pokemon diamond

[adherye]

What is a good pokemon team to start with on pokemon diamond? I already chose chimchar for a starter and now im stuck on what other pokemon I should get. I dont want anything like trade over this or that, just pokemon i can catch early in the game or mid way.
______________________________
external keyword tool ~ keyworddiscovery.com ~ keycompete.com ~ compete.com ~ webmasterworld.com

[Gluttony]

Good is subjective. You can win with anything, and you hardly need the best team to beat the main storyline of a Pokemon game.

If you've started with Chimchar though, a solid set of choices is:

> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>

That's a good balanced team, you should be able to get 5 of its 6 members before the first Gym, and Cranidos you can get immediately after Gym #2.

I also designed this team to be meant to go up against the Gym Leaders and E4.

Against Roark it's unlikely you'll have evolved Budew or Magikarp, so Monferno should be your main fighter. Consider using Budew, even in its unevolved state, against his Geodude and Onix though, a 4x type advantage gives you an edge.

Against Gardenia, Staravia and Monferno are both good of course, but your own Roselia (hopefully you'll have evolved it by then; happiness evolution is iffy) is also not bad. Like with Roark, your Roselia has an advantage against her Turtwig and Cherubi (you have poison type moves and are immune to Leech Seed) but needs help from your other Pokemon against her strongest. And that's where Staravia and Monferno come in, to fight Roserade.

Against Maylene, Staravia and Monferno again. Staravia takes out her Meditite and Machoke with little difficulty, Monferno's fire makes it a good match for Lucario. If Monferno needs help Gyarados is good at giving it.

Against Wake, the strategy is simple. Use your Roselia against his Quagsire, and Luxray against his Gyarados and Floatzel. Roselia isn't as good a matchup against Floatzel because of its vulnerability to ice, and because you won't have it fully evolved yet, unlike Luxray.

Against Fantina, Luxray should face Drifblim, and you can try using Rampardos' Zen Headbutt to do heavy damage to Gengar. Mismagius is a bit tricky since it has moves strong against most of your Pokemon. I suggest getting Luxray to at least level 35 before facing her so that you can use Crunch to exploit her weakness.

Byron is a lot easier than Fantina. Unfortunately you won't be able to enter Wayward Cave to get TM26 until after you beat him, so your Rampardos won't know Earthquake yet. Despite that, this should still be pretty easy. Your Infernape can probably handle this whole battle by itself, but I reccommend a bit of rotation. Bronzor might actually be Byron's toughest Pokemon for your team, I suggest going after it with Luxray and, if necessary Gyarados. Steelix can be fought pretty easily by Gyarados, and Staraptor can help with Close Combat if needed, and Bastiodon should be targeted by Staraptor's Close Combat, and Infernape's best Fighting type move.

Before facing Candice enter the hidden entrance of Wayward cave beneath Cycling Road (bring Pokemon with Strength, Flash, and Rock Smash) and travel through it to get TM26, Earthquake. Teach it to Rampardos. Seriously, it's a great move on him and is crucial to make beating Lucian of the Elite Four easy. Now, as for Candice, Use Infernape's Fire type moves on Snover and Abomasnow and his fighting type moves on Sneasel. Go after Medicham with some combination of Gyarados and Luxray.

Plot time. You're going to have to take a break from the Gyms now to go face Cyrus and Dialga. Eaith defeat Dialga or use the same tactics you would to catch any legendary Pokemon. As for Cyrus himself, Luxray is your best bet against his Honchkrow for sure, and is good against his Gyarados too (though watch out for its Earthquake). Use Rampardos' Zen Headbutt against Crobat, and face Weavile with your Infernape's fighting type moves.

Back to the Gyms, Volker is rather straightforward. Don't use Rampardos against his Raichu, you have low defense and it has Brick Break, instead save it for later and fight Raichu with your Roserade. Octillery can be taken down pretty easily by your own Luxray, and Ambipom should be handled by Infernape. Finally, use Rampardos against his Luxray, Earthquake should make it quick.

Elite Four #1 is Aaron, he's pretty weak. Start with Infernape and take out Dustox fast with a fire type move before he can start using Double Team. Use Staraptor to handle Beautifly and Heracross, and since you'll have grabbed TM71, Stone Edge, in Victory Road use that move to defeat Vespiquen. Stone Edge works well on both Infernape and Gyarados, but Rampardos is definitely the master of it. Rampardos is also the Pokemon you should use against Drapion, as Earthquake exploits its only weakness.

Elite Four #2 is Bertha, she's even weaker than Aaron. Fight Quagsire and Whiscash with Roserade and you'll probably take out both in one hit each. Golem can be taken out similarly by either Roserade or Gyarados. Sudowoodo is best handled by Infernape, and Hippowdon... Well Hippowdon is actually tough. Your best bet is to be overlevelled and to take it out in one strong hit with Gyarados.

Elite Four #3 is Flint, and his team has some variety. It's pretty easy though. Take out Rapidash with Gyarados, Drifblim with Luxray, Lopunny with Infernape, Steelix with Rampardos' Earthquake, and Infernape with Staraptor.

Elite Four #4 is Lucian, and this is the battle where Rampardos will truly shine, if only briefly. Use dark type moves (your Luxray should still have Crunch and your Gyarados may as well) against Mr. Mime, Girafarig, and Alakazam, but be wary of Mr. Mime's Thunderbolt, don't send out Gyarados against it. Medicham is a bit tricky with its fire, ice, and thunderpunch combo, but if you're high enough in level Staraptor should be able to deal with it in one shot before you need to worry about thunderpunch or ice punch. Finally, Bronzong. Rampardos' ability, Mold Breaker, allows it to ignore Bronzong's Levitate, meaning you can just Earthquake your way to victory. It makes the battle incredibly simple.

Cynthia will be your toughest challenge. Heal up before you begin.

Start with Rampardos against Spiritomb, it has no weakness so just Earthquake it into submission. Roserade will be the Pokemon you should use against Gastrodon, with more exploitation of the 4x weakness to grass. Against Cynthia's own Roserade, I suggest your Staraptor (her Roserade knows Extrasensory and you don't want Infernape taking a super-effective hit). Her Lucario is best dealt with using your Infernape in the same way your Monferno faced Maylene's Lucario (though watch out, Cynthia's knows Earthquake. Try to finish it fast). Milotic is in my opinion Cynthia's toughest Pokemon, use Luxray against it, and if you manage to paralyze it switch to non-physical attacks, as its Marvel Scale will start boosting its physical defense. Hopefully your Luxray will know both physical (Thunder Fang) and a non-physical (Thunderbolt/Discharge) electric type moves.

Finally comes Garchomp. It's a Pokemon that hits hard and fast and is likely to one-shot most members of your team. If you're lucky your previous five will all be alive still, having handled, (or not yet faced, she often sends Garchomp out early) their respective matchups on Cynthia's team. They're what I like to call Gyarados' Revive-fodder. Your Gyarados should know Ice Fang, and it will be your main move for this battle, the trick will be to actually hit with it before Garchomp knocks you out. Luckily Gyarados is a good match for this Garchomp. It can't use Earthquake against you, Brick Break is a weak type matchup, Dragon Rush is prone to missing, and Giga Impact leaves her vulnerable next turn. If she misses/fails to KO Gyarados on any given turn your Ice Fang will do heavy damage. If she does take Gyara down, send out a Pokemon on your team who has already faced their respective matchup (you'll have at least one as Rampardos is guaranteed to have faced Spiritomb, but in all likelihood you'll probably have face Rampardos, Roserade, and Luxray's matchup's at this point). Use that new Pokemon's turn to give Gyarados a Max Revive. The new Pokemon will probably be taken down and then its back to Gyarados. If you're lucky she'll miss or pick a weak move this time. If you're REALLY lucky she'll have finished off your previous Pokemon with Giga Impact and you can go crazy with Ice Fang. It should only take one or two ice type hits to bring the dragon down, so perservere (And save your game beforehand). If you just can't win consider accepting the loss and levelling up a bit more before coming back to face her again. Gyarados and Luxray especially will benefit from being overlevelled in this battle.

[Aquil]

I'll show you what I used when I chose Chimchar.



Now keep in mind that this was Pearl version, so I know you can't get Mismagius in Diamond, but I'm not sure about the availability of Bonsly in Diamond (I think you can catch him in the Trophy Garden). A solid replacement for Mismagius would be Honchkrow, and if you don't want to try and look for a Bonsly, then Pikachu would also do quite well in this team.

[Gluttony]

@Aquil: Sudowoodo's a Pearl-only, and unfortunately you can only get Bonsly in the trophy garden after beating the game.