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Used a randomizer to build this team and rolled with it since it had two Pokemon I wanted to use (Skeledirge since I didn't pick it last time & Tinkaton cause best Pokemon). Also featured Spidops, which was great since I wanted to use that for memes. I did catch everything before the first gym, but I ended up swapping out Tinkaton and Flamigo for the better Tera ones you can find in the overworld. Generally stuck to a rule of fighting only trainer battles and mandatory story battles, though I did go out of my way to catch a few Pokemon to pass Egg moves.
Skeledirge was kinda mid through most of the journey, though that is partially my fault. I tried using it as an all or nothing sweeper with Flame Charge and offensive items like Throat Spray or Charcoal, but that didn't really work because mine had a Speed lowering nature, so it would still be outsped by stuff after the Flame Charge. Being a slow Pokemon with 5 weaknesses didn't really help it since I felt it had a difficult time sweeping even against opponents it should theoretically beat like Grusha (who's Frosmoth would always go for Tail wind and Beartic had EQ + Cetitan had Liquidation, making a sweep impossible). Once I passed Slack Off from Bellibolt and ran the standard Smogon Defensive set, it became quite solid. Leftovers makes this Pokemon's ability to tank so much better, esp if its facing a slower opponent after its boosted w/ Torch song.
Spidops was actually the goat. I'd say I had to use it more since it felt like it was constantly underleveled due to being in the erratic EXP group and it didn't perform too badly in most Trainer battles. Admittingly, I got lucky by finding an Adamant one, but It got some good moves like Leech Life via TM, and Lunge, and Sucker Punch from breed transferring w/ Lokix. I eventually gave it Spikes & Toxic Spikes and I must say that this boosted its utility in many of the tougher battles since I could lead w/ it and just setup my hazards to get the opponent chipped down. Toxic Spikes were crucial in the battle against Penny, and Spidops itself did ok against Geeta and was even able to hold its own against Nemona's Pawmot to setup Sticky web and let my Flamigo outspeed her Meowscarada. Overall, not a bad Pokemon combat-wise because of Leech Life and it was a great utility pick.
Flamigo is hilariously OP. This Pokemon has an arguably more cracked statline that Gallade and you can catch it at level 6 lmao. Its def not invincible, but its quite powerful for the early game, with a strong Double Kick and Aerial Ace for early fights. It gets a lot of good moves through TM like Acrobatics, which I used on my initial Flamigo I caught. Had to switch to Brave Bird when I cause the Tera Flamigo though, which is arguably a stronger nuke button, but the recoil is hella annoying to deal with. Still, its other STAB, CC, is also OP, esp in this game since you can just forget the move and relearn it if you are running low on PP. Drawback of lowering defenses doesn't even matter since you are a OHKO machine and can just use U-Turn. outta bad match-ups Also gets a bunch of other wacky options that I didn't end up using like Throat Chop, Liquidation and Bulk Up. Recovery in Roost is also useful, though a double edged sword since the AI feels really random.
Tinkaton is another OP Pokemon. Kinda interesting since the one I caught here felt way better than the one I used in my first Playthough (which I EV trained to have max speed and attack). I did swap out the one I was intially using for the Tera one you can catch near the Dark team star base since it was higher level and had perfect IVs. Also gave it Ice Hammer from Crabobimable cuz it was a strong move. But yeah, Metal Coat Gigaton Hammer is basically a Z-Move that you can use multiple times in a battle, making it very OP and reliable Pokemon. Drawback of low PP doesn't matter in this game and its typing, speed, bulk, and coverage are all solid letting it still deal solid damage with its Play Rough and Ice Hammer. I taught it Stealth Rock later on, which was actually quite good when it could set it up, esp against Larry (benefit was more pronounced due to having Ice Hammer for some of his Pokemon). She swept Larry and Hassel and did great in most of the other battles.
Kingambit was interesting. It was a Pawniard for most of the game, which I thought would be a hinderance, but it shockingly wasn't too bad for most of the game. I gave it Fling + Rare Bone to have a strong early game STAB attack, which was quite useful for most of the battles and passed it Sucker Punch, which was pretty OP, partially against Ryme which quickly won me that battle when I spammed it alongside Spidops' Sucker Punch. I later swapped to Black Glasses + Night Slash since it also boosted Sucker Punch. Only spent two levels with Bisharp before it evolved and didn't really use it in the late game since its match-ups felt worse. It was really good against Geeta, where I pratically solo'd it with Kingambit and Spidops, but its Iron Head didn't even OHKO Glimmora from full (though Sucker Punch finished the job there) which was disappointing.
Pinchurin sucks lol. Its damage isn't bad, but its bulk just isn't good enough for how lower its speed is. I did try using it as a shitty Leftovers Curse sweeper though, which was probably a mistake since going all out attacking w/ boost from Magnet or using a utility move like Spikes probably would have been better. The issue is that this Pokemon is ridiculous slow (worsed by mine having a speed lowering nature) so even Pokemon like GREEDANT are outpacing it and getting free damage and Sticky Web just isn't helpful for it. Its Curse set was also a crit magnet. Lightning Rod is a good ability and moves like Sucker Punch, Liquidation, and Recover are nice to have though and I messed up by not running all of them on the same set earlier. It didn't do too badly against some of E4 Larry's Pokemon and Totem Dondozo and def did contribute vs Iono even though it got haxed in the end by Luxio. Getting Sucker Punch chip here and there was also a nice contribution it could make to various fights. Still, I think this Pokemon needed to have Zing Zap but healing effect instead of flinching to be good.
Also caught 3 random shinies in Mareep, Goomy, and Mudbray lol, though didn't use any of them.
