Team Movesets

[Anstane]

I don't know how long this will last, but I think I've settled on a team I might stick with for a while. Maybe not until the end of the game, but this is a team I really like for both looks and personality (At least I like to think so, in reality it's just a team I like. I'd rather run a team of Pokemon I prefer using rather then the statistically best ones, but "Cute and friendly, capable and confident team" just sounds better from a trainer's perspective.

Anyway, this is not what I wanted to talk about. I want to go over my team's movesets to see if there are some I should get and missing.

My team composition right now: (Leaving out Stoutland who is being phased out at this point into a HM slave, thank you respawning rocks in Underground Railnet, and levels because I'm still busy leveling my Glaceon who doesn't have all the abilities)

Swampert with Torrent:

Muddy Water, Earthquake, Mud Bomb, Rock Slide

Swampert is pretty much the "Do heavy damage to the enemy team" member of the team. 3/4 of the attacks hit all enemies, do heavy damage and in general he's a strong team member. Sure, grass-type attacks absolutely destroy him, but everything has to have a weakness, right?

Potential replacements: The only one that I might go for is replacing Muddy Water for Surf, purely for the increased accuracy, even if it does mean friendly fire will become a thing again. Then again, Earthquake is a thing.

Arcanine with Justified, holding Flame Plate:

Outrage, Crunch, Flare Blitz, Heat Wave.

For quite a while I considered Growlithe probably my weakest team member because she just got knocked out by...well, everything. After I finally evolved her, however, hoo boy, she's been a real powerhouse. Sure, she still has fairly weak defenses, but good luck surviving her offense. And while I'm still iffy about Flare Blitz (As I hate Recoil-inducing moves), I simply cannot ignore the sheer power a 120-power (before STAB) 100% accuracy fire move has.

Potential replacements: None. Well, maybe if Flamethrower set fields on fire I'd replace Heat Wave, but even then. Arcanine is pretty much set for the rest of the adventure, I'd say.

Meowstic (M) with Prankster, holding Mind Plate:

Psychic, Light Screen, Sucker Punch, Reflect.

Ah, my wall-wielding psychic feline. Light Screen and Reflect help with keeping the team afloat, especially during doubles, while Psychic is good for pure offence. I'm a little iffy for lack of type variety, especially when half the moves are support-based. Except Sucker Punch is just not a viable one, I've learned this much.

Potential Replacements: Lord knows anything to replace Sucker Punch that is Special and non-Psychic. The only TM that I have that fits both and Meowstic can learn is Charge Beam, and, well, I have no shortage of Electric attacks already.

Emolga with Static:

Nuzzle, Electro Ball, Acrobatics, Discharge.

My Emolga...yeesh, he has carried me SO hard through...just about everything since I got him. Nuzzle + electro Ball has proven to be hilarious, especially on a Pokemon that is already naturally fast, and even through the part of the game where I had forgotten Nuzzle (Thank you Daycare) STAB Acrobatics is just really hilarious. A bit low defenses, but not so low as to be a real liability (The dual-typing patching up each other's weaknesses quite well helps. Sure, Rock and Ice still hurt, but I haven't seen many Ice attacks, Serra excluded, and Rock...yeah, pretty much the one real headache.

Potential Replacements: Honestly, none that I can think of. I considered Discharge with Thunderbolt, but two problems: 1) Discharge is pretty good as it is and 2) The Thunderbolt TM most likely doesn't exist yet and probably won't until the postgame.

Glaceon with Snow Cloak:

Mirror Coat, Hail, Last Resort, Blizzard.

Ah, finally, I just recently got probably the one Pokemon I was waiting for since I started (Again, not because of sheer viability or usefulness, but because I just really really like Glaceon). As a result, I'm still leveling him. The moveset I posted is the moveset I hope to eventually have, with being able to reflect special attacks, evasion with Hail and Blizzard/Last Resort for offense.

Potential Replacements: Ice Beam in place of Blizzard. Needless to say, with how infamously OP Ice Beam is, I won't be getting that until the postgame. But hey, one can dream, right? Right? < Also, I'm a little iffy on Last Resort, but I don't see many alternatives.

Magneton with Sturdy:

Discharge, Mirror Shot, Metal Sound, Electro Ball.

Originally trained to deal with Serra, my Magneton has proven to be quite a fierce fighter. While I'm still debating on whether I should use him or Vullaby (Which I got from the Mystery Egg), Magneton is definitely a powerhouse, both offensively and defensively (Seriously, when you resist 11/18 types and are outright immune to a 12'th, you know you're a tank, even if Ground-type attacks are quad-effective.)

Potential Replacements: Erm...Flash Cannon I guess. I wanted to have a move that was support based but I really needed Mirror Shot, so I just didn't go with Flash Cannon. Turns out it's a good steel-type move that I should go get.

And that's the team right now. Again, I'm not really looking for "You should use X pokemon instead of Y", I'm looking for some advnce on the movesets of my team.

EDIT: Ah, I forgot to mention where I am in the game: I had just defeated Noel and am currently in Route 1 trying to figure out how to get the the man's glasses for the next sticker.

Edited July 27, 2016 by Anstane

[Shad_]

Good stuff here, i have some advices to give you

1) Mixed Arcanine with Heat Wave; Please drop HW for Thunder Fang to not be walled completely by Water Types as a Water Gym is coming for us in the next episodes. We don't have access to Wild Charge yet so Thunder Fang may be a replacement.

2) Change Arcanine's item from Flare Plate to Life Orb or Choice Band (if you don't know how to get these items, i'll make another post). With them you have a boost not only on Fire Type moves but to all the moves of your mon, plus they're better suited for a pokémon like Arcanine.

3) Change Psychic to Psyshock. It's not crucial but i think overall it's a better move, it depends by you tbh.

4) Go Flash Cannon over Mirror Shot on Magnezone. MS has a low accuracy and it doesn't hit that hard, Flash Cannon is way better.

5) I'd consider Ice Shard over Last Resort. Priority is always a good thing and Glaceon's base Atk is kinda low so Last Resort doesn't act at its full capabilities. Ice Shard at least is STAB.

[Anstane]

Good stuff here, i have some advices to give you

1) Mixed Arcanine with Heat Wave; Please drop HW for Thunder Fang to not be walled completely by Water Types as a Water Gym is coming for us in the next episodes. We don't have access to Wild Charge yet so Thunder Fang may be a replacement.

2) Change Arcanine's item from Flare Plate to Life Orb or Choice Band (if you don't know how to get these items, i'll make another post). With them you have a boost not only on Fire Type moves but to all the moves of your mon, plus they're better suited for a pokémon like Arcanine.

3) Change Psychic to Psyshock. It's not crucial but i think overall it's a better move, it depends by you tbh.

4) Go Flash Cannon over Mirror Shot on Magnezone. MS has a low accuracy and it doesn't hit that hard, Flash Cannon is way better.

5) I'd consider Ice Shard over Last Resort. Priority is always a good thing and Glaceon's base Atk is kinda low so Last Resort doesn't act at its full capabilities. Ice Shard at least is STAB.

1) Fair enough. I'm a little worried about not having the ability to set fields on fire, but I already passed Shelly and Noel, so I don't think those are going to come into play much longer.

2) Erm, no, I have no idea where to get a Life Orb/Choice Band. I think I'd rather go with Life Orb just for the sake of having flexibility (The last thing I want is to have the Choice Band, use Outrage and then have my opponent send in a Fairy-type). And yes, it would be nice to know where I can get a life orb. Nevermind, looked it up, found and got the Life Orb.

3) Is it? I honestly thought Psychic would be better, simply because mons where you'd want to hit defense would be resistant to Psychic attacks anyway. Also, no advice on Sucker Punch, or should I stick with that?

4) Yeah, this one was probably the most obvious. Will replace ASAP now that mirror fields are behind me (I hope).

5) Alright, that's good to know. Last Resort just feels gimmicky.

Edited July 27, 2016 by Anstane

[Shad_]

Directly from Ody's E15 item guide, if something is not clear you can find some videos on Youtube about it. Sucker Punch on Meowstic may be good if you need to finish off some mons at low HPs, You could also go Fake Out maybe, the best option for a filler move would be Thunder Wave but no TM yet so nvm.

[pyrromanis]

I'd say don't drop Heat Wave yet, it's going to be very useful in a specific double battle near the end of the current episode. Also I'd say change Arcanine's ability to Intimidate. It will help her a bit with her bulk and it's more reliable than both Justified and Flash Fire (the later can come in handy on the fire gym leader though!)

About Meowstic, I ran Fake Out only to stall out more turns of poison from my Muk. But since you don't seem to need that, just stick with priority Sucker Punch! Or you can try out Yawn...

Unfortunately Emolga will start to fall behind at this part of the game. Believe me, I used one too . But in case you are not bored to breed, Air Slash would be better with max Sp. Att investment.

Definetely teach Flash Cannon over Mirror Shot on Magneton.

For Glaceon, after you get the 9th badge you gain access to new tutor moves. Water Pulse is going to be more helpful than Last Resort, especialy against fire types! Until then I don't think you have any other better option...

[Anstane]

I'd say don't drop Heat Wave yet, it's going to be very useful in a specific double battle near the end of the current episode. Also I'd say change Arcanine's ability to Intimidate. It will help her a bit with her bulk and it's more reliable than both Justified and Flash Fire (the later can come in handy on the fire gym leader though!)

About Meowstic, I ran Fake Out only to stall out more turns of poison from my Muk. But since you don't seem to need that, just stick with priority Sucker Punch! Or you can try out Yawn...

Unfortunately Emolga will start to fall behind at this part of the game. Believe me, I used one too . But in case you are not bored to breed, Air Slash would be better with max Sp. Att investment.

Definetely teach Flash Cannon over Mirror Shot on Magneton.

For Glaceon, after you get the 9th badge you gain access to new tutor moves. Water Pulse is going to be more helpful than Last Resort, especialy against fire types! Until then I don't think you have any other better option...

Erm...heh, it's a little late now, I already switched to Thunder Fang. I kept a backup save file from before that, so I can still switch back, however then I'll have to redo my Glaceon training session. Also, I only now realized that that's what Ability Capsules do, switch the abilities.

I ultimately decided to stick with Sucker Punch and switched Psychic to Psyshock.

Really? Well, for now Emolga's still doing very well, we'll see if he will in fact start to taper off. I'll be sad if/when he does, though

Flash Cannon over Mirror Shot, done.

For now I'll stick with Ice Shard over Last Resort. Priority move, STAB (Albeit not very strong STAB), also gave my Glaceon an Icicle Plate I've mined up and the move actually has accuracy (Unlike Blizzard whose 70% accuracy and 5 uses basically means it'll only hit once between needing to rest).

Edited July 27, 2016 by Anstane

[alaneapen]

Definitely think of replacing emolga with magneton. If you do need another psychic type, gardevoir is a viable choice,

[Shpee]

You have a somewhat balanced team, but these are just my recommendations to improve your team...

- Your Swampert set is pretty strange as it is both physical and special, I'd recommend swapping out Mud Bomb for Hammer Arm for extra coverage or Take Down. (note that Swampert has a much higher attack stat than its special attack stat, so unless it has a Modest or Timid nature, I'd recommend having a physical set)

- Replacing Heat Wave for Thunder Fang is a decent choice, considering the next gym, but if you are bothered, perhaps consider breeding Close Combat into your Arcanine as it is a very strong attack with 100% accuracy, and the drawback is nullified if you have your game set on switch.

- Love the Meowstic (M), but I'd seriously recommend getting a Light Clay instead of the Mind Plate as 8 turns of screens is so helpful in important battles. Since Meowstic (M) is generally a support pokemon and how drastic a field effect can change the tides of a battle, I would switch Sucker Punch for Misty Terrain as Sucker Punch would not do too much damage anyways.

- Definitely switch out Emolga for another pokemon. Did you do the mystery egg event? If you did, what was it? Generally the pokemon you get there is very useful, unless you got Sneasel or Elekid as you already have a Ice and Electric type. If you did, I'd suggest getting a ghost type as your team really doesn't have a way to counter ghost pokemon effectively.

- Can't say too much about your Glaceon set, but maybe get a brightpowder to recreate the horrors from the Serra battle to your opponents with the Evasion cheese, or a Nevermeltice/Icicle Plate to boost the damage from Blizzard.

- Lastly, why haven't you evolved your Magneton yet? Also, I'd seriously suggest you to breed another one with HP Fire and replace Electro Ball because Electro Ball is dependent on your Speed stat which is subpar,

[Anstane]

You have a somewhat balanced team, but these are just my recommendations to improve your team...

- Your Swampert set is pretty strange as it is both physical and special, I'd recommend swapping out Mud Bomb for Hammer Arm for extra coverage or Take Down. (note that Swampert has a much higher attack stat than its special attack stat, so unless it has a Modest or Timid nature, I'd recommend having a physical set)

- Replacing Heat Wave for Thunder Fang is a decent choice, considering the next gym, but if you are bothered, perhaps consider breeding Close Combat into your Arcanine as it is a very strong attack with 100% accuracy, and the drawback is nullified if you have your game set on switch.

- Love the Meowstic (M), but I'd seriously recommend getting a Light Clay instead of the Mind Plate as 8 turns of screens is so helpful in important battles. Since Meowstic (M) is generally a support pokemon and how drastic a field effect can change the tides of a battle, I would switch Sucker Punch for Misty Terrain as Sucker Punch would not do too much damage anyways.

- Definitely switch out Emolga for another pokemon. Did you do the mystery egg event? If you did, what was it? Generally the pokemon you get there is very useful, unless you got Sneasel or Elekid as you already have a Ice and Electric type. If you did, I'd suggest getting a ghost type as your team really doesn't have a way to counter ghost pokemon effectively.

- Can't say too much about your Glaceon set, but maybe get a brightpowder to recreate the horrors from the Serra battle to your opponents with the Evasion cheese, or a Nevermeltice/Icicle Plate to boost the damage from Blizzard.

- Lastly, why haven't you evolved your Magneton yet? Also, I'd seriously suggest you to breed another one with HP Fire and replace Electro Ball because Electro Ball is dependent on your Speed stat which is subpar,

-I just went with the strongest moves I currently have access to. As for Hammer Arm, I keep forgetting that some moves like that can be learned via Move Relearner instead of having to wait to learn normally.

-I haven't gotten into breeding yet (Aside from the Mystery egg), so...yeah, I honestly have no idea how to breed Close Combat to Arcanine. Still, Thunder Fang should work well for now.

-I'm reaching the point where I don't think I need much Psychic offense. At the very least the main one (Fighting) I've got Flying to cover for that for now. So I might switch to a Light Clay (Arceus knows I've got plenty of those from mining), as Psychic either does plenty of damage or does negligible damage anyway. As for Sucker Punch...I honestly don't know. It's a priority move, that's all I can say.

- My Emolga is still doing really well. As for the egg I got, I got a Vullaby from the Mystery Egg event. It's level...40-something, I don't remember right now, with Air Slash, Nasty Plot, Feint Attack and Pluck.

- Oh, so THAT'S the evasion-boosting held item. I think I'll stick with the Icicle Plate because 5 uses on Blizzard is exactly WAY too few (And still no access to PP-restoratives or PP Up's) and my other offense-move right now is Ice Shard which, STAB Priority move, yes, is still only 60 power + 20% (So...72 power, assuming I haven't messed up somewhere). I miss Ice Beam. Maybe I could teach Frost Breath? Shame Gen 6 reduced crit damage to 1.5x, plus non-perfect accuracy.

-Reason why I haven't evolved Magneton is simple: I don't have the Yureyu key that grants access to the locked rooms in Shade's Gym yet. Again, I haven't done much breeding yet, but...HP Fire? Wouldn't HP Water be better to counter Fire and Ground types? Or am I being stupid? Probably the latter.