You are a type specialist in a hostile region. How do you best represent your chosen element?

[CTNC]

Let's Go Dark has been the easiest one so far for me to make. Use Every Dark type and slap on the Ghost types for the last two Pokemon.



It doesn't feel worth making movesets for a team I slapped together in under 5 minutes. If I wanted to slap on a theme to make it 10 minutes, I could use the irritable and wrathful Alolan Ninetales for a team of Pokemon forms that weren't the the original games. I'm kind of hoping I get last place for my lack of creativity and effort.

LGPE Kanto Dex is here for those who need it. However, this question comes with a BONUS!

To wit: Dark in LGPE Kanto will be the actual question for this round, but you are hereby encouraged to add a "Dark in FRLG Kanto" team to your post as an addendum, purely for fun. Since FRLG Kanto has literally no Dark-types, I don't think it's worth doing a proper round for that topic: too obscure. But I didn't want to leave it out completely, either. So let's do both!

FRLG Dark is mean... I love it!


One Pokemon I thought about was Eevee because it could become a Dark Type. It just isn't one... yet. (and never will be unless it's traded to RSE or transferred to Gen 4.) It would've been funny to have a team of unevolved Pokemon for an angsty teenager trainer to be able to justify Eevee... It was so tempting that I almost did it, but between this challenge being for making end game boss style teams and I'd already pushed the limits of what's allowed with two Dugtrio, I decided against it.

Instead, of a solid theme, I'm going to go with showing off different Dark moves because about half of them are Status Moves. (Exactly half if you count the 20 Power Knock Off as a Status Move because it's not strong enough to be worth counting as an attack IMO. :P)



Arbok
Intimidate
-Beat Up
-Sludge Bomb
-Toxic
-Wrap

I know this is an obvious enough pick that I don't have to explain it, but sinister snakes is a cliche and Arbok's belly has a pattern that looks like an evil face.

Beat Up having 10 Power and using Arbok's Special Attack (even though every Dark move became Physical after the Physical/Special Split.) Makes it pretty much a 60 Power Dark Attack. Not having the 30% Flinch Chance makes it probably worse than Bite, (unless you have a King's Rock, which I don't.) but at least it's a neat gimmick move. Sludge Bomb is STAB and the last two moves are slow by themselves but small effects add up quick, especially when one's Toxic and the other doesn't let you switch.


Persian
Limber
-Thief
-Snatch
-Body Slam
-Thunderbolt

If I had to sum up what I thought about Persian was in one word, Meowth's Pay Day and Persian's luxurious fur would make me say greed. (Well, either that or kitty. :P) I think something that can be summed up as a selfish personality trait belongs on this team. Thunderbolt for coverage is because this team has a lot of Flying weaknesses.


Golbat
Inner Focus
-Faint Attack
-Sludge Bomb
-Confuse Ray
-Double Team

The Pokemon infamous for living in dark caves is on a Dark team. Big shock!

Faint Attack isn't that interesting, but it does have an uncommon effect. It's a 60 Power move that can't miss. I don't think having it on the same moveset as the infamous move that makes moves miss highlights that it can't miss, but something about it feels right. Maybe it's my love of irony... I could have had some Dark Status Moves too, but I wanted each Pokemon to have a unique Dark move and everyone else already had the Dark TM moves. (Maybe I shouldn't have given Persian two.) Confuse Ray is because Golbat and it makes dealing with Double Team so much worse.


Parasect
Effect Spore
-Pursuit
-Spore
-Giga Drain
-Growth

It's hard to say no to a zombie for a Dark team. The problem with Pursuit is there's not many ways for in game trainers to make the player want to switch, but Spore looks like a possible way. (Unless the player has 99 Full Heals or knows the Pokeflute can be used in battle as an infinite use Awakening.) There's no Bug Stab because this is Gen 3. There's only the 20 Power Leech Life. (Also the 10 Power Furry Cutter with Emerald Tutors.)
Sleep gives time to set up and Growth gives a badly needed boost to the base Parasect's Base 60 Special Attack, which is extra needed when Giga Drain is the most powerful Attack and it's only 90 Power after STAB.


Primeape
Vital Spirit
-Taunt
-Revenge
-Iron Tail
-Overheat

Dark types aren't known for mercy and neither is Primeape with their endless rage. Taunt shares the rage and stops any trainer stupid enough to use Status Moves. Payback didn't exist until Gen 4, but Revenge has the same flavor. Iron Tail and Overheat for coverage is just because I think they're funny. Primeape loses their tail after evolving and Overheat is possible because their anger builds up that much.


Gengar @ Sitrus Berry
Levitate
-Torment
-Shadow Ball
-Psychic
-Substitute

Asking without looking anyone else's teams, but is anyone not using Gengar?

Torment seems like it'd be annoying on a Pokemon with 3 Immunities and Substitute with it is going for the same kind of idea as Substitute + Disable except possibly better because Disable only has 55 Accuracy in Gen 3! Shadow Ball has STAB and Psychic is used over a second STAB because both STAB are Physical and Gengar's Special Attack is so much better.



I didn't want too many of the same type, but I ended up with three of the Pokemon the Ghost Poison Elite Four uses.

I hope there's main poll for Let's Go and a side poll for FRLG instead of one poll for both teams. It'd be nice to have the first team do poorly and see how the team I put effort into ranks.


Edit: The reason behind Hugin's FRLG Dark Team is brilliant. XD

Also, is it just me or do I almost always get the top of a new page when I post here?

 

[Pikachu315111]

LGPE Dark-Type: Team Rocket Alolan Poacher & Smuggler
With all the connections that Alola has with Kanto & Johto, it's surprising there's little Team Rocket activity there, instead Team Rocket spreading out to the Sevii Islands. But that doesn't mean there is none. While LGPE Giovanni has no interest in setting up a base in Alola, he still recognizes it has plenty of rare Pokemon, notably those Regional Variants. Enter my guy, an agent of Team Rocket who poaches and smuggles Alolan Pokemon to Team Rocket's HQ in Kanto. As a poacher & smuggler he has a more expertise team than your usual Grunt or Admin, he's operating alone most of the time so needs to have that self-efficiency to get the job done and quick:

Mega Gyarados (Crunch, Waterfall, Outrage, Earthquake)
Alolan Muk (Crunch, Poison Jab, Ice Punch, Toxic)
Alolan Raticate (Crunch, Hyper Fang, Super Fang, U-turn)
Alolan Persian (Dark Pulse, Power Gem, Play Rough, Thunderbolt)
Weezing (Dark Pulse, Sludge Bomb, Psybeam, Explosion)
Arbok (Crunch, Poison Jab, Toxic, Glare)

As Silent As The Dark

Mega Gyarados: My powerhouse and my ferry guard. When out on the water you're most vulnerable and easier to spot, so best to have your best Pokemon be a powerful Water-type that can hurry you along and tear anything apart that comes near.
Alolan Muk: My bodyguard on land and cleaner. Poaching rare Pokemon is a messy job, the less evidence you can leave behind the harder it is for the law to track you. Alolan Muk eats the waste before we leave and, if we're followed, spread out poison crystals to deter the chase.
Alolan Raticate: My tracker and forager. In order to poach the Pokemon I need to find them, Alolan Raticate having heightened sense of smell (and taste). Speaking of which, sometimes food can get scarce so nice to have a Pokemon that can forage more food so don't have to stop the hunt.
Alolan Persian: My stealth agent. May not be as stealthy as its Kanto cousin, but Alolan Persian can still silently sneak around whether its scouting out a target or surveying an area for law enforcement. And if I need it do, surprise attack.

Now at this point you're probably expecting me to use two other Alolan Pokemon like Alolan Marowak or Alolan Ninetales. But, nah, those are high price merchandise. I'm a Dark-type Specialist so I made an exception for the above three (not to mention they're also a bit more common compared to other Alolan variants). Instead I got two Pokemon from Rocket HQ, both providing my useful utility and a faint connection with Team Rocket:

Weezing: My obscurer. Sneaking around is easier when Weezing is creating a thick smog, either to hide in or knock out someone. And if really in a pinch, nothing distracts better than a giant explosion.
Arbok: My constrictor. Sometimes there's just moments where I can't sneak around, so it's good to have a Pokemon which can paralyze with a glare and than wrap around them to keep them in place. Also useful for those aloof Alolan Pokemon.

FRLG Dark-Type: Noir PI
It's a tough world out their on the streets. I should know, I've been down every one of them; down every alleyway and side path. I'm a private investigator, I may pick the jobs I take (in theory), but I don't pick where they lead me. I don't get the glamorous jobs, no, those are for the badges who get to call themselves dic*s. You come to me when they come up short; when the going gets rough and dic*s don't want to get their shiny badges dirty. I can't promise I'll find what you want, but I'll at least go to the dark corridors the light is afraid to shine down. Let me introduce to you my team:

Hitmonchan (Keen Eye. Shell Bell:. Pursuit, Mach Punch, Brick Break, Earthquake)
Persian (Limber. Scope Lens. Faint Attack, Slash, Aerial Ace, Iron Tail)
Raticate (Guts. Leftovers. Bite, Hyper Fang, Super Fang, Iron Tail)
Fearow (Keen Eye. Sharp Beak. Pursuit, Drill Peck, Facade, Steel Wing)
Beedrill (Swarm. SilverPowder. Pursuit, Twineedle, Sludge Bomb, Brick Break)
Arbok (Intimidate. Quick Claw. Bite, Sludge Bomb, Earthquake, Glare)

More Proper Introductions

Hitmonchan: My reluctant & short-tempered partner. A former P1 Grand Prix Pokemon Boxing Champion, got itself caught in a Liechi Berry scandal and fell from glory. Insists it was framed, we met up by fate when it was shaking down (or as best as a Hitmonchan can with clenched fists) a perp I was also after. Been partnered ever since, I appreciate the help as I get into plenty of tussle so nice to have a professional martial artists backing me up. As for it, it hopes sticking with my sorry self will one day clear its name and let it return to the ring; it wears a Shell Bell to remind itself of the round bell it lived to hear.
Persian: My sassy spy. Used to look through my garbage for food scraps, got tired of it knocking down my cans (or rather, got tired cleaning the mess up) and just started leaving food out for it. We grew accustomed to each other's presence, and then one day when I reached a dead end in my investigation it showed up and led me to what I was exactly looking for. Turns out it began observing me and had a natural knack for sleuthing itself. So now it sleeps on my bed, which is alright, I usually conk out at my desk so at least the mattress is getting some use.
Raticate: My gluttonous tracker. I may know the alleys, but Raticate knows the nook and cranny that connects them all together. I've known it since it was a Rattata, back in my early days where the most complicated case I got was retrieving someone's lost property or tracking an unfaithful spouse. It use to run with a whole pack of Rattata, but over time they left and only it remained, having taken a shine to me asking for its help (that and the food I bribed it with to help me). Was worried when it evolved it wouldn't be as flexible, but you'd be surprise the small spaces it could squeeze into. Oh, and its teeth are quite useful cutting through things, from ropes to locks.
Fearow: My piecing eyes in the sky. Some people prefer the Pidgey family over Spearow, easier to work with. But in these backstreets a Pidgey is more likely to end up a snack of a hungry Meowth; I need a Flying-type with a bit more spice. I've known it since it was a Spearow when worked for seeds, now as a Fearow it demands something meatier. I can respect the hustle, and its eyes are so sharp it can spot an insignia on a ring from hundreds of feet in the air; though not's not the only sharp thing it has if you get on its bad side.
Beedrill: My twitchy interrogator. You want to make someone talk? Put a three foot wasp in front of them with its stingers all pointing toward them; they get real chatty real fast. Not that was my intention when I found it, a poor motionless Kakuna that had been left or forgotten in an alley; either dropped by a passing Beedrill swarm or abandoned by a trainer who thought it useless now. I brought it to my office home and nursed it back to health. One day I brought back a suspect for questioning and discovered a Beedrill drinking the sugar from my coffee; the suspect knocked me down and tried to escape but Beedrill pinned him down and got him talking. Since then Beedrill helps me with my interrogations; and also addicted to coffee.
Arbok: My pressuring apprehender. Arbok started off as an enemy Ekans, it former trainer having it wrapped around me as they escaped. What Ekans didn't know is they set the building on fire to let us both die. Becuase it was wrapped around me it got burned and I was able to free myself, but I didn't have the heart to just leave it to its fate. I dragged it out, tended to its burns, and next person it wrapped around was its former trainer. I got it surrendered to me and has since helped with immobilizing and intimidating suspects and perps; though upon evolving to an Arbok likes putting on the pressure a little bit too much.

Additional Notes: So, yeah, two almost complete opposite themes. Originally I was thinking of doing a sort of parallel universe idea, like this was going to be the same trainer but, due to how different things turned out, one was going to be a street thug (possibly gang leader) and another a Noir PI (hence also sharing Pokemon between the two). As you can tell the Noir PI stuck, however I felt it would just be too odd for this random Kanto street thug to have Alolan Pokemon making up half of his team. So I decided to scrap the street thug idea and gone with a criminal which would explain why they not only have all the Alolan Dark-types but also justify having a Mega Gyarados. I guess they could still be the same character from different parallel universes, though would need to work on their backstories some more.

I feel like we're going to see a lot of picks that wouldn't be out of place on Team Rocket or Agatha's team.

 

[MetalmindStats]

Hi all! I'm a longtime lurker who decided to emerge from hiding for the first time in a few years because she sparked to this thread's premise.

Without further ado:


Persian-Alola
- Hypnosis
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Dream Eater

Why Alolan Persian?

I'm naturally not the first to this moveset, perhaps partly since the near-optimal all-out-attacking tilt of many LGPE boss rematch sets further limits our realistic options. Also, threatening to inflict sleep on any foe and then set up is certainly a characteristically shifty tactic, made manageable by Hypnosis's shaky accuracy. Regardless, being faced with this from an in-game NPC at lead is sure to be frightening! (even if it can't really clean up a weakened team)

As for piece-by-piece sells, Alolan Persian is the only fully evolved pure Dark-type in the game, and I immediately decided I wanted to emphasize Pokemon bearing that type, even amidst their asterisks. It very much helps that it makes better and more natural use of Dark Pulse, one of LGPE's three Dark-type TMs, than anything else in the 'dex. Nasty Plot, too, is a valuable Dark-type move with no better showcase anywhere that'd fit. Paradoxically for Psychic-type moves, the parasitic Hypnosis + Dream Eater combo fits Dark's flavor well, while the latter starts a very Kanto trend of subtle hostility towards Fighting-types in a rare advantageous matchup. I also considered setting a Timid nature before ultimately deciding natures didn't add enough intrigue to justify their violation of in-game precedent.

Raticate-Alola
- Super Fang
- Taunt
- Sucker Punch
- U-turn

Why Alolan Raticate?

The credits for this direction also really aren't mine, though I averred from reading Lady Salamence's logic. Even Alolan Raticate's stat spread seems less-than-tailored for all-out-attacking or offensive setup without an extra trick up its sleeve a la Alolan Persian. It sure can be an annoyingly sneaky and elusive rat, though! Super Fang + Taunt deters defensive Pokemon, while Sucker Punch smacks faster attackers (Taunted or otherwise) with a surprise, and U-turn flees from foes liable to outsmart or overpower the rat. It's an insidious combo on paper, certainly limited in practice by bag items, its bearer's weaknesses, and the lack of a reliable finisher.

All of the above sealed the deal for this second of third sinister imported touches into an idyllic game pair. Super Fang, almost limited to Raticate, skips the rules of HP and Defenses altogether - scary! Taunt limits move choice, one of the type's longtime hallmarks, and this first Dark-type TM finds a natural fit here. That latter point applies doubly to showing off Sucker Punch, which is more characteristic of its type than Crunch. Last but not least, U-turn is as flighty a means of getting the jump as Alolan Raticate's real-life inspiration, and a tricky tactic relative to the rarity of in-game NPC switches.

Golbat
- Taunt
- Toxic
- Confuse Ray
- Air Slash

Why Golbat?

From one annoyance to another, we have the bat itself, packing a barrage of means to match its accursed status among cave encounters! Taunt and Toxic combine as ably as Alolan Raticate's Super Fang and Taunt, while Confuse Ray piles on the residual damage and limits on its opponents' ability to use moves. Air Slash serves as the cherry atop this stally sundae, pairing STAB and wide neutral coverage with a nasty flinch chance! Again, it's just Golbat, and its mediocre stats and exploitable typing can easily be out-offensed, especially with only in-battle items for recovery and without Fly in tow to further tick down targets' timers.

My first choice that isn't a Dark-type, Golbat's association with Team Rocket combines with its (and Zubat's) common encounters in the Rock Tunnel (with its requirement to be lit up), among other caves, to practically choose itself. As for its moves, Taunt fits here for all the same reasons as Alolan Raticate, only it's more important to enable me to eschew Crunch. Toxic has been said to be a secret ninja technique, and it slowly creeps from the shadows - a suitably Dark status infliction. Confuse Ray's description calls it sinister, while Air Slash serves as a bread-and-butter STAB option.

Gengar
- Sludge Bomb
- Shadow Ball
- Mega Drain
- Foul Play

Why Gengar?

Okay, we've had enough underhanded fun, so now it's time for some devastation to match the last half's higher BSTs! And as well as all these means of messing with opponents might fit, too many of them stacked stops being characteristic of the game we're representing. Instead, Gengar mostly does what it does best - attacks with a fast and powerful Special offense sometimes stacked with nasty side effects - without being optimized to the point of potentially being overbearing.

Gengar's previous stages obscure themselves in the potentially scary Pokemon Tower without the Silph Scope, and all three more generally hide in the shadows, according to their 'dex entries. Plus, Gengar itself learns two of LGPE's select few Dark-type moves by level-up - rounding them off with the other two of their three Dark-type TMs, to boot. With all that noted, Sludge Bomb is its strongest STAB, while Mega Drain's vampiric effect sealed the deal over Thunderbolt's clashing low-probability Paralysis. Foul Play punishes foes that threaten to out-power Gengar while simultaneously flattening its own threat level, as opposed to the limited chip of a low-Attack STAB-less Sucker Punch or a third superfluous Taunt. Finally, Shadow Ball... actually deserves an explanation here! Mine is that its flavor meshes better with Dark than either of Gengar's anti-Fighting options or even Thunderbolt, while Dark Pulse's STAB sacrifice would simply be suboptimal to an uncharacteristic extent. The Dark type is fundamentally ruthless, after all - so to go light on foes simply wouldn't do!

Muk-Alola
- Crunch
- Poison Jab
- Fire Punch
- Ice Punch

Why Alolan Muk?

Alolan Muk's subterfuge creeps in with its slime by taking its wide coverage typically seen in this slot and using it to smack would-be weaknesses. Crunch doesn't do that, but it's a strong STAB with a notable chance to drop the Defense of those who would dare oppose this high-Attack threat. Poison Jab punishes Fairy-types in a way unparalleled by Alolan Muk's teammates, matching its neutrality while packing a nasty chance to Poison targets. Fire Punch complements Alolan Muk's Bug neutrality while bringing the first half of an impressive coverage combo to bear. Ice Punch seals the deal against Alolan Muk's one weakness, and well, at least it's Fighting-neutral on a team typically tough for that type anyways. Such a set would be highly annoying in-game with the Abilities and held items and EVs of its native Alola. Here in Kanto, however, its key weakness is that it can simply be worn down by the many opponents that outspeed it.

The third Dark-type with origins altogether alienated from Kanto's bright bliss, this pile of muck continues Gengar's unsubtle strategies while making for the team's first in-your-face physical presence. It's a versatile attacker capable of limiting its opponents' options with its nasty surprises, between effect chances and weakness targeting. However, its moves' moderate base power keeps it in line with Dark-type norms, as with Gengar, so it's stereotypically tasked with picking and choosing its prey from the shadows.

Gyarados-Mega @ Gyaradosite
- Substitute
- Crunch
- Hydro Pump
- Iron Tail

Why Mega Gyarados?

A reluctant concession to the realities of LGPE Kanto's roster, what else is there but Mega Gyarados to serve as a suitable signature Pokemon at this point? It brings in the Dark type's characteristic brutality, which I haven't especially emphasized up to this point, while capping my shift in approach over the course of this team. First, though, there's Substitute to serve as one last sneaky stratagem for the road - one which simultaneously forces opponents to face Mega Gyarados its favored way. Crunch is a given; where I differ is in making it the strongest move seen here, in order to emphasize my specialist's type of choice amidst a roster strapped for suitable moves of said type. Hydro Pump and Iron Tail, then, are the big gambles out of its remaining moveset thanks to their base power, accuracy, and effect chances, with the former at least providing a secondary STAB option.

As for in-battle strategy, Substitute capitalizes on forced switches by weakened teams or in reaction to Mega Gyarados's type change all while insulating it from opposing trainers' own sneaky stratagems seeking to bring down the would-be unstoppable Mega-Evolved ace. Besides emphasizing flavor and the Dark-type specialty, Crunch being its only strong and reliable move keeps its power at a level most trainers should find manageable. Hydro Pump dispatches physical walls at a... reasonably quick and efficient rate as long as it hits. Finally, Iron Tail provides a circumscribed coverage option that still solidifies this team's means of compensating for its Fairy-type weakness. Both it and Crunch also have sizeable chances to further strengthen Mega Gyarados's future onslaughts - or at least force switches so it can set up a Substitute.

In summary, with a short-form importable linked:


There's lots of gambles here that could make my type specialist scary to face... or their opponents could simply truck through them by making the right moves and/or dodging the specialist's own moves and/or if key effect chances keep not activating. So as a battler, they fittingly live and die by the luck of the dice, and gambling's stereotypically a a considerably less than moral pursuit with deliberately obscured rather than clear odds. Perhaps they're a Grimsley-style gambler who also has ties to Alola, or perhaps not - this series admittedly drew me as a game design exercise first and foremost.

Oh, and:

Dark in FRLG Kanto Team

Persian | Fake Out | Swagger | Psych Up | Slash
Hypno | Hypnosis | Nightmare | Dream Eater | Thief
Electrode | Taunt | Thunder Wave | Thunderbolt | Explosion
Weezing | Sludge Bomb | Will-o-wisp | Smokescreen | Memento
Gengar | Torment | Substitute | Giga Drain | Night Shade
Golbat @ Sitrus Berry | Snatch | Toxic | Confuse Ray | Fly

Persian is considered vicious, violent, and mean, and it had its share of Dark-type moves even back then. Its strategy is underhanded enough to fit, even with four Normal-type moves. Hypno's the resident sleeper in lieu of Persian's lead chipper, itself sufficiently sinister by lore that I considered it for my main team. Electrode's trap-for-the-unsuspecting habits offset its unsubtle battle lore, while Weezing's bag of nasty tricks like Will-o-wisp and Smokescreen outdoes Kantonian Muk's more limited build. Finally, Gengar and Golbat fit for most of the same reasons they mesh onto the main team, and they both get to be disruptors here - credits to CTNC for the idea behind Gengar. Golbat, as this type specialist's signature Pokemon, would pack Fly this time, both for a challenge to match and because it's very Dark to miss things you can't see. The total roster has just enough type variety not to come off as a Poison type specialist's team.

Edit: Edited this post a few times for formatting. It's been a hot second since I've posted here!

 

[QuentinQuonce]

PersianA and Muk are Alolan dark types, PersianK is the control for PersianA, Gyarados-Mega is a Kanto mon that becomes Dark, Marowak-A is a very spooky Alolan regional that isn't a Dark type(which I think he'd find interesting), and Ditto can change types(and species) at-will. Ditto is a bit of a cheat, I admit, but it really fit the theme. And dual Persian is a bit rules-iffy, but I think it's valid here.

I just knew that even despite me saying this...

Y'know what, on this one case I'm kind of minded to allow it [...] But only on the proviso that people don't take this as a free-for-all to start stacking the same Pokemon on the same team. Let's keep that spirit of creativity alive.

...it wouldn't be the last time.

My fault for allowing it last time, really. But sticking to my guns. Your team is disqualified for this round! But feel free to resubmit.

 

[Pikachu315111]

I just knew that even despite me saying this...

May want to add an addendum to the rules specifically noting Regional Variants count as the same species (special permission must be asked but unlikely given).

 

[Ironmage]

Originally, I was going to build around Night Slash, but it doesn't exist. The final product is themed around Dark as the 'cheater' type, using situational effects instead of just having good attack/move power.


Mr. Mime
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Foul Play
- Taunt
Learns Foul Play, and the one (unavailable) new thing LG does with Dark is and attack that sets Reflect. While the move details don't always back that up, I don't really expect Fairy to play by the rules either.


Rhydon
- Stealth Rock
- Dragon Tail
- Rock Slide
- Counter
Works as a villain association because of Giovanni, and provides some more flat damage with Rocks. While unlikely given Rhydon's low speed, Rock Slide passes muster because of its flinch chance.


Gengar
- Night Shade
- Foul Play
- Will-O-Wisp
- Disable
There are only two Night Shade users, which is what I was looking for next. I considered dropping down to Haunter because this felt like a wast of Gengar's strong SpA.


Persian-Alola
- Fake Out
- Dark Pulse
- U-turn
- Nasty Plot
The only actual Dark I went with. It's the best flinch abuser I could find with Dark Pulse because King's Rock doesn't exist.


Venusaur
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Sleep Powder
- Mega Drain
Another mon that sneaks by with an actual STAB move by virtue of a useful secondary effect. While the rest of the team is lazy about their actual offense, a Substitute spammer can be lazy with their own HP instead.


Kangaskhan-Mega (F) @ Kangaskhanite
- Fake Out
- Seismic Toss
- Sucker Punch
- Toxic
Doesn't get less fair than 2v1. If only it had its Ability to truly make Seismic Toss terrifying.

FRLG

This time around, I focused on Bite/Crunch as the initial theming. It ended up showing of Pursuit most often, though.


Raticate @ Salac Berry
Ability: Guts
- Hyper Fang
- Facade
- Pursuit
- Shadow Ball
Even without considering it's Dark regional form, a mon with signature biting moves was an easy inclusion.

Golbat @ Poison Barb
Ability: Inner Focus
- Poison Fang
- Sludge Bomb
- Pursuit
- Shadow Ball
The Poison Fang user of the set. Works well as a generic Dark substitute as well.

Arcanine @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
- Crunch
- Flamethrower
- Agility
- Thief
Best user of actual Crunch available. Fun fact, Gyarados doesn't get it in gen 3.

Aerodactyl @ Black Glasses
Ability: Pressure
- Pursuit
- Rock Slide
- Aerial Ace
- Earthquake
Its dex entries mention its prominent teeth. Rock is becoming a classic for biting as a secondary focus after Tyrantrum and Drednaw, and Aero does pick up the elemental fangs when they become available. I chose for Pressure over Rock Head because I associate its presence on offensive mons with the Dark types Weavile and Absol.

Dodrio @ Lum Berry
Ability: Early Bird
- Drill Peck
- Quick Attack
- Taunt
- Body Slam
I chose to expand into another method of attacking with the mouth here. Dodrio over Fearow as the Drill Peck user to reference Hydreigon.

Victreebel @ Leftovers
Ability: Chlorophyll
- Sleep Powder
- Sludge Bomb
- Swords Dance
- Leech Life
Leech Life as the flavour move (heh).

I also considered Dragonite for both teams because of the events in Conquest where the ninja types include Dragon alongside the expected Poison/Dark/Ghost. It didn't make it in either, but Salamance probably could have.

 

[Hugin]

I just knew that even despite me saying this...

...it wouldn't be the last time.

My fault for allowing it last time, really. But sticking to my guns. Your team is disqualified for this round! But feel free to resubmit.

Fair. I did it for the theme, not to stack extra dark, but your call.

Same basic team/justification, but Mr. Mime instead of Persian, as something else with regional variants and that has changed discovered type in the past(but also makes the team far better against Fighting than it was and not as physical). And he's just annoying, which fits Dark.

Moveset

Marowak-Alola
Ability: No Ability
Adamant Nature
- Bonemerang
- Flare Blitz
- Rock Slide
- Stealth Rock

Muk-Alola
Ability: No Ability
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Poison Jab
- Ice Punch
- Disable

Persian-Alola
Ability: No Ability
Hasty Nature
- Fake Out
- Dark Pulse
- Thunderbolt
- U-turn

Ditto
Ability: No Ability
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Transform

Mr. Mime
Ability: No Ability
Modest Nature
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Dazzling Gleam
- Psychic

Gyarados-Mega @ Gyaradosite
Ability: No Ability
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Outrage

I could have gone with Raticate-K and stayed closer to the theme, but ugh. Let's get some coverage in here instead.

(LBH, I'm much happier with my bonus round team so I'm fine with this change anyway).

 

[Cobalt Empoleon]

I'm only really inspired by the bonus challenge this time (ironic since I picked the theme haha), but maybe I'll post an update if that changes!

FRLG 'Dark'

Team in text form

Golbat @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
- Wing Attack
- Toxic
- Torment
- Taunt

Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Cosmic Power

Vileplume @ Leftovers
Ability: Chlorophyll
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder
- Leech Seed
- Moonlight

Gengar @ Lum Berry
Ability: Levitate
- Ice Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Haze
- Perish Song

Magneton @ Bright Powder
Ability: Magnet Pull
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Swagger
- Flash

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Cute Charm
- Body Slam
- Psychic
- Cosmic Power
- Moonlight

Okay so my theme with this team is ~Space and the Night Sky~. All these mons have connections to heavenly bodies and/or times and places of exceptional darkness, through their dex entries and movepools. Starmie and Clefairy both have theories speculating that they come from space; Gengar is said to be especially mischievous under the full moon; Vileplume's pre-evolution Oddish is "awakened by moonlight"; Golbat prefers "inky dark moonless nights"; and Magneton gathers in clusters when sunspots appear, i.e. when the Sun itself darkens. As much as I wanted to avoid the two mons that Karen chooses as her off-type team members, I simply cannot argue with her taste.

The team is built to be super annoying and hopefully deter the classic set-up strategies that are usually so effective against NPCs. There are also a few nods to the theme in the move selections (Cosmic Power, Moonlight, etc).

EDIT: oh Gengar's moves are correct in the tag but not the screenshot; after consideration I concluded that NPCs never use Mean Look well even on mons that don't have tissue paper bulk

 

[QuentinQuonce]

May want to add an addendum to the rules specifically noting Regional Variants count as the same species (special permission must be asked but unlikely given).

Probably a good idea.

I also considered Dragonite for both teams because of the events in Conquest where the ninja types include Dragon alongside the expected Poison/Dark/Ghost. It didn't make it in either, but Salamance probably could have.

If your theme is "cheaters" Dragonite should have been a shoo-in! Is there a Pokemon more associated with illegal moves and being underlevelled?

 

[Ironmage]

Probably a good idea.



If your theme is "cheaters" Dragonite should have been a shoo-in! Is there a Pokemon more associated with illegal moves and being underlevelled?

If I was focusing on mons that have things they shouldn't, pikachu-starter is ahead by an order of magnitude.

 

[Axiemeister]

took me a while to land on a theme and team i Really liked, but here it is!!

Hide

Dark isn't just conniving and snivelly, though this will also show up in my limited LGPE movepool choices. Dark is also... literal darkness, and Kanto has the original very dark place in Rock Tunnel. This trainer explores caves and has a predilection for nocturnal creatures who avoid light. Who's afraid of the dark?


- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Horn Drill

Our lead is found in LGPE exclusively in caves and will try its best to leave you caved in with his unresisted-in-LGPE STABs. It also sets Stealth Rock for the team and, as a touch of dark foul play, Horn Drills anything that is too physically bulky. It also complements its fellow cave-dweller coming next well defensively.


- Spore
- Leech Seed
- Leech Life
- Brick Break

A mushroom that completely overpowered the sentience of its host insect is in itself very dark, don't you think? Parasect fits in beyond liking damp dark places to live. Anyway, it spores and leeches as it always does, and it switches in to take the Water, Grass and Ground hits Rhydon can't.


- Will-O-Wisp
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
- Shadow Ball

Cubone lives in the Rock Tunnel, and if Agatha can get an Alolan Marowak, so can our trainer. Cubone in itself is already quite the dark Pokémon, invoking death and revenge, the Alolan counterpart just fits in better. In battle, Marowak surprises you by not being an all-out physical attacker, packing WoW to tank physical hits better and even carrying Shadow Ball to hit anyone who might try to tank its physical hits.


- Hypnosis
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Thunderbolt

Small tangent: why wasn't this line changed to Dark already in Gen 2? Both Meowth and Persian were already associated with being nocturnal and conniving and mean and it's not like Normal-types really needed Persian for representation. Kantonian Persian could even run this exact set in LGPE, but Alolan gets STAB on Dark Pulse and has a higher Sp.Atk, so...
Anyway, Nasty Plot goes brrrr but like not that much because it's 75 SpAtk. Hypnosis is a bit of a filler because this team has Spore, but Persian literally has no other coverage in LGPE.


- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Crunch
- U-turn

The classic cave-dweller. If I was gonna make it cave-based, I had to have Golbat. And his LGPE movepool synergises well with this team, with Whirlwind to rack SR damage, Roost to do that longer, U-turn to get a teammate in safely and Crunch in case it has to stay (not just because it's a Dark theme; it's a good neutral attack to have and it keeps Psychics away).


- Swords Dance
- Super Fang
- Sucker Punch
- Quick Attack

Our ace isn't exactly the strongest mon around, but underestimate the cheeky rat at your own peril. It sets up in hopes of luring a tank, and then it Super Fangs. Few things will survive the appropriate +2 Priority at 50% health. It's snivelly and conniving Dark-type, after all.


The FRLG team would actually be the same sans Alolans!!


I haven't actually thought about the movesets but sadly I think some of them would be easier to come up with. Damn, LGPE was serious in cutting most moves out.

 

[jhm5]

I'm only going to make one for FRLG since I haven't played LGPE.

Team Build

Muk @ Choice Band
Ability: Sticky Hold
- Body Slam
- Brick Break
- Memento
- Explosion


Arbok @ BrightPowder
Ability: Intimidate
- Glare
- Bite
- Rock Slide
- Beat Up


Persian @ Leftovers
Ability: Limber
- Fake Out
- Body Slam
- Bite
- Shadow Ball


Jolteon @ BlackGlasses
Ability: Volt Absorb
- Thunder Wave
- Bite
- Thunderbolt
- Roar


Raticate @ King's Rock
Ability: Guts
- Quick Attack
- Bite
- Hyper Fang
- Endeavor


Gyarados @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
-Thunder Wave
- Bite
- Waterfall
- Earthquake

For this, I used Arbok and 5 pokemon that would later get a dark type variant (M-Gyarados, A-Raticate, A-Persian, A-Muk, Umbreon). The basic strategy seems pretty obvious when looking at the movesets. The whole team aside from Muk has Bite, and the whole team aside from Raticate has a way to paralyze the opponent. To add to paraflinch, I gave much of the team annoying sets to infuriate the opponent and only used items in FRLG, so there are no pinch berries or Colo/XD exclusive moves.

Muk holds a Choice Band for its powerful physical attacks, namely Body Slam for paralysis, Brick Break for coverage, and Explosion to annihilate opposing leads, while Memento is a dark type move that can also cripple opponents. Raticate has a FEAR set with a King's Rock to further boost the flinch chance of Bite and STAB Hyper Fang. Arbok has BrightPowder to boost its evasion, Glare to paralyze non-Ghosts, Rock Slide to make the opponent flinch, and Beat Up as an additional dark attack. Persian uses Leftovers for recovery, while Body Slam gives it strong STAB with a chance of paralysis. Jolteon's BlackGlasses boost its Bite, and Thunder Wave can paralyze ghosts that are immune to Glare and Body Slam. Gyarados pairs phenomenally with Jolteon, and it is given a Lum Berry to prevent status effects, Waterfall for STAB with a flinch chance, and Earthquake for a physical attack and coverage.

The idea of the team is to paraflinch the opponent to death with Bite, a strategy that I know is very annoying from playing DPP OU and facing many infuriating Jirachi Body Slam and Iron Head sets. The team has good synergy, they all use dark type moves, and all but one have a dark type variant in later games.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Evening all. New poll is up - go go!

https://strawpoll.com/ajnEOD2DNZW

You have until August 28th, 9PM GMT to cast your vote!

Numbers time.

Numbers

Persian: 9

Raticate: 8

Muk: 7

Gyarados: 6

Golbat: 4

Gengar: 3
Arbok: 3
Marowak: 3

Ditto: 2
Mr Mime: 2
Rhydon: 2
Parasect: 2

Charizard: 1
Tauros: 1
Vileplume: 1
Fearow: 1
Hypno: 1
Venusaur: 1
Weezing: 1
Tentacruel: 1
Kangaskhan: 1


Interesting breakdown here among our actual Dark-types: Persian most popular, then Raticate, then surprisingly Muk least of all. I guess that's because there's so many Poisons vying for space that to avoid redundancy Muk often gets shelved. Persian and Raticate have more in common and slot into a wider theme more easily. And no NFEs! I suppose that might be because neither the Eviolite or the Focus Sash are in LGPE. If they were, Grimer and Meowth might start to look vaguely usable.

As for the wildcards: Gyarados and Golbat are fittingly popular choices, and it's always nice to see Ditto get some love. Arbok, Gengar, Alolan Marowak, and Parasect were all picks I expected to see a fair amount of use. But we ended up with some quite funky wildcards I didn't expect! Rhydon was a surprise, though I loved the justification it got.

Stuff I expected to see more (or at all):

Raichu. It's a rodent like Raticate so I wondered if that might influence anyone to pick it. Though I don't think Gen I has sufficient species for a full rodent-themed team...

Fearow. It's always gotten a few Dark-type moves, and its name literally contains the word "fear". Definitely fits the bill as a Dark stand-in.

Aerodactyl. Scary mofo.

Expected to see Mr Mime and Hypno used as stand-ins more - both Psychics, yes, but so damn creepy.

There's stiff competition for Poison-types in Kanto, but still surprising to see Weezing, Vileplume, and Tentacruel all sp neglected and Victreebel not appear at all. Honestly there's so many Poison-types with cruelty- or malice-themed vibes I think you could actually do a great full team of Dark-adjacent Poisons: Tentacruel, Vileplume, Victreebel, Gengar, Muk, and Golbat, for instance.

 

[Pikachu315111]

And no NFEs! I suppose that might be because neither the Eviolite or the Focus Sash are in LGPE. If they were, Grimer and Meowth might start to look vaguely usable.

Without Items (notably the Eviolite), and restricted to Gen I Pokemon you're better off trying to find Pokemon matching a theme than trying to push Type. Like, even if they had Eviolite available, Grimer and Meowth are poor choices for it; I don't know if I would use it at all as in games only using the original 151 it would be even more of a niche item.

Though I don't think Gen I has sufficient species for a full rodent-themed team...

Er, depends on how much you want to stretch the definition of "rodent".

Aside the Pikachu and Rattata family we had the Sandshrew family (has "shrew" in its name and is also called a "mouse" Pokemon, even though it and 'Slash are more armadillo/pangolin), both the Nidoran family (if you don't go past the mid evo), and Diglett family. If you want a sixth without repeating the species, err, tapirs are sorta rodent-like so the Drowzee family?

 

[Hugin]

Hide

Persian: 9

Raticate: 8

Muk: 7

Gyarados: 6

Golbat: 4

Gengar: 3
Arbok: 3
Marowak: 3

Ditto: 2
Mr Mime: 2
Rhydon: 2
Parasect: 2

Charizard: 1
Tauros: 1
Vileplume: 1
Fearow: 1
Hypno: 1
Venusaur: 1
Weezing: 1
Tentacruel: 1
Kangaskhan: 1

This one is interesting because of something the numbers kind of hide. Specifically, the sheer number of teams(myself included) that were roughly 3 of the 4 Dark types, 1-2 poisons, 0-1 ghosts, 1 wildcard. It made figuring out anyone who stood out much harder when voting. A lot of the wildcards were also pretty clearly themed together(weird Psychics, angry normals, stuff associated with Giovanni). After the struggle of recent teambuilds, the ease of figuring out what to include was relaxing, but the teamsheet I use to rank people has a lot of people in a blob in the middle.

Going to go through and comment on some interesting things I saw on people's specific teams this time.

I accidentally missed like, a lot including the Strawpoll but sorry for doing a poor job on the Ice Hoenn team, when I see a theme I'm into I will try to do better next time. Congrats to the winner and y'all did a great job :>

Hey, don't worry if you do poorly on occasion, just keep submitting. The practice helps, and we've all had ROUGH times with some themes.

Imperial Magala, I spotted that Shiny Charizard in the builder. So much better a fit than regular. After no one used Shiny Gyarados on Fire I thought my Lunatone on Bug would be the only one ever.
Bakugames and Ironmage, you two chose the least-Alolan teams out of everyone. Respect. I tried to do that and still ended up with 3 Alolan forms.
Lady Salamence, I like your theme. The mons are mostly obvious picks(which isn't bad) for non-obvious reasons. Which works. Also, love that we both used Ditto in the same round, which I don't think has shown up before in this thread.
CTNC, I think your initial team is why I've leaned so hard into having a good theme. Because you're right, every mon you picked is an obvious inclusion, and that makes it less interesting IMO. Don't take it as criticism(obviously, you said much the same in your post), just something I've realized while building for this thread.
Axiemeister, Rock Tunnel was a unique way of approaching this. Clever.

And here's the FRLG teams:

Hide

MisterDarvus: Golbat, Fearow, Vileplume, Arbok, Hypno, Gengar
Mowtom: Eevee, Raticate, Persian, Muk, Gyarados, Moltres
Hugin: Rhydon, Farfetch'd, Arcanine, Kingler, Vileplume, Persian
CTNC: Arbok, Persian, Golbat, Parasect, Primape, Gengar
Pikachu315111: Hitmonchan, Persian, Raticate, Fearow, Beedrill, Arbok
Metalmindstats: Persian, Hypno, Electrode, Weezing, Gengar, Golbat
CobaltEmpoleon: Golbat, Starmie, Vileplume, Gengar, Magneton, Clefable
Axiemeister: Rhydon, Parasect, Marowak, Persian, Golbat, Raticate
JHM5: Muk, Arbok, Persian, Jolteon, Raticate, Gyarados

Not much to say here, but it's interesting how very different they all are. Though I definitely see some recurring faces, especially ones that showed up in the LGPE list a couple times as well.

 

[Ironmage]

I unfortunately can't say I was really happy this time around. Attempting to put backstory to interesting mechanical choices is consistently a sore spot for me, and it feels compounded by the method by which the submissions were paired. Much of the reason I avoided large numbers of Dark-type Alola forms is that I was trying my to not make the LGPE team seem more legitimate than the FRLG team, because I associate LGPE with the beginning of the end of being able to find joy teambuilding within the games themselves. There's the option of bowing out and leaving a more story/aesthetic-based event behind, but I'm tired of needing to do that.

 

[Pikachu315111]

After the struggle of recent teambuilds, the ease of figuring out what to include was relaxing, but the teamsheet I use to rank people has a lot of people in a blob in the middle.

Yeah, the usual way how I vote is that I start at the first post with a team for the round comp and, if I like the team enough that it would be in the top 5 (at that moment) I drag it up (luckily the poll that QuentinQuonce found pushes down nominees which makes doing this much easier), and rinse and repeat until I've gone through all teams. This admittedly does give "early submitters" an advantage in sorts as for the first say 7 will likely cause mix-ups in the standings, it does also assure I read up what the team is about so I catch any themes I may miss on the first go-around. This especially helps with comps like this where, as you said, many teams are so alike that they can meld together at a glance. Gotta really dig into what the post is saying (BTW, do we have a collective name we call each other? Users, Members, Trainers, Smogoners?).

Imperial Magala, I spotted that Shiny Charizard in the builder. So much better a fit than regular. After no one used Shiny Gyarados on Fire I thought my Lunatone on Bug would be the only one ever.

Now that's something in general that could be handy to remember, using a Shiny to keep in theme color-wise. Now I'd still require the Pokemon to at least no a Move of that Type whenever possible, and because Shiny are considered special Pokemon have a risk of becoming played out if used too often, but certainly adds extra pizzazz to your team if you can pull it off like Imperial Magala did.

Oh, yeah, your Lunatone was Shiny. I'll admit at the time I thought you just threw that in as some kind of easter egg as Lunatone was already a unique choice and I was more interested in the fun fact reason you included it (also Shiny Lunatone not really changing all that much, though I like its blue eyes), lol. Sad to say, when it comes to drawing attention this Shiny idea only works with Shiny that really change a Pokemon's Colour palette... though I do see the potential fun of someone throwing in a random Shiny that's only a hue different just for lulz (kind of wish I thought to do that with Central Kalos Electric, Pikachu would have been the perfect Pokemon to do that with).

Is there a way to post a Shiny with the Smogon's emotes or would I have to use a third party teambuilder?

Bakugames and Ironmage, you two chose the least-Alolan teams out of everyone. Respect. I tried to do that and still ended up with 3 Alolan forms.

Yeah, Let's Go challenges usually falls into this trap. Last time it was Steel-types and that time I ignored that half my team were Pokemon from Alola. I got second place that comp so I don't think it was that much of an hinderance (plus my theme was a construction worker so in theory my character could have brought in those Pokemon for their usefulness). However this comp I did lean into many of these Pokemon being from Alola as I did feel this was a good time to do a villain team theme (most of Team Rocket would totally be Dark-type users had they existed in Gen I and there were more general Dark-types (like what we'd eventually see with Team Aqua & Magma using Poochyena family)). But it would just feel odd for a randon TR grunt or even elite/admin to have so many Alolan Pokemon without making note of it, hence my smuggler idea cause that would totally be something Giovanni would have someone do.

Another factor: If you don't use the Alolan Forms or Megas, you may as well be making a team for FRLG (as this bonus challenge had us do... hm, maybe we should do one for Steel-types). Like, while we could do Ghost, Dragon, and maybe Ice for Let's Go, I don't feel like it would be much different had it be for FRLG; Steel and Dark had the most major additions via the Alolan/Megas in Let's Go dex. The only other Type for Let's Go I'd say we could do is Fairy. at which case unless we purposely ignore using one of the Fairy will essentially be "what 3 other Pokemon would young Mina have in LGPE; 2 other cause you're probably going to include Clefable on your team".

CTNC, I think your initial team is why I've leaned so hard into having a good theme.

I unfortunately can't say I was really happy this time around. Attempting to put backstory to interesting mechanical choices is consistently a sore spot for me, and it feels compounded by the method by which the submissions were paired. (...). There's the option of bowing out and leaving a more story/aesthetic-based event behind, but I'm tired of needing to do that.

For those who make purely mechanic-based teams I do notice and like your ideas, sometimes ending up in my top 5 if I don't fine other themes particularly strong. Though my bias still leans toward story/theming, as seems most people here, so I see the pain for those who prefer pure teambuilding over that. I can see why QuentinQuonce tried to separate us making these Type specialist teams with creating a character, though I still stand that wasn't going to ever work unless it was really enforced by disqualifying us who did that. Because part of the fun with Type Specialists is that they're quirky characters who spit in the face of common sense and make a team that has a high chance of being completely bodied. If you're going to ask us to make a Type Specialist, many of us are going to want to have the fun of coming up with a concept of a quirky Trainer and since they're the most interesting part of a Type Specialist team (often times having a heavy influence on what Pokemon they use hence hard separating them).

Another factor: I'm not good at making mechanically interesting teams. If you take any team I build you'll lose so bad you'd want to find me and demand I give you a refund. Only way I could make a mechanically interesting team is if I just take Pokemon sets from Smogon and hope they gel well enough together to be competitively competent. I'll admit it's a crutch I'm heavily leaning on, but I don't think I would be scoring high as I've done without making my team story/themed.

This is an idea for another thread, but the only way I see to have more focus put on competitive structure teams is by pre-creating a character (or maybe going with Trainer Classes) and going "This Collector is from Emerald and only uses Electric-types in Double Battles, make a team for him". The only thing we'd have to be creative with is the teambuilding and strategies.

---------

Anyway time to look at the winners of Alola-Melemele Ground:

Digging To The Top

Imperial Magala & Me: We may have one point separating us but team-wise we're 50% different. Of course we have all the Melemele Ground-types and honorary Ground-type Gigalith, but after that you went for an "extinct/bone" theme with little story and I an "Earthquake" theme with a chunk of story. Funny enough what I just discussed above could be on show here, those who prefer the teambuilding aspect may have went with Imperial Magala while those who preferred story may have gone for mine. Because, while obviously there can only be one winner, to me this is an indication that in a way we're both the winners and it's just by a sneeze of schrodinger's cat did it lean one way over another (and no I'm not just saying that to ease my bruised ego of losing by one point; BTW I am joking about the ego thing, I'm not that egotistical).

Hugin: As I said somewhere, I was really thinking about having Grass-types on my team and have Dugtrio know Rototiller, but felt that was too Grass centric so when I went away from that went away from Grass. But I'm glad to see someone did include Grass-types. Also, when I was thinking of doing the Rototiller thing, I was thinking of making my theme a farmer, but I thought a few people were going to do Farmer so didn't want to compete with them (especially after how bad my Shoal Team did with RSE Ice against the others). Clever idea with Shelgon, strange we got drawn to the same family as our wild card but not only picked them for different reasons but also different evolution stage, lol.

Crocognawledge: While not having a central theme, I think you really drew in people with not just having all your Pokemon know Earthquake, instead also going into the unique moves like Stomping Tantrum and Drill Run. I was also tempted by Drill Run Fearow, but that idea got canned when I went all in on Earthquake.

CTNC: Gotta give props to someone who dares to push the limits that a new rule (or rather more specification to a specific rule) needs to be made so they don't happen again. Vikavolt in an interesting inclusion mirroring Crocognawledge's reason for picking Shelgon (they picked a grounded Pokemon that wants to fly, you picked a flying Pokemon which previously had a burrowing life style). Machamp's rocky appearance does bring to mind Rock or Ground typing; for my team I had Machamp for a second before deciding Hariyama was more fitting (or at least matched Snorlax).

Axiemeister: And here I didn't think anyone would top my "Team Electabuzz" theme, you grabbed that zeitgeist and ran with it! I salute you.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Poll's closed, we have a winner...

...and holy crap. Last few rounds were close calls, but this one was a clean sweep. Congratulations to Lady Salamence on a landslide victory!

 

[a fairy]

Wow, thanks! This is really neat, I've been following this project off and on for a while and have wanted to get involved, and I'm glad I finally did! I wish I had more to say about my plans - I wish I had saved my long-form draft of all the 'mons I had considered. I think I had folks like Primeape, Hypno, Tauros, and Pinsir as my initial "vibe check" when I decided to explore the Alola-LGPE Venn diagram after I realized all* Dark-types in LGPE were Alolan Forms

*: NGL, I totally got sniped by Mega Gyarados. I totally forgot that was an option. It just wasn't on my Pokedex listing I used.

 

[Bakugames]

I'll take the tie to 4th lol! excited for the next theme

 

[QuentinQuonce]

And we're onto the next round - our winner has chosen a new topic...

You are a Fairy-type specialist in BDSP Sinnoh. How do you best represent your chosen type?​

A reminder to please read the guidelines in the OP before commenting, especially if you're new to the thread.

BDSP Sinnoh Dex is here for those who need it. A gentle reminder that BDSP's expanded roster of options compared to the original games do not count as part of the Sinnoh Pokedex so please do not include them in your selections. Any teams including Pokemon outside of the listed 151 will be disqualified.

You have until September 3rd, 9PM GMT to make your case!

teams so far

Bakugames: Clefable, Beautifly, Dustox, Milotic, Chimecho, Lumineon
Pikachu315111: Clefable, Mr Mime, Azumarill, Noctowl, Blissey, Mismagius
Ironmage: Clefable, Mr Mime, Kricketune, Noctowl, Rapidash, Mismagius
Misterdarvus: Clefable, Mr Mime, Azumarill, Purugly, Lumineon, Mismagius
Cobalt Empoleon: Clefable, Mr Mime, Empoleon, Rapidash, Pachirisu, Mismagius
Metalmindstats: Clefable, Mr Mime, Azumarill, Pikachu, Roserade, Blissey
Jhm5: Clefable, Mr Mime, Azumarill, Snorlax, Blissey, Raichu
CTNC: Clefable, Mr Mime, Azumarill, Blissey, Roserade, Mismagius
Eeveeto: Clefable, Mr Mime, Weavile, Noctowl, Dustox, Mismagius
Axiemeister: Clefable, Azumarill, Rapidash, Lopunny, Roserade, Mismagius
Hugin: Clefable, Mr Mime, Azumarill, Clefairy, Bronzong, Pachirisu
Imperial Magala: Mr Mime, Azumarill, Clefairy, Gyarados, Steelix, Garchomp
Gryoine: Clefable, Mr Mime, Azumarill, Blissey, Noctowl, Pachirisu

 

[Bakugames]

So here's my idea: fairy types tend pull into mythology and more broad, abstract concepts like inanimate objects, fairytales etc. which makes them feel... unique, rare. This made me think about a fairy type trainer that themes its team about rare objects and things you collect. I also decided to try and pick pokemon that fit this teme but also have some kind of mystique to them.


Bug buzz | Psychic | Air Cutter | Quiver Dance
Starting with butterfly collections, we have beautifly. It's a shame vivillon isn't from this gen, but cest la vie and all of that. Still, with beauty on its name and all of the mythos surrounding butterflies, it still fits thematically. Movewise, it's a simple qd sweeper, there's not a lot beautifly can really do anyway.


Moonlight | Giga Drain | Light Screen | Bug Buzz
Dustox broadens into insect collection. Moths can be grouped sometimes with buttefly collectors, and there's a smaller moth collection niche, but overall I wanted to fit both kinds of bug collecting and having both dustox and beautifly felt nice thematically. A fatter special defense sponge, keeps itself healthy and slowly chips you down.


Dazzling Gleam | Thunder Wave | Safeguard | Extrasensory
Chimecho is a weird one: Furin can be a pretty common gift, and you can end up with a collection of them from different friends. This is a more sentimental type of collection, than one you go out of your way to buy things for, but I thought it was themed enough to put in. This is just a moveset that annoys you with paraflinch (extrasensory is a 10% flinch rate), with dazzling gleam to back it up for a fairy power.

@ Shiny stone
Fling | Moonblast | Fire Blast | Focus Blast
Clefable represents stone and gem collection. Before stones became more available, the moonstone was one of the more annoying ones to get, as you were often stuck grinding clefairy (or lunatone) to grab one, so I thought a pokemon hosting a rare type of stone would be a great rep for that. Also, it being actual fairy helps LOL. I wanted to implement fling in someones moveset, and the stones were the heaviest items that could make fling an actual decent move. Shiny stone is the most fairy-ish of them all, as moonstones themselves only have 30 bp when flung.


Life dew | Disarming Voice | Aqua Ring | Surf
Milotic can be seen as the collection of fish, but it tend to view it more a the collection of pretty, shiny things. I almost thought about using honchkrow as this type of collection is often made comparison with crows, but I think milotic itself being a hard to get pretty thing to collect and also having pretty collectible scales and also being related to the prism scale bumped it up more. I just went with a moveset that felt kinda cleric-y and fairy.

(shiny)
Sweet Kiss | Rain Dance | Waterfall | Whirlpool
Fish collecting is a niche type of collection, as most people just keep them as pets instead, but I'm talking about giant estates with rare breeds swimming in ponds maintained by dozens of workers. It sounds funny to pick lumineon when it has the meme of being so average no one remembers it, but I wanted that to be the point, really. I wanted to give lumineon a spotlight, to have it represent something rare and sought after, and to be an ace of a team. It looks elegant, it feels like a rare breed that would cost thousands of dollars to own, that only extreme hobbyists and rich people would even try to get
To make that more special, I made lumineon shiny, make it truly a rare little nugget.

As a bonus, I ended up doing a little concept design of this collector type specialist. They have glass orbs that showcase various rare items (those are just the easy to display ones, just wait until you go and see their big collection)

 

[Pikachu315111]

Theme: Cresselia's Fairies

Mr. Mime (Filter. Light Clay. Dazzling Gleam, Psychic, Light Screen, Power Swap)
Clefable (Magic Guard. Shell Bell. Moonblast, Flamethrower, Thunder Wave, Moonlight)
Azumarill (Huge Power. Muscle Band. Play Rough, Waterfall, Bulldoze, Aqua Ring)
Blissey (Natural Cure. Leftovers. Dazzling Gleam, Flamethrower, Light Screen, Soft-Boiled)
Noctowl (Insomnia. Bright Powder. Moonblast, Air Slash, Hypnosis, Roost)
Mismagius (Levitate. Wise Glasses. Dazzling Gleam, Shadow Ball, Mystical Fire, Skill Swap)

Unable to sleep soundly? It might not be you!

Every year around Sinnoh, from small towns to entire city districts, reports of mass outbreaks of people having trouble sleeping, horrifying nightmares, and lethargic symptoms are made to medical and therapy centers. This is not a result of mass hysteria or a illness, but rather the devilish doing of one Pokemon: DARKRAI!

(An artist rendition of purported sightings of Darkrai)

Somewhere in the afflicted area a Darkrai haunts, invisible to the naked eye as those who try to sleep are given nightmares from its ability to cause "Bad Dreams". These aren't normal dreams but ones which causes your body to violently react, giving you a restless sleep and high chance of injuring yourself. Why Darkrai does this we don't know, some say it somehow absorbs the negative energy from nightmares, others say it doesn't even know its causing them but still attracted to victims nonetheless.

"How do you get rid of a Darkrai"? The solution in the past used to be finding a Lunar Wing, a feather from the Legendary Pokemon Cresselia which is Darkrai's mortal enemy. The presence of the wing along scares Darkrai off, but as one would expect from such a mystical item it's hard to come by. But there is now one other solution: Call the Cresselia's Fairies!

Our crack team of Fairy Pokemon* have been specially train to hunt Darkrai and force it out wherever it lurks! Noctowl does an aerial sweep searching for the pitch-black Pokemon. Once discovered the team gets to work: Noctowl stalls it until the rest of the team arrives. Mr. Mime sets up a Light Screen and exchanges their strength with Power Swap, weakening Darkrai and strengthening Mr. Mime. Clefable and Azumarill works to slow it down by Paralyzing it with a Thunder Wave and hindering its movement with Bulldoze. Blissey stays back, ready to provide health recovery and set up a Light Screen if needed. Finally Mismagius uses its Skill Swap to temporarily remove its Bad Dream ability and replace it with the harmless Levitate (don't worry, as soon as Mismagius goes back into its Poke Ball it loses the Bad Dreams; the Darkrai will be long gone by the time it naturally recovers its Ability), than Mystical Fire to sap its special moves even further. Darkrai won't know what hit it! It'll flee the very moment it can.

So why torture yourself with nightmares? Call the Cresselia's Fairies and we'll chase those bad dreams away! Call us at 488-FAIRIES.

* Half of crack team are not Fairy-types though know a Fairy-type move.

 

[Ironmage]

My first thought was to attempt a night-themed Sun team based on the fact that the field effect also boosts Moonlight. But I was also reminded about how the Clefairy line ends up being associated with Team Galactic. This ends up being an interesting juxtaposition in and of itself since I associate the Fairy type with the unbridled (and manipulated) emotions that Cyrus was aiming to remove. I ended up going with both options, though the resulting Nocturnal Sun Emotionless team ended up not having any room for Azumarill (due to its water type and using an emotion-affecting move as its main Fairy STAB).


Kricketune @ Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
- Sticky Web
- Bug Bite
- Sunny Day
- Aerial Ace
Kricketot is exclusive to night and early morning, and I could see the musical theme working into the more standard connotations of fey. Of course, this is no pied piper: the method in which you won't be easily leaving its domain is considerably less supernatural.


Clefable @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
- Moonlight
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Flamethrower
Cute Charm was right out as an Ability for the Team Galactic/Emotionless concept, and I was unsure whether Unaware passed or failed the same test. Similarly, Calm Mind is used as the only stat setup on this team to really show the abscence of something like Swords Dance with its described boost to fighting spirit.


Mr. Mime @ Light Clay
Ability: Filter
- Reflect
- Psychic
- Sunny Day
- Dazzling Gleam
Secondary field setter and other genuine Fairy. I opt for only Reflect here as the team has physically weaker defenses. I could also see something here about Mr. Mime focusing much more on controlling the material world than other Fairies.


Noctowl @ Choice Specs
Ability: Tinted Lens
- Air Slash
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
The iconic nocturnal mon, and I could see something that the USun dex calls "the emperor of dark nights" fitting into a villain team. I also think of it as Psychic-adjacent, so it's at most two steps from Fairy, right?


Rapidash @ Expert Belt
Ability: Flash Fire
- Flare Blitz
- High Horsepower
- Poison Jab
- Quick Attack
Partially as a sun abuser, partially due to its Fairy regional form. Poison Jab is there to juxtapose with the Rapidash-Galar line's focus on healing and removing poison: we are of course dealing with the inverse of the common trait of unicorns only being near those of pure heart.


Mismagius @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
- Dazzling Gleam
- Mystical Fire
- Shadow Ball
- Calm Mind
Mismagius ends up as a version-exclusive pair with Cyrus' own Honchkrow: nocturnal mons that use a dusk stone to evolve from gen 2 single-stage mons. For this case specifically, I felt that Mismagius had a few advantages. Specifically, it can actually earn a Fairy attack, work into Sun slightly better with a solid Fire move, and can set up much more stoically compared to Honchkrow being fully reliant on Nasty Plot or Moxie.

 

[misterdarvus]

Another set of game with retconned fairy-type, with yet again, and as mandatory.
What Sinnoh known for? Pokemon Contest... Which is not exclusively Sinnoh, I'll make it as my theme.



The non-Fairy Pokemon are taken from the 'mons owned by Top Coordinator from Sinnoh.
because Glameow is owned by both Johanna and Zoey
and also owned by Zoey

I was expecting to get more video game material rather than Anime materials. Too bad in the game, the MC's Mom (which real name is aforementioned Johanna) owned a Kangaskhan.