Pokémon of the Week

Tentacruel, The Jellyfish Pokémon. It extends its 80 tentacles to form an encircling poisonous net that is difficult to escape. It alerts others to danger by stridently flashing the red orbs on its head. In battle, it extends all 80 of its tentacles to entrap its opponent inside a poisonous net. It has tentacles that can be freely elongated and shortened at will. It ensnares prey with its tentacles and weakens the prey by dosing it with a harsh toxin. It can catch up to 80 prey at the same time.

Hello Mr Niche! Tentacruel went from UU and being mostly used as a sweeper of sorts in 3rd gen to a premier special sponge and spinner in 4th. Toxic Spikes being introduced gave Tentacruel a great support move and really gave it a reason for existence. Literally there's only one Tentacruel set you'll ever see, because it is without a doubt the best set it can run. At least, it is if you want to go down the support route. Offensively, Tentacruel has the standard Water movepool and the standard Poison movepool, be it special or physical. You won't see an offensive Tentacruel very often though. Support will be the most common set.

Clear Body: you're immune to stat downs. Not useful unless you're running Swords Dance.
Liquid Ooze: in a world of Whimsicotts, Ferrothorns, and an improved Giga Drain, Liquid Ooze is greatly improved and is very useful this generation. It causes draining moves to deal damage to the opponent.
Rain Dish: with rain being so common, Rain Dish is a very usable ability in general on Tentacruel. However, it can potentially do nothing at all, so I'd only use it if you are running a rain team yourself.

- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Ice Beam
Item Attached: Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze / Rain Dish
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd or 252 HP / 240 SDef / 16 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk) or Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)

Toxic Spikes can be a very dangerous entry hazard, as it ruins things like Blissey, bulky Waters, stuff that can normally stall everything out as the last Pokémon on the team. Not when it is poisoned however. Rapid Spin clears your field of Spikes and Stealth Rock (Toxic Spikes is cleared as soon as Tentacruel touches the field). Scald can burn which makes up for Tentacruel's horrific Defence… it's also fairly strong. Ice Beam partners well with your Water STAB, especially for smacking around Grass Pokémon.

- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Poison Jab / Return / Toxic Spikes / Rapid Spin
- Poison Jab / Return / Toxic Spikes / Rapid Spin
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body / Liquid Ooze / Rain Dish
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) / Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

Swords Dance doubles your Attack, making you sort of dangerous. Waterfall is your most reliable STAB move, and it can flinch… cute. Poison Jab is another STAB move that hits fairly hard, but it is sadly a horrid offensive type. Return partners almost perfectly with Waterfall, getting neutral hits on everything but… I think Empoleon, Dialga, Jellicent and Shedinja. I think that's right. Toxic Spikes can help you take down a bulky wall or just give Tentacruel a support move. Rapid Spin clears the field of scum hazards, but don't expect it to do much damage. Seriously.

- Surf / Scald / Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Toxic Spikes / Giga Drain / Rapid Spin / Sludge Wave / Hidden Power [Fire]
- Toxic Spikes / Giga Drain / Rapid Spin / Sludge Wave / Hidden Power [Fire]
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Liquid Ooze / Rain Dish
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk) / Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

Surf is the 101 go to reliable-yet-strong move. No added effects, 95 power, 100 accuracy, good type, it's an amazing move. Scald is less powerful but has a 30% chance to burn, which can be really handy. Hydro Pump smashes holes in everything, but you have to deal with the low PP and less than perfect accuracy. Ice Beam partners brilliantly with your Water move, and it's brilliant in general. Toxic Spikes sets up an entry hazard, Giga Drain is an alternate attack if you wanted a way of dealing with Water Pokémon. Rapid Spin is another support move you can opt for. Sludge Wave gets STAB and hits brutally hard. Hidden Power [Fire] means Ferrothorn is no longer an instant win against Tentacruel.

Support
Max HP is needed, as Tentacruel isn't the strongest in that department. Now, you can either go for incredibly bulky in terms of Defence, or be a pure special sponge. Defence protects you against random Waterfalls and Fighting moves, and as you already have high Special Defence, it's a great plan. However, if you want a more dedicated Tentacruel that you want to take Draco Meteors and other power moves, I'd go for a lot of Special Defence.

Offensive
Max the offensive stat you are using out, then max Speed. Put the 4 in whatever… I went for Special Defence. Simple stuff.

Acupressure, Confuse Ray, Haze, Knock Off, Magic Coat, Mirror Coat, Venoshock
Acupressure ups a random stat by 2, which can be incredible if you get lucky.
Confuse Ray forces switches or deals free damage, but it's so easy to cure, it isn't worth the move slot.
Haze removes stat gains which is cool.
Knock Off removes the opponent's item, which can demolish their strategy.
Magic Coat reflects status and what not. Pretty cool.
Mirror Coat reflects special attack damage back at the opponent. So, if they hit you with a Draco Meteor for 300 damage, you'd send it back at them for twice the power, so 600. It's a sweet move.
Venoshock has a horrifying base power against poisoned targets. 130 base power WITHOUT STAB against a poisoned target, It's a shame there are so many Pokémon immune or resistant to Poison.

Tentacruel is really good in Doubles & Triples in being able to provide decent entry hazards while still being able to do decent damage. With Rain Dish, it is good in rain teams in Doubles & Triples and will be able to hold its own in battle far longer

Politoed is number 1, especially if you're using Rain Dish as it can now bring in permanent rain. If not, then simple Rain Dance users are key in making sure Tentacruel has the best support team-side

Dealing with Tentacruel is pretty easy, in all honesty. Grass types do really well, especially Ferrothorn. Taunt breaks down Tentacruel as it has to rely on its sort of lacklustre Special Attack. If you resist Water, you'll do well against Tentacruel. Oh, you have to be able to hurt it too. Earthquake is the best way to deal with it, so a fast quaker like Landourus works well (avoid Tentacruel's STABs). Gyarados, Salamence, Dragons in general do great as long as you stay away from Ice Beam. Pokémon with good special bulk like Jirachi do well as Tentacruel can't touch them. Steels in general do well in all honesty. Cobalion, Metagross, I can't be bothered to make a list. Ghosts stop you from Rapid Spinning. Xatu and Espeon bounce your Toxic Spikes back. Tentacruel is a great Pokémon who really improved in gen 4, not because of the moves it got, but because of everything else changing. It just fitted in perfectly. 5th gen brought it Rain Dish and infinite rain, which is positively brutal. Give it a try if you want some utility or a special sponge.

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Abandoned Ship Basement 1

FireRed/LeafGreen:
One Island, Five Island, Bond Bridge, Five Isle Meadow, Green Path, Icefall Cave Floor 1, Kindle Road, Memorial Pillar, Outcast Island, Resort Gorgeous, Tanoby Ruins, Trainer Tower, Treasure Beach

Colosseum/XD:
Trade from Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald/FireRed/LeafGreen

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Route 205 South, Route 212 South, Route 213, Route 218, Route 219, Route 220, Route 221, Route 222, Route 223, Route 224, Route 226, Route 230, Pastoria City, Canalave City, Sunyshore City, Valley Windworks, Fuego Ironworks, Iron Island, Pokemon League

HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Route 12, Route 13, Route 19, Route 20, Route 21, Route 26, Route 27, Route 32, Route 40, Route 41, Route 47, New Bark Town, Cherrygrove City, Olivine City, Cianwood City, Union Cave, Whirl Islands, Pallet Town, Vermillion City, Cinnabar Island

Black/White:
Transfer frm Diamond/Pearl/Platinum/HeartGold/SoulSilver
Evolve Tentacool from Dream World