#545 Pendora -
-Pendora is one of the few Poison types introduced in the 5th Generation. With its fantastic base 112 Speed, decent 90 base Attack and good movepool it is going to be one of the most threating Physical sweepers in the lower tiers.
Type Chart:
0.25x
0.50x
1.00x
2.00x
Base Stats: Hp 60 - Atk 90 - Def 89 - SAtk 55 - SDef 69 - Spe 112
Abilities:
-Swarm: When HP is below 1/3rd, Bug’s power increases to 1.5 times
-Poison Point: The opponent has a 30% chance of being Poisoned when using an attack, that requires physical contact, against this Pokémon.
-Quick Feet: When this Pokémon is burned, frozen, paralyzed, poisoned, or sleeping, its Speed increases by 50%. Furthermore, the Speed drop of paralysis is nullified (but the chance of being "fully paralyzed" is not).
Movepool:
- Pre-Evolution only Moves: Iron Defense
- Egg Moves: Twineedle - Pin Missile - Toxic Spikes - Spikes - Take Down - Rock Climb
- Level-Up Moves: Lv1: Megahorn, Lv1: Defense Curl, Lv1: Rollout, Lv1: Poison Sting, Lv1: Screech, Lv5: Poison Sting, Lv8: Screech, Lv12: Pursuit, Lv15: Protect, Lv19: Poison Tail, Lv23: Bug Bite, Lv28: Venom Shock, Lv30: Baton Pass, Lv33: Agility, Lv39: Hard Roller, Lv44: Toxic, Lv50: Rock Climb, Lv55: Double-Edge
- Learnable TMs: TM06 - Toxic, TM09 - Venom Shock, TM10 - Hidden Power, TM11 - Sunny Day, TM15 - Hyper Beam, TM17 - Protect, TM21 - Frustration, TM22 - Solar Beam, TM26 - Earthquake, TM27 - Return, TM28 - Dig, TM32 - Double Team, TM36 - Sludge Bomb, TM39 - Rock Tomb, TM42 - Facade, TM44 - Rest, TM45 - Attract, TM48 - Troll, TM66 - Payback, TM68 - Giga Impact, TM74 - Gyro Ball, TM75 - Swords Dance, TM76 - Bug Resistance, TM78 - Smooth Over, TM80 - Rock Slide, TM81 - X-Scissor, TM84 - Poison Jab, TM87 - Swagger, TM90 - Substitute, TM94 - Rock Smash, HM01 - Cut, HM04 - Strength
Name - Physical/Special - Type - PPs - Power - Accuracy - Description
Venom Shock: Special Poison 10 65 100 Power doubles if Target is poisoned.
Hard Roller: Physical Bug 20 65 100 May cause opponent to flinch. Power is doubled if Minimize is in effect for opponent.
Troll: Special Normal 15 60 100 Raises Base Power the more Pokemon you have with the attack.
Bug Resistance: Special Bug 20 30 100 May decrease opponent's Special Attack by 1 stage.
Smooth Over: Physical Ground 20 60 100 May decrease opponent's Speed by 1 stage.
Venom Shock: Special Poison 10 65 100 Power doubles if Target is poisoned.
Hard Roller: Physical Bug 20 65 100 May cause opponent to flinch. Power is doubled if Minimize is in effect for opponent.
Troll: Special Normal 15 60 100 Raises Base Power the more Pokemon you have with the attack.
Bug Resistance: Special Bug 20 30 100 May decrease opponent's Special Attack by 1 stage.
Smooth Over: Physical Ground 20 60 100 May decrease opponent's Speed by 1 stage.
Swords Dance
Pendora @ Life Orb
Nature: Jolly (+Spe, -SAtk)
Ability: Quick Feet
EVs 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Megahorn / X-Scissor
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide / Poison Jab
This is the most destructive set Pendora can run. With Swords Dance Pendora can boost its mediocre Attack to a number of 612 after a single turn and start to sweep, outspeeding most of the metagame thanks to its 355 Speed. Megahorn is the necessary STAB but it can be replaced with X-Scissor if you prefer a more accurate move. Earthquake is the best way Pendora has to hit Fire, Rock and Steel Pokémon and with Rock Slide it forms a pseudo EdgeQuake combo, which grants awesome coverage.
On the last slot Poison Jab is also viable as a secondary STAB move but Rock Slide is generally a better choice.
Baton Pass
Pendora @ Leftovers / Salac Berry
Nature: Jolly (+Spe, -SAtk)
Ability: Poison Point / Swarm
EVs 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Megahorn / X-Scissor
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
This is pretty much the standard Baton Passing Bug, just like the one Scyther, Venomoth, Beedrill and Ledian can run.
Even with those paltry 60/89/69 defenses and 2x weakness to Stealth Rock with this EV spread it has enough speed and bulk to set up at least one Swords Dance and abuse the boost with the STAB move of choice or pass it to another physical sweeper. Substitute protects it from status and is useful to scout the opponent's move at little risk to itself. Leftovers gives Pendora some more durability on the field but Salac Berry can be used to pass both Attack and Speed on the same set. Pendora is also able to Baton Pass Agility and Iron Defense but it is generally better to pass Attack boosts to physical sweepers.
Other Options:
Pendora is the fastest Spikes and Toxic Spikes user in the game but the lack of other supporting moves like Taunt or Rapid spin means it is outclassed by pretty much everything.
Conclusion:
What's your opinion about this new Pokémon that B/W gave us?
What are its best counters and team mates?
Share your ideas with the rest of the community by leaving a comment.
