Generation 8 BDSP team help

[crystal_gleam]

i'm currently at Maylene's gym in BD, and i can't defeat her, i keep losing to her Lucario. my current team is Prinplup, Kricketune, Staravia, Absol, Luxio, and Onix (i'll give all their levels and movesets if it's needed)

i also used to have a Roselia on my team, but i replaced it with Absol because Roselia was taking a loooong time to level up (it was level 24 when the rest of my team was like 29)

for some reason, the game also let me advance right to Pastoria City and try the gym there, where i almost won against Crasher Wake but lost to his Floatzel at the end, so i might need help for that as well

 

[beasttrash]

Lucario is kind of fun, as it's Steel-typing neutralizes two of its main weaknesses (Flying and Psychic) Nevertheless, If you can get a Ground-type move on one of your Pokémon you might be in a better position attack.

If you go south of Veilstone to the Maniac's Tunnel you can get TM28 Dig there. Your Prinplup can learn it and perhaps has the attack and defense to stand a couple of turns against Lucario. I don't really recommend Onix in this case, despite same type attack bonus, its defense is pretty bad (plus its Rock-typing.) But its always an option.

Another thought is to backtrack slightly to Route 215 and capture a Ponyta to target Lucario's Steel-type. What will be helpful here is Ponyta's speed + Flame Charge.

As for Crasher Wake, your Luxio should be pretty good for that match. Maybe evolve it into Luxray before challenging him again.

There are probably some other methods of going about doing this lol. Good luck and have fun!! c:

 

[crystal_gleam]

Lucario is kind of fun, as it's Steel-typing neutralizes two of its main weaknesses (Flying and Psychic) Nevertheless, If you can get a Ground-type move on one of your Pokémon you might be in a better position attack.

If you go south of Veilstone to the Maniac's Tunnel you can get TM28 Dig there. Your Prinplup can learn it and perhaps has the attack and defense to stand a couple of turns against Lucario. I don't really recommend Onix in this case, despite same type attack bonus, its defense is pretty bad (plus its Rock-typing.) But its always an option.

Another thought is to backtrack slightly to Route 215 and capture a Ponyta to target its its Steel-type. What will be helpful here is Ponyta's speed + Flame Charge.

As for Crasher Wake, your Luxio should be pretty good for that match. Maybe evolve it into Luxray before challenging him again.

There are probably some other methods of going about doing this lol. Good luck and have fun!! c:

i also thought about getting a Fire or Ground type, but i think i'll keep Onix for some later battles maybe. i'll get a Ponyta and see how it goes

 

[crystal_gleam]

i tried again against Maylene, but i lost again... probably because i forgot to grind Ponyta i think it'll be easier for me to use Dig with Prinplup, because of that, so i'll try that instead

edit: i retried, and once again lost. Lucario's Drain Punch is very strong, so i think that's the problem (also, her Machoke has Rock Tomb, which is super effective against my Staravia, which is another problem)

edit 2: i won against Crasher Wake! i still can't defeat Maylene though, i'll try again later

 

[RichestAirPirate]

Luxio

What is your Luxio's ability?

 

[crystal_gleam]

What is your Luxio's ability?

Rivalry (also i've evolved it into Luxray after writing that btw)

 

[RichestAirPirate]

Rivalry (also i've evolved it into Luxray after writing that btw)

Ooooooh... If it had Intimidate, I would recommend teaching it Volt Switch. The TM for it is in Amity Square. Using Volt Switch would be very useful to stack Intimidate attack drops alongside Staravia.

I know you caught a Ponyta, but Ponyta isn't exactly the strongest of Pokémon, even among fire types. If you don't mind being weak to Fighting, you can go to the Grand Underground, and find a Spacious, Dazzling, Volcanic, or Sandsear Cave, and possibly find a Houndoom which is a much stronger Fire type overall. While Houndoom is weak to Fighting, it has much better stats than Ponyta (and doesn't take an eon to evolve). Plus, since you have 3 badges, the Houndoom should be around level 29-33, around or higher than Maylene's whole team. Plus, you'll also be able to buy the Flamethrower or Fire Blast TMs at the Veilstone Department Store.

However, you might wanna do a little EV boosting and Nature checking to ensure Houndoom can outspeed Lucario. Because Houndoom is weak to Fighting and while it has higher base speed than Lucario, 95 vs 90, I still doubt a freshly caught one can outspeed Maylene's ace.

May I ask who your fastest Pokémon is?

 

[crystal_gleam]

Ooooooh... If it had Intimidate, I would recommend teaching it Volt Switch. The TM for it is in Amity Square. Using Volt Switch would be very useful to stack Intimidate attack drops alongside Staravia.

I know you caught a Ponyta, but Ponyta isn't exactly the strongest of Pokémon, even among fire types. If you don't mind being weak to Fighting, you can go to the Grand Underground, and find a Spacious, Dazzling, Volcanic, or Sandsear Cave, and possibly find a Houndoom which is a much stronger Fire type overall. While Houndoom is weak to Fighting, it has much better stats than Ponyta (and doesn't take an eon to evolve). Plus, since you have 3 badges, the Houndoom should be around level 29-33, around or higher than Maylene's whole team. Plus, you'll also be able to buy the Flamethrower or Fire Blast TMs at the Veilstone Department Store.

However, you might wanna do a little EV boosting and Nature checking to ensure Houndoom can outspeed Lucario. Because Houndoom is weak to Fighting and while it has higher base speed than Lucario, 95 vs 90, I still doubt a freshly caught one can outspeed Maylene's ace.

May I ask who your fastest Pokémon is?

my fastest Pokémon is Absol with 62 Speed, although i'm pretty sure all my Pokémon (except for Prinplup and Ponyta) are capable of outspeeding Maylene's Lucario

another problem is Maylene's hyper potions, they keep restoring Lucario's HP right when i'm about to KO it

 

[RichestAirPirate]

my fastest Pokémon is Absol with 62 Speed, although i'm pretty sure all my Pokémon (except for Prinplup and Ponyta) are capable of outspeeding Maylene's Lucario

another problem is Maylene's hyper potions, they keep restoring Lucario's HP right when i'm about to KO it

Maylene's Hyper Potions mean that you'll want to land significant damage on Lucario as quickly as possible. Ideally outspeeding it and knocking it into Hyper Potion range. Therefore when Maylene heals it on the next, you basically get a free turn to do whatever like set up or chunk it for big damage again.

On your previous attempts, what Pokémon has outsped Lucario? And what is their level?

 

[crystal_gleam]

Maylene's Hyper Potions mean that you'll want to land significant damage on Lucario as quickly as possible. Ideally outspeeding it and knocking it into Hyper Potion range. Therefore when Maylene heals it on the next, you basically get a free turn to do whatever like set up or chunk it for big damage again.

On your previous attempts, what Pokémon has outsped Lucario? And what is their level?

last time i tried (which was with Ponyta instead of Absol), if i remember correctly, it was Kricketune (level 32), Staravia (level 31), Luxray (level 30), and oddly enough, Onix (level 29)

 

[RichestAirPirate]

last time i tried (which was with Ponyta instead of Absol), if i remember correctly, it was Kricketune (level 32), Staravia (level 31), Luxray (level 30), and oddly enough, Onix (level 29)

Then picking up a high level Houndoom with Flamethrower should be a good idea since it'll likely outspeed Lucario. And it should do a lot of damage with Flamethrower.

 

[Mialentia]

I will add that you're of course free to use whoever you like on your team, but Kricketune and Onix are very weak Pokémon, and you might run into more issues down the line with them on the team. This isn't to tell you "stop using them they're trash", but just keep that fact in mind and decide whether the added difficulty is to your liking.