Generation 5 Discussion: Part 1

So, if you haven't seen it yet, the full pokedex for Black and White has been leaked here. Obviously, since we're still early, without held items, no idea where the metagame will go, abilities still unknown, etc., it's impossible to fully predict what will happen. Plus, with everything that isn't blatantly uber starting off in OU (sorry guys, no Mewtwo), this generation is going to be hectic, and Garchomp is going to want it's bitches back. But, yeah, let's go for an analysis anyway, because I have nothing better to do with my time. This'll probably end up posted a while from when I first started writing it, because there's a lot I have to go through, so feel proud you're so worthy of my time, blog reader. Course, if it's up earlier, there'll probably be a part 2, since there's no way I can finish it so quickly.

So, anyway, from the top:

Victini

Psychic/Fire

Ability: Victory Heart

BST: 600

HP: 100

Attack: 100

Defense: 100

Sp. Attack: 100

Sp. Defense: 100

Speed: 100

Since this gen wants to be different, the first pokemon in the pokedex is the base 100 in everything fairy, Victini. Obviously it's stats are effective, as proven by all the others before it, but the typing is quite interesting. It doesn't really provide many useful resistances, and gives it weakness to dark, water, rock, ground and ghost, since fire and psychic don't really cover each other at all. It does give a neutrality to Bug that Psychic otherwise wouldn't have, but I can't see the typing being fantastic. Offensively, psychic also isn't too useful, due to not hitting much at all for super-effective and hitting dark for nothing, but fire is at least somewhat useful. It'll probably all come down to a) how many steels there are, and the importance of SR in the metagame and b) what Victory Star does, since, for all I know, it could double it's stats in everything. Nonetheless, not too much to say, since you've all seen this spread before.

Jaroda

Grass

Ability: Overgrow

BST: 528

HP: 75

Attack: 75

Defense: 95

Sp. Attack: 75

Sp. Defense: 95

Speed: 113

Onto the starters, we get to start with the final, suitably royal evolution of Smugleaf. Unfortunately, though it looks like it should be, it's not the Grass/Dragon everyone wanted, and is just pure grass. At least it's not grass/poison, though, blech. Base 75 offensive, while terrible, isn't exactly fantastic, so you're probably going to want to slap a Choice Band/Specs on it if you want to sweep with this thing. It's speed is fairly nice, at 113, allowing it to outspeed non-Scarfed Gengars, Latias (since she'll start off OU) and Infernapes, though without a good movepool I can't really see what you'd do to Infernape. All in all, it's a slightly more bulky, for a less damaging Sceptile, so I can't really see it doing much without a good defensive movepool, and even then, Venusaur probably will do it better. It all depends on how important speed is this generation.

Enbuoo

Fire/Fighting

Ability: Blaze

BST: 528

HP: 110

Attack: 123

Defense: 65

Sp. Attack: 100

Sp. Defense: 65

Speed: 65

Don't you just hate it when there's a wall up in your grill, blocking your shit? Fear not, Enbuoo is here to punch a hole in them all. While those defenses are fairly flimsy, 110 HP is probably enough to make up for it, and those two attack stats are phenomenal on a starter. Slap a choice scarf on it, let it hit Blaze activation and your Fire Blast will be making chumps out of anything. Obviously, fire/fighting has been done a bit in the starters before, but this creates a nice little continuum to pick from. Stupidly fast, but fragile and not as strong (Inferape, probably still better), stupidly strong, but slow (Ganondorf in fire form) and the middle ground (lolBlaziken). In the end, Infernape will still probably be most used, but I can't see this thing not being used while Choice Scarf exists, especially if it gets Fire Blast and Close Combat.

                                                    

Daikenki

Water

Ability: Torrent

BST: 528

HP: 95

Attack: 100

Defense: 85

Sp. Attack: 108

Sp. Defense: 70

Speed: 70

So, last of the starters is Wotter's final evolution, and it's got a rather well-rounded stat base. Water has never really had a good mixed sweeper (except Kingdra) before, so, depending on movepool, this guy could do it. Torrent is a fairly boring ability to talk about, since it's not really something you can abuse on most pokemon, but a mixed water sweeper with Waterfall and Surf, hiding behind subs and nomnoming a Liechi Berry, could be something that can properly abuse it. It doesn't really outrun much, though, and I'm not sure if it's other stats are good enough to get over that. After all, with Swampert and Gyarados out there, water isn't exactly lacking good Pokemon. 

Muraando

Normal

Ability: Sand Throw/Intimidate

HP: 85

Attack: 100

Defense: 90

Sp. Attack: 45

Sp. Defense: 90

Speed: 80

Even though he looks awesome, the main reason I've got him here is because he has Sand Throw (doubles speed in a Sandstorm), which could give him a spot on Sandstorm teams down the track. His stats aren't too bad, but Normal isn't really the best offensive or defensive type, so they generally need better than average stats (i.e. Snorlax and Blissey) combined with a good movepool to be useful, so, we'll see how life ends up going for him later. 

Yanakki

Grass

Ability: Gluttony

HP: 75

Attack: 98

Defense: 63

Sp. Attack: 98

Sp. Defense: 63

Speed: 101

First of the monkey trio is Yanakki, and really, I only need to talk about him because the other three are exactly the same except for the typing. Being grass, he's probably inferior to Hiyakki, since Water is the best type (as we all know), but better than Baokki because he's not weak to Stealth Rock (and realistically, SR isn't going anywhere). The stat distribution is fairly frail, so he will probably die to most sweepers from a neutral hit, but it's quite fast with a good offensive distribution, so he can pretty easily wallbreak, movepool pending. Gluttony isn't doing him any favours as an ability, though, being one of the few things always worse than starter abilities. Dream World gets him Overgrow, but then he loses access to egg moves. So, he has a lot of potential, like the other two, but we'll have to see where it takes him.

Mushana

Psychic

Ability: Forewarn/Synchronize

HP: 116

Attack: 55

Defense: 85

Sp. Attack: 107

Sp. Defence: 95

Speed: 29

Mushana, everyone's favourite pink blob, is here pretty much because I love Synchronize. It's such a fun ability. You can cause so much havoc with it in the right situation. Nonetheless, Mushana isn't really a pokemon you want status to hit. With it's better than average HP, defense and special defense combination, it's suited to wall, but Psychic is a rather mediocre defensive type. With the right movepool, of course, with it's great special attack it could be a nice RestTalker, but I can't see it being very useful otherwise. Synchronize could be hilarious fun on a status absorber like a resttalker, though, so fingers crossed for the little blob.

Kenhorou

Normal/Flying

Ability: Pigeon Heart/Super Luck

HP: 80

Attack: 105

Defense: 80

Sp. Attack: 65

Sp. Defense: 55

Speed: 93

Yeah, you've all seen this stat distribution before, and it's still nothing special, but I couldn't resist uploading the sprite because it looked so silly. So, yeah, nothing special, there's probably better, but if there isn't, it's not so much better that no one's going to notice.

Zeburaika

Electric

Ability: Lightningrod/Motor Drive

HP: 75

Attack: 100

Defense: 63

Sp. Attack: 80

Sp. Defence: 63

Speed: 116

With the changes to Lightningrod, this zebra will now be absorbing electric attacks regardless of what you do, it just depends what stat gets buffed. Given it's already good speed, it probably doesn't need the Motor Drive boost, but given it's Sp. Attack is inferior to attack, the Lightningrod boost probably won't be relevant all the time, so you'll run Motor Drive anyway. Also, this will, as always, be paired with Gyarados, without question, at least by scrubs. This thing could have the worst movepool in the world, and they'd still do it. Anyway, this isn't really anything new, it's specially inferior to Jolteon, probably mixed inferior to Electivire unless it has a great movepool, moving on.

Gigaisu

Rock

Ability: Sturdy (!)

HP: 85

Attack: 135

Defense: 105

Sp. Attack: 60

Sp. Defence: 70

Speed: 25

Just to make sure everyone is on the same level here, Sturdy is now a free Focus Sash. That's right, free. You get to have a Sash and Leftovers. This guy, in addition, learns Stealth Rock, Stone Edge and Explosion all via leveling up. If he doesn't herald the return of the bulky lead, then they're never coming back. Really, though, even if he doesn't find a spot as a bulky lead (which he will, unless Metagross is the undisputed best lead ever now for whatever reason), then he'll find a spot on Sandstorm teams, where his Sp. Defense is buffed into 'I'm pretty amazing' tier. I'll definitely be giving this guy a try after Pokemon Online/Shoddy gets updated.

Doryuuza

Ground/Steel

Ability: Sand Throw/Sand Strength

HP: 110

Attack: 135

Defense: 60

Sp. Attack: 50

Sp. Defense: 65

Speed: 88

Really, that typing and those abilities should be a pretty large yell: this guy's meant to go with Sandstorm. You can either run him regularly, with the Swords Dance he learns via leveling, and have Sand Throw let him outrun anything of his choice, or Scarf him and Sand Strength (buffs the strength of rock, ground and steel moves in a Sandstorm) his Earthquake to stupid levels. He probably won't be too intricate of a pokemon, since his purpose is obvious: point him at the opponent during a sandstorm, and run. 

Roopushin

Fighting

Ability: Guts/Encourage

HP: 105

Attack: 140

Defense: 95

Sp. Attack: 55

Sp. Defense: 65

Speed: 45

This guy is one of those guys in the horrible range of 'even if you pass me speed, I'm still slow'. While this has been done before with Rhyperior, it hasn't really been done with a fighting type, nor a Pokemon with actually useful abilities before: Guts to ward off status, Encourage to just buff your damage output. Like the above pokemon, Roopushin is probably going to end up straight forward: you haven't got time to do anything tricky, so just punch a hole in the opponent. Unfortunately, however, he'll probably end up like Rhyperior: relegated to UU since he's not fast enough to compete in OU. He isn't weak to Bullet Punch, EQ or Close Combat, though, so he could make his way into the edge of OU, but I doubt it.

Gamageroge

Water/Ground

Ability: Swift Swim/Poison Touch

HP: 105

Attack: 85

Defense: 75

Sp. Attack: 85

Defense: 75

Speed: 74

The main thing this guy has going for him is Swift Swim, as it allows to him to do different things to Swampert, who causes every other water/ground pokemon to die. His attack stats, while kinda medicore, allow him to be a mixed and semi-bulky sweeper for rain teams, though, really, I'm not too sure they need another one when they've already got Kingdra. So, he's probably redundant, but he does look pretty cool.

Nageki

Fighting

Ability: Guts/Inner Focus

HP: 120

Attack: 100

Defense: 85

Sp. Attack: 30

Sp. Defense: 85

Speed: 45

The more bulky and slower of the new fighting pair, Nageki is clearly meant to absorb attacks and then dish back damage. Guts probably limits his lifespan too much while active to be useful, so I'd probably use Inner Focus on him, assuming Togekiss and Jirachi remain used. While I don't like him as much as his brother, Dageki, I can still see how'd he have a place on a team, but really, he seems inferior to both Roopushin and Dageki in various ways, so let's move on.

Dageki

Fighting

Ability: Sturdy/Inner Focus

HP: 75

Attack: 125

Defense: 75

Sp. Attack: 30

Sp. Defense: 75

Speed: 85

Given that he has better attack and speed, I prefer Dageki to Nageki. In addition, his lessened bulk is covered by Sturdy, giving him a Focus Sash even if he's got a Choice. Once again, movepool pending, but given his free Sash and/or Inner Focus, he could make quite the anti-lead. While, out of the current leads, he'd lose to Azelf, he would quite decisively beat all the other regular leads, and has a good shot against most of the anti-leads. If he's got Fake Out, or a good dark priority move, I'm definitely giving him a shot on my team as an anti-lead. 

Doreida

Grass

Ability: Chlorophyll/Own Tempo

HP: 70

Attack: 60

Defense: 75

Sp. Attack: 110

Sp. Defense: 75

Speed: 90

I didn't really like the other grass one at all, and cbf'd doing it, so I skipped to this much more useful one. Base speed 90 and Sp. Attack 110 is really not too shabby, especially on a grass type, which hasn't really seen such usefulness before, but combined with Chlorophyll, it's a pretty amazing special sweeper during Sunny Day. Firing off Solar Beams in one turn buffed by that defense is really quite good, and, if I decide to run a Sunny Day team (which I inevitably will), this'll definitely have a shot on my team. The only downside is the whole 'it's weak to fire which is buffed in Sun' thing, which is really the weakness of all Sun teams, but I'm sure HP-Water or something can help there.

Warubiru

Ground/Dark

Ability: Overconfidence (formerly known as Earthquake Spiral)/Intimidate

HP: 95

Attack: 117

Defense: 70

Sp. Attack: 65

Sp. Defense: 70

Speed: 92

The awesome crocodile's full form is way more awesome than most people were expecting, really. Overconfidence/Earthquake Spiral (I'll keep calling it that, even though it's apparently not it's name) can be quite the ability if the user is right, and I think this guy is the right user. Ground/Dark is a good offensive combination, hitting lots for at least neutral, and if it lands even one kill, Earthquake Spiral can push it's attack into stupid regions. If you don't want to risk it, though, it's other ability is Intimidate. Yeah, you're not really pressed for choice with this guy. Oh, and he learns both Earthquake and Crunch via leveling up, in case you were worried he'd have a mediocre option for STAB.

Hihidaruma

Fire

Ability: Encourage

HP: 105

Attack: 140

Defense: 55

Sp. Attack: 30

Sp. Defense: 55

Speed: 90

Kinda what Flareon wants to be, Hihidaruma is a pretty good physical fire sweeper. It's low defences are kinda counteracted by it's high HP, but dayum, that attack and that speed isn't something you often seen outside of a psuedo-legendary, as proven by the two big slow fighting guys above. Encourage combines with the attack stat to make it into a destructive engine that I really can't fathom not being used. Course, SR weakness is bad on something so kinda-fragile, but it's not a huge thing unless you're 4x weak to Rock. 

Pokemon Through the Generations

The opening sprites are appropriate for several reasons. First of all, Snorlax is omnipresent in the Pokemon generations: he was there in gen 1 and has been constantly blocking paths at least once a generation (admittedly, only thanks to the remakes). Further, Snorlax is my favourite pokemon, because he's so big and cute and daww :3, and also a total engine of destruction. The fact he's so incredibly powerful has led to him being commonly used by top players in every generation so far, which leads into this article quite well: a quick history of competitive Pokemon trends.

Generation 1 is by far the most signature generation of Pokemon, and is known by people who don't play Pokemon to be 'the best generation and all other generations suck shit'. While it probably is the best in terms of actual pokemon, it was really rather bad as a game in hindsight, comparatively to the other games. It had quite a few flaws that made it really interesting competitively, though, if a bit stale and slow. First of all, there was no Special Attack or Special Defense: just Special. This led to Alakazam being a bit less frail than he is today, and more of an unstoppable special tank of death. Amnesia was also an amazing ability, causing Slowbro to steam roll teams by becoming both a tank and sweeper at the same rate as Swords Dance does only sweeping. In the end, this ended up rather silly, and made Alakazam and Slowbro infinitely more effective than they are today. How the mighty fall.

Of course, while this was a flaw with every generation up until 4th, special and physical were defined by types rather than moves, i.e. normal was always physical. This really isn't too bad, but combined with the infamous Hyper Beam glitch (if a pokemon is fainted by Hyper Beam, the pokemon that used it doesn't need to recharge), this made Snorlax and Tauros both insane physical sweepers. An amazingly strong STAB physical move, even if it has to be the last hit? Yes, please. You basically had to pick between speed or health, which isn't too bad of a choice, really. 

My most favourite thing ever, though, is the ultimate stall machine this engine introduced, and it really wouldn't be what you'd expect: Dragonite with Agility. Once it gets an agility off, it outruns everything legal that hasn't also been boosted. From there, it paralyzes you and then Wraps you. In Gen 1, if the opposing pokemon uses Wrap and outruns you, you can't move, leading Dragonite to agonizingly slowly kill anything short of Gengar. Which, incidentally, leads to Gengar being OU, despite being hit by Earthquake from Tauros and Snorlax for excessive amounts of damage on its pitiful health and defence.

Alot changed from Gen 1 to Gen 2 with the special split to special attack and special defence, as this ruined Amnesia. Really, nobody cares too much about buffing your special defence, it's kinda pointless. Slowbro's usefulness was also lowered due to not being an engine of special destruction. Mewtwo and Mew were joined by Ho-oh and Lugia in their beloved Ubers tier, and the Hyper Beam glitch went away, putting the move we all know and love in its current place of useless. Course, held items were also invented, and Leftovers found its way on pretty much every pokemon ever, doing its little bit to keep you alive.

The most famous local change to come out of Gen 2 in the long run is the amazing move, Curse. On most pokemon, Curse is rather mediocre, since most sweepers aren't bulky enough in both defences to waste their speed. However, one pokemon is amazing enough in both defences and physical attack, yet with such terrible speed that it's worth spending on attack and defence: Snorlax. Snorlax, armed with Curse, quickly devoured the Gen 2 metagame, becoming more than just a good physical sweeper like it was in Gen 1, and became an infamous set up sweeper that would quickly win the game if you let it get away from you without a phazer, and so, late game, Curselax would devour teams. This, incidentally, was when I got into Pokemon competitively, and was amazed my favourite pokemon could be so good. This was also the only period of time where Wobbuffet was actively rediculed as being bad, so, keep that in mind: there actually was time when it was bad. 

All in all, Gen 2 was much like Gen 1 without special sweepers also being special tanks. A few pokemon that had their special stats become worthless with the split (Lapras comes to mind) become quickly useless, and wished Gen 1 would come back. Tyranitar, Suicune and Umbreon made an impact as generally useful pokemon, and Misdreavus became a gimmick, with its Mean Look/Perish Song laughing at teams not designed to handle it. As gimmicky as it was, it was really quite effective. Shadow Ball also came into existance, giving Gengar something to hit Psychic types with for stupid damage now that Alakazam wasn't a tank, and everything was right in the world.

Course, then Gen 3 came along, introducing abilities to shake things up. Tyranitar, Gengar, Dugtrio, Weezing and Vaporeon instantly gained a ton, suddenly becoming much better at what they wanted to do. Weezing and Gengar finally got to laugh at Earthquake destroying them, letting Gengar sweep more effectively and Weezing actually act as a physical wall. Seriously, nobody wants a physical wall weak to EQ that isn't Steel, it's just stupid. Sand Stream made Tyranitar more of a special wall by accidentally buffing its special defence stat due to it being a rock-type, Dugtrio became an awesome revenge killer via Arena Trap and Vaporeon's Water Absorb made it into a great switch in.

Of course, this new generation offered up a ton of powerhouses. Swampert, who still stands up today due to it having higher base stats than every other starter for no good reason in addition to great typing, and Blaziken overshadowed their poor grass-starter brother, while the psuedo-legendaries, Salamence and Metagross made a large impression as well, due to their amazing physical sweeping ability. The metagame, by this point, had evolved into slow tanks denting the others as much as possible, as shown by (a fact most people forget) Slaking actually being used a lot. Spikes were rampant, and SkarmBliss reigned the defensive combination world. Heracross took over Snorlax's spot as most used physical sweeper (though Snorlax was still no slouch), and the mighty Reversalcross, a set that aimed to use STAB Reversal and Heracross' amazing base attack to destroy the opposing teams ended up with Heracross banned in Japan. Unfortunately, it was beaten the post as the first non-legendary banned, as Wobbuffet and Wynaut had already gained Shadow Tag and Encore, laughing its uncounterable way to banned tier by annihilating teams by itself. 

Choice Band was responsible for most of this, as it pivoted the metagame towards physical (due to a lack of Choice Specs at this point), and it presented a metagame run by sheer power (due to a lack of Choice Scarf at this point). Heracross' absurd damage was made possible by this, and there wasn't really much that could counter it at higher speeds without having to use Agility to get it up to those high speeds first. 

Though there's not much to say about it, and it was down the low end of OU, Ludicolo gets an honourable mention here as an awesome pokemon introduced here. Rain Dance was more prevalent due to lack of abuse for Sandstorm (i.e. no Gliscor or Garchomp to Sand Hax it up), and Ludicolo/Kingdra made for a great sweeping base, due to Ludicolo's good base stats and typing, combined with Swift Swim. Course, that's what it does these days. Back then, it did its infamous stalling set much more effectively due to the slow pace of the metagame, and Rain Dish + Toxic + Leech Seed made it pretty much a repeat of Gen 1 Dragonite in terms of killing pace, and denying moves. 

And now we make it to Gen 4. When the Generation first came out, I can still remember the cries of overpowered for Rampardos due to its high attack. It turned out to be near useless due to its low speed and defence. Tangrowth held its own in OU for awhile as a solid counter to Gyarados, before eventually falling (though it still does counter Gyarados pretty well). Azelf lead the way for the pixies, Garchomp became God, and slowly but surely, the metagame was completely redefined from what it was in Gen 3. While strength was more important than speed before, speed became so much more important. Fast sweepers like Azelf and Infernape were able to do damage to the slower ones (like Heracross) more so than before, and priority became more apparent (thanks mainly to Extremespeed on Lucario, really). Garchomp slowly but surely took over the metagame, ending up in a whopping 81% of all ladder battles in the month it was banned, with only really Gengar to rival it (thanks, in part, to it being able to outrun Garchomp and also thanks to Hypnosis for lead Gengar). Platinum hammered this home, granting the most used pokemon in current standard the move that would eventually become this blog's name: Bullet Punch. Scizor, armed with Bullet Punch and Choice Band, redefined what priority could do, and the metagame ended up looking nothing like the last. Champions like Heracross and Snorlax cling on barely at the bottom of usage, while Scizor, as a relative newcomer to usefulness, having only just found Technician as well, reigned supreme. 

While it was the death of some old titans, like Alakazam, Dugtrio and Rhydon (newly evolved into Rhyperior), some old battleaxes still remain at the top, like Gyarados, Tyranitar and Gengar. Skarmory still holds its title as the entry hazard go-to guy, and Blissey still absorbs special like its nobody's business. In the same boat as Scizor, Tentacruel also found its way in competitive use, due to its neutrality to common water counter move, Grass Knot, and ability to set up the new Toxic Spikes, which could quickly derail a Stall team's capabilities.

All in all, my favourite generation for competition has to be the current one. But, I've always really thought that about the current generation at any one time, so I'm really looking forward to what Gen 5 has to offer. Hopefully, the starters will be useful, and the changes to Sturdy (making it act like a Focus Sash in addition to disabling OHKO moves), adding abilities to the old starters/eeveelutions/etc. will shake up the metagame in a way that makes it much more interesting. And yeah, I know I skimmed over some points, there'd be way too much to talk about if I talked in full about every generation. 

Mata ne,

Pete278

It takes a real man to wear sunglasses on a night operation

The completely irrelevant title out of the way, here's some creative writing to keep myself entertained. It'll probably finish abruptly when I go have lunch and forget about it.

"Reports have come in indicating the Chinese military has tripled its investment in Metagross cavalry, showing the rising tensions as they match the US army. The UN has come out saying it will do everything in its power to prevent a world war, but the opinion polls show the people don't have faith. Silph Co. has also commented on the tension, saying it promises every and all developments will be released globally, and they're not taking sides in the conflict. This was sparked by rumours they would only sell their military developments to the Asia-Pacific countries, which would hinder NATO forces should a war outbreak. More news on the rising tensions at 11." It was easy for everyone to see that this pseudo-war had gotten everyone nervous, but nobody could admit it. You could see in the reporter's eyes, even through a television set, that he was scared, and that he didn't want to believe what he was reporting, but he had to.

What happened to this world? Poaching is at an all-time high while the Rangers fail to stop it. Wild Stantlers and Staravias are being shot, stuffed and mounted faster than the species' can reproduce, and its going to show, but nobody can stop it. The smarter Gengars are eagerly taking sides with thieves and petty criminals, just waiting to cause some chaos in the system. If someone doesn't stop the crime rings soon, the economy is going to hit a depression purely from the banks being broke. Rumours abound that the Russian Spetsnaz are employing Ghost Squads, equipped with not only sleeper agents, but trained and armed Scizors and Salamence. The government promised that Mewtwo doesn't exist, and no such genetic experiments were done, but you can almost feel the lurking threat of Mewtwo and his army, ready to make a new world out of Earth. What is the world going to do about something that can deflect anything you throw at it, and snap your mind in half when its done?

The world could be doing so well, too. The new wrestling leagues are great, with Machamp and Heracross that can actually do the fighting the old pro wrestlers had to act, and its plain to see for anyone that they enjoy the competition. The communication industry is booming, with the old Magneton satellites being replaced by the new Magnezone ones. The Olympics is going to be on soon, as well, with the extremely popular Charizard riding finally getting its first shot as an event. Maybe all the laughter is just a way to avoid the oncoming destruction nobody wants to talk about.

Leaving my apartment, and stepping out into the cold air, it looks exactly like a world on the brink would. Everything's grey, and everyone walks briskly down the packed sidewalks, ignoring everything except their destination and the pokemon at their side. Everyone's got a Scizor with them these days, to protect them from muggers, though they're not as necessary after the government outlawed public usage of Garchomps. Still, everyone wants to feel safe, and the crime lords are hardly going to listen to the law now. Its funny how, despite all the negative abuse by the Soviet Union in the days of old, Scizor is probably the only thing holding this world together.

Not many people can notice it, either, but its possible to pinpoint the day the world started this slide down. The day the two Deoxys entered the atmosphere, the day the government abducted one and began research on it, and the day the original Deoxys virus was released into the public by accident. Its mostly hidden from the public eye, but Deoxys was a virus corrupted and mutated by falling through the atmosphere, and the the people of Earth just weren't well equipped enough to handle the plague when it came. The other Deoxys released the virus as part of a defence mechanism to get its comrade back, but the secret government refused to release such a great tool. The other Deoxys is still out there somewhere, maybe with Mewtwo, maybe with Russia, maybe on its on, but I can guarantee its not going to sit down and cry about it. The plague crashed everything, sending millions of people sick and overloading the hospitals. Hundreds of thousands died, and are still dying today, as the plague still continues its way through Hell's Kitchen. I can't even imagine how the world'd be today if we never tried to control Deoxys.

That's what caused the Mewtwo Insurrection, as well. We couldn't use Deoxys, so we decided to make something better with the research from Deoxys. Mewtwo was too smart, too good, though. When Deoxys just died, Mewtwo got enraged, and destroyed the research facility, taking the other test pokemon with him. We don't know where he is, now, or what he wants. I joined the army to help the people, but how am I meant to help when the world is infected with greed?

My walk to the free clinic is as normal. The sky looks sickly and black, and has done ever since people tried to control Kyogre and Groudon. If Rayquaza was still around, maybe we'd be able to fix the weather, at least, but nobody knows where it went. We knew it could block our radar with its air lock, but no planes we've sent to scout have reported anything. Why Rayquaza is hiding, I can't begin to fathom, but a nagging part of me says it can't bare to look at what's happened to its beloved planet. Its the same thing with the old temples. The Regi guardians that stand guardian to the temples won't allow any people in, and are prepared to die rather than lay down their arms. As far as the records show, the only thing inside was a giant statue that resembled the Regis, with no value in a war, but if they're worth guarding, there must be something else inside.

I don't know what I was expecting, but the sight of the free clinic being packed to the brim again fills me with sorrow. The Deoxys Plague can mutate like the common cold, so even surviving it once isn't a safety. There's a vaccine in the works, but even when its finished, its so expensive it'll only be administered to the 'important' people, and these people in the slums, the ones who can't escape its death grip, will never even hear of it. I'm lucky, because the military wanted a test subject for it, and I obliged, so I could help out here. If they're lucky, they'll die now, and won't have to go through the disease again and again until they do die. The Chanseys and Blisseys can help with the pain, but the way these people are screaming, I can't imagine they can do enough. If only Celebi or Jirachi were more than just old legends, then they could help everyone here.

The Church of Arceus is calling this the End of Days, because we've sinned, and Arceus has sent his divine retribution in the form of Deoxys. We tried to control what we shouldn't, and so now we die. Seems like an ample punishment to me, given the circumstances. When you need armed guards, teamed with Garchomps and Wobbuffets protecting a free clinic, its obvious something needs to change. Maybe a war would be best, if it ended right. Or maybe it'd end wrong and everyone would die, or Mewtwo would succeed in his genocide, or Deoxys would finish the job and get his revenge. Still, I need to keep my mind on the job at hand, and start handing out the painkillers to the people crying in the halls.

"Recent evidence discovered by the police indicates that the child kidnapper in Brooklyn isn't a human, but a Hypno. It is yet to be discovered whether it is working for a trainer, or is acting alone. This interview was recorded with the chief investigator on the case earlier today," The same reporter from before caught my eye on the small CRT hanging in the corner, as it cut to the interview. "It is a known fact that Hypnos need to feed off dreams, but we've never had an outbreak like this where a Hypno would kidnap anyone in a suburban city just to feed. We're currently assuming a trainer is bribing it with the dreams to get the children." The officer looked afraid as he said that, almost wanting to blurt out that it was more likely the Hypno was acting alone, but couldn't.

A scream from outside broke my train of thought, as I dropped everything and ran to help. "Wooooobuffet!" was the only noise I could hear over the two armed guards chuckling to each other, as the man lay helpless, almost catatonic, on the ground. "Idiots don't know when to quit, do they?" One of the guards was muttering to the other, before turning to the crying man. "How's the Shadow Tag feel?" The guard continued, laughing as he spoke. "Have you ever been Shadow Tagged, sir? Do you know the horrible mental agony it puts you through?" I yelled at the guards, doing my best to help the civilian. "This man attacked us, so we responded with non-lethal force. Or would you rather my Chomp tear him to bits?" The guard sneered, as his Garchomp roared with anticipation. "Everyone's in a panic right now. You could've just tasered him, you didn't need to Shadow Tag." I replied, helping the man to his feet into the clinic. The guards continue to laugh, and as I turn to reply to them, something catches my eye. In the sky, for barely any time, I could swear I saw Ho-oh, before it rose back through the smog-like clouds. I decide not to yell at the guards, smiling with hope as I walk back into the clinic. Maybe this world can be saved.

CELEBRATORY BLOG POST OF AWESOME

Stuff is picking up in the world of bulletpunch.blogspot.com, and although...wait, what's that? its just www.bulletpunch.com now? By god, you're right! If you got here via a 'You've been redirected' message, that means you weren't aware of this change. Well, now you are! We have a domain name, and its awesome. Only just got it today!

Anyway, although the tournament's constraints prohibited me and Trav from doing the first interview, we should be able to get one at Kane's house if Vladeyboy goes. That'll be the first episode of the great and awesome Pete's Perfect Prosecutor Podcast (ft. Trav) or PPPP (ft. Trav). First episode will be interview Vlade, as the Eastern states haven't met him and I feel he has alot they probably don't listen to, due to that aforementioned lack of national presence. There may also be Luigi/Waluigi or Wobbuffet jokes, or whatever the meme is at the time. Keep your eyes tuned here/my youtube channel for any updates on it. :D

Also on the youtube channel will be more Weegee matches coming up soon. Sorry about the lack of uploading so far, but my internet keeps cutting out just before it finishes, much to my annoyance. Also, sorry Mic, but I haven't finished the picture-in-picture yet, still working out the technicalities. Thanks to you guys who managed to get me awards for it, by the way. It makes me feel pretty awesome. :D

Oh, and for you guys who thought I was just indecisive and lazy, take a look:

http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/zz90/Pete278/wobbuffet.jpg

This is a picture of the Wobbuffet model in BrawlBox, being editted by yours truly. If you look closely, you can see my msn window with Marty at the bottom, and this blog in Chrome. The walking animations are annoying due to his four little feet, but oh well, its not too difficult. Got one texture so far (shiny Wobbuffet, fairly simple :P), and Marty will hopefully do another for me. :P Once I can get comparisons for hitboxes and properties, PSA will go easily due to my obsessive compulsive nature.

Lastly, to wrap this post up, ads may be coming soon. However, they're targetted ads from Google, so they'll be related to the blog's material. Its mostly an experiment to see how they can get a set of ads from the convoluted insanity that is this blog. Seriously, have you looked at how many topics I've posted about? Its ridiculous.

That's it for now, but rememeber, more content is always coming from the one and only Pete278. Oh, and Level 9 Luigi. And a bit from Trav.

Time For an Arbritrary Time Waster - Pete-style

Since I have nothing better to do, really, until I have another productive Skype conversation with Trav and/or Vlade and/or anyone, really or the tournament next week, I figured it'd be time for a contest. Basically, I'm going to use the polls for something productive this time! Also, its a cheap way to see how many people actually read my blog without having the polls rigged by people who read my blog too much. So, since this is primarily a fightan game blog, this will be primarily a fightan game thing, but I'm also trying to test whether or not any of my former MtG contacts read this (which they totally should, btw, I'm definitely going to get back into that). So, with no further ambiguity (though I am having fun describing it without saying anything meaningful), this will be a pretty standard 'woah best video competition' (and yes, I did steal the inspiration from srk.com).

So, you'll each be nominating a video in a category you feel qualified to nominate in (hell, even if you don't feel qualified). The video can be any competitors, of any country, of any time period applicable to the contest, hosted on any site that doesn't have viruses, so you can use nicovideo if you have an account there. Every person who nominates something will get their name put into a lottery, which the winner will get a SUPER SPECIAL SECRET SURPRISE or SSSS for short. I'm not paying for postage though, so if you're desperate for the SSSS and don't live in Perth, you can pay for postage, but I'm sure you won't care that much. Still worth nominating, though.

Without further a due ('Without further' is the most useful combination of two words, ever), the categories (if it doesn't state a game category, assume fighting. So, 'Best Match of 2009' is actually 'Best Fightan Match of 2009'):

Best Match of 2009:

Most Hilarious Moment of 2009:

Most Johns/Salty Moment of 2009:

Best Australian Match of 2009:

Best Clinch Moment of 2009:

Best Pokemon Player You Know (or, if you prefer, 'Best Pokemon Player That Also Reads This Blog and/or Plays Smash') of 2009 (this one doesn't need a video, just a name :P):

and lastly, just testing if anyone reads this from M-L: Best Magic Match of 2009:

Oh, and for Jardee: Gayest Warhammer Unit:

Be aware, I'm anticipating some categories going without nominees because this blog really isn't that popular. I blame this on you, the reader, for not informing your friends. I also expect Andy, who's watched too many American Brawl matches, to come up with too many nominations. You're allowed more than one nomination for each category, but you only get one entry into the raffle, regardless, and the poll won't be 'which videos got nominated the most' but 'which matches that got nominated, Pete liked the most'. This blog isn't a democracy, its a dictatorship. :P

Now, get nominating and relieve me of having to post anything meaningful for a bit longer.

EDIT: Oh, and you need a link to the video, not just a name, thanks. :P

Pokemon Laddering!

Sorry for the low volume, by the way, because I wasn't aware HyperCam would do it so quietly. Oh well, can't be helped, just use some speakers or a headset, it'll be fine. For those of you who've forgotten/never read it, my youtube account is: http://www.youtube.com/user/PetesCappucino. Remember, I enjoy comments/ratings on my videos, since they make me look popular!

Pokemon Creation Background

So, I've been working on this for about a day now, and still haven't really gotten anywhere. I may as well post it so far, though.

So, first of all, we have the dawn of existance. An empty universe with nothing in it except a single egg. And from that egg, hatches the creator: Arceus. Arceus supposedly created the universe with its thousand arms, and so, it uses them to craft a reality. But before it needs inhabitants, it needs controllers to stop reality falling out of balance, so it creates Palkia to control space, Dialga to control time and Giratina to control the parallel world of negativity that would form and go out of control without Giratina there.

Now that the fabric of existance is under control, he can get to work on the life. At this point, there are two things he could make, Ho-oh or Mew, or both. Mew is supposed to be the ancestor to all Pokemon, so presumably, its pretty old. It can't predate Arceus, however, and likely doesn't predate the Dragon Trio above. Ho-Oh is the phoenix, and is seen by the humans as a creator, having resurrected the Dog Trio. However, it doesn't particularly matter in this case,Ho-Oh is immortal, and thus ancient regardless of when it was made. I'd assume Mew was made here first, however.

Next up, he's going to need somewhere for his new universal inhabitants to live. Whether or not this part happens before or after Palkia, Dialga and Giratina, I wouldn't be particularly sure. Heatran was made with the planet, when volcanic lava melded together into sentient form, so he could be the first non-Arceus Pokemon. Random knowledge here, Heatran is the only Legendary that can be female or male. Anyway, after the planet is made, Arceus decides he's made it incorrectly, so he makes the weather trio: Kyogre to raise the oceans, Groudon to craft the land and Rayquaza to go off and protect the skies (totally infringing on Ho-oh's territory). Then Regigigas pulls the freshly molded continents into their correct places through the oceans raised by Kyogre for Arceus. Lugia would've been made sometime around here, and gone to sleep on the ocean floor to guard it, while Ho-oh takes up its residence of guardian of the sky.

So, now, we have a god busy at work, the three dragons are off in their two parallel universes making sure the fabric of reality remains stable, Mew is off being the ancestor to all Pokemon, Groudon and Kyogre have had their fight and gone to sleep, and Ho-oh, Lugia, Rayquaza, Regigigas and Heatran are busy building/defending Arceus' planet. Now he'd probably make the first human, but before he can, he makes the Lake Guardians, Azelf, Uxie and Mesprit. Since they represent emotion, knowledge and willpower, they're kind of necessary for humanity to be more than blank slates. Celebi would be around now, but due its status as a time traveller, its impossible to discern Celebi's creation point, thus, its better to ignore Celebi. Presumably the moon is active now, and with humans ready to go about existing, Darkrai and Cresselia would be brought into existance, to control the moon's orbit and to give power to the nightmares and dreams of humans.

By this point, the only legendaries left not created by another legendary that would have impact on the elements are Zapdos, Moltres and Articuno. So, I'd put them in here, with Lugia ready to control them if they break out in fighting. Regigigas' job is done, so he goes to sleep, but before he does, he creates Regice, Registeel and Regirock from the glaciers, iron deposits and mountains, and sends them off to guard various things, like the Tree of Beginning and the prison of an unknown Pokemon/human. Last of all, Lati@s are born, to guard the humans with their illusionary skills.

Manaphy/Phione are kind of irrelevant due to their massive power of doing nothing practical, Shaymin are an awfully common species for a legendary, so I believe they would have evolved in the normal way and the Dogs are made by Ho-oh after the Tin Tower is burnt down during the time of humans, so they're a bit off. Jirachi is also ambiguous, due to living in space, so it doesn't even fit into the timeline. Last, we come to the two rival psychic Pokemon: Deoxys, and Mewtwo. Both are made in modern times, Mewtwo via science and Deoxys via the mutation of a virus entering the Earth's atmosphere, so they're also not 'Arceus-made', per se.

And that brings us to the end. Thanks for reading this mostly useless post.

Full On Analysis Part 3

Time to finish the analysis, let's go UU!

1. Venusaur: 18.09%

Venusaur taking number 1 in UU should be no surprise to anyone who plays it, as the Fire-Grass-Water trinity is awfully important in UU, and there's slim pickings for Grass in UU. Roserade going up into OU helped pave the way for Venusaur, but it would've been high up anyway. Sleep Powder was the most used move, on 80% of Venusaurs, which shouldn't be a surprise since every Venusaur set has a use for it. Sludge Bomb is next, due to all the Steels busy being OU, followed by Earthquake, which hits the pesky Registeel. Venusaur also showed how many possibilities it has, with Synthesis at 35%, Swords Dance at 19%, and Leech Seed at 35% as well. Some ran bulky with max HP and Special Defense and others ran offensive with max Attack. At least the most run Pokemon in the least centralized metagame of the lot has more than two sets *coughScizorcoughcough*.

2. Arcanine: 15.83%

Arcanine is Vermy's favourite Pokemon from what I gathered in my game against him. Random facts out of the way, Arcanine is a pretty beast sweeper in UU. The two most used moves were Extremespeed at 83% and Flare Blitz at 82.3%, which should be no surprise, as the strongest normal priority move in the game and the best STAB move Arcanine has access to. 70% had Intimidate, 30% had Flash Fire, the uses of which should be obvious. If you have a Fire weakness, Arcanine solves that. Physical sweeper weakness? Arcanine solves that! Arcanine is also part of the Fire-Grass-Water trinity that I said was oh so important above, so Arcanine also serves as support with Toxic at 31%, and Will-o-Wisp at 22%.

3. Honchkrow: 15.37%

The Big Boss pokemon was a much needed evolution of Murkrow, and he's certainly up to UU's standard. 85.6% used Insomnia for the more robust option, with the rest using the mighty Super Luck, raising Night Slash to a crit an eighth of the time for the hax option. Superpower was the most used option, letting Honchkrow break through Registeel, who it otherwise has problems with, at 97%. Sucker Punch was next, as a pretty damn powerful STAB priority move, even if it does have problems with prediction, at 83%. The majority of Honchkrows were Life Orb, choosing to mix it up rather than be locked in, at 75%, with the rest being Scarfed. Although Honchkrow doesn't possess the diversity of the above two, he makes up for it with sheer power and powerful STAB moves.

4. Uxie: 15.25%

Uxie is the defensive counterpart to Azelf, and though it isn't the dominant lead due to the sheer power of Ambipom in the UU format, its still the third most common lead. Uxie was shown to be a pretty common set up of just about everything, with a fifth holding Light Clay or Damp Rock, and 3% holding Heat Rock, showing it can set up Sunny Day, Screens or Rain Dance. Stealth Rock was most common, however, on 74%, followed by U-Turn, so that once its done setting up, it can get right into the action, at 61%. Reflect was on 30%, Light Screen on 23%, Rain Dance on 19% and Memento on 22%, so Uxie was definitely up there in usage via its ability to support just about every team in UU, regardless of what they're doing. Trick was at 16% usage, as well, letting Uxie play shenanigans with enemy items and lock down enemy setup.

5. Mismagius: 15.14%

First of all, this and the 3 Pokemon above it (not including Venusaur) have such amazingly close percentages, at such low numbers, to show UU is truly a balanced metagame. Mismagius getting Nasty Plot in HeartGold/SoulSilver certainly helped it as a sweeper, letting it skip the unnecessary special defence buff. However, Mismagius does have a fairly decent special defence, so Calm Mind makes it awfully bulky. 51% used Nasty Plot, and 22% used Calm Mind, though, showing the people prefer a Mismagius who kills faster. The most used moves were Shadow Ball at 97% and HP-Fighting at 54%, presumably to give nice type coverage and hit the annoying Registeel, who still hasn't appeared yet, somewhat ironically. Pain Split and Taunt appeared on 10.8% of sets, showing that Mismagius can both counter phazers and kill sweepers, so don't think you're out of the water once you get her down to lower health.

6. Raikou: 14.37%

One of the more feared special sweepers of UU comes out to play, with its feared STAB Thunderbolt at most used move at 95%. Calm Mind was next most used at 81%, showing that Raikou isn't so different to his OU brother, Suicune. Note, however, they're both quite different from their NU brother, Entei, who's a wall who gets killed by SR. Not a good place to be. Substitute was the third most used at 47%, to prevent Raikou's CM sweep being brought to an early end by status. 58% ran Leftovers, while the next largest group was more ballsy, running Life Orb (26%). Sleep Talk was on 5.5% of sets, but Rest didn't make the list, so I'm assuming something went wrong there or people are predicting Venusaur to try and counter Raikou.

7. Ambipom: 14.07%

The most feared lead in UU shows up, with 11% of his usage being as a lead, the rest abusing his speed, powerful Fake Out and moderate attack to use him to sweep. No prizes for guessing what the most used move was, at 93%, its Fake Out. When powered up with the Silk Scarf 42% were running, Fake Out hits an effective base power of 108. Return and U-Turn were next, at 56% and 55% respectively, the first for sheer STAB power, especially with Silk Scarf, and the second to laugh off Ambipom's typical counters, and to also switch out to a better counter to whatever lead they're running. Taunt was disappointingly low at 42%, as Taunt is really one of the best moves in the game, countering leads at Ambipom's speed like its nobody's business. Nasty Plot Pass didn't make the list this time, alas, as its a fairly easy thing to Baton Pass with Taunt and Ambipom's speed.

8. Gallade: 14.01%

Raikou, Ambipom and Gallade are all also absurdly close in usage, and yet nobody is dominant to the extreme Scizor is in OU. Gallade is the manly version of Gardevoir, though you can still get a male Gardevoir if you don't evolve it to Gallade, which is creepy enough. Gallade's most used move at 85% was Close Combat, which should be no surprise, as its top of every fighting type that can learn it (except Machamp, who gets something better anyway). Shadow Sneak was next most used, which kinda makes sense, I guess, even though priority moves without STAB or Technician seems like a bad idea, but I guess its working for its users. Swords Dance was next up at 52%, with Bulk Up barely being used at all this month. Taunt was also in obscurity, so it should be fairly easy to Roar him away if you do let him set up.

9. Registeel: 13.90%

Registeel, known by some as Nazisteel (just look at his hand in the sprite!), is infamous in UU, walling a good portion of the format with its great defence and special defence, and, of course, its typing. Most used move was Iron Head at 82%, followed by Stealth Rocks, which it sets up like nobody's business. Thunder Wave is more popular than Toxic at the moment, at 59% and 19% respectively. Cursesteel was down to 12% this month, so you don't have to worry about any potential aggression from it, and its Rain Dancing was practically non-existant, probably more in favour of Uxie above.

10. Frosslass: 12.82%

Frosslass is one of the best Suicide leads in the metagame, laughing at Ambipom's Fake Out and Return, as well as resisting U-Turn. Initially, it was thought that Abomasnow was the reason for Frosslass' usage, but she's certainly putting up a good fight without the Yeti. Most common moves are Spikes (92%), Ice Beam (69%), Taunt (58%) and Destiny Bond (50%), the last of which bringing new meaning to the term 'suicide'. Trick is still on 10% with a Choice item, so its still possible for Frosslass to cripple two Pokemon with Trick and Destiny Bond. Thunder Wave is also hanging in there, at 14%, but its not too likely that you'll get Tricked or Thunder Waved by Frosslass.

11. Hitmontop: 12.78%

Spinning away into the future is the most used Hitmon, the top. Close Combat makes it second appearance as most used move in UU, at 69%, followed by Hitmontop's signature Rapid Spin at 64%. 52% had Technician, making Mach Punch feel like a bullet (see what I did there?) at the remaining 48% had Intimidate, showing the first time both abilities have been usable on one Pokemon so far. Hooray! On that note, every December 7th will be Hitmontop Day. I'll hold a party next year, trust me. Mach Punch was on 57% of sets, of which I'm assuming the majority would be Technician rather than Intimidate. Fake Out was on a measly 40%, not even every Technician set. Rather disappointing, guys. Psuedo-STAB on Fake Out with a pretty good attack makes for hilarious fun, and yet its completely overlooked on Hitmontop. Even lets it continue its job of support well, but oh well. Other than Spin, a small amount of Tops supported with Toxic, 6.5% of them.

12. Milotic: 12.71%

Gyarados' passive-aggressive sister comes to play as a bulky water in UU, with 84% holding Leftovers and a weird few trying to sweep with Life Orb. Really guys, there's better for sweeping. Recover was second-most used at 75%, underneath the obvious STAB Surf at 88%. 18.9% were RestTalkers, using Milotic's massive bulk during Rest due to Marvel Scale to do some damage, and Toxic was (unsurprisingly, really) more popular than Hypnosis on the status level, 27.5% to 18%. True Haze was still there, at 14.5%, for those of you people too cheap to use Roar or Whirlwind and abuse entry hazards.

13. Spiritomb: 11.06%

Heralded in the release of DP as the Sableye that's actually good, Spiritomb was a bit of a letdown after the hype wore off, proving walls that only resist Poison aren't really very good walls. If he had Levitate, he'd been insane, however, immune to the two most common attacking types and walling everything like nobody's business then. Will-o-Wisp was his most common move at 52%, followed by Shadow Ball and Pursuit. I don't think Spiritomb is really the best user of Pursuit, but I guess it gets the job done. Sucker Punch was down at a measly 27%, which is a bit low for such a powerful (STAB, may I add) priority move, but I suppose Shadow Sneak (36%). Calm Mind was only at 22%, so most of the time, you won't be worried about a sweeping bulky Spiritomb.

14. Donphan: 10.98%

100% ran Earthquake, rounded up, which is the first time all sets of a Pokemon have run one move. Congrats to Donphan. 90% ran Rapid Spin, which is one of Donphan's niches (though I prefer the Top in most cases). Really, Donphan's only ran 7 moves: Earthquake, Rapid Spin, Ice Shard, Stealth Rock, Assurance, Stone Edge and Roar. Roar wasn't on any sets, really, so there's only 6 moves you have to worry about, in descending order. As if predicting ever got hard. In addition, 93% ran Leftovers, so even the item front is decided.

15. Umbreon: 10.63%

Umbreon, the one who's closest to OU out of these Pokemon, hasn't had as large of an impact as you'd expect. Wish is the most common move at 78%, Payback at 70%, and Heal Bell at 42%, the first to let Umbreon abuse its great defences by improving its health, second for good STAB damage off of its low speed and Heal Bell to not only heal your team, but to abuse Synchronize in a great way. As far as hindering the other Pokemon goes, Mean Look was on 20% (Baton Pass or Curse is a great way to abuse that), Yawn (still lets you get Curse up) on 16% and Taunt (Stops those pesky stat-uppers from trying to do it to Umbreon) on 14%. Toxic was the only status in sight, however, on 21%.

16. Alakazam: 10.60%

How the mighty fall. Alakazam, former member of OU (and quite high up, might I add.) Now, however, he doesn't even make top 15 of UU, and doesn't even get 3% in OU. Nonetheless, Alakazam is a force to be reckoned with, possessing his unstoppable special attack and speed. His most used item was Choice Specs, 33.3%, followed by Life Orb, 24%, both of which use his already high speed to dish out damage. Psychic was the most used at 94%, which should be no surprise for an all-out attacker. Trick remains top 4 at 30%, letting Alakazam get some more use out of the Specs once he's done killing things (especially at his speed). Encore also let the Life Orb ones fuck around with Blissey, at 24%. Contrary to popular belief, Alakazam's special defence is high enough, so if all their physical attackers are dead, Alakazam can really just Calm Mind away, and some did, at 16%. Dual Screens were still there, even if Light Clay wasn't, and Taunt was also low down on the list, so some Alakazams do do more than attack, but I wouldn't assume they do in a random game.

17. Rhyperior: 10.51%

Immediately after the former OU special attacker, we have the former physical attacker/wall. When Rhyperior's base stats were first discovered, everyone went crazy with hype. Surely he's broken, with that much health, attack and defence. But alas, the metagame took a nosedive into the fast and furious, with priority and speed everywhere, and someone as slow as Rhyperior fell into UU. 100% after rounding had the mighty STAB Earthquake, which should kill anything it hits for neutral off of his attack, really. 58% had Leftovers, the rest had Life Orb, so more Rhyperiors in UU are going for bulky setup/support/wall, rather than Choice Banded destroyer. For setup, the most common of the two options was Rock Polish at 33%, over Swords Dance at 13%, since people decided he has enough attack already. For support, 39% had Stealth Rock, 13% had Roar, and that's pretty much all he did. Even when he walls, he attacks.

18. Blaziken: 10.32%

Another former OU Pokemon, this one from a different age, though. Infernape came along and ruined its fun, alas. Most of them were Life Orbed wallbreakers at 68%, but a small few had Choice Scarf, trying to make up for the fact Blaziken isn't as fast as Infernape. Superpower, Fire Blast and Vacuum Wave were the most common moves, choosing to use its STAB fire off of Blaziken's slightly worse special attack rather than Flare Blitz off of its better attack. 18% were using Swords Dance for a setup sweep, while a smaller few used Agility at 8%.

19. Sceptile: 9.97%

Sceptile was rather divided items wise, with roughly equal amounts holding Choice Specs, Leftovers or Life Orb, but all of those are fairly easy to differentiate after one turn, so its a-okay. Most common move was Leaf Storm, what's becoming its signature move, at 69%. A few decided they could break walls, running Earthquake (37%) and Leaf Blade (33%), and others used its less amazing physical attack to run Swords Dance (20%). A small few felt like stalling it out, running Leech Seed (14%) and Substitute (17%), but overall, he was more of a mixed sweeper this time around.

20. Clefable: 9.45%

Clefable's always been an interesting support choice due to Magic Guard letting it absorb any Toxic you want. Softboiled, Seismic Toss and Encore were the three most used moves, making it somewhat reminiscent of Blissey. The Toxic Orb-Facade combo was certainly there, albeit in small numbers, with Toxic Orb at 17% and Facade at 13%, letting Clefable actually hit things for high amounts of physical damage. Thunder Wave had an edge in the status area, sitting on 31%, compared to Toxic's 19%. Other than Facade, Clefable's most common moves were Fire Blast, Flamethrower and Double Edge, though none of them were really in high enough percentages that they'd be common.

Now for interesting usages:

52. Snover: 3.49%

The goal is in sight Snover, and we're all rooting for you. If Snover makes it to UU, he'll be the second NFE with the same type of stat distribution to its evolution to be in UU. The first was Chansey, and Scyther, Porygon2 and Magneton don't count due to different stat distributions (Scyther's faster than Scizor, Porygon2 is completely different to Porygonz and Magneton is slightly faster than Magnezone). Snover is obviously being used as a replacement to the BL Abomasnow, because of its ability to induce the most powerful weather in the UU metagame, Hail. It combines well with Frosslass above to trigger Snow Veil and give 100% accurate Blizzard, but Snover's flaws are greatly evident. Its stats are low, and its 4x weakness to fire on its stats can make it a liability. Still, if Snover makes it, it will be a landmark event.

56. Magneton: 3.20%

You'd think with Registeel remaining up there in usage, Magneton would as well for its ability to trap and kill the pesky wall, but apparantly not. If Snover doesn't make it to UU, its impossible for Magneton to remain in UU, and the only usage it would see in NU is the fact its a Steel type that is better than Mawile.

57. Electrode: 3.19%

You'd think with Ludicolo up so high, the fastest Taunt and Rain Dance in the game, that also gets STAB Thunder would see some more usage, but apparently not. Especially with an ability to prevents Heal Bell from working, but again, apparently not. Still, I'm sure Electrode's usage will pick up in December, and it won't fall away into NU.

And that's it for the moment. Now remember, I'm doing this again for December, which is even more important due to being the end of the tier list revision period, so pay more attention then. You lot better be grateful! :P

Full On Analysis Part 2

OU:

1. Scizor: 30.81%

Scizor remains the most used Pokemon in OU, due to its combination of powerful priority, good typing, and huge attack stat. It was about 50/50 ratio of CB Scizor's to Swords Dance Scizors, with 55% of Scizors using Choice Band, 23% using Life Orb and 13% using Leftovers. 98% used Bullet Punch, 71% used Superpower and 62% used U-Turn, moves which you should all know are fairly common to Scizor's by now. Pursuit came in at 58%, with its psuedo-STAB via Technician and Swords Dance at 38%. A small amount, at 5.3%, ran Swarm over Technician, and those contributed to the 7.1% who ran X-Scissor. PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU RUN TECHNICIAN, BUG BITE HAS A BASE POWER OF 135, AND X-SCISSOR ONLY HAS 120. ALWAYS RUN BUG BITE OVER X-SCISSOR WITH TECHNICIAN. THANK YOU.

2. Salamence: 20.95%

Salamence comes in next, a staggering 10% underneath Scizor, having risen up by 1% to claim Gyarados' spot. For those of you who wanted to ban Salamence a while ago, this is proof why he shouldn't be. 61% ran Life Orb, 11.2% ran Leftovers for some more bulky. Funnily enough, his most used move wasn't Outrage, but Earthquake, probably due to more and more running Dragon Claw, since being locked into Outrage in a format saturated with Steel is a bad idea. Dragon Dance was on 51% of them, showing the diminishing usage of MixMence in favour of DDMence. However, Fire Blast was still up there at 45%, showing Levitating Steels still aren't safe, and Draco Meteor was at 41%, to blast a hole in non-Steel physical walls. Roost came up to 21.6% usage this time, showing that bulky Mences still aren't dead yet, even though Dragonite does them better.

3. Latias: 20.36%

Latias shows the power of dragon types, coming in at third barely under Salamence. Latias was third in October as well, barely increasing usage by .3% this month, showing the relative stability of the OU usages. Most Latias ran Leftovers this month, at 34%, closely followed by the trio of Life Orb, Choice Specs and Choice Scarf, all at around 20%. Surf was the most used move, at 62%, followed by Dragon Pulse and Draco Meteor both at around 50%. Calm Mind didn't come up until 32% usage, showing that even if Latias goes bulky, it still wants to be on the attack, rather than getting hit by an Outrage. Reflect barely came into it at 6%, showing the decreasing Screens in OU as well.

4. Tyranitar: 19.39%

Tyranitar, the physical monstrosity, comes in at 4th, 1% below Latias. Its usage increased by 2% this month, a relatively large amount for the OU ladder. The list of things TTar has done this month is rather large, as well. Most of them were holding Leftovers at 28.5%, but then there's Choice Band, Babiri Berry (countering Scizor like its nobody's business), and Expert Belt. Crunch was his most used move at 78.5%, followed by Stone Edge as the two obligatory STAB moves. Dragon Dance was next at 38.5%. If his third most used move is that low, you know it has a diverse movepool. Earthquake, Pursuit, Fire Punch, Flamethrower (the mighty Mixtar), Superpower... Aqua Tail is rather low at 10%, as a move I used to use quite a bit on my Tars, as it hits alot of things reliably, but the metagame has changed quite a bit, I suppose.

5. Heatran: 19.34%

Barely under Tyranitar (by 0.05%) comes Heatran, who was, at one point, the most used Pokemon in the game, even more than Garchomp. Choice Scarf was on 41% of them, followed by Leftovers on 24%. Torment didn't even appear in the moveset this time, which is disappointing as an avid fan of Tormentran. Three different Hidden Powers (Grass, Electric and Ice) appeared this time, with Grass being the most used. Earth Power was its most used move at 87%, due to indecisiveness between Fire Blast and Flamethrower. Explosion was on 56.6%, followed by the aforementioned Fire Blast. With Lava Plume and Overheat included, however, well over 100% of Heatran's had a fire move on their set, indicating some Heatran use Fire Blast and Flamethrower, or Fire Blast and Lava Plume, and so on, which I found interesting. Magma Storm didn't appear today either, which I found disappointing since its a pretty cool move...if it hits. Oh well.

6. Gyarados: 19.29%

Its interesting that, even though it only dropped usage by 1%, it dropped 4 positions on the ladder. Gyarados is the second physical sweeper so far to have Intimidate, showing just how powerful the ability is for letting things set up with Dragon Dance. Waterfall is most used at 96.7%, followed by Dragon Dance at 87%. Taunt is on 1/3 of Gyarados', as well, making Phazing more difficult, and also making rival setups impossible. RestTalk has been used a neglible amount, just under 9%, and Bounce has barely appeared at all this month, letting Breloom and Heracross reign supreme.

7. Metagross: 16.73%

3% below Gyarados, we have a physical attacker and wall who's ironically immune to Intimidate, Metagross. While diverse on the items side, running Lum Berry, Occa Berry, Leftovers and Life Orb, the movepool isn't as diverse. Earthquake is most used at 82%, followed by its signature Meteor Mash at 73%. Slightly less than half run Bullet Punch, so priority isn't always a worry, and Agigross has dropped down to 23.7% of Metagross, so most of them will either be Leads, or just flat out sweepers. 5.8% do run Trick, however, so watch out, because every now and again you'll face a Scarfed TrickGross.

8. Jirachi: 16.20%

Just beneath Metagross we have the third Steel type in the top 10, Jirachi, who's moved up 3% since October. The Wish Giver is certainly quite diverse movepool wise, with Iron Head being the most used at 73.5% and everything being in the 30s from there. U-Turn sets at 40%, Fire Punch 39%, Trick 31% (what was once the signature Jirachi, Scarfed TrickRachi) and Wish at 23.7%. Scarfs are on 48% of Jirachis, so its a good idea to use priority or something durable to take it out. Thunder Wave is on 12.6% of Jirachis, as well, so there's a small chance of a paraflinch Jirachi making you ragequit.

9. Lucario: 15.46%

My ex-girlfriend's favourite Pokemon, Lucario, is well known for its diversity, due to having equal attack stats and a nice movepool. However, a large majority of Lucarios are going Swords Dance, so that unpredictability in random ladder matches is mostly non-existance. Close Combat is on 86.3%, Extremespeed 80% and Swords Dance 72%. The first special move in the list is Aura Sphere at 12.6%, so its a fairly safe bet to switch in a physical wall and hope for the best. However, adding Bullet Punch and Vacuum Wave to Extremespeed and you get quite a high percent with priority moves, so a faster sweeper may not always do the job. However, with Bullet Punch's low percent of usage, Gengar with HP-Fire should do the job fairly well, but if it doesn't OHKO, Crunch is up there at 60%. So, really, even without taking special into account, Lucario is a dangerous beast, and you have to remember, once you move up the ladder, you'll face players who know how to better take advantage of him.

10. Infernape: 14.52%

Although Infernape has dropped in usage since October, he's still rounding out the top 10. Infernape remains one of the best wallbreakers in OU, with very little able to wall him consistently. Close Combat is on 85% of Infernapes for huge STAB damage, hitting almost everything in the format, and not really making Infernape too much more frail, since most faster things will already kill him. Grass Knot is second most used at 43%, letting Infernape get past water types, namely arch-nemesis Swampert. Nasty Plot dropped 3%, relegating it to the realm of obscurity in random ladder battles, which is a shame since Nasty Plot plus Close Combat lets Infernape destroy entire teams easily. U-Turn's risen slightly but still remains low at 17.1%, which is also interesting since it lets Infernape get a nice escape and still get damage against some of his counters.

11. Gengar: 13.82%

Once upon a time, when Garchomp was lord of the lands, the only one who could challenge his usage was a little quick ghost named Gengar. Then DPP came out, destroyed Hypnosis and Gengar's usage slowly dropped, leaving him 11th from his undisputed place of second. Most used item is Life Orb at 37.7%, taking Scarf's spot on Gengar. Interesting, Specs is under 'Other', even though Gengar is fast enough and powerful enough to use them to dent things pretty well. Shadow Ball is the most used attack, on 96.3% of Gengar sets, followed by Thunderbolt and Focus Blast. Trick is all the way down at 12.5% (I'm proud to be one of those users), and Destiny Bond is at 18%, despite the fact Gengar is fast enough to use both to cripple sweepers. Hypnosis is on 12.6% of sets still, showing 60% accuracy is still usable. A very weird portion used Sludge Bomb at 6%, but really, don't use Sludge Bomb. Definitely not in OU, because then you'll get Pursuited by a Scizor.

12. Swampert: 12.88%

Now the mudfish comes out to play, with his great typing and base stats. Leftovers was the only item even really considered this time, on 90% of Swamperts, along with Earthquake (also on 90%). Stealth Rock was second most used, at 67%, followed by Ice Beam. Waterfall was interestingly only 32% of sets, and Sleep Talk didn't even make the list, showing Swampert was mostly just an aggressor and not a setup. Curse was on 11.6%, just under Avalanche's 11.7%, showing Cursepert is still alive, even if inferior to Curselax.

13. Rotom-H: 12.68%

Even though the Rotom forms get their tier list placing as if they were one Pokemon, I don't feel it'd be right to analyze them as one. So, here's the most used, and for good reason, the Oven (it was originally going to be a Toaster, but alas, it was not to be). Shadow Ball was the most used at 82.3%, followed by Thunderbolt and Overheat. Overheat only being on 67% intrigues me, as it shows that Rotom-H is the 'go-to' Rotom, as bluffing Overheat is more powerful than bluffing Air Slash. Trick remains high up there at 42%, to go with the 42% with Scarves. 3% had Specs, and 54.7% had Leftovers, however. Sleep Talk was interestingly high at 10%, although I would've thought Rotom-H was too fragile to RestTalk. Will-o-Wisp also remains a threat to physical sweepers, on 40% of Rotom-Hs.

14. Blissey: 12.18%

Blissey is still the most used special wall, as not many Latias are EVd to wall, probably due to its low health and lack of Soul Dew. Softboiled (!) is the most used move at 62%, followed by Seismic Toss and Toxic, which remains more popular than Thunder Wave, which I find interesting due to there being more Steels than Ground. Wish remains more popular than Aromatherapy, by 8%, with Wish sitting at 38%. 5.5% think they can get away with Counter, despite the lack of Focus Sashes, with the only item being Leftovers at 100%. Stealth Rock is also sitting on 15%, even though you all know there's someone on your team who could do it better. 3.8% used Serene Grace, possibly because they forgot to change, possibly to Parahax with Thunderbolt to attack and Thunder Wave, who knows. Not too many people bother statusing Blissey, so it is potentially useful to bluff Natural Cure.

15. Azelf: 11.37%

The first of the 'faeries', and the only OU one, Azelf comes along. Still number 1 lead, the most used moves were Stealth Rock at 65%, Explosion also at 65% and Psychic at 52.6%. People tend to overlook the fact that, not only is Azelf fast and a good lead, it also has bloody good attack and special attack. Nasty Plot saw play on a measly 10% of teams, which really would be better if more teams were running other leads and ran Azelf as a sweeper instead, but oh well. 17% of Azelfs were also Dual Screening with Light Clay, but the majority held a Sash. However, 11.5% had Trick and a Choice Scarf, which was the one thing Alakazam had over Azelf and it just took it away. Damn you Azelf!

16. Starmie: 11.07%

Starmie, though dropped a place, has had fairly stable usage for a while. Natural Cure + fast + high special attack does a good sweeper make. Thunderbolt, Surf and Ice Beam were the most common moves, all at over 60%, with Thunderbolt peaking at 84%. Next up was Rapid Spin at 55%, which is always a useful support move. Recover was there on 43% of Starmies to keep them alive from Life Orb recoil, and Trick was there on a measly 10.4%, so your Blissey probably isn't going to get a new Scarf from Starmie anytime soon. Its interesting that Scarf is more common than Specs on such a fast Pokemon, which would make Starmie's reasonable Special Attack capable of denting anything, but I suppose with more and more Scarfed Pokemon, base speed doesn't mean much.

17. Gliscor: 10.85%

Gliscor, a.k.a. Metaknight, is one of the best leads in OU at the moment in my opinion, but usage disagrees with me, having him down at 12th in Leads usage. 75% had Leftovers, but 10% had a Yache Berry, to counter Gliscor's obvious 4x Ice weakness. Earthquake (86%), Roost (70%), Taunt (51%) and Stealth Rock (35.5%) were his most used moves, which, if you haven't noticed, are all PERFECT MOVES FOR A LEAD. Oh well. Swords Dance appears to be the move of choice for Baton Passing, with Rock Polish down at 10% and SD sitting on 26%, but to be fair, Baton Pass itself is only on 18%, so some of those Swords Dancers are for sweeping with Gliscor. 63% had Sand Veil, which works well due to the large number of TTars, even if you don't have one, and 36% had Hyper Cutter, to prevent actual hazing and Intimidate.

18. Vaporeon: 8.90%

I was there when Wishporeon was barely used, relegated to the UU metagame and nobody liked it for some reason, when I said to a friend of mine named Charles one day, 'why not use Vaporeon with Wish instead of Blissey?' And now everyone uses it, and this saddens me. Well, clearly not everyone, if its only at 8.9%, but still. Surf and Wish are the most common two, at 90% and 85% respectively, then followed by Protect at 70%, both for scouting and the mighty Wish-Protect combo that makes Vaporeon such a great and annoying staller. Vaporeon's use as a Wishpasser and Acid Armor passer is still there, with BP on 13% and Acid Armour on 10%. Aqua Ring was also there on 6%, as a rather odd stall choice, but I suppose it could work.

19. Machamp: 8.56%

The king of the ring comes up next, having lost its 18th spot to Vaporeon. As one of the most brutal physical attackers ever to be in the game with its STAB No-Guard DynamicPunch, with the brutal move on 92% of sets. 66.2% of sets had Leftovers, but 18% had a Lum Berry to prevent Will-o-Wisp doing the only thing Machamp can do, really. Payback was his next most used move at 62%, taking advantage of how slow Machamp is to hit like a truck against Ghosts. 28% of Machamps were also RestTalkers, letting him Dynamicpunch everything, or alternatively take advantage of Guts. 91% had No Guard, while 9% had Guts, showing that at least some of the RestTalkers continued to Dynamicpunch. 13% of the other Machamps were Bulk Up, though I'm not sure Machamp has the Defence to really take advantage of it.

20. Magnezone: 8.46%

Just a touch under Machamp and rounding out the top 20, we have the anti-Steel, Magnezone. Built to switch in on Scizors locked on bullet punch. A small few forgot to change abilities and left it on Sturdy (A HINT FOR THE UPCOMING OHKO CLAUSE TEST?') but every other Magnezone had its Magnet Pull. Thunderbolt was his most used move, on 95% of Magnezone (really, why wouldn't you have it?), followed by Explosion and HP-Fire, both near 50%. Since his target of choice has changed from Metagross and Heatran to Scizor, Magnet Rise has dropped in usage to 27% from back when Metagross and Heatran were the most used Steels and Magnezone feared Earthquake and Earth Power. Charge Beam was a weird buff choice on 6% of Zones, since a Charge Beam and a +1 Charge Beam do less damage than a +1 Thunderbolt, but whatever, it works sometimes, I guess.

Now onto other interesting usages in OU:

48. Heracross: 3.35%

Heracross' usage dropping to 3.35% is a bad sign for the next tier change, since he's been on a downward spiral and showing no signs of recovering. As such, if this continues, by the next tier change, Heracross will hit UU status. If you care, 40% were Scarfed, and 96% had Megahorn on their set. A few were Flame Orb-Guts-Swords Dance, hitting like a truck with Facade, but most were standard Choiceacross.

50. Umbreon: 3.07%

Just under Heracross and Rotom-C (who's at no worry of falling into UU), we have Umbreon, who's been sitting on the precipice of OU for quite some time, but has always been just under it. Umbreon's gone up from 2.87% in October, meaning its getting closer and closer, and may be able to jump in when Heracross falls if it gets another spike in interest. If you care, its main moves are Wish (63%), Baton Pass (52%) and Mean Look (44%). Curse is its most dangerous weapon with Mean Look, however, letting it set up however much it wants on, say, a Blissey.

55. Ludicolo: 2.37%

The guy manages 2.37% WITHOUT Manaphy in the format. If Manaphy does hit the format, Ludicolo is a full proof counter for it, with a 4x resistance to Manaphy's STAB, and neutral to its two other common moves, BoltBeam. Plus, RainRest Manaphy gets outrun by a Swift Swim Ludicolo, who can easily kill Manaphy with a mighty Energy Ball. So, basically, if Manaphy becomes OU, expect Ludicolo to hit OU as well.

360. Kakuna: 0.00% (used 27 times)

For those of you who haven't looked through every NFE page, Kakuna has his own moveset page here: http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/kakuna presumably written by The Kakuna Guy, the greatest of Kakuna users. The most used item was Choice Band this month, at 21%, followed by Metronome and Black Sludge, both at 17.4%. All Kakunas had Poison Shot and Iron Defense, but they really varied after that. with 87% using String Shot, 86.2% using Bug Bite and 30% using Harden. Clearly, Harden's a bit lacking in the defence area. Interestingly, however, no Kakuna ran any SpDef EVs. Interesting choice, but I think it really needs some there.

I'll try to get UU done tonight. If I can't, it'll be up tomorrow.