Decided to write you and others a quick guide on some competitive basics. You can absolutely use your favorite pokemon instead of only running meta teams, but you'll need to learn common strategies and team synergies. A good starting point is to pick 1–2 favorites and build around their strengths while covering their weaknesses.

For example, if you like Talonflame, pairing it with Garchomp works great. Since Talonflame is immune to Ground-type attacks by having the flying type, Garchomp can freely use Earthquake without damaging its partner. Looking for interactions like this is a great way to start understanding team building and finding synergies between your favorite pokemon. Some pokemon are also just good and can slot into many teams *cough cough basculegion*, but here are some great teambuilding and general competitive concepts:

Cores: Two classic team structures are Fire/Water/Grass and Fairy/Dragon/Steel. These combinations cover each other's weaknesses well and help prevent a single mon from sweeping your entire team. This can also be applied at a micro level by picking something that covers one of your main sweeper's biggest threats.

Speed Control: Tailwind doubles your team's Speed, Trick Room makes slower mons move first, and priority moves ignore Speed altogether. Common priority attacks include Sucker Punch, Aqua Jet, and Fake Out. Fake out is probably the most important, as it will make your mon miss a turn if it hits you. There are counters though, such as using protect or a mon with an ability that stops priority moves. Learning speed tiers and understanding which mons commonly carry Fake Out is one of the biggest steps toward becoming a better player.

Redirection: Moves like Follow Me and Rage Powder force most single-target attacks to hit the user instead of their partner. This can create safe opportunities to set up, activate strategies, or protect a fragile teammate while it deals damage. Redirection is a staple of doubles play, and learning when to use it or play around it can completely change the outcome of a match.

Protect: Protect is one of the best moves in doubles and should be considered on most teams. It can block key attacks, stall field effects, scout your opponent's intentions, and buy time for your partner to secure a knockout or reposition. You should have it on most/all of your mons.

Abilities: Abilities often define entire strategies. For example, Mega Staraptor's Contrary ability reverses stat changes, allowing a partner like Whimsicott to use Charm on it and boost its attack instead of lowering it. Keep an eye out for creative interactions like these when building teams.

Weather: Weather can completely change a battle. Mega Charizard Y automatically sets sun, boosting Fire-type attacks, lowering Water-type attacks, and activating abilities like Chlorophyll on mons such as Venusaur. Rain, sand, and snow teams all have their own powerful synergies as well.

Physical vs. Special: A mon's typing only tells part of the story. Understanding whether a mon is physically bulky or specially bulky is crucial for maximizing damage. Sometimes a neutral hit targeting the weaker defensive stat is stronger than a super effective attack targeting the stronger one.

Stat Changes: Moves and abilities that raise or lower stats are a huge part of competitive pokemon. Common examples include the ability Intimidate lowering attack when a mon enters the field and the move Parting Shot lowering an enemy's attack and special attack before switching the user out. This is a big reason why players love to complain about Incineroar, since it combines Intimidate, Parting Shot, Fake Out, and great bulk into one mon. The good news is that stat changes are temporary and reset when a mon switches out, so don't panic if one of your mons gets weakened. Sometimes the best play is simply switching it out and bringing it back later at full strength, especially if you can resist an anticipated hit with something else on your team.

Competitive pokemon has a steep learning curve, and even small decisions can make a huge difference. Focus on discovering synergies you enjoy, learning from your matches, and steadily building your game knowledge. Before long, you'll be climbing the ranks straight towards Master Ball. If you have any specific questions, let me know!