As you play through a Pokémon game and finish the main story, you realize the team you created for battling and beating the League won't necessarily help you with all of your goals. Whether you want to finish your Pokédex, start your own breeding business, or create a competitive team, I'll tell you which Pokémon you need to succeed. Some Pokémon are easier to collect, only requiring one move or ability. Others need good moves, stats, IVs, and EVs.
A catcher is the most important Pokémon to have in your arsenal if you're trying to finish your Pokédex. This should be a strong Pokémon in its own right. Type does not matter, but preferably it will be a solid defensive type and/or able to learn versatile moves for attacking. The one essential move is False Swipe, which can leave your target with 1 HP without causing it to faint. This is necessary if you're trying to catch shiny Pokémon, Pokémon in horde encounters, or Pokémon that are at a much lower level than your team.
There are two drawbacks to False Swipe. First, you have to be careful about using it in some circumstances. If your target has a move that inflicts confusion on itself like Outrage, it might hurt itself and faint. Similarly, if your target knows a move that causes recoil damage, like Take Down, it will also faint.
The second problem is that since False Swipe is a 
Normal-type move, 
Ghost types are immune to it. There is a clever way around this. You can have a Pokémon that can learn both False Swipe and an item-swapping move like Switcheroo or Trick hold a 
Ring Target. In battle, they can give the Ghost-type their Ring Target, removing its type immunities to moves. Persian, Zangoose, and most recently, Iron Valiant, are excellent candidates for this.
It is also useful to have a way to prevent a Pokémon from leaving the battle. You can achieve this by using a Pokémon with the ability Arena Trap or Shadow Tag, but none of the Pokémon that have those abilities can learn False Swipe. Instead, you should opt for a move that inflicts freeze, paralysis, or sleep as the next best thing. With most Pokémon, these status conditions generally aren't necessary to increase your chances of catching them.
Your catcher should have same-type-attack-bonus (STAB) moves or moves that match its attacking style (special or physical). Avoid moves that inflict poison, burn, or confusion, as these will damage your target over time, potentially knocking it out before you can catch it.
A hatcher is a simple but necessary addition if you plan on doing a lot of breeding. The only requirement is that it has the ability Flame Body or Magma Armor. These halve the number of cycles it takes to hatch an egg.
In Generation VI games, Talonflame is the best hatcher because it can also learn Fly, allowing you to fast travel between the town or route with a breeding center and the location you will use to hatch your Pokémon. This is also useful because it allows you to carry only Talonflame and five eggs at a time. In other generations, or if you want a more powerful hatcher, then Chandelure, Magmortar, Rapidash, Volcarona, and Coalossal are all good choices.
A legendary catcher is better suited to long battles and tends to have higher defense, special defense, and/or HP than a catcher. It should be able to withstand the devastating attacks of legendary Pokémon. Ideally, you should choose a dual-type Pokémon so multiple types of moves benefit from STAB. One with HP-recovering or strong defensive moves is also a good option. Again, you should have False Swipe because the lower your opponent's HP, the better your chances of catching it.
A move that has a high chance to inflict paralysis or sleep is also necessary. This status-inflicting move should not do any damage because if it does, you won't be able to use it safely when your opponent's HP is low. This is particularly important with legendaries because there is only one in the game; if you knock it out, you must start over from your most recent save and try again. In addition, you have better odds to catch a Pokémon the longer the battle has endured.
My Legendary Catcher is an adamant Gallade with the moves Brick Break, False Swipe, Psycho Cut, and Thunder Wave. It has perfect defense, special defense, and speed individual values (IVs) and holds the Galladite so it can mega-evolve. It has 252 special defense, 252 attack, and 6 speed.
Gallade is a great candidate for several reasons:
Flying, Ghost, and 
Fairy-type moves, and it has moves that are super-effective against seven different types.
Electric nor 
Ground type.
Dark types are immune to it, but putting a target to sleep increases its catch rate more than paralyzing it does.A thief is the simplest utility Pokémon to have. The only requisite is that it can learn the move Thief, which steals the item a Pokémon is holding. In earlier generations, Thief is often used to collect 
Tiny Mushrooms, 
Big Mushrooms, or 
Heart Scales. You can exchange these items with an NPC to make your Pokémon relearn a move. However, you can still snag useful berries or held items in later generations when relearning moves is free.
It is important to note that your thief cannot steal an item if it is already holding one. This means it can't hold things like a mega-evolution stone or Z-crystal and you must take an item away before it steals another.
Stantler and Gothitelle are great thieves because they can have the ability Frisk, allowing them to identify any item a Pokémon might be holding at the start of a battle, potentially saving you time.
A tracer is a Pokémon with the ability Trace, which copies an opponent's ability. An on-screen battle message reveals the ability. You use it to discover which ability a Pokémon has before you capture it. That way you don't have to waste time or Pokéballs to discover that information, especially if you're hunting down a hidden ability.
Gardevoir is the best Pokémon to use. Although stats and moves aren't important, Gardevoir is a very strong Pokémon in its own right.
The HM mule is the most infamous of the utility Pokémon. In previous generations, hidden machines were earned as you played through the game and used to traverse the world or advance the plot. Thus, the sole purpose of an HM mule is to have four HMs equipped. This can exclude Fly, Dive, Surf, and Waterfall because these are actually good moves to teach your team Pokémon. At the very least, your HM mule will know Cut and Strength, as well as Rock Climb and Rock Smash if applicable. Flash is not an HM, but you use it outside of combat too.
The ideal HM mule varies by region and generation, but it is almost always a Normal-type with a poor stat total. One good candidate is Krabby/Kingler, available in almost every single game. It is able to learn Cut, Dive, Rock Smash, Strength, and Surf. In generations IV, V, and VI, Bidoof/Bibarel is an excellent HM mule, able to learn Cut, Dive, Rock Smash, Strength, Surf, and Waterfall. If you need Flash, consider Paras/Parasect, which can also learn Cut and Rock Smash, or Meowth/Persian, which can also learn Cut.
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About Phoenix Uprising • Recurring Series • Support the Site
Contact • Editorial Guidelines • Privacy Policy
© 2023 Phoenix Uprising.
All rights reserved.