.

2nd set

Groudon
Impish@Leftovers
Drought
252 HP, 252 Def, 6 Def
- Earthquake
- Rock Polish/Swords Dance
- Protect/Fire Punch/Dragon Claw
- Protect/Fire Punch/Dragon Claw

Cherrim
Bold/Careful@Leftovers
Flower Gift
252 HP, 252 Def/SDef, 6 SDef/Def
- Solarbeam
- Helping Hand
- Protect
- Aromatherapy/Hidden Power Fire/Leech Seed/Worry Seed

Cherrim´s moveset remains the same, while Groudon´s becomes more defensive. You can choose between making Groudon´s Atk higher with Swords Dance or to make it faster with Rock Polish. It´s moveset is something like Garchomp, but adapted to double battle. Note that since Groudon isn´t fast enough, it should be as defensive as possible if not using Rock Polish.

Other Options:
Lum Berry for Groudon, Toxic for Cherrim. If Cherrim has no Aromatherapy, Lum Berry can be very useful. Toxic can weaken some sturdier targets (like Giratina or Cresselia) easier.

Counters:
If you change or block the weather (I mean, with Golduck´s Cloud Nine or Rayquaza´s Air Lock), the strategy is over. Groudon will still be dangerous, but not so much. Rayquaza and Kyogre are the best counters, since they´ve enough defenses to survive Groudon´s unboosted attacks.
If Cherrim doesn´t have Hidden Power Fire, you can try a special sweeper grass pokemon with Chlorophyll trait, like a Tangrowth. Also, if you can predict well, you must to beat Cherrim as fast as you can. Groudon is harder to beat.

Opinions and notes:
Cherrim is all Groudon was asking about, since Cherrim is able to make it a perfect tanker and a better sweeper. Both have a weakness to ice, but enough resistance to survive some ice moves in time to defeat the threat.

here is an other duo (by me ). MACHAMP & ARTICUNO!!!

machamp
adamant nature
ability: no guard
EVs: 252 atk/ 252 speed/6 hp
item: choice scarf
moves:
close combat
ice punch
thunderpunch
earthquake/payback

articuno
timid nature
EVs: 252 speed/252 sp atk/6 hp
item: leftovers
moves:
sheer cold
substitute
roost
ice beam

an exellent killing duo, which can defeat many pokemon easily. with machamp's no guard + articuno's sheer cold, it can OHKO many pokemon. but if you think that you can OHKO pokemon, like swellow, without sheer cold, you can use other options! for example, you can use roost for healing, substitute for a little protection against some dangerous pokemon & ice beam for OHKO or 2HKO less defensive pokemon. about machamp, you can sweep with a variety of some strong moves. you can use its close combat to OHKO or 2HKO pokemon like skarmory, swellow, tyranitar and others. ice punch can OHKO/2HKO pokemon like yanmega, crobat, salamence, dragonite and more. thunderpunch can OHKO/2HKO pokemon like skarmory, milotic, feraligatr and more. EQ can OHKO/2HKO tyranitar, magnezone, electivire, dugtrio and others. but if you hate psychic or ghost pokemon, payback is an other option instead of EQ.

counters

that duo is a good one, but beware! some pokemon can counter them! for example, some fast and strong pokemon like aerodactyl, can OHKO articuno quickly with a stone edge. also, you must have machamp survived, because of its ability which supports articuno's OHKO move! yanmega can kill machamp with an air slash. crobat and some other fast pokemon with a flying/psychic type move can also OHKO it. alakazam can OHKO it with psychic.

Ok, I'll simply explain why this duo is bad and won't work, ever.

First of all, if you were to use it (note this phrase, we'll get to it later on), you need Machamp to survive as longer as possible for supporting Articuno and Articuno be as fast as possible, ensuring Sheer Cold hits fast Pokémon. So, you should probably have a bulky Machamp set with Rest and Sleep Talk (and maybe Protect as well), and a Choice Scarf Articuno hitting with Sheer Cold. Machamp should have a +SpDef nature with 252 HP/160 Def/96 SpDef for maximum survivability, and Articuno be Timid with 252 HP/252 Speed/6 wherever.

And after I elaborated on a totally useless bunch of stuff, let's get back to the "if" part. Machamp's No Guard affects only attacks used by and against Machamp. Which means that Articuno's Sheer Cold will get an accuracy of 100% only if it targets Machamp, which is not the logical thing to do, nor the type of stuff we suggest in DotW.

(13-05-2009 06:50 PM)Chaos714 Wrote: [ -> ]you can use its close combat to OHKO or 2HKO pokemon like skarmory, swellow, tyranitar and others.

Keep in mind that Swellow is faster than any Scarf'd Machamp and can Brave Bird the hell out of it.

tl;dr: Won't work.