SPOILERS! Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon In-Game Team Thread

Well, I just finished the RR episode with my team of Decidueye, Dunsparce, Metagross, Salamence, Mamoswine, and Volcarona. Overall, I really liked this team a lot, even if it mostly sucked until the endgame. But hey, I enjoyed the challenge.

As for the individual team members, Decidueye was kind of my carrier for most of the game (as starters tend to be), at least until my late bloomers like Metagross and Salamence started evolving. I like the Rowlet line enough, but next time, I'll probably try picking Popplio instead, since this team could really use a dedicated sponge for Fire- and Water-type attacks, it would make it more balanced in terms of physical vs. special attackers, and I've never really gotten to use a Fairy-type anyway.

Despite being the odd one out on this team, Dunsparce was lowkey my team's MVP from Melemele Island all the way to the Aether Foundation where my Metagross finally evolved. In terms of bulk, Dunsparce was by far the fattest member of my team (until my Piloswine evolved, anyway), so I could always count on him to eat a neutral hit on the switch. Also, thanks to most of my team evolving really late in the game, Dunsparce didn't really start falling behind in terms of stats until Poni Island, which was really nice. So, basically, I found a way to make Dunsparce useful. 10/10 would use again.

Metagross
, unfortunately, wasn't really anything special. He was okay as a Metang thanks to Eviolite, but as a Metagross, he didn't really get much of a chance to shine due to my Shelgon evolving around the same time and being faster and just as strong (with an Attack-boosting nature to boot, which Metagross didn't have). That said, being able to tutor Thunder Punch onto it from the get-go was really nice, not to mention he singlehandedly destroyed the Ultra Necrozma fight despite me being underlevelled for most of the game, so I'll definitely be using it again in future playthroughs.

Overall, Salamence wasn't a mon I enjoyed using very much. Getting a Bagon on Melemele was easily the hardest part of the game for me (I was running around in that patch of grass on Route 3 for hours before I found one, I kid you not), it kind of sucked until it fully evolved, and when it finally did, it just kind of smacked everything away in one hit, thus eliminating any sort of challenge from Poni Island onward. Having a mon with Intimidate was pretty cool, but overall, Salamence just didn't do it for me. I wouldn't complain if I had to use it again, but on a future run, I'll probably replace it with Jolteon or Gengar or some other fast special attacker that's available early on.

Although Mamoswine was hurt pretty bad by evolving via move reminder, I still enjoyed using it quite a bit. Sure, it was stuck as a crappy Piloswine until the Pokemon League, but it also came pre-packaged with Icicle Spear and Ice Shard, so I wasn't complaining. Getting it via Island Scan wasn't nearly as painful as I anticipated, and having STAB Earthquake later on proved to be a boon against most trainers along with its Ice STAB moves. Overall, Mamoswine definitely impressed me, and since it's one of the few usable Ice-types before the endgame and my favorite Ice-type in general, I'd definitely use it again.

And now, the crown jewel itself. Although I had to wait until the last island to get one, Volcarona was a powerhouse to say the least. Granted, it wasn't super good considering I got it as a useless Larvesta and had to wait until the move reminder to give it any special STABs, but when I did, Volcarona suddenly started wrecking everything in its path. What can I say, sweeping an entire team after setting up just one Quiver Dance is one of the most satisfying things in this entire game. Considering it was my favorite member of my team and an absolute beast, you can bet I wouldn't drop Volcarona for any other Bug- or Fire-type.
 
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Alright, Im gonna play Ultra Moon and I need advice, is this a good team?
Reasoning:
Primarina - A great fairy type, powerful starter, and I need a Fairy
Zoroark - shuts down psychic-types completely with illusion
Lycanroc - everybody uses him, so I thought that I might as well, besides, it looks like a powerhouse
Raichu - I wanted at least one alolan form (would otherwise use a Vikavolt because you can now evolve it earlier) and Raichu just ended as the only one that wouldnt share a type with others
Arcanine - used one in B2, didnt disapoint at all, Intimidate is great and Flare Blitz will hurt like a truck
Liligant - Wanted a grass type, Lili gets quiver dance, giga drain, energy ball and dream eater, seems like an interesting member

Is this team any good?
 

Attachments

Just beat the Elite Four in Ultra Moon, haven't done any post-game stuff yet. I ended up going with Jolteon instead of Manectric. My (overleveled) team as of beating the Elite Four:

Decidueye: Lv 65, Modest (+SpA -Atk), Shadow Ball/Giga Drain/Leaf Storm/Nasty Plot
Did its job when it was needed but mostly sat in the back. Put in a lot of work against Ghost and Rock-types against the Elite Four however, defeating 6 of their Pokémon (the second most of any party member). The Modest nature was largely a hinderance as it took a while to get good special moves for it.

Alakazam: Lv 64, Docile (neutral), Dazzling Gleam/Recover/Psychic/Calm Mind
Required babying to evolve but became very capable after that. Later on was only used when it could ensure a OHKO however. Only defeated 2 Pokémon against the Elite Four (the fewest of any party member), though could have set up and swept the Champion if I had decide to go that route.

Primeape: Lv 66, Bashful (neutral), Stone Edge/Close Combat/Poison Jab/Outrage
Performed well almost immediately and absolutely loved early access to Brick Break and Fightinium Z. I perhaps should have opted for some elemental punches since it felt like only its Fighting-type moves were seeing any use for much of the game.

Jolteon: Lv 66, Calm (+SpD -Atk), Signal Beam/Hidden Power Fire/Thunderbolt/Shadow Ball
Had Adaptability as an Eevee which helped it fend for itself prior to evolving. Shock Wave and Signal Beam via Move Tutor helped it perform fairly well after evolving. Performed well when needed but ended up sitting in the back for much of the game. However it was the only party member to solo an Elite Four member and defeated 7 of their Pokémon (the most of any party member).

Gyarados: Lv 65, Jolly (+Spe -SpA), Bounce/Dragon Dance/Ice Fang/Aqua Tail
Caught as a Gyarados via SOS. Z Bounce was unfairly powerful at that point, though learning Bounce came at the cost of me learning about the Move Tutor bug (lost Bite). Ended up using Z moves or Thrash (while it knew it) a lot due to the imperfect accuracy of its STAB moves. Intimidate was very helpful.

Tyranitar: Lv 65, Jolly (+Spe -SpA), Brick Break/Crunch/Stone Edge/Earthquake
Didn't perform horribly as a Larvitar thanks to having access to access to reasonably good moves but was definitely the underperformer of the party. I chose to hold off on evolving it until level 46(!) to learn Earthquake sooner so it spent a long time as a Larvitar, fights being increasingly cherry picked for it as time went on. Didn't perform much better as a Pupitar but STAB Earthquake was great to have. Once it finally became a Tyranitar though it was amazing! Became an extremely reliable party member and absolutely carried the party at times, though Sand Stream tended to be a nuisance if another party member needed to switch in. All the effort definitely paid off and I do not regret using it, though I would still think twice about doing it again (especially after going through a somewhat similar experience with Growlithe in Sun, albeit not as extreme). The Jolly nature definitely helped to not be outsped quite as often.

Overall the party worked better than I expected, though I'm going with a different party for my Ultra Sun run (when I get around to doing that).
 
Alright, finally beat the Elite Four. I went through the game on Set and had the exp. share off. Here's the all-Poison team I used:

Alolan Muk (MCMURRAY): Lv. 58, Black Glasses, Crunch/Minimize/Thunder Punch/Ice Punch
Easily the MVP of my team. Never let me down, and tough fights were made manageable with Minimize. Great coverage and a great ability in Poison Touch. Not to mention his immunity to Psychic made that weakness a non-issue for my team. McMurray was my ride-or-die throughout the game. Super bulky and reliable while still packing a punch or two. ;)

Crobat (BENATAR): Lv. 59, (no item), Acrobatics/Haze/Giga Drain/Leech Life
Runner-up for team MVP. Crobat is an underrated Pokemon, and her Ground immunity saved my ass several times in the lategame. That's why she has Giga Drain, by the way. Against Hapu, I used an X Special Attack and then swept. Leech Life was kept over Poison Jab because I wanted my team to have super effective coverage against Dark types. Haze made Totem Kommo-O, Ultra Necrozma, and Totem Ribombee all relatively easy fights. I kept expecting her to fall off in usefulness, but she never did. Great Pokemon.

Gengar (TAHAWUS): Lv. 53, Ghostium Z, Energy Ball/Psychic/Shadow Ball/Sludge Bomb
Tahawus was pretty good, although he was a bit frail at times. His coverage really allowed him to shine, but he was too underleveled in the Elite Four to do much outside of OHKOing Molayne's Metagross. Early-game Gastly isn't as bad as it used to be; it gains access to Round, Echoed Voice, and Giga Drain, all of which adequately take advantage of its monstrous special attack. Toward the end of the game, he was probably my worst Pokemon overall. I wish he still had Levitate...

Salazzle (HEART): Lv. 54, Firium Z, Flamethrower/Nasty Plot/Sludge Wave/Hidden Power Ice
I really underestimed how useful Poison/Fire is as a defensive typing. Salazzle is a frail Pokemon, but Heart usually survived strong attacks with just enough HP to KO in return. I worry that she'll become redundant in the postgame, which might convince me to switch her out for Nihilego. But we've been through a lot and I don't think I'd feel very good about doing that. I was pretty stoked to learn that her Hidden Power type was Ice, but I don't think I ever actually used it.

Toxapex (MERCY): Lv. 55, Poison Barb, Toxic/Venoshock/Liquidation/Toxic Spikes
When McMurray wasn't up to the task, I could always count on Mercy to tank a hit. Toxic-boosted Venoshock that always crits thanks to Merciless slightly mitigated her poor offensive stats. Unless the opponent had super effective coverage, Mercy could not be 2HKOd. This allowed me some breathing room to heal my team in tight spots, which happened pretty frequently toward the end of the game. I might switch out Toxic Spikes for Baneful Bunker in the postgame.

Naganadel (ANNIE): Lv. 57, Dragonium Z, Sludge Wave/Flamethrower/Nasty Plot/Draco Meteor
Poipole is a lategame acquisition, but training five Pokemon instead of six up until that point was fine. She actually performed reasonably well as a Poipole, which was bolstered by the fact that Poipole is SO DAMN CUTE. Seriously, that was incentive enough for me to use her as much as possible. When she evolved into Naganadel, she became much less cute but also became an absolute powerhouse. The set that got Naganadel banned from OU is damn useful against the Elite Four, too. I fed her as much Carbos as she could handle to try to get Beast Boost to affect Speed, but she stopped eating them literally one point before Speed would have overtaken Special Attack. A bummer for sure, but Naganadel is already very fast, and the Special Attack boosts allowed her to absolutely steamroll Acerola's team. Also, I know Naganadel is genderless, but in my mind, that just means I get to decide her gender--that's how I roll with genderless Pokemon in pretty much any ingame run.
 
I did breed the Arcanine, Cloyster, and Garchomp to be Adamant, Adamant, and Jolly and have their respective egg moves (although I did not make use of them until near the end game).

Arcanine @ Firium-Z (Flare Blitz/Outrage/Crunch/Close Combat)
Kept as a Growlithe until he got Flare Blitz, and even beforehand, Intimidate Growlithe with Eviolite is a trooper through the entire game. Very bulky, and Fire Fang was a decent STAB (although it needed Firium to really dent/OHKO things) to get him by along the way. He's definitely among the most solid Fire types in the game, especially once he evolves - only problem is the grind to Flare Blitz. B+/A-

Garchomp @ Groundium-Z or Muscle Band (Outrage/Dig/Stone Miss/Iron Head)
I didn't factor in that having access to Dragon Rage before level 10 might be a little busted for early game, so I can't confidently say that he's an amazing pick for anyone and everyone (especially considering less-than-stellar availability). As far as how you'd normally play with Gabite, he performs well at the point you would get him normally anyway, and Dual Chop+Dig/Bulldoze+Rock Tomb is great coverage in-game with the ability to run coverage in the last slot (Shadow Claw, Aerial Ace, Iron Head). C+/B- for availability.

Metagross @ Steelium-Z or Muscle Band (Meteor Mash/Zen Headbutt/Bullet Punch/Hammer Arm)
MVP for fighting U-Necrozma for sure. Even beforehand, Metang with Eviolite was very solid, and Iron Head+Zen Headbutt+Bullet Punch+Bulldoze/Rock Tomb was fantastic coverage through the game, and Metang has the muscle to make use of it. He's obviously incredible once he becomes Metagross, and the grind to get there is enjoyable too. I'd rate him A.

Gardevoir @ Choice Specs (Psychic/Moonblast/Grass Knot or Focus Blast/Hypnosis)
Required some babying and would get one-shot more often than I ever expected as a Ralts/Kirlia...but man, the minute Wicke gives you Psychic, it and Draining Kiss do amazing work throughout the game. Once she was a Gardevoir, I hardly ever had to heal her since you just needed to slap something with a Draining Kiss to go back to full health. And once you get the Choice Specs, Gardy becomes an actual monster. Psychic OHKOs everything not-Dark, and Gardevoir gets access to the coverage to OHKO everything else. Even gets Hypnosis and Synchronize to assist with catching Pokemon later in the game. Island Scan is less than ideal, but I would argue that it's worth getting your hands on her. At the very least, being part-Fairy makes Gardevoir's line one of the only really dependable Psychic Pokemon available in Alola (and it gets Signal Beam+Icy Wind to provide a little neat coverage). B+ at least.

Magnezone @ Electrium-Z (Thunder/Flash Cannon/Hidden Power Grass/Thunder Wave)
Pretty much just as good as everyone here has already opined. Having status and a solid 95 base SpAtk so early was amazing, and makes catching things/killing water and flying Mons simple. He was the reason I was able to muscle past U-Necrozma, as Thunder Wave brought the beast down to my level and provided some of the para-hax I needed to get a couple free shots in with Metagross. He's perfectly functional as a Magneton as well. S

Cloyster @ Never-melt Ice (Icicle Spear/Rock Blast/Razor Shell/Ice Shard)
He was, at several points, an MVP. Once Shellder got Skill Link Icicle Spear, he was basically unstoppable to anything with physical attacks and/or neutral to Ice. Only really weak to surprise coverage/strong special moves, but there's hardly anything in the game that doesn't die to Icicle Spear+Ice Shard. The other two moves are almost just for show and handling Fire/Rock/neutral matchups. A/A+ with Skill Link; wouldn't use him otherwise.
 
Alright, finally beat the Elite Four. I went through the game on Set and had the exp. share off. Here's the all-Poison team I used
I see you are a man of culture as well, I also mono-type in my playthroughs. Here is my 2spooky4u ghost squad, I completed the game including RR episode this weekend. When I have time I'll edit with move-sets. I'll say right away the biggest obstacle I had to overcome and found out very quickly was going to be a huge problem was dark types and mons with crunch as coverage.

https://richi3f.github.io/pokemon-t...r+oricorio-sensu+marowak-alola+golurk+mimikyu
 
i posted my Team ages ago in this forum but i finally got the game
My team has changed to (Hano grand resort w/ faba)
https://richi3f.github.io/pokemon-t...malamar+zoroark+noibat+lycanroc-dusk+ampharos

Brionne- My starter, 32, 2 levels away from evo, doing ok although level up moves aren't that great

Malamar- Great! Topsy Turvy any totem and flip their stat boosts foul play does wonders early game (level 30)

Zoroark- Ok, zorua wasn't getting much done but zoroark has higher attacking stats so w/ foul play it should be alright (level 30)

Noibat- Sucks but i'm trying to wait it out till noivern (28)

Lycanroc-dusk- Ok move set is good enough Z happy hour was a fun gimmick early game (Level 30)

Ampharos- Moveset it really lacking but i love this mon (30)

Edit:All 40 or over now, Pirmarina and Noivern
 
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(In order by acquisition)
This is probably gonna be my final team (I just got to Poni as I post this). I have been soooo indecisive on who I want for my team. Let me explain all the mons that have been on it.
Pokemon Previously on my Team
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I had Floette for a while, probably up until early Akala. I learned that the shiny stone is a very late item (I have Ultra Moon, so it is in Poni)

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I had a Pichu caught early af. It stayed with me for a long time, up to level 34 (it was a Raichu by this time). It just didn't have the power I needed and it's Psychic typing was a double on my team. (Starmie)

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This man carried me through Kiawe's trial, but his level up moveset is trash. All he had was bubblebeam, aurora beam, and psybeam and it wasn't going to improve.

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This was the Octillery replacement. Little did I realize it also has a trash level up moveset (bubblebeam and pyshic were all I had that were useful) and it wasn't doing it's job on the team.

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Pyroar did his job QUITE well. He was amazing. But now, he just doesn't pack strong enough of a punch. His only offensive moves are Flamethrower and Echoed Voice (I have round but Echoed Voice helps me more imo). He has work up and noble roar, which helped so much for totem mons.

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I was confliced on Espeon or Sylveon, and after I trained Sylveon up I couldn't just abandon it for something so frail.


Now, on to my actual team:

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My starter, so obviously I kept it. Has done amazing work, except for the fact I forgot Razor Leaf for foresight on accident. I was stuck with Leafage most of the game, so I used Bloom Doom as my main grass attack. Now it has Leaf Blade, so no worries :D

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One of two OG's of my team. Early, Zorua is trash. However, once it got Night Slash and Foul Play, it wrecks house.

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The other OG of my team. Hits hard as hell with Tough Claws and it's physical contact move, and Rock Slide STAB isn't a joke (close to stone edge). The speedy hard hitter I needed.

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Sylveon is a good semi-bulky offense mon and a mon I truly love. It's so fun to use and Draining Kiss + Big Root = hella sustain. It has moonblast now, as well as psyshock and shadow ball. Really good coverage and revenge mon in-game.

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I had to do some trading for this one, as I have UM and I don't have access to the area to get it. Hits hard as HELL and has Sludge Bomb, Aura Sphere, Flash Cannon, and Water Pulse. Super good coverage and a good special water type.

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After reading about an Infernape on here, I just took the leap of faith of dropping Pyroar. I know Infernape is really good and I'm looking forward to finishing the game with one (Monferno rn)
 


This was a fun Ultra Sun team to use, I gotta admit. Each of my teammates offensively and defensively synergized well with each other, only really missing out on a Ghost resist, but I was able to manage. I'll go over each teammate that I received in chronological order.

Ariel the Primarina was the starter I decided to roll with after using Decidueye in the previous Sun version. Unfortunately, I got one with a pretty bad Special Attack IV (the highest it could have been was 7 :/ ) so it was missing out on OHKOs when it should have gotten them otherwise, but once it learned Sparkling Aria/Oceanic Operetta, Moonblast, Psychic, and Ice Beam, it started to finally wreck shop on a consistent basis.

Next up was Hige the Dusk Lycanroc. It had some growing pains without Rock STAB in the beginning, but funny enough, it actually made use of Rockruff's Own Tempo when Zubats tried to use Supersonic and Golbats tried to use Confuse Ray during grinding sessions lmao. Once it got Rock-type moves and evolved, it was the naturally fastest Pokemon on my team and it hit pretty hard. Some of its STABs were a bit unreliable, such as Rock Slide, Stone Edge, and even Rock Tomb missing during crucial moments, and Drill Run and Fire Fang had their share of misses too. Luckily, Rockium Z, followed by Lycanium Z once I got Stone Edge, gave me Z moves that never missed, so I usually just went for that for safe keeping. Cool mon, but it was one of the least-used members.

Legion the Magnezone was a boss, and one of my MVPs for sure. Started off strong as a Magnemite with a great typing, powerful Thundershock, and Thunder Wave to slow down things. It had some rough patches to go through before I got Eviolite due to it evolving at level 30, but once it passed the Magnemite stage and got better moves such as Shock Wave, then Discharge, Volt Switch, and Flash Cannon, Magneton was great, and Magnezone was even better. I was originally going to use Electrium Z on this after using Steelium Z on the Mimikyu trial, but I opted to stick with Steelium Z on Magnezone for the rest of the game as I felt my team needed a strong Fairy killer, and it could use this against Electric resists such as Grass-types, Dragon-types, and slower Ground-types that were in range of being knocked out by Corkscrew Crash. Also, this mon solo'd Ultra Necrozma. Beast.

Cha the Hawlucha was so brainless to use and really easy to level up given it was the traded one from Route 2. The Traded status plus Pokemon Refresh meant this gained XP like it was nothing. At level 8, it started with a great moveset with Hone Claws, Wing Attack, and Karate Chop which I quickly replaced with Brick Break, and it just got better from there. Unburden + Berries and Acrobatics allowed this mon to effortlessly sweep teams by itself. Probably one of the best mons in the game.

Krakatoa the Alolan Marowak was another really strong Pokemon on my team. I could have went for the Totem variation, but I decided to roll with Cubone at the start so I could not only use it against Olivia and not worry about having a Rock weakness, but I could also acquire one with Lightning Rod, giving Alolan Marowak 3 immunities with a new one to Electric, giving my team a countermeasure to electric types that were starting to become a problem. 3 immunities and 6 resistances patched a lot of weaknesses that my team had. Luckily, said Totem Marowak always has a Thick Club, so I used Thief on it to guarantee that I could get one for Krakatoa, and man did this thing break everything. Easily the strongest Pokemon on my team in terms of attacking power. A shame that I couldn't use Shadow Bone unlike the Totem version, but there wasn't really a point in the game where I missed it all that much, and the early Fire Punch tutor, Brick Break for Normal-types, and EdgeQuake coverage in Bonemerang and Rock Tomb carried this mon for nearly the whole game until the end where I got the move relearner to give Shadow Bone to Krakatoa. Loved using this mon. I highly recommend it.

Sunny the Tsareena was my last mon. Originally, I was using Zorua because I was planning to use it against Ultra Necrozma with Cha being the disguise, but I realize two things. One, I had Magnezone that had a good matchup against it already, and two, I had a hard time switching in to and effectively dealing with Water-types. Magnemite and Brionne weren't enough at the time imo. It also didn't hurt to have a secondary Ground resist, and that's where Sunny comes in. It had a really, really rough beginning when I caught it as a Steenee (its cuteness in Refresh offset its terrible attacking stats :3 ) but once it became Tsareena and got Trop Kick, forget about it. This thing literally kicked ass. I even formed a VoltTurn core with Sunny using U-turn and Legion using Volt Switch, which was handy because I always play with the Set Battle Style turned on and the EXP share off, and this VoltTurn core was key in helping my team gain shared XP and dish out some extra damage before switching in to a counter. With Power Whip, Trop Kick, High Jump Kick, and U-turn, Sunny was well worth it.​
 
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Here's the team I used on Ultra Moon.

Before starting, I decided on some rules for which Pokemon I should use. I wanted to use a starter, a Grass-, Fire-, Water- and Fairy-type. I did also not want to have any overlapping types. I wanted a reasonably fast team so I decided that I would have a maximum of two Pokemon with a base speed below 80, I previously did the same thing on Sun and it worked well there so I thought I should continue with that. I also decided to only use Pokemon that were available on the first three islands since I didn't want to wait too long before getting my final team member. Once more, I did the same thing on Sun and it worked there so I went with it again. I also didn't use any Pokemon that I have used before on a recent in-game team.

Unlike what I did for my teams on S/M, I decided to not limit myself to only allowing Pokemon from specific regions/generations. Instead, I simply used Pokemon that I really wanted to use, no matter when they first appeared. I only used one Pokemon that wasn't in the S/M Dex which I guess is ironic as I really wanted a Pokedex expansion for these games. But I just got so happy every time I saw a Pokemon that wasn't in the S/M Dex so I decided to try and not spoil myself for the entire expansion. I'll probably use more Pokemon from the Dex expansion in Ultra Sun later on.

I let my team members hold Z-Crystals but I only used Z-moves against "boss" trainers and Pokemon, when randomly testing the Z-moves against wild Pokemon, and against wild Golbat. I played with the Exp. Share off but I played with my team in Pokemon Refresh until they had 5 hearts of affection. This was also the first time I cared somewhat about Natures for an in-game team. I didn't want them to have any Natures that lowered Speed or their main attacking stat. The reason I did this was because I didn't want to end up with a Pokemon getting weaker due to having a less useful Nature (on Sun, I used a Krookodile with a Modest Nature on my team, quite possible the worst it can have). Finally, I caught/obtained all of my team members in different types of Poke Balls because I felt like it and it made all of them a bit more unique when I looked at their ball row on the status screen.

Looking back at all of this now, I feel like I might have had too many restrictions on my team building. Maybe I should be less restrictive while making teams. Not sure though.

That was enough as an intro, now for the details.

Team at a glance:
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Incineroar @ Incinium Z
Ability: Blaze
Nature: Lax
- Flare Blitz
- Darkest Lariat
- Brick Break
- Flamethrower

Starter, Fire-type and first member of the team. Since I picked Popplio in Moon and Rowlet in Sun, this was the obvious choice for a starter. I heard that there was a glitch in version 1.0 of the games that could cause the game to freeze after you had picked Litten, thankfully that didn't happen to me. Anyway, this cat worked quite well. Flare Blitz was the main STAB move, it hits like a truck but at the cost of causing heavy recoil. I had to go with Fire Fang for quite a long while before it learned Flare Blitz though, and Fire Fang was quite weak in the later parts of the game before it learned Flare Blitz. Darkest Lariat for secondary STAB, a great signature move which gets powered up into an even greater signature Z-move. Brick Break for coverage, it was helpful against Normal- and Dark-types. Flamethrower in the last slot because I couldn't think of anything else, and many good moves were only available after beating the main story. Base 80 Sp.att isn't too bad, it could be useful if Incineroar's attack had been lowered or against Pokemon with high Defense. Overall, Incineroar worked pretty well. The only negative thing about it is that it was quite slow but it was usually not that bad, and the other starters are in a similar situation either way.


Alakazam @ Psychium Z
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Naive
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Energy Ball

Alakazam is my favorite Kanto Pokemon. Early on in the game, I thought I should have at least two team members before the first trial. But I realized after catching Abra that it wouldn't be very useful against the first Trial since the Totem Pokemon is a Raticate, a Dark-type, and at that point my Kadabra only knew Confusion as its only attacking move. Thankfully I didn't need to use it during that battle at all as my Torracat took care of it all by itself.

Even if Alakazam is my favorite from the first generation, I have rarely ever used it before on in-game teams. The fact that you need to trade to evolve it usually prevents me from using it during the first game of a generation, and I have had a lot of other Pokemon I have been wanting to use instead on previous games and generations. So I decided to give it a try here. I also thought it could be great to have a Pokemon that could Mega Evolve since during the pre-release period for the games, it seemed that Mega Evolution could potentially be used during the main story this time around. Sadly that wasn't quite the case, but you still get the Alakazite from Dexio during the post-game which allowed me to Mega Evolve it in the end.Before reaching the Battle Tree, which is at least something.

Catching it wasn't very hard as I caught the first Abra I met in my first Ultra Ball, so that was neat. Synchronize might have been a better ability but I just took what I got. Training it as an Abra was a bit of a pain since it couldn't beat anything by itself and I had almost no TMs at that point, but once it evolved into Kadabra, it went better. I then evolved it into Alakazam quickly afterwards. It was very strong in the early parts of the game, but as time went on, it felt like it lacked the strength to do what it needed to. Great Sp.att and Speed is good, but its defensive stats are lacking. At the later parts of the game, if it couldn't OHKO the opponent, it was very likely to be KO'd back or at least take heavy damage. Psychic was the main STAB move, Shadow Ball was for coverage against Ghost-types and opposing Psychic-types. Dazzling Gleam was mainly against Dark-types, it has less power than Focus Blast but at least it always hits. I went with Energy Ball in the last slot for extra coverage against Water-, Ground- and Rock-types. Used to have Recover there for quite a long while but it got less and less useful the further I got in the game due to Alakazam's frailty, so I scrapped it. Overall quite good but it didn't quite feel like the ace I have heard it can be in other games.


Lilligant @ Grassium Z
Ability: Own Tempo
Nature: Hardy
- Petal Dance
- Giga Drain
- Quiver Dance
- Sleep Powder

My grass-type for this team. Lilligant is one of the cutest Pokemon ever. That is not an opinion, it is an objective fact. It is also one of my favorite Unova Pokemon and one of my favorite Grass-types. Despite that, I have never used it for an in-game run before. The only other time I have used it is on my post-game team in White. And since I didn't know when I might get to use it again, I decided to go with it here. Catching it was somewhat of a pain due to the moves it knew at that time (Absorb/Growth/Leech Seed/Sleep Powder), but I got one eventually. Own Tempo was the Ability I wanted in order to abuse together with Petal Dance later on.

I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but as the game went on, I realized that Lilligant was probably the best member of my team. It took care of many situations where the others couldn't do much. For instance, it managed to take care of Olivia (the Kahuna battle), Lusamine and Acerola. I traded over a Sun Stone to evolve it after learning Giga Drain as a Petilil, but before learning Quiver Dance as a Lilligant. Even so, it was still surprisingly good as a Petilil, it managed to solo Hala which I hadn't expected at all. As for the moveset, Petal Dance was the main move, it hits like a truck and doesn't cause confusion afterwards thanks to Own Tempo. It took a while for it to learn the move though, so I had Grass Knot in the first slot for a while. Giga Drain was the second move, it deals less damage but recovers HP which is never bad. Quiver Dance as a set-up move, it raises Sp.att, Sp.def and Speed, which is amazing. Sleep Powder to shut down opponents while I either attack them or set up on them, it was also useful for catching Pokemon throughout the game.

I thought the lack of coverage would be a problem, but that wasn't really the case. After a few Quiver Dances, not much can survive a Petal Dance from Lilligant. Unless an opponent was 4x resistant to Grass or had very high Sp.def, they would go down. There aren't a whole lot of coverage options either. Dream Eater could possibly be used in combination with Sleep Powder, but I dislike combo moves like that since they can be unreliable. Hidden Power exists too, my Lilligant has HP Dragon which isn't completely useless, but not quite the best either. Then there's Hyper Beam too, I suppose. But I went with just Grass-moves and it worked very well in the end. Overall, it was the best member of the team and I'd say I like it even more now than I did before this playthrough.


Stoutland @ Normalium Z
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Lonely
- Return
- Crunch
- Rock Tomb
- Giga Impact

I used Stoutland because it is in a similar situation to Lilligant. I had never used it before, and if I didn't use it now, when would I get another chance? I don't know. I'm not a huge fan of dogs but Lillipup is adorable and Stoutland looks like a good dog, so it gets a pass in my book. Intimidate was the preferred Ability since Sand Rush didn't feel very reliable. Lowering the opponent's attack is never bad, especially since my Stoutland has a Lonely nature so it needed the extra buff that Intimidate could give. Scrappy would probably have been an even better alternative but I really couldn't be bothered to find a HA Lillipup... guess that's rather self-explanatory.

Return was the main STAB move, though it took a while to get the TM so I had to use Take Down for a long while. Which wasn't very fun since it is rather weak, causes recoil and has imperfect accuracy. I also used Facade for a while, it was not as powerful as Take Down but more reliable and without recoil, it also gives a heavy bonus when Stoutland was afflicted by status. Though it would often cure itself thanks to Pokemon Refresh bonuses which meant the Facade bonus became obsolete. Crunch was the main coverage move to hit Ghost-types. Rock Tomb ended up being the next move. I just taught it to the dog at first since it needed coverage and I happened to have the TM, but it became surprisingly useful. Stoutland has 80 base speed which isn't all too bad, but it still got outrun by many opponents at various times. Lowering their Speed with Rock Tomb was very helpful to let me be faster and hit them first on the next turn. Rock Tomb is also the move that saved me against Ultra Necrozma. I know there are some other alternatives like Wild Charge and Play Rough, but I ended up keeping Rock Tomb all the way throughout the game. Giga Impact was the final move, mainly in order to have the most powerful Breakneck Blitz, but it could also be useful on its own as a finisher move. Stoutland worked quite well overall, not the best but it often managed to do what I wanted it to.


Mantine @ Waterium Z
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Bold
- Surf
- Air Slash
- Ice Beam
- Roost

My Water-type. Also the only Pokemon from the team that wasn't available in the Alola Dex in S/M. Mantyke is really adorable, and Mantine looks so jolly, which I like a lot. Thankfully my Mantine had a Bold Nature which is much better for it. The last time I used Mantine was on a kind of post-game team in LeafGreen, which was many years ago. Decided to give it another try here. Had to backtrack a bit to Melemele after getting the ability to Surf on Lapras since I wanted to get it before the Fire trial, but it wasn't a problem. Water Absorb was the preferred Ability to gain one extra immunity and recover HP when hit by Water-type moves... which happened occasionally, the AI in the games isn't always the smartest. Its main STAB move varied throughout the game. I had to run Bubble Beam for a really long while which was annoying as it is a rather weak move. Then I got Scald on Poni Island, and finally Surf after beating the main game. Air Slash was secondary STAB, then Ice Beam for extra coverage. Though that TM was also available very late, I had Round for a long while before finally obtaining it. Roost in the last slot to recover HP. Mantine is quite bulky, it can often tank hits and then restore HP afterwards. These battles might take a bit longer to get done but it works. Its Sp.def is quite amazing, it tanked a +4 Dazzling Gleam from Totem Ribombee and laughed in its face afterwards. Sadly, it's offensive capabilities are not quite that good since its moves often didn't do a lot of damage, most opponents were 2-3HKO'd at best unless they were weak to one of its moves. It was also quite slow and would often get attacked before it had the chance to make a move. Not the best member of the team, unfortunately. But it could still do some things the others couldn't, most notably tanking special moves.


Mimkyu @ Mimikium Z
Ability: Disguise
Nature: Naive
- Shadow Claw
- Play Rough
- Leech Life
- Swords Dance

Final member of the team. Fairy and Ghost are my two favorite types, and I really wanted to give Mimikyu a try here since I didn't use it on my in-game teams in S/M. I thought it might take a while to find one but thankfully I managed to find a wild one on my third encounter at the abandoned megamart. Shadow Claw and Play Rough were its main moves, both getting STAB and having amazing coverage together. Unfortunately, Shadow Claw felt a bit weak most of the time. Play Rough was better, but it was inaccurate and had a tendency to miss at the worst possible moments. Leech Life was for coverage and to regain HP. I checked what TMs Mimikyu could learn after catching it and this was one of them, I couldn't think of anything better later on in the game so I ended up keeping it. Swords Dance in the last slot to boost its attack, though the TM was only available after beating the game so I had Hone Claws there instead for a while. Boosting both Attack and Accuracy is never bad, it helped with letting Play Rough hit more often too. Disguise is also an amazing Ability. As for the item, I let it hold Ghostium Z first, then Fairium Z after I had obtained that. Not sure when the Mimikium Z first becomes available but I only learned where and how to find it after I had beaten the game. Unfortunately, Mimikyu wasn't quite as good as I had hoped. It often felt rather weak and frail, needing to set up in order to do enough damage and it was at high risk at being defeated in the process of doing so. I still love it though.

This team worked pretty well but it isn't among my best teams. Lilligant was the best member of the team, followed by Incineroar. Looking back at the team now, I wish I had used some more coverage moves of different types. The two that stand out are Ground and Electric as those would have helped me hit certain Pokemon super effectively which I couldn't with the moves I had.

Not sure what Pokemon I will use on my in-game team for Ultra Sun. It will be the first time since White 2 where I won't use a starter. I have a few ideas but we'll see what happens. Though I guess this thread will be dead once I even get started on that game.
 
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Here's the team I used on Ultra Moon.

Before starting, I decided on some rules for which Pokemon I should use. I wanted to use a starter, a Grass-, Fire-, Water- and Fairy-type. I did also not want to have any overlapping types. I wanted a reasonably fast team so I decided that I would have a maximum of two Pokemon with a base speed below 80, I previously did the same thing on Sun and it worked well there so I thought I should continue with that. I also decided to only use Pokemon that were available on the first three islands since I didn't want to wait too long before getting my final team member. Once more, I did the same thing on Sun and it worked there so I went with it again. I also didn't use any Pokemon that I have used before on a recent in-game team.

Unlike what I did for my teams on S/M, I decided to not limit myself to only allowing Pokemon from specific regions/generations. Instead, I simply used Pokemon that I really wanted to use, no matter when they first appeared. I only used one Pokemon that wasn't in the S/M Dex which I guess is ironic as I really wanted a Pokedex expansion for these games. But I just got so happy every time I saw a Pokemon that wasn't in the S/M Dex so I decided to try and not spoil myself for the entire expansion. I'll probably use more Pokemon from the Dex expansion in Ultra Sun later on.

I let my team members hold Z-Crystals but I only used Z-moves against "boss" trainers and Pokemon, when randomly testing the Z-moves against wild Pokemon, and against wild Golbat. I played with the Exp. Share off but I played with my team in Pokemon Refresh until they had 5 hearts of affection. This was also the first time I cared somewhat about Natures for an in-game team. I didn't want them to have any Natures that lowered Speed or their main attacking stat. The reason I did this was because I didn't want to end up with a Pokemon getting weaker due to having a less useful Nature (on Sun, I used a Krookodile with a Modest Nature on my team, quite possible the worst it can have). Finally, I caught/obtained all of my team members in different types of Poke Balls because I felt like it and it made all of them a bit more unique when I looked at their ball row on the status screen.

Looking back at all of this now, I feel like I might have had too many restrictions on my team building. Maybe I should be less restrictive while making teams. Not sure though.

That was enough as an intro, now for the details.

Team at a glance: View attachment 98111View attachment 98112View attachment 98113View attachment 98114View attachment 98115View attachment 98116


Incineroar @ Incinium Z
Ability: Blaze
Nature: Lax
- Flare Blitz
- Darkest Lariat
- Brick Break
- Flamethrower

Starter, Fire-type and first member of the team. Since I picked Popplio in Moon and Rowlet in Sun, this was the obvious choice for a starter. I heard that there was a glitch in version 1.0 of the games that could cause the game to freeze after you had picked Litten, thankfully that didn't happen to me. Anyway, this cat worked quite well. Flare Blitz was the main STAB move, it hits like a truck but at the cost of causing heavy recoil. I had to go with Fire Fang for quite a long while before it learned Flare Blitz though, and Fire Fang was quite weak in the later parts of the game before it learned Flare Blitz. Darkest Lariat for secondary STAB, a great signature move which gets powered up into an even greater signature Z-move. Brick Break for coverage, it was helpful against Normal- and Dark-types. Flamethrower in the last slot because I couldn't think of anything else, and many good moves were only available after beating the main story. Base 80 Sp.att isn't too bad, it could be useful if Incineroar's attack had been lowered or against Pokemon with high Defense. Overall, Incineroar worked pretty well. The only negative thing about it is that it was quite slow but it was usually not that bad, and the other starters are in a similar situation either way.


Alakazam @ Psychium Z
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Naive
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Energy Ball

Alakazam is my favorite Kanto Pokemon. Early on in the game, I thought I should have at least two team members before the first trial. But I realized after catching Abra that it wouldn't be very useful against the first Trial since the Totem Pokemon is a Raticate, a Dark-type, and at that point my Kadabra only knew Confusion as its only attacking move. Thankfully I didn't need to use it during that battle at all as my Torracat took care of it all by itself.

Even if Alakazam is my favorite from the first generation, I have rarely ever used it before on in-game teams. The fact that you need to trade to evolve it usually prevents me from using it during the first game of a generation, and I have had a lot of other Pokemon I have been wanting to use instead on previous games and generations. So I decided to give it a try here. I also thought it could be great to have a Pokemon that could Mega Evolve since during the pre-release period for the games, it seemed that Mega Evolution could potentially be used during the main story this time around. Sadly that wasn't quite the case, but you still get the Alakazite from Dexio during the post-game which allowed me to Mega Evolve it in the end.Before reaching the Battle Tree, which is at least something.

Catching it wasn't very hard as I caught the first Abra I met in my first Ultra Ball, so that was neat. Synchronize might have been a better ability but I just took what I got. Training it as an Abra was a bit of a pain since it couldn't beat anything by itself and I had almost no TMs at that point, but once it evolved into Kadabra, it went better. I then evolved it into Alakazam quickly afterwards. It was very strong in the early parts of the game, but as time went on, it felt like it lacked the strength to do what it needed to. Great Sp.att and Speed is good, but its defensive stats are lacking. At the later parts of the game, if it couldn't OHKO the opponent, it was very likely to be KO'd back or at least take heavy damage. Psychic was the main STAB move, Shadow Ball was for coverage against Ghost-types and opposing Psychic-types. Dazzling Gleam was mainly against Dark-types, it has less power than Focus Blast but at least it always hits. I went with Energy Ball in the last slot for extra coverage against Water-, Ground- and Rock-types. Used to have Recover there for quite a long while but it got less and less useful the further I got in the game due to Alakazam's frailty, so I scrapped it. Overall quite good but it didn't quite feel like the ace I have heard it can be in other games.


Lilligant @ Grassium Z
Ability: Own Tempo
Nature: Hardy
- Petal Dance
- Giga Drain
- Quiver Dance
- Sleep Powder

My grass-type for this team. Lilligant is one of the cutest Pokemon ever. That is not an opinion, it is an objective fact. It is also one of my favorite Unova Pokemon and one of my favorite Grass-types. Despite that, I have never used it for an in-game run before. The only other time I have used it is on my post-game team in White. And since I didn't know when I might get to use it again, I decided to go with it here. Catching it was somewhat of a pain due to the moves it knew at that time (Absorb/Growth/Leech Seed/Sleep Powder), but I got one eventually. Own Tempo was the Ability I wanted in order to abuse together with Petal Dance later on.

I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but as the game went on, I realized that Lilligant was probably the best member of my team. It took care of many situations where the others couldn't do much. For instance, it managed to take care of Olivia (the Kahuna battle), Lusamine and Acerola. I traded over a Sun Stone to evolve it after learning Giga Drain as a Petilil, but before learning Quiver Dance as a Lilligant. Even so, it was still surprisingly good as a Petilil, it managed to solo Hala which I hadn't expected at all. As for the moveset, Petal Dance was the main move, it hits like a truck and doesn't cause confusion afterwards thanks to Own Tempo. It took a while for it to learn the move though, so I had Grass Knot in the first slot for a while. Giga Drain was the second move, it deals less damage but recovers HP which is never bad. Quiver Dance as a set-up move, it raises Sp.att, Sp.def and Speed, which is amazing. Sleep Powder to shut down opponents while I either attack them or set up on them, it was also useful for catching Pokemon throughout the game.

I thought the lack of coverage would be a problem, but that wasn't really the case. After a few Quiver Dances, not much can survive a Petal Dance from Lilligant. Unless an opponent was 4x resistant to Grass or had very high Sp.def, they would go down. There aren't a whole lot of coverage options either. Dream Eater could possibly be used in combination with Sleep Powder, but I dislike combo moves like that since they can be unreliable. Hidden Power exists too, my Lilligant has HP Dragon which isn't completely useless, but not quite the best either. Then there's Hyper Beam too, I suppose. But I went with just Grass-moves and it worked very well in the end. Overall, it was the best member of the team and I'd say I like it even more now than I did before this playthrough.


Stoutland @ Normalium Z
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Lonely
- Return
- Crunch
- Rock Tomb
- Giga Impact

I used Stoutland because it is in a similar situation to Lilligant. I had never used it before, and if I didn't use it now, when would I get another chance? I don't know. I'm not a huge fan of dogs but Lillipup is adorable and Stoutland looks like a good dog, so it gets a pass in my book. Intimidate was the preferred Ability since Sand Rush didn't feel very reliable. Lowering the opponent's attack is never bad, especially since my Stoutland has a Lonely nature so it needed the extra buff that Intimidate could give. Scrappy would probably have been an even better alternative but I really couldn't be bothered to find a HA Lillipup... guess that's rather self-explanatory.

Return was the main STAB move, though it took a while to get the TM so I had to use Take Down for a long while. Which wasn't very fun since it is rather weak, causes recoil and has imperfect accuracy. I also used Facade for a while, it was not as powerful as Take Down but more reliable and without recoil, it also gives a heavy bonus when Stoutland was afflicted by status. Though it would often cure itself thanks to Pokemon Refresh bonuses which meant the Facade bonus became obsolete. Crunch was the main coverage move to hit Ghost-types. Rock Tomb ended up being the next move. I just taught it to the dog at first since it needed coverage and I happened to have the TM, but it became surprisingly useful. Stoutland has 80 base speed which isn't all too bad, but it still got outrun by many opponents at various times. Lowering their Speed with Rock Tomb was very helpful to let me be faster and hit them first on the next turn. Rock Tomb is also the move that saved me against Ultra Necrozma. I know there are some other alternatives like Wild Charge and Play Rough, but I ended up keeping Rock Tomb all the way throughout the game. Giga Impact was the final move, mainly in order to have the most powerful Breakneck Blitz, but it could also be useful on its own as a finisher move. Stoutland worked quite well overall, not the best but it often managed to do what I wanted it to.


Mantine @ Waterium Z
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Bold
- Surf
- Air Slash
- Ice Beam
- Roost

My Water-type. Also the only Pokemon from the team that wasn't available in the Alola Dex in S/M. Mantyke is really adorable, and Mantine looks so jolly, which I like a lot. Thankfully my Mantine had a Bold Nature which is much better for it. The last time I used Mantine was on a kind of post-game team in LeafGreen, which was many years ago. Decided to give it another try here. Had to backtrack a bit to Melemele after getting the ability to Surf on Lapras since I wanted to get it before the Fire trial, but it wasn't a problem. Water Absorb was the preferred Ability to gain one extra immunity and recover HP when hit by Water-type moves... which happened occasionally, the AI in the games isn't always the smartest. Its main STAB move varied throughout the game. I had to run Bubble Beam for a really long while which was annoying as it is a rather weak move. Then I got Scald on Poni Island, and finally Surf after beating the main game. Air Slash was secondary STAB, then Ice Beam for extra coverage. Though that TM was also available very late, I had Round for a long while before finally obtaining it. Roost in the last slot to recover HP. Mantine is quite bulky, it can often tank hits and then restore HP afterwards. These battles might take a bit longer to get done but it works. Its Sp.def is quite amazing, it tanked a +4 Dazzling Gleam from Totem Ribombee and laughed in its face afterwards. Sadly, it's offensive capabilities are not quite that good since its moves often didn't do a lot of damage, most opponents were 2-3HKO'd at best unless they were weak to one of its moves. It was also quite slow and would often get attacked before it had the chance to make a move. Not the best member of the team, unfortunately. But it could still do some things the others couldn't, most notably tanking special moves.


Mimkyu @ Mimikium Z
Ability: Disguise
Nature: Naive
- Shadow Claw
- Play Rough
- Leech Life
- Swords Dance

Final member of the team. Fairy and Ghost are my two favorite types, and I really wanted to give Mimikyu a try here since I didn't use it on my in-game teams in S/M. I thought it might take a while to find one but thankfully I managed to find a wild one on my third encounter at the abandoned megamart. Shadow Claw and Play Rough were its main moves, both getting STAB and having amazing coverage together. Unfortunately, Shadow Claw felt a bit weak most of the time. Play Rough were better, but it was inaccurate and had a tendency to miss at the worst possible moments. Leech Life was for coverage and to regain HP. I checked what TMs Mimikyu could learn after catching it and this was one of them, I couldn't think of anything better later on in the game so I ended up keeping it. Swords Dance in the last slot to boost its attack, though the TM was only available after beating the game so I had Hone Claws there instead for a while. Boosting both Attack and Accuracy is never bad, it helped with letting Play Rough hit more often too. Disguise is also an amazing Ability. As for the item, I let it hold Ghostium Z first, then Fairium Z after I had obtained that. Not sure when the Mimikium Z first becomes available but I only learned where and how to find it after I had beaten the game. Unfortunately, Mimikyu wasn't quite as good as I had hoped. It often felt rather weak and frail, needing to set up in order to do enough damage and it was at high risk at being defeated in the process of doing so. I still love it though.

This team worked pretty well but it isn't among my best teams. Lilligant was the best member of the team, followed by Incineroar. Looking back at the team now, I wish I had used some more coverage moves of different types. The two that stand out are Ground and Electric as those would have helped me hit certain Pokemon super effectively which I couldn't with the moves I had.

Not sure what Pokemon I will use on my in-game team for Ultra Sun. It will be the first time since White 2 where I won't use a starter. I have a few ideas but we'll see what happens. Though I guess this thread will be dead once I even get started on that game.
Not sure if it makes a huge difference for you, but you can pick up fire punch for litten/torracat/incineroar from the move tutors as soon as you get access to Mantine surf. A direct upgrade to fire fang and a feasible no-recoil option instead of flare blitz.
 
Not sure if it makes a huge difference for you, but you can pick up fire punch for litten/torracat/incineroar from the move tutors as soon as you get access to Mantine surf. A direct upgrade to fire fang and a feasible no-recoil option instead of flare blitz.
I suppose that would have been an option. I thought about it for a while, but I just never went with it since I usually don't use Move Tutor moves for in-game teams, and I was too lazy to farm BP in order to buy the move. Though that's a terrible reason seeing how easy it is to farm BP in these games, not to mention the fact that I could just have connected to Bank and obtained a ton of BP that way. I also just sort of forgot about it after a while.
 
Not sure if it makes a huge difference for you, but you can pick up fire punch for litten/torracat/incineroar from the move tutors as soon as you get access to Mantine surf. A direct upgrade to fire fang and a feasible no-recoil option instead of flare blitz.
Only Incineroar gets Fire Punch, but yeah, that's what I went for (with 2 Z-moves per battle, the nuke is there if you need it).
 
Well, I've just finished the first trial in my second playthrough of Ultra Moon, and I'm trying out a rotation team. Since there's just so many pokemon I want to use (around 30!), I've decided I'll play the game by switching out 2 - 4 pokemon at each pokecenter. It's either this or play through US/UM 5 times in a row, which I'm pretty sure no one wants to do. Would anyone be able to help me decide on if I should do a rotation team and if so, how/any advice, or something different. Here's the list of Pokemon I want to try and use

https://goo.gl/xiJRa1
 
Well, I've just finished the first trial in my second playthrough of Ultra Moon, and I'm trying out a rotation team. Since there's just so many pokemon I want to use (around 30!), I've decided I'll play the game by switching out 2 - 4 pokemon at each pokecenter. It's either this or play through US/UM 5 times in a row, which I'm pretty sure no one wants to do. Would anyone be able to help me decide on if I should do a rotation team and if so, how/any advice, or something different. Here's the list of Pokemon I want to try and use

https://goo.gl/xiJRa1
The way I did rotation was swap out whichever mons leveled up ahead of everyone else for those who were still underleveled. Granted, this means a LOT of running back and forth between the pokemon center and wherever you were last, but aside from Aether Paradise and Vast Poni Canyon, this doesn't really become that big of an issue. Also, thirty pokemon is WAAAAAY too much to reasonably attempt a rotation team with. At just 23 mons, my attempt to rotation through UM turned into a clown fiesta where my crew was lv. 29 against Guzma's lv. 34 mons... and it only got worse from there. A LOT of grinding was necessary just to get everyone up to where they needed to be, and Ultra Necrozma was felled at just lv. 43... which naturally meant even MORE grinding just to stand a chance against the Elite 4. I'd recommend cutting the mons down by half, 15 optimally, 18 at the most, 21-23 if the vast bulk of those are trades AT THE ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM. Otherwise, you will be so far behind the enemy, you'll need to spend hours grinding up Pellipers and Raticates and Gumshoos, and that's just not fun. As for which mons to prioritize... the ones that are going to evolve early and get strong FAST. This game brutally punishes late evolvers, especially those who aren't fully evolved by the time you face Guzma for the first time.
 
The way I did rotation was swap out whichever mons leveled up ahead of everyone else for those who were still underleveled. Granted, this means a LOT of running back and forth between the pokemon center and wherever you were last, but aside from Aether Paradise and Vast Poni Canyon, this doesn't really become that big of an issue. Also, thirty pokemon is WAAAAAY too much to reasonably attempt a rotation team with. At just 23 mons, my attempt to rotation through UM turned into a clown fiesta where my crew was lv. 29 against Guzma's lv. 34 mons... and it only got worse from there. A LOT of grinding was necessary just to get everyone up to where they needed to be, and Ultra Necrozma was felled at just lv. 43... which naturally meant even MORE grinding just to stand a chance against the Elite 4. I'd recommend cutting the mons down by half, 15 optimally, 18 at the most, 21-23 if the vast bulk of those are trades AT THE ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM. Otherwise, you will be so far behind the enemy, you'll need to spend hours grinding up Pellipers and Raticates and Gumshoos, and that's just not fun. As for which mons to prioritize... the ones that are going to evolve early and get strong FAST. This game brutally punishes late evolvers, especially those who aren't fully evolved by the time you face Guzma for the first time.
Thanks for this! I want to cut it down but the only problem is I don't know who I should use. The ones I know for sure are Primarina, Hawlucha and Mudsdale, and maybe Vikavolt/Dusk Lycanroc.

EDIT: I've managed to cut it down to 18 as I can use the other pokemon in other playthroughs (Soul Silver, Y, Omega Ruby) but I want to reach between 12 and 15. Any suggestions on what to cut out of this updated list?
 
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Thanks for this! I want to cut it down but the only problem is I don't know who I should use. The ones I know for sure are Primarina, Hawlucha and Mudsdale, and maybe Vikavolt/Dusk Lycanroc.
Well, looking at your currently cut down list, perhaps get rid of Gengar, since not only does it need trading to evolve, but the game is MEAN to pure psychic types and ghost types. Random ghost and dark moves especially are everywhere, and with every major fight being perfect IV's and EV's, Ghastly/Haunter is going to have a rough time just living without being blown up to hell and back. Contrast with Aegislash, who as a Doublade or even Honedge functions reasonably well with Eviolite and decently strong moves even from the getgo, and Gardevoir, who needs babying but gets online with good strong STAB moves sooner than Gengar could ever hope to get... That way, you're down to 18 mons, and you're set to go.

EDIT: ALong with Gengar, I'd suggest dropping Malamar and Eelektross. The former struggles in such a big move heavy game, and the latter is literally a one trick pony until it FINALLY evolves, by which point it'll still be pretty weak and underperforming until you finally slap that thunder stone on it... so you have to tightrope evolving it at just the right moment. Neither one are worth it in the end. Get rid of all three mons, and you're down to 15.
 
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You have to remember that once you reach the third island, the level spikes up considerably compared to SM. You have enemy trainers with level 40-50s when you face lvl 30-40 wilds (in SM they were on par), and by the time you get to Lusamine-1 she has 10 lvls higher than in SM as well.

Running a big rotation roster means you eventually WILL have to grind a ton more.
 
Well, looking at your currently cut down list, perhaps get rid of Gengar, since not only does it need trading to evolve, but the game is MEAN to pure psychic types and ghost types. Random ghost and dark moves especially are everywhere, and with every major fight being perfect IV's and EV's, Ghastly/Haunter is going to have a rough time just living without being blown up to hell and back. Contrast with Aegislash, who as a Doublade or even Honedge functions reasonably well with Eviolite and decently strong moves even from the getgo, and Gardevoir, who needs babying but gets online with good strong STAB moves sooner than Gengar could ever hope to get... That way, you're down to 18 mons, and you're set to go.

EDIT: ALong with Gengar, I'd suggest dropping Malamar and Eelektross. The former struggles in such a big move heavy game, and the latter is literally a one trick pony until it FINALLY evolves, by which point it'll still be pretty weak and underperforming until you finally slap that thunder stone on it... so you have to tightrope evolving it at just the right moment. Neither one are worth it in the end. Get rid of all three mons, and you're down to 15.
Well, made some final edits and here's my team (covers every type apart from Dragon)

Primarina, Mudsdale, Hawlucha, Arcanine, Dusk Lycanroc, Gardevoir, Tsareena, Alolan Muk, Vikavolt, Mimikyu, Bewear, Togedemaru, Toucannon (might remove later on), Walrein, Aegislash and Infernape.

What I think I might do is use the EXP Share the whole playthrough and switch out team members whenever I reach a new Pokecenter. I might try and give them all an extra heart as I found in my first playthrough some parts were too easy due to affection boosts.
 
Well, made some final edits and here's my team (covers every type apart from Dragon)

Primarina, Mudsdale, Hawlucha, Arcanine, Dusk Lycanroc, Gardevoir, Tsareena, Alolan Muk, Vikavolt, Mimikyu, Bewear, Togedemaru, Toucannon (might remove later on), Walrein, Aegislash and Infernape.

What I think I might do is use the EXP Share the whole playthrough and switch out team members whenever I reach a new Pokecenter. I might try and give them all an extra heart as I found in my first playthrough some parts were too easy due to affection boosts.
Yeah, Pokeamie/Refresh just sorta cheeses the game , hence I only used it when I was raising a Sylveon, and even then JUST to evolve it, so it only gained boosted experience. Going that far is perfectly fine in my book.
 
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This was my team for Ultra Moon, and it’s one of my all time favorites.

Decidueye: Decided to use this guy again, male named Robin, had a good play through with him in SM. Can’t say it was the same for USUM as he isn’t as good due to the difficulty boost but he did alright. I used Leaf Blade again, and that’s what he was for. Blading the crap out of Water, Rock and Ground types. All in all meh.

Lopunny: Never used one of these before. Fed it some malasadas and gave it the soothe bell and boom: Beginning of Akala had Bonnie the female Lopunny. Kinda weak as a Buneary, could do some stuff, but that didn’t last long. When Lopunny evolves, It hits like a truck with Return and High Jump Kick, and even helped me out with the water trial with Charge Beam. Will use again.

Zoroark: I was walking around the the trainer’s school when I encountered this little guy. I decided I’d give him a go and jeez, this thing is pretty good. As a Zorua, he took out Buneary and almost fainted Rowlett, so I captured him and named him Zorro. He held his own until level 30, when he evolved and Night Slashed ghosts and psychics to death. Necrozma stood no chance as he tried to use Photon Geyser, with no effect. Marowak even went down to him as a Zorua. I wish Zoroark was available this early on in other games.

Gengar: Walking through Hau’oli Cemetary seeing what’s there when I run into a female Gastly. I decided that I would name it Twilight and give Gengar a go. Boy, was I mistaken. Gastly did nothing in the first island, and once it evolved into Haunter, it wasn’t much better. I trade evolved it into Gengar, thinking it’d be better, but to no avail. I have nothing against Gengar, but in this game, I just carried it around hoping Cursed Body would activate. Scarcely shown on the battlefield and was there so I could sacrifice it to revive another mon. Gengar is, in my opinion, not a good mon for USUM.

Archeops: I’d never used a fossil before so I decided to try. Holy crap. Archen held its own, even with the ability, and when it evolved, I got to see why they gave it this ability. It deserves it 100%. Terry the Archeops wrecked everything with its devastating speed and attack. Even Kahili, who I struggled with in SM, was down in two minutes. It gets great coverage and can u-turn out when its ability activates. 10/10 will use again.

Garchomp: I found this gal in Haina Desert, and its raw attack power killed everything. Tanami, named after the desert, evolved during the final aether trip main game. It struggled against Hapu and Mina, but it broke down all elite four members and Hau with its stats and move pool. Great mon, came a bit late though.
 
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Primarina, Lycan-Dusk, Jolteon, Lurantis, Alolan Marowak, and will get Kommo-o
The moves he got are insane, finally a great physical fighting type move (and not just one either)
Finally it looks like a pseudo legendary
 
My team for Ultra-Moon



My starter, she's been great throughout, albeit a bit slow towards the end. She hits hard, has good coverage and can still take some hits.



Got him through Wonder Trade as soon as I was able to try, and it had Intimidate. He wrecks things with Flare Blitz and Darkest Lariat, and makes other things hurt less with Intimidate/Fake Out.



Had to grind a bit to get Dry Skin through SOS battle, but it was worth it for the Water immunity. Ice/Psychic is a great STAB to have, with Frost Breath early on until you get Ice Beam, Psychic at Aether Paradise, and coverage with Shadow Ball. She can outspeed and OHKO most things, so she never had to worry too much about her abysmal defense. She had to be careful of Sucker Punch, but Lovely Kiss takes care of that.



A friggin TANK. Got him with a +SpDef nature, so coupled with Stamina, he lived much longer than anything has a right to. Also hits hard back with early High Horsepower, and coverage with Heavy Slam and Double Kick. Destroys Salazzle, hurts Olivia , wrecks Mimikyu, and is the MVP against two of four of the Elite 4.



An amazing defensive typing, and his defenses are very good with Eviolite. I didn't evolve it into Magnezone, mostly because of the 10 speed loss upon evolution. It still OHKOs everything it needs to. It also solo'd Ultra Necrozma, with the help of ParaHax from Thunder Wave. It has access to Shock Wave early on with the move tutor, then gains Discharge + Flash Cannon, with Tri Attack or Signal Beam for coverage.



As expected, that thing is a beast. Flying type is king in this game, especially with the early Flyinium Z. Hawlucha never disappointed, OHKO'ing many important totem Pokemon with Z-Aerial Ace, then Z-Bounce, then Z-Fly. It lost some of it's shine late-game, since it's not as powerful as the rest of my team, but still very useful.
 
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I’m back with another team that I just beat the E4 with Friday Night. This was my Ultra Sun team, and I have to say I’m really proud of it. This team showed me that a Pokémon doesn’t have to be dual typed to be great. I will be going in the order that I captured these mons.

Incineroar: Started loving this Fire cat when USUM came out. On my first run with him, (which I’m not mentioning here), I named him Hobbes. In this run, I named him Tony, because of Frosted Flakes. I had only used Rowlet at this point, (just recently accepted Primarina, will be using a FEMALE one in my run next), so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I wasn’t let down with the Litten line. This fire cat decimates Gumshoos, Lurantis, Mimikyu, Ribombee (although I didn’t use it against it), and Acerola, as well as helping out with Togedemaru, Olivia, Ultra Necrozma, and all the grunts you’ll encounter. Tony was a solid pick for a starter and I’ll definitely use him again.

Alakazam: I ran into Abra in Hau’oli City and decided, what the heck, we’ll try it. I caught it and named it Craig. Craig evolved right before Hala and broke his Pokémon, and right after, on Akala, I evolved it into Alakazam. This thing, if it outspeeds, is a monster. Alakazam destroyed Totem Marowak, to my surprise, and shattered his ally Salazzle with a single Psybeam. He also one shot Totem Kommo-o with Psychium Z and helped a lot during victory road, as well as with destroying grunts. He unfortunately didn’t see any action in the league due to limited places where I would need him, and the rest of the team covering for him.Overall, Alakazam was really good in the first and second parts of the game, and ok during the last part.

Ampharos: I know most people get sick of this thing, but I’m glad I decided to stick with it. I found Bolt in Paniola Ranch and he helped with the water trial once I went to grind up to make him a Flaaffy. He destroys Flying and bulky Water types and snaps Kahili’s Pokémon like twigs. Bolt had pretty good coverage to that came in clutch for most of the game. Good mon, don’t know why I’ve never used it before this.

Mudsdale: I used one of these in that same crappy run with Hobbes the Incineroar, so I decided to use it again. I don’t regret it. Stamina and the Amulet Coin came in handy on Paige the Mudsdale, who I found at the same time as Bolt. Paige bodied Olivia, Togedemaru, Mimkyu with Heavy Slam, and Molayne, as well as helping with Elite 4 Olivia. Stamina is such a great ability that lets you reach max defense in a couple hits. Great mon, would use again.

Poliwrath: Again, I used a Politoed in that run of US with Hobbes, so I decided to use its counterpart evolution. I found this guy on Brooklet Hill and evolved him into Poliwrath in Konikoni city, right after he evolved into Poliwhirl. Vince The Poliwrath broke Olivia’s rocks right open, helped with grunts from Team skull, destroyed Nanu, and was broken in the Elite 4, with Molayne and Olivia also being swept by it. It may have poor defense, but it will hit incredibly hard. Poliwrath is amazing.

Rampardos: After using a Archeops in Ultra Moon and seeing how amazing it was, I decided to try this little dino out. I revived it before Olivia and named it Sarah. Sarah was great with that brutal attack stat and pretty great HP stat, and I gave it the choice scarf that I traded over and it killed. It destroyed all the Zubat lines that TS has, surprisingly did well against Lusamine and Guzma, and bodied Ribombee. She also destroyed almost all of Kahili’s team with Bolt and basically almost swept Hau. She never really succumbed to choice scarf as she was just so good. Will definitely use again.

Final Movesets:
Incineroar: Leech Life/Double Kick/Darkest Lariat/Flare Blitz
Alakazam: Dazzling Gleam/Psychic/Future Sight/Shadow Ball
Ampharos: Dragon Pulse/Thunder Wave/Discharge/Signal Beam
Mudsdale: Counter/Heavy Slam/Superpower/Earthquake
Poliwrath: Scald/Brick Break/Payback/Poison Jab
Rampardos: Rock Slide/Ice Beam/Stone Edge/Zen Headbutt
 
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