So I just played about Alpha Sapphire for like a half hour and I'm starting to wonder why I ever stopped playing pokemon in the first place. I also find it funny that the last pokemon game I remember playing for real was ruby.

I've been out of the pokemon loop for like a decade and I just wanted to ask if anyone has any tips about building a decent team to run. Back in the day, I would usually just beef up my starter pokemon to the point to where they started 1-shotting everything but now I actually want to start building an actual team.

Also just general discussion on how the game is going for you guys to anyone who has it. I probably won't update that often because my sister also bought omega ruby and is a WAY bigger pokemon nerd than I am so she'll probably start hogging it the first week or so.

Dangit, I really wish I had the money for this :(

I speedrun Sapphire sometimes. Not very far into AS yet, obviously. It looks like Treeko is actually a really strong starter this time. He gets Mega Drain at 13! Other than that, it's just like every Pokemon game - all the ones you can catch early are shitmons, then when they start not being shitmons you outlevel them all by miles. Catch the ones that look cool.

E: More speedrun theorycrafting as I go. The contest cinematic is pretty long. If you do it, though, they give you a level 20 Pikachu. That significantly outlevels your starter at that point. Highly unlikely it'd save time in a speedrun, MAYBE if you start with Torchic and need to shit on May 2. Speaking of, time to see if May 2 is the runkiller she was in gen 3.

E2: Yep. She might even stop the old Mudkip route - a Shroomish rather than a Numel might be too much to handle, depending on what X items you use. Tentatively want to say Torchic is the starter of choice for speedruns. Treeko's got stats on his side, though. It'll depend a lot on the later parts.

E3: There is going to be so fucking much Wally yaoi soon.

This'll be interesting for me. The last gen I legitimately played was gen 2, and while I did try Sapphire briefly (and saw Mudkip be awesome) I've never actually played it.

I saw someone doing the whole beauty contest thing constantly and also constantly building pokeblocks, and was like 'what the fuck why is this in my pokemon game' and decided not to touch it for a long time (I was young and stupid and was still getting my Feraligatr to level 100)

Now that I'm playing FireRed (a romhack, anyway) and I'll be getting Alpha Sapphire soon, my interest in Hoenn/gen 3 is pretty much spiked so I'll be enjoying a new experience

With luck I'll be getting Alpha Sapphire soon as well, and I plan on giving a Nuzlocke a shot for it so we'll see how that goes.

As for team building, it doesn't matter too much in game, but just like competitive it depends on what you want to do. I personally like to have at least a few roles covered, and little to no type overlap. I'm no expert, so take this with a grain of salt, but what I like to have in game is this:
-A strong and fast attacker (I love my Gyarados)
-A strong and fast special attacker
-A defensive Pokemon
-Something that can set status
-Something with Fly
-An HM slave (Strength, Surf, Waterfall, etc.) Ziggzagoon is great for this

Good offensive types are Fire, Fighting, Rock, Ice, and Ground. They are Super Effective on a lot of common types. For your offensive Pokemon, it's a good idea to have one move that matches their type and at least one coverage move of another type.
Good defensive types are Steel, Water, and Dragon. Playing defensively is a bit of a losing game nowadays what with megas, but resistances are still useful to have. A good of thumb is for every Pokemon to have a resistance to at least one other team member's weakness, but it's not strictly necessary.

Hope that helps.

I still need to finish everything from Pokemon Y...I have the kalos dex done at least? But I'm glad to see these games got their remake!

Also I keep reading the thread title as "It feels really good to be back on heroin" >_>

that was going to be my next post

So does anyone know a better pokemon who can use cut other than freaking Nincada? Of all the pokemon I regularly use, I only keep nincada around because it's the only one I knew of that was capable of using cut but it's stats are so poor that I may as well be running with a team of 5. I don't know if it's because I'm doing something wrong but I'd just prefer to have a full team where all of it's members are functional both in and out of battle.

I HM Slaved a Zigzagoon for their pickup ability.

I just finished Episode Delta.... It's so damn awesome!

The PokeNav Plus is the best PDA in the series so far. I've loved Pokemon for a long time, but actually finding and catching the little things has always been a chore. DexNav actually makes hunting for Pokemon and filling out the Pokedex fun for the first time in fifteen years haha. The only things I want back from past menus are a run button toggle and the pedometer. AreaNav is really useful too!



Zinnia is so cute :3 I SR for a 31/31/6/16/31/31 Jolly Rayquaza, it took a little while but I was fairly happy even though the Def IV is shit.

What was everybody's team this time? I always try to use new Pokemon, but I played RSE so many times as a kid that there are almost no Hoenn dex Pokemon I haven't already played through the game with, so I just ended up going with some old favorites. I had:

-Miller (Swampert, Male (Mega))
-Stella (Gardevoir, Male (Mega))
-Heineken (Absol, Male (Mega))
-Abraxas (Crobat, Female)
-Sam (Ludicolo, Male)
-Pabst (Exploud, Female)

Gardevoir has always been a good Pokemon for playthroughs but it's on a completely different level in ORAS. Fairy typing and STAB is so good that even Ralts isn't total dead weight before it evolves, and STAB Draining Kiss is amazing even with its low BP. Totally my MVP. Also, it's not probably not going to shine as much in competitive, but Mega Swampert with Power-Up Punch is pretty cool in-game.

I'm currently en route to sweeping the E4 in Alpha Sapphire with this combo:

- Zippy (Sceptile, Mega Stoned)
- Yukari (Gardevoir, Mega Stoned)
- Harriet (Latias, Mega Stoned)
- Metagross (Shiny Metagross, Mega Stoned)
- Spark (Cosplay Pikachu, Rock Star outfit, Light Ball)
- Utility Belt (Linoone, HM Slave, no item because Pickup)

Yes, I made Latias a permanent team member - sue me.

Gardevoir is basically the most OP pokémon ever, particularly with a mega stone.
I might give Spark an Eviolite if I ever get one, its Defense stat is absolutely abysmal.

For beyond the E4 (Delta Episode, Steven Stone and legendaries) I plan on getting an Absol and some kind of Water type (Milotic or Gyarados) to replace Utility Belt and Spark.

PS. I used my Master Ball on that goddamn Spiritomb with Memento in Sea Mauville. Seriously, fuck that noise. It's always his first move, too . I can live with taking forever to catch Deoxys, particularly since I have False Swipe, Hypnosis and about 900 pokéballs. Before you ask, I had neither when I found Spiritomb, and I had saved in such a way that the fight began whenever I started the game.

PPS. Why the hell can't I name my pokémon HM Slave anymore? I can understand not being allowed to trade them with that name, but not naming them that at all?

ORAS is an absolute triumph for the Pokemon franchise.

I would have gladly paid money just to play the post game. The Delta Episode is strange, but the most engaging story Pokemon has had too date. Plus, SO MUCH BADASS SHIT HAPPENS

At the cost of XY's character customization, we now have Contests and Secret Bases. Contests are easy provided one invests the time into making pokeblocks and selecting movesets. Participating in one, win or lose, gets you Cosplay Pikachu. After that, you shouldnt feel obligated to continue unless you find it interesting. As someone who loved contests in Gen 3, I find that the new contest system is vastly improved, albeit incredibly dull at times. Though it does serve as a nice distraction from the main game.

Secret bases are awesome. You literally get to live in a tree or a cave or a bush and fill the place with things you love. Or, create a pseudo gym!

The Pokeradar (postgame shiny hunting item in XY) has been replaced with the Dexnav, and thank Arceus it has. XY shiny hunting was asinine due to a lack or large grass areas for chaining, and the absurd number of ways a chain could be broken. The Dexnav, avaliable at the start of the game, finds particular pokemon poking their heads or tails out of the grass or water. Each time the dexnav finds the same Pokemon, the search level is raised for that pokemon. Higher search levels means Pokemon that know moves they normally shouldnt, hidden abilities, and higher shiny encounter rates. Chaining has less complications, making the experience less of a hassel, and gives you the genuine feeling that you are a researcher. My Tailow knew Brave Bird at level 2. Thats flippin' awesome. Throwaway pokemon are now a JOY to catch.

The game's 1st half plays out nearly identically fo the R/S story, with hints of mega evolution here and there. By the climax, you are fighting, in my opinion, one of the hardest legendary encounters since Mewtwo in the original R/B/Y; Primal Evolution's are breathtakingly beautiful, and a force to be reckoned with.

This game, with EXP Share on, is so easy it rivals XY. Things pick up like MAD in the late game though. If you turned off EXP share, the game is gonna be groggy and tedious in the middle. By late/post game, you are rewarded with a signifigant jump in difficulty, but I assure you, its managable if you play smart.

Avoiding spoilers, Legendary Hunting and the Post game are INCREDIBLE. There are so many new mysteries.....Team Aqua and Magma have more fleshed out characters (<3 Courtney)...and at the end of it all, your a goddamn hero. YOU GET TO SAVE THE WORLD AND FEEL BADASS ABOUT IT.

Basically, I love this game.

My only complaints;

1) My in-game parents are having marital problems, clearly

2) I didnt get to fuck May. Kids game aside, playing has a boy, you really get strong hints that May just wants you through her facial expressions and parts of her behavior. Thats an AWESOME thing the series did, btw, was adding more charcater to the NPC's, especially with Team Magma/Aqua. Except then at random, May's just like "Oh we're friends"

Other side notes:

1) XY Ghost girl found in Mt Pyre. Yikes
2) Some fucked up shit in Phoebe's Elite Four Room...anyone else see the ghost?
3) Hoopa Unbound is fuckin scary
4) Rayquaza too OP
5) lots of love for Courtney

Final ORAS Review:

Too little mind control; 7.8/10