What is a good in-game team for HeartGold and SoulSilver? (page 4)

Question

Share your best in-game teams for Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver 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.

Answer 1

My team for battling Red:

Typhlosion:
Eruption
Thunder punch
Dig
Lava plume

Very consistent and reliable always. Eruption for a powerful fire type move that deals a lot of damage, thunder punch for water types, dig for coverage and lava plume when the users hp gets under half.

Ampharos:
Thunderbolt
Magnet rise
Signal beam
Light screen

An amazing attacker who was consistent and powerful. Along with steelix, it was my other ace. Thunderbolt is the strongest electric type move in my opinion, magnet rise to get rid of the ground weakness, signal beam for psychic coverage and light screen to increase special defense.

Heracross:
Close combat
Megahorn
Night slash
Rock slide

Consistent and reliable. It made my life a lot easier when fighting Whitney and suprisenly against Morty, I completely swept him with aerial ace like it was nothing. Close combat for a powerful fighting type move, megahorn for the strongest bug type move, night slash also for psychic types and rock slide for flying type coverage.

Crobat:
Fly
Cross poison
Steel wing
U-turn

Probably my weakest member of my team but was very reliable when I needed it. Fly to get around, cross poison for a strong poison type move, steel wing for move coverage and u-turn for psychic types and for a free switch out.

Gyarados:
Aqua tail
Ice fang
Dragon dance
Dragon breath

As soon as you get it at the lake of rage, it pays dividence right away. Consistent and always reliable. Aqua tail is a reliable water move that Gyarados benefits from with it's high attack, ice fang for dragon coverage, dragon dance to boost stats and dragon breath for more dragon coverage.

Steelix:
Earthquake
Iron tail
Stone edge
Aqua tail

I can’t praise steelix enough in heartgold. This thing won me so many battles and came in clutch battle after battle and countered everything. While onix isn’t very good, steelix makes up for it once you can get it if you can make the trade. I remember fighting lance and because his dragonite had an electric type move, I couldn’t use gyarados so I used steelix. It hit 2 critical hits on both of them and easily knocked them out. When I battled Sabrina I didn’t have megahorn so steelix was my next best option and it crushed Sabrina handily. Easily one of my favorites and one of my most surprising aces I’ve ever had. Earthquake is a powerful ground type move, iron tail for a strong steel type move and stone edge and aqua tail for coverage.

If you can't trade to get Steelix (if you can, I'd recomand Steelix over Rhydon)

Rhydon
Earthquake
Stone Edge
Megahorn
Surf

Even though you can't fully evolve Rhydon into Rhyperior, Rhydon still does very good. Earthquake for a strong ground move, stone edge for a powerful rock type move, megahorn for psychic types and surf to get around on and coverage.

Comments

You can evolve rhydon by giving it a protector (in mt.ember i'm pretty sure) and trading it.

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This is under the assumption the person can't trade. If they can, I'd suggest using Steelix instead because of how dominant it is instead of Rhyperior. If the person can't trade, I'd just suggest using Rhydon instead since it's basically Rhyperior but with a few less stats.

Answer 2

This was the team that did quite a good job at carrying me.

Typhlosion= Flamethrower, fire blast, giga impact. the hardest hitter out of the starters and my personal fav. Does well against Bugsy, Jasmine, Pryce, and Koga's bug\poison types.

Ampharos= Thunder, discharge, iron tail, hyper beam. all around very good electric type with a pretty vast moove pool. Sweeps Falkner, does quite well with Clair's water\dragon types, and destroys Lance's Gyrados.

Espeon= psybeam, psychic, quick attack, swift. good option if you want to friendship evolve an Eevee. only issue is that it takes a while for it to learn a psychic move. Once it learns bite, it will hurt Morty and his entire team, goes well against Chuck's brute force, and does a number on Koga's whole team.

Yanmega= u-turn, ancient power, solar beam, air slash. Yanma can be obtained very early and when it evolves it is a strong Pokémon .

Poliwrath= blizzard, surf, focus blast, waterfall. Poliwrath as a good surfer and has some petty good ice moves for Lance's elite Dragons, and hits Karen with her dark types.

Ambipom= strength, earthquake , iron tail, brick break. Vast move set . Could be useful depending on the moves you give it, with earthquake it could destroy red's Pikachu and if you give it a fighting move it could do damage to his Snorlax, also with grass knot.

Answer 3

This is the team I used in SoulSilver and it worked pretty well for me. I don't think any of these are version exclusives, so it should work for HeartGold as well.

Feraligatr @Muscle Band
Ability: Torrent
Moves:
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Ice Fang/Ice Punch
- Earthquake
Location: Elm's Lab (starter)

Your starter. Waterfall is a great physical STAB, and the only one Feraligatr can get pre-league. Bite destroys Morty's team, and Crunch is even stronger, plus the defense drop is nice. Earthquake covers electric and is just a great move all around. Ice Fang/Punch is coverage for grass and wrecks Lance's Dragonites, but you can't get Ice Punch until the battle frontier, so Ice Fang is probably the better option for a playthrough. The Muscle Band helps its strong physical attacks.

Ampharos @Magnet
Ability: Static
Moves:
- Thundershock -> Discharge/Thunderbolt
- Signal Beam
- Power Gem
- Thunder Wave
Location: Route 32

A really strong Pokemon that you can get before the 1st gym, plus one of your only options for electric-types in the game. Mareep is really nice to have against Falkner, plus static has saved me more times than I can count. Thunderbolt is for STAB/Discharge if you don't want to use the TM. Signal Beam is good against bulky grass types, especially Will's Exeggutor. Power Gem is just for additional coverage, and Thunder Wave is good for guaranteeing paralysis without relying on Static. The Magnet boosts its already strong electric attacks.

Nidoking @Poison Barb
Ability: Poison Point
- Earth Power
- Sludge Bomb/Poison Jab
- Megahorn
- Surf
Location: Route 35

A great Pokemon that you can get pretty early in the game. Its a mixed attacker with a good speed stat. Earth Power is STAB. Megahorn is coverage against Psychic. Sludge Bomb is STAB, and although Poison Jab is physical and through level up, I don't feel like being stuck with Nidorino until level 43 to get it. Surf is coverage against ground and then it doesn't have to be taking up a move slot on Feraligatr. Have your mom save money at the start of the game, and she'll buy you a moon stone to evolve your Nidorino around the time you get to Olivine City.

Machamp @Black Belt
Ability: Guts
Moves:
- Revenge/Low Kick
- Cross Chop
- Rock Climb
- Rock Slide/Stone Edge
Location: Goldenrod Department Store (trade)

For those who constantly complain about Whitney and her Miltank, this is my solution! A great physical attacker that you can get right before fighting the pink demon herself, Machamp should be one of the top contenders for a spot on any Johto playthrough team. Cross Chop is strong STAB coverage. Revenge and Low Kick can be very useful in some scenarios. Revenge is great against Pokemon that outspeed Machamp (which is most Pokemon) and Low Kick is great for big and bulky Pokemon such as Jasmine's Steelix and Red's Snorlax. Rock Climb is for traversing late-game caves and Rock Slide/Stone Edge is coverage for flying and bug. Even if you can't get someone to trade with to evolve Machoke, it's still a very strong Pokemon. I didn't evolve my Machoke until after beating Red, and it still pulled its weight and more.

Togekiss @King's Rock
Ability: Serene Grace
Moves:
- Fly
- Air Slash
- Aura Sphere
- Extrasensory/Psychic
Location: Egg from Elm's Assistant after beating Falkner

The infamous Serene Grace paraflinch Togekiss in all its glory. You had better pray to Arceus that the gift Togepi doesn't hatch with Hustle. Fly is for traversing Johto, Aura Sphere is coverage for Rock, and Air Slash and Extrasensory are used for flinching the living daylights out of your opponents. The Togepi should hatch with Extrasensory. Unfortunately, you can't get a shiny stone until post-league as a first place prize from the bug-catching contest, and Togetic is a very lackluster Pokemon to be stuck with, so I used a Noctowl with Air Slash/Extrasensory/Hypnosis/Fly until you beat the league. If you put the Togepi in the day-care as soon as you can, it should stay at a good level with the rest of your team until you get the stone to evolve it.

Houndoom @Expert Belt
Ability: Flash Fire
Moves:
- Dark Pulse/Crunch
- Flamethrower
- Sunny Day
- Solar Beam
Location: Safari Zone

A strong and fast glass cannon to support the rest of your team. Dark Pulse and Crunch are STAB, and although Houndoom has a slightly stronger special attack, I prefer to use Crunch for things like Alakazam or Gengar, with low physical defense. Flamethrower is STAB. Sunny Day is great for boosting Flamethrower and getting the 1-turn Solar Beam to cover Rock, Ground, and Water. Sunny Day is also crucial for getting rid of the hail during the fight with Red. You can't get Houndoom until post-league, so I used Furret until then.

Furret @No Item
Ability: Run Away
Moves:
- Cut
- Whirlpool
- Rock Smash
- Strength
Location: Route 1

HM slave. Use until you can get Houndoom.

I won't pretend that this team is perfect, or that there isn't any better options, but it got me through the game with pretty much no trouble at all. I think Bugsy was the hardest battle. As a tip, when you get to the tutor in Ilex Forest who teaches you Headbutt, give it to any Pokemon that still have moves like tackle or pound. It's a pretty strong move for early game, plus it can flinch.

Comments

I recently used a very, very similar team in HG/SS that I was planning to post here... wow. I might still put it here. In case I don't, these are the most relevant differences:
* Headbutt via Ilex Forest is great for Croconaw and Nidorino early-game. It's stronger than their other moves for a reasonable period of time and creates paraflinch.
* TMs from Goldenrod City. I used Thunder on Ampharos and Blizzard on Nidoking for the whole playthrough and found both very useful. Also, Choice Specs for Ampharos.
* I think No Guard Machamp (from Mt. Mortar) is better in the long run. Whitney is very doable with paraflinch and Double Kick, and the perfect accuracy on Cross Chop and Submission saves a lot of hassle.
* I had two HM users instead of Houndoom and Togekiss. I think Nidoking matches strongly enough against the Kanto leaders that you don't need another Pokemon.

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@Fizz yeah I stacked headbutt on everything that I could. Also I would have preferred Machamp to have No Guard so I could use DynamicPunch, but I was using the trade Machop because the boosted exp is extremely nice to have for a playthrough, especially in Johto with the weird level curve. I also didn't want to get involved much with Mt. Mortar because I always get super lost there... I don't think I even went inside until I beat the league

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I dont seem the point of using Noctowl until you are able to get Togekiss, you might as well just use Fearow as its high atk stat and insane speed stat makes it viable enough and you can get a gift spearow at the exit of Goldenrod City from a guard at lv. 20. As for Houndoom, I would just use Magmar as its special atk stat is really solid with its atk stat still being decent enough to use psychical moves and its incredibly fast as well, you get it pior to facing the 4th gym were it will have a dark type move right away when you catch it. Hopefully, this helps :)

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Heracross is a better alternative for players who don't trade, mostly because of its high physical attack. Togekiss is worse than Tauros because it comes at a low level and has low attack stats. Houndoom arrives late and at a low level. Take Houndoom off the team so you can keep your HM slave, and the other Pokemon can gain more experience.

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P.S You can evolve Magmar in the Kanto-Post game after you get Rock Climb once you give it the Magnemizer then trade it to get Magmortar, although its a tedious process its worth it as Magmortar is a great special attacker with a wide movepool access to Thunderbolt, Psychic and Focus Blast which makes it useful even against Red.

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@Tops123 yeah I realized a bit into the playthrough that noctowl kinda sucks... I really only used it because I liked it and suggested it as a pre-togekiss mon because it has a similar moveset and usage, though much weaker. Using Magmortar instead of Houndoom is also a good idea, Houndoom was a pokemon I decided on mid-playthough purely because it had the best STAB typing to support the rest of my team that I could think of.

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its a good team, just replace Togekiss with Fearow and Houndoom with Magmar/Magmortar

Answer 4

Typhlosion, Ampharos, Crobat, Lapras, Machamp, Alakazam
In most pkmn games there isn't a correct answer to "the best in game team" however some of the earlier games are limited on the Pokemon available so realistically there is a best team available. My team will consider the best Pokemon for the toughest gyms (Whitney, Morty, and Claire) and the best Pokemon for the elite 4 and champion. If you think another Pokemon should be considered amongst the Pokemon I list, your opinion is wrong. Yes it is that simple. I will provide alteratives if you can't trade or don't want to use the trade glitch.

The clear and obvious choice for starter is Typhlosion. Meganium sucks, and Lapras and Gyarados are clear cut better than Feraligatr.
1. Typhlosion (no debate)

Pidgeotto and scyther are the two toughest Pokemon you will meet at the beginning of the game. You could temporarily do the in game trade for onix too, but Ampharos is nearly essential for any team. It is available early, super easy to level up, hits hard, and has a great move pool. The only other electric option is jolteon, who doesn't hit as hard, gets worse moves, and is a pain to evolve. Yes its faster, but that isn't relevant in the big battles that Ampharos is useful.
2. Ampharos

Crobat over Fearow is probably the most controversial pick here. Fearow levels up faster because its an in game trade, you can get it earlier, and it learns the best one turn flying typ move. In every other way Crobat is better. Crobat has the same base attack, but has wayyyyy more speed and surprisingly great defenses. Much less frail than Fearow. Fly hits as hard as drill peck, since it is in game nobody should care about two turn moves. Poison typing is useful defensively and doesn't hinder it too much with its speed. You need a flyer.
3. Crobat

My god Lance is a complete cakewalk if you take the time to get lapras. Adjust your game to the right time and you can have ice beam ice type lapras by the fifth gym. Lance is crippled by ice types and the strongest ice type user is available. What are you doing if you dont take lapras. Enjoy one shotting all three dragonites.
4. Lapras.

Machamp vs. Heracross is a debate. These are the two best fighting types, if you can't trade take heracross. However, Machamp is pretty clear cut better. You need to understand that the bug type absolutely sucks in this game. It adds a ton of weaknesses and it offers little offensively. Fast psychic types knock heracross out before he can get megahorn off. (the only good bug move) Since it is ingame we won't consider heracross's hidden ability, but we will consider machamps regular ability. Dynamic Punch/cross chop with no guard is a hack. No guard allows all of Machamps attacks to hit, meanwhile dynamic punch and cross guard both have 100 power. Machamp has better defenses than heracross, a higher attack, access to the elemental punches, a better move pool, evolves faster (in game trade), and has better typing.
5. Machamp.

What if I told you that you could have a 135 sp attack, 120 speed Alakazam before the third gym? Well you can! Thanks to the trade glitch Alakazam will blitz Whitney, Outspeed and be super effective against Morty's ghost poison types, and destroy the following fighting gym. Alakazam is OP and essential to all early generation teams. If you aren't trading for whatever reason and want to fill this last slot I would consider adding gyarados. Gyarados is attainable by the third gym. The brute strength and great typing early will be very useful. Don't be afraid to have a second water type as there are three water HMs.
6. Alakazam

There is the correct best ingame team! If you think one of the following Pokemon belong over one of the Pokemon I listed, you should replay the game or check the stats. Pidgeot, Nidoking, ninetales/arcanine, any grass type, slowbro/slowking, electabuzz or magmar, Vaporeon, Flareon, Noctowl, LANTURN SUCKS, xatu, sudowoodo, Espeon, Pinsir, Mamoswine, or Jynx. All of these Pokemon can be replaced by more practical or better in game Pokemon. These are not bad Pokemon, but there are better options. This list includes Pokemon other people tell you to use that you shouldn't in this game. For example, Arcanine is the best fire type in the game, but by the time it is available we don't need fire type Pokemon for any of the tough battles left.
Movesets aren’t that important just use common sense.
Crobat tears apart Morty and the Psychic type gym. Having a separate flyer is annoying. Gyarados is acceptable to use, but Lapras is better in every way. Ice type is so important to have for lance. Gyarados two shots the dragonits, Lapras one shots. Lapras has a better in game moveset too.

Comments

The question being asked here is what is a good in game team for pkmn hg/ss. The question is not what team will get you through the game the fastest. Nobody is coming to this page hoping to find one Pokémon that will overpower the Pokémon league and the gyms. They are looking for a team. My answer is objectively more correct given the question being asked. Also he isn’t giving a speed run team, if he was he wouldn’t want you to add a useless tauros. I will now give you a better answer if your goal is to speed run the game. Totodile for surf, in game trade for onix for the first three gyms, (helps defensively against Whitney) before Whitney get alakazam and teach it focus blast. Focus blast and psybeam can beat gyms 3-7 easily considering how OP alakazam’s stats and typing is. Collect spearow for free from the man between the third and fourth gym for fly. Pick up the repel glitch gyarados only when you have to go through that route. Use ice fang gyarados and alakazam to beat the elite four and champion. Gyarados will be way over leveled and alakazam will know psychic shadow ball from the gym and focus blast. Use potions if necessary in the E4. That team makes way more sense for a speed run. There simply is no excusing his terrible answer for the question. If he was attempting a speed run team he did a poor job. It took me two minutes to think of a better one.

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Legendary answer

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Thanks Talos, I loved absolutely schooling the casuals that came after me. One of these dweebs made a list saying you should use tauros in the game. The whole argument they had was the gyarados should be in the starting six when I literally say in my orginal comment that gyarados could also be used but I prefer to not use him. This really is one of the only games where there is a pretty clear cut answer as to what is the best in game team of six pokemon.

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Dang bro just called sumwun a dweeb, but he did post the speed run team so his team works to an extent. That said you actually put up an argument against sumwun which is kinda legendary

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I mean Sumwun’s speed run team wants to go pick up a tauros which for a speed run makes absolutely zero sense. You also can pick up a flying type for free (spearow) but he wants you to use farfetched??? His speed run team was terrible I came up with a better one in the comments. He is giving his gyarados boosts when he does his calculations wand not giving lapras boosts which really skews the numbers. He also suggests heracross over machamp which I clearly debunked in my post. He had guts to come at me with a krabby and tauros in his team I’ll give him that. He doesn’t state in his post that his team is a speed run team either. At the end of the day a hail blizzard lapras at lvl 48 does the same thing as gyarados at 57. Lapras won’t get one shot by any of lance’s moves, gyarados can be by thunder. Both pkmn will accomplish the same goal of dominating lance. Also Alakazam is better for blitzing gyms 3-7 than gyarados because it hits harder moves faster is available earlier and most importantly gyarados will only know bite and thrash until the move tutor. He really chickened out by disappearing I wish sumwun would’ve kept commenting but he probably realized he was outmatched.

Answer 5

Meganium @ Miracle Seed
Ability: Overgrow
- Earthquake
- Giga Drain
- Petal Dance
- Light Screen

Magcargo @ Quick Claw
Ability: Flame Body
- Ancient Power
- Amnesia
- Flamethrower
- Lava Plume

Magnezone @ Metal Coat
Ability: Sturdy
- Thunder Wave
- Discharge
- Flash Cannon
- Screech

Miltank (F) @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
- Body Slam
- Milk Drink
- Zen Headbutt
- Strength

Slowbro @ Mystic Water
Ability: Own Tempo
- Surf
- Psychic
- Dig
- Whirlpool

Rhyperior @ Soft Sand
Ability: Lightning Rod
- Earthquake
- Avalanche
- Dragon Pulse
- Rock Wrecker

(If magnezone is unavailable to you I would recommend ampharos)
(If you cannot trade to get rhypherior Rhydon still performs well)

Answer 6

Here is my team and I can make sure that this is the most competitive team in-game Heartgold and SoulSilver:

Feraligatr @ Mystic Water
Ability: Torrent
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Ice Fang
- Crunch
- Earthquake
Starting with the starter, Feraligatr has a good learn-set, better than two else starter in the game. With a solid
base stats and nice type match-up with the Johto gym leaders, my jolly Feraligatr is doing good job now.

Arcanine @ Charcoal
Ability: Intimidate
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Extreme Speed
- Flare Blitz
- Reversal
Next is Fire-type, Arcanine, which is a great one with a high base stats and cool nature, is one of the best fire-type Pokemon choice. Despite learning Flare Blitz in level 48 as a Growlithe, it still do a good job, especially during post-game. Try to get Extreme Speed with Heart Scale, it's really good, and Reversal for a suicide bomb.

Jolteon @ Magnet
Ability: Volt Absorb
Modest Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Light Screen
The third one, Jolteon. A Fast and Furious eevolution one. I think it's better than Ampharos as it can control the fight more flexibly and do a solid damage.

Heracross @ Muscle Band
Ability: Guts
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Rock Slide
- Protect
Doing a great damage to opponent, Heracross is almost the best Bug and Fighting type Pokemon to choose.
Due to the type, I put on it Protect for some case.

Crobat @ Poison Barb
Ability: Inner Focus
Adamant Nature
- Poison Fang
- Fly
- Roost
- U-turn
Flashy bat can destroy fighting type Pokemon easily, and it's also the best Flyer before post-game.

Nidoking @ Soft Sand
Ability: Poison Point
Modest Nature
- Earth Power
- Sludge Bomb
- Ice Beam
- Fire Blast
Good base stat, matchup type and large learn-set.

After beating the Elite Four, I suggest changing Crobat and Nidoking for these ones, way better and more powerful.
Dragonite @ Expert Belt
Ability: Inner Focus
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Dance
- Fly

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Rock Polish
Undoubtedly, Two Pseudo-legendary Pokemon are greatly strong and destructive. You can get both Dragonite and Tyranitar before Elite Four, as Dratini and Larvitar. Training it during the game, then get the achievement.