Competitive Pokemon: Tapu Bulu

Introducing the Island Guardian of Ula'ula Island, Tapu Bulu. Tapu Bulu differentiates itself from the other Tapus by being much more of a physical attacker (Tapu Koko can technically be one, but it lacks the movepool to be an effective physical attacker, hence why special ones are primarily used). According to its Pokedex entry, Tapu Bulu is able to command and manipulate plants and vegetation, especially in battle when it changes the wooden horns on its head. Despite its incredible power, Tapu Bulu rarely ever uses its powers and is regarded as being a pretty lazy Pokemon. This is best illustrated in the Sun and Moon anime where Ash goes to the Ruins of Abundance and asks Tapu Bulu to help train him for his rematch against Island Kahuna Nanu, and Tapu Bulu initially ignores him and just lazes around (seriously, the Sun and Moon anime is absolutely nailing it at portraying the Tapus the way the Pokedex describes them as). But like Tapu Koko, Tapu Bulu saw Ash's determination and decided to help him train by battling his Lycanroc (it even uprooted a tree and batted Lycanroc away like a baseball!). So when Tapu Bulu isn't lazing around, it's an absolute force to be reckoned with. This quality ends up translating super well with its battling capabilities. 

In terms of competitive viability, Tapu Bulu is a Pokemon that is the epitome of bulky offense, sporting great sustain through Grassy Terrain, Leech Seed, and Horn Leech, as well as a typing that lets it switch into a multitude of threats such as Landorus-T and Garchomp. If you've ever had a problem with your opponent spamming Earthquake, I would definitely recommend running Tapu Bulu. Because its ability to set up Grassy Terrain upon entry into battle not only increases the power of Grass-type moves by 50% and restores the HP of any Pokemon on the ground at the end of every turn, it also drastically decreases the power of moves like Earthquake and Bulldoze by 50%. Tapu Bulu also doubles as a fearsome wallbreaker with an incredibly powerful Wood Hammer, capable of OHKOing Latios after Stealth Rock damage when equipped with a Choice Band, just a testament to its power. While its coverage is limited, it has just about all it needs to get by. Though be aware of its x4 weakness to Poison-types as a single Sludge Bomb, Gunk Shot or Poison Jab can be enough to KO it. Needless to say, Tapu Bulu can be an effective stall Pokemon and physical powerhouse, so be sure to always carry a good Psychic or Steel-type in case you run into one. 


Here’s my Tapu Bulu's summary.
Nature: Adamant
Held Item: Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 244 HP / 84 Atk / 20 Def / 100 SpDef / 60 Spe
-Horn Leech
-Wood Hammer
-Superpower
-Rock Slide

Tapu Bulu’s bulk in combination with recovery from Horn Leech and Grassy Terrain makes it an excellent Assault Vest user. Horn Leech is a reliable STAB move that grants additional recovery beyond Grassy Terrain to Tapu Bulu. When powered by an Adamant nature and Grassy Terrain, Horn Leech hits quite hard, having a chance to OHKO Tapu Lele after Stealth Rock. Wood Hammer is an alternate physical Grass STAB option as it provides Tapu Bulu with a high-Base Power STAB move to help it break past bulkier Pokemon like Clefable and Toxapex more quickly. Tapu Bulu doesn't really mind the recoil all that much since Grassy Terrain helps heal some of its recoil damage. Superpower hits common Pokemon resistant to Grass-type moves such as Ferrothorn and Kartana. Rock Slide is an option to hit Volcarona and Mega Charizard Y, but the loss of momentum against Mega Scizor teams is not ideal. 

The EVs and nature maximize recovery from Grassy Terrain while letting Tapu Bulu take Modest Mega Charizard Y’s Heat Wave and OHKO it back with Rock Slide and outrun uninvested Milotic. Despite the relative lack of attack EV investment, Tapu Bulu is still able to hit hard with an Adamant nature. Assault Vest is given to further boost Tapu Bulu's special bulk, and it especially helps that a lot of its weaknesses have special attack moves. Grassy Surge is Tapu Bulu's only ability—it provides Tapu Bulu with recovery and a 50% boost to the power of its Grass-type moves. In addition, it cuts the damage of Ground-type spread moves like Bulldoze and Earthquake in half. So in double battles, it's alright to pair a Pokemon with a crippling weakness to Ground alongside Tapu Bulu since Grassy Terrain will lower the damage they would've taken.

Of course Tapu Bulu can run a variety of other moves. Here are some suggestions: 
-Nature's Madness is an interesting move unique only to the Island Guardians. It essentially acts like Super Fang and halves an opponent's Pokemon's HP. A move that halves the HP of an opponent's Pokemon, even when they're super defensive, is always a good and viable option. You can also have Tapu Bulu hold its signature Z-Crystal, Tapunium-Z, which enables it to hit foes super hard with its signature Z-Move, Guardian of Alola (the animation of which looks absolutely amazing)! This Z-move is actually very useful as it removes up to 75% of the opponent's Pokemon's HP, this is especially good when it is used against a defensive tank and weakens it just enough so that Tapu Bulu's partner can finish them off. This is a viable move and strategy that you can always consider running on any one of the Tapus.  
-Seed Bomb is a decent alternate physical Grass STAB option if you don't want to deal with Wood Hammer's nasty recoil and want a move with more power than Horn Leech. Though all things considered, you're seriously better off running either Wood Hammer for more power or Horn Leech for passive recovery. 
-Megahorn lets Tapu Bulu get past bulky Grass-types like Tangrowth and Amoonguss. 
-Zen Headbutt is a very good alternative coverage option that helps Tapu Bulu break past Poison-types like Mega Venusaur and Amoonguss.
-Stone Edge can also be used to cover Tapu Bulu's weakness to both Fire and Flying-types. 
-Superpower provides necessary coverage on Steel-types, most notably Heatran and Ferrothorn.
-Brick Break is Tapu Bulu's best coverage option for this set, as it would otherwise be walled by both Ferrothorn and Heatran. It can be chosen over Superpower because it does not lower Tapu Bulu's stats.
-Dual Chop is Tapu Bulu's best answer for countering Dragon-types. Unlike the other Tapus, it is a physical attacker and sadly doesn't have access to Play Rough (it's got Nature's Madness, but it doesn't help that it has a fixed damage percentage if you're planning for it be more offensive). 
-Swords Dance boosts Tapu Bulu's Attack to frightening levels, allowing it to break through a large sum of bulkier Pokemon.
-Bulk Up lets Tapu Bulu act as a bulky setup sweeper, becoming increasingly hard to wall and break past.
-Disable coupled with Substitute is effective because it can prevent Pokemon from being able to touch Tapu Bulu, as most Pokemon only carry one move for it, thus giving Tapu Bulu another opportunity to set up Substitute and cost the opponent some momentum.
-Iron Defense is a good option to raise and further raise up Tapu Bulu's high physical defense stat.
-Synthesis is a great healing option overall and Tapu Bulu was in need of it too (though not in drastic need of it since it has both Horn Leech and Grassy Terrain providing it with more than enough passive recovery). Just be aware that any weather conditions will alter the amount of HP Dhelmise will restore (though if there's sunlight, it'll restore up to 66% of the user's HP).
-Leftovers are a great alternate item option as it stacks with Grassy Surge's extra recovery, making Tapu Bulu last much longer on the battlefield.
-Choice Band can turn Tapu Bulu into a fearsome wallbreaker. Just be aware that it will lock it into just one move. 
-Choice Scarf is also a decent option that allows it to outspeed threats such as Greninja and Tapu Koko. Grassy Surge also makes it stronger than most Choice Scarf users when using its Grass-type STAB.
-Fightinium-Z can be held to let Tapu Bulu muscle past otherwise solid wall responses like Skarmory, Celesteela, Mega Scizor, and Tangrowth.     
-Rockium-Z, when paired with Stone Edge, can better help Bulu to bring down many Flying and Fire-types. It also has the sheer power to break through neutral targets like Tangrowth and Mega Venusaur after Stealth Rock damage.

Do you have your own Tapu Bulu moveset and strategy? Comment below with your moveset!