So... Sunflora. On My Team. Thoughts?

[WalesNote]

Was playing through Crystal, but kept debating over choices for my team. Would really like a fire, water, and grass types on my team, and have been looking to Sunflora. I know it's bad, but I kind of have nostalgia for it. Was wondering what other people thought about it, or if I should choose a different grass type. I know it can get Petal Dance, which would be quite a decently powerful move, though apparently Sunkern learns Giga Drain at a later level, so I wouldn't be able to have both at the same time.

Current team ideas:
Typlosion - Golduck - Sunflora - Magneton - Sneasel
Feraligatr - Magneton - Sneasel

Others to think about: Haunter, Ursaring, Murkrow, Xatu, Crobat, Nidoking, Rhydon, Dewgong, Exeggutour, Rapidash, Starmie, Aerodactyl, Scyther.

 

[Ishiftyounot]

First of all - that's a cool team! Your squad seems pretty solid and having a F/W/G core is always good at covering most of the key threats. From the little bit I've seen from Crystal so far though a Grass type really is not necessary especially if you're running Magneton - there are so many Poison types in this game thanks to Team Rocket and random route trainers and a bit after you get Sunkern (assuming it's the National Park like in HG/SS) there's a bunch of bird keepers which obviously isn't very cash money for the plant boi. Sunflora would be fine for the water route between Olivine and Cianwood, and a Grass type in Kanto is always pretty solid but beyond that? I don't think it would be too useful outside of nostalgia purposes.

That being said, if you're feeling nostalgic I'd use it because going back to things we used before is pretty fun! I'm using Dunsparce of all things in my Crystal playthrough and it's doing okay, so it stands to reason Sunflora would also do reasonably well especially since it can smack the Ground and Water trainers for super effective damage. Looking at your options some seem like they're caught a bit later on in the game (some won't be found until Kanto from the looks of things) so I'd consider availability first, but your first team with Typhlosion seems solid perhaps with Ursaring? Adds an early-game teammate for Typhlosion to help versus its weaknesses (Psyduck is found in Ilex Forest and maybe somewhere before? Can skip some Union Cave trainers to grab it I think) plus you get it early in Crystal which seems like a valid reason to choose the game over Gold/Silver. That's just me though!

Good luck with whatever you choose anyway!

 

[pacman000]

“Strong Pokémon. Weak Pokémon. That is only the selfish perception of people. Truly skilled trainers should try to win with their favorites.”

 

[Bill the Typhlosion]

As a fan of Vincent van Gogh, I've always wanted to try using Sunflora on a team. I've never been the best at team building and battle strategies so I can't really advise you there, but I absolutely think that you should use any Pokemon you want on your team. Even if your team turns out to be not very strong, it'll make the game more challenging and more rewarding to complete. I have a friend who beat Lance's Dragonite with a Bellsprout!

Looking at your options some seem like they're caught a bit later on in the game (some won't be found until Kanto from the looks of things) so I'd consider availability first, but your first team with Typhlosion seems solid perhaps with Ursaring? Adds an early-game teammate for Typhlosion to help versus its weaknesses (Psyduck is found in Ilex Forest and maybe somewhere before? Can skip some Union Cave trainers to grab it I think) plus you get it early in Crystal which seems like a valid reason to choose the game over Gold/Silver. That's just me though!

Sneasel can be found on the Ice Path in Crystal, so it'll be possible to get a full team before the final Gym.

 

[ChandelureDetour]

Sunflora is fun. With nice Sp.Atk bearable Atk decent Sp.def and Hp makes Sunflora a fun choice. If I recall correctly though, Johto has a high amount of Poison types. Giga drain, Razor leaf, Synthesis, Sludge bomb and Growth are all good moves. You may often switch to Magneton due to Sunflora’s weaknesses. Sunfloras’s speed is not very good, more often then not be prepared for a attack. I wish you luck on your decision.

 

[zolios]

I say go for it, Pokemon games aren't difficult so you can beat the game by using even the "weak" Pokemon like Sunflora. The most important thing is to have fun while playing and if you really like Sunflora then you should definitely use it on your team. I'm actually about to finish my Pokemon Crystal playthrough very soon since I only have the last two Kanto Gyms left before I challenge Red and the team I used for this playthrough also has a few "weak" Pokemon similar to Sunflora but I still had so much fun using them. Those "weak" but fun Pokemon that I used on my Crystal team are Unown I and Farfetch'd so I'm sure that you'll also have fun using a Sunflora on your team.

 

[Metal64]

@WalesNote Any updates?

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

I say go for it, Pokemon games aren't difficult so you can beat the game by using even the "weak" Pokemon like Sunflora. The most important thing is to have fun while playing and if you really like Sunflora then you should definitely use it on your team. I'm actually about to finish my Pokemon Crystal playthrough very soon since I only have the last two Kanto Gyms left before I challenge Red and the team I used for this playthrough also has a few "weak" Pokemon similar to Sunflora but I still had so much fun using them. Those "weak" but fun Pokemon that I used on my Crystal team are Unown I and Farfetch'd so I'm sure that you'll also have fun using a Sunflora on your team.

Well it sort of depends on the game you’re playing. USUM are two examples of how the weaker Pokémon become less helpful the more you play. Pyukumuku can only use Status moves and has to rely on being physically hit to cause any damage which is bad in the long run during a Champion Defense battle, Magikarp at level 100 can cause some damage but it still goes down after Thunderbolt is used a couple of times, and Archeops suffers big time whenever Defeatist activates.

 

[Ditto B1tch]

Sunflora sucks. It's one of worst final stage grass Pokemon.
Everything she can learn, other grass Pokemon can do better.