@vogosvagen4: As usual, thank you for your input!
It really doesn't matter to who you teach it to, because you're not going to use it much in battle
I started using it and I find it very useful. Since status do not stack, it piles up nicely on top of a paralysis or worse sleep.
Here's my strategy so far:
First pokemon
I start with a weird tank:
Gloom. I've evolved it from
Oddish which I got when trying to get the second badge.
It has high DEF and sDEF, a surprisingly high amount of HP. So it can take a hit. It also has sensational sATT which works wonders with Absorb. All in all, unless you're going through a Fire dungeon, you can rely on Gloom starting all your battles.
On top of this, it can inflict all sorts of status: mine kept SleepPowder and PoisonPowder. I replaced StunPowder (paralysis) with Acid, but it was a mistake. It can also (at early levels, but I discarded it) lower a foe's evasiveness.
It may be slow, and doesn't have great ways of attacking, but I never use it for offense. I prefer starting the battle with it, inflict a status on the foe, and shift to someone else.
Starter
I started with
Charmander, and now it's a
Charmeleon.
It has strong sATT, so its fire attacks will do lots of damage. I like to think of it as a less powerful but more solid version of Kadabra.
I also enjoy abusing Smokescreen, especially if I get a paralyzed/sleeping foe from Gloom.
Sweeper
Kadabra, evolved from
Abra.
I caught Abra simply by putting it to sleep and throwing a Great Ball at it. However, evolving it to level 16 can be a pain in the ass.
But it's worth it! Kadabra has very high special attack and learns PSYBEAM really fast. As far as I've seen so far, PSYCHIC type attacks rock because I rarely encounter antagonist types.
Kadabra is weak though. I avoid getting it out if I'm not sure it's going to be a one-hit.
Status
Butterfree, evolved from its early bug stages.
This one is a pain to evolve, just like Kadabra, because infant stages are (practically) moveless.
However Butterfree is worth the trouble.
Despite its appearance, it's not fragile, has good all around stats, is immune to most GROUND-type attacks because it's flying. And it's immune to poison. It knows the CONFUSION attack which usually does not kill in one hit (it doesn't have Kadabra's high sATT) but is good to finish them off.
However it has the confusion states stacks up nicely on top of other ailments. So after receiving a poisoned or paralyzed enemy from Gloom, I can add a confusion state with SUPERSONIC.
I also taught it the HM Flash which piles up on top of status + confusion. Until the foe has low enough HP to finish it with CONFUSION.
Death by Butterfree is a slow and painful one.
Physical sweeper
Nidorino.
This fella is a hard ass physical kicker with immunity to poison. Its HORN ATTACK is devastating, and it packs a DOUBLE KICK for foes weak against Fighting attacks.
FOCUS ENERGY will increase the chance of doing criticals which might come in handy.
I love sending it an asleep foe from Gloom. Almost too easy...
???
I'm still scouting for the 6th pokemon in my roster.
Here are the ones I'm considering:
- Pidgeotto: SAND ATTACK is good, and it flies. But it's boring...
- Pikachu: Fast, physical, DOUBLE TEAM rocks. But it doesn't do a lot of damage and it's fragile.
- Arbok: Good resistance to ailments, Intimidates is nice, and WRAP would be perfect if I was playing against teams that actually shift pokemons.
- Geodude: Good defense, poor offense. Do I need another wall? Gloom doesn't faint! Also I cannot reach its final form because, well, emulator.
- Diglet: Strong special attack, but weak defense. Like Kadabra. Except it's more fragile than Kadabra and does less damage. It's too fragile...
I just caught a
Machop and a
Growlithe. I want to explore them as well.
I'm about to head into the pokemon Tower to fight ghosts. Any advice?