Groudon, The Continent Pokémon. Said to have expanded the lands by evaporating water with raging heat. It battled titanically with KYOGRE. It had been asleep in underground magma ever since it fiercely fought KYOGRE long ago. It came as a savior to people who had been suffering from terrible floods. It has long been described in mythology as the POKéMON that raised lands and expanded continents.
Overview
Groudon is the Drought Pokémon, which means upon switching in it creates everlasting sun. Now, sun is nowhere near as useful or powerful as rain is, but it can still be a devastating Pokémon regardless. With one of the highest Attack stats in the game, amazing bulk, a great range of physical moves, a great support movepool, and more or less greatless in general, Groudon is a very versatile and threatening Pokémon that you should always be prepared for.
Ability
Drought: perpetual sunlight. Great for a sun team, obviously, but it supports Groudon both on a defensive level by weakening incoming Water moves, and on an offensive level by strengthing Fire moves, effectively giving them a pseudo STAB.
Move Sets
I swear my DS shakes when CBGroudon uses Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Punch
Item Attached: Choice Band
Ability: Drought
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
The power of this set actually hurts my eyes. Although it could just be the sun that this beast brings with it, but regardless, this set is strong. I've already said Groudon has one of the highest Attack stats in the game, with a movepool just as impressive, and this set showcases those two claims perfectly. Earthquake is the big daddy of all of Groudon's moves. An amazing attack anyway, but when combined with STAB and Groudon's sky high (or should I saw ground level?) Attack, it becomes almost sickeningly strong. Stone Edge covers a few certain Pokémon that hover slightly above the shaking Ground, and the ones that try to soar to the sun Groudon brought out. Again, another great attack, this time with no immunities, less accuracy, a high critical hit rate, and no STAB. But hey, like that matters, the attack is still amazing. Dragon Claw covers any Dragons that aren't hit with super effective damage by Stone Edge and that completely avoid Earthquake all together. Fire Punch covers physically defensive Steel Pokémon in ubers, and is really quite power when factoring in the sun.
Slow and steady wins the race. But wait! What the hell is Groudon polishing a pebble for?
- Rock Polish
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge / Overheat
- Dragon Claw
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
This Groudon variation gets over the fact it is as slow as a legless boulder with Rock Polish, which doubles its Speed in a single turn. This really makes Groudon a threatening sweeper. Earthquake is as good as you would expect it to be. Maybe even better than you'd expect. Stone Edge covers flyers immune to Earthquake, but Overheat covers Skarmory if you have no other Pokémon on your team to take it out, as it walls this set like no tomorrow. Dragon Claw is there for any Dragons who aren't hit hard by Stone Edge and are immune to Earthquake.
The ground that supports more than just our towns and cities
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Toxic / Thunder Wave
- Dragon Claw / Overheat
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Drought
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Atk / 92 SDef / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
Stealth Rock is obviously an amazing move, and thanks to Groudon's bulk, it can easily get the rocks up. Earthquake is Groudon's best move, you know the drill by now. Toxic completely ruins Groudon's regular counters, which completely rely on bulk to survive. However, Thunder Wave is also useful to stop offensive Pokémon and allows the rather sluggish Groudon to outspeed most anything. Dragon Claw gets good coverage with Earthquake, but also hits Ground's counters that are immune to Earthquake. Overheat is an option to remove physically bulky Steel Pokémon though, so it is your choice.
Equip Groudon with Broadsword? Yes or No, please select your choice. You have selected... Yes
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch / Stone Edge
- Dragon Claw
Item Attached: Leftovers / Life Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 Atk / 28 Def / 228 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
A much harder hitting Groudon. Swords Dance makes me wet myself. It gives Groudon almost 800 Attack power, even more if you are using Life Orb. Earthquake is Groudon's most powerful move, use it. Fire Punch takes care of any physically bulky Steel types, although Stone Edge removes Lugia from the equation. Dragon Claw takes out any other common switch ins to Groudon. Leftovers gives Groudon a lot more survivability, but Life Orb can be used to boost its Attack even higher.
EVs and Nature:
I swear my DS shakes when CBGroudon uses Earthquake
240 HP gives Groudon 401 HP, meaning it can take four Seismic Tosses and survive with 1 HP, allowing it to take another. The max Attack is obvious, with the Speed being leftover but necessary, as it allows Groudon to outrun most Giratina and defensive Dialga sets.
Slow and steady wins the race. But wait! What the hell is Groudon polishing a pebble for?
Gets 500 Speed after Rock Polish, so that's a cool number to go for, and only requires 136 EVs in Speed. 120 HP is leftover, but it also gives Groudon a Life Orb number, meaning it can take 11 rounds of Life Orb damage rather than 10. The Attack is... for hitting harder.
The ground that supports more than just our towns and cities
Max HP gives Groudon the survivability it needs. 8 Speed allows it to beat Giratina to the punch and land a Toxic. The Attack gives it a massive bite, so it isn't just a supportive sitting duck (see: Cresselia), with the Special Defence being leftover, but useful, as most of Groudon's switch ins will attack from the Special side, not to mention Groudon already has amazing physical defence.
Equip Groudon with Broadsword? Yes or No, please select your choice. You have selected... Yes
228 Speed and Jolly gives Groudon 300 Speed, letting it beat neutral max Speed base 100s. Always useful. The max Attack is... getting sickening to talk about. 28 Defence gives Groudon a nice boost that is always welcomed.
Other Options
Block, Bulk Up, Counter, Restalk, Roar, Substitute
Block is a gimmicky move that could be very surprising and potentially very devastating, if used on the proper team.
Bulk Up is a great boosting move as it would give Groudon significant bulk as well. However, it has no way of boost its Special Defence, and that is where it'd be hit hard.
Counter is a cool move that works well with Groudon's great physical bulk and good HP. Just don't let it take a move too strong.
Restalk gives Groudon the recovery it craves, as well as making it a very defensive Pokémon.
Roar is a great move on Groudon. The negative priority doesn't matter to it due to its low Speed, and forcing out any Pokémon is great for scouting and residual damage.
Shadow Claw is another option on an offensive set to really hurt Psychic and Ghost Pokémon with the same move, rather than using different moves for different threats. It's an option, but not a great one.
Substitute blocks status and allows for free set up with Swords Dance or Bulk Up. It's a good move. Also, Groudon's substitutes are bulky as hell.
Countering Groudon
Giratina and Lugia are two good counters to Groudon. Not only do they have amazing physical bulk, recovery moves and ways to hit Groudon hard, Giratina has Will-o-wisp, the most dangerous status to any physical sweeper. Lugia outspeeds and stalls with Reflect and Roost, basically making it an impenetrable fortress. Also, Pressure. Any Pokémon that can avoid Earthquake is an acceptable switch in to Groudon, such as Latias and Latios, who can also destroy Groudon with a strong Grass Knot. Although Cresselia's usage in any tier is limited to specific threats, Groudon is a threat Cresselia takes on very well. It uses the sun to recover to full HP every time, stalls with Toxic and Reflect, and slowly breaks Groudon with Ice Beam. Skarmory and Forretress are likely to switch into Groudon thanks to their great Defence, but make sure they don't eat a Fire Punch or an Overheat. Bulky Grass types get a mention, mainly Celebi and Tangrowth. They can take Earthquakes all day and smash Groudon with a STAB Grass Knot, just don't be burnt by a fist of fire. Shaymin-s can switch into Earthquake and OHKO with Seed Flare, but yeah, that's risky. Groudon isn't fast. It has average Special Defence. These two flaws are the chinks in its earthy armour. It can be revenge killed by anything that is faster and strong enough. Just watch out for Rock Polish, it makes Groudon faster than most of the game.
Locations in Games
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Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald Cave of Origin (Ruby) Terra Cave (Emerald) Trade from RE (Sapphire) Colosseum/XD Trade from RE Fire Red/Leaf Green Trade from RE Diamond/Pearl/Platinum Trade from REHG HeartGold/SoulSilver Embedded Tower (SoulSilver) Trade from REHG (HeartGold)
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Animé Appearences
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Groudon has had a few Animé Appearences. Most of its appearances were cameos, but Team Magma tried to take control of one in Hoenn
Jirachi - Wish Maker |
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