Brambane
protect the wetlands
Name: Pururiru (プルリル)
National Dex Number: 592
Type: Water / Ghost
Abilities: Water Absorb - Restores up to 1/4 of the users HP when hit by a Water-type move, Cursed Body - 30% of inflicting the "disabled" status upon contact, Damp - Prevents Explosion and SelfDestruct from working (Dream World)
Egg Group: Indeterminate
Base Stats (Min - Max)
HP: 55 (20 - 25)
Attack: 40 (8 - 14)
Defense: 50 (9 - 15)
Special Attack: 65 (9 - 17)
Special Defense: 85 (11 - 19)
Speed: 40 (9 - 14)
Level Up moves:
Lv1: Bubble, Lv1: Water Sport, Lv5: Absorb, Lv9: Night Shade, Lv13: Bubblebeam, Lv17: Recover, Lv22: Water Pulse, Lv27: Ominous Wind, Lv32: Brine, Lv37: Rain Dance, Lv43: Evil Eye, Lv49: Hydro Pump, Lv55: Wring Out, Lv61: Water Spout
Egg Moves:
Acid Armor
Confuse Ray
Pain Split
Mist
Recover
Constrict
TMs and HMs:
TM06 - Toxic, TM07 - Hail, TM10 - Hidden Power, TM12 - Taunt, TM13 - Ice Beam, TM14 - Blizzard, TM17 - Protect, TM18 - Rain Dance, TM20 - Safeguard, TM21 - Frustration, TM27 - Return, TM29 - Psychic, TM30 - Shadow Ball, TM32 - Double Team, TM34 - Hydro Wave, TM36 - Sludge Bomb, TM42 - Facade, TM44 - Rest, TM45 - Attract, TM48 - Troll, TM53 - Energy Ball, TM55 - Boiling Water, TM61 - Will-O-Wisp, TM70 - Flash, TM77 - Psych Up, TM85 - Dream Eater, TM87 - Swagger, TM90 - Substitute, TM92 - Trick Room, HM03 - Surf, HM05 - Waterfall, HM06 - Dive
If I were to allow one 5th Generation Pokemon back into 4th Generation Little Cup, Pururiru would be it. Pururiru's typing, movepool and stats make it look like it was made for Little Cup. The primary draw to Pururiru is its typing. In Little Cup, being a Water-type is always good, aside from having so much competition, and being a Ghost-type is always good too. Of course, being a Rock-type is good and so is being a Steel-type, and we saw what happened to Shieldon. But in Pururiru's case, the combination of typing is a huge blessing. It gets near unresisted STAB in Little Cup, which is awesome, but its the typing's defensive capabilities that make it shine. Being immune to Fake Out, ExtremeSpeed, Quick Attack, Mach Punch and Vacuum Wave is great, but resisting Bullet Punch, Ice Shard and Aqua Jet as well? That's incredible. If it wasn't weak to Shadow Sneak, it could easily be called the "Anti-Priority Pokemon." Aside from things with Fast Guard, but i digress. It's typing also boasts useful resistances to Fire and Bug. But it does give Pururiru a dreaded weakness to Dark and now a horrifying weakness to Grass, which makes it Tsutarja bait. But while those weaknesses hurt, its typing is still nothing short of great.
But what about its stats? Are they good enough defensively to take advantage of its typing? Well, Base 55 HP and 50 Defense are only considered average. But Pururiru's base 85 Special Defense is fantastic. It should be able to shrug off most neutral special attacks fairly well with that Special Defense. Offensively, Pururiru's boasts an above average base 65 Special Attack and an okay base 40 Speed. Base 40 Speed allows it to reach 21 with Choice Scarf, which is considered the minimum Speed mark for a scarfer. It's stats are all around good, aside from its great Special Defense, but not amazing.
When it comes to movepool, Pururiru has a bushel of options. Recover, Boiling Water, Will-O-Wisp and Evil Eye make for a great defensive moveset. Evil Eye is a special attack that doubles in power if the foe has a status condition, making it a perfect move to use alongside Will-O-Wisp. And Pururiru isn't no slouch in the attacking department either. Shadow Ball, Surf, Energy Ball, Psychic, Hidden Power and the always adored Water Spout offer Pururiru many options for an attacking set. It can even use its lower-than-average Speed to its advantage with Trick Room. Lastly, it has Taunt, which is always a great move to have.
And when it comes to abilities, Pururiru shines once again. Damp may be utterly useless in singles (it's immune to Explosion and SelfDestruct), it's other abilities are not. Water Absorb is almost always the way to go. It gives Pururiru another fantastic immunity, along with an immunity to another priority move, and more opportunities to switch in. Cursed Body is a decent option as well, having a chance of utterly destroying a Choice Scarf user's lategame sweep.
Overall, Pururiru is a fantastic Pokemon. Excellent typing, decent stats, great movepool and fantastic abilities all add up to a welcome addition to Little Cup. Too much hype? No way. Duskull better step down, because this royal Pokemon has just taken the throne.
Sets:
Name: Defensive
EVs: 236 HP / 196 Def / 76 SpD
Item: Berry Juice
Ability: Water Absorb / Cursed Body
Nature: Calm
~ Will-O-Wisp
~ Evil Eye
~ Recover
~ Boiling Water
Pururiru's best set. This set can take on pretty much every priority move bar Shadow Sneak. Worried about super-effective Sucker Punches? Burn them with Will-O-Wisp! When your opponent is burned, let loose with a powerful 100 base power Evil Eye. Use Recover to heal when you get the chance. Boiling Water is a great STAB move and gets excellent coverage with Evil Eye. It also comes with a nifty 30% chance of causing burn, making it even better to use with Evil Eye. The choice between Water Absorb and Cursed Body is completely up to preference.
Name: Choice Scarf
EVs: 76 HP / 236 SpA / 196 Spe
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Timid
~ Water Spout
~ Shadow Ball
~ Ice Beam
~ Energy Ball
This set is focused less on walling and more on sweeping lategame. A max power Water Spout coming off 15 Special Attack is going to put a dent in anything without Water Absorb and a 4x resist. When your HP is lower and Water Spout is weaker, use Shadow Ball for attacking. Ice Beam and Energy Ball are there for filler. Ice Beam hits pesky Flying-types like Ishibon who are immune to Shadow Ball. Energy Ball hits Rock-types if Water Spout's damage output is too low.
Name: Trick Room
EVs: EVs: 236 HP / 196 Def / 76 SpA
Item: Berry Juice
Ability: Water Absorb / Cursed Body
Nature: Quiet
~ Trick Room
~ Recover
~ Surf
~ Shadow Ball
And here Pururiru attempts to sweep and set up Trick Room. Use Recover to heal when you get the chance so Pururiru can keep supporting the team with Trick Room. Surf and Shadow Ball are your STAB moves and your tools for sweeping. Self-explanatory set, really.