I actually really love this metagame, it feels as though there's a certain freedom to teambuilding that I haven't had in almost any meta before except for the post-Fires, pre-Magneton era, which lasted 3 weeks ;~; This might just be because I'm becoming a better builder, but building around any random Pokemon/core that interests me is easier than ever, and in general there's a large number underrated Pokemon at the moment that are really worth looking into and trying out.
Grumpig @ Leftovers / Colbur Berry
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 248 HP / 172 SpA / 88 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Taunt
- Toxic / Thunder Wave / Signal Beam
I've recently been taking a liking to Grumpig, and I've built a few teams around it that I've enjoyed using. Though stat-wise it's just a worse Mesprit, Thick Fat actually lets Grumpig check a really unique combination of Pokemon (Fire, Ice, Psychic, soft checking Fighting-types), making it a godsend for teams that need the specific qualities it provides. And even beyond just its ability, a unique access to Focus Blast, being actually fairly fast, and having Taunt+Toxic can actually make it surprisingly hard to switch into outside of like Skuntank and a bit of a nightmare for anything slower than it that can't do significant damage. For the last slot, T-Wave, Signal Beam, and even Grass Knot are also cool options. Also of note is that Grumpig+Ferroseed form a really good core in how they cover nearly everything outside of like, Flying-types and Rhydon. I've always wanted to try this thing out and now that I have, I really encourage everyone to give it a chance.
Roselia @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 76 HP / 252 SpA / 180 Spe
Modest Nature
- Spikes
- Sleep Powder
- Sludge Bomb
- Leaf Storm
Though Roselia's a lot less of a niche choice than Grumpig, it's probably just as rare and under appreciated, largely because it's a Poison-type that doesn't check Fighting-types, unlike Garbodor and Vileplume, and is a lot less physically bulky than Ferroseed. Offensive sets especially are almost never seen, but I've been using it in a few teams and it's put in quite a bit of work most games. Sleep Powder basically nullifies all switch-ins bar Ferro and Magmortar and guarantees a layer of Spikes, and Leaf Storm is a nuke that beats almost every SR setter, which is a big niche over Garb since that's easily taken advantage of by Grounds or Rock-types. I've been experimenting with faster and bulkier spreads, but this is probably the most "standard" one, getting the jump on Garbodor. I've used a Focus Sash Roselia a bit too, but I think I prefer this, mainly because I tend to build the types of teams that don't want a hazard lead and prefer one that can check some stuff (Lanturn and Lilli, mainly) and set up Spikes throughout the game.
Ninetales @ Life Orb / Shuca Berry / Passho Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Energy Ball
- Psyshock
Because of its expansive coverage and Nasty Plot, Ninetales actually just bursts through traditional Fire resists and special walls in general. This used to be a lot more common/potent back when it was one of the few/best offensive Typhlosion counters, but now unfortunately its defensive utility kinda boils down to a Lilli and Mega Audino check, soft Ice-resist, and I guess Magmortar check if it runs Shuca. It overall makes up for this with sheer wallbreaking prowess though, and if it does its job right, it can leave the field wide open for stuff like Floatzel to sweep. I've been fairly impressed by this so far.
Vigoroth @ Eviolite
Ability: Vital Spirit
EVs: 248 HP / 248 SpD / 12 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bulk Up
- Return
- Taunt
- Slack Off
This thing looks extremely cool and I'll probably make a team around it in the near future, but since I was making a post about underrated threats I figured I'd share this potentially good one. The spread's stolen from PU and lets it outspeed neutral nature base 70s. Though it suffers from the omnipresence of Fighting-types (though this thing actually beats Yama if it switches into it by taking ~50% at +2 and KOing Yama with a +2 Return w/ the defense drops) and the larger number of Knock Off user, this thing's actually really bulky and just wins against anything that can't 2HKO it (even setup sweepers such as Scyther and Samurott actually lose if they switch in as it bulks up). Vigoroth faces a lot of competition from Malamar, but it has big niches in actually reliable recovery (which means it only has to avoid the 2HKO instead of the 3HKO and isn't potentially useless for two turns) and in beating (Gourgeist-XL thanks to Taunt, Scyther, Psychic-types w/ Signal, Mega Audino, Samurott, Weezing) and losing (faster Ghost-types and Fighting-types) to different things.
Other than Vigoroth, these Pokemon aren't really the most niche things, but they're certainly pretty underused and under appreciated; they're the types of things I encourage people to try out and see for themselves how good they are, because niche Pokemon tend to be one's favorite things to use.
What are some unique/rare/niche Pokemon or cores you guys have been using recently or want to use in the near future? When you scroll down the list of Pokemon, which ones stick out to you as potentially good? Personally, other than the aforementioned Vigoroth, I've been wanting to try out Simisage, Clefairy, and offensive Xatu+Jumpluff. You can even talk about any Pokemon that you've tried out and ended up disappointing you; I made an imo pretty solid Arbok squad, and while in a few games it was a really potent wallbreaker, it ended up being useless when the opponent had common stuff like Weezing, Klinklang (I ran Aqua Tail/Seed Bomb over EQ), and Ferro.
haha lets steal some mons from pu