Introduction
Hello, I am the one who fixed the OM known as Partners in Crime. Before I get into the team, I do want to talk about how the OM crawled out of the grave as this RMT is both a landmark feat in my technical prowess and competitive ability at the same time. To be honest, I just messaged UT one day saying "hey, I'm going to fix PiC, I'm feeling lucky", and the rest was history. It took me a few weeks, including a period of time where the code fought back and gave me allergies but I kept working despite everyone's concerns. One adventure in psychological torture later, it was time to launch and it went off without a hitch. Surprisingly there weren't many bugs and the debut on the main server went swimmingly. If you're wondering how I figured out how to fix PiC, good question, because I sure as hell don't know the answer either.
Now, yuki and I have been going at it fighting each other with new teams and never before seen techs that we kept improving upon. My excitement was immeasurable, and I will probably never feel the same after the OM's resurrection. So to give context, this team was built for the kickoff tour, and everyone and Kennedy brought sand. I had to make something with a great matchup against it or I would absolutely get destroyed. I took it on a spin on the ladder and the team showed a lot of promise, getting me into the top 20s without too much of a struggle. Also, it did win me my tour match against that cursed sand team, so I will share this so others don't have to suffer the same fate getting double flinched from rock slide.
The Team
Crobat @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 240 HP / 84 SpD / 184 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Tailwind
- Taunt
- Brave Bird
- Super Fang
This was part 1 of my anti sand core, with Inner Focus giving both Pokemon immunity to flinches and Intimidate. Luckily, it's also very good at cutting off a lot of the typical Partners in Crime shenanigans most of the ladder would try to use turn 1 with Taunt. Tailwind is also very helpful since none of my team was particularly fast so I can have a chance against other weather teams. Brave Bird is particularly useful here as it helps Zygarde and Kyurem-Black dent Pokemon such as Tsareena and Urshifu, which neither want to face. It functions as a pseudo priority immunity as it helps against one of the most common kinds of priority, Fake Out, but the team can handle against most other kinds of priority with Incineroar or Tapu Fini.
Zygarde @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- High Horsepower
- Superpower
- Extreme Speed
Zygarde is also on the case against sand teams, notably as I know from personal experience that yuki's sand is weak to Zygarde. I decided on choice band mostly because of its immediate breaking power so Crobat doesn't have to come in as much as possible. I didn't want the team to be too overrun with set up sweepers, however due to unique choice locking mechanics, you can sneak in a Dragon Dance if you switch out Kyurem as Zygarde sets up, but I've always played it safe. Its moveset gives the rest of the team offensive flexibility, from taking care of faster targets from Extreme Speed. High Horsepower is used so you can get rid of Pokemon who use Wide Guard, like Toxapex.
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 SpA
Bold Nature
- Muddy Water
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Protect
Tapu Fini was chosen to help fight against bulkier teams that rely on status. It's ability to shut down everything that relies on terrains makes it a lot easier for the rest of the team to clean up where it left off. Due to Misty Terrain, it helps Zygarde and Kyurem immensely by providing a damage reduction to Dragon-type attacks while not suffering any power drops from their own attacks. Furthermore, my team doesn't like pokemon such as Urshifu or Incineroar, so Tapu Fini provides a buffer against those kinds of Pokemon.
Kyurem-Black @ Leftovers
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 120 HP / 136 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Fusion Bolt
- Dragon Dance
- Protect
One of the best Pokemon in Partners in Crime, it obviously deserves a spot on the team. This Pokemon's sweeping ability is unparalleled thanks to Teravolt. It's able to crush through defensive checks such as Clefairy and Clefable who would otherwise wall to infinity and back. There's nothing new, but thanks to its teammates, it can also crush through would be checks like Heatran with Flare Blitz, Sacred Sword, Brave Bird, Thousand Arrows. Teravolt also helps its teammates sweep just by being on the field, for example helping Tapu Fini by letting it hit Volcanion with Muddy Water or break through Araquanid's Water Bubble to KO with Flare Blitz.
Incineroar @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Atk / 28 Def / 160 SpD
Careful Nature
- Fake Out
- Flare Blitz
- Knock Off
- Parting Shot
Incineroar helps out with its beefy intimidate, enough said. Its ability as a stopgap against opposing threats, such as Kyurem-Black or Rillaboom, with the free -2 on switch is priceless here. It can be used to help out by setting tailwind while Kartana or Crobat switches out or just giving a teammate a reason to set up with Fake out. It gives great moves for the rest of the team so that way even if Incineroar gets off the field, its partner can give enough control so its replacement can get on safely through Fake Out, or clicking Parting Shot so the opponent's team gets Intimidate cycled.
Kartana @ Scope Lens
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Tailwind
- Protect
I decided on Kartana mostly because it completes a lot of synergy with Kyurem, Tapu Fini, Incineroar, and Zygarde. Being able to provide Beast Boost and Tailwind puts the opposing team in a precarious position and prevents Crobat from having too much responsibility for speed control. Scope Lens + Leaf Blade stills allow it to crit through a harsh intimidate and brute force itself into a much better match up overall. It can even sweep on its own with Kyurem's or Zygarde's moves that patches up its matchup against a Fire or Flying type, and vice versa with Tailwind and Leaf Blade.
Threats
Trick Room: So it should come as no surprise as a team around being fast can lose to Pokemon who go first when slow. The best word of advice is don't let them set it up, click taunt on both of their Pokemon because you're not going to predict which of the two enemies are going to click it. Tapu Fini can help vs expanding force but if you're up against Klingklang Trick Room you will need to hit as hard as possible with Zygarde.
Weather: This team is meant to have as easy as a matchup as possible against sand, however rain and sun can have a run for your money. For rain I recommend using Kyurem, Kartana, and Tapu Fini when available. Sun is worse but Incineroar, Tapu Fini, and Zygarde can help out here.
Conclusion
And that is all! Thanks for playing Partners in Crime, I already gave my shoutouts on who helped me out. However, I want to once again shoutout yuki for doing an amazing job leading this tier, CringeMeta and Kris for code assistance/hosting, and UT for doing nothing except listen to me scream in agony while I was debugging.
Trick Room: So it should come as no surprise as a team around being fast can lose to Pokemon who go first when slow. The best word of advice is don't let them set it up, click taunt on both of their Pokemon because you're not going to predict which of the two enemies are going to click it. Tapu Fini can help vs expanding force but if you're up against Klingklang Trick Room you will need to hit as hard as possible with Zygarde.
Weather: This team is meant to have as easy as a matchup as possible against sand, however rain and sun can have a run for your money. For rain I recommend using Kyurem, Kartana, and Tapu Fini when available. Sun is worse but Incineroar, Tapu Fini, and Zygarde can help out here.
Conclusion
And that is all! Thanks for playing Partners in Crime, I already gave my shoutouts on who helped me out. However, I want to once again shoutout yuki for doing an amazing job leading this tier, CringeMeta and Kris for code assistance/hosting, and UT for doing nothing except listen to me scream in agony while I was debugging.
Importable: https://pokepast.es/78bdfa3a29e1e381
At the request of RICEMAN I have added some replays that shows how the team works against certain matchups:
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