Legendary Pokémon

Pokemon of the Week DP: Breloom

Sets

Sleep Puncher

Item Held

Toxic Orb

Ability

Poison Heal

Nature

Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)

Effort Points

252 Attack - 212 Speed - 46 HP

• Spore
• Focus Punch
• Seed Bomb
• Stone Edge

Simple set to pull off. Put them to sleep with that awesome 100% sleep-inducing move and watch them fly after being hit by Breloom's STABed Focus Punch. Seed Bomb and Stone Edge are there for Pokémon trying to absorb your Focus Punches like Slowbro and Gyarados respectively. 212 Speed EPs allow you to always outspeed Adamant Tyranitar (assuming max IVs) and 46 HP EPs grant you a nice recovery by Poison Heal.

Starter Killer

Item Held

Toxic Orb

Ability

Poison Heal

Nature

Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)

Effort Points

252 Attack - 236 HP - 22 Speed

• Protect
• Mach Punch
• Spore
• Seed Bomb

A not so effective set in mid-game but it can deal some real damage in the beginning of the game. Use this Pokémon to lead your team and try to get an advantage by using Protect in the first turn. It allows Toxic Orb (and thus, Poison Heal) to kick in and scouts for Choice Band/Scarf/Specs users. You can Mach Punch most of the starters (OHKO on Weavile, 2HKO on Tyranitar). In case a Ground-type Pokémon leads to set Stealth Rock early, Seed Bomb them. Flying Pokémon are a trouble with this set but since most of them use Choice items, just Protect to see what they'll use and switch accordingly.

SubSeeder

Item Held

Toxic Orb

Ability

Poison Heal

Nature

Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)

Effort Points

252 Attack - 212 Speed - 46 HP

• Substitute
• Leech Seed
• Focus Punch
• Spore / Stun Spore / Seed Bomb / Stone Edge

The most effective set for Breloom in Advance is back in D/P with the addition of Poison Heal. Always set Stealth Rock before starting messing up with Breloom. Use Leech Seed to drain their HP while hiding behind that Substitute. Your opponent will usually switch to avoid Leech Seed damage so Breloom's awesome Focus Punch can be used more easily. Flying-type Pokémon are usual switch-ins on Breloom, that's why we need Stealth Rock support. Spore is useful because putting your opponent to sleep grants you a free Substitute. With Stun Spore, your opponent has a 25% chance of not attacking which saves your Substitute and lets you use a free Focus Punch. Seed Bomb and Stone Edge are there if you want better attack versatility.

Other Possible Options

Thunderpunch is a good offensive option as it can OHKO Gyarados but it is not available with Poison Heal and Effect Spore is just a useless ability. Sky Uppercut is a reliable offensive move to replace Focus Punch but Breloom can make excellent use of the SubPunching combo so it is not prefered. Force Palm's 30% chance of paralysis is also appealing. Facade is a great move since Breloom triggers its effect with Toxic Orb and it can prove really useful (and powerful) at times. Swords Dance, Bulk Up, Choice Band and Choice Scarf are to power up its sweeping capabilities but Heracross can use all of them more effectively than Breloom.

Counters

Beloom's ability to Spore an incoming counter makes its countering too difficult for being just a Borderline Pokémon. Most effective counters are other Grass-types which are immune to Leech Seed. Namely, Exeggutor, Celebi and Venusaur can kill Breloom with their Psychic/Sludge Bomb. Toxicroak and Weezing resist its two STABed moves and hit back with Poison Jab/Sludge Bomb/Fire Blast. Cresselia can get some Seed Bombs and KO with Psychic or Ice Beam. Dugtrio can trap and kill with Aerial Ace but it can't switch in.

Most Flying-types can OHKO Breloom and can survive its STABed moves but fear Stone Edge. Skarmory can wall it and Whirlwind its Substitutes away. Salamence and Gyarados with Intimidate can switch in and KO with Flamethrower/Ice Fang. Finally, even though Stone Edge can deal some great damage, a Sleep-Talking Zapdos can counter Breloom.

Opinion & Notes

Breloom is an awesome Pokémon especially after DP came out. The addition of Poison Heal, Toxic Orb, Seed Bomb and Stone Edge gave it everything it needed. A huge Attack stat, resistance to many common types (Water, Rock, Ground, Electric, Dark), and a 100% accurate sleep-inducing move make Breloom a really fearsome Pokémon. If it had a bit higher Speed, it would be a staple Pokémon in most D/P teams.

Note that Thunderpunch is only available in Emerald, given by the move tutor. Unfortunately, that makes Breloom unable to use it with the Poison Heal ability.

Permanent link

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