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The In-Game Team Advice Thread

Okay, new question regarding same Ultra Sun run. I need at least one or two Special Attackers for the team, as three of them are currently Physical hitters (not counting fillers). My team is Rowlet, Rockruff, A-Grimer, Buneary, and Pikipek (the latter two are temporary filler). (Note: I know Rowlet can go Special upon becoming Decidueye, due to a pretty good Special Attack stat, but it doesn't really get any good Special moves to go with it, which limits that.) I sorta want a Grass-Fire-Water core, but I'm not sure what would work, if at all possible. Also, the sixth slot is up for grabs, depending on what I end up with in the rest of the team. Anyone got any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
Salazzle served me very well in my run! One of the few Alola Pokémon with a respectable speed stat and hits hard to boot. Starmie is a kinda basic but always a great choice with its huge coverage and high speed and spatk. Noivern is also a great choice although it will be Noibat for a quite a while (it was still pretty good for me as a Noibat).
 
Got a new question. I started a new playthrough of Sword so I can experiment with the DLC before becoming the Champion. As a result, I'm trying Mons that I've never used before. One of them is a Conkeldurr that I caught as a Timburr (it had a shining aura, which resulted in it having Mach Punch as an Egg Move) from Galar Mine #1 (I haven't tapped into the DLC for this run just yet, as I wanted to at least have access to Great Balls before going over there, and I just beat Nessa roughly 30 minutes ago). My question is this: what would be a good move selection for him and which ability would be better for him? He currently has an Adamant nature (yes, I know, I lucked out big time), Sheer Force, and the moves Mach Punch, Bulk Up, Rock Slide, and Low Kick. I do have an Ability Capsule stashed away, so if anyone feels that his ability should be switched I can do that, and I can also "cheat" and trade him over to a file that has access to more TMs and TRs like Fire Punch and such, so that's also an option. I'm not looking for anything super competitive, but I do want to see what he's capable of for a playthrough, so any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks in advance.
 
If you can somehow get a Flame Orb, you can get Guts, and then have a competitive sweeper in the main game. Mach Punch is great priority, might wanna switch out Low Kick for Hammer Arm because Conkeldurr was never going to be fast anyways. Stone Edge too, its much more powerful, but the accuracy isn't the best, so pick your poison.
 
Doing another HeartGold run (it glitched again, and I later confirmed it was counterfeit via Gamestop, so I had to get a new one). As such, I need help on a potential teammate. I'm looking into a Poison Mon to use for this playthrough and have narrowed it down to two contenders: Weezing and Venomoth. Which of these two would be better to use and what kind of moves would be ideal for them? I've got access to dozens of stockpiled TMs so that's not an issue, so feel free to recommend any TMs for move options. Thanks in advance.
 
Doing another HeartGold run (it glitched again, and I later confirmed it was counterfeit via Gamestop, so I had to get a new one). As such, I need help on a potential teammate. I'm looking into a Poison Mon to use for this playthrough and have narrowed it down to two contenders: Weezing and Venomoth. Which of these two would be better to use and what kind of moves would be ideal for them? I've got access to dozens of stockpiled TMs so that's not an issue, so feel free to recommend any TMs for move options. Thanks in advance.
I’d go with Weezing, for sure. It’s a good physical tank with a useful Ground immunity while Venomoth doesn’t really have great stats or typing.
The main downside is that Weezing does have a rather shallow physical move pool, meaning you’ll usually have to rely on its weaker special attack. That said, it does get some pretty great options like Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, and Shadow Ball. Plus it of course gets Explosion which is great when you know it’s about to go down, and Sludge Bomb for a strong STAB move. Will-O-Wisp or Toxic are also decent for stalling with healing items and/or Black Sludge.
 
New question regarding the previously mentioned HeartGold run (I only just got back to it due to RL and hopping around different games). I wanted to know which Eeveelution I should use in this run? My team is at the moment Quilava, Heracross, and Koffing (Furret is a fill-in member for HM usage until I get the Mons that'll take its place). The ones I've narrowed it down to are Jolteon, Vaporeon and Umbreon. While I know it's hard to get Water and Thunder Stones Johto, I already have access to one that I traded over (along with other stones due to aforementioned difficulty in getting them in-game). I'm still debating on a flyer, so that may alter the choices on the Eeveelution later on, as I'm debating between using Fearow and Honchkrow (assuming I can catch a Murkrow in the Safari Zone, since the little buggers are tough nuts to crack... and it is the Safari Zone we're talking about). But, at the moment, I want to know what Eeveelution to use: Jolteon, Vaporeon or Umbreon? And what would be good moves for it? Thanks in advance.
 
My advice would be to steer clear from Umbreon unless you specifically prefer slow, stall-orientated playstyles, or you need a defensive catch-all for a 'Set' run-through. It has poor offensive stats and the real gems in its' movepool are Wish and Heal Bell; excellent in PvP battles but of limited value in a normal run.

Jolteon would be a solid pick but it too has a couple of issues, the largest one being a fairly shallow and low-powered movepool. It has a wickedly powerful and extremely fast Thunderbolt, which will serve well against anything that doesn't resist it, but Jolteon will likely struggle to put much of a dent in Grass and especially Ground-types, which can be quite prevalent later in the game. It's also very fragile.

Vaporeon would be my pick from a purely 'competitive' perspective. It's chunky enough to have defensive utility and doesn't sacrifice all offensive power for that bulk. Crucially, it gets Ice Beam alongside whatever Water STAB attack you plump for, letting it hit a bevy of Water-resistant Pokémon for good damage (most notably the Dragonites of the later stages of the run).
 
So I've started up a third save on Sword, and am kinda in a pickle. I was originally planning on going with a Noctowl, however, I noticed that my team would have a nice Grass-Fire-Water core if I replaced it with a Water type instead, so I'm kinda leaning towards that as well. My current team plan is...
  • Boltund
  • Alcremie
  • Galarian Farfetch'd
  • Flapple
  • Torkoal
  • Noctowl/Water type

Note: I've already used Cramorant, Seismitoad, and Gastrodon, so I'm not keen on using them again, and I don't have access to the Isle of Armor nor want to breed for Pokemon outside of Applin/Flapple.
 
So I've started up a third save on Sword, and am kinda in a pickle. I was originally planning on going with a Noctowl, however, I noticed that my team would have a nice Grass-Fire-Water core if I replaced it with a Water type instead, so I'm kinda leaning towards that as well. My current team plan is...
  • Boltund
  • Alcremie
  • Galarian Farfetch'd
  • Flapple
  • Torkoal
  • Noctowl/Water type

Note: I've already used Cramorant, Seismitoad, and Gastrodon, so I'm not keen on using them again, and I don't have access to the Isle of Armor nor want to breed for Pokemon outside of Applin/Flapple.

How about Gyarados? It being a Water/Flying Mon allows it to take Noctowl's role easily as a Flying-type, it's got a good movepool, solid stats, Intimidate is still a solid ability (though the changes to certain abilities did punch a few holes in it), and you can get a Magikarp as early as Route 2 by Prof. Magnolia's home, especially since you have the Fishing Rod right from the start. Plus the always active EXP Share will help Magikarp evolve with little to no effort just by sitting on the bench.
 
How about Gyarados? It being a Water/Flying Mon allows it to take Noctowl's role easily as a Flying-type, it's got a good movepool, solid stats, Intimidate is still a solid ability (though the changes to certain abilities did punch a few holes in it), and you can get a Magikarp as early as Route 2 by Prof. Magnolia's home, especially since you have the Fishing Rod right from the start. Plus the always active EXP Share will help Magikarp evolve with little to no effort just by sitting on the bench.
I appreciate the advice, but to be honest I'm not much of a Gyarados fan. The advantages to using one just don't outweigh the fact that I'm not too keen on it.
 
I appreciate the advice, but to be honest I'm not much of a Gyarados fan. The advantages to using one just don't outweigh the fact that I'm not too keen on it.

That's fair. Everyone likes and dislikes certain Mons so it's only normal.

Some other options are Golisopod, who hits like a Mack truck and has beefy stats, the downside being that it's slow. Then there's Cloyster, as Skill Link + Icicle Spear/Rock Blast pretty much destroys everything, and it gets Shell Smash, turning it into a powerhouse. There's also Barraskewda, who basically embodies the fragile speedster archetype, hitting insanely hard and is insanely fast, has some good coverage moves, and Max Geyser + Swift Swim tears its foes to shred, the downside being its abysmal defenses. And Jellicent is a solid Mon, has the powerful Ghost-typing, Water Absorb and Recover making it very hard to take down, Will-o-Wisp and Scald to cripple foes with burns, and a well-rounded movepool. Plus, if it's raining in a certain section of the Wild Area you can find Frillish floating about in the grass, so you don't need to wait to get the upgraded Rotom Bike to get one. Maybe some of these would tickle your fancy?
 
That's fair. Everyone likes and dislikes certain Mons so it's only normal.

Some other options are Golisopod, who hits like a Mack truck and has beefy stats, the downside being that it's slow. Then there's Cloyster, as Skill Link + Icicle Spear/Rock Blast pretty much destroys everything, and it gets Shell Smash, turning it into a powerhouse. There's also Barraskewda, who basically embodies the fragile speedster archetype, hitting insanely hard and is insanely fast, has some good coverage moves, and Max Geyser + Swift Swim tears its foes to shred, the downside being its abysmal defenses. And Jellicent is a solid Mon, has the powerful Ghost-typing, Water Absorb and Recover making it very hard to take down, Will-o-Wisp and Scald to cripple foes with burns, and a well-rounded movepool. Plus, if it's raining in a certain section of the Wild Area you can find Frillish floating about in the grass, so you don't need to wait to get the upgraded Rotom Bike to get one. Maybe some of these would tickle your fancy?
Hmmm... Barraskewda has kinda piqued my interest considering how fast it is and how slow the rest of my team is. Thanks so much for the advice.
 
Hmmm... Barraskewda has kinda piqued my interest considering how fast it is and how slow the rest of my team is. Thanks so much for the advice.

I've used Barraskewda before. Trust me, it's a solid Mon, with move options like Drill Run, Poison Jab, Psychic Fangs, Ice Fang, Close Combat (how the hell it can use Close Combat I don't know), Liquidation and more. And you can get Arrowkuda at Hulbury, so you can have it ready by Nessa's Gym (they can also be found on Route 2 via fishing, but they're kinda rare). Either way, I hope I helped and good luck.
 
Forgive the double post, but I've got a question regarding a possible teammate for a Sword run. I was thinking of having a Kommo-o on my team this time around, but I'm not sure what would be a good setup for it (moves, nature, ability, you get it), since it's been ages since I've used one (not since my first Moon playthrough). Especially now that there are so many new options to work with in the forms of TMs and TRs. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
Off the top of my head, Kommo-o is pretty versatile and balanced in the stat department, so my vague recommendation would be Dragon and Fighting STAB, Poison or Steel coverage for Fairies, and one move of your choice depending on what your team needs. Historically, the weakest-first nature of the AI teams means you can have a really easy time setting up, so Dragon Dance could happily occupy the fourth slot if you decide to go physical.
 
Game: ultra sun

Pokemon: decidueye level:34 decidium z
moveset:
spirit shackle
pluck
grass knot
endeavor

Pokemon: Raichu level:35
moveset:
thunderbolt
spark
thunder wave
psychic

Pokemon: Toucannon level:33 focus sash
moveset:
pluck
fly
beak blast
sand attack

Pokemon: Forretres level:34 no item
moveset:
mirror shot
rapid spin
spikes
Payback

Pokemon: hawlucha level:36 fightanium z
moveset:
roost
flying press
karate chop
aerial ace

Pokemon: whiscash level: 35 waterium z
mud bomb
aqua tail
magnitude
earthquake
 
Got another question. I've started the Sword playthrough that will involve the Kommo-o I asked about before (currently, it's a Jangmo-o that is very close to evolving), but I've noticed something about my starter, Cinderace: I tend to repeat the same moves over and over again. Due to the release of Libero, I've ended up using the same four moves on my Libero Cinderaces, so I want to change things a bit. Currently, my Cinderace in this playthrough has Pyro Ball, Headbutt, High Jump Kick, and Sucker Punch. Usually, once I get it, I swap out Headbutt for U-Turn, which, combined with the previous moves, has been what all my Cinderaces have been running since Libero was released. So, I want to change things a bit this time, as using the same four moves over and over again is getting boring (plus, it gets almost hard-walled by Fairy Mons like Opal's team, with Pyro Ball being the only useful move there).

So, that's my question: What moves should I teach this particular Cinderace? I'm up to Kabu but I've taken a detour to the Isle of Armor so I can get Cinderace's G-Max form first. However, I've stockpiled dozens upon dozens of TRs and have a complete set of TMs in other files, so I have options if you want to suggest a TM or TR. Thanks in advance.
 
Game: pokemon platinum
Team:
empoleon lvl 36
bubblebeam
pound
metal claw
peck

luxray lvl 37
charge
bite
spark
tackle

Staraptor lvl 36
aerial ace
quick attack
endeavor
double team

that's all I've got right now
 
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