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The Rain Hermit Way
8 years ago
My way of life is a narrow and humble one, battling the AI under Triple Battles with my beloved rain team. If you want to listen and hear this way and the glories that were and laments that are, then this guide is for you.
Introduction to Triple Battles
In the Triples, you are elevated from warrior into commander. Three Pokémon go out per trainer, and both the side and center positions have special mechanics to them. Learn and understand the battlefield, and emerge victorious!
-Moves have limited range
-The battle members at the sides cannot directly attack the far side of the field with most moves. As a rule of thumb, all Flying-type moves and "pulse"-type moves can hit the far side of the battlefield. Effectively, this means that the center member is the one most vulnerable at any given time, but also has the greatest offensive reach. Allies at the sides will also find it easier to reach the center member with moves such as Helping Hand.
-Battle members at the sides may Shift
Shift is a special move available to any Pokémon currently at the side. It will swap the places of the center Pokémon and itself, and uses the standard effective speed. However, it DOES NOT check for additional limitations such as flinching, sleeping or paralysis, and it doesn't count as a move for the purposes of Choice items. The center Pokémon cannot Shift to the side by itself; the Pokémon at the desired side has to Shift. If there are only two Pokémon in total remaining and they are at the opposing sides, they will automatically be Auto-Centered to the center at the end of the turn.
-Team size is always 6 per side
Whether in multiplayer or PWT/Battle Maison, the team size is always the maximum of 6 to accommodate the larger amount of Pokémon per side. This will give you tremendous amounts of choice when it comes to picking team members!
-Area of effect moves can hit up to five targets (3 enemies, 2 friendly), with no additional damage penalty
-Wide-hitting moves can be extremely powerful, only receiving the usual AOE damage penalty no matter how many are hit, but precautions should be taken to minimize friendly fire damage, which can be harder than it sounds as there can be up to two allies in the line of fire.
Rain continues to fall
The rain is my ally, and a powerful ally it is. It gives many benefits, including the following:
-Damage of water-type moves increased by 50%
-This boost goes a long way towards increasing the damage of the main attacking moves to very dangerous and reliable levels, including against enemies resistant to water
-Activates several abilities, including Swift Swim and Dry Skin
-Swift Swim is very powerful, since it elevates even a mediocre speed to a level with almost unbeatable speed superiority, without the use of any items. This means that the item slot can be used for a damage-boosting item, and the nature may be used to boost damage instead of speed
-Dry Skin, especially in combination with Leftovers/Dark Sludge, gives huge healing potential that all but neutralizes chip damage. Another, perhaps even more powerful benefit it gives is immunity to all water moves and the 25% healing that goes with it. This allows the Dry Skin user to effectively support at the edge, unafraid of friendly fire or light damage
-The damage of fire-type moves reduced by 50%
-This is not as useful as the sun equivalent, being a bit overkill, but it further neutralizes enemy fire-types and gives quadruple weak Pokémon like Scizor a chance at living through a fire attack
-Weather-dependent healing moves such as Synthesis will heal 25% of HP
-These moves aren't used on these sets, so the reduction is only useful. Grass-types depending on Synthesis will have their stall potential greatly reduced
-Thunder and Hurricane will hit with increased accuracy
-Both moves can sometimes be used against the rain team, but both can also find their way into the team's movesets. Special mentions go out to Noivern's Hurricane and Lapras' Thunder
-Directly counteracts enemies depending on a different kind of weather
-Especially sun sees many of their wanted benefits turned directly against them, but activating rain after an enemy's weather will still, in any case, greatly hinder them as they can't utilize the benefits of their weather
-Weather Ball becomes water-type with 100 power
-This move is rarely used, and the enemy's water-type moves are not too dangerous in any case
Notes on the AI
The AI only tends to switch on two specific situations:
-when all of the Pokémon's moves are completely ineffective against all possible enemy targets
-when the AI has a teammate waiting with an ability that can nullify the type of an attack used in the previous turn
In layman's terms, if you use Surf on the first turn and the targets don't die, you can expect the enemy to switch one out for something with Water Absorb or Dry Skin the next turn, if they have it.
Note also the enemy's targeting preferences. The AI likes to go target team members that it thinks it can kill with its chosen move. Therefore, team members with very low HP or outstanding weaknesses become prime targets. Just like you, the AI targets the slot, not the Pokémon: if the targeted Pokémon changes with Shift or Ally Switch, its original slot is still targeted (not the new location).
Speaking of Shift: the AI will never Shift their Pokémon. Be aware of this limitation. Auto-Center is the only instance in which the computer will make a Shift.
There are also a few unexplained phenomena I've witnessed, such as SSC, Spontaneous Self-Combustion (computer player burns his own Pokémon for no apparent reason) and moving between Rounds. Also, sometimes the move chosen seems rather random, so perhaps sometimes it picks a different one from the usual on purpose, just to feel more unpredictable.
The computer player is like an unthinking, unfeeling machine: it feels no pity, no remorse, it can't be scared or bargained with, and it won't stop until it's dead. Mind games don't work, but abusing the AI's habits and limitations will.
The Plan
The main idea is to abuse all the benefits of rain as much as possible, while preventing the enemy from tampering with the weather.
The end goal is to reliably defeat all possible opponents in the supported battling facilities. The highest achievement recognized by the game, winning 200 battles in a row in the Battle Maison, can also be done. If it was possible with the old, imperfect team, it should also certainly be possible with the Mark II version.
The following will discuss the main points of the various roles in the team, the main choices and their potential differences. More specific comparisons are listed later in the sets section.
The first member, the cornerstone of the team is Politoed, whose hidden ability immediately summons rain (permanently in BW2, 5 turns in XY/ORAS). There is no need for another rain bringer by means of Rain Dance or otherwise, from my experience. The great benefit from Drizzle is that there is NO need for any setup, which is the bane of strategies such as Trick Room which can live or die by whether they can set up correctly. In addition, the amount of attacking team members can be maximized, since there is no need to spend a turn on using Rain Dance. Depending on the situation, Politoed can either move immediately or switch out. The great momentum brought by Drizzle will allow the rain team to gain the upper hand very early, increasing the chances of overpowering the enemy and keeping them on the defensive.
The nerf to the duration of ability-summoned weather from infinite to 5 turns affects Triples the least, since every turn will see up to 6 Pokémon make a move. Still, try to remember how long the rain lasts and have Politoed in reserve so that it can be switched in right away when you need it.
The second main member is the main battle unit. This will be sent out first as well, in the important center spot. I use Kingdra, but Ludicolo and Golduck are viable choices as well. The reasons for using Kingdra are:
-agreeable stat spread
-Swift Swim
-movepool has the correct moves
-dragon-type gives several important resistances and increases the damage of Dragon Pulse and Twister
The main battle unit can be included twice in the team, and Ludicolo is a good pick for the second one due to the important grass-type STAB attack in Giga Drain and its healing property. Golduck and Kingdra fill similar spheres, so I feel it comes down to one of them and Ludicolo for the important bit of type diversity Grass brings.
Golduck, as said, has very similar properties to Kingdra but is a bit different. It lacks the dragon-type so it has all the usual water-type weaknesses, but also loses the deadly weaknesses to Dragon and Fairy. In XY/ORAS it can use Synchronoise (in BW2, the power is too low) to effectively deal damage to enemy water-types; however, with so many water-types in your own team, it's difficult to use this without hurting and potentially killing your team members.
The third main member is the supporter. This spot is used by Toxicroak; nothing else can claim to have the same set of attributes. It has decent stats, including an outstanding Attack, the very rare and powerful Dry Skin ability, a very large movepool and an alright type. With Black Sludge, Substitute, Drain Punch and healing from friendly fire Surf, Toxicroak's potential staying power is almost indefinite, however, it will almost certainly die to STAB super-effective attacks; keep this in mind. Where Toxicroak also really shines is in its movepool, including the invaluable Helping Hand which Heliolisk cannot learn.
The fourth member is the support gunner. Again, I consider only one for this role, this time Gastrodon. It has some very acceptable stats, a great typing for both offense and defense, and Storm Drain, an ability that makes it immune to all water-type moves, and simultaneously boosting its mediocre Special Attack to dangerous levels. It's usually switched into Politoed's space on the first turn, getting a free Storm Drain hit from Surf, and another on the next turn before it could possibly attack first (with no interference). That's 2x the Special Attack! Gastrodon has a fatal weakness to Grass, though, and care must be taken to deal with this. The item slot is not needed for any other outstanding need, so I devote it to an item that will ensure its survival against a grass-type attack.
The fifth member may be another support-type hustler or another main battle unit. In BW2 I used Lapras for this slot, for abusing Hydration + Rest with, and to hit hard with Thunder. With the changes in XY I eventually switched it to Ludicolo, out of musing "I wish everyone could be like Kingdra". As explained, Ludicolo continues the good work Kingdra began, but is a little different.
The sixth member is the wild card. There is no clear choice here; there are many different options that fulfil different needs. Check the sets sections for some ideas.
Sets
ORAS Team Prime
This is the latest incarnation of the team in ORAS.
Politoed@Leftovers
Modest
252 Sp. Atk/252 HP/ 6 Speed
Drizzle
Surf
Scald
Ice Beam
Protect
Politoed has a cruddy movepool, but there are still some choices here. I've found that having both Surf and Scald increases versatility; with Politoed's decidedly mediocre Sp. Atk, water-type moves generally rise above all else due to rain and STAB. I used to have Hydro Pump instead of Scald, but it misses more than it hits and its power even got nerfed in XY. Ice Beam is there for the usual reasons. The last moveslot can be used for a variety of moves. Overall, I've found Protect to be the best and most reliable, even though I only tried it relatively recently. It allows you to safely stay in and bait the enemies into attacking Politoed while the others mop up the distracted foes. During some other situations as well, Protect can be used to stall for life with Leftovers. Another choice for this moveslot would be Psychic for some Grass/Poison countering, and also for some troublesome fighting-types (Poliwrath). Endeavor is a rather gimmicky choice that rarely sees the opportunity to be utilized well, but can decimate a potentially troublesome foe, to be finished off by a teammate's Surf. Perish Song is also a move that is hard to use effectively. In Triple Battles you can seal the enemy's fate with it once three of their members have been killed. Naturally you should have the numbers to switch out safely over the course of three turns, or you'll die as well. It is still a rather slow and cumbersome move, but can terminate a staller's aspirations.
For the item slot, I've found Leftovers to be overall the most reliable choice. This is assuming that another team member is not using it (Lapras likes to have it, if you're using one). When comparing to Sitrus Berry, you also have to consider that Leftovers activates at any percentage of HP, and is therefore superior for repairing chip damage, as well as in longer battles where Leftovers has the opportunity to outheal the 25% of Sitrus Berry.
Choice Scarf is what I had in the 200 run: it increases speed by a decent bit, but if there's nothing to multiply with, the result is still low. Don't expect the blazing speeds of Kingdra. Protect is also gimped under choice items.
Red Card is a rather cheeky choice that I've only tested briefly. The idea is that Kingdra hits Politoed with Surf, and is immediately switched out, protecting it from any stragglers. This is gimmicky to say the least. Firstly, it works one time only, and Politoed is left without an item for the rest of the battle. Secondly, you DO NOT get to choose what to switch to; a random non-present team member that is not dead will be chosen. Thirdly, an enemy might mess with this, for example if a Fake Out user hits Politoed, it gets switched out for free, effectively giving the enemy another Fake Out user. Bad! Red Card: gimmicky, but can be fun.
Assault Vest is an option if you're not using moves such as Protect or Perish Song. It'll reduce friendly fire damage from Surf and dull the pain from certain popular attacks like Thunderbolt and Giga Drain.
Speed may be minimized to give the possibility of Drizzle activating after other leads' weather abilities, but I haven't tried this approach.
Kindgra@Choice Specs
Modest
252 Sp. Atk/224 Speed/34 HP
Swift Swim
Surf
Icy Wind
Dragon Pulse
Twister
Some points here will strike out as strange. Firstly, the EV spread: I've not checked the enemy list and their effective speed values, but with this amount of speed at least, Kingdra will still outspeed practically anything under rain.
The exceptions would be something like Choice Scarf Aerodactyl (ridiculous overkill) or an enemy Swift Swim user. Other Kingdra are the ones to watch out for, however, from my data they also have neutral speed natures, so having maxed speed would still not help, as you'd get a 50/50 chance of moving later regardless. Live by Murpy's Law. Instead of Speed I put any spare points to HP, as Kingdra is valuable and tends to have many close calls when under attack.
Regarding the moves, Twister is practically there for the PWT, as dragon-type teams are numerous there. A 2x supereffective STAB Twister and a 2x supereffective non-STAB Icy Wind should do the same amount of damage, so the difference comes to other factors. Firstly, Icy Breath has bad accuracy, and since it's checked three times per attack, you are practically guaranteed to miss at least once per attack, so Twister is much more reliable. Secondly, Icy Wind can do 4x supereffective damage against some dragons, but some have the anti-ice berry which nullifies that advantage (It's unlikely that Kingdra will survive a single turn against enemy dragons; the Twister/Icy Wind business is expected to be a suicide attack). Icy Wind has a completely reliable additional effect (if it hits), but it will only take effect during the following turns. Twister's flinch chance is more of a bonus, not a factor really, but can be very funny. In rare cases Kingdra stays alive to the end of the battle, having killed or flinched all it hit. In non-PWT matches Twister can be swapped for something else like Ice Beam for more reliable, damaging, single-target ice damage.
Surf is there for obvious reasons, and Dragon Pulse serves as the dragon-type STAB move. Draco Meteor is not used for the following reasons:
-horrible accuracy
-Sp. Atk drop forces a switch on Kingdra if it lives
-does not hit the far side of the field
-low PP
Dragon Pulse is an effective siege weapon: kill a staller's teammates around it, set up next to it and keep hitting it with Dragon Pulse from the other side of the field where it can't reach you.
Typically, Kingdra is the most valuable team member, and should not be sacrificed heedlessly. Recognize when you can make a suicide attack that will deal a mortal strike to the enemy team, and when attacking is ineffective, something else should be switched into Kingdra's place.
Toxicroak@Black Sludge
Adamant
252 Atk/252 HP/6 Speed
Dry Skin
Drain Punch
Sucker Punch
Substitute
Helping Hand
Black Sludge is the natural choice for item, as it does everything Leftovers does without the long animation, frees Leftovers for another team member to use, and causes a possible Trick to backfire on the enemy. (Look out for the dopey Metagross in the Battle Maison that always tries to use Trick to swap its Toxic Orb and Toxicroak's Black Sludge.)
Attack is maximized with nature and EVs in favor of Speed, because Toxicroak possesses two priority moves, diminishing the stat's uses. Toxicroak's bulk is frail as it is, and I wouldn't take anything off from HP either. The Attack can be utilized for the priority Sucker Punch, and Toxicroak's baseline speed is decent enough to outrun most non-specialists anyway.
Drain Punch heals, has an agreeable base power, normal accuracy and no drawbacks, making it the ideal fighting-type move for Toxicroak. Focus Punch was the original choice for this, but it practically requires Substitute to be up, and it much more unreliable in Triples regardless, since Flying-type moves can hit from across the field.
Sucker Punch comes next, and its utility and power are immense. It allows Toxicroak to priority hit its nemeses, psychic-types, for supereffective damage, possibly KOing them immediately, or softening them for Kingdra's Surf. It can also be used to break Sturdy and Sashes on fast enemies or finish them off, and since it's a priority move, the lack of speed is not such a big problem.
Substitute works very well with Toxicroak's massive healing factor, and can easily be used to tank almost indefinitely some slow attackers that try to use Psychic to kill Toxicroak. While the two are locked in a stalemate, your other team members can deal with that enemy when the time is right.
Helping Hand is a tremendously versatile move and works very well with Toxicroak's position at the side. It can boost Surf into cataclysmic levels, or help single-target moves to deal a decisive blow to an enemy that simply must go down. As always with Helping Hand, remember to watch out for enemies that threaten the attacker, so as to not waste two moves on one flinch.
Gastrodon@Focus Sash
Calm
252 HP/252 Sp. Atk/6 Speed
Storm Drain
Scald
Ice Beam
Earth Power
Recover
There are basically two choices for the item, the anti-grass berry or Focus Sash. I choose Focus Sash for the following reasons:
-The berry will only reduce damage, it's not guaranteed to save Gastrodon's life
-Focus Sash works on all kinds of hard-hitting attacks, not just grass
-With 1 HP left, Gastrodon becomes a magnet for the enemy's attacks, creating a distraction for other team members to attack unhindered or switching out for something that will resist the incoming attacks
-Berries are subject to countering gimmicks such as Unnerve and Bug Bite
A single-target water move is used instead of Surf, because Gastrodon tends to be at the sides and slow surfers are not as useful as fast ones. Gastrodon also can't count on having a high Sp.Atk stat all the time, so a single-target move is more focused and less vulnerable to being neutered by healing factors. Scald is used for its decent power, single-target hit and the high Burn chance, which gives an edge in stalling situations.
Earth Power is a great move, the only ground-type one this team generally has access to. Ice Beam is used for the usual reasons. Recover is Gastrodon's sole recovery factor, and greatly increases its staying power, letting it soak up Surfs and increase its Sp. Atk.
Be careful of using single-target Water moves while Gastrodon is in the field, yours or the enemy's! If it is next to the attacker, Storm Drain will steal the attack and the end result is that the move ended up just boosting Gastrodon's Sp. Atk by 1 stage. Be mindful of your surroundings!
Ludicolo@Life Orb
Timid
252 Sp. Atk/252 Speed/6 HP
Swift Swim
Surf
Ice Beam
Giga Drain
Substitute
The goal of Ludicolo here is to be the poor man's Kingdra. Choice Specs being reserved, Life Orb is the next best damage-boosting item, carrying some relative benefits and downsides. It only boosts power by 30%, and damages the user by a fixed % amount with every attack. However, it doesn't restrict the moves by any way, so a Life Orb attacker can be much more versatile. Leftovers could be another option that will make Ludicolo more bulky instead of more vulnerable, but I feel like attack power would be too weak with it and Timid.
With Timid and the usual EVs, Ludicolo will reach the same speed as Kingdra.
Surf is used for the usual reasons.
Same with Ice Beam.
Giga Drain is a tremendously useful move. Enemy water-types can be pesky, but Giga Drain mops them up with ease. The healing will counteract the damage from Life Orb nicely, and can let Ludicolo live far longer than with Energy Ball.
Substitute can be useful, Ludicolo being so fast under rain and not being bound by Choice, but can be replaced with another move that you like more. I've not used Fake Out on this, since Ludicolo's speed is already very high under rain and its offensive presence is extremely valuable. In this team, Fake Out is the most effective when the side members use it to support the main battle unit in the center.
Medicham@Medichamite
Adamant
252 Atk/252 HP/6 Speed
Telepathy
Fake Out
Drain Punch
Psycho Cut
Bullet Punch
Telepathy as Medicham's hidden ability seemed like a bad joke at first, but with the Mega Evolution, it suddenly makes sense. Medicham can either choose to Fake Out and hold out on Mega Evolving in order to avoid a teammate's Surf, or, if it's not threatened by friendly fire, Mega Evolve and attack with the move of choice.
Fake Out tends to be a very useful move here, since it can disable a troublesome enemy for one turn, so that its allies die around it, or to prevent it from attacking while Surf 2HKOs it.
Medicham is pretty frail, so I use Adamant with HP and Attack to maximize its attack power while fortifying its bulk. With Fake Out and Bullet Punch, the lack of speed is not so important. Psycho Cut has a rather disappointing base power, but it is reliable and very damaging under Mega Evolution, and wreaks havoc into the annoying Grass/Poison combo. Drain Punch is used again for its reliability. From the other move choices, Zen Headbutt and Hi Jump Kick are not used because of their garbage accuracy, and the fall damage for HJK.
BW2 Team
This is the incarnation currently used in BW2.
Politoed@Leftovers
Modest
252 Sp. Atk/252 HP/ 6 Speed
Drizzle
Surf
Scald
Ice Beam
Protect
Kindgra@Choice Specs
Modest
252 Sp. Atk/224 Speed/34 HP
Swift Swim
Surf
Icy Wind
Dragon Pulse
Twister
Toxicroak@Black Sludge
Adamant
252 Atk/252 HP/6 Speed
Dry Skin
Drain Punch
Sucker Punch
Substitute
Helping Hand
Poison Jab may be used in the Champions Tournament to hit Wallace's Ludicolo with. I used to have Thunderpunch where Helping Hand is, and replaced it with Poison Jab when needed, but Helping Hand is so useful you might as well use it in every tournament.
Gastrodon@Focus Sash
Calm
252 HP/252 Sp. Atk/6 Speed
Storm Drain
Scald
Ice Beam
Earth Power
Recover
Ludicolo@Life Orb
Timid
252 Sp. Atk/252 HP/6 Speed
Swift Swim
Surf
Ice Beam
Giga Drain
Substitute
Gardevoir@Choice Scarf
Timid
252 HP/252 Speed/6 Sp. Atk
Telepathy
Psyshock
Thunderbolt
Heal Pulse
Ally Switch
As said before, there is no obviously best choice for the sixth member, but currently I use this strange Gardevoir. Choice Scarf restricts versatility, but the increased speed makes it a reliable attacker against targets giving Surf trouble. In my experience Heal Pulse is very frustrating to use on a slow user, and the speed makes healing a viable option. Note that Heal Pulse CAN NOT heal through Substitute; the move will fail. Ally Switch can only rarely be used effectively with Choice Scarf, and the speed boost makes the priority redundant, but it's still a very useful move for repositioning and defending.
The 200 Run Champions
This is the original incarnation of the team, the victors of hundreds of tournaments in the PWT and 200 consecutive battles in the Battle Maison in XY. Things in parenthesis are specific to the original BW2 version.
Politoed@Choice Scarf
Modest
252 Sp. Atk/252 HP/ 6 Speed
Drizzle
Surf
Scald
Ice Beam
Psychic
Choice Scarf will allow it to outspeed most any medium-slow enemy, but will severely hamper it in stalling situations.
Kindgra@Choice Specs
Modest
252 Sp. Atk/224 Speed/34 HP
Swift Swim
Surf
Icy Wind
Dragon Pulse
Twister
Toxicroak@Black Sludge
Adamant
252 Atk/252 HP/6 Speed
Dry Skin
Drain Punch
Sucker Punch
Substitute
Helping Hand
Gastrodon@Focus Sash
Calm
252 HP/252 Sp. Atk/6 Speed
Storm Drain
Scald
Ice Beam
Earth Power
Recover
Lapras@Leftovers
Bold
252 HP/252 Def/6 Speed
Hydration
Freeze-Dry (Ice Beam)
Ice Shard (Thunder)
Surf
Rest
Nerfed overall in XY, but still kept around. More often than not, can be considered the weakest link of the team. See more details in the Alternative Sets section.
Scizor@Scizorite (Focus Band)
Adamant
252 Attack/252 HP/6 Speed
Technician
Bullet Punch
Bug Bite
Aerial Ace
Protect (Pursuit)
Originally my sixth members filled the role of the scrapper, independent fighters that don't much interact with the rest of the team. The single biggest weakness of Scizor is the complete lack of any kind of protection against water. Therefore, a friendly fire surf from Kingdra will likely kill it with a critical hit, or leave it in red. In some cases you might be so brave as to switch Scizor into an incoming surf, but usually it shouldn't be done. Fire, on the other hand, is greatly weakened by rain, and is not always the death sentence it usually is for Scizor.
Mega Scizor is overall just a modest upgrade to base stats, however, being unrestricted by Choice band lowers total Attack but gives much more versatility and access to Protect. The previous move, Pursuit, never really saw any use. The dark-type move was redundant, and the AI only switches in a few very specific situations.
Aerial Ace can be effectively used as an artillery weapon, similar to Kingdra's Dragon Pulse.
Main Strategy
The rain should be kept up. Achieve speed superiority with Swift Swim & ensuring that no dangerous priority moves threaten you. Achieve high attack power by stacking bonuses (rain water damage, choice/life orb, helping hand), hit multiple enemies with Surf and minimize friendly fire with abilities and Protect. The side members will mainly support the main battle unit, or entrench themselves while the main battle unit clears the opposing side of threats.
Situations where the main battle units are threatened are to be avoided. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made; however, pointless death is only acceptable if it's the enemies doing the dying.
Example Combos
Full Attack & Switch
Politoed switches to another team member, usually Gastrodon, while Kingdra attacks with a Helping Hand-boosted Surf. Very high damage, no friendly fire damage taken, but everything is stacked on Kingdra: if it's prevented by moving by things such as Fake Out, your momentum will halt badly.
Entrench, Attack & Switch
Same as previous, but Toxicroak uses Substitute instead of Helping Hand. This combo can be used when you're sure that all three of the enemies will fall to an unboosted Surf. An unharmed, +1 Sp. Atk Gastrodon and a Toxicroak behind a Substitute will give you great, dependable momentum. Since Toxicroak moves independently, the possible interruption of Kingdra will not be as serious.
Sash Breaker
Attack with Politoed (Surf or Scald), Surf with Kingdra, attack with Toxicroak (Drain Punch or Sucker Punch). This is usually used on enemies abusing Sturdy. Since their having the ability is random, multiple attacks guarantee that the target goes down. If it didn't have Sturdy and the extra attack had no target, it is not wasted: the original objective of defeating the Sturdy enemy without getting hit is achieved.
Bait and Shift
Two team members fast enough to outspeed the relevant enemies Shift continuously, minimizing the enemy attack's damage. This can be done between members such as Ludicolo and Toxicroak: the enemy targets Ludicolo with a poison attack, but it will always hit Toxicroak due to the Shift, doing chip damage that is easily healed away. The other member can either attack or set up.
Diversion and Attack
Politoed stays in and uses Protect, or failing that, switch to Gastrodon. Kingdra attacks with Surf, Toxicroak usually uses Helping Hand. This can be used when you know the enemy will target the leftmost water-type. It will either stay in and live the hit with Focus Sash or deflect it with Protect, while the other team members use the diversion to do damage to the enemies. This combo will likely be either unreliable or ineffective if Golduck is used instead of Kingdra, as Kingdra's dragon-type nullifies the usual water-type weaknesses, and the computer's target will be difficult to know.
Alternative Sets
First Slot
Second Slot
Golduck@Choice Specs
Modest
252 Speed/252 Sp. Atk/6 HP
Swift Swim
Surf
Ice Beam
Synchronoise
Icy Wind
Third Slot
Fourth Slot
Fifth Slot
Lapras@Leftovers
Calm
252 HP/252 Def/6 Speed
Hydration
Ice Beam/Freeze-Dry
Thunder/Ice Shard
Surf
Rest
This is what I used before Ludicolo. The idea is that Lapras can easily heal and cure itself with rain and Hydration, and abuse Thunder to attack enemy water-types with decent power.
However, the rain nerf hit Hydration the hardest, and even in Triples, it is very noticeable and hindering. The problem is that Hydration requires the NEXT turn to have rain, so if you use Rest and it stops raining at the end of the turn, Lapras will remain asleep normally! If you use Hydration after BW2, try to keep track of the rain turns; the game does not show data like that.
The other nerf is to Thunder, and the new Freeze-Dry suddenly seems like a better choice. The problem with that is its low power of 70, which gimps Lapras' ice STAB against non-water-types. Lapras does not have enough Sp. Atk with this build to get away with using such low-power moves. Ice Beam can be used alongside Freeze-Dry, but it feels redundant, so I opted for Ice Shard instead. Even with reduced Attack, it will effectively break sashes, finish off wounded enemies and deal big damage to 4x weak targets.
I chose to increase the lower of Lapras' defense stat, but Sp. Def can be focused on instead if you want. Lapras' base HP is also so high that increasing the other defense instead may be more effective.
Sixth Slot
Scizor@Scizorite
Adamant
252 Attack/252 HP/6 Speed
Technician
Bullet Punch
Bug Bite
Aerial Ace
Protect
Garchomp@Yache Berry
Jolly
252 Attack/252 Speed/6 HP
Sand Veil/Rough Skin
Outrage
Dragon Dance
Earthquake
Brick Break
I might not remember all the details, but this is what I used for a short time before Scizor. Just grabbed what I had to fill the last spot, no real synergy.
Altaria@Altarianite
Calm
252 HP/252 Sp. Def/6 Speed
Natural Cure
Hyper Voice
Dragon Pulse
Cotton Guard
Roost
After using Cotton Guard, both of Mega Altaria's defense stats are very high, but with the fast pace of Triples, it can be hard to find an opportunity to use it. Hyper Voice is helpful in that it hits multiple enemies, but no allies.
Noivern@Leftovers
Timid
252 Speed/252 HP/6 Sp. Atk
Telepathy
Hurricane
Dragon Pulse
Substitute
Roost
Takes no damage from friendlies thanks to Telepathy, and Hurricane hits pesky grass-types with great power and perfect accuracy under rain. Both of its attacks can also hit enemies on the other side of the field. Because of its speed, it can stall quite effectively with Substitute. Extremely gimped under Trick Room.
Vaporeon@Leftovers
Bold
252 Def/252 Sp. Def/6 Speed
Water Absorb
Scald
Ice Beam
Helping Hand
Wish
Vaporeon's main problem is its very shallow offensive movepool that brings no diversity to your attacks. There are still some choices for interesting moves here, like Yawn, Synchronoise, Haze, Baton Pass and even Quick Attack.
Ditto@Choice Scarf
Jolly
252 Speed/252 HP/6 Attack
Imposter
Transform
A gimmicky and unreliable choice, this one will transform into the enemy directly in front of Ditto. Because of the scarf, it will likely move faster than the enemy it's transformed into. If there is no enemy in front of Ditto when it switches in, Imposter doesn't activate and it has to transform manually with Transform. Bad!
Heliolisk@Leftovers
Bold
252 HP/252 Sp. Def/6 Speed
Dry Skin
Thunder
Surf
Hyper Voice
Substitute
Heliolisk has a surprisingly high affinity with water, and can fit this team rather well. Thunder is both STAB and accurate under rain, Surf does not gain STAB but enjoys the rain bonus and possible synergies for other team members. Hyper Voice is a decent STAB AOE move that doesn't hit teammates. Substitute helps with staying power.
Gardevoir@Leftovers/Gardevoirite
Bold
252 Def/252 HP/6 Speed
Telepathy
Moonblast/Hyper Voice
Heal Pulse
Psyshock
Ally Switch
A Gardevoirite Gardevoir can delay Mega Evolution to retain Telepathy and go Mega when the time comes to attack. The problem is, sometimes you want to retain Telepathy for longer, and for that time, the Gardevoirite does nothing, and Hyper Voice is a normal-type move. For a set specializing in supporting with Telepathy, the aforementioned BW2 set can be used, but for the Mega-delaying stuff, I feel like Medicham is a much better choice.
EVs are distributed to improve Gardevoir's frail physical side, as this is more of a defensive/utility build. Its Sp. Atk is high enough to do a number on the enemy even without investment.
Audino@Audinite
Bold
252 Def/252 HP/6 Speed
Regenerator
Dazzling Gleam
Wish
Rain Dance
Heal Pulse
I've never actually tried this, but considered it. The trouble is that Audino takes normal damage from Surf, has a mediocre Sp. Atk even in Mega form, is too slow to reliably heal with Heal Pulse, possesses a mostly useless ability in Mega form, and overall does not really synergize with the rest of the team.
Slowbro@Slowbronite
Calm
252 HP /252 Sp. Def/6 Speed
Regenerator
Slack Off
Calm Mind
Scald
Psyshock
In theory, Mega Slowbro can boost both of its defenses to levels that become untouchable in conjucation with Shell Armor, healing damage with Slack Off, and having two great STAB attack moves with Scald and Psychock, but the problem is that the battle around Slowbro progresses much faster. Similar to Altaria, oftentimes it's simply more effective to attack as soon as possible than spend turns boosting and healing. Amnesia can be used instead of Calm Mind, but Calm Mind is better for extended stalling situations since it boosts two stats instead of one, including an attacking stat.
Parasect@Choice Scarf
Jolly
252 Speed/252 HP/6 Def
Dry Skin
Spore
X-Scissor
Seed Bomb
Aromatherapy
The main idea of this strange build is to stay at the side, being healed by the rain and Surf, and disabling enemies as fast as possible by using Spore. Parasect's pitiful speed is still mediocre with maximum investment and Choice Scarf, but this can nevertheless be an interesting pick. X-Scissor and Seed Bomb are the basic STAB attacks, and the last spot can be used for Aromatherapy utility or something else.
Notable Opponents
Battle Maison
Note: Enemy Pokémon have random gender and ability, where applicable (including hidden abilities).
Battle Chatelaine Dana
Neither one of Dana's teams are too dangerous, and if you're feeling cheeky, you might even bring a level 1 Magikarp to the 50 Super Triple battle and get it the ribbon. The usual strategies of boosting Surf apply, and all of the Regis are rather slow and weak to Toxicroak.
Hex Maniac
These fools tend to use Pokémon resistant to water that try to use Trick Room. Destroy them before their foul magicks can come into fruition! Nevertheless, since the enemy teams are so random, they often use fast Pokémon like Alakazam with Trick Room, so use their bad picks to your advantage.
Pokémon Breeder
Uncannily often, these turn out to be stalling morons relying on grass-types and their resistances, be advised.
Scientist
These dorks tend use electric-type tricks like Thunder Wave and can field Lanturn, a tiresome staller that will take some time to bring down.
Veteran
These only use legendaries, of them the Latis and Virizion tend to be the most dangerous. Toxicroak can field an effective suicide attack against the Latis with Sucker Punch.
Ace Trainer
From my experience, these can use a mix of Pokémon belonging to many different types of trainers. Sometimes the combination of Pokémon can seem almost tailored to counter your own team, but there's still a way. Stay stalwart and strong, and smash these simpletons.
Pokémon World Tournament
Note: all teams are the World Leaders Tournament versions, where applicable. Under the Triple Battle format, the opponents use their entire team every time in a random order, but almost all have a specific lead Pokémon that always goes first (facing your Toxicroak, if following guide order). Gender and ability are randomized where applicable (no hidden abilities).
Brock
Brock is a real bastard, relying on cheap tricks like changing weather, Sturdy and flinching. The first thing to do is to TAKE DOWN AERODACTYL! When it's not raining, it will threaten all adjacent team members with flinching and some damage, every single turn! Bring it down immediately, if not sooner! Onix has a pathetic attack, but is still rather annoying because of Sturdy and Sandstorm.
Misty
Remember that Starmie is always facing Toxicroak when the battle starts, and can easily be dealt with in the first turn by using Sucker Punch on it and finishing it off with Surf.
Erika
Erika has a strange choice in Abomasnow, but it works well in her favor by interrupting rain, be aware of its presence.
Giovanni
Giovanni has the capability to change the weather to sandstorm, so be patient. Garchomp is quite threatening to Kingdra, and doesn't go down that easily.
Clair
Clair is a dragon-type user and has a Kingdra, so be careful. Her Kingdra likes to use inappropriate moves for the situation and has the inaccurate Outrage, so it won't always hit your own Kingdra, but I still don't feel like it's worth it to leave Kingdra against hers. Clair's Kingdra also has the cheap and annoying ChestoRest combo.
Norman
Remember that his Slaking has an Eject Button: move first, hitting it with Surf and it runs away, wasting its turn.
Tate & Liza
Both their teams have a disgusting amount of Trick Room setters, and sometimes it's almost impossible to prevent it. Nevertheless, their offense is rather limp, so it is more than possible to outgun them even under Trick Room.
Juan
My favorite opponent, his Kingdra's presence will add a twist to the beginning, and the OHKO moves of Walrein and Crawdaunt can change the course of the battle, making it unpredictable. Remember to get rid of Relicanth, as it can have Swift Swim and spam Rock Slide and therefore threaten flinch with great effectiveness.
Counter every blow, see where the flow will go, and rise as the most elegant user of the water-type.
Gardenia
Another real bastard with annoying Pokémon & moves like Roserade, Tropius, Leafeon, Breloom, Sunny Day, Spore and Quick Attack. Exploit the weakness to ice and keep your main battle units alive for as long as possible.
Wake
His Floatzel is faster than Kingdra, but usually dies to the combination of Drain Punch and Surf; it likes to use the first turn on Bulk Up. Empoleon, Ludicolo, Gastrodon , Poliwrath and Gyarados are all possibly annoying and dangerous opponents. Move your team members to the best positions, strike decisively and be aware of the incoming reinforcements.
Byron
Likes to stall and use cheap stuff like Sturdy and Trick Room (on Bronzong). Spread your attacks across multiple moves to break through Sturdy.
Candice
The most annoying opponent in all of PWT, this wretch's ""strategy"" consists of relying on luck-based bonuses and hail (these two are naturally linked). KEEP POLITOED AND KINGDRA ALIVE, and don't be afraid of making sacrifices just so the two can set up and shatter the ice idiots with one fell strike! In fact, a good tactic is to let two of your other Pokémon die on purpose in the second turn, if hail is up, just so both Politoed and Kingdra can get free switches and immediately start attacking with Surf. The importance of weather & speed superiority cannot be understated here! Make her beg for mercy, make her scream your name, and then, break her!
Volkner
Volkner's team falls to two Helping-Hand boosted Surfs.
A proven masochist, he still claims the "battle" was fun.
Roxie
Be wary of Toxicroak. If its Anticipation activates, you're in business: it has just announced its time of death, which is during the next turn when Kingdra's merciless Surf wastes the false frog.
Elesa
Like Volkner's, Elesa's team falls to two Helping Hand-boosted Surfs.
Clay
His Excadrill has Focus Sash, and probably tries to kill Toxicroak with Drill Run, so break the sash with Sucker Punch and watch it die to Surf. Despite being a dragon-type, Flygon is not too dangerous and is easily beaten by Kingdra.
Skyla
Grass and Flying are two of the types that your vanguard will have the most trouble defending against, so if you stay in with Toxicroak, it might as well be a suicide Helping Hand.
Drayden
Drayden will give you a good scrap, but is not as threatening as some of the other Dragon users due to the lack of Kingdra.
Marlon
Marlon's Jellicent is prime material for Toxicroak stalling. It will try to use Psychic on it every time, but Toxicroak is faster and can just defend with Substitute. Keep this going for as long as possible.
Bianca
I have NEVER seen her at the World Leaders tournament across 2400+ matches, but I'll include her here anyway (My experience of battling her team comes through the Vs. Seeker in ORAS). Be wary of Serperior; it will try to use Glare on the fastest team member (Kingdra). Try to get rid of Musharna as soon as possible: if it is allowed to boost enough, it can become a nightmare to deal with.
Lenora
What to do when your stats are low, and your ability's not too hot either? Be as annoying as possible with Focus Sash and status moves. That's that Watchog does, so know that it won't die to a single surf, and is faster than Toxicroak, and can't be counted on as a Sucker Punch victim due to the aforementioned status moves. From the other Pokémon, Kangaskhan stands out as a Fake Out user.
Lance
Lance is probably the most reliably dangerous of all the PWT opponents. His STAB dragon-type moves can brainlessly hit for huge amounts of damage, almost all of them resist water, Dragonite has a sash, Haxorus has a scarf and to top it off he has a Kingdra. Defeat him before he can defeat you, that's all I can say.
Steven
He tries to set up sandstorm, and the sashed Excadrill especially should be targeted for termination quickly.
Wallace
Wallace has many of the same makings as his mentor, but feels a bit more dangerous. Milotic can be hard to take down, but fortunately its attacks don't hit hard. Ludicolo can be a very annoying opponent here.
Cynthia
Garchomp has a sash, but otherwise no huge threats. She is not so tough.
Red
Many of his Pokémon resist Water, so defeating him will not be that straightforward. His Pikachu suffers from the Watchog syndrome, and the only thing preventing it from dying pathetically to Surf in record time is Fake Out. Be wary of Charizard's sash and Air Slash's extended range.
Emerge triumphant and be recognized as the strongest under the heavens.
Tips & Tricks on Strategy & Tactics
After fighting and winning many battles, you will come to see that all strategy across all battles is interconnected. Sun Tzu's The Art of War is an ancient treatise on war, but it continues to be relevant even today, and by comparing your experiences with the text, it becomes clear how many of the wisdoms can be applied to your own battles as well.
Sun Tzu says: According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one's plans. All warfare is based on deception.
The AI can be predictable, and every opportunity should be taken to exploit it and make you take minimal losses, while mowing down the enemy team. Attract attention to vulnerable team members, then protect them or switch them out: use the diversion to attack with others.
Sun Tzu says: ...though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.
Staying out for longer than needed and protracting will make you vulnerable to things such as critical hits and additional effects. Carry out your goals with the least amount of moves needed, but recognize the opportunity to exploit a lull in the battle to your advantage, whether it be on offense or defense.
Sun Tzu says: Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
There are times where your enemy will work against itself, by means of Perish Song, SSC, or just not switching to a better choice. Never interrupt your opponent when he's making a mistake. An ineffective enemy can be more valuable kept alive than one that is beaten and replaced with a more dangerous reinforcement.
Sun Tzu says: Hence the skillful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible, and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy.
Set up situations where all outcomes play in your favor. First of all, contingencies should be set up; the outcome of the battle must not rely on a single move. When you are one step ahead of the enemy, and can answer any attack with an even more effective counterattack, victory is assured.
Sun Tzu says: In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack--the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers.
I listed several example combos, but don't be bound to any rigid specifics. There are huge amounts of ways your team members can be combined in battle, and the correct answer to any given situation is the one that effectively defends you while giving the means to strike back. The end goal of any battle is to be the last man standing.
Sun Tzu says: Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.
Behind every decision to move and attack at risk must be a greater purpose in the background. Don't react brashly, but recognize the enemy's wishes, actively work against those wishes, but at the same time let your own strategy unfold, or the result will be defense without attack -- effectively doing what the enemy wants you to do after all. Don't fall into the enemy's traps, and if necessary, make sacrifices to ruin their plans.
Sun Tzu says: So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.
Oftentimes, it is more effective to leave a staller alone and defeat its weaker teammates around it before ganging up on it with superior numbers. If you waste turns attacking the staller, you're doing what it wants you to do, and allow the weaker enemies to attack you in turn.
If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt
This is a game of knowledge. Know what is set and what is random or unknown, and assume the worst of two outcomes. Get a feel for how much damage your team members can deal and how much they can take. Know their speed, and don't be taken surprised by superior speed or priority. Always be aware of factors that nullify your moves. Know how the AI thinks and predict its moves. When you know your team, and when your hearts beat as one, you can confidently face any enemy.
Fear betrays all senses; don't give in to fear, but find a way even when all seems lost.
Never surrender!
Introduction to Triple Battles
In the Triples, you are elevated from warrior into commander. Three Pokémon go out per trainer, and both the side and center positions have special mechanics to them. Learn and understand the battlefield, and emerge victorious!
-Moves have limited range
-The battle members at the sides cannot directly attack the far side of the field with most moves. As a rule of thumb, all Flying-type moves and "pulse"-type moves can hit the far side of the battlefield. Effectively, this means that the center member is the one most vulnerable at any given time, but also has the greatest offensive reach. Allies at the sides will also find it easier to reach the center member with moves such as Helping Hand.
-Battle members at the sides may Shift
Shift is a special move available to any Pokémon currently at the side. It will swap the places of the center Pokémon and itself, and uses the standard effective speed. However, it DOES NOT check for additional limitations such as flinching, sleeping or paralysis, and it doesn't count as a move for the purposes of Choice items. The center Pokémon cannot Shift to the side by itself; the Pokémon at the desired side has to Shift. If there are only two Pokémon in total remaining and they are at the opposing sides, they will automatically be Auto-Centered to the center at the end of the turn.
-Team size is always 6 per side
Whether in multiplayer or PWT/Battle Maison, the team size is always the maximum of 6 to accommodate the larger amount of Pokémon per side. This will give you tremendous amounts of choice when it comes to picking team members!
-Area of effect moves can hit up to five targets (3 enemies, 2 friendly), with no additional damage penalty
-Wide-hitting moves can be extremely powerful, only receiving the usual AOE damage penalty no matter how many are hit, but precautions should be taken to minimize friendly fire damage, which can be harder than it sounds as there can be up to two allies in the line of fire.
Rain continues to fall
The rain is my ally, and a powerful ally it is. It gives many benefits, including the following:
-Damage of water-type moves increased by 50%
-This boost goes a long way towards increasing the damage of the main attacking moves to very dangerous and reliable levels, including against enemies resistant to water
-Activates several abilities, including Swift Swim and Dry Skin
-Swift Swim is very powerful, since it elevates even a mediocre speed to a level with almost unbeatable speed superiority, without the use of any items. This means that the item slot can be used for a damage-boosting item, and the nature may be used to boost damage instead of speed
-Dry Skin, especially in combination with Leftovers/Dark Sludge, gives huge healing potential that all but neutralizes chip damage. Another, perhaps even more powerful benefit it gives is immunity to all water moves and the 25% healing that goes with it. This allows the Dry Skin user to effectively support at the edge, unafraid of friendly fire or light damage
-The damage of fire-type moves reduced by 50%
-This is not as useful as the sun equivalent, being a bit overkill, but it further neutralizes enemy fire-types and gives quadruple weak Pokémon like Scizor a chance at living through a fire attack
-Weather-dependent healing moves such as Synthesis will heal 25% of HP
-These moves aren't used on these sets, so the reduction is only useful. Grass-types depending on Synthesis will have their stall potential greatly reduced
-Thunder and Hurricane will hit with increased accuracy
-Both moves can sometimes be used against the rain team, but both can also find their way into the team's movesets. Special mentions go out to Noivern's Hurricane and Lapras' Thunder
-Directly counteracts enemies depending on a different kind of weather
-Especially sun sees many of their wanted benefits turned directly against them, but activating rain after an enemy's weather will still, in any case, greatly hinder them as they can't utilize the benefits of their weather
-Weather Ball becomes water-type with 100 power
-This move is rarely used, and the enemy's water-type moves are not too dangerous in any case
Notes on the AI
The AI only tends to switch on two specific situations:
-when all of the Pokémon's moves are completely ineffective against all possible enemy targets
-when the AI has a teammate waiting with an ability that can nullify the type of an attack used in the previous turn
In layman's terms, if you use Surf on the first turn and the targets don't die, you can expect the enemy to switch one out for something with Water Absorb or Dry Skin the next turn, if they have it.
Note also the enemy's targeting preferences. The AI likes to go target team members that it thinks it can kill with its chosen move. Therefore, team members with very low HP or outstanding weaknesses become prime targets. Just like you, the AI targets the slot, not the Pokémon: if the targeted Pokémon changes with Shift or Ally Switch, its original slot is still targeted (not the new location).
Speaking of Shift: the AI will never Shift their Pokémon. Be aware of this limitation. Auto-Center is the only instance in which the computer will make a Shift.
There are also a few unexplained phenomena I've witnessed, such as SSC, Spontaneous Self-Combustion (computer player burns his own Pokémon for no apparent reason) and moving between Rounds. Also, sometimes the move chosen seems rather random, so perhaps sometimes it picks a different one from the usual on purpose, just to feel more unpredictable.
The computer player is like an unthinking, unfeeling machine: it feels no pity, no remorse, it can't be scared or bargained with, and it won't stop until it's dead. Mind games don't work, but abusing the AI's habits and limitations will.
The Plan
The main idea is to abuse all the benefits of rain as much as possible, while preventing the enemy from tampering with the weather.
The end goal is to reliably defeat all possible opponents in the supported battling facilities. The highest achievement recognized by the game, winning 200 battles in a row in the Battle Maison, can also be done. If it was possible with the old, imperfect team, it should also certainly be possible with the Mark II version.
The following will discuss the main points of the various roles in the team, the main choices and their potential differences. More specific comparisons are listed later in the sets section.
The first member, the cornerstone of the team is Politoed, whose hidden ability immediately summons rain (permanently in BW2, 5 turns in XY/ORAS). There is no need for another rain bringer by means of Rain Dance or otherwise, from my experience. The great benefit from Drizzle is that there is NO need for any setup, which is the bane of strategies such as Trick Room which can live or die by whether they can set up correctly. In addition, the amount of attacking team members can be maximized, since there is no need to spend a turn on using Rain Dance. Depending on the situation, Politoed can either move immediately or switch out. The great momentum brought by Drizzle will allow the rain team to gain the upper hand very early, increasing the chances of overpowering the enemy and keeping them on the defensive.
The nerf to the duration of ability-summoned weather from infinite to 5 turns affects Triples the least, since every turn will see up to 6 Pokémon make a move. Still, try to remember how long the rain lasts and have Politoed in reserve so that it can be switched in right away when you need it.
The second main member is the main battle unit. This will be sent out first as well, in the important center spot. I use Kingdra, but Ludicolo and Golduck are viable choices as well. The reasons for using Kingdra are:
-agreeable stat spread
-Swift Swim
-movepool has the correct moves
-dragon-type gives several important resistances and increases the damage of Dragon Pulse and Twister
The main battle unit can be included twice in the team, and Ludicolo is a good pick for the second one due to the important grass-type STAB attack in Giga Drain and its healing property. Golduck and Kingdra fill similar spheres, so I feel it comes down to one of them and Ludicolo for the important bit of type diversity Grass brings.
Golduck, as said, has very similar properties to Kingdra but is a bit different. It lacks the dragon-type so it has all the usual water-type weaknesses, but also loses the deadly weaknesses to Dragon and Fairy. In XY/ORAS it can use Synchronoise (in BW2, the power is too low) to effectively deal damage to enemy water-types; however, with so many water-types in your own team, it's difficult to use this without hurting and potentially killing your team members.
The third main member is the supporter. This spot is used by Toxicroak; nothing else can claim to have the same set of attributes. It has decent stats, including an outstanding Attack, the very rare and powerful Dry Skin ability, a very large movepool and an alright type. With Black Sludge, Substitute, Drain Punch and healing from friendly fire Surf, Toxicroak's potential staying power is almost indefinite, however, it will almost certainly die to STAB super-effective attacks; keep this in mind. Where Toxicroak also really shines is in its movepool, including the invaluable Helping Hand which Heliolisk cannot learn.
The fourth member is the support gunner. Again, I consider only one for this role, this time Gastrodon. It has some very acceptable stats, a great typing for both offense and defense, and Storm Drain, an ability that makes it immune to all water-type moves, and simultaneously boosting its mediocre Special Attack to dangerous levels. It's usually switched into Politoed's space on the first turn, getting a free Storm Drain hit from Surf, and another on the next turn before it could possibly attack first (with no interference). That's 2x the Special Attack! Gastrodon has a fatal weakness to Grass, though, and care must be taken to deal with this. The item slot is not needed for any other outstanding need, so I devote it to an item that will ensure its survival against a grass-type attack.
The fifth member may be another support-type hustler or another main battle unit. In BW2 I used Lapras for this slot, for abusing Hydration + Rest with, and to hit hard with Thunder. With the changes in XY I eventually switched it to Ludicolo, out of musing "I wish everyone could be like Kingdra". As explained, Ludicolo continues the good work Kingdra began, but is a little different.
The sixth member is the wild card. There is no clear choice here; there are many different options that fulfil different needs. Check the sets sections for some ideas.
Sets
ORAS Team Prime
This is the latest incarnation of the team in ORAS.
Politoed@Leftovers
Modest
252 Sp. Atk/252 HP/ 6 Speed
Drizzle
Surf
Scald
Ice Beam
Protect
Politoed has a cruddy movepool, but there are still some choices here. I've found that having both Surf and Scald increases versatility; with Politoed's decidedly mediocre Sp. Atk, water-type moves generally rise above all else due to rain and STAB. I used to have Hydro Pump instead of Scald, but it misses more than it hits and its power even got nerfed in XY. Ice Beam is there for the usual reasons. The last moveslot can be used for a variety of moves. Overall, I've found Protect to be the best and most reliable, even though I only tried it relatively recently. It allows you to safely stay in and bait the enemies into attacking Politoed while the others mop up the distracted foes. During some other situations as well, Protect can be used to stall for life with Leftovers. Another choice for this moveslot would be Psychic for some Grass/Poison countering, and also for some troublesome fighting-types (Poliwrath). Endeavor is a rather gimmicky choice that rarely sees the opportunity to be utilized well, but can decimate a potentially troublesome foe, to be finished off by a teammate's Surf. Perish Song is also a move that is hard to use effectively. In Triple Battles you can seal the enemy's fate with it once three of their members have been killed. Naturally you should have the numbers to switch out safely over the course of three turns, or you'll die as well. It is still a rather slow and cumbersome move, but can terminate a staller's aspirations.
For the item slot, I've found Leftovers to be overall the most reliable choice. This is assuming that another team member is not using it (Lapras likes to have it, if you're using one). When comparing to Sitrus Berry, you also have to consider that Leftovers activates at any percentage of HP, and is therefore superior for repairing chip damage, as well as in longer battles where Leftovers has the opportunity to outheal the 25% of Sitrus Berry.
Choice Scarf is what I had in the 200 run: it increases speed by a decent bit, but if there's nothing to multiply with, the result is still low. Don't expect the blazing speeds of Kingdra. Protect is also gimped under choice items.
Red Card is a rather cheeky choice that I've only tested briefly. The idea is that Kingdra hits Politoed with Surf, and is immediately switched out, protecting it from any stragglers. This is gimmicky to say the least. Firstly, it works one time only, and Politoed is left without an item for the rest of the battle. Secondly, you DO NOT get to choose what to switch to; a random non-present team member that is not dead will be chosen. Thirdly, an enemy might mess with this, for example if a Fake Out user hits Politoed, it gets switched out for free, effectively giving the enemy another Fake Out user. Bad! Red Card: gimmicky, but can be fun.
Assault Vest is an option if you're not using moves such as Protect or Perish Song. It'll reduce friendly fire damage from Surf and dull the pain from certain popular attacks like Thunderbolt and Giga Drain.
Speed may be minimized to give the possibility of Drizzle activating after other leads' weather abilities, but I haven't tried this approach.
Kindgra@Choice Specs
Modest
252 Sp. Atk/224 Speed/34 HP
Swift Swim
Surf
Icy Wind
Dragon Pulse
Twister
Some points here will strike out as strange. Firstly, the EV spread: I've not checked the enemy list and their effective speed values, but with this amount of speed at least, Kingdra will still outspeed practically anything under rain.
The exceptions would be something like Choice Scarf Aerodactyl (ridiculous overkill) or an enemy Swift Swim user. Other Kingdra are the ones to watch out for, however, from my data they also have neutral speed natures, so having maxed speed would still not help, as you'd get a 50/50 chance of moving later regardless. Live by Murpy's Law. Instead of Speed I put any spare points to HP, as Kingdra is valuable and tends to have many close calls when under attack.
Regarding the moves, Twister is practically there for the PWT, as dragon-type teams are numerous there. A 2x supereffective STAB Twister and a 2x supereffective non-STAB Icy Wind should do the same amount of damage, so the difference comes to other factors. Firstly, Icy Breath has bad accuracy, and since it's checked three times per attack, you are practically guaranteed to miss at least once per attack, so Twister is much more reliable. Secondly, Icy Wind can do 4x supereffective damage against some dragons, but some have the anti-ice berry which nullifies that advantage (It's unlikely that Kingdra will survive a single turn against enemy dragons; the Twister/Icy Wind business is expected to be a suicide attack). Icy Wind has a completely reliable additional effect (if it hits), but it will only take effect during the following turns. Twister's flinch chance is more of a bonus, not a factor really, but can be very funny. In rare cases Kingdra stays alive to the end of the battle, having killed or flinched all it hit. In non-PWT matches Twister can be swapped for something else like Ice Beam for more reliable, damaging, single-target ice damage.
Surf is there for obvious reasons, and Dragon Pulse serves as the dragon-type STAB move. Draco Meteor is not used for the following reasons:
-horrible accuracy
-Sp. Atk drop forces a switch on Kingdra if it lives
-does not hit the far side of the field
-low PP
Dragon Pulse is an effective siege weapon: kill a staller's teammates around it, set up next to it and keep hitting it with Dragon Pulse from the other side of the field where it can't reach you.
Typically, Kingdra is the most valuable team member, and should not be sacrificed heedlessly. Recognize when you can make a suicide attack that will deal a mortal strike to the enemy team, and when attacking is ineffective, something else should be switched into Kingdra's place.
Toxicroak@Black Sludge
Adamant
252 Atk/252 HP/6 Speed
Dry Skin
Drain Punch
Sucker Punch
Substitute
Helping Hand
Black Sludge is the natural choice for item, as it does everything Leftovers does without the long animation, frees Leftovers for another team member to use, and causes a possible Trick to backfire on the enemy. (Look out for the dopey Metagross in the Battle Maison that always tries to use Trick to swap its Toxic Orb and Toxicroak's Black Sludge.)
Attack is maximized with nature and EVs in favor of Speed, because Toxicroak possesses two priority moves, diminishing the stat's uses. Toxicroak's bulk is frail as it is, and I wouldn't take anything off from HP either. The Attack can be utilized for the priority Sucker Punch, and Toxicroak's baseline speed is decent enough to outrun most non-specialists anyway.
Drain Punch heals, has an agreeable base power, normal accuracy and no drawbacks, making it the ideal fighting-type move for Toxicroak. Focus Punch was the original choice for this, but it practically requires Substitute to be up, and it much more unreliable in Triples regardless, since Flying-type moves can hit from across the field.
Sucker Punch comes next, and its utility and power are immense. It allows Toxicroak to priority hit its nemeses, psychic-types, for supereffective damage, possibly KOing them immediately, or softening them for Kingdra's Surf. It can also be used to break Sturdy and Sashes on fast enemies or finish them off, and since it's a priority move, the lack of speed is not such a big problem.
Substitute works very well with Toxicroak's massive healing factor, and can easily be used to tank almost indefinitely some slow attackers that try to use Psychic to kill Toxicroak. While the two are locked in a stalemate, your other team members can deal with that enemy when the time is right.
Helping Hand is a tremendously versatile move and works very well with Toxicroak's position at the side. It can boost Surf into cataclysmic levels, or help single-target moves to deal a decisive blow to an enemy that simply must go down. As always with Helping Hand, remember to watch out for enemies that threaten the attacker, so as to not waste two moves on one flinch.
Gastrodon@Focus Sash
Calm
252 HP/252 Sp. Atk/6 Speed
Storm Drain
Scald
Ice Beam
Earth Power
Recover
There are basically two choices for the item, the anti-grass berry or Focus Sash. I choose Focus Sash for the following reasons:
-The berry will only reduce damage, it's not guaranteed to save Gastrodon's life
-Focus Sash works on all kinds of hard-hitting attacks, not just grass
-With 1 HP left, Gastrodon becomes a magnet for the enemy's attacks, creating a distraction for other team members to attack unhindered or switching out for something that will resist the incoming attacks
-Berries are subject to countering gimmicks such as Unnerve and Bug Bite
A single-target water move is used instead of Surf, because Gastrodon tends to be at the sides and slow surfers are not as useful as fast ones. Gastrodon also can't count on having a high Sp.Atk stat all the time, so a single-target move is more focused and less vulnerable to being neutered by healing factors. Scald is used for its decent power, single-target hit and the high Burn chance, which gives an edge in stalling situations.
Earth Power is a great move, the only ground-type one this team generally has access to. Ice Beam is used for the usual reasons. Recover is Gastrodon's sole recovery factor, and greatly increases its staying power, letting it soak up Surfs and increase its Sp. Atk.
Be careful of using single-target Water moves while Gastrodon is in the field, yours or the enemy's! If it is next to the attacker, Storm Drain will steal the attack and the end result is that the move ended up just boosting Gastrodon's Sp. Atk by 1 stage. Be mindful of your surroundings!
Ludicolo@Life Orb
Timid
252 Sp. Atk/252 Speed/6 HP
Swift Swim
Surf
Ice Beam
Giga Drain
Substitute
The goal of Ludicolo here is to be the poor man's Kingdra. Choice Specs being reserved, Life Orb is the next best damage-boosting item, carrying some relative benefits and downsides. It only boosts power by 30%, and damages the user by a fixed % amount with every attack. However, it doesn't restrict the moves by any way, so a Life Orb attacker can be much more versatile. Leftovers could be another option that will make Ludicolo more bulky instead of more vulnerable, but I feel like attack power would be too weak with it and Timid.
With Timid and the usual EVs, Ludicolo will reach the same speed as Kingdra.
Surf is used for the usual reasons.
Same with Ice Beam.
Giga Drain is a tremendously useful move. Enemy water-types can be pesky, but Giga Drain mops them up with ease. The healing will counteract the damage from Life Orb nicely, and can let Ludicolo live far longer than with Energy Ball.
Substitute can be useful, Ludicolo being so fast under rain and not being bound by Choice, but can be replaced with another move that you like more. I've not used Fake Out on this, since Ludicolo's speed is already very high under rain and its offensive presence is extremely valuable. In this team, Fake Out is the most effective when the side members use it to support the main battle unit in the center.
Medicham@Medichamite
Adamant
252 Atk/252 HP/6 Speed
Telepathy
Fake Out
Drain Punch
Psycho Cut
Bullet Punch
Telepathy as Medicham's hidden ability seemed like a bad joke at first, but with the Mega Evolution, it suddenly makes sense. Medicham can either choose to Fake Out and hold out on Mega Evolving in order to avoid a teammate's Surf, or, if it's not threatened by friendly fire, Mega Evolve and attack with the move of choice.
Fake Out tends to be a very useful move here, since it can disable a troublesome enemy for one turn, so that its allies die around it, or to prevent it from attacking while Surf 2HKOs it.
Medicham is pretty frail, so I use Adamant with HP and Attack to maximize its attack power while fortifying its bulk. With Fake Out and Bullet Punch, the lack of speed is not so important. Psycho Cut has a rather disappointing base power, but it is reliable and very damaging under Mega Evolution, and wreaks havoc into the annoying Grass/Poison combo. Drain Punch is used again for its reliability. From the other move choices, Zen Headbutt and Hi Jump Kick are not used because of their garbage accuracy, and the fall damage for HJK.
BW2 Team
This is the incarnation currently used in BW2.
Politoed@Leftovers
Modest
252 Sp. Atk/252 HP/ 6 Speed
Drizzle
Surf
Scald
Ice Beam
Protect
Kindgra@Choice Specs
Modest
252 Sp. Atk/224 Speed/34 HP
Swift Swim
Surf
Icy Wind
Dragon Pulse
Twister
Toxicroak@Black Sludge
Adamant
252 Atk/252 HP/6 Speed
Dry Skin
Drain Punch
Sucker Punch
Substitute
Helping Hand
Poison Jab may be used in the Champions Tournament to hit Wallace's Ludicolo with. I used to have Thunderpunch where Helping Hand is, and replaced it with Poison Jab when needed, but Helping Hand is so useful you might as well use it in every tournament.
Gastrodon@Focus Sash
Calm
252 HP/252 Sp. Atk/6 Speed
Storm Drain
Scald
Ice Beam
Earth Power
Recover
Ludicolo@Life Orb
Timid
252 Sp. Atk/252 HP/6 Speed
Swift Swim
Surf
Ice Beam
Giga Drain
Substitute
Gardevoir@Choice Scarf
Timid
252 HP/252 Speed/6 Sp. Atk
Telepathy
Psyshock
Thunderbolt
Heal Pulse
Ally Switch
As said before, there is no obviously best choice for the sixth member, but currently I use this strange Gardevoir. Choice Scarf restricts versatility, but the increased speed makes it a reliable attacker against targets giving Surf trouble. In my experience Heal Pulse is very frustrating to use on a slow user, and the speed makes healing a viable option. Note that Heal Pulse CAN NOT heal through Substitute; the move will fail. Ally Switch can only rarely be used effectively with Choice Scarf, and the speed boost makes the priority redundant, but it's still a very useful move for repositioning and defending.
The 200 Run Champions
This is the original incarnation of the team, the victors of hundreds of tournaments in the PWT and 200 consecutive battles in the Battle Maison in XY. Things in parenthesis are specific to the original BW2 version.
Politoed@Choice Scarf
Modest
252 Sp. Atk/252 HP/ 6 Speed
Drizzle
Surf
Scald
Ice Beam
Psychic
Choice Scarf will allow it to outspeed most any medium-slow enemy, but will severely hamper it in stalling situations.
Kindgra@Choice Specs
Modest
252 Sp. Atk/224 Speed/34 HP
Swift Swim
Surf
Icy Wind
Dragon Pulse
Twister
Toxicroak@Black Sludge
Adamant
252 Atk/252 HP/6 Speed
Dry Skin
Drain Punch
Sucker Punch
Substitute
Helping Hand
Gastrodon@Focus Sash
Calm
252 HP/252 Sp. Atk/6 Speed
Storm Drain
Scald
Ice Beam
Earth Power
Recover
Lapras@Leftovers
Bold
252 HP/252 Def/6 Speed
Hydration
Freeze-Dry (Ice Beam)
Ice Shard (Thunder)
Surf
Rest
Nerfed overall in XY, but still kept around. More often than not, can be considered the weakest link of the team. See more details in the Alternative Sets section.
Scizor@Scizorite (Focus Band)
Adamant
252 Attack/252 HP/6 Speed
Technician
Bullet Punch
Bug Bite
Aerial Ace
Protect (Pursuit)
Originally my sixth members filled the role of the scrapper, independent fighters that don't much interact with the rest of the team. The single biggest weakness of Scizor is the complete lack of any kind of protection against water. Therefore, a friendly fire surf from Kingdra will likely kill it with a critical hit, or leave it in red. In some cases you might be so brave as to switch Scizor into an incoming surf, but usually it shouldn't be done. Fire, on the other hand, is greatly weakened by rain, and is not always the death sentence it usually is for Scizor.
Mega Scizor is overall just a modest upgrade to base stats, however, being unrestricted by Choice band lowers total Attack but gives much more versatility and access to Protect. The previous move, Pursuit, never really saw any use. The dark-type move was redundant, and the AI only switches in a few very specific situations.
Aerial Ace can be effectively used as an artillery weapon, similar to Kingdra's Dragon Pulse.
Main Strategy
The rain should be kept up. Achieve speed superiority with Swift Swim & ensuring that no dangerous priority moves threaten you. Achieve high attack power by stacking bonuses (rain water damage, choice/life orb, helping hand), hit multiple enemies with Surf and minimize friendly fire with abilities and Protect. The side members will mainly support the main battle unit, or entrench themselves while the main battle unit clears the opposing side of threats.
Situations where the main battle units are threatened are to be avoided. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made; however, pointless death is only acceptable if it's the enemies doing the dying.
Example Combos
Full Attack & Switch
Politoed switches to another team member, usually Gastrodon, while Kingdra attacks with a Helping Hand-boosted Surf. Very high damage, no friendly fire damage taken, but everything is stacked on Kingdra: if it's prevented by moving by things such as Fake Out, your momentum will halt badly.
Entrench, Attack & Switch
Same as previous, but Toxicroak uses Substitute instead of Helping Hand. This combo can be used when you're sure that all three of the enemies will fall to an unboosted Surf. An unharmed, +1 Sp. Atk Gastrodon and a Toxicroak behind a Substitute will give you great, dependable momentum. Since Toxicroak moves independently, the possible interruption of Kingdra will not be as serious.
Sash Breaker
Attack with Politoed (Surf or Scald), Surf with Kingdra, attack with Toxicroak (Drain Punch or Sucker Punch). This is usually used on enemies abusing Sturdy. Since their having the ability is random, multiple attacks guarantee that the target goes down. If it didn't have Sturdy and the extra attack had no target, it is not wasted: the original objective of defeating the Sturdy enemy without getting hit is achieved.
Bait and Shift
Two team members fast enough to outspeed the relevant enemies Shift continuously, minimizing the enemy attack's damage. This can be done between members such as Ludicolo and Toxicroak: the enemy targets Ludicolo with a poison attack, but it will always hit Toxicroak due to the Shift, doing chip damage that is easily healed away. The other member can either attack or set up.
Diversion and Attack
Politoed stays in and uses Protect, or failing that, switch to Gastrodon. Kingdra attacks with Surf, Toxicroak usually uses Helping Hand. This can be used when you know the enemy will target the leftmost water-type. It will either stay in and live the hit with Focus Sash or deflect it with Protect, while the other team members use the diversion to do damage to the enemies. This combo will likely be either unreliable or ineffective if Golduck is used instead of Kingdra, as Kingdra's dragon-type nullifies the usual water-type weaknesses, and the computer's target will be difficult to know.
Alternative Sets
First Slot
Second Slot
Golduck@Choice Specs
Modest
252 Speed/252 Sp. Atk/6 HP
Swift Swim
Surf
Ice Beam
Synchronoise
Icy Wind
Third Slot
Fourth Slot
Fifth Slot
Lapras@Leftovers
Calm
252 HP/252 Def/6 Speed
Hydration
Ice Beam/Freeze-Dry
Thunder/Ice Shard
Surf
Rest
This is what I used before Ludicolo. The idea is that Lapras can easily heal and cure itself with rain and Hydration, and abuse Thunder to attack enemy water-types with decent power.
However, the rain nerf hit Hydration the hardest, and even in Triples, it is very noticeable and hindering. The problem is that Hydration requires the NEXT turn to have rain, so if you use Rest and it stops raining at the end of the turn, Lapras will remain asleep normally! If you use Hydration after BW2, try to keep track of the rain turns; the game does not show data like that.
The other nerf is to Thunder, and the new Freeze-Dry suddenly seems like a better choice. The problem with that is its low power of 70, which gimps Lapras' ice STAB against non-water-types. Lapras does not have enough Sp. Atk with this build to get away with using such low-power moves. Ice Beam can be used alongside Freeze-Dry, but it feels redundant, so I opted for Ice Shard instead. Even with reduced Attack, it will effectively break sashes, finish off wounded enemies and deal big damage to 4x weak targets.
I chose to increase the lower of Lapras' defense stat, but Sp. Def can be focused on instead if you want. Lapras' base HP is also so high that increasing the other defense instead may be more effective.
Sixth Slot
Scizor@Scizorite
Adamant
252 Attack/252 HP/6 Speed
Technician
Bullet Punch
Bug Bite
Aerial Ace
Protect
Garchomp@Yache Berry
Jolly
252 Attack/252 Speed/6 HP
Sand Veil/Rough Skin
Outrage
Dragon Dance
Earthquake
Brick Break
I might not remember all the details, but this is what I used for a short time before Scizor. Just grabbed what I had to fill the last spot, no real synergy.
Altaria@Altarianite
Calm
252 HP/252 Sp. Def/6 Speed
Natural Cure
Hyper Voice
Dragon Pulse
Cotton Guard
Roost
After using Cotton Guard, both of Mega Altaria's defense stats are very high, but with the fast pace of Triples, it can be hard to find an opportunity to use it. Hyper Voice is helpful in that it hits multiple enemies, but no allies.
Noivern@Leftovers
Timid
252 Speed/252 HP/6 Sp. Atk
Telepathy
Hurricane
Dragon Pulse
Substitute
Roost
Takes no damage from friendlies thanks to Telepathy, and Hurricane hits pesky grass-types with great power and perfect accuracy under rain. Both of its attacks can also hit enemies on the other side of the field. Because of its speed, it can stall quite effectively with Substitute. Extremely gimped under Trick Room.
Vaporeon@Leftovers
Bold
252 Def/252 Sp. Def/6 Speed
Water Absorb
Scald
Ice Beam
Helping Hand
Wish
Vaporeon's main problem is its very shallow offensive movepool that brings no diversity to your attacks. There are still some choices for interesting moves here, like Yawn, Synchronoise, Haze, Baton Pass and even Quick Attack.
Ditto@Choice Scarf
Jolly
252 Speed/252 HP/6 Attack
Imposter
Transform
A gimmicky and unreliable choice, this one will transform into the enemy directly in front of Ditto. Because of the scarf, it will likely move faster than the enemy it's transformed into. If there is no enemy in front of Ditto when it switches in, Imposter doesn't activate and it has to transform manually with Transform. Bad!
Heliolisk@Leftovers
Bold
252 HP/252 Sp. Def/6 Speed
Dry Skin
Thunder
Surf
Hyper Voice
Substitute
Heliolisk has a surprisingly high affinity with water, and can fit this team rather well. Thunder is both STAB and accurate under rain, Surf does not gain STAB but enjoys the rain bonus and possible synergies for other team members. Hyper Voice is a decent STAB AOE move that doesn't hit teammates. Substitute helps with staying power.
Gardevoir@Leftovers/Gardevoirite
Bold
252 Def/252 HP/6 Speed
Telepathy
Moonblast/Hyper Voice
Heal Pulse
Psyshock
Ally Switch
A Gardevoirite Gardevoir can delay Mega Evolution to retain Telepathy and go Mega when the time comes to attack. The problem is, sometimes you want to retain Telepathy for longer, and for that time, the Gardevoirite does nothing, and Hyper Voice is a normal-type move. For a set specializing in supporting with Telepathy, the aforementioned BW2 set can be used, but for the Mega-delaying stuff, I feel like Medicham is a much better choice.
EVs are distributed to improve Gardevoir's frail physical side, as this is more of a defensive/utility build. Its Sp. Atk is high enough to do a number on the enemy even without investment.
Audino@Audinite
Bold
252 Def/252 HP/6 Speed
Regenerator
Dazzling Gleam
Wish
Rain Dance
Heal Pulse
I've never actually tried this, but considered it. The trouble is that Audino takes normal damage from Surf, has a mediocre Sp. Atk even in Mega form, is too slow to reliably heal with Heal Pulse, possesses a mostly useless ability in Mega form, and overall does not really synergize with the rest of the team.
Slowbro@Slowbronite
Calm
252 HP /252 Sp. Def/6 Speed
Regenerator
Slack Off
Calm Mind
Scald
Psyshock
In theory, Mega Slowbro can boost both of its defenses to levels that become untouchable in conjucation with Shell Armor, healing damage with Slack Off, and having two great STAB attack moves with Scald and Psychock, but the problem is that the battle around Slowbro progresses much faster. Similar to Altaria, oftentimes it's simply more effective to attack as soon as possible than spend turns boosting and healing. Amnesia can be used instead of Calm Mind, but Calm Mind is better for extended stalling situations since it boosts two stats instead of one, including an attacking stat.
Parasect@Choice Scarf
Jolly
252 Speed/252 HP/6 Def
Dry Skin
Spore
X-Scissor
Seed Bomb
Aromatherapy
The main idea of this strange build is to stay at the side, being healed by the rain and Surf, and disabling enemies as fast as possible by using Spore. Parasect's pitiful speed is still mediocre with maximum investment and Choice Scarf, but this can nevertheless be an interesting pick. X-Scissor and Seed Bomb are the basic STAB attacks, and the last spot can be used for Aromatherapy utility or something else.
Notable Opponents
Battle Maison
Note: Enemy Pokémon have random gender and ability, where applicable (including hidden abilities).
Battle Chatelaine Dana
Neither one of Dana's teams are too dangerous, and if you're feeling cheeky, you might even bring a level 1 Magikarp to the 50 Super Triple battle and get it the ribbon. The usual strategies of boosting Surf apply, and all of the Regis are rather slow and weak to Toxicroak.
Hex Maniac
These fools tend to use Pokémon resistant to water that try to use Trick Room. Destroy them before their foul magicks can come into fruition! Nevertheless, since the enemy teams are so random, they often use fast Pokémon like Alakazam with Trick Room, so use their bad picks to your advantage.
Pokémon Breeder
Uncannily often, these turn out to be stalling morons relying on grass-types and their resistances, be advised.
Scientist
These dorks tend use electric-type tricks like Thunder Wave and can field Lanturn, a tiresome staller that will take some time to bring down.
Veteran
These only use legendaries, of them the Latis and Virizion tend to be the most dangerous. Toxicroak can field an effective suicide attack against the Latis with Sucker Punch.
Ace Trainer
From my experience, these can use a mix of Pokémon belonging to many different types of trainers. Sometimes the combination of Pokémon can seem almost tailored to counter your own team, but there's still a way. Stay stalwart and strong, and smash these simpletons.
Pokémon World Tournament
Note: all teams are the World Leaders Tournament versions, where applicable. Under the Triple Battle format, the opponents use their entire team every time in a random order, but almost all have a specific lead Pokémon that always goes first (facing your Toxicroak, if following guide order). Gender and ability are randomized where applicable (no hidden abilities).
Brock
Brock is a real bastard, relying on cheap tricks like changing weather, Sturdy and flinching. The first thing to do is to TAKE DOWN AERODACTYL! When it's not raining, it will threaten all adjacent team members with flinching and some damage, every single turn! Bring it down immediately, if not sooner! Onix has a pathetic attack, but is still rather annoying because of Sturdy and Sandstorm.
Misty
Remember that Starmie is always facing Toxicroak when the battle starts, and can easily be dealt with in the first turn by using Sucker Punch on it and finishing it off with Surf.
Erika
Erika has a strange choice in Abomasnow, but it works well in her favor by interrupting rain, be aware of its presence.
Giovanni
Giovanni has the capability to change the weather to sandstorm, so be patient. Garchomp is quite threatening to Kingdra, and doesn't go down that easily.
Clair
Clair is a dragon-type user and has a Kingdra, so be careful. Her Kingdra likes to use inappropriate moves for the situation and has the inaccurate Outrage, so it won't always hit your own Kingdra, but I still don't feel like it's worth it to leave Kingdra against hers. Clair's Kingdra also has the cheap and annoying ChestoRest combo.
Norman
Remember that his Slaking has an Eject Button: move first, hitting it with Surf and it runs away, wasting its turn.
Tate & Liza
Both their teams have a disgusting amount of Trick Room setters, and sometimes it's almost impossible to prevent it. Nevertheless, their offense is rather limp, so it is more than possible to outgun them even under Trick Room.
Juan
My favorite opponent, his Kingdra's presence will add a twist to the beginning, and the OHKO moves of Walrein and Crawdaunt can change the course of the battle, making it unpredictable. Remember to get rid of Relicanth, as it can have Swift Swim and spam Rock Slide and therefore threaten flinch with great effectiveness.
Counter every blow, see where the flow will go, and rise as the most elegant user of the water-type.
Gardenia
Another real bastard with annoying Pokémon & moves like Roserade, Tropius, Leafeon, Breloom, Sunny Day, Spore and Quick Attack. Exploit the weakness to ice and keep your main battle units alive for as long as possible.
Wake
His Floatzel is faster than Kingdra, but usually dies to the combination of Drain Punch and Surf; it likes to use the first turn on Bulk Up. Empoleon, Ludicolo, Gastrodon , Poliwrath and Gyarados are all possibly annoying and dangerous opponents. Move your team members to the best positions, strike decisively and be aware of the incoming reinforcements.
Byron
Likes to stall and use cheap stuff like Sturdy and Trick Room (on Bronzong). Spread your attacks across multiple moves to break through Sturdy.
Candice
The most annoying opponent in all of PWT, this wretch's ""strategy"" consists of relying on luck-based bonuses and hail (these two are naturally linked). KEEP POLITOED AND KINGDRA ALIVE, and don't be afraid of making sacrifices just so the two can set up and shatter the ice idiots with one fell strike! In fact, a good tactic is to let two of your other Pokémon die on purpose in the second turn, if hail is up, just so both Politoed and Kingdra can get free switches and immediately start attacking with Surf. The importance of weather & speed superiority cannot be understated here! Make her beg for mercy, make her scream your name, and then, break her!
Volkner
Volkner's team falls to two Helping-Hand boosted Surfs.
A proven masochist, he still claims the "battle" was fun.
Roxie
Be wary of Toxicroak. If its Anticipation activates, you're in business: it has just announced its time of death, which is during the next turn when Kingdra's merciless Surf wastes the false frog.
Elesa
Like Volkner's, Elesa's team falls to two Helping Hand-boosted Surfs.
Clay
His Excadrill has Focus Sash, and probably tries to kill Toxicroak with Drill Run, so break the sash with Sucker Punch and watch it die to Surf. Despite being a dragon-type, Flygon is not too dangerous and is easily beaten by Kingdra.
Skyla
Grass and Flying are two of the types that your vanguard will have the most trouble defending against, so if you stay in with Toxicroak, it might as well be a suicide Helping Hand.
Drayden
Drayden will give you a good scrap, but is not as threatening as some of the other Dragon users due to the lack of Kingdra.
Marlon
Marlon's Jellicent is prime material for Toxicroak stalling. It will try to use Psychic on it every time, but Toxicroak is faster and can just defend with Substitute. Keep this going for as long as possible.
Bianca
I have NEVER seen her at the World Leaders tournament across 2400+ matches, but I'll include her here anyway (My experience of battling her team comes through the Vs. Seeker in ORAS). Be wary of Serperior; it will try to use Glare on the fastest team member (Kingdra). Try to get rid of Musharna as soon as possible: if it is allowed to boost enough, it can become a nightmare to deal with.
Lenora
What to do when your stats are low, and your ability's not too hot either? Be as annoying as possible with Focus Sash and status moves. That's that Watchog does, so know that it won't die to a single surf, and is faster than Toxicroak, and can't be counted on as a Sucker Punch victim due to the aforementioned status moves. From the other Pokémon, Kangaskhan stands out as a Fake Out user.
Lance
Lance is probably the most reliably dangerous of all the PWT opponents. His STAB dragon-type moves can brainlessly hit for huge amounts of damage, almost all of them resist water, Dragonite has a sash, Haxorus has a scarf and to top it off he has a Kingdra. Defeat him before he can defeat you, that's all I can say.
Steven
He tries to set up sandstorm, and the sashed Excadrill especially should be targeted for termination quickly.
Wallace
Wallace has many of the same makings as his mentor, but feels a bit more dangerous. Milotic can be hard to take down, but fortunately its attacks don't hit hard. Ludicolo can be a very annoying opponent here.
Cynthia
Garchomp has a sash, but otherwise no huge threats. She is not so tough.
Red
Many of his Pokémon resist Water, so defeating him will not be that straightforward. His Pikachu suffers from the Watchog syndrome, and the only thing preventing it from dying pathetically to Surf in record time is Fake Out. Be wary of Charizard's sash and Air Slash's extended range.
Emerge triumphant and be recognized as the strongest under the heavens.
Tips & Tricks on Strategy & Tactics
After fighting and winning many battles, you will come to see that all strategy across all battles is interconnected. Sun Tzu's The Art of War is an ancient treatise on war, but it continues to be relevant even today, and by comparing your experiences with the text, it becomes clear how many of the wisdoms can be applied to your own battles as well.
Sun Tzu says: According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one's plans. All warfare is based on deception.
The AI can be predictable, and every opportunity should be taken to exploit it and make you take minimal losses, while mowing down the enemy team. Attract attention to vulnerable team members, then protect them or switch them out: use the diversion to attack with others.
Sun Tzu says: ...though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.
Staying out for longer than needed and protracting will make you vulnerable to things such as critical hits and additional effects. Carry out your goals with the least amount of moves needed, but recognize the opportunity to exploit a lull in the battle to your advantage, whether it be on offense or defense.
Sun Tzu says: Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
There are times where your enemy will work against itself, by means of Perish Song, SSC, or just not switching to a better choice. Never interrupt your opponent when he's making a mistake. An ineffective enemy can be more valuable kept alive than one that is beaten and replaced with a more dangerous reinforcement.
Sun Tzu says: Hence the skillful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible, and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy.
Set up situations where all outcomes play in your favor. First of all, contingencies should be set up; the outcome of the battle must not rely on a single move. When you are one step ahead of the enemy, and can answer any attack with an even more effective counterattack, victory is assured.
Sun Tzu says: In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack--the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers.
I listed several example combos, but don't be bound to any rigid specifics. There are huge amounts of ways your team members can be combined in battle, and the correct answer to any given situation is the one that effectively defends you while giving the means to strike back. The end goal of any battle is to be the last man standing.
Sun Tzu says: Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.
Behind every decision to move and attack at risk must be a greater purpose in the background. Don't react brashly, but recognize the enemy's wishes, actively work against those wishes, but at the same time let your own strategy unfold, or the result will be defense without attack -- effectively doing what the enemy wants you to do after all. Don't fall into the enemy's traps, and if necessary, make sacrifices to ruin their plans.
Sun Tzu says: So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.
Oftentimes, it is more effective to leave a staller alone and defeat its weaker teammates around it before ganging up on it with superior numbers. If you waste turns attacking the staller, you're doing what it wants you to do, and allow the weaker enemies to attack you in turn.
If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt
This is a game of knowledge. Know what is set and what is random or unknown, and assume the worst of two outcomes. Get a feel for how much damage your team members can deal and how much they can take. Know their speed, and don't be taken surprised by superior speed or priority. Always be aware of factors that nullify your moves. Know how the AI thinks and predict its moves. When you know your team, and when your hearts beat as one, you can confidently face any enemy.
Fear betrays all senses; don't give in to fear, but find a way even when all seems lost.
Never surrender!
