Having chased Team Magma out of their hideout and watched Groudon give Maxie the slip, I went about chasing Team Aqua out of -their- hideout. Only, I'd forgotten that you have to truck down to Slateport to watch them steal Stern's sub first, and that they get to make off with it to awaken Kyogre, who is on the oceanfloor rather than actually in the hideout. Regardless, I was finally able to get those Wailmer out of the way and surf on to Mossdeep...and Shoal Cave.
So I am now the proud trainer of a lvl 26 Spheal, named after Mythbuster Jamie Hyneman. Because, y'know, the 'stache.
Except... that means I'm at the point where I can rotate some new Pokemon into my team. And that means I have to get some movesets straight, particularly the Pokes I'm rotating out.
First problem is Sancho, my Lotad. I'd originally figured on him having Surf and Strength, plus Uproar and some kind of solid grass move. Except, despite being a water/grass type, Lotad learn pretty much NO grass moves after Absorb, and no water moves of any use until they get Hydro Pump at lvl 49. In fact, it's almost as if their learnset is pathetic precisely so they can be HM slaves.
Only, if I want to train that Spheal (and I do, 'cause I need credit for both Sealeo and Walrein) I won't be using Sancho as an HM slave. So, what to do?
Sancho's actually been doing pretty well with just Absorb, Nature Power, Uproar, and Surf. So maybe I have him forget Surf and remember Thief, and then hand him a Water Stone. That way I'll have a hand-raised Ludicolo that isn't just a bunch of HM/TM moves.
Next problem is Roland, my little Phanpy. I'd been keeping him from evolving because Donphan don't have Pickup, and wasting him as an HM slave to boot. Only, Donphan have a much better learnset -- they get Rapid Spin at lvl 41, Earthquake at lvl 49, and can remember Horn Attack via the Move Relearner. So I guess it's time to have Roland forget the HM moves, keep Rollout, and level him up some to get the other three (though 49's a long way to go....maybe I'll finish that out over in the original Emerald. Folks ought to be wanting rematches by now).
That leaves me with the problem of who to stick with Strength and Rock Smash. It seems Skarmory can learn Rock Smash but not Strength, so I guess poor Knives gets to play slave some more. Maybe I really do need a Tropius, though that's a waste of a perfectly good grass type. Damn HMs.
After trading out Sancho and Roland, the team would then be down to Tabasco, Sybil, and Samson; which allows me to add in Drama (my teeny lvl 6 Whiiiiismur), Joelle (lvl 26 Duskull), and Jamie (the aforementioned Spheal, lvl 26). They will all need a bunch of levelling/EVs, especially Drama.
I'd planned for Drama to have Uproar and Hyper Voice, and probably Strength. But Supersonic and Stomp seem more...dramatic. heh. It should be noted that Loudred and Exploud can learn both Strength and Rock Smash...and Rock Smash might actually make sense as an off-type move for such a straight normal type.
Joelle will need to evolve directly at lvl 37 to learn Shadow Punch, and will unfortunately have to relearn Night Shade (I should have a few Heart Scales tucked away). Confuse Ray and Disable are the other contenders, though Dusclops can learn Strength and Rock Smash as well, and again it makes sense to have an off-type, non-ghost move.
For Jamie, I was intending to give him both Surf and Dive, but once again, it seems a shame to waste so much of his moveset on HMs. Damn, damn HMs. I'd rather keep stuff like Ice Ball (an ice version of Rollout) or Body Slam. Aurora Beam and (much later) Blizzard are contenders as well. Plus the final attack in the learnset is the one-hit KO move Sheer Cold. How cool would that be? (no pun intended).
For Flash and Waterfall, which I'll need to get through Victory Road, I'm going once again with a Chinchou. Only this time I should evolve it, because I need a Lanturn for the 'Dex. They evolve at lvl 27, and don't learn anything really compelling anyway, so I can pretty much let it go right away. It can keep Supersonic and Spark for its other attacks (or maybe Thunder Wave if I catch it at a low enough level).
An option I should keep in mind is that I can always have everyone forget their HM moves and relearn things from their own movesets once I'm through the Elite Four.
So the next thing (after completing Shoal Cave at low tide, and possibly the Space Center and Mossdeep Gym) is to catch my new team members up to the others via Macho Brace and Exp Share, and to get everyone up to lvl 45. Maybe I'll spend some Rare Candies on the ones who already have Effort Ribbons. Then it'll be time for the undersea routes, and the mess with the squabbling legendaries.
Emerald is a long game. *whew*
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