Quick team building help

[GirlRepellant]

Hello everybody! My friend gave me this name to use this site. In return I'm still going to leave his websites in the signature. Now, I haven't played pokemon since I got my Crystal game about 3 years ago, so I need some help building a team. Here's who I have so far planned out:

Zangoose
Alakazam
Skarmory

Then I was thinking Gyarados (does he have a decent enough Sp Att to use for a water-type?), Torkoal, and Donphan. These last three are really iffy... in fact, the whole team except for Skarmory is under question by me. This team has to remain in-Ruby, and there will be no trading until I battle my friend in about 3 weeks. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks everyone!

[phaedrus]

well, gyarados serves as a metagross counter, so it can stay. torkoal is mostly a tank. personally, torkoal and donphan kinda conflict.

here's some sets:

zangoose@silkscarf
return/quickattack
brickbreak/shadowball
swordsdance
filler of the sort...or use what you didn't use in the 2nd slot.

alakazam@shellbell
psychic
firepunch
icepunch
thunderpunch

skarmory@quickclaw
fly/drillpeck
spikes
toxic
roar

gyarados@leftovers
earthquake
dragondance
return
filler, surf or HP-Flying would do

donphan@leftovers
earthquake
roar (if possible)
ancientpower (if possible)
rapidspin/filler

you can put a tank like dusclops over donphan:

dusclops@leftovers
calmmind
icebeam
rest
confuseray/will-o-wisp

then that leaves you with 1 space, since you have a physical and special sweeper, you would most likely need a true electric poke like Manectric, Magneton or maybe Electrode.

manectric@leftovers/kingsrock
thunderwave
thunderbolt
crunch/bite
roar
item depends if you pick crunch or bite, lefties w/ crunch, bite w/ kingsrock

magneton@leftovers/shellbell
thunder
raindance
thunderwave
HP Water

or

magneton@leftovers/shellbell
thunderwave
thunderbolt
protect
return/hyperbeam

electrode@salac berry maybe
thunderbolt
mirrorcoat
reflect
explosion
traditional startertrode.

hope i helped..

[GirlRepellant]

Thanks! Although I'm not worried so much about movesets as I am the team choices right now... Isn't that 'Zam moveset a bit weak though? Wouldn't Psychic, Calm Mind, Recover, Ice/Fire/Thunder Punch work better?

[phaedrus]

That's the Sweeperzam that I posted. Your set works fine too.

[GirlRepellant]

OK, updated team (as it looks like it'll be):

Blaziken
Alakazam/Gardevoir
Skarmory
Zangoose
Donphan/Flygon?
Tentecruel/Gyarados/Wailord/any water type besides Milotic (I don't have the time or patience)

So I really need help on the last two spots. Also, what's the Shell bell? How do you get the elemental punches onto 'Zam?

P.S. Why would you want fly on Skarm?

[Silent Dragonfly]

Shell Bell restores a little HP according to the damage you cause. It isn't often used because Leftovers is much better.

To get the elemental puches on abra, use a heart scale to teach the ones you want to a male Medicham (not Meditite, only Medicham) and breed that with a female abra/kadabra/alakazam to get an abra with that punch(s) you taught to the father Medicham.

You might want Fly on that Skarm because it would stop you from taking damage while the enemy is taking damage from Toxic and if it switches out when you come down to hit it, the one switched in will take damage from the Spikes Skarm would've laid down.

[rinku]

Shell Bell can be better than Leftovers in some circumstances. In particular, pokémon with low HP and high offensive stats are likely to get back more from Shell Bell than from Leftovers. Also note that Leftovers kicks in at the end of the turn, while Shell Bell happens immediately after you cause damage. Here's a classic sequence:

Swellow does Double Team
Enemy hits him anyway, reducing him to just under half HP

Swellow does Endeavor, causing massive HP loss, and bringing his HP back up above half. Enemy gets lucky and hits again, but because of Shell Bell does not KO the little bugger.

Swellow finishes the enemy off with something like Return, soaking back some HP. The next enemy to come in still has to deal with a fast, low HP pokémon with Endeavor...

Absol, Zangoose and Alakazam are other good candidates for Shell Bell over Leftovers.

Also, some battle forums (such as Battle Tower) do not allow duplicate items. Get used to how Shell Bell works, even when Leftovers might be technically better. It remains the second best held item.

There is also the little point that Shell Bell is relatively easy to obtain in duplicate, and can be obtained *before* defeating the Elite 4.

[ShockingAlberto]

Definitely use Shadow Ball on Zangoose. It makes him a great counter against ghost types.

-- ShockingAlberto

[rinku]

Also note that most Normal Types are in the Ground egg group and most can learn Shadow Ball. You can breed it around from the TM, or breed it over from Sableye through Spinda. Shadow Ball plus a solid STAB Normal attack is an excellent combination.

Zangoose should have Crush Claw. Only base 75 power, but that 50% chance of a lowered Defense gives it the edge over Return as soon as it faces something tough. IMHO. Slash is also a viable option, with its increased critical hit chance.

Quick Attack and Swords Dance can work well. Zangoose is quick, but there are quite a few quicker. However, it takes some time to boost QA up to acceptable damage levels. Usually you won't get that chance - tat trick works best with someone else baton passing +Attacks to a QA pokémon.

Personally I'd go with:

Crush Claw/Return/Slash
Shadow Ball (For Ghost. Required.)
Brick Break/Double Kick/Focus Punch (for Steel)
Swords Dance/Double Team

If you go with Focus Punch, take Double Team to allow you more chances of not being hit.

[GirlRepellant]

3 (new) quick questions:

1) Who should I use for a water/ice user?

2) Who should I use for a ground type?

3) Can 'Zam learn T-bolt or an equivelent Electric move?

EDIT: Would Lanturn make a good water type for my team? Surf, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Thunder Wave. Just thinkin'...

[rinku]

Originally posted by GirlRepellant
3 (new) quick questions:

1) Who should I use for a water/ice user?

2) Who should I use for a ground type?

3) Can 'Zam learn T-bolt or an equivelent Electric move?

EDIT: Would Lanturn make a good water type for my team? Surf, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Thunder Wave. Just thinkin'...

1) Most (all?) good Water types learn Ice Beam. Take your pick. Walrein is a solid choice and has STAB with both, as well as the only one-hit KO attack in the game that nothing is immune to (except those with the Sturdy special ability, who are immune to all of them). If you are considering Legendaries, Kyogre is hands down the best Water type, and it learns Ice Beam and Sheer Cold naturally just to add insult to injury...

2) Rhyorn or Flygon. Camerupt is OK, but I've never taken to him for some reason. Golem is OK too, I guess. Flygon is just all around good - immune to Electric and Ground and only really vulnerable to Ice. STAB on Earthquake gives it the edge over other Dragons.

3) 'Zam does not learn T-bolt, but can learn Shock Wave (TM) or Thunder Punch (egg move). Thunder Punch isn't normally learned by level up, but a Medicham can be taught it by the Move Tutor in Fallarbor (along with Ice Punch and Fire Punch). If you want the combo of Psychic and Thunderbolt, go with Gardevoir (who I rate as a better pokémon in general)

[GirlRepellant]

Thanks rinku!

I'm gonna stick with 'Zam and Shock Wave. With his Sp. Atk. + Calm Mind, that should work just fine. I just can't really get to like Gardevoir...

I decided on Flygon for a ground type. What's a good moveset? I'm thinking Crunch, Earthquake, Rock Tomb, ???. I dunno.

As for water type, Walrein looks good. Surf, Ice Beam, Rest, (can he learn Sleep Talk?)

[Ferilian]

Shock Wave is nice, but Gardevoir can learn T-bolt. A great set would be

Gardevoir@Shell Bell/Leftovers
-Psychic
-Thunderbolt
-Calm Mind
-Reflect/filler

Also, since you have Ruby (right?) and you can't get Kyogre, another good water type would be Ludicolo. It's only weaknesses are bug, flying, and poison; not fire, electric, ice, or grass! A good set for you would be

Ludicolo@Leftovers/anything
(Swift Swim)
-Surf
-Ice Beam
-Rain Dance
-filler

Hope I helped!

[GirlRepellant]

Ferelain:
Thanks for the advice, but I'm gonna stick with 'Zam on this one. Also, Ludicolo is only available in Sapphire.

All I really need help with is the movesets for:

Walrein: Surf, Ice Beam, ???, ???
Flygon: Earthquake, Crunch, ???, ???
Blaziken: Flamethrower/Blaze Kick, Brick Break, Bulk Up?, Slash/Rock Tomb/???


Thanks to everyone who's helped!

[rinku]

Nothing wrong with Shock Wave on Alkazam. It will mean he has to work a bit harder on non-Water non-Flying Dark types, but as a bonus he can better handle Double Team. Shock Wave/T-Bolt is always a matter of choice - neither is absolutely better than the other. And as you point out, Calm Mind boosts Shock Wave's moderate power level nicely.

Walrein: I'd go with
Ice Beam/Blizzard (to taste)
Surf
Sheer Cold/Body Slam
Rest/Yawn

It doesn't learn Sleep Talk, and its Snore is really too weedy to bother with. Yawn + Sheer Cold is a combo that has some legs - given enough time Sheer Cold will kill anything but Sturdies, and if they are asleep (or switching) you can zap 'em safely. Only real flaw with SC is low PP *and* accuracy - but even so you can expect it to take out two targets before you run out of PP and are forced to rely on direct damage If this is a major concern, you could also breed on Fissure and have two OHKO moves (one of which can hit Diggers).

Flygon:
Earthquake
Crunch
Dragon Claw/Breath/HP Ice
Fly/Aerial Ace/Rock Tomb

Solid set. Has gotten my Battle Tower team through 104 wins in a row. Fly is of less use vs human opponents, though it's not useless if you are not relying on it as a main attack. Dragon Claw only if you have the TM to spare - it can't be bred on. Crunch is not optional because too many Psychics (and a few Ghosts) have Levitate. HP Ice would be great if you can get it.

Blaziken:
Blaze Kick
Slash
Focus Energy
Double Kick/Brick Break/Sky Uppercut
@Scope Lens

Note DK has a higher chance of a critical; Brick Break is best overall; Sky Uppercut has the most power. Focus Energy and you have two options for a 50% critical, which is pretty good.

Alternate Blaziken:
Blaze Kick
Brick Break/Sky Uppercut
Rock Slide
Bulk Up

[GirlRepellant]

I'm battling my friend next week, so I really don't have the time to breed any of them. So Rock Slide and Yawn are both out for possible moves. Would you recommend Rock Tomb for a decent replacement or not on Blaziken?

[rinku]

Rock Tomb is workable. Blaziken is in the good-medium speed bracket, and most serious Flying types are a bit faster. But one Rock Tomb and they should be slower, which gives:

Swellow: Aerial Ace (Blaziken nearly dead)
Blaziken: Rock Tomb (Swellow half dead, slowed)

Blaziken: Rock Tomb/Blaze Kick (Swellow KO)

BUT the modest damage and inaccuracy mean it won't always work this way. I've used Rock Tomb on a Hariyama to good
success, but he can take a bit more punishment than Blaziken, and does not have Fire to deal with Bug.

Note that a good Normal attack (Slash, Return) will be normally effective vs most Flyers (except Skarmory, but Blaziken has no problems dealing with THAT one!), and that a Critical from Slash or a fully happy Return is doing as much or more damage as a super-effective Rock Tomb (except vs Bug/Flying, but again a Fire attack would be better anyway).

A set with a Fire, Fighting and Normal Attack plus a support move should work fine. The only things Normal can't handle, Fire and Fighting can. I shouldn't have listed Rock Slide like it was the only option. Try:

Blaze Kick
Slash/Return
Brick Break/Double Kick/Sky Uppercut
Bulk Up