[Guide] Competitive Analysis: Gellin

[shademonkey]

Writing in blue so it's more legible

Welp, Windos did Arbok already, so he gave me Gellin from his list!  How nice!  I have a soft spot for this giant, Grass and Electric, single cell organism that medium sized humans can ride since it was on my first team in Uranium!  Let's see what it can do outside of the story, shall we?



Look at the adorable thing.  It's awesome.  One of my favorite pokemon designs in Uranium by far.  But we're not here to hear me gush, we're here to analyze!  Incoming stats!

HP: 90
Attack: 35
Defense: 75
Special Attack: 120
Special Defense: 100
Speed: 85
Total: 505

Look at that.  That's an awesome stat spread.  Just enough bulk to take one or two physical hits, just enough speed to get by, enough special bulk to tank, and enough special attack to compete with Yatagaryu.  How about abilities?

Chlorophyll: Doubles speed when the weather is sunny
Solar Power (Hidden Ability, Unreleased as of 1.1.0): Increases Special Attack by 1.5 when the weather is sunny, but the pokemon loses 1/8 of their HP every turn this ability is active.

Fun stuff, sun teams.  How's it perform, though?

A Cell that Grows in Sunlight? (Sun Booster)
- Solar Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power (Varying types)
- Growth
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 Sp Attack, up to 80 Speed, rest in HP
Nature: Modest
Item: Life Orb/Leftovers


This set needs dedicated sun support to work, and not from Gellin itself.  This makes it a little awkward to use since the only pokemon with Drought in the current version of Uranium is Mega Archilles, and the sun only lasts 5 turns if set up by it.  You'll have to bring some dedicated Sunny Day and Heat Rock pokemon for this one.  Pull it off though, and you've got a monster on your hands.  Double Speed in the sun.  +2 special attack from Growth in the sun.  120 base power move with no drawbacks in the sun.  This is a very sun dependent set, if you couldn't tell already.

Before I continue, let me just say that Gellin seems to be designed as an anti-water pokemon.  If there's a water type, Gellin can hit it super effectively with one of its STAB moves (with the sole exception of Ludicolo).  Ground, Rock, and Flying types that are weak to its STAB moves also need to beware.  Unlike Neopunk, though, Gellin's STAB coverage is fairly lackluster, since more pokemon are resistant to them than weak to them.  Primarily dragon and grass types.

And that's what Hidden Power is for.  There's several types that you can make it to try and broaden your coverage options, but every option will leave you at the mercy of something that a different Hidden Power would have helped with.

- Fire roasts Metalynx, other Steel types not named Tracton, Ice types not named Fafninter, Grass types not named Coatlith or Frikitiki, and Bugs.  When Super Effective, it's also stronger than a neutral Thunderbolt and equal in strength to a neutral Solar Beam as long as the sun is up, unlike the other Hidden Power types. (lowers speed, defense, and special attack by 1 IV)

- Fighting still hits Metalynx, and also hits Fafninter, Tracton, and Actan. (lowers everything except Hp and attack by 1 IV)

- Ice hits all the dragons except Fafninter and Tracton, Grass types not named Frikitiki or Metalynx, and Gliscor. (lowers speed by 1 IV)

- Fairy hits all the dragons bar Tracton, hits some Dark and Fighting types, and annihilates Baariette. (All IVs 31, attack can be any odd number instead)

- Ground hits Chimaconda, Yatagaryu, M-Ampharos, and Tracton.  It also gives you a Super Effective weapon against M-Electruxo if Solar Beam is your only Grass move. (lowers special attack and special defense by 1 IV)

Pick your Hidden Power type carefully based on what team members you have.  It makes a massive difference for Gellin.

Now, as for EVs...this is where things get fun.  If you're running Chlorophyll, you don't need to run any speed while the sun is up.  That's right.  Zero.  Zip.  Nada.  Even if you're using a Modest Nature.  This is because base 85 speed with a neutral speed nature gives it a minimum of 206 speed at level 100.  Double that, and you have over 400 speed, which is enough to outspeed all unboosted Alpico.  Put in just a little speed investment of up to 80 speed, and you'll outspeed unboosted Mega Archilles while under the sun (provided it doesn't take advantage of the sun and Flame Impact your face off).  Forget trying to outspeed M-Inflagetah, Inflagetah, and non mega Archilles, though.  Those ones will DEFINITELY Flame Impact your face off, so don't even bother trying.

Remember, this is just against unboosted pokemon.  And while under the sun.  If you're facing another pokemon with Chlorophyll or the sun is not up, you need more speed investment than your opponent has to outspeed them.  Coatlith in particular is a worrying competitor for Gellin as a Chlorophyll user, as a modest Gellin needs 128 speed EVs to outspeed a Modest Coatlith with 0 speed investment and a 31 speed IV.  That 15 base speed difference and nature can make a huge difference when you actually have to worry about something outspeeding you, after all (not that Coatlith has much that it can do to Gellin.  But it can do more to Gellin than Gellin can do to it if the cell lacks a super effective hidden power, so...).

Solar Power is not very recommended for this set since you can't really afford to take a turn to set up Growth if you're losing 1/8 of your HP every turn, unfortunately.  You do have the option to add or take away as much speed in exchange for HP as you like, though.  The fastest pokemon in Uranium have a lot of freedom in the amount of speed they can invest in, after all.

I'm afraid we're not stressing enough on something really important here : how poorly Gellin fares when not under the sun. While it might seem tempting not to invest in speed since we're going to have it doubled under the sun, that would leave us with a SLOW pokemon without the sun. The EV investment has to be thought under normal conditions, not when the sun is up. The main reason is that sun setters might have it difficult to find an opportunity to do their job.

-Mega Archilles does forces a lot of switches, but cannot switch very often into even neutral hits. And you said it, since it can't hold a Heat Rock, its utility purposes are limited.
-Prankster Antarki and Whimsicott have it easier, but need to invest in bulk so they can work decently.
-If using a bulky Leafeon (ie with Leaf Guard and investment such as to make a good use of its 130 Defense BS) you could set up the sun and make a slow Baton Pass to safely bring Gellin in. The problem is that it shares its typing with the amoeba so it might be difficult to find an opening.

Plus, there's still the threat of Yatagaryu and Mega Electruxo ruining your (sunny) day.

In that respect, Gellin might find itself more often than not in a position where it can't use a two-turn attack and gets outsped by pokemon that it would otherwise deal with ease. I would make calcs to prove my point, but there's also the problem of factoring which Hidden Power Gellin is going to use, so... But yeah, weird stuff like Dermafrost, Anderind and non mega Arbok for instance would outspeed and inflict serious damage if Gellin is uninvested. 252 EV in Speed is an option, in this case consider the speed boost from Chlorophyll only as a bonus and not something it needs to have every time it hits the field. Or you could establish another speed benchmark and get the HP investment at the cost of having unusual mons outspeeding you (bar the ones that run SE moves, these you need to outspeed even when not under the sun).

Also,  Solar Beam vs Giga Drain : Solar Beam packs a consistent punch when under the sun but is near unusable otherwise, and Giga Drain grants more longevity in nullifying the Life Orb recoil. Gellin has an ok bulk, similar to that of Venusaur. It is not as frail a sweeper as Victreebel, which, on the contrary prefers the nuking power of Solar Beam. I don’t have a personal preference for one move, I just think it is worth considering using Giga Drain as well.

Suicidal Cell Power (Sun Attacker)
- Solar Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power (Varying types)
- Giga Drain/Sunny Day
Ability: Either
EVs: 252 Sp Attack, up to 80 Speed, rest in HP (if using Chlorophyll)
OR 252 Sp Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP (if using Solar Power)
Nature: Modest or Timid
Item: Life Orb/Heat Rock/Choice Specs/Choice Scarf

Forget boosting with Growth.  This set aims to try and do as much damage as possible in the little time allotted by the sunlight.  Giga Drain replaces Growth here to increase Gellin's longevity, or you can use Sunny Day to make Gellin a little more self sufficient.  Otherwise, the set is rather similar to the previous one.

Good work suggesting a double Grass stab. Life Orb seems to be the best item to hold for this set. The EV spread is subject to the same discussion as the previous set.

Why's it wearing glasses when it has no eyes? (Choiced)
- Energy Ball/Giga Drain
- Thunderbolt/Thunder
- Psyshock/Solar Beam
- Hidden Power (Varying types)
Ability: Either
EVs: 252 Sp Attack, up to 80 Speed, rest in HP (if using Chlorophyll)
OR 252 Sp Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP (if using Solar Power)
Nature: Modest or Timid
Item: Choice Specs/Scarf

Gellin just barely has enough of a movepool and just enough speed to pull this off.  Chlorophyll is for those who want to sweep, while Solar Power is for those who wish to break walls.

Harsh Sunlight reduces Thunder’s accuracy to 50%.