Pokémon

[DoubleX]

.. I couldn't be arsed.. I'm not sure why this is a problem.

It's not, I'm just being silly

Murkrow actually has an advantage over Honchkrow in that it slows down if it evolves. So yeah.

Edited September 4, 2007 by DoubleX

[Momo]

OK, I'm thinking that I won't have the patience to do this but I'm going to try anyway.

Right now my current team is pretty much nothing. I don't have a set team, I just rotate between what's needed at the time, for example, Empoleon when I want to train the lower level pokemon, Zangoose when I want to catch stuff, that kind of thing.

Now I want to establish a proper team, that can be used permanently in competitive battle. After about 3 hours of looking through lists, researching natures and finding out about EV's, I have compiled a team that combines awesomely powerful pokemon with my favourites.

Pokemon - Moves - Nature

Arcanine - Flamethrower, Solar Beam, Extreme Speed, Crunch - Brave

Electivire - Fire Punch, Thunderpunch, Brick Break, Giga Impact - Impish

Lapras - Protect, Ice Beam, Surf, Psychic - Timid

Metagross - Sunny Day, Zen Headbutt, Hammer Arm, Earthquake - Hasty

Kingdra - Hail, Blizzard, Dragon Pulse, Hyper Beam - Modest

Scizor - X-Scissor, U-Turn, Iron Head, Night Slash - Jolly

Now what I need to know is if there are moves that could be changed for some of those. Mainly I'm looking to get rid of Night Slash off of Scizor and replace it with another physical attack. Feel free to make suggestions in regards to other moves, but those 3 are the main ones I'm looking to replace.

EDIT: Changes in accordance with Benji's advice.

Edited September 8, 2007 by Momo

[Benji]

Tip, never ever have a Pokémon with more than one attacking move of one type, it's a complete and utter waste of a move unless you're making a physical and special sweeper, and even then it's pretty pointless.

I'll edit in what I said on MSN as this may help other people:

Basically let's put it this way, that Electivire above, let's say it comes up against a Rock/Ground type and it's got three electric moves and one other (I forget what Giga Impact is, Normal most likely). That Electivire has three electric moves and against a rock/ground type it's dead in a second, but replace one electric move with a fighting move, and you've got something that can take out rock types, a common mixed type with electrics one weakness - Ground types. Electivire has a high Physical Attack stat, so Thunder and Thunderbolt are the ones you get rid of, keep Thunderpunch, keep Giga Impact and give it something like Cross Chop, then another move that is physical and POW, you have a hardcore physical attacker.

This is the key to competitive battling, you should look for what you're missing, not what you have, or people will exploit your weakness for all it's worth.

Edited September 8, 2007 by Iron-Tail Benji

[DoubleX]

I offer the following suggestions:

Arcanine - Flamethrower, Solar Beam, Extreme Speed, Crunch - Brave

Electivire - Fire Punch, Thunderpunch, Brick Break, Giga Impact - Impish

Lapras - Protect, Ice Beam, Surf, Psychic - Timid

Metagross - Sunny Day, Zen Headbutt, Hammer Arm, Earthquake - Hasty

Kingdra - Hail, Blizzard, Dragon Pulse, Hyper Beam - Modest

Scizor - X-Scissor, U-Turn, Iron Head, Night Slash - Jolly

Arcanine: Get a better nature (Lonely or Mild would work well, or Hasty if you want Speed), and go with Flare Blitz/Crunch/Extremespeed/Flamethrower with a Choice Band. You'll find that'll give you better mileage than your current Arcanine. Besides, Solarbeam sucks without Sunny Day support.

Electivire: Also needs a better nature (Adamant imo) and to get rid of Brick Break and Giga Impact. Go with Earthquake and Cross Chop. Life Orb would work well as an item. If you fancy yourself as a good predictor, you could think of Focus Punch over Cross Chop to smash stuff on the switch, but Cross Chop is a tad more reliable.

Lapras: All of your natures so far suck :ohwell: . Calm nature, then go Surf/Ice Beam/Thunderbolt/Substitute or Sing. Leftovers for item.

Metagross: This one isn't too bad nature-wise, but Adamant or Impish are better. Metagross has no business using Sunny Day. In this instance, to support the rest of your team better, I'd suggest Impish nature, with Meteor Mash/Earthquake/Rest/Sleep Talk as a moveset. Turtlegross ftw. Leftovers here too, but if you can't use Leftovers due to Item Clause, use Shell Bell maybe.

Kingdra: Modest is fine, but Hyper Beam is horrible (as is Giga Impact, hence the removal from Electivire) and Dragon Pulse has no use except for opposing Kingdra (which will be few and far between) or Palkia (if you end up against one of these you will lose). Rain Dance/Surf/Ice Beam/Signal Beam and make sure it has Swift Swim as an ability. Wet Rock as item.

Scizor: It's alright except for its nature. Adamant please. Choose between X-Scissor and U-Turn, they're equal power, but U-Turn is much more useful tactically. Steel is a shit offensive typing, so lose Iron Head. If it were me, I'd go U-Turn/Night Slash/Agility/Baton Pass, since Electivire with an Agility behind it would be quite scary indeed. Not sure what item to give Scizor to be honest.

I didn't suggest any changes in actual Pokemon, but if you were to do so, lose Kingdra, it's a pretty average Pokemon. You also don't really need two Water types that do almost the same thing.

If you want any more help, just ask.

Edited September 8, 2007 by DoubleX

[Momo]

I offer the following suggestions:

Arcanine - Flamethrower, Solar Beam, Extreme Speed, Crunch - Brave

Electivire - Fire Punch, Thunderpunch, Brick Break, Giga Impact - Impish

Lapras - Protect, Ice Beam, Surf, Psychic - Timid

Metagross - Sunny Day, Zen Headbutt, Hammer Arm, Earthquake - Hasty

Kingdra - Hail, Blizzard, Dragon Pulse, Hyper Beam - Modest

Scizor - X-Scissor, U-Turn, Iron Head, Night Slash - Jolly

[DoubleX]

One thing you need to learn if you want to battle competitively is to not think in terms of just types. You should also be thinking in terms of what specifically you cover. Solarbeam is really only useful against Swampert/Quagsire/Whiscash/Gastrodon since Arcanine has no STAB behind it, and thus it won't do shit to the other Water types you'll run into, particularly Milotic and Suicune. Also, should said Water type come straight into Arcanine, what do you do then? You can't Solarbeam, because you'll die. Short of HP Electric, which is pretty awful against aforementioned Water types, there's nothing you can do, so you'd have to switch.

Diversity is good, but Earthquake is one of the best moves in the game, and so would be a good idea to go on Electivire. It also means you can guarantee pain for other Electric types who may switch into you.

Yes, Sing is shit, but Lapras doesn't have the greatest movepool, and Psychic is bad due to lack of STAB, and so you'd likely not KO what you'd need to before it did the same to you.

Metagross with Sunny Day is pretty bad. Turtlegross would serve you much better, since Arcanine shouldn't really have Solarbeam in the first place. Also, Sunny Day powers up Fire moves, so if something with a Fire move is up against Metagross after you use Sunny Day, it'll hurt twice as bad. It's unlikely, but it's a possibility. Metagross without Meteor Mash is also epic fail. It's Metagross' best move.

Kingdra has one weakness, true, but that's all it has going for it. It's woefully average, and there are better Water types. I'll think about that one and come up with a possible replacement.

Night Slash is useful to stop you getting walled by Gengar and Dusknoir. It doesn't do brilliant amounts of damage, but it stops them walling you completely.

And you're welcome.

[Momo]

One thing you need to learn if you want to battle competitively is to not think in terms of just types. You should also be thinking in terms of what specifically you cover. Solarbeam is really only useful against Swampert/Quagsire/Whiscash/Gastrodon since Arcanine has no STAB behind it, and thus it won't do shit to the other Water types you'll run into, particularly Milotic and Suicune. Also, should said Water type come straight into Arcanine, what do you do then? You can't Solarbeam, because you'll die. Short of HP Electric, which is pretty awful against aforementioned Water types, there's nothing you can do, so you'd have to switch.

Diversity is good, but Earthquake is one of the best moves in the game, and so would be a good idea to go on Electivire. It also means you can guarantee pain for other Electric types who may switch into you.

Yes, Sing is shit, but Lapras doesn't have the greatest movepool, and Psychic is bad due to lack of STAB, and so you'd likely not KO what you'd need to before it did the same to you.

Metagross with Sunny Day is pretty bad. Turtlegross would serve you much better, since Arcanine shouldn't really have Solarbeam in the first place. Also, Sunny Day powers up Fire moves, so if something with a Fire move is up against Metagross after you use Sunny Day, it'll hurt twice as bad. It's unlikely, but it's a possibility. Metagross without Meteor Mash is also epic fail. It's Metagross' best move.

Kingdra has one weakness, true, but that's all it has going for it. It's woefully average, and there are better Water types. I'll think about that one and come up with a possible replacement.

Night Slash is useful to stop you getting walled by Gengar and Dusknoir. It doesn't do brilliant amounts of damage, but it stops them walling you completely.

And you're welcome.

[Agahnim Demen]

I think that one of the important things to remember in this game, is that people are always trying to assume the next move of their opponent. While it's nice to ensure that you're Pokémon is as effective as it can be, the element of surprise can be just as powerful. What I'm basically saying is that there are certain move sets that are very predictable, so try and use your imagination to out think your opponents, but at the same time still have an effective member of your team.

I hope you find this piece of advice useful, I've found it to be an important factor in the development of my team. It's good to do some research of your own and see what people are saying online about the Pokémon you're using.

Edited September 8, 2007 by Agahnim Demen

[DoubleX]

I think that one of the important things to remember in this game, is that people are always trying to assume the next move of their opponent. While it's nice to ensure that you're Pokémon is as effective as it can be, the element of surprise can be just as powerful. What I'm basically saying is that there are certain move sets that are very predictable, so try and use your imagination to out think your opponents, but at the same time still have an effective member of your team.

I hope you find this piece of advice useful, I've found it to be an important factor in the development of my team. It's good to do some research of your own and see what people are saying online about the Pokémon you're using.

While this is true, you do have to find a balance between predictability and effectiveness. Some sets are ridiculously predictable (like if you come up against a Blissey in Advance, odds are they're running Aromatherapy/Thunder Wave/Softboiled/Seismic Toss or Ice Beam) but are very effective (see aforementioned Blissey set). On the other side of the coin, you may have a moveset that's completely unexpected (like an all-special Gyarados) but is nigh useless as a battler. Pokemon that can be unpredictable and still effective are things you have to look out for. Stuff like Gengar, Lucario, or in the Uber tier Mew, Mewtwo or Darkrai.

And yes, prediction is a big part of Pokemon battling. A fair number of special sweepers that can learn Focus Punch try to use it as often as possible to attempt predicting the incoming Blissey/Regice/Snorlax to crash the party. Gengar does it quite often, certain Dragonite do it, some people have been crazy enough to have Regice do it. Focus Punch is also useful if you force a switch by sending in something that the opponent can't touch. Say there's a Choice Specs Gengar firing off Shadow Ball after Shadow Ball. You send in Ursaring, and Shadow Ball fails due to it being a Normal type. The opponent's only option is to switch, and so if you use Focus Punch, you get a guaranteed hit on whatever comes out next. Of course, then there might be an extra level of prediction there, in that the Gengar user predicts said Focus Punch and brings in a Fighting resist.

It can get quite complicated, but once you've battled for a while, you'll start getting the hang of it.

[K]

So I now have 47 of the same pokemon, because I want one with a certain nature... and I still don't have it.

[Momo]

So I now have 47 of the same pokemon, because I want one with a certain nature... and I still don't have it.

[K]

Well I go out, catch about ten then go back to the computer and check the natures. After a while it was funny to see this box just filled with the same species, so I just left them.

[DoubleX]

If you have a Pokemon with the Synchronise ability and a nature you want, if you have that at the front of your party, 50% of the Pokemon you run into will have the same nature as your first Pokemon.

Also, if you really want a certain nature, if you have a Ditto with that nature and breed them with the Ditto holding an Everstone, you're more likely to hatch offspring with that nature.

[K]

I know about the ditto/everstone thing, but I didn't know about the syncronise ability. That might be an avenue to explore, cheers.

[DoubleX]

I know about the ditto/everstone thing, but I didn't know about the syncronise ability. That might be an avenue to explore, cheers.

It was something introduced in Emerald, along with a bunch of other things. For example, a Pokemon with Compoundeyes as its ability in the front of your party makes any encountered Pokemon more likely to be holding an item. A Pokemon with Static at the front makes Electric Pokemon more common. A Pokemon with Intimidate at the front makes your encounter rate drop.

There are more, but those are a few of the more useful ones I could think of off the top of my head.

EDIT: Something else I just remembered, the Synchronise-and-nature thing works on stationary legendaries as well. So if you wanted, say, a Modest Heatran, and had a Modest Kadabra at the front of your party with Synchronise, then you will have a 50% chance of said Heatran being Modest. Makes it easier to soft-reset for a decent nature.

Edited September 14, 2007 by DoubleX

[K]

Oh yeah, 65 of the same species, still not with the right nature. It's time to start with the Dittos methinks.

[DoubleX]

Oh yeah, 65 of the same species, still not with the right nature. It's time to start with the Dittos methinks.

Out of curiosity, what are you looking for and with what nature?

[Agahnim Demen]

Keep in mind that it doesn't have to be a Ditto with the Everstone, if you breed a female Pokemon of the nature you're looking for when you want a male one, you can then give that female Pokemon the Everstone and there will still be that 50% chance you'll get the same nature as her. Of course, you might have already known that. 65 of the wrong nature is very unlucky. At the moment I'm trying to breed a Modest Larvitar, but I'm not having much luck.

[DoubleX]

Keep in mind that it doesn't have to be a Ditto with the Everstone, if you breed a female Pokemon of the nature you're looking for when you want a male one, you can then give that female Pokemon the Everstone and there will still be that 50% chance you'll get the same nature as her. Of course, you might have already known that. 65 of the wrong nature is very unlucky. At the moment I'm trying to breed a Modest Larvitar, but I'm not having much luck.

While that does work - and is the principle behind it working with Ditto - it doesn't help him if he hasn't been able to find any, regardless of gender, with the specific nature he wants.

And why in the world would you want a Modest Larvitar? SpecsTar?

[Agahnim Demen]

While that does work - and is the principle behind it working with Ditto - it doesn't help him if he hasn't been able to find any, regardless of gender, with the specific nature he wants.