Lighting Up Little Cup: Chinchou through the Ages!

Introduction

At its release in 1999, Chinchou shared an unfortunate fate with many of its Water-type brothers, remaining a bottom dweller, merely a Pokémon to Repel away. Its Pokémon Silver Pokedex entry even further accentuates this: "On the dark ocean floor, its only means of communication is its constantly flashing lights." Yet in Little Cup, Chinchou shows its other side, also revealed by its Pokémon Gold Pokedex entry: "It shoots positive and negative electricity between the tips of its two antennae and zaps its enemies." Chinchou's excellent dual Water / Electric typing as well as its natural bulk and good ability cements it as a staying power in Little Cup.

DPP

Main set/Main role: Agility sweeper

Chinchou @ Life Orb / Oran Berry
Level: 5
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 52 Def / 228 SpA / 220 Spe
Modest Nature
- Agility
- Hydro Pump / Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam / Hidden Power Grass

As a significant Little Cup community started to form in the DPP era, Chinchou made its debut as an Agility sweeper. Chinchou's great special movepool and aforementioned amazing defensive typing made it a prime candidate for being a sweeper. This set utilizes Agility to boost Chinchou's Speed to a point above every unboosted Pokémon and even most boosted Pokémon, a notable example being Choice Scarf Gligar, and allow it to sweep after its checks have been removed, an example here being Munchlax. All three choices involved with Chinchou are completely up to preference, be it Life Orb versus Oran Berry, Hydro Pump versus Surf, or Ice Beam versus Hidden Power Grass. Taking a Life Orb or an Oran Berry into battle will give Chinchou either more power or more longevity, while the choice between Hydro Pump or Surf is up to whether you prefer a riskier, more powerful move or a safer, less powerful move. In regards to Ice Beam and Hidden Power Grass, Ice Beam safely hits Gligar if Chinchou is using Hydro Pump as well as hitting Dratini, while Hidden Power Grass can damage opposing Chinchou and safely damage Ground-types. Chinchou's Special Attack and Speed EVs and Modest nature are used to maximize its sweeping potential, and 52 Defense EVs help its longevity. Volt Absorb should always be used on Chinchou because it lets Chinchou check opposing Electric-types, which it otherwise would greatly fear. Main threats to Agility Chinchou consist of Munchlax, Snover, and Dratini or opposing Chinchou depending on Chinchou's coverage move of choice.

Other sets: Choice Scarf, Specially Defensive

Other than its Agility set, Chinchou has two other major sets: Choice Scarf and specially defensive. The Choice Scarf set commonly runs Hydro Pump for a powerful Water-type STAB option, Thunderbolt for a reliable Electric-type STAB move, Ice Beam to hit Ground- and Grass-types, and either Hidden Power Grass or Hidden Power Ground to hit opposing Chinchou. This set aims to utilize Choice Scarf to tear through opposing teams and can also make a very good revenge killer, and therefore it uses max Special Attack and Speed. Another decent set in DPP is a specially defensive set with maximum HP and Special Defense investment utilizing Thunderbolt or Discharge / Surf / Thunder Wave / Ice Beam, as it can relatively easily switch into Water-type and Electric-type moves and paralyze its foes to help its teammates outspeed them. The choice between Thunderbolt and Discharge is the classic choice between power and utility, and it is notable that, if you choose to use Discharge, it isn't very necessary to use Thunder Wave as Discharge has a high chance to paralyze. This set usually runs Oran Berry to increase longevity. However, the highly offensive nature of early Little Cup makes Agility and Choice Scarf sets more common.

BW

Main set/Main role: Eviolite attacker

Chinchou @ Eviolite
Level: 5
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 52 Def / 232 SpA / 224 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch / Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Grass
- Heal Bell

The introduction of Volt Switch into Little Cup left Chinchou as the prime user, carving out quite a useful niche for it. Eviolite's introduction also helped Chinchou out. Chinchou's Eviolite attacker set utilizes Eviolite and maximum Special Attack to let Chinchou deal as much damage as possible while also allowing it to survive as long as possible. Hydro Pump is Chinchou's most powerful Water-type STAB move and also helps it deal maximum damage. Volt Switch allows Chinchou to function as a great pivot and is also a decently powerful Electric-type STAB attack. Despite Chinchou being the best Volt Switch user in BW, it can still be quite good without it, and Thunderbolt can be used over Volt Switch to provide more power to Chinchou without forcing it to switch out. Hidden Power Grass is used to hit opposing Chinchou, which pose a big threat to Chinchou itself. Heal Bell allows Chinchou to function as a good cleric and lets it assist its teammates well. Chinchou's EVs, as mentioned above, maximize Special Attack and Speed, and the remaining EVs are put into Defense to help increase Chinchou's longevity a bit more. Though Chinchou also gained Water Absorb this generation, Volt Absorb is still its ability of choice; Chinchou's resistance to Water and its Electric-type STAB moves already let it easily check Water-types, so the extra help of Water Absorb is not as necessary as that of Volt Absorb. Lileep is Chinchou's main check in BW, being able to absorb (literally and figuratively) everything Chinchou commonly uses.

Other sets: Choice Scarf, RestTalk

Just as in DPP, Chinchou's main set other than Eviolite attacker is Choice Scarf. The set is also essentially the same in DPP with one major difference: Volt Switch. The introduction of Volt Switch in BW saw Chinchou rise to become its primary user. Choice Scarf Chinchou abuses Volt Switch to cripple Chinchou's foes and generally spread damage. Chinchou is a particularly good user of Volt Switch because of its ability to threaten Ground-types, which its competitors, mainly Magnemite, can't damage. Before Murkrow's ban, Chinchou was its main check, utilizing a RestTalk set with Rest / Sleep Talk / Scald / Heal Bell to continually heal, and this set is still good after Murkrow's ban, though certainly not Chinchou's best set. Discharge may also be used instead of Heal Bell as a secondary STAB option.

XY

Main set/Main role: Bulky pivot

Chinchou @ Berry Juice
Level: 5
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 76 HP / 212 Def / 152 SpA / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald / Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Ice Beam / Hidden Power Ground
- Heal Bell / Hidden Power Ground

With the increasing bulkiness of Little Cup in XY, bulky pivot Chinchou could rise above Chinchou's other sets. With Scald, Chinchou can deal heavy damage and potentially burn physical threats, although Hydro Pump may be used instead for even more damage. Volt Switch allows Chinchou to function as a great slow pivot, safely getting its teammates in, and with its other STAB move, Chinchou can threaten incoming Ground-types much more easily than other Volt Switch users especially. Ice Beam hits the only two types Chinchou is weak to: Grass- and Ground-types. It is notable that Ice Beam can be used safely against Flying-types if switching out isn't a good option for Chinchou. Chinchou is one of the few viable Pokémon in Little Cup with access to Heal Bell, and it makes great use of it due to its great defensive typing and natural bulk. As another coverage option, Hidden Power Ground can be run to beat opposing Electric-types, mainly opposing Chinchou. Berry Juice gives Chinchou extra longevity by nearly restoring its HP to full when it drops below half HP. Its Speed EVs let it reach the 14 Speed benchmark, letting it tie with Modest max Speed Magnemite, unboosted Corphish, and many Vullaby sets. Its Special Attack EVs help it score key KOs on the likes of Fletchling, and its Defense and HP EVs and Bold nature let Chinchou survive attacks from Flying-types and other physical attackers more often. When using this Chinchou, predicting Electric-immune Pokémon is very important, as certain ones, mainly Diglett, can easily trap and remove Chinchou. It is also good to utilize Volt Switch to constantly chip at enemy walls.

Other sets: Choice Scarf, RestTalk

Chinchou's Choice Scarf set also gained ever-increasing popularity and was nearly as good as its bulky pivot set, but as it is nearly identical to the set below, I won't go into more details about it. However, it is very notable that Choice Scarf Chinchou uses Scald much more often and usually runs Hidden Power Ground in XY. Chinchou's RestTalk set was also decently good, being largely the same as in BW, although it used Volt Switch instead of Discharge or Heal Bell.

SM

Main set/Main role: Choice Scarf revenge killer/fast attacker

Chinchou @ Choice Scarf
Level: 5
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 52 Def / 232 SpA / 224 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam / Hidden Power Ground / Scald
- Scald / Hidden Power Ground / Thunderbolt

Fletchling's fall into relative obscurity should've dropped Chinchou into a similar (although much better) situation. However, the subsequent rise of Rufflet and Doduo helped put Chinchou back into a position of much favor. The increasingly fast metagame also let Chinchou's Choice Scarf set rise above all of its other sets and completely take the spotlight. Chinchou's ability to revenge kill opposing Pokémon is invaluable to many teams, as is its ability to check Rufflet and Doduo. Choice Scarf Chinchou primarily utilizes Volt Switch to act as a fast pivot, revenge kill Flying- and Water-types, and deal chip damage to any Pokémon that isn't immune to it throughout the match. Scald and Hydro Pump are both good STAB options, with the former being more reliable and having a burn chance and the latter granting extra power at the cost of reliability and utility. Ice Beam hits the Grass-types that threaten Chinchou as well as reliably hitting Ground-types if Chinchou is running Hydro Pump. Hidden Power Ground hits opposing Chinchou and Magnemite; the former in particular is quite troublesome to Chinchou itself. Thunderbolt is an extra Electric-type STAB attack that Chinchou can use without switching out, and Hydro Pump also can be used alongside Scald to provide power and utility. Max Speed and Special Attack EVs, as well as a Timid nature, are used to help let Chinchou do maximum damage and outspeed as many Pokémon as possible. The 52 remaining EVs are invested into Chinchou's Defense. Chinchou's main counters are defensive variants of itself, mainly ones that run Hidden Power Ground. Bulky Grass-types such as Foongus, Ferroseed, and Pumpkaboo-XL also pose a threat despite Chinchou's access to Ice Beam.

Other sets: Bulky pivot

Although Choice Scarf has become Chinchou's primary set, the bulky pivot set from XY can still function quite well in SM. Also, a bulky Eviolite attacker set has been gaining popularity utilizing a similar set to Chinchou's normal bulky pivot set.

Closing Thoughts and The Future

Through all these generations, it is clear to see that Chinchou has been and will remain a top tier LC threat. It even had a brief stint as a specially defensive pivot in XY PU! With its Choice Scarf set remaining a top-tier threat in every generation and its bulky pivot set seeming just as eternal since the introduction of Volt Switch, Chinchou may cement itself in any meta in the future quite easily. Regardless of the changes of new tides, Chinchou shall continue to shine bright through the generations.

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