Team Building Help

[Kamui]

Hey, guys. After catching up to Episode 15 with five team members and the occupant of the sixth slot being healing fodder (typically the unfortunate HM slave), I decided to exhaust the amount of time I had on hand to revamp the team, albeit not without the share of great reluctance. Three previously solid members were replaced. I tried to maximize the amount of coverage and would appreciate some opinions and suggestions regarding my last team member.

Currently, my main party revolves around--

Greninja / Timid / Protean

Surf / Dark Pulse / Extrasensory / Grass Knot

252 SpA / 252 Spe / 6 Def

I haven't played Pokémon X and Y yet, so I decided to pick this little guy up as my starter. He definitely did not disappoint.

Dragalge / Modest / Adaptability

Sludge Wave / Hidden Power [Fighting] / Dragon Pulse / Thunderbolt

252 SpA / 188 HP / 70 Spe

Oh, man. I was absolutely determined to obtain this garbage dragon-kelp-thing when I first saw Aya use it. However, being pretty mediocre in breeding even with the breeding guide, it's a miracle I got Thunderbolt on her at all. A lot of time was wasted on the visually painful Episode 12, and after boxes of Skrelps and discovering that the daycare lady had removed the Thunderbolt on my Stunfisk, breeding was nothing short of hellish.

Escavalier / Adamant / Overcoat

Iron Head / Swords Dance / X-Scissor / Drill Run

252 Atk / 174 HP / 84 Speed

I never really cared much for the bugs of the main games. I wanted to try something new with this playthrough though, so this guy happened.

Chandelure / Timid / Flash Fire

Shadow Ball / Flamethrower / Hidden Power [ice] / Memento

252 SpA / 252 Spe / 6 SpD

One of the replacements: I didn't know what to fill the fourth slot with, so Memento just stayed.

Whimsicott / Bold / Prankster

Tailwind / Substitute / Moonblast / Leech Seed

252 Def / 248 HP / 10 Spe

One of the replacements: I've always found Whimsicott really cute. Though my team usually consists of fast sweepers, I decided to change it up a bit and added her to my party as a support.

If anyone is curious, the Pokémon I had replaced were Espeon, Noivern, and Manectric. The only moves Espeon had that were of any remote use were Grass Knot and Psychic due to the scarcity of TMs, roles now respectively allocated to Greninja (Protean is OP). Noivern was a great Pokémon when fully evolved (Noibat is the bane of my existence.), but his Dragon Pulse role was given to Dragalge. Admittedly, without him on my team, I am missing Flying moves (and Boomburst was a very nice neutral attack). Manectric offered Discharge, but the aforementioned replaced him with Thunderbolt.

It would be greatly appreciated if anyone gave me tips for improvement along with recommended Pokémon. Thank you in advance.

(This is my first post, so I apologize if I unknowingly broke any of the forum rules... ._.')

[foovy10]

If you wanna try a 6th gen poke i believe a noivern can fit your team well.

You can catch it at its highest lvl in tanzan mountain i believe.

Noibat is like a magikarp its useless as shit but once it evolves(lvl48) it becomes a powerhouse and one of the only dragons in the game.

Also to answer the last part there check out the rules and also make a into thread in the grand hall but for now...WELCOME

Edited July 27, 2015 by foovy10

[Nanami's-Egg]

That is a pretty solid team you have so far! For an extra member, you could add another physical attacker, maybe a ground or fighting type. Some solid physical ground types are Krooodile, Mamoswine and Flygon, while some good physical fighting types include Medicham, Scrafty, and Machamp.

[Lostelle]

If you wanted you could always put Psychic or Energy Ball / Will-o-Wisp on Chandy.

[Noir]

As a start, welcome to Reborn, with this being your first post here.

That being said, I'll be kinda blunt on what I think of the team in general. I'm not sure if you've finished the game at its current point and just want to make a team for well...purposes, or if this is you making a new team before continuing with your progress, so not everything I say will be relevant.

While the establishment of Greninja/Excavalier/Dragalge is solid enough, Whimsicott fails to offer effective support utility with the exception of Chandelure, as the remaining teammates are either fast enough or far too slow to effectively utilize Tailwind. As such, it at best serves as a stall Pokemon with SubSeed of sorts, which isn't that effective in a playthrough sans specific NPCs with high levels like Arceus and Garchomp. Should you wish to still use Whimsicott on your team, it's perfectly fine synergetically, just that you'd might want to use a more offensive set rather than a utility one, since until we get competitive battling which is in the far future, it's usually pretty ineffective in an in-game playthrough. With a moveset of Energy Ball/Hurricane or Hidden Power Fire/Moonblast/Substitute, and well, a few other select options, it would be more effective in-game, but less popular competitively. From a competitive standpoint, not everything from Smogon is relevant here (me being an avid user of the site myself I can very easily tell where the Speed on the two slow guys come from), and with apologies for being either rude or judgmental with this statement. I'm not saying looking up Smogon is bad, it's just that especially in in-game playthroughs like this, it's not fully relevant; quite the opposite, in fact.

Assuming 31 IVs across the board and whatnot, (correct me) while investing Speed on Excavalier and Dragalge has its merits, it usually won't be as relevant because in-game playthroughs aren't divided by tiers, so chances are the Speed creeps won't be as helpful as you'd hope for them to be. I'd advise shifting the Speed EVs to a particular defensive stat or HP.

Energy Ball generally is more effective than Hidden Power Ice as a coverage move on Chandelure, especially considering that your two STAB moves alone outdamage it even super effectively so long as the target takes neutral damage.

As for new members, with your team currently centralized on Special Attackers with only one physical attacker, putting one and one together a physical attacker that resists Flying would be an effective fit, given that you don't have anything that resists it. Rock types come to mind since you'd rather not compound on multiple Steels with Excavalier on board, as can Electric types. Examples of such Pokemon include Rhyperior and Electivire, although Eelektross, due to Levitate, is also an option given that you'd have three Ground weaknesses on your team with only Grass Knot Greninja and Whimsicott as viable resists. Archeops falls under a similar role, especially if you want Flying STAB to use. I'd advise a choice of the latter two, since an immunity to Ground-type moves is always welcome while still having resists to Flying, given the fantastic offensive coverage the two provide.

Hope my advice was helpful.

Edited July 27, 2015 by YagamiNoir4896

[Kamui]

Thank you for all the help, everyone. I'll be sure to take everything into consideration.

It seems I need more revision than I originally thought.

[Might Gai]

you don't have to use a speed bonus nature sinse the enemies don't have ev trained pokemon or max ivs

[Simon]

I recall something about important trainers such as Gym Leaders, Rivals, and/or certain Team Meteor fights actually have teams with proper EV/IVs/Movesets so you rather be safe and use the proper nature depending on the mon.

It shouldn't even be a hassle with the Pokemon Psychologist in 7th Street and the fact Ame removed the daily limit on it.

[Might Gai]

I recall something about important trainers such as Gym Leaders, Rivals, and/or certain Team Meteor fights actually have teams with proper EV/IVs/Movesets so you rather be safe and use the proper nature depending on the mon.

It shouldn't even be a hassle with the Pokemon Psychologist in 7th Street and the fact Ame removed the daily limit on it.

nah, i outspeed a lot of pokemons with a mamoswine with no speed evs