Advice regarding my team!

[DashO]

Hello,

I've played this game (E15) for a couple of days now, but I'am struggling with my team. So, who better to ask than you guys ;-) I recently joined team Aqua (as Carvanha looks like a stronger pokemon than Houndoom), and my next major battle will be Shade (i.e. the fourth gym).

At this moment I have 3 pokemon were I'm happy with:

Greninja: lvl 38

nature: naive

ability: protean

Total IV: 136

EV training: 215 attack, 252 speed

Growlithe: lvl 36

ability: justified

nature: lonely

total IV: 142

EV training: 252 attack, 252 speed

Hariyama: 37

ability: thick fat

nature: adamant

Total IV: 138

EV training: 229 attack, 127 speed (I've 99 points left to train).

Some other members which have been usefull are Meowstic - M (but with very weak EV training, with over 55 points on attack), Pansear (but I got growlithe now), and Onix. I might replace Hariyama with Scraggy, as everyone seems to be lyrical about him.

So I'am looking for three new members (or more, if your adivice replace someone), which are complementary to my current team.

I've got myself a budew and lotad, but I have no Idea how to EV train them proparly right now.... As an electric type Helioptile seems to be good, but I can't find him on the roof were he is supposed to be. Moreover, I couldn't find Electric and Loudred.

I'am looking foreward to your advice!

Kind regards,

Dash

[Drymus]

Helioptile only appears on that roof on sunny days, Loudred appears as Whismur before you send that hiker to that house, or can be bought from 7th street after Radomous. It is advisable to check the Pokemon Location Guide in the On The Hunt section.

Edited October 15, 2015 by Drymus

[Grizzlybrand]

http://www.pokemonreborn.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7866 This is a guide with all the good EV trainin spots.

Training up that Carvanah would be great as the next fight with shade's gonna be a doozy. Noibat is a good investment to pick up on as Noivern's a powerhouse.

Lotad (and by extension Ludicolo) can be a good Raindance setup and can be either tanky with 252 HP 252/Sp.A or make him a good Sweeper with 252 Atk or Sp.A/252 Spe I think you get a water stone from where you get the Buizel.

If you're looking for a tank you can fish with the old rod For grimer in the coral ward. Muk's a good tank with 252 HP/252 Attack EVs

[DJWongTong]

Meowstic M is quite possibly one of the most useful psychic types until much later in the game thanks to prankster screens, I would consider either breeding one or just fully EV training it until you run into the likes of Reuniclus, Metagross, or Alakazam. One very important factor for teambuilding in reborn is the mystery egg which is obtained by doing a quest for one of the police officers where you got the growlithe, 9/10 it is going to hatch into something very nice and if you're lucky, it won't collide typings with your team. Besides that, for your point in the game I have two recommendations to balance out types, coverage, and general utility: Mamoswine and Tangrowth. Tangela can be found in the Rhydocrine jungle (I most likely butchered the name) and Swinub can be found in a cave at the end of Beryl Bridge (You can breed ancient power onto it early by using a Dunsparce which can be rarely found under the grand stairway). Mamoswine offers raw power while Tangrowth provides powder and leech seed support with regenerator utility, besides that though best of luck!

Edit: Sorry for the text wall OTL

Edited October 15, 2015 by DJWongTong

[Lynxiechan]

Your current team is actually pretty decent, but it has flaws.Type advantage wise you've got Growlithe which blocks Fairies that might be a threat to Greninja and Hariyama, and Greninja to counter Ghost/Dark types. I suggest you do invest in that helioptile; it can be found on the rooftop during a sunny day. Keep that in mind.

In terms of Offense:

Physically, you pretty much pack a humongous punch. BUT, you really need something that dishes out special attack. I suggest one of the bug types; where you currently are, you could actually get one or two (the one Im actually thinking of is Venonat/Venomoth - it's decent special defense and special attack mean it can dish out a punch when properly used, again, that's just me though, but I've used Venomoth since.... Shelly? I couldn't find it prior to her + 2lazy to actually try and get it, and with the exception of Samson and Ciel Ive used it in every gym/boss battle since). Alternatively, you CAN invest in that budew that you have, but really, unless you somehow get a hold of a nuzleaf or exeggcute, it's not going to do you many favors against Shade. I mean, you could also invest in the Gothita from the Beryl Library; one of the Gothitas will insist on going with you if you interact with it after you've finished the cleaning the library event and gotten a soul candle from Gothitelle. The bulk that it has + Psyshock would very easily do some slow but relatively decent damage. Although, it is a psychic type, and would do you little favours in terms of type advantage, in the long run Gothitelle is actually really good (....I might train my own one now, gg me)

(Check the spoiler if a) you want a hint and b ) you want Shade's team properly ruined in terms of surprises)

That Chandelure of his will make absolute mincemeat of you. It packs Energy Ball, Shadow Ball, Possibly Psychic, and almost definitely HWave/Flamethrower. You'd best pick up something that's ultra fast, or has a lot of special bulk and a ton of physical damage to boot. Rotom/Gengar as well will most likely make your greninja a broken origami frog rather than a viable frog, ESPECIALLY if Gengar is still packing that Thunderbolt. ALTHOUGH, if your Greninja still has Shadow sneak, exploit that shit until you die. It's going to have a pretty massive power boost in the darkness that is Yureyu HQ. Watch out for Gourgeist though - Shade's main physical bulk is your spooky veggie, packing leftovers and leech seed to boot. I've kinda forgotten what else he holds in ep15 though.

In terms of Defense:

If you ever came up against a sweeper speed team, you're going to hate the three pokemon you have right now. (Again, check the spoilers tab if you must know what I mean.)

I.e. Kiki's Medicham, Cal's Blaziken/Infernape, Samson's bloody Mienshao/Hariyama (Jebus, the guts Hariyama though, I didn't even realise until my third attempt.), Charlotte's Eruptions (CHRIST ALMIGHTY!) Terra's Garchomp/Nidoking (Nope, NOPE NOPE NOPE.) Ciel's Talonflame (OH GOD CALL 999), and, possibly the one that will give a low defense team a HELLUVA hard time: Noel. His ENTIRE team screams GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE! Ahem, Excuse the language. But hey, he's a child prodigy so yeee

You NEED something with bulk. Or a staller. Unfortunately, where you currently are, very few pokemon can really do any bulk at all. If you have Scraggy though, that works as a decent-ish bulk. And, as Grizzly has suggested, Muk and Lotad are really good as well. Lotad is found on the third dock in the Coral Ward on a rainy day.

PS: Maaan, I keep forgetting tangrowth, and because of Rejuvenation I actually really like him now ;-;

Edited October 15, 2015 by Lynxiechan

[DashO]

First of all thank you guys for taking the ttime to replying to my topic!

@ Drymus I know were to find them but whismurr wasn't in that house, I checked multiple times. However, Lotad took me a couple of rainy days to find too. The same with Numel. And sofar Helioptile has not appeared, although I'm not completely sure that I've checked the rooftop on a sunny day.

@ Grizzlyband I've checked some guides but at this moment it seems to be a pain to EV train special defense or spec. attack. Although I have no other option, if I want a decent team haha.

I have indeed found a water stone early on in the old ladies house.

I have to check if my Lotads stats are any good for making him a tank. But I will definitely keep him in mind. Otherwise grimer might be my best option.

@DJWongTong Unfortunately (with regard to breeding) my meowstic is male. So I will need a ditto, who is not available to me at this moment in game.I will definitely try out the mystery egg quest, thanks for the tip! Regarding the swinub, is ancient power a must?

@Lynxiechan thanks for the valuable information regarding the strenghts and weaknesses of my team. It is really helpfull. But what do you exactly mean with "bulk"?

I never liked the looks of tangela or venonat, but as reborn is not like any other pokémon game I might give them a try. Especially now two of you suggested tangela/tangrowth. Actually.... I might have a shiny venonat in my PC... So if his stats are decent....

[nugget_22]

i thought you didnt need to ev train because i can beat the leaders fine with the right choices and strategies

[DJWongTong]

Espurr can actually be found in the magma/aqua gang alleyways \o/! Breeding ancient power onto Swinub is not a must but the only other way to get it (And thus evolve into Mamoswine) is through the move tutor who is a fair bit later into the game and trust me, the extra power is really nice for certain bosses.

[DashO]

Again, thanks for the replies.

I think I will go with the following team:

Greninja

Growlithe (although I need a fire stone soon...)

Hariyama (I will probably replace her with scraggy, as soon as I get him)

Venonat (the shiny one turns out to have okayish stats, but hey it's shiny ;-))

Swinub (with ancientpower, so I will have to start breeding. Already got a dunsparce!)

Helioptile (I just have to wait for a sunny day, or mess with the clock on my pc...)

Lotad has good stats to make it an offensive type, instead of defensive, maybe I will switch him with venonat if I don't like him.

Further advice is still welcome!

[wytch_doctr]

Highly suggest breeding Icicle Crash onto Swinub. Ice Shard is barely enough to pull through late-game. Fire stone is obtainable after the 4th badge as a visible item. Also, changing the time is probably vital in reborn as there are so many time/weather based events.

But in reality, EV training isn't absolutely necessary in Reborn. sometimes, it just wastes time. I did my first run with unbred, un-EV trained team of 6. In hindsight, I dunno how I managed, but it goes to show how EVs are just supplementary, and speeding up the run.

I'd suggest to get a Dark type asap. Shade barely has any defense against dark, whereas he can ruin most others if you aren't careful. The Rotom is trouble, though, but Diggersby is completely immune to Rotom's direct attacks

Pain Split, Shadow Ball, Discharge, Confuse Ray

. You can breed knock off onto diggersby (maybe? not too good with breeding myself) and he could possibly be a sweeper.