Team build for a local tournament being held

[Ryouyashi]

Hello~
So the local league for my area decided to host a small event thing of their own, and made some interesting rules....im wondering if this team would work by fitting in those rules! Ok, so similar to the Kanto Classic, this tournament will only allow the use of pokemon FIRST introduced in Johto, im not sure if they said no held items or not....but since gen 2 introduced held items i assumed so. It could also be that they will limit the usable items to just berries, and power up items for moves of a certain type (Charcoal, Mystic Water, Etc). My goal is to make a team that i should be able to use no matter the situation, whether items are allowed (or restricted) or if they say no items at all. 

Feraligatr @ Life Orb  
Ability: Sheer Force  
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe  
Adamant Nature  
- Dragon Dance  
- Waterfall  
- Crunch  
- Ice Punch  

I had one of these from the event, and i thought why not use it? With items i can use life orb, and if none i still get a huge power bonus from Sheer Force.

Espeon @ Choice Specs  
Ability: Magic Bounce  
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe  
Timid Nature  
- Psychic  
- Dazzling Gleam  
- Shadow Ball  
- Psyshock  

One of my favorite Johto pokemon, plus having Magic Bounce may stop any smeargles with spore, since this is Johto pkmn only singles. Plus with Espeons great special attack it could lead to a powerful battler using both Psychic and Psyshock to cover against physically and specially weak pokemon.

Wobbuffet @ Focus Sash  
Ability: Shadow Tag  
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD  
Calm Nature  
- Destiny Bond  
- Counter  
- Mirror Coat  
- Safeguard  

Wobbuffet. Is there really anything more to say with this? You all know what he does, hes Wobbuffet! However, i did find it too dificult to try and get Encore, since Wynauts dont like giving me the right nature (have to sacrifice the everstone for incense) so i figured safeguard can stop any status down moves and negatives effects, no toxic may mean more life.

Ursaring @ Toxic Orb  
Ability: Guts  
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD  
Adamant Nature  
- Facade  
- Swords Dance  
- Earthquake  
- Fire Punch  

Guts Ursaring i feel may work in an itemless version as well, sure toxic orb is nice but if they decide to put a status on it they can soon regret it with guts and facade. May not be the best choice but i feel like i needed another powerful beater on the team.

Pupitar @ Eviolite  
Ability: Shed Skin  
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD  
Careful Nature  
- Protect  
- Toxic  
- Curse  
- Stone Edge  

I never saw any builds for this guy anywhere, mostly as an attacker or people would just straight up go for Tyranatar. I felt like using it since he has Shed Skin, access to curse, and just to be something you normally wouldnt expect.

Furret @ Normal Gem
Ability: Frisk  
Level: 50  
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Atk / 12 SpD  
Adamant Nature  
- Knock Off  
- U-turn  
- Quick Attack  
- Double-Edge  

Since nothing i had used a priority move, i added in Furret for some STAB quick attacks, plus a STAB double edge is nice too. Its mostly for just quick finishes but nothing more. The reason behind the normal gem is to get a huge power boost off to quick attack or double edge when needed, but i may use a scarf or band instead too.


So yeah, let me know what you think i should change if anything, ive been testing it out in battle spot singles in showdown for with items, for no items ill probably wing it the day of tournament.

[pritchman227]

Hi there, let me help you out and give you my thoughts on this.

First off is Feraligatr, nice choice considering of the three starters he is the best one. His moves are good, very common movesets, but good nevertheless. Just watch out for those frenzy plants and thunderbolts, he may be a hard hitter but his spD is low enough for a high spA Raichu or Meganium to OHKO.

Next off is Espeon. It has a high SpA and was definitely one of the best Psychics during the time, and still is to an extent. Its Spe is good, just make sure you don't have it out when it comes to the like of Umbreon, Scizor (he is a big threat to Espeon), Mismagaius. Give Umbreon and Mismagius a high SpA and that spells trouble for your Espeon. And with this being restricted to Johto only Pokemon, you can expect a scizor with a 252 Atk and 252 Spe along with x-scissor, a bullet punch, U-turn, and then some form of stat boosting move. Dark pulse and Shadow ball will more than likely be ran with the likes of Umbreon and Mismagius. Espeon is a great Pokemon, but you also have to be cautious when using it now with there being a lot of moves that are effective against it.

Now onto Wobbufett. He's clearly your support Pokemon, since that is his only purpose in life. Not much to say with him except good luck. His Def stats are high, but you have to think ahead of your opponent with him. In my experiences with him, I found it hard to use him due to poor reading on my end. One mishap in reading and you could very well kiss him goodbye.

Usraring. The big guns of the Johto region. Hits hard and takes hit, he is the embodiment of the perfect tank. But, he will be more than likely thought of and people will make movesets to counter him. His normal type does make him an easy target to a the likes of Heracross and Scizor. I would say to only use him when you know that the chances of him being KO'd easily are slim. I would try to get Close combat with him or cross chop. It wouldn't hurt to try out a new moveset here and there, especially when it comes to Ursaring.

Then there is Pupitar, the underdog of your team. Not many people consider running him since he is only a second evolution and when it comes to the likes of Tyranitar, he gets severely overlooked. This is the second time that I have seen someone use him on a team, so my judgement is going to be a little bit low. I do see some potential in him, though it looks like he is being used as a support (correct me if I am wrong). His curse increases his Atk and Def, so use it to your ability. just be careful with him, there are reasons why he isn't used and that is because he doesn't have any moves to counter his weaknesses. Scizor will be the biggest threat to him, and since Pupitar is a tad bit on the slow end, he will eat him up with bullet punch. And Vaporeon will also destroy him as well with Hydro pump, water pulse, and even Ice beam. Donphan (Earthquake), Ursaring(Earthquake, cross chop), Feraligatr(Earthquake, Ice beam, hydro pump, hydro cannon), Meganium(frenzy plant, razor leaf) are also a big threat.

Then finally is Furret, your STAB. You already know to be careful when using him. He seems to be a great STAB for you, and I have never seen him get used before, so not much I can about him.

Overall, this team is pretty solid. You chose some great Pokemon to use for this, but Scizor will be your biggest threat. He can dish out some big hits to your Espeon and Pupitar, and if he has any fighting type moves, Ursaring. Pupitar can also be a cool sight to see, but you have to be really careful with him for he can also lead to your demise. The Pokemon you should watch for are of course Scizor, Donphan, Meganium, Feraligatr, and Umbreon. That is all. Feel free to comment your thoughts on this.

[Ryouyashi]

Hey there! Thanks for the advice, im starting to reconsider Pupitar now for something, preferably a fire type. Since its Johto only i dont have to worry about Mismagus or Vaporeon, but pupitar himself has issues when it comes to staying alive in general. I was able to tank a high jump kick to the face with 2% HP thanks to eviolite, but then the speed just killed it after. I was thinking perhaps using a Porygon2 as a bulky special attacker, but not 100% sure yet. I had this idea for the moves and such so far:

Porygon2 @ Eviolite  
Ability: Analytic  
Level: 50  
EVs: 244 HP / 248 SpA / 12 SpD  
Modest Nature  
- Recover  
- Hidden Power [Fire]  
- Signal Beam  
- Tri Attack/Ice Beam

Im not sure about Tri Attack and Recover, since the point with this one is i want to attack last (to do more damage to speedy things like Scizor) while Eviolite buffs up his already decent def/sp def by a huge boost. I kept Tri Attack only for STAB and for the statuses, but without Adaptability im thinking a move like Ice Beam will do better. The hidden power fire is the key to this, since my issue comes with the fire pokemon of Johto, leaving just Magby, Slugma, Magcargo, and Entei to pick from. (I dont wanna use Entei cause i dont like using legends, and Ho-oh/Lugia are possibly not allowed). As for Ursaring, im torn between removing Fire Punch or Swords Dance for Superpower. Im thinking Swords Dance since he already has the Guts boost, and extra fire physical coverage for Foretress and Scizor, plus Steelix may be a danger too. 

Anyways, thanks for the input and tell me what you think about the changes! ( I wanna get clear ideas before i start breeding Porygon Instead of Larvatar, since this is tomorrow after all lol)

Edit: One thing i noticed, if Ho-oh/Lugia are allowed, i have no rock coverage. Would it be worth giving Ursaring rock slide instead of Fire Punch?

[Marcusube]

I suggest you find out in detail what the ruleset of this local tournament is before making any teams, for held items make a huge difference in determining what Pokemon you can and can't use. Remember that Mega Evolutions such as Ampharos, Houndoom, Heracross and Scizor exist in the Johto dex so people may use those if the ruleset doesn't forbid it.

Feraligatr is a good pick. It can be one of the most devastating sweepers after just one Dragon Dance. Moveset is good as well though I would run Jolly Nature to outspeed Crobat after one Dragon Dance.

Honestly, I would suggest a Calm Mind Baton Pass Espeon set. I can see Pursuit trap being ran by the likes of Scizor, Houndoom and Murkrow. Specs with Trick is also a good option in crippling Blissey, Miltank among other support Pokemon.

This Wobuffet set is negated by entry hazards. Not only that but Wobuffet is really only good for taking down one Pokemon then it dies. It's too much of a niche Pokemon in my opinion and is victim to stall.

Tanky Pupitar dies to too much. Ice, Water, Grass, Fighting, Ground (that's a ton of weaknesses off the bat). I don't see how this set would work on a team like this

Quick Feet works better on Ursaring over Guts on this set. You get enough speed to outpace base 100s and OHKO them with +2 Facade

Furret is bad in singles. You will regret running it, trust me.

You need to prepare your team for things like rain teams (Politoed + Kingdra), Quagsire, etc.

Again, can't say much because we don't know the full ruleset