Who gets Earthquake? Garchomp or Gastrodon? Not as simple as you think!

Question

VS

The end is near for my Platinum Nuzlocke. I'm at the Pokémon League, currently grinding my team to the 60s (veeeerrrry tedious – but that's besides the point). I have two Pokémon vying for posession of my Earthquake TM -- newcomer Garchomp and the Gastrodon I've had since the Valley Windworks. The obvious choice here is to spam EQ with Garchomp, but just here me out.

1 – Garchomp already has Dig as a decent physical Ground attack. Earthquake would be icing on the cake.

2 – My Gastrodon's Attack stat is higher than her Sp. Attack (don't ask how). This means that she could actually deal respectable damage with EQ.

3 – Gastro's only Ground attack is Mud Bomb. While workable, that 80% accuracy can really hurt -- especially in a Nuzlocke.

4 – This is a Nuzlocke challenge. If I make the wrong choice, my run could go up in flames.

So there's my dilemma. Gastrodon needs Earthquake as a more reliable attack. Garchomp needs it to bulldoze stuff. Please, help a poor guy out!

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Here are two candidates, the rest of the team, their movesets, and their attacking stats.

Gastrodon (Terra)
Ice Beam / Surf / Mud Bomb / Recover
Atk – 117
SpA – 105
may be switching Surf to Waterfall due to higher Atk*

Garchomp (Rancor)
Dig / Dragon Claw / Shadow Claw / Crunch
Atk – 150
SpA – 94
may be switching Crunch to Flamethrower or Fire Fang*

Crobat (Count)
Fly / Cross Poison / Steel Wing / X-Scissor
Atk – 112
SpA – 98

Medicham (Harlem)
Brick Break / Rock Slide / Zen Headbutt / ---
Atk – 77
SpA – 75
final slot will be a filler TM*

Houndoom (Salvador)
Flamethrower / Dark Pulse / Thunder Fang / Bite
Atk – 133
SpA – 136
Bite will be replaced, most likely by Sludge Bomb*

Magnezone (Ultron)
Thunderbolt / Flash Cannon / Thunder Wave / Hyper Beam
Atk – 84
SpA – 158
no Hyper Beam hate please, it's an endgame nuke*

Comments

Can you comment the rest of the test and what you have on them so i could see what Im working with

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I put the rest of the team in.

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I'm going with Garchomp for this, if they use Earthquake while you're digging you can get screwed.

Which matters when you're not a tanky pokemon in a nuzlocke

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I researched all E4 Pokémon that carry Earthquake.

• Bertha's Gliscor, Hippowdon, Golem and Rhydperior
• Flint's Infernape
• Lucian's Bronzong
• Cynthia's Garchomp

This Dig/Earthquake weakness that you brought up makes Rancor pretty much useless against a lot of key E4 members. It looks like the TM might be going to 'Chomp, but I'll wait for an answer before I decide.

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Keeping surf on gastrodon is going to help against bertha mainly because most to all her mons are physically bulky and you have special but they are both weak to ground

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Yeah, I'll need it for the postgame anyways.

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Dig's actually helped me out a lot of times before, cuz it's basically a free Escape Rope out of Victory Road (which I tended to delve deep into to train). Besides, 20 BP difference doesn't really hurt when you consider that Garchomp would damage everything with that attack stat. I'm more sided towards Gastrodon for this one, js.

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Yeah, I'm already done Victory Road :)

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I mean while training ofc. I used to train upto about 65s in the Victory Road, and well nobody likes having to face a bajillion Golbats on their way out after that xD. That's my opinion for being pro-Dig anyways

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Dude, Garchomp has an Atk of 150 and you plan on wasting his (arguably) best move on a 112 Atk Gastrodon? Chomper all the way mate

Answer 1

Regardless of what you have said, I would put earthquake on garchomp. Look at this. Garchomp: atk 150 spatk 94. The difference there is 56 points. Meanwhile, as much as I hate to say it, gastrodon only has a difference of 12 points. So it would be more beneficial to give e-quake to garchomp.
Hope I helped!

Answer 2

Personally I'd give earthquake to Garchomp. If you only have Dig you could be in big trouble because Cynthia's Lucario is weak to ground . You make Garchomp use dig , one of her Lucario 's moves is earthquake AND! Earthquake deals a lot more damage in the process of dig. And if your Garchomp dies you lost a very powerful team mate right before you have a chance to hit really hard on her Garchomp . Most of us people that have Garchomp's like us. ( My Garchomp is lv. 100 by the way ) want to use it against Cynthia's Garchomp. And since the first move she throws at you is an earthquake. ( My Garchomp got earthquaked until her Garchomp died but my Garchomp didn't die ) you could be in really big trouble . Like all that hard work leveling up your Pokemon and then it just faints. She makes her team full of earthquakes beacause she knows you'll come with either an ice or dragon type. We use dig for dodging as much as for attacking and when you start digging you think you dodged it but is says" Garchomp fainted ". And if you choose Gastrodon her Earthquake will be 2x more effective on it.

Comments

Idk why he would even send out Garchomp against Lucario when he has a Medicham... but the logic sure makes sense

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In all honesty I'm using Gastrodon to beat Garchomp, assuming it doesn't get KOd.

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Do you have to give it earthquake? Can't garchomp learn another physiacal ground move? He can rekt at level 60 with almost any ground move.(non special)

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As previously stated, he already has Dig. But it's a risky strategy when you consider that as good chunk of the E4 have Earthquake.