The 2019 "Huntie" Awards -... or Pokemon that have impressed me.

[Chase]

Welcome to the Hunties! I'm your host. Hunter, and I've chosen to nickname the award family after my most loathed nickname that has somehow been used to refer to me more than once. Gotta use that power for good somehow. Anyway...

 

The point of this thread is to give some shoutouts to Pokémon whose performance in Pokemon Reborn has been conducive to progressing through the game. For those of you that don't know about my efforts with the game - I have been REALLY bad at it ever since the late single digit episode releases. And I'm still really bad at it, but as I'm writing this I am the farthest I've ever gone, preparing to take on the literary lady of steel, Titania, for the right to access Mega Evolution and Z-moves, as well as develop the second remaining city restoration project. For the longest time, I couldn't get out of Tanzan Cove because Noel is literally the most evil "good" child ever.

 

Feel free to leave some blurbs about Pokemon that made your journey through the Reborn region a little bit easier, or whose efforts have contributed to success in other ways. You don't have to use my name as the award. If you don't want to.

 

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the Huntie for mainstay starter Pokemon goes to....

 

Charmander. The Charizard line hails all the way from the Kanto region, and the draconian species has been around as long as Pokemon has been as a franchise. Charmander and Co. have won the award for being an incredible asset in combating the earliest challenges the Reborn League has to offer, simply through it's early Dragon-type move, Dragon Rage. Later on, Charizard is able to participate in matches against powerful Fighting type Gym Leaders, as well as gain power in areas like the Tourmaline Desert. The struggle isn't a stranger to the award winner, especially with Stealth Rock, which is an automatic KO condition for Charizard on certain fields, and other Rock-type moves being a favorite for Reborn's trainers to employ as coverage options, but despite that and a somewhat shaky mid-game, Charmander was able to hang on to it's first roster spot throughout the entire journey and is a viable option for other trainers as well. In the future, a good number of Charizard natures will become viable with the release of both of it's Mega Stones, which might ....maybe... be interesting against an A.I. that has to account for them.

 

the Huntie for surprising secondary starter Pokemon goes to....

 

Squirtle. Squirtle also is a veteran starter Pokemon from Kanto and is the first in a line of Water types. The turtle Pokemon as a starter in Reborn faces a very unfavorable beginning to its journey, with the two lead off gyms holding a type advantage over it. Squirtle also faces a very limited learnset filled with support moves, a handful of physical attacks, and only a couple of decent special attacks for it to make use of. However, as an event Pokemon, it is found relatively early after being given access to the Wasteland and comes with at least a viable option for a coverage move in Aura Sphere, which helps Squirtle build up its moveset. The Water starter, like most other Pokemon in its type, is perfectly capable of running a Water HM movepool in a pinch, and is a great user of Surf in battle as well. It also has Heart Scale access to Flash Cannon, which can be used to further diversify Blastoise's moveset for tougher battles. The shining reason for Blastoise winning this award however is it's decent bulk and good defensive typing. Blastoise may not the most heavy hitter, but she has been able to deliver absolutely critical moments of survival when her trainer needed it most, regardless of what species her assailant was or what type of damage they were inflicting on her. In the not-too-distant future, the event Squirtle may hold the Blastoisinite, which will make moves like Aura Sphere and her native Water Pulse hit for massive damage, alongside a much needed BST increase, thanks to Mega-Blastoise's ability Mega Launcher.

 

the Huntie for not-surprising game-breaking Pokemon goes to....

 

Drilbur. The Excadrill line wins this award because of it's very decent typing, reliable speed tier, and choice of two absolutely helpful abilities in Mold Breaker (which the trainer has used simply to attempt to keep the game as difficult as it SHOULD be) and Sand Rush (Which apparently just makes Excadrill win every battle under the right conditions.) Excadrill very much might just be the reason the trainer is where they are today, and showing up before Corey as a Mystery Egg hatch is truly a stroke of luck for any trainer who manages to experience it.

 

the Huntie for Most Valuable Early-Game Pokemon goes to....

 

Male Espurr. The Espurr line features an interesting choice between an early game offensive Psychic type in Female Meowstic, and an incredible screen-setter in Male Meowstic thanks to Prankster. This trainer absolutely hates the ability Prankster, but sees the moves Reflect and Light Screen as not-too-unfair moves to take advantage of the ability with, and with the raw power several of Reborn's trainers have, being able to mitigate damage with 100% confidence for a decent amount of playtime is what made Espurr the winner in this category.

 

the Huntie for "cheesing" difficult optional battles goes to....

 

Carvanha. There are LOTS of event Pokemon that come with moves such as Destiny Bond or Perish Song for the purpose of giving players the option to "win" battles they probably shouldn't - and this trainer's favorite of these Pokemon is Sharpedo. Aside from making use of the item Focus Sash when necessary, Sharpedo is a fast Pokemon that has access to Crunch and Ice Fang, and further breeding can get the Pokemon Psychic Fangs, which allows it to take on Poison and Fighting types. It comes with the ability Speed Boost, and it also was given a Mega Stone to break free of the "only good cheese" stigma it might carry and take on the mantle of "late game cleaner" that it wears during competitive play.

 

 

 

[Palpatine]

Have to agree on Excadrill. On my current playthrough i had the same luck as you with obtaining it from the Mystery Egg event. And DAMN! With his decent speed and massive attack as well as access to Earthquake he utterly destroys trainers. He's actually so good that at some times i find myself trying not to use him during certain battles as he would just sweep at least half of the opponents team. Destroyed Call, Kiki and much more.

Would also like to mention other Pokemon that i found useful while playing Reborn.

Donphan - I have mentioned this waaay back somewhere on the forum but i didn't really care too much about this Pokemon until Reborn made me fall in love with it. Nice stats, access to that important EQ and the Sturdy ability helped in every single one of my playthroughs and I always make sure to get one as soon as i can. Also many boss encounters were cheesed thanks to Sturdy and EQ, two examples being PULSE Abra and El's Arceus.

 

Archeops - Recently tried using it and i was impressed. The defeatist ability doesn't hinder it as much as one would think as it has enough speed to outspeed a LOT of other trainers pokemon. And I've found that the STAB Acrobatics with it's atk stats KO's a whole bunch of stuff.

 

[doombotmecha]

As for starters, I'd like to put in my 2 cents on Chespin and Rowlet for being really solid early-game starters. Bulletproof on Chespin protects against pin missile, Florina's main coverage against enemy grass-types, and it can fire back against her with a field-boosted pin missile of its own. Unfortunately, it, like most grass starters, is totally useless for the third and fourth gyms.

 

Rowlet, on the other hand, skipped out on Corey in my last run, but otherwise did AMAZING work in every battle they've participated in. Grass typing with STAB pluck means he avoids spore moves and hits back hard against the enemy grass-types who use them; and later on it learns Sucker Punch, which is incredible for Shade's gym.

 

Klink, while not my favorite initially, does excellently early game, walling Corey's ace with next to no effort. It's Gear Grind attack is also boosted in the common Factory Field, and it even gets access to the incredible boosting move Gear Shift later on in the game.

 

Going to have to absolutely agree with you on M.Espurr. You can get a Light Clay from mining early on with decent luck (and a lot of save-scumming), and from there you can have dual screens up all fight long. M-Meowstic was absolutely critical to my victory over Shelly in my last run, and it generally makes a mockery out of any double-battle it participates in.

 

 

[gingerbreadman]

Early-Game Pokemon:

 

Mamoswine's been absolutely clutch for me, and available pretty early as well, first among equals.

 

Ampharos and Golem also stand out - they do great work, particularly if you've got doubles synergy (Flygon immunities ftw)

 

Others:

Klinklang (particularly singles and story battles)

Crobat (spreading annoyance everywhere)

Camerupt (1. Occupy 2. Identify 3. Nuke)

Beheyeem (Analytic hits so hard)

Amoonguss (Because who doesn't like long-ass fights)

Ludicolo (great typing, often aided by weather)

A-Raichu (1 Nasty Plot is all it takes)

[doombotmecha]

On 1/29/2019 at 8:22 AM, gingerbreadman said:

Early-Game Pokemon:

 

Mamoswine's been absolutely clutch for me, and available pretty early as well, first among equals.

 

Ampharos and Golem also stand out - they do great work, particularly if you've got doubles synergy (Flygon immunities ftw)

 

Others:

Klinklang (particularly singles and story battles)

Crobat (spreading annoyance everywhere)

Camerupt (1. Occupy 2. Identify 3. Nuke)

Beheyeem (Analytic hits so hard)

Amoonguss (Because who doesn't like long-ass fights)

Ludicolo (great typing, often aided by weather)

A-Raichu (1 Nasty Plot is all it takes)

Oh yeah absolutely. Even just Automize+Gear Grind on factory field is enough for even a super slow Klang to attempt to set up and sweep.

Beheyeem I actually haven't tried yet, but now I really want to. I'll see if I roll it on my next run.

Camerupt: I couldn't agree more. It's seriously difficult to find something this camel doesn't have SE coverage for, and the fire resistance is amazing for a ground type. If only he didn't die to a wet breeze...