The Sixth Spot

[Antilegend]

Hey folks.

So, I've recently been hit with another wave of Pokemon Reborn hype and decided to rebuild my team from the ground up, including EV training and getting the correct corresponding natures onto them. IV's...well, that's another story entirely. I digress.

I'm wondering what, with the availability currently in the game, would be an acceptable sixth spot for breeding. My new team, as it stands, is this:

Name: Drapion (Poison/Dark)

Nature: Adamant

Ability: Sniper

Moveset:

- Cross Poison

- Toxic Spikes

- Knock Off

- Hone Claws

Name: Mamoswine (Ice/Ground)

Nature: Jolly

Ability: Thick Fat

Moveset:

- Icy Wind

- Ice Fang

- Earthquake

- Ice Shard

Name: Gallade (Psychic/Fighting)

Nature: Adamant

Ability: Justified

Moveset:

- Swords Dance

- Psycho Cut

- Close Combat

- Leaf Blade

Name: Chandelure (Ghost/Fire)

Nature: Timid

Ability: Infiltrator

Moveset:

- Flamethrower

- Shadow Ball

- Will-O-Wisp

- Curse

Name: Kingdra (Dragon/Water)

Nature: Modest

Ability: Sniper

Moveset:

- Focus Energy

- Brine

- Dragon Pulse

- Agility

This is a team consisting of Pokemon I've never had a chance to use in the retail games. I've always been a big fan of Drapion, but never had the chance to use him in a playstyle where it would be feasible. Now, I know the movesets do need work, and I'm entirely open to suggestions and feedback with the team I've built thus far. As far as the sixth slot goes, I'm not entirely sure what to put there, but I leave it in the very capable hands of this brilliant community to give me some help.

Thanks everyone!

Edited April 28, 2015 by Antilegend

[HakuTaku]

It's a pretty balanced team~ nicely done.

[Vlado Vladimir]

Maybe a Special Lucario :] or a cool normal flying type such as a Powerful Staraptor!

That's all I can think, your team is really cool.

[Antilegend]

Thanks so much for the feedback guys, it's good to know I'm on the right track!

Maybe a Special Lucario :] or a cool normal flying type such as a Powerful Staraptor!

Funny you should mention a special Lucario; he was actually my first option before I switched to Gallade. The only reason why I changed was because Riolu is a baby Pokemon and wouldn't breed with Ditto. Normally that wouldn't have been a problem, but his Impish nature and deplorable IV's made him more of a liability before breeding would take place. Grinding happiness is just so...bleh. I really should've soft-reset the game after it hatched, but c'est la vie. Losing the Steel coverage was a tough pill to swallow, but I'm liking the work Gallade is putting in right now.

Maybe I'll tour back and pick up a Pidove so it can evolve into a nice and powerful Staraptor! Thanks for the suggestion!

Edited April 28, 2015 by Antilegend

[Vlado Vladimir]

You're right, raising a perfect Riolu is sooo tedious, same with the other mon I was about to suggest you befire thinking of Staraptor: Togekiss. It would've give you a cool coverage to your team, but it's too hard to get a cool baby.

If you want a powerful Steel type you should consider Bisharp; It pairs with Gallade and form an excellent offensive core.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Vlado Vladimir

[Etesian]

First of, I'm mentioning getting moves from "pre-E13" a lot down there vvvv. Basically, it's going back to a previous episode and breeding TM moves using Gen5 mechanics. I have a guide in this very section explaining all sorts of stuff about breeding (and some stuff to finish an entire team in 15-ish minutes with Cheat Engine (no actual cheating)). You can send me a PM for any questions you may have about any of that/this.

Generally, having a team of hard hitters means that hazard-moves are unnecessary, especially Toxic Spikes since they take so long to reach their full effect. While hazards are really nice to have on stall-ier, slow teams, yours can plow through foes with actual attacks, no need for that extra chip damage when everything is a 2HKO either way. Soooooooo, no T-Spikes on Drapion IMO.

Also, If you give it a Scope Lens and Night Slash instead of Knock Off , you'd have 2 moves that would crit 50% of the time and an ability that boosts crits to go with them (Knock Off against a foe with an item is weaker than a crit Night Slash, so you wouldn't be losing power there and it's not like foes in game have been carrying items you have to get rid of anyways). Also also, if go back to pre-E13 and grab yourself a Nincada, you can get both Swords Dance and Dig onto Drapion, maybe even Agility if you'd prefer that. I'd actually go for SD and Agility since Dark and Poison already have almost perfect neutral coverage and the Speed boost would make sweeps that much easier; Drapion also has enough bulk to set up twice (on any physical attackers, at least), so I see no real problem there.

If you go back to pre-E13, you can help it's coverage out a lot by giving it Rock Slide/Stone Edge (although coverage isn't all that necessary on non-set-up-ers). But what I'd recommend even more is getting Body Slam and Icicle Crash instead of Ice Fang, and keeping Shard and EQ. Not only is IC stronger than Ice Fang, it's high flinch chance works very well with Body Slam's high para chance (if you choose to run this, Adamant>Jolly). You can also go a more defensive route and run a Curse set. There's also the fact that Avalanche would be better than any other Ice-type STAB most of the time; not like Mamoswine's speed is that good anyways, let's be real here.

I'm honestly a little iffy about running SD on Gallade. While it's Special Defense is stupidly good, it doesn't have, it has neither the Speed nor the physical bulk to pull this off properly IMO, especially considering that CC is it's only Fighting-type STAB. At the very least, I'd say you should run Shadow Sneak on it to help out with that (and Fighting-Psychic-Ghost coverage is actually really good). But I'd maybe consider making it just an attacker not a set-up-er. Hell, I've had Trick Room+Destiny Bond work on it pretty well, but SD with priority can also work. Your call
By the way, this thing also benefits from having a Scope Lens on, even if only for one move; not like we have anything else to run on it (unless you dig up a Spooky Plate, that would work nicely).

Pre-E13 gets Chandy both Energy Ball and Psychic, and even Calm Mind if you'd like that. Chandelure doesn't have the best bulk ever, so I wouldn't be using Will-o and Curse on it. Hidden Power is also rather nice on Chandelure, Fighting especially.

How I wish we had some way of getting Flame Charge onto it, but for now, Trick Room is pretty good on it.

Brine is a nice idea, but with a crit from Modest Max Sp.Attack, you're less likely to knock the foe to below 50% than just killing it, not to mention it's poor 10 PP. I'd say go for Surf instead (not Hydro Pump, since it's barely stronger while having way fewer uses and terrible accuracy).

But to be perfectly honest, Crit-Dra is underwhelming in-game, because it doesn't get the main thing it's competitive variant is all about: Draco Meteor spam (because crits ignore the user's debuffs and all that jazz). You kinda have that in Drapion already and Drapion does it better, so maybe you should also be looking for a 5th? Just say so and I'll think of some things that could replace it.

Sooooooooo, for a 6th! Looking at your team, you have offensive Electric, Flying, Bug, Rock, Steel and Fairy moves (not counting Normal), as well as Grass if you don't give Chandy Energy Ball. So for good 6th members, I'd recommend:
-Durant. Not only does it have essentially 190 base Attack due to Hustle, pre-E13 gets it Hone Claws and Rock Slide, boosting that stupidly high attack stat even more and removing accuracy issues. This thing had sweep going even against Charlotte.

-Archeops. Not much to say about this one other than that it gets EQ from pre-E13. It also gets Dragon Claw for Dragon coverage, should you decide to swap out Kingdra.

-Crustle. Shell Smash Weak Armor (though Sturdy works too, just make it max Speed then) is better than you'd think in-game and it's got coverage you need as well. It gets EQ from pre-E13.

-Heliolisk is an option, with STAB Electric moves, Grass Knot and whatever Hidden Power you may desire, but you've got a bit of a Ground weakness going there already, which is also why Magnezone is definitely a no-go (unless you buy every Balloon in the world I guess).

-Galvantula is also an option, both for it's coverage (too bad we don't have Thunder :/ ) and it can also provide you with Sticky Web cause your team isn't the fastest ever. It gets Energy Ball from pre-E13.

Those would IMO be the most ideal members for your current team. I'm still thinking that the Kingdra could go, but I'll leave that decision up to you and you can leave the replacement-choosing to me if you want to, this is kinda my job around here.

[Antilegend]

First of, I'm mentioning getting moves from "pre-E13" a lot down there vvvv. Basically, it's going back to a previous episode and breeding TM moves using Gen5 mechanics. I have a guide in this very section explaining all sorts of stuff about breeding (and some stuff to finish an entire team in 15-ish minutes with Cheat Engine (no actual cheating)). You can send me a PM for any questions you may have about any of that/this.

Generally, having a team of hard hitters means that hazard-moves are unnecessary, especially Toxic Spikes since they take so long to reach their full effect. While hazards are really nice to have on stall-ier, slow teams, yours can plow through foes with actual attacks, no need for that extra chip damage when everything is a 2HKO either way. Soooooooo, no T-Spikes on Drapion IMO.

Also, If you give it a Scope Lens and Night Slash instead of Knock Off , you'd have 2 moves that would crit 50% of the time and an ability that boosts crits to go with them (Knock Off against a foe with an item is weaker than a crit Night Slash, so you wouldn't be losing power there and it's not like foes in game have been carrying items you have to get rid of anyways). Also also, if go back to pre-E13 and grab yourself a Nincada, you can get both Swords Dance and Dig onto Drapion, maybe even Agility if you'd prefer that. I'd actually go for SD and Agility since Dark and Poison already have almost perfect neutral coverage and the Speed boost would make sweeps that much easier; Drapion also has enough bulk to set up twice (on any physical attackers, at least), so I see no real problem there.

If you go back to pre-E13, you can help it's coverage out a lot by giving it Rock Slide/Stone Edge (although coverage isn't all that necessary on non-set-up-ers). But what I'd recommend even more is getting Body Slam and Icicle Crash instead of Ice Fang, and keeping Shard and EQ. Not only is IC stronger than Ice Fang, it's high flinch chance works very well with Body Slam's high para chance (if you choose to run this, Adamant>Jolly). You can also go a more defensive route and run a Curse set. There's also the fact that Avalanche would be better than any other Ice-type STAB most of the time; not like Mamoswine's speed is that good anyways, let's be real here.

I'm honestly a little iffy about running SD on Gallade. While it's Special Defense is stupidly good, it doesn't have, it has neither the Speed nor the physical bulk to pull this off properly IMO, especially considering that CC is it's only Fighting-type STAB. At the very least, I'd say you should run Shadow Sneak on it to help out with that (and Fighting-Psychic-Ghost coverage is actually really good). But I'd maybe consider making it just an attacker not a set-up-er. Hell, I've had Trick Room+Destiny Bond work on it pretty well, but SD with priority can also work. Your call

By the way, this thing also benefits from having a Scope Lens on, even if only for one move; not like we have anything else to run on it (unless you dig up a Spooky Plate, that would work nicely).

Pre-E13 gets Chandy both Energy Ball and Psychic, and even Calm Mind if you'd like that. Chandelure doesn't have the best bulk ever, so I wouldn't be using Will-o and Curse on it. Hidden Power is also rather nice on Chandelure, Fighting especially.

How I wish we had some way of getting Flame Charge onto it, but for now, Trick Room is pretty good on it.

Brine is a nice idea, but with a crit from Modest Max Sp.Attack, you're less likely to knock the foe to below 50% than just killing it, not to mention it's poor 10 PP. I'd say go for Surf instead (not Hydro Pump, since it's barely stronger while having way fewer uses and terrible accuracy).

But to be perfectly honest, Crit-Dra is underwhelming in-game, because it doesn't get the main thing it's competitive variant is all about: Draco Meteor spam (because crits ignore the user's debuffs and all that jazz). You kinda have that in Drapion already and Drapion does it better, so maybe you should also be looking for a 5th? Just say so and I'll think of some things that could replace it.

Sooooooooo, for a 6th! Looking at your team, you have offensive Electric, Flying, Bug, Rock, Steel and Fairy moves (not counting Normal), as well as Grass if you don't give Chandy Energy Ball. So for good 6th members, I'd recommend:

-Durant. Not only does it have essentially 190 base Attack due to Hustle, pre-E13 gets it Hone Claws and Rock Slide, boosting that stupidly high attack stat even more and removing accuracy issues. This thing had sweep going even against Charlotte.

-Archeops. Not much to say about this one other than that it gets EQ from pre-E13. It also gets Dragon Claw for Dragon coverage, should you decide to swap out Kingdra.

-Crustle. Shell Smash Weak Armor (though Sturdy works too, just make it max Speed then) is better than you'd think in-game and it's got coverage you need as well. It gets EQ from pre-E13.

-Heliolisk is an option, with STAB Electric moves, Grass Knot and whatever Hidden Power you may desire, but you've got a bit of a Ground weakness going there already, which is also why Magnezone is definitely a no-go (unless you buy every Balloon in the world I guess).

-Galvantula is also an option, both for it's coverage (too bad we don't have Thunder :/ ) and it can also provide you with Sticky Web cause your team isn't the fastest ever. It gets Energy Ball from pre-E13.

Those would IMO be the most ideal members for your current team. I'm still thinking that the Kingdra could go, but I'll leave that decision up to you and you can leave the replacement-choosing to me if you want to, this is kinda my job around here.

Let me preface this by thanking you very much for the effort put into this post. This is exactly the kind of feedback I'm looking for, which I feel is going to be helpful to the team-building process before the next episode has gone live.

I'm just going to ask a series of questions point-by-point regarding some of your suggestions, and any further feedback would be great. Now, I started to play PR at the Episode 14 release, so I don't have an older version of the game. Is there a way of reverting the game back to Episode 12 without causing any damage to the save file? I'll be sure to backup the save states to ensure nothing...unfortunate...happens.

Drapion:

Great suggestions. I haven't progessed through the story enough to see if the hazards were viable enough to keep within his moveset. I've noticed a lot of battles become a battle of attrition, so I thought Toxic Spikes could help expedite the process. I wasn't certain about running an Impish Drap with it's naturally high physical defense, but I opted to run with Adamant and keep Knock Off on there to avoid any future leaders/bosses with problematic items like an Assault Vest or Life Orb. I'm going to run a few things through the Showdown! simulator and see how things balance out.

Mamoswine:

Couldn't agree more about the moveset. Truthfully, looking at it is a bit of an eye-sore. I had every intention of getting Icicle Crash onto him, thinking he learned it naturally, but was disappointed to see that it didn't. I've yet to circle back to see which breeding partner I could pair it with to get Crash onto ot, but I'd certainly prefer it over Ice Fang. I was thinking about putting a Choice Scarf (when I get one) onto it to make for a decent revenge killer, so although Avalanche would be good on Mamoswine, I think I'd prefer the Icicle Crash setup you mentioned before.

Gallade:

Shadow Sneak would be excellent to have on it, I agree. Setting up with Gallade is problematic as, like you mentioned, it's HP and physical defense is pretty brutal. I thought about running Night Slash on it, but didn't replace Swords Dance with it because of the finite amount of Heart Scales I've got left. Though I've got Drapion for Dark coverage already, and a physical Ghost attacker could work out very well, considering most things weak to Ghost have fairly weak physical defense more often than not.

Chandelure:

I almost completely forgot about HP. The Trick Room/HP combination is a fantastic idea. I just hope the HP I get is Fighting... but I'll pop over to Agate Circus and have a look. Is Energy Ball not available after Episode 13? Was the TM for it removed or changed?

Kingdra:

I'm certainly open for suggestion. Kingdra's underwhelming base stats aren't enough for me to deem it irreplaceable. I do like, however, that only Fairy and other Dragon-type Pokemon land SE hits on it. I thought about breeding Water Pulse onto it instead of having Brine, but Surf packs more of a punch without relying on a crit chance. Do you have any other sets for Kingdra that might be good to use in Reborn? I've been over to Smogon and the main majority of sets consist of the elusive Draco Meteor, which saddens me. I thought perhaps running an Adaptibility Dragalge in it's stead, but I didn't know how I felt doubling up on Poison-typing.

Suggestions:

The two that jumped right off the page at me were Durant and Galvantula. Galvantula is certainly a fine choice to the team, mainly for it's hazard play. With Sticky Web down, would it be prudent to keep Drapion's TS on and double up on the hazards? Or would you think replacing TS would still be of more benefit?

Durant sounds fantastic, truthfully. It's base speed and attack are ludicrous, and Ground types hit it for neutral damage. The only reason why I haven't landed on him yet is that it would make for four physical attacking Pokemon on the team, which although not necessarily terrible, may impact balancing on future encounters.

So I suppose I'll just TL;DR this as well: For Kingdra, what would be a suitable replacement and/or moveset? Dragalge came to mine, but was unsure about doubling up on Poison. Keeping Galvantula with CPE and SW on the team with Drapion, and set up for double-hazard domination? Or nah? Durant resists 8 types and had crazy high natural Speed and Attack, which would be a great addition to the team.

You're right, raising a perfect Riolu is sooo tedious, same with the other mon I was about to suggest you befire thinking of Staraptor: Togekiss. It would've give you a cool coverage to your team, but it's too hard to get a cool baby.

If you want a powerful Steel type you should consider Bisharp; It pairs with Gallade and form an excellent offensive core.

Togekiss is an awesome suggestion. With that I'd get coverage for two types I've yet to get, which would certainly be helpful. Attacks like Air Slash and Thunder Wave would certainly be helpful in lengthy fights, and it's attacks are special. Great call. The only issue I forsee is it's lack of access to worthwhile special Fairy-type moves, like Moonblast or Dazzling Gleam. If these were in-game right now, I'd be halfway through hatching batches of Togepi's, friendnship evolving be damned.

I'd normally agree with Bisharp, if it weren't for it's prevalent Ground weakness and Drapion already being on the team. I definitely thought about it. As AAH mentioned, the team as it stands has an issue with Ground types, and if Bisharp were to join, he, Chandelure, Mamoswine, and Drapion wouldn't at all appreciate a Ground-type move.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Antilegend

[Etesian]

Let me preface this by thanking you very much for the effort put into this post. This is exactly the kind of feedback I'm looking for, which I feel is going to be helpful to the team-building process before the next episode has gone live.

I'm just going to ask a series of questions point-by-point regarding some of your suggestions, and any further feedback would be great. Now, I started to play PR at the Episode 14 release, so I don't have an older version of the game. Is there a way of reverting the game back to Episode 12 without causing any damage to the save file? I'll be sure to backup the save states to ensure nothing...unfortunate...happens.

Drapion:

Great suggestions. I haven't progessed through the story enough to see if the hazards were viable enough to keep within his moveset. I've noticed a lot of battles become a battle of attrition, so I thought Toxic Spikes could help expedite the process. I wasn't certain about running an Impish Drap with it's naturally high physical defense, but I opted to run with Adamant and keep Knock Off on there to avoid any future leaders/bosses with problematic items like an Assault Vest or Life Orb. I'm going to run a few things through the Showdown! simulator and see how things balance out.

Mamoswine:

Couldn't agree more about the moveset. Truthfully, looking at it is a bit of an eye-sore. I had every intention of getting Icicle Crash onto him, thinking he learned it naturally, but was disappointed to see that it didn't. I've yet to circle back to see which breeding partner I could pair it with to get Crash onto ot, but I'd certainly prefer it over Ice Fang. I was thinking about putting a Choice Scarf (when I get one) onto it to make for a decent revenge killer, so although Avalanche would be good on Mamoswine, I think I'd prefer the Icicle Crash setup you mentioned before.

Gallade:

Shadow Sneak would be excellent to have on it, I agree. Setting up with Gallade is problematic as, like you mentioned, it's HP and physical defense is pretty brutal. I thought about running Night Slash on it, but didn't replace Swords Dance with it because of the finite amount of Heart Scales I've got left. Though I've got Drapion for Dark coverage already, and a physical Ghost attacker could work out very well, considering most things weak to Ghost have fairly weak physical defense more often than not.

Chandelure:

I almost completely forgot about HP. The Trick Room/HP combination is a fantastic idea. I just hope the HP I get is Fighting... but I'll pop over to Agate Circus and have a look. Is Energy Ball not available after Episode 13? Was the TM for it removed or changed?

Kingdra:

I'm certainly open for suggestion. Kingdra's underwhelming base stats aren't enough for me to deem it irreplaceable. I do like, however, that only Fairy and other Dragon-type Pokemon land SE hits on it. I thought about breeding Water Pulse onto it instead of having Brine, but Surf packs more of a punch without relying on a crit chance. Do you have any other sets for Kingdra that might be good to use in Reborn? I've been over to Smogon and the main majority of sets consist of the elusive Draco Meteor, which saddens me. I thought perhaps running an Adaptibility Dragalge in it's stead, but I didn't know how I felt doubling up on Poison-typing.

Suggestions:

The two that jumped right off the page at me were Durant and Galvantula. Galvantula is certainly a fine choice to the team, mainly for it's hazard play. With Sticky Web down, would it be prudent to keep Drapion's TS on and double up on the hazards? Or would you think replacing TS would still be of more benefit?

Durant sounds fantastic, truthfully. It's base speed and attack are ludicrous, and Ground types hit it for neutral damage. The only reason why I haven't landed on him yet is that it would make for four physical attacking Pokemon on the team, which although not necessarily terrible, may impact balancing on future encounters.

So I suppose I'll just TL;DR this as well: For Kingdra, what would be a suitable replacement and/or moveset? Dragalge came to mine, but was unsure about doubling up on Poison. Keeping Galvantula with CPE and SW on the team with Drapion, and set up for double-hazard domination? Or nah? Durant resists 8 types and had crazy high natural Speed and Attack, which would be a great addition to the team.

Togekiss is an awesome suggestion. With that I'd get coverage for two types I've yet to get, which would certainly be helpful. Attacks like Air Slash and Thunder Wave would certainly be helpful in lengthy fights, and it's attacks are special. Great call.

I'd normally agree with Bisharp, if it weren't for it's prevalent Ground weakness and Drapion already being on the team. I definitely thought about it. As AAH mentioned, the team as it stands has an issue with Ground types, and if Bisharp were to join, he, Chandelure, Mamoswine, and Drapion wouldn't at all appreciate a Ground-type move.

No problem I do kinda run this section, so I'm just doing my job, I just liked covering this team more than usual cause it's got some stuff I love in it.

The guide I mentioned has a link to E12 in it. As for the save file (which is called Game.rxdata), if you're on Windows, your save file is in C>Users>*your username*>Saved Games>Pokemon Reborn; just download E12 and launch the game from the E12 folder, the save doesn't have to be moved anywhere. If you're on Mac, it'll be in your E14 folder, so you have to move it to the E12 folder after downloading said folder. To make back-ups of your save, just find it and make a copy it.

If you wanna try that CE stuff, which I recommend because it reduces tediousness by a LOT, just google Cheat Engine, it's the first link that shows up. For any further instructions on that, both my guide and a PM to me can solve that.

Honestly? Not at all. Like I said, your team hits so hard, the extra damage from T-Spikes will do next to nothing. If walls are a problem, they generally don't have too much to stop set-up, so it's generally better to just set up on 'em than to ToxicSpike them. IMO.

Yeah, I'd run Impish. You'd have both Attack and Speed covered with SD/Agility, might as well. Regarding EVs, I'd go with HP and Attack/Defenses. No need to run speed since Agility without investment lets you outspeed even max speed Electrodes (base 140), so yeah. You can go with Attack EVs for some more extra power or Defenses to make setting up a bit easier.

Or if you run Galvantula, Sticky Web makes it so that max EV neutral nature Drapion outspeeds max Speed Electrode, so you could skip Agility, but I see no reason to run Galvantula only for that, Drapion doesn't mind 2 set-up moves with it's bulk, especially since alternatives are other attacks, which, even super-effective, are barely stronger than a resisted crit STAB.

Um, by the way, what do you mean by running stuff through Showdown?

Alright then. I don't know when a Choice Scarf would even become available, but that set works even without one, so yeah.

"Considering most things weak to Ghost have fairly weak physical defense more often than not", Exhibit A being right here But yeah, it might even be worth it to stack up on some Ghost Gems just to boost Shadow Sneak, by the way.

Yeah, just make sure to make it Quiet and switch EVs from Speed to HP. With Energy Ball, I also meant TM-breeding. If you haven't seen it already, the topic includes all sorts of breeding chains and this one is listed there too.

Weaknesses, or lack thereof, don't really matter if you kill stuff before it can kill you, which is why my freaking Durant did work against Charlotte.

Unfortunately, nope, Kingdra doesn't get many options at all, your current set is it's best bet :/

I dunno about running a Dragalge since it's another Ground weakness for ya. Also, Dragon isn't that important a typing to have and it'd be more of a detriment once the Dragon gym's time comes since that's also a weakness to Dragon in almost all cases (especially with Dragalge's not-so-great physical defenst), the exception being rarities like Archeops.

EDIT: dammit, forgot to list actual subs. Gimme a sec.

EDIT2:

So! Like I said, Dragon isn't really necessary since next to no Dragon out there is neutral to Ice and pre-E13 gets many Water types Ice Beam, so I'll be recommending Water types...especially since the Dragons we have so far aren't all that great. Keeping that in mind, what would fit best onto your team would be Gorebyss, Huntail or Swampert.

-Gorebyss would likely be the best, because it removes your concerns about lack of special attackers (which I talk about below, this is the last part I wrote) as well as giving you a more solid response to Fighting types with Psychic. Shell Smash, Surf, Ice Beam (pre-E13) and Psychic is what I'd go for, the ability doesn't matter.

-Huntail is basically a physical Gorebyss, but it's main attacking stat is weaker, as are it's moves. Sucker Punch is nice for when you can't set up, but priority on the enemies' side is very rare in-game, so the speed boosts make it unnecessary. I'd say Gorebyss>Huntail

-Swampert works since it gets Water/Ice coverage and you have your resistances to Grass, so it's good. You have 2 ways to run this thing, an attacker or a Curse set. With an attacker, run EQ, Waterfall, Avalanche and Rock Slide. With Curse, run STABs, Avalanche and Curse. If you run an Attacker, go with HP and Attack EVs. If you run Curse, go with Defense and Attack EVs.

Welp, I've already covered T-Spikes up there^^ somewhere, so I'd say just go for Web only.

I've had some teams that were 100% physical attackers and I haven't had any problem. You'd also have 2 things that could set up, so what I said about walls somewhere up there^^ still stands. With just 2 Hone Claws, Durant can 2HKO Eviolite Max Defense Porygon2, one of the most disgustingly-good walls.

Just a heads up, Hustle Rock Slide after one Hone Claws can still miss (97.5-ish chance to hit), so if you really wanna get perfect accuracy, grab a Wide Lens from wild Yanma (check the On The Hunt section's EV Training Guide to see exactly when/where they show up). I wouldn't say it's worth the time, but if you're a perfectionist, go for it.

A TL;DR for a brick that makes walls of text...and terrible puns, nice lol. Anyways, to cover the last thing I haven't, Durant is actually really bulky physically, but don't expect to live too many special attacks with 58/48 health/special bulk...not like you'd be getting hit anyways, but hey.

Except for my personal belief that the Toge line can burn in hell, there's my un-biased opinion that it's not quite necessary. I mean, the only type it's STABs would help with would be Fighting, you've got everything else covered. And even then, as was seen with Kiki and Samson, all Fighting types run a move to hit either Flying or Fairy types super-effectively, so it wouldn't even do that much anyways. And you wouldn't need the T-Wave support since you'd have both Sticky Web and Discharge form Galvantula and Body Slam from Mamoswine. I'd skip this thing.

And Mamoswine is neutral to Ground btw.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Almost a House

[Antilegend]

No problem I do kinda run this section, so I'm just doing my job, I just liked covering this team more than usual cause it's got some stuff I love in it.

The guide I mentioned has a link to E12 in it. As for the save file (which is called Game.rxdata), if you're on Windows, your save file is in C>Users>*your username*>Saved Games>Pokemon Reborn; just download E12 and launch the game from the E12 folder, the save doesn't have to be moved anywhere. If you're on Mac, it'll be in your E14 folder, so you have to move it to the E12 folder after downloading said folder. To make back-ups of your save, just find it and make a copy it.

If you wanna try that CE stuff, which I recommend because it reduces tediousness by a LOT, just google Cheat Engine, it's the first link that shows up. For any further instructions on that, both my guide and a PM to me can solve that.

Honestly? Not at all. Like I said, your team hits so hard, the extra damage from T-Spikes will do next to nothing. If walls are a problem, they generally don't have too much to stop set-up, so it's generally better to just set up on 'em than to ToxicSpike them. IMO.

Yeah, I'd run Impish. You'd have both Attack and Speed covered with SD/Agility, might as well. Regarding EVs, I'd go with HP and Attack/Defenses. No need to run speed since Agility without investment lets you outspeed even max speed Electrodes (base 140), so yeah. You can go with Attack EVs for some more extra power or Defenses to make setting up a bit easier.

Or if you run Galvantula, Sticky Web makes it so that max EV neutral nature Drapion outspeeds max Speed Electrode, so you could skip Agility, but I see no reason to run Galvantula only for that, Drapion doesn't mind 2 set-up moves with it's bulk, especially since alternatives are other attacks, which, even super-effective, are barely stronger than a resisted crit STAB.

Um, by the way, what do you mean by running stuff through Showdown?

Alright then. I don't know when a Choice Scarf would even become available, but that set works even without one, so yeah.

"Considering most things weak to Ghost have fairly weak physical defense more often than not", Exhibit A being right here But yeah, it might even be worth it to stack up on some Ghost Gems just to boost Shadow Sneak, by the way.

Yeah, just make sure to make it Quiet and switch EVs from Speed to HP. With Energy Ball, I also meant TM-breeding. If you haven't seen it already, the topic includes all sorts of breeding chains and this one is listed there too.

Weaknesses, or lack thereof, don't really matter if you kill stuff before it can kill you, which is why my freaking Durant did work against Charlotte.

Unfortunately, nope, Kingdra doesn't get many options at all, your current set is it's best bet :/

I dunno about running a Dragalge since it's another Ground weakness for ya. Also, Dragon isn't that important a typing to have and it'd be more of a detriment once the Dragon gym's time comes since that's also a weakness to Dragon in almost all cases (especially with Dragalge's not-so-great physical defenst), the exception being rarities like Archeops.

EDIT: dammit, forgot to list actual subs. Gimme a sec.

Welp, I've already covered T-Spikes up there^^ somewhere, so I'd say just go for Web only.

I've had some teams that were 100% physical attackers and I haven't had any problem. You'd also have 2 things that could set up, so what I said about walls somewhere up there^^ still stands. With just 2 Hone Claws, Durant can 2HKO Eviolite Max Defense Porygon2, one of the most disgustingly-good walls.

Just a heads up, Hustle Rock Slide after one Hone Claws can still miss (97.5-ish chance to hit), so if you really wanna get perfect accuracy, grab a Wide Lens from wild Yanma (check the On The Hunt section's EV Training Guide to see exactly when/where they show up). I wouldn't say it's worth the time, but if you're a perfectionist, go for it.

A TL;DR for a brick that makes walls of text...and terrible puns, nice lol. Anyways, to cover the last thing I haven't, Durant is actually really bulky physically, but don't expect to live too many special attacks with 58/48 health/special bulk...not like you'd be getting hit anyways, but hey.

Except for my personal belief that the Toge line can burn in hell, there's my un-biased opinion that it's not quite necessary. I mean, the only type it's STABs would help with would be Fighting, you've got everything else covered. And even then, as was seen with Kiki and Samson, all Fighting types run a move to hit either Flying or Fairy types super-effectively, so it wouldn't even do that much anyways. And you wouldn't need the T-Wave support since you'd have both Sticky Web and Discharge form Galvantula and Body Slam from Mamoswine. I'd skip this thing.

And Mamoswine is neutral to Ground btw.

Hah! I've been victim to many Serene Grace Para-Flinch Togekiss in my time to know the unreal frustration that comes with that playstyle. I've plotted the demise of a few Togekiss because of that. Between getting friendship high enough to get Togetic, plus grabbing and using a Shiny Stone, Togekiss wasn't a very viable choice for breeding, but it's typing wasn't the worst thing to add. Also, I don't know why I thought Mamoswine was weak to Ground.. Considering it's Ice typing and laundry list of weaknesses, I suppose it was my understanding that it'd be weak to Ground. Good to know that's not the case.

So, to summarize what I'm going to do (which is plenty to keep me busy until Ep. 15), switching Chandelure's nature to Quiet is certainly going to happen. I'm going to get the older version downloaded to get optimal movesets onto the Pokemon we've got thus far. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with Kingdra just yet, but the Critdra build is, as you say, lacking without access to Draco Meteor. I'm honestly torn between Galvantula and Durant, however, and it's going to require some thought to weigh the pros and cons of each. Both seem like great additions to the team, and between 190 base-power X-Scissors and Iron Heads or Sticky Web with Bug Buzz to get the edge, I can't help but feel there isn't necessarily a wrong choice. Descisions, descisions. I think I'll breed both and see where the game takes me.

Also, as far as going through Showdown!, I'll usually make a team I'm interested in using (with items yet unatainable in Reborn, however) to see how it holds up in an OU tier. The way I see it, if they're holding their ground against other experienced players, I can handle field effects and an AI algorithim.

I appreciate your help AAH, I really do. Once I start the breeding cycle up for the game again (either later on tonight or tomorrow), I'll be sure to toss you a PM to see if there's any methods of using CE to increase the speed of the process. But yeah, the suggestions you've given have been a tremendous help to my process, and again, I really appreciate the help.

[Etesian]

Hah! I've been victim to many Serene Grace Para-Flinch Togekiss in my time to know the unreal frustration that comes with that playstyle. I've plotted the demise of a few Togekiss because of that. Between getting friendship high enough to get Togetic, plus grabbing and using a Shiny Stone, Togekiss wasn't a very viable choice for breeding, but it's typing wasn't the worst thing to add. Also, I don't know why I thought Mamoswine was weak to Ground.. Considering it's Ice typing and laundry list of weaknesses, I suppose it was my understanding that it'd be weak to Ground. Good to know that's not the case.

So, to summarize what I'm going to do (which is plenty to keep me busy until Ep. 15), switching Chandelure's nature to Quiet is certainly going to happen. I'm going to get the older version downloaded to get optimal movesets onto the Pokemon we've got thus far. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with Kingdra just yet, but the Critdra build is, as you say, lacking without access to Draco Meteor. I'm honestly torn between Galvantula and Durant, however, and it's going to require some thought to weigh the pros and cons of each. Both seem like great additions to the team, and between 190 base-power X-Scissors and Iron Heads or Sticky Web with Bug Buzz to get the edge, I can't help but feel there isn't necessarily a wrong choice. Descisions, descisions. I think I'll breed both and see where the game takes me.

Also, as far as going through Showdown!, I'll usually make a team I'm interested in using (with items yet unatainable in Reborn, however) to see how it holds up in an OU tier. The way I see it, if they're holding their ground against other experienced players, I can handle field effects and an AI algorithim.

I appreciate your help AAH, I really do. Once I start the breeding cycle up for the game again (either later on tonight or tomorrow), I'll be sure to toss you a PM to see if there's any methods of using CE to increase the speed of the process. But yeah, the suggestions you've given have been a tremendous help to my process, and again, I really appreciate the help.

I guess I'm lucky to almost never meet Toges on the ladder, I just hate 'em cause of the show.

Honestly, if you wanna go with one or the other, I'd say Durant. Not only because it's faster and hits waaaaay harder, Sticky Web also hurts Chandy's Trick Room shenanigans, just realized, haha.

And for Showdown, I'd say no to that lol. Battling AIs and actual people is worlds apart. While the game allows mindless offense-spam (and thank god for that), competitive play is just way more different. I mean, hazards are almost pointless to run in-game while they are pretty much a must to have, switching moves (Volt Switch and U-Turn) are definitely a waste of space in-game while they're 2 of the best moves in the game for comp, etc, etc. I plowed through the game with my team, but I'm sure I'd have people wipe the floor with me if I used that stuff in comp, it's almost a different game.

Once more, you're welcome, glad I could help out

EDIT:By the way, you missed my second edit. I've already got Kingdra replacement stuff there!

[Jacobliterator]

I'd say either a Staraptor or a Sheer Force Braviary. If you pick the last one, Samson is a total joke.

[Antilegend]

I guess I'm lucky to almost never meet Toges on the ladder, I just hate 'em cause of the show.

Honestly, if you wanna go with one or the other, I'd say Durant. Not only because it's faster and hits waaaaay harder, Sticky Web also hurts Chandy's Trick Room shenanigans, just realized, haha.

And for Showdown, I'd say no to that lol. Battling AIs and actual people is worlds apart. While the game allows mindless offense-spam (and thank god for that), competitive play is just way more different. I mean, hazards are almost pointless to run in-game while they are pretty much a must to have, switching moves (Volt Switch and U-Turn) are definitely a waste of space in-game while they're 2 of the best moves in the game for comp, etc, etc. I plowed through the game with my team, but I'm sure I'd have people wipe the floor with me if I used that stuff in comp, it's almost a different game.

Once more, you're welcome, glad I could help out

EDIT:By the way, you missed my second edit. I've already got Kingdra replacement stuff there!

Awesome, the suggestions for replacement are great ideas. Especially since I'm going to be putting Trick Room onto Chandelure, the playstyle of the three suggested would certainly eliminate the below-average-speed issue.

I think I've opted to go with Gorebyss over Kingdra. It's high SA combined with Shell Smash could definitely help for setting up on some folks. Normally I'd love to have Swampert (Team Player hype!) on my team, but him and Huntail would take another physical attacking slot and leave only Chandelure for special attacking. If something were to go awry with a Trick Room setup, I'd be left with the physical attacking savages that are the rest of my team. Gorebyss' mono Water-typing is also very nice, considering Water types share only two weakness, and Electric types aren't terribly common.

I've got another question, if you don't mind. Bit of a noobie question, but I'm just not entirely sure how the breeding mechanics are in game. I've taken your suggestion and I'm going to go with a Hustle Durant. A Hone Claws setup can decimate several opponents considering it's shockingly broad movepool (Superpower?! Cheesus Crust). Truthfully I haven't caught Durant yet, much less started the breeding process to add it to the team. Would I be able to use Drapion (or one of the many boxed Skorupi) to breed Hone Claws onto it? Or would I need to revert to an older version of the game so it could learn Hone Claws?

Edited April 29, 2015 by Antilegend

[Etesian]

Awesome, the suggestions for replacement are great ideas. Especially since I'm going to be putting Trick Room onto Chandelure, the playstyle of the three suggested would certainly eliminate the below-average-speed issue.

I think I've opted to go with Gorebyss over Kingdra. It's high SA combined with Shell Smash could definitely help for setting up on some folks. Normally I'd love to have Swampert (Team Player hype!) on my team, but him and Huntail would take another physical attacking slot and leave only Chandelure for special attacking. If something were to go awry with a Trick Room setup, I'd be left with the physical attacking savages that are the rest of my team. Gorebyss' mono Water-typing is also very nice, considering Water types share only two weakness, and Electric types aren't terribly common.

I've got another question, if you don't mind. Bit of a noobie question, but I'm just not entirely sure how the breeding mechanics are in game. I've taken your suggestion and I'm going to go with a Hustle Durant. A Hone Claws setup can decimate several opponents considering it's shockingly broad movepool (Superpower?! Cheesus Crust). Truthfully I haven't caught Durant yet, much less started the breeding process to add it to the team. Would I be able to use Drapion (or one of the many boxed Skorupi) to breed Hone Claws onto it? Or would I need to revert to an older version of the game so it could learn Hone Claws?

Honestly, I meant to use Trick Room for it and it alone since it's got enough firepower to keep itself from getting hit (too much) with that 145 Base Sp.Attack. Mamo can take a hit, so it doesn't need it. Gallade wouldn't benefit from Trick Room too much since it kinda has to set up, so you'd get very few Trick Room turns with it. And everything else is harmed by Trick Room. Still, maybe making Mamo Adamant would be better, no need to go Brave (Attack + Speed -) though.

Yeah, it's the most offensive one out of the three anyways, so that works. By the way, I forgot to mention it, but if you don't care much about Fighting types, instead of Psychic, you can run Hidden Power Grass/Electric (doesn't matter which one) since only other Water types resist both Water and Ice coverage. On one hand, Fighting types can be problematic and either of those Hidden Powers would give you perfect neutral coverage. On the other, Fighting types are really rare and only 4 things with notable defenses resist Water, Ice AND Psychic and Psychic is 50% stronger when neutral. This is a sweeper and you're not that weak to Fighting types anyways (not to mention that no Fighting type has the kind of special bulky that wants to take a +2 STAB anyways), so I'd go for Hidden Power since coverage is one of the most important things on a sweeper.

The breeding mechanics are currently Gen 6; both parents pass on Egg Moves, neither passes on TM moves; it's been like that since E13. The E12-and-prior breeding mechanics are Gen 5 mechanics; only the father passes on moves, TM and Egg moves are passed. So since Hone Claws is a TM move, yeah, you need an older episode (link in my guide). I'd actually recommend you get it Rock Slide and Hone Claws since RS+STABs provides the best coverage out of all possible moves; the chain is Skorupi/Drapion>Dwebble/Crustle>Durant. The guide I mentioned also lists quite a few rather beneficial chains listed, like the one for RS and HC for Durant, for example.

And by the way, not only does Superpower reduce attack, which is no bueno on a sweeper, it's also a tutor move and those can't be passed on (which reminds me, I never actually mentioned tutor moves in my guide. Thanks!). To see what is a TM, Egg or Tutor move, Bulbapedia makes it easy to tell the difference, just go to a certain Pokemon's page.

By the way, you've got a PM.