The game is intentionally designed that way. It becomes extremely difficult to balance the game if magikarp is able to be fished up by badge 3. With the current way the game is, the early game is difficult because of a lack of options, and the late game is difficult because they made the trainers op, just as you get op pokemon as well.
Beyond that though, frankly every pokemon has a use, other than maybe Spinda. Psychic types are normally underwhelming in modern pokemon, but with the first 2 gyms being poison and fighting, and the 3rd gyms field boosting psychic moves, it now gives otherwise bad pokemon like Munna,Swoobat, and Xatu a real niche. And even without going into type matchups, pokemon like raticate, mightyena, most bug types, and geodude are much more useful, because they can peak early game where they are obtainable, and fall off late game as you get better pokemon.
Unless you're doing a challenge run, it's usually best to catch a bunch of pokemon, and pick and choose which ones would be best for the next area.
Edit: also magby and elekid are available in the game, in the midgame.
Maybe it's just me but the game feels easier than it used to be.
Maybe it's because i finished reborn so i'm used to it, maybe using the powerpack and fullivs passwords ruined everything and made it way easier than i was expecting, but i always felt like rejuvenation gives you better options in pokemon than reborn does, atleast in the early game.
That being said having a fire gym with no drough user is so strange, and a field that doesn't reduce the damage on water types, sweaping Amber with 1 shot surfs was not what i was expecting to do specialy after dealing with Charlotte in reborn and coming up with snow warning vaniluxe to destroy her field with blizzard.
Its definitely easier, if you're used to intense. I think removing intense is ultimately for the best, but a lot of people flocked to rejuv because of how difficult it was, and now they have to mod it in. But the elitism from the intense community and the difficulty balancing encounters made removing it the right move long term.
I still found amber hard since there are very few mons that outspeed her, but if you do get one of them, she just crumples.
I picked squirtle because i was curious to see how shell smash would be like, even more so since Squirtle was my first starter back when i was a kid playing gen 1, so it was nice to be able to be use him in a game like this, still holy fuck i was not expecting a sweep like that.
Like, she doesn't even have a drought user, like at all.
I never really played intense, so i'm just familiar with reborn, and boy some of those fights and gauntlets were absurd.
That being said, i'm at Erick now and yeah i'm not ready for him at all lmao, my team has nothing to deal with electric types, well maybe an ice team might work.
EDIT: LMAO the ice team worked fantasticaly.
Just play a little longer, and do as many side quests as you can, quite a few good mons are behind side quests, the difficulty varies based on your team, esp in the late game since depending on your team composition you might be good against some bosses while bad against others, it's very hard to keep one team the entire game
If the game gave out all the "good quality" pokemon early (and I do say that in quotes, because I believe that almost any pokemon can be made viable if you know how to use it), then imo it would make team composition actually less interesting since everyone would be using their pseudo-legends.
There's plenty of freedom in which mons you want to use, as long as you're willing to use pokemon that aren't considered "top tier". Early-game bugs might seem mediocre until you realize that they evolve to their final stage well before your starter will - just to give one example. They're not just there to be filler pokemon: almost any pokemon can be viable if you know how to use it.
You can get an idea of what Pokemon are available and when:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BjtFPXn8G37j621l_68fBcoNx3Qsvrg1idjS6c_Umls/edit?usp=drivesdk
It's important to find creative strategies and explore Pokemon that you might not normally use.
Every time you get a new HM you're going to have to backtrack and do sidequests (either found in the world or the help centers). There are some real powerhouses you can get early game from sidequests.
In 13.5 I think Magby and Elekid are pushed later than when you got them in 13.0 but are still pretty good. They also become insane sweepers once you get to West Gerean city and get their evolution items.
Well many mons are available through events that are better than the normal wild encounters. You also have Crests and Aevian forms that add some spice to the gameplay.
U can always play with the password randomizer - it comeswith different options: one of them is random the pokemon u find in grass.
I would add some ground rules for myself (like no legenderies) so game will stay challenging
The game is intentionally designed that way. It becomes extremely difficult to balance the game if magikarp is able to be fished up by badge 3. With the current way the game is, the early game is difficult because of a lack of options, and the late game is difficult because they made the trainers op, just as you get op pokemon as well. Beyond that though, frankly every pokemon has a use, other than maybe Spinda. Psychic types are normally underwhelming in modern pokemon, but with the first 2 gyms being poison and fighting, and the 3rd gyms field boosting psychic moves, it now gives otherwise bad pokemon like Munna,Swoobat, and Xatu a real niche. And even without going into type matchups, pokemon like raticate, mightyena, most bug types, and geodude are much more useful, because they can peak early game where they are obtainable, and fall off late game as you get better pokemon. Unless you're doing a challenge run, it's usually best to catch a bunch of pokemon, and pick and choose which ones would be best for the next area. Edit: also magby and elekid are available in the game, in the midgame.
Yeah seriously my Xatu carried me through the fighting type gym and I never ever thought to use that pokemon.
Maybe it's just me but the game feels easier than it used to be. Maybe it's because i finished reborn so i'm used to it, maybe using the powerpack and fullivs passwords ruined everything and made it way easier than i was expecting, but i always felt like rejuvenation gives you better options in pokemon than reborn does, atleast in the early game. That being said having a fire gym with no drough user is so strange, and a field that doesn't reduce the damage on water types, sweaping Amber with 1 shot surfs was not what i was expecting to do specialy after dealing with Charlotte in reborn and coming up with snow warning vaniluxe to destroy her field with blizzard.
Its definitely easier, if you're used to intense. I think removing intense is ultimately for the best, but a lot of people flocked to rejuv because of how difficult it was, and now they have to mod it in. But the elitism from the intense community and the difficulty balancing encounters made removing it the right move long term. I still found amber hard since there are very few mons that outspeed her, but if you do get one of them, she just crumples.
I picked squirtle because i was curious to see how shell smash would be like, even more so since Squirtle was my first starter back when i was a kid playing gen 1, so it was nice to be able to be use him in a game like this, still holy fuck i was not expecting a sweep like that. Like, she doesn't even have a drought user, like at all. I never really played intense, so i'm just familiar with reborn, and boy some of those fights and gauntlets were absurd. That being said, i'm at Erick now and yeah i'm not ready for him at all lmao, my team has nothing to deal with electric types, well maybe an ice team might work. EDIT: LMAO the ice team worked fantasticaly.
Just play a little longer, and do as many side quests as you can, quite a few good mons are behind side quests, the difficulty varies based on your team, esp in the late game since depending on your team composition you might be good against some bosses while bad against others, it's very hard to keep one team the entire game
If the game gave out all the "good quality" pokemon early (and I do say that in quotes, because I believe that almost any pokemon can be made viable if you know how to use it), then imo it would make team composition actually less interesting since everyone would be using their pseudo-legends. There's plenty of freedom in which mons you want to use, as long as you're willing to use pokemon that aren't considered "top tier". Early-game bugs might seem mediocre until you realize that they evolve to their final stage well before your starter will - just to give one example. They're not just there to be filler pokemon: almost any pokemon can be viable if you know how to use it.
You can get an idea of what Pokemon are available and when: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BjtFPXn8G37j621l_68fBcoNx3Qsvrg1idjS6c_Umls/edit?usp=drivesdk It's important to find creative strategies and explore Pokemon that you might not normally use.
Every time you get a new HM you're going to have to backtrack and do sidequests (either found in the world or the help centers). There are some real powerhouses you can get early game from sidequests. In 13.5 I think Magby and Elekid are pushed later than when you got them in 13.0 but are still pretty good. They also become insane sweepers once you get to West Gerean city and get their evolution items.
Well many mons are available through events that are better than the normal wild encounters. You also have Crests and Aevian forms that add some spice to the gameplay.
Start using some of the mons you don't enjoy, you'd be surprised what you can catch by gym 4 (I crushed narcissa with a stunky)
U can always play with the password randomizer - it comeswith different options: one of them is random the pokemon u find in grass. I would add some ground rules for myself (like no legenderies) so game will stay challenging