What is a good in-game team for HeartGold and SoulSilver?

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There were 65 answers before this one, and all of them say sludge bomb is the only thing worth getting on Route 43? This is slightly disappointing.

Before reading this post, I recommend reading thegeneral adviceandHGSS advicethreads for tips that work with any team, including but not limited to this one.

This team was made to defeat Lance. I didn’t worry about Red, because going from Lance to Red is mostly just boring level grinding regardless of your team. I guess you can use Snorlax instead of Tauros and use post-game moves like bounce and stone edge if you want your grind to be slightly less boring. In addition to the restrictions in the original post, I put these on myself because I think they make the game more fun. You will obviously want a different team if you use different restrictions.

The team must have at least 4 battling Pokemon.Those 4 Pokemon must be from different evolution families.The battle style must be set.You cannot select the bag in trainer battles.

Backfire (Cyndaquil -> Quilava -> Typhlosion) @ shell bell/charcoal/choice specsEVs: 100 SpA- tackle -> quick attack -> headbutt -> swift -> hyper beam- ember -> flame wheel -> lava plume -> flamethrower- fire blast -> focus blast- dig

The starter’s job is getting you from New Bark Town to Route 43. More specifically, it must defeat Morty, because that is required to surf on Route 43. Chikorita is obviously the worst for the job, as Bayleef’s highest attack stat is only 63, and all of its STAB moves get resisted by Li’s, Falkner’s, Bugsy’s, the rival’s, and Morty’s Pokemon. Feraligatr works great in the late game, because it learns some moves that are super effective against many Pokemon in the last 3 gyms and Pokemon League. However, this team makes the starter much less relevant after reaching Route 43, regardless of how many coverage moves it learns. Before Route 43, Croconaw’s STAB moves are significantly weaker than Quilava’s. This is why I think Cyndaquil, which learns fire blast from the Department Store, is the best at getting you from New Bark Town to Route 43.

The fire attacks besides fire blast are Cyndaquil’s strongest moves before fire blast, and they remain useful when you want an attack that has high accuracy or PP. Fire blast is for Whitney, the rival, and Morty. Dig covers fire and rock and saves a bit of money on escape ropes. Focus blast covers rock and some other things that resist fire. The normal attacks are there because Typhlosion’s coverage moves kind of suck, and there are a bunch of Pokemon that resist fire, ground, and fighting.

This team does not need an electric Pokemon for the rival (despite Quilava’s type disadvantage) or a fighting Pokemon for Whitney (despite the fact that Whitney is a meme). If you use only Cyndaquil in every battle before Route 43, then it will earn all the experience, and it can easily go above level 27 or 28 before Whitney. At those levels, its charcoal-boosted fire blast will 2HKO Whitney’s Miltank and the rival’s Croconaw. Cyndaquil’s most difficult battle is probably the rival in Azalea Town, because it’s before fire blast. Luckily, the dumb programming makes his Croconaw spam scary face, even after it’s already faster than your Quilava, so you have plenty of turns to win with your not very effective flame wheel.

Splash Art (Magikarp -> Gyarados) @ silk scarf/mystic water/metronomeEVs: 100 Atk- surf -> waterfall- strength- flail/ice fang- dragon dance

This is the Pokemon that you catch on Route 43, not the Lake of Rage. When you surf on this route, it is not possible to find anything between levels 26 and 49, but it is possible to find a level 50 Magikarp. So you can put any Pokemon between levels 26 and 50 in your first slot and use some repels, and it should be pretty easy to find this Magikarp in 3 or 4 minutes. Then use one rare candy, and you have a level 51 Gyarados before the fifth gym. It is very possible that the specific combination of Typhlosion, Gyarados, Heracross, Tauros, Krabby, and Farfetch’d is not the best team in HGSS, but I don’t think anyone can seriously argue that any other Pokemon in HGSS is better than this level 51 Gyarados.

Strength is Gyarados’s strongest move before waterfall, and it remains useful for covering stuff that resists waterfall. Surf covers stuff that resists strength. Waterfall is Gyarados’s strongest STAB move. Dragon dance raises Gyarados’s game-breaking physical attack to even more game-breaking amounts. You can use ice fang if you think strength is not doing enough damage against grass and dragon.

Gyarados can solo any trainer battle between Route 43 and Lance using only strength, surf, waterfall, and dragon dance. It doesn’t need ice fang, items, or EVs. It doesn’t even need to reach level 52. I included the extra unnecessary stuff just to optimize this moveset a little bit. I’d say the most difficult battles (ie. the ones that require the most luck to solo) are Will and Karen. Both of them lead with confuse ray users, so it’s dangerous to use more than one dragon dance against them. Both have another Pokemon that can survive any move after one dragon dance and then use hypnosis or stun spore.

Because Typhlosion and Gyarados can handle all of the boss battles, the next 2 Pokemon have 2 jobs: counting toward the 6 Pokemon requirement in the original post, and effortlessly defeating regular trainers. Consequently, I want Pokemon that are not too difficult to catch, can be caught at a high level, do not share types with my other battlers, have a strong attack stat without needing to evolve (or evolves very soon after getting caught), and can learn strong moves.

Bully (Tauros) @ soothe bell/silk scarf/metronomeAbility: intimidateEVs: 100 Atk- strength -> return- fire blast -> earthquake- headbutt -> zen headbutt- payback -> iron tail

According to the above criteria, Tauros is one of the best. It can be found at level 20 or 24 in the tall grass on Route 48, and it has 100 base physical attack.

Strength and return are Tauros’s strongest STAB moves. Headbutt can help you save PP while it is still stronger than return. Fire blast covers steel before you get the TM for earthquake. Earthquake covers rock and steel, and the other moves cover other things. Note that the TM23 iron tail (and none of the other TMs in this answer) is obtainable only once in the whole game, so you can keep payback if you don’t want to use the TM23 on this Tauros.

Blue Cross (Heracross) @ black belt/metronomeAbility: gutsEVs: 100 Spe- brick break- shadow claw- aerial ace/swords dance- counter -> close combat

Heracross is another Pokemon that fits the criteria that I mentioned earlier. It can be found at levels 25 to 30 in the trees on Route 47 (after defeating Clair), and its physical attack is 125.

Brick break is an useful STAB move that has more PP than close combat and does not lower any stats. Shadow claw covers psychic and ghost. If you’re okay with spending some time playing Voltorb Flip, you can replace aerial ace with swords dance, which raises physical attack. Close combat is obviously a very powerful STAB move.

In a Pinch (Krabby)- rock smash- cut- surf- whirlpool

Krabby is obtainable before using any HMs and can learn 5 different HMs without evolving, so Krabby is the single best HM slave in HGSS. One move that Krabby can’t learn is waterfall, and that is not a problem because Gyarados uses it.

Wikileeks (Farfetch’d)- cut- fly- headbutt

Of all the Pokemon that are obtainable before Cianwood City, Farfetch’d is the only one that can learn fly and another HM without evolving or sketching. This is why I think Farfetch’d is the best fly slave in this game.

These are the Pokemon and items that I recommend picking up when using this team. They are listed in order by how early they become accessible, but you probably don’t want to get them in this exact order. For example, you can buy carbos early, but they’re pretty useless until you get Heracross much later in the game.

New Bark Town: Cyndaquil, tell Mom to save money until she buys a silk scarfRoute 32: shell bell, old rodCherrygrove City: KrabbyAzalea Town: charcoalIlex Forest: headbutt tutorGoldenrod City: bicycleDepartment Store: calcium, carbos, protein, TM15 hyper beam, TM27 return, TM38 fire blast, TM52 focus blastNational Park: soothe bell, TM28 digGame Corner: metronome, TM75 swords danceEcruteak City: dowsing MCHN, rare candyRoute 42: TM65 shadow clawRoute 43: MagikarpLake of Rage: black belt, choice specsRoute 30: exp. shareCherrygrove City: mystic waterRoute 32: heart scaleRoute 38: Farfetch’dRoute 48: TaurosOlivine City: TM23 iron tailDepartment Store: amulet coinBlackthorn City: move reminderRoute 47: HeracrossTohjo Falls: heart scaleVictory Road: TM26 earthquake

Farfetch’d, Tauros, and Heracross also have pretty low catch rates, so you might want a sleep user (like Slowpoke with yawn), net balls, and fast balls to make them easier to catch.

That was the team. Please post a comment if you have questions or you think there are any ways to improve this team.

Thanks to Speedrun.com’sHGSS manipless glitchless categoryfor telling me about the level 50 Magikarp when that information was not on Bulbapedia. Just to clarify, this isn’t a speedrun team, even though it does use a few speedrun strategies.

This is my team and it works very well (at least for me).

TyphlosionAbility: Blaze- Eruption: Good move when HP is full.- Blast Burn / Fire Blast: A nice 150 BP but needs to rest after or Fire Blast still good BP of 120 but not very good accuracy- Flamethrower: One of the best FIRE type moves- Focus Blast: Coverage against Rock types.

CrobatAbility: Inner Focus- U-Turn: Good bug move and for a little bit of damage and then switch out.- Fly: Very good for in-game and makes you able to Fly in any familiar town.- Toxic: Bit of damage every turn- Roost: More health.

ExeggutorAbility: Chlorophyll- Sleep Powder: Puts foe to sleep- Sunny Day: Charges Solar Beam up and works well with ability- Psychic: Good psychic type move- SolarBeam: Good grass type move and has a very nice base power of 120.

LaprasAbility: Shell Armor / Water Absorb- Hydro Pump: Good and strong water type move- Surf: Good water type move and very handy in-game- Ice Beam: Ice move- Protect: No damage.

AmpharosAbility: Static- Signal Beam: A very common move on Ampharos- Thunderbolt: Electric move with 95 BP and 100 accuracy- Thunder Wave: Cripple some fast Pokemon- Flash / Light Screen: Flash will come in handy in the game and is for cutting foes accuracy or Light Screen for making your team more resistant (In Special Defense) for 5 turns.

The last member is your choice for which one you like the most. I really would go for Nidoking because you don’t have enough electric coverage but is still your choice.

NidokingAbility: Rivalry- Earthquake: Must have ground type move 100 BP and 100 Acc.- Megahorn: Good for him and gives you coverage against grass types- Stealth Rock: I Know what you are thinking but this could be very handy when beating the Elite Four and Red.- Poison Jab: For the poison type that he has.

DragoniteAbility: Inner Focus- EarthquakeCoverage against Ice and Rock.- Roost: More health- Outrage: Good dragon move but after use it makes you Confused- Dragon Dance: Boosts Speed (+1) and Attack (+1).

Hope that this helps out.

Feraligatr, Furret, Crobat, Sunflora, Aggron, Arcanine/Ninetales

Totodile (Water) Lv18 → Croconaw (Water) Lv30 → Feraligatr (Water)Ability: TorrentMoveset: [Surf] [Waterfall] [Earthquake] [Ice Beam]

He will be your starter and the surfer of the team. Surf is the best Water-type move I think. Waterfall is HM. Earthquake to cover Electric-type weakness. Ice Beam to cover Grass-type weakness.

Sentret (Normal) Lv15 → Furret (Normal)Ability: Run AwayMoveset: [Rock Smash] [Whirlipool] [Cut] [Strength]

Nothing to say. He is only a slave.

Zubat (Poison/Flying) Lv22 → Golbat (Poison/Flying) Lv↑ with high friendship(220) → Crobat (Poison/Flying)Ability: Inner FocusMoveset: [Fly][Cross Poison][Steel Wing][Shadow Ball/U-turn]

He will be you flyer. Fly helps you to travel around Johto and Kanto(after NationalDex). Cross Poison gains STAB. Steel Wing is Rock- and Ice-type coverage. Shadow Ball or U-turn is Psychic-type coverage. It’s your choice. He may help you A LOT because Aggron is really, really weak to Fighting-types and Ground-types. Fighting-types is 4x not very effective in Crobat and Ground-types don’t affect the Crobat!

Sunkern (Grass) Sun Stone → Sunflora (Grass)Ability: ChlorophyllMoveset: [Sunny Day] [Solar Beam] [Earth Power] [Hidden Power(Rock)/Return]

I like this Pokemon. Sunny Day may help you get a little of speed and attack normaly because she is really slower… Solar Beam + Sunny Day = Great Combo. Earth Power to get some Steel-, Fire- and Poison-types. Hidden Power(Rock) is to coverage Ice-, Fire-, Bug-, Flying-type weakness or Return if you can’t get Hidden Power (Rock).

Aron (Steel/Rock) Lv32 → Lairon (Steel/Rock) Lv42 → Aggron (Steel/Rock)Ability: Rock HeadMoveset: [Solar Beam] [Rock Climb] [Head Smash] [Iron Tail]

Growlithe (Fire) Fire Stone → Arcanine (Fire)Ability: Flash FireMoveset: [Solar Beam] [Fire Blast/Flare Blitz/Heat Wave/Flamethrower] [Dragon Pulse] [Sunny Day]

He is for HeartGold. Solar Beam is to coverage Water-, Ground- and Rock-type weakness. Fire Blast is a strong move but have low accuracy. Flare Blitz is other strong move but takes recoil. If you don’t like recoils or missing you may put Heat Wave or Flamethrower that have more accuracy but with a bit lower power compared to Heat Wave. Dragon Pulse is to help attack the Dragon-types. Why need Dragon Pulse for Dragon-types? Is because Solar Beam and Flare Blitz or Heat Wave are not very effective on Dragon-types… Sunny Day is to support your Fire-type attack and to make Solar Beam in 1 turn.

Vulpix (Fire) Fire Stone → Ninetales (Fire)Ability: Flash FireMoveset: [Solar Beam] [Fire Blast/Flare Blitz/Heat Wave/Flamethrower] [Extrasensory] [Sunny Day]

She is for SoulSilver. Solar Beam is to coverage Water-, Ground- and Rock-type weakness. Fire Blast is a strong move but have low accuracy. Flare Blitz is other strong move but takes recoil. Heat Wave is other option if you don’t like recoils and missing. Flamethrower will be other option. Have more accuracy than Heat Wave but have a bit lower power than Heat Wave. Extrasensory is much good because have base 80 power and with 30 pps! Sunny Day is for help the Solar Beam and the Fire Blast or Flare Blitz or Heat Wave or Flamethrower.

Need to say where are the Pokemon and when/where you can get the move/tm/hm? If need is just put a comment saying: “need” to I put here.

So I’m making a Totodile based team since he has the widest movepool and being my personal favorite :) Also the levels are appropriate for the last Kanto gym, not the elite 4 :P

Feraligatr Lv. 55

Feraligatr is an awesome Physical attacker that can also take hits very well, with its moves it covers many types including Lance’s darn Dragonites :PCrobat Lv. 55

Ive decided to take advantage of Crobat’s ridiculous speed by giving it some useful status moves to make it more of a defensive Pokemon rather then a sweeper, Fly is for STAB and In-game use and Cross Poison for STABBellossom Lv. 55

Bellossom is a great Pokemon that can take hits aswell as causing trouble toAnyPokemon, With its chlorophyll ability it really takes advantage of Sunny day with Solar beam striking in 1 turn instead of 2, Sleep Powder can get you the time you need to setup Sunny day and Giga Drain or Sludge bomb is for healing or Type coverageMagneton Lv. 55

While its Evolution Magnezone is unavailible in this game(unless you trade and evolve it in an appropriate game) magneton is still a great Pokemon which can deal hits and take them, Thunderbolt or discharge is STAB, Same with Flash cannon, Thunder Wave is a great status move and so are the screens (You can choose them depending on your teams defense/SP Defense)Flareon Lv. 55

Flareon is often an overlooked option because of its short movepool however I find it fits perfectly in this team, Fire Fang is STAB, Dig is coverage(Look out for EQ’s though!!), Quick Attack is priority and Will-O-Wisp is a great status move or Iron tail being even more coverage even though its accuracy is pretty badHeracross Lv. 55

Heracross is simply an awesome attacker with awesome moves!

For SoulSilver:Meganium- StarterAbility:Overgrowth

AmpharosAbility:Static

Entei- Legendary, but can be obtained early in the gameAbility -Pressure

Gyarados- Red GyaradosAbility -Intimidate

Lugia- Legendary, but you’re gonna catch it anyway, right?Ability -Pressure

Snorlax- Does well against powerfulPsychicteamsAbility -Thick Fat

Thank you

I used this team and it was pretty awesome…

TyphlosionAbility: Blaze

This Pokemon is one of favorites and it’s really good. Flamethrower and Eruption are STAB. Strength helps you move boulders and has decent power. Earthquake provides coverage and is overall a really good move.

GyradosAbility: Natural Cure

This is a really cool Pokemon and I always love to use it. I put the shiny their because you can get red Gyrados pretty early in the game without going through the trouble of training a Magikarp. Waterfall is STAB and is necessary for climbing waterfalls. Earthquake combats Electric types and Ice Fang/Ice Beam is extremely useful in taking down Dragon types.

AmpharosAbility: Static

Thunderbolt is STAB and Light Screen raises the whole teams special defence which turned out really helpful for me. Signal Beam to take care of Ground types and Power Gem is good coverage.

CrobatAbility: Inner Focus

Fly and Sludge Bomb are STAB. Roost for more health and X-Scissor for coverage.

RhyperiorAbility: Solid Rock

If you can’t get this guy, Rhydon is still awesome. Rock Climb and Earthquake are STAB plus Rock Climb allows you to climb walls. Hammer Arm covers Steel and Ice types while Mega Horn combats Ground and Grass which can do major damage.

ExeggutorAbility: Chlorophyll

Sunny Day works extremely well with Solar Beam (making it attack in one turn instead of two) and his ability Chlorophyll. Psychic is STAB with great accuracy and Ancient Power covers four of his weaknesses.

Hope you liked it

Team Preview: Feraligatr, Crobat, Heracross, Bellossom, Ninetales/Arcanine, Jynx(All items, TMs and Pokémon are available before the Elite 4)

Feraligatr @ Muscle BandTrait - Torrent

Feraligatr is very balanced and has a large movepool and I think it is the best of the 3 starters. Waterfall for STAB and an HM, Ice Fang and Crunch are excellent coverage attacks and Surf is a great HM STAB move.

Crobat @ Poison BarbTrait - Inner Focus

Crobat is an amazing Pokémon and going through the pain of Zubat is definitely worth the end result. Cross Poison is a great STAB move, remember to bring a Heart Scale to the reminder in Blackthorn City to get this move. Fly is a STAB move and one of the best HMs in the game. U-Turn is good for coverage and is accessible early game and Roost is a filler move.

Heracross @ Expert BeltTrait - Guts

Megahorn is learnt at Level 55, so unless you want to grind, I feel that is the best moveset for Heracross before the E4. Heracross is an amazing Pokémon with amazing stats all around (except Sp. Att). Close Combat and Brick Break are both good STAB moves with one have less drawback and more PP but less power than the other and Aerial Ace and Night Slash are great coverage moves.

Bellossom @ Wide LensTrait - Chlorophyll

Bellossom is a very underrated Pokémon that is actually very poweful. It has great stats that only has bad speed but that is made up with Chlorophyll. Sunny Day is very useful on Bellossom as it triggers Chlorophyll, Magical Leaf for STAB and Solar Beam is very strong but requires Sunny Day to be effective. Sludge Bomb is great coverage and Sleep Powder is a good status move.

Ninetales/Arcanine @ CharcoalTrait - Flash Fire/Intimidate

(Ninetales)- Flamethrower- Extrasensory- Nasty Plot- Dark Pulse

Ninetales is a really good Pokémon in both offence and support and if used correctly can be very deadly. If you set up a few Nasty Plots you could probably sweep a lot of trainers ingame. Flamethrower is STAB and Extrasensory and Dark Pulse are for coverage. Vulpix is exclusive to Soul Silver.

(Arcanine)- Flamethrower- Thunder Fang- ExtremeSpeed- Dig

Arcanine is a very strong Pokémon with very balanced stats so it can be ran physically or specially. If you want Flare Blitz you would have to level up Growlithe to Level 48 which is around the E4 so I would stick with Flamethrower because of its reliability. Flamethrower is STAB, Thunder Fang and Dig are coverage and ExtremeSpeed is good for finishing things off quickly. Growlithe is exclusive to Heart Gold.

Jynx @ NeverMeltIceTrait - Oblivious

Jynx is another very underrated Pokémon but kicks butt with a great Special Attack stat and destroys Clair and Lance who can be very difficult without advantages over their Pokémon. You may want to catch one and breed for a Smoochum as Jynx doesn’t get any Psychic type moves by level up, whereas Smoochum get psychic at level 35. Ice Beam and Psychic are STAB, Shadow Ball is good coverage and Fake Tears is filler.

Furret - HMs Cut, Rock Smash, Strength, Whirlpool

Team Preview:Pre-Elite Four

Meganium@ Shell BellAbility - Overgrow

Honestly, I was dreading making a team for Meganium. As much as I love the Chikorita line, there is no doubt they are some of the worst starters in terms of viability. Pure Grass is a terrible defensive typing being weak to many common types like Poison, Bug and Flying, making Meganium very hard to use, given Team Rocket and the early Gym Leaders. But Meganium is still decent. Meganium has solid stats across the board, and while his movepool is shallow, it has what it needs to have: Power, Status and Support. Petal Dance is STAB but causes Confusion after 2 to 3 turns, so Razor Leaf is also a good STAB, especially given it’s high critical-rate, whereas Body Slam provides okay coverage with a very good Paralysis chance, Earthquake covers his Fire and Poison weaknesses and hits Steel-types hard which the rest of the team struggles with, and Synthesis is to stay healthy, whereas Reflect is for team support.

Ampharos@ Quick ClawAbility - Static

Seems like I’m putting Ampharos on a team again, but I think it’s fair given how hard Meganium is to use. There isn’t much for me to say about Ampharos. It comes early, helps a lot early on and remains useful throughout the game. Discharge is STAB, Thunder Wave paralyses opponents which helps Ampharos' poor speed, Signal Beam allows Ampharos to hit Grass-types which resist her STABs and Focus Blast, as explained with Meganium, helps against any Steel-types. Do be careful though, it is called Focus Miss for a reason.

Tentacruel@ Wide LensAbility - Clear Body

Tentacruel is very underrated in my opinion. There are other great Water-types like Lapras and Gyarados, but Tentacruel is definitely one of the best. It has amazing Special Defense and Speed, and solid Special Attack and HP. It also comes early on, although it is hard to find unless you want it later(You can find Tentacool with an Old Rod in New Bark Town and on Route 32 5% of the time, or wait until much later when you get Surf. If you’re patient, get the early one, if not, I’d wait).Surf is STAB and gets you around, Sludge Bomb is STAB, Toxic Spikes is great for crippling a full team, Blizzard helps massively against the late game Dragons (although it is inaccurate), whereas Waterfall is another STAB that gets you up and down Waterfalls, although you can use a slave for that, as Waterfalls aren’t too common.

Alakazam/Kadabra@ Bright PowderAbility - Synchronize

Scyther@ King’s RockAbility - Technician

Miltank@ Amulet CoinAbility - Thick Fat

Yes, the Hell-spawn herself: Miltank! The bearer of nightmares for many people playing through the Johto games, but if Whitney has taught us anything, it is that Miltank is a very good Pokémon. Her stats are pretty good, with great Defense, HP and Speed, and solid Attack and Special Defense. Miltank also comes pretty early, and being Normal-type is has plenty of attack options, although many of them are post-game. Body Slam is STAB and has a good chance to paralyze, Zen Headbutt covers her Fighting-weakness, Milk Drink helps her stay healthy, as well as the party by sacrificing 20% of her HP, and Iron Tail allows her to hit Rock-types hard, although it will miss a bit.

Here is my suggestion:

TyphlosionAbility: Blaze-Eruption-Flamethrower-Extarsensory-Hidden Power[Grass]Eruption for power when life is full, Flamethrower for power when life is lower than half, Extrasensory is type coverage, and HP Grass is to cover weaknesses.

DragnoiteAbility: Inner Focus-Dragon Claw-Earthquake-Brick Break-Aqua TailDragon Claw is for Dragon types, and while Outrage is more powerful, I find Dragon Claw more reliable. Earthquake and Aqua Tail are for type coverage, and Brick Break covers Ice weakness.

AmpharosAbility: Static-Thunderbolt-Signal Beam-Power Gem-Hyper BeamT-bolt is coverage against Flying and Water types, Signal Beam is coverage againstGrass, Dark, and Psychic types, Power Gem is coverage against Fire, Ice, Flying, and Bug types, and Hyper Beam is just for the heck of it.

TogeticAbility: Serene Grace-Ancient Power-Fly-Wish-Shadow BallAncient Power takes advantage of his Ability, Fly so you can fly to other cities, Wish to regain health, and Shadow Ball takes advantage of his Ability and covers types

PoliwrathAbility: Water Absorb-Waterfall-Earthquake-Dynamic Punch-Ice PunchWaterfall helps cross waterfalls and is powerful, E-quake is for covering Electric weakness, Dynamic Punch is awesome, and Ice Punch covers Grass weakness

UmbreonAbility: Synchronize-Faint Attack-Moonlight-Last Resort-Confuse RayFaint Attack is a good Dark move, Moonlight recovers healths, Confuse Ray confuses the target(duh), and Last Resort is kill after doing all moves

That is my input

My favorite HGSS Team:

TyphlosionAbility:Blaze

Flamethrower is main STAB, chosen for reliability. Solarbeam is for coverage against Rock, Ground and Water types. Sunny Day enables the use of Solarbeam in one turn, and powers up his fire moves. Focus Blast is for additional coverage, and can prove very useful against Rock types and Dark types.

Choose Cyndaquil as your starter and evolve.

AmpharosAbility:Static

Thunderbolt or Discharge are main STAB. Either is good, but Thunderbolt requires TM. Thunder Wave can help slow down fast Pokemon. Signal Beam is a powerful Bug move that provides excellent coverage for Psychic and Dark types. Power Gem is additional coverage.

Catch Mareep just outside of Violet City and evolve.

NidokingAbility:Poison Point

Earthquake is STAB, along with Sludge Bomb or Poison Jab (choose one). Megahorn is coverage for Grass, Psychic and Dark types. Last slot is up to you. Dragon Pulse can provide a trump card against Dragons. Rockslide will provide coverage for Fire, Ice, and Flying types, and can be good against Lance. Stealth Rock is an entry hazard move that can be handy late in the game against high-level trainers, like Bugsy, Lance and Red.

Catch Nidoran (M) on Route 37/38. Evolve with a Moon Stone.

AlakazamAbility:Synchronize

NOTE: If you can’t get Alakazam, Espeon is a good alternative. Psychic is STAB, of course. Shadow Ball is a good idea when you’re up against other Psychics, and Ghost types as well. Recover is for self-healing. Calm Mind powers up Sp. Atk and Sp. Def, making Psychic hit extremely hard, and enables you to sweep trainers like Bruno. Evolve Kadabra before level 38 in order to learn it through level-up.

Either catch Abra just outside of Goldenrod City, or buy one for 200 coins from the Game Corner.

LaprasAbility:Shell Armor/Water Absorb

Surf is STAB and handy for crossing bodies of water. Ice Beam is also STAB, and will absolutely decimate Dragons! Best of all, Lapras learns it via level-up, and at level 32. Confuse Ray is handy for confusing opponents. You have several good options for the last slot. I personally like Safeguard, which protects your entire team from status conditions for a few turns. Psychic, Thunderbolt and Dragon Pulse can all provide additional coverage.

Catch in the basement of Union Cave on Fridays.

HonchkrowAbility:Early Bird/Super Luck

Hard to catch, but worth it. Fly is STAB, and necessary for fast-travel. Dark Pulse and Faint Attack are STAB – Faint Attack is handy because it never misses. For final slot, you can use something like Wing Attack for an additional Flying move, or U-Turn for a quick hit and switch out.

Catch Murkrow either via the Pokewalker or in the Safari Zone at night. You can evolve it with a Dusk Stone in Kanto.

Team Preview:(Pre-Elite Four)

Feraligatr @ Amulet CoinAbility: Torrent

Totodile is easily the best starter for HGSS as he has very solid stats including great Attack and Defence as well as having a diverse movepool that allows him to cover a lot of different types, something that Chikorita and Cyndaquil can’t do very well due to their shallow movepool. Waterfall is your main STAB move and allows you to climb waterfalls, Surf is another STAB move and gets you across bodies of water but doesn’t do as much damage than Waterfall, Ice Fang covers his weakness to Grass and Crunch allows him to cover more types.

Ampharos @ Quick ClawAbility: Static

• Discharge (Level 34)- Thunder Wave (Level 14)- Signal Beam (Level 42)- Light Screen (TM16 - Goldenrod Department Store)

Ampharos is a good Pokémon to have on any team and I always use Ampharos when playing through Johto. Discharge is a good STAB move, Thunderbolt is also great but is very difficult to get, Thunder is also powerful but pretty inaccurate, Thunder Wave cripples the opponent and also makes up for Ampharos' lacking speed, Signal Beam, while not covering any of his weaknesses but allows Ampharos to deal more damage to Grass types and Light Screen gives your team a Sp. Defence buff which is very useful against certain trainers.

Crobat @ King’s RockAbility: Inner Focus

While Zubat is a pain to train in the beginning, once he learns Wing Attack and Confuse Ray, he becomes a beast, and considering how great Crobat is, it is well worth it. Also, you don’t have to catch early on, I personally like to catch one around Mt. Mortar. Fly is your Flying STAB move and gets you around quickly, Cross Poison is your Poison STAB move, U-Turn covers his weakness to Psychic and gets him out quickly and Confuse Ray is just a great move to have in certain situations.

Pinsir @ Shell BellAbility: Mold Breaker

• X-Scissor (Level 30)- Brick Break (Level 21)- Earthquake (TM26 - Victory Road)- Swords Dance (Level 38)

Pinsir is arguably better than Heracross because he gets a Bug move MUCH earlier than Heracross, actually gets more Fighting moves than Heracross. Also, chances are you’d find Heracross at around level 2-5 and have to grind to level 19 for Brick Break, whereas you find Pinsir around level 15 and gets Fighting moves earlier to help with Whitney. X-Scissor is a great STAB move, Brick Break covers his weakness to Rock and also breaks Screen and helps with a lot of other types, Earthquake covers his weakness to Fire and Rock and Swords Dance is to set up and sweep opponents with ease.

Sudowoodo @ Macho BraceAbility: Rock Head

• Rock Slide (Level 33)- Wood Hammer (Move Reminder)- Double-Edge (Level 46)- Sucker Punch (Level 41)

While Geodude is probably the best Rock-type in HGSS, Sudowoodo makes a very close 2nd, and even outshines the Geodude line in a few ways such as availability, coverage and STAB attacks. Another bonus to Sudowoodo is that, since it is a static Pokémon (doesn’t move from the overworld until defeated), hunting for one with Rock Head and a good nature is pretty easy. Rock Slide is STAB, Wood Hammer covers his weaknesses to Water and Ground and doesn’t receive recoil due to Rock Head, Double-Edge is mainly for reliable damage output (Double-Edge does more neutral damage than a STAB Rock Slide) and Sucker Punch is for some priority if you are good at predicting.

Mr Mime @ Bright PowderAbility: Filter

• Psychic (Level 39)- Shadow Ball (TM30 - Ekruteak City Gym)- Reflect (Level 22)- Charge Beam (TM57 - Olivine City)

While Alakazam is definitely the best Psychic-type in HGSS, I didn’t want to include it on the team, and while Espeon is arguably better in the long-term (and I love Espeon), in Johto Mr Mime is arguably better due to its access to Psychic pre-Elite Four. It is also an amazing Special wall with 120 Special Defence. Note that it is found in the Safari Zone and it comes at a decently low level, so you may need to grind for a bit. Psychic is STAB, Shadow Ball covers his Ghost weakness, Reflect makes him able to take both Physical and Special hits as well as play support and Charge Beam is for setting up to sweep.

–Feraligatr–Item: Mystic WaterAbility: TorrentLocation:New Bark Town(Starter)

Moveset:

Feraligatr does good against Morty, Will, Lance, all of Team Rocket’s Zubats and Golbats, Brock, maybe Erika, Sabrina, Blaine, Blue’s Arcanine, maybe Exeggutor, Rhydon and Pidgeot and Red’s Charizard and maybe Venusaur.

–Ampharos–Item: MagnetAbility: StaticLocation:Route 32

Moveset:

Ampharos does good against Falkner, Jasmine, Pryce, Karen, Misty, Erika, Sabrina, Blue’s Gyarados, Pidgeot and maybe Rhydon, and Red’s Lapras, Charizard and Blastoise.

–Togekiss–Item: King’s RockAbility: Serene GraceLocation:Mystery Egg

Moveset:

Togekiss does good against Morty, Chuck, Jasmine, Bruno, Erika, maybe Brock, Blue’s Exeggutor, maybe Rhydon, Machamp, and Red’s Venusaur and Lapras. For those of you saying that you can only get a Shiny Stone post-game: you can win it if you come first in the bug catching contest. Even though it’s hard, it is possible.

–Heracross–Item: Black BeltAbility: GutsLocation:Headbutt Azalea Town

Moveset:

Heracross does well against Whitney, Jasmine, Pryce, Koga, Karen, Brock, Lt. Surge, Erika, Janine, maybe Sabrina, Blue’s Exeggutor, maybe Rhydon and Red’s Pikachu, Lapras and Snorlax.

–Espeon–Item: Twisted SpoonAbility: SynchronizeLocation:Gift from Bill(Goldenrod)

Moveset:

Espeon does well against Chuck, Koga, Bruno, all Team Rocket’s poison types, Erika, Janine and Blue’s Machamp. You can replace Future Sight with Shadow Ball but I’m saving that Tm for Mewtwo.

–Furret–Item: NoneAbility: Run AwayLocation:Route 1

Moveset:

Furret does good against small bushes that you can’t walk around, big rocks, mini water tornados and really small rocks that you for some reason can’t walk over.

In this team I will only use pokémons, held items and TMs that are available before the post game. Egg moves, legendary, mythical, trade evolutions and version-exclusive pokémons will be left out.

Feraligatr@Mystic Water/NeverMelticeType: [WATER]Ability: TorrentNature [Optional]: Adamant

•Waterfall(HM)•Ice Fang(Lvl 21)•Surf(HM)•Earthquake(TM26)

Man, I love the design of this Pokémon, just look at this thing, what a incredible beast, without a shadow of a doubt it’s my favorite starter and although it’s no longer as effective as in the first games, in this one it’s still just as good.

Ampharos@Magnet/Quick ClawType: [ELECTRIC]Ability: StaticNature [Optional]: Modest

•Discharge(Lvl 34)•Signal Beam(Lvl 42)•Focus Blast(TM52)•Thunder Wave(Lvl 14) orPower Gem(Lvl 59)

Resistant and hitting very hard Ampharos is a classic in Johto teams, it will be of excellent help in defeating Falkner, and Bugsy’s Scyther. in addition to providing cover against the countless flying and water Pokémon that we will face on this journey.

Heracross@Muscle Band/Black BeltType: [BUG/FIGHTING]Ability: Guts [If you can get] or just use SwarmNature [Optional]: Adamant or Jolly

•Brick Break(Lvl 19) –>Close Combat(Lvl 37)•Aerial Ace(Lvl 13)•Rock Tomb(TM39)•Night Slash(Move Reminder) orShadow Claw(TM65)

The ace of Team, Heracross is an essential Pokémon in any playthrough in the Johto region, this little guy here manages to deliver an excellent performance during the journey, being super effective against three of the eight gyms in Johto, not counting those in Kanto.

Girafarig@Choice Specs/Twisted SpoonType: [NORMAL/PSYCHIC]Ability: Early Bird [Recomended] or Inner FocusNature [Optional]: Modest or Timid

•Psybeam(Lvl 19) –>Psychic(Lvl 37)•Shadow Ball(TM30)•Charge Beam(TM57)•Agility(Lvl 14)

Weird choice? maybe, but look, Girafarig has a very interesting typing that guarantees it immunity to what would be his weakness, perfect matchup against Morty, Chuck, Team Rocket and Will in the Elite Four.

Nidoking@Wide Lens/Expert BeltType: [POISON/GROUND]Ability: Rivalry [+25% Boost on Damage against enemy of the same gender] or just use Poison PointNature [Optional]: Modest or Timid

•Earth Power(Lvl 43)•Fire Blast(TM38)•Blizzard(TM14)•Thunder(TM25)

With an incredible variety of learnable moves, Nidoking is an indispensable member of this team, and I know you might be wondering about a special attack set for this Pokémon, but don’t be fooled, with the boost of 25% more damage against Pokémon of the same gender given by Rivalry and a positive nature for the special attack, Nidoking becomes an unstoppable beast, and if you are still wondering about the debuff caused by Rivalry against Pokemons of the opposite gender, notice that in this game most trainers use male Pokemons so you will almost never have to deal with it.

Dragonite@Dragon Fang/Amulet CoinType: [DRAGON/FLYING]Ability: Inner FocusNature [Optional]: Adamant

•Fly(HM)•Dragon Dance(Lvl 53)•Dragon Rush(Lvl 39) –>Outrage(Lvl 64)•Fire Punch(Move Reminder)

And last but not least our pseudo legendary, well… there’s not much to say about Dragonite he’s just insanely strong and that’s reason enough to put him on the team, besides we needed a flying type and in that regard Dragonite It fit like a glove.

Teams for Typhlosion and Feraligatr only, cause of Meganium’s defensive stats. Typhlosion makes the playthrough easy, as he can take out almost all gyms except Clair. Feraligatr is also a good choice, having a wider movepool than typhlode. No need to wait for evolution stones.

Note 1:Here is the videoof how to get a moon stone without waiting for your mom to buy it.Note 2: Choice Specs and Hidden Power is available in the Lake of Rage only when Flooded.Note 3: For Johto, due to the level issue, only 4 mons are enough. You can use repels till Johto, but after entering Kanto till the Indigo Plateau, you can level up your ‘mons in grasses to make your ‘mons lvl 44-45.

Typhlosionteam: [Typhlosion / Nidoking / Heracross / Gyarados / Fly slave / Krabby]

Feraligatrteam: [Feraligatr / Nidoking / Heracross / Espeon or Kadabra / Fly slave / Krabby]

First I would like to go with Typhlosion team…

Typhlosion @ CharcoalAbility: Blaze- Lava Plume / Flamethrower- Fire Blast- Earthquake / Rock Tomb / any other move- Rock Climb

Starter: Cyndaquill. Lava Plume / Flamethrower is stab, Fire Blast for extra power, Earthquake for coverage. Rock Climb is just a filler.

Nidoking @ Choice Specs / anythingAbility: Poison Point / Rivalry (latter is bad)- Earthquake / Earth Power- Thunder / Thunderbolt (post game)- Focus Blast / Megahorn- Surf / Dragon Pulse / Ice Beam (post game)

The TM master of the team. Nidoran is available at route 35. His versatility makes the team very flexible. Eq and ep are stabs. the rest are coverage which, when explained, tires me. You can use some other moves such as horn attack to grind him.

Heracross @ Black BeltAbility: Swarm / Guts- Brick Break / Close Combat- Any move -> Megahorn- Shadow Claw- Aerial Ace / Rock Slide / Stone Edge

Physical powerhouse. You can get Heracross of lvl 21 to 30 if you headbutt trees in route 42 (east of Ecruteak). Aerial ace helps you against Bruno

Gyarados @ Hard Stone / Never-melt Ice / Mystic WaterAbility: Intimidate- Dragon Dance- Ice Fang- Waterfall- Rock Tomb / Rock Slide / Stone Edge

Another Physical powerhouse. Available at Lage of Rage when at lvl 30. You can also get a lvl 50 Magikarp in route 43 and give it a Rare Candy to get a lvl 51 Gyarados before 5th gym. If you pick the lvl 51 one, you wouldn’t get moves such as Aqua Tail and Ice Fang without a Heart Scale, but still it hits hard due to being overlevelled. Capable of sweeping anyone. +1 Ice Fang takes care of Lance’s mons except Gyarados itself, for that start with Nidoking (thunder). 5 Carbos are needed to outspeed Aerodactyl after +1 Dragon Dance (Lake of Rage one).

Faulkner: Quilava is enoughBugsy: Quilava is enoughWhitney: Charcoal boosted Fire Blast Quilava + Nidorino’s Double KickMorty: Shadow Claw Heracross + any other physical move (for eg. Quilava’s Flame Wheel)Chuck: Primeape is easy to defeat from Heracross. Poliwrath requires a Thunder from Nidoking.Jasmine: Quilava sweeps easily.Pryce: Hera does the job easily.Clair: Gyarados’ Ice Fang to all Dratinis and Dragonairs. Probably Hera and Gyar can tank Kingdra’s Dragon Pulse.

Will: Typhlode for Exeggutor and Jynx, Nidoking for Slowbro, Gyarados for Xatus.Koga: Typhlode for Bug types, Nidoking for Muk and Crobat.Bruno: +3 Waterfall Gyarados can sweep the whole team. Hitmontop can’t touch Gyarados, so you can set up how many Dragon Dances as you want (min 3) and sweep.Caren: Heracross, Typhlosion for Vileplume, Nidoking for Houndoom and Murkrow.Lance: Nidoking for Gyarados, Gyarados for the rest.

Kanto Gyms are easy, except maybe Sabrina. For her you could use the same +1 DD strategy. If her Espeon uses Skill Swap, use another Dragon Dance.

Here comes Feraligatr team…

One problem with this team is that there is no Dragon Dance sweeper. So you can’t sweep Bruno and Sabrina like you used to with DD. So Espeon comes to the rescue instead of a Fire type ‘mon.

or

Feraligatr @ Mystic Water / Never-melt Ice / Choice ScarfAbility: Torrent- Surf -> Waterfall- Ice Fang- Crunch- Rock Climb

Great ‘mon having wide movepool, suitable for a team of 4. Surf / Waterfall is stab, Ice Fang is coverage, useful against Lance. Crunch is for Will and Sabrina, along with Espeon.

Nidoking @ Choice Specs / anythingAbility: Poison Point / Rivalry (latter is bad)- Earthquake / Earth Power- Thunder / Thunderbolt (post game)- Fire Blast- Surf / Dragon Pulse / Ice Beam (post game)

Another ‘mon having awesome movepool. Changed Focus Blast / Megahorn to Fire Blast, to cover lackness of a Fire type.

Heracross @ Black BeltAbility: Swarm / Guts- Brick Break / Close Combat- Any move -> Megahorn- Shadow Claw- Aerial Ace / Rock Slide / Stone Edge

No extra comments.

Espeon / Kadabra @ Choice Specs (when Nidoking doesn’t need it)Ability: Synchronise- Psybeam -> Psychic- Shadow Ball- Grass Knot- Filler (such as Hidden Power)

Despite having a shallow movepool, Espeon does his job too efficiently. Specs Psybeam sweeps Bruno, Specs Shadow Ball Sweeps Will and Sabrina. You can get a lvl 5 Eevee from Bill in Goldenrod after visiting Ecruteak. Save two or three trainer battles for him every route to catch up with you. Bug catching contests also helps you to grind. Give him 2 haircuts, a Soothe Bell (obtained in National Park), teach him a strong Normal stab move Headbutt. Never allow him to faint. Just travel along with your team members, it will increase friendship and by lvl 30-35, your Eeve gets evolved. Lets hope that you get a good Hidden Power type… I got Poison :(

If you don’t need a friendship evolution, then go for Kadabra. It gets Psychic earlier than Espeon (as stated by sumwun). If you can trade, you can also use Alakazam. Both of them do the same job, but Espeon does it more efficiently.

Faulkner: Croconaw is enough, as long as you battle all the trainers till here and gain enough experienceBugsy: Croconaw is enough.Whitney: Nidorino’s Double KickMorty: Shadow Claw Heracross + Bite CroconawChuck: Primeape is easy to defeat from Heracross. Poliwrath requires a Thunder from Nidoking. Shadow Ball espeon also helps.Jasmine: Nidoking sweeps easily.Pryce: Hera does the job easily.Clair: Feraligatr’s Ice Fang to all Dratinis and Dragonairs. Probably Hera and Espeon can tank Kingdra’s Dragon Pulse.

Will: Espeon’s Specs Shadow Ball.Koga: Espeon’s Specs Psybeam.Bruno: Espeon’s Specs Psybeam.Caren: Heracross, Nidoking for Vileplume, Houndoom and Murkrow.Lance: Nidoking for Gyarados, Feraligatr for the rest.

Kanto Gyms are easy.

Flyer: You can catch a Spearow, Pidgey or Hoothoot just for the purpose of Fly.Krabby: Cut, Strength, Surf and Whirlpool. You can catch it as early as Cherrygrove city (Old Rod).

I’ll try to make a team workable for nuzlockes.Typhlosion: by far, my favorite Pokemon of all time. johto doesn’t have many fire types, and two of the better ones sans typhlosion, arcanine and houndoom, are hg exclusive or safari zone catches, respectively.Recommended item: Choice Specs. This may sound like crazy talk, especially since I said I was making a nuzlocke suitable team, but the choice specs are basically custom fit to typhlosion, due to his high spA, lack of stat boosting moves, and high power stab with few Pokemon immune.Moves:Eruption(lv49cynd/lv57else): This move is simply beautiful. Same base power (at full health) as hyper beam and blast burn (150), special, 100% acc, and has no recoil, stat drops, or recharge associated, essentially being gen 4’s answer to gen 1 hyper beam.Flamethrower(lv37cyn/42else): Two stab moves on a set may seem strange, but eruption becomes weaker as typhlosion’s health drops, and it only has 5pp. flamethrower gives backup for these places, and lets you conserve uses of eruption.FocusBlast(tm52(department store)): This move is here for one reason and one reason only: karen’s dang houndoom. Flash fire makes it immune to fire moves, so focus blast gives a specs boosted SE hit, though its shaky 70% acc means it’s only there for when you need it.Solarbeam(tm22)/swift(lv)/earthquake(tm26): typhlosion doesn’t have many options left, so here are a few ideas. solarbeam is good coverage, but needs sun to be useful. Swift is just mentioned due to specs boost and not missing. EQ gives good coverage, but other Pokemon may want it and it doesn’t get specs boost.

Ampharos: The holy grail of early captures, ampharos has excellent bulk and SpA, only lacking speed. It shares exp curve and similar evolution levels with starters, helping it keep up. nuzlockers who missed one on route 32 can snag a primo egg.Item doesn’t matter too much.Moves:Tbolt(tm24)/Discharge(lv): tbolt is better, but not worth the game corner time.Signal beam: Special bug move helps with karen and coverage.Powergem: learned late, but well worth it: special rock move makes for awesome coverage and hits lance’s whole team se.Last move is filler; focus blast for more coverage, or lightscreen or twave to support team.

Espeon: May not be the popular choice for psychic type, but she’s bulkier than alakazam, and gets better support optionsMoves (offensive):Psychic: Stab. psybeam works until psychic learnedShadowball: coverageSwift: CoverageCalm mind: stat booster, but need frontier tm (not as big a problem as plat, given more game to go)Defensive:Psychic and Shadowball StayReflect+LightScreen: normal runs can ignore this, but a dual screens is pretty slick in nuzlockes, halving damage from physical and special moves for 5 (8with kightclay) turns, and it sticks around when you switch. Baton pass is worth note for escape from pursuit, but staying eevee until lv36 isn’t usually worth it.

Red Gyarados: grind free gyarados at lv30 as soon as 4 badges? yes please.Moves: Note that same set works for feraligatr, but swords dance in place of DDWaterfall: Physical StabIce Fang: CoverageDragon Dance: Boost both atk and spdEQ: Coverage

Dragonite: Game corner or ES, take your pick. Both are awesome.Moves: honestly, just make it what you need on the team, be it tank, sweeper, support, or anything else. heck, you could even use it as an hm mule that can still fight.DragonClaw/Outrage: Physical Stab, reliability vs power, though a tm is needed for claw.Firepunch/EQ: coverage with dragon vs steels.Roost/Extremespeed/DragonDance/DracoMeteor:Just a few more options to mix and match. Roost heal 1/2 max hp. ES always goes first, but dragon master exclusive. Dragon Dance boosts atk and spd, but redundant if using ES. Draco Meteor a power special dragon move for finishing off foes, but halves SpA, so should be only special move on set. Really, dragonite does whatever you need it to.

Lapras: It’s only available fridays deep in union cave, but it is very bulky and all stats are good besides speed. Can easily be used as hm mule if needed, but here is a special attacking set (Atk and SpA same, but gyara covers physical)Moves:Surf: you need it anyway, and it gets stab.Ice beam: Stab and learned by level upPsychic/DragonPulse/Tbolt/Whirlpool: Choose two; psychic needs tm, but is a nice move. Dpulse nice since lapras is one of the few Pokemon pre e4 to have enough spA to use it. Tbolt has same issues as mentioned for amphy, but provides perfect neutral coverage with ice beam. Whirlpool is just hm, not good, but practical, and coverage still good with one of above moves.

Note: Don’t give cut to in party mons, even hm slaves, as you only need it for that first tree.Furret makes an excellent hm slave, learning cut, surf, strength, whirlpool, and rock smash.

Team Overview:Typhlosion, Heracross, Exeggutor, Honchkrow, Lanturn, Mamoswine.

Typhlosion @ CharcoalAbility: Blaze

Best starter of them all. Flamethrower is STAB. You can use something a little stronger if you like, but I like Flamethrower because of its reliability. Focus Blast is a Fighting move used for extra coverage; very useful against Karen’s Dark types, especially Houndoom. Shadow Claw is also coverage. Earthquake can take out any Rock types that happen to threaten him.

Choose Cyndaquil as your starter and evolve.

Heracross @ Muscle BandAbility: Guts

An excellent Pokemon, highly recommended for combating Dark types. Aerial Ace is a nice Flying move that under normal circumstances will not miss. Close Combat is your main STAB. Night Slash is to protect you from Psychic types, and can be acquired through the use of a Heart Scale. Megahorn is another STAB move that can take down Dark and Psychic types. I highly recommend getting a female Heracross if you can, because it will do much better against Whitney’s stupid Miltank, who likes to use Attract on male Pokemon.

Headbutt trees in Azalea Town to find Heracross.

Exeggutor @ Miracle SeedAbility: Chlorophyll

A handy Pokemon for its unusual Grass/Psychic typing. Sunny Day works great with his Chlorophyll ability, and will of course enable instant use of his STAB move Solar Beam. Psychic is his other STAB. Sludge Bomb is for additional coverage, and Hypnosis is useful for putting enemies to sleep. Use whichever one works best for you.

Find Exeggcute by Headbutting trees in the National Park or Ecruteak City. It can also be found in Cherrygrove and New Bark Town at lower levels.

Honchkrow @ Sharp Beak/Dark GlassesAbility: Super Luck/Early Bird

Your Flyer and Dark type. Not only is he good for travel, but he will stop Psychic Pokemon dead in their tracks, which is a huge advantage. Fly is for obvious reasons. Dark Pulse is your main Dark STAB. Wing Attack is just a decent Flying attack you can use if you don’t want to use Fly every time, and U-Turn is for added coverage. Roost will allow you to recover some health.

Find Murkrow in the Swamp Area of the Safari Zone at night, or the Suburban area of the Pokewalker. You can find a Dusk Stone in Cerulean Cave, Kanto to evolve it.

Lanturn @ MagnetAbility: Volt Absorb

An excellent Pokemon that can learn a useful variety of attacks and take hits quite well. Surf is HM and STAB. Discharge or Thunderbolt are both great Electric moves – I highly recommend Thunderbolt if you can get it, but if not, Discharge works just fine. Signal Beam and Ice Beam are for coverage, and are quite useful against the Elite Four. Definitely try to get one with Volt Absorb, because his health will increase if an Electric attack is used against him.

Fish for Chinchou in the waters around New Bark Town. Evolve.

Mamoswine @ NeverMeltIceAbility: Snow Cloak

Last but not least, good old Mamoswine. Ice Shard is the move that makes this Pokemon stand out. It’s a priority Ice move, and although its power isn’t that great, the fact that it always hits first is an enormous advantage against Dragon types. It’s really the only Ice move you need, but if you want something with a little more oomph, try Blizzard. Earthquake is his Ground type STAB, and Strength is just a useful filler HM that needs to be on the team somewhere.

Find Swinub on the Ice Path. Evolve.

With this team, you have every type you could ever need: Fire, Ground, Ice, Water, Electric, Grass, Poison, Psychic, Fighting, Bug, Flying and Dark! This should give you the ability to handle pretty much everything the game can throw at you.

I had play my favorite Pokemon game; HeartGold three times now, and I can honestly said this is the best team I can ever create. When I play Pokemon, it is always low level, 6 core members, & no item used from the bag during the battle, such as Revive. Other HM Slave poke are used but they never fight. And when I finally beat the legendary trainer Red with my LV56 team, my god, does it feel so good!

Ability: Torrent. -Avalanche, Waterfall, Screech & Crunch

Let DIVE into it with my starter, Feraligatr. In my 1-2 run, I’d used Typhlosion, which is good but I think its more on the original than here in the remake where everything is split between physical & special, and lack of elemental punches too. Access to early Rock Tomb TM for Bugsy, and Bite for Morty. Screech is interesting as I can OHK without worry the NPC heal their poke. Ice Fang & Avalanche are powerful moves going last, perfect when facing dragon trainer (Which are many). Aganist Red, I swap my Waterfall for Hydro Cannon under Torrent & Mystic Water to OHK on Charizard. It is a great HM slave too.

Ability: Static. -Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave, Thunder & Signal Beam.

Ampharos is an easy pick & most people agreed. Early access to lightning attacks are always helpful, since there are many flying trainers in this game. Early Thunder Wave on Bugsy’s Scyther & Thunder is powerful against Chuck’s Poliwrath. Its slow but tanky and that’s the plan. You see, with a Choice Specs Thunder, you can deal massive neutral damage on Clair’s Kingdra. Good match up against Red’s Blastoise who mostly use Blizzard. The last move Signal Beam is hardly use, because I hardly use my 4th slot. Held items are Magnet & Choice Specs.

Ability: Oblivious. -Surf, Psychic, Trick Room & Blizzard

Slowbro is the main LL team member. With access to Trick Room, I can OHK or 2HK before they got the chance too. Great physical Def, Blizzard for X4 weakness Dragon, Surf is a great neutral attack that usually 2HK poke, and Psychic is important when facing trainers like Koga & Bruno. The item held are usually Choice Specs or Expert Belt or Twisted Spoon. Also, under Trick Room, Slowbro can finish a weaken Red’s Venusaur. Decent HM Slave. Overall Slowbro is always useful in every generation.

Ability: Hyper Cutter. -Superpower, Earthquake, Swords Dance & X-Scissor

You know what other typing is important, Bug. Pinsir is a great asset. I believe I choose this one over Heracross because finding Hera with the right nature is extremely troublesome. Early Revenge move outweight Hera’s Brick Break when up against Whitney’s Miltank. X-Scissor have 100% accuracy compare to Megahorn & its perfect, because many bug weakness poke have low-mid Def so OHK most of the time against Will & Karen team. Hyper Cutter against Intimidate foes. Decent HM Slave too. Usually held Choice Scarf or Expert Belt to access Swords Dance before sweeping, like Red’s Snorlax even without STAB Superpower, with a little help from hail :P

Ability: Rivarly. -Earth Power, Ice Beam, Taunt & Fire Blast

My Nidoking is a special attacker. Early Double Kick & Dig is great. If you notice, most of the trainer’s poke are male. So 25% boost is the perfect amount, because with a Choice Specs Ice Beam (or under Trick Room), I sweep rematch Lance off my feet. Ground typing is awesome, Red’s Pikachu+Light Ball cannot OHK it, but it can. Focus Blast TM is great if it hit. Taunt is awesome, it stop Chuck’s Primeape Double Team, and it make Koga’s Muk dance aimlessly. Fire Blast because I need Fire, that’s simple. Held items are Soft Sand, Choice Specs & Choice Scarf.

Ability: Early Bird. -Psychic, Thunder, Shadow Ball & Agility.

Does this came as a surprise? Well me too. You see Girafarig typing Normal/Psychic is good. When facing Ghost or Psychic poke, they usually have Shadow Ball, but Normal immune to it. So I can hit them with my own Shadow Ball without worry, if no Signal Beam. Early Bird is the better ability against Morty’s Gengar’s Hypnosis for example. Psychic is an important typing, like I had weaken Red’s Venusaur before my Slowbro KOed it. Thunder is also another surprise. It’s quite useful as Ampharos is slow but tanky, but Gira have average speed to outspeed poke like Gyarados, as I invest in its HP, SpA & Speed EV. 4th Slot was never used. Usually held Choice Specs & Scarf.

ORFor this team, I didn’t use any egg moves, version exclusives , trade evolutions or legendaries. I also tried not to use any moves over level 60 or any late game TMs unless if it was necessary. This way, the team can be used by anyone. Enjoy c:

TypholsionAbility: Blaze-Lava Plume/Flamethrower-Solar Beam-Focus Blast-Eruption/Earthquake

Typholsion is debatbly the best starter in Johto as it can destroy alot of the gyms, giving you an easy time in your playthrough. Both Lava Plume and Flamethrower are really good fire moves so either is fine. Solar Beam takes care of all of it’s weakness. Focus Blast is a decent coverage move (use X-Accuracies if they are missing alot). Both Eruption and Earthquake are extremly powerful moves so it’s your choice what you want to use.

Crobat (Route 32)Ability: Inner Focus-Fly-Cross Poison-U-Turn/X-Scissor-Return/Toxic

I think Crobat is the best flyer for a Johto playthrough since you can get it very early (before Bugsy) as well as having a BST of 535 making it a really powerful Pokemon. Fly is needed for every flyer because it is convenient. Cross Poison is amazing STAB. U-Turn is pretty handy if Crobat is at low HP or you need to switch to another Pokemon but X-Scissor is another option. Return is a powerful move since your golbat needs max happiness to evolve but Toxic isn’t bad as it can help with bulky Pokemon like Lance’s Dragonite as well as the Elite Four’s Pokemon.

Ability: Static-Discharge/Thunderbolt-Signal Beam-Power Gem-Focus Blast/Thunder Wave

Ampharos is very useful in Johto since there are alot of trainers with water and flying types, not to forget the fact that you can get a Mareep before battling Falkner. Discharge/Thunderbolt is obviously it’s best STAB move. Signal Beam and Power Gem are both really powerful coverage move it gets. Thunder Wave is helpful against speedy Pokemon but Focus Blast is there if you want more coverage.

Heracross (Route 33/Azalea Town - use Headbutt)Ability: Guts-Brick Break/Close Combat-Megahorn-Rock Tomb —> Rock Slide/Stone Edge-Shadow Claw —> Night Slash

Heracross is a strong physical attacker and it’s no suprise why it’s on this team. Brick Break is good STAB but if you want more power then use Close Combat. Megahorn hits like a truck. Rock Slide/Stone Edge to deal with it’s flying weaknes - use Rock Tomb for early game. Night Slash is a strong coverage move (use shadow claw for early game)

Espeon (Gift from Bill at Goldenrod after you meet him at Ecruteak) (Soothe Bell - National Park)Ability: Synchronize-Psybeam —> Psychic-Shadow Ball-Reflect-Light Screen/Morning Sun

Our main special attacker is Espeon. Psybeam is for early game then you can use psychic. Shadow Ball is there to deal with ghost types and other psychic Pokemon. Reflect and Light Screen to make sure your team can wall many threats. You can use Morning Sun because it’s a good recovery move.

Lapras (Union Cave on Friday - use Surf)Ability:-Surf-Ice Beam/Avalanche-Thunder/Dragon Pulse-Perish Song

Our surfer/water type will be Lapras - it’s a mixed attacker with good defenses. Surf is there for obvious reasons. Ice Beam is good STAB but Avalanche can hit hard if you are facing fast opponents. Thunder and Dragon Pulse are good coverage moves. Perish Song can take out any Pokemon that is a threat to your team.

OR

Red Gyarados (Lake of Rage)Ability: Intimidate-Surf/Waterfall-Ice Fang/Avalance-Earthquake-Dragon Dance

If you really want to use the Shiny Gyarados you can. Waterfall and Surf are both good water STAB. Ice Fang and Avalanche are good ice coverage. Earthquake takes out any electric types as well as being a hard hitting move. Dragon Dance is there to set up and sweep.

HeartGold and SoulSilver are some of the best main series Pokemon games in the series and they are massive improvements from the original G/S/C with there being a special/psychical split and new moves it makes the experience more fun, anyways lets move on to the team building.

Feraligatr

WaterfallIce FangCrunchEarthquake

Feraligatr is arguably the best starter for these set of games as it has access to Ice Fang that is good against 2 of the major boss fights in the game that specialise in Dragon types, including half of Lances team consisting of Dragonite. High psychical attack stat and its very bulky with the special psychical split it can finally make good use of its STAB moves and other psychical coverage. This will be your answer to Clair and Lance

Crobat

Aerial AceX-ScissorFlyBite

Crobat is hands down the best flyer for these remakes as its got a good movepool and good stats, it has 130 base speed being one of the fastest in the game and solid attack to make use of some of its psychical coverage. Its annoying to raise from a zubat but equip it with the soothe bell you can get in the National Park and switch train it until you get to level 13 where it gets bite then use it as your main attacking move until level 17 where you get STAB-Wing Attack. I highly recommend using this as i’ve used it in so many playthroughs and it was worth the trouble getting a crobat.

Golem

EarthquakeRock Slide/Stone EdgeExplosionDouble Edge

This beast is a really good psychically oriented rock type with the additional ground typing it will be your main counter to electric types that can outrun your starter and your flyer and its good against the first 2 gyms and resists the 3rd seeing as you get it right at the start of your journey. High psychical defense and almost equally good attack with STAB-Earthquake and Rock Slide/Stone Edge to destroy any frail opponents. Explosion is there for emergency situations and Double Edge is there for filler and can do some insanely good damage (P.S If you cant trade, Graveler is still a decent Pokemon just give it the same set of moves as I have and make sure the geodude you catch has Rock Head as it can make use of Double Edge without taking recoil damage and Sturdy is useless pior to gen 5 only being capable of being immune to 1-Hit Ko moves)

Magmar

FlamethrowerConfuse RayFocus BlastPsychic

Magmar is a really solid Fire type for these games and we need a fire type seeing as the typing does well in these games. Its got solid speed and high special attack stat and it can be used primarily as a psychical attacker as well however most of its fire type moves are special so I would recommend giving it special moves. Overall Magmar is a really solid Pokemon and its better than having to grind up BP in the Pokelathean Dome to get a fire stone to evolve vulpix/growlithe depending on the version your playing. I highly recommend this if you need a fire type that dosent take long to make use of.

Milktank

Body Slam/StrengthIron TailZen HeabuttRock Tomb

We all know how annoying Whitneys Milktank was so I decided to put Milktank on this team, good attack, good bulk and high speed stat with the moves it has access to via level up its an unstoppable killing machine. Zen Headbutt and Body Slam you get not to late after you catch Milktank, the amount of moves it has movepool wise is really nice and the normal typing give it only one weakness being fighting and good bulk makes good use of that typing as well. I recommend this to anyone who wants to see the region itself burn.

Alakazam

PsychicFocus BlastShadow BallCalm Mind

This will be the MVP of your team as this killing machine has 135 base special attack and 120 base this will wreck havoc especially against Kogas Poison Types and Brunos Fighting types, setting up with Calm Mind once and then spamming Psychic on everything will earn you a victory you only got within 30-60 seconds. I would highly recommend this if you have access to trading, otherwise use this instead:

Espeon

PsychicShadow BallLight ScreenReflect

The same role as Alakazam expect it dosent have access to Calm Mind via level up and its got good utility and having high speed and high special attack makes it viable and it has the same role as Alakazam expect it will also be used for support as not having having access to Calm Mind makes it more venerable to the opponents attacks.Good Pokemon overall, one of my favrioute eveelutions and a really good special attacker and very fast as well.

HM User

Psyduck

WaterfallStrengthRock SmashFlash

HGSS does have an annoying level curve making it hard to making some Pokemon viable but its worth it once you put in all the effort however these games have what G/S/C didn’t have and that’s a special/psychical split and better movepools to work with. The games in general are really good with new mechanics and features added to the Kanto-Post game probably the second to best post game there is with B2W2 being the best in my own personal opinion. Feel free to correct me if I’ve made any mistakes

Go out there are play some HeartGold/SoulSilver and having fun using this team :)

This is a team composed of really good mons I used multiple times in HGSS playthroughs, including a Hardcore Nuzzlocke. I reccomend a separate HM user to go along this team so it can unleash its full potential.

TyphlosionAbility: Blaze- Blast Burn/ Eruption- Flamethrower- Focus Blast- Swift/HM move

CrobatAbility: Inner Focus- Fly- Cross Poison- Bite -> Aerial Ace- U-Turn/Haze

AmpharosAbility: Static- Discharge- Signal Beam- Thunder Wave- Thunder Punch -> Power Gem

HeracrossAbility: Guts- Brick Break- Close Combat- Aerial Ace -> Megahorn- Shadow Claw/ Earthquake

GyaradosAbility: Intimidate- Dragon Dance- Ice Fang- Waterfall- Surf/ Earthquake

MamoswineAbility: Snow Cloak (for Red)- Earthquake- Ice Shard- Ice Fang- Ancient Power -> Rock Slide