Reay to take on Colosseum Mt. Battle?!

[Psychic]

Ready to take on Colosseum Mt. Battle?!

I just started replying Colosseum, and having beaten the main storyline, I'd like to tackle Mt. Battle. This is pretty much my first serious attempt at a team. Additional info:

I haven't decided whether or not this is for the double or single battle challenge, so thoughts on that would be appreciated.I just started playing Sapphire version, though I'm not very far in the game (and I don't yet have the GC to GBA cable, but I will soon). I only have one of each TM, so I limited that way. All Pokemon are at level 69 (har har).


Typhlosian @ Charcoal
Nature: Quirky
Ability: Blaze
Flame Wheel
Swift/Brick Break
Dig/Earthquake
Fire Blast

Ampharos @ (suggestions?)
Nature: Timid
Ability: Static
Thunderbolt
Thunderwave
Focus Punch
Iron Tail

Quagsire @ Quick Claw
Nature: Lax
Ability: Damp
Earthquake
Surf
Blizzard
Yawn/Sludge Bomb

Espeon @ Twistedspoon
Nature: Mild
Ability: Synchronize
Psychic
Return/??
Morning Sun
Shadow Ball

Flygon @ Dragon Scale
Nature: Quiet
Ability: Levitate
Dragonbreath/Dragon Claw
Crunch
Sand Tomb
Fire Blast

Medicham @ Black Belt
Nature: Quirky
Ability: Pure Power
Confusion/Psychic (when I can get it)
Hi Jump Kick
Reversal
Detect


Medicham is definitely my weakest link, so I'm thinking of replacing it with
Tyranitar @ Hard Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
Crunch
Thunder
Rock Slide
Blizzard/Earthquake


Please tell me what you guys think - any advice would be greatly appreciated!

~Psychic

 

[Emeraldfan]

Before I go onto rating this team: have you caught all Pokémon available in Colosseum and do you wish to use these Pokémon, or the strongest possible combination of the Pokémon available ingame?

 

[Psychic]

I have indeed caught them all, and I am willing to use whatever works best. :>

 

[KillerDraco]

Hm... Well, one thing immediately comes to mind. While I don't recall exactly every "problem" Pokemon you might encounter, I do recall that you will be seeing Kyogre in the 100th battle, and you have nothing that can stop it. With rain up, Kyogre's Hydro Pump is a guaranteed 1HKO on Ampharos. Kyogre outspeeds Ampharos, and nothing else on your team can really take any of its attacks. You might consider dropping Ampharos for Raikou, who has slightly better bulk, but more importantly, is able to outspeed Kyogre and turn its rain against it with Thunder. Otherwise, you'll be hoping for a miss on Hydro Pump to deal with the bringer of rain.

In truth, most of the Pokemon in Colosseum can't handle Kyogre, so your choices for dealing with it are limited. Quagsire could have partial success keeping Kyogre at bay, but only if it had Water Absorb... Damp doesn't do much for it, unfortunately. You could import Ludicolo from Sapphire when you get your cable, whose Swift Swim, 4x resistance to water, STAB Grass attacks, and neutrality to ice make it able to at least stay in on Kyogre (though it probably won't beat the big fish by itself).

Although now that I check, Kyogre only appears in Singles, so you could potentially do Doubles to avoid it, as well.

 

[Emeraldfan]

Oh, another question has arisen after reading KillerDraco's post. Will you be challenging Mt. Battle in Scenario mode or Colosseum mode?

 

[Psychic]

Hm, good point, KillerDraco. In that case I might consider doing Doubles. The only solution I could think of otherwise is give Ampharos a Quick Claw and pray, so Raikou does sound like a better choice.

I'd be challenging Mt. Battle in Colosseum Mode, since I a aiming to get that Ho-Oh. :>

Edit: Got the connection cable, though I'm only halfway through Sapphire at this point.

 

[Emeraldfan]

Allright, after having watched some Colosseum Mt. Battle I can say that indeed, you only face Kyogre in singles.
Therefore, and because you said you considered it, I'll be rating this as if you were doing doubles.
What I'll do is suggest Pokémon, movesets and of course nature, though I don't know how much you're willing to do and neither do I know how challenging it actually is.

As for the team, a weather team might not be that bad, since it allows you to deal with Focus Band, Endure users and the like.

Tyranitar
Brave
~ Rock Slide
~ Earthquake
~ Crunch
~ Brick Break / Thunder Wave

Rock Slide and Crunch are both STAB moves. Rock Slide is physical, Crunch special. You should expect to get more damage off Rock Slide, but 95 base Special Attack is not at all bad either.
Earthquake is coverage, as is Brick Break and Thunder Wave to slow down the opponent. Brave nature because Speed is the only stat that may be lowered on this thing, since you do want both defences and Special Attack to be as high as possible.

I'd partner Tyranitar with the following Pokémon, for some, hopefully obvious, reasons.

Skarmory
Adamant
~ Drill Peck
~ Steel Wing
~ Return
~ Agility

You can get Drill Peck via breeding with a Dodrio, which you can do no Sapphire iirc. Steel Wing is level-up and both moves get STAB. Return for some coverage. Drill Peck mostly helps against the Fighting types that Tyranitar doesn't like.

Then for the team member to switch in when Tyranitar faints:

Metagross
Adamant
~ Meteor Mash
~ Earthquake
~ Shadow Ball
~ Brick Break / Agility

The last move depends on what you want to do. Agility allows for some outspeeding, Brick Break gives some more coverage, though not overly much.

So far you've got three physical Pokémon, so a special based one'd be great. If you're able to get a Latias with a decent nature, I'd surely use it, probably with the following set and as a stand in for Skarmory:

Latias
Bold/Modest/Timid
~ Calm Mind
~ Surf
~ Dragon Claw
~ Recover

I'd recommend these four as your main team, and then there's two left to fill the gaps.
What you could of course do is use Kyogre and some other Pokémon, and have two teams at the same time.
Kyogre should run something like this:

Kyogre
Bold / Modest / Timid
~ Surf
~ Thunder
~ Ice Beam
~ Calm Mind

Then for the last team member, I'm really not sure what you still need. If anybody has some suggestions, they're quite welcome. I however don't see anything that still needs covering.

As for the teams you can create:

Sandstorm
Tyranitar (Metagross)
Skarmory (Latias)

Skarmory and Latias are both not hit by Earthquake, meaning you can spam it the whole battle. At the same time they get some great coverage moves.

Rain
Kyogre (Metagross)
Latias (Skarmory)

Skarmory and Metagross profit from the rain because their Fire weaknesses are reduced. Latias and Kyogre both get highly boosted Surfs, so you really should be able to sweep most of the trainers with just those two.

 

[Darth Sabreus]

^ I would use Agility over Brick Break. I haven't played any Colosseun at all, but anyway although BB does get Super hits on 5 types, a STAB Meteor Mash is just as powerful (both hit 150 power). I guess it could be good to break through Light Screen or Reflect though. I use Light Screen in Agiligross myself, buts that's because I had a poor Special Defence IV, but it does also provide team support.