Pokémon EXPAND THE LANDMASS IN GLORIOUS THREE DEE- Finished Episode Delta, so time for the wrapup. Haven't explored the aftergame at all, but if I remember my Gen 3 properly it's mostly the Battle Frontier (especially since the Gen 3 legends are handed out outright for once) so probably won't be doing TOO much with it.
So I decided early on to basically run with the first six pokemon I caught, and as such had Team Scrubs by and large. Team, in reverse catch order:
Rayquaza (L70, Relaxed, Extreme Speed/Dragon Pulse/Dragon Dance/Dragon Ascent)- So they force you to add it to the party at the end there because, y'know, space. MORE STATS THAN GOD is more stats than god. Of course once you get it you proceed to solo the dragonborn then OHKO Deoxys so oops. Not actually relevant as such, but god damn.
Groudon- Didn't actually use, next.
Latios- Forced into the party, but never deployed.
Swellow (L47, Jolly, Guts, Aerial Ace/Double Team/Fly/Quick Attack)- Not really bad, but the limited move pool and peaking damned early on move power means it's not a serious contender after a point. Situationally useful of course (my only reliable tool against fighting more or less) but not really great by any stretch.
Linoone (L32, Lax, Gluttony, Rock Smash/Slash/Strength/Surf)- I kept it's levels up just enough to take a hit or two in the middle gyms (Gym 6 in particular was nasty for my team) but after a point it just became the HM slave it was born to be, and was never a serious contributor to the team.
Beautifly (L45, Impish, Swarm, Air Cutter/Bug Buzz/Giga Drain/Quiver Dance)- Very yo-yo-y for usefulness. Obvious Jeigan applications of course, but... even after that it would fall behind then surge back into usefulness. Giga Drain made it reasonably good against various Water types which has obvious applications in Hoenn, and Air Cutter gave it a clear niche in 2v2. It never really fell truly behind, and a couple tough fights were subjected to swap whoring followed by Quiver Dancing until everything died. And of course those Wailmers/Wailords that insisted on coming out and being perfect setup pawns.
Mightyena (L44, Quiet, Intimidate, Crunch/Howl/Snarl/Fire Fang)- Basically the hero of many a gym battle. Intimidate shenanigans, snarl to nuke SAtk? Yup. Cheap as fuck but fuck you. It developed a bad habit of not getting any exp on good matchups due to opponents having offtype moves around gym 7, so its levels don't reflect how much Eph's Hero carried the team.
Metagross (L58, Quiet, Clear Body, Meteor Mash/Psychic/Earthquake/Hammer Arm)- Broken. This thing is currently being handed out as a level 5 Beldum with a non-you OT. Solos multiple gyms on typing, comes with its Mega Evo stone, and is still a 600 BST monster with a solid move pool. It's why I did the Team Scrubs thing: I knew this thing would smash all comers if I decided I was getting pissed off with the other scrubs.
Swampert (L51, Sassy, Torrent, Mud Shot/Rock Slide/Earthquake/Waterfall)- Just as good as I remember it from Sapphire, except now I can teach it AND other stuff Earthquake basically as soon as it evolves. Always good, even during that slight move drought early on.
So it's, y'know, good and all? 7/10 stuff really. It lacks the spark X/Y had, but there's no particular fault with it except it's a touch too faithful to Ruby and Sapphire, although more particularly if it'd incorporated more stuff from Emerald it'd be a definite step up as well.