Pok�mon of the Week

Rhyperior, The Drill Pok�mon. It puts rocks in holes in its palms and uses its muscles to shoot them. GEODUDE are shot at rare times. It can launch a rock held in its hand like a missile by tightening then expanding muscles instantly. From holes in its palms, it fires out GEODUDE. Its carapace can withstand volcanic eruptions. It can launch a rock held in its hand like a missile by tightening then expanding muscles instantly.

Back in my day when Red and Blue battling with link cables was common a staple on most teams was none other than the rock titan Rhydon. It was one of the only counters to Zapdos and it could sponge a virtually unlimited number of Hyper Beams and Explosions. An immunity to the omnipresent Thunder Wave was nice as well. Back then Rhydon was at the top of its game. As time went on Rhydon sort of fell from its place as a top fighter to something much less valuable. Then in Diamond and Pearl Gamefreak gave Rhydon what it needed to get back on top... an evolution. With Defenses that dwarfed Skarmory (as well as Solid Rock deflating the power of Super-effective moves) and with 140 base attack, previously only beat by the uber Groudon, many said Rhyperior would be a standard for years to come. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be. While its physical stats are nice Rhyperior is still held back by all the problems of its pre-evolution. Slow, bad defensive typing, and terrible Special stats basically left Rhyperior as another useless new D/P evolution. Well, at least it isn't Magmortar. However it isn't all bad for the rock monster. It's impossible to ignore 140 base attack along with near unresisted STAB coverage. On top of that its defense is unrivaled by basically everything not named Regirock, Steelix, or various Eviolite users. Solid Rock along with a Special Defense boost from Sandstorm lets Rhyperior survive even some STAB Water and Grass moves... barely. Even Rhydon isn't leaving the party empty handed, as with the new item Eviolite it gains the ability to take physical hits better than any other Pokemon in the game.

Lightningrod: Electric-type moves are drawn to this Pok�mon. Electric-type moves will do no damage and the Pok�mon's SP ATK is raised one stage. That's cool, except you are already immune to Electric moves and Rhyperior's Special Attack is so bad even at +1 it won't hurt much.
Solid Rock: Damage by super-effective moves is reduced by 25%. Effectively this means 2x effective hits become 1.5x, and 4x become 3x. This is such a good ability on something as tanky as Rhyperior, especially when its terrible typing leaves it so many weaknesses that you should consider it a good day when you fight something that can't hit you Super-effective.
Reckless: The power of moves that have recoil damage is increased by 20%. First off Rhyperior's only usable recoil move is Double Edge, which is completely useless next to its other moves. Second of all... why would you sacrifice Solid Rock for a 20% boost in Double Edge? Unless Rhyperior gets Head Smash soon Reckless will be as useless as Lightningrod

- Earthquake
- Rock Blast / Stone Edge
- Megahorn
- Stealth Rock / Roar / Ice Punch
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 48 SDef / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

While Rhyperior can't exactly sweep teams, nor can it wall it does a very good job of sitting still and taking punches to the face, then retaliating for massive damage. With its extreme bulk Rhyperior can switch in on all kinds of attacks, even strong super effective ones if needed. Earthquake off 140 base attack causes crippling damage against everything that doesn't resist it. Even Slowbro has to be at high health to survive multiple hits. Rock Blast helps turn Ninjask into bug paste as well as doing heavy damage to Zapdos (especially SubRoost) and Crobat. Stone Edge has more reliable damage output but worse accuracy and PP. Megahorn lets Rhyperior rip into Shaymin and Slowbro, easily 2HKOing both. It also does solid damage to Flygon and Bronzong. The last slot is up to you. Stealth Rock is literally the best move in the game. If you have rocks on another Pokemon Roar is a good move to shuffle around Baton Passers and get rid of Curse Snorlax. Ice Punch 2HKOs Gligar and OHKOs Flygon but isn't good for much otherwise. 252 Attack EVs maximizes the damage you can do while 200 HP + 48 Special Defense allows Rhyperior to tank most hits, even some Hidden Power Grass. 8 Speed outruns other Rhyperior, which is surprisingly useful.

- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Megahorn
- Ice Punch

Item Attached: Choice Band
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 124 HP / 252 Atk / 132 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

Rhyperior is a great offensive tank, but when a Choice Band is equipped absolutely nothing in the game can switch in on it safely with Stealth Rocks on the field. Literally nothing at all. Earthquake and Stone Edge together have the ability to devastate almost every single Pokemon on their own. Megahorn cleans up Slowbro, defensive grasses, and Bronzong. Ice Punch wipes out Gligar and Flygon without a second thought. Rhyperior is a good Choice Bander dues to its bulk and sheer power. It isn't invincible, nor will it last forever but in its time alive it should cause cataclysmic devastation to anything it touches. Just don't let it get wet... or... grassed? Rhyperior doesn't like Special hits much at all. Max Attack EVs for obvious reasons. 132 outruns minimal speed Machamp and the rest is dumped in HP.

- Rock Polish
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Megahorn
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 20 HP / 252 Atk / 236 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

The closest thing you will see to a Rhyperior sweep is this right here. After a Rock Polish Rhyperior has so much speed it easily outruns even Weavile (sadly it can't beat Crobat even with max Speed). Earthquake + Stone Edge backed by Life Orb can crush all but the most defensive of walls. Megahorn has great power and coverage allowing you to muscle through Bronzong and Slowbro if they are at low enough HP. Jolly nature with the Speed EVs listed is best to beat Weavile and base 115s like Ambipom, Azelf, and Raikou. If those four don't worry you much Rhyperior can run Adamant. You still outrun the base 110s like Froslass but you gain a huge boost in power. Rhyperior is a fearsome sweeper but it has a lot of trouble getting through walls like Slowbro, Porygon 2, and Suicune as well as Choice Scarfers such as Flygon. Spikes + Stealth Rocks can help wear down most of the walls but taking care of Flygon is a little more difficult. Strong Fire types like Arcanine or Victini can lure in Flygon and KO with HP Ice, or just do a ton with STAB Fire moves.

- Substitute
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge / Ice Punch
- Megahorn
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 132 HP / 200 Atk / 176 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

Sub Rhyperior is a terrifying beast. Maintaining much of the bulk in the first set but with the ability to walk over most of its counters the drill Pokemon is a sight to behold. Substitute is the main attraction, unbreakable by Bronzong and many Ambipom. When standard counters like Flygon, Slowbro, Azumarill, Shaymin, and Bronzong switch in you laugh at them as they break your Sub, but Rhyperior laughs when he breaks their spine. Earthquake may lack some power but it still OHKOs anything frail. Stone Edge pairs well with Earthquake but as this sets goal is to mess with your standard counters Ice Punch can be used to remove Gligar and Flygon without much trouble. Megahorn is as always good to break down Slowbro. Best of all you outrun it so if it switches in as you put up a Substitute you can 2HKO with Megahorn as it breaks your Sub. Speed EVs outruns no speed base 60s like Empoleon and Porygon 2 and Machamp that invest in ~40 or so Speed.

For a movepool this large, very little. Superpower, Dragon Tail, Curse, Swords Dance, Crunch, Aqua Tail, Rock Wrecker and Bulldoze.
Superpower has high base power and can help get past Porygon 2, but it drops two of the three stats that Rhyperior is actually good at.
If Roar isn't doing enough Dragon Tail can shuffle with added damage. However Substitute blocks Dragon Tail, and it can miss. Roar is more reliable unless you really need the extra damage.
Curse could almost be useful on a Specially Defensive set, and it might work if you can remove all the opposing Water and Grass types. Easier said than done.
Swords Dance boosts Rhyperior's offenses to hilarious levels. It could work on the Rock Polish set but it generally is too slow to sweep.
I know Crunch hits Ghosts and Psychics but for the most part Stone Edge + Earthquake hits all of them about as hard. Useless unless you really hate Uxie.
Aqua Tail beats Gligar but nothing really else, and it has redundant coverage with Ground.
Only worth a mention, but Rock Wrecker... exists. Don't use it. Signature move or not it is bad. Even if you get a kill your opponent will destroy you on the next turn or worse, set up Dragon or Swords Dances against you as you recharge. Rock Wrecker is bad in Pokemon Conquest, and it is just as bad here too.
While weak, Bulldoze can screw with switch ins making them slower, and less threatening to the rest of your team.

While being slow and extremely weak to Earthquake / Surf would normally make Rhyperior terrible in doubles / triples, it is also slow and gets STAB on Earthquake + Rock Slide. This makes Rhyperior a devastating offensive juggernaut on Trick Room teams. It can even be paired with a Cresselia who sets up Trick Room, is immune to Earthquake, and has Helping Hand to turn Rhyperior into a nuclear bomb.

Grass types take on Water / Ground / Grass hits aimed at Rhyperior fairly well. Something that can destroy Slowbro / Suicune / Shaymin is appreciated as Rhyperior will rarely get around them on its own. Simply dumping Spikes / Toxic Spikes on the ground brings Rhyperior a long way to getting around its counters. Roserade sets up Spikes / Toxic Spikes and takes Special hits decently. It can even switch in on Fighting attacks. Gallade takes Special hits well and can lure in and destroy Slowbro, Suicune, and Gligar with a Swords Dance set.

Not very hard. Any reasonably bulky Pokemon with a Water or Grass move will cause Rhyperior a lot of pain. Suicune, Shaymin, Azumarill, Kingdra, Slowbro, and Swampert all can take a few hits and OHKO Rhyperior. Many others like Flygon, Claydol, and Bronzong take its STABs well and hit back with a Ground or Steel move. While they rarely can OHKO even with STAB Close Combat and don't particularly like Earthquake the many Fighting types deserve a mention. Gallade, Cobalion, Machamp, and Scrafty all take at least one hit and force Rhyperior to switch, or take massive damage. Hitmontop gets bonus points as it can weaken Rhyperior with intimidate and Rapid Spin the Stealth Rocks it lays. If you don't need a direct counter and just need a revenge killer you can name off basically every single Special Attacker ever and chances are Rhyperior will fall to it.

Pre-Evolution Corner - Rhydon

Rhy? Is it because I'm grey?

-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge / Rock Blast
-Megahorn / Roar
Item Attached: Eviolite
Ability: Lightningrod/Rock Head
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Sp Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -Sp. Atk)

Rhydon is a strange case. Some people consider it even better than it's fully evolved form. This is because of Eviolite. It makes Rhydon extremely physically bulky, easily the most physically bulky Pokemon in the game. With Sandstorm it can also help with it's Special Defense problem as well. With Eviolite, Sandstorm, and the given EVs Rhydon has the equivalent of 105 / 205 / 123 defenses. Stealth Rock is great for wearing down Bug and Flying Pokemon, and breaking Sturdy and Focus Sash users. Earthquake is the obligatory STAB, that destroys Electric Types, when they can't damage Rhydon with their STAB's. Stone Edge hits hard and destroys random levitating Pokemon. Rock Blast on the other hand, is more accurate, hits multiple times, and can do more damage than Stone Edge on occasion, but usually it won't. Megahorn hits bulky Grass Types hard, but does suck when it misses. Roar is another option to shuffle the opposing team around, and rack up Stealth Rocks damage. Eviolite is absolutely necessary to give Rhydon it's incredible bulk. No other item should be considered. EVs max HP and Defense, but a more offensive spread is possible... remember Rhydon still has extremely potent 130 base Attack. Overall don't underestimate Rhydon just because it's not fully evolved.

Pre-Evolution Corner - Rhyhorn (Little Cup)

First in Line

-Rock Polish
-Earthquake
-Rock Blast
-Megahorn / Fire Fang
Item Attached: Eviolite
Ability: Lightningrod/Rock Head
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -Sp. Atk)

Rhyhorn is basically a smaller Rhyperior. It has good HP, Attack, and Defense but it's other stats suck. The best Rhyhorn can do is try and pull of a Rock Polish set. After Rock Polish it's very low speed of 13 goes to a nice 26. Earthquake is a great STAB that hits a good chunk of Little Cup for at least neutral damage. Rock Blast is another good STAB move that helps break Substitute and Sturdy users like Murkrow and Dwebble. You can use Stone Edge, but Rock Bast is more reliable. Megahorn helps deal with bulky Grass Types like Lileep. Fire Fang hits Steel Types like Bronzor and Grass Types about as hard but with far more accuracy. EV's are to maximize Rhyhorn's Attack and Speed, and Jolly is absolutely needed. 13 is the best speed Rhyhorn gets, and it really needs it. Rhyhorn does fall short though with it's very bad Special Defense and the sheer amount of Grass, Water, and Fighting Types there are in LC. Rhyhorn can be used, but it's not that great.

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game .

FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game

Colosseum/XD:
Not in game

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Evolve Rhydon.

HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Evolve Rhydon

Black/White:
Evolve Rhydon (White)
Trade from other games (Black)

Black 2/White 2:
Evolve Rhydon