Battle Moveset

A Good Moveset for Shiftry would have to be this:

Attacks:

Solar Beam
Sunny Day
Explosion
Hidden Power [Ice / Fire]

Items Attached:

Leftovers OR
Lum Berry

Preferred Nature:

Mild/Rash.

Strategy Using Shiftry

Generally the most commonly used Shiftry set and usually the most effective. Switch into something that'll need to run from Shiftry, fire up Sunny Day and go for a sweep. HP Fire benefits from Sunny Day and can do a good job against Steel types while HP Ice will protect you from Dragons trying to ruin your sweep. Either way you won't be able to cover yourself against both so pick whichever one your team has the most difficulties handling. Explosion serves as a way to take down something before you faint as well as serving as a way to take down a Blissey or Snorlax that keeps blocking attempts to sweep.

When using Shiftry it's low defence will force you to play to it's advantages, namely it's immunity to Psychic attacks and it's six resistances: Water, Electric, Grass, Ground, Ghost, Dark. Since it won't be taking too many hits, even those resisted, you can go with a Lum Berry to give you an extra buffer against surprise statuses (such as a chance Paralysis from Thunderbolt).

EV Corner:

EVs: 248 Atk / 8 Spd / 252 SAtk
Mild Nature (+SAtk, -Def) / Rash Nature (+SAtk, -SDef)

A ridiculously simplistic set-up for Shiftry EVs, with 8 EVs and a Sunny Day boost it can outrun almost everything, although with so many spare EVs this is merely the bare minimum. With 20 Speed EVs it can reach 201 Speed, enough to outrun Pokémon who linger at 200 for a Speed boost to reach 300. With 44 Speed EVs it can reach 207 Speed, enough to outrun Suicune in case you ever find yourself wanting to get a jump on it (and you may do). The other speed marker would probably be 222 (104 Speed EVs) to outrun max speed Tyranitar. Of course you could always settle for the 8 speed and just max out Attack to get the strongest possible Explosion or place some EVs to one of the Defences or HP to make it more durable. Always remember that when using Hidden Power to make adjustments to the EV set-up to make up for any lost Speed IVs.

Other Optional Sets

Shiftry @ Leftovers / Choice Band / Lum Berry / Salac Berry
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Brick Break
- Shadow Ball
- Swords Dance / Quick Attack / Fake Out
- Explosion

Fairly obvious how this set works. Even though Shiftry lacks any form of physical STAB it has a very good Attack stat and reasonable speed. With Sword Dance it's good attack stat becomes great and very capable of bringing down some of the toughest Pokémon and going for a straight sweep or with Choice Band it has the potential to pull off hit-and-run KOs, the main thing limiting Shiftry is it's Speed, while it's decent it is still outrun by most sweepers. If you get lucky and catch some of your opponent's (or your own) Sunny Day however that problem is sorted. In OU you need to watch out for Skarmory who'll completely wall this set, it may be worth considering using Magneton for that potential situation.

Other Optional Moves

Synthesis, Extrasensory, Giga Drain, Substitute, Leech Seed, Amnesia, Growth. Synthesis is a recovery move but Shiftry can't take all that many hits anyway that the turn and move slot would probably be wasted. Extrasensory is an extra Special Attack but Psychic attack don't cover too many of Shiftry's counters so it's not particularly useful. Giga Drain is an option over Solar Beam for Special sets that don't use Sunny Day. Substitute is a move every Pokémon has but it's generally a good move, especially on Shiftry, blocking statuses and offering a buffer is always useful on a sweeper. Leech Seed, Amnesia and Growth are just generally good moves without much use on Shiftry.p> Strategy Against Shiftry

Since most Shiftry's are reliant on Speed paralysis is a good start for bringing down Shiftry. In most cases it'll be 1 or 2 KOed when hit with a move it's weak to, especially in the case of Bug attacks since it has a 4x weakness to them. Since the 'Sunny-Beam' set is reliant on Sunny Day using other weather effects can nullify the set, Tyranitar's Sandstream is very effective at this purpose but Rain-Dancers also offer the possibility. The Sunny-Beam set will have a weak point for either Steel or Dragon types depending on the Hidden Power Shiftry uses although Dragons should watch out for it's potential to Explode. If you can predict well you can switch in something resistant or immune to Explosion which is a short way to get Shiftry out of play.

Contest Moveset

A good Contest Moveset for Shiftry would have to be this for the Tough Contest best with Impish, Lax, Relaxed or Bold Nature:

Attacks:

Harden
Take Down
Bide
Pound

Items Attached:

Yellow Scarf

Strategy Using Shiftry

If you do the attacks in this following order you should have very few problems; 1st - Harden, 2nd - Take down, 3rd - Bide, 4th - Take down, 5th - Pound

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald Evolve Nuzleaf (RE) Trade from REXD (S) Colosseum & XD Trade from REXD (Col.) Evolve Nuzleaf (XD) Fire Red/Leaf Green Trade from REXD

Animé Appearences

Shiftry has had a few Animé Appearences. First, It kidnapped Nurse Joy to take care of a wounded Nuzleaf and in doing so, aggrivates Brock who insists on helping get Nurse Joy Back. After that, Tyson used one in his Hoenn League Match against Ash. After that, Frontier Brain Spenser also used one in his battle against Ash Episode 313: Jump For Joy! Episode 317: What You Seed Is What You Get! Episode 407: Choose It Or Lose It! Episode 408: At The End Of The Fray! Episode 433: From Cradle to Save! Episode 441: Ka Boom With A View!