Pokemon Eligibility
In order to be used in LC, a Pokemon must comply with the following criteria:
Little Cup, like other metagames, uses clauses to ensure the most competitive environment. These are:
Dragon Rage: This move always inflicts 40 damage on the foe, unless it is a Fairy-type. This move is an absurdity in LC, where no Pokemon can even reach an HP stat above 40.
Sonic Boom: This move always inflicts 20 damage on the foe, unless it is a Ghost-type. Although it is less brutal than Dragon Rage, it is still enough to instantly take out a large portion of the tier.
Swagger: In conjunction with moves such as Thunder Wave, this move could successfully immobilize an opposing Pokemon while dealing rather consistent damage. It was deemed uncompetitive and banned from the tier.
Moody: This ability increases a random stat by 2 and decreases a random stat by 1 at the end of each turn. It is considered too random to be competitively relevant.
In order to be used in LC, a Pokemon must comply with the following criteria:
- The Pokemon must be able to evolve.
- The Pokemon must be at its earliest evolution stage.
- The Pokemon must be at level 5.
Little Cup, like other metagames, uses clauses to ensure the most competitive environment. These are:
- Species Clause: Only one Pokemon from each species may be on a team.
- Sleep Clause: Only one Pokemon per team can be put to sleep by an opponent at a time.
- OHKO Clause: Moves that score a guaranteed OHKO on the opponent (Sheer Cold, Horn Drill, Guillotine, and Fissure) are banned.
- Evasion Clause: Moves that boost evasion (e.g. Double Team and Minimize) are not allowed. Note that moves with an alternative purpose that also incidentally affect evasion (such as Defog and Acupressure) are allowed.
Dragon Rage: This move always inflicts 40 damage on the foe, unless it is a Fairy-type. This move is an absurdity in LC, where no Pokemon can even reach an HP stat above 40.
Sonic Boom: This move always inflicts 20 damage on the foe, unless it is a Ghost-type. Although it is less brutal than Dragon Rage, it is still enough to instantly take out a large portion of the tier.
Moody: This ability increases a random stat by 2 and decreases a random stat by 1 at the end of each turn. It is considered too random to be competitively relevant.
Banned Pokemon
Sand Rush
During DPP, Carvanha was a major offensive threat. With Waterfall, Crunch, and Aqua Jet, combined with its massive base 90 Attack and respectable base 65 Speed, Carvanha could easily 2HKO or OHKO most of the metagame. However, its horrific defenses—the worst of all Pokémon—prevented it from being broken, as nearly any attack could do massive damage to it. In addition, many common Pokémon were faster than Carvanha and could survive Aqua Jet, while being able to OHKO it easily in return. However, Carvanha received Speed Boost from the Dream World. With Speed Boost, Carvanha was able to outspeed all unboosted Pokémon in Little Cup after one turn and all Choice Scarf users after two. Combined with Carvanha's huge Attack stat, Little Cup teams were effectively forced to run priority moves that could OHKO Carvanha, such as Croagunk's Vacuum Wave and Timburr's Mach Punch. However, Carvanha users began to run Zen Headbutt to OHKO Croagunk and 2HKO Timburr. Ultimately, Little Cup players decided that Carvanha was too powerful, and banned it from the metagame in July 2011.
Gligar
While Gligar was not banned in DPP, it received several things in BW that led to its ban. Eviolite made Gligar much tankier (although this is true for all Pokémon in Little Cup) and made it one of the best walls in Little Cup, with excellent moves such as Stealth Rock, Roost, and Taunt at its disposal. However, Acrobatics Gligar with Flying Gem was discovered, terrorizing the metagame with its incredibly powerful Acrobatics, especially after a Swords Dance. While several checks and counters were soon discovered, AcroGar (as it was commonly referred to) combined with Gligar's amazing defensive and utility capabilities proved too good for Little Cup. Gligar was also banned by Little Cup players in July 2011 (coincidentally, the same vote as Carvanha and Meditite).
Meditite
While Meditite was banned for the entirety of the DPP Little Cup metagame, it was unbanned at the start of BW. One of Meditite's abilities, Pure Power, allows it to double its Attack stat. With Pure Power, Meditite was the strongest Pokémon in the metagame, with a massive Attack stat of up to 28 without any boosts. Combined with powerful STAB attacks in Hi Jump Kick, Drain Punch, and Zen Headbutt, as well as a variety of coverage attacks in ThunderPunch, Ice Punch, and Bullet Punch, Meditite was incredibly powerful and required Little Cup teams to run multiple counters to it in order to account for all of its coverage moves. Meditite was banned by Little Cup players in July 2011 (again, the same vote as Carvanha).
Murkrow
Murkrow is another incredibly offensively diverse offensive Pokémon, with many options that it can employ. The most common offensive sets are Eviolite Substitute / Roost, relying on Prankster for a priority Substitute and Roost, or Life Orb Mixkrow, which uses Insomnia to get free switches on Spore, and hits incredibly hard and has excellent coverage with Brave Bird / Sucker Punch / Heat Wave / Hidden Power Grass. Murkrow is also frequently seen sporting a Choice Scarf. Finally, Calm Mind sets are possible, though nowhere near as common as the above sets.
Scyther
Scyther has stayed banned for the entirety of Little Cup. Simply put, its base stats are far too good for the rest of the metagame. If allowed into Little Cup, it would have the second highest Attack, highest Speed, and yet still be roughly as bulky as the bulkiest Pokémon currently allowed in Little Cup. Technician with Bug Bite and Aerial Ace give it solid STAB attacks, while Swords Dance and Agility give it all the boosting moves it needs. Other nice moves such as Roost, Brick Break, and Pursuit aren't even necessary for Scyther. Although Scyther is extremely weak to Stealth Rock, Rapid Spin can easily deal with that. Scyther has never been unbanned, and likely never will be.
Scraggy
Scraggy was once the defining metagame threat of Little Cup. Its offensive prowess comes from its access to Dragon Dance, incredible offensive STABs, good bulk with Eviolite, semi-reliable recovery in Drain Punch, and and ability to set up on status moves due to Shed Skin. In addition to that, a powerful scarf set, in addition to Moxie, allowed it to quickly run through teams without needing to set up. With all of this, Scraggy was the premiere sweeper of the tier.
Sneasel
Sneasel is very similar to Scyther. It has also remained banned throughout the history of Little Cup. While being slightly weaker and slightly less bulky, it makes up for it by having a fantastic offensive typing as well as being even faster than Scyther. Sneasel also has access to Swords Dance, which renders it practically unstoppable if it does manage to get a boost. While Sneasel's movepool is not as good or as strong as Scyther's, it still manages to get the job done. Ice Punch and Bite or Pursuit provide solid STAB attacks, while Ice Shard is extremely useful priority and Brick Break provides coverage on Steel-types. Like Scyther, Sneasel will most likely never be unbanned.
Tangela
While not nearly as impressive as Scyther or Sneasel, Tangela boasts an amazing base 115 Defense and an equally as good base 100 Special Attack. The one problem that Tangela has is its somewhat mediocre Speed stat. However, Tangela has access to Chlorophyll, doubling its Speed while sun is active. It is able to render walls useless with Sleep Powder, while destroying everything else with SolarBeam, Hidden Power Fire, and AncientPower. Although Vulpix (see below), the only Pokémon in Little Cup to provide permanent sun through Drought, was banned, Tangela still proved too strong; it could easily use Sunny Day itself with its impressive Defense and sweep Little Cup teams anyways. The ridiculous amount of power that Tangela has as well as the amazing utility of Sleep Powder simply makes Tangela too powerful for Little Cup.
Vulpix
While Vulpix lacks good stats or an impressive movepool, it makes up for its deficiencies with an amazing ability in Drought. Drought summons permanent sun onto the field, allowing sweepers such as the aforementioned Tangela, Bellsprout, Oddish, and a few others to gain a massive Speed stat through Chlorophyll. Sun also allows these sweepers to use SolarBeam without penalty, as well as boosting the power of their Hidden Power Fire or Weather Ball. Permanent sun effectively forces Little Cup teams to be able to change the weather, as if sun is allowed to remain on the field, sweepers with Chlorophyll will simply wreck everything left on the field. Vulpix was determined to be too overcentralizing, and was banned from Little Cup in May 2011.
Yanma
Just like the aforementioned Scyther and Sneasel, Yanma was banned from LC before BW started. While Yanma's stats are not quite as impressive as Scyther or Sneasel, it makes up for it in several ways. Although Yanma is already extremely fast (tied for the the fastest Pokémon in Little Cup), it has access to Speed Boost, allowing it to outpace nearly all Choice Scarf users after one turn. Alternatively, Yanma could use Compoundeyes to get a fairly accurate Hypnosis. Combined with powerful STAB attacks in Bug Buzz and Air Slash, as well as decent coverage moves in Giga Drain and AncientPower, Yanma was extremely difficult to stop. Although still unlikely to be unbanned, Yanma is certainly not as good as Scyther or Sneasel. However, it is still extremely powerful, explaining its ban from Little Cup.
Items
What You Should Use
Eviolite
There's really no reason not to use Eviolite a vast, vast majority of the time. With the 1.5x boost to both defensive stats, set up sweepers with recovery (such as Scraggy, who has Drain Punch, or Dratini, who has Rest and Marvel Scale) become incredibly difficult to face late-game. Eviolite is also better than nigh any other item for most walls; not only does it help them stick around longer, take more hits when they need to, and ensure that hazards can be put up or status can be spread, it allows for the game to slow down from the pace it was at in DPP. This item is so incredible in Little Cup, it has been contested as a possible suspect a number of times, but for now, it is a defining aspect of the metagame that doesn't seem to be going anywhere.
Choice Scarf
Many Pokémon sit at just the right Speed stat (14, if you were wondering) that they can outspeed the entire unboosted metagame with a Choice Scarf. The notable examples include Snover, Shellder, and some variants of Chinchou and Mienfoo. You'll notice something about all of these examples: they boast incredibly strong attacks, such as Snover's Blizzard or Mienfoo's Hi Jump Kick, meaning they can clean up late in the game if a team has been built to allow them to do so. Murkrow and Misdreavus, although at a whopping 19 Speed, can still both use a Choice Scarf as well; the former to revenge kill threats including Scraggy, and the latter to use Trick, Destiny Bond, and a mess of other toys. Porygon is also a notable Choice Scarf user, as it can utilize the Choice Scarf boost and Trace to outspeed Sand Rush Drilbur in sandstorm.
Life Orb
Life Orb is an oft underestimated item in Little Cup because stats tend to be somewhat close together. Many Pokémon with a strong STAB that intend on playing the role of glass cannon can afford to use a Life Orb; others rely on their immunities to soak hits, rendering Eviolite unnecessary. Most of the time, Life Orb should be used when the team can afford to lose some bulk in return for gaining a slight element of surprise; Mienfoo, Misdreavus, and Murkrow all net KOes they wouldn't normally obtain with Life Orb.
It is also notable that the ideal HP for a Pokémon using Life Orb is 19; each Life Orb recoil takes away 10% of the user's health, and for Pokémon, this is calculated as 1.9, which rounds down to 1. Pokémon with 19 HP take only 1 HP in recoil damage from Life Orb every turn.
Oran Berry
While not nearly as good as Eviolite for Pokémon that have recovery, Oran Berry still has its merits on certain Pokémon. Dwebble is a notable example of this, as it can take a hit with Sturdy and then devour its Oran Berry to maybe get an extra layer of hazards up. It also eases the pressure on prediction-heavy Pokémon, such as Wynaut, who are already pretty bulky.
What You Shouldn't Use
Leftovers
Leftovers is a very common item in the upper tiers, as Pokémon have higher base HP and will regain a more significant amount every turn. If healing is really necessary, an Oran Berry can be used instead, often doing in one turn what it would take Leftovers five or maybe even ten turns to accomplish.
Choice Band / Choice Specs
As any given Pokémon has much lower raw stats here than they would in another tier, the 50% boost from these Choice items is frankly not worth it. Almost all of the time, a Life Orb will allow you to reach a similar stat and maintain the ability to switch moves.
Sitrus Berry
In Little Cup, 10 HP is always more than 25% of your health; for this reason, use Oran Berry, not Sitrus.
Pomeg Glitch, Genderless Pokemon, and Single Gender Pokemon
In order for a Pokemon to obtain a Level Up move by breeding, both of the parents must know the move. This becomes problematic for genderless Pokemon and Pokemon that are always a certain gender. This is cause for legality issues that simulators such as Pokemon Online do not currently catch, as most of these problems caused by this intricacy would not be present at Level 100. To make the matter even more complicated, legality in this field differs between Generation III and Generations IV and V, due to the Pomeg glitch being accessible only in ADV.
The Pomeg Glitch and Generation III
Pomeg Berries allow the user to remove 10 HP EVs from a Pokemon (and, in effect, remove all of their Hit Points), and in Generation III, this could be used to battle with an Egg by bringing the HP stats of all other party members down to 0. By battling with an Egg, the player could gain "Experience," allowing the Egg to learn Level Up Moves. However, when the Egg is hatched, it will still be at Level 5; this allows even genderless or single gender Pokemon to obtain a movepool consisting of Level Up moves. The discovery of the Pomeg glitch led to vast changes in the metagame, such as allowing Staryu to use Rapid Spin (normally learned at Level 10) and Hydro Pump (normally learned at Level 60). These are the genderless Pokemon that were introduced no later than ADV and can thus utilize the Pomeg glitch, along with a few moves for each one that become legal via the Pomeg glitch:
- Baltoy (Cosmic Power, Explosion)
- Beldum (No Level Up moves beyond Level 5)
- Magnemite (Zap Cannon)
- Porygon (Tri Attack, Agility [illegal with Download, which was introduced in Generation IV])
- Staryu (Rapid Spin, Hydro Pump)
- Voltorb (Mirror Coat)
- Nidoran F (No legality issues as all moves are learnable by a potential mate)
- Nidoran M (Horn Attack)
- Smoochum (Powder Snow, Perish Song, Lucky Chant)
- Tyrogue (No Level Up moves beyond Level 5)
Genderless Pokemon in Generations IV and V
In DPP and BW, the Pomeg glitch is fixed and thus genderless Pokemon have a difficult time obtaining their Level Up moves, assuming they can at all. Fortunately, the addition of more TMs and Move Tutors has remedied some of these potential problems, with a good example being Bronzor and Gyro Ball. Many people try to argue that the Pomeg glitch is still included in Generations IV and V; however, attempting to do so on a Generation IV cartridge typically crashes the game, while it has indeed been completely removed in Generation V. Here is the list of genderless Pokemon introduced in Generations IV and V, along with some moves that are illegal due to the removal of the Pomeg glitch:
- Bronzor (Hypnosis, Iron Defense)
- Golett (Shadow Punch, Focus Punch)
- Klink (Shift Gear, Gear Grind)
Single Gender Pokemon in Generations IV and V
The lack of the Pomeg glitch also leads to complications for Pokemon with only one gender. Primarily, Pokemon that are always male find it simply impossible to breed Level Up moves; this is because these Pokemon can only breed with Ditto, who obviously cannot learn any of their Level Up moves. Pokemon that are always female can breed some of their Level Up moves, provided that there is a potential mate for them that can also learn the required Level Up moves. Here is the list of Pokemon that are always a specific gender (Happiny, Petilil, and Vullaby are always female, while Rufflet is always male) that were introduced in DPP or BW and thus cannot make use of the Pomeg glitch, along with some explanation on the legality of their Level Up moves:
- Happiny (its only Level Up moves past Level 5 are Refresh and Sweet Kiss, which can be supplied by a mother Blissey and father Audino; Happiny has no legality issues)
- Petilil (nothing in the Plant Egg group aside from Petilil and Lilligant has access to Entrainment, so Entrainment is illegal; furthermore, there are many specific combinations, such as After You + Helping Hand that cannot be obtained on anything in the Plant Egg group; this combination would be illegal)
- Rufflet (Rufflet is always male, so none of its Level Up moves beyond Level 5 are legal, including Whirlwind and Brave Bird)
- Vullaby (nothing in the Flying Egg group can learn the combination of Nasty Plot + Flatter, so this combination is illegal; most other combinations of moves can be solved by a father Honchkrow, Chatot, or something in the Zubat line)
While this section is technically out of the realm of "move legality," I've taken the liberty to add it in for you to point out that sometimes it may be the ability rendering a Pokemon in LC illegal rather than a move combination. Obviously, any unreleased Dream World ability is not allowed; however, Little Cup has some additional intricacies due to the way Dream World abilities are passed down.
No Dream World Pokemon comes below Level 10 unless it is available from Dream Radar and you have zero Badges in-game. When breeding, there is a chance that the Dream World ability can be passed down if the mother has said ability. This creates legality issues for LC when there is no way to have a mother with the ability. The most obvious example is genderless Pokemon, but male only Pokemon are also included. Genderless Pokemon or Pokemon that are only male may not use their Dream World abilities, released or not, in LC unless they are available through Dream Radar. The following is the list of Pokemon that fit into this category and their respective Dream World abilities, which will likely never be legal:
- Golett (No Guard)
- Klink (Clear Body)
- Magnemite (Analytic)
- Rufflet (Hustle)
- Tyrogue (Vital Spirit)
- Voltorb (Aftermath)
Now that most of the Pokemon that work differently are out of the way, it's time to look at some facets of moveset legality that affect nearly every Pokemon. The general rule of thumb to keep in mind is that previous Generation tutor or event moves are incompatible with moves and abilities added to a Pokemon in a later Generation. As with any rule, there are exceptions, so let's take a look at some more specific examples of how illegality in LC can arise. Also keep in mind that many of the movepool problems posed in this section apply at both Level 5 and Level 100. Finally, this list is not exhaustive, as there are illegalities that arise for specific Pokemon that are almost never accounted for in Little Cup and are thus never discovered. These are just the common sources of illegality.
Earlier Generation Move Tutor + Later Generation Move Addition
Many Pokemon have access to Move Tutors in ADV that provide them with moves that are not obtainable in future generations. The same applies to DPP, which had a wealth of Move Tutors that are non-existent in BW. Fortunately, Nintendo often fixes potential problems here with TMs or movepool additions, so many of these problems don't exist at Level 100. Here are a few examples of when an earlier Generation Move Tutor and the acquirement of a new move for a Pokemon in a later Generation force illegality:
- Machop learns Mega Punch from a Generation III Move Tutor. Heavy Slam was added into Machop's Egg movepool in Generation V. A Level 5 Machop with Mega Punch + Heavy Slam is illegal.
- Houndour learns Double Edge from a Generation III Move Tutor. Thunder Fang was added as an Egg move for Houndour in Generation IV. As the only way to get Thunder Fang onto Houndour is to breed a new Houndour in DPP or later, Double Edge + Thunder Fang Houndour is illegal.
There are numerous events from the ADV era (and beyond) that provide complications to movepool legality both then and now. Here are a few examples of special event moves and Egg moves that lead to incompatibilities in Little Cup (and, most likely, other tiers):
- Lickitung obtains Wish via an ADV event. Lickitung has Curse as an Egg move, even in Generation III. As Wish is an event only move, Curse + Wish is illegal
- Pichu obtains Endeavor via a DPP event. Pichu has Reversal as an Egg move. As Endeavor is a special, event only move, Endeavor + Reversal is illegal
This is easily one of the broadest categories, as both Generation IV and V have introduced new abilities. Previously available moves are moves that were able to be supplied onto a Pokemon in Generation III (or, rarely, in Generation IV) but not in subsequent Generations. Most of the time, this is not a problem as the Pokemon can simply be transferred into the future Generations of Pokemon games. However, the subsequent Generations often introduced a new ability for certain Pokemon, and these new abilities are almost always incompatible with the previously available moves as Pokemon do not change abilities upon being transferred into the future Generations.
Here are a few instances where previously available moves are illegal with a newer ability:
- Porygon obtains Tri Attack, a Level Up move, through the Pomeg glitch in ADV. Porygon obtained the new ability Download in DPP. Porygon with Tri Attack and the ability Download is thus illegal
- Cacnea obtains Focus Punch via a TM that is in DPP but not in BW. Cacnea's Dream World ability, Water Absorb, is available only in BW. Thus, Cacnea with Focus Punch and the ability Water Absorb is illegal
Dream World Moves
This one's a bit easier: no Dream World Pokemon is obtainable at below Level 10. Furthermore, Dream World moves cannot as of yet be bred onto a baby Pokemon as Dream World abilities can. For this reason, no LC Pokemon can legally use its moves that are exclusively obtained from the Dream World. Here are a few examples of where this would cause illegality:- Wooper obtains Aqua Tail from the Dream World, but also from a Generation IV move tutor. The only conceivable Wooper with Aqua Tail and its Dream World ability (Unaware) would have to be at Level 10 or greater, so Wooper with Aqua Tail that has the ability Unaware is illegal in LC. Wooper with Aqua Tail and either Damp or Water Absorb, however, is legal
- Natu obtains Giga Drain solely from the Dream World, so this move is illegal in LC. Natu also obtains FeatherDance from the Dream World; however, this is also one of Natu's Egg moves, meaning a Natu with its Dream World ability (Magic Bounce) and FeatherDance is thus legal
- Egg Move Incompatibilities
So you've made it this far and still cannot figure out why your Pokemon's moveset is illegal. Egg moves are passed down to a Pokemon when the father possesses the desired moves. It is sometimes not possible to get the desired combination of moves onto a single father, meaning a Pokemon cannot obtain the combination of Egg moves in tandem with each other. Here are some examples of how this might cause trouble:- Shelmet obtains Spikes and Encore as Egg moves. However, no Pokemon in the Bug breeding group can obtain Spikes and Encore on one moveset. Thus, Shelmet with Spikes + Encore is illegal
- Tentacool obtains Rapid Spin and Mirror Coat as Egg moves. However, no Pokemon in the Water 3 breeding group can obtain Rapid Spin and Mirror Coat on one moveset. Thus, Tentacool with Rapid Spin and Mirror Coat is illegal
- Pokemon that are in the Ground breeding group will very rarely have these problems, as they can breed with Smeargle.
Hypothetical Sources of Illegality
There are other intricacies of Little Cup that, if a new Pokemon or new moveset combination was introduced that fits the below categories, would be illegal; however, at this time, no examples of these exist within the awareness of your author. Here are just a few potential sources of illegality:- Pokemon X evolves into Pokemon Y via learning a special move. Pokemon X has four or more unique Level Up moves that Pokemon Y does not learn. Pokemon X cannot breed but Pokemon Y can. It would be illegal to have a baby Pokemon X with all four of these Level Up moves, as the baby can only carry three of these moves + the move required to evolve if it wants to be able to breed.
- Pokemon X wants to have a baby with Egg moves A and B. Unfortunately, the only potential "father" that knows moves A and B is always female. Therefore, baby Pokemon X cannot use moves A + B in Little Cup.
- Pokemon X learns move A by Level Up in one game but move B instead in a different game. In our scenario, for one of the complications already listed in this guide, no father can provide both move A and B. Pokemon X then cannot use move A + B in Little Cup.
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