If you've been playing Pokemon games for the last decade then you know that playing through the main narrative is a snap. The enemy AI never gets too tough and the bosses tend to load up on the same Pokemon types. Even the vaunted Elite Four are a breeze to beat if you understand Pokemon-type match ups.
Because of this, lots of people tend to load up on attacks of the same type. We've seen tons of grass Pokemon with three or more grass attacks, water types with three or more water moves, etc. This is absolutely fine in the main game, but if you want to battle online or get far in theBattle Tower, it's a huge mistake. Giving your Pokemon optimum flexibility- both individually and as a team- is paramount. You need to prepare for a variety of enemies and situations. You need to prepare for any mid-battle mistakes you might make. Through breeding, teaching Technical Machine and Hidden Machine moves, and the move tutor, each Pokemon has a wide variety of moves to learn. This week, we're going to give you some examples of how to balance your team for competitive play.
Mewtwo is without a doubt one of the best Pokemon to have. It's powerful and versatile- certainly one of the best Pokemon to base your team around if your opponents allow you to use legendaries. Our Mewtwo has a move set comprised of Psychic, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, and Recover. Psychic is a powerful attack that takes advantage of Mewtwo's type, while Thunderbolt and Ice Beam are great attacks that cover a wide variety of Pokemon; pairing these two attacks is quite common in the competitive world and is known affectionately as the "Bolt/Beam" combo. Recover comes in handy should your Pokemon run into any rough spots or be the victim of an inopportune critical hit by your foe.
With Mewtwo's three attacks, you'll be able to take out fighting, poison, water, flying, dragon, grass, and ground types with ease! To complement these attacks, we use a Mew as our second Pokemon. Our Mew is outfitted with Psychic, Flamethrower, Shadow Ball, and Recover. Psychic and Rest are used for the reasons listed above, while Flamethrower and Shadowball help you defeat bug, ice, steel, psychic, and ghost types. With these two Pokemon alone, you'll be able to handle a large variety of opponents.
