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Im playing HG and Ive never really paid attention to what makes a good team, I just catch Pokemon and pick randomly. I have Feraligatr, heracross, crobat, dragonair, growlithe, and weepinbell. Im thinking of switching weepinbell out for a different Pokemon, so what would be a good Pokemon to fill in the gap? Im new to this kind of strategy in the game and don't know what to do. Thanks!

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You could definitely benefit from having a rock, electric, psychic, ground, or ice Pokemon on the team, so I would recommend one of Rhydon, Lanturn, Hypno, or Lapras.

1 Answer

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I've used Weepinbell/Victreebel in HeartGold before, and later in they game they really suck. Their only good attack moves are Acid and Razor Leaf until lv 47, when Victreebel learns Leaf Blade. But, by that level you're almost done the game anyways. When you look at the Elite Four, Victreebel is only really good against Bruno's Onix. But, as long as you're having fun, use whatever Pokémon you want to in-game. Just because Victreebel isn't the best option doesn't mean there's a rule that you can't use it.

But, I am off-topic. You want to replace Weepinbell. Grass attacks actually don't cover any weaknesses that your Pokémon have, so you could choose another type of Pokémon instead. If you do want a Grass-type, I would recommend Vileplume.
Vileplume
Johto's selection of Grass-types is small and pretty bad, but Vileplume is probably the best option. Yes, it does have the same typing as Weepinbel, but it ends up being a little bulkier and has better special attack. Unfortunately, it suffers from the same problems Weebinbell/Victreebel do — the best moves that it learns, Giga Drain and Petal Dance, are learned at lv 47 (Gloom learns Giga Drain, then if it evolves at lv 47 Vilplume can learn Petal Dance). Both are great attacks, and you'll probably find that toe-for-toe, Vileplume swingss a slightly heavier punch than Victreebel.


Of course, if you don't want to replace Weepinbel with a Grass-type, there are a few strong options I can reccommend.

Girafarig

Girafarig really surprised me the when I used it in a Nuzlocke run. It's fast and strong, with good coverage moves. I cannot stress how awesome Girafarig is and it is my life's purpose to spread the gospel of Girafarig to the known corners of the universe. For a moveset, I would reccommend Double Hit / Psychic / Psybeam / Crunch. Be sure to nickname it a palindrome like Race Car or Kayak for extra swagger.
Magneton
Magneton is my #1 favourite Pokémon to use in-game because it's so powerful. It doesn't have much for coverage, but who cares when you're spamming Discharge and Mirror Shot all day long? For a moveset I would say Discharge / Mirror Shot / Lock-On / Thunder is my favourite. It should be nicknamed after something from fantasy or sci-fi, like Protectron or Cyberman.

Nidoking Nidoqueen

Nidoking and Nidoqueen are basically gods if set up right. They both have good defences and offences, with Nidoqueen being more defensive and Nidoking being more offensive. Oh, and they also learn like a billion coverage moves. If you have some extra TMs I'm sure you can throw them at one of these monsters and they'll be ready to dish out more pain than John Wick. However, TMs are their both biggest strength and biggest weakness. If you used up all of the good TMs already, the King and Queen will suffer for it. Nidoking and Nidoqueen will only have Peck, Double Kick, Surf and Earth Power before the E4, and Nidoqueen will only have Body Slam, Double Kick, Surf, and Earth Power. However, if you have any of the following TMs, they will improve instantly.

  • Dig
  • Shadow Ball/Shadow Claw
  • Brick Break
  • Flamethrower/Fire Blast
  • Shock Wave/Thunderbolt
  • Aerial Ace
  • Dragon Pulse
  • Avalanche/Ice Beam
  • Poison Jab (it's a decent option if you don't have better TMs)

You'll want to use physical moves when you can because both Pokémon are better physical attackers. One other problem is that their Poison typing will overlap with Crobat's, meaning you might have a slightly harder time fighting Will. Other than that, these are some good Pokémon. The best nicknames are either monarchy-themes or kaiju-themed, it doesn't matter which.


I hope this helps you make your choice! You may not agree with any of these options — at the end of the day it's up to you and what you find the most fun :)

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I used Victreebel lategame and it's really solid. Granted evolving it from Weepinbel is a pain, but the same goes for Vileplume.

Girafarig is cool but honestly Jynx is arguably better still. Even if you don't wanna get Ice Beam or grind for psychic then it's still good because it's fast,powerful and can just hail + blizzard - a tactic that will almost single-handedly defeat Lance, and confusion is strong enough to use. Not to mention your access to sweet kiss. Or just use kadabara, even without evolving it's more than strong enough.

I'm doing a HGSS run in my very limited spare time now and I really wanna use Magenton ;~;

I never used Nido's even once out of the fear of how ingame dominating they would be. They're mini-legendaries that you can have multiple off but don't take as much effort as actual pseudo legends.

Obviously just opinions !!!
Towards the end of HeartGold I always end up not using my Grass-type very much, but I keep it because it's a pain in the butt to train up a new Pokémon. You're right that it's solid, I just find that there are more solid options to choose from.

I've never used Jynx, although I'd like to! But Blizzard has so little PP, and wild horses couldn't force me to play Voltorb Flip long enough to get Ice Beam ;~;

Magneton is incredible. It hits like a train, is pretty fast, and never dies. I agree that the Nidos are really strong, but without at least two good TMs they're relatively weak, at least in my experience.

Them's nice opinions mate!