STRATEGIES FOR UNDERUSED POKEMON Part II BY DRATINI 85 This is part two. I am covering three more Pokémon- Raticate, Sandslash, and Vaporeon. As with last time, stats, moves, and TMs availible preceed the strategy. Raticate Stats HP- 4 Attack- 3 Defense- 2 Speed- 3 Special- 1 Attacks: --- Tackle --- Tail Whip --- Quick Attack L14 Hyper Fang L27 Focus Energy L41 Super Fang TMs - 06, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20, 24, 25, 28, 31, 32, 34, 39, 40, 44, 50 HMs - None Raticate is another Pokémon with a very useful ability only it can learn: Super Fang. It will cut your opponent's HPs in half, which is very powerful. Although there exists moves that can instantly KO your enemy's Pokémon, they have very low accuracy. Super Fang does not have that problem, and can be followed up by strong attacks for a very quick KO. With a decent speed and attack, hit and run seems to be a good tactic. Beware of strong attacks, especially ones based on the special rating; Raticate's defensive stats are horrible. Hyper Fang is the base normal attack; it's strong and has decent PP, plus the ability to cause opponents to flinch and thereby lose a turn. It should prove strong enough on it's own, although even stronger moves are availible by level. Focus Energy can increase the chances of a critical hit, which means a stronger attack. Since Raticate's stragegy revolves around using Super Fang and following it up with a quick kill, this may not be the right Pokémon for it to be effective, depending on your exact strategy. Among useful TMs are Body Slam and Double Edge, both possible Hyper Fang replacements. Body Slam is slightly stronger, and can paralyze, but won't make them flinch. Double Edge is 25% stronger than Hyper Fang, but it makes you take 1/4 of the damage as well. Still, with a focus on attacking very quickly, it may be better. Dig and Earthquake, which rely on Raticate's relatively good attack rating, are recommended. Double Team and Substitute can help protect the otherwise vulnerable Raticate. Hyper Beam is very powerful, but the loss of a turn could be costly. Be careful what you do with Raticate. It's stats aren't specatcular, so you have to focus on Super Fang. Double Team or Substitute for defensive aid may be lifesavers, as it is apt to be killed quickly. Try to get the first strike and kill you opponents early. Pairing Raticate up with other Pokémon may be a good strategy, as it means you can rely less on the vulnerable rat. Still, it has the capibility to wipe out other Pokémon very quickly on its own, and can be a huge asset on the right team. Sandslash Stats HP- 5 Attack- 4 Defense- 4 Speed- 3 Special- 3 Attacks: --- Scratch --- Sand Attack --- Slash L27 Poison Sting L36 Swift L47 Fury Swipes TMs - 03, 06, 08, 09, 10, 15, 17, 19, 20, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 34, 39, 40, 44, 48, 50 HMs - 01, 04 The first thing you'll notice about Sandslash is it's amazing stats. I'm not 100% sure if Nintendo's are correct, but if they are, then we have one of the best Pokémon in the game. Its HPs are excellent, and every stat is good. This is something rare in Pokémon beyond the likes of Dragonite and the Legendary birds, easily making Sandslash my favorite ground Pokémon in the game. Friends have told me tales of it almost single-handedly winning battles fro them. With a variety of good moves availible by level and TM, Sandslash is highly recommended. The best move Sandslash learns by level is Slash. Strong, reliable, a good chance of critical hits, and plenty of PPs make it one of the best normal attacks in the game and a good fit. Swift can back it up well; it's not as strong, but very accurate and has good PPs. It also is capable of hitting digging or flying Pokémon, as well as taking down Chansies with ease. Fury Swipes is powerful, but also unreliable. Other moves will prove better suited for the spot. Poison Sting is too weak to work well, but it will provide variety in a pinch. No ground attack is learned by level, but several can be gotten by TM. Earthquake is a natural for Sandslash, covering the lack of a ground attack. With Sandslash's high attack rating, it will prove very effective. Rock Slide is a useful choice, as it will make people think twice before sending Flying types against you. Submission is a possibility, although not as useful as the moves mentioned earlier. Still, Sandslash can handle the recoil if needed. Sword's Dance makes it's attacks even stronger if desired, and can be paired with Hyper Beam for the awesome HyperDance combo. Slash, Swift, Earthquake, and Rock Slide are a good set of moves, all based on Sandslash's high attack strength. This choice of moves gives you lots of options in battle and plenty of PP. Many people are sure to put in HyperDance, wanting to make it even stronger. If so, Slash and Earthquake are the best choices to assist it with. Take Swift if no one else has it though; you'll need it against a heavily Minimizing or Double Teaming Pokémon, especially Chansey. Therefore, at least someone should have Swift in preparation. One of the nice things about Sandslash is that unlike many attackers, it does not have a horrid special (and sometimes speed) rating that gets it in trouble against the likes of Alakazam. This means you can worry less about fitting it in on your team and leaving a vulnerable spot. For this reason, I consider Sandslash one of the best attackers in the game, as well as THE best ground type. You won't have to worry about any stat becoming a major achilles heel for it. Vaporeon Stats HP- 5 Attack- 2 Defense- 2 Speed- 3 Special- 4 Attacks: --- Tackle --- Sand Attack L27 Quick Attack L31 Water Gun L37 Tail Whip L40 Bite L42 Acid Armor L44 Haze L48 Mist L54 Hydro Pump TMs - 06, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20, 31, 32, 33, 34, 39, 40, 44, 50 HMs - 03 Of all the water Pokémon, Vaporeon is arguably the best one defensively. Although you could make it into a solid normal water type, but their are better choices for that. You have to emphasize its strengths to make it shine, which many do not see, thereby thinking it the worst of the Eevee-lutions. However, it can be devistating in the right hands. As you may know, Vaporeon works very well with a defensive focus. Its defense rating is not spectacular, but can be easily made up for, and Special and HPs are good. With useful moves, Vaporeon is clearly a premiere choice for defensive needs. The three main defensive moves it learns are Acid Armor, Hze, and Mist. Acid Armor increases defense quickly, maxing out in only 3 turns. This helps tremendously with the mediocure defense rating. Haze can be rather intriguing, eliminating any status or stat changers. This works very well against anything that relies on stat modifying moves. However, this is a double-edged sword, as this affects you as well. Since many Vaporeons rely on stat changers like Acid Armor, this is not necessarily a good thing. It all depends on your Vaporeon's moves and strategy. While Haze can eliminate stat changing moves, Mist can prevent them. It should prevent any Sand Attacks or Screeches from ever hitting. Among the other moves it learns by level, Hydro Pump is a strong water attack that feeds off Vaporeon's high special. However, it may not be the best choice, as PPs can be more useful than pure strength on a Pokémon like this. Bite is a decent normal attack, although better ones are availible. Still, the moves that make Vaporeon special are the ones mentioned above, as well as others learned by TM. Substitute and Double Team both fit the defensive focus, protecting Vaporeon in different ways. I would think that Substitute works better, but it's your choice. Rest is something to consider; it leaves you vulnerable to attack, but fully restores your HPs and works fairly well with Substitute. It's also one of the only ways to eliminate status effects in battle. Surf is the ideal attack, with a good balence of PP and strength, as well as usefulness out of battle. Blizzard's freezing powers can also be effective here. Toxic works well if you intend to stall your opponent out, as you should buy enough time to make it do high damage. Body Slam and Take Down are possible replacements for Bite if you need a normal attack but find Bite too weak. And if Acid Armor isn't enough, take Reflect, which reduces damage done from physical attacks by 50%. The biggest decision with Vaporeon is how defense oriented you want it to be. You could simply give it Acid Armor/Reflect and Double Team or Substitute and two attacks (most likely Surf and Blizzard) and be fine. You might even have only one defensive move. You could also use Rest, Haze, or Mist for a heavier defensive mix. Toxic makes it even more of a stalling Pokémon, and Vaporeon is a solid choice for that. The main factors to decide are your other team members and your TM availibility. Your own style and necessities will affect this a lot. Above all, remember Vaporeon's strengths- with so many Water types availible, you'll want to emphasize the strong points of whichever one you are using and not try to make one out to be what it isn't. And with Vaporeon, those points are some the best defensive abilities in the game.