My Sapphire team -- opinions?

[Platinum Mech]

To be honest, I'm not sure how experienced I am with the Pokemon games compared to many of the regulars on this forum -- but unlike the case with my earlier Gold game, I've tried to make an effort to vary the pokemon types and the moves they use, thinking carefully about where certain moves could work where and whatnot. So, erm... fire away. :p:

Tropius (Lv67, Grass/Flying)
Item: Miracle Seed
Fly
Solarbeam
Synthesis
Leech Seed

Blaziken (Lv69, Fire/Fight)
Item: Charcoal
Sky Uppercut
Aerial Ace
Bulk Up
Blaze Kick

Plusle (Lv67, Electric)
Item: Cleanse Tag (don't think this has any effect in battle, though)
Thunder
Encore
Secret Power
Attract

Corsola (Lv67, Water/Rock)
Item: Sea Incense
Recover
Mirror Coat
Bubblebeam
Ancientpower

Castform (Lv69, Normal)
Item: Nevermeltice
Weather Ball
Rain Dance
Sunny Day
Hail

Latias (Lv72, Dragon/Psychic)
Item: Soothe Bell
Recover
Thunder
Return
Psychic

[aragornbird]

�*♣♥♦�*♣♥♦�*♣♥♦�*♣♥♦

Well, it can use some work.
Corsola, Tropius, Plusle, and (to some extent) Castform aren’t very good choices for a team. There are much better Water, Grass, Electric, and Normal types available out there.
But you’ve already trained them to pretty high levels. Still, consider training some better Pokemon when you have time.

Also, don’t use items like Miracle Seed and Nevermeltice or any other items that only boost one type. A 10% boost for only one attack is just not worth it. The items held by your team should be mostly Leftovers, with Choice Band for certain physical attackers and maybe a certain berry on rare occasions.

Also, training a good team in the new games is a bit different than training a team in G/S/C. You now have to consider factors like Natures, Traits, and EVs which affect your stats. If you want more info on that, you can ask me (or you can find info on the web).




Tropius (Lv67, Grass/Flying)
Item: Leftovers
Sunny Day
Solarbeam
Synthesis
Leech Seed

This is a pretty solid set, except for Fly. Generally, you’d never want to use HM moves on your main team except for Surf, because all the other HMs stink. Sunny Day is much better. With the sun shining brightly, Tropius’s Speed doubles, it can fire Solarbeam in one shot, and Synthesis restores all of its HP instead of half. Also, Sunny Day benefits other members of your team, like Blaziken and Castform.

Blaziken (Lv69, Fire/Fight)
Item: Leftovers
Flamethrower/Fire Blast/Overheat
Rock Slide/Thunderpunch/Return
Sky Uppercut
Bulk Up

The problem with Blaziken on Ruby or Sapphire is that the best Blaziken sets require you to either breed or use a move tutor from another game (FireRed/LeafGreen/Emerald). Rock Slide is both a bred-on move and a move tutor, and it is supereffective against the Flying Pokemon that Blaziken is weak against. Thunderpunch is a move tutor only and gives you an advantage against Waters (especially in the sun). If all those are unobtainable, just go with a simple Return.

Plusle (Lv67, Electric)
Item: Leftovers/Lum Berry
Thunderbolt
Thunder Wave
Agility/Encore
Baton Pass/Charge

Blah Plusle. T-bolt and T-wave are a given. With Agility and Baton Pass you can pass speed to another team member. Or you can Charge since Plusle’s Special Attack isn’t that great. You can keep Encore and make your opponent repeat non-damaging moves while you charge up. There’s not much you can do with it. Plusle is just the 2nd worst Electric in the game (Minun is the most worst).

Corsola (Lv67, Water/Rock)
Item: Leftovers
Recover
Mirror Coat
Surf
Ancientpower/Calm Mind

Sadly, this actually a rather good set for Corsola. It’s not that it doesn’t learn any good moves, but its stats are so bad that it can’t really use those moves effectively. What trait does your Corsola have? If you have Natural Cure, use Surf and Calm Mind but if you have Hustle, keep Ancientpower since you’ll be doing more physical damage.

Castform (Lv69, Normal)
Item: Leftovers
Weather Ball/Flamethrower
Sunny Day
Solarbeam
Ice Beam

Castform works best if you only use ONE weather move, not three. Your team is more Sunny Day based, so keep Sunny Day and add Solarbeam. Choose between Weather Ball or Flamethrower. Weather Ball is a bit stronger, but Flamethrower has a chance to Burn. Ice Beam takes care of Dragons that are resistant to your other moves. Castform is a mediocre Pokemon, but it’s pretty fun to use.

Latias (Lv72, Dragon/Psychic)
Item: Soul Dew/Leftovers
Dragon Claw
Calm Mind
Safeguard/Thunderbolt
Recover

Latias rocks with Soul Dew, but you can only get that with the Eon Ticket, and you need an e-Reader card to get it. Anyways, Latias only needs Dragon Claw as its attacking move. If you have trouble with Steels, you can put Thunderbolt on, but after a few Calm Minds it can handle just about anything.


�*♣♥♦�*♣♥♦�*♣♥♦�*♣♥♦

[Ham]

To be honest, I'm not sure how experienced I am with the Pokemon games compared to many of the regulars on this forum -- but unlike the case with my earlier Gold game, I've tried to make an effort to vary the pokemon types and the moves they use, thinking carefully about where certain moves could work where and whatnot. So, erm... fire away. :p:

you didn't need to type this all up. it's mostly useless and I did not read it.


Castform (Lv69, Normal)
Item: Nevermeltice
Weather Ball
Rain Dance
Sunny Day
Hail


the rest of your team is standard newb stuff, but this shocks me with how much it sucks.

that kind of castform is an ill concieved bastard child of wit and dumbness. just focus on one weather type(like teach it Solar Beam and Ice Beam and use Sunny day, or use Rain Dance and Thunder and Ice Beam. Hail sucks :x)

[electricgrass]

Tropius (Lv67, Grass/Flying)
Item: Miracle Seed
Fly
magical leaf/rasor leaf
Synthesis/body slam
Leech Seed

Blaziken (Lv69, Fire/Fight)
Item: Charcoal
Sky Uppercut
Aerial Ace
Bulk Up
flamethrower

Plusle (Lv67, Electric)
Item: Cleanse Tag (don't think this has any effect in battle, though)
Thunderbolt
Encore
hp ice
Attract/thunder wave

Corsola (Lv67, Water/Rock)
Item: Sea Incense
Recover
ice beam
surf
Ancientpower/psychic

Castform (Lv69, Normal)
Item: Nevermeltice
Weather Ball
flamethrower
Sunny Day
solar beam

Latias (Lv72, Dragon/Psychic)
Item: Soothe Bell
Recover
Thunderbolt
ice beam/dragon claw
Psychic

[Synchronize]

Corsola doesn't need Psychic. Any fighting type is gonna thrash it anyway with base 65 SAtk. Also, since it's an in-game team, its not all too good to suggest Hidden Powers, although they should be kept in mind.