BDSP What Pokemon will you be using in Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl?

[EmCeeChupi the Undying]

My team
-Torterra
-Pichu (Why would I choose any other Electric-type)
-Weavile (Transferred from Shield at Lv. 100, probably not gonna use it till the Elite Four)
-Gengar (Also from Shield)
-Togekiss (From the Egg Cynthia gives you)
-Blazikin (From Shield, what were you expecting)

Spoiler: Don't click

I Warned You

 

[RavenRaziel98]

I'm a little surprised that nearly nobody listed Dialga/Palkia for their team - is it unusual for people to use them? I always keep a free place (if possible) in my team so it won't be transferred to the pokemon center

 

[Esserise]

I'm a little surprised that nearly nobody listed Dialga/Palkia for their team - is it unusual for people to use them? I always keep a free place (if possible) in my team so it won't be transferred to the pokemon center

I'd say it's a fairly common practice to forbid oneself from using Legendaries, in order avoid making them game feel too easy. Dialga and Palkia in particular happen to be really strong Legendaries, too (as opposed to something like Kantonian Articuno which, even though it's a Legendary, has a lot of weaknesses and a relatively limited movepool), so I think people who want more of a challenging experience will be as inclined as ever to box them.

I used to abide by that same self-imposed restriction, but the last few games have done things to make using Legendaries feel less taboo to me. As such, I did consider having Palkia on my upcoming Shining Pearl team, but speaking practically, I don't really need another Water type on top of Manaphy. But it's something I'll probably keep in mind for a future playthrough.

 

[EmCeeChupi the Undying]

as opposed to something like Kantonian Articuno which, even though it's a Legendary, has a lot of weaknesses and a relatively limited movepool

Kantonian Articuno's only flying move at level 50 (in PMD, maybe more games since that's the only game I've used regular Articuno) is Gust. More of a pure Ice-type.
EDIT: Gust is its only DAMAGING Flying move (In Gen 8), it learns Tailwind at level 30 and Roost at 40. Doesn't get Hurricane until 55

 

[RavenRaziel98]

I didn't even consider to choose Manphy/Phione, they count to the pokemon that I rather collect than actually use (same goes for the lake trio) and shaymin). But since Dialga/Palkia are the cover pokemon I tend to make use of them. Would feel weird to have access to proto groudon (using OR as a sample) but not using it.
However, I can see that it is useful to avoid them for a more challenging experience (especially with exp share always on).

 

[Puddle]

I'm a little surprised that nearly nobody listed Dialga/Palkia for their team - is it unusual for people to use them? I always keep a free place (if possible) in my team so it won't be transferred to the pokemon center

I used Palkia in Pearl, Giratina in Platinum, and I think there's a pretty good chance that my Brilliant Diamond team will end up being this...

Turtwig/Torterra
Staraptor
Luxray
Floatzel
Lucario
Dialga

Before I catch Dialga, I might use the sixth slot to try out some Pokemon I haven't used before. I'd like to give Honchkrow and Skuntank a go as I didn't have access to them in Pearl or Platinum.

I like using mascot legendaries. In the context of the game's story, it makes sense that the protagonist would want to use the most powerful creature they have, especially one that played a significant role in their adventure.

 

[RavenRaziel98]

I used Palkia in Pearl, Giratina in Platinum, and I think there's a pretty good chance that my Brilliant Diamond team will end up being this...

Turtwig/Torterra
Staraptor
Luxray
Floatzel
Lucario
Dialga

Before I catch Dialga, I might use the sixth slot to try out some Pokemon I haven't used before. I'd like to give Honchkrow and Skuntank a go as I didn't have access to them in Pearl or Platinum.

I like using mascot legendaries. In the context of the game's story, it makes sense that the protagonist would want to use the most powerful creature they have, especially one that played a significant role in their adventure.

I always liked Honchkrow and Skuntank (even though I've never used either, but maybe I'll give Skuntank a shot too, but Mamoswine will definitely be in my team in one of my copies. Also I thought about using Dusknoir for the ghost type in one of them.

 

[GourgeistSupreme]

My team for Shining Pearl is probably gonna be the following(Perenthesis hold nicknames)

Mismagius(Cult due to its entries stating that it chants spells)
Purugly(Mars as a nod to Mars' Purugly who as JaidenAnimations once said "She has a fat cat that hits like a semi-truck")
Vespiquen(Honey Combs as a nod to the literal beehive on the bottom of her dress)
Roserade(Chairman as a nod to Chairman "Rose" insert laugh track)
Quagsire(Lol as a nod to JaidenAnimations' quagsire [rip lol the quagsire, f u Jupiters' golbat])
Infernape(Monke because monke)

 

[RavenRaziel98]

So far I have:
Empoleon
Luxray
Skuntank
Dusknoir
Dialga
Abomasnow
For BD

And Torterra
Mamoswine
Mismagius
Palkia
Lucario (maybe)
And a fire, psychic, bug or poison type (probably)
For SP

Edit: Just decided to stick with Lucario and add Drapion as the last member

 

[GhostLucario]

Now that Exp share is permanent again and HMs have been integrated into the Poketch, I will definitely try to use those obscure and overlooked pokémon. I am using Burmy, Pachirisu, Glameow, Ponyta, Drifloon, Combee... maybe Buizel (though Floatzel is good) IDK what else, I just want to get out of the starter-Shinx-Starly box.

 

[GourgeistSupreme]

My team for Shining Pearl is probably gonna be the following(Perenthesis hold nicknames)

Mismagius(Cult due to its entries stating that it chants spells)
Purugly(Mars as a nod to Mars' Purugly who as JaidenAnimations once said "She has a fat cat that hits like a semi-truck")
Vespiquen(Honey Combs as a nod to the literal beehive on the bottom of her dress)
Roserade(Chairman as a nod to Chairman "Rose" insert laugh track)
Quagsire(Lol as a nod to JaidenAnimations' quagsire [rip lol the quagsire, f u Jupiters' golbat])
Infernape(Monke because monke)

I almost forgot to include the movesets for them so here they are:
Cult's moveset:
Ability Levitate
Shadow Ball
Dazzling Gleam
Magical Leaf
Confuse Ray

Mars' moveset
Ability Thick Fat
Slash
Shadow Claw
Aerial Ace
Hypnosis

Honey Combs' moveset
Ability Pressure
Attack Order
Heal Order
Defend Order
Power Gem

Chairman's moveset
Ability Poison Point
Sludge Bomb
Energy Ball
Shadow Ball
Toxic

Lol's moveset
Ability Water Absorb
Aqua Tail
Rain Dance
Ice Beam
Amnesia

Monke's moveset
Ability Blaze
Flame Wheel
Fire Spin
Close Combat
Calm Mind

These are the movesets and abilities!

(Edit: Added abilities and changed a few moves)

 

[Alola]

I'm a little surprised that nearly nobody listed Dialga/Palkia for their team - is it unusual for people to use them? I always keep a free place (if possible) in my team so it won't be transferred to the pokemon center

Aside from Legendary Pokémon easily trivializing the game, there's also the dissonance that people may feel in catching and using them. A ten-year old child owning & controlling the gods of time and space, and other similar deities, can be off-putting, so some people avoid using them for that reason as well.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

There's also the fact that most of the time Legendaries are only available rather late into the game, sometimes even as late as just before the last few fights or even literally the last fight, and by then most players already have a full team that they're probably attached to and more than likely has served them well throughout the run, so many probably just don't feel the need to replace any of their beloved team members unless maybe one of them is seriously underperforming, but even then if a Pokemon underperforms it's likely to be replaced long before the Legendaries are even a blip in the radar anyway.

 

[RavenRaziel98]

Aside from Legendary Pokémon easily trivializing the game, there's also the dissonance that people may feel in catching and using them. A ten-year old child owning & controlling the gods of time and space, and other similar deities, can be off-putting, so some people avoid using them for that reason as well.

I see the issue with that point, but I never thought about the dissonance thing that way (mostly because I consider the characters as older than 10 - despite being the official age - in my head canon they're always a little older). If we start to think about that kinda stuff it's already bs that a 10 year old travels the world, earning money by fighting random people on each corner and stopping a crime organization with mafia-like structures on its own - so at that point said kid might as well control multiple god-like creatures that have barely been seen by anyone before.

There's also the fact that most of the time Legendaries are only available rather late into the game, sometimes even as late as just before the last few fights or even literally the last fight, and by then most players already have a full team that they're probably attached to and more than likely has served them well throughout the run, so many probably just don't feel the need to replace any of their beloved team members unless maybe one of them is seriously underperforming, but even then if a Pokemon underperforms it's likely to be replaced long before the Legendaries are even a blip in the radar anyway.

To be honest, the only reason for my carrying a full party were hm slaves. And I replaced them as soon as I got access to a species that was able to cover more hm moves than the hm slave before. The first time I actually used/trained all of my team members was in S/M/US/UM since I didn't have to bother about terrain attacks anymore.

 

[Welkamo]

I’m certainly gonna have Gallade and Gardevoir on my team. Since I chose Piplup in Platinum, I’ll probably choose either Chimchar or Turtwig as my starter. Other than that, I’m open to whatever. Maybe I’ll use Glaceon/Leafeon, depending on who I use in Platinum.

 

[Moonlight~]

Here you go. It’s my classic Sinnoh team

Untitled 14

My Piplup ( my starter) and Clefairy (my signature and top 1 of all times) will be in rotation.

I’m still not sure if I wanna keep my Empoleon tbh. I’ll decide later.

I usually pick my team only if they’re native to the specific game region. Example now we’re in Sinnoh, so I used Sinnoh Pokémon.

I wanna use Drifloon too and Leafeon but I will save those for PLA.

 

[CynthiaLover]

There may be a change or two to my team now. Mostly it's one particular Mon but there is a chance that another teammate may have been shuffled around. The one in question is Garchomp. If Gible is only accessible at the same time as it is in DP then I might have to drop him, since it'll take too long to grind him up, even with the auto EXP Share. Unless it can also be found in the Hideaways, I may swap it out Gliscor, especially since it's been a very long time since I used one. Glalie/Froslass is another possible Mon that I might have to drop unless Snorunt can be found in Hideaways, as I really don't want to have to wait until Snowpoint before getting it (why do most games with Ice Mons tend to position them near the end of the game???). I'm still debating that one but if I have to drop Glalie/Froslass then I'll go with Weavile, as I know that Sneasel can be found in the Hideaways, thus can be accessed earlier (although I know it would be better to have another Special hitter). Again, it depends on if the Hideaways grant earlier access to certain Mons or not but if Gible and Snorunt are only accessible at their original locations then they're gonna have to be dropped.

 

[Tood]

Debating on whether I want to go with a mixed team or play through with a Steel monotype team...

If I do the monotype run, it'd probably be something like this, but with a few problems:

Empoleon - only evolves ~mid-thirties
Bastiodon - I'm getting Diamond, so I'd need to trade one in from someone
Bronzong
Magnezone? - I don't know where I'd find one, hopefully it would unlock fairly early on if it's in the underground.
Lucario - only shows up at gym 6, and I'd have to grind it to get Riolu to evolve and match the rest of my team in levels
Scizor/Steelix/Dialga?

 

[EmCeeChupi the Undying]

Debating on whether I want to go with a mixed team or play through with a Steel monotype team...

If I do the monotype run, it'd probably be something like this, but with a few problems:

Empoleon - only evolves ~mid-thirties
Bastiodon - I'm getting Diamond, so I'd need to trade one in from someone
Bronzong
Magnezone? - I don't know where I'd find one, hopefully it would unlock fairly early on if it's in the underground.
Lucario - only shows up at gym 6, and I'd have to grind it to get Riolu to evolve and match the rest of my team in levels
Scizor/Steelix/Dialga?

Scizor. Scizor is the best mon for catching your team (not sure how early you can get it though) and sweeping enemy teams (its bug type makes it neutral from ground, and if you live Flamethrower from Cynthia's Garchomp, that makes it the only Scizor to live a Special Fire-type move and GG)

 

[Tood]

Scizor. Scizor is the best mon for catching your team (not sure how early you can get it though) and sweeping enemy teams (its bug type makes it neutral from ground, and if you live Flamethrower from Cynthia's Garchomp, that makes it the only Scizor to live a Special Fire-type move and GG)

mmmm false swipe

I love Scizor, but if I'm remembering right, the Metal Coat in DP was either obtainable only in the post-game, or by deliberately grinding to find one being held by a specific Pokemon. That's honestly the part that worries me the most about using Scizor, weirdly enough.

But if it can be found elsewhere it would be great, and I would take Scizor over the other two options in a heartbeat.