I have twenty one Pokémon in rotation. Help me making my team steadier?

[Bigodes]

Okay, so the title is almost self-descriptive. I've just finished Radomus' Gym, and up until now, I've been keeping all of my Pokémon more or less on a similar level. But just the thought of grinding all 21 of them up to level sixty is making me cringe; honestly, it would strip the fun away from the game

My question, as with all of the troublesome questions, is pretty simple: What kind of team can I build with these Pokémon?

I would like to make at least four or five of them "permanent", leaving one or two slots open for rotation according to my needs. I also plan to get a Metagross and a Gardevoir later in the game. My playstyle is normally fast and agressive, but I've been noticing that, in Reborn, it only gets me so far.

Here are the Pokémon. Incomplete EVs mean I have yet to train them/reset the trash EVs. I started EV training right after getting out of Reborn City (since Serra was my first real obstacle), and didn't bother to do it to everybody yet.
Bold names mean I particularly like that Pokémon/set. Also, I normally don't spend a lot of time soft-resetting. That's why some natures are weird; I can change them now, though.

LV. 57 Blaziken (Adamant with Speed Boost)
Sky Uppercut
Brave Bird
Blaze Kick
Bulk Up
EVs: 252Atk

(Speed Boost Blaziken basically wreaks havoc in the early game, but that's not why I carry him. Torchic was my first Pokémon ever (since Ruby was my first game), and I make a point of, given the option, always picking him as a starter.

LV. 57 Archeops (Jolly with Defeatist)
U-Turn
Rock Slide
Dragon Claw
Acrobatics
EVs: 252Atk/252Spe
(He can't take a hit, but he surely doesn't need to if he u-turns what he can't OHKO.)

LV. 57 Malamar (Adamant with Contrary)
Superpower
Psycho Cut
Night Slash
Light Screen (thinking about replacing it)
EVs: 252Atk/252Spe

(Superpower Malamar is the best thing since powdered milk. I chose to speed him up, but maybe slow and bulky would serve him better from now on. Who knows.)

LV. 56 Ludicolo (Relaxed with Rain Dish)
Energy Ball
Hydro Pump
Zen Headbutt
Rain Dance
EVs: 252SpD
(My groundbreaking, rock-shattering Pokémon. I wanted her to be a wall of sorts, not sure if I should invest the remaining EVs in Def to make her bulky, or in SpA - so she can also pack a punch with Energy Ball and Hydro Pump. Also, I'm thinking about putting Leech Seed on her and changing her nature, but I'm not sure if it would be worth the investment.)

 

LV. 53 Aggron (Adamant with Rock Head)
Iron Defense
Iron Head
Rock Slide
Double Edge
EVs: 252Atk /160Spe /98Def
(Raised especially for Serra's gym. I kind of like Aggron, but I'm not sure about how he will fare at this point of the game.)

Lv. 55 Ampharos (Modest with Static)
Charge Beam
Discharge
Cotton Guard
Confuse Ray
EVs: 252SpA/252Spe
(I think Ampharos is kind of lacking in the stats department. Used to have Thunder Wave - parafusion + Cotton Guard set up, but Charge Beam was far more useful nine out of ten times.)

Lv. 55 Meowstic (Female, Modest with Infiltrator)
Shadow Ball
Psychic
Signal Beam
Fake Out
EVs: -
(I think Meowstic-F gets worse and less useful after each gym. Just too frail. She saw a little comeback against Radomus, faking the hell out of Reuniclus to keep him from using Trick Room. Also great to revenge-kill those stubborn 1hp survivors.)

Lv. 51 Camerupt (Hardy with Solid Rock)
Lava Plume
Earthquake
Yawn
Rock Slide
EVs: -
(Numel was a blessing against Florinia, Corey, Shelly, and Aya, but I think he overlaps way too much, especially after getting Archeops, the official bird-stoning beast.)

Lv. 54 Gourgeist (Lax with Frisk)
Trick or Treat
Shadow Ball
Seed Bomb
Leech Seed
EVs: -

(I love Gourgeist's design. His Kit Fisto smile and the whole concept of a grass/ghost Pokémon are really amusing. Seed, ToT and Shadow Ball make a really fun combo. Radomus' Slowking was absolutely no match for him.)
 

Lv. 52 Hariyama (Adamant with Guts)
Belly Drum
Fake Out
Knock Off
Wake-up Slap
EVs: 252Atk/252Spd
(Another early game gamebreaker. I love the idea of a Belly Drum sweep, but it's pretty hard to come across a viable situation to pull it off. I'm not particularly fond of his EV distribution either, but he was a great ally against Shade and just to brute force stuff in general.)

Lv. 53 Vanilluxe (Timid with Speed Boost)
Icy Wind
Ice Beam
Mirror Shot
Mirror Coat
EVs: -
(Another really fun Pokémon to use, in my opinion. Both Mirror shot and Mirror coat were really helpful against Serra, and Mirror Coat saved my rear a few times. Unfortunately, he's a little too frail to be a viable MC user. Maybe that's fixable with a few changes in nature/ability and proper EV training. I'm just not sure about how to do it.)

Lv. 51 Drifblim (Sassy with Flare Boost)
Hex
Amnesia
Shadow Ball
Weather Ball
EVs: -
(I love Drifblim's eerie look and concept. Unfortunately, the idea of Drifblim was brighter than his actual performance. I feel like Cofagrigus can do everything he does, but a little better. His typing doesn't help either - thunderbolt and rock slide are way too common around Reborn.)

LV. 52 Swoobat (Quiet with Unaware)
Calm Mind
Future Sight
Air Slash
Psychic
EVs: 252SpA
(Another early game beast who's gone bad with time. He was a blessing against Kiki.)

Lv. 50 Murkrow (Brave with Prankster)
Mean Look
Perish Song
Wing Attack
Faint Attack
EVs: -
(The official bullshit-boss killer. Murkrow took me more soft resets alone than all of the other event Pokémon combined. Totally worth it to get her, though. Solaris' Garchomp, the giant Steelix, Pulse Abra, all swiftly breezen through. I'm thinking about teaching her Tailwind and better STAB moves to make a little use of her great attack stat. Or maybe throwing an Eviolite and status moves at her, I don't know. I just like this fun little girl as a support/troll prankster set.)

Lv. 51 Garbodor (Lonely with Stench)
Sludge Bomb
Stockpile
Acid Spray
Toxic Spikes
EVs: -
(Trubbish is really useful early in the game. Toxic Spikes + Acid Spray made a joke out of the three PULSE Tangrowth and the first few Fern showdowns. I haven't come up with a good set for the late game, though.)

Lv. 52 Slurpuff (Jolly with Sweet Veil)
Play Rough
Wish
Cotton Guard
Aromatherapy
EVs: -
(Cute little thing, and a pretty good defensive set with Cotton Guard/Wish. Didn't bother to EV train her, though. Maybe she could be useful against Luna and Samson, but I plan to get a Gardevoir as soon as possible. Maybe she would be redundant for the late game.)

Lv. 54 Cofagrigus (Gentle with Mummy)
Will-o-Wisp
Hex
Haze
Shadow Ball
EVs: 252SpD/252SpA
(I love how bulky Cofagrigus is. Generally I hate playing the slow game, but WoW + Hex is pretty useful. Haze is also pretty great, especially in doubles. Maybe he could get a little better with Curse, for instance.)

Lv. 55 Dodrio (Naughty with Early Bird)
Jump Kick
Tri Attack
Drill Peck
Swords Dance
EVs: 252Atk
(Dodrio is another one of my favorite Pokémon. He does just fine as long as he doesn't get hit. Jump Kick adds a nice coverage against rock-types, Drill Peck is a nice STAB, and as long as I'm able to set up one or two SDs, he can sweep pretty well. Dented Noel's and Serra's teams and shut Solaris' Golisopod down. The problem is that he hardly makes it alive if the enemy can counterattack.

LV. 52 Mawile (Careful with Sheer Force)
Iron Head
Iron Defense
Play Rough
Crunch
EVs: -
(I've always loved Mawile's design. Unfortunately she's very lacking in the stats. I raised her for Aya's gym because of her poison immunity, but I don't know if it was worth it. Steel/fairy sounds greater than it is, especially when paired with lackluster stats. Also, as it is with Slurpuff, I fear that getting a Gardevoir would make her too redundant.)

Lv. 50 Vespiquen (Timid with Unnerve)
Power Gem
Air Slash
Attack Order
Heal Order
EVs: 100HP/100Atk/100Def/100SpA /100SpD/10Spe
(Vespiquen was the only Pokémon to whose EVs I paid attention since the beginning of the game. Balancing them all around sounded like a great idea, and she really was handy in the early game. My plan was having her as a jack-of-all-trades, but she's not seeing a lot of use since Shade. Still, her gimmick attacks are interesting, and she has good defensive stats. Maybe rearranging her IVs would do her good.)


Thanks for reading!
 

[FaisLittleWhiteRaven]

Hmm. I'm not so hot with team building myself -current Reborn team is like 16 or so mon because I can't resist training any that catch my eye- and I am very prone to using weak favorites over strong Pokemon (for example learning the hard way that taking a Togedemaru through the entire game is lot easier than a Pachirisu) but I can try and cover what I know of the mons you've listed at least.

 

I will say though that Blaziken, Archeops, Malamar and your uber-boss killing Murkrow sound like you know fully what you're doing with and are solid keepers.

Maybe though consider dropping Malamar's Light Screen for an Attacking move so you can give them an Assault Vest sometime? I can't say if it's worth respec-ing those speed evs into either of the defences or HP on top of that as I haven't used Malamar enough to really get a feel for how bulky/fast they are but my gut feels that Screens are probably a better fit for another mon. 

 

As for your other mon... (Apologies that none of these are in order).

 

Garbodor: Much as I love them to pieces and always have one on my main team every Reborn playthrough they seriously fall behind after a while and it's generally a labor of love to keep them going past Serra's Gym so if you're looking for direct power rather than support for your other mon (via things like Toxic Spikes, Toxic and Acid Spray, etc) then you're probably better off cutting them from your line up.

 

Mawile: Regular Mawile is absolute hell to use - very cute but would absolutely not recommend using unless you have the mega stone or just really, really love regular Mawile (and if the later I recommend going with a more support based set with Intimidate, Stealth Rock, Super Fang, etc as those stats really are horrible). 

 

Swoobat: Can be something of a monster when you've got both Calm Mind and the ability Simple -nothing like getting a quick +2 on both SpA and SpD in a single move hehe- but they do fall off around Serra's Gym as they are a tad too frail and often can't hit hard enough without the boost... Though if you can get those boosts up it's not hard to pull off a clean sweep so. Yeah. Would recommend changing the Ability to Simple as Unaware doesn't really do a whole lot for them, and maybe investing getting Substitute TM and Salac Berries? The Salac+Sub+Simple Calm Mind can be a fantastic fall back for singles sweeps though I'd recommend using other mon whenever the battles go into doubles.

 

Dodrio: Honestly sounds like you're using this one perfectly - is a high risk high reward mon that would probably appreciate learning Brave Bird soon-ish since well, better to go down to recoil sweeping the enemy than being oneshot by the enemy that just survived but like Swoobat is awful outside of singles format so... Another mon to be boxed during one of the toughest sections of the game....

 

Ampharos: Not so great one on one but during some of those later doubles battles having a Discharge status spreader is great! ...Works best alongside a teammate who doesn't take any damage though and given you seem to be mostly lacking in Elec-absorbing abilities and Ground types might not be such a great fit... Though if you switch your Camrupt's Earthquake for Earth Power then they could work together quite well maybe?

 

Vinilluxe: ...Speed Boost..? Do you mean Weak Armor maybe? Anyway ability confusion aside Vinilluxe is another one I'd say drop unless you really love them - they start struggling around Kiki and never really catch up again outside of certain arenas like maybe Serra's or using them in Hail teams (which generally prefer Abomnasnow and A-Ninetails for the additional STAB). ...That said you do seem to have a lack of dedicated dragon killers (Edit: I say forgetting entirely about poor Slurpuff's existance) so maybe keep? IDK honestly; they aren't generally great at sweeping on their own but maybe keep until you get Gardevior maybe just in case of dragons/specifically Garchomp?

 

Cofagrigus: A damn solid mon and honestly, outside of killing uber-bosses (aka your Murkrow's job) I probably wouldn't bother with Curse - your current set looks pretty nice~

 

Slurpuff: Probably redundant once you get either Gardevoir or Mega-Mawile though the cleric skills are nice~ ...You might be better off getting another mon for that job though like Tsarina for Aromapherapy or Alolamola for Wish since in my experience at least Slurpuff tend to be a bit squisher than you'd think. Still not bad a mon at all.

 

Drifblim: ...I've never actually used a special attacking Flare Boost Driftblim over a physical attacking Unburden Driftblim before so no real clue for this one but odds are if you've got a mon that does the same but better and the two aren't part of a team (like say a Zebstriker and Manetric Discharge doubles duo) then you should probably drop it, especially given how many other flying types you have that don't struggle with the same issue.

 

Hariyama: These guys are way way more squishy than they seem unless they've been carefully EVed for tanking because all their bulk is in HP alone. They can be amazing in Trick Room teams or if you have a dedicated Speed Boost Baton Passer but trying to pull off a Belly Drum with them without dedicated support is more trouble than it's worth, and even then it's probably better to just go full power with Close Combat, Stone Edge, Earthquake, etc which they tend to be pretty solid with (Knock Off is always good though). If Belly Drum is your main draw here I'd recommend a different mon and in general Hariyama is one of those mons that's good at what it does but there are heaps of mon that do the same but better so keep if you love them enough to but if they're lagging maybe consider other fighting types?

 

Vespiquen: *sigh* The sad truth of Vespiquen is that she's not all that great no matter what you do with her - Bug/Flying is a crap combo for defensive use outside of being up against fighting types (who, given this is Reborn, will all be carrying around rock moves) or other bugs, offence-wise she's meh at best and can't boost up as fast as even the fragile butterflies, her unique moves aren't all that great (even Heal Order isn't as good as Roost because that at least drops her god-awful flying type) and... Yeah. This mon is one of my favs design-wise but Reborn is not the game to use her -virtually any other bug is better just because they're more specialized, and given you have at least 3 excellent flying types already the only reason I'd say keep this mon is because you love her enough to lug her through the rest of the game despite her being a load. IVs and EVs don't really make too much of a difference here at least in my experience.

 

Meowstick: Gonna be frank here - F-Meowstick are basically Kadabra with Fake Out (unlike M-Meowstic who have the very handy Prankster + Fake Out niche). Her HA Competitive can help a bit if you're good at switching her in to a defog or something like that but generally she doesn't have enough power to sweep like she wants to and her bulk sucks. Like Vespiquen this is a 'only keep if you really love her' kind of mon as most other psychics can probably do her role better. Fake Out is always nice though. 

 

Gourgeist: I have honestly never raised a Gourgeist (outside of Pokemon Pumpkin) so can't say much for certain but Grass and Ghost is a good mix. Treak or Treat like Soak is fantastic for disruption tactics and a physical Ghost is always handy so... I'd say it's a good one.

 

Camrupt: Looks great and is a great mon that doesn't seem to have any ground type competition with anything else you own so I'd say keep, though maybe Earth Power over Earthquake for not hitting allies during doubles and so you can go full SpA? That's 50/50 advice though because Camrupt is just as good hitting everything and going a bit mixed so personal preference there.

 

Aggron: He looks alright though Aggron's are a tad iffy at times without being mega. A hell of a lot more usable than Mawile though. Would probably very much like more coverage moves and a Choice Band though, and possible an ability change to Sturdy if you wanna set up Stealth Rocks and/or ensure you get at least one good hit in before getting KOed. (Rock Head is better in general if you feel you can get you hits in without getting OHKOd though).

 

Ludicolo: Hmm. I generally go rain-Swift Swim with my Ludicolo so I'm not certain. They tend to be surprisingly squishy on the physical side of things but full defensive with Leech Seed, Giga Drain, Scald and maybe Ice Beam sounds like it could be a solid choice... If you do go defensive you'll probably want a lot of burn spreading going around and probably Aggron and/or Swoobat or Malamar to kill the various poisons and flying types that could be an issue.

 

---

 

Anyway hoped my blather gave you some stuff to consider and was useful. Good luck with your future team~  

[Edo]

I mostly agree with Fais on her advice.

If you are unsure about EV spreads, put in your sets in the Teambuilder of Pokemon Showdown, it will recommend EV spreads automatically after you chose everything else.

 

In my opinion, the ones you should definitely scrap are:

Vespiqueen - bad typing and attack

Garbodor - except for Toxic spikes has nothing useful

Vanilluxe - not very bulky to begin with, and with Aggron you have a more versatile counter-move user

Murkrow - at this point in the game you really don't need cheese-strats anymore

Camerupt - too slow and not bulky enough, this will barely be useful

Meowstic - except for its speed nothing noteworthy

Hariyama - not that strong, and its bulk isn't worth it, and like you said Belly Drum is hard to pull off on Hariyama without support

 

For some of the others, I suggest a few changes to their sets to get more out of them.

(I'm gonna propose some sets with Egg moves, because there is a mod that enables the move relearner to teach egg moves like in Rejuvenation. This way you could get those sets without having to breed and train a new pokemon.  SWM modpack -> https://www.rebornevo.com/forums/topic/24930-swm-modular-modpack-e1840/

But if you are against using any mods, I suggest not using some of these pokemon anymore either)

 

Aggron - defensive set: Sturdy with Metal Burst will easily take out almost any strong mon, Stealth Rocks are good on this as well

             - offensive set with Rock Polish (Autotomize only without Heavy Slam), and Rock Head as ability if you can get Head Smash (egg move)

 

Ampharos - Agility (egg) is a very nice addition to its movepool, and easy to set up thnx to its bulk, but its coverage sucks, since it basically only has Power Gem and Signal Beam outside of STAB.

 

Mawile - bad stats, but best defensive typing, and has access to many moves for a support set: Stealth Rocks, Super Fang, Foul Play, Pain Split, Metal Burst, etc.

            - or use an offensive set with Sheer Force and Power-up Punch (egg move), which can be very threatening with Sucker Punch (Mega is literally only usable for the last major fight, so dont bother waiting for that)

 

Slurpuff - either as Sticky Web (egg) support, which is an amazing move and worth it to have in Reborn (replace Aromatherapy)

             - or Belly Drum+Unburden combo, which is very strong and useful in Reborn with Field Seeds

 

Drifblim - even with Flare Boost probably not very strong (only base 90 SpAtt), but an Unburden set with a Seed might be pretty good on certain fields that boost its attack stats (too situational though)

 

Ludicolo - Swift swim is usually the best set for Ludicolo, since double speed + 50% stronger Hydro pumps are pretty strong

 

Swoobat - Simple+Calm Mind, but is harder to set up, due to how fragile it is, the further you get into the game

 

Dodrio - really good thnx to Swords Dance and good coverage with Jump Kick, but replace Tri Attack with a physical Normal move, Return would be optimal. Similar to Swoobat, it gets harder to set up later though

 

Gourgeist - Will-o-Wisp might be more useful in place of Trick-or-Treat to stall more, at least for now. But after your 15th badge you can get the Mega-Z-Ring and can use the Z-version of Trick-or-Treat, which boosts all of its stats by one stage, which can be very strong.

 

Blaziken - Speed Boost is just broken, but I would teach it High Jump Kick instead of Sky Uppercut, and give it a Wide Lens to hold, which also benefits Blaze Kick.

 

Malamar - Contrary+Superpower is really good, but with its low speed it is bound to get taken out quickly. A Sticky Webs user would go really well with it.

 

Archeops - can be very threatening with its high stats. But for the case its HP is too low, Endeavor can be a nice way of doing high damage.

 

Cofagrigus - Has really good bulk, especially with Will-o-Wisp, and an amazing ability. But putting the EVs in HP rather than SpDef would have been much better.

 

Metagross (available after badge 13) - As soon as you get it, dont bother with Aggron or Mawile anymore.

 

Gardevoir (also after badge 13) - Really fun to use in Reborn, since a lot of mons abuse field boosts given through abilities, which Trace can copy, so you can get those boosts/advantages yourself

 

 

In my opinion, out of those which are worth keeping are:

Blaziken, Archeops, Malamar (only with Sticky Webs), Slurpuff (either of the 2 sets would be great), Aggron or Metagross, Cofagrigus, Gourgeist, Gardevoir, Ludicolo

 

Edited October 8, 2020 by Edo

[Bigodes]

Hi, Edo and Fais!

Thank you for your input! I took everything both of you have said into consideration. I really appreciate the time you took to answer this thread!

@FaisLittleWhiteRaven, I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets a little too enthusiastic with the 'mons in Reborn! If it wasn't for the escalation of power creeping that happens in the late game, I'd be 100% weak favorites. I really meant Weak Armor on Vanilluxe, my brain probably went  "It boosts speed, so... Speed Boost" while I was typing that one, .
I actually had Earth Power on Camerupt until Aya, because of the double battles. Maybe I'll reteach her that move for Charlotte!

@Edo, thank you for the tip about the Showdown teambuilder! I was spreading my EVs based solely on my intuition. It's nice to know that such a tool exists.
I have actually got the Egg Move mod before, because breeding is my least favorite part of Pokémon games. That, and the itemfinder one. I've got nothing against quality of life mods, since I haven't got a lot of time to play. Thank you especially for the Sticky Web tip, I've taught it to Slurpuff, and boy, is that move handy!

Based on your comments, I decided to drop (at least for now) Hariyama, Vespiquen, Garbodor, Swoobat, Drifblim, Mawile, Meowstic-F, Vanilluxe and Murkrow (as Edo pointed out, the boss fights are more balanced from now on. Also, most of them have more than one unbeatable Pokémon). I feel like these ones are the least worth the trouble of my team.

I'll go through the game with Blaziken, Malamar, Slurpuff, Archeops and Ludicolo as fixed pokémon for now. Also, I'll keep Ampharos, Cofagrigus, Gourgeist, Dodrio, Aggron, and Camerupt for a while, as situational members of the team.

As soon as I get Gardevoir, Malamar goes away. Same for Metagross and Aggron. I realized that my team is pretty much physical (except for Ludicolo), so exchanging Malamar for Gardevoir will pack a little more punch on the special side. Also, the lack of ground and water types might grow to be a problem.

In the meantime, I got through Luna pretty eventlessly with the five Pokémon listed above plus Aggron. She was the easiest leader so far. I've also done the Type:Null event, which poses another problem, because I'm considering raising Silvally as a jack of all trades of a sort... especially since we'll have all his memories soon. Don't know if it lives up to the gimmick, though.

Hard decisions, man. Hard decisions.

Thank you once again for your advice!