Thunder, Rain and Lightning (But only Rain for this post)

Now normally, when people write team reports, it's because they've placed at a respectable level at a tournament, or they're just vets with a good rep.

I'm neither.

From 2012 til now, I've been in a serious on-and-off relationship with Pokemon VGC, and as such, I'm a proprietor of only the most entertaining skrub tactics. And so, I thought it might be neat if I imparted my crazy ideas built up over almost a decades worth of experience, A sort of "Beginner's Guide to Pokemon, by a Perennial Beginner"

See, when you play VGC, you go in with the mentality that you can win it all, you have to. I realised quite early on that I probably wouldn't ever be in that position, I'm decidedly a Bad Player. However, I can still play pretty decently, and I think if I practiced my battling I'd be in with a shot, because I'm not certain my teambuilding sense will get any better.

However I have a problem. A positively electrifying one. And it's these two cute critters.

Since 2014, I have been incapable of creating a team without Azumarill and Raichu at its core, and that surely puts a damper on my winning capability. However, I've stared down Tapus and Ogres, Xerns and Leos, and walked away with a win, and now that I've tasted the even sweeter sense of victory that comes with giant-killing? I absolutely can't back down.

So, have a little retrospective of why these two mons have absolutely ruined my life in the best way possible. Let's start with my favourite:

Neeli (Azumarill) @ Sitrus Berry

Ability: Huge Power

EVs: 244 HP / 252 Atk / 12 Spe

Naughty Nature

- Belly Drum

- Protect

- Aqua Jet

- Play Rough

This is the latest build of Azumarill I've used, although certainly not the best nor most viable, It's just newer.

At a base level, Azumarill only has a mediocre stat range, with only 50 Atk. This leaves it intensely subpar in every way, but then a saviour comes in the form of Huge Power - which doubles its Atk. Looking pretty good so far right? It gets better. With Belly Drum being used, Azumarill gives up half its HP in exchange for its Attack rising by 12 stages, almost certainly maxing it out as far as it'll go.

Now, Now we get the unstoppable beast that is this blue bunny

But wait, Half HP gone?! Isn't that just asking for trouble? Well no actually, this is where the 244 HP EVs comes in. 

You see, with that specific number of EVs, Azumarill is guaranteed to lose exactly 50% of its HP with Belly Drum - with the full 252 it goes up to about 52-54% - and that's what we want. Because when its HP is at exactly 50% or below, the Sitrus Berry activates which brings it's HP back up to 75%, which is as safe as you're ever gonna get with this strategy.

So now we have access to a hopped up-on-sugar bunny with a good amount of HP, how do I wreck the opposition?

For a Double battle (which is what I'm basing this on) it is super important that there's synergy between all your pokemon. It's also incredibly important to run Protect on almost everything, as there are bound to be turns you'll wanna ride out with patience. With that justification in place, let's move to Aqua Jet.

Normally, Aqua Jet's only saving grace is that it's a priority move, so even if it's weak as shit, it still lets you deal damage first. Now with Azumarill going Super Saiyan, you have access to a potential OHKO with Aqua Jet. It's FANtastic! Watch as people quiver in fear while you squirt water everywhere!

As for the last move, that's totally up to you, but I like to opt for a Fairy type move just for coverage. There's no shortage of dragons in the meta, and having a Duracell Fairy Bunny on steroids is just as good as anything else to deal with them.

As this is already getting too long, I'll save my thoughts on Raichu and why the synergy between these two is so strong for next time, but hopefully this gave you a small insight into how you should be approaching building a team.