Preview: Venusaur, Arcanine, Gyarados, Rhydon, Gengar, Dragonite
I really want to hear your opinions, especially regarding Gyarados (compared to Lapras) and Rhydon (would I be better off with a Raichu / Jolteon / Golem / Nidoking / Snorlax / other). That being said, the team I have here has worked for me in the past and covers most types.
Venusaur (Grass / Poison):
Ability: Overgrow
Moves: Frenzy Plant, Giga Drain, Razor Leaf, Sludge Bomb
Maybe it's just me, but I find the grass type to be the weakest overall in Pokemon Fire Red. Venusaur has an average move set to go along with typical starter base stats (525). His stats are well rounded and make him a solid starter, despite many weaknesses (6). Due to these weaknesses, I do not even bother with coverage moves, like I will with the rest of my team. The Overgrow ability along with a Miracle Seed make his grass type moves borderline unstoppable.
Arcanine (Fire):
Ability: Intimidate
Moves: Sunny Day, Flamethrower, SolarBeam, Fire Blast
Arcanine is my personal favorite Pokemon of all time. He is "The Legendary Pokemon" for good reason, as he has the second highest base stat total in Fire Red, behind only Dragonite (Arcanine has 555). Personally, I use a a lot of fire type moves in his move set, as I generally use plenty of STAB moves, so I arm him with Charcoal and a lot of Special Attack EV's. SolarBeam is complete personal coverage, and paired with Sunny Day will attack in one turn. Further, Sunny Day will increase the effectiveness of his other Fire type moves. Overall, Arcanine is significantly better than Charizard, and allows me to use Venusaur, who is the best grass type available.
Gyarados (Water / Flying):
Ability: Intimidate
Moves: Surf, Rain Dance, Hydro Pump, Earthquake
I am truly 50/50 between Lapras and Gyarados. Gyarados has slightly better stats (540 to 535) but suffers from poor Special Attack, which water moves are. I almost never use Flying or Normal type moves with him, so his high Attack stat is useless to me. In this case, though, Earthquake DOES take advantage of his high attack stat and provides some defense against deadly Electric type moves, even if just for one turn. I recommend getting some Special Attack EV's if you plan to use Gyarados, and also using a Mystic Water to boost the power of Surf and Hydro Pump further.
Dragonite (Dragon / Flying):
Ability: Inner Focus
Moves: Fly, Dragon Claw, Flamethrower / Brick Break, Outrage
First, I am unsure about Brick Break as a move. It stands alone, however, as the only fighting type move in my entire lineup, so I see it as somewhat important to have. Dragonite is simply too good to leave off of your team, though the time it takes to train Dragonair is painful. In the end, all of that seemingly wasted experience will yield the most destructive Pokemon in the game, disregarding legendaries. His base stat total of 600 is higher than every Pokemon in the game except Mewtwo, and his very ability to learn many TM's allows for his molding depending on your needs (He can learn Water Pulse, Surf, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Hyper Beam, Iron Tail, Thunder, Thunderbolt, Earthquake, Brick Break, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, and countless others). Thus, going back to Brick Break, it does cover two weaknesses, including the 4x Super-Effective Ice type, but Flamethrower can as well, though it leaves Rock and Electric Types wide open to wail on Dragonite. I recommend hitting Triple 7's over and over again, and getting the Dratini in Celadon (or use the Safari Zone) and then equipping it with a Dragon Fang or Leftovers to make him as powerful as possible.
Rhydon (Rock / Ground)
Ability: Lightning Rod
Moves: Earthquake, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Rock Blast
First, the ability. I hate both of Rhydon's ability. Lightning Rod is only effective in Double battles, but Rock Head has no use to me at all, since I don't use Take Down or any other move with recoil. This particular Rhydon's move set is my personal favorite, as 4 different types of moves are used. Therefore, Rhydon serves as my main coverage Pokemon, and can also defend himself from many types of enemies. That being said, there are many other suitable replacements for Rhydon, and I am interested to see what others use, as I am not sold on using Rhydon, due to his relatively low stats overall, especially compared to the aforementioned replacements.
Haunter/Gengar (Ghost / Poison):
Ability: Levitate
Moves: Hypnosis + Dream Eater / Destiny Bond + Shadow Punch , Shadow Ball, Psychic
The odd thing about Haunter and Gengar is that they are weak to the same types that they are Super-Effective on, which makes them an odd choice. That being said, his insane Special Attack and Speed ensure that you will have the first chance at damaging the foe, and generally with life-threatening damage. If you plan to use him as a primarily Ghost type Pokemon, then be sure to EV train for Attack (that corresponds with the 2nd move set) and Speed. If not, then EV train for Special Attack. Speed is vital if Destiny Bond is going to be in the move set because it gives the foe no time to stop using damaging attacks if used first, as the foe will attack 2nd after Destiny Bond has been used and likely cause itself to faint. I recommend giving Haunter or Gengar a Twisted Spoon to assist Psychic and Dream Eater if using move set 1, or a Spell Tag if using move set 2.
That's all I've got. Please give any tips or suggestions. Although I have been playing this game for a lot of my childhood, and more so since I gave up on the newer games (Gen 5 and further) since they seemed pretty lame, I am relatively new to the more competitive nature where EV's, moves, coverage, and natures matter (I didn't include natures for time sake). Thus, any ideas or things to consider would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!
