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The In-Game Team Advice Thread

@CynthiaLover Your Post is incredibly helpful! Thanks!


I had pretty much intended the star-line to be my fly-user since Bibarel cannot fly. And I do have the TM return, with Staravia having high friendship so I'll be teaching it the move asap! Close Combat is nice to have, since fragile speedsters are the kind of Pokémon I'm most comfortable with.

Your advice on Infernape is noted. I plan on it running a mixed set with Flamethrower, Mach Punch, Brick Break and coverage.


Is Flash needed a lot after Hearthrome city? I currently don’t have any other Flash user so I'd like to plan with that in mind.Strength will help in the HM department since I'm straining poor Bibarel too much.

As for the sixth team member, I'll be keeping Tangrowth under consideration. I'm not particularly fond of its design (specially since we’ve seen what it could have been with the Gold/Silver beta) but I don’t have much choice on the grass type.
I also recently obtained Eevee, so is leafeon a viable option?

Flash isn't needed after Wayward Cave, hence why it was demoted to TM status this gen. In other words, you only need Flash once in the entire game, so your free to remove it. Plus you can always buy another one at the Veilstone City department store, so it's not like it'll be gone for good in case you decide you want it. As for Leafeon, sadly, it's not as viable as it would like to be. It's best move is Leaf Blade, which it doesn't learn until Lv75, way beyond the time it's needed. And since it's a physical attacker, moves like Giga Drain and such are almost useless on it. If you did decide to use it, you'd have to relearn Razor Leaf via the Move Reminder in Pastoria, which it'll have to use for pretty much the entire game, and that move is only so-so overall, so Leafeon's viability is only moderate at best. I tried raising one once in another Platinum run myself, only to learn of all this the hard way, meaning I pretty much wasted my Eevee at the time. If you don't like Tangrowth, Roserade is another option, though you'll need to raise Roselia for a while before evolving it via a Shiny Stone, since, like most stone evos, it stops learning new moves after evolving, and Roselia is fairly frail. If you do decide to go that path, then moves like Sludge Bomb, Giga Drain, Shadow Ball, and Stun Spore are good options for it, since Roserade is a better special hitter than physical. Fortunately, you can catch Roselia on both sides of Hearthome City, so if you do decide that Roserade is for you, you won't have far to look for one. Hope this helps.
 
Sorry for the double post (though the first one is very old so I'm not sure if it matters right now), but now I'm the one who needs a little help. I just restarted White again this morning for a change of pace. I'm currently at the Dreamyard, having finished Fennel's request and wanted to hunt for a Munna. I not only found a Munna, but a Musharna as well. The funny thing is... both have the exact same nature (Calm), have the same ability (Synchronize), and both are Lv 11, so I'm torn between which one to actually use. I know that Musharna can't learn any more moves naturally, but I do have access to all the Gen V TMs in another White version, so I can cheat a bit and teach it TMs. Plus it's an evolved Mon, so its stats will grow more quickly. But at the same time Munna learns moves like Moonlight, Psychic, and Yawn (and, for that matter, is actually able to learn moves via Lv Up), so it's tempting to take the long road to have access to those moves. Right now I'm not sure what to do. Which path should I take: Munna or Musharna? Any advice would be appreciated. And, to tie into the question, what would be a good selection of moves for the final choice? Thanks in advance.
 
Sorry for the double post (though the first one is very old so I'm not sure if it matters right now), but now I'm the one who needs a little help. I just restarted White again this morning for a change of pace. I'm currently at the Dreamyard, having finished Fennel's request and wanted to hunt for a Munna. I not only found a Munna, but a Musharna as well. The funny thing is... both have the exact same nature (Calm), have the same ability (Synchronize), and both are Lv 11, so I'm torn between which one to actually use. I know that Musharna can't learn any more moves naturally, but I do have access to all the Gen V TMs in another White version, so I can cheat a bit and teach it TMs. Plus it's an evolved Mon, so its stats will grow more quickly. But at the same time Munna learns moves like Moonlight, Psychic, and Yawn (and, for that matter, is actually able to learn moves via Lv Up), so it's tempting to take the long road to have access to those moves. Right now I'm not sure what to do. Which path should I take: Munna or Musharna? Any advice would be appreciated. And, to tie into the question, what would be a good selection of moves for the final choice? Thanks in advance.
Munna, considering it's still early game. The access to a wider movepool is helpful, and despite it being unevolved, the game shouldn't give you trouble yet because of that. For its final moveset Psychic is a given and Moonlight would absolutely be helpful too. The following depends a little on your team, but if you plan to include more slow pokemon, Trick Room is a great addition. Shadowball is a good option too. If you have access to BW2 move tutors you could teach it Signal Beam/Heal Bell, but if you don't want to depend on outside resources, you could also consider Toxic/Thunder Wave. But honestly, it depends on your team. For a team that benefits from Trick Room, I'd go with Psychic/Trick Room/Shadow Ball/Toxic. Otherwise replace Trick Room with Moonlight and Toxic with Thunder Wave
 
Thank you @Dieter , that's exactly the advice I was looking for. I was also leaning toward Munna as well due to the wider movepool, but your advice cemented the choice. I won't, however, be using Trick Room, as the only other slow-ish Mon on my current team is Pignite, and I plan to add some faster Mons later down the road, so Trick Room might be counterproductive in the long run. But everything else you said will work very well, so thank you.
 
Once again, sorry for the double post, but I have another question regarding a potential teammate.

I'm looking into a more long-term Flying type. I currently have Ravess the shiny Unfezant, but I know that Unfezant isn't the best long-term choice, thanks to a fairly shallow movepool and mismatched stats to coincide with those moves. So I'm looking into another potential flyer. My usual go-to choice is Braviary, but I won't be able to get him for a good long time, so I've focused my sights on Archen. Usually, my fossil-of-choice in Unova is Tirtouga, as Archen's Defeatist tends to be a big deterrent, but I did trade over an unused Plume Fossil to revive for dex data and ended up with a Rash female Archen. So I was wondering if I should consider Archen as my would-be Flying Mon? As I said earlier with the Munna/Musharna situation, I can access extra resources like all the TMs and even Move Tutors if needed, so I can cheat a bit if it helps tailor my needs better. But I want to know if Archen would be a halfway decent choice for a flyer. If so, then what moves should I choose for it (including TMs and Move Tutors, if you feel they would help), though I do admit this'll give my team three Mons with Water weaknesses. If not, I'm open to other suggestions. Thanks in advance.
 
My team for Heart gold is
Raichu (58) Strength.Thunder.Focusblast.Thunderbolt
Aerodactyl (59) Crunch.Rockslide.Fly.Earthquake
Venomoth (62) Sleeppowder.Bugbuzz.Psychic.Gigadrain
Cloyster (58) Surf.Icebeam.Explosion.Blizzard
Arcanine (58) Overheat.Firefang.Rock climb.Dragonpulse
Victreebel (57) Leafstorm.Sludgebomb.Leafblade.Cut
I definitely evolved Growlithe and Shellder too early. I'm stuck on the rematch with Lance. I can't even get past Salamence. What can I do to make this team better?
 
My team for Heart gold is
Raichu (58) Strength.Thunder.Focusblast.Thunderbolt
Aerodactyl (59) Crunch.Rockslide.Fly.Earthquake
Venomoth (62) Sleeppowder.Bugbuzz.Psychic.Gigadrain
Cloyster (58) Surf.Icebeam.Explosion.Blizzard
Arcanine (58) Overheat.Firefang.Rock climb.Dragonpulse
Victreebel (57) Leafstorm.Sludgebomb.Leafblade.Cut
I definitely evolved Growlithe and Shellder too early. I'm stuck on the rematch with Lance. I can't even get past Salamence. What can I do to make this team better?
without exiting the league, I assume? cause then it entirely depends on what items you have on hand, and even then...
 
without exiting the league, I assume? cause then it entirely depends on what items you have on hand, and even then...
I've already exited the league. The problem is it takes forever to train in Cerulean Cave / Daycare, and the fact that Arcanine has no good fire moves with an Adamant nature, and Cloyster, the Ice type, has such low SpDef it can't even hit Salamence with Blizzard.
 
I've already exited the league. The problem is it takes forever to train in Cerulean Cave / Daycare, and the fact that Arcanine has no good fire moves with an Adamant nature, and Cloyster, the Ice type, has such low SpDef it can't even hit Salamence with Blizzard.
Ok, so circumstances aren't ideal, but it should be doable. Level grinding is slow, but getting your team members a few levels extra, especially your arcanine and cloyster, will be helpful. You don't have to go all the way to level seventy-something, but do get in those early sixties. Next, I would start out with a speedy pokemon that can give that salamence a status condition. Its lum berry will restore it, but that means you can give it another status condition (anything but sleep) to trick it into using rest. That should give you some space to get more attacks in. Also, you don't want to depend on blizzard, unless the weather condition is hail. If the problem with Cloyster is a 1-hit KO, give it a focus sash. I also dunno if you've done any EV training, but if not, invest in its HP and SpA. There's not a lot else you can do here, cause there's no curing that low SpDef. It surprises me a little that your cloyster can't get a hit in, as I see Lance's salamence is mostly physical oriented in its moveset.

Additionally, fire moves won't help you here, cause dragons. I'd replace Overheat with Extreme Speed and give it Toxic or Will-o-wisp. Plus make sure to invest in its speed and hp. That way you can use it to inflict status on salamence.

Giving your raichu Thunderwave might not a bad idea here either. While Lance's dragons are not all super speedy, as you're underleveled, they'll still be pretty fast and you wanna cripple them as much as possible to give them more trouble to damage you.
 
Ok, so circumstances aren't ideal, but it should be doable. Level grinding is slow, but getting your team members a few levels extra, especially your arcanine and cloyster, will be helpful. You don't have to go all the way to level seventy-something, but do get in those early sixties. Next, I would start out with a speedy pokemon that can give that salamence a status condition. Its lum berry will restore it, but that means you can give it another status condition (anything but sleep) to trick it into using rest. That should give you some space to get more attacks in. Also, you don't want to depend on blizzard, unless the weather condition is hail. If the problem with Cloyster is a 1-hit KO, give it a focus sash. I also dunno if you've done any EV training, but if not, invest in its HP and SpA. There's not a lot else you can do here, cause there's no curing that low SpDef. It surprises me a little that your cloyster can't get a hit in, as I see Lance's salamence is mostly physical oriented in its moveset.

Additionally, fire moves won't help you here, cause dragons. I'd replace Overheat with Extreme Speed and give it Toxic or Will-o-wisp. Plus make sure to invest in its speed and hp. That way you can use it to inflict status on salamence.

Giving your raichu Thunderwave might not a bad idea here either. While Lance's dragons are not all super speedy, as you're underleveled, they'll still be pretty fast and you wanna cripple them as much as possible to give them more trouble to damage you.

Flamethrower OHKOs Cloyster
So I can give Venomoth an Occa Berry and use PoisonPowder
Raichu can't relearn Thunderwave, even though it knew it as a Pikachu

I was originally using a Seaking until I caught Shellder, but it's only level 34
 
Flamethrower OHKOs Cloyster
So I can give Venomoth an Occa Berry and use PoisonPowder
Raichu can't relearn Thunderwave, even though it knew it as a Pikachu

I was originally using a Seaking until I caught Shellder, but it's only level 34
Thunder Wave is a TM in Gen IV, so if you want you could relearn it. But I see you can only get it in the Battle Frontier and I forgot if that's unlocked directly post-E4. Also, if you let your mom save up money for you, one of the rewards she gives you is a focus sash, so that should be accessible too.
 
Okay, I need a bit of advice. I'm doing a rerun of X (I just finished a rerun of White, but I was still bored, and even though XY aren't high on my list, I decided to try them one more time). I haven't gotten very far, just past Viola's gym, and my only two "main" teammates are a Frogadier and Fletchling (I had others, but I boxed them, as these two were able to solo Viola pretty easily, while the others turned into dead weight). I need some advice on other teammates. And, unlike what I normally do in most playthroughs (using only new Mons), I'm going to allow myself to be open to all the options in X this time. In other words, the whole dex is viable now, not just the new Mons. Yeah, not something I would do normally, isn't it? However, I've used most of the new Mons in XY so much that they've gotten pretty stale to me, so that's why I'm branching out a bit more this time.

But in any case, this is where I need help. I want to fill in the remaining four slots in my team, but I'm not sure what would be good choices anymore, especially in X. So I'm open to suggestions for this run. Suggesting moves (including TMs), abilities, and Natures are welcome, too (though that last one will be up to luck at best). I do have ground rules: no breeding permitted, no trading Mons from other games, and no Move Tutors outside of what XY has. Megas are kinda debatable, as I do possess multiple copies of all the Mega Stones, so if you have a Mega worth suggesting, let me know and I'll think about it (except M-Kanga, as I'm so sick of her, so she's not an option). But I'm generally open to pretty much all ideas and suggestions this time. This is bit of a tall order, I admit, but I will also admit my XY runs are very narrow-minded normally (given the slim number of new choices), so I figured this time I'll be more open to what's available in the game instead of being overly stubborn and picky. So thanks in advanced to whoever decides to tackle this challenge.
 
Okay, I need a bit of advice. I'm doing a rerun of X (I just finished a rerun of White, but I was still bored, and even though XY aren't high on my list, I decided to try them one more time). I haven't gotten very far, just past Viola's gym, and my only two "main" teammates are a Frogadier and Fletchling (I had others, but I boxed them, as these two were able to solo Viola pretty easily, while the others turned into dead weight). I need some advice on other teammates. And, unlike what I normally do in most playthroughs (using only new Mons), I'm going to allow myself to be open to all the options in X this time. In other words, the whole dex is viable now, not just the new Mons. Yeah, not something I would do normally, isn't it? However, I've used most of the new Mons in XY so much that they've gotten pretty stale to me, so that's why I'm branching out a bit more this time.

But in any case, this is where I need help. I want to fill in the remaining four slots in my team, but I'm not sure what would be good choices anymore, especially in X. So I'm open to suggestions for this run. Suggesting moves (including TMs), abilities, and Natures are welcome, too (though that last one will be up to luck at best). I do have ground rules: no breeding permitted, no trading Mons from other games, and no Move Tutors outside of what XY has. Megas are kinda debatable, as I do possess multiple copies of all the Mega Stones, so if you have a Mega worth suggesting, let me know and I'll think about it (except M-Kanga, as I'm so sick of her, so she's not an option). But I'm generally open to pretty much all ideas and suggestions this time. This is bit of a tall order, I admit, but I will also admit my XY runs are very narrow-minded normally (given the slim number of new choices), so I figured this time I'll be more open to what's available in the game instead of being overly stubborn and picky. So thanks in advanced to whoever decides to tackle this challenge.
I've added pokemon that are less popular/more challenging on purpose, because why not. Moves in italics are suggestions that depend a bit on what you do with your other team members.

  • Bellossom: Energy Ball/Sleep Powder/Toxic/Sunny Day/Solar Beam/Petal Dance (limited movepool even with tutors ^^;;)
  • Swalot: Sludge Bomb (again, not the most versatile movepool, but better than Bellossom. It can be made pretty tanky though)
  • Wigglytuff: Dazzling Gleam/Hyper Voice
  • Golurk (cause every team needs a ghost type): You could get one with Klutz to give yourself an extra obstacle.. Shadow Punch/Earth Quake/Power-Up Punch/Brick-Break/Fly
Most of this team is pretty slow though, so either you get them all pretty bulky in Hyper Training, or you replace one of them for a Trick Room user.
 
...Um... not quite what I was looking for, to be honest. A challenge is nice and all (especially since X isn't very challenging, baring some NPCs), but I tend to utilize practicality as often as possible, so purposely handicapping myself isn't something I'm fond of. Though Golurk might be useful, as I've never raised out outside of dex data, so it might be a contender. Plus it does have some nice options available to it, so I'll think about Golurk as a possible choice.

Anyway, moving on, I ended up catching a pretty nice Meinfoo and decided to raise her. I haven't raised a Meinfoo in ages, which is a shame as it's one of my favorite Fighting lines (something that I should've capitalized on my last White run but didn't think of it at the time), so I'm a little rusty on my Meinfoo 101 course. So I'd like some ideas on what would be a good setup for her. She's Level 17, has a Bashful nature, has Inner Focus as her ability (I admit I was sort of hoping for Regenerator, but I'm not too fussy in this case), and her current setup is Pound, Rock Smash, Swords Dance, and Fake Out. So what would be a good setup for her? Again, I'm willing to cheat when it comes to TMs, as this game annoyingly locked out some TMs to post-game (with the added kick of needing BP to get them), so I'm willing to bend the rules there a bit if it helps give her a good chance. Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Now I have a second question regarding yet another new teammate. I caught a Mawile in Glittering Cave. Seeing how the Mawile I used in OR a while back was a very valuable member, I've decided to add this one to the ranks, giving me a more defensive teammate. This means I may have a Mega Mon waiting in the wings. So now she's added to my previous question for a good setup. She's Level 15, has a Docile nature (yeah, another neutral nature, I've been getting a lot of those lately), Intimidate as her ability, and the moves Bite, Astonish, Fake Tears, and Fairy Wind (I just caught her moments ago, so I haven't futzed with her yet). Thanks in advance again.
 
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I'm starting a Butterfree-only run on Pokémon X. Does somebody know which move can I teach Butterfree so that it can hit Steel Pokémon? I have done playthroughs of the previous games with only Butterfree and it's kind of frustrating to fight Skarmory. Just something that does neutral damage would be alright.
 
I'm starting a Butterfree-only run on Pokémon X. Does somebody know which move can I teach Butterfree so that it can hit Steel Pokémon? I have done playthroughs of the previous games with only Butterfree and it's kind of frustrating to fight Skarmory. Just something that does neutral damage would be alright.

You only have two options there, and one of them depends on almost pure luck. Shadow Ball will hit Skarmory for neutral damage (and Steel-types as a whole, baring certain mixes), and, if you get lucky, Hidden Power can potentially hit it with neutral or even super-effective damage. Those are your only options. Hope this helps.
 
Okay, once again, I need help. This time I'm playing HeartGold, as I've completed my X run a day or two ago. Sadly, my Johto know-how is rusty, so I want some advice on potential teammates. And I do have one particular rule: Only Gen II Mons allowed, though that also extends to evolutions created in Gen IV (like Tangrowth, Yanmega, Mamoswine, etc). I've started out with a Quirky Cyndaquill and have gained a Sentret and Caterpie/Metapod as fillers (though Sentret will become a HM Slave (a term I REALLY don't like) for the early parts of the journey, as I don't plan to use it long-term). I am tempted to use Crobat as my Flying Mon, for a change of pace, but I'm still thinking that one out. I will also have Heracross on my team, as it is a very useful Mon who has gotten my rear out of a lot of tough situations in past runs. But I'm not sure who will take the remaining slots. So I'd like some advice on potential options, as, like I said before, my knowledge of Johto Mons is rusty, so I need a little help. Again, only Gen II and IV Mons are allowed, which means no Kanto Mons (unless they evolve into a Gen IV Mon, then that changes things). So, my rough team plan is below:

Permanent Teammates: Starter, Heracross
Possible Teammates: Crobat
Temporary Teammates: Sentret, Metapod

Thanks in advance.
 
Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Fire Red, Leaf Green, Coliseum, XD Gale of Darkness, Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Heart Gold, Sould Silver, Black, White, Black 2, White 2, X, Y, Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire, Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and finally Ultra Moon.

I wanted to try and make a party for each game out of some twisted twisted sense of fun and with that was wondering what others would suggest, so here I am. There were some restrictions I put, both to make it a little more interesting as well as to make the undertaking less massive, so if you'd like to throw your hat into things please do!

1. No family repeats, so no pokemon from the same evolutionary line, like poliwrath and politoad, or that can be bred into another family, like volbeat and illumise. (Just want to mention I was convinced miltank and tauros would be included here when I started and had no idea volbear and illumise were)

2. No type repeats in one party, so in Yellow or something I can't have two water types.

3. The pokemon have to be available in that game. So version exclusive stuff. And also no traded pokemon, in game or otherwise. Gift pokemon are fine though, basically I want them to have the same ID number and OT.

4. No legendaries, though pseudo legendares, like dragonite, are fine. Basically no pokemon there are only one of that can't be bred. (Excluding Eevee in gen 1 of course)

5. In gen 6 and 7 I would like a pokemon to mega evolve in my party.

If there is a better place to ask let me know that instead
 
Okay, I'm planning to do another US run, as I've lost total interest in HGSS (mainly that atrocious level curve is was repelled me, as even with Lucky Eggs it takes entirely too long), and I wanted some ideas and/or input on potential members. I won't be starting it for at least another day or two, as I won't have a lot of free time for the next few days (mainly routine doctor visits, but also to help my mom, who is undergoing a chemotherapy-esque treatment, and I'll need to play escort a couple of times), so that gives some time to plan ahead.

This run will be different from past ones for a number of reasons. For starters, the entire dex is open, instead of just limiting it to new Mons like I normally do. Secondly, breeding is an option this time around, so if anyone has recommendations for things like Egg moves and such, then that's allowed. Competitive breeding/moves/natures/hidden abilities may not be possible, as my resources in that regard are low at best (and I'm not THAT good of a breeder), but if I do have a potential option for it, I will attempt it if you feel it would be worth the time. Also, all version exclusives are welcome (as long as they're in the dex itself, which means no outside Mons needing the bank to gain access to are allowed), as I can use the aforementioned breeding to bypass that restriction. And the last bit is no Island Scan Mons allowed, as that's a bit too much effort for not enough reward.

At this time, there are only two teammates that are surefire: Rockruff (which I'll attempt to breed an Own Tempo type, plus it's a staple to me) and the starter, which is Poppilo, who is the only Alola starter I haven't used in USUM yet (and it'll prevent me from having my usual Water Mon conundrum that I have almost every time I play a Pokemon game). The rest of the slots are open. And if you think a rotation tactic will work, you are free to suggest potential options and tactics for it. A tall order, I admit, but I'm trying to break old habits and be more open (though if you think this means I'll stop hating Kanto/Gen 1, think again). Oh, and any held item suggestions are open, too, as I've stockpiled so much in other versions that I can tap into them if needed. Thanks in advance.
 
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