VGC Surf's Up! An Alolan Raichu Team

SpeedFreak01

SpeedFreak01

Hi! I've had a tone of fun with Gen 8 competitive with my Alcremie team, but I got a really good IV'd shiny Alolan Raichu in that one Pikachu-themed Max Raid Battle event and I really wanted to use it on a team. I've had a pretty good success rate with this squad so far, but I get the feeling it could be kicked up a bit, especially with the Crown Tundra adding all sorts of other threats.

Here's the squad so far:

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Cinnabon (Raichu-Alola) (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Surge Surfer
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Expanding Force
- Rising Voltage
- Fake Out
- Protect

Here's the star of the show to kick things off, Alolan Raichu! This is a pretty straightforward set, max Speed and Special Attack with Expanding Force and Rising Voltage to capitalise on both terrain setters on the team and Fake Out to disrupt any Shenanigans. A lot of Alolan Raichu sets use Choice items, but I found that the utility of Fake Out outweighed the extra power/speed provided by Specs/Scarves, and the Focus Sash also let Raichu get some extra hits in, catching people who expected an OHKO off guard.

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JustLikeBart (Pincurchin) @ Aguav Berry
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Rising Voltage
- Protect
- Sucker Punch
- Scald

Take it to the bank, boys. This one's just like Bart!

Here's an important part of this specific strat, Pincurchin is here to provide Electric Terrain to help speed up Alolan Raichu and add some extra juice to Rising Voltage. As well as the obvious Rising Voltage, I've got Sucker Punch and Scald for coverage and to help de-fang any strong attackers. This set puts all the IVs into physical bulk, letting Pinchurchin tank the strong physical Ground moves that could otherwise ruin its day, and it's ended up being surprisingly durable in a pinch!

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Izu (Indeedee-F) (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Psychic Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 SpD
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Follow Me
- Expanding Force
- Helping Hand
- Protect

Here's the second part of this strat, and to be honest the weak link in this team. Indeedee is a little more specially bulky, and is designed to be a support mon in the way that Indeedee usually does with Follow Me and Helping Hand as well as Psychic Terrain for Expanding Force, but the main problem is that the power given to Expanding Force rarely outweighs the extra speed Alolan Raichu gets in my mind. Another issue is that the Psychic Terrain can also interfere with priority moves on this team, but I like the double Terrain idea enough that I do still want to pursue it.

I was thinking of swapping Indeedee out with a specially bulky Tapu Lele, which does provide me with Psychic Terrain on a stronger 'mon, as well as some extra thematic cohesion with other team members, but loses the utility of Expanding Force and Follow Me. What do you guys think? Also, are there any situations that Psychic Terrain would be more useful than Electric Terrain for Alolan Raichu that I should consider? I'm not ruling out the possibility that the problem is with how I play.

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Scrump (Mimikyu) @ Life Orb
Ability: Disguise
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Phantom Force
- Play Rough
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak

Mimikyu is one of my favourite Pokémon designs ever, and I jumped at the opportunity to include it on a competitive team. There's even some thematic cohesion with Alolan Raichu with the whole "living in Pikachu's shadow" thing, and I'm sure you'll agree that thematic cohesion is the most important part of competitive Pokémon. This is another straightforward set that emphasises damage on the physical side to complement Alolan Raichu's special investment, setting up with Swords Dance while it's disguised to hit hard with Phantom Force and Play Rough, plus Shadow Sneak for some all-important priority. I mostly put Mimikyu on this team because I love it, but it's become an important part of the squad!

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Starfire (Volcarona) (F) @ Charti Berry
Ability: Flame Body
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Heat Wave
- Bug Buzz
- Protect

Volcarona is another one where I put it on the team because I love its design, but I've had some experience with it on a Volcarona team I designed AND I found a shiny one on the Isle of Armor, so I also had to use it somewhere! Much like Mimikyu, Volcarona is designed to hit hard and hit fast after setting up with Quiver Dance, plugging in some type coverage gaps and taking care of Pokémon that Alolan Raichu would otherwise have a bit of a hard time with.

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Dolmen (Urshifu-Rapid-Strike-Gmax) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Unseen Fist
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Surging Strikes
- Aerial Ace
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch

y'all ever heard of karate bugmen?

Urshifu functions in a similar capacity to Volcarona and Mimikyu, filling in some important coverage gaps on the physical side and acting as a powerful and fast answer for some of the metagame's biggest threats (looking at you, Genie of Healthy Meta). Pretty straightforward set here, Surging Strikes and Close Combat are there for STAB, Ice Punch is for some extra coverage and Aerial Ace can also come in handy for Max Airstreams, making my already pretty fast team even faster.

Hope this is all good, and if you've made it this far thanks for your time!
 
Heya! It's uh....been a while since I posted this team, but I do still want to tweak it so I can try recreating it on cart before Scarlet and Violet! I know that more restricted Pokémon are allowed in the current rulesets, are there any I should keep an eye out, both for team members and things to account for in my team-building?
 
Interesting! Why Pinchurchin? I've looked at it, it's indeed interesting, but I'd favor Tapu Koko. Or you could run Memento, just a thought. Magnet might be worth it too. Tapu Kolo can give you some grass coverage for the 4x weaker and Groudon. I like Lele, Indeedee seems weak. Granted that would be 3 fairies w/ Mimikyu, probably too much hm...oh and make a new RMT with legends.

AV is a grand item on many of them, I'd replace Urshufu w/ one. Then maybe Mimikyu, Volcarona seems good for Zacian what you need. But it probably needs more bulk to take the boosted blade. What specifically is Charti for? Fake Out is good in doubles I at least know that much(BSS player,) but have you considered Nuzzle on Raichu instead? Your team is partly fast, but lacks any speed control. Either way try for 31 Atk iv. You need something to handle grounds, like Groudon mainly.
 
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Omastar68 said:
Interesting! Why Pinchurchin? I've looked at it, it's indeed interesting, but I'd favor Tapu Koko. Or you could run Memento, just a thought. Magnet might be worth it too. Tapu Kolo can give you some grass coverage for the 4x weaker and Groudon. I like Lele, Indeedee seems weak. Granted that would be 3 fairies w/ Mimikyu, probably too much hm...oh and make a new RMT with legends.

AV is a grand item on many of them, I'd replace Urshufu w/ one. Then maybe Mimikyu, Volcarona seems good for Zacian what you need. But it probably needs more bulk to take the boosted blade. What specifically is Charti for? Fake Out is good in doubles I at least know that much(BSS player,) but have you considered Nuzzle on Raichu instead? Your team is partly fast, but lacks any speed control. Either way try for 31 Atk iv. You need something to handle grounds, like Groudon mainly.
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Thanks for the reply! If memory serves, I chose Pincurchin because I wanted to try something new (and reasoned that Pincurchin would be easier to get with perfect IVs on cart) but Tapu Koko does seem like a better shout. I kept Indeedee on the team because of her access to Expanding Force and Follow Me, but she hasn't really worked the way I intended so maybe Tapu Lele is a better choice...

The Charti Berry on Volcarona was to account for any Rock-type moves (I had a Volcarona team with a supporting Hitmontop to take care of them before, but without that I figured a berry was the next best option), but I could defo swap it out if that isn't something to worry about in the current meta. Fake Out has a lot of utility, particularly for Trick Room teams, but I could give Nuzzle a try! And are there any legendaries you'd recommend I replace Urshifu with?
 
I'd be wary of using Zacian cause of ground weakness, even though it is generally best. Right now Urshifu is your main mon that kinda deals w/ Groudon, you could replace it w/ Kyogre maybe? Rayquaza or Palkia might work.

The 2nd legend imo shoul go over Mimikyu. Maybe not a ghost type, since you have 2 Psychics that compounds weakness to dark(and equally to ghost if you use Lele, though I still would.) Yveltal seems fine to me, it resists those 2 types instead.

Charti might be fine, type berries just seem so niche idk. It depends if you really could use another item, maybe Lefties for recovery on Zacian? You really want something good vs, that. Pinchurchin also has a bit of a random item, pinch berries often don't come into play. For IVs, Tapu Koko shouldn't be too hard cause you can Hyper Train w/ Bottle Caps. But tat means leveling to 100, so it is time consuming. I'm glad I helped or at leats you think I did lol, I don't really know what I'm doing in doubles but no BSs RMTs to rate anymore:( The discussion for that has largely moved to Discord.

+1 252 Atk Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Volcarona: 110-130 (68.3 - 80.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (100.00% chance to 2HKO after accuracy)

+1 252 Atk Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade vs. 244 HP / 100 Def Volcarona: 96-113 (50.2 - 59.1%) -- 2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (2.00% chance to 2HKO after accuracy)

It takes a lot to basically void the chance of Jolly Zacian 2hkoing, but it could be worth it. Not that that's necessarily the best defensive spread, just what I quickly found to reduce the chance to basically negligible. As for rock moves, doesn't seem that important. Mostly I'd expect to see them on Groudon. Though that's common, Volcarona is still weak to half-strength rock. And if you want to take Zacian w/o ridiculous investment you may need Lefties. Also, if Lefties you could run less bulk than I showed, I forgot about the free turn(s) of healing w/ Protect.
 
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Omastar68 said:
I'd be wary of using Zacian cause of ground weakness, even though it is generally best. Right now Urshifu is your main mon that kinda deals w/ Groudon, you could replace it w/ Kyogre maybe? Rayquaza or Palkia might work.

The 2nd legend imo shoul go over Mimikyu. Maybe not a ghost type, since you have 2 Psychics that compounds weakness to dark(and equally to ghost if you use Lele, though I still would.) Yveltal seems fine to me, it resists those 2 types instead.

Charti might be fine, type berries just seem so niche idk. It depends if you really could use another item, maybe Lefties for recovery on Zacian? You really want something good vs, that. Pinchurchin also has a bit of a random item, pinch berries often don't come into play. For IVs, Tapu Koko shouldn't be too hard cause you can Hyper Train w/ Bottle Caps. But tat means leveling to 100, so it is time consuming. I'm glad I helped or at leats you think I did lol, I don't really know what I'm doing in doubles but no BSs RMTs to rate anymore:( The discussion for that has largely moved to Discord.

+1 252 Atk Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Volcarona: 110-130 (68.3 - 80.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (100.00% chance to 2HKO after accuracy)

+1 252 Atk Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade vs. 244 HP / 100 Def Volcarona: 96-113 (50.2 - 59.1%) -- 2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (2.00% chance to 2HKO after accuracy)

It takes a lot to basically void the chance of Jolly Zacian 2hkoing, but it could be worth it. Not that that's necessarily the best defensive spread, just what I quickly found to reduce the chance to basically negligible.
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Thanks for the additional advice! These all seem like solid picks- be a shame to get rid of Mimikyu (because it's my favourite Pokémon) but I am also fond of Yveltal, and Kyogre works pretty well with the squad thematically.

The pinch berry for Pincurchin was to give it a little extra bulk to help keep it around for longer, but I guess Tapu Koko could go with something else since it's got the strength and speed to give it some extra staying power. I'll have to play around and see what builds work to fill Pincurchin's niche, and you've given me a lot to think about!
 
0 SpA Pincurchin Scald vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 68-82 (41.2 - 49.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

You may want some SpA here. If you keep it ofc. Scald doesn't hit much in doubles it looks like based on VR thread. If you don't like Memento (seems more a singles move,) you could run Recover or even Curse. You say you've been successful, that's more than my team can say. So maybe keep Pinchurchin. But I'd switch stuff about it.
 
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