Need a little help improving my team

[CaptainMetal]

First of, hi everyone. I've been playing Pokemon Reborn for quite a while now, but just now decided to join here.

I'm currently on my second playthrough and have just defeated Samson. Now I have the problem that none of my mons is able to learn Surf and as far as I recall the next part of the story is quite a long one, so switching out a member for a HM Slave would be mediocre.

This is my current team:

Gardevoir (66)

Modest, Telepathy

- Calm Mind

- Magical Leaf

- Psychic

- Moonblast

Diggersby (66) @ Earth Plate

Adamant, Huge Power

- Bounce

- Hammer Arm

- Take Down

- Earthquake

Archeops (66)

Jolly, Defeatist

- U-Turn

- Dragon Claw

- Rock Slide

- Acrobatics

Arcanine (66)

Adamant, Flash Fire

- Crunch

- Close Combat

- Outrage

- Flare Blitz

Cofagrigus (66)

Relaxed, Mummy

- Protect

- Pain Split

- Will-O-Wisp

- Shadow Ball

Serperior (66) @ Big Root

Timid, Contrary

- Leech Seed

- Gastro Acid

- Giga Drain

- Leaf Storm

It's quite an offensive team, with Cofagrigus being the only defensive member as a physical wall. If needed Gardevoir can act as a special tank thanks to Calm Mind and its natural high SpDef. As you can see all of my physical attackers suffer from a water weakness, so if I would change my team, I would start here. Archeops should, in theory, be the best sweeper of my team. Sadly when I got him I wasn't paying attention to his IVs which are quite bad (average of 16), so he would be my first choice. Next would be Serperior, who should be a special sweeper, but sadly has very bad IVs on SpAtk (same reason as with Archeops). Since I can't go back to Reborn City right now, my options are quite limited. What would you suggest?

EDIT: What would you think of replacing Archeops with a Swanna? I have a Ducklet with good offensive IVs and nature in my box.

Edited April 16, 2016 by CaptainMetal

[Ironbound]

All right, it seems you pay attention to a Pokemon's IVs and EVs to some degree at least, so my suggestions will be based on the assumption that whatever I suggest will be decently bred and raised.

In that case, a properly EVd Swanna with good speed and SpAtk IVs is not a bad addition to your team at all. It can use Surf as well as STAB Hurricane, which it learns naturally, and can be a good boon if you have the Rain Dance TM as well, as it can happily run Surf, Hurricane, Roost (which it also happily learns naturally) and Rain Dance + Hydration. Swanna is also a good HM serf, and since HMs can be forgotten and relearned easily, you can keep switching the Surf or Rain Dance slots for Dive as needed and reteach its original movepool back to it after you are done navigating.

The only issue is that Swanna cannot learn Waterfall. So you may have to consider another Pokemon that can learn it. Beartic is a good non-water type that can use Waterfall, so it might work out handily. It is powerful, with Icicle Crash, which it learns naturally, and Superpower, which can be taught to it with a Heart Scale at the circus. Beartic also gets Swift Swim, so it can benefit more from Swanna's Rain Dance as well. Beartic can be found in the ice caves to come.

I would suggest replacing Archeops for now, as you seem to indicate that it's very weak, and Defeatist makes it weaker still. Besides, Arcanine + Swanna + Serperior is a good FWG core that can handle eacj others' weaknesses decently, especially since Diggersby can absorb rock type moves as well. You don't specifically need Cofagrigus; although it does help to spread burns around, it might be dead weight at times. Besides, Cofagrigus is best when it comes to using Toxic Spikes (for which it must be bred) and as a Nasty Plot Trick Room Sweeper (for which it again needs to be bred with Misdreavus, which you can't do now, and you also need the TR TM) so you can conceivably also drop Cofagrigus for another member.

Reborn needs more than six Pokémon anyway to cycle through when fighting, as it's not your typical game where six overlevelled mons can win through anyhow. So it's a good idea to keep.some in check.

Some other suggestions: Consider Dragon breath on Serperior, Extreme Speed on Arcanine, Hex on Cofagrigus and Swords Dance on Diggersby. All can be learned waske Heart Scale.

Edited April 16, 2016 by Viridescent

[Imperial]

Actually, IV are not really important in Reborn. An Archeops with bad IV is still much better than a Swanna in my opinion. Better worry about EV. But if you want a physical attacker than can resist water, a good possibility is Kingdra. At this point you can get Horsea by fishing in Ametrine. Find one with a dragon scale to evolve Seadra into Kingdra and you'll have a powerfull water/dragon (don't bother catching dozens of Horsea, just catch one then attack others with Thief) with Dragon Dance, Dive (for now then Waterfall later), Outrage,... Or you can go for a Sniper with Focus Energy and a Scope Lens. And I would rather replace Serperior for now, since the next leader you'll face is Charlotte. After that, well, it's not rare in Reborn to have more than 6 pokemons and switch for the most usefull one at that time

[CaptainMetal]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll give it some thought.

@Viridescent: Serperior cannot learn Dragon Breath, only Dragon pulse and only through a Move Tutor and none of those at Agate Circus teach this attack.

[Ironbound]

Oh, my mistake. Forget it then. Kingdra might be a good partner in that case, as it can learn all of Waterfall, Surf and Dive, as well as naturally learning Dragon Pulse and Hydro Pump (and Outrage by breeding with Druddigon) so it can make an excellent rain abuser as well.

You won't miss a grass type note since you'll be up sharing the fire gym. Consider continuing with Archeops, then.

[Luna]

well there a lot of good water types which can learn surf/dive/waterfall i would not go with Swanna since Swanna is kinda meh. you could always train up sub pokemon which can learn Hm and since you can kinda delete hm as an when you like you do not need a hm slave. plus having a good water type can be kinda useful for demon girl Charlotte. i would personally make a vaporeon hehe because it is a good HM slave and it is tanky. well if want a good water type here are some suggestions.

Physical Attack Water Type

Azumarill
Ability:Huge power
Nature:Adamant
EV: 252 Atk/252 HP/6 speed

-Aqua jet(egg move)
-Belly drum(egg move)
-Superpower/Waterfall( can be replaced with waterfall if you don't want coverage)
-Play Rough

Carracosta
Ability:Rock solid
Nature:Adamant/Brave
EV: 252 Atk/252 HP/6 Def

-Aqua jet(can be replaced with waterfall)
-Shell smash
-Aqua Tail(can be replaced with waterfall)
-Rock Slide

Barbaracle
Ability:Tough Claws
Nature:Adamant/Brave
EV: 252 Atk/252 HP/6 Def
Item: wide lens

-Razor shell
-shell smash
-Stone edge
-Cross Chop

Floatzel
Ability:Swift Swim
Nature:Adamant/Jolly
EV:252 Atk/252 Speed/6 HP

-Ice fang(use heart scale)
-Aqua Tail/Waterfall
-Aqua jet
-Crunch(use heart scale)

Crawdaunt
Ability:Adaptability
Nature:Adamant/Brave
EV: 252 Atk/252 HP/6 Def

-crunch/knock off/night slash
-Razor shell
-Crabhammer
-Swords dance

Kingler
Ability: Sheer force
Nature:Adamant/Brave
EV: 252 Atk/252 HP/6 Def

-Crabhammer
-Metal Claw
-Secret Power
-Brick Break

Sharpedo
Ability:speed boost
Nature:Adamant
EV:252 Atk/252 Speed/6 HP

-Aqua jet/waterfall(replace with waterfall when you get it)
-Crunch
-Poison Fang
-Ice Fang

Whiscash
Ability:Hydration
Nature:Adamant/Brave
EV: 252 Atk/252 HP/6 Def

-Earthquake
-Aqua Tail
-Zen Headbutt
-Rest

Quagsire
Ability:water absorb
Nature:Brave/Adamant/Relaxed/impish
EV:252 HP/252 Atk/6 Def

-Curse(egg move)
-Recover
-Earthquake
-Waterfall

Special Attack water type

Blastoise
Ability:Rain Dish/Torrent
Nature:Modest/Quiet
EV: 252 SpAtk/252 HP/6 SpDef

-Hydro Pump/Water Spout/Surf(Water Spout is an egg move)
-Dark Pulse/Water Pulse( teach when you get the tm which is after the dark gym which is the 9th gym but till than replace with water pulse)
-Dragon Pulse/Rain Dance(egg move , replace with Rain dance if you do not bother breeding)
-Flash cannon(use heart scale to teach)

Mantine
Ability:Swift swim
Nature:Modest/Timid
EV: 252 SpAtk/252 Speed/6 SpDef

-Hydro Pump/Surf/Water Pulse(replace with surf,water pulse if you hate the low accuracy)
-Signal Beam
-Air Slash
-Rain Dance/Mirror coat(Mirror coat is an egg move)

Ludicolo
Ability:RainDish/Swift Swim
Nature:Modest/Timid
EV: 252 SpAtk/252 Speed/6 SpDef

-Energy ball(learn by making lotad not evovle until lvl 32)
-Hydro pump
-Giga drain(learn by making lotad not evovle until lvl 32)
-Mist/Rain Dance(replace with rain dance if you do not have a rain dance pokemon)

Vaporeon
Ability:Water Absorb
Nature:Modest/Quiet
EV: 252 SpAtk/252 HP/6 SpDef

Aurora Beam
Muddy Water
Hydro Pump
Shadow ball/Rain Dance(if you got it from shade earlier, replace with rain dance)

Milotic
Ability:Competitive
Nature:Modest/Timid
EV: 252 SpAtk/252 Speed/6 SpDef

-Surf
-Icy wind(move tutor)
-Dragon pulse(egg move)
-Recover

Lapras
Ability: Water absorb
Nature:Modest/Quiet
EV: 252 SpAtk/252 HP/6 SpDef

-Surf
-Ice beam
-Freeze Dry(egg move)
-Dragon pulse( Egg move)

Lanturn
Ability:Volt absorb
Nature:Modest/Quiet
EV: 252 SpAtk/252 HP/6 SpDef

-Discharge
-Signal Beam
-Icy wind
-Surf

Clawitzer

Ability:Mega launcher
Nature:Modest/Quiet
EV: 252 SpAtk/252 HP/6 SpDef

-Dark pulse
-Dragon pulse
-Water pulse
-Aura sphere

Kingdra(version 1)
Ability:swift swim
Nature:Modest/Timid
EV: 252 SpAtk/252 Speed/6 SpDef

-Surf
-Dragon Pulse
-Rain dance/Signal beam(Signal beam is an egg move)
-Icy wind

Kingdra(version 2)
Ability: sniper
Nature:Modest/Timid
EV: 252 SpAtk/252 Speed/6 SpDef
Item:Scope Lens

-Surf
-Dragon Pulse
-Focus Energy
-Icy wind/Signal beam

Gastrodon
Ability:Storm Drain/Sand force
Nature:Modest/Quiet
EV: 252 SpAtk/252 HP/6 SpDef

-Surf
-Mud Bomb
-Icy Wind/Sludge Wave
-Sandstorm/Rain Dance/Recover/Icy Wind/Sludge Wave

[Genesis]

I believe you have teh perfect Pokemon Demon team. It needs no change no training.

Seriously a team of 6 all at level 66.

Your best options have all been listed and mentioned above though

[CaptainMetal]

I've trained myself a Seadra now, sadly I had no Link Stone when I entered the "No return to the city" part of the game, but it's still a good addition to the team. I'm now about to face Ciel and am training to reach the level cap. While doing so I was thinking of adjusting Giggersby a little. I often had the situation of Take-Down not hitting when I needed it to, so maybe I should replace it with Strength? I also found Hammer Arm and Bounce to be mediocre, so I'll replace them with Swords Dance (like suggested) and Quick Attack.

[TimTim]

Seadra itself is quite decent enough to hold its own on a team as its base offensive stats are 65/95/85, being physical attack lower than its evolved counterpart(it doesnt need physical attack anyway) with no neutrality to electric and grass, just don't let it take special hit as its poor bulks can't handle it and you are all set with Seadra if you can't evolve it right away

[Imperial]

There's a linkstone in Ametrine mountain, near the abomasite, so you can get your Kingdra before beating Ciel. And Strengh is quite good for Diggersby, especially against Ciel since it's a high striker move that will always be boosted at max by the field thanks to Huge Power

[CaptainMetal]

Since I'm through with E15 I've started to raise more Pokemon to have more versatility for the next episode. Right now I bred quite a good Rotom (19/26/24/29/29/31/HP-Ice) but I'm not quite sure how to build it. The only moveset I know for Rotom is the standard defensive pivot Rotom-W, but without Will-O-Wisp and Volt Switch available that's not gonna happen. My next projects will be Dragalge and Magnezone.

Edited April 30, 2016 by CaptainMetal