Alright, I'm not so experienced in the battling compartment of Pokémon...tragic, I know... I can beat a game, but I would never dare enter a real life competition because I barely know anything about natures, team structures, or even IVs/EVs. I've watched some videos, but they rarely help. This is a bit of an issue because I'm writing about a character who takes her battling studies very seriously and therefore she needs to have a well-rounded team. Could anyone possibly take a look at my character's team and tell me if it looks like it would stand a chance in a tournament? I'm leaving natures out of it just because I don't think they translate well into writing. Piper's Team: Whimsicott Vikavolt Crobat Mudsdale Salamence Thank you to all the battlers out there who know even a tad more than I do!
The one thing that stands out to me is that almost every Pokémon on the team is weak to Ice, and there isn't anything on the team to deal with it. A lot of them seem to be weak to Rock as well, and while Whimsicott and Mudsdale can deal with them, they'll definitely struggle with Rock/Flying types like Aerodactyl or Archeops.
Thanks for the constructive criticism! Do you have any recommendations as to what I could add ot make the team stronger? Do you think adding a fighting type might help balance things out?
I can tell you from my Ultra Moon run that Vikavolt is a Special Sweeper. I don't remember much about the rest. I'd recommend either a Fighting or Steel type to deal with the Ice and Rock weaknesses. If you go the Fighting Type route, you should consider something with a secondary type that deals with one of its weaknesses, such as Dark like Scrafty. If you go Steel instead, I think you have most if not all of its type disadvantages covered.
Well. I see big glaring weaknesses to ice and rock. Just one of those will be able to take out more than half her team. I wouldn't worry too much about natures, but that shouldn't stop you from carving out personalities for each Pokémon. Ice would defeat Whimsicott, Crobat, Mudsdale and Salamence Rock would defeat Vikavolt, Crobat and Salamence The best remedy I'd look for is maybe a steel type. It resists both those and their usual high defensive attributes can put others in a bind. You'd have its weaknesses of fighting and ground covered by your fliers and Mudsdale/Salamence can take care of any fire type users. Water is also a viable option too and there are plenty of water types to choose from. But it's well rounded right from the get-go. You've got speedy guys like Whimsicott and Crobat, a solid special attacker in Vikavolt while Mudsdale can be more of a defensive type despite its limitations. Salamence is definitely the powerhouse here. I'd maybe look into something that's a disruptor, breaking rhythms and making her opponents tip their hand/get desperate. Jellicent comes to mind here, one of my favorite water types. Its water typing means it will be able to resist ice attacks well and it has access to a lot of unusual moves from water, ghost, psychic, poison, ice and even grass type moves. It also has those kind of unorthodox maneuvers like cursed body, confuse ray, recover and pain split that can really drag battles out. A combination of that plus siphoning their health away with absorbing attacks and status of poison/burn makes it a real pain in the ass.
Thank you for such a detailed response!! I’ll think about Jellicent, it’s a really cool Pokémon and I wouldn’t mind adding a water-type to Piper’s arsenal!
I may not be the best when it comes to competitive play, but I do know that there is one aspect that you're not taking into account. Anime logic. Now I do not know how much anime logic you're going to add so I'll keep it brief. Basically, anime logic as I describe it is really just normal logic, in game if an ice type touches Magcargo, they're not going to take damage, but logically in real life they would. You might want to consider things like this and the Pokédex when you're making a competitive team. Something like Crobat is best in dark caves where it can travel like a bat. These kinds of things do make different Pokémon more viable and others, like Wailord, something to never use out of water.
Thanks Sy! Anime logic definitely applies to fanfiction a tad more than it does to the games. Mudsdale is going to be Piper’s ride Pokémon, while Crobat is going to be particularly handy with echolocation. I’m glad that you pointed this out though because I probably wouldn’t have taken it too much into consideration without your post. I’m using anime logic for evolutions and some battles I guess, since turn based, game-sequel battles aren’t really anything more than a slap fight. Thanks for the advice!!