MewZiikal

I read this topic a while ago and remembered it as I was going through E19. I'm really curious if you did go through the postgame with it, and how well it did ! To be frank, I love the field effects mechanic so much, and designing a team around creating and using a specific one is just the coolest strategy.

Hello, I was kinda confused with the ending but upon reading this I am even more so. Would someone be so kind as to explain to me

Hello again, citizens of Reborn. Yesterday, I showcased my Magma Gang team, which I consider my secondary team. That is, I mainly use it for certain specific fights where it might fare better, or when I simply feel like it. Here, I would like to introduce my main squad of 6 as of episode 18, as well as the Pokemon in my box, and hopefully collect some helpful feedback about how I may improve it. The nickname "Symphonic squad" isn't really related to the Pokemon in themselves. It simply comes from the fact that I play as Decibel (easily the classiest of the protagonists by the way), and since it means what it means... you know... sound... I decided to name all my Pokemon after musical terms ! Now with that being said... Here's the team, in the order I met them. The main squad : "Sforzando" Species : Silvally Item : Dark Memory / ??? Ability : RKS System Moves : Multi-Attack, Iron Head, Surf, (Flamethrower / X-Scissor / Rock Slide / Thunderbolt / Toxic / Thunder Wave) One of the most versatile Pokémon any team could ask for. Not only can it change its typing, but as you can see, its moveset can adapt wildly according to what I need. The moves listed in the last slot are all TMs that I can teach it at will. Since all of its stats are decent and none is really good, I maxed its Attack Evs to let it make good use of Multi- Attack and left the rest spread between his various other stats. It generally holds the Dark memory because it complements the team well, but it can of course switch to the best type for upcoming important battles. I find it extremely cool to have Silvally on the protagonist's team in a game in which the villains want to use Arceus. "Tenor" Species : Golurk Item : Choice Band Ability : No Guard Moves : Earthquake, Dynamic Punch, Phantom force, Fly I love Ghost-types, and this one especially is easily in my top 10 favorite Pokémon. It has okay defenses, and with the Choice Band, it hits really hard with its two STAB moves and Dynamic Punch. I also kinda need it on my main team since it's my only user of Fly, so I can't swap it out for a Pokémon that cannot learn that. Not much else to say, it's just a decent wallbreaker. "Largo" Species : Aggron (Shiny) Item : Aggronite Ability : Sturdy (Filter) Moves : Heavy Slam, Rock Slide, (Power-Up Punch / Brick Break), Metal Burst My Mega-evolution. Aggron is a Pokémon that I love but hadn't really got the chance to use before, so when I encountered a shiny Lairon and saw how cool it looked, I knew I had to catch and use it. Besides having excellent stats and typing, it gets the amazing combo of Sturdy + Metal Burst, which can pretty much take out any Pokémon easily under normal circumstances. If there ever is a strong boss pokémon in E19, be it a PULSE, a legendary, or both, I'm pretty confident in Aggron's ability to take it out. Other than that, it's almost literally a tank : slow, very bulky, hits hard. "Coda" Species : Mimikyu Item : Pixie Plate Ability : Disguise Moves : Play Rough, Shadow Claw, Trick Room, Destiny Bond Now, what if Sturdy + Metal burst doesn't work ? That's what this guy is here for, with an even better combination. Disguise allows it to negate the first hit it takes, effectively allowing it to be able to get the Trick Room up for certain, making it faster than any fast opposing Pokémon (which most of the strong Trainers' Pokémon are). Then, one Destiny Bond, and the opposing Pokémon can say goodbye to its hopes of sweeping the team. Even if it doesn't die immediately after using Destiny Bond, clicking Trick Room again will make it go last, allowing the effect of Destiny Bond to last for one more attack and have a second chance to work (since it lasts until the user acts again). Of course, while this gimmick is useful against boss Pokémon, it isn't the only thing it can do : with its Attack EVs maxed, it can do quite a bit of damage with its STAB's incredible neutral coverage, and Trick Room benefits the team a lot with how slow Golurk, Aggron and Swampert are. So much so that I'd love to have another Trick Room user, but I haven't thought of one that I'd like and wasn't redundant with one of my other members. "Mezzo" Species : Rotom-Mow / Rotom-??? Item : Grassium Z / Electrium Z / Light Clay Ability : Levitate Moves : (Leaf Storm / ???), Thunderbolt, (Will-o-Wisp / Reflect), Light Screen Along with Silvally, Budget Mezzo gives the team a lot of versatility. It is usually in its Mow form to make use of the useful resistances of Grass, as well as being able to use the Grass-type Z-move which has the bonus effect of setting up Grassy terrain for 3 turns, and that may prove to be useful to temporarily remove an annoying Field effect. However, like Silvally, I can always switch its form to another type depending on the matchup, and switch its crystal to Electrium Z, or even Waterium-Z and Firium-Z which I also possess. Alternatively, it can hold a Light clay to better support the team with the Screens. Again, a pretty versatile and overall good Pokémon. "Piano" Species : Swampert Item : Shell Bell / Waterium Z Ability : Torrent Moves : Earthquake, (Waterfall / Dive), Hammer Arm, Curse The newest addition to the team. Swampert has overall great stats, a good typing and access to a setup move in Curse, which can be pretty devastating. It also fills the mandatory spot of the Water-type Pokemon that can use Waterfall and Dive (Surf is on Silvally). The additional / former members : "Melody" Species : Meganium Item : Grassium Z / Meadow Plate Ability : Overgrow Moves : Petal Blizzard, Stomping Tantrum, Rock Climb, Light Screen My starter, a Pokemon that I really love and that way too many people dislike, especially for it not being very good competitively. Unfortunately, this last part is kinda true, especially due to its limited movepool... However, it stuck with me until the very end of E18, and the endof which I finally decided to swap it out for Rotom-Mow, which has a better typing, a better movepool, and is also a special attacker. "Tempo" Species : Stoutland Item : Normalium Z / Assault Vest Ability : Intimidate Moves : Return, Crunch, Play rough, Stomping Tantrum An overall great Pokémon that I love, ahs has helped me a lot during my adventure, often being my most reliable member. However, I endedd up swapping it out for Mimikyu, since I really wanted it on the team and couldn't really replace Golurk since it was my Flyer. However, it is still a great Pokémon that I might use if the situation requires it. "Barytone" Species : Garbodor Item : Wide lens Ability : Aftermath Moves : Gunk Shot, Toxic, Explosion, Toxic spikes One of my original members, that I used as a lead to get the T-spikes up. Not much else to say about it, I kept it up to a high level and still keep it on the side in case I need it, even though unlike all the other pokemon on this list it isn't at the level cap. "Sonata" Species : Ampharos Item : Ampharosite Ability : Static (Mold Breaker) Moves : Discharge, Thunder Wave, Power Gem, Dragon Pulse One of my favorite Megas, which I replaced with Aggron but still kept training. I fulfills kind of the the same role as Golurk : slow, decently bulky, and very powerful. "Rondo" Species : Quagsire Item : Assault Vest Ability : Water Absorb Moves : Earthquake, Waterfall, Rock Slide, Sludge Wave This guy was originally supposed to be part of my main team, but I replaced it with Swampert due to its better stats, so it stays on the side for now. But I'll definitely bring it in whenever it has a better matchup against a specific opoonent. Aside from those, I also have Contralto (Shiftry), Prelude (Torkoal), Major (Simisear), Staccato (Houndoom), Arpeggio (Typhlosion) and Octave (Drifblim) which form the Magma squad, which you can check in my previous post. Finally, below is the box that contains all my potential recruits, i.e. pokemon that are in my opinion rather cool (either strategically or design-wise) and that I might consider training. If you want to recommend me new pokemon to add to my roster, I suggest you choose from those first unless you have a specific idea in mind. That's it ! Please don't hesitate to give me your thoughts on the squad and any potential advice to complete it !

It'll also affect Drifblim's own damage output since it's the one with Flare boost, and since it's the one that has access to Tailwind I'm not sure it's that good an idea. I might consider it though, especially if I specifically need to get the grassy terrain back on at some point of a battle. Hmm... Still not sure about that since with its base 30 speed, even with full EV investment and +2 speed, it can't outspeed base 110 pokemon such as gengar and the like, which are pretty common, plus it makes Magcargo really vulnerable. Still, I'll definitely try and catch one to see for myself if I can make use of it. Thanks for the advice ! That's one hell of a cool strategy ! How do you even set up the swamp field though ? My team is nothing like that, just some decent pokemon that complement each other's weaknesses rather well - this team above is the one with a somewhat elaborate strategy. I'll make a showcase of the main one soon though. It's probably far from being optimized tbh, even though I tried my best to do something good with the mons I had, so I'll look forward to your advice when I do !

Okay, let me answer each point in order. >I don't have one yet. Where can it be found? >I totally forgot about Chlorophyll for some reason, guess I didn't have enough Ability capsules at the time but it is done now. I don't think Whimsicott actually gets Grassy Terrain in gen 7. According to Bulbapedia it seems to be a TM move only available since gen 8. >I used to have Tailwind on Drifblim but I removed it since it puts the fire out. Besides, Driblim and Typhlosion get their speed boosted by Elemental seeds, and Houndoom and Simisear are already very fast. >I already have Rotom on my main team, it's generally Grass-type but I could swap it in sometimes. I really love Magcargo but I don't know if I want it on the team considering how slow it is and how its abilites and stats are inferior to those of my current squad ; though it could help this opposing Fire types and especially Flash Fire users... It's found at the Game corner right ? Heliolisk, Infernape and Charizard might be cool additions, but I don't know where to find them yet. The others don't appeal to me personally as much. >You're right ! Due to this I ended up giving Typhlosion Blaze so it could get the boost immmediately. >I only got the TM recently, so I didn't think about it, thanks for reminding me ! I gave it to Simisear and Typhlosion, replacing Shadow claw and Extrasensory, both moves were weak anyway. Edit : Actually, the Burning Field halves the power of Grass moves, that's probably why I didn't think about it before... However, it IS boosted but the Grassy terrain, which also powers up Fire moves even if it's not turned into a Bµrning Field. The grassy terrain also negates Fire's weakness to Earthquake and Bulldoze. Thus, against Water, Rock, and Ground-oriented opponents, I might prefer to leave the Grassy terrain as it is to use the advantages listed above. I replaced Torkoal's Will-o-wisp and Typhlosion's Burn Up with Flamethrower so they can better utilize the Grassy terrain without setting it on fire when needed. >Really cool idea tbh ! I don't think I'll use it though, because I like how fast this team is and I already use Trick room on my main team.

Hello, citizens of Reborn ! So I have a question about certain mechanics, and I figured I'd take the opportunity to showcase my team. As the title says, I have this team that fits my position as a proud member of the Magma Gang. It is actually my secondary team, my main squad being more balanced (I might make a second post about the main one later). I originally created this team to help me get past the Glass Factory gauntlet. My main team at the time wasn't doing too good so I remembered how broken Charlotte's team was in Doubles, and I figured I'd give her strategy a try. So, here's the team : Shiftry - Amplifield rock Ability : Pickpocket Nature Power Foul Play Focus Blast Grassy Terrain One of the Nuzleaf caught in Malchous Forest with Grassy Terrain as an egg move. It used to be one of the members of my main roster that I swapped in and out depending on the situation. I always like to have a Terrain move or two in my party to even things out in case the opponent's field is too broken. But instead of just setting up a neutral field, with this team I decided to use it as a lead and try exploiting the terrain to my advantage by setting it on fire. It doesn't have a Grass move because it gets weakened by the fire in Doubles. Instead, Nature power allows it to use either Energy ball once the terrain is set up, or Flamethrower once it starts to burn. Torkoal - Heat rock Ability : Drought Heat wave Will-o-wisp Stealth rock Rock tomb My second lead, which I send along with Shiftry in doubles or after it in Singles. Pretty straightforward, it sets up the sun for 8 turns, can ignite the field with Heat wave, cripple an enemy with Rock tomb and hinder the opposing team with SR. Simisear - Firium Z Ability : Blaze Flame Burst Fire Blast Focus Blast / Brick Break Shadow Claw One of the members of my original 6, that got swapped out once it started becoming too weak, and has come back as a proud member of this team that utilizes it to its full potential. Its power is notably higher than it was on the main team since using it in the Burning field activates its ability Blaze at all times. It can ignite the field with Flame Burst or Inferno Overdrive if it isn't already, and then hit hard with Fire Blast. Focus Blast gives it some coverage, and can be temporarily replaced with Brick break when it's relevant. Shadow claw gives more coverage, although it's pretty weak on this special attacker but I didn't find anything better to give it. Houndoom (Mega) - Houndoominite Ability : Flash Fire (Solar Power) Heat Wave Dark Pulse Sucker Punch Nasty plot The doggo given by Maxwell ! It's one of my favorite Megas that I used to play in Gen7 OU (where it did surprisingly well, it's underrated imo) and that doesn't disappoint here. Its ability Flash Fire will activate if it hasn't Mega evolved at the end of a turn while the Burning terrain is active. Heat waves can ignite the Grassy terrain as well as hit both opponents in doubles, Dark pulse is mainly for hitting with 100% accuracy (with Burning field + Sun, Heat wave is almost always better, but if they're not up anymore Dark pulse can still be strong). Sucker punch can finish off an annoying enemy and Nasty plot makes its power go through the roof if it can be set up. Typhlosion - Elemental seed/Charcoal Ability : Flash Fire Burn Up Eruption Focus Blast Extrasensory And there's the absolute beast, Typhlosion with Eruption. Elemental seed gives it a boost in Speed and special attack, and when the conditions are set up, few pokemon can resist this, especially since Flash Fire gives its Fire attacks even more power in the Burning field. For when it has low HP, I use Burn up instead of Flamethrower or Fire blast because it's more powerful and perfectly accurate, and this pokemon isn't supposed to last long anyway so if it loses its fire type i can just sacrifice it and use one of my other strong attackers. FB and extrasensory are for coverage. Elemental seeds now can be bought at the flower shop so I can't run out of them, but when I don't use one (while training for instance) I give it a Charcoal. Drifblim - Elemental seed/Life Orb Ability : Flare Boost Shadow Ball Thunderbolt Fly Psychic And finally, another one of my former main pokemon that became too weak and later returned in this team. I figured it'd give the team a bit more coverage than just fire types, plus I need it to Fly. Elemental seed makes up for its low speed, and together with Flare boost which activates in the Burning field it gives it a good power boost, in theory. So, I'd love some feedback about what you think of this team and how I could improve it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- However, I have some IMPORTANT QUESTIONS about how the Burning Field exactly works regarding Abilities ! My main concern is Drifblim's Flare boost. It says it is activated when in the burning field, but I haven't seen it dealing much more damage than usual. I have also noticed that, if I'm not mistaken, Flash Fire seems to only activate at the end of the turn when non-fire types are supposed to get damaged. Does it really work this way and is it the same for Flare Boost ? Does it just not work ? Or does the pokemon have to be grounded (which would make no sense because Drifblim is the only pokemon with Flare boost and it's Flying) ? What about Blaze, does it activate instantly ? Is Blaze better than Flash Fire on Typhlosion in this regard ? Edit : After more testing, it does seem that Flare boost and Blaze are both activated at all times, but Flash Fire only does at the end of a turn. If you can confirm this it'd still be great ! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for your answers, I'm looking forward to them !