Pok�mon of the Week

Accelgor, The Shell Out Pok�mon. When its body dries out, it weakens. So it wraps a membrane around itself for protection while it spits poison. Having removed its heavy shell, it becomes very light and can fight with ninja-like movements.

Accelgor's design doesn't give any impression of what it can do, which is surprising to most. As many are surprised to discover, Accelgor is one of the fastest Pokemon in the game with its base 145 Speed. Along with this jaw-dropping Speed, Accelgor has a decent base 100 Special Attack stat. It also has a decent movepool, with both good STAB moves as well as a variety of coverage, making it difficult to play around for its tier, and also is known for being one of the best spikers in the game because of its Speed. It does have its downfalls however. Accelgor�s defenses are absolutely horrid as many attacks would OHKO it even at full health. Plus, although its Special Attack is decent, it really isn't high enough to straight up OHKO anything much. Accelgor can hit fast but not hit hard. Basically, Accelgor has a monstrous Speed for any tier, and is one of the better Pokemon at laying Spikes, although it is rather frail.

Hydration: Heals all status effects at the end of each turn if Rain is present. This is extremely helpful when it comes to paralysis when an opponent intends to slow down Accelgor, although you'll need Rain support (which in lower tiers means a Rain Dance user).
Sticky Hold: This blocks an opponent from removing Accelgor�s item. This only protects against Knock Off, while Trick can still operate normally and thus this ability is not particularly useful.
Unburden: Increases Accelgor�s Speed when its item is used / lost, not too useful because Accelgor is already extremely fast. Maybe if its opponent was at +3 speed would this have a reasonable use, although it can be handy in outrunning Scarf users I guess. .

-Bug Buzz
-Focus Blast
-Hidden Power [Rock]
-Spikes / Giga Drain
Item Attached: Life Orb / Choice Specs
Ability: Hydration
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)

Accelgor's main job with this set is to serve as an offensive Special Attacker. Bug Buzz is strong STAB and hits many Pokemon for neutral damage. Focus Blast hits Steel and Rock types who otherwise resist Bug Buzz, while HP Rock hits Flying, Fire, and other Bug types for super effective damage. The choice for the last slot is between Spikes and Giga Drain, Giga Drain being additional coverage against Pokemon like Quagsire, Poliwrath, and Lanturn, while Spikes is a good option for constant residual damage until the Spikes get spun away. The last choice also depends on what item you choose to use, with Life Orb being able to do both, while Choice Specs leans more towards using Giga Drain. The choice between the two items is the same as it always is, more power and no recoil with Choice Specs or being able to use more than one move with Life Orb.

-Spikes
-Bug Buzz
-Focus Blast / Hidden Power [Rock]
-Final Gambit
Item Attached: Focus Sash
Ability: Hydration
EVs and Nature:
EVs:252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)

This set works amazingly as a lead, as Accelgor's high base speed allows it to set up Spikes and do whatever it wants without having to worry about its opponents too much. Spikes is a great hazard, and at least 2 layers will generally get up thanks to Accelgor's Focus Sash. Bug Buzz is strong STAB while Focus Blast and HP Rock serve to hit different threats and both provide coverage. Final Gambit can be used if you want to get rid of anything when you're at full health, and serves as a good suicide counter to many threats that you otherwise wouldn't want to deal with. Focus Sash as mentioned earlier allows for more layers of Spikes to be put up, while the EVs ensure that you have maximum HP which allows you to OHKO most of the tier with Final Gambit at full health.

-Substitute
-Bug Buzz / Focus Blast
-Encore
-Baton Pass / Bug Buzz / Focus Blast
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 208 HP / 48 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)

This is a more gimmicky set as your opponent will likely be expecting different moves (mainly Spikes) on Accelgor, although this is more viable than most. Substitute shields you from whatever your opponent was planning on doing, and gives you a free hit if they switch out or try to set up on you. Bug Buzz and Focus Blast both serve to hit different threats, while Bug Buzz gets STAB and Focus Blast has a higher base power. Encore is to trap set up Pokemon or stall Pokemon in some move that they can't afford to get Encored into (Leech Seed, Swords Dance, etc.), giving you more turns to either switch out to a better counter or to attempt to KO. The last slot depends on what else you want Accelgor to do. Baton Pass allows you to give a Substitute to another Pokemon, or you can use the other coverage move that you skipped in the first choice. The EVs are to allow Accelgor to make five Substitutes instead of four from full health, and this can be changed to accommodate more power if you were to use 2 attacking moves.

Acid Armor, Agility, Curse, Energy Ball, Hidden Power, Protect, Quick Attack, Recover, Sludge Bomb, Toxic, U-turn, Yawn
Acid Armor works well with Baton Pass as you can pass the Defense boosts to whatever you want.
Agility fills the same role as Acid Armor, just passing a different type of boost.
Curse also works in a similar way, though the Speed drops will be harder to deal with depending on how your Baton Pass team is built.
Energy Ball can be used alternatively to Giga Drain, although the loss of some recovery may be detrimental.
Hidden Power can be used the same way as it can on any special sweeper, filling in for extra coverage if you want to cover a different set of threats.
Protect also serves the same function as it does on most Pokemon, allowing you to see what your opponent's next move would be or shield you from some attack.
Quick Attack can be used for priority if you want to revenge kill a very fast Scarfer that is at very low health.
Recover can be used for...well, recovery, although Accelgor isn't bulky enough to take a hit after it recovers generally.
Sludge Bomb can be used for solid neutral coverage if you want, although Accelgor's other coverage moves generally hit everything Sludge Bomb does and more.
Toxic can be used very well as Accelgor's base 145 Speed allows it to set it up on almost anything it wants to.
U-turn can help Accelgor pivot out of dangerous situations (can even probably be used over Baton Pass on the Substitute set if you don't plan on Passing the Subs).
Yawn can be used similarly to Toxic, though Yawn allows Accelgor to force many Pokemon to switch while it can do whatever it wants in that free turn.

Because of its monstrous speed, Accelgor finds it�s place in Doubles and Triples as one of the best spikers in the metagame. However due to it�s terrible defenses, it won�t be alive for long in the battle, especially in this format when two Pokemon have the opportunity to attack it.

Anything that can use Rapid Spin will help Accelgor survive longer, and a Spin Blocker such as Rotom or Dusknoir can be very useful in keeping Accelgor's Spike layers around. .

Accelgor is walled by most Specially Defensive walls, the foremost being Cryogonal, as it can also spin away Accelgor's Spikes. Drapion can also shrug off multiple hits from Accelgor while either Taunting it or OHKOing it. Mandibuzz can do the same, either Taunting or Brave Birding. Most Fire, Flying, and Ghost types will be able to handle Accelgor, although Fires and Flyings have to watch out for HP Rock. Status and priority also beat Accelgor, as Thunder Wave nerfs its best stat, while priority off of Pokemon such as Extremespeed Entei can outright OHKO Accelgor. Basically hitting Accelgor usually leaves it crippled if not KO'd.

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game

FireRed/LeafGreen:

Colosseum/XD:
Not in game

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Not in game

HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Not in game

Black/White:
Evolve Shelmet

Black 2/White 2:
Evolve Shelmet