Pok�mon of the Week

Jynx, The Humanshape Pok�mon. Its cries sound like human speech. However, it is impossible to tell what it is trying to say.It rocks its body rhythmically. It appears to alter the rhythm depending on how it is feeling. It speaks a language similar to that of humans. However, it seems to use dancing to communicate.

Jynx is an extremely effective sweeper in RU, having access to great Special Attack (with attacks that boost this even further), remarkably high Speed for a Pokemon that looks slow, decent Special Defense, good offensive STABs, a relatively reliable sleep inducing move, and a great ability with an immunity to boot. But wait, you ask, why is something that's this good in RU? Well, there are several problems with Jynx, mainly involving its weak defensive typing, its horrific Defense (it literally has the Defensive prowess of a Caterpie), and its prominent weakness to Stealth Rock and other hazards. This does not by any means imply that Jynx is a bad Pokemon, just awfully frail, especially with strong physical priority moves running rampant in higher tiers (looking at you Scizor, Breloom, etc), or even Pursuit trappers like Tyranitar. Jynx is in nowise a threat to be overlooked, especially in RU where it has a very good Speed stat for the tier, and has quite a few opportunities to set up on sleeping / ineffective Pokemon.

Oblivious: Jynx cannot be inflicted with the Attract status condition, pretty useless unless you're worried about that one guy in the middle of thousands of players who may use either Attract or a Cute Charm Pokemon.
Forewarn: Upon switching in, it reveals the opponent's strongest move (in terms of base power), a decent ability that can help determine what an opponent's set is, but is outclassed by Jynx's Dream World ability.
Dry Skin: HP is restored when hit by a Water move, or when it is raining, but increases susceptibility to Fire moves and loses HP in sunlight, an amazing ability that allows Jynx to switch in on any Water type move an either heal itself or just nullify the damage, making it an effective counter for several walls and Choiced Pokemon.

-Substitute
-Nasty Plot / Calm Mind
-Lovely Kiss
-Ice Beam
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 8 HP / 248 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)

This is one of the more common sets you'll see on Jynx, and one of the more effective for allowing her to sweep. Substitute allows you to shield yourself from status and also see what your opponent was switching to / going to use next. Substitute also provides a handy barrier for Jynx to set up either Nasty Plot or Calm Mind, with Nasty Plot providing obscene power and Calm Mind boosting both offense and defense (unfortunately not the one that really needs it). Lovely Kiss is Jynx's incapacitating move, allowing it to (hopefully) put something to sleep, allowing you to set up Substitute or use your boosting move. Ice Beam is strong STAB, allowing Jynx to hit a variety of threats, and with Nasty Plot / Calm Mind boosts behind it, it can even power through several walls with 2HKOs. The EVs on this Jynx set allows Leftovers recovery to work with the Substitutes, as with these EVs it can set up another Substitute more times without worrying about the specific percentages of HP it has left. Timid Nature is basically a necessity on Jynx to help it outrun threats like Moltres and Sigilyph.

-Ice Beam
-Psyshock / Psychic
-Focus Blast / Nasty Plot
-Lovely Kiss / Energy Ball
Item Attached: Life Orb / Choice Scarf
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spe Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)

This is the other variation of Jynx that you are likely to see, either a Life Orb set or a revenge killing Scarf set. On a Scarf set, you will obviously not want to consider Nasty Plot as an option, although Lovely Kiss is viable. Ice Beam is mandatory on either the Life Orb or the Scarf set, used for great coverage with a nifty STAB boost. Psyshock or Psychic is also powerful STAB that allows Jynx to hit several other threats hard, and the choice between them depends on whether you want to hit on their defensive or their specially defensive sides. The third slot is dependent on the set, as Focus Blast is the mandatory option for the Scarf set, while the Life Orb set can run either (Life Orb can abstain from Focus Blast if you don't think Cryogonal or certain Steel / Normal types will be a problem). The last slot is up to preference, as you can either use Lovely Kiss to help render a certain Pokemon useless (on either set), or you can run Energy Ball (on the Scarf set) to hit Quagsire for more damage or a OHKO.

Blizzard, Dream Eater, Grass Knot, Hidden Power, Light Screen, Magic Coat, Perish Song, Protect, Reflect, Shadow Ball, Taunt, Trick, Wish
Blizzard can be used over Ice Beam on a Hail team as a much more powerful STAB option.
Dream Eater works in conjunction with Lovely Kiss, but is rather gimmicky and depends on the opponent leaving in the sleeping Pokemon.
Grass Knot is an alternative to Energy Ball, although Energy Ball's high power is more reliable than Grass Knot which depends on the weight of the opponent.
Hidden Powers can be used for additional coverage, although there isn't too much that Jynx doesn't already hit harder with other moves.
Light Screen is sort of viable with Reflect on a gimmicky Dual Screens Jynx, but honestly Jynx is better going offensive than trying to fill any defensive roles.
Magic Coat can work to help block non-attacking moves being used against Jynx, although Substitute fills this role better generally.
Perish Song can force switch outs on Pokemon that Jynx doesn't want hanging around, and just generally prevent walls and checks from staying in forever.
Protect is outclassed by Substitute on Jynx to be honest, but can work decently in Doubles and Triples to help scout out your opponent's strategy.
Reflect can be used in the same way as Light Screen, bolstering Jynx's extremely low Defense.
Shadow Ball can be used for neutral coverage on quite a few Pokemon, although Jynx's movesets generally have something to handle the threats that Shadow Ball would hit.
Taunt is usable as it can help Jynx prevent walls from either statusing it or recovering, or prevent other set up sweepers from getting their boosts, like Shell Smash Omastar / Gorebyss.
Trick is viable on the Choice Scarf set as you can cripple some wall or sweeper by Tricking it a Scarf as it uses a boosting move, lays a hazard, etc.
Wish is Jynx's most viable form of recovery outside of Leftovers, and can be used to heal Jynx's Life Orb / other residual damage, or to provide Wish support for the entire team.

Jynx can be used to decent effect in Doubles and Triples, as it pairs very well with weather starters that cause Rain or Hail, and can also use Lovely Kiss to immobilize certain foes. Other than this, Jynx is still rather lackluster due to its low Defense and its weakness to common moves like Heat Wave and Rock Slide.

As mentioned previously, although many weather starters do not exist below UU, Jynx can pair well with those that set up Rain for Swift Swim, and works well with Snover, as STAB Blizzards coming off of Jynx's base 115 Special Attack will leave a considerable dent in most anything. Anything that can take physical attacks well such as Tangrowth are excellent partners for Jynx due to its frailty.

Physical priority is Jynx's worst enemy, and as such many threats pop up. Choice Band Entei's Extremespeed lands a OHKO on Jynx without any previous damage, as can Hitmonchan with Mach Punch, or Spiritomb / Absol with Sucker Punch, or additionally Shadow Sneak from Spiritomb, Dusknoir and Gallade. Basically any other Physical Attacker can get rid of Jynx pretty easily, and it definitely helps to be faster than it. Cincinno is effective at breaking through Jynx as it is faster and any Substitute Jynx set will get OHKOd thanks to Tail Slap and Rock Blast. Other fast Pokemon like Galvatula or Choice Scarf users also do well against Jynx. Slowking can wall most Jynx sets into oblivion, although it does have to worry about Energy Ball or becoming Lovely Kiss bait. Steel Types such as Klinklang and Magneton wall the Substitute Jynx sets and any set without Focus Blast, getting OHKOs at their leisure. Moltres is an additional check, although it does have to worry about Lovely Kiss and boosted Ice Beams.

Pre-Evolution Corner - Smoochum (Little Cup)

Give Me A Smoochum

-Ice Beam
-Hidden Power [Fire] / Hidden Power [Fighting]
-Psychic
-Trick / Shadow Ball
Item Attached: Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
Ability: Forewarn
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 2156 HP / 236 SpA / 76 Spe
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk) or Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)

If you really want to use Smoochum in LC, then your best option it to slap a choice item and hope for the best. She has great Special Attack and Speed, and a somewhat usable movepool. Ice Beam is a great STAB move that will always KO the very common Drilbur. HP Fire gives you coverage against Steel types such as Magnemite, Pawniard, and Ferroseed. Conversely, HP Fighting gives you greater neutral coverage and some super effective damage against Dark and Normal types. Psychic is a secondary STAB move that will do great damage against Poison types like Grimer or Koffing, as well as common Fighting types such as Mienfoo and Timburr. The option between Trick and Shadow Ball is tricky in itself; Trick can cripple set up Pokemon into being locked into one move while possibly gaining Eviolite in return, or you could opt for more coverage against Ghost types such as Misdreavus, Duskull, and Frillish, hitting them for super effective damage. The main disadvantage of Smoochum is her weak defenses. She can easily be countered by priority such as Sucker Punch from either Diglett or Murkrow. Wynaut traps Smoochum with Shadow Tag and is bulky enough to endure a hit to then KO her back with Mirror Coat. Houndour is the prime counter because of his dual typing of Fire / Dark, making him resistant to both of Smoochum�s STABs, even having an immunity to Psychic. Steel types such as Ferroseed, Pawniard, Magnemite, and Bronzor resist both her STAB moves; they just need to be wary of HP Fire. Thick Fat Munchlax can also shrug off Smoochum�s Ice Beams, and proceed to KO back by using Pursuit, or just straight up attacking Smoochum, doing significant damage thanks to her weak Defense.

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Trade from FireRed/LeafGreen.

FireRed/LeafGreen:
Trade for Poliwhirl in Cerulean City

Colosseum/XD:
Trade from FireRed/LeafGreen

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Snowpoint City (Platinum)
Evolve Smoochum (Diamond/Pearl)

HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Ice Path, Seafoam Islands

Black/White:
Giant Chasm

Black 2/White 2:
Trade from Black & White