Designing Rock Fighting Flying starter cycle

[Lugruf]

Basically I came across another perfect cycle for starters, different from Grass Fire Water, and I decided to design a cycle myself. The first and second evolutions are all single type while all the third evolutions get a secondary type. I tried to create combinations that haven't been made before (except with flying, which has been combined with all the other 17 types already). Each final evolution has a signature move created by me which you can find at the end of the third evolution. I tried to make all the third evolutions balanced for OU. Any criticism, feedback or opinion will be welcome.

I have no intention of implementing them in any game yet, I just like designing fakemons. I guess that if one day I decide to create a Pokemon game I'll put all my fakemons inside.

As a side note, I'm not an artist nor I intend to be, so this post contains 0 art. It's only mechanic design, which is the part of game design I most enjoy.

Rock type

First evolution

Type:

Ability: +50% Rock type damage when under 33% health

Hidden: Sand Force

Stats:

BST: 310

Learnset:

1,Tackle

3,Leer

6,Rock Throw

9,Sand Attack

12,Acid

15,Stealth Rock

19,Ancient Power

23,Sandstorm

27,Block

31,Power Gem

35,Body Slam

39,Rock Polish

43,Stone Edge

Second evolution

Type:

Ability: +50% Rock type damage when under 33% health

Hidden: Sand Force

Stats:

BST: 405

Learnset:

1,Tackle

3,Leer

6,Rock Throw

9,Sand Attack

12,Acid

15,Stealth Rock

19,Ancient Power

24,Sandstorm

29,Block

34,Power Gem

39,Body Slam

44,Rock Polish

49,Stone Edge

Third evolution

Type:

Ability: +50% Rock type damage when under 33% health

Hidden: Sand Force

Stats:

BST: 540

Learnset:

1,Tackle

3,Leer

6,Rock Throw

9,Sand Attack

12,Acid

15,Stealth Rock

19,Ancient Power

24,Sandstorm

29,Block

34,Power Gem

36,Sludge Wave

39,Body Slam

45,Rolling Stones

51,Rock Polish

57,Toxic Spikes

63,Explosion

Notable TM / Tutor moves:

Gunk Shot

Poison Jab

Sludge Bomb

Stone Edge

Rock Slide

Flamethrower

Fire Blast

Overheat

Fire Punch

Ice Punch

Thunder Punch

Earth Power

Earthquake

Thunder Wave

Rolling Stones:

Type: Rock

PP: 5

Power: 110

Accuracy: 85

Non-contact

Ballistic (Bulletproof)

30% chance to make the target flinch

Fighting type

First evolution

Type:

Ability: +50% Fight type damage when under 33% health

Hidden: Iron Foot: +20% damage to kicks

Stats:

BST: 310

Learnset:

1,Tackle

3,Meditate

6,Low Kick

9,Focus Energy

12,Shadow Sneak

15,Double Kick

19,Chip Away

23,Rolling Kick

27,Bulk Up

31,Jump Kick

35,Mega Kick

39,Blaze Kick

43,Taunt

Second evolution

Type:

Ability: +50% Fight type damage when under 33% health

Hidden: Iron Foot: +20% damage to kicks

Stats:

405

Learnset:

1,Tackle

3,Meditate

6,Low Kick

9,Focus Energy

12,Shadow Sneak

15,Double Kick

19,Chip Away

24,Rolling Kick

29,Bulk Up

34,Jump Kick

39,Mega Kick

44,Blaze Kick

49,Taunt

Third evolution

Type:

Ability: +50% Fight type damage when under 33% health

Hidden: Iron Foot: +20% damage to kicks

Stats:

BST: 540

Learnset:

1,Tackle

3,Meditate

6,Low Kick

9,Focus Energy

12,Shadow Sneak

15,Double Kick

19,Chip Away

24,Rolling Kick

29,Bulk Up

34,Jump Kick

36,Phantom Kick

39,Mega Kick

45,High Jump Kick

51,Blaze Kick

57,Taunt

63,Counter

Notable TM / Tutor moves:

Stone Edge

Rock Slide

Knock Off

Fire Punch

Ice Punch

Thunder Punch

Taunt

Power-Up Punch

Zen Headbutt

Superpower

Drain Punch

Vacuum Wave (Egg)

Focus Miss

Shadow Ball

Phantom Kick:

Type: Ghost

PP: 10

Power: 85

Accuracy: 100

Contact

The target flinches if it's going to use a status move.

Flying type

First evolution

Type:

Ability: +50% Flying type damage when under 33% health

Hidden: Lightning Rod

Stats:

BST: 310

Learnset:

1,Tackle

3,Defog

6,Gust

9,Feather Dance

12,Mirror Move

15,Steel Wing

19,Air Cutter

23,Roost

27,Tailwind

31,Air Slash

35,Taunt

39,Hurricane

43,Sky Attack

Second evolution

Type:

Ability: +50% Flying type damage when under 33% health

Hidden: Lightning Rod

Stats:

BST: 405

Learnset:

1,Tackle

3,Defog

6,Gust

9,Feather Dance

12,Mirror Move

15,Steel Wing

19,Air Cutter

24,Roost

29,Tailwind

34,Air Slash

39,Taunt

44,Hurricane

49,Sky Attack

Third evolution

Type:

Ability: +50% Flying type damage when under 33% health

Hidden: Lightning Rod

Stats:

BST: 540

Learnset:

1,Tackle

3,Defog

6,Gust

9,Feather Dance

12,Mirror Move

15,Steel Wing

19,Air Cutter

24,Roost

29,Tailwind

34,Air Slash

36,Mirror Shot

39,Taunt

45,Hurricane

51,Iron Defense

57,Sweeping Wind

63,Brave Bird

Notable TM / Tutor moves:

Stealth Rock

Toxic

U-Turn

Knock Off

Flash Cannon

Thunder Wave

Heat Wave

Sweeping Wind:

Type: Flying

PP: 20

Power: 10

Accuracy: 100

Non-contact

Removes hazards on the user's side of the field. Doubles power for each hazard removed.

Edited August 3, 2016 by Lugruf

[Strider]

I think this a is a really cool idea in general. I like the idea of having a strong special attacker for rock that can also run a mixed set.

The steel flying one seems like it might be a bit overpowered. A rapidspin that can't be blocked, and gains power for each hazard removed? I think it would become overused, even for OU.

[SilverJakler]

I'm liking the looks of these so far. Good job!

[Phi-Bi]

Steel/Flying with Lightning Rod, what? That's awesome! Although, it's a bit overpowered with that Sp.Def and Iron Defense. Well, the final evolution don't form a cycle, I guess that's intended? Actually, I'd really like to see 9 starters with three cycles: Water/Grass/Fire ; your Rock/Flying/Fighting ; and a third one. All of them will be dual-typed so we have all starters covering all types.

Also, ghost starter wooohooo, I love ya!

[Arkhi]

Very neat. I like the synchronicity between maintaining their single types up til the third evolution- it just makes the third evolution all the more awaited. I've got two questions. Are the evolutions planned at levels 16 and 36?

[Lugruf]

I've got two questions. Are the evolutions planned at levels 16 and 36?

Yes, they are

Edited August 3, 2016 by Lugruf

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Uh... I should note making the Rock Poison type breaks the trio. Poison Resists fighting, making it do normal damage. Same goes with Steel/Flying breaking the Rock weakness. Kinda... well the point of the trio is that they are all weak to each other's primary types. So, it sorta breaks the purpose if ONLY the Fighting type is weak to it's counterpart. The trio are meant to teach that adn I think should retain that quality ALWAYS since it's the point of start trios. It's just not a true trio imo if it breaks that convention.

Alo as a note I think you should remove a little from it's defs earlier on and up it's attacking stats a bit for the Flying types. It's going to struggle super hard early leveling it up with THAT low attacking stats. Just a slight bump. ((I'd honestly say to still take some out of that SpDef... it's like... insanely high. much to it's detriment imo.))

Also it jsut feels liek Special Skarmory with a busted sig move... so it's a pretty boring concept imo. But, that's me.

[Garnet.]

this is definitely super cool but these base stats are definitely out of proportion. even for good pokemon, most mons with that high of stats end up in ubers and i believe ubers to be the tier where they throw the unbalanced mons. The rock type especially, and the fighting type has too low of stats comparatively (but it looks to be the most balanced) and the steel type looks like its turning out to be the flying type version of avalugg

i have to agree with huk and say that the typings do make it hard for it to be a proper trio aswell.

all that said tho this is super cool and designing base stats and moves and everything is super hard because you have to take in a lot of consideration to what's fair and whats balanced, all while not making them weak because theyre your pokemon and goddamn it theyre going to be cool, i know. dont give up though, it looks really clean so far! ghost/fighting is the best :]

[ty_taurus]

So, the stats you've chosen for your starters are very polarized for some reason, and I'm not sure that's such a good thing. Why does your Rock starter have 110 / 130 in attack and special attack, respectively? Here's the thing about dedicated mixed attackers like that:

I'm far more inclined to use a physical set from this Pokemon since it's coverage is better and its stab moves hit harder. So that 130 in special attack is essentially wasted, since I won't be using it in combat. That is a huge amount of points going unused, when they could be helping me take hits by going toward defense and special defense. Mixed attacking is gimmicky because there just isn't enough room in 4 moves for adequate coverage for both physical and special attacks. I would rather have 40 base special attack, and split those 90 extra points between my defenses. Now, not only do I hit hard and move fast, but I also won't die to a feather hitting me. It wouldn't have to be that specifically, but it's just an example.

Why does your Flying starter try to replace Skarmory? I think it's really unfair to Skarmory for another Pokemon to be designed specifically to do his job better than he can. Where does that leave Skarmory? Why is it so important to make Skarmory obsolete by creating a Skarmory 2.0? What's wrong with designing your Flying starter to have its own strategy? These are all questions I have when a Pokemon like this is conceived.

As a last tidbit, I think 540 totals might be a teeny-weeny bit too high. Charizard, Infernape, Typhlosion, and Delphox sit as the highest base stats Pokemon at 534 right now, which is only 6 points lower, but they're a lot more balanced, and so those points are less polarized. Maybe base 530 would be a little less harsh.

[Maelstrom]

Do you have any idea what kind of creatures these are supposed to be or are these derived entirely out of elemental typing?

[NickCrash]

The signature moves are broken. A Rock-Type Hydro Pump that can also flinch, and an unblockable Rapid Spin that hits harder with stacking hazards plus STAB are going to destroy any balance OU has. Certainly the offensive stats of the Steel bird are trash, but Lightningrod and Steel/Flying make it extremely hard to kill, as you reduce its weaknesses to only Fire. So I recommend changing the ability into something not that usable like Inner Focus, or changing the type into something not overpowered like Ice or Electric, since an immunity is always a big deal for a pokemon with that big stats. If you still want to keep both Lightningrod and Steel/Flying, remove Roost.

Now, if you decide to drop their base stats to 530, I suggest the following changes

1. Atk->100, SpA ->120, Def->70 [it has a bad typing overall, so good speed and offensive stats should be allowed, just not OP]

2. Def->90 [very good typing but needs to be more killable since it can deal with its weaknesses pretty easily]

3. Atk->70, SpA->80, SpD->150, Spe->100

[Zyxeos]

Perfect starter Pokemon cycles are really awesome!

For my game, I did not use a perfect starter pokemon because I used Pokemon that had more to do with the main character, which is Mr. Fuji who is all about Cubone, and Poliwag... As the third option, I picked Magby, because that's a Pokemon I really like and thought it would fit well! It's really hard to balance the early game when you don't have a perfect cycle though!

Nice stuff!

[Froiky]

I really like these guys even though they don't have pictures or names yet. The rock one seems to literally be glass. Some suggestions. First, I'm guessing the evolution curve is 16 and 36, but it would be good to say this up front.
Second, some move ideas. For the rock type I don't see Toxic even in the list of possible TMs. A future poison type should be able to use Toxic. The fighting type could use more ghost moves for when it gets that typing. While it seems to prefer kicks both Shadow Punch and Shadow Claw are physical ghost moves that could help. For the flying type, considering its low attack stats it would benefit from continuously damaging moves. I don't know what could work with a flying steel type.
Just some constructive criticism. Hope this helps a bit.