Sapphire help?

[Wya77]

Hi everyone. I need some help with my sapphire team. Currently, I have a:
Makuhita: lvl 16
Calm natured
- Tackle
- Focus Energy
- Vital Throw
- Arm Thrust

Marshtomp: lvl 21
Quirky natured
- Tackle
- Growl
- Mud Shot
- Water Gun

Taillow: lvl 19
Naughty natured
- Peck
- Double Team
- Wing Attack
- Quick Attack

Shroomish: lvl 17 @ Miracle Seed
Adamant natured
- Absorb
- Leech Seed
- Mega Drain
- Flash (Zig couldn't learn.)

Zigzagoon: lvl 6 (HM slave)


I have one empty slot but I don't know if I should use a Ralts or Sableye. And I plan on dumping Shroomish for a Roselia ASAP.

I want a team that will be good later on, as well as now.

Can anyone help me?

 

[Sydian]

Does your team suck? Want some flair, better movesets, or party member suggestions?
The fine gentlemen (with the occasional lady) of the Competitive Battling Center are willing to take a gander at that team of yours, provided you've posted a thread in the in-game team help forum. Tell'em I sent you, and you might get a free beverage.

-whistles and moves to in-game help section-

 

[Wya77]

Sorry about that. :/ Maybe I should look next time.

 

[Sydian]

It's okay! :[ It happens. Just be a little less hasty next time, mkay? ^^

And an adamant Shroomish? Why do you want Roselia? XD; Breloom would be a great Pokemon to have, especially with that nature. Even better if you wanna raise up Shroomish till it learns Spore (at level 42 or 52? I honestly can't remember.) Buuut then again, you do already have a fighting type, so I understand if you still wanna get rid of it.

For your Marshtomp/Swampert, I recommend:
Surf/Muddy Water
Ice Beam
Earthquake
Brick Break/Toxic/Protect

That's what I usually run. Gen III is just something I tend to go with all out offense on my playthroughs though, so feel free to ignore those move suggestions, but that's what I almost always use on Swampert and it works well.

And I think Ralts would be a better choice over Sableye. Not much you can do with a Sableye, from my experience. Gardevoir just does much better, imo.

I do recommend scrapping Makuhita though, and keeping Breloom. It's a better fighting type. Hope this all helps. :D /sucks at rating early-game teams

 

[Atomic Pirate]

First, Calm is AWFUL for a Makuhita. It lowers Attack and raises Sp. Defense. Try and find an Adamant or Brave one, and it will be much better. The moveset looks OK, just get rid of Focus Energy and teach Makuhita something better if you can.

For Marshtomp, it looks okay. If it can learn Strength(I can't remember if it can), replace Tackle for that. Quirky is a decent nature for it.

Taillow looks great! Naughty is great for a Taillow, and with STAB Normal and Flying moves, it will be great in-game! Not much to say about it's moveset, just make sure to give it Aerial Ace and Fly.

I don't see why you want to ditch Shroomish. Adamant will be great for a Breloom, and Breloom is a great Pokemon! Keep training this one, it will be of great help to you... Just get rid of Flash once you reach Lilycove.

You might not want to consider having an HM Slave throughout the entire game, as the slot can be used for much greater Pokemon. I suggest removing this...

You're not going to want to swap Shroomish for a Roselia. Roselia isn't very good in Gen. 3, as it can't evolve. Especially since Shroomish is Adamant. Breloom has great Attack, and Adamant can make him a good Physical Sweeper. Don't remove Shroomish!

As for the final slot (or 2 slots, if you follow my advice about the HM Slave), I suggest that you need a healthy dose of FIRE!!! Although people pour hate on Magcargo, it can be great in-game (I used one once, so I know), and you get it early. If you want a different Fire-type, Numel is quite a valid choice. It is part Ground, and even learns Rock Slide when it evolves into Camerupt. If neither of these sound good and you want a pure Fire type with no x4 Water weakness, Ninetales looks cool and can fight well. Plus, it learns Flamethrower very early. For the other, I think you should use a Psychic or Ghost Pokemon. If you choose to go Psychic, Medicham is a decent option and even allows for Fighting moves. Alakazam is always good, but Abra is rare and hard to catch. Plus, if you want to raise it early, it requires some switch-out training to evolve. I used one on LeafGreen in my last playthrough though, and I can assure you that it is worth the training. I don't recommend Gardevoir, as it is frail and weak. If you want a Ghost, Sableye is a good option, as are Dusclops and (to a lesser extent) Banette. You could even try using a Dark type like Absol.

Good luck with the run-through.

 

[Wya77]

The reason I wanted to drop Shroomish is because Roselia is pretty good in Platinum. So I figured it would be good in Sapphire? And I thought that adamant was a bad nature for it because I was using absorb/mega drain.

I realize that calm is the worst nature for makuhita, I just found one and to use against Wattson. (before I noticed Marshtomp was a water/ground type.) I wasn't planning on keeping it.

I was debating on catching a Ralts or Abra but chose Ralts (in my PC along with a Sableye). I've been using Abra/Kadabra/Alakazam in all of my games, so I wanted to mix it up.

And 1 more thing, aren't you supposed to have like 2 special sweepers, 2 physical sweepers, and what other two things on your team?

 

[Checkmate]

It really depends on its nature.
I would say to have a Pokemon with crazy defense in your team. Shuckle? Don't laugh at Shuckle, get a high-leveled shuckle, and watch how super effective moves look like non-effective moves.
If you like one with crazy defense and good attack, Steelix is for you. You stated that you used Alakazam in all your games, so I suppose that you're in the trading scene? If not, Cloyster or Aggron is good too.

 

[Wya77]

Well, I only trade on Platinum. I don't know how to trade on Sapphire.. So I'm limited to just pokemon in Sapphire (no national dex.)