In order to be successful when playing the widely popular Pokémon Platinum, you need to not only know which is the best team to have but how to make the best team.

For Pokémon lovers, Pokémon Platinum was a great opportunity to test your trainer skills against some of the toughest gyms around, and any Elite 4 you might come across. Following the normal Pokémon standard, each gym trainer will specialize in a different type of Pokémon, and there is no one size fits all when defeating these gym leaders.

Your team needs to be a balanced team, one that can collectively beat a wide range of types, with Pokémon who are specialized in different areas, who can take on different types.

A balanced team will be your best bet in becoming victorious in Pokémon Platinum!

Know Your Starters

There are three options to choose from when starting out in Pokémon Platinum. The Pokémon you choose to start will be a big determining factor in how the rest of your team develops. You are able to choose between Piplup who is water-based, Chimchar who is fire-based and Turtwig who is grass-based.

Piplup – Piplup is a water and steel hybrid who can learn ice moves as he progresses. Being both water and steel, Piplup has very few weakness. He can learn a variety of useful moves that make him very powerful as he evolves. Piplup is widely considered as the best choice for a starter.

Turtwig – Turtwig might be slow, but he has a great attack and defense against almost all the gym leaders found in Pokémon Platinum. This wide range of defense and attack capabilities also make him a good first choice.

Chimchar – Chimchar evolves into a fire-fighting hybrid. He is effective often throughout the game and can be used to fight in almost every gym. Pokémon Platinum is known to offer up less fire Pokémon, so it might be a good idea to pick him as a starter if you do not want to look for a fire Pokémon later in the game, saving you some time.

Plan For Weaknesses

When building a Pokémon team, you need to make sure that your team is not weak to any type of Pokémon. In Pokémon, there will always be one type of Pokémon which has an advantage over another type. An example is that Fire Pokémon are more powerful against Grass Pokémon, with their attacks dealing twice as much damage. Turn it around and it is still true, a Grass Pokémon will only do half the amount of damage when attacking a Fire Pokémon. If you are unsure of which Pokémon type has more power over another, think outside the game. A Flying type will beat a Bug-type, as a bird eats a bug, Water will beat Fire as it does in real life, and so forth.

Remember though that certain type of Pokémon will only be effective against their weaker counterpart when they are using their specific type attacks. Using a Normal Tackle as a Fire Pokémon against a Grass Pokémon will not have a double damage effect.

Know Pokémon Classes

As the game has developed over the years, dedicated players have created classes which are assigned to different Pokémon. Knowing these different classes will help you build a full team, with each member of your team fulfilling a specific purpose. These classes don’t have anything to do with the type of the Pokémon, but instead the function that it performs.

Sweeper – Sweepers are powerful in attack and are used to deal out a large amount of damage to take out an enemy Pokémon. In a team of 6, it is a good idea to have around 3-4 sweepers.

Wall – Wall Pokémon have high health points (HP) which are good for defense. These Pokémon can survive a large amount of damage and are often used to buy time when you use certain items to heal up your team. They are sometimes referred to as tanks and are vital for staying in a fight.

Support – Support class Pokémon are used for stat-boosting for themselves or stat-depleting for the enemy, and their moves help weaken the opposing team. Baton Pass is a move that needs to be learned by support Pokémon which will allow the support to give the same stat boosts to the next Pokémon which you use.

HM Slave – This class isn’t really used for fighting, but when they have learned Surf, Fly or Strength, they will be invaluable for moving around the game and for travel. They are often subbed in and out of the team and aren’t used for fighting.

Catcher – Catchers are not used in battle, but are used to catch Pokémon in the wild. They most commonly have a mix of powerful moves which can weaken, sleep or paralyze wild Pokémon, which makes them much easier to catch.

How Stats Affect Effectiveness

Attacks will have different damage dealt depending on the stats. Understanding how the different stats work will go a long way in helping you build a really effective team. For example, it is a good idea to use a high defense stat Pokémon against a trainer who uses Pokémon with high Physical attacks.

Attack – This has an effect on the power or damage dealt by a physical attack like Scratch.

Special Attack – This refers to both indirect or mental attacks. Non-physical attacks use the Special Attack stat.

Defense – This stat determines the amount of damage received by a Physical Attack.

Special Defense – This stat determines the amount of damage received by special attacks.

Speed – This determines who gets to attack first. The speed stats are considered between two fighting Pokémon and the Pokémon with the fastest speed will be allowed to attack first. If the two Pokémon have equal speed stats, it is chosen randomly.

Level Up Your Team

Each member of your Pokémon team will need to be at least level 50. This gives you the right amount of power and experience to fight against the best trainers at gyms in the game. Your stats increase when you level up, and your Pokémon will learn new moves, and your Pokémon will also evolve into stronger forms.

The Best Pokémon Platinum Team

When building your team, you need to remember that having a balanced team is much more important, and effective, than having the same type Pokémon which are powerful. Having a team of the same type will mean trouble when you get to a gym where your team comes off as the weaker type. Having a team comprised of strong, different types will be your best bet when defeating all the gyms.

Here is one of the best teams to have in Pokémon Platinum:

Electric

The electric type Pokémon is probably one of the most important. Electric-type are only weak against Ground, although they are resistant against by Grass and Dragon. Electric-type Pokémon can learn a wide variety of moves.

Luxray is a great electric type to have. You are able to get Shrinx early on in the game, who will eventually evolve into Luxray. Luxray might have a limited move pool, but he has a massive attack stat which makes him incredibly valuable to the team.

If you do not want Luxray, you can opt for Electivire or Raichu. You are also able to catch the elusive Zapdos which will be great in your team. The best electric moves are Thunder, Thunderbolt and Thunder Fang.

Water

Water-type Pokémon are only weak against Electric and Grass. They use ice moves, which are effective against Electric, Grass and Dragon-type Pokémon. Water Pokémon are very useful in the game, especially when they learn Surf.

Floatzel is a good Water-type to have. Buizel is around early in the game and evolves into the much needed Floatzel. Although he only knows two moves, ice-beam, and ice-punch, these are incredibly effective and will be used to take out the strongest opponents. Floatzel is a great choice when you didn’t initially choose Piplup.

Other powerful water Pokémon are Gyrados and Vaporeon, and powerful moves are Surf, Waterfall and Hydro Pump.

Psychic / Dark

Psychic and dark type Pokémon are rare but are essential on a great team. Psychic and dark Pokémon usually have a high Special Attack stat and can usually learn many special moves.

Alakazam and Gengar are preferred psychic and dark Pokémon for a strong team. Both of these Pokémon work as sweepers that are able to be caught early on in the game. They are good to use against other Psychics, Poison, Dark and Bug Pokémon.

Other options for a psychic/dark Pokémon are Metagross, Espeon, Gallade, and Hypno. They can learn moves such as Psychic, Bite, Night Slash and Psycho Cut.

Fighting, Steel, Rock or Ground

Most of these Pokémon share types and can offer learn moves across the different types. This makes them a good value type to have when fighting against different gyms. They are versatile, but Fighting types are generally frail while others such as Ground-types are defensively better.

Lucario makes a good choice in this category, even though you don’t get him until you get to Iron Island. He uses Aura-Sphere which is a stab and is good for getting Double team Pokémon.

Grass

Grass-type Pokémon are quite weak to different types of Pokémon but have the benefit of learning many different powerful moves that can make them useful in certain situations.

Torterra is a Grass-type with powerful moves such as Wood-Hammer, Crunch, Earthquake, and Rock-Climb.

Roserade is another common Grass-type choice, as he can also learn Poison and Psychic and has a very high Special Attack stat. There is also Tropius, Carnivin, and Venusaur to choose from, who can learn Giga Drain, Leaf Blade or Energy Ball.

Fire

There are not many Fire-type Pokémon in Platinum, so it is a good idea to snag one early on in the game. Rapidash is one of the best choices, as he enters the game early. His Flare-Blitz is a strong stab move and the rest of his moves work as coverage. He will be your main Pokémon for defeating the Ice and Bug gym.

Rapidash is a fast Pokémon and can only be slower than Flying types.

If you choose Chimchar as a starter, you can level him up to help you escape many tricky situations in the game. He will be effective against Grass, Ice, Rock, Bug and Steel types.

If you can find a Moltres, snatch him up. He will be an invaluable asset to your team. You can also snag up an Eevee in Hearthome, above the Pokémon Center. Eevee can evolve either into Water, Fire, Electric, Psychic, Grass, Dark or Ice if you have the requirements to complete the evolution.

Fire Pokémon can learn moves such as Flare Blitz, Sunny Day and Fire Blast. However, due to their rarity in Pokémon Platinum, you can replace a Fire-type Pokémon with a good Fighting Pokémon to complete your team.

Cover Your Weaknesses

To help you perfect your team even further, there is an online generator where you can enter your team to see its overall stats. This will give you suggestions on how to fill in the holes in your team to cover any weaknesses.

Knowing the team you have will help you develop it further, and make it the strongest team around. Pokémon Platinum is a real challenge when it comes to facing the gyms and the Elite 4, so you need to be sure that you are confident in your chosen team.

Variety is more important than one type and will cover you from being weak to any outside attacks. Have a Pokémon ready for each situation, and pay attention to growing and evolving all your Pokémon, not just a few. This will give you an incredibly strong team that will be able to take on any foe, and earn legendary status on the Pokémon Platinum platform!

Good luck and have fun building your ultimate team!