The In-Game Team Review Thread

[Endgamevillain]

I don't use my starter (female cyndaquil) because i don't like it's last form and if it doesn't evolve it'll be weaker, thus why i choose not to use it. Oh and by the way i don't evolve seadra to kingdra is b/c to me i like seadra over kingdra, i mean it's OK to have 1 favorite right?

[Endgamevillain]

So now that you know my starter what advice do you have?

[VanillaThunderbolt]

So I started a new game today in HeartGold, and need help deciding what pokemon would go good in my future team. My current canidates:
Seadra
Ampharos
Vileplume
Steelix
Dragonite(or Flygon)
Girafrig
Hitmonlee
Magneton
Heracross(if i can find one)
Cloyster

Feel free to suggest others that would go good.

I know you said Kingdra isn't as cool to you as Seadra, but in every way shape and form, Kingdra > Seadra. =/

Ampharos is GREAT, but I suggest you keep Flaafy until Level 48, so it can get Power Gem reletively early (better than late 50s).

I fell in love with Swords Dance Vileplume some time ago, but I can't remember if you get that TM in this game.

Steelix is a GREAT wall, and in Platinum won me the league with 6HP left. I ALWAYS suggest Steelix to anyone who wants to give it a try.

Dragonite are hard to raise, especially when the best Dratini is given to you right before the E4. Unless you plan on power leveling for days, skip Dragonite (which I hate saying, it's my favorite ;~;). On top of that, Flygon isn't in HG/SS.

Girafarig is just cool. Psychic and Crunch are fun... and then the fun just kind of dies. If you NEED a Psychic Type though, they are pretty cool.

Hitmonlee has the Dragonite complex (being so late game), only that you have to roll your dice with which Hitmon you end up getting. Hitmonlee is fairly fast and strong, but has pretty generic movepool.

Magneton? Yes. That's it. If you don't choose Ampharos, please get Magneton.

Hreacross is the better choice for a fighting type, and if raised fast enough will KILL WILL. C: They get great moves early on, and are pretty common East of Azelea.

Cloyster with Shell Link (I believe the Ability is called) is great fun, especially when given Icicle Spear and Rock Blast. On top of that, it's just flat out awesome. Great choice.

My Vote:
Ampharos, Vileplume, Steelix, Heracross, Cloyster, Girafarig / Dragonite. The last one is really a matter of whether you want to raise something fairly early on, or bust ass towards the end.

[Endgamevillain]

wow I can't describe how much that helped me, great thanks to you and your explained, and complete reasoning for my team no-one has yet been able to do that.

[VanillaThunderbolt]

wow I can't describe how much that helped me, great thanks to you and your explained, and complete reasoning for my team no-one has yet been able to do that.

No problem man. I actually wanted to edit that post to say that with the Pokewalker you can actually get Dratini earlier than anything else in the game (as long as you get enough Watts). Only downside is that it won't have ExtremeSpeed, which isn't too bad (it was already awesome before it anyway).

[Endgamevillain]

Yah so right now i have 7 badges and my current team is Quagsire,Ampharos,Vileplume,and Heracross. I haven't yet got a cloyster and until onix evolves, he gets one hit KO'ed quite often.

[VanillaThunderbolt]

Yah so right now i have 7 badges and my current team is Quagsire,Ampharos,Vileplume,and Heracross. I haven't yet got a cloyster and until onix evolves, he gets one hit KO'ed quite often.

Get something to learn Thief by TM, and fight a bunch of Magnemite (West of Ecruteak I believe), they have Metal Coat attached sometimes. And I could have sworn you can find Shellder in Olivine City with a Good Rod, but I'm not sure.

[CynthiaLover]

I've updated my original post. I would still like some help, or at least get a review on my team. All the information is on the original post (page 33). Thanks.

[The Magneton]

My team is...

Venusaur. (MrFicusGuy) Earthquake, Energy Ball, Sludge Bomb, Seed Bomb.
Mismagius. (MsMaggieUs) Thunder, ShadowBall, Power Gem, Dark Pulse.
Ninetales. (Firefox) ExtraSensory, Confuse Ray, Fire Blast, Dark Pulse.
Mamoswine. (Oink?) Earthquake, Hail, Avalanche, Stone Edge.
Vaporeon. (Aqua) Hidden Power Ground, Surf, Ice Beam, Signal Beam.
Gardevoir. (4TuneTellr) Wish, Energy Ball, Psychic, Calm Mind.

They're all about level 73 dont forget to comment and rate it.

[VanillaThunderbolt]

Okay, mega update from before. I have beaten all the Kanto Gym Leaders except Blue. However, I've decided to do some training before then. I have modified my team quite a bit in moves, levels, and held items. However, I am open to advice. I'm going to use the E4 as training (since I've pretty much clobbered every Trainer in Kanto). Any advice is welcome. My team is below. Also, I've managed to hoard many PP Ups throughout the journey, so advice where they should go is also welcome. I've got 17 left (originally had over 20). Thanks.

Name: Typhlosion (Inferno)
Level: 65
Gender: Male
Ability: Blaze
Nature/Characteristic: Relaxed/Somewhat Stubborn
Item: Wide Lens
Attacks:
Eruption (6 PP)
Flamethrower (15 PP)
Earthquake (12 PP)
Focus Blast (5 PP)

Notes: I like my Typhlosion's Nature and Characteristic. I'm defensively minded, so the boost to Defense makes him one the most durable in my team. I taught him Eruption and Earthquake for heavy hitting power (he used to have Flame Wheel and Dig). Also, Flame Wheel wasn't cutting it anymore. I was going to keep it originally, but decided I needed more firepower. I'm pretty set on him, but advice is fine.

Name: Nidoking (Crash)
Level: 54
Gender: Male
Ability: Poison Point
Nature/Characteristic: Modest/Very Finicky
Item: King's Rock
Attacks:
Poison Jab (20 PP)
Shadow Ball (15 PP)
Thunderbolt (15 PP)
Earth Power (12 PP)

Notes: The reason why my Nidoking has three Special Attacks is because his Special Attack is far higher than his Attack (about a 20+ point difference). I taught him Shadow Ball to fight Psychic-types and Thunderbolt to fight Water-types. However, any advice is welcome.

Name: Lanturn (Sparx)
Level: 55
Gender: Female
Ability: Volt Absorb
Nature/Characteristic: Careful/Scatters things often
Item: Wise Glasses
Attacks:
Charge Beam (12 PP)
Signal Beam (15 PP)
Surf (15 PP)
Ice Beam (12 PP)

Notes: I'm pretty well set on her. Her HP is enormous, but her other stats are barely scratching 100. I gave her the Wise Glasses to up her Special Attacks. Again, advice is welcome, but I'm pretty well set for her.


Name: Tauros (Rampage)
Level: 54
Gender: Male
Ability: Intimidate
Nature/Characteristic: Bashful/Likes the thrash about
Item: Leftovers
Attacks:
Return (20 PP)
Strength (15 PP)
Zen Headbutt (15 PP)
Earthquake (12 PP)

Notes: Rampage is my tank/physical sweeper. His Attack, Defense, and Speed are astronomical, making him quite durable. I decided to get rid of Iron Tail for Return. I get STAB from it and it has a higher base power (102, if I'm not mistaken, since his Friendship is very high), plus better accuracy. I tend to trade power for accuracy. I'm set on him, but I'm open to suggestions.

Name: Mammoswine (Tundra)
Level: 54
Gender: Female
Ability: Oblivious
Nature/Characteristic: Adamant/Alert to sounds
Item: Muscle Band
Attacks:
Rock Slide (12 PP)
Earthquake (12 PP)
Ice Fang (15 PP)
Avalanche (12 PP)

Notes: Mammoswine is my heavy hitter. I'm going to teach her Rock Climb so I can get to Red without swapping teammates. Again, advice is welcome.

Name: Skarmory (Scrap)
Level: 55
Gender: Female
Ability: Keen Eye
Nature/Characteristic: Rash/Likes to Relax
Item: Amulet Coin
Attacks:
Night Slash (15 PP)
Fly (15 PP)
Steel Wing (25 PP)
Secret Power (20 PP)

Notes: Scrap is a replacement for Aerodactyl, giving me more durability and resistances. I know her Nature is fairly useless here (up Sp. Attack, down Sp. Defense), but I'm not going to breed her or anything, so I'm just going to stick with it (perhaps do some EV training to compensate for her nature, and the Pokerus will help there). However, if you have any suggestions on moves, that would be fine.

That's my team. Any help would be fine. Don't forget to help me decide where to put my remaining 17 PP Ups. That would be most helpful. Thanks.

I'm gonna start by saying that in-game teams usually don't have to rely on strategy too much (outside of something like the Battle Frontier), so Type Advantage pretty much wins it.

Typhlosion looks awesome. The only suggestion I could make would be to try and find Shadow Claw in there somewhere (probably leaving behind Eruption or Flamethrower). Ghost+Fighting is probably the best coverage possible, but it's completely dependant on its Attack Stat. If it's only so-so, don't even bother. Shadow Claw may have great coverage, but it's only 70 Power (even with the high Crit ratio, it's not golden).

I'd say consider Ice Beam on Nidoking over Shadow Ball, but only for (just like suggesting Shadow Claw on Typhlosion) the coverage. Now, here's the thing: Nidoking does mix sets GREAT, but if it's Modest, and has a good Sp.Atk, and a horrible Atk, invest in Sludge Bomb over Poison Jab. But, if the Atk is fairly okay, keep Jab, and maybe consider sliding Megahorn in that set somewhere.

Lanturn doesn't really NEED Signal Beam. Go for Aqua Ring for awesome recovery, and throw Leftovers on it.

Tauros does not need Return and Strength, and I assume you're keeping Strength for field convinience. Ditch Return for something like Stone Edge or Payback (if it even gets Payback... I know it's a TM). Try Choice Scarf or Band too, you'll love the results.

Mamoswine doesn't need Ice Fang and Avalanche. Try Ice Shard in place of Fang. Either way, there's already a seeming halt to the team's progress now. You already have Ice, Ground, and Rock coverage. Do you need more? Either way, if it's just a beloved part of your team, keep it. More power, right?

Skarmory never really appealed to me in play throughs as much as it did competetively. Generally though, it does provide something the rest of your team doesn't. A good Poison blocker, a defensive core, and Dark Type offense. Secret Power won't do much, I'd imagine (though, I could be wrong). Invest in Roost.

[CynthiaLover]

@VanillaThunderbolt: Thanks for the tips. However, I am now at Mt. Silver, doing some training before facing Red (I want to get up to at least mid 60's with everyone), and as such, all their levels have gone up (I'm just too lazy to update it right now) Anyway, moving on.

Inferno's (Typhlosion) Attack is his lowest stat, so I don't think Shadow Claw will work too well. It's kinda the reason why I decided to give him Earthquake, to give him a heavy hitting Physical move in case of Special Defenders (it also helps against Rock-types, since Focus Blast is a little inaccurate, although the Wide Lens helps).

Moving on. Ice Beam would be a good move for Nidoking, and I did get a hold of another one from the Seafoam Islands. I mostly taught him Shadow Ball so he could fight Psychic-types, but I'm cool with replacing it (after all, I have one more in reserve), so I'll swap it. As for Poison Jab, his Attack may be quite a bit lower, but it is still in the mid 100's range, and I worry with Sludge Bomb's low PP (although I do have a slew of PP Ups and a few PP Maxes). But I'll think about swapping it if I feel it is necessary.

I've already swapped Signal Beam out with Lanturn. At the moment, she knows Waterfall so I can train near Moltres (and, perhaps, catch it), but Aqua Ring might be a good idea. I'll have to think about that for now.

Tauros can learn Payback, but at an earlier level. I was thinking about teaching him Stone Edge, but I can't seem to find it (it's probably nearby in Mt. Silver, I just haven't explored the whole place yet). I'm not too fond of the Choice items, they seem to sacrifice his variety of moves. I might replace his Leftovers with another Wide Lens (I have a spare) so the lower accuracies of Zen Headbutt and Stone Edge (90 and 80, respectfully), will be more accurate. But Stone Edge was an idea I've been cooking up for a bit.

With Mammoswine, I'm keeping Avalanche. Even if she doesn't get hit, it can KO all three of Lances' Dragonites in one shot. It may be a reduced priority move, but with her monstrous Attack power (201, at the moment), it is deadly. I also taught her Rock Climb so I can scale Mt. Silver.

Yeah, Scrap is way better than my Aerodactyl. I had way too many shared weaknesses with him around (Water, in particular). Roost does sound like a good idea. Secret Power was good at first, but I was thinking of switching it with something else. Any other suggestions for moves?

Overall, great advice. Once my DS's battery charges up, I can put this into motion. However, more advice is always welcome.

[VanillaThunderbolt]

@VanillaThunderbolt: Thanks for the tips. However, I am now at Mt. Silver, doing some training before facing Red (I want to get up to at least mid 60's with everyone), and as such, all their levels have gone up (I'm just too lazy to update it right now) Anyway, moving on.

Inferno's (Typhlosion) Attack is his lowest stat, so I don't think Shadow Claw will work too well. It's kinda the reason why I decided to give him Earthquake, to give him a heavy hitting Physical move in case of Special Defenders (it also helps against Rock-types, since Focus Blast is a little inaccurate, although the Wide Lens helps).

Moving on. Ice Beam would be a good move for Nidoking, and I did get a hold of another one from the Seafoam Islands. I mostly taught him Shadow Ball so he could fight Psychic-types, but I'm cool with replacing it (after all, I have one more in reserve), so I'll swap it. As for Poison Jab, his Attack may be quite a bit lower, but it is still in the mid 100's range, and I worry with Sludge Bomb's low PP (although I do have a slew of PP Ups and a few PP Maxes). But I'll think about swapping it if I feel it is necessary.

I've already swapped Signal Beam out with Lanturn. At the moment, she knows Waterfall so I can train near Moltres (and, perhaps, catch it), but Aqua Ring might be a good idea. I'll have to think about that for now.

Tauros can learn Payback, but at an earlier level. I was thinking about teaching him Stone Edge, but I can't seem to find it (it's probably nearby in Mt. Silver, I just haven't explored the whole place yet). I'm not too fond of the Choice items, they seem to sacrifice his variety of moves. I might replace his Leftovers with another Wide Lens (I have a spare) so the lower accuracies of Zen Headbutt and Stone Edge (90 and 80, respectfully), will be more accurate. But Stone Edge was an idea I've been cooking up for a bit.

With Mammoswine, I'm keeping Avalanche. Even if she doesn't get hit, it can KO all three of Lances' Dragonites in one shot. It may be a reduced priority move, but with her monstrous Attack power (201, at the moment), it is deadly. I also taught her Rock Climb so I can scale Mt. Silver.

Yeah, Scrap is way better than my Aerodactyl. I had way too many shared weaknesses with him around (Water, in particular). Roost does sound like a good idea. Secret Power was good at first, but I was thinking of switching it with something else. Any other suggestions for moves?

Overall, great advice. Once my DS's battery charges up, I can put this into motion. However, more advice is always welcome.

Just because Typhlosion's Attack is its worst Stat, it doesn't make it BAD, per se. However, if it really is bad, don't even bother changing its moveset. Bar the Egg Move Extrasensory, most of Typhlosion's best moves are physical.

As for Tauros, get a Heart Scale, go to Blackthorn, and get Payback (if you want it). If you play Switch mode, Choice Items shouldn't effect you too much. Outside of Zen Headbutt, the same Type coverage is found somewhere else on your team, so if you get locked into the wrong move, you could always switch out with no sever penalties.

Skarmory really doesn't do much in game except for be a BEAST Wall, and spam Night Slash and whatever Flying move it uses. It's other strategies are Stealth Rock/Spikes/Roar, and honestly, it may make a good Toxic user if it can get it. As far as Red goes, all you need to do is get Skarmory in when Venusaur comes out, get rid of it, and duke it out from there, Skarmory won't do too much on the other team mates.

[Tropical Torchic]

Hey I need help with my team and what items I should use

Heatran Dark pulse, Lava plum, fire spin, iron head

Magnezone spark, tri attack, flash cannon, Zap Cannon

Dragonite surf, ice beam, thunderbolt, fly

Typhlosion strength, Eruption, overheat, earthquake

Espeon Iron tail, Physic, bite, Future Sight

Swampert, earthquake, hammer arm, muddy water, ice beam.

[Data-Roxas]

i'd recommend swapping Dragonite's BoltBeam Combo for the Elemental Punch equivalent, and teaching it Waterfall vs. Surf. For Heatran, get Magma Storm as soon as you can, the swap Fire Spin out for it. For Espeon, I like the type coverage, but you need to give it more special moves to take advantage of it's rockin' SpAtk. Same with Typhlosion. Swampert, however needs more focus on Physical attack more than special, and has the defense to take a hit for Avalanche.

[Tropical Torchic]

Thanks it I can't wait to try it I'm trying to have my pokemon know like 3 or four different moves so it can take on any pokemon and isn't the best item for a different move pokemon is a restore hp held item right?