Rhyperior, The Drill Pokémon. From holes in its palms, it fires out Geodude. Its carapace can withstand volcanic eruptions. It puts rocks in holes in its palms and uses its muscles to shoot them.
Overview
Rhyperior is an odd choice to choose for a competitive team although it possesses a nice niche on Singles as being one of the best Rotom-H counters in Battle Spot. On one hand, its colossal Attack, Defense and HP stats are scary as hell. It also has an excellent physical movepool and Ground / Rock is an excellent STAB combination which pretty much rounds up its coverage. However, despite these traits, Rhyperior is held back by its typing which is mediocre defensively and its horrendous Special Defense which limits the amount of hits it can take.
Rhyperior has its pros and cons, but if you know how to use him properly, it will be a valuable addition to any team that can struggle with Pokemon such as Mimikyu, Manectric and Rotom-H.
Positives
A base 115 HP / 140 Atk / 130 Def makes Rhyperior into a physical behemoth capable of easily tanking hits from the physical side while being able to dish out respectable damage even without an expensive Attack investment.
Rhyperior possesses a notable physical movepool having access to STAB Earthquake, Stone Edge, Rock Blast, decent coverage options in Ice Punch and Fire Punch, and decent support options like Toxic and Stealth Rock.
Solid Rock is an amazing ability on Rhyperior as it reduces the damage taken from super-effective hits which vastly improves its durability throughout the match.
Negatives
It's paper thin Special Defense means that Rhyperior will be easily taken down from the special side even with heavy investment.
A x4 weakness to both Water and Grass means that Rhyperior can't even take these moves even with Solid Rock's buff as they will instantly OHKO or 2HKO at best.
It's slow Speed means that Rhyperior will usually take damage first before it moves.
The lack of recovery hurts Rhyperior in the long run as it has to constantly rely on Leftovers in order to heal damage.
Movesets
MOUNTAIN SONG
- Earthquake / Drill Run
- Rock Blast
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic / Metal Burst
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs and Nature:
244 HP / 12 Atk / 252 SpD
Adamant Nature
Rhyperior's main role is to set up Stealth Rock in order to nullify Focus Sash users such as Greninja, Garchomp, Breloom, Mimikyu, Cloyster and Tapu Lele. Rock Blast is a multi-hit STAB capable of hitting through Substitute, destroy Sash users such as Froslass, Cloyster and it also damages Mimikyu through its Disguise. Earthquake is Rhyperior's most consistent STAB capable of ravaging Steel and opposing Rock types such as Mega Metagross, Aegislash and Tyranitar. Drill Run is an option that should be considered only if Rhyperior is being run with Tapu Bulu due to Grassy Terrain nerfing Earthquake. Even with the lack of dedicated Attack investment, it still hits very hard on neutral targets. For the last moveslot, Toxic is a valid option capable of putting Pokemon like Rotom-Wash and Cresselia on a timer. Metal Burst is a more consistent option allowing Rhyperior to retaliate back against the likes of Mega Metagross, Hydreigon and Bisharp who will be unable to OHKO Rhyperior in one hit but will not hesitate to pick an attack against it. 244 HP EVs maximizes Leftovers recovery while allowing Rhyperior to survive with 1 HP in case it has taken full Toxic / Leech Seed damage turns. Max Special Defense increases Rhyperior's special bulk to decent levels which significantly improves its staying power. The rest is dumped in Attack to dish out as much damage as possible. Leftovers overall increases Rhyperior's longevity throughout the match, but unless you want to grab a surprise OHKO on Pokemon like Tapu Fini
Partners
Zapdos: Thanks to its resistance to Steel, Fight, Grass and immunity to Ground, it makes a great partner for Rhyperior as it can easily switch into the Rock type attacks that Zapdos doesn't wants to take.
Tapu Bulu: Grassy Terrain not only weakens the opponent's Earthquake damage against Rhyperior but it also grants it an extra recovery which increases its durability.
Mega Venusaur: Its resistance to Grass and Water, makes Mega Venusaur a great partner to consider as it can beat the common Water types Rhyperior struggles against, such as Rotom-Wash, Tapu Fini, Serperior and Breloom.
Mega Charizard Y: Drought not only weakens Rhyperior's vulnerability to Water attacks but it also threatens Grass types that cause issues for Rhyperior
Tapu Fini: Thanks to Misty Terrain's effects of nullifying status afflictions and Rhyperior's immunity to Electric type attacks, it makes a good partner for Rhyperior.
ROCK 'N DRILL EM
- Rock Blast / Stone Edge
- Earthquake / Drill Run
- Ice Punch
- Horn Drill
Item Attached: Assault Vest
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs and Nature:
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Adamant Nature
With an Assault Vest, this set takes a more direct approach on dishing out damage while being a much more capable switch-in to Pokemon such as Tapu Koko and Rotom-Heat. Rock Blast is Rhyperior's best STAB which bypasses Focus Sash, Sturdy, Substitute and Disguise albeit weak if it doesn't gets more than 3 hits. Stone Edge is a much more powerful alternative although it has an awful accuracy which can easily let you down. Earthquake is Rhyperior's main STAB that will do tons of damage with its fully invested Attack. Drill Run is the alternative that can be used if Rhyperior is being run with Tapu Bulu. Ice Punch allows Rhyperior to deal heavy damage to Garchomp while preventing Mega Salamence from walling you. Finally, Horn Drill is the best move to grab a free OHKO on a Landorus-T, Celesteela or Cresselia switch-in if it hits.
Due to Assault Vest increasing Rhyperior's overall bulk and with the max SpD investment, max Attack is required in order to fully take advantage of the extra bulk and deal as much damage as possible. The rest is dumped in Defense to increase its physical bulk slightly.
Partners
Zapdos: Thanks to its resistance to Steel, Fight, Grass and immunity to Ground, it makes a great partner for Rhyperior as it can easily switch into the Rock type attacks that Zapdos doesn't wants to take.
Tapu Bulu: Grassy Terrain not only weakens the opponent's Earthquake damage against Rhyperior but it also grants it an extra recovery which increases its durability.
Mega Venusaur: Its resistance to Grass and Water, makes Mega Venusaur a great partner to consider as it can beat the common Water types Rhyperior struggles against, such as Rotom-Wash, Tapu Fini, Serperior and Breloom.
Mega Charizard Y: Drought not only weakens Rhyperior's vulnerability to Water attacks but it also threatens Grass types that cause issues for Rhyperior
Tapu Fini: Thanks to Misty Terrain's effects of nullifying status afflictions and Rhyperior's immunity to Electric type attacks, it makes a good partner for Rhyperior.
Other Options
Rhyperior can also use a Focus Sash in order to fully exploit Metal Burst against Pokemon like Greninja. However, this strategy is unreliable as due to Rhyperior's natural bulk, it appreciates having more time in the field while it can be easily exploited by Pokemon like Dragon Dance Mega Gyarados.
A Rocky Helmet is not a bad idea in order to deal chip damage against the likes of Bisharp and Mega Metagross.
Megahorn allows Rhyperior to hit Cresselia super-effectively, but due to its lower accuracy, it becomes a very inferior option.
Rockium Z with Rock Wrecker can also potentially make Rhyperior a devastating wall breaker capable of dealing a 200 base power Continental Crush which can destroy Porygon2 or Celesteela if weakened previously. However, there are plenty of superior Z-move users such as Garchomp who are faster.
Countering Rhyperior
Bulky Water types such as Suicune, Alomomola and Tapu Fini are a nightmare for Rhyperior to face as not only they can usually take hits but their Water STABs will heavily dent Rhyperior. Rhyperior also hates getting burned by Scald. Offensive Water types like Greninja, Pelipper and Rotom-Wash will OHKO it, bypassing Solid Rock, with their powerful STABs.
On a similar vein, Grass types like Serperior, Breloom and Tapu Bulu will easily make Rhyperior cry in pain. Breloom deserves a mention for being resistant to its dual STABs while punishing it with Bullet Seed.
Strong physical walls like Cresselia, Hippowdon and Buzzwole wall Rhyperior all day and they can easily recover any lost damage with their recovery moves. However, they must be wary of Horn Drill as they can lose against it if it hits. Skarmory deserves a special mention as it doesn't fears at all whatever Rhyperior hits it with and thanks to Sturdy, it is immune to it.
Strong special attackers like Mega Alakazam and Mega Charizard Y will usually be able to bypass Solid Rock / Assault Vest and OHKO it with powerful coverage moves like Grass Knot and Solarbeam. Additionally, Z-move users such as Heatran will be able to nuke it with Bloom Doom.
Locations in Games
Red/Blue/Yellow:
Not in game
Gold/Silver/Crystal:
Not in game
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game
Colosseum/XD:
Not in game
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Evolve Rhydon
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Evolve Rhydon
Black/White:
Evolve Rhydon
Black 2/White 2:
Evolve Rhydon
X/Y:
Evolve Rhydon
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Evolve Rhydon
Sun/Moon:
Evolve Rhydon
Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon:
Evolve Rhydon
Let's Go, Pikachu!/Let's Go, Eevee!:
Not in game
Animé Appearences
