Project PU Theorymon

WhiteDMist

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What if Marowak got Rock Polish?

A change that patches up Marowak's crap Speed, hard to find fault with it. In term of overall affect on its viability, it is nice that Marowak wouldn't be easily stopped by Kadabra due to Bonemerang. It's also less threatened by Ditto than most set up sweepers, as Ditto lacks Thick Club's boost; Knock Off evens the playing field, but locks Ditto in and Marowak casually Bonemerang it to death. Losing out to Modest Electrode with an Adamant nature isn't good, but considering that with the jump to Jolly only letting it outspeed Modest +2 Regice and Adamant SS Beartic, it's likely not that worthwhile to drop the power in order to outsped 4 Pokemon. Grass-types would surely rise in usage just to have a check to Marowak, as Marowak can otherwise 2HKO a large portion of the tier. Basculin may get more usage over Floatzel because Aqua Jet becomes even more useful. Piloswine will also be used more than ever as one of the few Pokemon that can live a Bonemerang and KO back; Machoke will also likely be more popular.

Maybe I'm looking at this through rose-colored glasses due to my love of Marowak, but it can't be denied that it is pretty easy to find set up opportunities against Rock-, Electric-, or Steel-types. Memento Jumpluff makes it even easier, while early game, Marowak can just spam Knock Off to wear down its checks. Being so slow, most Scarf Pokemon will still outspeed Marowak, so it's not going to be overpowered at all. On the flip side, Marowak is actually physically bulky enough to take a neutral priority move or two, so a dedicated revenge killer might be required on teams to check it and other set up sweeper threats. Simipour looks to be a notable choice, as it also checks major threats such as Fraxure and Ninetales.
 

MZ

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U-turn would still make slaking really lame. Sure it's gotten better with the worst smashers going, but you're either u-turning every time or giving opponents a chance to set up and KO slaking, putting your team on the defensive. I could maybe see it up in C, but I don't think that justifies it over something like CB dodrio, even with its raw power
 
Just gonna throw some stuff out there, but:

What if Butterfree got Hurricane? +1 252 SpA Life Orb Butterfree Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 128+ SpD Eviolite Roselia: 343-406 (112.8 - 133.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO Compared to +1 252 SpA Life Orb Butterfree Psychic vs. 252 HP / 128+ SpD Eviolite Roselia: 190-224 (62.5 - 73.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO. Allows you to significantly damage pokemon and is a really strong STAB.

What if Mightyena got Knock Off and Pursuit?
Knock Off is just a generally great STAB move and Pursuit allows it to trap Psychic-types such as Duosion, which could give them a lot of problems.
What if Stoutland got Double Edge? Double Edge is just scary as hell to switch into. 252+ Atk Choice Band Stoutland Double-Edge vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Avalugg: 168-198 (42.7 - 50.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery, 252+ Atk Choice Band Stoutland Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Solrock: 114-135 (33.1 - 39.2%) -- 100% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery, also you can wear down switch ins easier.
What if Rotom-Frost got Ice Beam? A better STAB then HP Ice which is accurate is nice, and not having to rely on Blizzard's to hit.

Just throwing some stuff out there, wanna see what you people think ;P
 
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What if Ninjask had Tinted Lens?
Tinted Lens is a very good ability and this could turn Ninjask into a much more effective Revenge-killer/Late-game sweeper

Practically Tinted Lens makes it so every hit is neutral (unless quad resisted) so take Zebstrika for example. If you used aerial ace it wouldn't get the resistance penalty so it would be like using it on a normal type.

252+ Atk Choice Band Ninjask Aerial Ace vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zebstrika: 91-108 (31.2 - 37.1%)

Turns into

252+ Atk Choice Band Tinted Lens Ninjask Aerial Ace vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zebstrika: 182-216 (62.5 - 74.2%)

Overall it would heavily benefit the bug.
 
My favorite thread for my favorite tier is back!? Hell yeah! I'll just go ahead and respond to a few of the most interesting ideas I've seen so far, and then give a few ideas of my own.

What if Stunfisk got Water Absorb?
This is actually something that has interested me greatly, as I actually asked this very same question on the NU theorymon thread back in gen 5. Ultimately Stunfisk would become a top tier defensive threat that would become the bane of every Water-type that doesn't carry an Ice-type move. Being able to switch into a Water-type move would also make up for its lack of recovery, although it would ultimately be foolish to rely on that as your sole form of recovery. It would still be weak to Grass, Ground and Ice-type moves, however, so its problems would still be glaring and it would probably still be relegated to PU.

What if Marowak got Rock Polish?
On paper this sounds amazing, but I feel as though this wouldn't be as great in practice. Base 45 Speed is still absolutely garbage, and even with Jolly nature you're only ever going to be able to hit 414 Speed, so it's still very susceptible to being revenge killed by Scarfers. The closest thing I can think of to compare this to would be Rampardos, who with Sheer Force does comparable damage, although Rampardos is actually fast enough initially to outpace some defensive Pokemon while Marowak has trouble with even that.

What if Kingler got Tough Claws?
Saw this on the last page and nobody has responded to it as of yet, so I'll take the opportunity. With Tough Claws, the need for Waterfall would be totally obsolete (obviously) though it would lose out on the much coveted Sheer Force + LO coverage (though it only really has Rock Slide to abuse there so I guess its not that big of a loss). The boost from Tough Claws is actually more powerful in conjunction with Crabhammer than Waterfall is with Sheer Force + LO:

252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Kingler Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Regirock: 265-312 (72.8 - 85.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Life Orb Tough Claws Kingler Crabhammer vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Regirock: 335-398 (92 - 109.3%) -- 50% chance to OHKO

The damage boost is incredible, and the ability to OHKO a defensive monster like Regirock is nothing to scoff at. Superpower, X-Scissor and Knock Off all benefit from Tough Claws, so its offensive prowess would be enormous. I feel as though with Tough Claws Kingler might actually have a real chance of rising out of PU, and if not it would become a very strong top threat.

What if Butterfree got Hurricane?
I can understand the appeal of wanting to make Butterfree better and all, but at the same time you're just making a PU Vivillon. That's all I really wanted to say.

Okay, so now for a few of my own ideas:

What if Lumineon got Quiver Dance?
This is a question I posed way back when on the old NU theorymon forum. Lumineon is essentially just a bad defogger as of now, but with the ability to use Quiver Dance would it be able to drag itself out of the horrible mire of E-rank? Basically my reasoning for why this could actually be possible is because of Lumineon's connection to Butterflies, as it is known as the Butterfly fish and also seems to have a few Bug-type moves under its wing (heh, wings, get it? Cuz it has wings? Okay guess that's only funny to me).

What if Drifblim got Hurricane?
Would its offensive prowess be enough to justify a specially oriented set over the popular Acro-Blimp set? I've used Calm Mind Drifblim before and the only thing that really let me down was the lack of a reliable Flying-type STAB option, as Shadow Ball+Thunderbolt just wasn't enough coverage overall.
 

WhiteDMist

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I would argue that these calcs are more relevant to Tough Claw Kingler's case than Regirock:
252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Kingler X-Scissor vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Tangela: 168-198 (50.2 - 59.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Kingler Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gourgeist-Super: 294-346 (78.6 - 92.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Kingler Crabhammer vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Pelipper: 129-152 (39.9 - 47%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Kingler Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Pelipper: 168-198 (52 - 61.3%) -- 96.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Kingler Knock Off vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Pelipper: 112-132 (34.6 - 40.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Kingler Superpower vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Avalugg: 334-394 (84.9 - 100.2%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Kingler Crabhammer vs. 160 HP / 24 Def Machoke: 463-546 (135.7 - 160.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Tough Claws would make walling Kingler very difficult. A Choice Band alone is all it needs. I expect Agility to be cool as well.
 
What if Butterfree got Hurricane?
Essentially your kind of just making a slightly bad vivillon also Mono-Bug Buzz with tinted Lens is actually powerful enough and can make using hurricane slightly worse since you will have to rely on its shaky accuracy even with compound eyes.

What If Mightyena got both Knock Off+Pursuit?
Knock Off in general id a great option for it over cunch however pursuit would possibly give it 4MSS since you will want Knock+Sucker and miss out on either Iron Tail or Play rough both of which have a big benefit.

What if Stoutland got Double-Edge?
I can see the appeal however i don't see thing breaking through the already good CB set with Return/Facade/Pursuit/SuperPower.

The recoil is the issue even with stouts nice HP stat you want to keep it healthy. Also facade actually does more and would be doing it for less damage over time with poison/burn.
 
I was wondering about something and would like some input since we will never know 100% how effective these new moves/abilities would be so why not find out?

Golem @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast / Sucker Punch

I'm going to use this Golem set as an example

Pretty much make a Pu team and put the theoryd change onto the Pokemon, in this case Rapid Spin, and challenge someone else to a Custom Game. Standard Pu Rules are in and only suggested changes on this thread are allowed get a few replays and post them here leaving thoughts and how much of an impact the change had on your games.

its just an idea to give the thread a little more oomph and activity + It could be really fun :)

Edit-When I get home ill try to get a game for an example
 
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What if Ramparados got both Rock Head and Dragon Dance?
If ramparados got rock head, it would be much, much better. Rock Head makes sense concept wise, as it gets head smash already, and Ramparados is based off a dinosaur that smashes it's skull with other dinos. Dragon Dance might seem a little farfetch'd, but it would make sense, and it wouldn't break Ramparados, as it has bad speed. It would take two dragon dances, but if it manages to set up two, it's gg.
 

2xTheTap

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I think asking 'what if Stunfisk got Water Absorb' is a question with a fairly straightforward answer. I imagine it would function a lot like Seismitoad does in RU / like it used to while it was in NU, in that teams would now come prepared specifically to take down Water Absorb Stunfisk with the appropriate coverage move. All offensive Water types would be forced to run Ice type coverage (although most of them do already, attacking Stunfisk with non-STAB coverage would obviously do a lot less and therefore increase Stunfisk's potential as a defensive threat in PU).

Floatzel, Simipour, Basculin, and Politoed already run Ice Beam (or Ice Punch in Floatzel's case if running a physical set), but there are still some Water types in PU that normally do not carry Ice type coverage and would consequently become less effective due to this change. For example, Swanna's standard set of Defog / Roost / Scald / Hurricane would be completely walled, and so it'd have to give up a slot for Ice Beam in this case and give it really bad 4MSS. Offensive Relicanth is another example: while you can run a full offensive set with RP and 3 attacks (or even CB), I think its best offensive set is RP with LumRest and double STAB. With Stunfisk becoming immune to Waterfall and already resisting Head Smash, that would potentially force Relicanth to start running Earthquake for Water Absorb Stunfisk so that it isn't walled like Swanna is. Doing so would make Relicanth less threatening as it would be easier to wear down without Rest. Kingler is another interesting case; while it gets nice coverage moves in Knock Off and Superpower, it doesn't have any physical Ice type coverage moves, and so it'd be hard-pressed to stay in on Stunfisk knowing that it's going to be OHKOed by Stunfisk's Discharge, while Stunfisk would be able to survive anything Kingler has, barring a SD/LO boosted hit.

Moreover, with Stunfisk absorbing Water type attacks for your team, I have a feeling that this would deemphasize how powerful water spam currently is in PU and therefore undermine the overall effectiveness of potent Water types like Floatzel and Simipour. With Stunfisk displacing water spam as a strategy somewhat, running offensive and defensive checks like Zebstrika / Roselia and Politoed would not be nearly as necessary anymore if you were using Water Absorb Stunfisk. In reverse, it's possible that slower wall breakers with Ground type STAB like Marowak could make a comeback, given Adamant Marowak OHKOes Stunfisk 93.8% of the time with Bonemerang:

252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak Bonemerang (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Stunfisk: 420-496 (99.5 - 117.5%) -- approx. 93.8% chance to OHKO

There is still a lot of untapped potential in Stunfisk as a theorymon candidate, so I'd like to explore that more. It already has access to great support moves such as Stealth Rock, access to status effects (i.e. Thunder Wave / Static, Toxic, Yawn and burns via Scald), and double STAB with potential for passively induced paralysis via Discharge / drops in Special Defense via Earth Power. But, what has always bothered me about Stunfisk is that, despite being a slow Electric type, it does not receive Volt Switch and can sometimes be a sap to your momentum if it isn't carrying Yawn.

So, maybe we could discuss: What if Stunfisk got Volt Switch?
 
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MZ

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What if Floatzel got Tailwind? Would we have a potential comeback of tailwind viability? Would it see any use?

What if Klang got Rapid Spin?
What would happen to hazard removal as a whole? Would things like Vibrava see a drop and Dusknoir see a rise?
 

Valmanway

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What if Quilladin had Thick Fat and Rapid Spin?

It already resists Water and Electric, and Thick Fat removes the Ice and Fire weaknesses, meaning non-Switcheroo Floatzel, Simipour, and Zebstrika are pretty much hard countered, even without investment in special bulk, as well as Regice with special investment. Being a Rapid Spinner that resists Water and can lay down its own hazards is shared only with Tentacool, which is weak to Electric-type moves and doesn't resist Grass, giving it an almost unique niche. But losing Bulletproof means Roselia can wreck it with Sludge Bomb, so that could be a problem. Also flavor might be an issue, but meh.
 
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if stunfisk got volt switch it could pivot on roselia into something really strong like specs mr. mime, so i think that would be a great buff considering you have static for what you want to para and toxic for what you don't want to para

my suggestion is: what if wartortle got recover?

i think this would be really cool, because now wartortle is a reliable spinner that is not weak to rocks, while also having recovery, and wartortle has a free moveslot anyway. it makes wartortle a lot more useful on balanced teams because it is not just spinning early game and then dying. while it invites in roselia which obviously isn't good, i do think this will give wartortle a buff to make it slightly better. at the moment it is really struggling for a niche.
 

MZ

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I think I'll try one last attempt to bump this before giving up, it was way more popular in the earlier iteration but mag is a bully :[ here's a lot of stuff

Fix up all the outclassed flying types- we have tons of viable waters so why not let things like Fearow, Vespiquen and Pidgeot shine a bit? even if it takes gale wings

Pursuit mightyena

Shadow Force Dusknoir

Protean wigglytuff

To start us off, Pursuit mightyena would make a dark check/resist much more necessary on every team, it's always been one of those things that people talk about like volt switch stunfisk for a reason. Now it's all about 50/50s playing both with and around it, and it's much easier to get a guaranteed moxie boost. Protean Wigglytuff might give us a bit of an increase in this overshadowed SR user, its massive coverage and normal typing make it seem perfect for Protean, and it could become quite annoying as its coverage is really hard to switch into and any potential switch-ins would have to be aware that it can change typing to beat almost any of them as they take the attack

mag edit: the earlier iteration was bad, quality > quantity
 
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What if Unfezant got Technician?

Unfezant's problem has always been a lack of good Flying STAB. Aerial Ace is bleh, and Power Herb Sky Attack is trash. Unfezant's Speed stat is also something to be desired, though not too bad. So, I decided that Technician could fix most of Unfezant's problems, giving it better Flying STAB with Aerial Ace(or Pluck if you are that guy) increasing to 78 BP, as well as giving it strong priority in Quick Attack. Would it be broken? Maybe, maybe not, but I decided it would be worth a shot to suggest it, since Unfezant is a pretty fly bird and I want it to be viable.
 
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What if Luxray got Agility?
On the previous Theory-Mon thread "cough" better "cough" Luxray was one of the pokemon many tried to make better personally i found it to be one of the best weeks for the old thread with many finding ways to improve the lion from Strong Jaw to Infiltrator and the winner [Mael] Posted about Agility.

Agility gives +2 in speed which allows luxray to outspeed everyone including notable scarfers. It also opens up luxray into using either Intimidate and Guts which becomes a lot more usable and equal to intimidate.

This move would turn luxray into one of Pu's top set-up sweepers and make it very effective in cleaning up teams. An issue though is Luxrays attacks. Wild Charge and Superpower while very strong both have negative effects in recoil and Losing Attack and defense now the defense isnt an issue but losing out on Attack can be costly the final options Ice Fang and Facade are pitifully weak but the benefits is Facades drastic power boost when inflicted with status and Ice fangs BoltBeam Coverage.

Luxray would work well on most playstyles with the exception of stall and possibly Hyper-Offence

As for the post i said using theory-mon in custom games I have truly been trying but all the games i did get usually were very haxy or couldn't show the pokemon off well. I will be attempting again soon and hopefully can get a few good replays and give off an example to possibly improve the thread.
 
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mag edit: the earlier iteration was bad, quality > quantity
Originally i was never going to make a big post about the earlier thread but seeing this i just had to.

While yes the earlier thread in its later days declined in quality with more gimmicky sets that made no sense this has been in no means an improvement if anything its managed to downgrade further.

what made people originally come and participate in theorymon wasn't about how much more viable something could be, after all that can be easily fixed with obvious improvements aka this thread, but the competition the multiple ideas and the fact everyone had something new to put out there which this thread has taken away from.

Nobody looks for anything new since the best idea is either so obvious or has already been posted

Looking up-
What the move does
What the pokemon was designed after
Pokedex entries
Type changes
New move/ability
Cant even change types

no one wants to do this at all since the competition aspect has gone the original reason people were brought in.

Someone made an idea they then had to face competition with other theory sets it made the thread competitive and everyone wanted to make the best set they could to win even if it just improved the pokemon a little. This is just "do this BOOM its better move on" theorymon lost what made it popular to begin with and now almost no one feels like coming to thread.

yeah we get "quality" but look what that done? Effectively killed what was once a very popular and loved thread.

What this thread needs is the old way and just to be a little more stricter on the reasoning side of things instead of ending up with gimmicks.
 
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What if Ninjask got Water Shuriken and Technician?
So after looking into the move Water Shuriken and finding out Accelgor learned it through level-up, that got me thinking: Why doesn't ninjask learn this?! In case you couldn't tell, Ninjask is clearly based off of a ninja. Since the other Ninja Pokemon, Accelgor and Greninja, receive this move, why doesn't Ninjask? Greninja learning the move makes sense because it's a water type, but Water Shuriken is Accelgor's ONLY water type move (besides rain dance), so honestly Ninjask having it just because it's a ninja wouldn't be dux (badum tss). Technician is something that people have discussed on Ninjask before, and would make sense since there's no real pattern with what gets this ability.

Having Technician and Water Shuriken would not only give Ninjask better dual stab from Bug Bite and Aerial Ace, but it would also give Ninjask perfect coverage in Water and Bug. This would also allow it to defeat mons that can easily stop it from sweeping after a swords dance. Golem with sturdy used to be able to completely force ninjask out as long as it had a free switch in, Mr. Mime used to outspeed and kill with Psychic, and Kadabra used to be able to revenge kill thanks to Magic Guard Focus Sash, but with Technician Water Shuriken all these issues are solved. This would make Ninjask way more viable and make it a better option as a swords dance sweeper or choice band user.
 
What if Pignite got Slack Off and Stealth Rock?
I'm sure that a lot of you have heard me rant on and on about this, but WHY DOESN'T PIGNITE GET THESE ALREADY? I mean, it fits all the criteria. I mean, if the fire/fighting ape can learn stealth rock and slack off, why can't the fire/fighting pig? Stealth rock is probably the harder one to back up, since not a lot of fighting types get stealth rock, and the fire types that get it tend to be rock, ground, or steel type (with the exceptions being the Chimchar family, Arceus-fire, and Torkoal). However, I feel that if Chimchar, Monferno, and Infernape can learn stealth rock, Tepig, Pignite, and Emboar should be able to learn it too (hell, slap it on Torchic, Combusken, and Blaziken too! though you don't see a lot of chickens moving around rocks do you...). On to the flip side, slack off is easy to argue. It's a pig. Pigs slack off (and you could argue taht humans sleep longer than pigs, since humans sleep for 8 hours and pigs only sleep for 7.8 hours. Then again, Chimpanzees, like Chimchar, sleep for 9.7 hours, which is only 2 hours more, but Monferno, which seems to be based off of the Mandrill which is closely related to the Baboon, sleep for roughly 10.3 hours, which is still about 2 hours more but is also at the same time a long time to sleep. WHATEVER I didn't make this post just to talk about sleep facts, I made this to theorymon!) Anyways, time to see how it would do in battle!

In battle, Pignite would have a lot at its disposal. It would have thick fat, eviolite, decent hp, and an okay spdef to wall specially offensive mons fairly well, such as Regice and Simisear, while also being to heal off the damage it takes with Slack Off, making it a decent special wall. On top of that, it also would have access to Stealth Rock, giving it a great hazard to set up. Thirdly, it has access to moves like Will-O-Wisp, Roar, and Taunt giving it great utility in combination with Stealth Rock and Slack Off. Finally, with a decent offensive stats, it can run Superpower, Overheat, Flare Blitz, Fire Blast, Focus Blast, Low Kick, etc so it's not completely Taunt bait. Overall, I feel that access to Slack Off and Stealth Rock would make Pignite a way better rocker and give it a better chance to be on your team if you're in need of a rocker and special wall.
 
What if Rampardos and Bouflant got rock head-head smash?
I honestly don't know why these two don't get it, bouflant is a buffalo, and buffalo uses their hair (his afro) and their thick skulls to protect themselves from their ramming. Same for rampardos.
Why don't lampent, chandy, the magnemite line etc get levitate?
Not all things that hover levitate.
 
Friendly reminder that this thread is about discussion, not just listing things, I'll delete future posts that just list something without actually talking about the effect on the metagame.
 
Trapinch @ Eviolite
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Quick Attack
- Stealth Rock

Trapinch is one of the more beloved lower rank mons due to its unique niche of being a trapper (Diglett sucks) Trapinch traps more then just electric types due to its usable invested bulk with an eviolite Trapinch can trap and kill off many key pokemon such as Probopass,Stunfisk,Electrode/Zebstrika,Kadabra and Ninetales to name a few.

The Theory'd move here is Stealth Rock which in the current meta could prove to be a useful option against offensive teams or those lacking hazard removal. Trapinch can trap the previously mentioned mons (and more) set rocks and then kill them off not only taking out possible threats/stops to your team but also setting a dangerous hazard in the Pu metagame.

This move is realistic due to what Trapinch is based off the Antlion a larval creature that creates a sandpit trap to capture prey, once its prey has been caught in the trap they can attempt to flee however with how the sandpit is formed it is quite difficult to do so not only that but the Antlion tosses grains of sand to knock its prey off balance. Stealth Rock is similar in this regard due to them being thrown and hidden on the opposing side similar to how the Antlion throws sand particles it is also goes with Trapinchs Ground-Typing which Stealth Rock is commonly given to the majority of Ground-Type pokemon.

This wouldn't be the biggest meta shifting idea theory in the world however it would increase the value of Hyper-Offensive teams and Trapinchs own viability by some margin.
 
I know I'll likely get frowned upon for bumping up a 2 month old thread, but I noticed a core posted by Thisbemyalt that featured this Pokemon, and it got me wondering:

What if Dusknoir was Ghost/Dark?

I can't think of much flavor reasons for this, but I noticed that some Dusknoir's best offensive moves are Dark-type. Dusknoir's main problem as an offensive mon has been poor STAB options. However, with the new Dark-type STAB, you get actually strong priority, and you lose the weakness to Knock Off, so Colbur Berry is no longer required on Non-Choice Band sets (In fact you can just ditch Band for Black Glasses or Life Orb now). On the downside you do lose to Clefairy now, but that thing's easy to take care of with proper team support. Also STAB Pursuit trapping is fucking great.
 
ghost dark dusknoir would be really cool, you go from having really weak priority to really strong priority, lose a big weakness and a minor weakness while only gaining a minor one, and just have a really strong move in general which dusknoir currently lacks. I know Anty already has been using lo dusk with sucker punch, that set would be straight up better if it were part dark.
 

Take Azelfie

More flags more fun
What if Dusknoir was Ghost/Dark?

It would be such an excellent blend pretty much being the bulky Pawniard. Being able to actually use STABs it wants with access to both Pursuit and Sucker Punch is really neat giving it a lot utility scariness to its movepoll. Granted it can't deal with Clefairy which is rather bleh but that is honestly such a small punishment for all the spoils it has now. It also differenciates itself with access to the elemental punches, the rather annoying but now mitigated Fighting immunity, as well as the bulk and tools that Pawniard only wishes to have. Tools such as Memento and Will-o-wisp allow it to do more than just damage is really neat. It also gives teams a nice Fighting check since it does have that Knock Off weakness anymore. Honestly this would be really good in PU but I don't think it would change the meta drastically.

Also if Dusknoir becomes part dark...
What if Dusclops was Dark/Ghost?

How would change how useful Dusclops is? Would this make it a considerable choice on teams? How does Dark change Dusclops in a defensive perspective?
 

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