Team Help.
Make your Own Unique Team.
Making a Moveset
1. Play by your stats and role! Rampardos should never be using a special move since it has such abysmal special attack. Likewise, Alakazam shouldn't carry any physical moves because its attack sucks. Umbreon and Skarmory should stick to what they do best, tanking, and not carry attacking moves unless it's serving some higher purpose.
2. Do not repeat move types! Well, there are exceptions to this. It is perfectly acceptable for a Salamence that uses Choice Specs to carry both Dragon Pulse and Draco Meteor. However, this does not apply to most pokemon. A Manaphy carrying Surf, Dive, Brine, and Bubblebeam sucks. Why? Well, for one, it's not unified, and for two, it does not cover any more types than Surf alone would. Keep the same type moves to one unless there is some significant need for another.
3. Cover yourself! When constructing a moveset, one should strive to eliminate weaknesses in the pokemon, cover many types, and aim to KO the common enemies. A Swampert using Waterfall and Earthquake is largely redundant because both moves cover several same types and are both resisted by several same types. Earthquake and Avalanche, on the other hand, covers every pokemon in the game for at least neutral damage (except Bronzong and Shedinja). Hammer Arm would not be bad to add to the set either, as it hits Blissey, Snorlax, and Tyranitar for heavier damage than the other moves would. Keep those sort of things in mind.
4. Status is made of win! Thunder Wave, Hypnosis, Will-o-Wisp, Confuse Ray, etc. are fantastic moves and very viable options for most pokemon that get them. Being able to inflict these conditions can lead to you gaining the upper hand. Just make sure not to pair up conditions that will conflict with each other.
5. Take caution with heavy hitting moves! Moves like Fire Blast, Thunder, Blizzard, Hydro Pump, and others may seem attractive at first, and indeed they are in some cases, but they can't always be counted on to get the job done. That's not to say you shouldn't use them at all, however, as some of these moves can allow for a surprise KO that could end up winning the game. It's your personal choice whether you want power or reliability.
Megahorn should be in all Heracross movesets. Why? It's the best move of its class, will hit more often than miss, has good pp, and is definitely a hard-hitter.
Fire Blast, while low on PP, otherwise has the same stats as Megahorn. It can make for a very scary Infernape, among other things. If the user or battle will not last very long, then there is no reason not to use it. It also allows many pokemon a surprise move against Skarmory, which now has to run max hp and def for the sake of guarding against physical fire and electric moves. Machamp with fire blast?! It's certainly much more feasible than it once was.
Hydro Pump has been used with much success on Swampert. It allows at least a two hit KO on Weezing and Skarmory, and is prefered for its power on mixed movesets for Swampert. This also allows it a better shot at bringing down Rhyperior, among others.
Blizzard. Well, if you've got a hailstorm going, then it's definitely worth using, as it now never misses in hail. However, the horrid PP and accuracy make it a bad choice otherwise. Ice Beam will cover the dragons just as well, anyway.
Thunder. Only use it in rain, as there are not enough common pokemon that are threatened by it.
Focus Blast. Shaky accuracy, but a fun new toy for many special attackers to use against the almighty Tyranitar.
The same concepts can be applied to moves like Draco Meteor, Overheat, Leaf Storm, etc. If you are using a mixed set with those as your only special moves, then there is no harm in using them once while you're out. They cover many threatening OU pokemon as well. Hit and run works well in these cases too.
6. Chose your hold items well! These can make quite the difference for a pokemon. Lum Berry is a great thing to have on sweepers, Dragon Dancers in particular, who don't like getting shut down by a status condition. Leftovers and Black Sludge (for poisons) are quite universal. Flame Orb and Toxic Orb are great items to be Tricked, Flung, etc. as they don't activate until the end of the turn. The single move type boosters are examples of bad items, as they only give a 20% boost to often a single move type (which is almost always one move in the set). It is fine, however, to use Life Orb, Muscle Band, Wise Glasses, Choice Band, and Choice Specs where appropriate, as they aid a whole group of moves.
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Making a team
Now this is something that has certainly gotten a lot more complex in D/P. The first thing you should keep in mind when constructing a team are the major threats and their capabilities. The pokemon you should beware of and look into include:
Tyranitar
Gyarados
Infernape
Azelf
Rhyperior
Electivire
Heracross
Salamence
Togekiss
Gengar
Garchomp
Raikou
Lucario
Rampardos
Tauros
Starmie
Weavile
Dugtrio
Alakazam
Porygon-Z
Medicham
Staraptor
Slowbro
Jolteon
Aerodactyl
Snorlax
Zapdos
Blissey
Suicune
Sceptile
Bronzong
Slaking
Ninjask
Metagross
Celebi
Jirachi
Manaphy
Uxie
Swampert
Most of these fall into the "OU" or Overused class of pokemon.
It can't be expected that you be prepared for everything, however, so that is why it is in your best interest for your team to have a strong, central theme to work towards that can be executed in a variety of situations. This thread will contain movesets commonly (or not so much, but good either way) found on each pokemon so you can better prepare yourself. A few definitions before we start with sets:
Leader - A pokemon designed to be put at the head of the party for the sake of getting a good start. Some good leads include Swampert, Zapdos, Aerodactyl, and Salamence.
(P)Hazer - A pokemon that uses Haze, or a pokemon that uses the Pseudo Haze moves (Roar and Whirlwind) to chase out enemy pokemon. This is good for throwing out a pokemon that has buffed stats as well as adding on to the damage your Spikes and Stealth rock are dealing to the opposing party.
Physical Sweeper - A pokemon that specializes in dealing high physical damage to opponents, usually with high speed. A good example is Aerodactyl.
Special Sweeper - The opposite of the Physical Sweeper, special sweepers deal high special damage to opposing pokemon. Alakazam is a well known pokemon that does this.
Mixed Sweeper - A pokemon that uses both physical and special moves in its moveset. Generally weaker than the other two that specialize, mixed pokemon can make for quite a surprise. Pokemon that do this well include Infernape and Azelf.
Baton Passer - A pokemon that uses stat buffing moves and Baton Pass to hand them to a teammate who makes use of their support. In the age of D/P, this is a very outdated and poor tactic, but you should be prepared for it nonetheless. Ninjask is the most seen BPer to date.
Pseudo Passer - A pokemon that uses moves such as Light Screen, Wish, Safeguard, and the sort to support the team. Best coupled with baton pass or u-turn. Chimecho (^__^) pseudopasses.
Annoyer - A pokemon that carries several status-inducing and other moves that make it particularly hard to hit or kill. Also tends to force switches. Lanturn loves doing this.
Trapper - A pokemon that keeps opposing pokemon from retreating by means of Arena Trap, Mean Look, Fire Spin, or other methods. Dugtrio is often used as a finisher due to this. Some Mismagius employ a tactic called Perish Trapping, using Perish Song in tandem with Mean Look. It is used alongside Baton Pass quite often too (Umbreon).
Spiker - A pokemon that uses the moves Spikes, Stealth Rock, and/or Toxic Spikes. Usually also a Phazer, but not always. Skarmory and Forretress are the most common Spikers.
Heal Beller / Aromatherapist - Hilariously abbreviated "Rapist", these pokemon carry Heal Bell or Aromatherapy to support the team and save them grief from status conditions. Blissey is used most, but other pokemon have gained use of the moves, such as Jumpluff.
Physical Wall - A pokemon designed to take physical hits well. Skarmory falls here, as do several other pokemon, such as Bronzong, Forretress, Suicune, and Swampert.
Special Wall - Pokemon designed to take special hits well. Blissey is most common and effective, with others like Cresselia, Regice, and more being runners up.
Dual Wall - You can try to make one, but there is no such thing as a good dual wall off bat. Only thing that comes close is Suicune.
Common Killer / GGer (GG meaning Good Game) - A pokemon set up to kill those it usually ends up pitted against. A good example of this would be the Tyraniboah moveset, which was designed to allow Tyranitar to kill several things it normally wouldn't in the advanced generation, such as Gengar. GGice, a Regice set created by Dark Lugia (then stolen by Smogon), allowed it to take on Blissey and others well. These sets take awhile to craft and perfect.
Pressure Staller - A pokemon centered around abusing the ability Pressure to drain enemy PP. Dusknoir can do this.
Subpuncher - A pokemon that uses Substitute to allow for a free use of Focus Punch, which requires you to not get hit during the turn you use it. Breloom will do this a lot.
Subseeder - A pokemon that uses Leech Seed in conjuntion with Substitute. Sceptile does this.
Trick Roomer - A pokemon used to set up the move Trick Room, for itself or a team. Bronzong, Uxie, and Slowbro will do this quite often.
U-turner - A pokemon carrying U-turn. The quicker the better, as they can allow for a better situation than a manual switch. Several options include Staraptor, Infernape, Gliscor, Celebi, and Persian.
Choice ( Band / Specs / Scarf )er - Those that employ a Choice Item. These are meant to get in heavy hits quickly, and do very well at finishing off teams once their resistors are gone. Heracross does well with Choice Scarf, Salamence with Choice Specs, and Tauros with Choice Band, among others.
Item Switcher - Pokemon that make use of the moves Trick or Switcheroo. The subtypes of this category are limited only by the items they can switch. Good items to consider switching are Toxic Orb, Flame Orb, Choice Items, and Iron Ball. Good candidates for the tactic include Alakazam, Lopunny, and Mr. Mime.
Sunnybeamer / Thundancer / Blizhailer - Very outdated tactics. They involve the use of Sunny Day to Solarbeam, Rain Dance to Thunder, and Hail to Blizzard respectively. The major reason these are of note is that they can put an end to Tyranitar's sandstream, which could otherwise whittle down your party and prevent you from KOing enemy rock pokemon. Sunnybeamers are usually Grass or Fire pokemon that gain the most out of the moves, like Charizard and Vileplume. Thundancers are usually Water or Electric, such as Lanturn. Abomasnow can actively use Blizzard thanks to its ability.
Roles get more general and specific, but these are the most common you'll see. Keep the roles in mind when putting together a team, paying careful attention to what you lack and need.
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Anyway, time to move on to the bulk of the guide: the movests. You by no means HAVE to use them, but they are recommended because they are effective in some manner and environment. Significant move options that aren't used in movesets will be mentioned for everyone's benefit, particularly those building their own sets. The near universal moves, however, such as Hidden Power, Rest, Sleep Talk, Protect, Toxic, Substitute, etc. will not necessarily be mentioned for the sake of not having to type them out again. These moves have their places on many pokemon even if it's not mentioned in a set, so don't overlook them. Remember your 3rd gen only moves as well, as I may miss some.
