You're in the Big Leagues Now, Boys - Little Cup Pokémon in PU

By Megazard. Art by h_n_g_m_n.
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Little Cup Pokemon in PU

Introduction

Little Cup is an incredibly unique format compared to most of the standard tiers, thanks not just to its ninety-five-level difference but also to the incredibly low comparative power of its denizens. Sure, Ponyta and Fletchling might be incredibly powerful attackers in their home tier, but it'd be ridiculous to see them trying to fight comparative behemoths such as Floatzel, Golem, and Regice. Foongus might be a great defensive choice to fight other baby Pokémon but there's no way it'd ever hold up trying to face down an Ursaring. However, there are always a few exceptions to the rule. These five Pokémon and a few honorable mentions manage to not only fight off level five Gastly and Corphish but also hold up in a fully evolved tier versus titans like Leafeon and Crustle.

Vullaby

Vullaby

Vullaby is a fairly versatile threat in Little Cup, where it has the ability to run physically offensive, defensive, Choice Scarf, and Nasty Plot sets thanks to its decent stat distribution. However, in PU, it only has one role, which is to be one of the bulkiest and most consistently useful defensive Pokémon in the tier. Its typing is a bit of a mixed bag, as it's weak to Ice, Electric, Rock, and Fairy, which can leave it pressured offensively due to how common those types are. It does have two immunities and another three resistances, but all Ghost- and Ground-types carry super effective coverage for Vullaby and the most common Dark-type attack removes its Eviolite, meaning that only its Grass resistance and Psychic immunity are particularly noteworthy. Vullaby excels at countering a specific roster of common threats, including Leafeon, Cacturne, Monferno, and Grumpig, and it also has a useful support movepool with Defog, Foul Play, and a slow U-turn to bring in teammates for free, as well as lesser seen options such as Taunt and Knock Off. The fairly unique Overcoat also makes Vullaby the best counter to Jumpluff in the tier, as it doesn't have to worry about being put to sleep. Vullaby's main drawbacks come from its all-too-common weaknesses, which can leave it worn down quickly provided Stealth Rock is on the field. Overall though, few Pokémon counter so many common threats, and Vullaby has consistently managed to stand out as a defensive choice throughout the incredibly varied stages of ORAS PU.

Pawniard

Pawniard

Pawniard is the polar opposite to Vullaby, an accomplished Dark-type attacker that retains mostly the same role as it does in Little Cup: firing off strong Knock Offs and occasionally sweeping at +2 Attack. Pawniard is the only common STAB Knock Off user in PU, which makes it excellent at forcibly removing items, most importantly Eviolites, from defensive staples like Clefairy and Vullaby. While it's decently strong and can be somewhat annoying to revenge kill thanks to a STAB Sucker Punch, its real power comes from boosting with Swords Dance and occasionally Defiant, although many Defog users can beat Pawniard, making that a more risky affair. Another aspect to Pawniard is its incredibly useful Steel typing that allows it to check a whole host of weaker resisted attackers, including Choice Scarf Dodrio and Leafeon. While its bulk leaves plenty to be desired and it's even 2HKOed by Choice Band Stoutland's Return or Choice Band Dodrio's Brave Bird despite the resistance, it still has enough defensive utility in addition to its offensive power. However, its main failings come from its bulk and Speed, which leave Pawniard easily KOed by anything without a severe type disadvantage that can first survive Sucker Punch. This really holds Pawniard back from being too common in the metagame, as it can have extreme difficulties when facing balanced teams with multiple checks such as Monferno. It also has a lot of competition from Mawile, which is stronger with Life Orb and Sheer Force, and Metang, which is far bulkier and has many more movepool options. Both can also set Stealth Rock, which Pawniard has access to but fails to run to much success. Still, its offensive prowess was so good that it rose to NU for a time, which is fairly accomplished compared to most of its Little Cup brethren.

Chinchou

Chinchou

Chinchou is an interesting Pokémon that only recently became incredibly popular in PU thanks to its incredibly unique defensive typing and Volt Absorb ability. While Chinchou is a one-trick pony, it's a fairly good trick: nothing walls every common Electric-type in the tier as well as Chinchou. Other Electric-immune Pokémon can be hit hard by coverage moves like Rotom-F's Blizzard or slowly worn down, but Chinchou's solid defensive stats and typing make it the best Rotom-F counter in the game, only fearing being Tricked a Choice Scarf. While this alone would make Chinchou a decent pick for Electric-fearing teams, it also checks Water-types such as Floatzel and Ice-types such as Regice fairly well and provides momentum with a slow Volt Switch, allowing it to bring in more frail teammates. Its unique typing also gives it good synergy with the likes of Gourgeist-XL, Swanna, and the hordes of Pokémon threatened by Rotom-F's STAB BoltBeam combination. Of course, Chinchou is far from perfect, and its main problem stems from being so easy to threaten by pretty much every attacker from Stoutland to Simisage that doesn't happen to be walled by its unique setup. Chinchou's special bulk might be passable, but physically it leaves plenty to be desired, and this can turn it into a liability if opponents play carefully around it. In a best-case scenario Chinchou might wall two foes, but will otherwise be extremely pressured by the other four thanks to its extremely limited scope of good matchups. While Chinchou can't function as a strong offensive Pokémon like in Little Cup, as its base 56 Special Attack is just too low for PU, as a defensive Pokémon it has managed to carve out a solid niche for itself in a higher tier.

Hippopotas

Hippopotas

Hippopotas might be cute, but it'd probably go entirely overlooked in higher tiers, where there are Ground-types with far better stat distributions like Gabite, if it weren't for its one unique trait—Sand Stream. This turns the focus not on Hippopotas, but on Stoutland, who becomes a fast, deadly sweeper with the valuable Speed boost provided by Sand Rush. Still, this doesn't mean Hippopotas is entirely useless on its own. While holding Eviolite it actually manages to muster up some decent defensive stats, avoiding the 2HKO from Zebstrika's and Electrode's Hidden Power Ice while checking certain physical attackers such as Golem and providing Stealth Rock support as well. Hippopotas can see some niche use outside of Sand teams, but it's rather limited, as Gabite, Golem, and Stunfisk can generally outperform it with superior offensive presence for the first two and extra utility in checking Flying-types for the latter. Ironically, Hippopotas also holds Sand teams back from being fully excellent, as they have to support a slow, not terribly bulky Pokémon weak to common Ice-, Grass-, and Water-type attackers while managing to switch Stoutland in before sand runs out. Smooth Rock makes it easier to switch Stoutland in, but it cuts into Hippopotas's bulk so severely that it's generally the inferior option. While it may not quite be the defensive juggernaut it is in Little Cup, its presence on sand teams gives it a solid niche up in PU.

Trapinch

Trapinch

Trapinch is such a unique Pokémon that in both Little Cup and PU it performs exactly the same niche: trapping and removing Electric-types for its teammates. While it may have absolutely pathetic stats outside of its ridiculous base 100 Attack, with a specially defensive spread it becomes just barely bulky enough to switch into common Electric-types like Zebstrika and Electrode before dispatching them with Earthquake. In fact, Trapinch can also remove a whole host of other Pokémon including non-Air Balloon Probopass, Metang, Muk, Chinchou, Pawniard, and Monferno, provided that it's at full health and not being forced to switch into them. Unfortunately, while it can be hilarious to see this tiny monster switch into and eliminate fully evolved threats and even fire off a Quick Attack before being revenge killed, Trapinch is only good at removing one Pokémon and nothing else. It's not very bulky, it's the second slowest Pokémon in PU, and it faces the same problems with its defensive typing that Hippopotas does. It also has trouble switching into many Pokémon requiring risky double switches or a slow U-turn or Volt Switch to trap pretty much anything outside of Electric-types. Still, Trapinch's unique ability to support teammates such as Ninjask and Simipour allows it to be a threat even in a format far more powerful than its poor stats would suggest. In fact, it's ranked even more highly in PU than in Little Cup, thanks mostly to the fact that Diglett is the superior trapper in their home tier but far too weak to hold up in PU.

Honorable mentions

While these five Pokémon are Little Cup's best PU representatives, there are still a handful of other Pokémon that can be used. Munchlax performs much the same role in PU as it does in Little Cup, becoming a dangerous sweeper after a few Curses. However, its generally poor physical bulk before several boosts makes it a poor successor to the departed Vigoroth, and it received very little attention up until Machoke's ban. In the future, it may see increased viability thanks to the departure of such a massive threat. Venipede is a unique suicide lead that gets both Spikes and Toxic Spikes, but aside from having Toxic Spikes, it has no way to distinguish itself from stronger Pokémon such as Crustle and Quilladin. Slowpoke is a bit of an oddity that flat out walls Monferno and many Water-types such as Floatzel but is easily threatened by pretty much everything else. Scraggy and Mienfoo both benefited immensely from Machoke's ban; neither have had time to develop fully realized niches yet, but Scraggy has the option to run both Bulk Up and Dragon Dance sets thanks to its decent but not incredible bulk, while Mienfoo's Baton Pass set can be deadly when passing Swords Dance and Calm Mind boosts to fast but somewhat weak attackers. Finally, Natu has fairly unremarkable bulk or offenses but is invaluable if you're attempting to make use of the rare Shedinja thanks to its access to Magic Bounce and ability to stall out many Stealth Rock users with Reflect and Roost.

Conclusion

While most unevolved Pokémon are too weak to function in higher tiers, there still remain a few capable of handling themselves in higher tiers and should never be overlooked despite their Little Cup status.

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