Little Cup was spawned in Pokemon Stadium 2. The idea was that you bred to achieve the perfect baby Pokemon to battle. It was later reintroduced for Advance, and now Little Cup is back for the 4th Generation. The most important things that should be known about Little Cup is that it is all about Speed. The metagame is filled with fast Pokemon and revenge killers.
- Sleep Clause
- Only Pokemon hatched from eggs are eligible.
- Eligible Pokemon must be able to evolve, and be the first in an evolution chain.
- All Pokemon used MUST be Lv5.
- Item clause is on, Max 2 of one item.
- Self-KO Clause is on.
- SonicBoom and Dragon Rage are banned.
- Evasion/accuracy moves are NOT allowed.
- OHKO moves are NOT allowed.
Note that the hax item ban is not in effect. This is because no one would to trade a 10 HP recovery for a 10% chance of going first or anything akin to that.
Every metagame has its own ban list, and Little Cup is no different.
- Scyther - A moveset consisting of Swords Dance, Aerial Ace, Quick Attack and Brick Break is almost unstoppable in Little Cup, with no Pokemon in Little Cup able to resist that Attack combination. Both Aerial Ace and Quick Attack have their power boosted by 50% due to Technician, the latter attack is vital in stopping Pokemon using Choice Scarf to outspeed it or in stopping slower users of priority attacks. Scyther's pedigree is enhanced by the sheer power of its Base Stats, boasting both the second highest Attack (Base 110) and the second highest Speed (Base 105)
- Sneasel - Sneasel can run a similar moveset to Scyther consisting of Swords Dance, Ice Shard, Bite and Brick Break and be equally difficult to stop. Also akin to Scyther, it boasts a priority attack and an attack combination that no Pokemon resists. 95 Base Attack and the highest unboosted Speed in Little Cup from a Base stat of 115 makes Sneasel all the harder to stop.
- Yanma - Already in one of the highest Speed tiers, Yanma's Speed Boost ability means that after two turns it will outspeed virtually everything. From there it can wreak havoc with STAB Air Slash or STAB Bug Buzz from a respectable Special Attack or simply put to Sleep anything it can't kill with Hypnosis.
- Tangela - With Sunny Day in effect, Tangela becomes an offensive juggernaut. Its Chlorophyll ability can take its Speed stat to 30 and it can power through anything not resistant to Grass-type attacks with SolarBeam from 100 Base Special Attack. Not even Munchlax can stand up to a Life Orb-boosted SolarBeam. Hidden Power [Fire] and AncientPower provide it with good type coverage or it can take the option of putting its counters to Sleep with Sleep Powder. Moreover, Tangela's bulky defensive nature -- in particular its 115 Base Defence -- makes it even harder to take down.
- Meditite - Pure Power transforms Meditite into a very potent threat, reaching 28 Attack with no item boosts, not even Cranidos and its 125 Base Attack can match that. Hi Jump Kick, Psycho Cut and Ice Punch gives it all the coverage it needs, and such is the power of Hi Jump Kick is that with Life Orb it can OHKO Bronzor, arguably the best defensive Pokemon in Little Cup, who is not even weak to it. Alternatively, Choice Scarf can be used to remedy its modest speed and make it difficult to revenge kill. May be tested again in future.
Since Little Cup is played with Level 5 Pokemon, this can cause discrepancies with Level 100 play in the OverUsed metagame with regards to what moves certain Pokemon cannot learn at that Level. It is important to check whether or not certain Pokemon can legitimately learn at that Level since it is forbidden to use moves that cannot be learnt by the Pokemon and Level 5. This section will guide you through the ways in which certain moves and move combinations are illegal. Note that impossible breeding combinations such as Hypnosis + Nasty Plot Zubat are already assumed illegal.
Genderless PokemonGenderless Pokemon lack the ability to breed unless it is with a Ditto. Thus, they do not have egg moves and lack the ability to pass on level-up moves to their offspring. As a consequence, genderless Pokemon in Little Cup cannot have any level-up move that is learned beyond Level 5. Take for example a Porygon. Its staple move is Tri Attack. However, it learns it at a higher level than 5, and is genderless. Thus, Tri Attack Porygon is illegal at Level 5. Bronzor is in the same boat: its evolution, Bronzong, is seldom seen without Hypnosis, which Bronzor learns at Level 7 and thus is illegal in Little Cup.
D/P Introduced MovesMoves, both egg and Level-up, that were introduced in the fourth generation moves,and are learned after Level 5, are illegal together with 3rd gen Move Tutor moves.
For example, Mankey with Ice Punch and Close Combat is illegal: if it was taught Ice Punch in Emerald, it couldn't been bred with Close Combat; and if it was bred with Close Combat, it can't go to Emerald to receive Ice Punch.
3rd Generation Move Tutor / Other Game Special MovesThese moves are illegal together with any move introduced in D/P that is an egg move or is learned after Level 5. They are also illegal with any new ability introduced in D/P, since the ability change only occurs during evolution. For example, Ice Punch (3rd gen tutor) + Close Combat (4th gen level-up) Mankey is illegal. Technician Meowth with Swift is illegal, but Pickup Swift Meowth is not.
Little Cup Pokemon that can use a move that comes from Pokemon XD and is caught in that game at a level higher than 5 are illegal with that move. In the event they are able to use it, it will be illegal together with any egg or level-up move.
Special moves from Pokemon Box eggs are illegal with any level-up or egg move, as they come from a pre-made egg that hatches at Level 5. This is the reason why Belly Drum + ExtremeSpeed Zigzagoon is illegal; as ExtremeSpeed comes from an egg from Pokémon Box, and it hatches at Level 5. For Belly Drum to be available to that Zigzagoon, it would be needed for two Linoone with Belly Drum to breed, but that egg cannot hatch with ExtremeSpeed.
Event MovesEvent moves are illegal together with any Egg Move or Level-up move learned after Level 5. If said event took place in D/P, they are also illegal with any 3rd generation move.
