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CONTACT PAYMENT METHOTS TRAINED

We have listed ALL of the locations of monetary items in PRO. We've calculated the money gain and taken screenshots and written down the location of all these items: Pearl, Big Pearl, Nugget, Stardust, Star Piece, Big Nugget, Big Mushroom, Small Mushroom. As an extra, I am also listing Rare Candy, since they seem to be of everyone's interest and they're insta sellable on the PROMarket. I've gone through the entire PRO Wiki and made an entire list of the places where the monetary items are. However, there's still a lot of items missing, missing info, and screenshots, and the previous guides for monetary items and hidden items are outdated and the pictures do not even work anymore. I've listed the places I've already been to and taken a screenshot of, but there's still a LOT to find out. I'd ask you all if you want to collaborate to come and help out to find the missing spots and the remaining screenshots for all the info we've gathered. I'm going to copy paste the list here and link the zip file with all my work for now. We are also missing the time frame in which these items respawn, as we are not 100% sure the Wiki info is correct since it's mostly outdated (some of these spots even changed). The guide is 99% done and can thus be considered complete, but it will be edited if any new findings appear or if anyone takes better screenshots of some areas. For now, pictures will be uploaded as attachments in the bottom of this post, and will be fixed and uploaded properly in the post itself. There are way too many pictures to be posted, so it would completely break the post order. We're constantly going to use the Hidden and Monetary Item Location Guide throughout this process: https://pokemonrevolution.net/forum/topic/132722-url ! Approximate Money Gain if you pick em all up. Big Nugget : 20k (x2 in total) = 40k Nugget: 5k (x10 in total) = 50k Pearl: 3k (x15 in total)= 45k Big Pearl: 9k (x6 in total) = 54k Stardust: 1.5k (x5 in total) = 7.5k Star Piece: 6k (x4 in total) = 24k Tiny Shroom: 1.5k (x1 in total) = 1.5k Total FIXED possible gain from grabbing everything: 369k Kanto Items Viridian City Rare Candy: Bottom side after the bridge. - 7 days. Viridian Forest Rare Candy; Behind the tree next to the maze. - 14 days. Mt Moon B1F Star Piece: South from the team rocket guy down the first ladder. - 14 days. Route 3 Stardust: In the first dig spots at the beggining of the route, it's in the northwestern rock. - doesn't respawn. Route 12 Rare Candy: South from the Camper Justin pokeball, 2 tiles down from it. - 14 days. Route 16 Rare Candy (Bicycle needed): Pokeball. - 14 days. Route 17 Rare Candy: East of Cue Ball Corey, between the rightmost pillars. - doesn't respawn. Seafoam B1F Pearl: Southeast from westmost B2F Ladder, tall stalagmite. Credits to Waleed1301 for the picture! - doesn't respawn. Seafoam B3F Pearl: East of the westmost tall stalagmite from the B2F ladder. - doesn't respawn. Seafoam B4F Nugget: Centermost stalagmite of the island reachable from the second eastmost B3F ladder. - doesn't respawn. Note: the location is different for each player. Route 27 Rare Candy: Left of the tree with an axe on it, near Johto Falls. - doesn't respawn. Kanto Extra Items Cerulean Cave 1F Nugget: Pokeball. - respawns, 14 days Cerulean Cave B1F Nugget: Rock smash some rocks and you will find it. Credit to Ashes55! Doesn't respawn. Ceru Cave 1F Rare Candy: Just when you enter, between the water and the rocks above the staircase in the entrance. - 7 days Love Island Diamond Domain Cave Rare Candy: Pokeball. - Doesn't respawn (for some reason) Island One Treasure Beach Starpiece: Next to the old man, under umbrella. - Doesn't respawn. Island One Kindle Road: In the thin line to the left of the saunas, hidden Nugget at the bottom of the sand - Doesn't respawn. Island Five Stardust: Rock to the left of the bridge, on the beach. - Doesn't respawn. Island Five Meadow Pearl: In the beach, the leftmost shell. Doesn't respawn. Island Five Chrono Chross Nugget: Behind a tree. - Doesn't respawn. Water Path Pearl: In the middle of the route, in the sand castle, - Doesn't respawn. Island Six Big Nugget: It's in the cave you have to go through while doing the Meowth Quest. Pokeball. - Doesn't respawn. Vulcan Island Shore Rare Candy: Enter the Vulcan Path, go to the bottom left, climb up the stairs, exit to the south. Next to the boss. - Can't check if it respawns. Vulcan Forest Rare Candies: Next to the northern exit. - Same as above. Johto Items Violet City Rare Candy: Behind the gym sign. - doesn't respawn Route 35 Nugget: Surfing to the left, below the berry tree patch. - doesn't respawn Burned Tower Floor 2 Nugget: In the top left center rocks. - doesn't respawn Bell Towe Rare Candy: In the last floor before Ho-Oh, behind the pillar. - doesn't respawn. Mt Mortar B1F Rare Candy: North East Corner Pokeball. - doesn't respawn. Forest Pit Rare Candy: small rock west and north from Halley. - doesn't respawn. Route 39 Nugget: To the lampost next of Sentret. - doesn't respawn. Olivine City Rare Candy: In a rock in front of the Lighthouse. - doesn't respawn Olivine City Pearl: In the rightmost tile in the horizontal fence to the southeast of the gym. - doesn't respawn Johto Extra Items Route 49 Rare Candy: In the Southmost Island. - doesn't respawn. Mt Silver 2F Rare Candy: In the central rock in the northern exit. - doesn't respawn. Ruins of Alph Rare Candy: In the interior south west corner. - doesn't respawn. Ruins of Alph Rare Candy: In the northwest one. - doesn't respawn. Hoenn Items Oldale Town Rare Candy: Under the pokecenter. respawns every 7 days Meteor Falls B1FR Stardust: Below tess. doesn't respawn New Mauville Rare Candy: South of the stairs. respawns every 7 days Fortree City Tiny Mushroom: Below the bridge on the bottom right.- Doesn't respawn Shoal Cave High Tide Entrance Room Star Piece: To the left of the entrance, on a rock. Doesn't respawn Sootopolis City Rare Candy: Next to the Poke Mart. Requires Rock Smash. - Doesn't respawn Granite Cave B2F Rare Candy: Pokeball in the middle of the way - Respawns every 7 days. Route 105 Pearl and Big Pearl: Check the shells in the islands. - Doesn't respawn. Route 106 Stardust: Near the Granite Cave eastern wall. - Respawns every 7 days. Route 108 Pearls: Next to the first isolated rock in the center of the route from the west. Respawns every 7 days. Route 108 Rare Candy. Behind the palm tree in the north-westmost island. Respawns every 7 days. Route 109 Big Pearl: In the middle of water west of Peeko Sailor's boat Respawns every 7 days. Extra: Route 109 PP UP from the Route 108 exit. Respawns every 7 days. Route 110 Rare Candy: At the north end of the cycling road, just before going up the platform. Respawns every 7 days Route 116 Pearl: North of the tree maze part. Requires Cut. Doesn't respawn. Route 121 Nugget: Beyond the northmost fence in the eastern part of the route. Requires Cut. Doesn't respawn. Route 124 Pearl: In the south-eastmost divespot. doesn't respawn. Route 128 Pearl: In the south-east dead-end of the main area, accessible from Route 127 Underwater. Doesn't respawn. Route 127 Rare Candy: Top Left left of bird keeper Byron behind one of the trees. - doesn't respawn. Route 132 Rare Candy: On the westmost palm tree in the islands on the southwest part of the route. Doesn't respawn. Route 135 Pearl: On top of the mountain on the east side of the bridge connecting middle islands. Doesn't respawn. Hoenn Extra Items Nap Cave B1F Nugget: On a small crystal near the south-west corner of B1F. Doesn't respawn. Nap Cave B1F Rare Candy: On a small crystal in the center east of B1F. Doesn't respawn. Secret Nap Area Pearl: In the far east of the beach. Doesn't respawn. Nap Shore Pearl: In the shell from the exit to Route 49. Doesn't respawn. Valley Of Steel Eastern Peak Rare Candy: It's behind a tree. Doesn't respawn. Valley Of Steel Western Peak Rare Candy: It's behind a tree. Doesn't respawn. Sinnoh Items + Extra Items Canalave City Big Pearl: Invisible under the big different tree, reach it by surfing south from the boat. Respawns every 7 days. Mt Coronet South 2F Star Piece: In the east-most room accessible from the eastmost ladder of 3F. - Doesn't respawn. Mt Coronet 6F Rare Candy: On the north-eastmost rock. - Doesn't respawn. Pokemon Mansion Big Nugget: In the second western room from the entrance. - Doesn't respawn. Pokemon Mansion Rare Candy: After defeating Liam in the furthest western room from the entrance. - Doesn't respwn. Twinleaf Town Rare Candy: In the south-west of the town. Requires Surf. - Respawns every 7 days. Victory Road 2F Rare Candy: On the rock one tile north of the northmost rock smash rock in the south-east path.. Requires Rock Smash. Victory Road B1F Deep Big Pearl: After entering the maze part from the south, follow the path north, west, north, east, then go south one tile, on the rock to the east. Victory Road B1F Pearl:. From the south-westmost ladder, on the westmost accessible small rock before going down the stairs. Route 206 Rare Candy: In the north-west corner of the ground level, west of the Warward Cave - Respawns every 7 days. Route 208 Star Piece: Directly north of the Mt Coronet entrance, which requires to do a detour. - Doesn't respawn. Route 210 Nugget: On the large rock in the north-west part of the route, reachable by following the horizontal north bridge to the west. - Doesn't respawn. Route 212 South Stardust: In the south-east corner of the swamp part, south of Ranger Taylor. - Respawns every 7 days. Route 213 Big Pearl: On the south-eastmost small rock on the island in the south-east corner of the route. Requires Surf. - Respawns every 14 days. Route 215 Rare Candy: In the center north of the route, near Black Belt Nathaniel. Requires Cut. - Doesn't respawn. Route 217 Ice Stone: Behind a tree. (Credits to Waleed1301) Route 218 Rare Candy: In the north-east corner of the route. Requires Surf. Doesn't respawn. Route 220 Pearl: On the large rock two tiles right from SwimmerTrollrah, the southmost swimmer. - Respawns every 14 days. Route 222 Pearl: On the westmost large rock on the beach. - Respawns every 14 days. Extra: Route 222 2 PP UP next to Tuber Conner Fence - Respawns every 7 days. Route 224 Big Pearl: On the small rock next to Jingoss - Respawns every 14 days Route 225 Rare Candy: In the north-west of the route, directly west from Miner Elikike123. - Doesn't respawn. Route 228 Nugget: In the north-east corner, next to the north end of the long bridge. - Doesn't respawn. Pictures and Locations of each Hidden Item (all regions and side areas)

PRO PvP Viability Rankings by Jorogumo Welcome to the unofficial PRO PvP Viability Rankings thread, where we as a community can reflect on the current metagame in an attempt to accurately rank every single viable Pokémon. Everyone is encouraged to share their thoughts regardless of their level of expertise. Keep in mind that these rankings can never be entirely objective and that, as such, our opinions on the viability of several Pokémon may differ. Moreover, I am of the view that usage should not dictate viability. If you wish to look at usage stats, please check this thread instead. While we may disagree, what matters is maintaining civility and respect throughout our discussions. As a host, I will do my best to take into account everyone's thoughts. Currently, there is no ranking team responsible for updating the PRO PvP Viability Rankings as frequently as possible, but I deemed it necessary to provide the community with a freshly updated Viability Ranking post. I have submitted this list for review purposes to many players who have expressed a mix of agreements and disagreements over its content and I am thankful to all of them for their contributions. However, as I was understandably unable to satisfy everyone, I decided to keep the reviewers' names anonymous to avoid associating some of them with a list that they may not agree with. The following Pokémon are ranked in alphabetical order within each sub-tier: S Rank: S Rank A Rank: A+ Rank A Rank A- Rank B Rank: B+ Rank B Rank B- Rank C Rank: C+ Rank C Rank C- Rank I am unable to explain the reasoning behind every single placement, but I will try to break down some of the rankings whenever I have time. Please feel free to discuss any of the above rankings. Archived banners

Contact Details Ingame : Luckofgod Discord : Hung#4370 Aside from the in-game currency, we also accept the following for payments Coin Capsule Reroll Ticket Rare Candy Reroll Nature All pokemon I sell, you can give different price than suggested price Buyers from Silver Server are welcome but have the responsibility to transfer server TRAINED POKEMON UNTRAINED POKEMON POKEMON WITH AUCTION MY POKEMON SHOP

Hello, I mean I really like playing pro and making bosses it was a big challenge for me. But it seems that you changed the focus on the game, you no longer update the teams by adding new pokemon. limited battles to 20 weekly ,the game has 49 bosses, not fighting those 9 bosses bothers a little. I would like to suggest two ideas: The first is to decrease all bosses' prizes between 4k -8k and put the 49 bosses into battle. ex: Medium 12k-30k (8k-25k) Hard 20k-40k (16k-35k) The second option is to change the boss classes, having bosses that battle at intervals of 12 days( 5k -10k) , 15 days( 20k-30k) and 18 days ( random battles with pokemon ) more that 30k. I want to apologize if in any way I disrespected the great job you guys do. have a great week .

Sold Insta

Hello @DeIta and everyone, The pokemon Sassy Tyranitar has been force traded to the rightful winner @Belenos of the Silver server for 500k pokedollars. Have a nice day. Regards, Cecillon

Bump, we are still looking for active members, make sure to check us out.

sold

START 5K MIN RAISE 10K BID HERE OR DISCORD - @Wrick#0596 IN GAME - @Wrick TIME WILL BE- 48 hrs from 1st offer made Good luck everyone...

Hello, this would devalue the WQ a lot and also would give out way too many Mysterious Tickets. That's why we have to deny the suggestion. Right now, we have a maximum of 200 Mysterious Tickets and can work with that number. But overall, I think your quest ideas fit more in normal weekly or monthly quests with different rewards, your quest ideas are not bad.

Hello, theoretically something I wouldn't mind but it would require all clothes to be reworked and this won't happen, so I sadly have to deny it.

@Anurag2006 Hey, the weather durations are more or less already on my to-do list. The turns in the battle log are actually harder to do than it might look at first cause our battle code currently does not have turns per se. @CruelGreenStatus turn will probably never be displayed. It's always hard to draw a line whether it should be in the client or not but I do not think it's the clients job to show this. It's similar as showing super effective moves or even implementing the Showdown calculator in the client, possible but shouldn't be there.

-1 Not really possible, every clothing has an individual sprite for walking and mounts (3 frames per direction). If they were to add a new pose that would mean adding 12 new sprites for every existing clothing and that is just plain mad because of the amount of clothing the game already has.

personally -1 i just don't overall like the idea of adding running shoes but be implemented as a mount, it just seems off. the robe itself is already long and it covers up the characters feet mostly already, so adding these wouldn't affect much imo

All Pokemons are more or less negotiable just offer !!!!! Only Gold Server !!! Accept CC as 400k U Can Also Pm Me Ingame Name: Ikurashy GL & HF ALL 400k 450k 400k 400k 500k 400k 350k

An unhealthy Battle Bond: The Ash-Greninja case The other thread has quickly gone downhill and I am late to the party, so I decided to make a new thread instead, in hopes of getting more of you to notice this post and maybe read it. From what I have read, I can tell that some people are really underselling Ash-Greninja’s capabilities due to the presence of a few so-called counters and the fact that it does not activate Battle Bond without getting a kill. A Pokémon can still be ban-worthy even if it has checks and counters. Ash-Greninja was still extremely potent in SM/USUM OU. It was even ranked in S-tier for a while, until the final update before the end of USUM OU caused it to drop to A+. Keep in mind that this was in a metagame that was overprepared for it. A quick look at the SM OU Viability Ranking Thread, the USUM OU ULTRA Viability Ranking Thread, and the most recent USUM OU Viability Rankings can show us the impact that Ash-Greninja has had on the metagame while simultaneously maintaining an A+ (or higher) ranking throughout Gen 7 OU. Some of the most viable Pokémon in SM/USUM OU are able to put in work against it. For example, Toxapex stops it and can at least put down Toxic Spikes to punish it for using Spikes. Magearna can check it and either retaliate with a powerful hit or gain momentum with Volt Switch, although it cannot endlessly switch into it due to the lack of reliable recovery. Ferrothorn can also check it relatively well and trade Spikes with it, but it does not have reliable recovery, either. Faster threats, like Tapu Koko, can force it out before it activates Battle Bond. There are other countermeasures, like Tapu Lele’s Psychic Surge, which summons Psychic Terrain and effectively suspends Ash-Greninja’s Water Shuriken. While this might seem minor at first glance, it can be game-changing, potentially preventing Ash-Greninja from using its powerful priority move against a naturally faster threat or Choice Scarf user. I am not going to go through the entire viability list because it pertains to Smogon; however, it is important to understand the level of centralization caused by Ash-Greninja in Gen 7 OU. If you check some of the analyses from that metagame, you will find that many Pokémon were specifically EV’d to take on Ash-Greninja. Ferrothorn ran a heavily specially defensive spread with 252 HP EVs and 232 Special Defense EVs to ensure not getting 3HKO’d by Choice Specs Greninja’s Dark Pulse at full HP. Amoonguss also ran specially defensive sets, carrying either Black Sludge or even Assault Vest, with sufficient HP and Special Defense to check Ash-Greninja. A Calm nature was used in conjunction with 248 HP EVs and 204 Special Defense EVs to avoid the 2HKO from Choice Specs Ash-Greninja’s Dark Pulse. The Assault Vest set was able to check Ash-Greninja better, but the loss of Spore is suboptimal. Mantine maintained an OU niche by being able to survive the 2HKO from Choice Specs Ash-Greninja’s Dark Pulse if Stealth Rock is on the field. Granted, it was a good check to other threats, such as Volcarona, but it would have even less of a niche/purpose in OU if it did not check Ash-Greninja. Mega Venusaur exclusively ran 68 Special Defense EVs to survive two Dark Pulses from Choice Specs Greninja after Stealth Rock and prevent it from activating Battle Bond. Ash-Greninja forced some Pokémon to run more specially defensive spreads to remain viable; it made a few others viable in OU because they could check it; it hurt the viability of many Pokémon that proved unable to adapt to its presence. This is not surprising, as this is what a top-tier threat does. It was manageable, but it was still one of the best Pokémon throughout all of Gen 7 OU and the level of centralization that it generated clearly shows. There were definitely some gatekeepers, like Magearna and Toxapex, that kept several top-tier threats in check. Without those Pokémon, who knows what USUM OU would look like today? Having said that, PRO is not Showdown. We do not have to ban something for the sole reason that it is/was banned on Pokémon Showdown. Conversely, we do not have to keep something just because it is/was not banned there. Hopefully, PRO can have its own PvP Council and Suspect Test Process at some point. You can read this article to learn more about the former and this one to see how Suspect Tests started. So, why should Ash-Greninja be banned in PRO? 1. We lack sufficient offensive counterplay to Ash-Greninja. Ash-Greninja sports an incredible 399 speed tier, which outpaces the entire (viable) metagame. Even pre-Battle Bond transformation, it is still really fast, boasting 377 speed. While it is slower than Weavile, pre-Battle Bond Greninja does not get Pursuit-trapped as easily as its Protean counterpart, thanks to maintaining its Dark typing, thus effectively removing one of the few ways of limiting it on an offensive level. Either way, you cannot just let Battle Bond Greninja get a kill to revenge kill it with Weavile, since Ash-Greninja outspeeds it. Even if we had everything that Gen 7 OU had, not many (viable) Pokémon would be naturally faster, but we would, at the very least, have more Megas: Mega Lopunny, Mega Manectric, Mega Alakazam, Mega Aerodactyl, etc. You can take a look at the USM OU Speed Tiers and the newer version of that list. Offensively speaking, we would also be able to take advantage of Terrain boosts (e.g., Psychic Terrain to block Water Shuriken, Grassy Terrain for passive recovery…) and Pokémon that benefit from Terrains in general (e.g., Unburden Hawlucha with Electric/Grassy/Psychic Seed). Even small things like Tapu Koko outspeeding Greninja before its Battle Bond transformation matter because they can add up. Moreover, we would have more options for Choice Scarf users, like Keldeo, Kartana, and whatnot, as well as more Pokémon with strong priority moves, such as Mega Pinsir. As of right now, many of the viable Choice Scarf users, most notably Landorus-T, get destroyed by a Choice Specs-boosted Water Shuriken. Ash-Greninja does resist common priority moves, too, namely Sucker Punch, Bullet Punch, and Aqua Jet. I would also like to add something about the Mach Punch myth, that is, the assumption that Ash-Greninja will merrily let itself die to Mach Punch. If the priority users that are able to KO it take some chip, they run the risk of dying to a Choice Specs-boosted Water Shuriken. If you happen to let Battle Bond Greninja get a kill, you are potentially looking at something as absurd as this in rain: 252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja-Ash Water Shuriken (20 BP) (3 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Conkeldurr in Rain: 354-423 (100.8 - 120.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO. That is a guaranteed OHKO on Conkeldurr with a neutral priority move. Finally, the Pokémon that would be able to offensively check Battle Bond Greninja by switching into it and threatening to KO it are always scarce, but this is further exacerbated in PRO, since there are still a few missing pieces (e.g., Magearna, Keldeo, Tapu Bulu, Primarina…). Running a specially defensive Breloom that can get obliterated on the switch by a rain-boosted, Choice Specs-boosted Hydro Pump is not acceptable. The same goes for Assault Vest Azumarill, Black Sludge Toxicroak, Roost Hydreigon, specially defensive Kommo-o, any bulky Mega Gyarados, etc. This hurts the offensive efficiency of these Pokémon and does not even help them against unusual coverage moves or Protean Greninja. Chansey offense is also not the answer, because offensive teams optimally need to keep up momentum and pressure. Overall, even in an ideal setup, we would need as many offensive countermeasures as possible. We simply do not have sufficient offensive counterplay to Ash-Greninja, that is, a satisfactory amount of naturally faster Pokémon, Choice Scarf users, Priority users, and offensive Pokémon able to switch into it at least once. 2. Ash-Greninja can easily take advantage of its defensive switch-ins or just wear them down over time. Some of Ash-Greninja’s defensive checks cannot survive if Dark Pulse flinches them once (e.g., Gastrodon, Mantine…), while those with no reliable recovery cannot outheal the damage (e.g., Leech Seed Protect Ferrothorn) or heal up forever (e.g., Synthesis Mega Venusaur). Prior to activating Battle Bond, Greninja sometimes only needs minimal chip or support (in the form of Stealth Rock and Spikes) to achieve 2HKOs on would-be defensive checks. In fact, Greninja can set up hazards on the defensive switch-ins that it forces, due to them being Spikes bait most of the time. Many of Ash-Greninja’s most reliable defensive checks are forced to recover whenever they switch into one of its attacks, to ensure that they can check it throughout the match, thus being forced into a passive loophole that can easily be taken advantage of. In the end, Ash-Greninja can still make progress against these defensive countermeasures, either by setting up Spikes and wearing down the opposition or by softening up said Pokémon and allowing one of its teammates to take advantage of them. We still lack some key defensive checks that are able to reset Ash-Greninja’s progress (e.g., Tapu Fini can semi-reliably switch into Ash-Greninja and use Defog to remove Spikes). Furthermore, running a passive Pokémon like Chansey on offensive builds – or builds that suffer from momentum loss – is something that Ash-Greninja and its teammates always appreciate and effectively capitalize on. Aside from its standard STAB moves, Ash-Greninja can run viable coverage options. For example, pre-Battle Bond Ice Beam has a chance to 2HKO Assault Vest Tangrowth. The same applies to Amoonguss unless it carries an Assault Vest. Hazards turn these rolls into guaranteed KOs. Overall, while we do have some defensive countermeasures to Ash-Greninja, they are not satisfactory enough, because they do not prevent it from making steady progress throughout the match. 3. As a result, Ash-Greninja can slowly but steadily make consistent progress throughout the match, either until it is able to activate Battle Bond and sweep on its own or until it has sufficiently softened up the opposing team for one of its teammates. It is also hard to undo Ash-Greninja’s progress in PRO due to the nature of the (limited) aforementioned offensive and defensive counterplay. The combination of Ash-Greninja’s speed, its access to Water Shuriken, and its sheer power makes it an extremely punishing Pokémon if it ever manages to activate Battle Bond. In fact, if Ash-Greninja gets ahead, it makes comebacks exceedingly difficult for many teams. It is both good at gaining an advantage and keeping it or furthering it, due to the nature of its toolkit and the progress-making advantages that naturally come with it. 4. Ash-Greninja promotes passive (counter)play. It is true that the best way to handle Ash-Greninja is preventing it from activating Battle Bond in the first place. However, this goes both ways, as it heavily pressures the opponent into never allowing it to get a kill. This effectively means that its checks – some of which lack reliable recovery – are under extreme pressure to stay alive. The opponent can also be forced to keep an otherwise useless Pokémon alive even if it is at low HP, just for the sake of preventing Ash-Greninja from activating its Battle Bond, thus allowing it to dent the whole team instead. Given the lack of offensive countermeasures in PRO, Ash-Greninja can effectively force passivity due to the constant threat of a Battle Bond transformation and that of a subsequent sweep. This shows both throughout a match and in the teambuilder, where its strain, in conjunction with the limited counterplay, can force you to run Chansey, Protect Ferrothorn, and even some otherwise unenviable – not necessarily unviable – Pokémon, such as Mantine, or some unviable Pokémon, like Poliwrath. In a way, the mere presence of Ash-Greninja dictates a specific risk/reward scenario that forces the opponent to think twice about making risky plays. As a result, Ash-Greninja becomes really good at forcing passive patterns that can be capitalized on or taken advantage of with low-risk double switches. For example, you can gauge your opponent’s reaction once or twice to accustom them to a specific behavior before unexpectedly breaking the pattern (e.g., using Dark Pulse on the Chansey switch-in, switching out, using Dark Pulse on another Chansey switch-in, switching out again, then switching to something that can beat Chansey or take advantage of it instead of using Dark Pulse a third time). This is, of course, not exclusive to Ash-Greninja; however, it is further enhanced by the favorable risk/reward situation that it creates, the limited counterplay currently available in PRO, the necessity to run more than 1 answer for it, and the fact that it requires little to no team support to break through its so-called checks. 5. After activating Battle Bond, Ash-Greninja gets access to one of the most powerful priority moves in the game in Water Shuriken. Being only resisted by 3 types in Water, Grass, and Dragon (which are all hit by Dark Pulse), Water Shuriken is a devastating priority move, further boosted by Ash-Greninja’s incredible 153 base Special Attack. It is even more powerful in rain (cf. the earlier calculation against Conkeldurr at full HP) but does not need it to deal an obscene amount of damage to neutral targets. No one wants to read a wall of calculations, so let me just put things into perspective to give you a good representation of how powerful Ash-Greninja’s Choice Specs-boosted Water Shuriken is. After Stealth Rock, Ash-Greninja has a chance to OHKO Bisharp (252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja-Ash Water Shuriken (20 BP) (3 hits) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Bisharp: 225-264 (83 - 97.4%) -- approx. 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock) and Gengar (252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja-Ash Water Shuriken (20 BP) (3 hits) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Gengar: 210-252 (80.1 - 96.1%) -- approx. 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock) with a neutral priority Water move outside of rain. Offensive teams are most pressured into making sure that they are always out of range of a Water Shuriken sweep, because they have the hardest time preventing Greninja from activating Battle Bond. Ash-Greninja can use its strong priority move to either revenge kill somewhat healthy Pokémon with relative ease or clean up late game, as if having 399 speed in conjunction with those offensive stats in PRO’s current meta was not already enough! 6. Ash-Greninja forms unhealthy cores with other Pokémon and enables them by softening up their common switch-ins. These include (but are not limited to) Pokémon that appreciate hazards (e.g., Aegislash), Pokémon that can deter their removal (e.g., Defiant users like Bisharp and Thundurus), Pokémon that can beat Ash-Greninja’s usual checks (e.g., Mega Gallade, Breloom…), Pokémon that share checks with it and can overwhelm them with its help (e.g., Heatran, Gengar, Tornadus-T…), and even Pokémon that can bait in Ash-Greninja’s checks and cripple them (e.g., Knock Off Thundurus, Solar Beam Heatran…). 7. Ash-Greninja has access to Spikes, a move with limited distribution, which can immensely help it (and its teammates) in achieving important KOs. Spikes also allow Ash-Greninja to capitalize on the many switches that it forces to punish passive plays. In general, setting up even 1 layer of Spikes can go a long way. 8. The presence of Ash-Greninja makes Protean Greninja even better. Protean Greninja is actually able to beat many of the Pokémon commonly run to check Ash-Greninja. For example, it can surprise Ferrothorn with HP Fire, Gastrodon with HP Grass or Grass Knot, Mega Venusaur and Amoonguss with Extrasensory, Assault Vest Azumarill and Assault Vest Tangrowth with Gunk Shot, etc. More concretely, if you are running something like specially defensive Ferrothorn to better your match-up against Ash-Greninja, you are suboptimally equipped to handle Low Kick Protean Greninja. If you overprepare for Ash-Greninja, you leave yourself more vulnerable to Protean Greninja. 9. Ash-Greninja does not have to exclusively run a single set to be as efficient as possible in PRO’s metagame. Even in Gen 7 OU, some people used Waterium Z as a one-time nuke to a would-be Ash-Greninja check like Magearna, while also retaining the ability to switch moves. The Choice Specs set is the best because Ash-Greninja does not really need anything other than 2 STAB moves, a priority move, and either Spikes or extra coverage (e.g., Ice Beam), depending on the rest of the team. No matter what, the Choice Specs set is always effective at what it does, but expecting the same moves every single time can occasionally be a costly mistake. However, in PRO, we do not have the luxury to scout for uncommon or unusual options anyway. 10. Unlike what many people claim, Greninja is not extremely weak before activating Battle Bond. With Stealth Rock and just 1 layer on Spikes, it has a chance to 2HKO Blissey in rain: 252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey in Rain: 264-312 (36.9 - 43.6%) -- 41% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock, 1 layer of Spikes, and Leftovers recovery. Granted, Blissey will almost always be inferior to Chansey, at least until Heavy-Duty Boots become a thing (if they ever do). To put things into perspective, pre-Battle Bond Greninja has 103 base Special Attack and Kingdra has 95 base Special Attack. Both Pokémon typically run Choice Specs. 11. While Ash-Greninja is, by no means, a bulky Pokémon, we cannot pretend that it is frail to the point of dying to any attack in existence. Most of the time, you will need to attack it twice to kill it. It can survive +2 Sucker Punch from Adamant Life Orb Bisharp (+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Greninja: 218-257 (76.4 - 90.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO), Extreme Speed from Choice Band Dragonite (252+ Atk Choice Band Dragonite Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Greninja: 203-239 (71.2 - 83.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO), +6 Aqua Jet from Belly Drum Azumarill (+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Greninja: 219-258 (76.8 - 90.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO), U-turn from Choice Scarf Landorus-T (252 Atk Landorus-Therian U-turn vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Greninja: 228-270 (80 - 94.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO), Hydro Pump from Choice Specs Kingdra in the rain (252+ SpA Choice Specs Kingdra Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Greninja in Rain: 237-279 (83.1 - 97.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO), and the list goes on. 12. Ash-Greninja is overcentralizing to an unhealthy extent. It forces you to run a very limited pool of Pokémon that are able to check it. This point will prove truer if Ash-Greninja ends up not being banned, thus inevitably causing an unhealthy amount of overcentralization around Pokémon that it does not even necessarily lose to (cf. points 1 and 2). 13. The existence of Ash-Greninja hurts the viability of multiple playstyles. This is another point that would prove truer in the long term. Ash-Greninja, similarly to Protean Greninja, dismantles offensive builds. Over time, the metagame was able to (healthily or unhealthily) adapt to the latter; however, it is currently unable to deal with the former. Ash-Greninja is weak to fewer priority moves than Protean Greninja, since its typing always remains the same. Unlike its Protean counterpart, Ash-Greninja has 399 speed, which allows it to outpace Weavile. Moreover, as a Dark type, it is less prone to Pursuit trap. Unlike Protean Greninja, Ash-Greninja can make good use of Water Shuriken to circumvent some of its would-be revenge killers with minimal chip. It also forces offensive teams to modify their builds accordingly. For example, after a Dragon Dance, Dragonite can only outspeed Ash-Greninja with a Jolly nature while being unable to OHKO it with +1 Extreme Speed with an Adamant nature. A Jolly nature effectively entails a noticeable drop in power, which offensive teams require a lot. While Ash-Greninja can fit on balanced and bulky offensive builds, those still have a hard time dealing with it in general due to its ability to wear down or muscle through standard defensive backbones, while not caring about their offensive cores as much. Stall is able to handle most Ash-Greninja sets by somewhat reliably preventing it from activating Battle Bond thanks to being able to afford the momentum drain that comes from running Pokémon like Chansey and Alomomola, although it must be said that Ash-Greninja can still find a way to put down Spikes and make progress against those kinds of teams. Due to the overwhelming arguments against it, Ash-Greninja should be banned from PvP. This one is not even a close call. In my opinion, Battle Bond Greninja should be banned until we have almost everything else from Gen 7 OU. I truly believe that the sole addition of Toxapex would not be enough to make it less problematic, as this would result in heavy overcentralization. Being forced to pick one or two Pokémon from a very limited pool of options is unhealthy. We need as much offensive and defensive counterplay to Ash-Greninja as possible.