Hi, everyone! (Forewarning: Loquacious Newbie Alert - Code Orange and a Half!)
I've just finished scraping past the Elite Four, and am currently scurrying about plushing up my Pokedex with the National Dex -- but I have to admit I am crazycakes curious about how I'd hold up in the new and terrifying world of actual PvP combat if I get my paws on some WiFi action. This team's gotten me through the game itself, but could they stand up to an attack from actual human players? (Probably not.) They're largely held together with sentiment and luck, but input on any way to bulk them up for the battles to come would be much appreciated!
Honchkrow (Blue; Female)
Nature: Hardy (Loves to Eat)
Item: Razor Claw (Because some of us can't HAVE Super Luck - nyeh!)
Ability: Insomnia (although I do love having this around in the event of Spore)
Moves:
Night Shade
Fly
Dark Pulse
Night Slash
I know it's such a waste of space to have Dark Pulse and Night Slash in there; I've been meaning to replace one with Roost or Aerial Ace (because Honchkrow's speed is... really, not the best EDIT: Whoops! Had this confused for another move, I think -- one that always strikes first -- although having a move that never misses is helpful, too!). But choosing between them is making me tear my hair out. Dark Pulse is a smidge stronger, with a Flinch chance that's saved my hide before. But Night Slash with the Razor Claw has the potential to be murderous (and, considering how neither Honchkrow's Attack or Sp. Attack stats are anything particularly worth writing home about, the fact that her Attack is slightly higher helps here). Any advice here?
Apparently Fly is no good for competitive battling, either... which I guess makes sense. Honchkrow's not really fast enough to take advantage of the avoidance it provides, actual human opponents are smart enough to switch out when this sort of thing happens, and there are better Flying-type moves available; but I can't deny that it's convenient in-game, haha.
( Wow. I've managed to pick on Honchkrow's Speed, Attack, and Special Attack. I still love you, Honchkrow!
)
Infernape (Icarus; Male)
Nature: Naughty (Likes to Thrash About)
Item: Focus Band (it hung on by the skin of its teeth!)
Ability: Blaze
Moves:
Flamethrower
Brick Break (YES I KNOW EVERYONE AND THEIR MOTHER HAS THIS MOVE I'M LAME)
Flare Blitz
Calm Mind
Nothing too exciting here. Calm Mind, in particular, is filler -- I love Infernape, but he's so fragile that it seems pointless (I had Close Combat here before, but shied away from having only two types of predictably STABBY moves on him; but it's not like he's going to be using the defense that Close Combat saps out of anyway, right?). Flamethrower is really just there in case I need a strong, reliable, Fire move (and when Flare Blitz's recoil is too much; Infernape's HP isn't bad, but it isn't great -- throw him up against a sponge and he's stuck with either Close Combat, and becoming even glassier than usual, or this).
I was thinking about replacing Calm Mind with Stone Edge, though -- it seems like it'd be positively yummy coming from his monstrous Attack stat, plus it'd mean he'd at least get a good hit on some Flyers (maybe even a OHKO if they're delicate, but I'm not holding my breath XD). Thoughts?
Raichu (Dallas; Male)
Nature: Hardy (Somewhat of a Clown)
Item: Wise Glasses (although, I'll admit, the idea of a clownish Raichu wearing glasses into battle makes me snicker)
Ability: Static
Moves:
Thunderbolt
Thunder Wave
Dig
Rock Smash
Typical Raichu set, I'd imagine. I know Iron Tail should probably be up here, for Rock Types, but I'm ignoring it for the same reason I got rid of Slam for Rock Smash -- because moves without 100% accuracy haunt my dreams at night. I like Dig because Raichu is fast enough to duck out of the way in the event the opponent can take advantage of his rather poor Defensive stats (and, I guess, in my magical dreamland, the opponent doesn't have Earthquake on every one of their Pokemon, aaargh) and it makes use of his (apparently) reasonably sturdy Attack stat (actually higher than his Sp. Atk. -- whoda thunk?). Or does that just mean that his Attack and Special Attack are awful? XD;
Gastrodon (Marv; Male)
Nature: Careful (A Little Quick-Tempered)
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Sticky Hold (do you have any idea how long those Leftovers took to steal? XD Haha.)
Moves:
Ice Beam
Earthquake
Surf
Body Slam
MY GOD, I hear you say, what a waste of perfectly good TM's (especially considering I only had one EQ to play with -- how people get this move on every Pokemon in their arsenal, I'll never know)! But Gastrodon is big pink squishy love, and I'm a sucker for the Water/Ground dual-type (if only because personal experience has taught me that everyone knows Electric moves don't work on them, but that sometimes Gastrodon gets lucky and people are dumb. Which is really my only real strategy for legitimate battling and the survival of Gastrodon, I think. "Hope other people are not engaging their entire brain".). Ice Beam isn't particularly strong on him, and it's really only there to give him a fighting chance against Grassy foes (although a lot of the popular ones are going to be faster than him, these days; poor dear). Earthquake, because I can't deny its siren song, and Surf because a) it's handy, and b) it's apparently actually a strong, viable move in live PvP. Body Slam is because I've loved this move and the Paralysis chance since Nidoqueen (who I'll get to later -- sentiment strikes me hard, I'm afraid). I could replace it with Recover, but it doesn't seem like Gastrodon would have the Speed or the necessary Defenses to make good use of it. Any ideas?
Machamp (Tarja; Female)
Nature: Impish (Alert to Sounds)
Item: Quick Claw
Ability: No Guard (haha, okay, it's probably unspeakably horrible in-actual-person battle; but I admit I wanted it just because -- 100% accurate, PP-up'ed, Dynamic Punch, when facing the Elite Four? YES, PLEASE.)
Moves:
Seismic Toss
DynamicPunch
Strength
Revenge
Such a boring, boring moveset on poor Tarja. Ah, well. Machamp isn't really overflowing with options, from what I can gather. I considered Rock Slide (for what, if the Quick Claw does its job, might be a fighting chance against Flyers) instead of Strength, or Payback (instead of Revenge, since they're sort of the same move, only Payback gets no STAB, and is super-effective against Psychics, who Machamp shouldn't otherwise be able to touch.)
(Unless said Psychic is, say, from the Abra family, because that line's got all the Defensive stats of a wet cookie, meaning that if Machamp lucks out with Quick Claw again, Strength should be able to break them in half -- her Fighting moves aren't any good at all against types like this, so Strength and Seismic Toss are really just me shamefully covering my ass).
The only really glaring problem with either of those moveswaps are that Machamp's slow (so slow, good gravy); Payback's really at its most useful when the Pokemon in question's already taken a hit, and if Machamp takes a hit from a Psychic, she's not going to be able to use this move, anyway (as she will be deader than dead). Same story with Rock Slide. I've heard Flamethrower can be good here, but considering her extraordinarily lackluster Sp. Atk., Machamp's really not going to be impressing anyone with it (even if I DO manage to find another Flamethrower TM somewhere). Earthquake would be delicious, but I'm afraid unless I find a way to duplicate TM's I've already used (or transfer them from Pokemon XD, or something), that train has, shall we say, sailed. When she's good, she's very good, but if she can't outright tank something, she's a sitting duck. Think you can help her out of this STAB rut she's in?
(I still love this 100% accurate Dynamic Punch, though. It is the small, meaningless, victories in life.)
Nidoqueen (Roxie; Female)
Nature: Timid (Likes to Run) -- too bad she can't actually use this Speed Boost. Sentimentality, you fail me again! (Adamant's probably the nature I'm looking for here, right? Nidoran-F is somewhat tricky to breed for nature, though, and I'm a lazy bum. It's why nobody on this team has Hidden Power, either. Aheh.)
Item: Expert Belt
Ability: Poison Point (all right, so it's lame, and if I go the Toxic route it's completely useless; but at least she won't get an Attack-lowering Rivalry in battle with male Pokemon, right?)
Moves:
Body Slam
Earth Power
Superpower
Crunch
OMG IT'S A NIDOROYAL THAT HASN'T EVEN GOT EARTHQUAKE.
This is what utter, unabashed, sentiment gets me. I'm so sorry. But I've adored Nidoqueen since her first incarnation back when I was a kidlet, which means I keep her around for reasons that surely wouldn't hold up to expert scrutiny (which probably makes me easy pickings on the PvP circuit).
Body Slam is boring, but it's here for the same reasons it's on Gastrodon -- it's reasonably strong, reasonably accurate, hits Flyers (and some Levitators), and I do love that chance of Paralysis. Earth Power is my replacement Earthquake (and in the event that Roxie finds herself in a Double Battle, it won't completely destroy her ally, either -- I'd love to say that was planned, haha); a nice, STABBY, hit on Steel-types, Rock-types, Electric-types, and anything not specifically resistant to it, and Superpower is there to tank out tenacious Normal-sponges, or Rock-types who are resistant to Ground-type moves. Crunch helps deal with those pesky Ghosts (and Psychics, if Nidoqueen can miraculously survive/outrun them); she's not part Dark, and her Attack is nothing special, but Ghosts and Psychic-types don't tend to be very sturdy, and with the Expert Belt, there's a chance that this could leave a reasonably-sized dent. (Or else I'm just scrambling to defend poor Nidoqueen because there's apparently nothing she can do that other UU Pokemon can't do better. XD; Alas.) Am I missing something obvious here? I know Sludge Bomb's the signature Poison move, but is it worth the STAB, considering the horrendous type coverage Poison-type moves get? Am I a bad person for wanting to put Surf on Nidoqueen?
That's the lot of them -- a teamful of glass cannons (without the legendary-level attack power most cannons get) when one really stands back and looks at them, and likely relegated to UU at best (sentiment, and my seething disdain for overused Pokemon and most Legendaries, as well as my burning hatred for Metagross, aren't doing me any favours in combat, am I right?); but is there a way to salvage them for WiFi combat, or even to just straighten them out for in-game hijinks?
I don't tend to mess about with EV's or specially-bred Hidden Power, because I'm something of a lazy bum (ignore the fact that I was enough of a masochist to raise a Nidorina to level 43 in order to get Crunch, please), but if there's some obvious alternative movesets, better coverage (upon taking a look at them, this team could really use a stat sweeper), or glaring weak spots that I'm missing (Ground and Psychic-type Pokemon would appear to be my mortal foes; which is a huge hurdle, given the prevalence of Earthquake), please, do let me know!
(Apologies for the overly-long post, as well. You have a newbie's undying gratitude and admiration if you bothered to read all the way to the end, though!)
I've just finished scraping past the Elite Four, and am currently scurrying about plushing up my Pokedex with the National Dex -- but I have to admit I am crazycakes curious about how I'd hold up in the new and terrifying world of actual PvP combat if I get my paws on some WiFi action. This team's gotten me through the game itself, but could they stand up to an attack from actual human players? (Probably not.) They're largely held together with sentiment and luck, but input on any way to bulk them up for the battles to come would be much appreciated!
Honchkrow (Blue; Female)
Nature: Hardy (Loves to Eat)
Item: Razor Claw (Because some of us can't HAVE Super Luck - nyeh!)
Ability: Insomnia (although I do love having this around in the event of Spore)
Moves:
Night Shade
Fly
Dark Pulse
Night Slash
I know it's such a waste of space to have Dark Pulse and Night Slash in there; I've been meaning to replace one with Roost or Aerial Ace (because Honchkrow's speed is... really, not the best EDIT: Whoops! Had this confused for another move, I think -- one that always strikes first -- although having a move that never misses is helpful, too!). But choosing between them is making me tear my hair out. Dark Pulse is a smidge stronger, with a Flinch chance that's saved my hide before. But Night Slash with the Razor Claw has the potential to be murderous (and, considering how neither Honchkrow's Attack or Sp. Attack stats are anything particularly worth writing home about, the fact that her Attack is slightly higher helps here). Any advice here?
Apparently Fly is no good for competitive battling, either... which I guess makes sense. Honchkrow's not really fast enough to take advantage of the avoidance it provides, actual human opponents are smart enough to switch out when this sort of thing happens, and there are better Flying-type moves available; but I can't deny that it's convenient in-game, haha.
( Wow. I've managed to pick on Honchkrow's Speed, Attack, and Special Attack. I still love you, Honchkrow!
)Infernape (Icarus; Male)
Nature: Naughty (Likes to Thrash About)
Item: Focus Band (it hung on by the skin of its teeth!)
Ability: Blaze
Moves:
Flamethrower
Brick Break (YES I KNOW EVERYONE AND THEIR MOTHER HAS THIS MOVE I'M LAME)
Flare Blitz
Calm Mind
Nothing too exciting here. Calm Mind, in particular, is filler -- I love Infernape, but he's so fragile that it seems pointless (I had Close Combat here before, but shied away from having only two types of predictably STABBY moves on him; but it's not like he's going to be using the defense that Close Combat saps out of anyway, right?). Flamethrower is really just there in case I need a strong, reliable, Fire move (and when Flare Blitz's recoil is too much; Infernape's HP isn't bad, but it isn't great -- throw him up against a sponge and he's stuck with either Close Combat, and becoming even glassier than usual, or this).
I was thinking about replacing Calm Mind with Stone Edge, though -- it seems like it'd be positively yummy coming from his monstrous Attack stat, plus it'd mean he'd at least get a good hit on some Flyers (maybe even a OHKO if they're delicate, but I'm not holding my breath XD). Thoughts?
Raichu (Dallas; Male)
Nature: Hardy (Somewhat of a Clown)
Item: Wise Glasses (although, I'll admit, the idea of a clownish Raichu wearing glasses into battle makes me snicker)
Ability: Static
Moves:
Thunderbolt
Thunder Wave
Dig
Rock Smash
Typical Raichu set, I'd imagine. I know Iron Tail should probably be up here, for Rock Types, but I'm ignoring it for the same reason I got rid of Slam for Rock Smash -- because moves without 100% accuracy haunt my dreams at night. I like Dig because Raichu is fast enough to duck out of the way in the event the opponent can take advantage of his rather poor Defensive stats (and, I guess, in my magical dreamland, the opponent doesn't have Earthquake on every one of their Pokemon, aaargh) and it makes use of his (apparently) reasonably sturdy Attack stat (actually higher than his Sp. Atk. -- whoda thunk?). Or does that just mean that his Attack and Special Attack are awful? XD;
Gastrodon (Marv; Male)
Nature: Careful (A Little Quick-Tempered)
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Sticky Hold (do you have any idea how long those Leftovers took to steal? XD Haha.)
Moves:
Ice Beam
Earthquake
Surf
Body Slam
MY GOD, I hear you say, what a waste of perfectly good TM's (especially considering I only had one EQ to play with -- how people get this move on every Pokemon in their arsenal, I'll never know)! But Gastrodon is big pink squishy love, and I'm a sucker for the Water/Ground dual-type (if only because personal experience has taught me that everyone knows Electric moves don't work on them, but that sometimes Gastrodon gets lucky and people are dumb. Which is really my only real strategy for legitimate battling and the survival of Gastrodon, I think. "Hope other people are not engaging their entire brain".). Ice Beam isn't particularly strong on him, and it's really only there to give him a fighting chance against Grassy foes (although a lot of the popular ones are going to be faster than him, these days; poor dear). Earthquake, because I can't deny its siren song, and Surf because a) it's handy, and b) it's apparently actually a strong, viable move in live PvP. Body Slam is because I've loved this move and the Paralysis chance since Nidoqueen (who I'll get to later -- sentiment strikes me hard, I'm afraid). I could replace it with Recover, but it doesn't seem like Gastrodon would have the Speed or the necessary Defenses to make good use of it. Any ideas?
Machamp (Tarja; Female)
Nature: Impish (Alert to Sounds)
Item: Quick Claw
Ability: No Guard (haha, okay, it's probably unspeakably horrible in-actual-person battle; but I admit I wanted it just because -- 100% accurate, PP-up'ed, Dynamic Punch, when facing the Elite Four? YES, PLEASE.)
Moves:
Seismic Toss
DynamicPunch
Strength
Revenge
Such a boring, boring moveset on poor Tarja. Ah, well. Machamp isn't really overflowing with options, from what I can gather. I considered Rock Slide (for what, if the Quick Claw does its job, might be a fighting chance against Flyers) instead of Strength, or Payback (instead of Revenge, since they're sort of the same move, only Payback gets no STAB, and is super-effective against Psychics, who Machamp shouldn't otherwise be able to touch.)
(Unless said Psychic is, say, from the Abra family, because that line's got all the Defensive stats of a wet cookie, meaning that if Machamp lucks out with Quick Claw again, Strength should be able to break them in half -- her Fighting moves aren't any good at all against types like this, so Strength and Seismic Toss are really just me shamefully covering my ass).
The only really glaring problem with either of those moveswaps are that Machamp's slow (so slow, good gravy); Payback's really at its most useful when the Pokemon in question's already taken a hit, and if Machamp takes a hit from a Psychic, she's not going to be able to use this move, anyway (as she will be deader than dead). Same story with Rock Slide. I've heard Flamethrower can be good here, but considering her extraordinarily lackluster Sp. Atk., Machamp's really not going to be impressing anyone with it (even if I DO manage to find another Flamethrower TM somewhere). Earthquake would be delicious, but I'm afraid unless I find a way to duplicate TM's I've already used (or transfer them from Pokemon XD, or something), that train has, shall we say, sailed. When she's good, she's very good, but if she can't outright tank something, she's a sitting duck. Think you can help her out of this STAB rut she's in?
(I still love this 100% accurate Dynamic Punch, though. It is the small, meaningless, victories in life.)
Nidoqueen (Roxie; Female)
Nature: Timid (Likes to Run) -- too bad she can't actually use this Speed Boost. Sentimentality, you fail me again! (Adamant's probably the nature I'm looking for here, right? Nidoran-F is somewhat tricky to breed for nature, though, and I'm a lazy bum. It's why nobody on this team has Hidden Power, either. Aheh.)
Item: Expert Belt
Ability: Poison Point (all right, so it's lame, and if I go the Toxic route it's completely useless; but at least she won't get an Attack-lowering Rivalry in battle with male Pokemon, right?)
Moves:
Body Slam
Earth Power
Superpower
Crunch
OMG IT'S A NIDOROYAL THAT HASN'T EVEN GOT EARTHQUAKE.
This is what utter, unabashed, sentiment gets me. I'm so sorry. But I've adored Nidoqueen since her first incarnation back when I was a kidlet, which means I keep her around for reasons that surely wouldn't hold up to expert scrutiny (which probably makes me easy pickings on the PvP circuit).
Body Slam is boring, but it's here for the same reasons it's on Gastrodon -- it's reasonably strong, reasonably accurate, hits Flyers (and some Levitators), and I do love that chance of Paralysis. Earth Power is my replacement Earthquake (and in the event that Roxie finds herself in a Double Battle, it won't completely destroy her ally, either -- I'd love to say that was planned, haha); a nice, STABBY, hit on Steel-types, Rock-types, Electric-types, and anything not specifically resistant to it, and Superpower is there to tank out tenacious Normal-sponges, or Rock-types who are resistant to Ground-type moves. Crunch helps deal with those pesky Ghosts (and Psychics, if Nidoqueen can miraculously survive/outrun them); she's not part Dark, and her Attack is nothing special, but Ghosts and Psychic-types don't tend to be very sturdy, and with the Expert Belt, there's a chance that this could leave a reasonably-sized dent. (Or else I'm just scrambling to defend poor Nidoqueen because there's apparently nothing she can do that other UU Pokemon can't do better. XD; Alas.) Am I missing something obvious here? I know Sludge Bomb's the signature Poison move, but is it worth the STAB, considering the horrendous type coverage Poison-type moves get? Am I a bad person for wanting to put Surf on Nidoqueen?
That's the lot of them -- a teamful of glass cannons (without the legendary-level attack power most cannons get) when one really stands back and looks at them, and likely relegated to UU at best (sentiment, and my seething disdain for overused Pokemon and most Legendaries, as well as my burning hatred for Metagross, aren't doing me any favours in combat, am I right?); but is there a way to salvage them for WiFi combat, or even to just straighten them out for in-game hijinks?
I don't tend to mess about with EV's or specially-bred Hidden Power, because I'm something of a lazy bum (ignore the fact that I was enough of a masochist to raise a Nidorina to level 43 in order to get Crunch, please), but if there's some obvious alternative movesets, better coverage (upon taking a look at them, this team could really use a stat sweeper), or glaring weak spots that I'm missing (Ground and Psychic-type Pokemon would appear to be my mortal foes; which is a huge hurdle, given the prevalence of Earthquake), please, do let me know!
(Apologies for the overly-long post, as well. You have a newbie's undying gratitude and admiration if you bothered to read all the way to the end, though!)
