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

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

Also people, any tips about what I gonna to face against? What Pokemon he have use in your battles? Any info is important.

Honedge inclusion is obvious, but I'd bring Rose along too, since she'd generally be able to stuff all of Howl's Pokemon besides Spiritom with her Fighting STABs, and even then they have to deal with her Fire STABs. Third choice.....well, Heracross would be a good idea, since if he has Guts you can just Paralyze/Poison him before the battle to get that sweet + 2 STR, and his Bug STABs would be effective and devestatiing. Last choices I can think of for now (without a more thorough look through of your list of Pokemon) would be either Quetzoral or Honchrow, as the former is bulky and can stand to gain some more Happiness/Loyalty from a Gym Battle, while the crow would be able to resist all of Howl's Pokemom primary STABs and pester them with its own suit of Moves.

That's all the suggestions I have for now, so take them as you may!

Also people, any tips about what I gonna to face against? What Pokemon he have use in your battles? Any info is important.

Dark types, obviously.  Bug, Fighting, and Fairy type moves are your friends, depending on the exact matchups.

Howl also has a preference for canines in particular.  As evidenced by Nathan's battle, though, he has a few wild cards to pick from for particularly difficult battles.

3v3, battle til faint, no trainer items.

Thanks for the options guys! Lets see if my arrange of members party can be victorious against Howl. Lets see how things will go.

Doesn't D-Onix have ROCK SMASH now?  Or did you not factor that HM into the 'everyone has Fighting type moves'?  You are allowed to use HMs against Gym Leaders after all (just be mindful of who's around when you use ROCK SMASH in particular, of course.  Should be fine against Howl if the crowds are light since the gym leader knows we have it, though)

Oh yeah! You right! Sorry^^" Including D-Onix now have a Fighting move.

[Lord Windos]

Well...I was thinking in keep my line of Pokemon with my three ghosts, Gustav for healing, Rose for power and choose one of my flying-types. Even more with the possibility of him to finally evolve.

I think I could leave Viktor behind to open space for Posei or Lapis to be in my party. Its not a bad thing, since we kinda already have strong anti-ghosts Pokemon with all of us, so I have no problem with leaving Viktor in my PC. So I can take one of your Pokemon Windos with no big deal. This is also a chance to Heart redeemed himself from Terra. And for us to finally have our long waited trade of the Delta Corsola.

Really?! Great! You can choose either of them to take with you along the way, as each has their own benefits associated with them! Thank you, mate!

Yeap, this will finally put a nail in the coffin that was the character conflict between my brute and your pun lover! It'll also be a great chance to Evolve D-Onix AND give you that Swampertnire I trade for earlier, so this makes it all even better!

Here's the Pros/Cons of Lapis/Posei, btw:

L.L. Pros: 
- Has his riduclous bulk, and access to Recover and Coil, so he will last and last.
-Will be equip with his Life Orb to deal even more insane amounts of Damage, and its downside will hardly matter for him since he's so gosh darn resilent it isn't funny.
- His Competitive Ability also allows you to send out a partner to debuff them in order to jack up his Strength even more, which with all the previous attack modifiers makes him as strong as a fully powered Shiranui (Assuming the debuff in question isn't a STR debuff).
- Has access to Twister and Disarming Voice, both Spread Moves that do decent Damage, with the former having a chance to Flinch and the later being Always Accurate (But using Allure as a part of its Dice Roll), so he can deal with mobs handily.
- Hidden Power Rock is a 2 Hit, STR+ 2 and - 1 Accuracy Multi-Hit Move that can produce Gems worth money, all of which are yours if you use it. Combined with all his buffs, and it can burn down a foe before it gets too many chances to act, if at all! Wrap is also decent to prevent escape and deal chip damage, though its low BP and Normal typing makes its use not great at times.
L.L. Cons:
- His size may make his use in certain areas restricted or impossible.
- All that HP means it'll be hard to heal him outside of his own Move and a Max Potion, so he can be worn down by mass attacks quite easily if you are not careful.
- Unless I can teach him Aqua Ring or you have Gustav out to keep him hydrated, he can't stay outside of his Net Ball for long duration, meaning you won't be able to interact with him much or use him in dehydrating areas.
- He doesn't really have High BP Moves, with his best being Water Gun due to the STAB he gets on it. Between Life Orb, Coil, and possibly Competitive, though....well, that won't matter much hopefully.

Posei's Pros:
- Has access to Swagger, which means you have the means to give your other Pokemon a STR buff at the cost of some Confusion/Items and his Action.
- For his own benefit, he has Belly Drum, which will make him a BEAST if you can keep him alive after he uses it!
- Debuff wise, he has Hypnosis, Body Slam and Bubble Beam on a Chance Roll, and dread Perish Song along side Swagger, so he has several ways to play support! He also has Mud Shot to lower a foe's DEX by 1, which could be all that it takes to put it behind Initiative or miss a Move!
- If its possible to use underground with enough moisture in the air, then you also have Rain Dance to play with, which would be a general boost to Gustav and help keep everyone fireproofed!
- He's rocking Hyper Voice , Double Slap, and Frost Breath, all pretty powerful Moves against most everything beyond Ghosts (Which Anubi can just Foresight, if need be), though you have to be careful with H.V. due to it being a AoE Move. 
- Water Absorb, which allows him to be easily healed by Gustav whenever, even in the heat of battle! Unlike Recover, it doesn't have an effective limit on it, so it can be used and abused to the hilt!
- Can find King's Rocks or other important Items potentially, and has that King aspect to him that could be significant!
- Fairs much better on dry land than Lapis, and he's small enough that his size won't be an issue! 
Posei's Cons:
- Beyond Frost Bream, Bubble Beam, and Mud Shot, the rest of his Moves are Normal type, which leaves him liable to be without options against Ghosts.
- A lot of his debuff Moves have penalties associated with them, like Hypnosis and Mud Shot's lower Accuracy, and Perish Song being AoE and indiscriminate with who it affects, while Swagger gives Foes a buff or Confuses you Pokemon, both of which can be deadly in the wrong situations.
- Not a lot of room for him to grow, due to him having a small Move Pool post Evolution. Learning past Evo Moves or Egg Moves is certainly possible, but it'll be at an increased cost.
- Obviously is less bulky than Lapis, and sometimes you can't trigger Water Absorb in the heat of battle, requiring either Potions to patch him up before he croaks. Even if you can use Water Moves on him, that means Gustav won't be attacking a foe with them, which could prove detrimental in its own right.

[Lord Windos]

SO, with Heart accepting a Water type for me, my team is now the following for the expedition into the Skull Ruins: Angie, Michael, Anubi, Oinari, Pixie, and Edmundi! If anyone has any last minute comments on it, speak up! How's everyone else's team selection going? Made your selections yet, or you're still brainstorming/deliberating?

[Lord Windos]

@Spiritmon @Mikaruge108 @PhantomUnderYourDesk

Any comments from you guys on the pokemon I'm considering bringing?

Oh yeah, I also had another idea I wanted to throw out there: I have a second pokemon that could possibly throw up dual screen support if brought along: Solosis.  She already knows Light Screen, and she can also put up Reflect after gaining only a mere 3 exp (and the screens help offset basically all pokemon's weaknesses very easily).  Offensively, she's basically useless against Dark types, but her main attacks (Future Sight and 5-6 Gym Badge backed Psywave) are super strong otherwise.  And she has Recover to heal herself with as well.  She's not much of a fighter right now and is rather skittish around most everyone except Nathan, but she has a -1 Disobedience as far as Nathan goes, so lending her out might not be a major issue if that's considered.  (Your thoughts on this as well, @Lord Windos)

Hmm....well, she's also a snack for the menacing Ghost type, but between Screens and Recover all her woes are pretty much taken care of as well as the group's Pokemon, and can learn Rollout to even be able to do stuff to Dark types. She can also learn Snatch rather easily too, and with Shiva's help can possibly be tutored with After You, Trick, and Confuse Ray, and definitely Wonder Room, Heal Block, and Charm, making her VERY good support beyond just setting up dem Screens. She can also learn Skill Swap as well, which can be either a disruptive tool and/or a way for them to gain additional advantages, provided you can rush for it in time. If you can teach her Regenerator, she won't even need healing Items if managed properly, and with Skill Swap she could also give that healing to another Pokemon long enough to help them out too. 

Overall, Solosis is actually a pretty good choice to take along on the trip, though she'll need to be cared for and trained to the point she gets all the Moves she needs to actually pull her weight. Taking her along also makes taking along Emolga , Solomon, and/or Princess even tougher, as doing so would increase the amount of dire weaknesses on your team waiting to be exploited and force you to juggle which one to to train at a given moment, as all of them + Solosis (bar maybe Solomon) need time and XP to become more useful additions on the trip. If you want, though, I could leave Edmundi behind and take her in his place, as their Screens would provide much the similar Defense as Double Wide Guard Spam, though I'd/the group would lose out on the ironclad dino's powerful offense as a consequence. That, and I don't know if they would listen to Terra in the first place, due to either Loyalty issues or him just being too spooky for her.

[Dragonstrike]

Hmm....well, she's also a snack for the menacing Ghost type, but between Screens and Recover all her woes are pretty much taken care of as well as the group's Pokemon, and can learn Rollout to even be able to do stuff to Dark types. She can also learn Snatch rather easily too, and with Shiva's help can possibly be tutored with After You, Trick, and Confuse Ray, and definitely Wonder Room, Heal Block, and Charm, making her VERY good support beyond just setting up dem Screens. She can also learn Skill Swap as well, which can be either a disruptive tool and/or a way for them to gain additional advantages, provided you can rush for it in time. If you can teach her Regenerator, she won't even need healing Items if managed properly, and with Skill Swap she could also give that healing to another Pokemon long enough to help them out too. 

Overall, Solosis is actually a pretty good choice to take along on the trip, though she'll need to be cared for and trained to the point she gets all the Moves she needs to actually pull her weight. Taking her along also makes taking along Emolga , Solomon, and/or Princess even tougher, as doing so would increase the amount of dire weaknesses on your team waiting to be exploited and force you to juggle which one to to train at a given moment, as all of them + Solosis (bar maybe Solomon) need time and XP to become more useful additions on the trip. If you want, though, I could leave Edmundi behind and take her in his place, as their Screens would provide much the similar Defense as Double Wide Guard Spam, though I'd/the group would lose out on the ironclad dino's powerful offense as a consequence. That, and I don't know if they would listen to Terra in the first place, due to either Loyalty issues or him just being too spooky for her.

Wonder Room probably isn't the best move to use for anyone in the group except Shiva given she's the only character with higher Insight than Vitality.  Nathan and Spira wouldn't see any benefits or dwonsides since their current Vit scores equal their Ins scores, but Heart and Terra would definitely mind quite a bit (mostly Terra).  

Shiva's bringing along Gothitelle, so Heal Block support is present if needed already, so that isn't a big concern either.

Unfortunately, of the ? moves you listed, the only one actually listed in the book is Confuse Ray.  The other two ? moves are Acid Armor (which would be pretty useful, admittedly) and Night Shade (really only relevant against Dark types since all Solosis know Psywave)

Solosis's current Ability is Overcoat.  Regenerator would probably be a semi-costly exp investment since it's a HA.  Either it or Magic Guard would probably be a lot better in the long run for her than an Overcoat without Powder immunity built into it, though.

I'd probably recommend Nathan having Solosis in his party if she comes along simply because he can get the screens up the most quickly (and IC, Solosis is most comfortable around him).  The earlier in the Round the screens go up, the more effective they are.  That, and Nathan has the most Gym Badges atm, so her Psywaves will do 6 D6 (which is equivalent to using a 5 Strength 5 power STAB move against a 5 Vit enemy, or a 5 Strength 3 Power STAB against a 3 Vit enemy), meaning there'd be very little DPS loss from having her on Nathan's team in particular unless she's facing a Dark type.

On the topic of Solomon real quick, he has enough tools that learning more ASAP isn't entirely necessary, he'd just probably appreciate having some stronger ones to use.  Before Brine gets powered up, his damaging moves are all an effective 3 Power.  His access to Disable might help make up for it, though, and if he hogged a bunch of exp he could get Heal Pulse.  Or he could maybe learn Nasty Plot to shore up his offenses a little instead. But again, those buffs would be moreso 'nice' rather than 'necessary' (unlike bringing along Princess, who still has to learn several key moves before her true potential is unlocked).

Other Pokemon from that list that Nathan could possibly loan out are Grid (has Thunder now, so high Dex is not required for high Electric damage, unlike with Emolga learning Electro Ball), Snivy, Ray (probably unnecessary on this list if Solosis is being included), Emolga (as stated previously, probably better in Nathan's party in case he learns Electro Ball), Dedenne (maybe?  She's rather hyperactive since she's very young, so maybe not...), Solomon, Porygon-Z, Ditto, and Mizu (though she doesn't particularly like being around Shiva).

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

Wonder Room probably isn't the best move to use for anyone in the group except Shiva given she's the only character with higher Insight than Vitality.  Nathan and Spira wouldn't see any benefits or dwonsides since their current Vit scores equal their Ins scores, but Heart and Terra would definitely mind quite a bit (mostly Terra).  


Shiva's bringing along Gothitelle, so Heal Block support is present if needed already, so that isn't a big concern either.

Unfortunately, of the ? moves you listed, the only one actually listed in the book is Confuse Ray.  The other two ? moves are Acid Armor (which would be pretty useful, admittedly) and Night Shade (really only relevant against Dark types since all Solosis know Psywave)

Solosis's current Ability is Overcoat.  Regenerator would probably be a semi-costly exp investment since it's a HA.  Either it or Magic Guard would probably be a lot better in the long run for her than an Overcoat without Powder immunity built into it, though.

I'd probably recommend Nathan having Solosis in his party if she comes along simply because he can get the screens up the most quickly (and IC, Solosis is most comfortable around him).  The earlier in the Round the screens go up, the more effective they are.  That, and Nathan has the most Gym Badges atm, so her Psywaves will do 6 D6 (which is equivalent to using a 5 Strength 5 power STAB move against a 5 Vit enemy, or a 5 Strength 3 Power STAB against a 3 Vit enemy), meaning there'd be very little DPS loss from having her on Nathan's team in particular unless she's facing a Dark type.

On the topic of Solomon real quick, he has enough tools that learning more ASAP isn't entirely necessary, he'd just probably appreciate having some stronger ones to use.  Before Brine gets powered up, his damaging moves are all an effective 3 Power.  His access to Disable might help make up for it, though, and if he hogged a bunch of exp he could get Heal Pulse.  Or he could maybe learn Nasty Plot to shore up his offenses a little instead.  But again, those buffs would be moreso 'nice' rather than 'necessary' (unlike bringing along Princess, who still has to learn several key moves before her true potential is unlocked).
Other Pokemon from that list that Nathan could possibly loan out are Grid (has Thunder now, so high Dex is not required for high Electric damage, unlike with Emolga learning Electro Ball), Snivy, Ray (probably unnecessary on this list if Solosis is being included), Emolga (as stated previously, probably better in Nathan's party in case he learns Electro Ball), Dedenne (maybe?  She's rather hyperactive since she's very young, so maybe not...), Solomon, Porygon-Z, Ditto, and Mizu (though she doesn't particularly like being around Shiva).

Ick. I completely forgot what W.R. actually did and thought its effect was something instead. Yeah, I DEFINITELY would hate if Terra suddenly turned into a wheeny von beany due to getting MAGICKED, so maybe not the best thing to use in group settings....

Those Moves I brought up could always be vetted by Iron first to see if she could learn them anyway, like I did with Poison Fang for Aspis waaaay back, and coming up with the Tutor moves for Grass Dragon Lilith. Never know if you can teach a Pokemon stuff in his campaign unless you ask, as Iron plays both fast and loose with what a Pokemon can actually learn while simultaneously restricting them in that area too (Which baffles me as to how he manages to pull that combo off, but that's beside the point).

Fair enough keeping her with Nathan, though that means if you DO take her along you're going to be restricted in team building managed more so than usual. Offer is still open to replace Edmundi or Anubi with one Pokemon of your choice, as I would like to help you out IC and OOC, and Terra doesn't necessarily need either of those two so long as their are other powerful/useful Pokemon available that can fill in their niches present in the group and on him. Which pretty much include every Pokemon Nathan has, since they're all strong and your character has done a good job raising them to be....well, good. He's accommodating like that!

Oooh, another Heal Pulse user would be nice, or more hydro power if Nasty Plot can be brought online! I also just remembered that his Hidden Power can be used to reveal clues about objects/things (And possibly other stuff), so bringing him along suddenly seems like an excellent idea to me. If he could possibly learn Screen Moves via TM and the group could pool enough Poke for Nathan to purchase them (As I think Stair City sells them, if I remember correctly), they could provide tons of support Move and puzzle solving wise! I'd certainly be willing to chip in with that, in that case! I don't think you could loan Solomon out, though, since he IS Disobedient if I am not mistaken - albeit only slightly - so getting him to cooperate with the others would most likely have to come about from some sort of deal/arrangement between him, Nathan, and his temporary handler.

[Dragonstrike]

Spoiler

Ick. I completely forgot what W.R. actually did and thought its effect was something instead. Yeah, I DEFINITELY would hate if Terra suddenly turned into a wheeny von beany due to getting MAGICKED, so maybe not the best thing to use in group settings....

Those Moves I brought up could always be vetted by Iron first to see if she could learn them anyway, like I did with Poison Fang for Aspis waaaay back, and coming up with the Tutor moves for Grass Dragon Lilith. Never know if you can teach a Pokemon stuff in his campaign unless you ask, as Iron plays both fast and loose with what a Pokemon can actually learn while simultaneously restricting them in that area too (Which baffles me as to how he manages to pull that combo off, but that's beside the point).

Fair enough keeping her with Nathan, though that means if you DO take her along you're going to be restricted in team building managed more so than usual. Offer is still open to replace Edmundi or Anubi with one Pokemon of your choice, as I would like to help you out IC and OOC, and Terra doesn't necessarily need either of those two so long as their are other powerful/useful Pokemon available that can fill in their niches present in the group and on him. Which pretty much include every Pokemon Nathan has, since they're all strong and your character has done a good job raising them to be....well, good. He's accommodating like that!

Oooh, another Heal Pulse user would be nice, or more hydro power if Nasty Plot can be brought online! I also just remembered that his Hidden Power can be used to reveal clues about objects/things (And possibly other stuff), so bringing him along suddenly seems like an excellent idea to me. If he could possibly learn Screen Moves via TM and the group could pool enough Poke for Nathan to purchase them (As I think Stair City sells them, if I remember correctly), they could provide tons of support Move and puzzle solving wise! I'd certainly be willing to chip in with that, in that case! I don't think you could loan Solomon out, though, since he IS Disobedient if I am not mistaken - albeit only slightly - so getting him to cooperate with the others would most likely have to come about from some sort of deal/arrangement between him, Nathan, and his temporary handler.

The catch with Solomon's Hidden Power is that Nathan's the only trainer in the current group who can read it (quickly) IC. Aside from that, though, I don't think there'd be any major issues with loaning him out (and the Hidden Power thing isn't an issue at all so long as Nathan's nearby). He's a fairly reasonable pokemon.

Unfortunately, we haven't come across any places that sell the Screen TMs yet.

[Mikaruge108]

Spiritmon Mikaruge108 PhantomUnderYourDesk

Any comments from you guys on the pokemon I'm considering bringing?

Oh yeah, I also had another idea I wanted to throw out there: I have a second pokemon that could possibly throw up dual screen support if brought along: Solosis.  She already knows Light Screen, and she can also put up Reflect after gaining only a mere 3 exp (and the screens help offset basically all pokemon's weaknesses very easily).  Offensively, she's basically useless against Dark types, but her main attacks (Future Sight and 5-6 Gym Badge backed Psywave) are super strong otherwise.  And she has Recover to heal herself with as well.  She's not much of a fighter right now and is rather skittish around most everyone except Nathan, but she has a -1 Disobedience as far as Nathan goes, so lending her out might not be a major issue if that's considered.  (Your thoughts on this as well, Lord Windos?)

Of the original filler, I personally would definitely consider Grid, Solomon (What was his species again?), Ditto, and Porygon-Z. Solosis is a bit of a risk, but the added defenses that she can bestow counteracts that imo.
-Grid: Electroweb/other debuffs would be helpful
-Solomon: HP/Potential candidate for the "Kingly" Pokemon
-Ditto: jack-of-all-trades
-Porygon-Z: self-buffing, access to Dark-type moves

[Dragonstrike]

Of the original filler, I personally would definitely consider Grid, Solomon (What was his species again?), Ditto, and Porygon-Z. Solosis is a bit of a risk, but the added defenses that she can bestow counteracts that imo.
-Grid: Electroweb/other debuffs would be helpful
-Solomon: HP/Potential candidate for the "Kingly" Pokemon
-Ditto: jack-of-all-trades
-Porygon-Z: self-buffing, access to Dark-type moves

Solomon is an Overgrown Slowking that's more obedient than a typical one (+1 HP, 2 base Disobedience instead of 3).

Because of where Nathan evolved him (which Nathan hasn't told anyone IC), Solomon is able to perfectly read both modern and ancient writing. Handy for deciphering old text that nobody else in modern times is able to translate (such as Elder Unown, which we'll likely see a lot of in lower levels of the Ruins). However, Solomon is (ironically) not very good at writing and spelling words himself. He can't talk either, so him helping with translations often involves a lot of guesswork and context clues. He finds that communication barrier a little frustrating to deal with at times, but he and Nathan are both generally patient enough to stumble through it if necessary.

His Shellder crown looks much like a standard Slowking's, except it has a pink tint to it, has many pores, and features an Elder Unown symbol on it that glows when near Primal/magical sources of power, or when he uses his Hidden Power. The symbol is difficult to see when not glowing, and it completely vanishes when Solomon faints.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

(...) Pixel-by-pixel coloring is fun (...)

Yes it is if it's not a sprite or pixel art, ugh
Still a fine pic as a whole :> I would probably have printed out the lineart-version and color it by hand somehow.