QC : Anty / Dundies / ?
[OVERVIEW]
Gothitelle is most of the time outclassed by better Psychic types : Grumpig and Hypno defensively and Kadabra and Mr. Mime offensively. That's because Grumpig has Thick Fat and a better offensive presence and Hypno has Wish and Seismic Toss ; meanwhile, Kadabra has Magic Guard, Encore and Thunder Wave and Mr. Mime has Fairy typing and Healing Wish. And the worst is that Shadow Tag, an awesome ability, is banned from PU.
Because of all this, the only effective thing it can do is to trap with Mean Look then to setup with Calm Mind.
However, all aren't bad new for the gothic, it has a nice 90 Physical Defense allowing it to tank a fair amount of hits, unlike Grumpig. Frisk can be useful to scout Choice items, and also, while it has only one viable set, this set is surprisingly effective to trap weak attackers and stall them out with the combination of a good physical Defense + Calm Mind. Finally, all these qualities make of Gothitelle an overall good stallbreaker.
Still, it has no recovery outside of Rest which is quite unreliable, and a bad 65 base stat in speed making it vulnerable to Taunt and revenge killers.
[SET]
name: Trapper
move 1: Mean Look
move 2: Psychic
move 3: Calm Mind
move 4: Rest
item: Leftovers
Ability: Frisk
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
=======
Mean Look traps weak attackers such as Stunfisk that can't do much to Gothitelle. Psychic is a nice STAB that hits Fighting and Poison types such as Machoke and Arbok for super effective damage. Calm Mind boosts Gothitelle's Special Attack and Special Defense so it can increase its bulk and offensive presence. After a few boosts, Gothitelle can easily take on specially attacking Pokemons such as Roselia and special Floatzel. Rest heals completely your Pokemon but makes it very passive during sleep turns.
Set Details
=======
Maximum EVs in HP and Defense and a Bold nature are here to increase Gothitelle's bulk because it will boost its Special Defense anyway. Also, with the Defense invested, Gothitelle can eventually survive hits such as a +2 Monferno Flare Blitz. Leftovers are used to give passive recovery so you aren't overreliant on Rest to heal damage taken. Frisk is the preferred ability as it allows to scout the opponent's item and eventually spot a Choice item.
Usage Tips
=======
It's better to send Gothitelle in the mid-game to beat troublesome Pokemon such as Monferno and Scarf Rotom-F after Dark types has fainted. Always be sure that your opponent doesn't have any Dark type that is still alive in his team so it can attempt to trap something. You can switch it into some physical hits such as Floatzel's Ice Punch or Scarf Simisage's Seed Bomb thank to its good natural Defense and setup with Calm Mind. He can also setup on passive Pokemon such as Audino and defensive Tangela. Remember that Rest can sometimes be shaky to use, because of how momentum killer it is and how it makes Gothitelle so vulnerable to setup sweepers, so be careful to not weaken Gothitelle too much.
Team Options
=======
Machoke is a awesome partner for Gothitelle because it hits on the physical side and can kill troublesome Pokemons such as Probopass and Dark-types with Close Combat or Dynamic Punch, and Metang and other Psychic types with Knock Off. Dusknoir can hit Psychic and Ghost types such as Duosion and Misdreavus, but be careful about Dark types. Other good partners include Monferno who can lure on Pokemon such as Stunfisk and Altaria that Gothitelle can effectively trap, U-Turn out to get Gothitelle in and check Dark-types ; and Stunfisk who can also check Dark-types such as Mightyena and Pawniard with physically defensive investissement thanks to Static. In more defensive teams, Audino is a great partner to take special hits such as Ninetales' boosted attacks (especially Dark Pulse) and Audino can also use Heal Bell to wake up Gothitelle.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other options
=======
A Choice Scarf + Trick + Frisk set could be used, however it's pretty hard to find time to use it and Gothitelle will lose on recovery and is outclasses by Mr. Mime anyway. Also, an offensive set with Competitive could work, if there weren't better offensive Psychics such as Mr. Mime. Pawniard is a much better Defog deterrer anyway. Still, a set of Taunt + 3 attacks (Thunderbolt, Psychic, filler) has the advantage of beating Vullaby one-on-one.
A RestTalk set with Calm Mind and Psyshock could be used, but that means that you lose on Gothitelle main niche : trapping with Mean Look. For the same reason, Hidden Power Fighting and Signal Beam are not recommanded because if it goes on Rest or Calm Mind, it leaves Gothitelle pretty passive, and if it goes on Mean Look, there's next to no reason to use it.
Checks and Counters
=======
**Dark types** : Dark types such as Mighthyna and Pawniard completely stop Gothitelle as they're immune to its STAB. Mighthyna can boost his attack if he KOes your Pokemon, however it dies to the rare Signal Beam and Hidden Power Fighting. Pawniard is more problematic because it can use Knock Off or setup with Swords Dance on the switch.
**Strong attackers** : Wallbreakers such as Dodrio, Ninjask, Stoutland and Simipour are serious problems for Gothitelle because they can severely dent it and revenge kill it before it can do anything. Even if Simipour is a special attacker, he deserves a mention usually carries Knock Off and can KO Gothitelle even atfer several Calm Mind's boosts.
**Taunt** : Taunt users such as Grumpig completely stops Gothitelle because it can't do anything anymore. Note that some Taunters can take a Psychic, too. Misdreavus deserves a special mention because Nasty Plot variants can setup fairly easily on it, especially when Gothitelle js asleep.
**Offensive Momentum** : Most of the time, the opponent won't stay on Gothitelle with a passive Pokemon and will switch in a strong wallbreaker, making it hard to trap and setup.
[OVERVIEW]
Gothitelle is most of the time outclassed by better Psychic types : Grumpig and Hypno defensively and Kadabra and Mr. Mime offensively. That's because Grumpig has Thick Fat and a better offensive presence and Hypno has Wish and Seismic Toss ; meanwhile, Kadabra has Magic Guard, Encore and Thunder Wave and Mr. Mime has Fairy typing and Healing Wish. And the worst is that Shadow Tag, an awesome ability, is banned from PU.
Because of all this, the only effective thing it can do is to trap with Mean Look then to setup with Calm Mind.
However, all aren't bad new for the gothic, it has a nice 90 Physical Defense allowing it to tank a fair amount of hits, unlike Grumpig. Frisk can be useful to scout Choice items, and also, while it has only one viable set, this set is surprisingly effective to trap weak attackers and stall them out with the combination of a good physical Defense + Calm Mind. Finally, all these qualities make of Gothitelle an overall good stallbreaker.
Still, it has no recovery outside of Rest which is quite unreliable, and a bad 65 base stat in speed making it vulnerable to Taunt and revenge killers.
[SET]
name: Trapper
move 1: Mean Look
move 2: Psychic
move 3: Calm Mind
move 4: Rest
item: Leftovers
Ability: Frisk
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
=======
Mean Look traps weak attackers such as Stunfisk that can't do much to Gothitelle. Psychic is a nice STAB that hits Fighting and Poison types such as Machoke and Arbok for super effective damage. Calm Mind boosts Gothitelle's Special Attack and Special Defense so it can increase its bulk and offensive presence. After a few boosts, Gothitelle can easily take on specially attacking Pokemons such as Roselia and special Floatzel. Rest heals completely your Pokemon but makes it very passive during sleep turns.
Set Details
=======
Maximum EVs in HP and Defense and a Bold nature are here to increase Gothitelle's bulk because it will boost its Special Defense anyway. Also, with the Defense invested, Gothitelle can eventually survive hits such as a +2 Monferno Flare Blitz. Leftovers are used to give passive recovery so you aren't overreliant on Rest to heal damage taken. Frisk is the preferred ability as it allows to scout the opponent's item and eventually spot a Choice item.
Usage Tips
=======
It's better to send Gothitelle in the mid-game to beat troublesome Pokemon such as Monferno and Scarf Rotom-F after Dark types has fainted. Always be sure that your opponent doesn't have any Dark type that is still alive in his team so it can attempt to trap something. You can switch it into some physical hits such as Floatzel's Ice Punch or Scarf Simisage's Seed Bomb thank to its good natural Defense and setup with Calm Mind. He can also setup on passive Pokemon such as Audino and defensive Tangela. Remember that Rest can sometimes be shaky to use, because of how momentum killer it is and how it makes Gothitelle so vulnerable to setup sweepers, so be careful to not weaken Gothitelle too much.
Team Options
=======
Machoke is a awesome partner for Gothitelle because it hits on the physical side and can kill troublesome Pokemons such as Probopass and Dark-types with Close Combat or Dynamic Punch, and Metang and other Psychic types with Knock Off. Dusknoir can hit Psychic and Ghost types such as Duosion and Misdreavus, but be careful about Dark types. Other good partners include Monferno who can lure on Pokemon such as Stunfisk and Altaria that Gothitelle can effectively trap, U-Turn out to get Gothitelle in and check Dark-types ; and Stunfisk who can also check Dark-types such as Mightyena and Pawniard with physically defensive investissement thanks to Static. In more defensive teams, Audino is a great partner to take special hits such as Ninetales' boosted attacks (especially Dark Pulse) and Audino can also use Heal Bell to wake up Gothitelle.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other options
=======
A Choice Scarf + Trick + Frisk set could be used, however it's pretty hard to find time to use it and Gothitelle will lose on recovery and is outclasses by Mr. Mime anyway. Also, an offensive set with Competitive could work, if there weren't better offensive Psychics such as Mr. Mime. Pawniard is a much better Defog deterrer anyway. Still, a set of Taunt + 3 attacks (Thunderbolt, Psychic, filler) has the advantage of beating Vullaby one-on-one.
A RestTalk set with Calm Mind and Psyshock could be used, but that means that you lose on Gothitelle main niche : trapping with Mean Look. For the same reason, Hidden Power Fighting and Signal Beam are not recommanded because if it goes on Rest or Calm Mind, it leaves Gothitelle pretty passive, and if it goes on Mean Look, there's next to no reason to use it.
Checks and Counters
=======
**Dark types** : Dark types such as Mighthyna and Pawniard completely stop Gothitelle as they're immune to its STAB. Mighthyna can boost his attack if he KOes your Pokemon, however it dies to the rare Signal Beam and Hidden Power Fighting. Pawniard is more problematic because it can use Knock Off or setup with Swords Dance on the switch.
**Strong attackers** : Wallbreakers such as Dodrio, Ninjask, Stoutland and Simipour are serious problems for Gothitelle because they can severely dent it and revenge kill it before it can do anything. Even if Simipour is a special attacker, he deserves a mention usually carries Knock Off and can KO Gothitelle even atfer several Calm Mind's boosts.
**Taunt** : Taunt users such as Grumpig completely stops Gothitelle because it can't do anything anymore. Note that some Taunters can take a Psychic, too. Misdreavus deserves a special mention because Nasty Plot variants can setup fairly easily on it, especially when Gothitelle js asleep.
**Offensive Momentum** : Most of the time, the opponent won't stay on Gothitelle with a passive Pokemon and will switch in a strong wallbreaker, making it hard to trap and setup.
Last edited:
