Pok�mon of the Week

Roserade, The Bouquet Pok�mon. Each of its hands contains different toxins, but both hands can jab with near-fatal power. Its sweet aroma attracts prey. Then it spews poison. The more toxic it is, the sweeter its aroma. With the movements of a dancer, it strikes with whips that are densely lined with poison thorns. It attracts prey with a sweet aroma, then downs it with thorny whips hidden in its arms.

Roserade hasn't changed much from last gen.. at all. I'm not even sure what new moves it got this gen besides Round. Meanwhile many new Pokemon gave gained massive improvements while the entire game has received a huge power boost. Roserade is no longer as capable of competing as it used to be, but it still stands out as a bulky Natural Cure Spiker.. something no other Pokemon can boast. Also the sleep mechanics change greatly improved Roserade's ability to support the team. No matter how hard I try, no matter how many people tell me otherwise.. I can't look at Roserade without thinking of the Hamburglar. Robble robble.

Natural Cure: The best ability by far. Being able to switch in on Scalds and Thunder Waves without fear is invaluable.
Poison Point: An ok secondary option, but largely useless when you have Toxic Spikes and won't be surviving too many physical blows anyway.
Technician: Not released yet.. it might be usable on a Life Orb set in lower tiers when its released since 90 base Magical Leaf and 90 base Hidden Power is nice.

- Sleep Powder
- Toxic Spikes
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Item Attached: Focus Sash
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

The set that has been standard since Diamond and Pearl. The concept is simple.. Use Sleep Powder, then Toxic Spikes until you faint. Team preview makes this a lesser lead but knowing if the opponent has a Rapid Spinner or grounded Poison is immensely helpful in making sure Roserade doesn't throw away its life in vain. Leaf Storm is incredibly powerful, 1-2HKOing most things it hits neutrally while annihilating Tyranitar and Jellicent. HP Fire is nice for beating Skarmory, Ferrothrorn, Forretress and heavily damaging Celebi. If you need Toxic Spikes on the field and don't want to use Tentacruel, Roserade is the Pokemon for you.

- Spikes
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire] / [Ice]
- Leech Seed / Rest
Item Attached: Black Sludge
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)

Something that's cool about Roserade is how many different common Pokemon it can switch in on and wall. Politoed, Tentacruel, Rotom, Gastrodon, some Starmie etc. Roserade has plenty of chances to set up.. possibly even more than Skarmory at times. Pretty effective at stopping "Volt turn" as well, taking Volt Switches like they're nothing and ramming an HP Fire inside Scizor's flammable shell. Giga Drain is a good all purpose STAB, healing a bit while dealing good damage. HP Fire shreds Scizor and Ferrothorn but HP Ice is also useful to strike dragons hard. Leech Seed is listed in the last slot to help Roserade maintain some usefulness once it has laid three layers of Spikes by spreading MORE damage. Rest is another option for what is essentially free 100% recovery with Natural Cure.

- Sludge Bomb
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sleep Powder
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

Ok, I'll be the first to say it. You should not use offensive Roserade. Why? Well.. Venusaur does the exact same set but with Chlorophyll meaning it can end up having much greater bulk and speed. Worse (for Roserade) Modest Venusaur hits about as hard as Timid Roserade. Oh, and did I mention Venusaur is less predictable? Well its not all bad news for offensive Roserade. Roserade gets Natural Cure, meaning its slightly better at switching in on status moves? Well you can always use Growth Solarbeam in the sun... OH WAIT. Venusaur does that better too. Ok, bottom line is that offensive Roserade hits VERY had and can remove one of its counters with Sleep Power. Biggest flaw is that Venusaur exists. Use this only in UU as it is outclassed or banned in all other tiers.

Roserade
Offensive sets want to run Timid with 252 Speed and 252 Special Attack. You can run Modest if you'd like, though the faster your Sleep powder is the better. Defensive sets should focus on Special Defense since Roserade's 55 base Defense is beyond salvaging.

Not very much. Stun Spore, Petal Dance, Shadow Ball, Swords Dance, Extrasensory, Sunny Day / Weather Ball / Solabeam, Technician
Stun Spore is usable on all the sets as Paralyzing a counter is always a good thing. Defensive Spikes sets particularly benefit as Spikes is impossible to breed with Sleep Powder.
Petal Dance is a Grass type Outrage now meaning it hits extremely hard. Its not as good as Leaf Storm because locking yourself into a Grass move is just begging for Heatran, Scizor or Salamence to switch in and destroy you.
Shadow Ball hits Gengar hard but is generally useless.
Swords Dance Just kidding, don't do this.
Extrasensory: Nice for beating Toxicroak, but Leaf Storm hits pretty much everything else harder. Unless you REALLY hate Tentacruel.
Sunny Day / Weather Ball / Solarbeam: If you absolutely must run a Sunny Day set its possible in UU only. Actually not really since Victreebel outclasses Roserade at that. Just don't do it. Spikes is Roserade's thing, not sweeping.
Technician is a final option when it's released as 90 base Magical Leaf and Hidden Power is kind of cool. Losing Natural Cure sucks when you get Paralyzed though.

Nothing. Do not use Roserade in Doubles / Triples. Unless Sleep Powder + Technician Razor Leaf off 70 base attack really gets you going Roserade is somewhat useless here. Maybe a Focus Sash or Life Orb set to abuse Sleep Powder + Razor Leaf? Seriously, just use something else.

Typewise Heatran and Roserade resist each other's main weaknesses while Offensive Heatran appreciates Toxic Spikes to damage its nemesis Blissey while also beating Jellicent and Gastrodon. Bulky Water types like Rotom W and Jellicent appreciate Roserade's resistances and Toxic Spikes while tanking hits themselves. Generally anything that appreciates Toxic Spikes pairs well with Roserade. The Defensive Spikes version of Roserade (and Roselia / Budew) love being paired with Roar / Whirlwind users. Heatran gets another mention as it can use Roar effectively and has great defensive typing. Politoed takes on most of Roserade's weaknesses while loving Spikes to lets Choice Specs Hydro Pump 2HKO nearly everything, even Blissey. In RU Roselia pairs nicely alongside tankish Pokemon like Alomomola and can support sweepers like Crawdaunt and Electivire with (Toxic) Spikes. In Little Cup Budew makes things such as Scrafty or Clamperl all that much more horrifying by crippling the few things that can counter them.

Countering Roserade is somewhat difficult due to Sleep Powder. Magic Bounce Pokemon like Xatu and Espeon do a good job by reflecting Roserade's hazards and taking a Leaf Storm or two. Tentacruel can shrug off Roserade's attacks, auto-absorb Toxic Spikes and Rapid Spin Spikes, only fearing Sleep Powder. Heatran doesn't like Sleep Powder but either 4x resists or is immune to every common move Roserade carries. Most dragons like Salamence, Latios, Latias and Hydreigon shrug off Roserade's hits barring HP Ice and are immune to Toxic Spikes. Fire types such as Infernape crush Roserade in one hit though it will not last long with Toxic Spikes down. Actually killing Roserade is not hard, but avoiding having key team members crippled by Sleep Power or entry hazards is what you have to watch out for.

Pre-Evolution Corner

Roselia

- Toxic Spikes / Spikes
- Sleep Powder / Aromatherapy
- Sludge Bomb
- Rest
Item Attached: Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 244 SDef / 12 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)

Roselia is useful in every tier Roserade is not in due to impressive Special Defense and support movepool. Spikes is impossible to breed with Sleep Powder or Toxic Spikes so you need to decide what is more useful to your team. Sludge Bomb is a great STAB move as a 30% chance of poison is too good to pass up. Rest keeps Roselia in the fight long enough to coat the field in Spikes.

Budew - Little Cup

- Spikes / Toxic Spikes
- Rest
- Leech Seed / Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
Item Attached: Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 196 HP / 76 Def / 36 SAtk / 196 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)

Budew is a great special tank with great defenses of 23 / 16 / 25 making it able to easily drop three layers of Spikes or drench the field with poison.. As with Roselia Leech Seed is usable to maintain an offensive presence by screwing with counters. Giga Drain is nice for punishing Water types but is generally inferior to Leech Seed. Sludge Bomb is cool for exterminating Snover and crippling switch ins such as Shelmet with Poison.

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game.

FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game.

Colosseum/XD:

Not in game.

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Evolve Roselia

HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Evolve Roselia

Black/White:
Evolve Roselia (White)
Trade from White/Diamond/Pearl/Platinum/HeartGold/SoulSilver (Black)