Ho-Oh, The Rainbow Pokémon. Legends claim this Pokémon flies the world's skies continuously on its magnificent, seven-colored wings. A legend says that its body glows in seven colors. A rainbow is said to form behind it when it flies. Its feathers are in seven colors. It is said that anyone seeing it is promised eternal happiness. It is said to live at the foot of a rainbow.
Overview
Ho-Oh is a pretty awesome Pokémon. It hits like a tank, and can take hits like one. Its standard STAB move is backed up by the sun, it has obnoxious Attack, and is generally a beast. A great choice, but it does have its drawbacks.
Ability
Pressure: Great ability in ubers. Ho-Oh can last for a long time, so using up 2 PP per attack against it is going to be very effective.
Move Sets
Choice Band
- Sacred Fire
- Earthquake
- Brave Bird
- Punishment
Item Attached: Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature / Jolly Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
Sacred Fire is amazing, and should always be used with the sun up. The 50% burn rate makes Ho-Oh really difficult to switch into, as nobody wants to take a burn. Earthquake provides great coverage with Sacred Fire, which is a great reason to use it, not to mention its high power. Brave Bird is a great STAB move with high power, although the recoil sucks. Punishment is there to handle stuff like Calm Mind Mewtwo and the Lati twins. Adamant is power, Jolly is speed. Pick your weapon.
Choice Specs
- Fire Blast / Overheat
- Thunder
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice] / Earth Power
Item Attached: Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature / Timid Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
Fire Blast and Overheat are both great moves, especially under sun. Overheat is for initial power, and Fire Blast is for more constant attack. Thunder wrecks Kyogre, who otherwise ruins Ho-Oh. Shadow Ball is there to hurt the Lati twins. Hidden Power murders Rayquaza, and Earth Power hurts Dialga a lot.
Modest is all about power, and Timid is the speed side of things.
Choice Scarf
- Sacred Fire
- Thunder
- Punishment
- Earthquake
Item Attached: Choice Scarf
Ability: Pressure
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 160 Atk / 96 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
Revenge killer. Sacred Fire hits as hard as ever and really screws stuff over with the burn. Thunder murders Kyogre especially, and the 30% paralysis is really useful. Punishment is great on this set as it outruns most Pokémon and can revenge Mewtwo and Lati twins well. Earthquake is a standard attack, powerful, accurate, and gets a good combo with the other attacks.
Calm Mind
- Calm Mind
- Flamethrower
- Recover
- Thunder
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SDef / 8 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
The only boost Ho-Oh really has, but it works. Calm Mind boosts Ho-Oh's already amazing Special Defence and good Special Attack, making it awesome. Flamethrower has a lot of PP and is the most accurate Fire attack. Recover is better than Roost for this set as with Roost, Ho-Oh will be hit by Earthquake. Thunder is amazing to use against Kyogre, other Ho-Oh, and stuff in general that resists Fire.
EVs and Nature:
Choice Band
Offence is the way to go. Adamant or Jolly is up to whether you think drawing with Groudon, Kyogre, and outspeeding Adamant Rayquaza is worth it.
Choice Specs
Exactly the same as Choice Band but the special variation.
Choice Scarf
Ho-Oh isn't fast, so it wants as much Speed as possible. The rest is split between Attack and Special Attack, focusing on Attack due to most of the moves being physical.
Calm Mind
Ho-Oh is meant to be taking hits with this set, special ones at least. With a Calm Mind boost on top of that ridiculous Special Defence, nothing will be hurting it too much. The HP is at an odd number so Ho-Oh always takes 3 switch ins to Stealth Rock.
Other Options
Psych Up, Safeguard, Toxic, Reflect, Light Screen, Thunder Wave
Psych Up is an option to get a lot of Calm Mind boosts in one turn, but Calm Mind is better anyway, really.
Safeguard is there for team support to block any status.
Toxic could work on a stall like set.
The Screens are there for team support again, as well as letting Ho-Oh take more hits.
Thunder Wave isn't resisted by many ubers and it can really mess a lot of them up. It also helps Ho=Oh's low Speed.
Countering Ho-Oh
Getting rid of the sun ruins Ho-Oh. So much of its damage comes from Groudon that a Kyogre can just mess it all up with rain. Anything that resists Fire stands a good chance as well, such as Palkia, Kingdra, Garchomp if it avoids taking the burn, and others. Tyranitar is in a similar boat to Garchomp. The Lati Twins resist Fire and outspeed Ho-Oh. For the special sets, Blissey is always a massive issue. Giratina is bulky and resists Fire, so can easily beat it. Rayquaza is another option as it resists Fire and can prey on Ho-Oh's weak Defence. Also, this had to have its own little bit; Stealth Rock obliterates Ho-Oh. Absolutely murders it. Learn to hate Stealth Rock if you want to use Ho-Oh.
Locations in Games
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Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald Trade from EFRLG (RS) Navel Rock (Em) Colosseum/XD Complete Mt. Battle in Battle Mode after Purifying all 48 Pokémon (Col)Trade from EFRLG (XD) Fire Red/Leaf Green Navel Rock Diamond/Pearl/Platinum Trade from FRLGEHGSS HeartGold/SoulSilver Bell Tower
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Animé Appearences
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Ho-Oh has had a few Animé Appearences. All of its appearances however have been cameos. Most of the time, it appears to Ash to give him hope in his journey. Mew also transformed into one in the past.
Episode 1: Pokémon! I Choose you |
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