Pok�mon of the Week

Electivire, The Thunderbolt Pok�mon. Heedless of enemy attacks, it closes in, shoves its tails onto the foe, then looses high voltage.The instant it presses the tips of its tails onto an opponent, it sends over 20,000 volts of electricity into the foe. As its electric charge amplifies, blue sparks begin to crackle between its horns.

Electivire is an interesting Pokemon, with a gigantic Physical and Special movepool and good attacking stats to go with it. Unfortunately, Electivire has a problem with Speed, and even though base 95 is decent, it still is outpaced by many threats, and unfortunately for Electivire, it has no way to remedy its low speed other than the occasional Motor Drive boost. Its HP and Defenses also leave something to be desired, so Electivire also will not stick around too long. This weighs Electivire down to the RU tier, but it does pretty well there, either with a mixed set or a straight out physical attacking one. It can hit most everything with the coverage it has, and has many options for its movepool depending on the threats you need it to take care of. Overall, although Electivire may not be too viable in upper tiers due to its speed, it shines in lower tiers where its vast movepool assists it in being a thorn in the side of many teams.

Motor Drive: Boosts Electivire's speed by one stage (1.5x) when hit by an Electric-type move, the best ability for Electivire as it has potential to rid it of its crippling speed tier, making it better able to sweep through teams.
Vital Spirit: Prevents Electivire from being inflicted with Sleep, a decent ability, but Motor Drive is often better thanks to the Electric immunity and handy speed boost.

-Wild Charge / Thunderbolt
-Earthquake / Cross Chop
-Flamethrower
-Ice Punch / Hidden Power [Grass]
Item Attached: Life Orb / Expert Belt
Ability: Motor Drive
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 144 Atk / 140 SAtk / 224 Spe
Naive Nature (+Spe, -SDef)

This set takes advantage of Electivire's high attacking stat (both physical and special), allowing it to work as an efficient wallbreaker. The first moveslot is for a STAB move, either physical with Wild Charge or special with Thunderbolt depending on what you need Electivire to handle. Earthquake or Cross Chop handle different Pokemon, with Eartquake hitting walls like Lanturn hard, while Cross Chop handles Normal blobs like Clefable. Flamethrower takes out Steelix and Ferroseed, which otherwise can handle Electivire pretty well. Ice Punch works as good coverage, rounding off Electivire's Electric STAB, while HP Grass takes care of more physically bulky Pokemon such as Rhydon or Quagsire. The choice between items is whether you want more power or longevity, as Life Orb will wear down Electivire quickly, while Expert Belt doesn't hit very hard, especially on neutrally hitting moves. The EVs basically give you balanced attacking stats, and the Speed allows it to outrun key threats such as Moltres, Lilligant, and Rotom.

-Wild Charge
-Cross Chop
-Earthquake
-Ice Punch
Item Attached: Choice Band / Choice Scarf / Life Orb
Ability: Motor Drive / Vital Spirit
EVs and Nature:
EVs:4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe or 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SAtk) or Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

This set uses Electivire's higher Attack stat to either hit really hard or act as a revenge killer. Wild Charge is its primary STAB move, while the other 3 moves act as coverage for threats (most mentioned in the last set). The item choice is between Choice Band / Life Orb, or Choice Scarf really. The Choice Band and Life Orb choice is dependent on whether you want more power or more maneuverability. A Choice Band set would use the first set of EVs and Jolly Nature, and also have the ability Motor Drive (to help with speed), while the Life Orb uses the second EV set and Jolly Nature and Motor Drive. The Choice Scarf set on the other hand uses the same EV spread as the Choice Band set (252 Atk / Spe), but can run Vital Spirit to help check Sleep Powder / Lovely Kiss users, as it also really doesn't need the speed boost either. Scarf sets also have the option of running Adamant, as the Jolly speed boost doesn't help it outrun too many of the other Scarfers in the tier.

Brick Break, Charge Beam, Dual Chop, Fire Punch, Focus Blast, Focus Punch, Hammer Arm, Hidden Power, Low Kick, Meditate, Psychic, Quick Attack, Rock Slide, Signal Beam, Substitute, Thunder Wave, Thunderpunch, Volt Switch
Brick Break is an alternative to Cross Chop if you don't like the low accuracy.
Charge Beam can be used on a more specially based set to help boost its lower Special Attack.
Dual Chop can be used for some weird coverage and also can be used to break Subs and damage afterwards.
Fire Punch can be used as physical Fire coverage to hit different checks and counters.
Focus Blast can be used like Cross Chop but on a Special Electivire set, though the accuracy hurts.
Focus Punch can be used on a gimmick Substitute set to basically rip through most Pokemon that don't resist Fighting.
Hammer Arm can be used over Cross Chop also, but the Speed drop really hurts Electivire overall (unless a Trick Room team or something).
Hidden Powers of all sorts can be used for coverage on any special set, and it can patch up any of the missing spots in your coverage that you may have.
Low Kick can be used over Cross Chop as well, but is dependent upon weight, which can be a problem depending on the threat.
Meditate can boost Electivire's Attack even higher, allowing it to OHKO several Pokemon thanks to its coverage.
Psychic can be used for special neutral coverage on quite a few Pokemon, and is Electivire's only Super Effective attack against Fighting types like Hitmonchan.
Quick Attack can be used as priority to help Electivire revenge kill weakened Pokemon.
Rock Slide can be used to hit Pokemon for more neutral coverage, though Electric takes care of most of things Rock Slide would.
Signal Beam can be used to hit Psychics hard, though it has a pretty low base power.
Substitute can be sued in tandem with Focus Punch, once again this would be a pretyy gimmicky set.
Thunder Wave can be used to make things slower than Electivire, which does help in the long run.
Thunderpunch can be used as an alternative to Wild Charge, being much weaker but having no recoil.
Volt Switch can be used on a Special set to help scout what your opponent is doing while still doing damage.

Electivire's lower speed, weakness to Earthquake, and frail defenses all combine to make Electivire be very outclassed generally in Doubles and Triples, although its coverage can be handy to cover a variety of threats.

Rapid Spinners can be of use to help prevent Electivire from being worn down as quickly, Choice Scarfers or faster Pokemon help to deal with Pokemon that outpace Electivire, and Wish Passers can also be very useful in keeping Electivire alive.

This is a place where Electivire shines, as its coverage is so vast that not too much can switch in without being hit super effectively. Rotom is one of the few that can, though it is pretty frail so it should watch out for what it switches in on. Rotom can also Wiil-O-Wisp Electivire, nerfing the power of the majority of Electivires. Walls like Rhydon and Quagsire only worry about HP Grass, and can both use STAB Earthquake to obliterate Electivire. Other Electivires do well, and Manectric additionally, as they can't be hit by its STAB moves and can get free boosts off of it. Residual damage such as hazards and Life Orb recoil generally keep Electivire in check, as it can't survive long otherwise. Entei can also pick off weakened Electivires with Extremespeed, but can't switch in well at all.

Pre-Evolution Corner - Electabuzz (NU)

Your Team Needs To Be Electabuzzed In

-Volt Switch
-Thunderbolt / Thunder
-Focus Blast
-Hidden Power [Ice] / Hidden Power [Grass]
Item Attached: Eviolite / Life Orb / Choice Scarf
Ability: Vital Spirit
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk) or Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

Electabuzz is one of those unique Pokemon that is a pre-evolution while still not being absolutely horrible or in Little Cup. Electabuzz actually does pretty well in NU, having a higher Speed stat than its evolution, and the same Special Attack. Volt Switch helps to scout out what your opponent is planning on doing, and provides a damaging means of escape. Thunderbolt is used as STAB, and Thunder can be used over it if you're running a Rain Dance team (or you're a basketcase like me and run it in OU for kicks and giggles). Focus Blast hits Steels and bulky Normal types, and provides strong neutral coverage on several Pokemon. HP Ice hits Pokemon like Torterra and Altaria, while HP Grass hits Golem, Seismitoed, and Regirock (in a way). Eviolite is generally preferred as it boosts Electabuzz's defenses to quite high levels, but Life Orb can be used for more power and Choice Scarf can be used to make Electabuzz into a revenge killer. Timid Nature is used on Eviolite and Life Orb sets, while Modest is used on Choice Scarf ones. Like its evolution, the easiest way to counter this is to either have a bulky wall takes its hits and cripple it with Thunder Wave or something, or just whittle it down with residual damage. Gardevoir is a decent check as it doesn't take much from most of Electabuzz's moves, and can do a lot of damage in return, or even start setting up on it with Calm Mind. Choice Scarf users like Sawk also can decimate non-Choice Scarf Electabuzz. Scolipede is also a good check to Electabuzz as it outspeeds and KOs with Earthquake.

Pre-Evolution Corner - Elekid (Little Cup)

New Elekid On The Block

-Wild Charge
-Ice Punch
-Cross Chop
-Fire Punch / Hidden Power [Grass]
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Vital Spirit
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 Atk / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SAtk)

It will not get any better for Elekid in LC than with this set. Elekid has great coverage, but since Eviolite is very prevalent in the tier, it will not do as much damage as you would hope, even with Super Effective attacks to the already bulky Pokemon in the LC tier. The main attraction of this set is coverage; STAB Wild Charge is something that should definitely keep away the very common Murkrow, and OHKO most frail Pokemon. Furthermore, Ice Punch can be used to nab a Super Effective hit on Flying, Ground and Dragon types that lurk in the tier. Fire Punch is mainly for Snover who is very common in LC, and is also a great option to handle Steel types. Alternatively, HP Grass can do a great deal of damage to Chinchou, who is a common threat in LC. Cross Chop rounds off Elekid's coverage as it hits key members in LC like Porygon, Scraggy, and Teddiursa. In terms of EVs, it falls under a speed tier of 20, which is enough to outspeed plenty of LC threats that are not scarfed. Elekid also has the option of running a Choice Scarf. With Choice Scarf, it will lose the chance to do slightly more damage, but it will have the advantage to outpace Choice Scarf Murkrow, which is a very common variant, and any other pokemon below 19 speed. Generally, you won�t have a hard time checking Elekid. It is very frail as it has very weak defensive stats, and not so stellar offense. Staple pokemon from LC can easily counter Elekid with their great defenses, aided by Eviolite, such as Hippopotas, Misdreavus, Dwebble, and Chinchou. Faster pokemon with Choice Scarf can handle unboosted Elekid, like Murkrow and Porygon to revenge KO it. Furthermore, it's frailty leads it to fall quickly to priority moves, such as Croagunk�s Vacuum Wave, and Murkrow�s Sucker Punch. Under Sand, Drillbur and Sandshrew are faster than Elekid and OHKO with Earthquake.

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game.

FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game

Colosseum/XD:
Not in game

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Evolve Electabuzz

HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Evolve Electabuzz

Black/White:
Evolve Electabuzz (White)
Trade from White/White 2 (Black)

Black 2/White 2:
Evolve Electabuzz (White 2)
Trade from White/White 2 (Black 2)