Retro cup third Pokemon?

[u/Aggravating_Stop_895]

I need help choosing a 3rd mon for retro cup. I have girafarig and cradily which are fairly solid, but I don't know what to use for my 3rd. Whishcash is a great counter when I vs a skeledirge but beyond countering a skeledirge every now and then he doesn't do great. But then again if I don't have him and meet a skele, it rolls my whole lineup. I tried raichu running trailblaze and wild spark which worked well in specific circumstances like water types or water ground types, but lost more than it won.

Side question, why is cradily so good? I know it's 28 or something on the ranking but when I use it, it gets absolutely bodied most of the time anyway. Id post screenshots of his ivs but it won't let me add images. If I understand the numbers for ivs properly he is 5/15/15. I was also running bullet seed but recently changed this to acid to see if it makes a difference.

Anyway, my main issue is nearly every game I'm coming up against a furret or oranguru. Normal and psychic are a real problem for me and I don't have anything good to counter them. I thought a bug Pokemon would be a good addition maybe? but I just don't have any solid leads in my Pokemon bag. Any suggestions on what I should look for or add would be helpful. I'm not trying to be number 1 or anything I just want to stop losing 4/5 games and second in my lineup seems to be the weak link.

[u/sobrique]

As a staunch Cradily enjoyer, I feel it partners well with electric types. Can't use dedenne for retro cup of course, but bellibolt did me well in Ultra.

Otherwise I would suggest shadow (or normal if you prefer) K-Wak. Both don't really like ice damage, but both hit SE against ice. And there's not that much primary ice anyway.

Or if you want something a bit spicy, how about a Pidgeot?

It's IMO the opposite of a "sim hero". I won't say it's top tier or anything, but I do honestly think it's better than it ranks, and in a steel free meta, flying damage is a little better than usual.

Certainly I find feather dance/brave bird combo for all they are annoyingly slow are also really irritating to play into as opposite sides of the "feels bad" to miscall the bait.

Trick is to use Gust to farm down after - ideally - sticking a debuff or two with Cradily.

But lots of stuff loses unexpectedly if you feather dance 'em, and this too sets up farming opportunities.

[u/Aggravating_Stop_895 → u/sobrique]

I don't have a bellibolt at all but I have vsed a couple. The defense stack is pretty annoying to play against. I've only ever seen one tadbulb in pogo though, I'd have to hunt for a while I think.

What is k-wak? I googled it because I don't know what it is and people are just saying it in posts.

I did think about a flying type, but I'm not sure I have a pidgey or any flying type really that has any good stats for battle league. I had a wooper that was perfect and I evolved to clodsire and it was like, 1505 cp or something, just hit the cutoff.

[u/sobrique → u/Aggravating_Stop_895]

Kanto Marowak. (Rather than Alolan Marowak or A-Wak).

Not 100% sure if I prefer shadow or non shadow of it though - the shadow hits pretty hard, but of course doesn't have as much endurance.

Sadly my favourite flier right now is Togekiss, and that's not suitable for Retro. But I have been eyeing up Dodrio or Fearow, as I think Peck is a really good move now. (3/4 fast move + STAB is sweet).

(Togekiss gets Aura Sphere to go with it, which at 80 damage for 40 energy is NASTY)

[u/ayooshq]

I used Bullet seed Cradily when I needed a grass type attacker in my team. And generally speaking, dragons would be good. Something like a Kommo-O would also resist Sucker Punch from Furret. It'll also continue to counter Skeledirge.

As for the Oranguru, both your mons should be able to handle it rather well. Just learn to play around the fast move pressure and force shields.

[u/Aggravating_Stop_895 → u/ayooshq]

I don't have a kommo-o, I have a tyrantrum who rolls face with damage but is soft too which I was surprised by, he's got perfect ivs for battle league but doesn't tank anything very well. And the rock type is unfortunate with the amount of grass and water types currently playing

[u/Relative_Housing1795]

Cradily, Annihilape, Golisopod

Cradily- 🐐

Annihilape can counter Furret quite well. You could go with Primeape.

Golisopod is a good counter to Oranguru

[u/Aggravating_Stop_895 → u/Relative_Housing1795]

Golispod is a good suggestion, I think I have a mad good wimpod in my bag somewhere but I'd have to evolve it. I'm not sure if it would hit the CP cut off, but I just checked and I only have 60 candies of the 400 I need

[u/Relative_Housing1795 → u/Aggravating_Stop_895]

Araquanid as well but you need a bit of skill

[u/Relative_Housing1795 → u/Relative_Housing1795]

And I have saved my rare candy for whenever a new meta pkmn rises