To preface, this will be focused on in-game teams, due to the fact that competitive battles for this game does not really exist anymore. Each of these teams will involve one starter’s final evolution, and there will be other recurring Pokémon.
10. Blaziken + Linoone + Gardevoir + Swellow + Manectric + Sharpedo
This team features some pretty useful Pokémon, and is also decently balanced. It features a decent amount of mega-evolution as well. Linoone is more for HMs than anything else, but it can be extremely useful as well.
- Blaziken is a great Pokémon. It can offer decent coverage, especially with TMs.
- Swellow is a Pokémon that can be caught early on and is a good addition to a team, especially because of its speed.
- Sharpedo is a dual-type of water and dark, and because of its water-typing, any of the water-type HMs would be great on it.
- Gardevoir is a really good Pokémon. Fairy and psychic typing make it really useful.
- Manectric is a fast electric type, and it is easy to capture as well.
9. Swampert + Breloom + Dodrio + Banette + Ninetales + Aggron
This team involves an interesting combination of Pokémon, Dodrio is one that I hardly ever see used. All of these Pokémon excel in their own ways too, Breloom is a great Hoenn-originated powerhouse, for example.
- Dodrio has high speed and attack, making it a good addition.
- Banette is a great ghost type, and it’s mega in this game, which gives it a good boost. Will-O-Wisp and hex are two moves that work well together.
- Breloom is a great fighting type and is really good offensively.
- Ninetales is a great fire type, and is a huge improvement stat-wise from Vulpix, and is worth the time it takes to get to Ninetales.
- This team has three possible mega-evolutions, which allows for some powerful Pokémon.
8. Swampert + Aggron + Gardevoir + Raichu + Heracross + Latias/Latios (depending on the player character you choose)
Latias/Latios are given to you by a character in the game for free,, so some might see using them as cheating. However, since they are legendaries, they are good Pokémon. This team offers good coverage and has a couple of Pokémon people might not consider for this game.
- This team is mostly Pokémon that can mega evolve, and those allow for a really good boost.
- Aggron is a good Pokémon that you can start training (as an Aron) early on in the game. It is a really good tank.
- Raichu is commonly overlooked because of Pikachu, but it is a good Pokémon, and it can have decent coverage with movies like focus blast or dig.
- Heracross has good physical attack and has decent typing as well.
- Latios and Latias are dual types, being both psychic and dragon. Dragon types are always great to have.
7. Sceptile + Linoone + Tentacruel + Magnezone + Swellow + Froslass
Sceptile is a Pokémon people seem to regard as the best Hoenn starter in terms of its design. I digress, this team features a couple of new Pokémon for this list. Tentacruel and Magnezone are some interesting choices.
- Sceptile has a decent number of physical moves to choose from, and with TMs, you can have an interesting moveset on it.
- Tentacruel is an easy team member to get and can be caught fairly early on. This is a good water HM Pokémon, and there are a lot of water HMs in Hoenn.
- Magnezone is a dual-type of electric and steel, which is a pretty combination of types. If it has the move magnet rise, it can avoid ground type moves as well.
- Swellow is a pretty decent Pokémon to teach the move fly to It can make good use of the move in battle because of its speed.
- Linoone has been a reoccurring team member, and that is because it is a staple of Hoenn. It is a good HM Pokémon, and pickup is a good ability.
6. Blaziken + Linoone + Gardevoir + Flygon + Cacturne + Walrein
This team is decently balanced and has some Pokémon that I don’t see people using often, such as Cacturne. This team is made up of Hoenn-originated Pokémon.
- Flygon is a really useful Pokémon. Ground and dragon are an interesting type combination . A dragon type is always useful for any team.
- Cacturne is a fairly decent grass-type, the combination of dark and grass allows it to have an interesting range of possible moves. d
- Walrein can’t be caught as a Spheal until fairly late in the game, but it is a really good Pokémon. The move surf is extremely useful to have on Walrein. This Pokémon also covers for Blaziken’s weaknesses fairly well.
- Linoone is, again, useful for HMs and can have an ability (pickup) that gives you free items.
- Blaziken is a good Pokémon as stated before, and it can be even better with mega-evolution.
5. Blaziken + Breloom + Skarmory + Absol + Froslass + Milotic
This team features some Pokémon that haven’t been on this list yet. This team is a decently balanced team, and involves only a couple of mega-evolutions compared to other teams seen on this list thus far.
- Absol can be really powerful with the move “swords dance.” Swords dance gives it a really good boost, and when combined with mega-evolution, it makes Absol really powerful.
- Froslass is a good asset for this team, which has a bit of a flying weakness. Froslass covers that. Its ice and ghost typing allows for some good moves.
- Milotic has a high special defense, which can make it a really durable team member. Combined with the move “recover,” it can be a menace.
- Skarmory has great defense and is another team member that can use a recovery move, roost.
- Breloom has been on this list once before, but it is a good team addition. Seed bomb is a really good move on it.
4. Sceptile + Medicham + Azumarill + Magnezone + Kecleon + Weezing
This team features a lot of different Pokémon and some that are used a lot less frequently l. Weezing is a rare team addition from my knowledge, and it’s always interesting to see it get some love on a team.
- Medicham has a good deal of potential as a psychic and fighting type, especially when it comes to STAB moves. Though for Non-STAB moves , Poison jab would be a good move for it as that would help cover one of its major weaknesses.
- Azumarill is a Pokémon that can be useful if you know how to make use of abilities, and its fairy typing makes it even more helpful.
- Weezing is a decently bulky addition to this team. It has a decent defense, making it really good against physical moves. It also has some decent coverage possibilities.
- Kecleon has really good special defense and attack, as well as a lot of decent moves.
- This team has a lot of Pokémon with a lot of possibilities and decent coverage.
3. Sceptile + Camerupt + Magnezone + Tentacruel + Gallade + Swellow
This team has a lot of returning Pokémon from previous teams on this list, but it has a couple of new ones as well. Gallade is a Pokémon I don’t see used much, especially for this game, because people just prefer Gardevoir, so I think using it for a change would be nice.
- There’s a decent number of possible mega-evolutions on this team, which, as previously stated, allows for some really good boosts.
- Camerupt is a pretty good Pokémon. Fire and ground allow for some interesting move combinations. The moves earth power or earthquake can be really good moves on a Camerupt.
- Gallade allows for some good possibilities with moves like hypnosis. Gallade being both fighting and psychic makes it a pretty decent addition to the team.
- Giving Tentacruel a move that causes poison can make it really useful. Toxic or toxic spikes would work well.
- Magnezone has a decent number of STAB moves that you can pick from, and giving it the move metal sound would make it really useful.
2. Sceptile + Gyarados + Manectric + Skarmory + Camerupt + Gardevoir
Gyarados is a first for this list, and it is a fairly popular Pokémon. This is a decently balanced team, and it covers your basic starter types of grass, fire and water as well .
- Another team with a lot of possible mega-evolution, another team with a lot of possible boosts.
- Gyarados is a Pokémon that can be obtained fairly early (though it is slow to level). Magikarp are everywhere, after all. This is a strong Pokémon with a decent range of moves.
- Sceptile gains dragon type when it mega-evolves. Teaching this Pokémon dragon claw would allow for some decent STAB in its mega form.
- Gyarados gains dark typing as a mega, and giving it crunch would allow for decent STAB when mega-evolved .
- Skarmory can be really good and takes physical hits fairly well.
1. Swampert + Hariyama + Manectric + Absol + Gardevoir + Crobat
This team, for starters, has a lot of possible mega-evolutions, so that’s always fun! Mega-Pokémon adds a great boost to Pokémon. Each of these Pokémon brings a lot to the team. For example, Hariyama is a tank and a strong attacker. It’s great when you need a Pokémon to switch into when a strong attack is coming your way.
- Swampert is a dual type of water and ground, which nullifies the weakness to electric type Pokémon, making it really useful.
- An added bonus of starting with Mudkip is that you start off with a Pokémon that can learn the move surf , and Hoenn has a lot of water, too much almost! (*wink*)
- Gardevoir is an extremely good Pokémon, its dual typing of fairy and psychic gives it a lot of possibilities.
- Crobat is an easy to get addition to a team, and it’s really good. Its speed especially makes it stand out.
- Manectric is a commonly overlooked electric Pokémon, but it is another high-speed Pokémon that can learn moves like flamethrower for coverage.
