What is a good in-game team for Sword and Shield?

Question

Share your best in-game teams for Pokemon Sword and Shield 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.

You can assess your team's strengths and weaknesses using an online teambuilder, such as this one.

Comments

Just so you know, richi3f put offensive coverage in this teambuilder. So now you can make sure your STAB attacks are super effective against every type. (and hope this isn't like Emerald, where a team that has every attack except thunderbolt is worse than a team of 6 thunderbolt spammers)

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That link is dead! How can I access that teambuilder?

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I replaced it with a different teambuilder. Follow this Smogon thread if you want updates on if/when richi3f's teambuilder will be accessible again. https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/3585346/

Answer 1

Here is the team I used to play Shield. Everything on it is obtainable in Sword too. I designed it to have at least one Pokemon that resists each type, so you have a switch-in to any anticipated attack. I hope you like it!

RILLABOOM @ Miracle Seed / Assault Vest
Ability: Overgrow
- Drum Beating
- Earthquake
- U-Turn
- Taunt / Knock Off / Bulk Up / Body Press

I built around Grookey for my in-game team. This Pokémon has a very solid early-game movepool, including Taunt and Knock Off, and supplies strong Grass-type STAB throughout the game, making fights against Nessa and Gordie very simple. Rillaboom has an excellent movepool and will make use of the many TMs and TRs you gain throughout the adventure. I chose to use Ground-type coverage on my Rillaboom, which helps it against Steel and Fire-type opponents. U-Turn uses Rillaboom’s good Speed to deal some chip damage while switching into an ally. Be creative with the last moveslot; Rillaboom has plenty of coverage options and utility moves to contribute to the team, depending on which TRs you get.

CORVIKNIGHT @ Rocky Helmet / Sharp Beak
Ability: Pressure
- Brave Bird / Drill Peck
- Iron Head
- U-Turn / Body Press
- Hone Claws / Bulk Up

Rookidee is a great early-game partner for Grookey, as it can break through the common Grass and Bug-type Pokémon that Grookey isn’t effective against. Early access to Dark-type moves like Payback rounds out your coverage for the opening stages of the adventure. Corviknight’s Flying STAB gets good neutral coverage of most in-game opponents and Gym Leaders. Corvisquire gains its Steel type just in time for the battle against Opal. Corviknight becomes a defensive backbone for the team, as its natural bulk and part-Steel typing allows it to resist a range of threats, including Eternatus and Raihan’s Pokémon. Hone Claws gives Corviknight an offensive edge, and U-Turn can facilitate switches between team members.

OBSTAGOON @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Guts
- Obstruct
- Headbutt / Double Edge
- Night Slash / Throat Chop
- Hone Claws / Gunk Shot / Cross Chop / Close Combat

Zigzagoon fills out the team with dependable Normal-type damage, hitting many targets throughout the story for neutral damage. Linoone is a very strong second-stage form; its Headbutt OHKOs many targets, and flinches the rest. Obstagoon has perfect neutral coverage on its STABs due to its part-Dark typing, which itself comes in handy against Allister and Bede. It also has a great movepool, with options to compliment both its offensive and defensive prowess. Obstruct helps scout for coverage while creating an opening to hit back, while Hone Claws, Gunk Shot and Close Combat are just some of the offensive moves that make Obstagoon such a versatile attacker. (Cross Chop comes from the move relearner!)

CENTISKORCH @ Silver Powder / Muscle Band
Ability: Flash Fire
- Fire Lash
- Lunge / Leech Life
- Coil
- Crunch / Will-O-Wisp

Sizzlipede is tough to find, with an encounter rate of 1% on Route 3. However, it will immediately prove its worth by sweeping Milo’s team using its STAB moves. Together with Obstagoon, Centiskorch renders each battle with Bede trivial. It also has an advantage against Bea, Opal, Melony and Piers, as well as Kabu if you catch one with Flash Fire. Coil is a strong move you get access to early and turns Centiskorch into an unbreakable wall against certain opponents, including multiple Gym Leaders. Crunch is an option that helps you hit more targets for super-effective damage, while Will-O-Wisp makes Centiskorch tankier. I recommend using some TRs for STAB on Centiskorch, as it learns Fire Lash and Lunge quite late.

TOXTRICITY @ Magnet
Ability: Punk Rock
- Poison Jab
- Overdrive
- Nuzzle
- Acid Spray / Boomburst

Toxel becomes catchable in the Wild Area after you beat Nessa, and evolves very soon afterward. Toxtricity goes on to be the sole special attacker of the team; though in actual fact, it’s more than capable as a mixed attacker as well. Poison Jab lets Toxtricity wipe out Fairy-type Pokémon, and you’ll make use of Spark in the early stages of the playthrough as well. Elsewhere, Nuzzle is like an upgraded Thunder Wave, crippling difficult opponents and helping you catch Pokémon more easily. Acid Spray is one of my favourite attacks, as its Special Defence drop lets you offload a massively-powerful, Punk Rock boosted Overdrive onto your opponent. This combo, or alternatively Boomburst, makes Toxtricity a great way to brute-force Dynamax opponents.

RUNERIGUS @ Leftovers
Ability: Wandering Spirit
- Earthquake
- Phantom Force / Shadow Claw
- Will-O-Wisp
- Disable

You can add Yamask to your team and evolve it in the Wild Area before fighting Bea or Allister. Especially against Bea, Runerigus is a great asset thanks to its champion bulk and defensive typing, which grants it multiple immunities and renders many in-game opponents helpless. Will-O-Wisp turns your Pokémon into a blanket check against nearly any physical attacker in the game, including Dynamax opponents. Ghost and Ground STABs help Runerigus capitalise against opponents that are weak to it. Disable can stop your opponent from breaking through with super-effective attacks, while Runerigus slowly recovers health using Leftovers (which you can find infinitely on wild Munchlax).

Comments

Inteleon, Arcanine, and Excadrill are good.

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I definitely considered Excadrill so I'll add that for sure. Think for the fire type I had Volcarona but I can switch it for Arcanine if it's better

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Why no Water Type on the team? Although other than that it's pretty good =)

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There are 18 types and only 6 slots on the team. Not every team needs a water Pokemon.

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I know, but it's just a suggestion.

Answer 2

Hey, hey you. So many poor Pokémon get forgotten in Pokémon Sword and Shield because everyone just uses Corviknight, Toxtricity, Grimmsnarl and the likes. So I have a solution! I tried to build this team as well as I can to remember our forgotten brethren from the past to appease our lord sumwun. Here's a quick preview!

And yes, I took this photo in dark mode because I care about your eyes. No need to thank me.

Look at all those strengths, (unfortunately) weaknesses, immunities, and resistances! In this team, there's a Pokémon that resists every type except for Ground, but that's okay since we have a Flying type who is immune to their attacks!
This team has a total of 34 resistances and 7 immunities compared to the absymal total of 24 weaknesses.
If you're wondering about why we don't have a type that can weaken Normal and Flying types with their STAB moves, that's fine because those two types are pretty easy to cover anyway.
But now there's gonna be some more daunting questions that you're gonna throw at me, so I'll answer them right away.

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What about the Galar starter I chose?

I recommend you choose Scorbunny so Hop gets Grookey, eventually becoming Rillaboom who can be dealt with by Roserade, Arcanine, and Togekiss's STAB moves. Cinderace can be dealt with by Crawdaunt and Mudsdale (but watch out because these two are particularly slow) and Inteleon can be dealt with by Roserade only. As for actually using your starter of choice, you have two (suggested) options: using your starter instead of this team's counterpart or replacing the starter with its suggested counterpart, both of which you can do.

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Where can I actually find these Pokémon?

Roserade can be found as a Budew in many locations in the Wild Area, however it spawns most often in Dappled Grove as either an overworld encounter or a Max Raid battle.
You can also find a Roselia at the far left corner of Rolling Fields just outside Dappled Grove, but be wary because it is quite difficult to catch and may even wipe your entire team.
The Shiny Stone can be found at the Lake of Outrage, but it's usually better to grind for watts and take a shot at the Digging Duo instead.

Arcanine can be found in the Wild Area in most areas during Intense Sun as a Growlithe (Shield only), and if you're playing Sword sadly the earliest you can find it is the Hammerlocke Hills in Intense Sun.
But never fear, Ninetales is here, and it's (mostly) exclusive for Sword players. In my opinion, however, Arcanine is stronger and more practical so I recommend it.
The Fire Stone can be found very early on. Cross the bridge to Motostoke Riverbank and immediately turn left and you'll find it.
You can evolve Growlithe any time you want, but I suggest keeping it as a Growlithe for around 10-15 levels just for the EXP. If you got one above Level 24 (where it learns Fire Fang), immediately evolve it since there's not much of a point keeping it as a Growlithe anymore.

Crawdaunt can be found as a Corphish in both Sword and Shield in South Lake Miloch. It can be found in all weather conditions that aren't called Sandstorm or Intense Sun and is very easy to catch. It's a very powerful Pokémon as a Crawdaunt because it hits very hard with its STAB moves and is quite a nice switch-in to many Pokémon.

Togekiss can be found as a Togepi as an EXTREMELY rare find in Bridge Field. Prepare to set aside an hour or two hunting it down in the overworld (and rarely as well in Max Raid battles). Alternatively, you can get a Toxel from the lady in Route 5's daycare and trade it for a Togepi in Hammerlocke City, which has boosted EXP, a very nice Timid nature and above all that Serene Grace.
For obtaining the Shiny Stone to evolve Togetic, refer to Roserade's location guide.

Aegislash can be found in Hammerlocke Hills as a Honedge during Snowstorms. You have a 15% chance of encountering it under these conditions, which in my opinion isn't too bad compared to Togepi.
You can get the Dusk Stone in Stow-on-Side, or you can get it even earlier with the Digging Duo. You can also grab it at the Lake of Outrage, but why would you want to wait that long?

Mudsdale can be found as a Mudbray all over the Wild Area during Intense Sun. It's not hard to miss and is one of the easier Pokémon on this team to find. Aim to get one with Stamina as its ability. If you've ever fought a Mudbray (and to an extent Mudsdale) with Stamina in a Max Raid battle and didn't at the very most kill it in under two turns, you'll know exactly why this ability matters.

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NOTE: If I put some sort of explanation then I'm going to make this too long. Here's to hoping you can understand the explanation of the Pokémon in their moveset!

Suggested nature: Timid
Preferred ability: Poison Point
Moveset:
Giga Drain/Energy Ball - Energy Ball is a TR and Giga Drain can be accessed at the move relearner
Sludge Bomb - Also a TR, but I recommend getting this one through Watt traders
Shadow Ball - Yet another TR, can be found in Max Raid battles around Watchtower Ruins
Dazzling Gleam - Last coverage move it gets along with Shadow Ball, also a TR

Suggested nature: Adamant
Moveset:
Flare Blitz/Fire Fang - Both at the move relearner. If Flare Blitz's recoil doesn't suit your fancy use Fire Fang
Crunch - Move relearner again. Breaks through Allister's Cursola in Shield and is a nice move overall
Close Combat/Earthquake - Two very formidable TRs and the one you use is up to your choice. I prefer EQ
Wild Charge/Thunder Fang - Water-type coverage. Again, if recoil isn't your cup of tea use Thunder Fang

As for Sword players who prefer Ninetales...
Suggested nature: Modest
Moveset:
Flamethrower - Move relearner and obvious STAB, not much to say
Extrasensory - Move relearner and very interesting coverage move to hit Bea
Energy Ball - TR, Covers all of Ninetales's weaknesses and can be used as a Vulpix to try and hit Nessa
Shadow Ball - TR again, and while fairly redundant, gives you another option against Bede and Allister

Suggested nature: Adamant
Moveset:
Liquidation - Crawdaunt has a volley of amazing Water STAB moves, but TR98 Liquidation is the best one
Crunch - Best Dark STAB move Crawdaunt gets. It's a TR but it also learns this through level up
Avalanche - This TM arrives very late on Route 9 but is Crawdaunt's best coverage move because it's slow
Dig/Rock Slide - The TM for Dig is in Route 6 and the TM for Rock Slide is in Route 9, both nice moves

Suggested nature: Timid
Preferred ability: Serene Grace
Suggested item: Focus Sash
Moveset:
Dazzling Gleam - TR you can obtain pretty easily. Main STAB move and gets rid of pesky Dragons
Air Slash - Make sure your Togekiss has Serene Grace for this one. You can get Togekiss before Milo, so...
Aura Sphere - Covers three of Togekiss's weaknesses and is a nice move overall
Thunder Wave/Psychic - Two excellent options for if you want a basic Paraflinch set or cover Poison types

Suggested nature: Naughty/Rash

Physical Moveset:
Iron Head - TR and Main Physical Steel STAB Aegislash has access to (five capitalized words in a row, wow)
Shadow Sneak/Shadow Claw - SS is at the move relearner and SC is in Lake of Outrage. I prefer to use SS
Fury Cutter/Sacred Sword - Both at the move relearner. FC's bad but many Fighting moves are already used
King's Shield - For when you need to tank an attack and strike back immediately afterward, learns on evo.

Special Moveset:
Flash Cannon - TR. Not much to say here, it's Aegislash's Special Steel STAB.
Shadow Ball - TR again. It's the only practical Ghost STAB option for Special Aegislash so you may as well...
Air Slash - Axew's Eye once you can Surf. Not too remarkable but Aegislash lacks Special moves anyway
King's Shield - Same drill, but expect to use it more often in this set

Suggested nature: Brave/Relaxed/Sassy
Preferred ability: Stamina
Moveset:
Earthquake - Level 40/TR. Ground STAB that I would lecture you for if you didn't run it on Mudsdale
Heavy Slam - Level 34/TR. Mudsdale is 920kg. Yes, heavier than Wailord, which is why we're running this
Body Press - TR. Were you hit? Increase your Defense through Stamina and hit Body Press even harder!
Payback - Behind the professor's house on Route 2. Use a -Speed nature and watch Payback destroy foes

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Wow. I absolutely loved building that team. I'll be playing through it soon and I will update this post on my success and I hope every single member will be on your wishlist soon.
As for explanations regarding the Pokémon, I might not be able to because of the character limit, but I could put it somewhere else.
Goodbye for now! :)

Comments

You can appease me better by using less fairies.

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@sumwun he only had one fairy on his team, Togekiss.
I upvoted because it looked like it took him a long time to make this and I appreciate that other people put time in to help people with their sword and shield play through.

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The team could have 0 fairies, which is less than 1.

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sumwun is just being sumwun, Kidsay. :P

A team with Fairies will never appease Lord sumwun...

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@PottyLittleDotty I'd like to ask what kind of Pokemon did you end up switching around for this team any changes you recommend

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I'm using Arcanine & Mudsdale,& I used Aegilslash. All were good. Btw Togekiss is has an immunity to ground

Answer 3

This is a team I'm planning to use for my run of Pokémon Sword, but it works just as well in Pokémon Shield as well. It doesn't use a starter as I'm not really a fan of any of them this gen, but it has a Grass/Fire/Water-trio so you could easily swap out one of them for your starter.

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Cinccino found as Minccino in Rolling Fields
Ability: Technician

• Tail Slap
• Bullet Seed
• Rock Blast
• Thief

Cinccino works well as this team's physical sweeper with a varied movepool of multi-hit moves which, even though Skill Link is a hidden ability, it still gets Technician which powers up each hit. This means that even if the move only hits twice, the total power is 75, and if it hits 5 times, it's 187.5. Thief is a coverage move which is also boosted by Technician.

Coalossal found as Rolycoly in the Galar Mine
Ability: Steam Engine

• Rock Slide
• Flamethrower
• Earthquake
• Body Press

Coalossal is a bulky tank with a great offensive movepool. Rock Slide and Flamethrower are STAB, Earthquake and Body Press are for coverage. Body Press also hits very hard as Coalossal's Defense stat is very high.

Whimsicott found as a Cottonee in the Stony Wilderness
Ability: Prankster

• Giga Drain
• Moonblast
• Leech Seed
• Stun Spore

Whimsicott offers fast support thanks to its speed and Prankster ability. Giga Drain is STAB and recovery, Moonblast is also STAB. Leech Seed and Stun Spore works well to cripple and stall out some more threatening foes, but there are other alternatives such as Tailwind and Cotton Guard.

Sigilyph found in the Stony Wilderness
Ability: Magic Guard

• Stored Power
• Cosmic Power
• Psychic
• Air Slash

Sigilyph is probably one of the most underrated Pokémon in the entire dex. Its stats are great for a special sweeper, its ability is amazing, and it can utilize a very powerful strategy. Stored Power works together with Cosmic Power to set up for a sweep. Cosmic Power increases its defenses while powering up Stored Power with each use. Psychic is STAB for when you just want a quick KO without setting up and Air Slash is also STAB.

Lucario found as Riolu in Giant's Cap
Ability: Inner Focus

• Aura Sphere
• Flash Cannon
• Crunch
• Close Combat

Lucario is a mixed sweeper with a huge movepool, so there are many options here. I chose Aura Sphere and Close Combat as Special and Physical STAB, plus Flash Cannon as Steel STAB. Crunch is for coverage which ensures Lucario can hit any Pokémon for at least neutral damage. There are other options with Nasty Plot and Swords Dance but I prefer to have a mixed set.

Toxapex found on Route 9
Ability: Merciless

• Baneful Bunker
• Toxic Spikes
• Venoshock
• Liquidation

Toxapex rounds off this team as a defensive tank which relies on poisoning its foes. Its ability means that all attacks become critical hits against poisoned foes. Baneful Bunker is both to inflict Poison as well as letting existing poison inflict damage. Toxic Spikes is for Poisoning entire teams. Venoshock is STAB which powers up if the target is poisoned. Liquidation is Water STAB.

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And that's the team! Feel free to use it or make adjustments that you feel fit. I built this team mostly based of which Pokémon I like, but I still thinks it's a very balanced team.

Comments

Why both stored power and psychic?

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Why Skill link but not Technician?Seems you mention about it have a lot of muti-attack moves, will it be better to having Skill link but not Technician, and how can theif to be coverage move?And why both Stored power and psychic?
Except for these problem confuse me, other are all ok

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As I wrote in the explanation, I have both Stored Power and Psychic because Stored Power takes several turns to get up to a significant power. Psychic is when your maybe just fighting a wild Pokémon and you just need a quick KO instead of setting up.

As for Cinccino, just like I mentioned in the explanation for it, Skill Link is a hidden ability, which is very hard to obtain, hence why it has Technician. And Thief is a coverage move because it covers some types. It gets boosted to 90 power and means Cinccino can handle more Pokémon.

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Ok i see

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If Stored Power takes several turns to get up to significant power (plus the fact you're running Cosmic Power over Calm Mind in Sigilyph's case AND this is an ingame team) then why use it? You already have good STAB in Psychic and Sigilyph has more flexible options anyway. After a quick rundown of Sigi's movepool I discovered how many better options it has over Stored Power + Cosmic Power. Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, Dazzling Gleam, Ice Beam, Heat Wave, and Flash Cannon are just some of the many TR's it can learn. It's especially important to consider these in the many different gyms you will be facing, specifically Allister in Shield which this team has no counters for (unless you can get Lucario or use a Linoone or something). To sum it up, don't waste two moves on Sigilyph's set on Stored Power + Cosmic Power because I doubt it would be a good combination in an ingame team of all things.

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A good replacement for Cinccino as i dont like it that much otherwise the team is really good

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@Poketec Snorlax is a good tank, Obstagoon is a bit of a faster option if you don’t want if to be that slow

Answer 4

For the first time in history, it's start raining men! It's raining men. Hallelujah it's raining men.

Raining men, you say? Who could've caused this. Why it's my planned SwSh rain team (note that SwSh is the sound rain makes)

Why run rain

Because you'll hit extremely hard with Water type moves, and the only things that counter rain are Dragons, Grass and opposing weathers, all of which you can account for! Now let's get into members I'd consider essential.

Essential team members

Pelipper

Pelipper can be obtained as a Wingull and evolves relatively early on. Make sure to get a Wingull with Hydration as its Ability, because then your Pelipper will have Drizzle, allowing you to set up rain for free. Pelipper can hit hard with its boosted Water moves and Flying attacks, and can bulk up with Stockpile. And he looks like a flying toilet, so that's a plus.

A good finalized set might look something like

Pelipper
Ability: Drizzle
- Hurricane
- Scald
- U-turn
- Roost

Inteleon

Without spoilers, Sobble and its evolutions would greatly appreciate the power boost to their Water moves that Pelipper provides.

Inteleon
Ability: Torrent
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse

Ferrothorn

Using rain to remove your Fire weakness, or just have the Water types take out the Fire types, then Ferrothorn can set up with Curse and/or Ingrain and become nigh untouchable. Ferrothorn can take the Rock, Electric and Grass moves targeted at the other core members, and tank a lot of other things too.

Ferrothorn
Ability: Iron Barbs
IVs: 0 Spe
- Ingrain
- Curse
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip

The Sobthorn on the Wing Core (Trademark Pending) is a great rain-centered core that features old and new Pokemon alike.

Non-essentials but still would recommend

Ludicolo (Shield exclusive)

You knew this was coming. Ludicolo is a potent rain sweeper or rain wall with Swift Swim and Rain Dish respectively. I would have had Ludicolo in the first category if it weren't for the fact that the beloved, handsome mariachi is exclusive.

Ludicolo
Ability: Swift Swim
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Rain Dance
- Giga Drain

Other Grass types

You may want to get a grass type earlier on than Ferroseed to cover your Electric and Grass weaknesses. The Bounsweet, Oddish and Budew lines are all available around when you pick up Wingull. You may use these throughout the playthrough if you want but Ferrothorn is usually better.

Vikavolt/Galvantula

These two electric bugs both have their advantages. Vikavolt hits harder, whereas Galvantula is faster. Both can use Thunder in rain (though Galvantula gets accurate Thunders anyway due to Compound Eyes), and use their Bug STAB to break through Grass types.

Galvantula
Ability: Compound Eyes
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder
- Bug Buzz
- Volt Switch
- Energy Ball

Note that Vikavolt should have a similar moveset to this.

Fighting type of your choice

Fighting types give you strong physical prowess and allow you to more easily counter sand and opposing Steel types (namely Ferrothorn). There are multiple Fighting type lines in SwSh, but my personal favorite for the job is Conkeldurr because he hits like a truck. Pangoro is also a good choice, especially if trading is hard for you (and Parting Shot is fun). Watch out for Ferrothorn's Iron Barbs ability when using your Fighting type though.

Pangoro
Ability: Iron Fist
- Parting Shot
- Crunch / Throat Chop
- Hammer Arm / Drain Punch
- Taunt

Fairy type of your choice

Fairy types counter Dragons, which give a Water-Grass team troubles. The best Fairy type you could get reasonably early is Gardevoir, so that'd be my top pick.

Gardevoir
Ability: Trace
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Calm Mind
- Will-O-Wisp

Seismitoad

An underrated Swift Swimmer, Seismitoad offers Electric immunity thanks to its Ground typing. He also gets Muddy Water by level up, which is good for double battles. I don't think he's as notable as the others mentioned above, but I just think he's neat.

Comments

It said in-game.

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Well, it's an in-game rain team. A decent one too.

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I really like where you're coming from with this team, and I can't wait to try it out. I think I would go with galvantula over vikavolt due to the speed, plus the extra guarantee from compound eyes on thunder if rain runs out. I'd like to see what items you would feel work best with this layout.

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It is 4x weak to grass, can´t touch flying types with it´s ACTUALLY GOOD GROUND-TYPE MOVES, will get DOMINATED by steel, And has a bit of weaknesses. The BEST DUO-TYPE combination is Steel-Fairy. It has like one or two weaknesses. The BEST SOLO-TYPE is Dragon, and worst is bug.

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We can’t know the IVs until the post-game without an IV calculator.

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why not the final sobble evo's signigture move?

Answer 5

I've Played through the game with Scorbunny and I'm currently in the middle of a playthrough with Grookey so here's my plan for a Sobble Team.

Inteleon (Bubble 07) Type: Water
Ability: Torrent
Nature (Not Essential): Modest/ Timid
Moveset:
- Snipe Shot (STAB, High Crit Rate, Always hits intended target) Level 35
- Ice Beam (Grass/ Dragon Coverage) TR05, Bought in Wild Area/ Won in Max Raid Battles (Random)
- Air Slash (Fighting and Bug coverage) TM75, Axew's Eye
- Shadow Ball (Ghost and Psychic coverage) TR33, Bought in Wild Area/ Won in Max Raid Battles (Random)

Boltund (Cordgi) Type: Electric
Location Route 2, Overworld (As Yamper)
Ability: Strong Jaw
Nature (Not Essential): Adamant
Moveset:
- Thunder Fang (STAB, Boosted by Strong Jaw to 97 Base Power) TM66, Bought in Hammerlocke for 30000 pokedollars
- Psychic Fangs (Fighting Coverage, Boosted by Strong Jaw to 127 Base Power) TR97, Bought in Wild Area/ Won in Max Raid Battles (Random)
- Crunch (Psychic and Ghost Coverage , Boosted by Strong Jaw to 120 Base Power) Level 34
- Fire Fang (Grass and Ice Coverage, Boosted by Strong Jaw to 97 Base Power) TM66, Bought in Hammerlocke for 30000 pokedollars

Centiskorch (Flareficatus) Type: Fire/ Bug
Location: Route 3, Random Encounter (As Sizzlipede)
Ability: White Smoke
Nature (Not Essential): Adamant
Moveset:
- Fire Lash (STAB, Lowers target's Defence) Level 53
- Leech Life (STAB, Recovery) TR18, Bought in Wild Area/ Won in Max Raid Battles (Random)
- Crunch (Ghost Coverage, Chance to lower Defence) Level 46
- Power Whip (Water and Rock Coverage) TR72, Bought in Wild Area/ Won in Max Raid Battles (Random)

Grimmsnarl (Norman) Type: Dark/ Fairy
Location: Glimwood Tangle, Overworld (As Impidimp) Random Encounter (As Morgrem)
Ability: Prankster
Nature (Not Essential): Adamant
Moveset:
- False Surrender (STAB, Doesn't Miss) Learnt upon Impidimp Evolving into Morgrem/ Move Reminder
- Play Rough (STAB, Chance to lower target's Attack) Level 48
- Bulk Up (Setup, Priority from Prankster) Move Reminder
- Fire Punch (Steel Coverage, Chance to Burn) TM03, Bought at Wyndon for 50000 Pokedollars

Darmanitan (Snowzaru) Type: Ice
Location: Route 8, Random Encounter (As Darumaka)
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
Nature (Not Essential): Adamant
Moveset:
- Icicle Crash (STAB, Chance to Flinch) Learnt upon Darumaka evolving into Darminitan
- Earthquake (Fire, Rock and Steel Coverage) TR10, Bought in Wild Area/ Won in Max Raid Battles (Random)
- Zen Headbutt (Fighting Coverage, Chance to Flinch) TR69, Bought in Wild Area/ Won in Max Raid Battles (Random)
- Superpower (Filler, Raw, Unfiltered Power) Level 56
P.S Ice Stone used to Evolve Darumaka is found in the Lake of Outrage.

Dragapult (Ghostrider) Type: Dragon/ Ghost
Location: Lake of Outrage, Overworld (As Drakloak)
Ability: Clear Body
Nature (Not Essential): Lonely
Moveset:
- Dragon Darts (STAB, Hits twice dealing a total of 100 base power) Learnt upon Drakloak evolving into Dragapult
- Shadow Ball (STAB, Chance to lower target's Special Defence) TR33, Bought in Wild Area/ Won in Max Raid Battles (Random)
- Steel Wing (Fairy Coverage, Chance to raise Defence) TM30, Route 6
- Dragon Dance (Setup, Boosts Attack and Speed) Level 42 as Drakloak

And that's the team! Hope you like it.

Comments

I upvoted because i love your nicknames!

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I love this team and I will use it when i get a switch!
My only complaint is that Dragapult should have been called "Yeet The Child" in those exact words , but it's not my team so you can use whatever nicknames you want (ps Ghostrider is still a cool name for Dragapult, but i still prefer Yeet The Child)

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I love this, I used it, it worked fine, and I named the dragapult Flight 11.

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Great team, thanks!

Answer 6

I really like the idea of playing a Pokemon game with only Pokemon from that gen (let them have time to shine), so this team will include 6 Galar Pokemon (not the Legendary Trio).

Inteleon
Ability: Torrent
Role: Special Attacker
- Surf / Scald / Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam / Blizzard
- U-turn
- Dark Pulse / Shadow Ball / Air Slash

The starters of this gen look really awkward to me, but I always cherish them more than any other Pokemon. The stats of Inteleon look better than the other two, so it'll be a great start. Choosing him will help you have a good time dealing with Leon's Charizard and Rillaboom, or if you just want a fast special sweeper. Ice-type moves get rid of Grass-type Pokemon (Rillaboom), U-turn is fun (good for competitive play), and the last slot is a coverage move. This mon looks just like Greninja (but a little bit weaker).

2. Eldegoss
Ability: Regenerator
Role: Special Wall/Weather Supporter
- Energy Ball / Giga Drain
- Synthesis
- Light Screen / Charm
- Sunny Day

With its 120 Special Defense, Eldegoss could be a good supporter on the special side. It can eat Electric-moves and protect Inteleon, then hit back with Energy Ball / Giga Drain. You can go with either Light Screen to boost your team's SpDef or Charm to stop physical foes. Synthesis prolongs its longevity. Sunny Day helps Synthesis and boost something down here.

Coalossal
Ability: Steam Engine
Role: Physical Tank/Protector
- Flame Charge / Rapid Spin
- Stone Edge
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake / Iron Head / Will-O-Wisp

When a Pokemon on the other side has a Fire-type move, switch this thing out and it gets +3 Speed (outspeeds a lot of mons). Rock/Fire type destroys mons who threaten its teammates above. Use Flame Charge / Rapid Spin if it's still not fast enough. The last move is coverage, but I recommend Will-O-wisp to cancel physical attackers (especially the ones who have Ground-type moves). 80 Atk is not good, but this mon can do something with its amazing 110 HP and 120 Defense.

Galarian Weezing
Ability: Levitate
Role: Bulky Attacker
- Toxic
- Sludge Bomb / Venoshock
- Flamethrower / Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt / Thunder

Levitate is an awesome ability for Weezing (Neutralizing Gas is better for VGC) and gives you a Ground-immunity. Toxic is essential since this mon has great bulk to last long. Sludge Bomb is a STAB move and has a 30% chance to poison foes, or you might want to have some fun with Venoshock. The other two slots are coverage (Fairy-type moves are found dead). Especially, Fire-type move melts Steel-type Pokemon.

Darmanitan-Galarian
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
Role: Broken Physical Attacker
- Icicle Crash
- Flare Blitz / Fire Punch
- Stone Edge / Iron Head / Superpower
- U-turn

This mon is broken. 140 Atk with a free Choice Band (the Ability) will just punch everyone in the face (You can give it a Choice Scarf then it's pretty much GG in competitive play). Zen Mode is also broken, but you might not need it for an in-game team. Pray for Dragon-type Pokemon. Flare Blitz gets rid of Steel-type Pokemon, or you just use Fire Punch for no recoil. U-turn help this thing keep everyone in check (deal huge damage and switch in even if the foe resists Darmanitan's moves). The last slot is coverage.

Dragapult
Ability: Clear Body / Infiltrator
Role: Mixed Attacker/The Last Answer
- Phantom Force / Shadow Ball
- Dragon Pulse / Dragon Claw
- U-turn / Fire Blast
- Dragon Dance / Will-O-wisp

Having incredible Speed with both amazing Attack and Special Attack, this pseudo-legendary Pokemon will sweep everything that appears in its way. You can go with physical STAB move and hit as hard as possible, or you can go with special STAB to catch enemies off guard. U-turn will help it just like with Darmanitan (especially for Dark-type mon) or Fire Blast burns Ice-type mons. You can set up with Dragon Dance then kill everything, or you might want to have fun with Will-O-wisp.

Comments

Why not dragon darts?

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FAQing kids these days are always "new! new! new!" and not taking the time to appreciate how much SKILZ is involved in knowing you've crafted a great grind-minimizing team after considering EVERY option (except legendaries. they suck), regardless of whether it was just revealed, a long-time favorite, or a random forgotten Pokemon that happened to get a huge buff.

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I don't see a problem with it. It's just an in-game team with generation-8 only Pokémon. While some of it isn't excellent, it was still kind of helpful. I feel like you're complaining.

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None of the rules are stopping me from complaining while mispeling "skilz" or "mispeling".

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Still, it's kind of irritating. Especially with the grammar mishaps. He's not perfect in terms of language either, but something about it bugs me. And just like you said, there's no rule restricting the Pokemon you can include in a team for this. Frankly, it's fine because there are so few answers for this.

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I prefer using pokemon new to the generation (or new variants/evolutions) for my first playthrough so I can get a feel for their mechanics. I enjoyed this team setup.

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Coalossal actually gets +6 speed when steam engine activates, not +3.

Answer 7

Team Preview: Inteleon, Orbeetle, Alcremie, Sirfetch'd/Hawlucha, Runerigus, Duraludon
(All moves and Pokémon shown are available before the post game)

Inteleon @ Bright Powder (found in Glimwood Tangle)
Ability - Torrent

• Scald (TR) / Snipe Shot (Evolution)
• Ice Beam (TR) / Air Slash (TM - Wild Area, Axew's Eye)
• U-turn (Level 30)
• Shadow Ball (TR) / Dark Pulse (TR) / Sucker Punch (Level 24)

When I first saw the final stages of the starters, I was pretty disappointed, but Inteleon has really grown on me since the games release, and it has some really cool artwork too. This thing was also really good in-game due to its amazing Speed and Special Attack. Scald is the best Water STAB available, but if you don't like searching for TR's, Snipe Shot is a good substitute, Ice Beam and Air Slash provide coverage for Inteleon's Grass weakness (personally, I think Ice Beam is the better option), U-turn works well with Inteleon given his high speed, and also helps with his Grass weakness and Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse and Sucker Punch all help provide a little more coverage. Sucker Punch can be good if you can't get the a TR for Shadow Ball or Dark Pulse, but it only has 5PP and is quite prediction-reliant.

Orbeetle @ Leftovers (found in Giant's Seat in the Wild Area)
Ability - Swarm

• Bug Buzz (Move Reminder as Orbeetle)
• Psychic (Level 36)
• Confuse Ray (Move Reminder as Orbeetle)
• Calm Mind (Level 44) / Reflect/Light Screen (Evolution into Dottler)

Even though Orbeetle has numerous weaknesses, she was incredibly useful throughout my journey. It helped out massively early on due to getting Reflect/Light Screen early, and also covering the Grass types that would beat Sobble otherwise. It remained useful due to great STABs, great Defenses, as well as solid Special Attack and Speed. Bug Buzz and Psychic are both great STAB moves, Confuse Ray helps cripple opponents, Calm Mind can allow Orbeetle to set up, which normally isn't too hard due to her bulk, and Reflect or Light Screen allow her to play a team support role.

Alcremie @ Life Orb (found in Slumbering Weald)
Ability - Sweet Veil

• Dazzling Gleam (Level 35)
• Energy Ball (TR) / Magical Leaf (TM - Gift from Milo) / Psychic (TM)
• Recover (Level 40)
• Acid Armour (Level 30) / Charm (TM - Hammerlocke)

Alcremie is definitely my favourite Pokémon introduced in Sword and Shield. It's just so adorable! To be honest, I didn't think she was gonna be very good in battle, but I was wrong. While she's slow and not very Physically bulky, her Special stats are both great. Dazzling Gleam is STAB, Psychic helps her cover her Poison weakness, although I used Energy Ball since my team couldn't cover Water-types well for a while, Recover makes up for her Life Orb damage, and also allows her to heal after setting up some Acid Armour or Charm, since they help with her mediocre Physical Defense. Unfortunately, some of Alcremie's coverage attacks such as Mystical Fire and Giga Drain are locked to the post-game, but Alcremie still works great without them.

Sirfetch'd @ Leek (can be found on wild Galarian Farfetch'd)
Ability - Steadfast

• Close Combat (TR)
• Brave Bird (Level 65 / TR)
• Knock Off (Level 30)
• Leaf Blade (Level 55)

Sirfetch'd is exclusive to Sword version. If you are playing Shield, I would recommend Hawlucha as your Fighting-type. Sirfetch'd is probably my second favourite new Pokémon. I'm surprised it took Farfetch'd this long to get something new, but at least Sirfetch'd is great. I think it's design is both funny and amazing. This thing is also great in battle; he has massive Attack, usable defenses, and a pretty good movepool too. The only negatives are that Sirfetch'd is pretty slow, and evolving him is a bit of a pain (it basically requires him to have the Leek held item). Close Combat deals massive damage to anything it touches, Brave Bird is a very powerful coverage attack, but it does a hefty amount of recoil damage, so be careful, Knock Off covers his Psychic weakness and removes any held item the opponent might have, and Leaf Blade also helps with the struggle of beating Water-types.

Runerigus @ Rocky Helmet (found in Stow-on-Side)
Ability - Wandering Spirit

• Earthquake (Level 50)
• Shadow Claw (Evolution) / Phantom Force (TM - Slumbering Weald)
• Will-o-Wisp (TM - Gift from Kabu)
• Toxic Spikes (TR)

I was super surprised when I saw that Yamask of all Pokémon received a Galarian Form, but when I saw Runerigus, I actually really liked him. I think Runerigus has a much cooler design than Cofagrigus does. His stats are quite similar to Cofagrigus's, but with good Attack instead of Special Attack, and an additional Ground typing, which helped my team a lot of Electric-types. Earthquake and Shadow Claw are both STAB (Phantom Force has more power than Shadow Claw, but takes two turns to use), Will-o-Wisp hinders a lot of Physical attacker, and mixed with Rocky Helmet and Runerigus's high Defense, means that he utterly destroys Physical attackers, and Toxic Spikes allows him to act as an effective lead.

Duraludon @ Assault Vest (found in Lake of Outrage in the Wild Area)
Ability - Heavy Metal/Light Metal (doesn't really matter)

• Flash Cannon (Level 54)
• Dragon Pulse (TR) / Dragon Claw (Level 48)
• Thunderbolt (TR) / Rock Slide (TM - Route 9)
• Snarl (TM - Gift from Piers)

Duraludon appears pretty late in SwSh, so I would recommend Corviknight or Toxtricity if you need early Fairy coverage. At first, I didn't think much of Duraludon, but I wasn't sure how to round off my team. There was a decent amount of criteria that I needed for one Pokémon, and Duraludon was the only thing I could find to fit the criteria. After hunting down a Gigantamax Duraludon for a VERY long time, it really grew on me. I started to like it's design a lot, and it was pretty good in battle, with it's only bad stat being Special Defense, which I managed to patch up with Snarl and an Assault Vest. Flash Cannon and Dragon Pulse were good STAB moves, Thunderbolt helped cover Flying and Water types, and Snarl helped cover Ghost types and helped with his lacking Special Defense (Dragon Claw and Rock Slide can work, but Dragon Pulse and Thunderbolt are much better given Duraludon's stats).

Comments

Damn! I used this and beat Pokemon in a day! Thanks! :3

Answer 8

I'll try to make a team for all three starters as well as I can. I won't designate items because they're mostly situational and you won't really need them in the game. Natures are the same thing too. When I list what these Pokemon are good against, I will only list gym leaders because you should be able to decode the Champion Cup and your rivals as soon as you get the general idea about the gym leaders. Starting with Rillaboom...

Rillaboom (pick Grookey as your starter)
Rillaboom is going to be your starter. He doesn't actually perform all that bad in this generation. Grass is actually a pretty dominant type.
Type: Grass

Moves:
Drum Beating (move relearner)
U-Turn (Glimwood Tangle after a small maze-like detour)
Earthquake (TR. I recommend getting it from the Watt Traders)
Darkest Lariat (TR. I recommend getting it from the Watt Traders)

Good against: Nessa, Kabu (if you somehow picked up Earthquake before the gym and evolved Thwackey already), Allister (Shield exclusive, and if you picked up the TR beforehand), Gordie (Sword exclusive), Melony's Lapras (Shield exclusive), Piers, and half of Raihan's team (Gigalith and Duraludon w/ Earthquake).

/
Coalossal/Centiskorch (both Route 3)
These two Fire types will help you out tremendously during your adventure with Rillaboom. There's not much of a difference between them except their secondary typings (or Coalossal's primary in this case), which does differentiate them a lot in this game.
Type: Rock/Fire or Fire/Bug

Moves (Coalossal):
Rock Slide (TM in Route 9 after surfing)
Fire Punch (Wyndon Pokemon Center)
Bulldoze (TM in the Wild Area, you can use Earthquake but this is also fine)
Gyro Ball (TR, I recommend you get it from the Watt Traders)

Moves (Centiskorch)
Fire Lash (level 53. Use Fire Fang from Hammerlocke for your main STAB beforehand)
Leech Life (TR, but Bug-type Max Raid battles are pretty easy with Sizzlipede/Centiskorch and you can pick it up from there)
Crunch (level 46)
Coil/Thunder Fang (either move relearner for Coil or Hammerlocke for Thunder Fang)

Good against (Coalossal): Milo (if you can evolve Rolycoly fast enough), Nessa's Drednaw (but that's a bad idea in general), Kabu (Bulldoze or your early Rock moves plus Steam Engine will destroy him and his Centiskorch), Allister (Shield exclusive), Opal (which will practically destroy her via. Gyro Ball), both Gordie and Melony (but be careful for Melony's Lapras in Shield), and half of Raihan's team (Gigalith and Duraludon again). Be sure to destroy Leon's Charizard with Max Rockfall because you will probably be able to hang on versus its Max Overgrowth.

Good against (Centiskorch): Milo (assuming you find it early enough), Allister (Shield exclusive), and Melony (be careful for Lapras).

Barraskewda (fish at Hulbury)
I'm actually surprised nobody's really bringing up this powerhouse of a Pokemon. 123 Attack and 136 Speed is nothing to gawk at.
Type: Water

Moves:
Liquidation (TR in the Wild Area which is fairly easy to get from Max Raid battles)
Drill Run (TR in the Wild Area which you can get from the Watt Traders or from winning Rock/Ground Max Raid battles)
Close Combat (TR in the Wild Area from Watt Traders. This thing has low defenses anyways and you don't have anything to lose)
Poison Jab (TR in the Wild Area from either Poison Max Raid battles or Watt Traders, covers both Grass and Fairy types)

Good against: Nessa's Drednaw (if you are able to pick up Close Combat/Drill Run before then), Kabu (pretty easy to destroy him), Opal (Poison Jab obliterates her, but you'll want to let the next Pokemon here handle Mawile), both Gordie and Melony, and Raihan's team except Flygon.

Lucario (Giant's Cap during a snowstorm)
Riolu's 5% encounter rate in Giant's Cap during a snowstorm will be a pain. But set your Switch clock to February 1, 2020, finish up the first cutscene with Chairman Rose in Hammerlocke, then return to enjoy the blizzard. Or hailstorm. I don't know.
Type: Steel/Fighting

Moves:
Flash Cannon (TR in the Wild Area via. Watt Traders)
Aura Sphere (learnt upon evolution)
Zen Headbutt (TR in the Wild Area via. Watt Traders)
Ice Punch (Wyndon Pokemon Center, use Shadow Ball/Shadow Claw beforehand)

Good against: Bea (Sword exclusive), Allister (Shield exclusive with the Shadow moves), Opal, both Gordie and Melony, Piers, and half of Raihan's team. Funny how Lucario completely destroys everything from Bea/Allister to Piers, eh?

Grimmsnarl (Glimwood Tangle)
Grimmsnarl is good for both games. Problem is, Impidimp evolves a little too late, which is why I think I should just stick to looking for Morgrem instead. And you can get it before Bea or Allister.
Type: Dark/Fairy

Moves:
False Surrender (move relearner)
Play Rough (level 48, use Spirit Break from the move relearner beforehand)
Leech Life/Brick Break (if you're using Coalossal over Centiskorch, run Leech Life, but if you're using Centiskorch run Brick Break which you can find on Route 8)
Sucker Punch (move relearner, nothing special but will provide some much-needed priority against some Pokemon like Leon's Dragapult)

Good against: Bea (Sword exclusive), Allister (Shield exclusive), both Gordie and Melony (but with Brick Break of course), Piers, and Raihan (if you're running Brick Break)

Espeon (Route 4 as Eevee)
Espeon will be a pretty valuable team member, as it can dish out huge hits and punish status users too.
Type: Psychic

Moves:
Psychic (TR or Level 40. Your choice)
Shadow Ball (TR from the Wild Area)
Dazzling Gleam (TR from the Wild Area)
Attract (TM from Route 5, because why not)

Good against: Bea (Sword exclusive), Allister (Shield exclusive), Piers, and Raihan's Flygon.

Here's one last preview of the team, and in the order you can get them.
Rillaboom
Coalossal/Centiskorch
Espeon
Barraskewda
Lucario
Grimmsnarl
And this team is usable in both Sword and Shield.

Comments

I forgot this existed woops

Answer 9

Disclaimer:
I will include nicknames and ONLY gen 8 pkm. Also this is just to enjoy the game and not competitive so probably all Pokemon will have all damage moves :)
My Pokemon Sword Team :

Inteleon (Mr.Pond)
Type: Water
Ability: Torrent
Moves:
Snipe Shot/Scald (STAB)
Ice Beam (Covers Grass)
Air Slash (Also covers Grass)
Shadow Ball/Dark Pulse

Hatterene (Joy)
Type: Psychic Fairy
Ability: Anticipation
Moves:
Psychic (STAB)
Dazzling Gleam (STAB)
Shadow Ball (Covers Ghost)
Mystical Fire (Covers Steel)

Toxtricity (Amped Form) (Prince)
Type: Electric Poison
Ability: Punk Rock
Moves:
Overdrive (STAB)
Poison Jab/Sludge Bomb (STAB)
Boomburst (Gets extra damage with ability)
Throath Chop (Covers Psychic)

(Galarian) Darmanitan (Yeti)
Type: Ice
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
Moves:
Icicle Crash (STAB)
Fire Punch (Covers Steel)
Superpower (Covers Steel and Rock)
Earthquake (Covers Rock and Fire)

Corviknight (Chrome)
Type: Flying Steel
Ability: Unnerve
Moves:
Drill Peck/Brave Bird (STAB)
Iron Head (STAB)
Payback/Revenge (Honestly idk but I really couldn't find anything else I tried roost but he does'nt learn :(
U-turn (Just in case

Dragapult (Sly) actually (1%) actually (Dontknowhowimgonnacatchyoubutyouretoocoolnottohave)
Type: Dragon Ghost
Ability: Clear Body
Moves:
Dragon Darts (STAB)(and it's new and wanna try it out)
Phantom Force Force (STAB)
Flamethrower (Covers Ice)
Psychic Fangs (Was between that and Thunderbolt but I went with Psychic Fangs cause I never had a pkm with it.

Finished.

Comments

You can have a Corviknight with roost - it's an egg move. The easiest way is to catch a female rookidee/ corvisquire/ corviknight, catch a compatible male pokemon that knows Roost (Noivern, Pelipper, Noctowl, Hoothoot, and Hawlucha). Don't forget you can use the move reminder at the Pokemon Centers too. Then toss the two pokemon in the nursery and hatch out your Roosting Rookidee.

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You shouldn’t have called Toxtricity Prince. You should have called it something like Sid Vicious or some punk icon or whatever, mine is called Johnny Ramone lol.

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It’s others opinion, you can’t rule them

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Yeah. I can.

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I like your nicknames but I wish Dragapult's name was more creative.

Answer 10

This is a well-balanced team, whose STAB covers all types but Normal super effectively. The items may not be the best, but they proved useful for me. This team is intended for the main storyline, and you don’t need the DLC to access any team members.

Rillaboom @ Miracle Seed
Ability: Overgrow
- Drum Beating (Learned upon evolution)
- Brick Break (TM on Route 8)
- Knock Off (Level 24)
- Earthquake (TR10) / High Horsepower (TR94)

Drum Beating is Rillaboom’s signature move, and it’s pretty solid. Brick Break provides a way to hit Normal types super effectively, which the rest of the team can’t do. Knock Off is generally a nice move to have, despite most Trainers in- game not having any items. Earthquake is a powerful Ground move, but you can use High Horsepower if you don’t want to hit allies in Max Raid Battles.

Centiskorch @ King’s Rock
Ability: White Smoke
- Flamethrower (TR02)
- Lunge (Level 60) / Leech Life (TR18)
- Crunch (Level 46)
- Coil (Level 25)

Flamethrower, despite Centiskorch’s Special Attack being a bit worse than its Attack, still works quite well. Lunge or Leech Life are both STAB; the one you choose depends on whether you want to recover HP or lower an opponent’s Attack. Crunch is a very nice coverage move. Coil provides a bit of a stat boost, should it ever be necessary.

Drednaw @ Hard Rock
Ability: Strong Jaw / Shell Armor
- Liquidation (Level 48)
- Head Smash (Level 66) / Rock Slide (TM on Route 9)
- Crunch (Move Reminder)
- Poison Jab (TR57)

Liquidation is a very nice physical STAB move. Head Smash is unreliable yet powerful, while Rock Tomb is more reliable, but less powerful – choose which one suits your preferences. Crunch is a nice coverage move, and Poison Jab covers Drednaw’s crippling Grass weakness.

Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
- Iron Head (TR74)
- Brave Bird (Level 50) / Drill Peck (Level 34)
- Hone Claws (Move Reminder, or Level 8 as a Rookidee)
- U- turn (TM in the Glimwood Tangle)

Iron Head is STAB. Brave Bird is a very powerful STAB move, but it has recoil. If you don’t like that, opt for Drill Peck. Hone Claws provides a stat boost if necessary. U- turn is a nice pivot.

Grimmsnarl @ Black Glasses
Ability: Frisk / Prankster
- Play Rough (Level 48)
- False Surrender (Learned upon evolution)
- Fake Out (Move Reminder)
- Thunder Wave (TM from the Rotom Rally) / Leech Life (TR18)

I chose Play Rough over Spirit Break, as it’s more powerful, and simply worked better for me. False Surrender is solid STAB. Fake Out is nice for that first-turn flinch. Thunder Wave, while I rarely used it, is nice for potentially crippling an opponent. Leech Life is coverage that also heals Grimmsnarl.

Sandaconda @ Soft Sand
Ability: Shed Skin
- High Horsepower (TR94)
- Fire Fang (TM purchased at Hammerlocke for 30,000 Pokedollars)
- Glare (Level 25)
- Iron Head (TR74)

High Horsepower is a good STAB move. I prefer it over Earthquake so you don’t hit allies, but Earthquake could certainly be used as well. Fire Fang deals with Sandaconda’s Grass and Ice weaknesses. Glare is an effective means of paralysis, as it’s able to hit Ground types. Iron Head is coverage, and can help counter Sandaconda’s Ice weakness.

Comments

You mean Rock Slide instead of Rock Tomb?

Answer 11

Inteleon @ Mystic Water
•Snipe Shot
•Dark Pulse
•Ice Beam
•Scale Shot
Corviknight @ Sharp Beak
•Iron Head
•Body Press
•Brave Bird
•Bulk Up
Boltund @ Magnet
•Wild Charge
•Play Rough
•Psychic Fangs
•Crunch
Chandelure @ Charcoal
•Shadow Ball
•Flamethrower
•Energy Ball
•Psychic
Obstagoon @ Black Glasses
•Throat Chop
•Double Edge
•Obstruct
•Close Combat
Haxorus @ Dragon Fang
•Dragon Dance
•Dragon Claw
•Close Combat
•Earthquake

All of these are obtained fairly early in the game, with the latest being Axew at route 6. They utilize TRs a lot. Sobble is your starter, and Inteleon can prove very helpful against Kabu and Raihan with it’s STAB as well as Gordey (in Sword). It can also hit Allsiter (in shield) with Dark Pulse. Corviknight is obtainable almost immediately, and can prove helpful against Milo, Bea (sword), Opal, Gordey (sword), Melony (shield), Raihan, and Rose. Boltund is obtainable early, and can prove useful against Nessa, Piers, Bea (sword), and Allister (shield). It’s got nice Speed and attacking stats, good coverage, and Strong Jaw, which is quite helpful. Obstagoon is, again, obtainable early, and can put a dent in Allister (shield), Melony (shield), Gordey (sword), and Piers. Chandelure can be found as a Litwick in Kabu’s gym, and has amazing SpA and coverage options, having a good matchup against the 4th, 5th, and 6th gyms, as well as Rose. Haxorus can be obtained as an Axew on route 6, and it has incredible attack and Dragon Dance, allowing it to tear through just about every single gym. Now, let’s take a look at the Champion, shall we?
Aegislash, Dragapult, Rhyperior, Haxorus, Rillaboom, and GMAX Charizard
If you set up Dragon Dance with Haxorus on Aegislash, you can ravage through the majority of his team, hitting 4/6 with super effective damage. Inteleon and Boltund can help with that Charizard of his. Chandelure and Corviknight can take care of Rillaboom. Obstagoon’s dark coverage and Chandelure’s ghost coverage takes out Aegislash and Dragapult. Overall, you have an amazing matchup against the “unbeatable” champ.

Answer 12

This is the team I used to play Sword

Centiskorch @ Expert Belt
Ability: White Smoke
- Fire Lash
- Thunder Fang
- Power Whip
- Leech Life

Fire Lash is STAB and you get that guaranteed Defense drop. Thunder Fang is Coverage for Flying types and with the Expert Belt it will deal even more damage. Power Whip is Coverage for Water and Rock types and with Expert Belt it will deal even more damage. Leech Life is STAB and it will heal you 50% depending on how much damage you dealt.

Inteleon @ Scope Lens
Ability: Sniper
- Snipe Shot
- Ice Beam
- Mud Shot
- Dark Pulse

Snipe Shot is STAB, combined with Scope Lens and Sniper, you'll be getting a crit almost every turn and it will do massive damage. Ice Beam is coverage for Grass types. I know Mud Shot is weak with only a BP of 55, but it's the only Ground Coverage move and it lowers Speed, combined with Inteleon's high Special Attack, this move could still hit hard. Dark Pulse is just random Coverage for Psychic and Ghost types.

Flapple @ Life Orb
Ability: Hustle
- Grav Apple
- Wing Attack
- U-Turn
- Outrage
Grav Apple is STAB and is guaranteed a Defense drop. Wing Attack is Coverage against Bug types. U-Turn is there to deal damage before switching in to another Pokemon. And Outrage is STAB and Coverage against other Dragon types.

Toxtricity @ Wise Glasses
Ability: Punk Rock
- Overdrive
- Boomburst
- Snarl
- Sludge Bomb

Overdrive is Toxtricity's signature move and is STAB, also gets boosted by Punk Rock, which boosts sound-based moves. Boomburst is just there to hit real hard, plus it is boosted by Punk Rock. Snarl is for just lowering the opposing Pokemon's Special Attack, plus it is boosted by Punk Rock. It can also cover Psychic and Ghost types. Sludge Bomb is STAB and has a 30% chance to poison.

Obstagoon @ Razor Claw
Ability: Reckless
- Night Slash
- Cross Poison
- Fire Punch
- Double-Edge

Night Slash is STAB and has a high critical-hit ratio, combined with the Razor Claw, you will be getting a crit with this move almost every time. Cross Poison is coverage for Fairy types, has a 10% chance to poison, and has a high critical-hit ratio, combined with the Razor Claw, you will be getting a crit with this move almost every time as well. Fire Punch is Coverage for Bug types, and has a 10% chance to burn. Double-Edge is your go to move in most situations. 120 base power, STAB, and gets boosted by Reckless, combined with a chance to crit thanks to Razor Claw. Basically this move could hit super hard.

Corviknight @ Muscle Band
Ability: Mirror Armor
- Iron Head
- U-Turn
- Body Press
- Brave Bird

Iron Head is STAB and has a 30% chance to flinch. U-Turn is there to deal damage before switching in to another Pokemon. Body Press is a interesting move. It does damage based on the user Defense, not Attack. Corviknight is a good Body Press user since it's base Defense is 105. And Brave Bird is STAB and it will hit hard, thanks to that base 120 power.

P.S. Flapple is Sword-exclusive. So if you playing Shield, you are gonna have to replace it with Appletun.

Hope you liked it!

Comments

bruh nbody is gonna grind out hidden abilities for a playthrough, especially when one isn't even released

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When I made this answer, I didn’t really take abilities into account, which is a mistake on my part.

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Why not use throat spray?

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Throat Spray is a one-time use item. No one's going to keep buying more for 10 BP each time it gets consumed.

Answer 13

This team is for Cinderace. Items and natures don't really matter to me, you can do whatever you want. And the "Good against" part will only count the gym leaders. Anyways...

Cinderace (pick Scorbunny as your starter)
This Pokemon is pretty good for an in-game playthrough. Hits hard and it's fast, too.
Type: Fire
Moves:
Fire Punch (Wyndon Pokemon Center, use Blaze Kick beforehand)
Pyro Ball (upon evolution)
U-Turn (Glimwood Tangle)
Low Sweep (Axew's Eye, Wild Area)

Good against: Milo, Opal's Mawile, Melony (Shield exclusive), and Piers

Roserade (Budew is in the Wild Area's Rolling Fields, don't know about the weather conditions but I do know overcast. Roselia is also chilling in the far left corner on most conditions too)
You can grab the Shiny Stone from the digging brothers at Bridge Field. If you're concerned about your Watts for some reason, you can get one at Route 8. Roserade is a great Pokemon with solid stats. Both Grass and Poison are really helpful in this generation too, when you compare it to most other generations.
Type: Grass/Poison
Moves:
Giga Drain/Energy Ball (move relearner for Giga Drain or TR for Energy Ball, really it's your option)
Sludge Bomb (TR)
Dazzling Gleam (TR)
Shadow Ball (TR)

Good against: Milo (if you can utilize Budew/Roselia's Poison moves), Nessa, Bea (Sword exclusive, and if you picked up Dazzling Gleam beforehand), Allister (Shield exclusive, and if you picked up Shadow Ball beforehand), Opal (except her Mawile), Gordie (Sword exclusive), Piers, and Raihan's team except Duraludon.

Barraskewda (fish at Hulbury)
Barraskewda's amazing stats will obliterate anything that gets in its way. Dynamax it and use Max Geyser for some sweet rainy fun.
Type: Water
Moves:
Liquidation (TR)
Drill Run (TR)
Poison Jab (TR)
Ice Fang (Hammerlocke)

Good against: Nessa's Drednaw (if you picked up Drill Run), Kabu, Opal's team except for Mawile, Gordie (Sword exclusive), and Raihan

Excadrill (Drilbur is in Galar Mine no. 1)
Excadrill always felt like a strange Pokemon to me. But it's still here on this team for good reason.
Type: Ground/Steel
Moves:
Earthquake (TR)
Iron Head (TR)
Brick Break (TM, Route 8)
Swords Dance (Level 40)

Good against: Kabu's team except Centiskorch, Opal's team except Mawile, both Gordie and Melony, Piers, and Raihan's team except Flygon.

Gardevoir (Ralts can be found all over the Wild Area, but it's pretty rare)
Gardevoir feels redundant, especially knowing pretty much everyone has used it at least once in an in-game playthrough. You can use Hatterene if you want, but it's pretty slow so Gardevoir is here instead. Oh well, at least it's still good.
Type: Psychic/Fairy
Moves:
Psychic (TR)
Moonblast (move relearner)
Thunderbolt (TR)
Shadow Ball (TR)

Good against: Nessa (if you got Thunderbolt), Bea (Sword exclusive), Allister (Shield exclusive), Opal's Weezing and Togekiss, Gordie's Barbaracle (Sword exclusive), Melony's Lapras (Shield exclusive), Piers' team except for Skuntank, and Raihan's Flygon.

Obstagoon (Zigzagoon can be found at Route 2)
He's way better in Shield than he is in Sword, mainly because you can destroy Allister but you die to Bea. Still, he has that Normal blessing which gives him a really good movepool.
Type: Dark/Normal
Moves:
Night Slash (Zigzagoon's evolution into Linoone)
Double-Edge (Level 56, use Headbutt beforehand)
Cross Poison (Surfing at Dusty Bowl)
X-Scissor (TR)

Good against: Milo (if you overlevel yourself into Obstagoon, which I must admit is a little too easy), Allister, and Piers' team except Skuntank.

Heres a final look at the team, along with the order you get them in.
Cinderace
Obstagoon
Roserade
Gardevoir
Excadrill
Barraskewda
This team is usable in both games, but it does do better in Shield.

Comments

Ralts isn’t just rare, it’s impossible to get until the post game outside of max raids.

EDIT: Actually you can find it outside of max raids, but in one weather in one place and is very rare (before the post game anyway)

Answer 14

This team is for Inteleon. Items and natures don't matter, do whatever you want with them. Only the gym leaders will be taken into account in the "Good against" section. Anyways...

Inteleon (pick Sobble as your starter)
Inteleon is probably the worst of the bunch. Will probably be the most competitively viable, though.
Type: Water
Moves:
Snipe Shot (upon evolution)
Ice Beam (TR)
Mud Shot (Galar Mine no. 2)
Shadow Ball (TR)

Good against: Milo (with Ice Beam), Kabu, Allister (Shield exclusive), Gordie (Sword exclusive), Piers' Skuntank, and Raihan.

Roserade (Budew is in Rolling Fields)
I've already explained this one in Cinderace's team, but basically Roserade is the best Grass-type in these games. Sorry, Rillaboom.
Type: Grass/Poison
Moves:
Giga Drain/Energy Ball (move relearner for Giga Drain or TR for Energy Ball)
Sludge Bomb (TR)
Dazzling Gleam (TR)
Shadow Ball (TR)

Good against: Milo (with Budew/Roselia's Poison moves), Nessa, Bea (Sword exclusive), Allister (Shield exclusive), Opal's team except Mawile and Weezing, Gordie (Sword exclusive), Melony's Lapras (Shield exclusive), Piers' team except for Skuntank, and Raihan's team except for Duraludon.

Coalossal (Route 3 as Rolycoly or Galar Mine for Carkol)
Coalossal is just so much better than Centiskorch, and we're already gonna use another Bug-type later on in the team. Feel free to abuse it against all of Leon's Charizard though.
Type: Rock/Fire
Moves:
Rock Slide (TM, Route 8)
Earthquake (TR)
Fire Punch (Wyndon, use Fire Fang from Hammerlocke beforehand)
Gyro Ball (TR)

Good against: Milo (just make sure to have Carkol), Nessa's Drednaw, Kabu, Opal, Gordie (Sword exclusive), Melony (Shield exclusive), and Raihan's team except Sandaconda and Flygon.

Aegislash (Honedge can be found at Hammerlocke Hills, at a 15% encounter rate in shaking grass. The Dusk Stone is in Stow-on-Side behind the Pokemon Center.)
Aegislash should just be the mascot of both games. Huh, maybe that's why Leon has one.
Type: Steel/Ghost
Moves:
Iron Head (TR)
Shadow Ball (TR)
Sacred Sword (move relearner)
King's Shield (move relearner)

Good against: Allister (Shield exclusive), Opal's team except Mawile, both Gordie and Melony, Piers' team except Skuntank and Malamar, and Raihan's Duraludon and Gigalith.

Galvantula (Joltik can be found at South Lake Miloch, at least that's where I like finding mine)
The ability actually matters this time. Make sure the Joltik you catch has Compound Eyes.
Type: Bug/Electric
Moves:
Thunder (TR)
Bug Buzz (TR or Level 56)
Sticky Web (move relearner)
Volt Switch (North Lake Miloch during the Rotom Rally)

Good against: Milo, Nessa, Opal's Togekiss, Gordie's Barbaracle (Sword exclusive), Melony's Lapras (Shield exclusive), and Piers' team except for Scrafty and Malamar

Snorlax (Munchlax is at Motostoke Riverbank, and it can hold some Leftovers too)
Snorlax is thick, can destroy things, and is terrifying. That's that.
Type: Normal
Moves:
Body Slam (Level 28 or TR)
Heavy Slam (Level 32)
High Horsepower (Level 40)
Ice Punch (Wyndon)

Good against: Nessa's Drednaw, Kabu (if you're wayyyyy overleveled for this fight), Allister's Mimikyu and Gengar (Shield exclusive), Opal, both Gordie and Melony, and Raihan's Gigalith and Duraludon.

Here's a final preview of the team in all its glory. And it's in order of when you can get them:
Inteleon
Roserade
Galvantula
Coalossal
Snorlax
Aegislash

Comments

Shadow ball on Aegislash? Night slash or something is probably better.

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I don't see what's wrong. Aegislash's attacking stats are the same I think plus this is In game.

Answer 15

Nobody said I can't post a Monotype in-game team :P

Water Monotype (Shield)

Inteleon @ Scope Lens
Ability: Torrent
- Snipe Shot (Learned upon evolution)
- Air Slash (TM obtained in Axew's Eye)
- Dark Pulse (TR)
- Ice Beam (TR)

InteLeon is given to you by Leon
Inteleon is a great glass cannon. Scope Lens + Snipe Shot decimates everything with critical hits (works better with Sniper, though) and the rest of it's moveset is coverage. (My level 60 Inteleon outsped and one-shot Leon's Gigantamaxed Charizard with a non-critical Snipe Shot in my first playthrough. Inteleon is great.)

Gyarados @ Mystic Water
Ability: Intimidate
- Waterfall (Learned at lv. 21)
- Crunch (Learned at lv. 24)
- Iron Head (TR)
- Dragon Dance (Learned at lv. 36)

Magikarp can be fished up next to Professor Magnolia's house
Dragon Dance is a fantastic set-up move. Waterfall is STAB, Crunch and Iron Head are coverage which the rest of the team doesn't have.

Whiscash @ Soft Sand
Ability: Oblivious
- Earthquake (Learned at lv. 40)
- Zen Headbutt (Move relearner)
- Liquidation (TR)
- Dragon Dance (TR)

Barboach can be found at South Lake Miloch and fished up in Motostoke
Whiscash is your Electric counter. It doesn't have great attacking stats, but this moveset makes the most of what it does have (Whiscash is underrated). With TRs, Whiscash has easy access to Dragon Dance as set-up without having to go through all that breeding stuff.

Golisopod @ Silver Powder
Ability: Emergency Exit
- Swords Dance (Learned at lv. 40/TR)
- Leech Life (TR)
- Liquidation (Learned at lv. 44/TR)
- Poison Jab (TR)

Wimpod can be caught in Galar Mine No.2
Golisopod is your tank. It can set up with Swords Dance and sweep (that is, if Emergency Exit isn't acivated). Leech Life regains health to make sure you stay out of Emergency Exit zone, Liquidation is strong STAB, and Poison Jab is for Fairies.

Jellicent @ Shell Bell
Ability: Cursed Body
- Shadow Ball (Learned at lv. 32/TR)
- Water Spout / Scald (Learned at lv. 53/TR)
- Psychic (TR)
- Dazzling Gleam (TR)

Frillish can be caught in West Lake Axewell and Bridge Field
Jellicent is usually a wall, but it has a great movepool this generation. Lots of needed coverage (it's the Fighting type killer for the team). Shell Bell is for if you need to regain some health for Water Spout.

Ludicolo @ Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim
- Rain Dance (Learned at lv. 47 as Lombre/TM)
- Ice Beam (TR)
- Giga Drain (Learned at lv. 36 as Lombre)
- Surf (TR)

Lotad can be found as a "! Encounter" on Route 2/Water Stone is found in Bridge Field
Ludicolo can make a potent sweeper with Rain Dance. Ice Beam is for Dragon and Grass types, Giga Drain is STAB that heals, and Surf is extremely powerful STAB in Rain.

I'm going to use this team in a playthrough myself. I'll update on how it goes :)

Edit: Well, I fixed the sprites, but I haven't gotten to this playthrough yet. Oops.

Comments

What should those playing sword use instead of Ludicolo?

Answer 16

This is the team from my second successful playthrough of Shield. To my knowledge, everything on this team is accessible in Sword, so you don't have to worry about making substitutions. This team focuses on two big things-type coverage, and hitting everything as hard as possible. There are a few setup moves, but you may not find yourself using them very often. I'll put in the natures I got, the items I gave them, and, just for fun, their nicknames.

Bubble 07 the Inteleon
Received as Sobble in Postwick
Item-Mystic Water
Nature-Modest

Moveset:
U-Turn (level 30 as Drizzile)
Snipe Shot (learned upon evolution)
Ice Beam (TR05)
Tearful Look (level 19 as Drizzile)

Sobble is your primary special attacker, though its Attack stat isn't too shabby either. It's fast, it hits hard, it learns some pretty great moves, what's not to like? Snipe Shot is Inteleon's signature move, with high Base Power and STAB, and while there are options with higher Base Power, it works well enough for the main story. Up until your starter learns Snipe Shot, I'd recommend using Water Pulse. U-Turn is mostly in case things get dicey and you need a free switch, but it can be used to deal with Piers and Marnie. Ice Beam gives you a massive advantage if you can get your hands on it, and hits for decent neutral or super-effective damage on most things. Tearful Look is filler, as I couldn't think of anything else to add, but it at least reduces the opponent's Attack.

Nevermore the Corviknight
Caught as Rookidee on Route 1
Item-Expert Belt
Nature-Calm

Moveset:
Brave Bird (level 50)
Steel Wing (learned upon evolution
Revenge (TM found in Ballonlea)
Hone Claws (level 8 as Rookidee)

If I had to describe Corviknight in a word, I would say-BULKY. Its Steel typing negates the Ice weakness from its Flying typing, it resists nearly everything, and its Defense and HP are high enough that it can usually tank a couple of super-effective hits. Brave Bird is Flying STAB and hits hard, at the expense of some HP. Steel Wing is Steel STAB, Revenge is coverage for Ice- and Dark-types, and Hone Claws makes Corviknight hit harder.

Roxie the Obstagoon
Caught as Zigzagoon on Route 2
Item-Black Glasses
Nature-Naughty

Moveset:
Thunder Punch (TM Shop in Wyndon)
Night Slash (level 30 as Linoone)
Obstruct (learned upon evolution)
Shadow Claw (TM found at the Lake of Outrage)

Obstagoon will be your main physical attacker. It's a bit like Inteleon in that it's fast and hits hard. It's also immune to Ghost-Types, so that's neat. Thunder Punch is there to take out Flying- and Water-types if you can't use Roserade for some reason, but it'll hit for pretty good neutral damage on a lot of things. Night Slash is Dark STAB, and utterly demolishes Ghost-Types (like Allister's team) and Psychic-Types, of which there seems to be an abundance. Obstruct is just to be annoying and keep the opponent from doing anything. Shadow Claw is general coverage.

Haru the Roserade
Caught as Roselia in Rolling Fields
Item-Big Root
Nature-Impish

Moveset:
Toxic (level 40 as Roselia)
Giga Drain (level 30 as Roselia)
Synthesis (level 35 as Roselia)
Venoshock (TM found in Stow-on-Side)

Do you want to just breeze through the first half of the game? Of course you do. Just catch the Roselia in Rolling Fields and you can pretty much cheese your way through the first five Gyms. Roserade is your secondary special attacker. She's a bit bulkier than Inteleon, and hits just as hard. Toxic badly poisons the opponent, and powers up Venoshock. Giga Drain is Grass STAB and restores HP. Synthesis keeps Roserade in the fight longer and keeps you from having to use a healing item.

Kyubey the Sylveon
Caught as Eevee on Route 4
Item-Leftovers
Nature-Modest

Moveset:
Moonblast (level 50)
Psyshock (TR25)
Sunny Day (TM Shop in Hammerlocke)
Last Resort (level 55)

This one and the next one are mainly here to handle what the others can't deal with. Sylveon is slow, but he can take a lot of hits and do a lot of damage, he's immune to Dragon-types, and he can act as a support 'Mon if need be. Moonblast is Fairy STAB, and your answer to Leon's Dragapult and Haxorus. Psyshock is coverage for Poison-Types. Sunny Day is to help the others, as it lets Roserade heal even more with Synthesis, and powers up Flygon's Flamethrower and lets it use Solar Beam without having to charge.

And last, but not least...

Sandy the Flygon
Caught as Trapinch in a Max Raid Battle
Item-Assault Vest
Nature-Sassy

Moveset:
Earthquake (level 44 as Vibrava)
Solar Beam (TM found in Turffield)
Dragon Claw (learned upon evolution)
Flamethrower (TR02)

FLYGON OP PLEASE NERF. Even as a Trapinch, she was destroying everything in her path. I was supremely lucky to find one before Route 6, but if you can't find one as early, you should still do fine until then. She'll be your mixed attacker, even though her Special Attack isn't quite as good as her Attack. Her stats are good all-around, and she has a surprisingly diverse moveset. Earthquake is Ground STAB, and will pretty much 1HKO or 2HKO everything. Solar Beam is just in case things get ugly and you need to hit really hard. It should be used in tandem with Sylveon's Sunny Day. Dragon Claw is Dragon STAB. Flamethrower is coverage for Ice-Types.

Comments

Shadow ball is a better move for Inteleon because of the chance of SpD drop that's really handy. Besides, sunny day is great for most of your team, not all of it.

Answer 17

I completed Pokemon Shield with this team, and it was really fun to use. It can be used in both Sword and Shield. So, here are the members at a glance:

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Team Breakdown

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Inteleon

Inteleon @ Mystic Water
Ability: Torrent
- Snipe Shot / Surf
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- U-turn

I decided to build a team around Inteleon, utilizing a Fire / Water / Grass Core. I picked Inteleon due to it being the fastest of the Galar starters you can choose. Snipe Shot can be used for critical hits, while Surf is for a stronger water move. Dark Pulse is coverage that can target ghost types to help out with Allister (if you're playing Shield) and has a chance to flinch. Ice Beam targets grass and dragon types, which can be useful for the Hammerlocke Gym and and Leon's Dragapult and Haxorus. U-Turn allows you to do chip damage and bring in another teammate.

Inteleon learns Snipe Shot upon evolving, while Surf is learned via TR04. Dark Pulse is learned via TR58, Ice Beam is learned via TR04, and U-turn can be learned via level up.

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Roserade

Roserade @ Miracle Seed / Poison Barb
Ability: Natural Cure
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Shadow Ball
- Spikes / Dazzling Gleam / Growth

Roserade fills the grass type slot in the fire / water / grass core. Roserade is deals with water types pretty well. You can find Budew and Roselia in the Wild Area early, so if you don't want to deal with evolving Budew via happiness, you can spare the time by catching a Roselia. Roserade has an advantage over Nessa, Allister, Opal to an extent, and Gordie (if you're playing Sword). Giga Drain is a move that heals you while doing damage and can be learned by TR or the Move Reminder once you get a Roserade. Sludge Bomb is learned by TR59 and provides good utility with the 30% poison chance. Shadow Ball is useful coverage against Poison- and Ghost type Pokemon which is helpful against Allister and Leon's Aegislash. Spikes helps you weaken grounded Pokemon, which helps the team. Dazzling Gleam can be used for coverage against dragon types. Growth can be used if you want to boost your special attack to become a more offensive threat.

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Centiskorch

Centiskorch @ Silver Powder
Ability: Flash Fire
- Fire Lash
- Leech Life
- Crunch
- Coil

The fire type Pokemon of the fire / water / grass core. Although it's tough to find on Route 3, this Bug/Fire type is very useful against Milo, Melony (if playing Shield), Bede, Piers, and Chairman Rose. Fire Lash is a really good fire move that lowers the defense stat of opposing Pokemon. Leech Life is for bug STAB that heals you and can be taught via TR. Crunch is good coverage against Pokemon like Leon's Dragapult and helps with Allister. Coil is a move that Centiskorch gets early and makes Centiskorch threatening once it getts off a Coil boost.

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Corviknight

Corviknight @ Leftovers / Metal Coat
Ability: Pressure
- Brave Bird
- Steel Wing / Iron Head
- Body Press / Power Trip
- Bulk Up / Hone Claws

Corviknight can be caught really early as a Rookidee in the game. The Steel typing it gets is really useful. Brave Bird is a powerful flying STAB move. Steel Wing is steel STAB that can be learned upon evolving. Iron Head is for more power and is taught by TR. Bulk Up boosts your attack and defense stat, which makes Body Press stronger, which can deal with most opposing steel types. Hone Claws is learned via level up and if you use it over Bulk Up, Power Trip takes advantage of the boosts you get and allows you to deal with Pokemon like Aegislash.

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Togekiss

Togekiss @ King's Rock / Sharp Beak
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Air Slash
- Dazzling Gleam
- Flamethrower
- Nasty Plot

Yes, I know I have two flying types on this team, but Togekiss is a really useful member. Its fairy typing comes in handy vs the Team Yell Grunts, Piers, and Raihan's dragon types (bar Duraludon, but it has no special defense). You also need another Shiny Stone, which you can get using the Digging Duo. You can get a Togepi in Hammerlocke by trading a Toxel, or if you're lucky, you can get a Togepi in the Wild Area via max raid battle. Air Slash is flying STAB that is learned upon evolving Togetic into Togekiss. Dazzling Gleam is for fairy STAB and is learned by TR. Flamethrower is also learned by TR and targets steel types. Nasty Plot makes you a threatening sweeper, especially in a battle that allows you to Dynamax your Pokemon, as you can use Nasty Plot, Dynamax, and use Max Airstream.

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Golurk

Golurk @ Soft Sand
Ability: Iron Fist
- Earthquake
- Phantom Force
- Drain Punch / Close Combat
- Ice Punch

Despite Golurk's 89/80/80 bulk and base 55 speed, Golurk's base 124 attack makes it an offensive threat. You can find Golett in the Wild Area at a place like Stony Wilderness. Golurk is useful against the Macro Cosmo trainers you fight if you want to reserve Centiskorch. Earthquake is strong ground STAB. Phantom Force is used as ghost STAB. Although you get the TMs Drain Punch and Ice Punch at Wyndon, they are good coverage moves. Close Combat is an alternative to Drain Punch for more power and is taught via TR, while Drain Punch allows you to recover HP. The fighting move is useful against dark types. Ice Punch allows you to hit grass types.

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If you view my team here, you'll see that half of my team is weak to electric and ice moves. I don't find electric types too bothersome, as there aren't much you fight in major battles. If you're playing Shield, be sure to keep Centiskorch and Corviknight healthy as they can deal with Melony, who is an ice type gym leader. So, there you have it. Enjoy!

Answer 18

This is the team I used for a playthrough in Pokemon Shield. I noticed that many Pokemon on the page are a lot of the same- Grimmsnarl, Corvinight, Dragapult, Toxtricity, etc. But there are so many good Pokemon is this game, so I made this team up if all those forgotten Pokemon. This team primarily uses dual typing to maximize coverage. The team has at least one Pokemon to cover each type, so you always have an option. Also, tell me which nickname was your favorite! Hope you like it!

The Food Squad

Gastrodon, Skuntank, Coalossal, Frosmoth, Bisharp, Golurk

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1- East Sea Gastrodon “Pesto”

Held Item- Leftovers
Ability- Storm Drain
Suggested Natures- Modest / Quiet / Calm
Typing- Water / Ground
Move Set-
Scald
Earth Power
Recover
Ice Beam

Gastrodon is an excellent Pokemon. He has a very solid movepool, and with a decent ice coverage move, he’s able to deal with that 4x weakness to Grass. Scald is a good Water Type STAB move that also provides a nice 30% burn chance that, if successful, halves the opponents physical attack stat. Earth Power is a very strong Earth Type STAB move. Recover instantly regains 50% health without having to use a potion. And, as mentioned above, you have that nice Ice coverage move, Ice Beam, to deal with those pesky Grass Types. Also, his Storm Drain ability makes him absorb Water Type moves for a free Sp. Attack bonus, making all his fighting moves hit like trucks.

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2- Skuntank “Garlic”

Held Item- Black Sludge
Ability- Aftermath
Suggested Natures- Adamant / Naughty / Jolly
Typing- Poison / Dark
Move Set-
Poison Jab
Crunch
Play Rough
Flamethrower / Fire Punch

Skuntank is a really nice Pokemon. He provides an immunity to Psychic, and resists Ghost, Poison, Grass, and Dark, at the cost of a puny 2x Ground weakness, which can be dealt with by other members of my team. Poison Jab and Crunch are both STAB, with Poison Jab dealing with Fairy and Grass Types, and Crunch dealing with Ghost and Psychic Types, while also having a 20% defense debuff. Play Rough is a coverage move- made to deal with Fighting, Dragon, and Dark Types. Flamethrower is also a coverage move, handling the Steel (Poison immunity), Ice, and Bug Types. However if you aren’t aiming to take care of tanks with low special defense, switch to a physical attack to lean into Garlic’s higher attack stat. That would be Fire Punch. All in all, Skuntank is a good Pokemon that can easily handle a wide variety of types with a couple of decent coverage moves.

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3- Coalossal “Paprika”

Held Item- Charcoal / Hard Stone / Weakness Policy
Ability- Steam Engine
Suggested Natures- Modest / Quiet
Typing- Fire / Rock
Move Set-
Flamethrower
Power Gem
Earth Power
Solar Beam

Coalossal is greatly viewed as useless because of its two 4x weaknesses to Water and Ground. However, there is a way to turn those weaknesses into a boost. If hit by a Water Type move, Paprika instantly triggers both Steam Engine, which maxes out his speed (+6 stages) and Weakness Policy (2x Attack). However, you can also swap him out for Pesto, whose Storm Drain Ability gives him a boost and makes him immune to Water Type damage when hit with a Water Type move. And his Ground Weakness can be taken care of by other Pokemon in this team simply by swapping him out. Now- Flamethrower and Power Gem are both STAB and can cover 7 different types. Earth Power is for Fire, Rock, Poison, and Electric Types. And Solar Beam is a baiting move. It is great during or after Dynamax. During Dynamax, it is becomes Max Overgrowth, to deal with Ground and Water Types. And if you set intense sun with Max Flare, Solar Beam skips its charging turn and attacks instantly. And if you know you can tank a hit, Solar Beam is a good move for regular battle too.

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4- Frosmoth “Sorbet”

Held Item- Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability- Ice Scales
Suggested Natures- Timid / Modest
Typing- Ice / Bug
Move Set-
Quiver Dance
Ice Beam
Bug Buzz
Giga Drain

Frosmoth is a very nice Pokemon due to her dual Ice / Bug typing, and though Snom is late game, using a Wishing Piece on the Max Raid Den on the North Face of the Giants Cap can spawn a level 27-30 Snom in the raid. Boom. Give it a soothe bell, go camping, let it farm XP in the back of your party until it evolves. Now, onto the move set. Ice Beam and Bug Buzz both provide STAB coverage against Dragon, Psychic, and Dark Types. Quiver Dance is arguably the best Status move in the game- it simultaneously boosts Sp. Atk, Sp. Def, and Speed all at once. And Giga Drain is a coverage move for Rock and Water Types, that also heals her.

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5- Bisharp “Espresso”

Held Item- Life Orb
Ability- Defiant
Suggested Natures- Adamant / Jolly
Typing- Steel / Dark
Move Set-
Iron Head
Night Slash
Sucker Punch
Psycho Cut

Bisharp is a very solid Pokemon. With Life Orb to boost his moves, he basically becomes a hit-and-run executioner. Yay! Iron Head is strong STAB against Fairy, Ice, and Rock types. Sucker Punch becomes a ridiculous powerhouse move that once shots basically anything, plus STAB. Sucker Punch also has priority, because Bisharp is a slower Pokemon, so this is essential. Night Slash is also a STAB attack. However, Bisharp has one huge weakness, and that is his 4x weakness to Fighting. Say hello to Psycho Cut. Psychic type move provides excellent coverage for those Fighting Types that would delete him. Plus Defiant, providing an attack boost whenever the opponent tries to lower his stats.

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6- Golurk “Brownie”

Held Item- Expert Belt
Ability- Iron Fist
Suggested Natures- Adamant / Brave
Typing- Ground / Ghost
Move Set-
Shadow Punch
High Horsepower
Ice Punch
Fire Punch

Look, all of you can go fight with Grimmsnarl or Toxtricity or whatever, but this guy is amazing. To start- Three immunities- Fighting, Normal, Electric. That’s good in its own. Now, High Horsepower for super strong Ground STAB against Fire, Electric, Poison, Rock, and Steel. Toxtricity… Bye! Shadow Punch= STAB+Iron Fist Ability (+20% Power to Punching Moves)= Huge Damage, plus it never misses. Ice Punch as coverage for Dragon, Flying, Grass, and Ground. Fire Punch as coverage for Steel, Ice, Bug, and Grass.

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*Note- if this team feels too slow for you, feel free to replace Coalossal. I ended up doing that near the end of the game, replacing Coalossal with Salazzle.

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7- Salazzle “Cayenne”

Held Item- Focus Sash
Ability- Corrosion
Suggested Natures- Timid
Typing- Fire / Poison
Move Set-
Flamethrower
Sludge Bomb / Sludge Wave
Dragon Pulse
Overheat / Toxic

Salazzle is a Special Attacker with the speed that covers the slow spots of this team. Flamethrower is Special Fire STAB. Sludge Bomb/Sludge Wave are both great poison STAB. I used Sludge Bomb for the higher poison chance (30% vs Sludge Wave’s 10%) but Sludge Wave can be used if you want slightly more overall power. Dragon Pulse is a coverage move, and Overheat is a nuke for if you need to end a battle quickly or don’t plan on using her again, sense it drops her most important stat, Special Attack. Toxic is nice because it leans into her Corrosion ability and hits all types, including Steel. I would use Overheat if you just want brute power, and Toxic if you want to use her ability. Also, her 4x Ground Weakness can be dealt with simply by switch out to Pesto.

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Level Up Stats

1- Pokemon Centers offer a wide variety of seminars that increase the Pokémon’s base stats, along with jobs to level them up.

2- Choose two stats you would like to focus on leveling up- Pokemon can only have a certain number of EVs, (About 2 maxed out stats and a little bit of a third) so choose carefully. (For instance, I would choose Frosmoth’s Special Attack and Speed)

3- Use a Macho Brace, these give your Pokemon more stat points in a single turn. You can buy them for 10BP in Hammerlocke, or defeat the man on the top floor of the Circhester Hotel to get a free one.

4- Make sure you choose stats to upgrade carefully. For instance, nothing I do to Bisharp is going to make him fast, his base speed stat is just that bad. So focus on upgrading his Physical Attack and HP to lean into the Life Orb.

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Total Coverage

Normal- Golurk (Immune)
Fire- Gastrodon (Water / Ground)
Water- Gastrodon (Storm Drain) or Frosmoth (Heals herself w/ Giga Drain)
Electric- Gastrodon (Immune) or Golurk (Immune)
Grass- Skuntank (Poison Jab), Frosmoth (Ice Beam) or Coalossal (Flamethrower)
Ice- Coalossal (Flamethrower) or Bisharp (Iron Head)
Fighting- Golurk (Immune) or Bisharp (Psycho Cut)
Poison- Gastrodon (Earth Power), Golurk (High Horsepower) or Bisharp (Immune)
Ground- Frosmoth (Giga Drain / Ice Beam)
Flying- Coalossal (Power Gem) or Frosmoth (Ice Beam)
Psychic- Skuntank (Immune) or Bisharp (Immune)
Bug- Coalossal (Flamethrower) or Skuntank (Flamethrower)
Rock- Gastrodon (Earth Power) or Golurk (High Horsepower)
Ghost- Skuntank (Crunch) or Golurk (Shadow Punch)
Dragon- Frosmoth (Ice Beam) or Golurk (Ice Punch)
Steel- Coalossal (Flamethrower) or Golurk (Fire Punch)
Dark - Skuntank (Play Rough) or Frosmoth (Bug Buzz)
Fairy- Skuntank (Poison Jab) or Bisharp (Iron Head)

Boom. Cower before the FOOD SQUAD! Hoof out.

Comments

New catchphrase unlocked: Hoof out.

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Haha, thanks. You can’t call yourself Hoof without having a good catchphrase! Hoof out.

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The Weakness Policy is one-time use and is only found in the postgame anyways.

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@Amethyst  You are right about that, however even without the weakness policy, there is still a switch-in between Coalossal and Gastrodon to provide Gastrodon with a free Sp. Atk boost. Alternatives for Weakness Policy could be Charcoal or Hard Stone.

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Is this the 4th or 5th edit to this?

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I’m very sorry about that. I’m generally an impulsive person, so whenever I see a little problem with my team, I automatically want to fix it. I hadn’t realized that it was bumping it back to the top and blocking everyone else’s awesome work- my apologies! I’ll batch up my edits next time to keep from posing away everyone’s work. Thanks for the heads up!

Answer 19

This is my current team for Pokémon Shield. They are all pretty easy to get and are reasonably balanced

Rillaboom:
Type: Grass
-Wood Hammer
-Drum Beating
-Mega Kick
-Your choice

Obstagoon:
Type: Dark Normal
-Night Slash
-Headbutt (Stab)
-Obstruct
-Shadowball

Toxitricity:
Type: Poison Electric
-Overdrive
-Poison Jab
-Toxic
-Sludge Bomb

Sandaconda:
Type: Ground
-Earthquake
-Fire Fang
-Dig
-Iron Head

Frosmoth:
Type: Ice Bug
-Bug Buzz
-Blizzard
-Tailwind
-Quiver Dance

Falinks:
Type: Fighting
-Megahorn
-Close Combat
-Smart Strike
-Rock Slide

Answer 20

I spent hours researching a really good team for all starters and found what I thought to be one of the best teams i've ever made. The Pokemon cover every type and can easily defeat Zamazenta or Zacian.
Inteleon (Water)
Snipe shot
Soak
Tearful Look
Air Slash
Ability: Torrent

Excadrill (Ground, Steel)
Earthquake
Swords Dance
Metal Claw
Rock slide
Ability: Sand Rush

Centiskorch (Fire, Bug)
Fire Lash
Lunge
Coil
Will-O-Wisp
Ability: Flash Fire

Drifblim (Ghost, Flying)
Tailwind
Shadow Ball
Spit Up
Stockpile
Ability: Aftermath

Hatterene (Psychic, Fairy)
Psychic
Calm Mind
Dazzling Gleam
Aromatherapy
Ability: Anticipation

Toxtricity Amped Form (Electric, Poison)
Shift Gear
Boomburst
Overdrive
Poison Jab
Ability: Punk Rock

Comments

Sorry if I might be necrobumping but some of the movesets are really weird. Some of the Pokémon options are kind of confusing too. Inteleon’s set looks all over the place. Snipe Shot/Ice Beam/Shadow Ball/Mud Shot seems like a much more flexible option. I’m not that knowledgeable about Hatterene’s case enough to know if Aromatherapy should be used, but I’m willing to let it slide. And Toxtricity should be Low Key form and have Sludge Bomb if you’re planning to use it.