>>26924993I personally had no problem with Riolu.
Keep Counter until you learn Reversal. It's his best move, especially against mons who you can't fight due to typing. Then once you learn Reversal it's your choice to keep it or trade it for that
Even though I say it's his best move, do not interpret that his movepool is bad. Both Force Palm and QA are going to be the moves you'll use the most, especially Force Palm doe to it's stun. The same with Feint as well.
The Raisin why Counter is good is because, like said above, you can use it against mons who any other moves do nothing to. Including Ghosts. So as long as an enemy uses a physical move, regardless of the mons type you will counter it.
It also never misses. So a move you counter will not miss. You will counter that move successfully every time
Counter is also really broken in that regard because it applies to multi-hit moves as well. So, say an enemy mon used Fury attack on you. As long as you survive it (key word), you will counter every hit. Thus Counter can become you broken multi-hit move
Now, once you learn Reversal, here's where Riolu's whole "Companion shield" goes into full. And where you choose between being a Cross Counter Riolu or a Juggernaut Riolu
The main raisin to trade Counter for Reversal is sheer damage. Counter works on PA and with counter any PA and deal the same damage back
Reversal on the other hand scales on how much health you have. The less health you have, the more damage it will do. It doesn't matter if an enemy brings you down low or you messed up and stepped on a Blast Trap. The less health, the more damage
This is your highest hitting move
Once you evolve into Lucario, and I recommend evolving, then you get the meaty stuff. Aura Sphere, Bone Rush, Dragon Pulse, CC, Extreme Speed, learnable moves like Dual Chop, Low Kick, Thunder, Ice, Drain, and Power-Up Punch to name a few.
Riolu's not bad. Just play him as a physical shield until you evolve and you'll be fine
