Pokemon

[zechs]

on a replay of emerald I chose a new team

Blaziken

Tropius

Gardevoir

Aggron

Salamence

Gyarados

[Hyruleansoldier]

Worthy team. Very worthy.

Only Tropius I hadn't really considered to be worthy.  Perhaps because of that unwritten rule that I don't trust unevolving pokémon?  Except for all those legendaries of course...


Anyway, I've abstained from really having a fixed team.  I will have one eventually, but as of now I've been evolving 'Mon on the way.  In the first part of the game there are a great many 'Mon you encounter at low levels which you need to evolve 2 times, there not being any evolved forms of them in the wild.  So that's what I did.

And that's why I pretty soon had myself a Gardevoir, for one.  I've evolved quite a bunch, and am now still riding with Trapinch to (eventually) become Flygon, and Vigoroth to become Slaking.

The only fixed members of my team are Marshtomp (Water starter) and Linoone (HM bitch and free item pickup - gotta love 'im for that).

[Indigo-go]

I once had a dream team I tried to train:

Espeon
Umbreon
Hitmonchan
Rayquaza
Raikou
Houndoom

I did end up getting a calm Eevee, but sold my games before I got my pwnsome Espeon.  I liked the Espeon/Umbreon Yin-Yang effect.  Hitmonchan is my homeboy.  Rayquaza is just sweet.  Raikou would be my pet.  Houndoom is the protector. 

It was more like a "if it was real life" team more than anything.

[Hyruleansoldier]

Haha, cool team!  And pretty balanced, too.

Btw Houndoom = Arcanine2, and can do some pretty good damage!


I find it to be very efficient to do the following:

- Trade the Pokémon that really NEED to evolve by levelling up from another version, and level it up in your main game so you get boosted exp. points!

- Always drop 2 Pokémon in the Daycare, regardless whether you want to breed Pokémon.  If you beat the adventure in the meantime, they will have levelled up considerably, which is especially handy for those Mon you have to the 40ies and 50ies!

- Don't just catch a new Pokémon when you see it, check where else he appears later in the game, cause if he does, he'll be at higher level, and in a few cases they will be at a level where they should evolve, requiring only one more level-up to evolve them!

- If you are REALLY desperate about raising one or more Mon, use exp. share, and don't use too much other Pokémon - instead use the Macho Brace to get more exp. points and then switch to your preferred Mon to finish the job.  I've also found that when you fight with more than one Mon and let the others die, the last one remaining (having fought in battle of course) will get all the exp. points of the others as well...  An expensive option, yet if you Fly back to a Pokémon Center and repeat the process you can get thousands of exp. points in a matter of minutes...

- And of course use repels.  They will not keep EVERY Pokémon away, but the weaker ones.  Those who don't give you much exp. points in the first place.  This is also a great tip for when you're chasing legendaries such the Lati's and the Legendary Gerbils.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

Finally got back to Emerald today on the trip back to Uni. It's been a while. Spent the first couple of hours getting a Ninjask and Shedinja, before returning on my journey. Just defeated Brawly, but am the proud owner of 40 different species of Pokémon, including the first and second stages of all three starters.

Should really move things on quickish before I get completely lost in Sinnoh. Yanks get it tomorrow, hopefully it won't be long before I get it too. *everything crossed*

Current Emerald Team:
Taillow (Wing Attack, Double Team, Steel Wing, Quick Attack)
Kadabra (Confusion, Psybeam, Disable, Teleport)
Combusken (Ember, Double Kick, Sand Attack, Peck)
Lombre (Absorb, Astonish, Nature Power, Fake Out)
Gyarados (Tackle, Bite, Splash, *****)

Needs some work, and obviously a sixth team member. High possibility that it'll be Flygon in the end. Also a good chance I'll be trading a spare Lotad for a Seedot back in Rustboro as things aren't working out so well with Lombre.

[Hyruleansoldier]

I usually trade the ones I'm gonna be using or evolving from S/E so they level up more quickly.

And guess who my Fly bitch is?  Skarmory!  There's an original choice.  That Steel/Flying combo happens to be resistent to many many types.  I find it to be quite worthy.

And oh, I've got 101 Mon now...  And not even halfway through the Evolvaton ^^

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

Not sure where my Fly will go. Certainly not near Taillow. Damn Zigzagoon's lack of wings...

Meanwhile.... English screenshots for Diamond/Pearl...

Highlights? The return of Red Gyarados (the only Shiny I have ever caught... still) is true! The Pokédex looks pretty slick

[Hyruleansoldier]

Indeed it does!  I've watched the gameplay movies the other day and the 3-D'ness looked cool as well.

Yeah that Red Gyarados was my only shiny one as well...  If they had made that rarity a bit more un-rare then I might have submerged myself into the breeding and/or catching or some shiny mon...

As for Flygon, that's exactly who I'm on my way of raising.  I'm not sure whether I should end up teaching him fly though...  He has quite the destructive moveset already.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

It's a shame Shiny genetics dictate that even breeded, there is no guarantee no chance that their offspring will also be Shiny. Otherwise, I'd have the D/P Red Gyarados breeding with anything. Always better to raise from the ground up, no matter how cool a 'Mon may be.

Tis also the reason I've blanked the Legendaries except for Articuno... Manaphy from Ranger might be the best addition to my team ever.

[Hyruleansoldier]

Tis true though.  Raised-from-the-lowest Mon are the best.

Articuno will always be my #2 Legendary.  (You know #1).

You gotta love conflicting types...

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

Was a sensible (and unsurprising) decision to make freshly hatched Mon start at Lv1 for D/P. Always through me that I'd be carrying around my Lv5 Togepi and putting it against Lv2 Rattata in GSC.

Should only need a couple of battles to get any new babies to Lv5 though I'd imagine.

[Hyruleansoldier]

Ah!  Nice fact.

Indeed, would take just one battle against a few Lv. 20 or higher 'Mon to boost up a few hundred (and a few levels) from the get-go.


I officially love Emerald.  You can get both fossils, and both "weather" Mon...

And if you breed the fossil Mon with Ditto...   Exactly my plan.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

Now being exceedingly anal and arranging my boxes in numerical (National) Pokédex order. I will find a way of owning all 386 so trading them over to Diamond shouldn't be so hard.

I can still imagine a third title being squeezed out somehow... Pokémon Quartz is my reckoning.

[Hyruleansoldier]

I've already seen shots of Quartz (and various other rip-off versions).

Oh yes, I'm doing that, too.  I'm going to get the Dex in R/S/E/, beat LG/FR to get all the other Mon, and if time is with me, I'm going to collect as much doubles as possible, so when I will have (eventually) transferred them all to D/P  I still have a decent bunch of Mon left in the other games...

Cause it would be sheer petty to abandon an entire region with all your Mon with it.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

Just trying to weigh up which of the Starters I'll be going with come Diamond's arrival. I've been saying Chimchar (Hikozaru) since they were first revealed. Now I'm getting all serious and leaping ahead considering final Movesets... Of which Infernape's is the hardest to work and needs TM's to be half decent.

Who ever heard of a Fire type which needs to be TAUGHT Flamethrower?

>
Turtwig to Torterra
Earthquake, Synthesis, Crunch, Giga Drain

>
Chimchar to Infernape
Flamethrower, Infighting, Shadow Claw, Aerial Ace

>
Piplup to Empoleon
Drill Peck, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Raster Cannon

All subject to change whichever I go with as I have no true knowledge of the TM's names and effects, but it doesn't look good for Chimchar...

[Hyruleansoldier]

If Empoleon learned Bite somehwere along the way, he'd be Blastoise²...

That Blastoise can get you through the entire game without much need for other Mon...


But then now that Infernape has both Fighting, Dark and Flying potential...  Still, worth considering...

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

That was what I was thinking. It could be worth it. I did typically end up with a Nidoking who was nothing but a TM powerhouse in the old days. Surf, Thunder, Fire Blast and Rock Slide was the old Moveset.

Then he came to learn Megahorn naturally in FR, which being a Bug type move counters his Psychic weakness beautifully.

You, Sir, may just have talked me into making a huge mistake and going for something with a name like Turtwig...

(Although I will still rename Chimchar to Hikozaru. Far cooler name. Damn you NoA)

[Hyruleansoldier]

I'm definitely not going for Grass this time.  Given that I started out with Bulba in Red (and will again for LG as nature intents), Chico in Gold and now Mudkip in Ruby, I should definitely go for the Infernape line this time...

I've always been more for Grass 'n Water starters, but then if you look at Charizard and Blaziken...   Worthy with capital W.

[Kayru]

I'm definitely going for Piplup. I just don't like the turtle THING or the monkey. Penguin all the way! I usually go with the starter I like best or think is cutest.

Lets see about teams, eh?

First up, theres my Leafgreen line up. I'm still working on it, but need to play more.
Charizard, Raichu, Zubat, Vaporeon, Gengar and Dragonair. My ideal team would be Raichu, Vileplume, Gengar, Tentacruel, Ninetales and Rhydon. Don't ask. I've just always had a weak spot for those 'mon.

Then, there's my Ruby team.
Ralts, Marshtomp, Zigzagoon and Shroomish. I'm eventually going with Gardevoir, Swampert, Linoone, Breloom, Altaria and Absol.

[Hyruleansoldier]

Weak spot ey?

Nice team for Ruby!  Gardevoir is indeed a must.  As is Flygon.
Linoone is my HM bitch, and for flying purposes I currently have Skarmory, though I might consider using Flygon for that as well, though it already knows Dig and Secret Power...

And Swampert is my main mon as well