Pokémon Soul Silver and Heart Gold.

[Miroku_Asura]

How well does Typhlosion work as a special sweeper anyhow? I always thought his special movepool was a little too shallow to be too enticing.

I use him as my lead lol- Its pretty epic if your opponent doesn't pop Protect because a STAB'd Eruption at full HP will have a base damage of 225 before factoring in resistance. Modest (or other +SpAtk) nature and maxed SpAtk EVs are needed to make it worth it though. It'll usually rip off 70% HP on a neutral Pokemon.

As a special sweeper in general though, you have a very limited move pool with Flamethrower, Eruption, Focus Blast and whatever your Hidden Power move is as your best options if you don't breed it- otherwise, you can teach it Extrasensory by breeding it with a Vulpix. I'm in the process of doing that right now, but I can't get a modest nature to save my life x.x

Cliff notes:
Typhlosion Modest 4hp/252 SpAtk/252 Speed
Choice Scarf
Flamethrower
Eruption
Focus Blast
Extrasensory
________________
= Awesomesauce :3

[Rokku]

Solid strat, the only thing I'd be worried about on a lead is the high number of things that carry earthquake as a lead. Wouldn't be an issue against something like Forretress, since you'd force the switch immediately, but anything that could weather the Eruption and hit back with a STAB Earthquake, or even one backed up by a relatively high ATK stat seems like it'd pose a serious threat to Typhlosion.

[Miroku_Asura]

Solid strat, the only thing I'd be worried about on a lead is the high number of things that carry earthquake as a lead. Wouldn't be an issue against something like Forretress, since you'd force the switch immediately, but anything that could weather the Eruption and hit back with a STAB Earthquake, or even one backed up by a relatively high ATK stat seems like it'd pose a serious threat to Typhlosion.

I swap out if I feel like an EQ would be headed my way. Normally swap out to my physical wall, my Donphan of schexyness, or my Kingdra. Also, depending on the lead, I don't mind sac'ing my Typhlosion if it means I get something nasty out of the way.

[Rokku]

I swap out if I feel like an EQ would be headed my way. Normally swap out to my physical wall, my Donphan of schexyness, or my Kingdra. Also, depending on the lead, I don't mind sac'ing my Typhlosion if it means I get something nasty out of the way.

Fair enough. Also, Kingdra = raaaaage

[Miroku_Asura]

Fair enough. Also, Kingdra = raaaaage

^_^ Limited move pool, but epic type coverage if you put the effort (see BP and TMs) in it- I run Ice Beam, Dragon Pulse, Flash Cannon, and Signal Beam so... yeah... shit dies XD

[Gorki]

Thanks for all the ideas ^^ Will get back to you soon

[Algoth]

To anyone still looking for the IV Judge NPC in Pearl/Diamond, I'm sorry to say that he can't be found in those games.
I just assumed the Battle Tower in D/P would have one because Emerald has the NPC also, but it would seem the IV Judge can only be found in Emerald, Platinum and HeartGold/SoulSilver.

[The_OG_Nelta]

Can anyone link me to explanation to endgame pokemans?

[Algoth]

Can anyone link me to explanation to endgame pokemans?

I assume you mean metagaming? Even if not, Smogon should have all the info you need: http://www.smogon.com/dp/tiers/
That's the link to Gen4 tiers, all of the Pokemons there include an in-depth analysis to their strengths and weaknesses and suggested movepools/strategies.

[Meian]

Can anyone link me to explanation to endgame pokemans?

http://www.smogon.com/dp/articles/

Has some info on some teams to look out for or to use as well

[Rokku]

Smogon is a good starting point, though I wouldn't take their strats as gospel. They only work if you're sticking with teams strictly in-tier, there's a lot of stuff that falls into UU and NU that can still present a very real threat to OU and the like.

The movesets are good, but unless you plan to play really competitively, I wouldn't worry too much about their team building strategies beyond just getting an idea of how people roll.

[Gorki]

lol, you'll be fine. I beat Elite 4 using Feraligatr level 50 and Dragonair, Stantler, Gengar, Ho-Oh and Gligar levels 40-45. Your team will steamroll them.

I'm fighting them for the second time, after I got all 16 badges, lol.

[The_OG_Nelta]

Smogon is a good starting point, though I wouldn't take their strats as gospel. They only work if you're sticking with teams strictly in-tier, there's a lot of stuff that falls into UU and NU that can still present a very real threat to OU and the like.

The movesets are good, but unless you plan to play really competitively, I wouldn't worry too much about their team building strategies beyond just getting an idea of how people roll.

haha something i actually understand

UU NU and OU.

Do you recommend anymore links? maybe explaining IV and EV as well seeing as i'm lost at that.

EDIT: Just read some things about IV's and EV's had some questions
every pokemon starts out with 0 EV?
and IV is just the stat the pokemon starts with 0-31 ?

[Miroku_Asura]

haha something i actually understand

UU NU and OU.

Do you recommend anymore links? maybe explaining IV and EV as well seeing as i'm lost at that.

EDIT: Just read some things about IV's and EV's had some questions
every pokemon starts out with 0 EV?
and IV is just the stat the pokemon starts with 0-31 ?

Yes- every pokemon starts out with 0 EVs- you gain more EVs by killing other pokemon- I like this resource a lot:

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page

[Ellimist]

bulbapedia, serebii.net, and meriland are three GREAT resources for all things metagame. Serebii has some great game mechanics tools as well.

[Buttons]

Just ordered Soul Silver today and am now sitting here with my copy of Diamond and thinking about which Pokemon I want to breed and move over and start off with.
Don't really care for competitive battling so I guess I can just use any ones I like. I tried using an unevolved Psyduck in Diamond but had to later switch him out, kinda sucks how my favourite Pokemon becomes way too weak at the higher levels.

This time I am intent on using Delibird though, just bred a few on Diamond and now have one with a good nature and fun egg moves. :D
To make up for his weakness I'll just use a Chimchar and a Gible I bred. Will fill up the rest with SoulSilver Pokemon then.
Might put in a Psyduck anyway since it's just awesome, don't wanna end up with two water pokemon though since I wanna start with Totodile. o.o"

[Akiyama]

Ugh. I need a DS so bad. Need to find a place with good deals.

[Miroku_Asura]

Ugh. I need a DS so bad. Need to find a place with good deals.

If you end up getting a DS, snag a Lite instead of the fucking DSi model- they're cheaper and will let you use the PalPark in all gen 4 games. Can find them around 100 or so online, or if you have some games you don't play anymore, you can trade them in at GameStop for a good bit of cash- they were having a deal a while back where you would get a 25% bonus to the game you traded in. (A game normally trades in for 12, you would get 16)

[Akiyama]

Ah. I was going to ask if anyone knew of a place I could go for a decent deal on an original DS/DS Lite. I heard the Lites were a bit fragile. Any truth to that?

[Meian]

My DS Lite has taken some abuse but has been grand and works fine after all this time. But I can see, apperance-wise, where it can seem fragile.