Pokemon of the Minute: Ursaring

Time for an experiment, readers. Find a small child anywhere in the world, and ask them what they're afraid of. You'll pretty much get the same answers every time: spiders, vampires, and bears. The first two are silly, as we all know. Vampires are, thankfully, fictional. And I may have arachnophobia myself, but really, any problem that be solved with a well placed whack with a shoe isn't really a problem. But bears? Now those you should ALWAYS be afraid of. Sure, they're fluffy creatures who spend most of the day strolling through the woods without a care, but that lack of caring stems from the fact that they're enormous walking tanks that can literally kill you in seconds.

With this in mind, I'd like to introduce a personal favorite Pokemon: Ursaring. Introduced in the days of Gold/Silver, Ursaring has always been something of a powerhouse Pokemon. Its poor Speed and marginal Defense are made up for by its phenomenal Attack stat, and I have happy memories of clearing the Johto Elite Four with only its strength and a plethora of Max Potions.

But as generations III and IV rolled by, something happened to this Pokemon. Something almost bittersweet. With the addition of Abilities into the game mechanics, Ursaring was able to become even more powerful, yet at a cost to its well-being. Both its possible Abilities, Guts, and Quick Feet, give it extra Attack, and Speed respectably, but only when it is affected by a status (i.e. Poison or Burn). Therefore, it is one of the few Pokemon in the game that can make use of the very conditional move Facade, which becomes more powerful if the Pokemon is status'ed. Plus, add in the fact the it can learn Swords Dance, and under the right conditions, this bear can rip entire teams to shreds.

And so, Ursaring, you're my featured Pokemon because you really care about your work. You're willing to sacrifice your own HP in order to help win battles. This is something that is usually attributed only to superheroes, and you have therefore proven yourself to be a super-bipedal bear. I tip my hat to you. We all do.

Sample Build:

"(Swords) Dancing, Gutsy Bear"

Held Item: Flame/Toxic Orb

Nature: Jolly

Ability: Guts

EV's: 252 Attack/252 Speed/4 HP

Moveset:

-Sword's Dance

-Facade

-Close Combat/Earthquake

-Crunch