Pok�mon of the Week

Arceus, The Alpha Pok�mon. It is said to have emerged from an egg in a place where there was nothing, then shaped the world.According to the legends of Sinnoh, this Pok�mon emerged from an egg and shaped all there is in this world. It is told in mythology that this Pok�mon was born before the universe even existed. It is described in mythology as the Pok�mon that shaped the universe with its 1,000 arms.

Arceus is easily one of the best Pokemon in the game, being deified as the creator of all Pokemon in the story arc of DPP. It has the highest base stat total of any Pokemon so far, with 120 in every stat, meaning it can serve pretty much any role. Having a massive movepool to go with that as well makes Arceus an extremely versatile Pokemon that you can never be quite sure of what it'll do. But the main contributor to Arceus' ability to do whatever it wants is in fact its ability Multitype, changing its type depending on the Plate item it holds. And with its 100 base power Judgment move to play with (becomes whatever type Arceus is), it makes it extremely formidable. Several of Arceus' forms hold high spots in usage in the Ubers tier, and for a very good reason. This article will focus on Arceus-Normal, which is easily the best revengekiller in Ubers as well as probably the best physical attacker in the tier.

Multitype: Changes Arceus' type depending on what plate it is holding, as well as preventing item theft / switching, a great ability that allows Arceus to be extremely flexible.

-Swords Dance
-Extremespeed
-Earthquake / Brick Break / Recover
-Shadow Claw / Shadow Force / Recover
Item Attached: Silk Scarf / Lum Berry / Life Orb
Ability: Multitype
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

This set is one of the few that focuses on Arceus' physical side, and also has the option of using different items. Swords Dance boosts Arceus' attack to even higher levels, making it able to sweep through even more defensively oriented Pokemon. Extremespeed is a strong STAB move that also has priority, usually superseding other priority as well thanks to having a +2 priority, making Arceus a deadly revenge killer as well as being able to get a hit in on almost everything before they can. The next slot goes to whatever you think beats Steels better, with Earthquake hitting most Steels for higher damage, and Brick Break providing extra damage against Ferrothorn as well as hitting Skarmory, although being weaker than Earthquake on the others. Recover is an option for reliable recovery, allowing Arceus to stay around for much longer after it has gotten a boost, and can nullify the recoil damage from Life Orb (if you use it). The last slot goes to the move that beats Ghost types, with Shadow Claw being more reliable but weaker, and Shadow Force being stronger but requiring a charge up turn, meaning a switch in could stop it. Once again, Recover is an option if you believe you do not need this coverage. The choice for items is either Silk Scarf, which will boost the power of Extremespeed, Lum Berry which will eliminate a status problem if Arceus becomes inflicted with one, and Life Orb which boosts all moves but with the drawback of 10% recoil.

-Return
-Recover
-Will-o-Wisp / Reflect
-Roar / Perish Song
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Multitype
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)

This set focuses more on Arceus-Normal's bulk, using both its stats and its movepool to its advantage. Being one of the best defensive walls in Ubers, it must have some things going for it. Return is its STAB move that prevents it from being Taunt bait, and also allows it to beat certain Pokemon that are weaker without having to worry about waiting for status or phazing them. Recover is there for recovery (obviously), and helps Arceus to tank hits and heal off the damage. Will-o-Wisp is the preferred choice for the third slot, handling most of the physical attackers of the tier. The reason that Reflect is an option is because of Will-o-Wisp's shaky accuracy as well as Fire types like Ho-Oh and Blaziken being immune to Will-o-Wisp. Roar is useful for phazing out set up sweepers, especially physical attackers that have been hit by Will-o-Wisp or need more power to nullfy Reflect. Perish Song is a decent option for this slot as well, as it pretty much ensures an eventual switch..

Aqua Tail, Dragon Claw, Stealth Rock, Stone Edge, Thunder Wave, Toxic, Trick
Aqua Tail is very effective under Rain (which is common thanks to Kyogre), and hits Pokemon like Groudon, Ho-Oh, Tyranitar, and Excadrill for decent damage (although its other coverage is generally better).
Dragon Claw is pretty situational, but does handle things like Palkia, both Giratinas, Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem-W on the SD set.
Stealth Rock could be used on the bulkier Arceus set, though what you would use it over would be a sacrifice whatever you picked.
Thunder Wave can be used over Will-O-Wisp to help cripple any sort of sweeper, as well as having better accuracy, although it'll make Arceus more of a target for physical attackers, especially Groudon.
Toxic allows Arceus to deal with several walls like Giratina and Lugia, although this does mean it loses out on WIll-o-Wisp to hit bulky Steels like Ferrothorn, bulky Dialga and Skarmory.
Trick is usable on a Choice Band Arceus set, allowing you to stick some opponent with it (generally either a support Pokemon or a special sweeper) .

Arceus fills the same function here as it does in Singles, although it is banned from most formats such as VGC where Doubles and Triples occur, so it's unlikely that you'll need to be prepared for it, unless you're doing this in Ubers.

To be honest, this is more of a question of what would benefit from having Arceus as a partner rather than the other way around, with Arceus-Normal being on so many teams, it really doesn't need anything to support it.

Countering Arceus-Normal is a problem, as there really is not a single true counter to it (outside of maybe Unaware Quagsire), but the best checks to it are Giratina, Lugia, and Skarmory, which all can usually take a hit, especially if Arceus has left off some coverage in favor of Recover. Either phazing it out or Toxicing it work the best, as phazing eliminates its boosts, and inflicting it with Toxic means it can't last forever. Also managing to get a Brun on it is an excellent way to makes it manageable, and is generally possible with another Arceus such as Arceus-Ghost or Arceus-Steel. The bulkier set of Arceus-Normal is also a pretty good check to the Arceus-Normal SD set. Beating the Bulky Arceus-Normal set is generally done by Pokemon that are either ridiculously power on the Special side (Kyogre, Mewtwo, etc), or by physical attackers that avoid Will-O-Wisp (Ho-Oh, Lum Groudon, etc).

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game

FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game

Colosseum/XD:
Not in game

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Event only

HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Event only

Black/White:
Event only

Black 2/White 2:
Event only