Deliberately underleveled AlphaSapphire in-game team (for a challenge)
Posted by: Zowayix
Date: 2015-03-17 09:07:57
- No saving in between E4 matches (this is actually safer given the situation)
- If I lose (which I do, because I made this into a genuine challenge), I must soft reset
- No gaining any levels or catching/using any other Pokémon other than what I have below (which makes this a tricky team to rate, but I can't be stuffed grinding)
I've tried this twice and lost both times (otherwise I wouldn't bother posting it here, just bragging about my success), the first time I lost to Sidney and just needed to switch around the order of my team, the second time I got all the way up to Steven and then got bodied by Metagross, so here I am now, revising my plans. Anyway, the team before I try again tomorrow night:
Gardevoir "Bae" Lv 44
Mild / Trace
Gardevoirite
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
This is usually my MVP, I just Mega Evolve and spam Moonblast to take care of most things. As it so happens, Psychic + Fairy + Ghost gives perfect coverage. I'm not too sure about Calm Mind, while in theory I like having stat boosting moves there for when I get free turns, I haven't got a chance to use it yet so I'm contemplating putting Thunderbolt/Charge Beam/etc there instead for more super effectiveness. Protect might also work for helping PP stall out dangerous moves (that don't OHKO it), and helps Mega Evolution, but I dunno.
Absol "Ryuko" Lv 44
Adamant / Super Luck
Razor Claw
- Night Slash
- Psycho Cut
- X-Scissor
- Swords Dance
Abuses Super Luck + Night Slash/Psycho Cut + Razor Claw (good old Poké Mileage Club) to get 100% critical hit chance with the Gen 6 mechanics. Dark/Psychic/Bug is only resisted by Mawile and Klefki, the latter of which I won't see in Hoenn. I don't seem to have much other attacking moves available that would be useful for it, so Swords Dance is just there once again in the off chance I ever get time to use it. Actually, I lied, this is the real MVP at least against the E4.
Pikachu "Hood Rat" Lv45
Docile / Lightning Rod
Light Ball / Kawaii desu nee costume
- Thunderbolt
- Brick Break
- Nuzzle
- Grass Knot
Mostly self explanatory, this used to have Draining Kiss instead of Grass Knot when I tried this team, but I never used it because its low power means it would nearly always get outdamaged by Thunderbolt or Brick Break anyway, and Grass Knot helps against Claydol and some others (probably). In terms of what I'll see in Hoenn, Electric/Grass/Fighting is only resisted by Vileplume, Roselia, Lati@s, and Shedinja anyway, none of which the E4 have and only the first two I'm likely to see any in-game trainer use. Nuzzle is useful against opponents that are slower than me but otherwise faster than the rest of the team, if I know I'm not going to be able to KO it immediately with my other moves.
Shedinja "PowerShell" Lv46
Rash / Wonder Guard
Lax Incense
- Shadow Sneak
- Secret Power
- Will-o-Wisp
- Hone Claws
Hilarious to use against all the in-game trainers who don't have a move that can hit it, meaning I can just sit there and hone my claws all day. It's also useful for picking off weakened opponents with Shadow Sneak, or if I'm lucky with Lax Incense/an opposing miss, getting a Will-o-Wisp in. Unfortunately it's too slow to be able to use WoW most of the time or Secret Power, which is just there as filler really but it does get better coverage than Aerial Ace or X-Scissor. I'm not sure what else to put there though that I can actually use. Item is also questionable because it relies on luck, the only other things I have lying around that suit it are King's Rock and Quick Claw but those are also luck-based too. Sucks that it dies to Spikes which Steven's Skarmory will lay down without question, so next time I plan to lead with this so it Aerial Aces me after I Shadow Sneak some chip damage in, I revenge kill it with Hood Rat, and I revive it later because Steven's Metagross can't touch it.
Latias "HM Slave lol" Lv35
Timid / Levitate
Cleanse Tag
- Surf
- Dive
- Waterfall
- Fly
A complete and utter waste of a good-natured legendary (that's how I roll dawg), just here to soak up hits. About 1% of moves it can sometimes survive and I'll be able to get two healing items instead of just one before it dies. Might be able to get some good Surfs off if I bothered levelling it up, but nah.
Linoone "Linoleum" Lv22
Brave / Pickup
Nothing
- Rock Smash
- Strength
- Cut
- Dig
The other HM slave, which even if I did bother keeping its level in line with the others, would still be crap in battle. At least it might get me a few more healing items in between battles. I'm open to suggestions for nicknames, because this one sucks.
Risks/strategies for individual E4 members
- Sidney: More problematic than I like to admit because there's no previous battles to get experience from. Sharpedo took me out the first attempt due to its speed, I have to make sure Bae is in top shape to survive a Crunch (AI doesn't use Poison Fang for whatever reason) to Moonblast it. Shiftry is also fast apparently. If I lead with Ryuko instead of Bae, it gets affected by Intimidate, which might not KO Mightyena and I am vulnerable to Swagger. Otherwise, Ryuko and Bae outspeed Cacturne and Absol and KO them with X-Scissor and Moonblast respectively.
- Phoebe: The easy one, Ryuko's Night Slash OHKOs almost everyone who are all slower. Except for Dusknoir which is a 2HKO, but it shouldn't OHKO Ryuko and if it does then I go to PowerShell and use Shadow Sneak to finish it off, and then if that was the last Pokémon revive Ryuko after the battle, if not, keep Shadow Sneaking away, inevitably get KOd by the next guy, go to Linoleum, revive Ryuko, get KO'd, finish off whatever's left and then after the battle heal Linoleum and PowerShell.
- Glacia: I can't lead with PowerShell like I want to, because her first Glalie has Crunch. It's only safe to use against the second Glalie and Walrein. The first Glalie doesn't tend to use Light Screen from what I've seen, if it does, I'm using physical attacks and I have Brick Break on Hood Rat anyway. Hail is on everyone and kills PowerShell, so if I want to use it I have to stall it out. The two Froslasses tend to outspeed everyone, the first one can't kill Ryuko in one hit and I have enough Moomoo Milks to stall it out of Blizzards, but Confuse Ray is annoying if it uses that. Second Frosslass is a bastard because it can hit Ryuko super effectively with Draining Kiss, though luckily that doesn't OHKO. Walrein never used Sheer Cold on me, but Ryuko and Hood Rat both outspeed it and can take it down with a Night Slash and Thunderbolt respectively, it's a 2HKO even if one dies to a Blizzard or Sheer Cold.
Also, I might get a boner from her redesign and lose concentration.
- Drake: Easy winnings, if I lead with Bae, I outspeed everyone and OHKO them with Moonblast. This is what I would be saying if Salamence wasn't there, which outspeeds Bae and KOs her with a Crunch, and outspeeds and Dragon Rushes everyone else, except for PowerShell who it KOs with Crunch. I'm basically screwed if Dragon Rush doesn't miss at opportune times, though I think if I level up Hood Rat from previous battles enough, it can outspeed it and then Nuzzle it so I can KO it with Bae. Possibly I could switch PowerShell in on Kingdra who can't touch it, and then spam Hone Claws and use Shadow Sneak once Salamence comes out (if that's enough to KO it, if not I'd have to revive PowerShell and keep going). I don't know if the AI would stay in with Kingdra though.
- Steve: As difficult as a final boss should be (with this challenge). Skarmory will lay Spikes on the first turn which takes PowerShell out of action completely since I don't have anything to remove it. So basically what I didn't do on my attempt which I now realise I have to do is to lead with PowerShell, get a Shadow Sneak in to break Sturdy, die from Aerial Ace (I'm 99% sure the AI will always choose this), revenge kill with Hood Rat, then battle on as normal and revive PowerShell at some point later. Claydol's screens are a pain because Brick Break isn't going to do much damage to it, Ryuko can critical hit Night Slash through them but it means I'm relying on it until the screens run out. However it can't touch the aforementioned PowerShell which I now realise I need to keep alive. Aggron I'm not sure what the best way to deal with is, it'll take out someone with Stone Edge/Earthquake and then die in about 2-4 hits depending on how lucky I am/who's alive at that point. Cradily has too much damn defensive stats, Confuse Ray always messes me up, and heals itself even from my HM slaves with Giga Drain so I have to take it out fast, and I generally hate it. At least Sludge Bomb doesn't OHKO Bae. Armaldo isn't having any of Ryuko's critical hit shenanigans, and does way too much damage with X-Scissor. So it's also a bastard. And then there's god damned Metagross. It outspeeds everyone when Mega Evolved, uses Bullet Punch on the turn it Mega Evolves to avoid the Speed issue, and pretty much kills everyone in one hit. Basically, I _need_ to keep PowerShell alive or I have no chance in hell. I don't even think Hood Rat can survive a Zen Headbutt to Nuzzle it and then revenge kill it with Ryuko.
So that's my terrible team which I know sucks, and the rules of my self-imposed challenge. Nitpick away. My only plan I have so far is to get myself some more Max Revives by grinding Wonder Trade for Poké Miles, unless I forgot about some easier way to get them.