Pokemon thoughts - Huntail

@Random WiFi, Lv50

So about Huntail...
His base stats are:
HP: 55
Atk: 104
Def: 105
Sp. Atk: 94
Sp. Def: 75
Spd: 52
His abilities are:
Swift Swim
Water Veil



Out of all of the water Pokemon, there is little doubt that Huntail is one of the more... forgettable Pokemon.
Appearance-wise, quite plain. Strength-wise, not incredibly strong either. And thus, very easy to forget.
But rather, I felt it would be interesting to use him and thus I tried.
Let's look at his stats.
Splitting Gorebyss' Sp. Atk, his attacking abilities are a bit incomplete. His Sp. Atk is not so high and his Atk is not so high, but this also means he is best utilized as a mixed attacker.
His Def is high, but because his HP is not so high, you cannot overestimate his physical defense. Without HP investment, he will be able to survive Haxorus' Jolly Outrage, but has a chance of falling to an Adamant one.
Sp. Def is not so high, coupled with his HP, makes him fairly vulnerable to powerful special attacks. With ease, he falls to Latios' Timid Draco Meteor. He even has a very low chance of falling to Volcarona's Modest Bug Buzz. However, it's not like he is Cloyster, so as long as the attack is not STAB or too powerful, he won't go down in one hit.
With his Spd base stat 52, he is on the slower end of Pokemon. I guess you can note that with a +nature and 252 EVs, he can outspeed barely up to a =nature Pokemon of Spd base stat 61 or lower (Tyranitar, Porygon2, Torterra, for exampl).

His abilities are pretty useful and matching.
With Swift Swim, he can outspeed BS130 Pokemon and his water attacks are strengthened. However, because he is not that fast, he will be outsped by fast scarfed Pokemon even under rain.
With Water Veil, he can Shell Break without worry of being Burned (which would lower his defenses), which is helpful because a mixed attacking Huntail would have physical attacks. However, to use Water Veil, he cannot learn moves from past generation move tutors.

Attacks:
Baton Pass - One of the two Shell Smash Baton Passers
Iron Defense - Instead of Shell Smash
Crunch - A move that is fairly important in his uniqueness from other Pokemon, against Jellicent and other ghost Pokemon (especially if ability is Water Veil)
Aqua Tail - Because he is slow, it might be better to go with power over Waterfall's flinching
Waterfall - Stable physical water attack and if you increase your speed with Swift Swim or Shell Smash
Hydro Pump - Strongest attack, though accuracy is worrisome
Ice Beam - Typical ice attack of water Pokemon, against Dragon and Grass Pokemon that resist Water
Ice Fang - Possibly can flinch opponent, but accuracy is not 100 and does not have much power. Though technically, 252 EV in Atk plus +nature and Ice Fang does more damage than 0 EV plus =nature and Ice Beam
Blizzard - Accuracy is worrisome, but it has the power that Ice Beam lacks. If you use this, it does more damage than Ice Fang will, even if your Sp. Atk is under a -nature
Snatch - For uniqueness from other Pokemon, especially Gorebyss. Snatch a stat boosting move and then Baton Pass it!
Confuse Ray - Against certain opponents, this may be the only hope
Bounce - It'll surprise the enemy and it does have the power that Ice Fang lacks against Grass Pokemon. Also has the most power against Fighting and Bug Pokemon. However, under Swift Swim and Rain, Waterfall has just as much power and this is a past gen move, so you can only use Swift Swim. Also, it takes two turns.
Sucker Punch - One of the most important moves, I feel, for Huntail. One of the very few Water Pokemon that can learn it, stronger power than a STAB Aqua Jet, and Huntail has the highest attack of all Water Pokemon. With a Gem, he can take out Latios in one hit! However, because this is a past gen move tutor move, it cannot be combined with Shell Smash or Water Veil.
Super Fang - Another important move for Huntail's uniqueness, this move does more damage than Huntail can do with his other moves against certain Pokemon, such as Eviolte Chansey and Porygon2, Ferrothorn, Rotom-W, and such. However, because this is a past gen move tutor move, it cannot be combined with Shell Smash or Water Veil.

So putting together all of this, I hope you can see that Huntail is far from hopeless and there are ways to use him, in ways only he can be used. From personal experience, here are the Huntails I have created:
MoveSet 1:
Nature: Brave
Ability: Swift Swim
Moves:
Sucker Punch
Super Fang
Blizzard
Aqua Tail
Item: Dark Gem
EVs: As much as possible in Atk, as much as possible in HP, rest in Sp. Atk
A moveset that pulls out all of Huntail's special traits that makes him unique. Only he can be this moveset.
He actually did quite a good job.
Being a minor Pokemon, people constantly forget that he can use Sucker Punch, allowing him to take out fast Ghost and Psychic Pokemon in one hit with Gem Sucker Punch.
Against defensive walls, Super Fang can take a bite out of them before he is taken out.
Aqua Tail is his STAB move and used over Waterfall because I don't intend to fight going first.
Blizzard because I feel that Huntail needs to be a mixed attacker to stand out, but Ice Beam < Ice Fang, so I had to choose Blizzard as his Ice move. It misses....... But if it hits, it can take out Garchomp in one hit.
The nature is Brave because this moveset throws away speed. Receive damage, deal damage back. So I didn't want to lower any of my defenses nor any of my attacks.
Ability is not used really, but there is no other option.

MoveSet 2:
Nature: Naughty
Ability: Water Veil
Moves:
Shell Smash
Crunch
Waterfall
Ice Beam
Item: Life Orb
EVs: 228 to outspeed BS130 Pokemon, 44 in Sp. Atk to take out Venasaur with Ice Beam after Shell Smash, 4 EV in Def and HP to survive Dragonite's Band Adamant 252 EV Extremespeed after a Shell Smash, rest in Atk
A moveset that uses his new powerful move Shell Smash and his new ability. Unlike the above moveset, I throw away defenses to go out on the offense. Shell Smash and aim to sweep the opposing team. The only Water Pokemon that has higher attack than Huntail is Carracosta, but Huntail cannot be burned and has higher special attack and speed.

@Baton Passing
If you are gonna honestly use Shell Smash Baton, Gorebyss might be a better choice. Although there is no real difference, Gorebyss learns more moves for Baton Pass plus with only two attacks, it is hard to create a mixed attacker and Gorebyss does better as a pure special attacker.
Of course, you can just have two physical attacks and that makes Huntail unique, but there are no two physical moves he learns that really covers each other with decent power (Ice Fang...) while Gorebyss can use Ice Beam.