The In-Game Team Advice Thread (2024)

Re: TAKE NOTE: All in-game teams go here.

Right, I’ve tried over and over and over, and can only get to about 45 wins in the battle tower (aiming for 50+). I thought I’d assembled a good team - all 3 of them cover each other well... maybe I just need to get better at predicting the opponent’s attacks and acting accordingly. Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Lead: Bronzong (levitate)
252 Defence/252 Spec Defence/8 HP
Nature: Sassy
Item: Choice Scarf
~ Toxic
~ Trick
~ Stealth Rock
~ Protect

Strategy here is probably obvious. I lead with Bronzong, then proceed with trick to get the opponent stuck in a loop. If possible, Bronzong uses stealth rock, and then one of the other two members of the team will be switched in (depending on the type of move being used). If neither of these is appropriate, then I get Bronzong to use toxic and then protect itself as much as possible while the foe’s HP decreases. This leaves a predictable point at which I can use trick again, before the foe faints from the effects of toxic. I then have the choice scarf back to use on the next pokemon.

Latios
252 special attack/252 speed/8 HP
Nature: Modest
Item: Focus sash
~ Dragon pulse
~ Calm mind
~ Ice beam
~ Thunderbolt

With any luck, the opponent will be tricked into using a non-attacking move, which leaves the perfect opportunity to switch in Latios and use calm mind to maximise both special attack and special defence. I used this moveset with the advice of another FM earlier on in the thread (though I’m sticking with dragon pulse over draco meter, because I’m keen to use only attacks that have 100% accuracy). Once this has been achieved, the rest of the match is usually a breeze. Even if the opponent gets an attack in first, Latios has the focus sash for insurance.

Heatran
252 special attack/252 defence/8 HP
Nature: Rash
Item: Lum berry
~ Earth power
~ Flamethrower
~ Sunny day
~ Solar beam

Heatran totally covers Latios’s weaknesses and so it is often more suitable to switch it in instead, depending on the move being used. A fire type, of course, is brilliant, as it boosts Heatran’s fire moves and has no effect thereafter (this is a common enough occurrence given that it is Bronzong’s only weakness). Heatran can, therefore, set up with sunny day before eliminating the opponent. If the next pokemon is a water or ground type, Heatran is in the position to eliminate them with solar beam. At risk of a ground move getting in first, Latios can be switched in instead to no effect.

Heatran is probably the most problematic one listed here. I really should’ve EV trained it in speed instead of defence – it’s not painfully slow, but at critical moments it often fails to get the first (crucial) attack in. Its 4x weakness to ground is also really annoying – if the other two are already down then it doesn’t stand much of a chance. It’s also got no way to boost its special attack like Latios has.

I did recently try switching Heatran for the following:

Rampardos
252 attack/252 speed/8 HP
Nature: Adamant
Item: Focus sash (Latios was given the lum berry)
~ Crunch
~ Earthquake
~ Rock polish
~ Fire punch

I haven’t written Rampardos off completely, but it didn’t seem to work as well as Heatran, as it doesn’t have as many resistances and has virtually the same weaknesses (save the 4x weakness to ground). Primarily, it doesn’t compliment the other 2 in the same way. Rock polish is obviously a good way to set up, but it rarely has the opportunity to do so as its defences are so weak all round.

So, really, I’m after a bit of general advice. Should I, perhaps, try and get a load of EV reducing berries (or perhaps a new Heatran…) and EV train the latter in speed rather than defence? Is there another pokemon that I haven’t thought of that would do the job just as well? Should my TrickScarf lead be switched for someone else? Any recommendations for the movesets, items, general strategy, etc?

Like I say, perhaps I just need the practice – i.e. getting used to the opponents that may have moves that will OHKO my pokemon and switching when I need to. I should probably give up, but it’s actually quite fun once you get the initial battles out of the way!

Thanks