Pokémon Alola Persian

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Valiant Scizor

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Persian (Alola Form)

Pokedex Number - #53
Type - Dark
Base Stats - 65 HP / 60 Atk / 60 Def / 75 SAtk / 65 SDef / 115 Spe - (440 BST)

Abilities
Ability 1 - Fur Coat: Halves the damage taken from physical moves.
Ability 2 - Technician: Moves of base power 60 or less are boosted by 50%.
Hidden Ability (Available) - Rattled: Speed is raised by one stage when the Pokémon is hit by a Bug-type, Ghost-type or Dark-type move.

Level Up Moves:
Lv1 - Swift
Lv1 - Quash
Lv1 - Play Rough
Lv1 - Switcheroo
Lv1 - Scratch
Lv1 - Growl
Lv1 - Bite
Lv1 - Fake Out
Lv6 - Bite
Lv9 - Fake Out
Lv14 - Fury Swipes
Lv17 - Screech
Lv22 - Feint Attack
Lv25 - Taunt
Lv32 - Power Gem
Lv37 - Slash
Lv44 - Nasty Plot
Lv49 - Assurance
Lv56 - Captivate
Lv61 - Night Slash
Lv65 - Feint
Lv69 - Dark Pulse


TM & HM Compatibility
TM01 - Work Up
TM05 - Roar
TM06 - Toxic
TM10 - Hidden Power
TM11 - Sunny Day
TM12 - Taunt
TM15 - Hyper Beam
TM17 - Protect
TM18 - Rain Dance
TM21 - Frustration
TM24 - Thunderbolt
TM25 - Thunder
TM27 - Return
TM30 - Shadow Ball
TM32 - Double Team
TM40 - Aerial Ace
TM41 - Torment
TM42 - Facade
TM44 - Rest
TM45 - Attract
TM46 - Thief
TM48 - Round
TM49 - Echoed Voice
TM60 - Quash
TM63 - Embargo
TM65 - Shadow Claw
TM66 - Payback
TM68 - Giga Impact
TM77 - Psych Up
TM85 - Dream Eater
TM87 - Swagger
TM88 - Sleep Talk
TM89 - U-turn
TM90 - Substitute
TM95 - Snarl
TM97 - Dark Pulse
TM100 - Confide

Egg Moves
Egg - Hypnosis
Egg - Assist
Egg - Foul Play
Egg - Spite
Egg - Charm
Egg - Amnesia
Egg - Parting Shot
Egg - Flail
Egg - Flatter
Egg - Punishment
Egg - Snatch
Egg - Covet

Transfer Only Moves
Hones Claws
Dig
Retaliate
Flash
Secret Power
Cut
Covet
Gunk Shot
Hyper Voice
Icy Wind
Knock Off
Seed Bomb
Shock Wave
Endure
Natural Gift
Mud Slap
Headbutt
Body Slam
Double-Edge
Mimic
Defense Curl
Nightmare
Take Down
Bubblebeam
Water Gun
Pay Day
Rage
Bide
Skull Bash

General Analysis

Alolan Persian has been dismissed by a lot of people, but it actually has a great amount of potential. It can firstly act as a blanket check to physical attackers and sweepers, due to it's ability Fur Coat. It is also the best Knock Off switch-in that exists. It's primary role on teams, however, will be a quick and bulky pivot; it does a fantastic job of coming in on physical, or resisted special, hits and then pivoting out into a threatening attacker due to Parting Shot. Parting Shot gives it the ability to weaken enemy offensive threats, which could provide your incoming Pokemon with free turns to fire off a nuke, or unique and easier set-up opportunities. Ideally, you will want to be running Persian-A against a more offensive team because defensive 'Mons rarely care about the stat drop from Parting Shot. However, it does have the tools to cripple slower, more defensive teams as well. As icing on the cake, Alolan Persian has access to Z-Parting Shot, allowing it to drop the opponent's Atk and SpAtk stats, while fully healing the Pokemon that comes in to replace it. All of these things together make it a solid glue option for a lot of teams.

Potential Movesets

Live Long and Pawsper (Z-Persian)

Persian-Alola @ Darkinium-Z
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 228 HP / 28 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Foul Play
- Taunt
- Parting Shot
- Toxic/Roar

Set Description:
This will be the standard set for Persian-A. It gives it the Speed to combat faster threats, whether that be via Foul Play, Taunt, or Parting Shot. Maxing out HP allows it to switch in to resisted Special hits better, like Shadow Ball or Dark Pulse. Moving EV's from HP into Def will drastically improve it's physical bulk, so if sponging Special hits is not a priority for you, then moving EV's into Def will probably be worthwhile. 28 Def guarantees that it will survive +1 Flare Blitz form Zard-X, and KO in return (with the recoil). As for the movepool, Foul Play heavily damage the physically oriented Pokemon that Persian-A wants to be switching into. Taunt will cripple the slower, more defensive 'Mons that don't mind taking a Parting Shot. Parting Shot, the most important move that Persian-A gets, allows it to keep up momentum and allow you to get switch-ins, matchups, and opportunities that were unavailable without that stat drops. Toxic and Roar are here because of the lack of options. They will rarely be used, due to the momentum of Parting Shot or the utility of Taunt being more valuable in general, although they each do have their uses, mostly against Pokemon that are wanting to set up in your face.

ScarFace (Scarf Persian)

Persian-Alola @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 228 HP / 28 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Foul Play
- Taunt
- Parting Shot
- Switcheroo

Set Description:
A slightly alternative option to the standard set. You lose the ability to fully heal an incoming ally, but there are several benefits that might make this set more attractive than the standard on some teams. Firstly, it frees up a Z-Move slot. This can allow you to run a Z-Move sweeper (Porygon-Z or Z-Manapy for example). Parting Shot will still do what it needs to, for the most part, which is provide momentum and be an effective middle-man. Another benefit of this set, is Switcheroo. Persian is generally less effective and struggles to find switch-ins versus Balance or Semi-Stall teams, so it's main use is against more aggressive teams. With Switcheroo, however, it can render a Pokemon completely useless, such as Chansey or Skarmory. Taunt works similarly, but then you always have to have Persian-A in against them, and Taunt only lasts three turns. Switcheroo ensures that the 'Mon is crippled for the entirety of the match. It also has the benefit of completely crippling Zygarde-Complete and Aegislash, who it can always switch into. Thirdly, if these two points weren't enough for you already, it serves as an even better check to physical set-up sweepers. For example, with Scarf it will outspeed +1 Mega-Charizard-X, and has a 70% chance to OHKO after rocks before the cat even gets touched (and remember, it survives if you get unlucky). Other examples include outspeeding and OHKO'ing +2 Mega-Pinsir, +1 Dnite after rocks, and a plethora of other boosting or Scarfed Pokemon. While losing access to Z-Parting Shot is a fairly sizeable loss, Persian-A's Scarf Set makes a trade-off for a lot of increased utility that could be very worth it on a lot of teams.

Teammate Options:

Pokemon that Dislike Knock-Off: Standard Persian-A is the best Knock Off switch-in that exists, due to it's bulk, resist, and the inability to lose it's Darkinium-Z. Pairing it with something like Latios allows it to eat up the attack, and Latios likes to get free switch-ins, especially against the Fighting-types that Persian-A brings in.

Bulky Attackers: Remember that with a fast Parting Shot, the incoming Pokemon will be eating an attack if the opponent doesn't switch out. Even with the stat drop, or even the full heal from Z-Parting shot, you may not want an extremely frail 'Mon coming in. It will more often be of value to switch in something bulkier and hard-hitting, due to the free turns that Parting Shot provides. Something like Hoopa-U or Tapu Bulu would appreciate the ability to nuke an opponent without fear of being OHKO'd (or burned, if you go for Taunt with Persian-A first).

Set-Up Sweepers: Parting Shot and Z-Parting Shot, when combined with the switches that Persian-A forces, provides a lot of set-up opportunities for sweepers. It also is unique in the fact that it allows sweeper to set up on things that it previously wasn't able to, due to the stat drops. Pokemon such as Double-Dance Lando-T or SubCM Keldeo (or almost any Pokemon with Sub) will pair well with Persian.

Checks and Counters:

U-Turn/Volt Switch: A fast Parting Shot is countered completely by a slower VoltTurn move. You lose the stat drop, and they get the momentum. And in a metagame where momentum is monumental (say that three times fast), you have to keep this in mind or else you will be set very far behind. Even if the enemy is faster, resulting in you getting switch priority, you really don't want to be taking U-Turns or Volt Switches, which are Super Effective and Special respectively.
Bisharp: Firstly, it is important to note that Persian-A is an absolute fantastic switch-in to Bisharp. It takes Knock Off and Iron Head with impunity. If you pack Roar, or if it is weakened a bit, it cannot set up on you. However the issue lies when you try to Parting Shot into a Bisharp. Both the Atk drop and SpAtk drop result in a Defiant proc, leaving in with +3 Atk. Nobody wants to deal with that.

Special/Mixed Attackers: This should go without saying, but Persian-A's special bulk is extremely lackluster, and it shouldn't be switching into anything special, bar resisted hits. Special Pokemon will try to take advantage of this. This is somewhat remedied by the fact that Parting Shot will give you the momentum when the opponent tries to switch into you, but if the opponent's team (or the Metagame) consists of mostly Special attackers, then Persian-A loses a lot of opportunities to switch in.

Closing Thoughts:

I personally think that having access to a fast, bulky, and viable Parting Shot user makes individual games, and the Metagame, far more interesting. I believe that this cat has a lot of potential, and nothing would please me more than to see it get some use after it was mostly written off as being awful. This thing has niches and roles that I don't think were fully explored, and I believe that it will be an under-prepared-for threat in the future!

Thanks for Reading!​
 
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I've used the Scarf annoyer set, it's okay. Tbh the set is so passive I don't think it works until some bans have been slapped down, maybe when the meta isn't so hostile choiced Parting Shot will be a nice means of setting up. Also, I used Hypnosis over Taunt - while I hate inaccurate sleep moves I think it works on a dedicated annoyer set if you're out of options, and I think it would see more use than Taunt with the Scarf.
 
I've been voicing this in a few places, but Persian's Pivot set pairs beautifully with Golisopod and enables it to be an extreme force. If Goli is hit by a hard phys attacker, which is rather likely given that AssVest seems to be it's defacto set from what i've seen, Emergency Exiting into Persian will more than likely force a switch into something not gored by Foul Play. This is the perfect opportunity to then gimp the switchin with Z-Parting Shot, and heal Golisopod back to full, not only resetting First Impression, but also reactivating Emergency Exit for even more pivoting.
 
Persian-Alola @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature

- Snarl
- Hidden Power [Psychic] / Hidden Power [Poison]
- Thunderbolt / Power Gem
- Nasty Plot

Well, that's the first set that I though when I had the opportunity to use him. I don't know if it is really good tho, haven't tried much. Snarl takes Technician + STAB boost (receiving 123,75 BP, a little more than Dark Pulse), HP Psychic for coverage against Fight-types, HP Poison also works to deal with Fairies (both receiving Technician boost). T-Bolt for basic coverage, Power Gem is also ok. And finally Nasty Plot to boost Sp. Atk.
 
Fake-Out is a good alternative to Roar/Toxic. The damage is pitiful, but it's good for scouting leftovers and stalling turns. Occasionally the move can be used to revenge kill.

Also worth mentioning is the 175 BP Black Hole Eclipse Persian gets from having Foul Play. Very rarely is it worth using, but if you ever need to deal damage to Espeon or something like that then it's worth remembering.
 
One risky move I personally like to use is hypnosis, being able to put a pokemon to sleep using its speed is really cool, and it can force a switch for a parting shot opportunity, the accuracy can easily get you killed if you miss tho
 
Honestly have found Persian to be very underwhelming after the initial PS hype. Its physical bulk is compromised to a large extent by its complete lack of recovery, which makes it get worn down very easily as a defensive pivot
(for example, 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Fur Coat Persian: 136-161 (40.7 - 48.2%) -- 65.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock), especially in a meta currently dominated by U-turn spam, and its Parting Shots are telegraphed a mile off, as it simply lacks the tools to put in much work without it. IMO, even with Fur Coat and superior speed, Pangoro is a better user of Z-Parting Shot (once Bank is available and it gets access to the Gen VI tutor moves), since it has enough power and coverage to make it difficult to switch in against, and to prevent it from being dead weight against Balance and Stall.
 
I didn't realise using Parting Shot on Magic Bounce forces the opponent out (unless it's a Showdown bug) so without being outsped, Persian can gain momentum on pretty much anything.

I've also seen success with Fake Out in the 4th slot but I've been using the 228 HP 28 Def spread from Persian's pre-release thread.
 
A funny option is running Screech on Parting Shot sets to deter Bisharp switch-ins, which would otherwise troll Parting Shot. Sure, you're still boosting his Attack anyway, but you have Fur Coat+Dark typing to tank a Sucker Punch, outspeed other moves and:

+2 0 Atk Murkrow Foul Play vs. -2 0 HP / 4 Def Bisharp: 331-390 (122.1 - 143.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
(Used Murkrow just to factor in STAB, Pokémon is irrelevant for Foul Play lol)

This is, of course, assuming you want to use it in OU, where it'll likely not be very viable. But it's still an interesting option to deal with Defiant mons.
 
Deaga said:
A funny option is running Screech on Parting Shot sets to deter Bisharp switch-ins, which would otherwise troll Parting Shot. Sure, you're still boosting his Attack anyway, but you have Fur Coat+Dark typing to tank a Sucker Punch, outspeed other moves and:

+2 0 Atk Murkrow Foul Play vs. -2 0 HP / 4 Def Bisharp: 331-390 (122.1 - 143.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
(Used Murkrow just to factor in STAB, Pokémon is irrelevant for Foul Play lol)

This is, of course, assuming you want to use it in OU, where it'll likely not be very viable. But it's still an interesting option to deal with Defiant mons.
Click to expand...
HP Fighting achieves the same goal without needing to tank a +2 Sucker Punch

0 SpA Life Orb Technician Alolan Persian Hidden Power Fighting vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Bisharp: 354-421 (130.1 - 154.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
 
Deaga said:
Does that work without Technician+Life Orb? Losing Fur Coat+Leftovers is huge.
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o fuck i completely messed up the calc

0 SpA Alolan Persian Hidden Power Fighting vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Bisharp: 184-220 (67.6 - 80.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

The SM calc's been trolling me all week lol when can the PS one be imported

Either way though, it takes the same number of turns to attain the KO, and it means no +2 Sucker Punch needs to be taken (just a +0, which means you can take hits later).
 
I'm worried that there are other pokemon out there that are a better defensive pivot, like nearly any u-turn user. I feel like Persian-A's strength lies in the cat's ability to scout and soften teams, which is uniquely useful. Parting Shot + Fake-Out can generate momentum while dealing unanswerable chip damage. Parting Shot-Z can bring a sweeper back in the game AND provide momentum for them. This groovy cat's niche is in support for your sweeper.

Persian-Alola @ Darkinium-Z
Ability: Technician
EVs: 228 HP / 28 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Foul Play
- Taunt
- Parting Shot
- Fake-Out
 
I gotta ask you guys, is it worth running Jolly with 31 attack IV's simply in order to have the Foul Play Z option?
 
Hitzel said:
I gotta ask you guys, is it worth running Jolly with 31 attack IV's simply in order to have the Foul Play Z option?
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Yeah, I'd say so. The only reason not to is confusion damage and opponents' foul play damage, and with Fur Coat (not to mention the confusion nerf) and Persian's typing, neither of those is doing much.
 
I see people talking about the value of his fast z-parting shot but wouldn't a slow parting shot be better?

Tank the hit, then switch out and bring your sweeper in full as opposed to switching out and they get when they come in
 
Bugzy said:
I see people talking about the value of his fast z-parting shot but wouldn't a slow parting shot be better?

Tank the hit, then switch out and bring your sweeper in full as opposed to switching out and they get when they come in
Click to expand...

it could be good, but theres no decent way to make persian have a slow parting shot. also bear in mind fast persian also makes better use of foul play, and taunt, and even at its slowest its not overly tanky + is prone to being worn down, so by being fast it increases its usability as a pivot a bit more imo.
 
Pipotchi said:
it could be good, but theres no decent way to make persian have a slow parting shot. also bear in mind fast persian also makes better use of foul play, and taunt, and even at its slowest its not overly tanky + is prone to being worn down, so by being fast it increases its usability as a pivot a bit more imo.
Click to expand...

well I was actually thinking more along the lines of what about the other parting shot mons? I mean I know this is the persian thread and I don't wanna side track it but has anyone tried z-parting shot pangoro for example?

Edit: to keep it more on topic, how does alolan persian stack up v other z-parting shot users? What types of teams do you think might want one of the other ones instead or is persian just the best overall?
 
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I think fast parting shot and parting shot z with foul play and taunt is the kitty's bread and butter. my issue is whether to run fur coat or technician. I see potential in Fake Out with Parting Shot. It wouldn't sweep or even revenge kill, but it would knock down opponents to kill range for your healed sweeper from Parting Shot Z
 
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