DOUBLES

Oh, here's where it gets fun. Remember that without a strategy in mind, Shedinja is usually horrible in doubles since it can easily be double targeted and brought down in one turn even with Focus Sash. However, with the right strategy, you can make Shedinja nearly unkillable, reducing his weaknesses in several different ways and almost reach immortality. Here's how.

Keep in mind these sets are intended for Pokemon Showdown, but if you think you can pull them off in the games, good on ya.

Sturdy Shedinja

Love it or hate it, Sturdinja is an absolute monster. By passing the ability Sturdy onto Shedinja, it becomes immune to all direct attacks. Sturdy allows a pokemon to survive any hit with 1hp - which means Shedinja is left with full hp, ready to take hits forever and ever. Holding Safety Goggles and with a partner who can use Thunder Wave, we can essentially cross Hate List numbers 1 (SE damage), 2 (Status), and 4 (Weather) off. A Safeguard takes care of number 3 (Confusion). *Note: Sturdinja now correctly survives hitting itself in Showdown! Rapid Spin or Defog takes care of number 5 (Hazards). Worry Seed, Skill Swap, or Entrainment take care of numbers 6 (Recoil) and 7 (Mold Breaker) - Knock Off or Trick can remove Rocky Helmets and Frisk can identify them. A beautiful move called Forest's Curse that only the Trevenant evo line learns causes the target to add grass to their typing, rendering number 8 (Leech Seed) useless. Taunt shuts down numbers 9 (Curse, PSong, DBond), 10 (Phazing), and 11 (Ability Neutrilizers). Unfortunately, there is no way to stop #12, Sturdinja's most hated counter - Trapping moves like Infestation, Magma Storm, and Whirlpool that will do no initial damage but will knock Shedinja out at the end of the turn. To get this nearly invincible setup, here's the team I use.

Audino @ Mental Herb

Ability: Regenerator

EVs: 252 HP / 140 Def / 116 SpD

Relaxed Nature

IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe

- Skill Swap

- Entrainment

- Thunder Wave

- Protect

Carbink @ Mental Herb

Ability: Sturdy

EVs: 252 HP / 140 Def / 116 SpD

Relaxed Nature

IVs: 0 Atk / 1 Spe

- Trick Room

- Safeguard

- Skill Swap

- Protect

Shedinja @ Safety Goggles

Ability: Wonder Guard

EVs: 252 Atk

Lonely Nature

IVs: 0 Spe

- Swords Dance

- Shadow Claw

- Aerial Ace

- Protect

Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry

Ability: Prankster

EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 180 SpD

Careful Nature

- Taunt

- Thunder Wave

- Knock Off

- Rain Dance

Trevenant @ Sitrus Berry

Ability: Frisk

EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD

Sassy Nature

IVs: 0 Spe

- Forest's Curse

- Worry Seed

- Trick

- Trick Room

Mandibuzz @ Leftovers

Ability: Overcoat

EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 180 SpD

Careful Nature

- Taunt

- Defog

- Sunny Day

- Protect

How to use this team to maximum effectiveness:

If they don't have Clefable, Furret, Togekiss, Pachurisu, Jirachi, you don't have to worry about Follow Me. If they don't have Charizard or Ninetails, Carbink doesn't have to worry about Sun team Solarbeams. If they don't have Politoed, Carbink doesn't have to worry about Rain team Hydro Pumps, Surfs, and Scalds.

The standard start is Audino and Carbink. If you see incoming Fake Outs, use double Protect first turn. Else, Audino uses Skill Swap to get Sturdy from Carbink and pass him Regenerator. Carbink uses Trick Room to ensure that Audino, slow as she is, will go first next turn. Turn 2, Carbink switches out into Shedinja (and gets health back from Regenerator) and Audino uses Entrainment to give Shedinja Sturdy. Turn 3, Audino uses Thunder Wave to paralyze Shedinja and Shedinja begins setting up with Swords Dance. From here on out, it gets situational. If Audino went down before she could set up T-Wave, Thundurus comes in to T-Wave instead. If they have a Swagger or Confuse Ray, switch in Carbink for a Safeguard. If they have a Leech Seeder, switch in Trevenant for a Forest's Curse. If they have Mold Breaker or Iron Barbs, Entrainment, Skill Swap, or Worry Seed will fix the problem. Taunts from Thundurus or Mandibuzz solve most other issues, and Shedinja is free to set up Swords Dances and sweep.

Alternative starts: If they have a Follow Me user, start Audino and Thundurus, Audino uses Protect and Thundurus uses Taunt on the Follow Me user. Then Skill Swap - Switch to Carbink, then Protect - Trick Room, then proceed to Entrain Sturdy as normal. If they have a sun team, do the same thing except use Rain Dance instead of Taunt. If they have a rain team, start with Mandibuzz instead and use Sunny Day, then switch out.

This is, in my opinion, the most reliable and effective way to use Shedinja in doubles. Shedinja gets Sturdy by the beginning of turn 2, and paralyzed by the beginning of turn 3. He is able to set up and sweep and his team covers any weaknesses he might have.

Soak Shedinja

The move Soak changes the target's type to water. If it's used on Shedinja, that means he becomes weak to only Electric and Grass, and Electric moves can be redirected with Volt Absorb. Conveniently, Seaking gets goth Soak and Volt absorb, as well as a few nice coverage moves.

Seaking @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Lightning Rod

EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Timid Nature

- Soak

- Ice Beam

- Signal Beam

- Knock Off

Shedinja @ Focus Sash / Lum Berry

Ability: Wonder Guard

EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Jolly or Adamant Nature

- Protect

- Swords Dance

- Shadow Claw

- X-Scissor / Aerial Ace Shedinja @ Focus Sash / Lum Berry

Ability: Wonder Guard

EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Jolly or Adamant Nature

- Protect

- Swords Dance

- Shadow Claw

- X-Scissor / Aerial Ace

Unfortunatley, Seaking is pretty slow, so Choice Scarf is the best way to guarantee a Soak on Shedinja, you can switch out and back in later if you want to hit other moves. As for the rest of the team, anyone with Lighting Rod and coverage vs grass is good. Notable Lighting Rods: Mega Sceptile, Marowak, Manectric, Rhyperior. Also recommended is a way to control weather (keep in mind Golduck gets Cloud Nine and Soak) and a Safeguard/Taunt.

Transformed Shedinja

Transforming into a pokemon copies all of its stats... except HP. We can abuse this by running Mew (has the most health of any Transforming Pokemon, plus gets Fake Out).

Mew @ Lum Berry / Leftovers / Sitrus Berry

Ability: Synchronize

EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Jolly Nature

- Fake Out

- Protect

- Transform

- Safeguard

Shedinja @ Focus Sash

Ability: Wonder Guard

EVs: 252 Atk / 96 Def / 160 SpD

Careful Nature

- Protect

- Swords Dance

- Shadow Sneak / Shadow Claw

- X-Scissor / Sucker Punch /Aerial Ace

Shedinja gets defenses instead of speed because you have access to priority moves and when Mew transforms, it can actually make use of the defenses.

Turn 1, if they don’t have weather, Mew can use Protect or Fake Out on an enemy that might use a super effective or status move. Shedinja can set up a Swords Dance. Next turn, Mew transforms into Shedinja, keeping its HP stat at 404 if level 100, or 207 at level 50. This new Shedinja can take hits from Super-Effective moves, doesn’t care too much about status or weather, and can Swords Dance and start sweeping. You can bring in a Seaking or other Soak user to change its type to water and reduce its weaknesses even further. It might not be the most foolproof doubles strategy, but you can catch your opponent off guard with it and take them by surprise.

Camouflage Shedinja Shedinja has access to the move Mimic, essentially letting it learn any move in Doubles. There are many uses of Mimic, the first one I’m going to cover is Camouflage. The move Camouflage changes your type based on your environment. By default, in Pokemon Showdown or online battles, this means Normal type. A normal type Shedinja is great because it is weak to only fighting moves, which are relatively uncommon to have more than one of on a team. Step 1 of Mimic Shedinja is getting a Tailwind up. Without Tailwind, Shedinja isn’t fast enough to outspeed potential threats. The easiest way to get a Tailwind and switch in Shedinja safely in the same turn is this:

Whimsicott @ Eject Button

Ability: Prankster

EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Timid Nature

- Tailwind

- Memento

- Taunt

- Sunny Day

This Whimsicott is good at one thing – getting up a Tailwind before anything else happens and switching out with Eject Button. If Whisicott isn’t targeted for whatever reason, Memento can guarantee a safe switch in and reduce your opponent’s offensive capabilities. The other pokemon to lead with must learn Camouflage. The tankiest and, in my opinion, best option is Zygarde. Here’s the set.

Zygarde @ Yache Berry / Sitrus Berry

Ability: Aura Break

EVs: 248 HP / 128 Atk / 132 Def

Impish Nature

- Camouflage

- Safeguard

- Earthquake

- Zen Headbutt

Zygarde can set up Safeguard turn 1 if you are afraid of status. Using Earthquake means Whimsicott switches out for sure. Zen Headbutt is good coverage against Fighting types, the only thing Normal Types are weak to. Turn 2, Zygarde uses Camouflage and Shedinja (who switched in at the end of turn 1 for Whimsicott) uses Mimic. Dark, ghost, fire, rock, and flying moves aimed at Shedinja now bounce off, completely useless. Here’s the set Normal Type Shedinja should run.

Shedinja @ Focus Sash

Ability: Wonder Guard

EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Jolly Nature

- Mimic

- Swords Dance

- Shadow Claw

- Return

Mimic to get Camouflage and then use Camouflague to switch to normal type. Swords Dance to stat boost. Shadow Claw for coverage and Return for STAB (you’re a normal type now, remember?).

This setup should be paired with offensive pokemon that can take out fighting/rock/ground types with fighting moves. Talonflame, Sylveon, and Starmie are all good choices (Starmie learns Camouflage too as backup!) due to their great offensive coverage capabilities.

Reflect Type Shedinja

Instead of copying Camouflage, what if you copied Reflect Type, which switches your type to match your target’s type? Get some speed and you can predict your opponent’s moves and counter them while your team does work.

Run the same Whimsicott and Shedinja listed above, but this time instead of Zygarde, use a Latias. Latias is the tankiest user of Reflect Type, outclassing Latios, Starmie, and Tentacruel. Mew is also an option, with more HP and Def but less SpD.

Latias (F) @ Sitrus Berry

Ability: Levitate

EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 SpD

Calm Nature

- Safeguard

- Reflect Type

- Psyshock / Tailwind / Protect

- Draco Meteor

Very similar to the last set, you start with Latias and Whimsicott. Latias uses Safeguard, Whimsicott uses Tailwind and switches out with Eject Button. Shedinja comes in and turn 2 he copies Latias’ Reflect Type. Now, you’re free to switch out Latias into:

• A ghost/dark type (Sableye / Spiritomb, only weak to Fairy)
• A normal type (Snorlax, Kecleon, Lopunny, Porygon-Z, etc. only weak to Fighting)
• An electric type (Raichu, Electivire, Manectric, Raikou, Ampharos, etc. only weak to Ground)
• A water type with Lighting Rod (Seaking, only weak to Grass) or without (Clawitzer, Suicune, Manaphy, Blastoise, etc. only weak to Grass and Electric)
• A fairy type (Sylveon, Granbull, Floette, Florges, Slurpuff, etc. only weak to Poison and Steel)
• Any other type combination you like with very few weaknesses - resistances mean almost nothing, so Steel isn’t as great a type on Shedinja as Normal or Electric might be

Entrainment Shedinja

With Mimic, Shedinja can get any move in the game. If Shedinja Mimics Entrainment, you can Entrain Wonder Guard onto an ally! That’s right, you can give your Sableye, your Spiritomb, your Electivire Wonder Guard. Here’s how.

Use the same Tailwind Eject Button Whimsicott and max Speed, max Attack, Hasty/Jolly/Naive Shedinja.

The other pokemon to lead with simply needs to know Entrainment. You can use Smeargle, Audino, Lopunny, or whoever else you want. The important things they need to have are Protect and Entrainment, the other moves are filler. Safeguard is a very nice touch. This is the Audino I use.

Audino @ Mental Herb / Audinite (Herb for protection vs Taunt, Audinite for tanky stats)

Ability: Regenerator

EVs: 252 HP / 196 Def / 60 SpD

Relaxed Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

- Protect

- Entrainment

- Safeguard

- Thunder Wave / Toxic / Dazzling Gleam / Encore

Start with Audino (Smeargle, Lopunny, Pangoro) and Whimsicott. Protect or Safeguard turn 1 while Whimsicott uses Tailwind and gets Ejected into Shedinja. Audino uses Entrainment on a foe, not Shedinja – you don’t want to overwrite Wonder Guard and Shedinja uses Mimic. Next turn, Audino switches into your Recipient and Shedinja uses Entrainment.

Great Recipients:

Plusle @ Focus Sash / Air Baloon Ability: Plus -> Wonder Guard

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

Timid Nature

- Entrainment

- Magnet Rise (you can switch this out if risking Air Balloon above Focus Sash)

- Nasty Plot

- Hidden Power [Ice] / Thunderbolt

The amazing thing about this Plusle is that, being an electric type, it is immune to everything but ground. Air Baloon or Magnet Rise both save it from these threats, essentially leaving it invincible except for the other things on the Hate List. The best thing about this Plusle is that it has Entrainment too, meaning you can get two Pokemon with Entrained Wonder Guard, just switch out Shedinja and switch in…

Electivire @ Lum Berry

Ability: Vital Spirit -> Wonder Guard

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Jolly Nature

- Magnet Rise

- Power-Up Punch

- Earthquake

- Thunder Punch

Use Magnet Rise, become invincible, boost your Attack, and start sweeping with your partner Plusle who is packing Nasty Plot and HP Ice.

Other options:

Sableye @ Lum Berry (Mega Sableye gets Magic Bounce overwritten by WG, no point giving up Lum)

Ability: Prankster -> Wonder Guard

EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Modest Nature

- Nasty Plot

- Dark Pulse

- Dazzling Gleam

- Power Gem / Psychic / Shadow Ball / Will o’ Wisp

OR

Spiritomb @ Lum Berry

Ability: Infiltrator -> Wonder Guard

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 SpD

Modest Nature

- Nasty Plot

- Dark Pulse

- Shadow Ball

- Psychic / Will o’ Wisp

These guys are only weak to Fairy types, so stick ‘em with a Fairy killer, like an Excadrill with Iron Head or anything with Gunk Shot.

Wow, that was a long guide. Hope you learned something.

Link to Shedinja Strategy for Singles HERE. Link to Triples Strategy HERE.