Johnny's PokéReview #1: Regigigas

"Ruin Gigas"

#486 - Regigigas, the Colossal Pokémon
Ability: Slow Start (Atk and Spd halved for five turns)
Nature: Adamant, Impish, Careful
EVs: 252 HP, 128 Def, 128 Spdef
Hold: Leftovers
-Return, Fire/Ice/Thunderpunch, Earthquake, Stone Edge
-Thunder Wave
-Knock Off
-Substitute

Now, Regigigas gets a lot of hate. A TON of hate. And why? Because of his ability: Slow Start. This reduces his Atk and Spd stats for the first five turns he's out, and this is reset every time he's re-deployed! This puts his very high Base 160 Atk and base 100 Spd to waste. This much is obvious. On top of this, he lacks a few of the staple TMs that almost everything else gets: Rest and Protect.

But what people DON'T seem to see is the rest. He is one of the only bulky pokémon to get Thunder Wave AND Knock Off. He has tremendous defenses: Base 110 HP, Def, and Spdef - with the listed EVs, he can have up to 424 HP and 288 Def and Spdef at Lv100 (319 Def or Spdef with a + nature)!

While he may lack Rest and Protect, people need to look elsewhere besides "lol slow start sux." Rather than wait for it to wear off, use him in more of a bulky annoyer role! Thunder Wave and Knock Off allow Gigas to cripple the opposition as they struggle to overcome his HP and defenses with just ONE weakness (a feat Leftovers + Substitute makes harder). These two moves together can wreck a team, leaving it vulnerable for your other 5 (or two, in 3v3) pokémon to slaughter! And Return, or other 1st slot moves are there on the off chance he lasts those fateful five turns. Adamant is listed because even with NO Atk EVs and a 0 IV, he'll still have at least 325 Atk at Lv100! Some pokémon can barely REACH that number even with max EVs and IVs.

Other options? You want other options?
-Confuse Ray for further annoyance and lasting those 5 turns.
-Toxic for crippling the opponent's team further (especially walls that won't suffer much from T-wave).
-Safeguard for preventing Gigas from being burned (though Substitute can do that too).
-Psych Up for those pokémon who try and set up on Gigas (though T-wave and Knock Off may scare them pretty good).
-Swagger, to toy with physical fighting users (such as Close Combat). Swagger, then switch to a ghost!
-Rock Slide, to use with T-wave for paraflinchhax. Not the best pokémon for the job, but certainly usable, and could help those five turns pass faster.
-Drain Punch can allow him to recover some HP (especially with leftovers aid), but it's generally not a good idea to depend on him lasting all five turns, and even then DPunch is weak.

Some of the "other options" may seem novelty (such as Swagger and Psych Up), but half the fun of Gigas is that the general opinion is that he sucks so much that he can't do anything, so they can easily catch them by surprise. As it stands, though, T-wave + Knock Off is a potent combination that Gigas' incredible HP and defenses can make an excellent offense. Remember, speed and power isn't the only way to win.

Aside from that, also consider that since his only weakness is fighting, a ghost is the perfect backup. Switch to your Gengar, Mismagius, Dusknoir, Spiritomb, Drifblim, or whatever other ghost you may carry when you predict that Close Combat. Regigigas is best used to cripple the enemy and then pass the baton to the appropriate pokémon to finish the job.

Remember, rather than think what he CAN'T do BECAUSE of Slow Start, look at what he CAN do DESPITE Slow Start.