Camerupt

Camerupt, The Eruption Pokémon. It has volcanoes on its back. If magma builds up in its body, it shudders, then erupts violently. If angered, the humps on its back erupt in a shower of molten lava. It lives in the craters of volcanoes. It lives in the crater of a volcano. Every 10 years, the volcanoes on its back erupt violently. Research is under way on the cause of eruption.Magma of 18,000 degrees F courses through its body. The humps on Camerupt's back are formed by a transformation of its bones. They sometimes blast out molten magma.

Overview

Camerupt was a Pokémon built interestingly, if not with little sign of direction or purpose. Its strongest stats lie in both offences, yet it lacks the Speed to abuse them like a sweeper would. Its interesting collection of resistances, passable defences and useful ability do allow it to switch around a fair bit however, and its move-pool is pretty decent. It was never made to be anything more than a Underused Pokémon, and it makes for an unexceptional but satisfactory contributor in that environment.

Ability

Solid Rock: is the one to use here. It nips a Ľ damage off of super-effective hits. It might not be enough to save you from KOs when it comes to the heavy hitters, but it can soften up the smaller hits, and it's hardly like its alternative offers much better.

Magma Armor: prevents Camerupt from being frozen. Since the chances of being frozen are minimal as it is, the ability offers very little. It's very useful in game for halving the amount of steps it takes to hatch an egg, but in battle, it's pretty uninspiring.

Move Sets

Mixed Attacker

- Flamethrower / Fire Blast / Overheat / Lava Plume
- Earth Power
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)

At the core of Camerupt's move-pool are some very solid offensive moves. For its Fire STAB, it has a lot of options. Flamethrower offers power and consistency, Fire Blast offers more power for a little less consistency, Overheat offers mountains of power for little consistency (but is very effective when you consider how often a slow Pokémon like Camerupt will be forced to switch) and finally, Lava Plume offers that hint of status support by trading in some power for a 30% chance of burn.

Its other STAB also offers a pretty nice option. Earth Power hits pretty hard with consistency, and adds some pretty nice Ground coverage too. Explosion offers something unmatched by special moves, and whilst it does require Camerupt to sacrifice its existence in battle, it's pretty worthwhile when it can land you a near-guaranteed KO against any un-resistant/immune opponent.

Stealth Rock rounds things off in an odd way. It doesn't quite fit with the attacking approach Camerupt takes, but the move is a real aid to Camerupt and the alternatives aren't “must-haves.” Chipping off HP from switch-ins eases Camerupt's chances of landing a KO, as well as providing a lot of support to its team; and it also helps fend off the Flying types who'll be drawn to Earth Power.

As always, Life Orb and Leftovers provide the item conflict: more power or more survivability. It's worth noting that, unlike other Fire types, Camerupt doesn't have a Stealth Rock weakness to worry about, which may play a role in your selection.

Choice Specs

- Flamethrower / Fire Blast / Overheat
- Earth Power
- Explosion
- Hidden Power [Electric]
Item Attached: Choice Specs
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)

Choice Specs is an attractive route to follow, with Camerupt getting some good switching in options. Overheat is especially attractive here when you debate between which Fire move to choose. Hidden Power [Electric] is the main new move to mention. It won't out-damage a normal strength Flamethrower against Flying types, and only just out-damages Earth Power on Water types, but when you suspect one or the other is going to come out searching for a resisted or immune hit, Hidden Power [Electric] gives you a “a bit of both” option, which helps when you don't have the option of changing your move selection due to the limitations imposed by Choice Specs.

Choice Band

- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Explosion
- Overheat
Item Attached: Choice Band
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)

Much of Camerupt's physical repertoire has gone unmentioned. The disadvantage held by Camerupt's physical options is the lack of a reliable Fire move. Like Explosion on special sets, Overheat will have to make do without any EV support, relying on its raw power to fill the void. Earthquake and Stone Edge provide the reliable Ground-Rock combination for some pretty solid type coverage, with Explosion making yet another appearances as the last ditch sacrificial move.

Rock Polish Physical Sweeper

- Rock Polish
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Explosion / Overheat
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

A dangerously below par Speed stat can still be put to use with Rock Polish. Although it makes for a rather average sweeper, Camerupt can get by with just the Life Orb boost. The focus here is primarily physical, with Explosion or Overheat supporting the traditional Ground-Rock combination.

Rock Polish Special Sweeper

- Rock Polish
- Flamethrower
- Earth Power
- Explosion
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Mild Nature (+SAtk, -Def)

It's a pretty similar story to the above. The only note to mention is that Flamethrower or Fire Blast lead the front for the role of Fire STAB, with the inconsistency and undesirable power loss from the other two options knocking them out of favour.

EVs and Nature:

You're almost always maxing out your preferred Attacking stat first. The remaining EVs can go to HP, or Speed for the Rock Polish move-sets. It's pretty straightforward stuff, and only worth complicating if you have some rather focused intentions.

Other Options

Yawn, Will-o-Wisp, Roar.

You can try Yawn on a supporting move-set to force switches (particularly early on when you're getting to know your opponent's team).

Will-o-Wisp is an option if you don't want to rely on Lava Plume for burn support. Of course, the downside is that you need to carry Flamethrower for Fire STAB if you do drop Lava Plume, so if you're crowded for move-slots (and you probably will be), it might not be able to force its way onto a move-set.

Roar rounds off the “supporting move-set” talk. Once again, you can force switches, in this case directly. It's good for getting rid of stat-boosters, exploring your opponent's team a bit and picking up some Entry Hazard damage, but Camerupt isn't well suited for the job.

Countering Camerupt

Water types tend to be your best bet, especially ones with massive Special Defence stats (since physically-inclined variants are less common, although you'll still want some Defence to cope in case of a physically-inclined one). Mantine is one of the better ones here, pairing its Fire resistance with a Ground immunity. Milotic, Slowbro, Slowking, Blastoise and a long list of others can round out this list. So long as they can take a hit they can get the job done, since that 4x Water weakness is easily exposed.

One little thing to take note of is Explosion, which can threaten most Pokémon that pose a threat to it. Luckily, it's slow, so it'll probably have to predict your switch-in to kick off its Explosion; but it's always worth being wary of. As always, a slow Pokémon like Camerupt with a pretty plentiful supply of weaknesses can easily be KOed by a “revenge killer” or a smart (or lucky) switch-in. Plenty of Pokémon can land an OHKO against it, which should help to keep it contained.

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald

Evolve Numel

Colosseum/XD

Trade from RSEXD (Col) Evolve Numel (XD)

Fire Red/Leaf Green

Trade from RSEXD

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum

Route 227 & Stark Mountain

HeartGold/SoulSilver

Evolve Numel

Animé Appearences

Camerupt has had a few Animé Appearences, although most are cameos. First, Vicky Winstrate used one in her battle against Ash. Soon after that, one was used to help transport some films around Hoenn.

Jirachi - Wish Maker
Episode 322: Candid Camerupt
Episode 347: A Six Pack Attack
Episode 362: Lights, Camerupt, Action
Episode 380: A Cacturne for the Worse
Episode 412: Numero Uno Articuno
Episode 437: Harley Rides Again
Episode 559: One Team, Two Team, Red Team, Blue Team!
Episode 608: Natu, Xatu...Mysterious Forest!