Team Advice

[Defaze]

Hey guys! Since I've got a bit of free time due to being off uni and work, I figured I'd start a new playthrough. Essentially I'm just looking for a few moveset suggestions, and opinions on my final slot.

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Narvi @ Big Root

[Mild]; Lvl 54

Giga Drain, Substitute, Leech Seed, Nature Power

My trusty starter. Slightly barren movepool but actually really effective at stalling with Sub + Leech Seed. Plus he's EV'd in Special Attack, so his Giga Drain is pretty potent and drains a huge amount of health back when factoring in his Big Root. Nature Power is a fun (albeit unreliable as hell) coverage option, since he has essentially nothing else on the special side (his Hidden Power type is Grass too. ). He's fortunately got Contrary, so Leaf Storm will be added when he reaches level 62. Now here's my dilemma; do I replace Nature Power and stick with mono-Grass coverage, or do I override Substitute and at least have some way of damaging Poison-types/Steel-types etc?

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Daphnis @ Air Balloon

[Calm]; Lvl 55

Discharge, Cotton Guard, Charge, Electric Terrain

This thing exceeded my expectations ten-fold - its Electric Terrain alone saved me against most of the earlier Gym Leaders. She's EV'd fully in HP, so she's pretty naturally bulky, but becomes an absolute tank when you factor in Cotton Guard/Charge (its effect is double under Electric Terrain). However, she's pretty much walled entirely by Ground-types and other Electrics with Volt Absorb/Motor Drive/Lightning Rod, and there lies my issue again. She has Grass-type Hidden Power, which has good synergy with Electric and checks Ground-types, but I've relied on her boosting moves quite heavily in previous battles. So basically, its a compromise between coverage and bulkiness. Any advice here would be appreciated.

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Io @ Silver Powder

[Modest]; Lvl 54

Quiver Dance, Bug Buzz, Hydro Pump, Sticky Web/Air Slash/Baton Pass

This thing is another victim of 'four moveslot syndrome'. Quiver Dance is a necessity for it to even dent most Pokemon at this point in the game, whereas Bug Buzz and Hydro Pump provide decent enough coverage. The last slot is where I'm struggling; I've considered Air Slash because of STAB + flinch chance, but Sticky Web is pretty useful, especially given how slow half my team is (plus, I raised her all the way from an egg to level 46 as a Surskit just to get it). Baton Pass is another option, which would allow her to pass any QD boosts to say, Ampharos or Serperior. I'm personally leaning towards Sticky Web, but she's not exactly the most bulky Pokemon to reliably get them down.

Themisto @ Metronome

[impish]; Lvl 54

Rock Slide, Cosmic Power, Substitute, Wonder Room

My physical wall with fully maxed HP/Defense! Cosmic Power and Rock Slide are pretty much the crux of this set. Substitute + the fourth slot are just utter filler at the moment; Wonder Room is a bit of a niche strategy to allow it to counter special attackers too, but its not proven very effective so far, so I'd ideally like it replaced. I originally had Psychic, but it was barely denting anything with its Impish Nature + terrible base Special Attack. Zen Headbutt would be ideal, but iirc, its not available through move tutors as of EP15. I know Skill Swap is accessible soon, which could be used in conjunction with Slaking, but again, its pretty niche since its limited to double battles. Basically, I'm looking for viable suggestions beyond Rock Slide + Cosmic Power.

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Skoll @ Wide Lens

[sassy]; Lvl 54

Aqua Tail, Earthquake, Zen Headbutt, Amnesia

Not much to add here; surprisingly one of the most reliable on the team, owed partly to its amazing level-up movepool. Anticipation is actually really useful too, since it warns me of any incoming Grass attacks.

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Mneme @ Silk Scarf

[impish]; Lvl 53

Strength, Play Rough, Shadow Claw, Hammer Arm.

I'm pretty much torn between Tauros and Slaking for the last slot. Call me a drip, but I'm normally opposed to ditching early-game team-mates partway through my adventure, regardless of how cumbersome they are to use. However, her ability really is quite a nuisance, since she constantly has to flee after landing a hit (which often fail to OHKO despite her huge Attack stat, due to Strength's low BP). Most of my problems would be alleviated by Return or even Giga Impact, but I don't either are available yet. She does have a much better moveset than Tauros though, so that's definitely something in her favour.

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Ferdinand @ Persim Berry

[Lonely]; Lvl 54

Thrash, Work Up, Zen Headbutt, Payback

Option 2. Pretty much fulfills a similar role to Slaking as a fast physical sweeper, but with less coverage and Attack, and without the awful ability. There's not much else available to him moveset wise, except Bulldoze later on, which would at least check Steel-types. Essentially, it boils down to reliability (Tauros) vs coverage + sentimentality (Slaking).

Should probably mention that I'm currently at Route 1.

[Etesian]

I don't really know about Sub cause, the more we progress, the fewer non-attacking moves the foes carry, so I don't see you getting up a sub too easily later on.

For moves, I'd really recommend maybe breeding it with Ditto for a better Hidden Power, cause that's literally the only move it has that is at least Neutral in Steel. You can just get to +6 and try to power through them, but a good Hidden Power would realy be handy.

Another move I'd recommend for it is Wring Out, handy coverage for all the things that resist Grass (except for steel).

That's...creative. Good thinking! Air Balloons are a bit pointless since it's slow so it WILL be taking hits, but not like we have anything else for it (unless you like mined up a Zap Plate). But as you said, that's a set that just doesn't do much offensively(unless you swap Discharge for Charge Beam, but even then). I guess you could try 4 attacks Ampharos, Heliolisk or, if you like all the setting up, there's Cosmic Power/Stored Power/Minimize/Charge Beam Clefable.

Nit only is Serp your only team member quick enough for Sticky Web to make a difference...Masqerain is just bad. If you want a Quiver Dancer, Vivillon and Venomoth do the job way better. But all 3 either outspeed and get the set up going or they die helplessly, so I'd consider replacing it. If it's a Bug type you want, both Durant and Escavalier should be available to you by now. Or do you want ne to come up with some other Bug or Flying type replacements for this thing?

I like the sun pebble, but it's just bad. If you want CP strats, take that Clefable (which reminds me that sigilyph can do the same, without minimize but with STAB on Stored Power). Wabt me to come up with some Psychic or Rock types it replace it?

We can't teach it Dragin Dance yet, so I wouldn't use it yet. It's decent, but you can get better than decent. Want suggestions?

Tauros. Sheer Force. You can even get a Life Orb soon (use the search feature to see where) and that gives no recoil on SF moves and the boosts stack. For a good Sheer Force STAB, you have a Secret Power TM in the Wasteland (though spamming Thrash mostly works). And if you go back to E12 to breed (see the pinned breeding guide in this section), you can get Tauros Earthquake, Rock Slide/Stone Edge and Wild Charge. Zen Headbutt is worth keeping as it's an SF move.

[Defaze]

Thanks for the response! Although call me stubborn, but I probably won't replace Masquerain, Solrock, and Whiscash. They definitely look poor on paper, but all 3 perform surprisingly well since they've got decent IVs and are fully EV'd (Intimidate switching has actually saved my ass a number of times). Plus, I've completed EP15 previously with the likes of Swanna, Dunsparce, and Kricketune, so competitive viability isn't really an issue for me.

Good call on Serperior; I was already considering re-breeding for Modest so I may try for HP Ground/Fire. I did previously have Wring Out, but I tend to just subseed and slowly whittle down their HP, so it's pretty ineffective when they're at less than full health.

Yeah, Air Balloon was really just because of a lack of other options (see Metronome on Solrock). I had Charge Beam previously but the chance of para hax from Discharge + Static was too good to pass up. I've actually used that exact Clefable in a previous run - it didn't do much for me personally, so I'll likely just stick with Ampharos.

Masquerain actually can set-up pretty decently (although I guess it remains to be seen how easy that is as I get even further through the game), due to Intimidate + natural special bulk, plus Hydro Pump completely maims slower Rock-types that threaten to OHKO before boosting. Good point on Sticky Web; might opt for Baton Pass instead.

Yeah I was ideally hoping for DD on Whiscash, but the only potential father is Gyarados, which isn't available. It lacks a bit of power, but hey, it's bulky enough to just whittle down opponents with EQ/Aqua Tail.

Great suggestions re Tauros. I've been using Intimidate simply due to a lack of Sheer Force-boosted moves. I had no idea LO was available, nor did I realise Secret Power was in the Wasteland - I must've missed that! I'm confused about the breeding comment though, my understanding was that you couldn't produce Tauros eggs (bar with Ditto), being an exclusively male Pokemon?

[Etesian]

Alrighty. Your game, your call.

Yes, because unboosted Wring Out is not that great, but you can just kill something with Leaf Storm to get a boost or two, then as the next thing switches in, it'll have full health.

HP Ground or Fire would be ideal (you can check the breeding guide to see how IVs are passed down), but Fighting should also work. Or if you're not using Wring Out, HP Rock is a super-effective hit on everything Grass is weak to (except for Poison). Though neutral Wring Out is as strong as an SE Hidden Power, so probs best to go for one SE vs Steel.

I guess? You've got a really bulky set, so you don't mind getting hit, so Static alone should be enough. And do you really need the paras? I mean, they let Ampharos outspeed things, but again, it's a bulky thing, you don't care about getting outsped and taking a hit. I'd run CB, but whatever floats your boat.

....and that's why I shouldn't be posting at 3 AM, completely forgot that Tauros is male-only. So yeah, no breeding. Sorry. Thaaaat limits your options to Secret Power, Zen Headbutt, an Iron Tail tutor and the 2 Rock Tomb and Bulldoze TMs later. So that's....something. So maybe Slaking after all, though Truant is real bad.

If you want some other Normal type options, there's Snorlax around the 13th gym, Ursaring (Toxic Orb for Guts available later), Lickilicky (and it's godly coverage) (available around the 10th gym), Porygon-Z (i dunno where the items are, but they're in the game iirc), Cincinno, Swellow (also Guts), Staraptor, Heliolisk, Diggersby and Bouffalant (figures that only the bull's clone can be bred it has that Reckless Head Charge, Megahorn and from breeding, Earthquake, Rock Slide/Stone Edge, Wild Charge, Poison Jab, Iron Head and Payback. It also gets Sap Sipper to go with your Anticipation Whiscash).