Final #38 (R 2416)by ぎんなん

Team Concept

Final 38th place (rating 2416) in Double Battle Season 3. I re-adopted Mega Blaziken, which was the ace of the team I first qualified with in the national tournament preliminaries (USM National Doubles), out of affection. With its Speed Boost ability and high Attack stat, combined with Fire, Fighting, and Rock type moves, it aims for an infinite victory route with super-fast Rock Slide flinches. Although its low bulk makes cycling difficult, it's a Pokémon that can win on its own once completed, as it rarely faces overt meta-counters. As a "partner" to defeat opponents alongside Blaziken and protect each other, I chose Meowscarada (Life Orb), the only candidate capable of dealing with Dondozo without an Assault Vest with a priority move before it can use Aqua Jet. Meowscarada's Steel/Fire weaknesses are covered by Blaziken's Rock Slide. For the front two Pokémon, the criteria were not to be one-shot, not to be too weak to Dondozo/Garchomp, and to have priority moves and coverage moves to break through Archaludon. Dragonite and Timid + Focus Sash Sylveon were selected. To cover remaining weaknesses (Mega Aerodactyl, Trick Room, Mega Froslass/Staraptor, Charizard Y + Venusaur), Mudsdale and Choice Scarf Gholdengo were added as supplementary members.

Key Pokémon Points

Blaziken (Mega, Speed Boost/Blaze, Jolly, EVs: HP 2, Attack 32, Speed 32, Flare Blitz, Close Combat, Rock Slide, Protect): All-in on AS. The core strategy is to wear down opponents, then bring Blaziken in as a late-game sweeper, taking down opponents without Protect on the first turn and activating Speed Boost. Changing to Adamant would make its actual Attack stat 233, which precisely breaks the bulk adjustment benchmarks of Charizard Y and Kingambit (Garchomp's actual Attack stat 200), making it even more valuable.

Meowscarada (Life Orb, Overgrow, Jolly, EVs: HP 1, Attack 32, Defense 3, Speed 30, Flower Trick, Triple Axel, Protect): Outspeeds max Speed base 120 Pokémon (Weavile, Froslass). Survives Adamant Garchomp's Life Orb Dragon Claw + one recoil damage. As a Dark type, it's immune to Prankster. As a Grass type, it ignores Rage Powder. It has the third highest effective speed after Aerodactyl and Talonflame. The ability must be Overgrow.

Dragonite (White Herb, Multiscale, Adamant, EVs: HP 15, Attack 32, Defense 1, Speed 18, Scale Shot, Superpower, Extreme Speed, Protect): All-in on A, outspeeds uninvested Pelipper. Scale Shot is chosen over Dragon Claw to avoid Multiscale being chipped by Rough Skin. Superpower is chosen as the Fighting move for Incineroar damage and Excadrill handling. Extreme Speed allows for high-priority handling of Whimsicott's Tailwind, which is advantageous for stalling turns.