DPPt/HGSS Pearl Team advice

[How2SkinAGrape]

This is my first post, seemed like a cool site(is so far). I need help with my team for beating the elite four in Pearl. So uh here is what i was thinking for my team
Oh and i have two questions, what's EV and why does nature matter?

Jester(Infernape)
Nature-Brave
lvl-47 (im a super lame level upper...)
Flame Wheel
Flamethrower
Rockclimb
Fire Spin

Whitelily(Roserade)
nature-hasty
lvl-40
Grasswhistle
giga drain
ingrain
cut

HawkTalon(staravia)
nature- impish
lvl-23
Fly
Endeavor
Wing Attack
Double Team

Maria(Sneavel)
nature-bashful
lvl-34
faint attack
fury swipes
agility
icey wind

CC(shellos)
nature-naughty
lvl-26
Hidden Power
Surf
Rain Dance
Water Pulse

StarBlitz(luxray)
nature-lonely
lvl-49
strength
spark
crunch
thunder fang

Of course i intend to train them all to a much higher level,and evolve almost all of em (staravia, sneavel, shellos) but im not sure which moves i should teach them and or if i should switch em out for a more suitable pokemon. I was also wondering if i should switch someone out for my Palkia. thnx fer reading

 

[KoL]

Natures will each raise one of your stats and lower another, depending on what the Nature is. Typically, you'll want Natures that boost the stat you'll be making the most use out of, and lower the stat you'll be making little to no use out of at all. EVs you won't need to worry about for in-game - it's only competitive battling that really requires them.

As for your movesets, they're abysmal even by in-game standards. I won't bother with Natures since they're generally irrelevant for in-game, but Infernape carrying three Fire-type attacks and a HM move is just atrocious. GrassWhistle is a poor move in general thanks to its terrible 55% accuracy, Ingrain doesn't really find any use in-game and having Giga Drain as its only (real - Cut doesn't count) attack effectively cripples it. Staravia, Shellos and Sneasel don't seem like they'll be doing a lot anyway since their levels are so low, but I can tell you now that their movesets are very poor as well. Luxray has quite possibly the best moveset (and Nature as well) of all of your Pokemon, but Spark + Thunder Fang means that that really isn't saying very much at all.

I suggest you read this:

http://www.pokecharms.com/forums/index.php?topic=3017.0

Even though this topic is for competitive battling primarily, in-game teams with competitive-style movesets work extremely well. Have a look through that topic and sort your team out so that it at least partially complies with this topic.

 

[GodlessM]

In game absolutely any team works. The only reason yours isn't is because of the extremely low levels. Has this been your team throughout the game???

 

[How2SkinAGrape]

King: thnx for answering the nature question and the adivce oh! *peeks at basics* its long! haha

GodlesM: nope luxray, infernape, and roserade have been with me from the beginning, the other pokemon i picked up along the way

 

[GodlessM]

Well you should probably use the team you've had all along.

 

[GengarsShadow52]

Well you should probably use the team you've had all along.

I agree with GodlessM, using your original team is a good idea and usually pays off. But that does not mean it is always the best idea. My Pearl team is Gengar, Tyranitar, Pidgeot, Victreebel, Dragonite, and Gyarados. All lv.100. Never been defeated. It took a while to collect them all, and i put a lot of thought into this team. With them i have defeated the Elite Four and gone through a large portion of Pearl. What i am trying to say is, do not pick a team just based on level or when they were caught. Base the team on available attacks, type advantages and disadvantages. This is not something you do in one day. Take your time, think things through. After you have gathered your team, or the pre-evolved forms of your team, train them and train often. Once you are satisfied with the levels and abilities of your Pokemon find and equip items, underground most likely, that will power up your team.

 

[baratron]

I disagree with GodlessM, actually. Your team covers a wide range of Types and, if trained properly, could be excellent. I don't know about anyone else, but personally I tend to start with one Pokemon and end up with a team of three or four, plus two HM slaves (one for Flying/Defog, one for Surfing/Cutting/Rock Smashing). It's only once I'm at least halfway through the game that I figure out who my final two Pokemon should be.

Jester(Infernape)
Nature-Brave
lvl-47 (im a super lame level upper...)
Flame Wheel
Flamethrower
Rockclimb
Fire Spin

Get rid of Rock Climb. Put it on an HM Slave (a Pokemon who only knows HMs, that you get out of your PC only when you need to use the HM).

Infernape - FIRE / FIGHTING
1. Stone Edge - ROCK
2. U-Turn - BUG
3. Flame Wheel / Fire Blast - FIRE
4. Close Combat - FIGHTING
Hold item: Razor Claw - boosts Critical Hit ratio

Let me explain where this moveset came from. Infernape needs a Fire move and a Fighting move, because these moves match the Pokemon's Type and so get STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus). Close Combat happens to be "free" (obtained by level up), and is very powerful, so that's the obvious choice for the Fighting move.

The Fire move should be Flame Wheel if you've been training your Infernape carefully - Infernapes can be physical or special attackers, and the rest of this moveset is physical. However, I was lazy with mine and her Attack and Sp.Atk stats were virtually identical. So I replaced Flame Wheel with the more powerful Fire Blast, just so I could get past Lucian's Bronzong. Fire Blast was only more powerful because the Attack and Sp.Atk stats were the same. Ideally Attack should be much higher than Sp.Atk.

Infernape is vulnerable to Water, Ground, Flying and Psychic moves. You can't do anything about the Water and Ground weaknesses other than switch out, but you can protect against Flying and Psychic types. Rock moves are supereffective against Flying-type Pokemon, and Infernape can learn several Rock moves by TM. Also, Bug moves are supereffective against Psychic-type Pokemon, and U-turn is also useful for a "free" switch to another Pokemon without using up a move.

Does that help explain the kind of thinking you need to do?

[quote author=How2SkinAGrape link=topic=6328.msg107436#msg107436 date=1245125217]
HawkTalon(staravia)
nature- impish
lvl-23
Fly
Endeavor
Wing Attack
Double Team
[/quote]
Impish is an OK nature for a Staraptor - not brilliant, but it'll do. I'd recommend something like:
Staraptor - NORMAL / FLYING
1. Aerial Ace - FLYING - gets STAB, never misses
2. Close Combat - FIGHTING
3. Return - NORMAL - also gets STAB, very powerful if high friendship level
4. Natural Gift
Hold item: Persim Berry - makes Natural Gift a GROUND move with power 60.

Having a Ground move on a Flying Pokemon? Really useful.

Hopefully that gives you a better idea of what you need to be doing. Post again when you've thought about and refined your team a bit more.