My favorite weather based team is Rain, and D. Dragonite is PERFECT for it. Let’s get right into it.
Typing: Water/Electric is fantastic offensively and defensively. It is resistant to Water, Flying, Steel, Fire, and Ice. Its weak to grass and ground which is a common coverage move, but its worth its resistances.
Base stats: Great. This Pokemon has good bulk in 91/95/100, and great attacks in 134/100. It’s speed is somewhat of a weakness at 80, but it gets boosted with Swift Swim.
Ability: Good. This Pokemon gets Swift Swim which allows it to outspeed anything in the rain. Combined with its massive attack, it can 0KHO almost anything. It also gets Volt Absorb, which is rarely used unless you’re using D. Dragonite as a coverage mon.
Moveset: OH MY GOD. This Pokemon has an insane physical and special moveset.
For physical moves it gets Waterfall (or Aqua Jet for priority), Wild Charge / Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Earthquake, Drain Punch / Hammer Arm / Superpower, Knock Off, Aerial Ace, and U-Turn. Only weakness here is the lack of good physical Electric options, but Thunder Punch or Wild Charge still work.
For special moves it gets Thunderbolt / Thunder as well as Volt Switch, Hydro Pump / Surf, Ice Beam, Energy Ball, Focus Blast, Dragon Pulse, Flash Cannon, and Dazzling Gleam. I like this set because Thunder in the rain bypasses accuracy and gets better base power moves, but D. Dragonite’s base stats prefer a physical attacker set.
Now, let’s get into the different builds.
Rain Physical Attacker
D. Dragonite @ Air Balloon / Choice Band
Ability: Swift Swim
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Waterfall
- Wild Charge
- Earthquake / Ice Punch / Knock Off / Drain Punch or Superpower
- U-Turn
Set Notes: Basically either U-Turn/Volt Switch into D. Drag (typically from Mega D. Typho) as its bulky (or has immunity from one ground attack with Air Balloon), or use if a Pokemon has fainted. If it’s taking a hit from being switched in, you could use either Drain Punch to recover HP or use Superpower to U-Turn out again (into a Pokemon like Ferrothorn)
I personally don’t like running U-Turn with this set, and I use the two STAB moves listed above with Ice Punch and Drain Punch (DON’T use Superpower as you can’t switch out), or Earthquake and Aerial Ace - lots of things can be switched out as you can see.
Rain Special Attacker
D. Dragonite @ Air Balloon / Choice Specs
Ability: Swift Swim
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Hydro Pump / Surf
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
- Volt Switch / Focus Blast
Set Notes: I personally would rather use the physical attacker set because its base attack damage is super high and I use Mega D. Typho as my Thunder user, but this set is still good nonetheless.
Basically set up exactly as described in the physical attacker set. However, I think choice specs is more preferable on this set because STAB Thunder with Modest Nature, 252 EVs in Special Attack, and Choice Specs can hit really hard in the rain. Either use Volt Switch to be able to switch into another pokemon or use Focus Blast for coverage.
Normal Support
D. Dragonite @ Choice Scarf / Air Balloon
Ability: Volt Absorb
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Wild Charge / Thunder Punch
- Ice Punch
- Earthquake
- U-Turn / Drain Punch / Superpower
Set Notes: I feel like D. Dragonite has more of a niche in the rain, but it is still a balanced Pokemon nonetheless. Although this set doesn’t use a water STAB move, it gets INSANE coverage. It’s a really good choice scarf user who can switch out into a bulky mon.
Jeez. I just love this Pokemon. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.