Four Pokémon You Should Consider: Part II

Exactly one year ago today I posted one of PKMNcast's most famous articles. Some say that it's the article that put us on the Google map. Well... I thought today would be a great follow up to that article since their are over 600 Pokémon now. Honestly, it's been over 6 months since I wrote an article myself. Sure, I post letters for you guys to read about the site and how all of you are awesome, but I think it's time to get my keyboard dirty again... at least for today.

1. Golduck

Laugh now. We all know I caught a Golduck in a Masterball with my first ever play though of Pokémon Blue. Not only did I do that because Golduck is so cool, but let's consider it for a second. You might not know that Golduck has a pretty important ability now that Black/White tournaments are over, which is "Cloud Nine". With the amount of people trying to focus on building a Black/White team only, weather was ignored. Now we have Politoed's "Drizzle" or Ninetail's "Drought" to look out for with Dreamworld. Blah, blah, blah, right? Well "Cloud Nine" prevents all effects of weather. Golduck and Psyduck are the only two non-Dreamworld Pokémon that can learn this (4 Pokémon via Dreamworld). Sending out a Golduck can put a huge damper on a weather based team. Golduck can also learn "Wonder Room" - which - switches all Pokémon's defense and special defense around. Golduck's stats are similar in this aspect, but can play a huge part for your opponents.

2. Maractus

Now your probably like... Umm... SBJ... we don't want to hear about your dream teams here... Honestly, Maractus is overlooked. Let's ignore the below 500 base stats. Stats are nothing in a game that still relies a lot on luck. Trust me, I watched a lot of people cry at Worlds. Maractus has the oh so great ability of "Water Absorb". If your pairing with a Water-type teammate, you can attack Maractus with an array of water-type moves to get it's health back and/or if your opponent uses something like a "Surf" against you - BAM! Health restored. Now this tactic isn't exclusive to Maractus. Instead... Maractus is 1 of 13 Pokémon that can learn "Cotton Guard". "Cotton Guard" is one of the few status moves that boost +3. Now you can max out a Pokémon at +6. Something like a "Swords Dance" is +2. In other words, "Cotton Guard" will max out your defense in only 2 moves. Wow. After getting hit by a paralyzed Conkeldurr's "Facade" doing 140 damage, it only took down 1/3 of HP of Maractus. #impressed

3. Beartic

Cuddly? No. We talked about Glaceon in the last 4 Pokémon You Should Consider. The main reason was because of "Snow Cloak". Well it seems that the icicle doesn't fall that far from the rain gutter. "Snow Cloak" increases your evasion in a hail storm by 20%. If your putting a hail storm up, then you might as well use "Blizzard" for it's 100% accuracy. Your going to say... SBJ - "Blizzard" is special, not physical like Beartic is strong in. Well... it's some worth in a double battle if you EV and IV train him in special attack. Otherwise, don't worry about it. I feel like that's Beartic's motto - don't worry about it. Facade, Icicle Crash, Superpower, etc. All powerhouse moves for Beartic. Also, going back to weather playing a big role, Beartic can also have the ability of "Swift Swim" - for all you rain dancers.

4. Rampardos

Besides Legendaries, Rampardos has the higheset attack sitting at 165. ONE SIX FIVE. Yes sir, you read that right. Now this slow Pokémon can't use that to it's full benefit without a little help. If your not running a weather team, your probably running a Trick Room team. In this case, with a Rampardos, you should be running a Trick Room team. Trick Room let's the slowest Pokémon attack first on a turn, in order, letting the fastest Pokémon on the field attack last. So after a Trick Room is set up, your powerhouse of a Pokémon will be going first... but... with what? Unlike other Rock-types, Rampardos has a huge move pool. Pick from your "Zen Headbutt" to your "Earthquakes" to your "Rock Slides" to your "Giga Impacts". Tons to choose from! Some players like to play a stalling, defensive game. Stop them in their tracks with your Dinosaur.

Hope you liked these four! Any questions please ask!

Also please comment below!

Thanks for reading this when you have the rest of the internet to read.

-SBJ