DPPt/HGSS Ideas for a Pearl team (in-game, 8th badge onwards)

[baratron]

I'm trying to put together a team for Victory Road and the Elite Four. Unusually for me, I decided on most of the team early & now have 5 Pokemon around level 49. I'm at the stage of taking HMs off them and putting TMs on, but I'm not altogether sure of the movesets or items I want to use. And I have to decide on my sixth Pokemon.

For in-game battling I tend to favour high power attacks over complicated strategies, and I always prefer higher accuracy over power. I'm the sort of person who would only ever use Thunder (power 120, acc 70) rather than Thunderbolt (power 95, acc 100) if I was using the Rain Dance + Thunder move combination that makes Thunder's accuracy 100%. I also love STAB. If you see a * by any power, that means it has the same type bonus.

Drifblim - male - GHOST / FLYING
I'm planning on Drifblim's final moveset being possibly this, but the Calm Mind TM isn't available until after obtaining the National Pokedex. So I'm thinking about:

1. Ominous Wind / Shadow Ball - GHOST, Special [1]
2. Silver Wind - BUG, Special - May raise all user's stats one stage.
3. Thunderbolt - ELECTRIC, Special.
4. Gust - FLYING, Special [2]
Hold item: Kasib Berry - If held by a Pokémon, it weakens a foe's supereffective Ghost-type attack.

[1] I can't decide between Ominous Wind with power 90* + 10% chance of raising all user's stats one stage and Shadow Ball with power 120* + 10% chance of lowering foe's Sp.Def one stage. At the moment it has both and I really should get rid of one!

[2] OK, Gust is pathetic - power 40. But it goes up to 60 with STAB, making it as powerful as Silver Wind. And it is useful against Fighting and Bug types, both of which Drifblim is naturally strong against. I prefer Gust with power 60* and a hit every turn to Fly with power 135* but only hits every other turn and only 95% accuracy.


Floatzel - female - WATER
1. Waterfall - WATER, Physical [3]
2. Crunch - DARK, Physical
3. Ice Fang/Ice Beam - ICE / Dig - GROUND, Physical [4]
4. Some other move to be decided / Swift - NORMAL, Special never miss ??
Hold item: Wacan Berry - If held by a Pokémon, it weakens a foe's supereffective Electric-type attack. - if I can get a Wacan berry! Otherwise don't know.

[3] I've decided to go for Waterfall over Surf because Waterfall is a Physical attack - Surf is Special and hits your ally in 2 on 2 battling.

[4] Ice Fang is Physical but only power 65, accuracy 95%, whereas Ice Beam is Special and power 95, accuracy 100. Which is better - the physical move that's not so powerful and not as accurate, or the special move that's working on a not-so-good stat? Having said that, I don't actually need an Ice-type move on Floatzel because I have Abomasnow for that - so I could use Dig to give her some protection against Electric types. I'm not sure why I've gone for Swift as the fourth move when it uses the Sp.Atk stat, but I like a couple of never miss moves on the team to deal with annoying foes using evasion or messing with your accuracy.


Abomasnow - male - GRASS / ICE
1. Leech Seed - GRASS [5]
2. Razor Leaf / Wood Hammer / Giga Drain / (Energy Ball) - GRASS [6]
3. Ice Punch - ICE, Physical / Ice Beam - ICE, Special
4. Earthquake - GROUND, Physical
Hold Item: Big Root?

[5] This was bred on and I'm having (mental) trouble dislodging it because it'll be impossible to relearn. I keep thinking "But what if I change my mind?!". Also, with the Big Root as hold item, it seems quite powerful. I could remove it if someone comes up with a decent alternative, though.

[6] I have no clue which Grass-type attack to choose. Abomasnow's base Physical & Special stats are equal, so it doesn't "matter" if I choose to go with Physical or Special. Except that if I'm going to use Earthquake, I might want to spend EVs on Attack rather than Sp.Atk. Also I don't have Energy Ball available at this stage in the game. So it's the choice between:
Razor Leaf - power 82.5*, acc 95 + 30% chance of critical hit
Wood Hammer - power 180* (!!), acc 100 but user gets 1/3 of damage caused to foe in recoil.
Giga Drain - power 90*, acc 100 but uses Sp.Atk.

He has Wood Hammer at the moment, but I'm not liking the recoil damage.

[7] Abomasnow is 4x vulnerable to Fire-type attacks, so hopefully having Earthquake on him should offer some protection.


Staraptor - female - NORMAL / FLYING
1. Aerial Ace / Brave Bird - FLYING [8]
2. Steel Wing - STEEL [9]
3. & 4. Dunno. [10]
Hold item: Dunno.

[8] Personally, I'm thinking AA FTW - AA is never miss, and though BB has twice the power, it gives 1/3 recoil damage. Not worth it!

[9] Staraptor is 2x vulnerable to Ice & Rock-type attacks and Steel attacks are 2x effective against Ice & Rock Pokemon.

[10] This is where I completely run out of creativity. Staraptor is Normal & Flying so I "should" use a Normal-type attack for the STAB and versatility, but which one? Quick Attack and Frustration / Return are all possible. Can't get Facade until after the National Pokedex. Then the fourth move could be Roost or Close Combat.

Then again, I could do: Endure + Endeavor + Salac Berry.


Infernape - female - FIRE / FIGHTING
Argh. My starter in Pearl, and the Pokemon I have least idea about.

1. Decent Fire-type move
2. Decent Fighting-type move
3 + 4. Dunno

I cannot decide on a Fire-type move. Again, I'm having Physical vs Special and recoil damage dilemmas - Flame Wheel / Flamethrower / Flare Blitz?

I'm vaguely thinking of going for the horrendously over-used Sunny Day + Fire-type move + Solarbeam combination on Infernape to protect against Water and Ground type Pokemon. The arguments against this are:
1) I'm not sure if Infernape would withstand 2 rounds of attack by a Water or Ground type in order to use Solarbeam (either it's two turns for Solarbeam to power up or you use Sunny Day first then Solarbeam is immediate).
2) I have Grass-type moves covered by Abomasnow already and don't really need any more.

I'm also having trouble picking a Fighting-type move - Close Combat or Brick Break? Another possibility could be Focus Punch + Substitute, but that's also overused, and would block the Sunny Day combination mentioned due to lack of free slots.

And I was vaguely thinking about a Rock-type move, on the basis it would defend against Flying types and I don't already have one on my team.

It's too late at night to think about this much more, but I'd welcome suggestions. I'm also trying to figure out who should occupy the 6th spot on the team. I have an idea, but it would be interesting to hear what other people think the holes in the team are.

 

[King of Rhinos]

ok, for infernape (tired so thats all ill comment about right now)
i suggest
flamethrower
grass knot
stone edge
nasty plot if you got it

 

[Plapti]

Infernape's attacks all depend on its stats. Higher special means this is a better set:

-Close Combat/Focus Blast
-Flame Thrower
-Grass Knot
-Calm Mind

Close Combat for its power and accuracy but at the cost of stats. Focus Blast has its STAB and it's indirect, but has horrible accuracy.
Flame Thrower for obvious reasons.
Grass Knot for ground, Water and it's Special.
Calm mind to increase Special Attack, Special Defence

If it has a Higher Attack Stat:

-Flare Blitz/Flame Wheel
-Close Combat/Brick Break
-Shadow Claw/Punishment/U-Turn
-Stone Edge

Flare Blitz for power, Flame Wheel for no recoil.
Close Combat for Power, Brick Break for no stat reductions.
Shadow Claw and Punishment to crush Psychic types while U-Turn gets a free super effective hit in and switches to a different Pokemon.
Stone Edge is to deal with Flying.

As for Abomasnow, there are only Two Fire types in the E4. It's just Infernape and Rapidash, so Earthquake seems a little pointless to me, so maybe you could have Rock Slide and it takes care of its Flying type weakness, but its your team.

As for Staraptor, maybe this will help:

-Aerial Ace/Brave Bird
-Close Combat/Steel Wing
-Giga Impact/Return
-U-Turn

Aerial Ace never misses but has a lower attack than Brave Bird. Brave Bird is powerful but has Recoil.
Close Combat could be used instead of Steel Wing and covers the same weakness but at the cost of stats.
U-turn can get a free hit in and then let you switch out for something else.
And Giga Impact can be used as a finisher while Return has good damage without waiting to recharge.

Floatzel's Ice Fang is quite handy because it'll almost always let Floatzel put a dent into Grass Type Pokemon and benfits with it being Physical, so drop Ice Beam.
The Only problem with dig is that it is a two turn move and the E4 could switch into something that resists Ground types, but most Electric Pokemon can't learn Earthquake, so it's a pretty good option.

Maybe a Dark Pokemon could fill the last spot. Lucian is the hardest battle and he uses Psychic types. A Dark type wouldn't be affected by Psychic types and could use physical types to dipose of the Psychic types. Just a thought though.

Your team is looking good. Just my thoughts, hoped it helped.

Edit:Fixed a couple of typos.

 

[MarineMilotic]

For Abomasnow I'd recommend

Wood Hammer
Ice Punch
Earthquake
Leech Seed(since you bred for it and it could help keep you alive if you use it)

That way you can focus on its Attack.

 

[baratron]

ok, for infernape (tired so thats all ill comment about right now)
i suggest
flamethrower
grass knot
stone edge
nasty plot if you got it

I evolved Chimchar straight away, so didn't get Nasty Plot. Tell me about Grass Knot? All the 'dex says is Power increases if foe is heavy, which doesn't tell me much about how to use it.

Obviously, your moveset is best for high Sp. Atk Infernapes. Mine currently has slightly higher Sp.Atk than Attack stat, but I haven't sorted out the EVs yet. I'm growing tons of those berries that let you reduce EVs . I'm planning to EV train for Defence, as she has a Hasty nature (-Def +Speed) and for either Attack or Sp.Atk depending on which one she needs most. This means I'd prefer to have all her attacks using the same stat, and as I don't have Nasty Plot, I guess I'll go for all physical attacks.

I'll definitely bear your moveset in mind when I breed more Chimchars, though.

[quote authorlapti link=topic=2810.msg35740#msg35740 date=1188844869]
Infernape's attacks all depend on its stats. Higher special means this is a better set:
...
Close Combat for its power and accuracy but at the cost of stats. Focus Blast has its STAB and it's indirect, but has horrible accuracy.
Flame Thrower for obvious reasons.
Grass Knot for ground, Water and it's Special.
Calm mind to increase Special Attack, Special Defence
[/quote]
I'd definitely pick Close Combat over Focus Blast because of the accuracy. I know that a White Herb will restore any lowered stat, but I'm not sure if it's buyable. Are there any other held items that restore lowered stats? A berry would be awesome ;D.

[quote authorlapti link=topic=2810.msg35740#msg35740 date=1188844869]
If it has a Higher Attack Stat:
...
Flare Blitz for power, Flame Wheel for no recoil.
Close Combat for Power, Brick Break for no stat reductions.
[/quote]
Bah, I wanted someone to make the decision for me > You're fired! ;D

[quote authorlapti link=topic=2810.msg35740#msg35740 date=1188844869]
Shadow Claw and Punishment to crush Psychic types while U-Turn gets a free super effective hit in and switches to a different Pokemon.
Stone Edge is to deal with Flying.
[/quote]
Hmm, I was wondering how Punishment worked. I found this page at Serebii. If I understand that correctly... I think I'd rather leave Punishment for competitive battling against actual humans. It doesn't seem ideal for in-game, because there are few AI Trainers who over-use the stat boosting moves.

Can't decide between Shadow Claw & U-Turn. Shadow Claw has a high Critical Hit ratio & is super effective against Psychic types, but I already have a Ghost-type move on my team. U-Turn isn't super effective against Psychic types (I just checked), but I don't already have a Bug-type move and the free switch could be useful. Hmm.

You've sold me on Stone Edge. Though why do all Rock-type TMs have lousy accuracy? It seems to be a law!

[quote authorlapti link=topic=2810.msg35740#msg35740 date=1188844869]
As for Abomasnow, there are only Two Fire types in the E4. It's just Infernape and Rapidash, so Earthquake seems a little pointless to me, so maybe you could have Rock Slide and it takes care of its Flying type weakness, but its your team.
[/quote]
Every Team Must Always Use Earthquake .

[quote authorlapti link=topic=2810.msg35740#msg35740 date=1188844869]
As for Staraptor, maybe this will help:
-Aerial Ace/Brave Bird
-Close Combat/Steel Wing
-Giga Impact/Return
-U-Turn
[/quote]
Argh! Having half-convinced me I want to use U-Turn on Infernape, now you suggest it for Staraptor! Argh!

Having said that, I'm not sure what benefit it would have for Staraptor particularly. Bug-type moves are 2 x effective against Grass and Dark, neither of which are desperate problems for a Normal/Flying type.

[quote authorlapti link=topic=2810.msg35740#msg35740 date=1188844869]
Close Combat could be used instead of Steel Wing and covers the same weakness but at the cost of stats.
[/quote]
Good point. I'd missed that they cover the same weakness :-\.

[quote authorlapti link=topic=2810.msg35740#msg35740 date=1188844869]
Maybe a Dark Pokemon could fill the last spot. Lucian is the hardest battle and he uses Psychic types. A Dark type wouldn't be affected by Psychic types and could use physical types to dipose of the Psychic types. Just a thought though.
[/quote]
Cool. I'm glad someone else was thinking along those lines. How about Skuntank? Something like:
1. Night Slash - DARK, high critical hit ratio.
2. Poison Jab - POISON.
3. Some other move that uses the Attack stat.
4. Toxic ?

 

[baratron]

For Abomasnow I'd recommend

Wood Hammer
Ice Punch
Earthquake
Leech Seed(since you bred for it and it could help keep you alive if you use it)

That way you can focus on its Attack.

Yeah, I think I agree with you about focusing on one stat (Attack or Sp.Atk, not both). It's interesting how I've ended up with a team with only one Special attacker. I love the new physical/special split, and have been really going for Pokemon who are improved by it. Funny how I've ended up with all Pokemon whose Type would previously have been special but now have good physical moves, and none who are the other way round.

My problem with Wood Hammer is that Abomasnow's currently taking far too much damage from it. In a Double battle, I can use Leech Seed on one opponent then Wood Hammer the second, and the return from Leech Seed with Big Root may be enough to heal the recoil damage. But it's not guaranteed, and so I either waste time having to heal Abomasnow mid-battle, or run the risk of KOing my own pkmn.

How does recoil work? Is it always 1/3 of the HP, or 1/3 of the "damage" (calculated in some complicated way)? I'm wondering whether EV training for Defence will stop my Infernape or Abomasnow taking so much damage from recoil. If it's based solely on HP, then I guess only EV training for HP will help, and I'm not sure I can afford to "spend" EV on that. If it's a problem with Abomasnow who has base Attack of 92 & base HP of 90, it'll be horrendous to try to use Flare Blitz on Infernape with base Attack 104 but only base HP 76...

 

[Plapti]

Recoil is based on damage done. If Infernape does 99 damage, it'll take 33 as recoil.

U-Turn is obtainable at the Veilstone Game Corner for 6000 coins.

With Infernape's speed, Flare Blitz and Close Combat hit hard and fast. If Infernape is always killing the Pokemon without them landing a hit, you'll go through about 4 Pokemon before it faints. With the Muscle band, Physcial moves have their attack power increased, too. And Blaze will increase Flare Blitz's attack power.

Try this Serebii link for Grass Knot and Low Kick: http://www.serebii.net/games/gklk.shtml

You could try Explosion on Skuntank. It can be used as a last Resort and it's Physical.

Bug-Type attacks are aso super-effective against Psychic.

 

[Sem]

Mmk, Sem be apostin'.

Drifblim... I'd go with Ominous Wind since you got that stat-boost thing going, and I'm all for Gust, especially if you give it a Sky Plate, it'd make it usable. I also agree with Silver Wind and Thunderbolt.

Floatzel: If you're going to go with Ice Beam and Swift then you should EV it in Special Attack, since Floatzel's base Special Attack isn't so bad, and it'd be pretty decent once EV'd... So Ice Beam and Swift would certainly have some kick.

And I'm not much of a fan of two turn moves such as Dig. If you're facing an Electric-type you'd be better off switching out. And Thunderbolt is so common these days you could get hit with it by something you wouldn't expect, and so Dig would prove useless. So I say Ice Beam in place of Dig.

Abomasnow: I don't supposed you'd be willing to breed Seed Bomb onto it huh? XD I'd go with Razor Leaf actually. While Wood Hammer is nice attack-wise, all that recoil damage is going to be ugly x_o Leech Seed is good, I love that attack. Ice Punch and Earthquake are also good, but since Abomasnow is rather... slow... why not Avalanche? 60 base power, but doubles if the foe is hit first.

Staraptor: Aerial Ace definitely, and I like Steel Wing too. Return is a good choice for the third move. You could go with Facade and give Staraptor the Toxic Orb, but I don't think you'll like that too much. I'm more for Return however. And lastly I think U-Turn is a good choice, but Close Combat could be too... But I go U-turn, Psychic killers are handy.

Infernape: First off, I wouldn't bother EVing Infernape in its defenses, especially with a Defense lowering Nature, I don't think the EV's would do all that much in the end, but I could be wrong ^^; I'd focus on Attack and Speed mainly though.

I'd go Flame Wheel and Brick Break would do the job, methinks. Even with all the power of Close Combat I don't like those stat reductions. You could go with Shadow Claw as stated above but you have Drifblim for that. Poison Jab is there for possible learnage, as well as Aerial Ace and Earthquake. So with so many possibilities I couldn't give you one for certain I'm afraid ^^;

Oh, and you may like Rock Slide more than Stone Edge, less power but more accuracy. Stone Edge has 80 while Rock Slide has 90. Rock Slide also doesn't have the critical hit ratio, so I don't know what you may go with but I'm just alerting you to Rock Slide being available.

Also, if you're in need of TM's I'd be happy to give you some, I have plenty. Just ask ^^

 

[baratron]

Bug-Type attacks are aso super-effective against Psychic.

I'll reply to the rest of your post later (got to go shopping for things I need for work, then to work), but Whaaaat?! After you and Sem said this again, I re-checked the Pokecharms Type Chart - it still says Bug-type attacks are only normally effective against Psychic pkmn. So then I checked in the Prima Guide for Diamond & Pearl, saw the blob saying Bug is Super Effective, figured it was something new for 4th gen - then checked in the Prima Pokedex for the 3rd gen, and it's the bloody 'Charms chart that's wrong!!! ARGH!!!!!!

Now I have to go and check every effing line of the 'Charms chart to make sure none of the rest of it is wrong, and then recheck my strategy crib sheet to make sure it all still applies. Gah!

Thank you for politely insisting you were right. I appreciate it.

 

[baratron]

Recoil is based on damage done. If Infernape does 99 damage, it'll take 33 as recoil.
...
With Infernape's speed, Flare Blitz and Close Combat hit hard and fast. If Infernape is always killing the Pokemon without them landing a hit, you'll go through about 4 Pokemon before it faints. With the Muscle band, Physcial moves have their attack power increased, too. And Blaze will increase Flare Blitz's attack power.

Ahh... I thought I'd made my choice, but now you're complicating things again. (I suffer from terminal indecisiveness. Could you guess? This "moves limited to only 4" thing kills me!). Where do you get the Muscle Band from?

[quote authorlapti link=topic=2810.msg35785#msg35785 date=1188871766]
U-Turn is obtainable at the Veilstone Game Corner for 6000 coins.
[/quote]
Hahahaha, have you ever seen me play that thing? I've only ever won coins on it twice, by sheer random luck. My eyes blur when the wheels spin and I can't see them at all.

I guess I'll have to hope Sem has a spare U-Turn that he's not using.

[quote authorlapti link=topic=2810.msg35785#msg35785 date=1188871766]
Try this Serebii link for Grass Knot and Low Kick: http://www.serebii.net/games/gklk.shtml
[/quote]
Thanks. I wish Serebii's site was easier to navigate. I know he's written loads of pages about game mechanics of particular moves, but trying to find them is impossible. A lot of pages don't seem to be linked from anywhere sensible, like the move's main page or the DP sidebar, so you have to go back to the Archived News & hope for the best.

[quote author=Sem link=topic=2810.msg35803#msg35803 date=1188886774]
Drifblim... I'd go with Ominous Wind since you got that stat-boost thing going, and I'm all for Gust, especially if you give it a Sky Plate, it'd make it usable. I also agree with Silver Wind and Thunderbolt.
[/quote]
Where can I find the Sky Plate?

[quote author=Sem link=topic=2810.msg35803#msg35803 date=1188886774]
Abomasnow: I don't supposed you'd be willing to breed Seed Bomb onto it huh? XD I'd go with Razor Leaf actually. While Wood Hammer is nice attack-wise, all that recoil damage is going to be ugly x_o Leech Seed is good, I love that attack. Ice Punch and Earthquake are also good, but since Abomasnow is rather... slow... why not Avalanche? 60 base power, but doubles if the foe is hit first.
[/quote]
I'm planning to breed on Seed Bomb, but no damn critter in D/P learns it naturally. You have to have finished the game & got the National Dex & acquired e.g. a Bulbasaur. So it's likely to turn up on my super child-of-Turtwig in Diamond .

The recoil damage of Wood Hammer is ugly. I don't like it. Hence my confusion/lack-of-desire to use Flare Blitz on Infernape, who has even worse HP & Def stats.

Hadn't thought of Avalanche. Do you suggest Avalanche + Lagging Tail? Or keep the Big Root for Leech Seed?

[quote author=Sem link=topic=2810.msg35803#msg35803 date=1188886774]
Staraptor: Aerial Ace definitely, and I like Steel Wing too. Return is a good choice for the third move. You could go with Facade and give Staraptor the Toxic Orb, but I don't think you'll like that too much. I'm more for Return however. And lastly I think U-Turn is a good choice, but Close Combat could be too... But I go U-turn, Psychic killers are handy.
[/quote]
Problem is, I've pretty much decided on U-Turn for Infernape, seeing as it's more in need of a Psychic killer. And I don't like to have the exact same move on multiple Pokemon. Meh. I suppose this is only in-game, anyway, so it's not like it matters hugely.

[quote author=Sem link=topic=2810.msg35803#msg35803 date=1188886774]
Also, if you're in need of TM's I'd be happy to give you some, I have plenty. Just ask ^^
[/quote]
YES! I need U-turn! I'll never manage to get it from the Game Corner, unless I spend all my PokeDollars on coins! PLEASE!!

 

[Plapti]

Muscle Band is Post E4, my bad. Sky Plates can be found Underground.

Well, you could always use potions after the battle and that's only if you use Flare Blitz all the time. If you use Close Combat then Flare blitz, you'll survive longer (provided they don't attack).

Did you get the First U-Turn yet?
If not, it's in CanClave City. Go out to the dock and then Surf south ward and there shoud be a gap for you to pass by. On an island there, U-Turn is found there. Hope that helped.

I could get you a Snover that knows Seed Bomb for you and U-Turn if you need it.

Avalanche would be nasty on Abomasnow. With 120 base attack with the Lagging Tail (Almost makes you go last) plus STAB, the attack would be around 180. All I can say is Ouch. That's a good options, but you're going to get hit hard if you keep on movig second, so stick with Leech Seed and Big Root, methinks.

Just my thoughts. Hoped it helped.

 

[baratron]

Muscle Band is Post E4, my bad. Sky Plates can be found Underground.

Argh, to both of those. The Underground is so... random!

Any suggestions for a suitable alternative to the Muscle Band that I'll be able to get?

[quote authorlapti link=topic=2810.msg35879#msg35879 date=1188967153]
Did you get the First U-Turn yet?
If not, it's in CanClave City. Go out to the dock and then Surf south ward and there shoud be a gap for you to pass by. On an island there, U-Turn is found there. Hope that helped.
[/quote]
Ah! Thank you! That helped a lot, I'd seen it was in Canalave City in the Prima guide but thought I'd searched all of the city already. Didn't realise you could Surf from that part.

[quote authorlapti link=topic=2810.msg35879#msg35879 date=1188967153]
I could get you a Snover that knows Seed Bomb for you and U-Turn if you need it.
[/quote]
Mmm... I think it would be a useful thing to have, especially if I'm going to have either Abomasnow or Torterra in my final competitive team (likely, as I love Grass types), but I don't need it urgently now. I had been trying to find some way to save the Earthquake TM I put on my current Abomasnow from being wasted, by passing it on to offspring when he breeds, but I couldn't find any sensible way of getting it onto a Grass type as none of them can learn EQ in their first stage.

When can you be around on Wi-fi?

 

[baratron]

Just in case you were wondering, this was my final team. I'm posting it here because I discovered it's far from ideal, so it's not as if I need to keep it a secret for competitive battling .

Infernape - female - FIRE / FIGHTING - Level 50 (before E4), Level 53 (after Hall of Fame)
1. Stone Edge - ROCK
2. U-Turn - BUG
3. Fire Blast - FIRE
4. Close Combat - FIGHTING
Hold item: Razor Claw - boosts Critical Hit ratio

Infernape started out with the move set Stone Edge / U-Turn / Flame Wheel / Close Combat. But then I had trouble with Lucian's Bronzong Of D00m, as I couldn't KO it with Flame Wheel before it wiped out my entire team. As I've done sod all EV training because I just wanted to finish the game so I could import my GBA Pokemon and make a "proper" team, my Infernape's Attack and Sp.Atk stats were basically identical, meaning that Fire Blast was twice as strong and let me wipe out Bronzong. Yay. Stone Edge's lack of accuracy and low PP annoyed me... U-Turn turned out to be surprisingly useful.

Also, a thing that annoyed me immensely? Infernape can be hit by Shadow Ball . Did you know that? I might have picked a different Fighting-type if I'd known Infernape wasn't immune to Ghost-type moves. Humph.


Floatzel - female - WATER - Level 51 (before E4), Level 54 (after Hall of Fame)
1. Waterfall - WATER, Physical
2. Crunch - DARK, Physical
3. Ice Fang - ICE, Physical
4. Swift - NORMAL, Special
Hold item: Dread Plate

Floatzel also has near-identical Attack and Sp.Atk. She also had only 3 decent moves - I didn't use Swift at all. But Waterfall, Crunch & Ice Fang all came in handy against various people. She needs her Sp.Atk EVs removed & given to HP, Attack & Defence.


Abomasnow - male - GRASS / ICE - Level 51 (before E4), Level 51 (after Hall of Fame)
1. Leech Seed - GRASS
2. Wood Hammer - GRASS
3. Ice Punch - ICE, Physical
4. Earthquake - GROUND, Physical
Hold Item: Big Root

Yet again, my Abomasnow had almost identical Attack and Sp.Atk stats, so I probably "should" have put Ice Beam on him. However, I didn't want to waste the TM on a Pokemon that I might not be keeping - especially as I can't figure out how to breed Earthquake onto anyone else. That really has proven to be a waste of a move, because most Pokemon with Fire-type moves are faster than Abomasnow, so that EQ does nothing to protect him. He got one hit KOed more times than I can remember - bloody Lucario! (I reset the game every time I ran out of Pokemon, so I did some of the E4 2 or 3 times and Cynthia 4 times in total). The one saving grace? Leech Seed + Big Root. Awesome.


Staraptor - female - NORMAL / FLYING - Level 51 (before E4), Level 53 (after Hall of Fame)
1. Aerial Ace - FLYING
2. Steel Wing - STEEL
3. Return - NORMAL
4. Natural Gift
Hold item: Persim Berry - makes Natural Gift a GROUND move with power 60.

Ugh. Waste of a Pokemon. Staraptor needs Speed and Attack EV training so she can hit hard & fast, and she didn't have that. I don't believe I used Steel Wing with any great effect at all. In fact, I spent a lot of time wishing for a Fighting move on someone with Earthquake immunity, and regretting having replaced Close Combat with Steel Wing >. Natural Gift, however - that was an inspired move! The Ground-type attack on Staraptor was useful more than a few times, and of course you can make it any type you like by changing the berry.


Skuntank - female - POISON / DARK - Level 50 (before E4), Level 51 (after Hall of Fame)
1. Toxic - POISON
2. Slash - NORMAL
3. Night Slash - DARK
4. Poison Jab - POISON
Hold item: Shuca Berry - If held by a Pokémon, it weakens a foe's supereffective Ground-type attack.

Skuntank was great. Recruited rather late to fill in the gaps in my team, she single-handedly wiped out Spiritomb four times and induced Toxic in a variety of other Pokemon. That Shuca Berry kept her alive after Gastrodon's Earthquake.


Drifblim - male - GHOST / FLYING - Level 50 (before E4), Level 51 (after Hall of Fame)
1. Ominous Wind - GHOST, Special - May raise all user's stats one stage.
2. Silver Wind - BUG, Special - May raise all user's stats one stage.
3. Thunderbolt - ELECTRIC, Special.
4. Gust - FLYING, Special.
Hold item: Sky Plate

Drifblim surprised me - I was thinking of him as a "fill in the gaps" sixth Pokemon rather than as a Special sweeper. His Sp.Atk stat is appalling and I need to remove all the EVs from Attack & give them to Sp.Atk. However, his HP and defensive stats were surprisingly high, and he did pretty well as a Tank (!!). Cynthia's Garchomp was the single most annoying Pokemon of the lot, but it turned out that Drifblim was surprisingly resistant to it - 3 out of Garchomp's 4 moves couldn't hit Drifblim, and the 4th was Dragon Rush - only 75% accurate. As a result, Drifblim hung on long enough for me to use Max Revive on all of my KOed pkmn. Also, his Aftermath made a big dent in that Garchomp, enabling one of my others to knock it out. Yay.


Things I'd fix before fighting the E4 again?
More Fighting moves across the whole team.
A Grass move on a non-Grass type.
EV training!!
Better hold item on Floatzel, maybe?