Help me build up my team?

[Caraboo]

Since I finally got fly and am currently grinding to beat Ciel, I'm so relieved to be able to return to Lapis and do some grinding there. But that always comes with the question of what to grind to make into a team member, so I thought I'd ask for some help here.

Pokemon I currently own that I plan on grinding

Love Machine(★)-lv 60

Ceasar-lv 60

Dresden-lv 15

Seeker-lv 43

I'm also considering and looking for a few new members, so any suggestions would be great!

[YoshiofRedemption]

Love the Porygon's nickname.

In all seriousness, maybe evolve Love Machine into a Porygon2 and/or train up a Swinub and wreck Ciel with a Mamoswine. You can find Swinub in Citrine Mountain outside Shade's gym, and you'll need Rock Smash to enter the cave. Have fun on the grinding adventure!

[Cyanna Cyril]

At that point in the game, what you choose for your team is what you want rather than what you absolutely need. So the freedom of what to grind is really up to you. Still, it looks like you don't really have much water, ice, ghost, or fairy, so maybe you'd want to consider adding more of them onto your team. Another idea is finding bulky mons, since most of your current team, subs, and ideal grinding mons are more glass-cannon sweepers. These are general suggestions. Take what you want and leave what you don't.

[Caraboo]

@yoshiofredemption

Ggggooodd I probably need to get a Mamoswine, I'm just absolutely -stuck- on Ciel. And I'm just getting so sick of grinding. Everything of hers outspeeds me, and that Archeops. God that Archeops. I'm not sure whether I could revive my Plume Fossil at this point out of pure dislike of it now. I just wish I could go to Lapis and grind easier, I'm tired of trekking through Ametrine and Route 4 to grind. But thats just me whining.

@Cyanna Cyril Yeah I've definitely noticed that trend myself. It's definitely just a thing that carries over from how I play the meta game... which is to say, I don't. Yeah I actually just caught a Piloswine... Dunno if I can evolve it ATM but anything helps at this point.

[Imperial]

If you wanna grind, talk to one of the clowns in Agate Circus, near where you can get the powder vial. He has different team (rotating for each battle) of three pokemons lvl 65. Best way to get xp outside of the grand hall. But be careful, his pokemon are really tough, fully EV and IV trained with the best items.

Also, a good thing against Ciel is to have some bulky pokemons that can endure a hit of her faster ones and strike back. During my fire mono my fast hitters (Typhlosion, Darmanitan) were completely useless against her, but my bulky Emboar really shined.

Last thing, if you consider raising a Mamoswine, you should consider breading it with a Beartic to get Ice Shards/Icicle Crash since Mamoswine learns no good physical ice move naturally.

[daigotsurezan]

If you wanna grind, talk to one of the clowns in Agate Circus, near where you can get the powder vial. He has different team (rotating for each battle) of three pokemons lvl 65. Best way to get xp outside of the grand hall. But be careful, his pokemon are really tough, fully EV and IV trained with the best items.

Also, a good thing against Ciel is to have some bulky pokemons that can endure a hit of her faster ones and strike back. During my fire mono my fast hitters (Typhlosion, Darmanitan) were completely useless against her, but my bulky Emboar really shined.

Last thing, if you consider raising a Mamoswine, you should consider breading it with a Beartic to get Ice Shards/Icicle Crash since Mamoswine learns no good physical ice move naturally.

I full agree with all these points, but I just wanted to add one little thing.

The re-battleable clown in Agate Circus has a random team each time you talk to him themed around their color. Unlike the Grand Hall trainers, his team changes EVERY time, not just on a daily cycle. So you may find that one team is walling you pretty badly (like how my team cannot handle his freaking Dragonite), then reset and try again to see if you can beat him with a different team. All his Pokemon are level 65, he's packing Choice items, Life Orbs and Leftovers all around, and they have strong movesets.

On the plus side, you ALSO get a random free shard for beating him on top of the delicious XP.

[Caraboo]

Oh thank you for those points! I'll definitely go take a look at that clown.

On the subject of bulkier mons (of which I will take that advice for Mamoswine once this is said and done and I can head back to Obsidia), aside from Mamoswine, I'm also thinking about Drifblim and Florges, and just caught a shiny Bronzor to train into a Bronzong. I kinda want a Steelix since I've got a metal coat... Gonna be a lot of hunting and grinding!

[YoshiofRedemption]

@Imperial: Chances are if you caught Swinub at Citrine Mountain like I did with mine, it should come with Ice Shard.

@Caraboo: As for evolving Piloswine, you can do so at this point. You'll need a Pokemon with Rock Smash, Heart Scales, and to backtrack to the Underground Railnet puzzle and then to the Onyx Ward. At the Railnet puzzle (the one where you needed to flip the switches to open the way to Tanzan Mountain), there are certain places with cracks in the wall. Break those holes in the walls with Rock Smash until you find the House Key. Backtrack to the Onyx Ward and go to the left once you get there. There should be a female NPC outside a house searching for her house key. Give it to her and ta-da! You have access to the Move Relearner (assuming you haven't done any of this already). Use a Heart Scale and teach Piloswine Ancient Power and then level it up. Then you'll get your Mamoswine.

Edited May 19, 2016 by YoshiofRedemption

[Cyanna Cyril]

@Imperial: Chances are if you caught Swinub at Citrine Mountain like I did with mine, it should come with Ice Shard.

@Caraboo: As for evolving Piloswine, you can do so at this point. You'll need a Pokemon with Rock Smash, Heart Scales, and to backtrack to the Underground Railnet puzzle and then to the Onyx Ward. At the Railnet puzzle (the one where you needed to flip the switches to open the way to Tanzan Mountain), there are certain places with cracks in the wall. Break those holes in the walls with Rock Smash until you find the House Key. Backtrack to the Onyx Ward and go to the left once you get there. There should be a female NPC outside a house searching for her house key. Give it to her and ta-da! You have access to the Move Relearner (assuming you haven't done any of this already). Use a Heart Scale and teach Piloswine Ancient Power and then level it up. Then you'll get your Mamoswine.

If he's at the Circus, there's a Move-Relearner there too. He's one of the clowns inthe booths towards the southeast corner of the circus. He accepts heart scales just like the other Relearner.

[Caraboo]

If he's at the Circus, there's a Move-Relearner there too. He's one of the clowns inthe booths towards the southeast corner of the circus. He accepts heart scales just like the other Relearner.

Yeah I'm at the circus. Unfortunately my shiny Piloswine may not have come with ice Shard... But either way, I did get closer to beating Ciel than on my other attempts with it evolved as a Mamoswine. Maybe a few more levels will do it.

Well.

Until she pulled out the Mega Altaria. I probably could have beaten it too but I mis-clicked a healing item.

[YoshiofRedemption]

What level was it when you caught it? If you caught it as a Swinub it should have it at level 24 (unless there's an area where you can catch Piloswine later in the game).

[Caraboo]

What level was it when you caught it? If you caught it as a Swinub it should have it at level 24 (unless there's an area where you can catch Piloswine later in the game).

I caught it in route 4 while grinding earlier, I just checked and, yeah, it doesn't know ice shard.