Legendary Pokémon

Pokemon of the Week DP: Ho-oh

Sets

CB Sweeper

Item Held

Choice Band

Nature

Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack) / Jolly (+Speed, - Special Attack)

Effort Points

252 Attack - 252 Speed - 6 Special Defense

• Sacred Fire
• Earthquake
• Punishment
• Return

A Fire-type Pokémon with a better Attack than Special Attack is rare, and taking into account that the Uber metagame is really Special- based, Ho-oh can really trouble a lot of those legendary Pokémon. Sacred Fire is all such a Pokémon needs. High base power and a great side effect, leaving the target with a burn 50% of the time. Physical sweepers like Groudon and Rayquaza that may predict the Fire-type move will have to think again before switching in as their offensive capabilities may be cut down to half. Earthquake takes care of Pokémon resisting Sacred Fire, more importantly Heatran, which is OHKOed and the common Water-types Kyogre and Palkia which are 2HKOed. Now, while Punishment may not seem like a good move with its base power of 60, it can really take down some huge threats. Any stat-boosting Pokémon will be afraid of it after using its move and with the grand majority of stat-uppers being Psychic-type, this move becomes a real menace. Nasty Plot/Swords Dance Mew, Calm Mind Mewtwo, Calm Mind Latios and Latias, Cosmic Power Deoxys are a few examples of what Pokémon this move is supposed to hit. Finally, Return is mostly a filler since Ho-oh's physical movepool isn't something to brag about. However, it still manages to 2HKO quite a few Ubers that don't resist it.

The EP spread is just the straightforward spread for your standard Choice Band sweeper. Adamant vs. Jolly depends on what you are afraid of. Adamant lets you tie with other neutral natured, base 90 Speed Ubers. Jolly makes you outrun Rayquaza, which rarely goes for max Speed, however it needs just one Dragon Dance to outrun Ho-oh. Generally, Adamant nature is recommended.

Calm Mind Sweeper

Item Held

Leftovers

Nature

Calm (+Special Defense, -Attack)

Effort Points

252 Special Defense - 248 HP - 10 Speed

• Flamethrower
• Thunder / Hidden Power Ice
• Calm Mind
• Roost

Special based Ho-oh can also be a pain. Since most Ubers are Special based as well, after a Calm Mind or two this bird will be impossible to take down. Of course, its Special Attack is also boosted along with its sky-high Special Defense, allowing it to sweep with its STABed Flamethrower. Thunder can be used to deal with Kyogre since it will change the weather. However, Hidden Power Ice is a better alternative as it takes care of the Lati twins, Giratina and Rayquaza. Of course, getting a good Ho-oh with Hidden Power Ice is a pretty hard task, so Thunder will be your option for an in-game Ho-oh. Roost is obviously here to make sure that Ho-oh lasts in the battle, as well as for dropping its 4x weakness to Rock during that turn.

Choice Specs Sweeper

Item Held

Choice Specs

Nature

Modest (+Special Attack, -Attack)

Effort Points

252 Special Attack - 252 Speed - 6 Special Defense

• Fire Blast
• Shadow Ball
• Thunder
• Hidden Power Ice / Earth Power

Should a Special based Ho-oh be needed while you don't feel comfortable with Calm Mind, a Choice Specs set can always be used. Of course, the power of this set is kind of low when compared to the Choice Band one, but its ability to hit more opponents is quite important. Fire Blast is the suggested Fire-type move for this set due to its base power, but Flamethrower is an option for accuracy purposes. Shadow ball takes care of the wide variety of Psychic-type Ubers while Thunder deals with Kyogre. In the last slot, you can go with Hidden Power Ice for defeating Rayquaza or Earth Power for defeating Heatran.

Defensive Phoenix

Item Held

Leftovers

Nature

Careful (+Special Defense, -Special Attack)

Effort Points

252 Special Defense - 248 HP - 10 Speed

• Sacred Fire
• Light Screen
• Thunder Wave
• Roost

Physical sweepers will be met with a burn from Sacred Fire (hopefully), while Special ones will be paralyzed by Thunder Wave, while seeing their power being reduced by Light Screen. That way, you can prepare an easy, late-game sweep with the rest of your team after having crippled most members of your opponent's team. Roost is here as it should be in any defensive minded set.

Toxistaller

Item Held

Leftovers

Nature

Careful (+Special Defense, -Special Attack)

Effort Points

252 Special Defense - 248 HP - 10 Speed

• Sacred Fire
• Light Screen
• Toxic
• Roost

Same set with the previous one, but with Toxic this time. After poisoning them, stall as much as you can with Light Screen and Roost as Pressure eats their PP turn by turn. Sacred Fire takes care of Physical sweepers again as well as Steel-types, immune to Toxic.

Other Possible Options

One would expect that an Uber has so many options that it doesn't know what to use. However, Ho-oh is one of the few Ubers that lack a fantastic movepool. Whirlwind is one of its other options, allowing it to phaze opponents as well as to spread paralysis/poison. Reflect can boost its average Defense. Overheat is an option on the Choice Specs set if you plan on switching out after every hit. Rest and Sleep Talk are also on Ho-oh's movepool and are worth consideration if you are afraid of Toxic users.

Counters

It's not really hard to understand that Kyogre is the best counter to Ho-oh, even if it carries Thunder. It can change the weather to rain, dropping Fire's power while hitting with its mighty Surf or even mightier Water Spout. Palkia also works similarly, resisting Fire, being neutral to Electric and having Surf to hit Ho-oh.

Rayquaza, Latios and Latias are all resistant to Fire and Electric, and immune to Ground too, making their switch into Ho-oh pretty easy. However, all of them stopped by Hidden Power Ice using Ho-oh versions while Latios and Latias are stopped by Shadow Ball as well. Of course, if the latter two carry Calm Mind, they can minimize damage and beat Ho-oh, though a boosted Punishment will destroy them. Heatran can switch into anything but Earthquake/Earth Power and it can even receive a Flash Fire boost. Unfortunately, it doesn't have any good moves to threaten Ho-oh. Same goes for Giratina, which is afraid of Hidden Power Ice and Shadow Ball.

Finally, if you want to have an easier job dealing with Ho-oh, Stealth Rock can chip off a nice 50% of its HP as it switches in.

Opinion & Notes

In D/P, the legendary phoenix got what it desperately needed. Its signature move, Sacred Fire, turned Physical now, allowing it to wreak some real havoc with its wonderful 50% chance of leaving the opponent with a burn. On the other hand, Stealth Rock arrived as well, completely ruining its day. Hence, Ho-oh isn't the most common Pokémon in Ubers, though its not bad at all. Nevertheless, Ho-oh is definitely worth a spot in a team as it's one of the few Pokémon that can do the job of Physical sweeper and a Special wall which can threaten even Physical sweepers.

Note that Earth Power is available to Ho-oh only via Platinum's move tutor.

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