QuentinQuonce
formerly green_typhlosion
Have to say I'm extremely looking forward to seeing you write up the Regi trio, once you get to them. I've never actually used them in a playthrough but I think I'm right in saying you only need seven badges?
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
-
Congrats to the winners of the 2023 Smog Awards!
Let's Play! Pokemon Emerald - Let's use them all! - Playthroughs with each available Pokemon
- Thread starter pe5e
- Start date
I just finished my first run with a Regi trio member. Regirock was on team#18. Currently on team#19 with Registeel. See the counter in the OP for the progress. You only need to able able to use Dive to access all the Regis. So you can get them after gym 7. And you really should since there is not much game left for them to contribute. I leave the details for the later write-up.
Pretty late on this, but Cacturne is honestly more solid and allowed my team to beat Steven pretty much underleveled. It also provided support for the entire team and could dent quite a few end game teams. Leech Seed allows much needed passive recovery for your team if you wanna slug it out. Growth, if you can use it, makes it's Dual Type Stab that much better, these being Faint Attack and Needle Arm. In fact, it can sweep Phoebe with ease since her starting Pokemon cannot threaten you in anyway so you can easily set up 6 Growths and beat her down. Other key match ups it destroys Tate and Liza and a most of Wallace/Juan's Gym while taking down a few members. I will agree that the Speed stat is the most detrimental thing to it as the mixed offenses are perfectly fine.
I like Cacturne a lot but unfortunately it has some issues. Its strengths are in the late game, but that is also were its low speed and bulk start to really matter. It can only take one, maybe two, decently strong neural hits before going down. That makes it hard to use options like Growth, Leech Seed and Substitute effectively. Cacturne has good enough offenses, so it doesn't really need the attack boost, and prefers to take as little damage as possible. Even in good matchups like Phoebe, Tate & Liza and the Water gym, it has to look out for stuff like Ice Beam Dusclops, Flamethrower Solrock and Ice Beam Water types. Even Steven has some problematic Pokemon like Skarmory, Armaldo and Metagross.
In my mind, Shiftry is mostly better. Its offenses are still good enough, but its better speed, bulk, movepool and ability to sweep with Chlorophyll mean it is more consistent overall. The distribution of Cacturne's stats and its somewhat barren movepool hold it back a lot.
It really was only Snorunt that was basically a massive dud. The other ones were all mostly fine, they just don't blow your socks off. Late game Pokemon need to be amazing like Starmie to be worth considering anymore. And many of the available ones are sadly only okay. Still fun to use, but not too much of a help anymore.
You outspeed Dusclops. It’s a literal non issue. Even I was worried about it but when I saw I outsped the first one, I knew I had nothing to worry about. If you are sending it out against Skarm, I’d be questioning what your plan is. Shiftry isn’t really better imo. It’s more or less the same Pokemon as Cacturne however it’s more TM Heavy to be considered “good” while also requiring a fairly long wait time in Leaf Stone which at that point, you can easily get Cacturne. The point of Cacturne was the it could attack but setting up Leech Seed on troublesome opponents such as Milotic, Metagross, and Kingdra helped out the team greatly where I would have otherwise lost. It’s got enough bulk to take 3 or so hits even neutrally and I had no issues with T&L using it since you can kinda safely buff on her to an extent.
My run with Cacturne is a long time ago by this point. I don't remember everything super clearly, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
You do easily outspeed Phoebe's Dusclops. But from what I remember Faint Attack was no 2HKO, even with Black Glasses. And while Dusclops has very middling offenses, Ice Beam is still going to sting with Cacturn's low bulk. You still beat her, but it is likely that you need to heal up Cacturne once or twice during the fight.
That was my point exactly. Cacturne can somewhat help against Steven in Ruby and Sapphire but several of his Pokemon still give it a lot of trouble.
While Shiftry needs more TMs to access its best movesets, in my mind its better to at least have the option to use those attacks, rather than to not have them at all. Shiftry also has dual STAB moves and a random physical move of your choice to be basically the same mixed attacker as Cacturne. But Dig, Aerial Ace and Brick Break are useful coverage against other types, while Sunny Day and Solar Beam give it a much easier time sweeping than Cacturne. And none of those TMs besides maybe Brick Break are all that valuable and important for other team members anyway.
And while Nuzleaf is pretty bad, Cacnea is also not very good, and you have to use that for about 10 levels too. You get both Shiftry and Cacturne about the same time.
Leech Seed is nice but I question how much that helps against Recover Milotic and Rest Kingdra. The chip damage from a normal Needle Arm likely saves equal amounts of turns. I am also not entirely sure if Ice Beam from Milotic and Meteor Mash from Metagross don't just have a good chance of knocking you out from near full HP unless you are above level 50. Those are not weak attacks, and Cacturn's bulk of 70/60/60 is sketchy regarding that.
I wouldn't know why you even need to set up on Late & Liza anyway (I assume with Growth?). But Flamethrower should be a clean 2HKO from Solrock that outspeeds Cacturne. Even if you play Emerald, where you can keep Solrock in the back if you play smart, remember it is still a double battle. Unless you have a second Psychic resist or immunity, your second Pokemon is likely not going to enjoy boosted Psychics while Cacturne is setting up.
Last edited:
shiftry bad
it borders on unusable
seedot is a literal 1% in Emerald, starts with Bide and only STAB is Bullet Seed until level 31
like cacnea is admittedly 6% in emerald and might not light the world on fire but I'd sooner use it than the empty slot seedot is
it borders on unusable
seedot is a literal 1% in Emerald, starts with Bide and only STAB is Bullet Seed until level 31
like cacnea is admittedly 6% in emerald and might not light the world on fire but I'd sooner use it than the empty slot seedot is
Growth + Faint Attack rips through literally any Ghost and Psychic type. I wanted to see if it was possible and yeah it is. The Leech Seed does help, I can’t state that enough as is or my run I did in another thread would have ended abruptly. My final moveset for it was Growth/Needle Arm/Faint Attack/Leech Seed with Miracle Seed or Black Glasses on depending on the MU. It’s self sufficient for itself though can’t touch certain Pokemon. Granted these are Pokemon it should never fight like Skarm or any Fire Type. We clearly used Cacturne differently but it’s definitely a solid choice for any team since it’s Utility outshines even Shiftry.
How much value do you guys put on single-stage boost moves like Growth in a run, anyway?
My general thought has always been that "if a move's effect can be wholly substituted by a common item, then it's a useless move." Like I'd never use up a slot for Growth when X Special can be bought over the counter. Swords Dance or Calm Mind, though? Might find a use for that.
It's along the same kind of reason why Chansey/Blissey is excellent in PvP but usually deadweight in the quest. The usefulness of a tank/cleric is blunted quite a bit when you can just stockpile items that fill the role instead.
My general thought has always been that "if a move's effect can be wholly substituted by a common item, then it's a useless move." Like I'd never use up a slot for Growth when X Special can be bought over the counter. Swords Dance or Calm Mind, though? Might find a use for that.
It's along the same kind of reason why Chansey/Blissey is excellent in PvP but usually deadweight in the quest. The usefulness of a tank/cleric is blunted quite a bit when you can just stockpile items that fill the role instead.
Seedot is not good but I wouldn't go as far as saying it is unusable. It is not nearly on the same level as stuff like Nosepass or Slugma.
Shiftry is legit solid to good against the last two gyms, several Elite Four members and Champion Wallace. A Pokemon with a performance like that doesn't get the title of "unusable" imo.
Yes, the giant downside of Shiftry is Nuzleaf's horrible early game. But after gym 6 it is legit okay. The 1% encounter is annoying and it does get penalized for that. But I don't think this fact alone should knock it down several tiers. Nuzleaf has the same problem as most Grass types in Hoenn, they just don't get good Grass moves until post gym 6. Nuzleaf's best STAB moves until Faint Attack and Giga Drain will be Bullet Seed and Thief from the TM. Or Strength and Dig. It is pretty bad. I won't deny that. But it does have real strengths when you get past its bad early game.
Cacnea is also mostly a dud until it evolves, with arguably worse stats than Nuzleaf. It also doesn't have anything better than Bullet Seed, and even Needle Arm is pretty late at level 41! Which means Cacturne only has Faint Attack, Bullet Seed and like Strength for a long time. And the extra speed of Shiftry is just a massive deal imo.
Don't misunderstand me, neither of these two Pokemon lines are good. But I think Shiftry has at least a better time in the section of the game that these two actually accel in.
My question is what Ghost and Psychic Pokemon does Cacturne actually need additional boosts against, though? Pretty much all should just fold to a STAB Faint Attack from 115 base special attack. The only ones I can think of are like Sableye who can't even touch it and Phoebe's Ice Beam Dusclops. Maybe I just underestimate Leech Seed on Cacturne since I didn't use the move on mine in my run, but I don't think it moves the needle much for Cacturne. Also I would likely place both Shiftry and Cacturne in the same tier for the record. They are mostly the same.
I am in the same boat as you. Most setup moves in genreal are just not more effective in a normal non-challenge run playthrough. Even something like Sword Dance has not all that much value, since Ideally you shouldn't need to set up at all. Setup moves are only useful if they allow Pokemon to overcome hurdles that it otherwise couldn't. And even then, required setup of more than two turns is a downside rather than an upside in my book.
The only one stage setup move I used seriously so far (outside or Rollout if you want to count that), was Howl on Intimidate Mightyena. Still did not improve my judgement of that Pokemon.
Items are just so superior to a lot of setup and recovery moves, that they are hardly worth it for the most part.
Last edited:
Cacturne really doesn’t have much moves to really differentiate itself from Shiftey. You could do SubPunch but that’s less than ideal. Growth is perfectly fine as a slot because I don’t know if you’ve seen the movepool.
Cacnea gets Needle Arm at 37. You stave off Evo since it’s ultimately better to do so. As for the non boosting thing. That explained quite a lot to me on our philosophy with running these causally, even testing we used boosting moves. It’s pretty much a necessity for it to boost if you want the damage output off those stats. Using a consumable is just…not worth it if you’ve already got a lack of options available to you and I was never needing anything else for Cacturne other than Speed. You use Growth to cleanly sweep Phoebe. Literally no Clops survives an encounter. Yes, you are underestimating Leech Seed. It’s not there for Cacturne but for others to help take down juggernauts like Metagross, Milotic, and just anything bulky. Puts them on a timer while they waste a turn to use Recover or Potions allowing you get that extra hit in needed to OHKO if you outspeed.
That is a fair take but the attitude of "why not, Cacturne has nothing better to do with its fourth moveslot" is not exactly painting Growth in a good light, right? Granted other moves in this slot will likely have a similarly small impact as Growth, but then again, it could also use a physical move or an HM in that slot to make use of its also high attack stat or free up moveslots on other Pokemon.
I can't imagine not evolving Cacnea until level 37 is worth it. You catch it at level 20, meaning you would have to make do with 35 base speed, 50/40/40 bulk and a bad defensive typing for 17 mid game levels. All for learning Needle Arm four levels earlier? No way. You are better off just giving it the Giga Drain TM to bridge the gap imo.
But why should it be a necessity, though? 115 offenses are plenty strong to OHKO or 2HKO most things, even with its low base power STAB moves. Unless you meant boosting speed with X Speed? I don't use X items, so I can't attest to that.
I am sorry but taking 70%+ damage to get a Leech Seed off (and hopefully not miss or get crit) just doesn't seem all that impressive to me. Maybe that can be seen as a contribution, but I can't see how it is anything major. But again, I haven't used the move, so maybe you are right.
My problem with boosting moves is that they are just very limited in usefulness and efficiency.
Let's say there is a trainer with one weaker Pokemon and bulkier Pokemon.
My example Pokemon is able to OHKO the first Pokemon but needs two attacks to kill the second Pokemon. In this scenario, if it just attacked every turn, then the battles last three turns. And if I used one of the best boosting moves in Swords Dance on turn 1, it is then able to OHKO both Pokemon. But the battle will still last three turns. So setting up wasn't any faster than just attacking normally. And that is often the structure of trainer teams.
So setting up is only faster when the Pokemon can't OHKO everything and the trainer has more than two Pokemon. And that mostly rules out about 90% of battles you will encounter. Only in major battles it is worth considering to set up. And in practice, the situation is even worse because not all setup moves are as good as Swords Dance, the Pokemon might get statused or knocked out while you are trying to set up, and so on.
I am not saying there is no use for setup moves, but just due to their nature and the turn mechanic, finding situations were they are more efficient than normal attacking is kinda hard.
And often setup moves are sited as a crutch for weaker Pokemon in an attempt to make them seem stronger than they really are. But multiple turns of required setup until they finally sweep is not a benefit, if you could have just used a Pokemon that didn't need to do that. Or at least not as much.
For the record if this was an Emerald tierlist I'd agree that 1% is immediate E-tier (and 6% is much better since 1 in 17 >> 1 in 100) but since it's not I'd say it's fine to argue for them in their own merits.
I used Shiftry in Ruby and it was honestly pretty great, even alongside monsters such as Swampert, Zangoose or Medicham. I also used Growth because it helped ease boss fights such as Roxanne or Phoebe (which keep in mind Dusclops has both Pressure and Protect, so being able to set up on it is useful as otherwise it's just a wasted turn + 2 PP), Cacturne should be pretty much the same for the most part if only marginally worse because Nuzleaf won't be underleveled at the point in the game where Cacnea is available but it's a very small difference. Perhaps being slower than Solrock hurts but you should take unboosted Flamethrower fine.
SunnyBeam (which definitely counts as setup pe5e, just better than others because it also basically doubles your main attack) is helpful but only against bosses because you don't wanna use up its PP in like the water routes. I'd argue the same for Giga Drain except it's not worth it at all so Bullet Seed is imo better against trainers to not have to continually use Ethers.
Is delaying the evolution really worth it Turdterra ? Like I guess the added power is useful against Swimmers but you'll still be using Faint Attack against Tate & Liza so the added value doesn't seem that great. Again I don't have enough experience with Cac, just feel like I'd rather have the early evolution. Needle Arm is definitely better than every non SolarBeam Grass move, tho.
I guess I'm kinda in the middle of the discussion where I value the usefulness of Growth but also don't think Cacturne and Shiftry are that different lol.
Team #16
I already wrote about Treecko here.
Torkoal is pretty decent but just has no role to play. Its stats are pretty good when you catch it but since it doesn't have an evolution, it never scales up, and those stats are just average later. It has great defense but also awful speed. This thing is never going first. And you never are in need of a very slow, defensive tank Pokemon like Torkoal. Fire is an odd typing for a defensive Pokemon in Hoenn. But aside from its confusing stats and typing, Torkoal is decent. It has a good level-up movepool with early Body Slam and Flamethrower, and Torkoal is even the only Pokemon that learns Heat Wave. Which is still 100 base power in gen 3 and very useful in Emerald especially with its higher density of double battles. Sadly, it doesn't learn any other special moves besides Fire moves. It is a mixed attacker but its physical options are also not very exciting. Pretty much only Body Slam and Sludge Bomb are worth considering, but neither is all that useful for coverage to its fire attacks. It can also use Curse to beat gyms 4, 5 and 6. Norman is especially easy because of its good defense stat and its access to Protect via level-up below level 30. Beyond that Torkoal doesn't really do much of note anymore, and being a good Flamethrower button is only going to get it so far. Torkoal is similar to Camerupt but has worse offenses and a worse movepool but much better staying power. There is a ceilling on how good slow Pokemon can be, though. Especially when the typing doesn't really fit its stat spread.
I talked about Swablu here.
Kecleon is more interesting on paper than in practice. It is actually one of the only mid to late game Pokemon that comes at a reasonable level. Since it can be found after Fortree City as a static encounter at level 30. Which is perfectly fine for this point of the game. Kecleon also has a very cool signature ability in Color Change. But as interesting as it is, it is mostly a downside sadly. Kecleon is rather slow, which is intended since its ability requires it to be hit. But there just isn't a reliable way to make good use of its change in typing. You can't control which attacks your opponent is going to hit you with, and you can also only carry four moves, so it isn't even a guarantee that you have the right move to use with your new typing. Sometimes its new typing gives it a useful resist for the next turn, but the opposite can also be the case. Overall, Color Change mostly has the effect of making Kecleon lose STAB on its Normal moves, and nothing else. Which is not good because Kecleon's attack is only okay, and its special attack is underwhelming. It has a big special defense stat but also medicore HP. So it doesn't even take special attacks all that well. Especially because of its initial Normal typing that doesn't give it any resists. As a Normal type it at least has a good movepool. Dig, Aerial Ace, Shadow Ball and Brick Break are okay physical TMs for it. And it learns the usual Thunderbolt, Ice Beam and Flamethrower on the special side. It even starts out with Faint Attack and Psybeam which are okay. But none of these attacks leave much of a dent with Kecleon's meh offenses, considering that often those attacks won't even have STAB. Overall, Kecleon is pretty dissapointing, and you are better off using another Normal type with better offensive stats, since its gimmick doesn't really work.
Phanpy Is mostly just worse Sandshrew. It can be found in the Safari Zone and evoles instantly into Donphan after a single Rare Candy. And Donphan actually has great stats. A huge attack stat and a lot of bulk. It is a slow tank Pokemon but one that is much better suited for the late game than Rhyhorn. It can actually take a few weak Water attacks and gains its better stats much earlier. The problem is Donphan went to the same school as Sandslash. As in, it just doesn't learn any Ground STAB moves for a long time. Like, it can't even learn Dig with the TM. The only Ground move it learns is Earthquake. Which is great but it also only comes at level 49, which is really late. So for the most part Donphan will just be using random physical moves like Rollout, Strength or Return that don't get STAB. Which sadly makes its damage output less impressive than its great attack stat would imply. And despite the fact that Donphan can actually compete in the Water routes, when it comes to the remaining gym battles it can't really contribute. It can't do anything against the levitating Pokemon of Tate & Liza, and Water Pulse out of the Water gym is just too strong for it. So it mostly is used for clearing the remaining routes, and it is decent at that. But otherwise it can't be of much help. When it finally gets Earthquake it can help somewhat against Sidney and Phoebe but it isn't impressive. Sadly, Phanpy is another victim of its location. If you would have gotten this earlier, like maybe on Route 114, than it would have had a bigger use. Otherwise just get a Sandshrew instead. It is better in pretty much every regard.
Huntail is another Pokemon that is just a worse version of another Pokemon. There is very little reason to use this over Gorebyss. If you decide to get either one of them, anyway. In contrast to its sister, Huntail has significantly lower special attack, but an usable attack stat instead. So Huntail can be a mixed attacker instead of a pure special attacker. The problem is that Huntail just doesn't learn any useful physical attacks. It can only learn random Normal moves or ... Rock Tomb. Huntail learns Crunch instead of Psychic but if you want a Water type with Water / Dark coverage, then you are much better off just using a Sharpedo instead. So Return is its only relevant move that it has over Gorebyss. And because it comes so late, since Clamperl is a seaweed encounter, it is nearly impossible to max out its friendship naturally. But it turns out that isn't that much of a problem. If you collected the friendship-increasing berries from the garden of the Berry Master, which you will pass by anyway, then you can use those. Normally those berries are not worth it, since they come with the pretty hefty downside of reducing your EVs by 10 points in exchange for friendship points. But if you use them on a freshly caught Pokemon which doesn't have EVs yet, then those berries don't have a downside. If you equip Huntail with the Soothe Bell, then feeding it the 24 berries from the garden of the Berry Master is enough to almost entirely max out its friendship. The last few points can be gotten with a few level ups. Or you caught Clamperl with the Luxuary Ball. Which you might as well, since you want to go to the Abandoned Ship anyway for the Rain Dance TM. Because Huntail's only niche is being a Rain Sweeper, just like Gorebyss. And while Psychic on Gorebyss also had hardly any use, Return does not excel much either. Huntail has the same problems as Gorebyss, but due to its lower special attack, it is a worse rain sweeper overall. It is still strong enough to sweep Drake but that is about it. Huntail is simply a worse version of a Pokemon that already isn't very good.
Counter after team #16:
I already wrote about Treecko here.
Torkoal is pretty decent but just has no role to play. Its stats are pretty good when you catch it but since it doesn't have an evolution, it never scales up, and those stats are just average later. It has great defense but also awful speed. This thing is never going first. And you never are in need of a very slow, defensive tank Pokemon like Torkoal. Fire is an odd typing for a defensive Pokemon in Hoenn. But aside from its confusing stats and typing, Torkoal is decent. It has a good level-up movepool with early Body Slam and Flamethrower, and Torkoal is even the only Pokemon that learns Heat Wave. Which is still 100 base power in gen 3 and very useful in Emerald especially with its higher density of double battles. Sadly, it doesn't learn any other special moves besides Fire moves. It is a mixed attacker but its physical options are also not very exciting. Pretty much only Body Slam and Sludge Bomb are worth considering, but neither is all that useful for coverage to its fire attacks. It can also use Curse to beat gyms 4, 5 and 6. Norman is especially easy because of its good defense stat and its access to Protect via level-up below level 30. Beyond that Torkoal doesn't really do much of note anymore, and being a good Flamethrower button is only going to get it so far. Torkoal is similar to Camerupt but has worse offenses and a worse movepool but much better staying power. There is a ceilling on how good slow Pokemon can be, though. Especially when the typing doesn't really fit its stat spread.
I talked about Swablu here.
Kecleon is more interesting on paper than in practice. It is actually one of the only mid to late game Pokemon that comes at a reasonable level. Since it can be found after Fortree City as a static encounter at level 30. Which is perfectly fine for this point of the game. Kecleon also has a very cool signature ability in Color Change. But as interesting as it is, it is mostly a downside sadly. Kecleon is rather slow, which is intended since its ability requires it to be hit. But there just isn't a reliable way to make good use of its change in typing. You can't control which attacks your opponent is going to hit you with, and you can also only carry four moves, so it isn't even a guarantee that you have the right move to use with your new typing. Sometimes its new typing gives it a useful resist for the next turn, but the opposite can also be the case. Overall, Color Change mostly has the effect of making Kecleon lose STAB on its Normal moves, and nothing else. Which is not good because Kecleon's attack is only okay, and its special attack is underwhelming. It has a big special defense stat but also medicore HP. So it doesn't even take special attacks all that well. Especially because of its initial Normal typing that doesn't give it any resists. As a Normal type it at least has a good movepool. Dig, Aerial Ace, Shadow Ball and Brick Break are okay physical TMs for it. And it learns the usual Thunderbolt, Ice Beam and Flamethrower on the special side. It even starts out with Faint Attack and Psybeam which are okay. But none of these attacks leave much of a dent with Kecleon's meh offenses, considering that often those attacks won't even have STAB. Overall, Kecleon is pretty dissapointing, and you are better off using another Normal type with better offensive stats, since its gimmick doesn't really work.
Phanpy Is mostly just worse Sandshrew. It can be found in the Safari Zone and evoles instantly into Donphan after a single Rare Candy. And Donphan actually has great stats. A huge attack stat and a lot of bulk. It is a slow tank Pokemon but one that is much better suited for the late game than Rhyhorn. It can actually take a few weak Water attacks and gains its better stats much earlier. The problem is Donphan went to the same school as Sandslash. As in, it just doesn't learn any Ground STAB moves for a long time. Like, it can't even learn Dig with the TM. The only Ground move it learns is Earthquake. Which is great but it also only comes at level 49, which is really late. So for the most part Donphan will just be using random physical moves like Rollout, Strength or Return that don't get STAB. Which sadly makes its damage output less impressive than its great attack stat would imply. And despite the fact that Donphan can actually compete in the Water routes, when it comes to the remaining gym battles it can't really contribute. It can't do anything against the levitating Pokemon of Tate & Liza, and Water Pulse out of the Water gym is just too strong for it. So it mostly is used for clearing the remaining routes, and it is decent at that. But otherwise it can't be of much help. When it finally gets Earthquake it can help somewhat against Sidney and Phoebe but it isn't impressive. Sadly, Phanpy is another victim of its location. If you would have gotten this earlier, like maybe on Route 114, than it would have had a bigger use. Otherwise just get a Sandshrew instead. It is better in pretty much every regard.
Huntail is another Pokemon that is just a worse version of another Pokemon. There is very little reason to use this over Gorebyss. If you decide to get either one of them, anyway. In contrast to its sister, Huntail has significantly lower special attack, but an usable attack stat instead. So Huntail can be a mixed attacker instead of a pure special attacker. The problem is that Huntail just doesn't learn any useful physical attacks. It can only learn random Normal moves or ... Rock Tomb. Huntail learns Crunch instead of Psychic but if you want a Water type with Water / Dark coverage, then you are much better off just using a Sharpedo instead. So Return is its only relevant move that it has over Gorebyss. And because it comes so late, since Clamperl is a seaweed encounter, it is nearly impossible to max out its friendship naturally. But it turns out that isn't that much of a problem. If you collected the friendship-increasing berries from the garden of the Berry Master, which you will pass by anyway, then you can use those. Normally those berries are not worth it, since they come with the pretty hefty downside of reducing your EVs by 10 points in exchange for friendship points. But if you use them on a freshly caught Pokemon which doesn't have EVs yet, then those berries don't have a downside. If you equip Huntail with the Soothe Bell, then feeding it the 24 berries from the garden of the Berry Master is enough to almost entirely max out its friendship. The last few points can be gotten with a few level ups. Or you caught Clamperl with the Luxuary Ball. Which you might as well, since you want to go to the Abandoned Ship anyway for the Rain Dance TM. Because Huntail's only niche is being a Rain Sweeper, just like Gorebyss. And while Psychic on Gorebyss also had hardly any use, Return does not excel much either. Huntail has the same problems as Gorebyss, but due to its lower special attack, it is a worse rain sweeper overall. It is still strong enough to sweep Drake but that is about it. Huntail is simply a worse version of a Pokemon that already isn't very good.
Counter after team #16:
Last edited: