SPOILERS! Sword and Shield in-game team discussion thread

[Siggu]

Considering the earliest-available weathers depend on when you start the game, I'd judge all weather-exclusive Pokémon as if they were available at the same time, but less often than those that don't depend on weather to appear.

Someone might find Ice-types the moment they step into the Wild Area for the first time; others may find Fire-types.

I wouldn't put date manipulation into account. Or rather, date manipulation that isn't "begin the game on another day".

 

[Worldie]

Considering the earliest-available weathers depend on when you start the game, I'd judge all weather-exclusive Pokémon as if they were available at the same time, but less often than those that don't depend on weather to appear.

Someone might find Ice-types the moment they step into the Wild Area for the first time; others may find Fire-types.

I wouldn't put date manipulation into account. Or rather, date manipulation that isn't "begin the game on another day".

Thinking of it, most of the "super rare weather combos" are usually late game pokemon (like Dreepy) or post-game only anyway so...

 

[faint]

The WA is precisely why I find an in-game tier list for SwSh so interesting. Whether we allow for weather manipulation and whatnot is obviously going to have a pretty drastic effect on the list, but I do like Siggu's recommendation of putting all of those mons on the same level of availability.

I think, given the variety, we might end up with additional information to place in () next to the mon, perhaps with consideration of the extra effort required when tiering them, kinda how we do already with (trade). For example, if we take Abra (trade) and Ralts in RSE and pretend Abra is a weather only Pokemon, perhaps they both land in the same tier despite Abra being the better overall Pokemon.

 

[BP]

What about the level catch limit in the wild area. I would assume that's going to be incorporated when talking about a pokemon's availability.

 

[Kurona]

What about the level catch limit in the wild area. I would assume that's going to be incorporated when talking about a pokemon's availability.

I think that one's fairly simple; anything over the level is effectively just unavailable until you've got a certain badge.

 

[Worldie]

What about the level catch limit in the wild area. I would assume that's going to be incorporated when talking about a pokemon's availability.

I think that one's fairly simple; anything over the level is effectively just unavailable until you've got a certain badge.

That's actually more irrelevant than one thinks though, as the fully-evolved-strong-pokemon tend to be either available as non-evolved in same area, or locked behind postgame anyway.

The only real "distinctions" as far as available pokemon goes is basically between the two wild area sections (the one past the bridge has pokemon you're not quite able to catch until 3rd gym to begin with), and the areas only accessible once you got the surf-bike.

 

[sb879]

While I support ignoring raids for the most part due to extreme variance, I do want to note that I think you always start with a Hoothoot raid on the first day you start the game, by the lake if you take a straight shot to Motostoke. So I don't see much reason to ignore that. This lets you catch Hoothoot at a higher level, and I think it gives a Tri Attack TR which is admittedly pretty niche but still worth noting.

That's actually more irrelevant than one things though, as the fully-evolved-strong-pokemon tend to be either available as non-evolved in same area, or locked behind postgame anyway.

The only real "distinctions" as far as available pokemon goes is basically between the two wild area sections (the one past the bridge has pokemon you're not quite able to catch until 3rd gym to begin with), and the areas only accessible once you got the surf-bike.

Technically three, beating Nessa raises the level cap to 30 so that's when you can catch the normal Pokemon in the stronger areas, and reaching Hammerlocke unlocks more Pokemon by unlocking Snowstorm/Sandstorm weather.

 

[R_N]

While I support ignoring raids for the most part due to extreme variance, I do want to note that I think you always start with a Hoothoot raid on the first day you start the game, by the lake if you take a straight shot to Motostoke. So I don't see much reason to ignore that. This lets you catch Hoothoot at a higher level, and I think it gives a Tri Attack TR which is admittedly pretty niche but still worth noting.

Technically three, beating Nessa raises the level cap to 30 so that's when you can catch the normal Pokemon in the stronger areas, and reaching Hammerlocke unlocks more Pokemon by unlocking Snowstorm/Sandstorm weather.

Does beating Nessa also bump the wild area starting areas to level 30 or is that also beating Kabu/reaching Hammerlocke? I know that level bump happens at some point, I see reference to it in the wild area charts but I dont know when.

 

[sb879]

Does beating Nessa also bump the wild area starting areas to level 30 or is that also beating Kabu/reaching Hammerlocke? I know that level bump happens at some point, I see reference to it in the wild area charts but I dont know when.

I don't think there's any level bumps besides the postgame one. I know the Mime Jr. I had to wait until Hammerlocke to get (Snowstorm only) was still Level 15.

 

[R_N]

I don't think there's any level bumps besides the postgame one. I know the Mime Jr. I had to wait until Hammerlocke to get (Snowstorm only) was still Level 15.

Weird, I thought for sure there was another level bump between those two points

e: Oh I was both misinterpreting the event raids level lists and confusing that with the wild area as a whole

 

[Worldie]

Weird, I thought for sure there was another level bump between those two points

It's not really a level bump, there's just level difference between the two wild area parts.
(I believe also the areas accessible only via water bike have even higher level than 30 pre-postgame but cannot confirm this)

 

[fortunatechance]

It's not really a level bump, there's just level difference between the two wild area parts.
(I believe also the areas accessible only via water bike have even higher level than 30 pre-postgame but cannot confirm this)

Yes, if I remember rightly even areas you can access with water bike have Pokemon too high level to capture before the postgame. I'm not sure Pokemon in the Dreepy or Ditto area were capturable.

 

[Kurona]

Serebii has all level information. Outside of the water, you won't find anything under level 50 there.

https://www.serebii.net/pokearth/galar/lakeofoutrage.shtml

 

[Mega Metal]

I don't know where else to put this so: I'm starting a Sword playthrough and so far I have a Drizzile, a Grapploct, and a Corvisquire. I wanted to ask for team member suggestions since endgame's going to be hard with just three. If it helps any, Drizzile is Timid, Grapploct is Adamant, and Corvisquire is Impish.

 

[Skore]

I don't know where else to put this so: I'm starting a Sword playthrough and so far I have a Drizzile, a Grapploct, and a Corvisquire. I wanted to ask for team member suggestions since endgame's going to be hard with just three. If it helps any, Drizzile is Timid, Grapploct is Adamant, and Corvisquire is Impish.

You'll benefit greatly by adding a Fire and/or Ground type to your lineup.

 

[Suspicious Derivative]

Here's the team I used on Sword.

Unlike what I usually do, I had no real plan for my in-game team before I started playing. Since I went into the game mostly blind, I went into teambuilding blind as well. The only one I knew that I would have on my final team was Scorbunny's final evolution. But I didn't know what it would be named, what it would look like or what its final typing would be. I had also planned to use a Water-, Grass- and Fairy-type since I usually have those on my teams, but I had no idea what Pokémon they would be. I had also planned to mostly use new Pokémon. I wanted to try to only use new Pokémon in the best case, and that is just what my team ended up consisting of. I had originally not planned to look up the evolution methods for any of my potential team members, but I had to do so for three of them. If I hadn't done that, I would probably never have managed to evolve them. Or maybe at a much later point compared to when it now ended up happening.

I had originally planned to only use 6 Pokémon as usual but I started getting overleveled after the third gym, so I expanded my team a bit. In the end, I used 15 different Pokémon, basically two and a half team. During the main game, I did not split them into different minor teams (aside from my Champion team), I just rotated all 15 Pokémon, keeping them at an even level. The Champion team was the 6 I in the final battles, basically the tournament and against Leon. After beating the game, I dropped 3 Pokémon from the original 15 and split the others into 2 teams, which I named the Champion team and the Reserve team.

Unlike what I did for US/UM, I did not care about the Natures for my team members. The reason being that I didn't know what Natures would benefit the members of the team since I didn't know about their stat spreads/movepools, I just took the first one I found for each species. I did not care about Abilities either since I didn't know what Abilities they could have, or if they could have more than one. Most of their movesets are also pretty bad, I just taught them some moves they learned either through evolving/level-up or through TM/TR. I did not always buy new TRs because I wasn't sure what moves each Pokémon could learn and I didn't want to waste my Watts. I also regret not making use of the move relearner, I might have been able to teach new moves to the team members from there as well. In the end, many of the team members have pretty bad movesets.

Regarding types, I had initially planned to have no overlapping types as I usually try to do. But after expanding the team, I decided to use more than one Pokémon of some types. I had planned to use 2 Grass-, Water- and Fire-types, but I only ended up with 2 of Grass and Water. I also ended up using 3 Fairy-types and 2 Dark-types. In the end, I ended up using at least one Pokémon from each type except for two: Flying and Ground.

I gave them all items to hold but their items varied a bit during my playthrough. I usually gave them a type-boosting item and I tried to avoid using hax items. But the items depended a bit on what I had at hand. None of my team members had the ability to Gigantamax, but I usually Dynamaxed one of them in every battle where it was possible to do so.

Overall, I was a lot less restrictive compared to what I usually am and it was honestly a nice change of pace. However, I feel that I didn't really get as close to my team members as I usually do because I had to swap my party a lot. It felt like I often had to swap a Pokémon almost directly after it had returned to the party, and at other times several team members were just sitting in the back of the party doing next to nothing but gaining Exp. points.

That's the intro, now for the actual team members.

Here are my teams at a glance:

Champion team:

Reserve team:

Dropped:

And below are all the details for them.

Champion Team

Cinderace (M) @ Charcoal
Ability: Blaze
Nature: Naughty
- Pyro Ball
- Fire Punch
- Low Kick
- Facade

The very first member of the team, and the only one I had decided on before starting the game. Scorbunny appealed the most to me from the starter base forms this generation. I also wanted to pick the Fire starter again. The last time I picked the Fire starter in the first game of a generation was when I picked Chimchar in Pearl in the beginning of Gen 4 which was in July 2007... so it was definitely time again. Scorbunny also looked like it could be fast which I felt would be a nice change of pace after the slow starters in Gen 7. I wasn't sure what it would evolve into, but I was surely not expecting it to become a football player! Which I'm actually okay with despite having next to zero interest in football. I was also surprised that it didn't gain a secondary typing upon evolving, but that's okay.

As for the moveset, Pyro Ball was the main move, a fantastic and cool signature move which did a ton of damage. And despite having 90% accuracy, I only recall it missing once throughout the entire game. The low PP was never really an issue either. Fire Punch was in the second slot for whenever I needed a more accurate alterative but when the power wasn't as important, though I rarely used it. I had Bounce there for a while but I think I used it once and it missed, so I dropped it. I had Double Kick in the third slot for the longest time but I ended up changing it to Low Kick late in the game, it is a pretty good Fighting move that deals a ton of damage to heavy Pokémon. I wasn't sure what to use in the last slot so I had Headbutt there for a long while but replaced it with Facade later on, though I rarely used it. Looking back, I guess I could have used one or two other coverage moves such as Zen Headbutt, Iron Head or Gunk Shot. I was also considering U-turn for a while. But this worked, Pyro Ball and Low Kick did the job most of the time.

My Cinderace got a Naughty Nature which was very good for it as it has high Attack and benefited from the boost. Blaze was the obvious Ability since it is the regular Ability for all Fire-starters. I gave it the Charcoal to hold since it boosts the power of its Fire-type moves.

Overall, Cinderace was one of the best members of the team. I could always depend on it and it was helpful in many of the major battles. There was never any question about if it should be included in the Champion team or not, I had always planned to include my starter when battling against the Champion. And it was very useful there as I recall it doing a lot of the work in my battle against Leon. Right now I'd say that Cinderace is my favorite Galar starter but I might be a bit biased since it is the only one I have actually used on a team. Inteleon is really cool too, though. Rillaboom is my least favorite out of the three, but I still like it.

Drednaw (F) @ Hard Stone
Ability: Shell Armor
Nature: Timid
- Liquidation
- Rock Slide
- High Horsepower
- False Swipe

Early on in the game, I caught a Chewtle and added it to the team. A Water-type is never bad to have, and I decided to go with the first one I met for the time being. I had seen Drednaw during the pre-release and I considered changing to it later on... but then I realized, what if Chewtle evolved into Drednaw? That was exactly what happened!

Liquidation was the main Water-move, dealing a ton of damage. Rock Slide for secondary STAB, I have always liked it better than Stone Edge because of better accuracy and more PP. Head Smash might have been another alternative, it is even more powerful but it has the same issues as Stone Edge while also causing heavy recoil. High Horsepower in the third slot for extra coverage, it was very effective against Electric-types which Drednaw is weak against. The last move was originally Jaw Lock, but I rarely used it and I changed it to False Swipe during the post-game to make it easier to catch wild Pokémon. Drednaw was also the only one on my entire team that could learn False Swipe. Some other moveset options would have been Ice Fang, Revenge/Superpower, Smart Strike, Megahorn, Iron Tail and Poison Jab, but this worked.

It had a Timid Nature which isn't extremely good as it lowers its Attack while boosting its Speed, though this had the side effect of my Drednaw always being faster than I expected. It managed to outrun a lot of opponents, and it felt like it still hit pretty hard despite the lowered Attack. Shell Armor was the Ability it got which meant it never got hit by any Critical Hits. Strong Jaw was the other alternative, it could have boosted Jaw Lock and maybe Ice Fang if I had gone with that. Not sure which one is better but Shell Armor worked so that's good enough for me. It ended up holding a Hard Stone in order to boost the power of its Rock Slide, and I didn't obtain the Mystic Water until pretty late in the game.

I found Drednaw to be a very good and reliable member of the team. Compared to Barraskewda, it was slower but much bulkier while still fairly fast, it also had a bit better coverage and two STABs. I added it to the Champion team since I wanted a Water-type as well as a Rock-type to nail Leon's Charizard. And that's exactly what happened, Drednaw defeated Leon's Charizard with Rock Slide during the final battle, giving me the victory!

Eldegoss (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
Nature: Modest
- Energy Ball
- Hyper Voice
- Aromatherapy
- Synthesis

Eldegoss was my primary Grass-type during the game. I caught a Gossifleur early on and decided to add it because a Grass-type is never bad to have. I felt like it would have great synergy with my Scorbunny, taking care of Water-, Rock- and Ground-types. I already knew that Gossifleur would evolve into Eldegoss so there was no surprise regarding its evolution but that's okay.

Energy Ball was the main move, one of my favorite Grass-type moves since it is strong and deals consistent damage. Giga Drain would have been an alternative but my Eldegoss had so many other means of recovery that it felt unnecessary. Grass Knot would have been another alternative, but I prefer Energy Ball since it is more consistent. I could also have gone with Leaf Storm for more power, but I decided to not use it since it lowers Sp.att after usage. Hyper Voice was for extra coverage. I didn't teach it any other offensive moves through TM or TR. Now that I look at its moveset after beating the game, it seems like the only other notable offensive move it gets is Pollen Puff. I guess it could have worked, but I didn't go with it. Instead, the last two moves became support moves. Aromatherapy to get rid of status for the team, but I rarely used it. Synthesis in the last slot for healing, it was also rarely used but at least occasionally.

My Eldegoss had a Modest Nature which was very good for it as it raised its Sp.att, powering up Energy Ball and Hyper Voice. It also had Regenerator which was a great Ability, letting it recover HP as it switched out. Regenerator definitely feels like the better alternative of its two Abilities, so I'm happy about that. I never managed to find a Miracle Seed in the game so I gave it a Leftovers for extra healing instead.

Overall, I thought Eldegoss was pretty good. It had decent bulk and it rarely fainted thank to all the recovery options. It was a bit lacking in coverage though, if the opponent didn't take at least neutral damage from Grass-type moves, I decided to not use Eldegoss most of the time. I suppose I should have taught it Pollen Puff over Aromatherapy, but I didn't and it is too late for that now. I think Eldegoss was one of the weaker members of the Champion Team but having a STAB Grass-type move was invaluable in certain situations. I chose to add it to the Champion team because having a Grass-type felt like a good thing, and I picked it over Flapple because it felt more reliable on the whole.

Hatterene (F) @ Twisted Spoon
Ability: Anticipation
Nature: Sassy
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Giga Drain
- Calm Mind

I caught a Hatenna and had it as a reserve member of the team for a while. It was pretty cute and I thought it had the potential to become something good. When I expanded the team, I decided to make it a permanent member. I think it had already evolved into Hattrem at that point. The Fairy-type it gained upon evolving into Hatterene was a nice bonus, I didn't quite expect that.

Psychic was the main move, dealing a ton of damage to anything that didn't resist it or was immune. Dazzling Gleam for secondary STAB as it does unfortunately not learn Moonblast. I had Magical Leaf in the third slot for the longest time but changed it to Giga Drain once I got the TM for that. Calm Mind in the last slot to boost its Special stats, though I didn't use it that often. Hatterene was slow and I mostly preferred attacking right away since it would always take extra damage while setting up. Some other offensive options would have been Mystical Fire, Shadow Ball or Dark Pulse, I could also have used Thunder Wave or Nuzzle as other support options. But this moveset worked pretty well most of the time.

I gave it a Twisted Spoon to boost its Psychic even further. While neither of its regular Abilities are that useful, Anticipation is probably the better one since it could tell me if an opponent knew a Super effective move. In comparison, Healer is useless outside of Double Battles (and it has limited use in those too), and the majority of the battles in the game are Single Battles, so it feels like the worse alternative. My Hatterene had a Sassy Nature which was pretty good as it buffed its Sp.def while lowering its already low Speed.

Overall, Hatterene was really good. It was slow but quite bulky and it hit hard. It felt like the best out of my three Fairy-types, which is why I added it to the Champion team over Grimmsnarl or Alcremie.

Copperajah (M) @ Metal Coat
Ability: Sheer Force
Nature: Serious
- Iron Head
- High Horsepower
- Rock Slide
- Superpower

This might seem like an elephant in the room, but it was actually an important member of my team. When I first saw Rose send out a Cufant in the intro of the game, my reaction was: "What is that cute little elephant? I want one!" Much later, I managed to catch a Cufant and I think I added it to my team pretty much immediately. It also evolved into Copperajah quite quickly. I was a bit surprised by it being a Steel-type, I thought it would be a Rock-type because a worker outside of the second Galar Mine had one. And Phanpy/Donphan might have influenced me to think that as well. But that doesn't matter, Steel was great and it was the only Steel-type on the team.

Iron Head was the main STAB move, I wasn't sure whether to go with it over Heavy Slam since Copperajah is very heavy, but I tend to prefer moves that deal consistent damage so I went with Iron Head. High Horsepower and Rock Slide for coverage. The last move changed a bit, I used both Brick Break and Play Rough before changing to Superpower. I'm not really sure which move gives the best coverage. And there are a few other options too such as Payback/Brutal Swing, Outrage, Zen Headbutt and Power Whip. But I went with these moves and it worked.

I gave it a Metal Coat to hold in order to boost the power of Iron Head. Sheer Force is the only ability of choice, it gave Iron Head and Rock Slide an extra boost in power at the cost of removing their secondary effects which I'm okay with. It had a Serious Nature which doesn't affect its stats in any way, and that's also okay.

I thought Copperajah was really good. It was strong and fairly bulky thanks to its high Attack and HP, but it was a bit slow. Having a Steel-type on the team was also invaluable at times, I could count on it at times when the others came up short such as against the Fairy Gym where I recall Copperajah being extremely helpful. I added it to the Champion team since I thought it could be useful in the final battles, which I also believe it was.

Toxtricity (F) @ Magnet
Ability: Punk Rock
Nature: Quirky
- Overdrive
- Sludge Bomb
- Hex
- Boomburst

I received a gift Toxel from a person at the Nursery and decided to keep as a reserve member in my party to see if it evolved into something cool (and that's literally what happened). Since I didn't have a Poison- or Electric-type on my team at that time, what did I have to lose? I almost never used it as a Toxel, and whenever I did, it was mostly useless. I was about to drop it, but then it evolved into Toxtricity. So I kept it. It turns out that Toxtricity has two different forms, which one it becomes is determined by its Nature. I got the Amped Form since mine has a Quirky Nature. I think I like it a little better than the Low Key form but I might be biased since this is the form I have actually used in the game.

Overdrive was the main Electric move, it does more damage than Thunderbolt thanks to the boost from Punk Rock. Sludge Bomb in the second slot for coverage and secondary STAB, Sludge Wave would have been slightly better but I wasn't sure if Toxtricity learned that so I never bought the TR for that move. Hex for some extra coverage, and it could be combined with poisoning an opponent with Sludge Bomb first to cause heavy damage, but I rarely did that. Boomburst in the last slot for extra coverage, and since it got a boost from Punk Rock. Toxtricity doesn't have a lot of other Special move options so I'm not sure if I could have given it a better moveset than this. The only one I can think of is Volt Switch which I could have used over Hex, but I could live without it.

It had a Quirky Nature which doesn't affect its stats in any way. Punk Rock was the Ability it got which I'm honestly very happy about since it boosts sound-based moves, powering up Overdrive and Boomburst. The other option is Plus which would have been more or less completely useless. I gave it the Magnet to hold in order to boost the power of its Overdrive even further.

Toxtricity was quite good. It was rather strong on the Special side and had decent speed. It was also the only Electric- and Poison-type on my team, offering great coverage in some situations. I added it to the Champion team since I thought I could make use of its coverage during the final battles, and I'm pretty sure I did.

Reserve team

Barraskewda (F) @ Mystic Water
Ability: Swift Swim
Nature: Modest
- Liquidation
- Drill Run
- Crunch
- Aqua Jet

I caught an Arrokuda at Hulbury and I considered adding it to my team over Drednaw, but decided not to. Later on when I expanded the team, I decided to add it. Arrokuda is one of the most fish-like Pokémon I have ever seen, it looks more like an actual fish than a Pokémon, so I wanted to give it a try just because of that. It quickly evolved into Barraskewda, which is also very fishy. Barraskewda became my second Water-type on the team.

Liquidation was the main move, the best Physical Water-move that Barraskewda gets. Drill Run for coverage, mainly against Electric-types which it is weak against. Crunch for extra coverage and Aqua Jet for priority or if I needed a weaker Water-type move. It learns several other interesting moves like Throat Chop, Brick Break/Close Combat, Ice Fang, Poison Fang and Psychic Fangs, but the moves I went with worked.

I gave it the Mystic Water in order to boost the power of its Water-moves. Swift Swim is the regular Ability for all Barraskewda, it made it blisteringly fast during rain, but I'm not sure if it made that much of a difference since it is quite fast already. Maybe against opposing Swift Swimmers like Seismitoad. Unfortunately, my Barraskewda had a Modest Nature which lowered its great Attack and raised its useless Sp.att.

Barraskewda was quite good. It was fast and rather strong but very frail. If an opponent survived and had a chance to strike back, there was a big chance that Barraskewda would faint. I also feel that the lowered Attack from its Modest Nature hurt it quite a bit since it didn't always hit quite as hard as I would have wanted it to. It was still quite good but not the best, and I picked Drednaw over it for the Champion team because Drednaw felt like the more reliable choice. But Barraskewda was an obvious choice for the Reserve team after I had beaten the game.

Grimmsnarl (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Frisk
Nature: Naive
- False Surrender
- Play Rough
- Drain Punch
- Fire Punch

My second but not last Fairy-type. I was really interested in giving Impidimp a try, I had seen it during the pre-release and I thought Dark/Fairy was a cool type combination. I expected it to evolve into something but had no idea what. I caught a Morgrem in the Glimwood Tangle as well, but I decided to go all the way from scratch and train an Impidimp instead. It quickly evolved into Morgrem and then after a while into Grimmsnarl. This was not how I expected the final evolution to look like, it became unexpectedly brutal but in a good way.

False Surrender was the main Dark-type move and a cool signature move. A move that never misses is also always good to have, but I never really had any direct use for that side effect. I went with Play Rough as the Fairy-type move. Which is a bit unusual, I usually go for accuracy over power and I have wanted Fairy to get another Physical move ever since Gen 6. Grimmsnarl got just that in the form of Spirit Break which is also its signature move. But I still went with Play Rough. Why? I don't really have an answer. Drain Punch in the third slot for coverage and to recover HP. I wasn't sure what to use as the last move though. Grimmsnarl learns all the elemental punches and I didn't know which one would give the best coverage. I went with Fire Punch in the end because I didn't have a second Fire-type, but I thought I could use another Pokémon with a Fire-type move at least. There are a lot of other options too such as Fake Out, Shadow Claw, Stomping Tantrum, Leech Life, Power Whip, and several other Fighting-type moves. I'm not sure which moves give it the best coverage but the four moves I went with worked pretty well.

I changed the item for Grimmsnarl a few times during my playthrough but let it hold the Assault Vest towards the end. It had an all-out offensive set and I thought it could benefit from the Sp.def buff. My Grimmsnarl got Frisk as its Ability, I guess Prankster might have been the better alternative to use with a Bulk Up set or something, but this worked too. It had a Naive Nature which now that I look at it is a bit ironic since it raises its low Speed but lowers its Sp.def, which means that the Assault Vest might not have helped as much in the end.

Overall, I thought Grimmsnarl was quite good. A Physical Dark- and Fairy-type was pretty useful throughout the game. It was quite strong and fairly bulky too. Not that fast but not exactly super slow either. Pretty solid on the whole. That said, I decided to go with Hatterene over it on the Champion team since Hatterene felt more reliable on the whole. Grimmsnarl got added to the Reserve team after I had beaten the game since it was still quite good and it felt much better than Alcremie as a Fairy-type.

Polteageist @ Big Root
Ability: Weak Armor
Nature: Timid
- Shadow Ball
- Giga Drain
- Hex
- Shell Smash

Ghost is my second favorite type. After I had beaten the 5th Gym, I had 13 Pokémon on my team but not a single Ghost-type. That had to be changed. I had seen Sinistea at that point but I hadn't caught one, so I decided to do so. I had also obtained the two different pots and I thought that maybe I could use one of them to evolve it? That turned out to be the case and I got Polteageist added to my team! It is a pretty fun Pokémon.

Shadow Ball was the main move, Giga Drain for coverage and to recover HP. Hex in the third slot because it never really learned anything better, I checked through all my TMs and TRs and there wasn't a single better move I had that it could learn. The last move was Nasty Plot for the longest time, it was a great set-up move. A bit risky since Polteageist is frail, especially on the Physical side, but it often worked. I later changed it for Shell Smash once Polteageist learned that. As said, I didn't teach Polteageist any other moves and it seems like there wasn't a whole lot of other offensive options, the only ones I can see are Psychic, Dark Pulse, Hyper Beam and maybe Stored Power. One of them would probably have been better than Hex but this was still functional.

I never managed to obtain the Spell Tag during my main playthrough, so I let it hold the Big Root instead in order to buff the recovery from Giga Drain a bit. Its Ability is Weak Armor which could be combined with Nasty Plot for great effect, if Polteageaist survived a hit from a Physical move as it used Nasty Plot, it got +2 to both Sp.att and Speed in the same turn, but at the cost of -1 to Defense. It got a Timid Nature which was pretty good, boosting Speed while lowering its useless Attack.

I thought Polteageist was pretty good. Not the best but it could get the job done. I like it. I never really understood the form differences for it and Sinistea though, and I'm not sure which form I have. I did not add it to the Champion team but it was an instant addition to the Reserve team after I had beaten the game.

Sirfetch'd (F) @ Leek
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Naive
- Brick Break
- Knock Off
- Leaf Blade
- Swords Dance

Guess what I like? Farfetch'd. It is my second favorite non-legendary bird from Kanto (#1 is Dodrio). I used Farfetch'd in several playthroughs of R/B and I had great success with it. The fact that it got boosted Exp. from the trade made it grow quickly and it had a powerful 210 Base Power move in Slash, it also had Fly for coverage. I have used it on FR/LG as well and IIRC it worked pretty well there too. Last time I used it pre-S/S was on SoulSilver where I unfortunately had a pretty bad experience with it, but that didn't make me like it any less.

I accidentally spoiled myself on Farfetch'd getting an evolution in S/S. I also think I learned that it was exclusive to Sword. I found it very interesting but I wasn't sure if I wanted to use it. I found it very odd that they were giving a new evolution to an old Pokémon, I never thought they would do that again on a larger scale after all the extreme hate they got for many of the new evolutions in Gen 4. As I played through the game, I encountered a Farfetch'd in the wild. But it was different somehow. A Galarian form! Capture time. And this partly explained how it has a new evolution, the Galarian form was the only one that could evolve.

After that, I decided to not add Farfetch'd to my team immediately, but I was considering it. And once it was time for the team expansion, it got added. I really wanted to evolve it quickly, but I didn't know how to evolve it. In the end, I looked up its evolution method on the internet. Very unique, but not too hard. I got into a battle with a wild Wobbuffet and spammed noneffective moves until I got 3 Crits, then it was a Sirfetch'd!

Brick Break was the main move, stronger alternatives such as Close Combat exist but Brick Break worked well enough for me. Knock Off for coverage, Fighting and Dark has great synergy together and it does extra damage if the opponent is holding an item, though that rarely happened. I wasn't sure what to use in the third slot and had Steel Wing there for a long time, but eventually changed it to Leaf Blade. Not sure what the best option is, there are a few other options too such as First Impression, Brave Bird and Poison Jab. Swords Dance in the last slot to boost its Attack to high levels.

I broke my own rules and gave it a hax item in the form of the Leek, but since it is a signature item, I thought it could be acceptable. Its Ability is Steadfast and I have a memory of how it activated on at least one occasion after Sirfetch'd got flinched, it was a good way to boost its Speed. The Naive Nature also helped to make it faster at the cost of lowering its Sp.def.

I liked Sirfetch'd overall. A really cool Pokémon and a very welcome way how to make an often forgotten Gen 1 Pokémon memorable again. I didn't consider it good enough to be on the Champion team, but it was not the worst either so I added it to the Reserve team.

Frosmoth (M) @ Never-Melt Ice
Ability: Shield Dust
Nature: Serious
- Ice Beam
- Bug Buzz
- Air Slash
- Quiver Dance

Frosmoth was the overall last member I added to the team. I had 14 Pokémon but I thought I should add one more to get up to 15, giving me exactly 2 and a half teams. I didn't have a Bug- or Ice-type on my team, but I had caught a Snom which is both of these types. So it became the last member of my team.

It was very weak, so I wanted nothing but to evolve it quickly. I leveled it up but it didn't evolve so I looked up its evolution method... high Friendship and level up at Night? Oh well. I did everything I could think of to raise its friendship level and it worked because it evolved pretty much immediately.

Its moves varied a bit. I had Icy Wind in the first slot for a while but taught it Ice Beam after obtaining a TR. The same goes for the second slot which was Struggle Bug for a long while before being upgraded to Bug Buzz. Air Slash in the third slot because Frosmoth learned it through level-up, I wasn't sure what else to use and I decided to stick with it. Other alternatives would have been Dazzling Gleam or Giga Drain, not sure which is best. Maybe also Hurricane, but I prefer Air Slash because it has way better accuracy. U-turn would have been an alternative too. Quiver Dance in the last slot as a set-up move, it boosts Frosmoth's high Sp.att, decent Sp.def and its not-so-great Speed, making it a huge threat if it manages to set up.

I gave it the Never-Melt Ice to boost the power of its Ice Beam. It had a Serious Nature which does nothing to its stats. The Ability was Shield Dust which could be useful to block extra effects from moves though I'm not sure if it ever came into effect.

Because Frosmoth was the last member I added to the team, I didn't get to use it that much compared to the others. It was good at times, but I never managed to get a grip on how good it actually was. Because of that, I did not add it to the Champion team. But I did feel like it was better than at least some other members of the team, so it got a spot on the Reserve team.

Flapple (F) @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Gluttony
Nature: Jolly
- Grav Apple
- Outrage
- Wing Attack
- U-turn

Applin is a cool Pokémon. When I first saw it, I thought it looked so fun and quirky that I really felt like giving it a try. So I caught one and added it to my team. But it took a while before it evolved. I first trained it to level 25, then dropped it, then I decided to give it another try and see if it would evolve by level 30. But it didn't. As a last resort, I decided to give it to that kid in Hammerlocke who asked for an Applin. That turned out to be just what I needed since it ended up starting a side-quest which gave me a Tart Apple in the end, letting me evolve my Applin into Flapple! Because of the way it was ordered in the Pokédex, I thought that Flapple had an evolution for a long while. But it turned out that it was just Applin which had another Shield-exclusive evolution named Appletun.

Grav Apple was the main STAB move. After it had evolved into Flapple, I taught it Seed Bomb through TR only to have it learn Grav Apple one or two levels later... It was really good though, and I like its secondary effect of always lowering the targets Defense. The second move varied throughout the game. I had Fly at first, then changed it for Dragon Rush but I never used it because I dislike the low accuracy, so I replaced it with Outrage after beating the game. Though I'm not sure if I ever used it either. Wing Attack in the third slot for coverage, Flapple learned it upon evolving and it stayed. U-turn in the last slot because I couldn't think of anything better. In retrospect, I guess I could have taught it Dragon Dance through the move relearner, but I never did that.

I gave it the Sharp Beak to hold because I never found a Miracle Seed and I didn't obtain the Dragon Fang until after I had beaten the game. I guess I could have given it berries instead to combine with Gluttony, but that didn't happen. The Sharp Beak boosted the power of Wing Attack, so it was at least something. It had a Jolly Nature which was pretty good for it as it is a Physical attacker so it had no problem with having lower Sp.att, and getting boosted Speed is never bad since it has an average base 70. Its Ability was Gluttony, the other alternative was Ripen which is new and therefore much cooler, but neither of them would have been that useful since I never gave it any berries to hold.

Flapple was quite a fun Pokémon. I was considering going with it over Eldegoss on the Champion team but it felt somewhat less reliable on the whole since it lacked bulk and recovery moves, many of its offensive moves also felt lackluster or unreliable. So it got on the Reserve team instead.

Dropped

Thievul (M) @ Wise Glasses
Ability: Unburden
Nature: Jolly
- Snarl
- Night Slash
- Swift
- Nasty Plot

Nickit was one of the first new Pokémon I met and caught in my playthough. I had never seen it before, and I immediately decided that it was going on my team, no matter what. I love foxes and I just had to use it. It evolved into Thievul rather quickly. I think it is a really cool fox.

Snarl was the main Special STAB move, it never learned Dark Pulse through level-up, I did not teach it that through TR which I regret because Snarl got very weak in the later stages of the game. Night Slash for a Physical STAB move. Swift for coverage and Nasty Plot to raise its Sp.att to high levels. Looking back, I really wish I had given Thievul a better moveset. It should have had Dark Pulse over Snarl and then at least one of its other available coverage moves: Grass Knot, Psychic or Shadow Ball.

I gave it the Wise Glasses to hold to boost its Special attacks a little bit. It had Unburden as its ability which was useless as it never lost its hold item, though the other alternative was Run Away which isn't very good either. Unfortunately, my Thievul had a Jolly Nature which lowered its Sp.att. It did boost its Speed though, and its Attack was also surprisingly high which is why I kept Night Slash on it.

In the end, I found Thievul to be a bit underwhelming. It had quite low stats overall, a not so good Nature, it was rather frail and a had a lackluster moveset, so I dropped it after beating the game. Though I still think it is really cool and I regret not giving it a better moveset, that might have given me a better experience with it.

Alcremie (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sweet Veil
Nature: Relaxed
- Dazzling Gleam
- Magical Leaf
- Aromatherapy
- Recover

I caught a Milcery early on in the game and kept it for a long time. Fairy is my favorite type and I had always planned to have a Fairy-type on my team. I simply decided to try the first new one I found. Milcery seemed like a fun Pokémon. It was very weak and I babied it a lot, but it never felt like it got stronger and it didn't evolve for a long while. I was about to drop it once and for all when I got close to discovering how to evolve it. In Hammerlocke, I obtained a Strawberry Sweet which had to do with Milcery according to the item description. But I wasn't sure how to do. Just giving it the item didn't work, letting it hold it and making it grow a level didn't work either. If it turned out that Milcery evolved through trade, I would drop it once and for all. I decided to break my own rules just because I wanted the answer, so I looked up how to evolve it. Let it hold the item and... spin around and do Leon's victory pose? I didn't even know you could do that. But I did, and I got myself an Alcremie!

It turns out that Alcremie has a ton of different forms. Mine got the Ruby Cream form but I didn't care which one it got because I was so happy to finally have an Alcremie. After evolving, it was a member of the team for real. My first Fairy-type member of the team. Draining Kiss was its main move for a long while but I changed it for Dazzling Gleam later on. Like with Hatterene, it doesn't learn Moonblast. Magical Leaf for coverage, it stayed because I never taught it something stronger like Energy Ball or Giga Drain, or other coverage moves like Mystical Fire or Psychic/Psyshock. Aromatherapy in the third slot to clear status from my team, but like with Eldegoss, I rarely used it. Recover in the last slot to recover HP. I really wish I had given it a better moveset, but too late for that now.

It got to hold a Leftovers to recover more HP and because I got a second one from a random berry tree. I also didn't find the Pixie Plate until I had beaten the game (didn't even think it would exist in the game). Sweet Veil was its Ability to block Sleep which I guess is never bad though I'm not sure if it ever had a chance to come into effect. It had a Relaxed Nature which I guess works, Alcremie is fairly slow and a bit more Defense never hurts.

Unfortunately, Alcremie always felt very weak to me. It took forever for it to evolve and it never felt that strong afterwards either. It felt like the weakest out of my three Fairy-types, so I dropped it after beating the game. It is a shame, because I think it is really cool and I really wanted it to be good. I really regret not teaching it some better coverage moves, that might have made it a bit better.

Dubwool (F) @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Sassy
- Body Slam
- Double Kick
- Payback
- Reversal

Despite being an early-game Pokémon, this one got added to the team very late. I caught a Wooloo early on and had it as a reserve team member for a while, then dropped it as I caught other Pokémon I wanted to use instead. I later added it back to the team when I expanded it because Wooloo is so cute and I really wanted to give it a try. It quickly evolved into Dubwool.

Body Slam was the main move. With Return gone, this was my choice for STAB. There are other options like Double-Edge and Mega Kick, but I dislike their recoil and inaccuracy, respectively. Body Slam was good enough, and the paralysis chance is fun too. The other moves were mainly fillers, I never taught it that many other moves through TR or TM. Double Kick and Reversal to hit Rock- and Steel-types as well as opposing Normal-types. They both had their uses, I remember using Reversal to great effect at least once when it had gotten low HP after being heavily damaged by a previous move. Payback was mostly used against Ghost-types but also against Psychic-types. There were other offensive options like Bounce, Zen Headbutt, Wild Charge and Body Press, I guess I could have used some of them instead. Dubwool also gets Swords Dance to boost its Attack which could also have been an alternative. Or maybe Cotton Guard in combination with Body Press and to make it more bulky at the same time.

I gave it the Silk Scarf to boost the power of Body Slam. It had Steadfast as its Ability, not sure if it or Fluffy is the better alternative but it doesn't really matter. Unlike for Sirfetch'd, I don't think Steadfast ever activated throughout the game. It had a Sassy Nature which made it slower but raised its Sp.def instead.

Dubwool wasn't that good, unfortunately. It never felt particularly strong or reliable, but like with Frosmoth, I didn't use it all that much. But I didn't feel like I could count on it, so I dropped it after beating the game.

That's all for my in-game team on Sword. I guess I could say more but I think this is enough. Training a total of 15 Pokémon was a lot of fun, but I'm never going to do it again. That said, if I decide to get any future new Pokémon games and they keep the mandatory Exp. Share, I will probably try two teams of 6 Pokémon for a total of 12, and I'll probably do it more seriously than this which was mostly very spontaneous. But that's all in the future which is currently very uncertain. Who knows, this might have been my last in-game team ever. At least on a brand new Pokémon game.

 

[doipy hooves]

I beat Sword, here's my mons. Most of the game I used a rotating team, then in Wyndon I went with a single team for what I thought was endgame. Felt strong enough to take on the AI at all times, though a bit underleveled. Camp used sometimes (starter maxed), no grinding/candies (starter got a lot of chip catch EXP though), and switch mode. I really liked the flexible box system here.

team before Wyndon stadium

team before champion

Inteleon: Stayed on my rotating team all game and made the most out of Camp boosts. Definitely could've solo'd the game, though I sandbagged with Metronome and raising others. Maxed Dynamax level immediately. Swift/Ice Beam/Snipe Shot/Metronome. Ice Beam came a bit late around the Delibird event, before that it was Tearful Look.

Eiscue: Probably my favourite gen 8er from the moment it leaked. Luckily got it as a wonder trade early on, coming with Adamant + 5IVs and Belly Drum/Icicle Crash/Zen Headbutt. One Waterfall TR later and set for the rest of the game. Trade exp helped to level quickly. Ice face is fun. Don't know how much the optimization helped but this penguin is very cool. Pretty bulky too. Raised it all the way from level 1, no regrets.

Barraskewda: Caught early on, evolution definitely helped matters. I feel like it fell off later on, coverage was ok but speed wasn't that important unless a revenge kill was needed. Inteleon kind of overshadowed. Ice Fang/Liquidation/Crunch/Drill Run, most of the game it had Waterfall.

Obstagoon: Another early catch. Was Linoone until it evolved in the middle of the tower fights. Tough mon, could tank hits but didn't see much use before evolving outside of Pickup. Double-Edge/Seed Bomb/Sand Attack/Night Slash

Boltund: Yamper phase was slow. Definitely grew faster than others, thanks Fast EXP group. Thunder Fang/Psychic Fangs/Nuzzle/Crunch. -Atk was unfortunate, but it still impressed me. Kind of like Barraskewda but I found Boltund more useful.

Sirfetch'd: My most anticipated mon. Moveset could be better, but its attack spoke for itself, even better with a Brave nature. Very defensive too. First Impression/(Brave Bird)/Brick Break/Night Slash. I think midway through Rose I overwrote Brave Bird for Leaf Blade, didn't matter too much. Got Night Slash through the egg move tutor, weak but it was reliable for catching. Leek is op. Slam at level 50 is not. Rough start, but with Brick Break it's mostly fine.

The box squad/everything else

Box of mons I used/swapped through. By the IV judge this was taken about right after I beat battle tower and did the postgame storyline. Levels are from the present, but should be close. Bolded = used and memorable

Gyarados L20: Never did anything besides soak some exp and candy to evolve.
Box Meowth/Diggersby/Linoone: Pickup squad. Linoone was caught to tutor Sirfetch'd Night Slash, and the other Meowth was actually wonder traded to me.
Nickit L16: Just used to run away from stuff in the wild area early on.
Mudbray L19: Gave me a hard time in the wild area. Got 4 levels apparently, then I probably went Drilbur full-time.
Box Sirfetch'd: The Sirfetch'd I bred to get Night Slash.
Carkol: Flame Body for breeding.
Chinchou L21: Just used for the water gym to be honest. Idk what Illuminate does.
Arctozolt L20: Thought I'd use it along with Delibird after gym 4 but didn't end up going through with it.
Charizard L36: I let Charmander absorb the EXP from postgame to evolve along the way, finally evolved after fighting the swordman.
Delibird L47: Caught in the Dappled Grove at L14. Ended up using this one a bit longer, it did get some candies. Resigned in Route 10 after poor performance, but remained to the end. Icicle Spear/Drill Run/Drill Peck/Seed Bomb. Brave Hustle... 68 atk.
Cramorant L43: Used for a bit in the middle just for fun, not as great as I expected. Surf TR helped. Amnesia/Surf/Endure/Drill Peck
Darmanitan L48: Caught to test Gorilla Tactics + Metronome and then kept using it because it was strong. You even get a Scarf and Icicle Crash on evo. Fire Punch/Icicle Crash/U-turn/Mega Punch
Excadrill L48: Always behind, but still alright. Had the stats and type to matter and was relevant even underleveled. Crush Claw/Drill Run/Hone Claws/Rock Slide
Pelipper L48: This thing surpassed some of my actual team members for a bit. Picked up after Gym 6 to stop the hail with Drizzle, taught it Scald and it was actually very nice to use for a time. U-turn/Scald/Protect/Roost + Damp Rock
Meowth L49: The event meowth. Used it earlier more than later. Pickup always nice. Slash/Pay Day/Charm/Play Rough
Ribombee L51: Actually never used but considered it, in the end I wanted veterans for the final fights. Got from a raid just before endgame and made a support set out of it.
Dragapult L64: Another early Japanese wonder trade gift, and apparently it was 5IV too, not that it mattered. This final form does not represent the Dreepy experience. Draco Meteor is its best move and it couldn't even finish stonjourner. Gave it ~9 levels after dark gym to get to 50, put it against the dragon gym and then benched until postgame. At least it tried with the trade EXP boost and a nice dusk ball. Too late to really get in the game. It could use the Eviolite at least. Also gets Thunder Wave so it could weaken stuff even with a 'high' level to catch some things. Very unfortunate
Zacian L72: Used the masterball and had it against Hop. Nice, not totally needed but I'll use it.

Butterfree L48: Probably lower level back then since it's getting some passive EXP now with Shiftry. Early catch from the Rolling Fields. Used on and off, learned some neat moves throughout so that was nice. Sleep Powder/Air Slash/Quiver Dance/Bug Buzz, sharp beak
Shiftry L49: The last early catch. Thought it would be awesome with the early Leaf Stone and move relearner tech. Hurricane/Throat Chop/Leaf Blade/Extrasensory + Expert Belt. Sounds nice but I just didn't use it much. Some missed kills and usually not the preferred option.

There are probably some route 1 mons

 

[VagueKatti]

Given what we know about Kubfu in the Isle of Armor expansion, evolving as we progress through the mode and all that, I’m very curious how Isle of Armor is going to handle teambuilding. Is there going to be sufficient incentive to actually raise a new team specifically for the journey, or is it intended to be post-game content with your old ‘mons that you reluctantly drag your Kubfu along for? I see 3 potential options:

1. You’re locked out of your PC or just can’t use ‘mons acquired outside of the Isle until you clear the story mode.

2. You can use whatever you like, but the mode assumes that you’re going to train up new Pokemon and scales itself accordingly.

3. The mode assumes that you’re using your post-game team, and scales itself accordingly - around the 70s or so the whole way.

2 is the solution that seems the most ideal, but at the same time I feel like 3 would be the most likely outcome; however, 3 doesn’t address the issue of training Kubfu. Perhaps it would just come around level 60 or so, but then that somewhat strips the satisfaction of learning alongside it and what not. I wouldn’t necessarily *mind* 1 occurring, but it both seems the least likely by far and doesn’t really have any benefits over 2.

Regardless of how they handle it, I’m really looking forward to trying the Isle of Armor! Regardless of how they handle level scaling and what not, I’m still planning to raise a new team in spirit of the mode, and thus I’m looking forward to that adventure.

 

[R_N]

Given what we know about Kubfu in the Isle of Armor expansion, evolving as we progress through the mode and all that, I’m very curious how Isle of Armor is going to handle teambuilding. Is there going to be sufficient incentive to actually raise a new team specifically for the journey, or is it intended to be post-game content with your old ‘mons that you reluctantly drag your Kubfu along for? I see 3 potential options:

1. You’re locked out of your PC or just can’t use ‘mons acquired outside of the Isle until you clear the story mode.

2. You can use whatever you like, but the mode assumes that you’re going to train up new Pokemon and scales itself accordingly.

3. The mode assumes that you’re using your post-game team, and scales itself accordingly - around the 70s or so the whole way.

2 is the solution that seems the most ideal, but at the same time I feel like 3 would be the most likely outcome; however, 3 doesn’t address the issue of training Kubfu. Perhaps it would just come around level 60 or so, but then that somewhat strips the satisfaction of learning alongside it and what not. I wouldn’t necessarily *mind* 1 occurring, but it both seems the least likely by far and doesn’t really have any benefits over 2.

Regardless of how they handle it, I’m really looking forward to trying the Isle of Armor! Regardless of how they handle level scaling and what not, I’m still planning to raise a new team in spirit of the mode, and thus I’m looking forward to that adventure.

It's explicitly a mode you can do at any time you have access to the Wild Area. They say as much during the direct but it's stated much more explicitly in the website.

Since the whole place is a Wild Area, it probably uses the same level stuff as the standard wild area (static pre-game with badge-based level locks and then a post-game boost to level 60) and hopefully that applies to the rest of the trainers there too.

 

[yourDeadGrandad]

Anyone find any surprises or disappointments in the mons they used in playthrough?

One surprise for me was Grapploct. Chased me in a route so I caught it for the heck of it, swapped it for a fainted member and it really put in work. I'm not usually a fan of fighting types or sea-life designs, but I really enjoyed using this one.

I was kind of disappointed by Grimmsnarl. It always felt a bit too slow and a bit too frail. Worked great for the dark gym, but just OK either side of that.

Sorry if this is old hat, I got the games for Christmas and I've only just finished them through.

 

[Pikacube100]

I'm thinking of adding one/two of these Pokemon to my team. Any suggestions?
Prankster Grimsnarl Screen Setter
Runerigus Hazard Setter
Ninjask Baton Passer Booster
Other's on Team (For Reference)
Dusknoir
Dracovish
Toxapex
Alecreme

 

[FellFromtheSky]

Hi! It’s been literally forever since I’ve been on smogon or cared too much about Pokémon but the dlc expansion made me suddenly care about Pokémon again! I’m like pretty much totally unspoiled for sword and shield (tho I’m not too afraid of spoilers) and excited to play the games! I don’t even know the a fair amount of the new Pokémon. I did look at a team planner tho and I decided that would love my in game team to have a core of Cinderace/Gardevoir/Milotic/Galarian-Rapidash and I was wondering how accessible they were in the games and how to get them during a playthrough as easily as possible. :D

 

[Kurona]

Hi! It’s been literally forever since I’ve been on smogon or cared too much about Pokémon but the dlc expansion made me suddenly care about Pokémon again! I’m like pretty much totally unspoiled for sword and shield (tho I’m not too afraid of spoilers) and excited to play the games! I don’t even know the a fair amount of the new Pokémon. I did look at a team planner tho and I decided that would love my in game team to have a core of Cinderace/Gardevoir/Milotic/Galarian-Rapidash and I was wondering how accessible they were in the games and how to get them during a playthrough as easily as possible. :D

Galarian Rapidash is the most guaranteed of those; if you're playing Shield then you can find them right before the fifth gym in the game!

The others though... Feebas is as impossibly hard to find as ever, and if you want it I would absolutely recommend just getting an egg traded from a friend or something. Ralts depends entirely on the weather in the wild area and is still rare despite that, though I was still able to find one in a max raid near the beginning of the game after a bit of grinding.

 

[FellFromtheSky]

Galarian Rapidash is the most guaranteed of those; if you're playing Shield then you can find them right before the fifth gym in the game!

The others though... Feebas is as impossibly hard to find as ever, and if you want it I would absolutely recommend just getting an egg traded from a friend or something. Ralts depends entirely on the weather in the wild area and is still rare despite that, though I was still able to find one in a max raid near the beginning of the game after a bit of grinding.

How early is the wild area? It’d be awkward to have only my starter of those four until the fifth gym And oh no? Are we back to that annoying finding a random tile thing?

 

[Kurona]

How early is the wild area? It’d be awkward to have only my starter of those four until the fifth gym And oh no? Are we back to that annoying finding a random tile thing?

The Wild Area is well before the first gym; though still after the initial earlygame stuff. I guess think of it in terms of Jubilife or Petalburg?

As it turns out I was actually misinformed about Feebas. It's available by fishing in route 2... at a 1% chance in a specific area that you can only access 6 badges into the game.