Poochyena Movesets & Competitive Sets

Moves Crunch is Poochyena's main STAB move, dealing the most damage to opposing Pokemon that resist any of Poochyena's other moves. Play Rough is used to provide coverage against Fighting-types and other Dark-types. Facade reaches 140 Base Power with Toxic Orb's poison, hitting neutral threats rather hard. Fire Fang is an option to hit Pawniard and most other Steel-types harder than Crunch, while Howl can boost Poochyena's Attack. Sucker Punch is an option to hit Choice Scarf users, but it is unreliable, and Poochyena already outspeeds most Pokemon. Set Details 236 Attack EVs max out Attack with a neutral nature, while 236 Speed EVs in combination with a Jolly nature allow Poochyena to hit 21 Speed with Quick Feet. 36 Special Defense EVs are filler and add a point to Special Defense. A Toxic Orb is held to poison Poochyena, which activates Quick Feet, boosting Poochyena's Speed. Usage Tips Poochyena almost never finds a free turn for Quick Feet to activate or to use Howl, so it's best sent out against a Pokemon that it can check, allowing it to set up, and then finish it off. Poochyena is rather straightforward, however, so attacking is its only main concern. Team Options Hazard setters such as Ferroseed and Dwebble make for great partners, as Poochyena isn't very strong to begin with, so hazard support allows it to score more OHKOs and 2HKOs. Snubbull and Spritzee are good partners, as they can help cover up Poochyena's Fighting-type weakness. Scraggy and most other physical wallbreakers can weaken or get rid of physical walls such as Dwebble, Aron, and Ferroseed, which can all take a hit from Poochyena.

Poochyena reaches 21 Speed when Quick Feet is activated, outspeeding every unboosted Pokemon in Little Cup. If Poochyena can get a Howl boost on the turn Toxic Orb activates, it can become a fearsome sweeper. Sadly, Poochyena will rarely be able to do this, as most opponents will just stay in and attack. Facade is actually Poochyena's most powerful move when affected by status, while Crunch hits Ghost-types and is a solid STAB move that doesn't rely on the status boost. Fire Fang is the best move in the last slot to hit Steel-types such as Ferroseed and Magnemite super effectively. Sucker Punch is an option over Crunch if priority is desired, but it is quite unreliable and Poochyena should be outspeeding most threats anyway. Fighting-types that can take a hit, such as Timburr and Mienfoo, easily beat Poochyena with Drain Punch or High Jump Kick. Timburr and Gastly are good teammates to check the two, respectively. Dwebble can take a Crunch from Poochyena and has the ability to KO with X-Scissor, making it a solid check. Staryu can handle Dwebble, as it has powerful Water-type moves to deal major damage, and it can also spin away any entry hazards. Mienfoo is a good teammate to counter Aron, who resists Normal- and Dark-type moves and is neutral to Fire Fang.

This set utilizes a combination of Toxic Orb and Quick Feet to fix Poochyena's average Speed stat by boosting it from 14 to 21, which allows Poochyena to outspeed all non-Choice Scarf Pokemon. With boosted Speed, Poochyena can then put some major dents in the opponent's team with the respective attacks. Poochyena has access to STAB Sucker Punch, one of the strongest priority moves in the game, which allows it to pick off weakened Pokemon. Once Toxic Orb activates, Facade's Base Power doubles to 140, making Poochyena an extremely tough Pokemon to counter. Ice Fang lets Poochyena hit Gligar, who would normally wall this set, for super effective damage. Protect allows Toxic Orb to be activated without Poochyena getting attacked, and is also useful for scouting. Crunch is a reliable STAB option in the last slot that can additionally lower the target's Defense 20% of the time. Howl is also an option, as it allows Poochyena to boost its Attack. Poochyena should be sent in on a weakened Pokemon who can be picked off with Sucker Punch. This allows Poochyena to activate Toxic Orb while KOing the opposing Pokemon with Sucker Punch. Moreover, Poochyena can forgo Protect in this case for Crunch or Howl. It should be noted that Facade, when Poochyena has a status affliction, deals more damage to a neutral target than STAB Sucker Punch. Ghost-types are immune to Facade, but cannot check Poochyena because they are threatened by Sucker Punch and Crunch. The EV spread gives Poochyena maximum Attack and Speed, while boosting its Special Defense by one point with the remaining EVs. Gligar is an excellent teammate, as it is able to eliminate bulky Steel-type Pokemon such as Aron with Earthquake. As a plus, Gligar has U-turn to scout the opponent's team, letting Poochyena's Toxic Orb activate for free by bringing Poochyena in after using U-turn on a predicted switch. Gligar also resists Fighting- and Bug-type attacks that Poochyena is weak to. Last but not least, Magnemite is a good teammate, as the magnet can trap Bronzor with Magnet Pull and take it out with Thunderbolt.