Legendary Pokémon

Pokemon of the Week DP: Butterfree

Sets

The Surprise Way

Item Held

Focus Sash

Nature

Hasty (+Speed, -Defense) / Naive (+Speed, -Sp. Defense)

Effort Points

252 Speed - 128 Attack - 128 Sp.Attack

• Sleep Powder
• Stun Spore
• Bug Buzz
• U-Turn

Yes, it's Butterfree and yes, there is a way to use it in the OU environment although most of the people consider Butterfree a NU Pokemon. But fist, let's face the truth. Butterfree is not the Pokemon with gigantic stats like Salamense and his friends. In fact, its stats really suck. Butterfree is not a great Sweeper, neither a great Tank. So, you may ask, "why should I use Butterfree at all?". The first answer, is "Because you may like Butterfree as a Pokemon and you will use it no matter what." Fortunately for those who would give the first answer, there is a second one: "Butterfree has a great ability that allows it to use Sleep Powder and Stun Spore without fearing that they will miss and Butterfree will surprise a lot of people." As you may already know, the surprise factor is one of my favorites and I am going to analyse it a lot this year. But let's take a look at the moveset and how to use it. First of all, you are going to put Butterfree first on the team. You will mostly start with Sleep Powder in order to put your opponent's first Pokemon to sleep. If it is immute to sleep or you suspect a berry, go with Stun Spore. Buttrefree can potentially reach 262 Speed. It's not great but it's not bad either. You will be able to outrun some Pokemon, but if you don't, Focus Sash will help you survive in order to use your Sleep Powder. So most of the times the battle is going to start with one of your opponent's Pokemon asleep. Now, here is the part that needs a lot of prediction: Your opponent has two choices, he can change his Pokemon, or he can wait until it wakes up. For example, if your opponent starts with a Fire type he has nothing to fear so he will possibly keep his Pokemon in battle. In this case, use U-Turn and choose a Pokemon that needs to set up. You can send out Gyarados and do some Dragon Dances. If you suspect that your opponent is going to change his Pokemon, use Stun Spore and paralyze on the switch. After that use U-Turn and put an apropriate counter. You are going to put EPs on both Attack and Special Attack because Bug Buzz is a Special move and U-Turn is a Physical. You will propably use U-turn most of the times, but there will be times that you will need to stay in battle. Your opponent will be surprised when he will understand that you can actually defeat his Alakazam or Weavile with your STAB Bug Buzz!

Other Possible Options

You can use Choise Scarf instead of Focus Sash for a fast sleep, but you will be locked on Sleep Powder.

Counters

Stealth Rock will cut Butterfree's HP to half. Pokemon that are immute to sleep or can benefit from Stun Spore (Like Pokemon with Guts) can easilly defeat Butterfree. Sandstorm can stop Butterfrees that use Focus Sash.

Opinion & Notes

I like Butterfree a lot and that's why I tried a lot in order to find a moveset that actually works. To be honest, I wouldn't recomend it in a serious competition except if you are a prediction freak. It is a pleasure though to defeat a guy with Pokemon like Gyarados and Salamense with the help of a little butterfly. Most people will underestimate Butterfree and that's their fault. So, if you are bored with all those commonly seen Pokemon, try out this set!

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