Pok�mon of the Week

Emboar, The Mega Fire Pig Pok�mon. It has mastered fast and powerful fighting moves. It grows a beard of fire.It can throw a fire punch by setting its fists on fire with its fiery chin. It cares deeply about its friends.

Emboar is a cool guy. I used to hate its design, but it has really grown on me. Especially its shiny form... it looks like some kind of boss genie. It also has that cool ability Reckless, which works well with its stupidly limited moveset. Sadly, Reckless is only available through the dream world, and hasn't actually been released yet. Oh well, Blaze is still... alright. Anyway, like Blaziken and Infernape, Emboar is Fire/Fighting. Unlike its Fire/Fighting brethren though, it is slow, has a load of HP, and a really, really, really bad movepool. Like... Blaziken's is pretty bad but... Emboar's is atrocious. Like... seven or so good physical moves, and literally five good special moves, at the most. There's no point in trying to run a support set for it. Even if it has the moves, it has awful defences, which is a shame with that giant HP. Oh well, it's still a pretty swish Pok�mon, but the worst of the Fire/Fighting starters by far.

Blaze: Blaze is cool. It can work well with Flare Blitz, but I'd rather have the instant damage from Reckless. As I have said though, Reckless doesn't technically exist yet, so Blaze is the best we have right now.
Reckless: boosts the damage of all recoil moves. Flare Blitz gets stupid strong, and Wild Charge gets a nice boost to take on bulky Waters, which will love to switch into you. It's a shame it doesn't get any other recoil moves, but it gets the important ones. Unfortunately, at time of writing it is not obtainable on Emboar.

- Bulk Up
- Flare Blitz
- Wild Charge
- Stone Edge / Assurance
Item Attached: Life Orb / Expert Belt / Leftovers
Ability: Reckless / Blaze
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

You really do want Reckless for this set, but Blaze does work. Anyway, Bulk Up boosts your Attack and Defence, although it is the Attack you should care about. Flare Blitz is your best move by far, with 180 base power counting STAB, and not counting Reckless, which makes it stupidly strong. Wild Charge is also good thanks to the recoil, although it'd still be good with Blaze... just not as good. Stone Edge helps handle stuff like Salamence, which resists Fire and isn't really hurt by your Electric attack. Assurance is a cool move that can really hurt switch ins whilst you have an entry hazard up.

- Flare Blitz
- Wild Charge
- Stone Edge
- Hammer Arm / Superpower / Earthquake / Assurance
Item Attached: Choice Band
Ability: Reckless / Blaze
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

Hit hard, switch out. That's how Choiced Pok�mon work. Emboar is no exception. It has a great base Attack, which is all a good Choice user needs. Flare Blitz is awesome power, and is especially strong when combined with Reckless, STAB and a Choice Band. Wild Charge is in the same boat, just without STAB. Stone Edge is your move to sort out Flying Pok�mon. Hammer Arm is a good move, as you get STAB and... who cares if you lose a stage of Speed when you have 177 Speed? Superpower is a great attack with 120 base power, but the awful side effect of lowering your Attack and Defence. If you think you will be switching a lot, it's a good move, just be careful. Don't stay in after using it. Earthquake covers similar types to Fighting, but has no drawbacks. Assurance is always an option.

- Fire Blast
- Grass Knot
- Focus Blast
- Scald / Hidden Power [Electric]
Item Attached: Choice Specs
Ability: Blaze
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 212 HP / 252 SAtk / 44 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)

A set without Reckless? Yep, not needed this time. Fire Blast is the most effective Fire attack in relation to power and accuracy. Grass Knot decimates bulky Waters, as most of them are fairly hefty, like Swampert and Suicune. Focus Blast can lower your opponent's Special Defence, has 120 base power as well as STAB, although it does have dire accuracy. Scald is a cool move that I'm really surprised Emboar gets access to, but whatever, it's all good. Chance to burn, 80 base power, beautiful. Hidden Power [Electric] can be used to take on other bulky Waters, that may be lightweight or Gyarados.

- Flame Charge
- Flare Blitz
- Wild Charge
- Stone Edge / Superpower / Earthquake
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Reckless / Blaze
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 64 HP / 252 Atk / 192 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

A set designed to let Emboar sweep. Flame Charge is Emboar's only way of boosting its Speed, outside of Choice Scarf. Flare Blitz hits hard. Wild Charge covers Waters. Stone Edge hurts Flying types, Superpower is the only Fighting move worth using, and Earthquake is just phenomenal. No drawbacks, covers similar types to Superpower, and is great in general.

Boarn to be the best
44 Speed outruns Skarmory and other base 70s. Max Attack gives you maximum damage output. The rest in HP helps with general bulk. You can add more Speed to outrun Adamant Tyranitar, but is it worth it?

Pignition
Exactly the same as the Bulk Up set. You could run max HP, or you could add more to Speed. It's your choice.

Nitrous Hogcide
You could use less Speed, but Jolly with 192 EVs gives you the Speed to outrun all base 115s after Flame Charge. Max Attack so you can deal as much damage as possible, with the rest in HP because... all HP is worth it.

Low Sweep, Brick Break, Cheer Up, Curse, Head Smash, Heat Crash, ResTalk, Substitute, Taunt, Toxic, Yawn
Brick Break is a little stronger than Ankle Sweep and breaks through screens... but I'd rather use a power move.
Cheer Up boosts both Attack and Special Attack, so if you can pass some Speed to Emboar, you could run a cool mixed set... I guess.
Curse is a worse version of Bulk Up, but it is more effective under Trick Room... I dunno, it's an option.
Head Smash works amazingly if Emboar has Reckless. With the boost from Reckless, Head Smash can do considerable damage, moreso than the Stone Edge from a Tyranitar. However, it's not yet available.
Heat Crash works well with Emboar's weight, but I'd rather just use Flare Blitz, regardless of the ability.
Low Sweep is alright... just... it's so weak..
ResTalk works well with Bulk Up and Emboar's great HP, but eh... I can't see it being too effective.
Substitute can lead to a set up sweep, and with Emboar's HP you can have strong dolls to protect you.
Taunt is always a great move... shame Emboar is so slow though.
Toxic could be useful... on a support set... to hit a switch in designed to counter you. Why would you bother with support when Emboar has such awful defences?
Will-O-Wisp inflicts burn. Uh... yep. That's about it. Now really worth using on Emboar.
Yawn is another status Emboar can use, acting as a phasing attack or a sleep inducing move.

Weak to Surf and Earthquake, with few options worth considering in multiple Pok�mon battles. There's Fire Pledge, Earthquake, Rock Slide and... that's about it. Honestly, Emboar brings little to nothing to the table. I don't know what else I can say about it... use it if you want, but there really is little it can do well in multiple Pok�mon battles.

Being weak to common types sucks. Water and Ground hold two of the most common moves in the game; Surf and Earthquake. These moves are so common it's ridiculous. To avoid these attacks, run something that can beat these Pok�mon types. Ideally, something that can either capitalise on the counters switching into Emboar's strong attacks or something that gives Emboar an opportunity to destroy something. Salamence, Gyarados, Dragonite, Zapdos, Celebi, Shaymin, there are plenty of Pok�mon that work. I personally think Emboar is better as punching holes in defences rather than aiming to finish the opponent off. If you can hit your opponent hard each time they switch a Pok�mon in, you will be doing your job. After everything has been weakened by repeated Flare Blitz, sacrifice Emboar and dump a fast, hard hitting sweeper to finish the opponent off.

Something with such good Attack is difficult to switch into. You'd straight away look to bulky Waters, but be very careful as the Fighting attacks will still hurt, as well as Wild Charge really damaging your aqua counters. Gyarados, Swampert, Suicune, Jellicent, there are plenty of Water Pok�mon that work. Despite Emboar being part Fighting, Heatran works well, as most Emboar will be spamming Flare Blitz. Salamence can Intimidate and resist most of Emboar's attacks, which is cool. Running with such low Speed, pretty much everything in the universe ever can outrun Emboar. Outrun it and hit it on its weakest defensive stat... so... both. Surf, Waterfall, Earthquake, you only need to have 167 Speed to outrun minimum Speed Emboar. It isn't hard to take it down... just switch in safely. It isn't the most dangerous Pok�mon out there, and is easily the worst of the Fire/Fighting starter trio. However, it can still be effective, especially with that great Attack stat. Think before you switch something in and you should do fine.

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game.

FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game.

Colosseum/XD:
Not in game.

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Not in game.

HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Not in game.

Black/White:
Evolve Pignite