I've been going out of my way each generation avoiding birds by catching Zubats, Drifloons, and Goletts, but I seem to have misjudged Talonflame. Useful abilities in Flame Body and Gale Wings, Fire attacks to deal with Steel Types, and that ungodly speed. I'm surprised why I haven't even considered it on my team. Probably because a good chunk of my team is weak to birdspam and losing to an opponent on Battle Spot who also has a Talonflame would make me rage so bad. Volcarona does seem like a solid choice, good choice of STABs. Fly wouldn't synergize with it well, but it doesn't need all four moveslots to be effective. In fact, I've been using one since I found a Friend Safari with Larvesta in it. However, I'm leaning towards Hawlucha like Kabbes suggested since it can learn False Swipe and I tend to catch Pokémon with regular Pokéballs for aesthetic reasons. Flying Press/High Jump Kick + Roost against Rock and Steel Types really sweetens the deal of having it as a team member.
Thanks for the ideas, now new topic.
I like having Grass types on my team, but while the type is not very good offensively or defensively, it has to deal with a select target of Pokémon in order to work. I learned about type matchups mainly from Earl's Pokémon Academy if anyone even remembers Pokémon Stadium 2 and I always thought that Grass could put a complete stop to both Ground and Water Types. As the series of games progressed, coverage in Ice Beam/Ice Punch became a staple on almost every Water type that existed which left me wondering how 'Water' beats Grass.
So I've always wondered what type coverage seem to be the norm among players. Aside from the ever so popular Water/Ice and Ground/Rock, are there any other expected attack type combinations that renders the stereotype that "a Pokémon of Type A will always beat an opponent of Type B" to be untrue? Electric/Fire? Ghost/Fairy? In your experiences battling against friends and intelligent AI, what trends have you noticed among them?
