Team improvement: too many Pokemon for just 2 spots

[Tomas Elliot]

So, this isn't a real "team showcase", given that the team isn't finished yet, and I am actually asking tips to complete it, so I thought I'd post it here.

Here is the thing: I beat Aya and her brother upon returning to Reborn City, and now I am about to go save those kids from Team Meteor, but before I do I decided to take a long hiatus from the plot to work on improving my team.

So far, my main team consists of Infernape (amazing starter), Staraptor (just brutal with Reckless, but I am considering to actually replace it with Honchkrow, since I just caugth a Murkrow and I therefore have an occasion to breed for Brave Bird...), Golem (never was a Link Stone used better), Gardevoir (best Psychic-type I could get without having to waste Exp on grinding a Bibarel early on)... And then there are Luxray and Quagsire.

Don't get me wrong, I like both and they were actually a great asset when I defeated Solaris (because yes, I did, Intimidate+bulky Pokemon that resists anything Chomp can throw at me+lots of Super Potions=Struggle kill), but the point is... I don't think they can help a lot outside of that. Luxray is a good Physical attacker with a great ability, but the problem is that Electric is admittedly a more special-oriented type, and this causes the guy to suffer from a schyzophreniac movepool, from which only Crunch and Thunder Fang are truly useful, untill I get Wild Charge at least (even if, to be honest, getting myself that event Snubbull and a couple of Heart Scales to have it learn Fire Fang and Ice Fang could lead to interesting breeding scenarios...). As for Quagsire, it is immensely useful defensively but it has no offense option, simple as that. And while competitively a purely defensive Pokemon is possiblem, and is actually needed in every good team, in game you will admit that it soon becomes boring to play. Also, from the looks of it, chances are that there will be a Water gym to fight down the road, and well, as of now I don't have a true out to Water types (Luxray hits them for supereffective damage, in most cases, but it doesn't resist their moves, and Quagsire has great bulk, only one weakness and Water Absorb, but it cannot hurt them with any given offensive move, so yeah...).

Due to all this, I would need a Pokemon capable of playing bulky offense, a Pokemon that has good defensive stats, good type advantage against Water (because, gym prediction aside, Water-types that are faster than Luxray are admittedly the bane of this team in general), and good offensive abilities. There is a Pokemon that fits this description, and it is Lanturn: however, since I am dumb, I played the Aqua storyline, so I have no way of getting it right now.

Ludicolo could be another good option, sure it needs breeding to get its best STAB move (Giga Drain), but Cottonee gets that move as early as level 26, so that shouldn't be so that hard... However, from the guide to Pokemon location I am not sure I understand where Lotad is located, and I'd therefore need a better explaination.

With Ludicolo in the spot in which Quagsire currently is, many interesting option would disclose: I could keep Luxray (maybe to breed for elemental fangs), or I could include another bulky attacker capable of rounding the overall offensive and defensive coverage of the team. I cannot think of anything like that right now, but maybe you guys can suggest something?

All in all, what I am asking you people for is:

1) A better explaination on how to get a Lotad, along with breeding tips on how to get the best moveset possible for Ludicolo

2) Some tips on which Pokemon to run in the 6th spot: breeding tips on how to create a good moveset for Luxray, or just a new Pokemon to include over it altogether. I repeat the rest of the team: Infernape, Staraptor (might be replaced by a Honchkrow should I manage to breed Brave Bird on it), Golem, Gardevoir, and the aforementioned Ludicolo should I manage to get one with a good movepool.

Thank you all in advance!

[EternalJinn]

You get lotad by the pier in the town with the warehouses. It should be located on the lower or upper pier where the fisherman was from before, those pinkish strips right near the area of the warehouse, lotad might also appear on certain days of weather so you should keep checking but I think this is mainly the case as long as you haven't battled and defeated it yet. As far as breeding I'd try the cottonee and go for a parent with a desired nature, by having that parent hold an everstone it will have a greater chance at passing it to lotad. As far as a moveset for now a good one containing giga drain and later hydro pump as well as some more versatile moves like ice beam later on in the game. I'd go for the classic modest swift swimmer overall.

As far as your sixth spot you could still try for a different electric pokemon such as a potential jolteon later in game or possibly wait for luxray to get better moves as the game progresses. You can also look at the current list of pokemon for more ideas and pick one based off of how much typing you've covered offensively for your team

[ShatteredSkys]

You get lotad on a rainy day by the pier at coral ward, the top pier not the bottom one.