I finally made it to 200 wins in the Battle Maison, earning myself a Starf Berry as reward! I tried maybe a dozen times in Super Doubles, usually losing somewhere in the 150 range, but I finally made it in Super Triples.
Here's my team:
Greninja @ Life Orb
Protean
Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spd
- Mat Block
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
lv. 1 Aron @ Berry Juice
Sturdy
Nature and EVs unimportant
- Endeavor
- Protect
- Swagger
- Toxic
(Swagger and Toxic are filler moves. Not really anything else would be more helpful. Berry Juice is better than Shell Bell because the latter does not heal automatically, which matters if two opponents manage to attack Aron in the same turn.)
Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Levitate
Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpDef
- Discharge
- Shadow Ball
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
Kanghaskan @ Kangaskhanite
Scrappy // Parental Bond
Jolly (+Spd, - SpA)
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
- Fake Out
- Power-Up Punch
- Return
- Sucker Punch
Togekiss @ Choice Scarf
Serene Grace
Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spd
- Air Slash
- Dazzling Gleam
- Psychic
- Aura Sphere
(Modest might be a better nature. When I bred this Togekiss, I hadn't yet decided on a set or held item and was thinking about using Thunder Wave on the set. I preferred having the up-front speed though. Not sure if Timid + Choice Scarf is helpful or overkill. I think Flamethrower may be more useful than Psychic as well. I don't think I actually used Psychic in this run, though it's nice for safety against Poison types.)
Garchomp @ Expert Belt
Sand Veil
Jolly (+Spd, -SpA)
4 HP/ 252 Atk / 252 Spd
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Brick Break
- Rock Slide
(Dragon Claw might be better than Outrage. I rarely used Outrage anyway; the confusion didn't matter so much as being unable to choose a target. Also, Rough Skin is probably better than Sand Veil, which had almost no application at all. I just didn't manage to breed for it. And Expert Belt is mostly a filler item here...)
The typical strategy: Greninja uses Mat Block on turn 1, Aron uses Endeavor on the biggest threat, and Rotom does whatever it can. Turn 2 is often Surf/Protect/Discharge. This often results in KO-ing the entire opposing side without taking any damage at all, because the AI usually targets Aron. From there, Aron alternates Endeavor and Protect while the others try to take out threats before they can harm Aron. Aron can take 3 hits thanks to Berry Juice, soaking up a lot of damage.
Sometimes Aron uses Protect at the very start, when the opposing side has something that outspeeds Greninja, or has priority moves. It's important if the opponent has Fake Out, which would completely unravel the opening gambit. It's good if I can OHKO the fast threat (e.g. Ice Beam vs. Crobat or Aerodactyl).
The most dangerous opening scenario is when there is a Jolteon, Electrode or Choice Scarf Manectric opposite Greninja. All three are faster than Greninja and will target Greninja with a OHKO electric attack just as often as they target Aron. In these cases, I've taken to switching Greninja for Garchomp, hopefully nullifying the electric attack. Whether Aron attacks or protects depends on what Rotom can accomplish.
It's an extremely reliable team if you have decent prediction. The key thing is to know when fast/priority attacks are going to hit Aron, and to predict when the AI will opt to
ignore Aron, e.g. grass type attacks will often target Rotom or Greninja (first turn, or after surfing) instead.
There are some fun synergies on the team. Togekiss and Rotom are both immune to Garchomp's Earthquake. Garchomp is immune to Rotom's Discharge. Kangaskhan can save Aron from one attack when it comes out, thanks to Fake Out. Togekiss can often provide even more flinch support with Air Slash.
Kangaskhan deserves special mention for packing a priority move in Sucker Punch, and Togekiss should be noted for being able to hit non-adjacent pokemon with Air Slash or Aura Sphere, which offers a lot of flexibility. Aura Sphere is also noteworthy for ignoring accuracy and evasion modifiers, which helps against Double Team users (I never had to face that in my triples run though).
For a potentially better team, check out
this article. I really like having Togekiss and Kangaskhan though, and Rotom has been a really dependable lead. If I were to change something, it would be to try the same Garchomp lead as in that article, and then swap Rotom for Tyranitar. It would be nice to have a way to get around Hail, though I managed to get through it just fine.
