Welcome to Pokemon of the Week! This week, I'll be focusing on a Pokemon with a bitter rivalry with Seviper. This week, we'll be discussing Zangoose.

Of the two in the fued, Zangoose is assuredly much better than Seviper. Not only does it possess a great base 115 Attack, but it also has a nice base 90 Speed to work with, whereas Seviper has decent Attack and Sp. Attack, but is slow and frail. Zangoose definitely gets the edge there, but it still finds itself outclassed by many other Pokemon competitively.

Zangoose has gained a wonderful new ability in Toxic Boost that has given it new life in the NU tier, and even allowing it to compete in the RU tier, but even with this new power, it will never see the light of OverUsed, or likely even UnderUsed again.

This doesn't make Zangoose a bad Pokemon at all, however, and it is a serious threat in NU. After a Swords Dance and the extra power from Toxic Boost, Zangoose hits like a steamroller. Underestimate this beast at your own peril.

Zangoose@ Toxic Orb Toxic Boost Jolly nature (+Speed, -Sp. Attack) EVs: 252 Speed / 252 Attack / 4 HP Facade Close Combat Night Slash Quick Attack

With the extra firepower from Toxic Boost, Zangoose makes a powerful Pokemon without any setup turns. After the Poison spreads through his veins, Zangoose's Facade has a base power of 140, on top of his impressive 329 Attack, will destroy most anything that doesn't outright resist it. That's where the other two moves come in. Close Combat breaks apart Rock and Steel types that resist your Normal moves, while Night Slash rips apart the spirits that see through your Facade.

Quick Attack allows Zangoose to bypass his middling Speed, striking down weakened foes before they can move. This is also good to chip off some health on a faster foe just before you're going to faint.

Zangoose@ Toxic Orb Toxic Boost Jolly nature (+Speed, -Sp. Attack) EVs: 252 Speed / 252 Attack / 4 HP Swords Dance Facade Close Combat Quick Attack / Night Slash

Let's take Zangoose's 329 Attack stat, boost it by 50% with Toxic Boost, then double it with Swords Dance. Zangoose is now at 987 Attack and ready to kill nearly anything in the tier. Facade is base 140 power with poison from Toxic Orb. Close Combat is important for being able to deal sufficient damage Regirock, Bastiodon, Golem and Metang, to name a few.

The last slot is a toss-up. Quick Attack is necessary to hit faster threats, and on this set, it actually has the power to really deal damage to weakened Pokemon (some more frail Pokemon can even be knocked out at 60-80% health after the SD and Toxic Boost), however that also means that you're completely walled by ghosts. For this reason, Night Slash is an option to deal with Pokemon like Haunter, Drifblim and Misdreavus. In my opinion, Quick Attack is the better option, with support from a Pokemon such as Skuntank or Absol to trap and kill Ghost types. I've used both, and Skuntank is surprisingly good for trap-killing Ghosts, with his decent bulk and nice typing. It also doesn't add to the Fighting weakness that Zangoose has, like Absol would, but both are viable.

Zangoose may not be anywhere near the top-tier for competitive, but for in-game, he's a perfect kind of Pokemon to raise. He's got a vast movepool, stats that indicate exactly what he can (and should) do, and damn it, he's just a badass Pokemon! I'd definitely recommend getting one from Dream World, since Toxic Boost is far superior to Immunity, but either one is fine. Here's what I'd use:

Zangoose Return / Facade Close Combat Night Slash Ice Punch / Quick Attack

Using Zangoose in-game is straightforward. Return is base 102 power at maximum happiness, however if you're going with Toxic Boost while holding a Toxic Orb, Facade is base 140 power while you have a status affliction, which is undoubtedly much more power. Close Combat breaks Rock and Steel types apart, while Night Slash is for Ghosts. In the last slot, Ice Punch is useful for Dragons, and Quick Attack is useful for a priority attack. Fire Punch is an option if you really hate Scizor, Forretress or Ferrothorn, but overall, the listed moves are good enough to get you by almost anything.

The first time I saw Zangoose in Ruby (whose R/S sprite is so much cooler than any other sprite it's ever had), I immediately wanted one to pair with my Blaziken. I raised one and it was awesome. Zangoose is one of the coolest Pokemon ever in terms of appearance, and I long for the days of Hoenn where his sprite reflected his badassery.

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