[Meta thread] Iron's PokeRole Adventure: The Skull Ruins

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

Might need some input myself on which pokemon to bring.  Party I've been considering:

- Gallade (mandatory, obviously)
- Calam (dark type, potentially plot relevant, basically mandatory)
- Charizard (the definitive 'dragon', beloved by nobles.  Also has decent type coverage, including Shadow Claw and Dragon Claw)
- Undecided
- Undecided
- Undecided

Possible Filler

- Dedenne: super small but super duper strong.  May be able to boost electronics' capabilities/cause them to malfunction
- Emolga: Sure he doesn't have any particularly strong STABs right now, but he did say he would help Nathan with finding Marco.  Plus, if he gets enough exp, he can get devastatingly strong STABs in Acrobatics and/or Electro Ball.  He already knows the super useful Encore and Nuzzle, too.
- Ditto: having another potential Heal Pulse user...or just any super flexible pokemon...is always nice.
- Solomon: Another candidate that might be a 'kingly' pokemon.  Has more HP than almost the other pokemon on this list, too.  If Ghosts are a huge concern, some cash could be spent to teach him Foul Play if someone were to chip in and help Nathan with affording that.  Powerful Brines can help end a fight quickly
- Princess: She's a fully fledged queen now.  Maybe that royal authority can count as 'kingly'?  Small movepool at the moment, but she has easy access to Pursuit if she needs a Dark move to use and Fury Cutter for a 'stronger' STAB than Bug Bite and Fell Stinger.  Also has Destiny Bond as a trump card.
- Snivy: Another pokemon that agreed to help Nathan with some Ruins related stuff, this time relating to the dangers that may be related to the vines (such as Claydol).  Much like Charizard, the Snivy line was also somewhat popular with nobles due to some of their draconic traits (even though Snivy and co aren't in the Dragon egg group).
- Porygon-Z: Normal type, has Foul Play, is super strong, additional diverse buffing options...just great all around
- Grid: another of Nathan's strongest and most versatile pokemon.  Can easily be support or offense.  He's almost always a consideration on any serious team of Nathan's.
- Ray: With a little bit of work, he could provide support with Reflect and/or Light Screen.
- Mizu: also has more HP than almost all of the pokemon on the list.  Has some decent moves to use to back that bulk up.  Can learn some powerful Dragon STABs if she saves up enough exp.  Dratini line was also beloved by nobles.

Ones with Spread Moves: Charizard, Porygon-Z, Grid, Ray if he learns Razor Leaf, Mizu if she learns Twister
Ones with AOE Moves:  Charizard, Ray, Snivy, Dedenne

Alright, I have free time now to do as I please, so let me give a more thoroughly critique on the 'Filler' options (skipping over the ones I've already covered)!

Emolga: Good points on them having crazy good support Moves and attacks, but as a Flying type he'd suffer the worst of Rock types down under, and against with Claydol/Baltoy/the other Grounds their powerful Electric Attacks would be null and void. Acrobatics could aleviate some of those issues, but you'd need them to run no Items or consumables in order to get the maximum power out of it, which could prove a bit cumbersome in the heat of battle/getting ambushed. Between them and Dedenne, I say you leave this 'mon behind. The former has ways to benefits outside its Electric type, and a Fairy could do well against any Dark and Dragon 'mons lurking in the Skull Ruins depths...

Solomon: On one hand, he's a smart cookie that could potentially help the group solve puzzles or interpret lore in the Skull Ruings, and he's no slouch in battle. On the other hand, he's a Psychic type , and Nathan already has one on his team by default, so doubling down on them might not be the best, even if he could get Foul Play to counter the malicious spirits haunting the plays (Though it do jack diddly against Darks, but Nathan has Gallade to cover that front). If you want to take him, I'll have Terra cover the cost, on the condition you tell him about the Tuba. you caught. If you do that, then he can help Nathan trade it away for additional profit, since he has a contact that would by such an big, unruly beast, and get the money he invested in Solomon back to use on other things to benefit the group.

Princess: I don't see a problem with bringing her along, as she would provide ample support in many ways, but the lack of Move to start off with means she'll be a bit of a lead weight until you get however many Encounters it takes to pump her up with XP for/tutor her Moves. That, and their's her crippling weakness to Rocks, which if you bring Charizard along creates a glaring weakness that BEGS to be exploited. I say if you want her along, then either leave Charizard beehind, or bring along another Pokemon that can cover for both the queen and king that doesn't introduce more dire weaknesses.

Porygon Z: Don't really have anything much to comment with him, as he's just great all around and can stand up to the main threats of the Skull Ruin (Well, not the Legend, perhaps) without issue. Plus, if the Scims show up and bring tech, he can hack it for information/disable it possible, so that's another benefit worthy of consideration for the trip!

Grid: While he suffers from that pesky Rock weakness, his sheer versitility and POWER can more than compensate for it in my eyes, and his Bug type and Fury Cutter would do well against the collective of Claydols, Tangrowth, and those insidious and awful Vines. Spider Web could also be used to trap nasty foes like the Scims or some ancient terror so that they can be taken care of with less issues, and having spider silk as a material to play around with is not a bad thing at all. He could even be brough alone with Dedenne, since he wouldn't suffer Ground problems and overlaps well with what she can do! If you bring Princess along, though, then drop him or Charizard to balance things out more.

Ray: Hmm.....those Screens are awfully appeal, and has a great typing that would do well against the terrors of the Ruins, but he's also completely unEvolved and 'unfinished' (So to speak), which is not necessarily something we can afford to work on with all Pokemon considering the sheer danger of our next dungeon. It may be for the best to leave him behind and bring a Pokemon that already more or less fully fleshed out and/or stronger, as they could pull their weight harder and can handle higher threat levels than an 'untested' one.

Mizu: Can't really go wrong with more Dragon and bulky Pokemon, though considering that their my favorite type(s) I may be biased here. I say she's good to bring along, if you have space for her and the group doesn't doesn't bring too many other Fairy/Ice/Dragon weak Pokemon.

That's pretty much all I have to say! With that done, I think Nathan's three addtional Pokemon should be Ditto, Dedenne, and Snivy/Grid/Porygon Z (Depends on what the others pick as their team). If you're willing to drop Charizard, slot Princess over him, or bring along an extra anti Rock/Electric Pokemon to compensate for both (Like Snivy), and leave Grid out entirely. My opinion may not be the best, though, so take it with salt and careful consideration mate.