What is a good in-game team for Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon? (page 3)

Question

Share your best in-game teams for Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon on this thread! Teams should be aimed toward making casual runs of the game efficient, enjoyable and hassle-free.

Please follow these guidelines regarding detail in your post:

1. For every Pokemon on the team, give recommended moves for use throughout the playthrough. Ideally, comment on more than just the four moves you'll finish with post-game.
2. You can include items, abilities, etc. but they are not necessary.
3. Provide explanation and detail. Justify your Pokemon and moveset choices; possible discussion points include ease-of-use, team synergy, and coverage for key battles.

Please also follow these guidelines regarding the contents of your team:

1. If you recommend a Pokemon that is restricted by version exclusivity, trade evolution or events, please mention alternatives for people who cannot get the Pokemon. Do the same if you recommend moves, etc. that are only available by breeding or grinding.
2. There are some unspoken rules of in-game teams, such as to keep the starter on the team and avoid legendaries. It's kind to give other options if you break these rules.
3. Do not recommend Pokemon, moves, etc. that are only available through glitches and cheats. Please also avoid Pokemon etc. that are only available through trade or transfer.
4. Original content only. You may use ideas you found elsewhere, but do not steal written content.

Submit your team as an answer, not a comment. To keep things tidy, we will remove any teams posted as comments in this thread. If you want to update your post, use the 'edit' button.

Please be sparing with images and formatting.

A very useful tool for assessing your team's strengths and weaknesses is this team builder made by @richi3f on GitHub, updated for these new games. This site makes it very easy to set up and assemble a team!

Answer 1

I'll do one for Primarina.

Poppy @Primarium Z
Moveset:
Sparkling Aria
Moonblast
Aqua Jet
Psychic

This set is pretty self-explanatory. Sparkling Aria is STAB and lets him nuke a target with his Z-Crystal, Moonblast is Dazzling Gleam but better, Aqua Jet because, "y'all sleeping on priority, that **** is clutch," and Psychic is for Poison-types. If you don't really care about priority, you can swap it out for Energy Ball or Ice Beam.

Vicky @Magnet
Moveset:
Bug Buzz
Thunderbolt
Energy Ball/Flash Cannon
Volt Switch

Vikavolt is one of those sleeper mons that not many people use, but the people who do use it mow down most of the in-game battles. Bug Buzz is his only special Bug STAB, just remember to store him in a box or smth once you get to Ula'Ula, because if you evolve Charjabug past Lvl. 31, you can't get it until the Move Reminder. Thunderbolt and Volt Switch are both Electric STAB and Volt Switch lets you get out of a tight spot. Finally, the third slot is for Rock-types who might trouble them. Conclusion: VIVA LA VIKA

Sally @Poison Barb
Moveset:
Flamethrower
Sludge Bomb
Dragon Pulse
Toxic/Nasty Plot (if you don't have Corrosive)

Salazzle is a BEAST of a Pokemon. It dominates Totem Lurantis and Ribombee (maybe) and, with some careful strategy, fries Molayne. Flamethrower and Sludge Bomb are STAB, Dragon Pulse is useful chip against mons she can't hit very well with STABs, and the last slot depends on your ability. Corrosive > Toxic, and Own Tempo > Nasty Plot.

Duggy @Soft Sand
Moveset:
Iron Head
Earthquake
Aerial Ace
Shadow Claw/Filler

Come on, it's anime Dugtrio! Who wouldn't want to use it? IH and EQ are STAB, Aerial Ace covers Fighting-types (although not very well), and the last slot is up to you.

Pikaposter @Mimikium Z
Moveset:
Play Rough
Shadow Claw
Leech Life
Wood Hammer/Will-O-Wisp/Toxic

Mimikyu, aside from being the Ultra Necrozma cheese of choice for many a Trainer, is excellent in an in-game playthrough. PR is STAB and lets Mimikyu, like Primarina, use its Z-Crystal to nuke something. Shadow Claw is STAB and great for saying **** you to anything using Iron Defense and the like. Leech Life is some extra coverage plus healing if Mimikyu just won a bad matchup, and the last slot is either status, seeing as Mimikyu always gets a free turn, or Wood Hammer, because they felt the need to give it that for whatever reason.

Paladin @Leftovers
Moveset:
Wood Hammer
Hammer Arm
Iron Head/Rock Slide/Shadow Claw/Earthquake (Postgame only)
Spiky Shield

I know it sounds dumb. I know he's a slow, clunky Dumbo that's quad-weak to Flying.
But it fuckin' works.
Wood Hammer is great for slamming targets that other mons would have to rely on EBall or Wood Hammer for. Plus, the Lefties to a great job of softening the recoil. Hammer Arm is a crazy-strong STAB move that drops his already-trash Speed stat. Spiky Shield is great for predicting HJK and other things of that nature, plus it gives you a free turn of Lefties healing. Finally, RS, IH, and SH can be swapped in and out to kill Flying, Fairy, and Ghost respectively, while EQ covers Fire and is only obtainable after becoming Champion.
Locations (not gonna go over stuff you get as part of the story):
Catch a Munchlax on Route 1 for Lefties
Energy Ball is in Lush Jungle but you need Machamp
Shadow Ball and Aerial Ace are both in Konikoni iirc
Toxic is in Aether Paradise on the 2nd visit, just look around the starting area for a while and you should find it. REMEMBER TO GET THIS ONE, or else the Mimikyu cheese won't work and Ultra Necrozma will kick your ass.
Flash Cannon is in Seafolk Village outside the Steelix house
Sludge Bomb is in the Shady House inside the far top-left room
Poison Barb is in Melemele Meadow, you shouldn't miss it
Mimikium Z is in the Thrifty Megamart (Ghost trial site). You need to:
1. Beat Nanu's Grand Trial
2. Bring a Mimikyu that knows Play Rough to the Megamart at night
3. Go through the store and answer "Mimikyu...?" to all of the questions
Magnet is in Pikachu Valley, just go to the part of Route 4 with the rock and the two Lovers and take the path leading northeast.
Soft Sand is in the Melemele Sea on one of the Islands, so you need Lapras. If you don't want to go through all that trouble for a 20% power boost to one move, just... don't have him hold an item, I guess.
Finally, Rock Slide can be found on Route 17 by going up the rocky path and taking the farthest-left path down.
Everything else is either level up, move tutor, or given to you for free at some point or another.
Well, you read to the end, which means you respect what I had to say. Thanks for reading, and I hope this team works for you!

Answer 2

Primarina
Primarium Z
Sparkling Aria
Moonblast
Ice Beam
Psychic

Primarina is the key to destroying Halas fighting types and the Fire Rock Dark Ground and Dragon trials/island kahunas later in the game along with other boss fights with good special stats and movepool it will destroy anything that stands in its way especially with its exclusive z-move.

Fearow

Drill Peck
Return
Drill Run
Steel Wing

I know, Fearow isn't the best flying type there is however its not the worst and can put in some effort with access to Drill Run a ground type move to counter 2 of its 3 weaknesses and Steel Wing to counter ice types and it has STAB-Drill Peck and Return to deal massive damage with base 90 atk and 100 speed.

Mangezone

Thunderbolt
Flash Canon
Thunder Wave
Tri Attack

The magnemite line is really good in these games with it being accessible right at the trainers school you will have a magnemite for the normal trial so you will have something to wall normal types with and magneton can make use of the eviolite until it evolves into magnezone which isn't until later on in the game. Good stats, good typing and good defenses to make use off, this line will remain as one of my favrouites I highly recommend it.

Haryiama
Brick Break/Close Combat
Poison Jab
Facade
Rock Slide

Fighting types are good in every game, Haryiama has an outstanding hp stat and really high attack being accesable right after Hau'oli City, this will be your answer to the normal type trial. It can make use of its Guts ability with Facade and with its high attack stat+equipped with the silk scarf it will do disgusting damege. Overall, Haryima is a good fighting type overall with the amount of hp it has it will take hits and dish them out with its high attack stat and it evolves not to late as well.

Espeon

Psychic
Shadow Ball
Dazzling Gleam
Calm Mind

This will be our special sweeper with an outstanding special attack and speed stat setting up with calm mind will make it take special hits well and dish them out with the immense coverage it has, this will be your answer to the E4 Hala fight along with some of Team Skulls poison types and almost any major boss fight as along as you use espeon wisely.

Magmortar

Flamethrower/Fire Blast
Psychic
Thunderbolt
Focus Blast/Low Sweep/Brick Break

Magmorator is one of my favrouites with wide movepool and good attacking stats, you can run either psychical or special moves on this killing machine and this will be your answer to the grass trial and the steel type e4 member.

(P.S You can use Magmar its still a good Pokemon however equip it with the evolite to make it bulky so its not frail as mid stage Pokemon in the late game cant take hits that well so the evolite is a useful item)

Magmar

Flamethrower
Psychic
Focus Blast/Low Sweep/Brick Break
Will-o-wisp

Gen 7 might not be the best however the variety of what you can get is really nice and post-game is something else.

Anyways enjoy using this team :)

Answer 3

Incineroar @Incinium Z
Ability: Blaze
-Darkest Lariat
-Flare Blitz
-Thunder Punch
-Brick Break

After playing through Moon with Poplio, I'm going for something different this time. Incineroar offers the team fantastic power and with stellar base attack, it can break through bulky or overlevelled opponents. Darkest Lariat and Flare Blitz are great STAB moves. Incinium Z allows Incineroar to easily destroy any and almost every threat, and especially this really helps against Pokemon specifically Molane's Metagross. Thunder Punch and Brick Break are great coverage against Rock and Water types. The only downside is that this thing is slow I'm talking Terry the Tortuga slow, so you have to work around that.

Starmie @Twisted Spoon
Ability: Natural Cure
-Scald
-Psychic
-Dazzling Gleam
-Ice Beam

Starmie makes a pair with Incineroar relatively early game -- you can find a Staryu outside the Hano Resort on Akala Island. Starmie is a fantastic asset thanks to its fighting resistance and base 100 Special Attack. The moveset is fairly standard -- Scald and Psychic are consistent STAB damage, with Psychic also boosted a bit with the Twisted Spoon. Ice Beam and Dazzling Gleam are helpful coverage moves. Natural Cure is decidedly better for in-game use since Illuminate is useless. If you'd rather not use Staryu until it evolves, you can just use a Psyduck until then you can find them also in Sandy Cave on Melemele Island.

Hawlucha @Expert Belt
Ability: Unburden
-Acrobatics
-Poison Jab
-Roost
-Flying Press

Hawlucha is another early encounter that ends up being overpowered later game. Hawlucha's base speed is nothing to be joked about, and this thing being able to set up Swords Dance and having Roost just makes it even more powerful. Poison Jab is on here for coverage against Fairy types and Flying Press destroys Normal, Steel, Dark, Ice, and Rock types. This Pokemon makes your playthrough experience more enjoyable and much easier.

Flygon @Soft Sand
Ability: Levitate
-Dragon Claw
-Dragon Dance
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge

I'll just let Fizz explain this one.
Found at Haina Desert on Ula'ula Island, Flygon is another Pokemon with some good pace and power to it. Though base 100 is pretty average nowadays, Earthquake's high base power and Dragon Fang help Flygon keep its damage output up. Dragon Claw is a good STAB that pairs with Earthquake for good dual STAB coverage. Stone Edge gives Flygon a response to Ice-type Pokemon, and Dragon Dance allows Flygon to set up and sweep opposing teams should it find an opportunity. Great way to deal with Hapu's Grand Trial. Garchomp is also a good option here if you want to SOS chain a Gabite.

Mimikyu @Mimikium Z
Ability: Disguise
-Play Rough
-Shadow Sneak
-X-Scissor
-Swords Dance

Mimikyu is easily the best Fairy type other than Primarina in USUM. Mimikyu makes stalling easy and is great for some difficult battles (coughcough Ultra Necrozma). Play Rough and Shadow Sneak are great STAB moves and X-Scissor is great for Dark, Psychic, and Grass types. Mimikyu makes your playthrough much, much easier and gets the job done as a replacement for Primarina or Sylveon.

Snorlax @Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
-High Horsepower
-Heavy Slam
-Crunch
-Return

Snorlax is another great early game Pokemon. This thing is obviously going to be used as a tank but, he can be used as a great physical attacker as well. High Horsepower is amazing for Rock, Steel, Fire, Electric, and Poison. Heavy Slam hits hard against Rock, Ice, and Fairy and is great overall. Crunch is good for Psychic and Ghost and Return is well... Return. In conclusion, this thing can be used as a tank and a physical attacker and overall it is just an amazing Pokemon and a good final edition for your team.

That's the team. Hope you enjoy using it or just think it's a good team. Thank you for reading!

Answer 4

Decidueye
Item: Decidium Z (Gift From Professor Kukui)
Ability: Overgrow
Location: route 1 as rowlet (starter)
Moves:
Spirit Shackle (learned upon evolution)
Leaf Blade (Level 44)
Swords Dance (Poni Meadow)
Brave Bird (Level 55)

Magnezone
Item: Magnet (Pikachu Valley)
Ability: Sturdy
Location: Trainer School as magnemite
Moves:
Magnet Rise (Level 53)
Discharge (Level 43)
Flash Cannon (Level 33)
Volt Switch (Mount Hokulani)

Bewear
Item: Expert Belt (SeaWard Cave)
Ability: Fluffy
Location: Route 8 as stufful
Moves:
Work Up (Trainer School)
Hammer Arm (Level 36)
Return (Malie City)
Shadow Claw (Malie City PokeMart)

Salazzle
Item: Poison Barb (MeleMele Meadow)
Ability: Corrosion
Location: Wela Volcano Park as Salandit
Moves:
Toxic (Aether Paradise/Move Relearner)
Nasty Plot (Level 25 as Salandit)
Venoshock/Sludge Wave (Level 39/Seafolk Village PokeMart Respectively)
FlameThrower (Level 44)

Vaporeon
Item: Wise Glasses (Girl On route 1 during Nighttime)
Ability: Water Absorb
Location: Daycare egg as eevee
Moves:
Work Up (Trainer School)
Surf (Poni Breaker Coast)
Ice Beam [Mount Lanakila(Use aurora beam till then)]
Acid Armor (Level 29)

Garchomp
Item: Soft Sand/Dragon Fang (melemele beach/konikoni city from mallows dad respectively)
Ability: Sandveil
Location: Haina Desert as Gabite
Moves:
Swords Dance (Poni Meadow)
Dragon Claw/Dragon Rush (Level 33/Level 55 respectively)
EarthQuake (Resolution Cave)
Shadow Claw (Malie City Pokemart)

I am bad at explaining things but I will shorten them down. I have one stat Boosting move on every Pokemon except magnezone as I gave it Magnet Rise to get rid of its ground weakness. All Pokemon have a move which another Pokemon does not cover or is weak against. I am not going to use legendaries for this to make this more authentic. No version Exclusives or trade evolutions. The ace is going to be Decidueye. You can swap vaporeon for lapras as they can share the moveset. I included location of the Pokemon, items and tms. I also marked the level at which the Pokemon learns the move at. As Decidueye is the ace I wanted it to be the only Pokemon with a z crystal as putting one on every Pokemon would be bad as there would be no type boosting items but you can change it around based on which totem/kahuna/e4 is next (which is what I did for my playthrough)

Answer 5

This is my current playthrough team and it is currently holding up very well:

Incineroar @Incinium Z
Ability: Blaze
- Brick Break, Fire Punch, Darkest Lariat, Earthquake

Brick Break is here mostly to shatter opponent's screens, but it also provides extra coverage. Fire Punch is a good physical STAB move which I prefer over flamethrower since Incineroar is a physical attacker and Flare Blitz is kinda annoying with the recoil damage. Darkest Lariat is a major asset, especially for Totem Battles and the Ultra Necrozma fight since it ignores any defense boosts they have and it turns into a nuke when it is used with Incinium Z. Finally, Earthquake is very powerful coverage.

Golisopod @Silver Powder
Ability: Emergency Exit
- First Impression, Rock Slide, Drill Run, Liquidation

First Impression combined with silver powder makes for a massive hit right out of the gate before your opponent hits you. Rock Slide deals with flying types. Drill Run deals with any electric or rock types that threaten Golisopod and Liquidation is strong STAB with a neat secondary effect (chance to lower opponent's defense by 1 stage)

Tsareena
Ability: Leaf Guard (Queenly Majesty is much better though)
@Rose Incense - Trop Kick, Payback, U-Turn, Stomp

Trop Kick is reliable STAB damage that is boosted by Rose Incense. U-Turn can be used to pivot. Payback can be useful and powerful if Tsareena is slower than an opponent. Stomp is here for the nice flinch chance it can give you if Tsareena moves first.

Lycanroc Midnight Form @Hard Stone
Ability: Keen Eye
- Rock Slide, Crunch, Stone Edge, Counter

Rock Slide is reliable STAB with a flinch chance. Crunch is a strong coverage move if I need it, Stone Edge has raw power and can become very strong with Lycanium Z. Counter is here since it is very useful against tougher opponents and it saved me in the Totem Togedemaru trial.

Bewear @Fightinium Z
Ability: Klutz (Fluffy is better though)
- Hammer Arm, Thrash, Shadow Claw, Bulk Up

Hammer Arm and Thrash are powerful STAB moves that work really well with Bewear's massive attack stat. Shadow Claw deals with ghost and psychic types. Bulk up can let Bewear set up against physical attackers who can't threaten it with powerful super effective moves.

Vikavolt @Wise Glasses
Ability: Levitate
- Thunderbolt, Bug Buzz, Flash Cannon, Energy Ball

Thunderbolt and Bug Buzz are standard STAB moves for Vikavolt. Flash Cannon and Energy Ball are also very standard for a Vikavolt in a playthrough as powerful coverage moves.

I really like this team, but I'm likely switching Tsareena out for a Dhelmise soon. Here's the set I was thinking of using:

Dhelmise @Metal Coat
Ability: Steelworker

• Phantom Force, Power Whip, Anchor Shot, Earthquake

Earthquake deals with fire types really well. Phantom Force and Power Whip are its strongest STAB moves and Anchor Shot gains quite a bit of power thanks to Steelworker along with the Metal Coat (goes from 80 power to 144 power). Also, Anchor Shot deals with Dhelmise's weakness to ice types