Speed and damage

The community resource labels its Speed table outdated. The clean boundaries below were rebuilt with the current gen3ru validator at 252 Speed EVs, a 31 Speed IV, and a positive Speed nature. One correction matters: Xatu reaches 317 and belongs with the base-95 group.

Speed	Reference set
339	Rapidash, maximum positive nature
328	Raichu or Ninetales, maximum positive nature
317	Haunter, Primeape, Sharpedo, or Xatu, maximum positive nature
309	Pidgeot, maximum positive nature
306	Golbat, Pikachu, or Mr. Mime, maximum positive nature
295	Stantler, maximum positive nature
284	Kabutops, maximum positive nature
276	Hitmonchan, maximum positive nature

These lines do not prescribe spreads. Public samples often invest less Speed to buy bulk or power, and a Hidden Power IV can move a set below the clean 31-IV number. The generated checks live in data/benchmarks.json.

The lines that change a turn

Rapidash owns the highest common unboosted boundary among the main July preparation targets. Raichu sits eleven points below it. The 317, 309, and 306 groups create a narrow band where one point of IV or a small EV cut changes several matchups.

Mid-speed attackers need a different plan. Stantler and Hitmonchan can use bulk, Intimidate, priority, or paralysis rather than copy a maximum-Speed spread that weakens their main job.

Four non-Choice Band Hitmonchan samples already run 252 HP and land between 205 and 231 Speed after validation. The post-ban field note asks for even more bulk. Start by naming the last Pokémon Hitmonchan must outrun; move every unneeded Speed EV into the defensive stat that lets it keep Mach Punch, Spin, or its Fighting attack available later.

Hidden Power comes first

Choose the Hidden Power type before recording the stat line. Then validate the set and calculate its stats from the normalized IVs.

One public Xatu sample uses Hidden Power Fire with a 30 Speed IV. It validates at 316, one point below the clean 317 reference. A table that assumes 31 in every IV slot would miss that point.

The same rule applies to damage. Hidden Power can change HP, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, or Speed as well as the move’s type.

Priority changes the comparison

Mach Punch and Quick Attack can matter more than a raw Speed number. They check weakened pinch-berry users, punish a fast attacker after recoil, and give slower teams a way to close without paralyzing every threat.

Priority is still damage-limited. Record the range against the exact target rather than treating Mach Punch as a complete answer to every Salac or Agility line.

Aggron’s middle click

The current recommendation favors Double-Edge over Focus Punch as Aggron’s general middle click. Choice Band and three-attacks samples already use Double-Edge, while the Substitute set keeps Focus Punch for the sequence built around it.

The difference is tactical before it is numerical. Double-Edge resolves into a neutral switch and Rock Head removes recoil on the sample sets that use it. Focus Punch offers more power and a better hit into opposing Aggron, but it asks for a protected turn or a hard read. The benchmark table below keeps both moves on the same legal attacker so the tradeoff stays visible.

Target	Double-Edge	Focus Punch	Reading
252 HP / 160 Def Impish Victreebel	50.0–59.1%	31.0–36.8%	Double-Edge is the clean two-hit line
252 HP / 80 Def Timid Xatu	62.6–74.0%	19.5–23.1%	Xatu’s typing guts Focus Punch
160 HP sample Aggron	7.8–9.3%	162.9–191.9%	Focus Punch earns its slot on the called mirror

All six ranges use the same Jolly 252 Attack Choice Band Aggron from Lead Stantler + Golbat. The defenders also come from public samples.

What mixed Rapidash buys

The Silk Scarf Rapidash receipt uses 252 Attack, 4 Special Attack, 252 Speed, and a Naive nature. Against the sample Metang, Double-Edge deals 17.6–21.0% while Overheat deals 92.6–109.3%. Keeping the special Fire attack changes that matchup.

Coverage does not erase every answer. Against the 252 HP / 252 Special Defense Sassy Whiscash sample, Double-Edge deals 36.6–43.2% and Hidden Power Grass deals 36.1–42.5%. That Whiscash is built to take special hits, and Rapidash invests only 4 Special Attack EVs. Mixed Rapidash can cover it without recoil, but still needs prior damage or support.

Banette’s coverage against Aggron

The sample Banette’s Shadow Ball deals 12.1–14.6% to the 160 HP sample Aggron. Hidden Power Fighting deals 58.3–68.5% to the same target. Aggron remains a sound first Shadow Ball answer only while the Banette set and damage state leave room for that coverage hit.

Damage claims need receipts

Every range in this guide uses a legal attacker and defender under gen3ru:

node scout/scripts/gen3check.mjs --team set-pair.txt --format gen3ru

node calc/bin/calc.mjs \
  --attacker attacker.txt \
  --defender defender.txt \
  --move "Mach Punch" \
  --format gen3ru

State the item, nature, EVs, IVs, HP state, boosts, weather, and prior chip beside the result. A range from a public sample applies to that set. It does not make the spread standard.

Useful receipt questions include:

• Does Hitmonchan’s Mach Punch finish the exact Aggron or pinch-berry target after one layer?
• Does Rapidash need prior damage before its chosen coverage move removes the Water or Rock answer?
• Does Choice Band Aggron force the expected two-hit range through Leftovers?
• Does Raichu’s selected Hidden Power punish the Ground or Grass answer the team expects?
• Does Explosion remove the target after accounting for Damp, a Ghost switch, and ADV’s Defense halving?

Calculate the conventional line and the proposed deviation in the same matchup. That comparison shows what the EV or move change buys and what it gives up.