>>51586606After a bit of thinking, I've made my decision.
>>51583964>>51586668>>51587847By unanimous suggestion, it's time for Round 2!
I went with Tepig again, as I'm almost certain that's not where I went wrong. Simisear isn't all that, Darumaka has Hustle until it evolves, and Chandelure's no guarantee. Given this, my best bet at a Fire Type is right from the get-go.
I've actually already had one or two dicey fights due to me barely guessing correctly and crits leaving Purrloin, Tepig and Patrat at 1-2 HP. Never punished, as they say.
I've already beaten every Trainer up to but not including the first Gym Leader (Cress in my case). Now I'm at a point where I need to make a decision. To Rare Candy or not to Rare Candy?
I only consider the idea because Gen 5's Exp. formula is...problematic. Your Exp. gain is artificially lowered if you out-level the Pokémon you defeat. I genuinely hate this mechanic, and the 9-hour grind at the end of Platinum is still fresh in my mind. Platinum didn't have this.
I included what Bianca said, as it's sort of my mindset going into this: "Don't lose."
>>51589637Golbat in LeafGreen was a heavy hitter, smashing through Erika's Gym and most of the Rocket Hideout with ease. I thought that line only became usable at Crobat.
In Emerald I had a few hidden gems. Mightyena's Intimidate was a joy to pair with Gyarados's. I just had to mental-math around crits but for the most part, physical attackers couldn't touch us. Dustox and Pelliper could Protect-stall their way out of almost anything...except accuracy-bypassing Thunder that I didn't know about...on two different trainers. This claimed both of them.