Pok�mon of the Week

Hydreigon, The Brutal Pok�mon. It responds to movement by attacking. This scary, three-headed Pok�mon devours everything in its path! The heads on their arms do not have brains. They use all three heads to consume and destroy everything.This brutal Pok�mon travels the skies on its six wings. Anything that moves seems like a foe to it, triggering its attack.

Hydreigon is a monster that can only be described by its Classification, the "Brutal Pokemon". Sporting extremely dangerous 105 / 125 / 98 offenses alongside a destructive movepool that is virtually limitless Hydreigon may very well be the most difficult thing to switch in on in the history of Pokemon. Defensively the dragon is solid enough, enjoying better defenses than Terrakion alongside 6 resistances and 2 immunities. Unlike other dragons such as Salamence and Latios that have higher speed and offenses Hydreigon isn't crippled by Stealth Rocks or Pursuit. It isn't perfect though. 98 Speed is good, but not "great". Hydreigon also fails compared to the other Dragons in that it lacks a good way to boost its offenses (Work Up sucks). While nothing can match Hydreigon's ability to "hurt everything" it is often forced out after a KO which is clearly detrimental to your own team. Hydreigon is not going to 6-0 anything on its own nor is it particularly good at keeping up offensive momentum all the time but it is absolutely one of the most dangerous Pokemon in the game. If you see a Hydreigon and don't think you can OHKO it immediately (hard, as it is very tough) you should get ready to have something of yours blown away.

Levitate: This Pokemon is immune to Ground moves. It is also immune to Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Arena Trap. Pretty awesome ability on nearly everything. An immunity to one of the most common attacks in the game, Earthquake, is always solid. Being immune to field hazards is also incredibly helpful. Not as good as Magic Guard or Drizzle, but it's still very, very good.

- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Superpower
- Roost / Dark Pulse
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 100 Atk / 216 SAtk / 192 Spd
Mild Nature (+SAtk, -Def) / Rash Nature (+SAtk, -SDef)

Hydreigon is obviously a hydra, but did you know its initial design was that of a cyborg tank-dragon? It was changed partially through its development but its tank treads still remain. Cool huh? Also tank really sums up this set very well. Hydreigon can tank hits fairly well and unleash punishing firepower on almost everything in the game. Draco Meteor easily rips into everything that doesn't resist it, even some that do like Scizor take crippling damage from a resisted hit. Fire Blast reduces all Steel types not named Heatran into a molten slag. Superpower rounds off the coverage by slamming the few Pokemon that survive your other moves. Chansey, Blissey, Tyranitar, and Heatran are mashed into the ground. With Stealth Rocks down the only commonly used Pokemon in OU that can switch in on this set is Chansey but even that has a solid chance of being 2HKOed by Superpower. The last move on the set is Roost. A BW2 tutor move, it along with Superpower were gifts for the German dragon. Roost allows Hydreigon to shrug off residual damage from Life Orb, Sandstorm, Stealth Rocks, and weak attacks. Roost keeps Hydreigon in the fight against defensive teams long enough to cause catastrophic damage against most of them. If you feel Hydreigon doesn't need to worry about itself you can also run Dark Pulse. Dark Pulse is very helpful against Deoxys Defense, Reuniclus and Jellicent but is usually worse than Roost. Speed EVs outrun Adamant Lucario and everything slower. 100 Attack helps get the KO on Chansey with Superpower as long as Stealth Rocks are down. 216 Special Attack hits a bonus point and just adds to the merciless power of Draco Meteor. The choice between Mild and Rash is up to you. Would you rather sponge strong Rain boosted Hydro Pumps or improve your chances of living through a Scizor Bullet Punch?

- Dragon Pulse
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power / Focus Blast
- Substitute
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

Though the Life Orb tank is the best Hydreigon can do right now it can still pull off a Substitute set extremely well. Substitute blocks status and weak attacks so Hydreigon can be free to let loose with its deadly array of attacks. Dragon Pulse is the primary STAB move, one which breaks apart pretty much everything that it hits neutral. Fire Blast and Earth Power pair together to cripple literally every single Steel type in the game. Sadly this set has little ability to break Blissey / Chansey but it does significantly better against Genesect, Mach Punch Breloom and Scizor than the other sets. If Earth Power isn't doing enough to Tyranitar and you REALLY need to do 25-30% to Blissey Focus Blast is an option. It also OHKOs Terrakion. The accuracy sucks though. Modest with max Special Attack and Speed assists in sweeping. You can probably run some HP but it won't make as much of a difference as Speed and Sp Attack would.

- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Focus Blast / Earth Power / Surf
- Dragon Pulse / Dark Pulse
Item Attached: Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

So lets imagine you don't think the Life Orb tank set has enough power. Maybe you really want to make that Blissey sting for switching in on you. If sheer power is what you're after you may be ready to feel the might of Choice Specs. Draco Meteor from Choice Specs deals so much damage that even Specially Defensive walls are knocked down in two hits. Even things like Scizor and Lucario who resist Draco Meteor are brought to their knees. Lucario is actually OHKOed by a move it resists! It is truly a fuhrerious Pokemon. Fire Blast is, as always, to incinerate the more defensive Steels like Skarmory and Jirachi. The third slot is mainly anti-Heatran. Focus Blast destroys Tyranitar and Heatran while doing over 40% to Blissey and Chansey. Earth Power still KOs Heatran (unless it has an Air Balloon) and has better accuracy. It 2HKOs most Tyranitar but does almost nothing to the pink blobs. Surf beats Air Balloon Heatran, Specially Defensive Hippowdon, and cripples Tyranitar but it isn't as useful in strong Sunlight. The last move is your "cleanup" option. Dragon Pulse has 90 base power and great neutral coverage but Dark Pulse helps beat Reuniclus, Deoxys D, and Jellicent. It also helps Hydreigon separate itself from Latios whom has higher Special Attack and Speed. Speaking of Latios, Hydreigon sets itself apart from the Eon Pokemon by not being weak to Pursuit. Switching out of "Draco Meteor spam" counters like Tyranitar and Scizor for free is amazing. It also separates itself from Latios by sporting devastating Fire / Fighting / Ground moves allowing it to crush every Steel type it will face. Latios has to run Hidden Power or settle for Earthquake if it wants to run a move of that type.

- Draco Meteor
- Earth Power / Focus Blast
- Fire Blast
- U-turn / Dragon Pulse
Item Attached: Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

The original flagship Hydreigon set from early Black / White is still usable. As we all learned from Flygon in Diamond and Pearl, U-turn spamming Dragons are really annoying. Unlike Flygon Hydreigon has usable defenses and massive Special Attack. Draco Meteor isn't nearly as strong as it is on the other sets but it still manages to knock a chunk of HP off anything that isn't particularly defensive. Despite the power drop it still OHKOs a ton of stuff like Infernape, Gliscor, Starmie, Gengar, Thundurus, Rotom W, and Jolteon (and many, many others). Try to nail their Steel type early with Earth Power / Focus Blast / Fire Blast so you can spend the rest of the game dropping meteors on anything in its path. U-turn helps scout out what your opponent counters you with as well as breaking Heatran's Air Balloon and getting a decent hit on Tyranitar.

Oh so many. Most aren't as good as the sets listed above but hey, anything is possible. Roar / Dragon Tail / Thunder Wave, Work Up, Earthquake, Charge Beam, Acrobatics, Stone Edge, Choice Band / Crunch / Head Smash / Aqua Tail / Fire Fang / Thunder Fang / Ice Fang / Outrage, Tailwind, and Sleep Talk. Roar or Dragon Tail / Thunder Wave can be used on a bulky Roost set. Sadly there isn't really any reason to use this when Dragonite exists. Work Up is kind of cool because you can end up with +1 Attack and +1 Special Attack, but Hydreigon's offenses and movepool benefit more from outright attacking. Earthquake hits pretty much the same things Earth Power hits. It can get through Calm Mind Jirachi if its Raining and Jirachi managed a few boosts. It isn't really as useful though. Much weaker than Earth Power unless you run a lot of Attack EVs. Charge Beam can sort of work on the Substitute set. Then again if you want to use a Dragon Sub booster, just use Calm Mind Latios / Latias. If you REALLY hate Breloom you can run Acrobatics with Flight Gem. Or you could, you know, just Fire Blast it. Stone Edge will OHKO Volcarona but isn't actually good for anything else. Choice Band + 4 of Outrage / Head Smash / Crunch / Fire Fang / Thunder Fang / Ice Fang / Aqua Tail has extremely solid offensive coverage. The flaw in this is that basically all Dragons can do this, but with much greater offensive power. Tailwind can be used on any set as a team support option. Giving your entire team double speed for 4 turns is pretty cool. While Rest + Sleep Talk is bad and should never be used, running Sleep Talk alone on the last slot of either the Choice Specs or Choice Scarf set can give you a decent status absorber. Switch in on a Breloom or Amoonguss Spore, then Sleep Talk a nuclear Draco Meteor at them.

Hydreigon has passable defenses and speed along with frightening Special Attack. Dark Pulse allows Hydreigon to beat common Pokemon like Jellicent, Chandelure, and Dusclops. It can run Tailwind to fix its own speed problem, then proceed to just throw Draco Meteors around. It has some trouble separating itself from Latios / Garchomp so try to focus on its own qualities, namely Tailwind and Dark STAB.

Hydreigon rips open holes in whatever it sees. Use other offensive Pokemon to take advantage of what Hydreigon destroys. Due to the Hydra's ability to harm Steel types more than most dragons partnering it with other Dragons like Latios or Haxorus can be beneficial. Steel types pair well defensively with Hydreigon, resisting Ice, Bug, Dragon and most take on Fighting types decently (Skarmory, Jirachi, Scizor). Hydreigon laughs at common Steel weaknesses like Fire and Ground. Stealth Rocks are extremely important to get a lot of KOs such as a 2HKO on Chansey, so something like Heatran or Terrakion is appreciated to set them up.

Ahahahaha. Yeah, this isn't going to happen. The closest Pokemon to a Hydreigon counter is Chansey and only with max Defense, full HP, no Stealth Rocks, and no Sandstorm. Chansey just BARELY avoids the 2HKO from Life Orb Superpower, but it most real games Chansey will just end up 2HKOed due to any previous damage (or Stealth Rocks). Heatran can almost counter it but is 2HKOed by a Fighting move and OHKOed by a Ground attack if the Air Balloon is gone. Virizion can come in on any attack except Choice Specs Fire Blast and scare off Hydreigon with Close Combat but it should be expected to take at least 70% from Draco Meteor. Genesect can survive any hit not named Fire Blast and U-turn away from Hydreigon. Revenge killing Hydreigon is far more reasonable. Basically every fast offensive Pokemon can force Hydreigon to switch or die. Alakazam, Abomasnow (Scarf or Expert Belt Ice Shard), Terrakion, Breloom (Mach Punch), Latios, Conkeldurr, Donphan, Volcarona, Genesect, Infernape, Mamoswine, etc. Anything with either more speed, or a solid priority move should be able to take Hydreigon down. Don't let this list fool you, every single one of those Pokemon are OHKOed by the right move. The key to beating Hydreigon is less about countering it and more about preventing it from being in a position where it can attack for free.

Pre-Evolution Corner - Zweilous

Zwei so serious?

-Outrage
-Crunch
-Superpower
-Substitute/Dragon Tail/Thunder Wave
Item Attached: Eviolite
Ability: Hustle
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 236 HP / 252 Atk / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -Sp. Atk)

Zweilous, with the power of Hustle, gives it the most powerful Outrage in Pokemon. Period. Well, besides Rivalry Haxorus I guess. It is even more powerful than Rayquaza's Outrage. Due to that it hit NU by storm. Not many things can take that kind of power even when its neutral. Crunch hits bulky Psychic Types like Musharna and doesn't lock up into the same move like Outrage does. Superpower hits Steel-Types like Probopass really hard, but you can't keep Zweilous in for very long. Substitute blocks status against Zweilous, and give you a shield in case Hustle makes you miss. Dragon Tail can force out Pokemon into something more favorable, but it has a pathetic 72% accuracy. Thunder Wave can be used when scaring Pokemon out and can screw up the next Pokemon that comes in. It also has 100% accuracy even with Hustle. The EVs and Nature maximizes Zweilous' Attack while giving it some extra bulk. Eviolite gives it more Defences to use so it doesn't die so quickly. Other options you could use include a para-shuffler set, (making use of Thunder Wave, Dragon Tail, Substitute and another move) with EV's moved into Special Defence from Attack, giving Zweilous it's own niche. Zweilous can be a force to be reckoned with even for a NFE.

The choice is up to you, but they are the same

-Outrage
-Crunch
-Fire Fang/Dragon Tail
-Superpower
Item Attached: Choice Scarf/Choice Band
Ability: Hustle
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -Sp. Atk)

Zweilous can go for a very different set. Instead of using Eviolite to increase it's life span it can use either Choice Scarf to revenge kill, or Choice Band to inflict massive damage. Zweilous can pull off both of these. Outrage is crazy strong as it is which can be boosted further by Choice Band. Crunch is a good STAB that can help finish faster Psychic Types like Kadabra, or just inflict a lot of damage with Choice Band. Fire Fang helps against bulky Grass and Steel-Types, and doesn't give the side effects of Superpower, just being less powerful. Dragon Tail can be used to force out Pokemon, which can be more favourable to your team. This however should only be used with Choice Band, because having a negative priority move, with an item that raises your speed is silly. Superpower destroys Steel-Types like Bastiodon, but does hinder your Attack and Defence every time you use it. The EV's makes Zweilous' Attack and Speed go as high as they can go with a neutral nature. The Jolly nature however raises Zweilous' Speed so that it goes even faster with Choice Scarf. Zweilous can be a great revenge killer or just powerhouse in general. Just hope that Hustle doesn't make you miss.

Pre-Evolution Corner - Deino (Little Cup)

We gon' light it up, like it's Deino-mite!

-Outrage
-Crunch
-Superpower
-Ice Fang
Item Attached: Choice Scarf
Ability: Hustle
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 20 HP / 236 Atk / 36 Def / 212 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -Sp. Atk)

Deino can be a little monster when handled right. With Hustle it has an insanely powerful Outrage, which is only resisted by a few Pokemon in LC. With 14 Speed and Choice Scarf, it makes Deino a viable Choice Scarf user, outspeeding all of the unboosted Pokemon in LC. Outrage is stupidly powerful, due to Hustle, and can hurt the majority of LC. Crunch is a good STAB hitting Psychic and Ghost Types like Abra and Misdreavus for Super-Effective damage. Deino got Superpower from Black and White 2 and makes good use of it. It helps it deal with bulkier Pokemon such as Lileep or Porygon and can help against Steel Types like Bronzor. You do have to take account for the Attack and Defence drop though. Ice Fang can hit bulky Grass Types and Flying Types like Foongus, Shroomish, and Murkrow for good damage. Fire Fang can be used instead Superpower, hitting Steel Types slightly harder, but not much else. Eviolite could be used, but Fighting Types kill Deino anyway. Deino's main falling point is that Hustle makes you misses at the worst times. But when you do hit nothing is really going to take the hit well.

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 Zweilous

Black 2/White 2:
Evolve Zweilous