Pearl Team Plan

[Ludo]

I've had more trouble deciding on a team with this generation than ever before. I'm a mess! Sadly, most of those I want to use require I enter the Hall of Fame, and I have no idea where I can level up better than death-wish Elite Four runs or wild pokémon in Victory Road. Lucian's bronzong is my biggest hurdle right now; it has Levitate instead of Heat Proof, but my only fire-user is an Infernape, and those Pyschic blasts and Earthquakes hit pretty hard when the highest in my team is a 47 or two.
Now, on with my plan! I'll get through the League challenge soon enough (though advice on where to train would be much appreciated), but here is what I want to get afterwards...

***

LUCARIO (male / Knuckles)
Inner Focus
- Aura Sphere
- Flash Cannon
- Dragon Pulse
- Calm Mind

GALLADE (male / name pending)
Steadfast
- Psycho Cut
- Focus Punch
- Leaf Blade
- Night Slash

ELECTIVIRE (male / Jaybles)
Motor Drive
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Punch
- Brick Break
- Earthquake

HOUNDOOM (male / Hades ; female / Persephone)
Flash Fire
- Flamethrower
- Dark Pulse
- Pursuit
- Thunderfang

SLOWKING (male / Aristotle)
Own Tempo
- Surf
- Psychic
- Trump Card
- Ice Beam

DRAPION (female / Virgo)
Sniper
- Cross Poison
- Swords Dance
- Crunch
- Aerial Ace

***

I'm about to make an accompanying post to ellaborate on names, my strategies, etc. Then please feel free to critique this team to perfection!

 

[Ludo]

Dream Team cont.

Now, for my explanation! This team was born from pokémon that I like, and figured out what'd be the best combination for battle efficiency. I'm not a stickler for natures, but I'll list them even though you won't convince me to breed a fresh one until it comes out "right."

*Lucario: I already have this one, named him Knuckles and he's got Inner Focus (pretty useful as compared to Steadfast, for the way I want to play him; I won't bother breeding). Level 12, but I'll train him in due time. Sp. ATK is just slightly higher than his ATK, but he's nicely balanced so I'm considering giving him Bone Rush or Earthquake. However, I think Aura Spehere, covering FIGHT, Flash Cannon covering STEEL, and Dragon Pulse as a generally powerful attack, handy against any draconic pests that may come my way, is good to keep. Calm Mind is there if there aren't any attacks I should take instead; I'm not too used to using stat enhancers, so it's something new for me. He has a calm nature.
*Gallade: I think this guy is just plain cool, and far better than medicham (well-balanced, but overall kinda weak, and I don't have the patience for EV training). His ATK is way higher than Sp. ATK, so I of course tried to gather the best I could from his level-up and move tutor moves; he's the only one with a GRASS attack so I figure Leaf Blade is good to keep in there, Psycho Cut is practically his signature move, Night Slash takes care of ghosts and other psychics, but my most strategical plan is Focus Punch: He flinches if it's interrupted, but Steadfast increases his speed in case of flinching, so it's either a whalloping blow or a speed boost. I haven't thought of a nice name yet.
*Electivire: I love how this one looks, and I used to have an electabuzz on FireRed. His ATK surpasses his Sp. ATK, but Thunderbolt is still quite powerful with the STAB and might take some defense boosters by surprise. This guy I've had trouble thinking of moves for; I may teach Ice Punch to a male medicham at the move tutor, breed it with a female electabuzz (I may have to catch one in Kanto on FireRed and port it over), and raise the baby. I don't know if I need it, though; he can already zap flyers, but dragons and grassies could still pose a threat. Brick Break because it's a decent physical move of a different type, and Earthquake for lack of any better phsyical move, unless I should actually use Giga Impact. I want a male and shall name him Jaybles, in honor of Tenacious D (if I had a magmortar, I'd call it Kage, but I just don't like it enough).
*Houndoom: An old favorite of mine, and good with special attacks. Flamethrower and Dark Pulse are essential, for the STAB and special bonuses, and I read that Pursuit is nice if you suspect the enemy to turn its tail and flee. Thunderfang might be useful to surprise gyarados-users and other menacing water-types. I don't have a gender preference, so naming goes either way; I may get a female for balance, name her Persephone.
*Slowking: I hadn't thought I'd ever use him before, but as slow as he is he can take a punch and dish out a mean special attack; for this, Surf and Psychic seem essential but there may be some strategy to go without Psychic, I don't know. Trump Card can only be learned by two other species, so it can't be too bad to use, and Ice Beam is always useful on a water-type. Own Tempo is my ability of choice as confusion ticks me off a lot more than infatuation. A smart name like Aristotle may suit him.
*Drapion: I recently got a big interest in this one; it's definately fierce! Cross Poison is a must, and surely Crunch. I've read strategies that revolve around stalling or booby trapping the enemy lines with Toxic Spikes that don't use any Dark-type attacks, though. Swords dance helps boost the mad attack (and it can't learn Bulk Up, sadly) power when I have a moment to use it, and Aerial Ace couldn't hurt 'cause I have no other Flying moves in my team. I wanted Body Armor originally, but I frustrated myself near to death hunting a blasted skorupi in the Great Marsh this morning and all I came out with was a female with Sniper, so I figure I should base her on all-out attack. She's got an adamant nature, which I was pleased to discover raises ATK and lowers Sp. DEF, so there's more incentive for heavy ATK moves. As for Virgo, I just think it sounds cool; it also has some connection to the classical element of earth, or something.

WOO, quite the mouthful, eh? Sorry about that; if you actually took the time to read any of that, I'd love to hear your advice! Thanks in advance.

 

[Turtle Tamer Kammy]

Way to double post.

 

[Geoffrey]

Hmm, is there a character limit? Either way, I really wouldn't want to see THAT much in one post.

 

[Turtle Tamer Kammy]

I didn't think there was... I really wish a mod would sticky one of the many "rait my teem lol" threads we have going here so we had just one. :/

 

[Geoffrey]

That wouldn't prevent the noobs from creating new threads unfortunately. :-/

 

[Turtle Tamer Kammy]

True. The good thing is that most of them are gone after like 5 posts anyway... but this is why I've strayed from the forums (except for tonight, apparently) and stay in Skype and the chat lately.

 

[Ludo]

My appologies. I didn't mean to overwhelm anyone, I guess I have a habit of speaking long-windedly. I know I just joined the forum, but I assure you I'm no noob to PokéMon itself and I've just been sorely desperate to find a community in which to discuss team building strategy. If this isn't the correct board, I'm sorry about that; I saw some other related threads and figured this was the closest match.

 

[Geoffrey]

It's no problem. Newbies do it all the time. Oh, and a bit of advice. It's spelled Pokémon, not PokéMon.

 

[Zeta]

The only advice I have is get rid of Pursuit on Houndoom. It's redundant and not all that good, especially if you already have Dark Pulse. And it's sure as hell not work breeding for. I suggest a status-inflicting move in it's place, simply because your team lacks anything that reliably accomplishes that. Will-O-Wisp or Toxic would be best. If you're worried about switching a lot from opponents, a Spiker (Anything that can learn Poison Spikes, Spikes, that new Rock-type Spikes, etc) would help you a lot more than Pursuit.