This Pokemon is one of my absolute favorites, due to its evolutions and its evolution style. It's time he's made it onto the blog! First, the Ninjask's moveset...
Baton Pass
Substitute
Swords Dance
Protect/X-Scissor
IVs: 31 Attack, 31 Speed
EVs: 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP
Ninjask has the honor of being the fastest nonlegendary Pokemon. On top of that, he has the Speed Boost Ability, which grants him +1 speed stage at the end of each turn. Since he is the fastest Pokemon, he can use Substitute on the first turn. This allows him to get a Speed Boost because the substitute will take all the damage. The idea here is to use Substitute until you can anymore, with mine I can use it 4 times. Any time the substitute isn't killed, use Swords Dance. Before you die, you Baton Pass into someone better. You'd be best to switch into a tank of some variety, something that has strong physical attack, solid defenses, but slow speed. A Conkeldurr, Spiritomb, or Aggron are nice options, but anyone that would benefit from such boosts. As for the item held, use the stat-boost berries if you have them (I have mine hold the Petaya Berry, raises your Sp. Attack in a pinch). These berries activate after you've used Substitute a few times, so you are certain to get the boost. If you don't have those berries, then go with a Sitrus Berry to let yourself get another Substitute off, or maybe you have an idea of your own.
Now, you have a nice Ninjask...but wait, what's this other Pokemon in my party? He wasn't there before! It's a Shedinja!!! What can we do with him?
Confuse Ray
Spite
Shadow Sneak
Endure
Shedinja has the Wonder Guard Ability, meaning he can only be hurt by attacks that are super-effective against him, which are of 5 types (Fire, Flying, Rock, Ghost, Dark). Spite is mostly there to fight off Sucker Punch, one of the more common Dark attacks you'll see (Sucker Punch will fail because you're using Spite, and Spite gets rid of the rest of the PP), but I find it useful in the long-run as well. But on the first turn out, you use Endure, so you can see what attack the opponent was going to use against you. Then you can act accordingly. Shadow Sneak is a STAB priority move that will put a dent in some Pokemon, but use it once you're sure the enemy can't hit you. Confuse Ray helps, but if you wanted to try variations this would be the move to get rid of probably. Endure is there because a lot of times, the enemy will be forced to Struggle, and Endure will allow you to survive while still causing that 25% recoil on Struggle. This Pokemon requires thinking to use masterfully. You will be switching in and out a lot. But if you get in the habit of predicting and switching and whatnot, Shedinja proves to be very effective. Just look out for Burn/Poison attacks, entry hazards, and Hail/Sandstorm. For an item, I see 2 options: a Lum Berry to avoid dying from Burn of Poison effects, or a Focus Sash to gain an extra turn (2 if you use Endure, then survive with this, then Endure again).
How do you get these guys?
(1) Breed a male Karrablast that knows Endure (learned through level-up at lv. 8) with a female Nincada. Aim for an Attack or Speed-boosting Nature. There are a lot of good options here. Make sure you worked your desired IVs into the family first though!
(2) Done. Yeah, pretty simple, huh?
NOTE: When leveling up Nincada, make sure you have an empty slot in your party and an extra Pokeball in your bag, or you will not get Shedinja!!!
Fun fact, I love this evolution family so much that I once got into researching them. I read all of their Pokedex entries since their introduction in an attempt to understand why this evolution happens (seeking a natural explanation, not like "that's just how they programmed the game"). Bit-by-bit I started piecing everything together. Nincada acts as a cocoon, much like Metapod or Kakuna, that houses Ninjask until it is ready to hatch. Then the shell with the hole in it (from where Ninjask hatched) becomes Shedinja. It's a Ghost-type because Ninjask had all the living parts (heart, lungs, etc.). When we look at Ninjask's and Shedinja's stats, they have the same Attack, because the Nincada grew to that until that split occurred. Shedinja has such low HP because it is just a shell, it'd be like breaking a potato chip.
2 hours well spent.
Let me know if you have any questions or comments about the build, and if you have other ideas on these Pokemon, you can comment with them too!
Brock out.
