Ampharos, The Light Pokémon. The tail's tip shines brightly and can be seen from far away. It acts as a beacon for lost people. The bright light on its tail can be seen far away. It has been treasured since ancient times as a beacon. When it gets dark, the light from its bright, shiny tail can be seen from far away on the ocean's surface. It gives off so much light that it can be seen even from space. People in the old days used its light to send signals back and forth with others far away. The tip of its tail shines brightly. In the olden days, people sent signals using the tail's light. ť
Overview
Ampharos is one of those indistinctive Pokémon. It's not bad, but it doesn't seem to have any cohesion or direction in the combination of its stats, type and move-pool. It's a slow Electric type, with pretty decent defensive stats and a good punch offensively too. It doesn't have any moves to compensate for its low Speed, nor does it have a recovery move to pair with its defensive stats. It fits into the Underused environment undoubtedly, and probably could find itself in the Never-used tier if that ever gets truly defined. There's not really much “wrong” with it, but there's not much “right” either.
Ability
Static: has a 30% chance of paralysing opponents who use contact moves (e.g. Ice Punch and Return). It's not a useless ability, but it isn't hugely useful either.
Move Sets
Attacker - Status Support
- Thunderbolt | Discharge
- Thunder Wave | Substitute / Light Screen / Reflect
- Hidden Power [Ice / Grass]
- Focus Blast
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Static
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
Once again, it's difficult to really find a direction to go with Ampharos. There is a bit of synergy to be had with paralysing the opponent however, since that'll compensate for Ampharos's poor Speed. Thunderbolt provides reliable STAB and Thunder Wave provides reliable paralysis support, but you can go in favour of the unreliable but move-slot saving Discharge, which is a bit weaker with a 30% chance of paralysis. With Discharge, you can make room for another supporting move, such as Reflect or Light Screen, or simply put up a Substitute to hide behind.
Hidden Power is rarely far from an Electric type. After all, they need something to help against Ground types. Ice and Grass are the two to choose between. Ice covers the likes of Nidoking, Nidoqueen and Grass types. Grass on the other hand covers Lanturn, Gastrodon and Quagsire. Decide which Pokémon your team finds most threatening and base your decision on that.
Focus Blast and its notoriously unreliable accuracy will have to be put up with. Its your best option for hitting Pokémon like Clefable, and short of mixing the aforementioned Substitute with Focus Punch, you have little else in the way of options.
Sub-Punch
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Thunderbolt / Discharge
- Hidden Power [Ice / Grass]
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Static
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 116 HP / 140 Atk / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
As noted above, you can ditch Focus Blast's unreliable accuracy for the Sub-Punch combo. Throw up a Substitute and then safely fire off un-flinched Focus Punches at your desired target. Thunderbolt provides reliable STAB, but it can be traded in for the slightly less powerful Discharge for that 30% paralysis chance. Once again, round things off with Hidden Power, picking the one that compliments your team the most.
EVs and Nature:
You'll probably want to max out your Special Attack, or at least come close to maximising it. You'll certainly want to use a nature that enhances it. As for the rest of the EVs…well, you can always enhance HP for that all-round boost to your defensive capabilities. When using Focus Punch, you'll want to enhance your Attack a little. 140 Attack EVs will guarantee at least 50% damage on Max Def/HP Clefable, which is a decent target.
Other Options
Rest, Sleep Talk, Counter, Toxic, Magnet Rise.
Rest and Sleep Talk is the main other option here. Toss in some more defensively-inclined EVs, and you can make decent use of its decent defences.
Counter can catch opponents off-guard for a quick KO, but without Speed or a source of recovery, it doesn't have great synergy with it.
Toxic is a useful option for hitting Pokémon who aren't taking super-effective damage from any of your other moves (such as Lanturn when you're equipped with Hidden Power [Ice]).
Magnet Rise gives you the levitate effect, and by eliminating that Ground weakness you become completely free of weaknesses, which is neat, although not a move-slot stealer when you consider that neutral hits can still be a comfortable 2KO against it.
Countering Ampharos
Its slow, and whilst it has respectable defences it isn't sturdy enough to deal with repeated bombardment. This means it isn't much of a sweeping threat, nor will it be frustrating your sweepers too much. Camerupt is a very comfortable counter due to its Thunderbolt immunity and indifference to either of its frequently used Hidden Powers. Bulky Grass types like Venusaur, Vileplume and Meganium are solid counters when it doesn't have Hidden Power [Ice], whilst Lanturn, Quagsire and Gastrodon are fairly safe when it doesn't have Hidden Power [Grass].
Locations in Games
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Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald Trade from ECXD (RS) Evolve Flaaffy(Em) Colosseum/XD Evolve Flaaffy Fire Red/Leaf Green Trade from ECXD Diamond/Pearl/Platinum Evolve Flaaffy
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Animé Appearences
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Ampharos has had a few Animé appearances. First, Jasmine's one at the Shining Lighthouse was ill. After that, Wattson's assistant Watt used one in a battle against May. Other appearances have been cameos
Episode 210: Fight for the Light! |
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