7th Gen Ultra Moon planned team move-sets - any possible changes to the moves/

[WillowHallows666]

So next week - i'm going to start playing ultra moon!
I have a planned team in mind but unsure about the move set of each - any possible changes to these?:

Primarina
Moonblast
Sparkling Aria
Hydro Pump
Surf

Salazzle
Sludge bomb
Flamethrower
Toxic
Fire Blast

Vikavolt
Thunderbolt
Bug Bite
Roost
Sky Drop

Malamar
Psychic
Psybeam
Dark Pulse
Embargo?

Midnight Lycanroc
Cruch
Rock Throw
Maybe Rock Tomb or stone edge
Brick Break

Kommo-o
Swords Dance
Dragon Claw
Dragon Pulse
Iron Tail? Maybe?

 

[Devalue]

• Primarina: Cannot get the Surf TM until after beating the Champion. Recommends your choice of Psychic, Energy Ball, Shadow Ball, or Ice Beam instead. (Personally dislikes Hydro Pump. Trades 20 accuracy for 20 power. To each their own, though.)
• Salazzle: Fine. Could grab Nasty Plot, if you never use Fire Blast much.
• Vikavolt: Does not have a great Attack stat. Would drop Sky Drop and Bug Bite for Bug Buzz and Energy Ball (for any Ground Pokemon). One unfortunate note: Means keeping Vikavolt sidelined for a bit. Learns Bug Buzz at 31 as Vikavolt only. Waits until the end of the main story to grab otherwise.
• Malamar: Performs better with physical attacks. Means Psycho Cut, Night Slash, and Superpower. Leaves something like Hypnosis, Light Screen, or Reflect as your fourth move. Be sure to get a Contrary one.
• Lycanroc (Midnight): Rock Slide over Rock Throw 100% (+20 power and flinch chance for Rock Slide). Mentions Move Tutors with Thunder Punch, Fire Punch, Iron Head, and Zen Headbutt. Might find one of those more useful than Brick Break, given Kommo-o and Malamar on the team.
• Kommo-o: Feels redundant to have Dragon Pulse and Dragon Claw. Leans towards physical here, given the better boosting moves. Give it Brick Break, or Focus Blast if you feel lucky. Personally favors Dragon Dance over Swords Dance here. Views both as good (as well as Bulk Up)

 

[Corveone]

Honestly with those movesets you'd be essentially handicapping yourself. There's just too many redundant moves and weaker moves for no reason, like some of them could have only two attacks and it would hardly make any difference.

Sparkling Aria + Surf + Hydro Pump, when Primarina can learn Psychic, Ice Beam, Energy Ball, or Shadow Ball for coverage, or even boost itself with Calm Mind. Sparkling Aria is the obvious choice as it's Primarina's signature move, can be learned as soon as it evolves so no need for TMs, and is also the strongest Z-Move when you get the Primarium-Z.

Flamethrower + Fire Blast, same issue. Plus Salazzle is a glass cannon, even with Corrosion it's still a terrible Toxic user. Can sweep entire in-game teams with Nasty Plot, and get Dragon Pulse for coverage against Dragons that resist Fire.

Rock Throw on Lycanroc is 100% pointless. Rock Slide has the same accuracy, more power, and can make opponents flinch, which is good for Lycanroc as it's one of the few fast Rock types. Can learn plenty of interesting coverage, doesn't need two Rock type moves.

Malamar is better physical than special attacker. Plus if it has Contrary (which is usually the main point of using Malamar) it should have Superpower.

Vikavolt has way higher Special than Physical attack. And Bug Bite and Sky Drop aren't even strong physical moves. Can learn good Special attacks like Bug Buzz, Energy Ball, and Flash Cannon.

A Dragon/Fighting Pokémon without a Fighting move is a crime. Fighting is literally one of the best offensive typings in the entire franchise (while Dragon is the second worst). And if you want to make it a mixed attacker, Kommo-O has a signature Special Dragon move that's more powerful than Dragon Pulse: Clanging Scales.

 

[WillowHallows666]

thanks for the adivce but please keep in mind this is a regular play-through and not competitive.

 

[Corveone]

That was regular playthrough advice. Competitive would involve a much deeper analysis including EVs, hidden Abilities, held items, optimal battle strategies, team balance and synergies, and possibly even egg moves. All the suggestions so far just cover basic stuff and moves your Pokémon can learn by simply levelling up or learning TMs.

I mean, your team movesets are ultimately up to you, and for in-game purposes you can still beat the games even if you have a Psychic type whose best move is Confusion, but why would you when there are straight superior options? If you ask, I imagine anyone would tell you that things like having a Water type mon with three Water moves or a Fighting mon without Fighting Stab is essentially crippling a lot of your Pokémon's potential.