Pok�mon of the Week

Archeops, The First Bird Pok�mon. It runs better than it flies. It catches prey by running at speeds comparable to those of an automobile.It takes off into the sky by running at a speed of 25mph. They are intelligent and will cooperate to catch prey. From the ground, they use a running start to take flight.

Archeops became the third member of the exclusive club for Pokemon with great stats but who were cursed with unique, debilitating abilities and receive no other option. The difference between Archeops and its fellow club-mates (Slaking and Regigigas if you couldn't guess) is that its ability only detracts from Archeops once it drops below half health, meaning it is pretty usable until that point. It also received Roost when BW2 came around, and thus isn't entirely crippled after it reaches lower health either (depending on the set that is). This may seem like Archeops will be pretty good for a while, but unfortunately it has pretty low Defenses, meaning it is quite easy to get it below half of its HP. If you manage to look past Archeops' horrific ability, Archeops has an amazing Attack stat, above average Special Attack, and good Speed. These are what make Archeops usable at all, and as long as you can stave off getting hit, Archeops makes for a very good Pokemon.

Defeatist: Halves both Attacking stats when HP falls below 50%, one of the more crippling abilities in the game, and the main reason Archeops is stuck in RU. Since there isn't an alternative, you'll need to find some way around it.

-Acrobatics
-Stone Edge / Head Smash
-Earthquake / Earth Power
-U-turn / Roost
Item Attached: Flying Gem
Ability: Defeatist
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe or 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SAtk) or Naive Nature (+Spe, -SDef)

Archeops takes full advantage of its base 140 Attack stat with its decent physical movepool. Acrobatics is a good STAB move and will get boosted the first hit by Flying Gem, and afterwards by the lack of item. Stone Edge versus Head Smash is whether or not you want to have to worry about the recoil from Head Smash or not, which would likely necessitate using Roost. Earthquake is a powerful coverage move and hits the Steel types that Archeops' two STABs can't. Earth Power is a viable alternative as it hits the more defensively bulky Steels (and others). The last option is whether or not you want to be able to pivot out and keep up battle momentum, or be able to recover from being below 50% and make Archeops usable again. The choice in EVs and Natures depends on whether or not you are using Earth Power.

-Head Smash
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-U-turn
Item Attached: Choice Band
Ability: Defeatist
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SAtk)

This set doesn't have plans on keeping Archeops around, just smashing whatever happens to get into its path. Head Smash is the ultimate crush-your-opponent-into-oblivion move, when combined with its Attack stat plus Head Smash's base power means most everything is dying. Unfortunately, it'll probably only get used once thanks to the recoil, but nonetheless it's fun to use. Earthquake hits Steels that Head Smash can't get past. Stone Edge is there for when you don't want to have to worry about recoil and not cause quite as much devastation. U-turn allows you to scout or get out of a bad switch in.

-Ancientpower
-Focus Blast
-Earth Power
-Heat Wave / Hidden Power / Dragon Pulse
Item Attached: Choice Specs
Ability: Defeatist
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)

This is probably one of the more gimmicky sets you could use, but Archeops' base 112 Special Attack is nothing to sneeze at. However, its Special movepool is, so you've got to work with what it has. Ancientpower is Archeops' only STAB excluding Hidden Power [Rock], so you can use it as you'll likely want / need Hidden Power for something else. Focus Blast hits Steel types, though you'll have to rely on its shaky accuracy. Earth Power is basically here for other Steels and Qwilfish, or just a more reliable way to hit things neutrally. The last slot depends on what Pokemon you deem threats, as each of the moves takes care of different types (with Hidden Power just generally getting anything depending on which you choose). Remember, the other sets are way better than this one, so use them unless you like faking out defensive walls.

Aerial Ace, Agility, Aqua Tail, Bounce, Crunch, Dragon Claw, Hone Claws, Outrage, Quick Attack, Rock Polish, Rock Slide
Aerial Ace (though weak) provides reliable STAB and can't miss.
Agility boosts Speed, not that too much outspeeds Archeops but helps with Scarfers.
Aqua Tail hits Ground types for super effective damage, which none of Archeops' regular moves do.
Bounce is probably Archeops' second best option for Flying STAB (other than possibly Fly), if you want to use it.
Crunch hits Ghost types, though any Rock move probably hits harder.
Dragon Claw can hit Dragon types, not that I see why you are using this over a strong Rock move.
Hone Claws boosts Attack and Accuracy, the accuracy would help with Stone Edge + Head Smash.
Outrage is probably a bad idea, but hits plenty of things for neutral damage.
Quick Attack allows you to revenge kill with priority, although not too strong.
Rock Polish serves the same purpose as Agility, just has a cooler name.
Rock Slide is an alternative to Stone Edge if you want less power but better accuracy.

Archeops can be used, although it has several problems in this format, thanks to the abundance of good Steel types with Bullet Punch that will likely drop Archeops in one hit, or at least below 50%. Use it if you want. but honestly is too risky to be worth it in most cases. Though, if you manage to get a Pok�mon to negate its ability to side with it, it can get a bit more useful

Rapid Spinners such as Cryogonal are good partners for Archeops, as it helps not to have Stealth Rock steal your overly precious HP every time you switch in. Anything that can resist Steel types and can beat them are pretty good too, as Archeops does have trouble with them despite having good coverage moves.

Just hit the darn thing, once it's below 50% it will be able to hit just as hard as stuff like unboosted Linoone (which really isn't much). Stealth Rock is another good way to get it down as just after three switch ins its ability kicks in and you can have a heyday. Steelix, Ferroseed Qwilfish are the best options against non-Special running sets. Anything with priority like Feraligatr and Hitmonchan can both get Archeops into Defeatist range before it even attacks. Choice Scarf users of any sort also do well. Pokemon like Sandslash and Quagsire can survive everything but Flying Gem boosted Acrobatics, and OHKO in return so they can be seen as viable options.

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game.

FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game

Colosseum/XD:
Not in game

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Not in game

HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Not in game

Black/White:
Evolve Archen

Black 2/White 2:
Evolve Archen