#282 Gardevoir
Type: Psychic
Abilities: Trace- Copies foe's ability
Synchronize- When Statused, the enemy is also statused. Can pass on nature to wild pokemon.
68/65/65/120/115/80
Screener
Gardevoir@Light Clay
Timid/Trace
160Hp/252Def/96Spe
-Light Screen
-Reflect
-HP Ground/Wish
-Wish/Thunder Wave/Thunderbolt/Protect
With Deoxys-S banned into ubers there's some new pokemon looking to fill the hole. This is my variation and it's worked quite well at this point. Trace is amazing on this Gardevoir as it lets you switch in on many types of pokemon with ease like Heatran and Vaporeon. In fact this thing loves Bulky Waters as none can deal that much damage to it and let it set up rather easily. The Speed EV's allow it to switch into Kingdra, trace it's Swift Swim and out speed it. HP Ground allows it to act as a solid Heatran counter but as this set is not made to be offensive you can drop it for even more team support. Wish allows it to be even more of a team player healing others on your team. If you drop HP Ground for wish then put Protect in the last slot which will let you set up screens, heal then survive to set up again if needed.
Choice
Gardevoir@Choice Scarf/Choice Specs
Modest/Trace
252SpAtk/252Spe/4Hp
-Thunderbolt
-HP Ice
-Psychic/Shadow Ball
-Trick/Focus Blast
Often overlooked in favor of her supporting abilities, Gardevoir is still a very capable special attacker with one real bonus over the likes of Azelf/Alakazam, access to Thunderbolt, allowing her a pseudo BoltBeam combination. The final two slots are up for grabs, Psychic gives a powerful STAB move and Trick allows you to theoretically cripple something like Blissey but the Ghost/Fighting combination of Shadow Ball and Focus Blast give you even more amazing type coverage.
Trace is the superior ability here as it offers more chances to switch in, but being able to bounce Toxic or Will-O-Wisp back could be useful. Its more up to preference.
General Purpose
Gardevoir @ Leftovers
Modest/Trace
236HP/136Def/24SpDef/112Spe
10 IV for Attack
Psychic
Grass Knot
Will-O-Wisp
Wish
This set functions as a counter to standard physically bulky Pokemon, able to survive a hit and answer accordingly. More typically defensive Pokemon are weak to grass at the higher base power values and cannot whether repeated Grass Knots. Harder hitters are burned and crippled for the remainder of the match by Will-O-Wisp. The few Pokemon that don't really mind either are also generally harmless and are easy targets for Wish passing. Psychic is purely for STAB damage.
While Psychic and Wish are permanent to this set, Grass Knot and Will-O-Wisp can be replaced with any generic secondary attack and any random status move. This includes Hidden Power, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, Energy Ball, Charge Beam, Icy Wind, or Signal Beam over Grass Knot. Will-O-wisp can just as much be replaced with Hypnosis, Thunder Wave, Confuse Ray, or Toxic. If you're insane, you can run Hypnosis and Dream Eater. Overall though, the set I have listed is probably the best.
EVs are set to outspeed neutral speed natured Tyranitar and bulky Gyarados, providing an easy burn status to both, while maximizing Leftovers healing towards a generic defensive spread. IV of Attack is set to 10 to minimize possible confusion damage while maintaining a legitimate PID combination for Modest and Female (as all Gardevoir should be). Modest is used to maximize stats without investment required for Special Attack.
As Gardevoir effectively gains Fire Type immunity when switching into Heatran, it is relatively safe to switch Gardevoir into Heatran and Will-O-Wisp immediately, as most Heatran are choiced and forced to switch, offering a free burn to anything coming in. If Heatran does not switch, you have a great opportunity to Wishpass instead while stalling out the locked Fire attack. That said, beware any Heatran not locked onto a Fire attack. This includes Life Orb, or any Heatran locked onto anything other than Fire.
Anything with Pursuit or CB Pursuit will hurt Gardevoir. However, as Pursuit is physical and you can choose not to switch, your counters will not threaten you very well after a Will-O-Wisp. This is particularly useful for those locked Heatrans switching out from an immune Gardevoir to a counter.
If you burn an incoming Guts Heracross, good luck.
Extra Options
Not much really. Any other options are used better by other pokemon.
EV's
160Hp/252Def/96Spe with a +Speed nature on the Screen set is optimum, allowing you to both take phsyical hits well and outspeed any swift swim pokemon you might switch in to. If you don't see Swift Swimmers as a threat then you can drop the Speed EV's into HP and use a +Def Nature, or you can shift some to Special Defense for a slightly more even spread.
Counters
Pursuit users. The screener set takes <50% from even a CB Tyranitar Pursuit when Reflect is up and switching but the choice set dies like JFK passing by a grassy knoll(Too early?) The Screener set absolutely hates being statused as it needs a few turns to set up and an unlucky full paralysis can ruin it, as can toxic or burn keeping it from switching in later. Taunters quickly destroy the Screener and many pokemon can take the chance to set up while you are.
Written by Pink Reaper and Umbreon