Gen 1 Young Guns

[Agent Gibbs]

A while back, a friend of mine posted a thread on SPPF about RBY LC. It seemed like a really gimmicky metagame, but it got me kinda interested, so I tried it out. I've found that RBY LC is very offensive hit/die metagame, and the standard teams tend to look like Exeggcute / Staryu / Diglett / Electric-type (generally Pikachu, maybe Voltorb) / 2nd Psychic-type (usually Abra, sometimes Drowzee) / filler, so that was the basic template that this team was based on. I've only had a couple of battles here and there, but they have been fun, and I've had a good time playing it.

Exeggcute @ (No Item)
-Sleep Powder
-Psychic
-Stun Spore
-Explosion

Exeggcute is one of the quintessential Pokemon of RBY LC. It has great bulk and resistances, letting it take on threats like Pikachu and Diglett with ease. Even better, it puts stuff to sleep too! STAB Psychic is another cool thing to have, giving Exeggcute a great edge offensively. Once something goes to sleep, I can occasionally catch something else with Stun Spore and paralyze it. Explosion is a great thing to have as well, but I don't use it much. I generally try to preserve Exeggcute as long as possible, but if I don't need Exeggcute to check anything else, I can just blow it up and usually take something else with me.

Staryu @ (No Item)
-Surf
-Thunderbolt
-Blizzard
-Recover

Staryu is one of the hardest Pokemon to switch into in all of RBY LC. I think Drowzee can switch in the first time, and Pikachu and Voltorb make great switch-ins if you can predict Thunderbolt perfectly, but besides that there isn't much that can completely handle Staryu. The moveset here is pretty standard fare, taking advantage of Staryu's excellent coverage. I prefer Recover in the last slot in case I come up against an Amnesia Poliwag or something; Recover keeps me healthy while I fish for a Thunderbolt crit.

Diglett @ (No Item)
-Earthquake
-Slash
-Rock Slide
-Body Slam

Diglett is an incredible offensive Pokemon in RBY LC. It's one of only two Pokemon in the metagame gifted with 19 speed, with the other being Voltorb. This let's it keep most offensive Pokemon in check once their HP gets low enough since it outspeeds all of them. Slash doesn't quite get 140 Power like it does in Level 100 battles (more like 105 at Level 5), but it still has a great shot at 3HKOing Exeggcute, and so it's not bad. Rock Slide is pretty filler, but I guess it hits an occasional Doduo. Body Slam is really filler too, and I rarely use it. Substitute is an interesting fourth option, but it doesn't really help against Exeggcute (Diglett's best switch-in), and I'd really rather preserve Diglett's health if I can.

Pikachu @ (No Item)
-Thunderbolt
-Surf
-Quick Attack
-Thunder Wave

I chose Pikachu over Voltorb as my Electric-type for two reasons. First, it has Surf, letting it beat a Diglett switch-in in combination with Quick Attack. It also murders the occasional Rhyhorn (who really isn't as good as I thought he'd be). Second is Quick Attack itself. This lets Pikachu pick off weakened Voltorb/Diglett, as well as weakened 18 speed Pokemon without worrying about a speed tie. Pikachu can also keep Staryu in check when I need him too, and he just honestly hits stuff really hard.

Ponyta @ (No Item)
-Fire Blast
-Body Slam
-Fire Spin
-Agility

Ponyta is a great anti-lead. It beats the number one sleeper, Exeggcute, by OHKO'ing it with Fire Blast. It can also use Fire Spin + Fire Blast to beat Drowzee with a little luck. Besides that, it just capitalizes on Exeggcute so easily. Exeggcute switches are sometimes very predictable, and so double switching to Ponyta can put the opponent in a really bad position. Staryu takes Fire Blast with ease, but it also runs the risk of switching into Body Slam and getting itself paralyzed. I rarely ever try to use Agility, but Ponyta definitely has the potential to sweep if opposing Water types are gone.

Slowpoke @ (No Item)
-Thunder Wave
-Psychic
-Blizzard
-Earthquake

This is such a weird set, but it's also so awesome. Some people might run Amnesia Slowpoke, but I just feel that the fast pace of RBY LC and Slowpoke's low speed really hinder it in that department. As a result, I run sort of an offensive tank set with Thunder Wave. Slowpoke makes a decent switch-in to Exeggcute once something else has taken the sleep since it can take Psychic with ease and Blizzard easily 2HKO's. Earthquake is where this set gets good, though. Slowpoke can switch into Abra decently, but it usually fails to do much back. Earthquake is a guaranteed 2HKO on Abra, and so it makes Slowpoke a much more effective check. Earthquake can also OHKO Pikachu, and Voltorb can be OHKO'd if it has taken any significant damage earlier in the match. The combination of Thunder Wave + Earthquake / Blizzard just does such a great job of help dealing with common Slowpoke switch-ins.


So that's about it. I'm not extremely experienced in RBY LC, but this team has been really fun to use in the short amount of time that I have used it.

 

[Dre89]

Pretty standard team except for the slowbro set. Are you leading with ponyta? Fires should only be used in the lead position. They're only there to annoy sleep leads with their speed and then take sleep because they're the least valuable pokemon on the team.

I'm also not sure about body slam on diglett. It doesn't really need to paralyse anything because it's faster than everything relevant and is unlikely to get paralysed due to twave immunity and doesn't normally stay in on eggy. Substitute may be a better option to try set up on paralysed or sleeping pokemon,

 

[Agent Gibbs]

Yeah, I do lead with Ponyta. I just typed the team up in the order I remembered it, but Ponyta is my lead.

Substitute would probably work just fine on Diglett, but it doesn't come without problems. If the opponent's Exeggcute is still kicking, it can just switch in and paralyze or sleep Diglett all the same. Substitute also drops my HP to 15, which guarantees a KO from Abra's Psychic and opposing Diglett's Earthquake (my own Diglett fails to OHKO either from full health). Probably less situational than Body Slam, though, so I'll give that a try in the future.

 

[Dre89]

What do you mean by slash not having 140 base power at level 5?

And pikachu is a no brainer over voltorb. Letting in diglett for free is pretty bad, unless it plans to explode, which is honestly not a bad idea seeing as its two common switch ins will be eggy and diglett.

 

[Agent Gibbs]

What I mean is that Slash is a guaranteed crit factoring in Diglett's speed stat, so normally it would effectively have 140 power (due to the crit). However, the RBY damage formula is strange in that crits multiply power by about 1.5 at Level 5 instead of 2. For example, Diglett's Earthquake normally deals 7-9 damage to Exeggcute, but it becomes 10-12 with a critical hit, so Slash is more like 105 power instead.

Yeah, I tend to like Pikachu better for that reason, but Voltorb isn't bad. It's probably the best check to Staryu out there since it outspeeds it and threatens it with Thunderbolt. It also has a good shot at taking out an Exeggcute that switches into Thunderbolt with Explosion, which also kills off Diglett. Still, Pikachu can get by Diglett with a well-predicted Surf + Quick Attack and live to fight some more, which makes it a little more worth it to me.

 

[Joim]

What I mean is that Slash is a guaranteed crit factoring in Diglett's speed stat, so normally it would effectively have 140 power (due to the crit). However, the RBY damage formula is strange in that crits multiply power by about 1.5 at Level 5 instead of 2. For example, Diglett's Earthquake normally deals 7-9 damage to Exeggcute, but it becomes 10-12 with a critical hit, so Slash is more like 105 .

That's weird. Where'd you get that info? Because my sources didn't mention that and PS gen 1 does not do that.

 

[Crystal_]

This is the damage formula (special attack & special defense => special):

These two "+2" cause crits do a bit less than double the damage. At level 100 this goes almost unnoticed, but at level 5, where attacks do ~10 damage, crits happen to do around x1.5 damage.

As for the team, it's pretty standard, which is good, because only standard Pokemon work well enough in LC while most other stuff is completely outclassed. I wouldn't bother about Diglett's last move tbh, it's so situational that it's just not worth it to think too much. The only thing is that you probably shouldn't lead with exeggcute because it's too valuable to get statused/worn down that early. I'd lead with either slowpoke or Ponyta. LC is a fun tier, you should get used to it quickly. The most important thing is probably to learn when and how to sacrifice a pokemon when you need too. Keeping exeggcute and staryu as healthy as possible is a good rule of thumb as well.

 

[Joim]

Oh, okay, I thought he was talking about the multiplier.

 

[Agent Gibbs]

Oh, okay, I thought he was talking about the multiplier.

Oh, that was just sort of an analogy to give you an idea of how strong Slash is at Level 5 when it crits. Technically its not changing the multiplier, but it's sorta the equivalent of about a 1.4 boost or so.

As for the team, it's pretty standard, which is good, because only standard Pokemon work well enough in LC while most other stuff is completely outclassed. I wouldn't bother about Diglett's last move tbh, it's so situational that it's just not worth it to think too much. The only thing is that you probably shouldn't lead with exeggcute because it's too valuable to get statused/worn down that early. I'd lead with either slowpoke or Ponyta. LC is a fun tier, you should get used to it quickly. The most important thing is probably to learn when and how to sacrifice a pokemon when you need too. Keeping exeggcute and staryu as healthy as possible is a good rule of thumb as well.

Yeah, Ponyta is usually my lead/anti-lead, and he's done really well in the few battles I've used him. He forces Exeggcute out turn 1 and occasionally catches an incoming Staryu with Body Slam paralysis, and assuming average damage rolls, I have a decent chance of beating Drowzee with Fire Spin followed by Fire Blast (it also doesn't help that Drowzee's sleep move is only 60% accurate).

Thanks for the feeback!