RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

In Pokemon games, there are a few things you can always count on. There will always be eight Gyms, there will always be five trainers to face in the Elite Four, and the first two Pokemon you catch will always be a Normal/Flying bird, and a Normal-type beast. In most cases, these early Pokemon captures can safely be ignored – after all, in three generations, none of the very early Pokemon had ever been worth a second look. And if you only look at Bibarel’s stats, he would seem to continue this trend. However, by abusing Bibarel’s amazing abilities, the goofy looking beaver can actually be very useful, and surprisingly threatening for a creature who was clearly in another county while brains were being handed out.

Bibarel
Normal / Water
HP: 79 Atk: 85 Def: 60 Sp Atk: 55 Sp Def: 60 Spd: 71
Ability: Simple: Stat boosts and drops applied to this Pokemon are doubled.
Unaware: This Pokemon ignores the stat boosts of other Pokemon.

What really drives Bibarel’s effectiveness is its abilities, which are some of the most powerful of any Pokemon. Unaware is a great defensive ability, allowing Bibarel to instantly negate any offensive boosts the foe might’ve gotten – Nasty Plot, Swords Dance, Bulk Up and Calm Mind are no trouble for Bibarel. This ability lets the beaver switch into Pokemon that should be able to mercilessly crush it without issue. Simple, however, makes Bibarel a surprisingly dangerous offensive force. Though it doesn’t get Swords Dance, Bibarel can make amazing use of Amnesia, Defense Curl, Charge Beam, and stat boost berries, to say nothing of its effectiveness in Baton Pass chains.

For all the amazing power of its abilities, Bibarel isn’t much to look at without them. Its base stats are barely average even by Never-Used standards, and its movepool doesn’t give it very good coverage. It does learn the extremely powerful Super Fang, which instantaneously cuts a foe’s HP in half, but few of its other moves are particularly powerful or useful. Bibarel’s typing isn’t horrible, and actually gives it some useful resistances, but it also saddles it with three very bad weaknesses.

If nothing else, Bibarel is quite a unique Pokemon. If you can find a way to exploit its abilities, Bibarel can be very useful, but it takes some care and creativity.

Beaver Charge
Bibarel @Life Orb / Leftovers
Modest (+Sp Atk, -Atk) nature
Simple ability
252 Sp Atk, 252 Spd, 6 HP
-Charge Beam
-Surf
-Shadow Ball / Ice Beam
-Grass Knot / Super Fang / Thunderbolt
Bibarel’s Sp Atk is really very low, but with Charge Beam having a 70% chance to boost its Sp Atk two stages, Bibarel can surprise your foe and nail enemies who think they can wall the beaver. The rest of the set showcases the best of Bibarel’s rather limited special movepool, but the final slot provides some unique options. Grass Knot is your best bet for coverage, though its power is much lower in NU than it would be in tiers with heavier Pokemon. Thunderbolt gives you a more powerful Electric attack to work with, not a bad idea given that Charge Beam’s base power is only 50, while Super Fang is a great move just generally, and since it doesn’t actually rely on your Atk to work, it can still be a massive threat here.

Bulky Beaver
Bibarel @Leftovers
Impish (+Def, -Sp Atk) nature
Unaware ability
216 HP, 40 Atk, 252 Def
-Waterfall
-Super Fang
-Taunt / Swagger
-Stealth Rock / Yawn
Unaware gives Bibarel some very impressive tanking ability, letting it switch into boosting Pokemon without any extra ill effects. This ability also lets it make great use of Swagger – if the foe hits itself in Confusion, it’ll do so with a two-stage boost, but thanks to Unaware, you won’t feel any extra pain if the attacking Pokemon manages to hit you. Aside from that, this Bibarel is also capable of dealing some significant damage, using Super Fang to slash a foe’s HP in half at a stroke.

Aside from his solid tanking abilities, Bibarel gets some great support moves. If you don’t like using Swagger, Taunt is a very good option, or Thunder Wave could work in this slot as an alternate way to prevent the foe from attacking. In the last slot, Stealth Rock is a wonderfully useful move just generally, but Yawn is a very solid sleep move and helps prevent a foe from using Bibarel as setup fodder. One word of warning; if you use Thunder Wave in slot #3, don’t use Yawn in slot #4. It’d be a little pointless, since a Pokemon can only have one status effect at a time.

Substitute Beaver
Bibarel @Leichi Berry
Adamant (+Atk, -Sp Atk) or Jolly (+Spd, -Sp Atk) nature
Simple ability
252 Atk, 252 Spd, 6 HP
-Substitute
-Waterfall
-Focus Punch
-Thunder Wave / Return
This is like a normal SubPuncher, except with extra Simple abuse. The concept is pretty simple – just keep using Substitute until you get down to where the Leichi Berry can activate. Simple will double its effects, essentially giving you a free Swords Dance. And there is nothing more surprising than getting your teeth smashed in by a critter that looks like it couldn’t count to twenty without taking its shoes off.

Most of this set is fairly straightforward, but you do have some room for flexibility in the last slot. Bibarel’s speed is pretty lousy even with Jolly and max EVs, so Thunder Wave makes a great way to bring the foe down to your level. On the other hand, Return fills a bit of a hole in your coverage, letting you connect with just about any Pokemon this side of Shedinja. Thunder Wave is probably the better choice if you intend to use this Bibarel in OU or unregulated play, since you’ll probably be facing foes with much, much higher speed than Bibarel’s.