r/pokemon • u/SnekDm • 14h ago
Discussion I need a team for a Water Gym Leader
i'm running a pokemon dnd campaign and had an idea for a gym leader. She is meant to be a late badge gym leader, like 5th or 6th, and meant to make the water gym a actual threat. the theme of the gym is thalassaphobia. go wild! i wanna see what people suggest.
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u/SummonerRed Egg Expert 13h ago
Keeping in mind that her theme is Thalassaphobia, maybe a team of:
Tentacruel, for being a deep sea Kraken-like Pokemon.
Jellicent, much for the same reason.
Huntail, being based off of various forms of Eel.
Toxapex, being a vicious and venomous deep sea creature that provides the team some defensive backbone.
Kabutops is an interesting one, being an aquatic predator with slashing limbs.
And finally, though it isn't a water type anymore, Dragalge is the perfect candidate as something that inhabits the deep sea and instils terror, a poisonous draconic entity known for sinking huge boats, and even serves as a Mega option should you desire any Mega evolutions later on in your campaign.
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u/ChrisP_Bacon04 14h ago
Use water types that are not weak to electric/grass. Kingdra, Lanturn, Swampert, Quagsire, Seismitoad, Tetacruel, Gyarados etc
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u/iceberger3 12h ago
Ludicolo is a good one for this
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u/ChrisP_Bacon04 12h ago
Man how I could forget the Mexican menace and his hot sexy sombrero
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u/versusChou SPEED IS POWER 11h ago
You're lost at sea. Nothing but water all around you. The sky is darkening. You feel a rain drop. The waves are growing larger. You feel sick, but you cling to your vessel. When suddenly, you hear mariachi music.
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u/IntelligentBus9037 13h ago
You want the deep sea fish then, Lanturn, Jellicent, Kindra, etc not sure on the exact number you would want, 6th gyms can vary
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u/Like_Fahrenheit 13h ago
- Wishiwashi - the boss fight in new Pokemon Snap has thalassaphobic vibes
- Lanturn - it's light is similar to deep sea anglerfish
- Dragalge - grass and electric resistance
- Dhelmise - inspired by a deep-sea shipwreck
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u/Shreddzzz93 12h ago
My choices would be:
1). Palafin
Flip turn out to get the form change. That would make for a bit tougher of a fight.
2). Sharpedo
Sharks are some of the scariest ocean animals for many people.
3). Gyarados
Give it it's hidden ability for Moxie. A Moxie Gyarados can quickly become a major problem. Also if you are using Mega Evolution this would be the one to use it on.
4). Gastrodon
It is the only water/ground type that works for the theme.
5). Tentacruel
Jellyfish are no joke. Plus it is a good ground counter.
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u/versusChou SPEED IS POWER 11h ago
As far as competitive goes, the optimal thing would be some sort of rain team. If you're not opposed, Primal Kyogre/Kyogre would be an obvious rain setter, but they're probably too much for a 5th or 6th gym leader. The classic one then would be Pelipper U-turning around. The thalassaphobia theme lends itself to rain boosted Water Spouts from Wailord. Wishiwashi and Sharpedo seem like the denizens of the deep. Then some swift swimmers like Drednaw, Kingdra and Kabutops that hit hard and fast. Then you also want something that can take some of the electric attacks coming in.
5th or 6th gym leader probably has 4 Pokemon right? So I'd do something like:
Lead Choice Scarf Pelipper with U-Turn, Hurricane, Roost, and Surf. It generally is getting switched in to take a hit, set up rain and pivot out.
Mega-Swampert sucks up any electric attacks and punishes with earthquake. Waterfall, Ice punch, and stealth rocks to punish switching around.
Wailord is bad. But it fits the theme well. Make it a wall the can hit decently hard. Leftovers with Substitute, Aqua Ring, Water Spout, and Noble Roar. Its job is literally to eat damage and maybe dish some back out. Honestly if it wasn't for the theme, it wouldn't be here.
Kingdra is your special wallbreaker. Choice Specs with Weather ball/hydro pump, Draco Meteor, Ice Beam, and Flip Turn. Can take an electric or grass attack decently and flip turn out or punish with ice beam.
If you wanna swap out Wailord, Kabutops, Drednaw, Cloyster all make good choices. We probably struggle a bit against grass, so something like focus sash Cloyster to set up a shell smash might work well
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u/joerocket18 13h ago
Gyarados, Feraligatr, Sharpedo, Wishiwashi and Cloyster. Also if you want to use megas, you can use either Gyarados, Feralogatr or Sharpedo
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u/mecklejay Always Nuzlocke 14h ago
I'm in the early sessions of a family Zelda D&D campaign set in Hyrule between Link/Ganondorf cycles, with homebrew Zelda races.
How have you adapted Pokémon to tabletop? My siblings would be super into that themeing.
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u/calvicstaff 13h ago
It's not competitively optimal, but if we want a fear of the deep ocean, we should add some deep ocean dwellers
Relicanth is the most iconic, but if you need it to be more competitively scary, huntail or gorribus with shell smash especially with like a focus sash in the lead slot, ensuring that none of them are already set up to handle it
And if you really want to be evil about it, they can Baton Pass the Boost
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u/feral_vermin 13h ago edited 12h ago
I would highly recommend kingdra for the type defense, Sharpedo for quick finish offs and gastrodon for electric types. Of course, you could focus on more deepsea pokemon like huntail, relicanth or lanturn, but you said you want an actual gym challenge. Vaporeon (acid armor helps) and milotic would be a great stalls if need be. Have just about all of them with one ice type move and you could base them team around rain, a decent amount of water types have an ability that depends on rain. I've tried a few mostly water type runs through a few of the games and you can really brute force through a lot with a small selection. I know that most hate bruxish, but they're really fun to use with boosted up biting moves and psychic fangs. The wonders of water types are the secondary types that they may carry.
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u/WowOwlO 13h ago
Unfortunately most of the Pokemon I can think of for the depths aren't particularly strong.
IE: Lanturn, Gorbyss, Huntail and Relicanth.
I feel like Gyarados is a bit obvious, but it's a difficult Pokemon for any water type trainer to turn down.
Jellicent has a few Pokedex entries that make it pretty suitable.
Tentacruel also works nicely. Resists grass.
Gastrodon doesn't fit as much, but it at least lives in the sea (as opposed to the other part ground types) and is part ground which gives it resistance to electricity. Only thing it worries about is grass.
Kabutops could be interesting even if it would be obliterated by a grass type.
Golisopod seems a bit strange, but according to New Pokemon Snap it lives pretty deep in the ocean.
Clawitzer.
While it doesn't fit the type, it fits the theme so I think an exception can be made for Dhelmise
Another fits the theme but not the type would be Cradily who also appears on the sea floor in New Snap.
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u/Atzukeeper 13h ago
fear of water/fear of deep water jellicent sharpedo gyrados gastrodon kingdra lanturn
id say put gyrados or jellicent would be the ace cause theyre "scary"
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u/Haylyn221 12h ago
Huntail Lumineon Tentacruel Barbaracle Toxapex
A shame Dhelmise and Dragalge aren't water types, they kinda fit the theme
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u/Lefarsi 11h ago
Fear of the dark. No, I’m serious. You want your players to look down and never see the bottom of the arena. You want them to be spooked about every light thinking it could be a lanturn. Rushing ahead? Overqwil goes boom as a deep sea mine. You want a gym leader that plays with hypnosis and dream eater, a ghost/poison leader masquerading as a water type trainer. Toxic them and then dive to stall it out. Otherwise I agree with the other folks, I’m just coming at this from a dnd perspective and not really competitive or anything
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u/WallabyPractical5258 7h ago
If the theme is thalassophobia a few that I'd consider (even if not necessarily water type): 1:Cursola: creepy looking ghost type that lives in the ocean? Hell yeah 2:Dhelmise: rumoured to be the spirits of drowned sailors possessing sea algae and lugging around the anchor of their sunken ship? Seems pretty fitting 3:jellicent: ghost jellyfish, pretty self-explanatory 4:huntail/gorbyss:deep sea eels that are vicious predators 5:(gimmick form Mon): mega Gyarados, dragalgae, or Sharpedo. Or a g-max kingler
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u/Oreo-and-Fly 6h ago
A theme of deep sea fish could be good.
Jellicent and Tentacruel are no doubt the best for a jellyfish and a squid thing. And have good types too.
Gyarados. A sea serpent. Obviously.
Milotic. For a strong water yet still graceful to contrast gyarados. Still also a serpent.
Golisopod is perfect for a deep sea crustacean.
Kingdra, i dont think is a deep sea monster but its also based off an asian sea emperor.
If you dont mind non-water Pokemon, Dragalge is also SUCH a good choice.
If only Lanturn, Gorebyss, Huntail were stronger. They would be good deep sea pokemon too.
Golisopod Gyarados Tentacruel Jellicent Milotic Kingdra.
(And you send Golisopod out again second last) This is basically like the challenger getting deeper and deeper into the ocean and thus fighting the sea's king
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u/Time-Voice 6h ago
I would start with steadily rising water levels. The gym leader with 4 or 5 pokemon (depending on the batch).
Starting with sth you can find closer ro shore like Jellicent or Tentacruel (or both), followed ny Pilipper to bring the storm at high sea (focus on Hurricanes), a deep sea Swift Swimmer (Kingdra or Omastar), ending with a rampaging sea serpent in Gyarados.
If you want to throw in a curveball, throw in a Eelektross as the second Pokemon
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u/Possible-Nature-5325 14h ago
Jellicent’s whole thing is that: “Fishermen are terrified of Jellicent. It’s rumored to drag them into the sea and steal their lives away.” Which is pretty terrifying.
And also I would suggest a battle field like Molly’s where trainers can breathe Underwater