Much like Fairy, our next run will be a type designed solely to check a type that was too overpowered. It's a type designed for tricky, varied offense, with an eye toward statistical-based trolling. It tragically continues the run of "Pokemon weak to Fighting" runs, but at least this one may be able to fight back.
Put the kids to bed, 'cause this one's getting Dark.
Type effectiveness:
Attacking: Super effects Ghost and Psychic, not very effective against Fighting, itself and Fairy.
Defending: Double damage from Fighting, Bug, and Fairy, half damage from Ghost and itself, immune to Psychic.
Dual types:
Fire, Water, Ice, Fighting, Poison, Ground, Flying, Psychic, Rock, Ghost, Dragon and Steel are all available in XY (theoretically). Grass is an option through Pokemon Bank.
Probable final team:
Froakie/Frogadier/Greninja: For the first time in a blogged run, I actually get to use a starter and I will most definitely abuse this ability. Relatively balanced for both attack stats, but I'm going to be focused on the Special end because I'm good on physical and I need a Dragon check.
Scraggy/Scrafty: Wins over Pancham/Pangoro by virtue of varied offensive capabilities, learning powerful moves extremely quickly, and being way cooler. It learns Hi Jump Kick before the Fighting gym if I play my cards right. Only problem: Horde exclusive means it will need a lot of help.
Inkay/Malamar: Truth be told, Malamar is actually my favourite new XY Pokemon so I relish any chance I get to use it. The fact that it's the team's best shot against a certain troublesome type adds to the fun.
Sandile/Krokorok/Krookodile: IT HAS SUNGLASSES YOUR ARGUMENT IS INVALID *ahem* Provides STAB Ground, and forms a neat double team of Moxie abusers (potentially) with Scrafty if it doesn't have Intimidate.
Houndour/Houndoom: The traditional Route 10 entry, Houndoom is one of the few Pokemon here who can pack an Electric move, so it'll see a fair bit of play in the late game. Also provides STAB Fire, because after the Steel run I'm not making that mistake again if I can help it.
Pawniard/Bisharp: Serves as a late game anti-Fairy... tragically, I can't get this before the Fairy gym, but Defiant is such a great eff you move for Intimidators.
Why not use...?
Pancham/Pangoro: I might use this one if I can't get a satisfactory draw on Scraggy, and it is a bit more high powered offensively. However, Scraggy has a bit more speed, and Malamar has the "freak evolution method" role covered for this team.
Absol: I'll probably bring it for a while just because it's very strong offensively and is a crit machine w/Super Luck, but I could use the extra STAB coverage and its main advantage (the Absolite) doesn't come until the run's over.
Umbreon: Not efficient for an ingame run, great defense but the offense isn't up to snuff. Also, it's an Eeveelution, bad movepool warning.
Stunky/Skuntank: Will be along for a while, but its effectiveness falls off the table once you're past the Fairy gym.
Sableye: Don't need a Fighting immunity that badly that I'm going to put up with its low stats again, the Ghost run really soured me on using it.
Corpish/Crawdaunt, Carvanha/Sharpedo: I can't play the game without having the best Water/Dark given to me.
Skorupi/Draipon: Could see some use if only for Thunder Fang, but I'm not sure if I'm up for going with another Slow exp-grower.
Liepard: Outclassed at the endgame, especially since it has no offense beyond Night Slash.
Murkrow/Honchkrow: I may catch one for Fly purposes, but its entire physical movepool is Fly, Night Slash, Return, and a TM that's technically postgame (Steel Wing). At least Talonflame learns it naturally.
Sneasel/Weavile: If I'm bringing you in at Route 17, you better have move variety out the ying-yang and I should be able to get you in final form before the postgame. Sneasel fails the second test.
Tyranitar: Not available in X. Which is a shame, as it'd be damn useful.
Zorua/Zoroark: Simply comes too late and doesn't have the movepool of fellow unofficial mascot Lucario.
Zweilous/Hydreigon: Even later than Zorua, needs five Rare Candies off the hop to do anything useful. Not ready for that kind of investment at the end game, psuedo-legendary or not. (Notice I won't use Dragonite in either of its eligible runs for largely the same reasons.)
Yveltal: Not playing Y, largely.
Major battle expectations:
Viola: Froakie wins by virtue of having gotten all of the experience to this point.
Grant: I have a Water type, a Fighting type, and a Ground type at minimum, and you think this'll be hard?
Korrina: Hopefully we're at the Malamar stage, Pluck's getting a workout.
Ramos: Reason 23B why I'm glad I'll have Houndoom and Stunky.
Clemont: Just imagine Krokorok getting stronger on each KO...
Valerie: AKA "Skuntank's Blaze of Glory".
Olympia: lulz
Wulfric: Combo of the Fighter and Houndoom carries the day here
Rival: She'll have Chespin, and the Fighting type might cause problems... if Houndoom wasn't around.
Team Flare: It'll be somewhat of a fair fight considering the team resists their primary STAB.
Elite 4: Like the Steel run there's no entry point... unlike the Steel run, I'll probably be well enough equipped to LEAD with Fire.
Champion: Hopefully Bisharp fares better than its Steel predecessor, Hawlucha's gonna be a problem, ever wonder how fast an Aurorus's HP bar can drop?
Trainer:
Dark has always been portrayed as an anti-heroic type, and if you're going to combat evil by staining your hands with evil there's really only one guy to call. My "keeper" file may be Kallen, but for this run, we have to go with the leader of the Black Knights himself... Lelouch. (Nickname: Zero. Because running gags are cool.)
Monday, March 31, 2014
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Steel run complete!
This was probably the hardest run yet in terms of available movepool (shallow, and I left a couple of types in the box) as well as a couple of unforced error and the bad end of Lady Luck.
Here's what happened:
Siebold
No real obvious entry points here, so I went for the thing I could probably OHKO.
Meg v Clawitzer
Thunderbolt OHKO.
Meg v Gyarados
Thunderbolt OHKO.
Celeste v Barbaracle
Cross Chop goes first, takes Celeste down to 65/171 with Iron Barbs taking off 12%. Power Whip... MISSES. Then Cross Chop goes for the win... and IT misses. Power Whip doesn't miss again.
Celeste v Starmie
Surf takes Celeste down to 33, but Power Whip ends it.
Wikstrom
I figured I'd go for the mirror match next on the grounds of having multiple moves that could SE, versus uh, one for Dragon.
Trina v Klefki
Klefki drops Spikes, and Shadow Claw... does 70%. This lets a second layer of Spikes go down before Shadow Claw finishes.
Lianne v Probopass
Knowing Sturdy's coming, I Iron Head... it does about 30%. Earth Power is survived at 17/162, which lets Brick Break finish.
Lucky v Aegislash
Hidden Power gets dodged by a turn 1 King's Shield. Hidden Power is SE and does 20% against Shield Form, and the Iron Head counter drops Lucky to 25/159. Psychic goes first this time and takes 40% off Blade Form before Iron Head drops it.
Lilly v Aegislash
Mega Earthquake finishes it.
Celeste v Scizor
Forgetting that I didn't have anything to really SE it... X-Scissor+Spikes leaves Celeste at 82/171, and the countering Shadow Claw does about 30% (so down 40% with IB). A second X-Scissor criticals, and that's it for Celeste.
Meg v Scizor
Thunderbolt finishes.
Drasna
There's one trouble spot but then it should be smooth sailing... right?
Lilly v Dragalgae
Mega Earthquake OHKOs.
Lucky v Noivern
And HERE IT IS. Flamethrower takes Lucky to 43/159, and it survives Dazzling Gleam with about 20% health. Two DGs, no criticals, 2 Full Restores, and I decide to switch in Laurie to absorb a Flamethrower...
Laurie v Noivern
...only Noivern's faster so the 2nd one KOs.
Trina v Noivern
Another Flamethrower hits the Shield down to 92/164, Iron Head finishes.
Lucky v Altaria
First Dazzling Gleam does 70%, Moonblast takes Lucky to 19 and lowers Lucky's SA, and the 2nd Dazzling Gleam finishes.
Lucky v Druddigon
Because of the SA drop, Dazzling Gleam only does 40%. Revenge finishes.
Celeste v Druddigon
Since Celeste is full, I Revive Lucky and Laurie while Celeste takes two Revenges and does some Iron Barbs damage (down to 25/171). A Hyper Potion hits the 3rd Iron Barbs, and Iron Head finishes.
Malva
This one will have a lot of quick fights...
Lilly v Pyroar
I go to hit the Mega and Aura Sphere it into next week... only it locks in Psychic for 40% and Flamethrower OHKOs.
Lianne v Pyroar
I try to Brick Break, but Pyroar's faster. OHKO.
Meg v Pyroar
I (Max) Revive Lilly while taking two Noble Roars, so Thunderbolt doesn't KO but does stick Pyroar into Full Restore range, so I swap back to Lilly..
Lilly v Pyroar 2
...and this time, there's no misclick. Lilly levels here.
Meg v Talonflame
Flare Blitz takes Meg down to 24/170 (doesn't trigger Sturdy, surpisingly) and Thunderbolt cleans up.
Meg v Torkoal
Thunderbolt... doesn't do enough to OHKO Torkoal (leaves it at 5%) and Earthquake finishes.
Trina v Torkoal
Torkoal gets Full Restore 2, but eats two Rock Slides and goes down after the first does 70%.
Lilly v Chandelure
Earthquake OHKOs.
Diantha
I've cleared this in six rounds before, will I get lucky again?
Lilly v Hawlucha
I stuck Psychic on specifically for this. Hawlucha goes first and Flying Presses Lilly to 41/167, but Psychic OHKOs as expected.
Celeste v Goodra
Probably a bad move... and Fire Blast OHKOing only confirms *that* opinion.
Laurie v Goodra
Iron Head goes first, does 55%... AND FLINCHES. Big move. 2nd Iron Head ends it.
Lianne v Tyrantrum
Can I go 2/2 on this? Nope... Iron Head does 70% but Earthquake is a OHKO.
Trina v Tyrantrum
Thankfully, Iron Head from Trina is enough to pick up the pieces.
Trina v Gourgeist
Gourgeist goes for Phantom Force, causing Shadow Claw to miss, so I switch to Meg...
Meg v Gourgeist
...and it does a little bit (106/172). I Flash Cannon against what I thought would be Flamethrower (a Victory Road trainer pulls it) for 90%, but instead they use Trick-or-Treat. I Hidden Power against the Full Restore and Flash Cannon ends the pumpkin.
Meg v Aurorus
As usual, Flash Cannon OHKOs.
Trina v Gardevoir
Shadow Ball takes Trina in Shield down to 78/186... but Iron Head hits true for the win!
Pictured: You can almost make out Lilly there
The Dark preview will probably go up tomorrow morning once I settle on a team, and the run will probably start tomorrow at work.
Here's what happened:
Siebold
No real obvious entry points here, so I went for the thing I could probably OHKO.
Meg v Clawitzer
Thunderbolt OHKO.
Meg v Gyarados
Thunderbolt OHKO.
Celeste v Barbaracle
Cross Chop goes first, takes Celeste down to 65/171 with Iron Barbs taking off 12%. Power Whip... MISSES. Then Cross Chop goes for the win... and IT misses. Power Whip doesn't miss again.
Celeste v Starmie
Surf takes Celeste down to 33, but Power Whip ends it.
Wikstrom
I figured I'd go for the mirror match next on the grounds of having multiple moves that could SE, versus uh, one for Dragon.
Trina v Klefki
Klefki drops Spikes, and Shadow Claw... does 70%. This lets a second layer of Spikes go down before Shadow Claw finishes.
Lianne v Probopass
Knowing Sturdy's coming, I Iron Head... it does about 30%. Earth Power is survived at 17/162, which lets Brick Break finish.
Lucky v Aegislash
Hidden Power gets dodged by a turn 1 King's Shield. Hidden Power is SE and does 20% against Shield Form, and the Iron Head counter drops Lucky to 25/159. Psychic goes first this time and takes 40% off Blade Form before Iron Head drops it.
Lilly v Aegislash
Mega Earthquake finishes it.
Celeste v Scizor
Forgetting that I didn't have anything to really SE it... X-Scissor+Spikes leaves Celeste at 82/171, and the countering Shadow Claw does about 30% (so down 40% with IB). A second X-Scissor criticals, and that's it for Celeste.
Meg v Scizor
Thunderbolt finishes.
Drasna
There's one trouble spot but then it should be smooth sailing... right?
Lilly v Dragalgae
Mega Earthquake OHKOs.
Lucky v Noivern
And HERE IT IS. Flamethrower takes Lucky to 43/159, and it survives Dazzling Gleam with about 20% health. Two DGs, no criticals, 2 Full Restores, and I decide to switch in Laurie to absorb a Flamethrower...
Laurie v Noivern
...only Noivern's faster so the 2nd one KOs.
Trina v Noivern
Another Flamethrower hits the Shield down to 92/164, Iron Head finishes.
Lucky v Altaria
First Dazzling Gleam does 70%, Moonblast takes Lucky to 19 and lowers Lucky's SA, and the 2nd Dazzling Gleam finishes.
Lucky v Druddigon
Because of the SA drop, Dazzling Gleam only does 40%. Revenge finishes.
Celeste v Druddigon
Since Celeste is full, I Revive Lucky and Laurie while Celeste takes two Revenges and does some Iron Barbs damage (down to 25/171). A Hyper Potion hits the 3rd Iron Barbs, and Iron Head finishes.
Malva
This one will have a lot of quick fights...
Lilly v Pyroar
I go to hit the Mega and Aura Sphere it into next week... only it locks in Psychic for 40% and Flamethrower OHKOs.
Lianne v Pyroar
I try to Brick Break, but Pyroar's faster. OHKO.
Meg v Pyroar
I (Max) Revive Lilly while taking two Noble Roars, so Thunderbolt doesn't KO but does stick Pyroar into Full Restore range, so I swap back to Lilly..
Lilly v Pyroar 2
...and this time, there's no misclick. Lilly levels here.
Meg v Talonflame
Flare Blitz takes Meg down to 24/170 (doesn't trigger Sturdy, surpisingly) and Thunderbolt cleans up.
Meg v Torkoal
Thunderbolt... doesn't do enough to OHKO Torkoal (leaves it at 5%) and Earthquake finishes.
Trina v Torkoal
Torkoal gets Full Restore 2, but eats two Rock Slides and goes down after the first does 70%.
Lilly v Chandelure
Earthquake OHKOs.
Diantha
I've cleared this in six rounds before, will I get lucky again?
Lilly v Hawlucha
I stuck Psychic on specifically for this. Hawlucha goes first and Flying Presses Lilly to 41/167, but Psychic OHKOs as expected.
Celeste v Goodra
Probably a bad move... and Fire Blast OHKOing only confirms *that* opinion.
Laurie v Goodra
Iron Head goes first, does 55%... AND FLINCHES. Big move. 2nd Iron Head ends it.
Lianne v Tyrantrum
Can I go 2/2 on this? Nope... Iron Head does 70% but Earthquake is a OHKO.
Trina v Tyrantrum
Thankfully, Iron Head from Trina is enough to pick up the pieces.
Trina v Gourgeist
Gourgeist goes for Phantom Force, causing Shadow Claw to miss, so I switch to Meg...
Meg v Gourgeist
...and it does a little bit (106/172). I Flash Cannon against what I thought would be Flamethrower (a Victory Road trainer pulls it) for 90%, but instead they use Trick-or-Treat. I Hidden Power against the Full Restore and Flash Cannon ends the pumpkin.
Meg v Aurorus
As usual, Flash Cannon OHKOs.
Trina v Gardevoir
Shadow Ball takes Trina in Shield down to 78/186... but Iron Head hits true for the win!
Pictured: You can almost make out Lilly there
The Dark preview will probably go up tomorrow morning once I settle on a team, and the run will probably start tomorrow at work.
Steel Day 7: Down The Stretch They Come
I'm going to save the team update for the end, because I managed to go from Route 16 to saved outside of Victory Road again in the time since the last post, watch a bunch of anime AND work on a podcast edit. I call that a win.
So yeah, went to Route 16, cleared it out to get the new team together and work out the kinks, ran through Frost Cavern again, hit the wall of Fighting types (I am so glad I only have to worry about that two more times), and beat down Anistar Gym this morning. The key was to get Lianne the Pawniard up to L52 so it would activate beastmode as a Bisharp - though it did get Sigilyph AND Meowstic pretty well thanks to learning Night Slash early enough.
I left the Exp Share on for all of the Team Flare complex, and finished with a L52 Bisharp right at the end of the first Lysandre fight in Geosenge. Didn't bother checking the Xerneas, but MegaLilly took about 95% off MegaGyarados... unfortunately, Gyarados did 100% with Earthquake coming back.
Ripped though Route 19 to Snowbelle and promptly engaged in a righteous beatdown of the Ice gym, complete with everything going down with one hit except for Mamoswine. I knew I had a MVP on that run, and I think that was it.
From there, it was off to Victory Road, in which I had to leave Meg the Magnezone behind... a move I regretted immensely when I got beat down by the Veteran with the Talonflame. Thankfully, that mistake will not be made twice. At the end, I went through the Honey for Floatzel procedure again... AND FOUND A SHINY FLOATZEL. By this point I had already sold my Poke Balls, except for the Master they won't buy, so I snagged it. Haven't looked at its stats either.
Anywhere, here's the team at L64:
Lilly - Aura Sphere, Metal Claw, Psychic, Earthquake
Trina - Iron Head, Shadow Claw, Sacred Sword, Rock Slide
Celeste - Power Whip, Iron Head, Poison Jab, Shadow Claw
Laurie the Bisharp - Naive, Defiant (+2 stages of Atk when hit with a stat debuff) - Iron Head, Night Slash, Poison Jab, Brick Break
Lucky the Klefki - Timid, Prankster - Dazzling Gleam, Flash Cannon, Hidden Power (Poison), Psychic
Meg the Magnezone - Mild, Sturdy - Thunderbolt, Flash Cannon, Tri Attack, Hidden Power (Ghost)
And the next run is due for a previous Special type, and I had a choice to make - either wreak vengeance on the Fighting type, or get the last of the special weaknesses over with. We're keeping it high up in the type chart, and I'll still get to use Malamar... because we're going Dark.
So yeah, went to Route 16, cleared it out to get the new team together and work out the kinks, ran through Frost Cavern again, hit the wall of Fighting types (I am so glad I only have to worry about that two more times), and beat down Anistar Gym this morning. The key was to get Lianne the Pawniard up to L52 so it would activate beastmode as a Bisharp - though it did get Sigilyph AND Meowstic pretty well thanks to learning Night Slash early enough.
I left the Exp Share on for all of the Team Flare complex, and finished with a L52 Bisharp right at the end of the first Lysandre fight in Geosenge. Didn't bother checking the Xerneas, but MegaLilly took about 95% off MegaGyarados... unfortunately, Gyarados did 100% with Earthquake coming back.
Ripped though Route 19 to Snowbelle and promptly engaged in a righteous beatdown of the Ice gym, complete with everything going down with one hit except for Mamoswine. I knew I had a MVP on that run, and I think that was it.
From there, it was off to Victory Road, in which I had to leave Meg the Magnezone behind... a move I regretted immensely when I got beat down by the Veteran with the Talonflame. Thankfully, that mistake will not be made twice. At the end, I went through the Honey for Floatzel procedure again... AND FOUND A SHINY FLOATZEL. By this point I had already sold my Poke Balls, except for the Master they won't buy, so I snagged it. Haven't looked at its stats either.
Anywhere, here's the team at L64:
Lilly - Aura Sphere, Metal Claw, Psychic, Earthquake
Trina - Iron Head, Shadow Claw, Sacred Sword, Rock Slide
Celeste - Power Whip, Iron Head, Poison Jab, Shadow Claw
Laurie the Bisharp - Naive, Defiant (+2 stages of Atk when hit with a stat debuff) - Iron Head, Night Slash, Poison Jab, Brick Break
Lucky the Klefki - Timid, Prankster - Dazzling Gleam, Flash Cannon, Hidden Power (Poison), Psychic
Meg the Magnezone - Mild, Sturdy - Thunderbolt, Flash Cannon, Tri Attack, Hidden Power (Ghost)
And the next run is due for a previous Special type, and I had a choice to make - either wreak vengeance on the Fighting type, or get the last of the special weaknesses over with. We're keeping it high up in the type chart, and I'll still get to use Malamar... because we're going Dark.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Metasnarkery
No progress to report, but I'm probably running with Lilly/Trina/Celeste and the new 3 (Pawniard, Klefki, and Magnezone). The key thing is I actually bothered to go back and tag this junk so you can easily see what a particular run looked like, as well as me being able to easily access this information once the project ends.
Also, I have to credit xkcd for the "announcement" tag. And Douglas Hofstadter.
Also, I have to credit xkcd for the "announcement" tag. And Douglas Hofstadter.
Friday, March 28, 2014
Steel Day 5: Rapid-Fire Decision Making
The run is currently saved on Route 16, and I have a bit of a problem.
I started out the day by beating about the Fairy gym - as expected, it went Lilly -> Trina -> Thumper for the Gym. Then, we cleared out the Poke Ball Factory, and I went out to Route 15.
In back to back catches, I managed to find a Naive (+Speed, -SpDef) Pawniard with Justified, and a Timid Klefki. Both with stats quite high for the level. Snuck through to the Lost Hotel, and encountered a Mild Sturdy Magneton on the first shot.
And of course, because I'm crazy, I Super Trained the lot of them. Having access to Laverre's vitamin supply helped in that regard.
They're all TMed up as much as possible, and all about the same level as the team (L41). I do want to use them all (even the repeat offenders and ones I know will return in the future, looking at you Lilly/Trina/Thumper) so I'm not sure what to do short of running back to the PC all the time.
Here's what the possibilities are:
Lilly - Aura Sphere, Metal Claw, Dragon Pulse, Dig
Trina - Cut, Shadow Sneak, Sacred Sword, Iron Head
Thumper - Dig, Ice Fang, Fire Fang, Iron Tail
Weevil - Play Rough, Iron Head, Crunch, Strength
Celeste - no changes
Parker - no changes
Pawniard - Thief, Metal Claw, Poison Jab, X-Scissor
Klefki - Dazzling Gleam, Mirror Shot, Foul Play, Torment
Magnezone - Thunderbolt, Flash Cannon, Tri Attack, Metal Sound
I believe we are at the point where this run's official hashtag is going to be #FirstWorldProblems
I started out the day by beating about the Fairy gym - as expected, it went Lilly -> Trina -> Thumper for the Gym. Then, we cleared out the Poke Ball Factory, and I went out to Route 15.
In back to back catches, I managed to find a Naive (+Speed, -SpDef) Pawniard with Justified, and a Timid Klefki. Both with stats quite high for the level. Snuck through to the Lost Hotel, and encountered a Mild Sturdy Magneton on the first shot.
And of course, because I'm crazy, I Super Trained the lot of them. Having access to Laverre's vitamin supply helped in that regard.
They're all TMed up as much as possible, and all about the same level as the team (L41). I do want to use them all (even the repeat offenders and ones I know will return in the future, looking at you Lilly/Trina/Thumper) so I'm not sure what to do short of running back to the PC all the time.
Here's what the possibilities are:
Lilly - Aura Sphere, Metal Claw, Dragon Pulse, Dig
Trina - Cut, Shadow Sneak, Sacred Sword, Iron Head
Thumper - Dig, Ice Fang, Fire Fang, Iron Tail
Weevil - Play Rough, Iron Head, Crunch, Strength
Celeste - no changes
Parker - no changes
Pawniard - Thief, Metal Claw, Poison Jab, X-Scissor
Klefki - Dazzling Gleam, Mirror Shot, Foul Play, Torment
Magnezone - Thunderbolt, Flash Cannon, Tri Attack, Metal Sound
I believe we are at the point where this run's official hashtag is going to be #FirstWorldProblems
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Steel Day 4: In The Interest of My Sanity
Somehow, work was quiet enough today that I made it to Laverre City. Here's what we have now at L39 with one exception:
Lilly - Return, Shadow Claw, Dig, Low Sweep
Trina (now an Aegislash) - Cut, Aerial Ace, Shadow Sneak, Night Slash
Thumper - Dig, Rock Slide, Crunch, Iron Tail
Weevill - Fairy Wind, Crunch, Rock Smash, Strength
L40 Celeste (now a Ferrothorn) - Power Whip, Metal Claw, Rollout, Poison Jab
Parker (now a Probopass, THANK GOD) - Thunderbolt, Power Gem, Bulldoze, Rock Smash
Cleared out Shalour quite quickly to start, a combo of Lilly and Trina having quite a fair bit of fun with the rival. From there, it was over to the Gym for another round of Trina trolling. Machoke got the one hit in, but it was fun watching Hawlucha futilely Hone its Claws while I pecked away at it with Aerial Ace.
I thought the 4th gym would be an excuse to catch Thumper up, but I didn't get as much experience out of the Route 12->Azure Bay complex as I thought. Probably due to a lack of Sky Battles. The gym was wrecked quite hard - throwing Thumper at Acrobatics Jumpluff was all well and good until it nearly got 2-shot by Grass Knot.
Route 13 is normally the bane of my existence, but HALLELUJAH PARKER EVOLVED. (It took a Rare Candy, but still.) Finally, a usable 6th who just happened to start learning special moves around the same time. The Power Plant had this annoying habit of knocking out Trina who was still a Honedge... but the healing post-Scientist let me get into Lumiose, where a few rounds of Secret Super Training got me a Dusk Stone, where Lumiose Gym finished the job and got one more evo out of the way.
The gym itself pretty much went as anticipated - Led with Parker against Emolga, Bulldozed the Volt Switch-switch into Magneton for a 2HKO, but Thumper had some Grass Knot issues after Celeste had some Thunderbolt issues (2HKO under Electric Terrain). After getting rid of Heliolisk, Emolga fell to the power of Power Gem (aww yiss).
After clearing out Route 14, we're saved in Laverre. Tomorrow's goal: Beat the Fairy gym, raid Route 15 and the Lost Hotel for potential replacements (Klefki, Pawniard, Magneton) and hopefully get far enough to maybe get to Anistar.
Lilly - Return, Shadow Claw, Dig, Low Sweep
Trina (now an Aegislash) - Cut, Aerial Ace, Shadow Sneak, Night Slash
Thumper - Dig, Rock Slide, Crunch, Iron Tail
Weevill - Fairy Wind, Crunch, Rock Smash, Strength
L40 Celeste (now a Ferrothorn) - Power Whip, Metal Claw, Rollout, Poison Jab
Parker (now a Probopass, THANK GOD) - Thunderbolt, Power Gem, Bulldoze, Rock Smash
Cleared out Shalour quite quickly to start, a combo of Lilly and Trina having quite a fair bit of fun with the rival. From there, it was over to the Gym for another round of Trina trolling. Machoke got the one hit in, but it was fun watching Hawlucha futilely Hone its Claws while I pecked away at it with Aerial Ace.
I thought the 4th gym would be an excuse to catch Thumper up, but I didn't get as much experience out of the Route 12->Azure Bay complex as I thought. Probably due to a lack of Sky Battles. The gym was wrecked quite hard - throwing Thumper at Acrobatics Jumpluff was all well and good until it nearly got 2-shot by Grass Knot.
Route 13 is normally the bane of my existence, but HALLELUJAH PARKER EVOLVED. (It took a Rare Candy, but still.) Finally, a usable 6th who just happened to start learning special moves around the same time. The Power Plant had this annoying habit of knocking out Trina who was still a Honedge... but the healing post-Scientist let me get into Lumiose, where a few rounds of Secret Super Training got me a Dusk Stone, where Lumiose Gym finished the job and got one more evo out of the way.
The gym itself pretty much went as anticipated - Led with Parker against Emolga, Bulldozed the Volt Switch-switch into Magneton for a 2HKO, but Thumper had some Grass Knot issues after Celeste had some Thunderbolt issues (2HKO under Electric Terrain). After getting rid of Heliolisk, Emolga fell to the power of Power Gem (aww yiss).
After clearing out Route 14, we're saved in Laverre. Tomorrow's goal: Beat the Fairy gym, raid Route 15 and the Lost Hotel for potential replacements (Klefki, Pawniard, Magneton) and hopefully get far enough to maybe get to Anistar.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Steel Day 3: Screw Fighting, Let's Just Troll Everything
We're currently down in the Reflection Cave, about to enter Shalour City, get MegaLucario and all that other good stuff.
The team as it stands now:
Nosepass "Parker" - Rock Tomb, Bulldoze, Rock Smash, Spark (L26)
Lilly - Return, Shadow Claw, Power-Up Punch, Bulldoze (L27 - same as the rest)
Trina - Shadow Sneak, Pursuit, Aerial Ace, Cut
Thumper - Bulldoze, Smack Down, Autotomize, Gyro Ball
Mawile "Weevil" - Fairy Wind, Bite, Rock Smash, Strength
Ferroseed "Celeste" - Metal Claw, Rock Smash, Pin Missile, Rollout
The first stop was to the grand Battle Chateau, where I leveled up Parker (who by the way, is a PITA to use when all of its special moves come post-evo and you have nothing but physical) and worked my way up to Cyllage Gym. Thumper got Amaura with Gyro Ball, and a combo of Celeste and Lilly got rid of Tyrunt. Bite doing like, 1/4 health to Tyrunt because of Iron Barbs + Rocky Helmet was the fun part.
I am actually REALLY loving Iron Barbs right now. It's nice to be able to survive the Fighting offense and be able to do something back + take 1/6 off. Metal Claw as the sole STAB is a bit troubling for it, but that's going to change shortly.
Ran Route 10 to Geosenge, won a Lucario fight, and was still horribly under-leveled... so I did some wild grinding to get everyone on the same level and cranked the Exp Share. I don't know when it's going off, but probably not until the Grass gym.
Tomorrow, I have an extended shift from hell at work because of the weather (11.5 hour day) so any progress I'll make is going to be a bonus.
The team as it stands now:
Nosepass "Parker" - Rock Tomb, Bulldoze, Rock Smash, Spark (L26)
Lilly - Return, Shadow Claw, Power-Up Punch, Bulldoze (L27 - same as the rest)
Trina - Shadow Sneak, Pursuit, Aerial Ace, Cut
Thumper - Bulldoze, Smack Down, Autotomize, Gyro Ball
Mawile "Weevil" - Fairy Wind, Bite, Rock Smash, Strength
Ferroseed "Celeste" - Metal Claw, Rock Smash, Pin Missile, Rollout
The first stop was to the grand Battle Chateau, where I leveled up Parker (who by the way, is a PITA to use when all of its special moves come post-evo and you have nothing but physical) and worked my way up to Cyllage Gym. Thumper got Amaura with Gyro Ball, and a combo of Celeste and Lilly got rid of Tyrunt. Bite doing like, 1/4 health to Tyrunt because of Iron Barbs + Rocky Helmet was the fun part.
I am actually REALLY loving Iron Barbs right now. It's nice to be able to survive the Fighting offense and be able to do something back + take 1/6 off. Metal Claw as the sole STAB is a bit troubling for it, but that's going to change shortly.
Ran Route 10 to Geosenge, won a Lucario fight, and was still horribly under-leveled... so I did some wild grinding to get everyone on the same level and cranked the Exp Share. I don't know when it's going off, but probably not until the Grass gym.
Tomorrow, I have an extended shift from hell at work because of the weather (11.5 hour day) so any progress I'll make is going to be a bonus.
Steel Day 2: Leg Day Cancelled Due To Lack of Legs
Current location: Ambrette Town Pokemon Center, though I skipped ahead to grab a full team. Currently, we have Lilly the Lucario, Trina the Honedge, the still-unadorned Mawile, and three newcomers:
L18 Ferroseed: Female, Jolly, trained in Atk/Speed, moves Rollout/Rock Smash/Pin Missile/Metal Claw. Not sure what a Jolly version of the slowest Pokemon (in terms of base speed) I've ever used will do, at least until evolution. At the very least, I can't wait to do some trolling with Iron Barbs + Rocky Helmet when we go to the Chateau shortly.
L20 Steelix "Thumper": Female, Impish, Rock Head (blast), trained in Att/Speed, moves Bulldoze/Gyro Ball/Stealth Rock/Automatize. The ingame trade paid off as I got a Heart Scale off the Luvdisc and now have something that can stay behind since it gets boosted Exp.
L11 Nosepass: Female, Timid, Sturdy, trained in SA/Speed, moves Tackle/Block/Harden/Rock Throw. I still have to TM this thing and curse the fact that it doesn't evolve until Courmarine.
So basically the entire day was spent catching stuff and Super Training. Ferroseed took about 10 minutes of skating 'round the bottom of the Glittering Cave, Luvdisc-> Thumper took about thirty seconds, and then I wanted a Sturdy Nosepass with a good nature so I hatched a plan. Since Nosepass come in hordes only, and if they don't have Sturdy they have Magnet Pull, I sent Lilly out to catch them. Bulldoze clears out the ones that aren't Strudy, and from there, it's pick one at random and take out the rest.
This is all well and good when you can use Honey to draw them out... until it starts raining on the route and honey stops working. Bloody hell. Thankfully, a quick duck inside the Cyllage Pokemon Center fixed that up right quick.
I don't have to do any catching for a while, so it's down to evening out the team levels and raiding Gyms. Thankfully, Mega-Abomasnow is dropping by today so I don't have things like work to distract me.
L18 Ferroseed: Female, Jolly, trained in Atk/Speed, moves Rollout/Rock Smash/Pin Missile/Metal Claw. Not sure what a Jolly version of the slowest Pokemon (in terms of base speed) I've ever used will do, at least until evolution. At the very least, I can't wait to do some trolling with Iron Barbs + Rocky Helmet when we go to the Chateau shortly.
L20 Steelix "Thumper": Female, Impish, Rock Head (blast), trained in Att/Speed, moves Bulldoze/Gyro Ball/Stealth Rock/Automatize. The ingame trade paid off as I got a Heart Scale off the Luvdisc and now have something that can stay behind since it gets boosted Exp.
L11 Nosepass: Female, Timid, Sturdy, trained in SA/Speed, moves Tackle/Block/Harden/Rock Throw. I still have to TM this thing and curse the fact that it doesn't evolve until Courmarine.
So basically the entire day was spent catching stuff and Super Training. Ferroseed took about 10 minutes of skating 'round the bottom of the Glittering Cave, Luvdisc-> Thumper took about thirty seconds, and then I wanted a Sturdy Nosepass with a good nature so I hatched a plan. Since Nosepass come in hordes only, and if they don't have Sturdy they have Magnet Pull, I sent Lilly out to catch them. Bulldoze clears out the ones that aren't Strudy, and from there, it's pick one at random and take out the rest.
This is all well and good when you can use Honey to draw them out... until it starts raining on the route and honey stops working. Bloody hell. Thankfully, a quick duck inside the Cyllage Pokemon Center fixed that up right quick.
I don't have to do any catching for a while, so it's down to evening out the team levels and raiding Gyms. Thankfully, Mega-Abomasnow is dropping by today so I don't have things like work to distract me.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Steel Day 1: Hunting and Gathering
Current location: Saved outside Glittering Cave, just caught Mawile and have to ST it, then go back for Ferroseed. Current team:
L22 Lucario "Lilly" - Docile nature, Steadfast, maxed Attack, rest split between Speed and SA. Moves: Return, Quick Attack, Power-Up Punch, Bulldoze
L22 Honedge "Trina" - Brave nature, maxed Attack and Speed (for whatever that's worth). Moves: Rock Smash, Aerial Ace, Shadow Sneak, Pursuit
L15 Mawile "HelloInsertNameHere", female, Hasty (+Speed-Def), Intimidate, will max Attack and Speed. Moves: Whatever Mawile comes with, except sub Astonish for Rock Smash
It took about twenty minutes on the 8th soft reset to find Riolu, train it up, happy it up and evolve it - I actually did all but the last bit last night but had no Gym progress to report. It took a lot of skating that loop from the restaurant in Santalune to the first turn on Route 22 to get the happiness up to the point that it would evolve... but it was worth it when Lilly no-sold Infestation in the gym and wiped out Vivilion with two Quick Attacks.
After that, it was the mandatory skating session to route 6 to get Trina, which in itself took about ten soft resets before I got one I was happy with (or could put up with). Got it STed through the new method, and leveled it up with the trainers I bypassed starting on Rt 22 and going all the way up to 6.
That double Furfrou fight is quite satisfying when you have one Pokemon that's SE against Normal wasting them with type bonus moves while the other Pokemon can't touch it, actually. Shame I won't have Honedge again after this, it's quickly becoming a favourite of mine.
In the grand victory for irony, I actually managed to catch Snorlax on a Quick Ball. Heh.
After running the Route 8 complex, we hit Glittering Cave and only had to loop the route once before we got a Mawile, and it was an easy catch this time. Still have to ST it, but then we get to Ferroseed... and I suspect I'll be using that Rocky Helmet I just picked up on Route 9 for maximum trolling.
L22 Lucario "Lilly" - Docile nature, Steadfast, maxed Attack, rest split between Speed and SA. Moves: Return, Quick Attack, Power-Up Punch, Bulldoze
L22 Honedge "Trina" - Brave nature, maxed Attack and Speed (for whatever that's worth). Moves: Rock Smash, Aerial Ace, Shadow Sneak, Pursuit
L15 Mawile "HelloInsertNameHere", female, Hasty (+Speed-Def), Intimidate, will max Attack and Speed. Moves: Whatever Mawile comes with, except sub Astonish for Rock Smash
It took about twenty minutes on the 8th soft reset to find Riolu, train it up, happy it up and evolve it - I actually did all but the last bit last night but had no Gym progress to report. It took a lot of skating that loop from the restaurant in Santalune to the first turn on Route 22 to get the happiness up to the point that it would evolve... but it was worth it when Lilly no-sold Infestation in the gym and wiped out Vivilion with two Quick Attacks.
After that, it was the mandatory skating session to route 6 to get Trina, which in itself took about ten soft resets before I got one I was happy with (or could put up with). Got it STed through the new method, and leveled it up with the trainers I bypassed starting on Rt 22 and going all the way up to 6.
That double Furfrou fight is quite satisfying when you have one Pokemon that's SE against Normal wasting them with type bonus moves while the other Pokemon can't touch it, actually. Shame I won't have Honedge again after this, it's quickly becoming a favourite of mine.
In the grand victory for irony, I actually managed to catch Snorlax on a Quick Ball. Heh.
After running the Route 8 complex, we hit Glittering Cave and only had to loop the route once before we got a Mawile, and it was an easy catch this time. Still have to ST it, but then we get to Ferroseed... and I suspect I'll be using that Rocky Helmet I just picked up on Route 9 for maximum trolling.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Type Preview: Steel
There once a type that was so dominant defensively that they had to take two resistances away from it in the name of balance. It has good dual types, powerful attacks and keeps up a very irritating theme from the Ice run.
Time to climb aboard the wheel of Steel.
Type effectiveness:
Attacking: Beats Ice, Rock and Fairy. Resisted by Fire, Water, Electric and itself.
Defending: Super effected by Fire, Fighting and Ground. Neutral to Water, Ghost and Dark. Immune to Poison. EVERYTHING ELSE is resisted.
Dual types:
Available in XY: Electric, Grass, Fighting, Ground, Flying, Bug, Rock, Ghost, Dark, and Fairy. Theoretical but not in the game: Fire, Water, Psychic, Dragon.
Probable final team:
Riolu/Lucario: In addition to being the run's Mega (that they GIVE YOU, for heaven's sake) it's the first one up, will come with 3 max IVs and provides a huge mix of attack variety. Even if I'm stuck using Feint for a few levels.
Honedge/Doublade/Aegislash: Returning champion from the Ghost run, will serve the same role and may actually get its own evo item once I have access to the Move Returner.
Mawile: Another returning champion. I wanted to give Klefki a go, but I'd have to get a great draw on the nature to justify carrying a Pokemon who relies on Hidden Power for coverage. No real changes from the Fairy run.
Steelix: Just Steelix, since the one I'm using is from the Cyllage City ingame trade to avoid that awkward Onix phase. Comes Impish, and I'm not sure about the IVs but hopefully the Attack is good enough.
Ferroseed/Ferrothorn: I've actually used it in BW2, and its movepool was good enough there so this should be fun. Provides the passive damage factor that saved Abomasnow in Ice.
Magneton/Magnezone: Completes the Electric trio, but the shrinkage of the movepool (no access to Signal Beam because of a lack of move tutors, for instance) means I'm using Hidden Power AND Tri Attack for coverage.
Why not use...?
Nosepass/Probopass: May consider (again, depends on the nature) but the Nosepass phase is going to be quite annoying to get through (can't evolve it until of all places, Route 13) and the fact that it comes in hordes only means I'm stuck grinding at least 10 levels early on.
Escavalier: Trade evo, generally sucks overall, will have a full team by the time it comes around.
Pawniard/Bisharp: Another one at least worth considering, I'm going to be flexible with this one (how apropos). Not looking forward to a 4x weak to Fighting, but the trolling possibilities from Defiant...
Klefki: As mentioned above, has movepool problems.
Lairon/Aggron, Durant, Skarmory, Scyther/Scizor: All come Route 18 or in Scizor/Skarmory's case, LATER. Don't want to take the time at that point.
Major battle expectations:
Viola: I'll only have Lucario at this point, but its stats are so insane for a Pokemon of that level that I can probably win a Quick Attack race.
Grant: Steelix is designed to treat this gym like the Machop ingame trade in GSC.
Korrina: Hi Honedge, enjoy the sweep.
Ramos: Resist the STAB? Check. Insane defense to get around Acrobatics? Check. Easy win? Check.
Clemont: "(trainer) sent out Steelix! Hilarity ensues!"
Valerie: The 2nd gym everyone SEs.
Olympia: Depending on the team makeup, I either outstall everything or just rip everything apart.
Wulfric: lols
Rival: Since I'm taking Fennekin out of play, this will be no issue until Flareon shows up.
Team Flare: Houndoom will be the biggest issue, but Steelix and Lucario should be able to win damage races.
Elite 4: There isn't a clear entry point here - I'm leaning toward going Siebold->Drasna->Wulfric->Malva at the end, since I really don't have a Water type.
Champion: Remember what happened in the last fight? I'm picturing something like that.
Trainer:
Having one of the Pokemon locked into "Thumper" means I'm sort of limited in my options, but it turns out that was the name of a character in Veronica Mars. So I'll pull the characters from that... and my trainer will be named Veronica as a result.
Time to climb aboard the wheel of Steel.
Type effectiveness:
Attacking: Beats Ice, Rock and Fairy. Resisted by Fire, Water, Electric and itself.
Defending: Super effected by Fire, Fighting and Ground. Neutral to Water, Ghost and Dark. Immune to Poison. EVERYTHING ELSE is resisted.
Dual types:
Available in XY: Electric, Grass, Fighting, Ground, Flying, Bug, Rock, Ghost, Dark, and Fairy. Theoretical but not in the game: Fire, Water, Psychic, Dragon.
Probable final team:
Riolu/Lucario: In addition to being the run's Mega (that they GIVE YOU, for heaven's sake) it's the first one up, will come with 3 max IVs and provides a huge mix of attack variety. Even if I'm stuck using Feint for a few levels.
Honedge/Doublade/Aegislash: Returning champion from the Ghost run, will serve the same role and may actually get its own evo item once I have access to the Move Returner.
Mawile: Another returning champion. I wanted to give Klefki a go, but I'd have to get a great draw on the nature to justify carrying a Pokemon who relies on Hidden Power for coverage. No real changes from the Fairy run.
Steelix: Just Steelix, since the one I'm using is from the Cyllage City ingame trade to avoid that awkward Onix phase. Comes Impish, and I'm not sure about the IVs but hopefully the Attack is good enough.
Ferroseed/Ferrothorn: I've actually used it in BW2, and its movepool was good enough there so this should be fun. Provides the passive damage factor that saved Abomasnow in Ice.
Magneton/Magnezone: Completes the Electric trio, but the shrinkage of the movepool (no access to Signal Beam because of a lack of move tutors, for instance) means I'm using Hidden Power AND Tri Attack for coverage.
Why not use...?
Nosepass/Probopass: May consider (again, depends on the nature) but the Nosepass phase is going to be quite annoying to get through (can't evolve it until of all places, Route 13) and the fact that it comes in hordes only means I'm stuck grinding at least 10 levels early on.
Escavalier: Trade evo, generally sucks overall, will have a full team by the time it comes around.
Pawniard/Bisharp: Another one at least worth considering, I'm going to be flexible with this one (how apropos). Not looking forward to a 4x weak to Fighting, but the trolling possibilities from Defiant...
Klefki: As mentioned above, has movepool problems.
Lairon/Aggron, Durant, Skarmory, Scyther/Scizor: All come Route 18 or in Scizor/Skarmory's case, LATER. Don't want to take the time at that point.
Major battle expectations:
Viola: I'll only have Lucario at this point, but its stats are so insane for a Pokemon of that level that I can probably win a Quick Attack race.
Grant: Steelix is designed to treat this gym like the Machop ingame trade in GSC.
Korrina: Hi Honedge, enjoy the sweep.
Ramos: Resist the STAB? Check. Insane defense to get around Acrobatics? Check. Easy win? Check.
Clemont: "(trainer) sent out Steelix! Hilarity ensues!"
Valerie: The 2nd gym everyone SEs.
Olympia: Depending on the team makeup, I either outstall everything or just rip everything apart.
Wulfric: lols
Rival: Since I'm taking Fennekin out of play, this will be no issue until Flareon shows up.
Team Flare: Houndoom will be the biggest issue, but Steelix and Lucario should be able to win damage races.
Elite 4: There isn't a clear entry point here - I'm leaning toward going Siebold->Drasna->Wulfric->Malva at the end, since I really don't have a Water type.
Champion: Remember what happened in the last fight? I'm picturing something like that.
Trainer:
Having one of the Pokemon locked into "Thumper" means I'm sort of limited in my options, but it turns out that was the name of a character in Veronica Mars. So I'll pull the characters from that... and my trainer will be named Veronica as a result.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Ice Run complete!
And what a finish.
If there's one thing the run crystallized in my mind (lolol) it's that all of my assumptions about the Ice type were pretty much borne out - in this case, that if they don't get hit they can bring down everything in sight.
Let's take a look, shall we? And I'll keep track of one-turn wins here.
Drasna
Oh come on, like I was going anywhere else to start.
Monokuma v Dragalgae
Icicle Crash OHKO. (1)
Asahina v Noivern
Ice Beam OHKO. (2)
Hakagure v Altaria
Ice Punch OHKO. (3)
Byakuya v Druddigon
Ice Beam OHKO. (4)
Siebold
Best of a bad lot for the type, in theory.
Kyoko v Clawitzer
Thunderbolt crits, OHKO. (5)
Hakagure v Barbaracle
Wood Hammer OHKO. (6)
Asahina v Starmie
She opens with Shadow Ball which takes about 3/4 off, Surf's retaliation brings Asahina to 99/174. On the Full Restore, I Draining Kiss 30% off and Shadow Ball finishes.
Byakuya v Gyarados
Thunderbolt OHKO. (7)
Wikstrom
I never actually ended with Malva before, so I figured let's try it... only I forgot to heal beforehand.
Chihiro v Klefki
Because of Prankster, Klefki gets Spikes off before falling to Earthquake. (8)
Asahina v Aegislash
Shadow Ball does 35% and drops Shield Form's SpDef, but Iron Head KOs coming back.
Chihiro v Aegislash
Earthquake finishes the sword off, who would've probably gone for Iron Head again if it wasn't suffering from a severe case of KTFO.
Kyoko v Scizor
Surf does 60%, and a combo of Spikes and Iron Head has Kyoko at 137/260. Second Surf does Scizor in.
Hakagure v Probopass
Brick Break triggered Sturdy, and... remember when I forgot to heal? And how Haka's last move was Wood Hammer? Yeah, Flash Cannon knocked it down to 9 HP. The Snow Warning-induced Hail finishes. (9)
Malva
Of course, we have to finish with Fire.
Chihiro v Pyroar
Earthquake goes first, and it's a OHKO. (10)
Byakuya v Talonflame
Talonflame goes first and Flare Blitzes, which criticals Byakuya to 80/245. Ancient Power does the rest. (11)
Kyoko v Torkoal
Hint: It involved Surf. (12)
Asahina v Chandelure
The opening Shadow Ball... lands critical and OHKOs. (13)
Diantha
There's no way I can keep running this train on the CHAMPION, can I?
Asahina v Hawlucha
Ice Beam OHKOs. (14)
Chihiro v Tyrantrum
Earthquake does about 90%, and Tyrantrum counters with Head Smash which criticals... but Chihiro survives with 42 HP and Tyrantrum goes down to the recoil. (15)
Monokuma v Goodra
Icicle Crash OHKOs. (16)
Hakagure v Aurorus
Hail kicks in, and then a Mega Brick Break does what it usually does. (17)
Monokuma v Gourgeist
Icicle Crash OHKOs again. Five in a row in one turn! (18)
Monokuma v MegaGardevoir
I freaked out a bit when it traced Snow Cloak... forgetting that going Mega switches it to Pixilate anyway. Moonblast takes the Bear of Despair to 71/200... but Shadow Claw does 95%, enough that the hail damage makes Makoto the champ! (19)
Pictured: I got the hoodie, but you can't see the idiot hair.
That's 19 out of 22 Pokemon gone in one turn, the fastest run yet. I don't know HOW I'm going to beat that.
If there's one thing the run crystallized in my mind (lolol) it's that all of my assumptions about the Ice type were pretty much borne out - in this case, that if they don't get hit they can bring down everything in sight.
Let's take a look, shall we? And I'll keep track of one-turn wins here.
Drasna
Oh come on, like I was going anywhere else to start.
Monokuma v Dragalgae
Icicle Crash OHKO. (1)
Asahina v Noivern
Ice Beam OHKO. (2)
Hakagure v Altaria
Ice Punch OHKO. (3)
Byakuya v Druddigon
Ice Beam OHKO. (4)
Siebold
Best of a bad lot for the type, in theory.
Kyoko v Clawitzer
Thunderbolt crits, OHKO. (5)
Hakagure v Barbaracle
Wood Hammer OHKO. (6)
Asahina v Starmie
She opens with Shadow Ball which takes about 3/4 off, Surf's retaliation brings Asahina to 99/174. On the Full Restore, I Draining Kiss 30% off and Shadow Ball finishes.
Byakuya v Gyarados
Thunderbolt OHKO. (7)
Wikstrom
I never actually ended with Malva before, so I figured let's try it... only I forgot to heal beforehand.
Chihiro v Klefki
Because of Prankster, Klefki gets Spikes off before falling to Earthquake. (8)
Asahina v Aegislash
Shadow Ball does 35% and drops Shield Form's SpDef, but Iron Head KOs coming back.
Chihiro v Aegislash
Earthquake finishes the sword off, who would've probably gone for Iron Head again if it wasn't suffering from a severe case of KTFO.
Kyoko v Scizor
Surf does 60%, and a combo of Spikes and Iron Head has Kyoko at 137/260. Second Surf does Scizor in.
Hakagure v Probopass
Brick Break triggered Sturdy, and... remember when I forgot to heal? And how Haka's last move was Wood Hammer? Yeah, Flash Cannon knocked it down to 9 HP. The Snow Warning-induced Hail finishes. (9)
Malva
Of course, we have to finish with Fire.
Chihiro v Pyroar
Earthquake goes first, and it's a OHKO. (10)
Byakuya v Talonflame
Talonflame goes first and Flare Blitzes, which criticals Byakuya to 80/245. Ancient Power does the rest. (11)
Kyoko v Torkoal
Hint: It involved Surf. (12)
Asahina v Chandelure
The opening Shadow Ball... lands critical and OHKOs. (13)
Diantha
There's no way I can keep running this train on the CHAMPION, can I?
Asahina v Hawlucha
Ice Beam OHKOs. (14)
Chihiro v Tyrantrum
Earthquake does about 90%, and Tyrantrum counters with Head Smash which criticals... but Chihiro survives with 42 HP and Tyrantrum goes down to the recoil. (15)
Monokuma v Goodra
Icicle Crash OHKOs. (16)
Hakagure v Aurorus
Hail kicks in, and then a Mega Brick Break does what it usually does. (17)
Monokuma v Gourgeist
Icicle Crash OHKOs again. Five in a row in one turn! (18)
Monokuma v MegaGardevoir
I freaked out a bit when it traced Snow Cloak... forgetting that going Mega switches it to Pixilate anyway. Moonblast takes the Bear of Despair to 71/200... but Shadow Claw does 95%, enough that the hail damage makes Makoto the champ! (19)
That's 19 out of 22 Pokemon gone in one turn, the fastest run yet. I don't know HOW I'm going to beat that.
Ice Day 7: Attracting Pokemon in Great Numbers
Current location: Saved RIGHT OUTSIDE the Elite 4 door. Here's the final team, all L64:
Byakuya - Ice Beam, Ancient Power, Thunderbolt, Dark Pulse
Kyoko - Surf, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Psychic
Chihiro - Earthquake, Ice Fang, Rock Slide, Strength
Monokuma - Icicle Crash, Shadow Claw, Aqua Jet, Superpower
Asahina - Ice Beam, Psychic, Draining Kiss, Shadow Ball
Hakagure - Ice Punch, Wood Hammer, Rock Slide, Brick Break
Really, this comes down to two things: Snowbelle Gym and Victory Road. The gym was actually very simple: Hakagure went Mega to take out his counterpart and Cryogonal with Brick Break - no-selling Confuse Ray in the process. Swapped in Byakuya for Avalugg and Ancient Power dropped it in one. Too easy.
The TM hunt was a disappointment when I discovered than aside from the obvious, there weren't any major surprised going into Victory Road. Still looking for a 4th move on Chihiro for instance... having to keep Strength on it is a bit of a disappointment.
Victory Road had one last round of Fighting misery, but I had a little surprise of my own - Psychic. I'm only missing Fire (obviously), Poison, Flying, Bug and Dragon going into the E4 which is way better than I thought I'd do with this. And when Brains and Brawn showed up, Chihiro dropped the Medicham with Earthquake and finished off the Gallade with Ice Fang while I swapped Hakagure in.
At the end, I found another way to speed up the end-game grind pre-E4: Honey. I did have to save after each one and reset in the event of a Geodude horde. 5 Floatzel with the Lucky Egg is worth 5k exp, which took Chihiro from 62 to 64 in five rounds. The rest fell into place.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have an E4 to take out...
Byakuya - Ice Beam, Ancient Power, Thunderbolt, Dark Pulse
Kyoko - Surf, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Psychic
Chihiro - Earthquake, Ice Fang, Rock Slide, Strength
Monokuma - Icicle Crash, Shadow Claw, Aqua Jet, Superpower
Asahina - Ice Beam, Psychic, Draining Kiss, Shadow Ball
Hakagure - Ice Punch, Wood Hammer, Rock Slide, Brick Break
Really, this comes down to two things: Snowbelle Gym and Victory Road. The gym was actually very simple: Hakagure went Mega to take out his counterpart and Cryogonal with Brick Break - no-selling Confuse Ray in the process. Swapped in Byakuya for Avalugg and Ancient Power dropped it in one. Too easy.
The TM hunt was a disappointment when I discovered than aside from the obvious, there weren't any major surprised going into Victory Road. Still looking for a 4th move on Chihiro for instance... having to keep Strength on it is a bit of a disappointment.
Victory Road had one last round of Fighting misery, but I had a little surprise of my own - Psychic. I'm only missing Fire (obviously), Poison, Flying, Bug and Dragon going into the E4 which is way better than I thought I'd do with this. And when Brains and Brawn showed up, Chihiro dropped the Medicham with Earthquake and finished off the Gallade with Ice Fang while I swapped Hakagure in.
At the end, I found another way to speed up the end-game grind pre-E4: Honey. I did have to save after each one and reset in the event of a Geodude horde. 5 Floatzel with the Lucky Egg is worth 5k exp, which took Chihiro from 62 to 64 in five rounds. The rest fell into place.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have an E4 to take out...
Friday, March 21, 2014
Ice Day 6: The Miracle of Festivus
So I did manage to make Snowbelle. And the entire team is in the 55-56 range. We now have:
Byakuya - Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Ancient Power, Nature Power
Kyoko - Surf, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Waterfall (not ideal, but I have to)
Chihiro - Earthquake, Ice Fang, Rock Tomb, Strength
Monokuma - Icicle Crash, Shadow Claw, Aqua Jet, Rock Smash
Asahina - Frost Breath, Draining Kiss, Grass Knot, Shadow Ball
Hakagure - Ice Punch, Wood Hammer, Rock Tomb, Brick Break
The Chateau didn't do much (except for the financial situation) so I went into Anistar at L42. The rival got me to 43, and the gym finished the job... though it would be a long time before Byakuya saw action again. Olympia had the usual trouble with Sigilyph, but Hakagure stalled out the Reflect so Slowking and Meowstic were easy marks for Wood Hammer.
After beating Team Flare and cursing the existence of the Fighting type again (and I'll get to do it AGAIN in the next run, more on that later), I did the 18 complex and went through Terminus Cave... only to find an entire floor of Black Belts and Battle Girls. Urgh, hate it when that happens. It was worth it though, given that I finally got a fourth move with PP and power on Asahina, and Brick Break which will get some more love shortly. Also, because of that cave, my money somehow got back over 400k again.
I finished with Route 19 and the dreaded Friend Gauntlet, which was AKA "an excuse to let Hakagure go Mega while something else leads with the Amulet Coin". Lo and behold it worked well, he went 4-2 after Chihiro wiped out the leads - though I did have a scare when in Chihiro v Talonflame, Rock Tomb missed 2 in a row (odds against that: 400-1). Pulled into Snowbelle, saved and mentally preparing for the endgame this weekend.
Also, I've pretty much determined that we'll be keeping the theme of cold going here after Ice is done with a little... cold Steel.
Byakuya - Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Ancient Power, Nature Power
Kyoko - Surf, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Waterfall (not ideal, but I have to)
Chihiro - Earthquake, Ice Fang, Rock Tomb, Strength
Monokuma - Icicle Crash, Shadow Claw, Aqua Jet, Rock Smash
Asahina - Frost Breath, Draining Kiss, Grass Knot, Shadow Ball
Hakagure - Ice Punch, Wood Hammer, Rock Tomb, Brick Break
The Chateau didn't do much (except for the financial situation) so I went into Anistar at L42. The rival got me to 43, and the gym finished the job... though it would be a long time before Byakuya saw action again. Olympia had the usual trouble with Sigilyph, but Hakagure stalled out the Reflect so Slowking and Meowstic were easy marks for Wood Hammer.
After beating Team Flare and cursing the existence of the Fighting type again (and I'll get to do it AGAIN in the next run, more on that later), I did the 18 complex and went through Terminus Cave... only to find an entire floor of Black Belts and Battle Girls. Urgh, hate it when that happens. It was worth it though, given that I finally got a fourth move with PP and power on Asahina, and Brick Break which will get some more love shortly. Also, because of that cave, my money somehow got back over 400k again.
I finished with Route 19 and the dreaded Friend Gauntlet, which was AKA "an excuse to let Hakagure go Mega while something else leads with the Amulet Coin". Lo and behold it worked well, he went 4-2 after Chihiro wiped out the leads - though I did have a scare when in Chihiro v Talonflame, Rock Tomb missed 2 in a row (odds against that: 400-1). Pulled into Snowbelle, saved and mentally preparing for the endgame this weekend.
Also, I've pretty much determined that we'll be keeping the theme of cold going here after Ice is done with a little... cold Steel.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Ice Day 5: You Have Selected "Power Grind"
Current location: Refreshing the Battle Chateau so I can build up some of dat money money, yeah yeah. Current team has L46 for Byakuya (who picked up Frost Breath over Aurora Beam) and Kyoko, L45 for Chihiro (now a Mamoswine, Rock Tomb in play), Monokuma and Asahina (who alsoh has Frost Breath). The 6th member is Hakagure the Abomasnow, L41 and actually not holding Abomasite yet (see: money money) with Ice Punch, Ice Shard, Wood Hammer and Rock Tomb.
Running 15/16/Frost Cavern to catch the new 3 up wasn't too bad, though I did have to use a few Ethers as I was running out of PP for key moves such as Dig. Chihiro got way stronger there especially by evolving and taking a few levels in badass.
The fun part (air quotes) was Frost Cavern, discovering that Honey does work in caves, and getting nearly wiped by a Brains and Brawn->Black Belt->Battle Girl triple shot. As I said on Twitter during the course of the day... GameFreak, for the love of Goddish make Snorunt available prior to Friend Safari (preferably as close to Route 8 as possible with an accessible Dawn Stone) so I can use Froslass in future runs and not have to worry about this.
After Frost Cavern was cleaned out and Frost Breath obtained - amazingly, I don't think I've actually used it yet - it was down to Route 17 for Snover harvesting. And after a few soft resets I finally came down with a good (enough) Snover - Naughty, mind, but still usable. Went broke again doping it up on cat drugs, and had to use a few Rare Candies/go through another round of ST, but it's now ready to rock and I'm punting the Battle Chateau in the vain hope that it can get at least to 44 before Olympia. I just made Earl, so we'll see how that goes.
Tomorrow is all about getting through gym 7 and Team Flare, if I somehow manage to get to say, Snowbelle I'll call it a massive win. Or it will have been absolutely dead at work.
Running 15/16/Frost Cavern to catch the new 3 up wasn't too bad, though I did have to use a few Ethers as I was running out of PP for key moves such as Dig. Chihiro got way stronger there especially by evolving and taking a few levels in badass.
The fun part (air quotes) was Frost Cavern, discovering that Honey does work in caves, and getting nearly wiped by a Brains and Brawn->Black Belt->Battle Girl triple shot. As I said on Twitter during the course of the day... GameFreak, for the love of Goddish make Snorunt available prior to Friend Safari (preferably as close to Route 8 as possible with an accessible Dawn Stone) so I can use Froslass in future runs and not have to worry about this.
After Frost Cavern was cleaned out and Frost Breath obtained - amazingly, I don't think I've actually used it yet - it was down to Route 17 for Snover harvesting. And after a few soft resets I finally came down with a good (enough) Snover - Naughty, mind, but still usable. Went broke again doping it up on cat drugs, and had to use a few Rare Candies/go through another round of ST, but it's now ready to rock and I'm punting the Battle Chateau in the vain hope that it can get at least to 44 before Olympia. I just made Earl, so we'll see how that goes.
Tomorrow is all about getting through gym 7 and Team Flare, if I somehow manage to get to say, Snowbelle I'll call it a massive win. Or it will have been absolutely dead at work.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Ice Day 4: Dodging Bullets
"I'm just going to have to extinguish that glimmer of hope of yours."
- Team Flare Admin, Poke Ball Factory, who clearly has no idea who she's dealing with
Current status: Saved in Laverre City, and I got my Ice types. All Super Trained and ready to go. They are:
Chihiro the Piloswine - Naive, Snow Cloak, L39, soon to be Mamoswine. Ice Fang, Dig, Ancient Power (goes to Rock Tomb post-evo), Strength.
Monokuma the Beartic - Adamant, Snow Cloak,L40, Icicle Crash, Rock Smash, Shadow Claw, Aqua Jet
Asahina the Jynx - Timid, Oblivious, L40, Powder Snow (>_<), Grass Knot, Draining Kiss, Mean Look
Kyoko is L44, Byakuya is L45, no moveset changes to report.
So I managed to get to Snow Cavern from Laverre without tripping a single trainer fight on Route 15. Well, the second time. The first time, I hit two trainers and decided to soft-reset... only to discover that I forgot to save after doing the Poke Ball Factory. mrgrgr
Anyway, did that again, blasted through, and managed to get a perfect Beartic AFTER I had a usable-but-probably-problematic Piloswine. Oh well, saved out and got a good draw on the Jynx, so here we are. Let me just say for the record that the fact I still have to use Powder Snow until I get back to Frost Cavern for the rest is *really* irritating, but Jynx doesn't learn any natural special Ice moves until Blizzard. Yeesh.
The other two look pretty good from here, Shadow Claw might actually be my best bet for dealing with Gardevoir at the end. Will probably keep that 'round.
Now I have two problems: 1) I have like, $20k left after splurging on vitamins (and I had to take Asahina up the old-fashioned way for Speed, the horror), 2) I didn't actually make any real progress. Need to beat Route 15, 16, Lost Hotel, and Frost Cavern around tomorrow with a longshot goal of hopefully picking up Ice Member #6, Abomasnow.
- Team Flare Admin, Poke Ball Factory, who clearly has no idea who she's dealing with
Current status: Saved in Laverre City, and I got my Ice types. All Super Trained and ready to go. They are:
Chihiro the Piloswine - Naive, Snow Cloak, L39, soon to be Mamoswine. Ice Fang, Dig, Ancient Power (goes to Rock Tomb post-evo), Strength.
Monokuma the Beartic - Adamant, Snow Cloak,L40, Icicle Crash, Rock Smash, Shadow Claw, Aqua Jet
Asahina the Jynx - Timid, Oblivious, L40, Powder Snow (>_<), Grass Knot, Draining Kiss, Mean Look
Kyoko is L44, Byakuya is L45, no moveset changes to report.
So I managed to get to Snow Cavern from Laverre without tripping a single trainer fight on Route 15. Well, the second time. The first time, I hit two trainers and decided to soft-reset... only to discover that I forgot to save after doing the Poke Ball Factory. mrgrgr
Anyway, did that again, blasted through, and managed to get a perfect Beartic AFTER I had a usable-but-probably-problematic Piloswine. Oh well, saved out and got a good draw on the Jynx, so here we are. Let me just say for the record that the fact I still have to use Powder Snow until I get back to Frost Cavern for the rest is *really* irritating, but Jynx doesn't learn any natural special Ice moves until Blizzard. Yeesh.
The other two look pretty good from here, Shadow Claw might actually be my best bet for dealing with Gardevoir at the end. Will probably keep that 'round.
Now I have two problems: 1) I have like, $20k left after splurging on vitamins (and I had to take Asahina up the old-fashioned way for Speed, the horror), 2) I didn't actually make any real progress. Need to beat Route 15, 16, Lost Hotel, and Frost Cavern around tomorrow with a longshot goal of hopefully picking up Ice Member #6, Abomasnow.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Ice Day 3: Unlimited Freezer Power
Current location: Saved in Laverre City and about to raid the Poke Ball factory. I elected to go SA/Speed on Kyoko and it's L43, while Byakuya is L44. Current movesets: Surf/Ice Beam/Thunderbolt/Body Slam for Kyoko, Nature Power/Thunderbolt/Ancient Power/Aurora Beam for Byakuy.
When your second Pokemon comes in at L30, grinding is no issue at all. Especially with Surf wiping out even the hardest of Water types. By the time I cleared out Route 12 and Azure Bay, Kyoko was L34 and finally packing Ice Beam. The Grass gym was a predictable, Ice Beams for all finish, although Ramos's Gogoat did survive one and hit Grass Knot before a Body Slam/Ice Beam finish.
Route 13 - still annoying. Since I don't have the Soothe Bell, I had about a 70% "can't escape because of Arena Trap" rate until I moved Fletchinder into slot 1 until I got to the Grunt in front of the Power Plant. Kyoko actually caught up in the Power Plant to the point where I had the two of them at L40 going into Lumiose.
And the sheer power of the team let it wipe out the Electric gym pretty much in one go. Magneton wasn't even an issue - because of the training, I was able to catch it on the switch-in from Emolga's Volt Switch with Surf and KO it on the 2nd hit. Even Heliolisk's Grass Knot, which would normally be a devastating move (120 power, SE against both) was doing less than half damage to Kyoko while it wiped out Heliolisk with Ice Beam (immune to Surf because of Dry Skin).
The rival->Route 14 complex was easy, but I ran into a bit of trouble with the encounter rate - I can't afford Repels right now because I have to buy over a half million worth of stat drugs for the three members of the team that come in at Frost Cavern or risk losing my mind. Ergo, no Repels. The swamp is very time-consuming to go through when you're avoiding Stunfisk genocide.
Then came the Fairy gym - Surf OHKOed Mawile when I faced Valerie, couldn't beat Mr Mime in one but I was able to stall out the Hyper Potions and a Light Screen so that Sylveon got 3HKOed with Surf for the 6th badge. Sadly, nobody can learn Dazzling Gleam (you'd think Byakuya could just because, you know, its SPECIES NAME involves dazzling lights...)
Tomorrow: Beat the Poke Ball factory, grind the Battle Chateau for some more of dem dolla dolla billz y'all, and hopefully avoid every trainer possible on Route 15 and outside Frost Cavern so I can load up on new Ice types and actually have a challenge. Allegedly.
When your second Pokemon comes in at L30, grinding is no issue at all. Especially with Surf wiping out even the hardest of Water types. By the time I cleared out Route 12 and Azure Bay, Kyoko was L34 and finally packing Ice Beam. The Grass gym was a predictable, Ice Beams for all finish, although Ramos's Gogoat did survive one and hit Grass Knot before a Body Slam/Ice Beam finish.
Route 13 - still annoying. Since I don't have the Soothe Bell, I had about a 70% "can't escape because of Arena Trap" rate until I moved Fletchinder into slot 1 until I got to the Grunt in front of the Power Plant. Kyoko actually caught up in the Power Plant to the point where I had the two of them at L40 going into Lumiose.
And the sheer power of the team let it wipe out the Electric gym pretty much in one go. Magneton wasn't even an issue - because of the training, I was able to catch it on the switch-in from Emolga's Volt Switch with Surf and KO it on the 2nd hit. Even Heliolisk's Grass Knot, which would normally be a devastating move (120 power, SE against both) was doing less than half damage to Kyoko while it wiped out Heliolisk with Ice Beam (immune to Surf because of Dry Skin).
The rival->Route 14 complex was easy, but I ran into a bit of trouble with the encounter rate - I can't afford Repels right now because I have to buy over a half million worth of stat drugs for the three members of the team that come in at Frost Cavern or risk losing my mind. Ergo, no Repels. The swamp is very time-consuming to go through when you're avoiding Stunfisk genocide.
Then came the Fairy gym - Surf OHKOed Mawile when I faced Valerie, couldn't beat Mr Mime in one but I was able to stall out the Hyper Potions and a Light Screen so that Sylveon got 3HKOed with Surf for the 6th badge. Sadly, nobody can learn Dazzling Gleam (you'd think Byakuya could just because, you know, its SPECIES NAME involves dazzling lights...)
Tomorrow: Beat the Poke Ball factory, grind the Battle Chateau for some more of dem dolla dolla billz y'all, and hopefully avoid every trainer possible on Route 15 and outside Frost Cavern so I can load up on new Ice types and actually have a challenge. Allegedly.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Ice Day 2: Luck of the Shamrock Shake
Current location: Saved in Camphier so I can check on my Berries and just used the Name Rater... I have three badges, just got Kyoko the female Lapras at L30 (currently on Water Pulse, Body Slam, Rain Dance, Perish Song) and Byakuya the Amaura... is LEVEL 38. Holy grinder indeed. The moveset is Nature Power, Bulldoze, Aurora Beam and Ancient Power.
So I ended up using a stray Zangoose I caught out of a horde fight for Strength, and had it serve as the meat shield. Turns out I only needed the shield for one fight... random fact: Nature Power in Grant's gym? Power Gem. Read: 70 power special Rock STAB. Surprisingly effective. Aside from that bloody Relicanth, but an AI glitch had it Yawn instead of ending the fight with Rock Tomb. Even Grant was a two-shot, as NP->Power Gem one-shot the Amaura, and Aurora Beam finished off Tyrunt in one.
I ground up a bit on Route 10 in anticipation of the dreaded Double Lucario fight of doom, and when I got to Geosenge Byakura was L29. I battled Korrina the first time... and it was a 2HKO. Whoops. I reset here, but was in loss position a couple more times before I finally figured out the strategy... and even then, I needed some luck. With the meat shield ready, here's how it went:
- I used two Rare Candies I had to put Byakura at L31
- I equipped the Rocky Helmet
- The first Lucario used Metal Sound, I used Bulldoze. I'm now outrunning it.
- Second Bulldoze, Metal Sound again.
- Third Bulldoze finishes, 2nd Lucario enters.
- This Lucario elects to Power-Up Punch and loses health due to Rocky Helmet, then gets Bulldozed to about half and a speed drop.
- One last Bulldoze puts Lucario into critical, and the 2nd PUP faints because of the Rocky Helmet.
Route 11 and the Reflection Cave present another problem for the runs: Black Belts. Bonus points if they show up in a Brains and Brawn. And I couldn't bring down the Machokes fast enough, so much so that I had to resort to using Fletchinder to induce suicide burns and let Byakura clean up. It apparently worked, though - because at the end of Reflection Cave Byakura was L35.
I beat the Rival handily (though Frogadier took three Ancient Powers) to go to L36, and only had to use Fletchinder one last time for the Burn trick before I fought Korrina. I walked into the Korrina fight at L37, a few hundred EXP away from L38. Here's how it went:
- Mienfoo went down to one NP->Tri Attack (remember, STAB due to Refrigerate) and Byakura levels
- Hawlucha comes out, is still faster, and Flying Press... IS SURVIVED WITH 34 HP. I honestly thought that was the finish, but I forgot that Flying Press multiplies Fighting (4x) by Flying (1/2) so it was only SE instead of hyper-effective. Oh, Tri Attack finishes.
- Machoke comes out. Tri Attack... puts him critical, Power-Up Punch finishes.
- Fletchinder comes in, I Revive on the Hyper Potion, and Peck does light damage before Rock Tomb finishes
- Back to Byakura, and Tri Attack ends the fight.
And after the MegaEvo tutorial, we have me soft-resetting for a quality Lapras - only to find that the only things changing are the HP (by 1 point, mind) and gender. It was always Docile, Water Absorb, and the stats were identical otherwise. Good to know if you're ever going to try this insanity yourself.
Now, to decide how I'm going to train Kyoko - both Attacks and screw Speed? Max Speed and split Attacks?, get to Aurorus... and then grind Kyoko to the point of equality.
So I ended up using a stray Zangoose I caught out of a horde fight for Strength, and had it serve as the meat shield. Turns out I only needed the shield for one fight... random fact: Nature Power in Grant's gym? Power Gem. Read: 70 power special Rock STAB. Surprisingly effective. Aside from that bloody Relicanth, but an AI glitch had it Yawn instead of ending the fight with Rock Tomb. Even Grant was a two-shot, as NP->Power Gem one-shot the Amaura, and Aurora Beam finished off Tyrunt in one.
I ground up a bit on Route 10 in anticipation of the dreaded Double Lucario fight of doom, and when I got to Geosenge Byakura was L29. I battled Korrina the first time... and it was a 2HKO. Whoops. I reset here, but was in loss position a couple more times before I finally figured out the strategy... and even then, I needed some luck. With the meat shield ready, here's how it went:
- I used two Rare Candies I had to put Byakura at L31
- I equipped the Rocky Helmet
- The first Lucario used Metal Sound, I used Bulldoze. I'm now outrunning it.
- Second Bulldoze, Metal Sound again.
- Third Bulldoze finishes, 2nd Lucario enters.
- This Lucario elects to Power-Up Punch and loses health due to Rocky Helmet, then gets Bulldozed to about half and a speed drop.
- One last Bulldoze puts Lucario into critical, and the 2nd PUP faints because of the Rocky Helmet.
Route 11 and the Reflection Cave present another problem for the runs: Black Belts. Bonus points if they show up in a Brains and Brawn. And I couldn't bring down the Machokes fast enough, so much so that I had to resort to using Fletchinder to induce suicide burns and let Byakura clean up. It apparently worked, though - because at the end of Reflection Cave Byakura was L35.
I beat the Rival handily (though Frogadier took three Ancient Powers) to go to L36, and only had to use Fletchinder one last time for the Burn trick before I fought Korrina. I walked into the Korrina fight at L37, a few hundred EXP away from L38. Here's how it went:
- Mienfoo went down to one NP->Tri Attack (remember, STAB due to Refrigerate) and Byakura levels
- Hawlucha comes out, is still faster, and Flying Press... IS SURVIVED WITH 34 HP. I honestly thought that was the finish, but I forgot that Flying Press multiplies Fighting (4x) by Flying (1/2) so it was only SE instead of hyper-effective. Oh, Tri Attack finishes.
- Machoke comes out. Tri Attack... puts him critical, Power-Up Punch finishes.
- Fletchinder comes in, I Revive on the Hyper Potion, and Peck does light damage before Rock Tomb finishes
- Back to Byakura, and Tri Attack ends the fight.
And after the MegaEvo tutorial, we have me soft-resetting for a quality Lapras - only to find that the only things changing are the HP (by 1 point, mind) and gender. It was always Docile, Water Absorb, and the stats were identical otherwise. Good to know if you're ever going to try this insanity yourself.
Now, to decide how I'm going to train Kyoko - both Attacks and screw Speed? Max Speed and split Attacks?, get to Aurorus... and then grind Kyoko to the point of equality.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Ice Day 1: George R R Martin Lawsuit Edition
Started the Ice run while the preview was publishing, and we currently have Byakuya the Amaura (though I probably should call it something else...) at L24, with Nature Power/Aurora Beam/Rock Smash/Bulldoze, a Modest nature and with Special Attack and Speed trained as high as the IVs will allow.
I did pick Fennekin as the starter and got a Bold Female off the hop (eh, acceptable) and decided the first thing I saw would be its partner until I got the fossil. Turned out to be a Jolly Fletchling, so I rolled through the first half of the game with just those two. At the very least, it makes me more confident that I'll be able to pull off Fire without gift Pokemon assistance for once.
And as a special bonus, somewhere around Lumiose I got... the Pokerus. *kaching* Unfortunately, it doesn't work the same way with Super Training. It's supposed to give more Double Up bags, but the total I got was within normal parameters. Further study is required. (And thanks to Squirtle, it will happen.)
It only took about eight resets to get the Modest Amaura, and he did OK on the beach route leveling up - though it helped that there, Nature Power became Earth Power which helped him mow down Tentacool. Also, I completely missed that it can learn Bulldoze, so I'll have something better than Rock Smash for the double Lucario fight.
Now, I have one question - since I catch every Pokemon I see that can qualify, I happened to catch a Quiet (+SA -Speed) Eevee on Route 10 while getting some last minute grinding in. It was suggested in a comment - I know, I'm shocked too - that I carry Eevee to have a spare until at least Lapras shows up... but Eevee has the slight issue of having Amaura's Defense without the HP or moves to back it up, and it'd be cruel to basically use Eevee as a meat shield. I'm trying to avoid using Bank for anything bigger than one move, but I may not have a choice.
Should I throw Eevee into Bank, grab it with my other game and make it a Glaceon? If so, should I give it a usable moveset at the same time? Or should I say forget the whole thing since I'm trying to turn this into an FAQ and can't assume everyone is as insane as I am?
I did pick Fennekin as the starter and got a Bold Female off the hop (eh, acceptable) and decided the first thing I saw would be its partner until I got the fossil. Turned out to be a Jolly Fletchling, so I rolled through the first half of the game with just those two. At the very least, it makes me more confident that I'll be able to pull off Fire without gift Pokemon assistance for once.
And as a special bonus, somewhere around Lumiose I got... the Pokerus. *kaching* Unfortunately, it doesn't work the same way with Super Training. It's supposed to give more Double Up bags, but the total I got was within normal parameters. Further study is required. (And thanks to Squirtle, it will happen.)
It only took about eight resets to get the Modest Amaura, and he did OK on the beach route leveling up - though it helped that there, Nature Power became Earth Power which helped him mow down Tentacool. Also, I completely missed that it can learn Bulldoze, so I'll have something better than Rock Smash for the double Lucario fight.
Now, I have one question - since I catch every Pokemon I see that can qualify, I happened to catch a Quiet (+SA -Speed) Eevee on Route 10 while getting some last minute grinding in. It was suggested in a comment - I know, I'm shocked too - that I carry Eevee to have a spare until at least Lapras shows up... but Eevee has the slight issue of having Amaura's Defense without the HP or moves to back it up, and it'd be cruel to basically use Eevee as a meat shield. I'm trying to avoid using Bank for anything bigger than one move, but I may not have a choice.
Should I throw Eevee into Bank, grab it with my other game and make it a Glaceon? If so, should I give it a usable moveset at the same time? Or should I say forget the whole thing since I'm trying to turn this into an FAQ and can't assume everyone is as insane as I am?
Type Preview: Ice
In this run, there was only one type that I anticipated would be a problem. Almost all of its Pokemon are late, the first one you get is weak to everything, and there's an entire gym it has to solo under the most difficult of circumstances.
As well, the type was nearly made redundant by Fairy, and continues to have the resistances of a wet noodle.
As winter draws to a close, I send it off by packing Ice.
Type effectiveness:
Attacking: Beats Grass, Ground, Flying, Dragon. Resisted by itself and Water.
Defending: Super effected by Fire, Fighting, Rock, and Steel. Only resists itself.
Dual types:
Rock, Water, Ground, Psychic, Grass, Dark, Flying and Electric (theoretically, getting it would be nigh-impossible) in the main game. Ghost and Dragon are locked out until postgame.
Probable final team:
Amaura/Aurorus: The run instigator has a huge problem - it has to basically run solo for three routes and two gyms, that are both super effective against it (Fighting is 4x) and an event fight against something with 2 Lucario with its best move against Lucario being ROCK SMASH. This is, to put it mildly, a problem.
Lapras: At least I don't have to worry about who the Surfer will be. Might have to run hyper-defensive for the sake of tanking stuff it's weak to.
Beartic: As far as pure-Ice types go, this is one of them. Has enough of a movepool on its physical side that I can justify carrying it and works thematically if nothing else (see Trainer).
Jynx: Something to check the multitudes of Fighting types, get this team banned in several countries, and generally drive me nuts with its cry. It's too bad they didn't tie its destiny to that of Electabuzz and Magmar with an evo...
Piloswine/Mamoswine: Carries Strength, useful for beating down Fire types with STAB Earthquakes and is generally quite awesome.
Snover/Abomasnow: Has just enough movepool that I can take either physical or special attacks and make it work. If it's physical, it's probably going to run Wood Hammer as a Gardevoir check. Also, ingame Mega evo.
Why not use...?
Shellder/Cloyster: Not available in X. For ingame purposes, might serve a different niche than Lapras but would just be dead weight most of the game.
Frost Rotom: Can't guarantee that I'll get to Lost Hotel on Tuesday to grab it.
Glaceon: 404: Moves not found. Also, not accessible until Frost Cavern so what's the point?
Avalugg: On the physical end, it's great - but it's mortally slow and dies in two anything on the Special end.
Cryogonal: 1% appearance rate + not enough moves available on the Special end = no dice.
Vanilluxe: See Cryogonal and sub out "appearance rate" for "experience curve".
Weavile: Doesn't learn an actual Ice move, evo item is postgame.
Delibird: Is, and continues to be, Delibird.
Major battle expectations:
Viola: n/a
Grant: Rock Smash and pray, if I can get Amaura in one hit Tyrunt is probably OHKOed by Tri Attack or Aurora Beam.
Korrina: Uh, pick a god and pray? Even if I outrun and manage to beat Mienfoo and Machoke, there's no bloody way I'm beating Hawlucha without a hellacious grind.
Ramos: Going to beat him by sheer force of level, since I'll still only have two Pokemon here and both take double damage from Grass.
Clemont: How do I get past the Magneton with Steel moves (4x) for Aurorus and Thunderbolt for Lapras?
Valerie: Special Defense is high here. Too high, in fact. Another troubling fight.
---Note: I have TWO POKEMON UNTIL HERE---
Olympia: I can overpower most things here, or at the very least set up a mirror match with Jynx.
Wulfric: *irony intensifies* Uh, Beartic does quite well here and I'll have Lapras for Avalugg.
Rival: Pretty sure I have to take Fennekin out of play, which means Froakie. Thankfully, Freeze-Dry exists by the time it's a threat, and Lapras has Thunderbolt for him.
Team Flare: Main problem will be Houndoom and Manectric, the rest get overpowered.
Elite 4: First time I've had to save Malva for last, that's for sure.
Champion: No real weaknesses, but not really in a position to overpower her either. Hawlucha may be the biggest threat here.
Trainer:
For this run I'm going to need hope, optimism, and super high-school level luck. So say hello to Makoto. As well, this lets me set up the team with the rest of his classmates... and of course, the bear will be named Monokuma.
As well, the type was nearly made redundant by Fairy, and continues to have the resistances of a wet noodle.
As winter draws to a close, I send it off by packing Ice.
Type effectiveness:
Attacking: Beats Grass, Ground, Flying, Dragon. Resisted by itself and Water.
Defending: Super effected by Fire, Fighting, Rock, and Steel. Only resists itself.
Dual types:
Rock, Water, Ground, Psychic, Grass, Dark, Flying and Electric (theoretically, getting it would be nigh-impossible) in the main game. Ghost and Dragon are locked out until postgame.
Probable final team:
Amaura/Aurorus: The run instigator has a huge problem - it has to basically run solo for three routes and two gyms, that are both super effective against it (Fighting is 4x) and an event fight against something with 2 Lucario with its best move against Lucario being ROCK SMASH. This is, to put it mildly, a problem.
Lapras: At least I don't have to worry about who the Surfer will be. Might have to run hyper-defensive for the sake of tanking stuff it's weak to.
Beartic: As far as pure-Ice types go, this is one of them. Has enough of a movepool on its physical side that I can justify carrying it and works thematically if nothing else (see Trainer).
Jynx: Something to check the multitudes of Fighting types, get this team banned in several countries, and generally drive me nuts with its cry. It's too bad they didn't tie its destiny to that of Electabuzz and Magmar with an evo...
Piloswine/Mamoswine: Carries Strength, useful for beating down Fire types with STAB Earthquakes and is generally quite awesome.
Snover/Abomasnow: Has just enough movepool that I can take either physical or special attacks and make it work. If it's physical, it's probably going to run Wood Hammer as a Gardevoir check. Also, ingame Mega evo.
Why not use...?
Shellder/Cloyster: Not available in X. For ingame purposes, might serve a different niche than Lapras but would just be dead weight most of the game.
Frost Rotom: Can't guarantee that I'll get to Lost Hotel on Tuesday to grab it.
Glaceon: 404: Moves not found. Also, not accessible until Frost Cavern so what's the point?
Avalugg: On the physical end, it's great - but it's mortally slow and dies in two anything on the Special end.
Cryogonal: 1% appearance rate + not enough moves available on the Special end = no dice.
Vanilluxe: See Cryogonal and sub out "appearance rate" for "experience curve".
Weavile: Doesn't learn an actual Ice move, evo item is postgame.
Delibird: Is, and continues to be, Delibird.
Major battle expectations:
Viola: n/a
Grant: Rock Smash and pray, if I can get Amaura in one hit Tyrunt is probably OHKOed by Tri Attack or Aurora Beam.
Korrina: Uh, pick a god and pray? Even if I outrun and manage to beat Mienfoo and Machoke, there's no bloody way I'm beating Hawlucha without a hellacious grind.
Ramos: Going to beat him by sheer force of level, since I'll still only have two Pokemon here and both take double damage from Grass.
Clemont: How do I get past the Magneton with Steel moves (4x) for Aurorus and Thunderbolt for Lapras?
Valerie: Special Defense is high here. Too high, in fact. Another troubling fight.
---Note: I have TWO POKEMON UNTIL HERE---
Olympia: I can overpower most things here, or at the very least set up a mirror match with Jynx.
Wulfric: *irony intensifies* Uh, Beartic does quite well here and I'll have Lapras for Avalugg.
Rival: Pretty sure I have to take Fennekin out of play, which means Froakie. Thankfully, Freeze-Dry exists by the time it's a threat, and Lapras has Thunderbolt for him.
Team Flare: Main problem will be Houndoom and Manectric, the rest get overpowered.
Elite 4: First time I've had to save Malva for last, that's for sure.
Champion: No real weaknesses, but not really in a position to overpower her either. Hawlucha may be the biggest threat here.
Trainer:
For this run I'm going to need hope, optimism, and super high-school level luck. So say hello to Makoto. As well, this lets me set up the team with the rest of his classmates... and of course, the bear will be named Monokuma.
Poison Run complete!
So a brief run through the end of Victory Road later, and a quick side trip to Dendemille to get useless moves off, the group arrived at the Elite 4.
The final team was as follows, all L64:
Viscous - Energy Ball, Sludge Bomb, Earthquake, Nature Power
Tree - Poison Jab, Brick Break, Earthquake, Rock Slide
Corrosion - Fly, Cross Poison, X-Scissor, Steel Wing
Neuro - no change
Thallium - Surf, Sludge Wave, Dazzling Gleam, Ice Beam
D.D.T - no change
Figured I'd change things up a bit for the E4 this time 'round...
Malva
For instance, opening with Fire instead of Dragon. Turned out to be a good idea.
Thallium v Pyroar:
Surf one-shots.
Neuro v Torkoal
Earth Power OHKOs.
Thallium v Talonflame
Brave Bird goes first - because although Thallium's quick, it's not that quick - and Brave Birds Thallium to 60/178. Recoil means Surf officially isn't a one-shot.
D.D.T v Chandelure
Crunch one-hit KOs. NEXT!
Siebold
This one should be just as simple, right? Not so much, as it turns out.
Viscous v Clawitzer
Viscous goes Mega like a boss, Energy Ball is a one-shot.
Corrosion v Starmie
I might have either over-estimated Corrosion's Attack or underestimated Starmie's defense, as X-Scissor only does 70% which allows Starmie to put up a Light Screen. This becomes relevant shortly. Second X-Scissor finishes.
Viscous v Barbaracle
Energy Ball OHKOs the Water/Rock pretender. (Maybe I'll call him Brian in the Rock run, I dunno.)
Neuro v Gyarados
Neuro fires Thunderbolt, which was 5 out of 6 in taking out Gyarados to this point - but because of the Light Screen, Gyarados has 30% left. This allows him to fire off a Dragon Dance, then OHKO Neuro with Waterfall the next round. (Crap)
Corrosion v Gyarados
Corrosion takes to the sky, which gives Gyarados a 2nd Dragon Dance... but now he's faster than Corrosion so Ice Fang whiffs. Fly finishes the job.
Drasna
Obviously I have to save the type that's immune to the run until last, right?
Neuro v Dragalgae
Neuro looks to redeem himself by firing Earth Power... which leaves Dragalgae at 5% or so. The countering Surf drops Neuro to 92/190. On the Full Restore turn I elect to Poison Jab, which does about 30% and lets Earth Power finish again.
Thallium v Noivern
In speed terms, Talonflame > Thallium > Noivern as Ice Beam OHKOs.
D.D.T v Altaria
Normally Cotton Guard would come into play here, but D ain't got time for that. Ice Fang, OHKO.
Thallium v Druddigon
Ice Beam takes about 2/3 off Druddigon (I thought his SpDef was worse than that), and Druddigon uses Dragon Tail to take Thallium down to 109/178... and force Viscous in.
Viscous v Druddigon
Mega Sludge Bomb will ruin anyone's day, and so it does for Druddigon.
Siebold
So now I've lost my predominant STAB, this should be, um, interesting...
Neuro v Klefki
Klefki's Prankster gets it out front with Torment... but Neuro's Earth Power is a OHKO.
Tree v Probopass
Tree tries to break the 4x-weak rock with Brick Break and it almost works... oops, Sturdy. Earth Power is super-effective and leaves Tree at 89/195. On the Full Restore, Tree Rock Slides to break the Sturdy and Brick Breaks ends it.
D.D.T v Scizor
Fire Fang OHKOs again.
Neuro v Aegislash
Earth Power gets dodged by King's Shield, and on the next turn Neuro Flamethrowers about 60% off. (Not sure why I didn't go to Earth Power again, Torment would've gone with switching and worst comes to worse, it gets one Full Restore in Blade Form so anything short of Poison Jab could end it.) Iron Head takes Neuro down to 66/190, but Earth Power ends it and levels Neuro up.
Diantha
There's a decent-sized, Mega Stone-packing elephant in the room here... let's see if we can overcome it.
Corrosion v Hawlucha
Corrosion employs the classic "GTFO" method with Fly, and Poison Jab misses. Fly hits true for a OHKO, and Corrosion levels up.
D.D.T v Tyrantrum
Probably should have gone to Thallium, oh well. DDT's Ice Fang does about 40%, and the countering Head Smash... MISSES. (Diantha, Earthquake was RIGHT FRIGGIN' THERE.) As punishment for that blunder, the second Ice Fang criticals and Tyrantrum goes down.
D.D.T v Goodra
An understandable matchup given the Special stats involved here... Another Ice Fang brings Goodra down to 40%, and Dragon Pulse takes DDT to 74/176. Second Ice Fang finishes.
Tree v Aurorus
In what I hope isn't an Ice run preview, Tree OHKOs Aurorus with Brick Break.
Thallium v Gourgeist
Strongest move to open is Ice Beam, and it does 90%... and freezes. Full Restore 1 is countered with Sludge Wave as I try to end this quickly... but it does just slightly less, meaning Full Restore 2 comes out. This time, I use Dazzling Gleam for about 35% and a second Ice Beam finishes.
Thallium v MegaGardevoir
ohcrap.jpg
Sludge Wave manages to knock about 75% off before Thallium falls to Psychic.
Viscous v MegaGarde
I figure "Mega v Mega" would be a poetic way to end it, so I bring mine out. Full Restore 3 meets Sludge Bomb for... 90%. Crap. On Full Restore 4, I use Nature Power which becomes Tri Attack for 20%... but I don't get to find out if Viscous could tank a Psychic, as it crits for a OHKO.
Tree v MegaGarde
OK, Tree's got to be faster, right...? Nope, Psychic OHKOs.
Corrosion v MegaGarde
OK, NOW we know Corrosion's faster... and Cross Poison criticals in retaliation for the KO!
Pictured: Bat wings will be a clothing option in Z.
So I will relax for a little bit... and then lay out why Ice is going to be the hardest one of the bunch.
The final team was as follows, all L64:
Viscous - Energy Ball, Sludge Bomb, Earthquake, Nature Power
Tree - Poison Jab, Brick Break, Earthquake, Rock Slide
Corrosion - Fly, Cross Poison, X-Scissor, Steel Wing
Neuro - no change
Thallium - Surf, Sludge Wave, Dazzling Gleam, Ice Beam
D.D.T - no change
Figured I'd change things up a bit for the E4 this time 'round...
Malva
For instance, opening with Fire instead of Dragon. Turned out to be a good idea.
Thallium v Pyroar:
Surf one-shots.
Neuro v Torkoal
Earth Power OHKOs.
Thallium v Talonflame
Brave Bird goes first - because although Thallium's quick, it's not that quick - and Brave Birds Thallium to 60/178. Recoil means Surf officially isn't a one-shot.
D.D.T v Chandelure
Crunch one-hit KOs. NEXT!
Siebold
This one should be just as simple, right? Not so much, as it turns out.
Viscous v Clawitzer
Viscous goes Mega like a boss, Energy Ball is a one-shot.
Corrosion v Starmie
I might have either over-estimated Corrosion's Attack or underestimated Starmie's defense, as X-Scissor only does 70% which allows Starmie to put up a Light Screen. This becomes relevant shortly. Second X-Scissor finishes.
Viscous v Barbaracle
Energy Ball OHKOs the Water/Rock pretender. (Maybe I'll call him Brian in the Rock run, I dunno.)
Neuro v Gyarados
Neuro fires Thunderbolt, which was 5 out of 6 in taking out Gyarados to this point - but because of the Light Screen, Gyarados has 30% left. This allows him to fire off a Dragon Dance, then OHKO Neuro with Waterfall the next round. (Crap)
Corrosion v Gyarados
Corrosion takes to the sky, which gives Gyarados a 2nd Dragon Dance... but now he's faster than Corrosion so Ice Fang whiffs. Fly finishes the job.
Drasna
Obviously I have to save the type that's immune to the run until last, right?
Neuro v Dragalgae
Neuro looks to redeem himself by firing Earth Power... which leaves Dragalgae at 5% or so. The countering Surf drops Neuro to 92/190. On the Full Restore turn I elect to Poison Jab, which does about 30% and lets Earth Power finish again.
Thallium v Noivern
In speed terms, Talonflame > Thallium > Noivern as Ice Beam OHKOs.
D.D.T v Altaria
Normally Cotton Guard would come into play here, but D ain't got time for that. Ice Fang, OHKO.
Thallium v Druddigon
Ice Beam takes about 2/3 off Druddigon (I thought his SpDef was worse than that), and Druddigon uses Dragon Tail to take Thallium down to 109/178... and force Viscous in.
Viscous v Druddigon
Mega Sludge Bomb will ruin anyone's day, and so it does for Druddigon.
Siebold
So now I've lost my predominant STAB, this should be, um, interesting...
Neuro v Klefki
Klefki's Prankster gets it out front with Torment... but Neuro's Earth Power is a OHKO.
Tree v Probopass
Tree tries to break the 4x-weak rock with Brick Break and it almost works... oops, Sturdy. Earth Power is super-effective and leaves Tree at 89/195. On the Full Restore, Tree Rock Slides to break the Sturdy and Brick Breaks ends it.
D.D.T v Scizor
Fire Fang OHKOs again.
Neuro v Aegislash
Earth Power gets dodged by King's Shield, and on the next turn Neuro Flamethrowers about 60% off. (Not sure why I didn't go to Earth Power again, Torment would've gone with switching and worst comes to worse, it gets one Full Restore in Blade Form so anything short of Poison Jab could end it.) Iron Head takes Neuro down to 66/190, but Earth Power ends it and levels Neuro up.
Diantha
There's a decent-sized, Mega Stone-packing elephant in the room here... let's see if we can overcome it.
Corrosion v Hawlucha
Corrosion employs the classic "GTFO" method with Fly, and Poison Jab misses. Fly hits true for a OHKO, and Corrosion levels up.
D.D.T v Tyrantrum
Probably should have gone to Thallium, oh well. DDT's Ice Fang does about 40%, and the countering Head Smash... MISSES. (Diantha, Earthquake was RIGHT FRIGGIN' THERE.) As punishment for that blunder, the second Ice Fang criticals and Tyrantrum goes down.
D.D.T v Goodra
An understandable matchup given the Special stats involved here... Another Ice Fang brings Goodra down to 40%, and Dragon Pulse takes DDT to 74/176. Second Ice Fang finishes.
Tree v Aurorus
In what I hope isn't an Ice run preview, Tree OHKOs Aurorus with Brick Break.
Thallium v Gourgeist
Strongest move to open is Ice Beam, and it does 90%... and freezes. Full Restore 1 is countered with Sludge Wave as I try to end this quickly... but it does just slightly less, meaning Full Restore 2 comes out. This time, I use Dazzling Gleam for about 35% and a second Ice Beam finishes.
Thallium v MegaGardevoir
ohcrap.jpg
Sludge Wave manages to knock about 75% off before Thallium falls to Psychic.
Viscous v MegaGarde
I figure "Mega v Mega" would be a poetic way to end it, so I bring mine out. Full Restore 3 meets Sludge Bomb for... 90%. Crap. On Full Restore 4, I use Nature Power which becomes Tri Attack for 20%... but I don't get to find out if Viscous could tank a Psychic, as it crits for a OHKO.
Tree v MegaGarde
OK, Tree's got to be faster, right...? Nope, Psychic OHKOs.
Corrosion v MegaGarde
OK, NOW we know Corrosion's faster... and Cross Poison criticals in retaliation for the KO!
So I will relax for a little bit... and then lay out why Ice is going to be the hardest one of the bunch.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Poison Day 6: No Frost, No Snow, Just Smog
As promised, we have now taken steps on the Road of Victory as of Friday - in fact, we're in the 2nd cavern room right now. (There was no progress on day 7 due to lack of time.)
The team stands at:
Viscous - L56, Energy Ball, Sludge Bomb, Earthquake, Rock Smash
Tree - L56, Brick Break, Poison Jab, Strength, Rock Slide
Corrosion - L57, Fly, Cross Poison, Thief, X-Scissor
Neuro - L57, Poison Jab, Earth Power, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt
Thallium - L56, Surf, Sludge Wave, Dazzling Gleam, Waterfall
D.D.T - L56, Poison Jab, Crunch, Ice Fang, Fire Fang
The key thing to do at this point of the game is pick up all of the TMs, as you may recall. The most irritating part of this has to be Terminus Cave, but it does lead to Shadow Ball and (more importantly for this run) Brick Break. Also, I'm learning that a lot of Fighting types either kept Bulldoze or learned Earthquake... which presents an obvious problem.
Getting out of there, I pick up Scald and U-Turn in Couriway, the all-important Sludge Bomb and Waterfall on 19, and Energy Ball on Route 20. Add Ice Beam at the gym, and all of the big ones from Waterfall becoming usable, and it's a bonanza of high power moves.
As for the Ice Gym proper, I actually managed to beat it with a Ground type and a Flying type in key roles. Neuro Flamethrowered Abomasnow to death, and after a Freeze Dry KO, Corrosion managed to OHKO it with Fly. D.D.T fell to Avalugg's Avalanche, but Thallium took it in two Surfs and guaranteed I wouldn't be using Avalugg in the Ice run.
The Exp Share is working overdrive now to try and get the team into the L64 range for the Elite. Will that be enough? Heaven only knows.
PS: Sky Trainer Sera (Route 19), Corrosion's coming back with a nasty surprise for you...
The team stands at:
Viscous - L56, Energy Ball, Sludge Bomb, Earthquake, Rock Smash
Tree - L56, Brick Break, Poison Jab, Strength, Rock Slide
Corrosion - L57, Fly, Cross Poison, Thief, X-Scissor
Neuro - L57, Poison Jab, Earth Power, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt
Thallium - L56, Surf, Sludge Wave, Dazzling Gleam, Waterfall
D.D.T - L56, Poison Jab, Crunch, Ice Fang, Fire Fang
The key thing to do at this point of the game is pick up all of the TMs, as you may recall. The most irritating part of this has to be Terminus Cave, but it does lead to Shadow Ball and (more importantly for this run) Brick Break. Also, I'm learning that a lot of Fighting types either kept Bulldoze or learned Earthquake... which presents an obvious problem.
Getting out of there, I pick up Scald and U-Turn in Couriway, the all-important Sludge Bomb and Waterfall on 19, and Energy Ball on Route 20. Add Ice Beam at the gym, and all of the big ones from Waterfall becoming usable, and it's a bonanza of high power moves.
As for the Ice Gym proper, I actually managed to beat it with a Ground type and a Flying type in key roles. Neuro Flamethrowered Abomasnow to death, and after a Freeze Dry KO, Corrosion managed to OHKO it with Fly. D.D.T fell to Avalugg's Avalanche, but Thallium took it in two Surfs and guaranteed I wouldn't be using Avalugg in the Ice run.
The Exp Share is working overdrive now to try and get the team into the L64 range for the Elite. Will that be enough? Heaven only knows.
PS: Sky Trainer Sera (Route 19), Corrosion's coming back with a nasty surprise for you...
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Poison Day 5: Easy Like Thursday Afternoon
Current location: Saved in Amistar City after Team Flare's madness. Team is L51 except for Corrosion, who has the unfair advantage of Sky Battles (I can't wait until Flying when I can have the whole team in on those) who's at L52. Movesets are the same except for Viscous upgrading (?) to Petal Blizzard over Grass Pledge, Neuro adding Flamethrower and Earth Power (over Shadow Claw/Bulldoze), Thallium losing Infestation for Hex, and D.D.T upgrading to Crunch.
In knocking off the Lost Hotel and Route 16, I realized that Trubbish's availability or lack thereof perfectly justifies me leaving Garbodor off the team, and that pulling out Froakie for random stuff needs to stop ASAP... but I can't do it without crippling someone with Cut. Joy.
Frost Cavern: Thanks to sheer repetition, I actually managed to not take two hours in here. I'll have this stuff memorized yet. Also picked up Frost Breath, which might actually be the go-to TM instead of Ice Beam next time (same PP, a CH Frost Breath is 120 pwr AND ignores SpDef buffs).
Route 17 was quick, rolled the Rival and then I think I spent more time in the Gym than I did in the Frost Cavern, which almost never happens. I knew I should've taken that left turn at Lavaridge. I stumble through after the trainer with the Medicham and finally clean out the last three trainers, then throw D.D.T at Sigilyph. Night Slash 2-shots it and stalls out a Reflect, then Slowking elects to Yawn instead of taking a shot with D.D.T at about 45 HP and it goes down. I wake up D.D.T as Meowstic's Shadow Ball... doesn't finish, and Night Slash does after a wasted Calm Mind.
In beating Team Flare, I discovered that a well-equipped Gyarados can cause the team fits - sure, Neuro can OHKO with Thunderbolt, but if it's out of commission there's going to be a problem. The Mega one Lysandre had wasted Thallium and managed to tank a Low Sweep (remember, Water/Dark) from Tree before Neuro came in to wrap up. I'm also a level or two higher than where I was at the end of the previous runs, so I hope this means less pre-E4 grinding.
Tomorrow, the plan is simple: Victory Road. Anything else is uncivilized.
In knocking off the Lost Hotel and Route 16, I realized that Trubbish's availability or lack thereof perfectly justifies me leaving Garbodor off the team, and that pulling out Froakie for random stuff needs to stop ASAP... but I can't do it without crippling someone with Cut. Joy.
Frost Cavern: Thanks to sheer repetition, I actually managed to not take two hours in here. I'll have this stuff memorized yet. Also picked up Frost Breath, which might actually be the go-to TM instead of Ice Beam next time (same PP, a CH Frost Breath is 120 pwr AND ignores SpDef buffs).
Route 17 was quick, rolled the Rival and then I think I spent more time in the Gym than I did in the Frost Cavern, which almost never happens. I knew I should've taken that left turn at Lavaridge. I stumble through after the trainer with the Medicham and finally clean out the last three trainers, then throw D.D.T at Sigilyph. Night Slash 2-shots it and stalls out a Reflect, then Slowking elects to Yawn instead of taking a shot with D.D.T at about 45 HP and it goes down. I wake up D.D.T as Meowstic's Shadow Ball... doesn't finish, and Night Slash does after a wasted Calm Mind.
In beating Team Flare, I discovered that a well-equipped Gyarados can cause the team fits - sure, Neuro can OHKO with Thunderbolt, but if it's out of commission there's going to be a problem. The Mega one Lysandre had wasted Thallium and managed to tank a Low Sweep (remember, Water/Dark) from Tree before Neuro came in to wrap up. I'm also a level or two higher than where I was at the end of the previous runs, so I hope this means less pre-E4 grinding.
Tomorrow, the plan is simple: Victory Road. Anything else is uncivilized.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Posion Days 3/4: Venoshock Beastmode
Current location: Saved in Dendemille Town, packing six badges, team is L40-L41. And it is as follows:
Viscous - Grass Pledge, Venoshock, Nature Power, Rock Smash
Tree - Poison Jab, Low Sweep, Dig, Strength
Corrosive - Fly, Cross Poison, X-Scissor, Thief
Neuro - Bulldoze, Poison Jab, Shadow Claw, Thunderbolt
Thallium - Surf, Venoshock, Dazzling Gleam, Infestation
And the newest member... "D.D.T" the Drapion, (Naughty, Battle Armor) Night Slash, Poison Jab, Ice Fang, Fire Fang
Since I didn't get a chance to update last night, have a 2 in 1.
Day 3
First things first: Super Train Thallium. Once that's done, find out that it's a Slow Exp growth Pokemon... throw the Lucky Egg at it and send it onto the Route 12 complex for a round of Grind the Jellyfish.
I hit Courmarine, head to the gym, and I quickly have a Tentacruel evolution and a much needed SA boost. Ramos was quite easy, although the team's weakness to Flying was becoming an issue, Tentacruel tanked Acrobatics long enough to OHKO with Venoshock, same with Gogoat, and Crobat finished Weepinbell with Fly.
Route 13: Still a PITA.
Team Flare: Nice to have a bunch of guys that resist Poison this time, tunnel is easy. I've got the Exp Share on in anticipation of going from the low to the high 30s for Clemont, so by the time the Power Plant is done I've almost got Tree up to Toxicroak.
Clemont: It takes two floors before I decide "heck with this" and give Scolipede the Bulldoze it's needed for about a gym and a half. Successfully manage to troll the Emolga with Crobat, Neuro's sweep is stopped by Sturdy, but it's able to get rid of Magneton and Tree (now a Toxicroak) sweep Heliolisk into next month. 5 badges and Thunderbolt!
Day 4
Today's objective: Cream Rival (done, thank you X-Scissor wiping out Meowstic who doesn't have Psychic moves in one hit), then get to Drapion because Skorupi sucks.
In the process, I manage to catch a Modest Haunter. Where the hell was THAT two runs ago?
I do finally get an Attack+ Skorupi and switched up my Super Training slightly - instead of letting the bags build up I switched back and forth. It seemed to work, since I got 10 straight Attack L bags at one point.
In an attempt to have Skorupi pick on things its own size, I heard there were loose trainers around Lumiose so I skate around like an idiot trying to find them. Only one I missed was Kirila dude, but I may use those before the Gym in future runs. Also got a second Destiny Knot for some reason...
Route 14: Easy peasy, but there's not enough trainers on the route to get Skorupi to 40. To the gym, where he makes it to 39 before going down at the hands of that fiend Mr Mime. (He had Dig at that point and Mawile isn't an Intimidator, so Dig was a two-shot). Thallium finishes Sylveon and we have badge 6 - and Thallium has Dazzling Gleam, so I'm no longer totally screwed by Dragons.
After the Poke Ball factory and Route 15, I actually managed to run out of Heart Scales (never did go back for a fresh set) getting D.D.T his Fangs and Cross Poison onto Corrision for a second STAB. And here we are.
Still not sure what's going to happen with the Ice run's 6th slot, but I am leaning more toward Beartic and damn what happens with the MGarde. If I want something slow I'll just use Mega-Aboma.
Viscous - Grass Pledge, Venoshock, Nature Power, Rock Smash
Tree - Poison Jab, Low Sweep, Dig, Strength
Corrosive - Fly, Cross Poison, X-Scissor, Thief
Neuro - Bulldoze, Poison Jab, Shadow Claw, Thunderbolt
Thallium - Surf, Venoshock, Dazzling Gleam, Infestation
And the newest member... "D.D.T" the Drapion, (Naughty, Battle Armor) Night Slash, Poison Jab, Ice Fang, Fire Fang
Since I didn't get a chance to update last night, have a 2 in 1.
Day 3
First things first: Super Train Thallium. Once that's done, find out that it's a Slow Exp growth Pokemon... throw the Lucky Egg at it and send it onto the Route 12 complex for a round of Grind the Jellyfish.
I hit Courmarine, head to the gym, and I quickly have a Tentacruel evolution and a much needed SA boost. Ramos was quite easy, although the team's weakness to Flying was becoming an issue, Tentacruel tanked Acrobatics long enough to OHKO with Venoshock, same with Gogoat, and Crobat finished Weepinbell with Fly.
Route 13: Still a PITA.
Team Flare: Nice to have a bunch of guys that resist Poison this time, tunnel is easy. I've got the Exp Share on in anticipation of going from the low to the high 30s for Clemont, so by the time the Power Plant is done I've almost got Tree up to Toxicroak.
Clemont: It takes two floors before I decide "heck with this" and give Scolipede the Bulldoze it's needed for about a gym and a half. Successfully manage to troll the Emolga with Crobat, Neuro's sweep is stopped by Sturdy, but it's able to get rid of Magneton and Tree (now a Toxicroak) sweep Heliolisk into next month. 5 badges and Thunderbolt!
Day 4
Today's objective: Cream Rival (done, thank you X-Scissor wiping out Meowstic who doesn't have Psychic moves in one hit), then get to Drapion because Skorupi sucks.
In the process, I manage to catch a Modest Haunter. Where the hell was THAT two runs ago?
I do finally get an Attack+ Skorupi and switched up my Super Training slightly - instead of letting the bags build up I switched back and forth. It seemed to work, since I got 10 straight Attack L bags at one point.
In an attempt to have Skorupi pick on things its own size, I heard there were loose trainers around Lumiose so I skate around like an idiot trying to find them. Only one I missed was Kirila dude, but I may use those before the Gym in future runs. Also got a second Destiny Knot for some reason...
Route 14: Easy peasy, but there's not enough trainers on the route to get Skorupi to 40. To the gym, where he makes it to 39 before going down at the hands of that fiend Mr Mime. (He had Dig at that point and Mawile isn't an Intimidator, so Dig was a two-shot). Thallium finishes Sylveon and we have badge 6 - and Thallium has Dazzling Gleam, so I'm no longer totally screwed by Dragons.
After the Poke Ball factory and Route 15, I actually managed to run out of Heart Scales (never did go back for a fresh set) getting D.D.T his Fangs and Cross Poison onto Corrision for a second STAB. And here we are.
Still not sure what's going to happen with the Ice run's 6th slot, but I am leaning more toward Beartic and damn what happens with the MGarde. If I want something slow I'll just use Mega-Aboma.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Poison Day 2: Accursed Random Number Generation
Current status: Saved in Shalour City, just got Tentacool so the team is almost complete. It currently rests as follows:
Viscous the Ivysaur - a few exp from becoming a Venusaur - Razor Leaf, Nature Power, Venoshock, Rock Smash
Scolipede - Bug Bite, Poison Jab, Rollout, Rock Smash
Tree the Croagunk - Poison Jab, Low Sweep, Thief, Dig
Corrosive the Crobat - Return, Aerial Ace, Thief, Astonish
"Neuro" the Nidoking (Docile, Sheer Force) - Bulldoze, Poison Jab, Double Kick, Rock Tomb
"Thallium" the Tentacool (Rash, Clear Body) - Surf, Venoshock, Infestation, Toxic Spikes - currently in need of a Super Training run
I had some trouble with getting Corrosive and Tree up to speed, until I took a trip over to Glittering Cave. Aside from the Lunatone and Solrock I tried to pick off for their stones (no dice there), everything else went down pretty quickly.
Note: I think Dry Skin might actually cause rain to occur more often while Tree's in the lead slot, because I've never seen it rain on the western routes before.
Anyway, into Cyllage City, and the Rock gym - although Poison would have some problems, Tree actually managed to solo Grant. Rock Smash OHKOed Amaura, and then two Bulldozes and a Def-down Rock Smash did in Tyrunt. Bite resistance helped here.
By the time I got to Route 11, it was Nido-hunting time and it only took a couple of Honey to get a Hustle Nidoran (turns into Sheer Force). I evolved Nidorino in Reflection Cave, but Hustle didn't actually come back to bite me like I thought it would. Now, there's the matter of getting those big special move TMs on him so that Sheer Force will actually do something. As well, I'm thinking I maybe should have leveled up that Stunky I caught. Ah well.
As I feared, the Rival's Meowstic ran a train across half the team before Tree of all things brought it down. A few attacks later, I was in the gym and basically let Tree beat down Mienfoo and Machoke, leaving Hawlucha to the one flying thing faster than it - Corrosive. One quick Mega Evo tutorial and Surf acquisition later, it's saved out.
Next run preview: My sixth slot for the next run is either Beartic or Avalugg. Beartic helps create an obvious theme and has good Speed to go with its attack, whereas Avalugg's horrible speed gives him a good shot at 150 power Gyro Ball against MegaGardevoir. Of course, the fact that I can't get a second Pokemon for that run until... well, right where I am with the Poison run is probably going to cause me to rip my hair out.
Viscous the Ivysaur - a few exp from becoming a Venusaur - Razor Leaf, Nature Power, Venoshock, Rock Smash
Scolipede - Bug Bite, Poison Jab, Rollout, Rock Smash
Tree the Croagunk - Poison Jab, Low Sweep, Thief, Dig
Corrosive the Crobat - Return, Aerial Ace, Thief, Astonish
"Neuro" the Nidoking (Docile, Sheer Force) - Bulldoze, Poison Jab, Double Kick, Rock Tomb
"Thallium" the Tentacool (Rash, Clear Body) - Surf, Venoshock, Infestation, Toxic Spikes - currently in need of a Super Training run
I had some trouble with getting Corrosive and Tree up to speed, until I took a trip over to Glittering Cave. Aside from the Lunatone and Solrock I tried to pick off for their stones (no dice there), everything else went down pretty quickly.
Note: I think Dry Skin might actually cause rain to occur more often while Tree's in the lead slot, because I've never seen it rain on the western routes before.
Anyway, into Cyllage City, and the Rock gym - although Poison would have some problems, Tree actually managed to solo Grant. Rock Smash OHKOed Amaura, and then two Bulldozes and a Def-down Rock Smash did in Tyrunt. Bite resistance helped here.
By the time I got to Route 11, it was Nido-hunting time and it only took a couple of Honey to get a Hustle Nidoran (turns into Sheer Force). I evolved Nidorino in Reflection Cave, but Hustle didn't actually come back to bite me like I thought it would. Now, there's the matter of getting those big special move TMs on him so that Sheer Force will actually do something. As well, I'm thinking I maybe should have leveled up that Stunky I caught. Ah well.
As I feared, the Rival's Meowstic ran a train across half the team before Tree of all things brought it down. A few attacks later, I was in the gym and basically let Tree beat down Mienfoo and Machoke, leaving Hawlucha to the one flying thing faster than it - Corrosive. One quick Mega Evo tutorial and Surf acquisition later, it's saved out.
Next run preview: My sixth slot for the next run is either Beartic or Avalugg. Beartic helps create an obvious theme and has good Speed to go with its attack, whereas Avalugg's horrible speed gives him a good shot at 150 power Gyro Ball against MegaGardevoir. Of course, the fact that I can't get a second Pokemon for that run until... well, right where I am with the Poison run is probably going to cause me to rip my hair out.
Poison Day 1: Punchy, Whippy, Run Around The Mappy
So I'm saved in Connecting Cave, about to take the run down to Route 8 and all the joy that entails. I learned that if I take Froakie, I don't have to worry about Panpour, so win-win there.
The team as it stands:
Zubat (Corrosion) - Naughty nature, Inner Focus - Supersonic, Astonish, Bite, Wing Attack - L15
Caught it, Super Trained it, but I haven't even gone through the TM list for it to see what it can learn (for among other things, Return). It's in a Luxury Ball, so I'm going to hope that speeds up the inevitable evo process.
Croagunk (Tree) - Naughty, Dry Skin - Poison Sting, Bulldoze, Astonish, Thief - L18
The name is actually borrowed from the theme song of Metal Gear Solid 3. Yes, I know. Moveset is slightly odd right now, and I can't wait to pick up Rock Smash (in things that will never be said again by anyone).
Ivysaur (Viscous) - Mild - Tackle, Sleep Powder, Venoshock, Razor Leaf - L21
I'm aware of the irony of keeping Sleep Powder and then using a move that doubles in power when Poisoned, there's no need to point that out. I needed both of them to get past Snorlax anyway.
I'm carrying two Bugs as well: Beedrill and Venipede at L21. Beedrill's getting dropped once I get to 6 Pokemon because getting it is a PITA, and Venipede's about to start outclassing it majorly even as Modest.
I may actually try to get a Modest (or at least SA boosting) NidoranM/Nidorino since the only move Sheer Force would boost on the physical size is Rock Slide whereas I have the elemental trio, Earth Power *and* Sludge Bomb on the special end.
Lastly, I think I know what the next run on the Special end is, and it's going to come from the "Let's get this over with" department.
The team as it stands:
Zubat (Corrosion) - Naughty nature, Inner Focus - Supersonic, Astonish, Bite, Wing Attack - L15
Caught it, Super Trained it, but I haven't even gone through the TM list for it to see what it can learn (for among other things, Return). It's in a Luxury Ball, so I'm going to hope that speeds up the inevitable evo process.
Croagunk (Tree) - Naughty, Dry Skin - Poison Sting, Bulldoze, Astonish, Thief - L18
The name is actually borrowed from the theme song of Metal Gear Solid 3. Yes, I know. Moveset is slightly odd right now, and I can't wait to pick up Rock Smash (in things that will never be said again by anyone).
Ivysaur (Viscous) - Mild - Tackle, Sleep Powder, Venoshock, Razor Leaf - L21
I'm aware of the irony of keeping Sleep Powder and then using a move that doubles in power when Poisoned, there's no need to point that out. I needed both of them to get past Snorlax anyway.
I'm carrying two Bugs as well: Beedrill and Venipede at L21. Beedrill's getting dropped once I get to 6 Pokemon because getting it is a PITA, and Venipede's about to start outclassing it majorly even as Modest.
I may actually try to get a Modest (or at least SA boosting) NidoranM/Nidorino since the only move Sheer Force would boost on the physical size is Rock Slide whereas I have the elemental trio, Earth Power *and* Sludge Bomb on the special end.
Lastly, I think I know what the next run on the Special end is, and it's going to come from the "Let's get this over with" department.
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Type Preview: Poison
By the power of Democracy - and it was about as effective as the Twitch version, winning by a whole vote - Poison has emerged as the winner and my next type. Long the punching bag of the type chart, Poison got a necessary buff by becoming strong against Fairy and has a laundry list of types that it can pair with.
The key is, the Poison type is still a bit of a punching bag with a LOT of junk to wade through.
Type Effectiveness:
Attacking: Super effects Grass and Fairy, not very effective against Poison, Ground, Rock, and Ghost. No effect on Steel.
Defending: Super effected by Ground and Psychic. Resists Grass, Fighting, Poison, Bug and Fairy.
Dual types:
Water, Grass, Fighting, Ground, Flying, Bug, Ghost, Dragon and Dark are all available in the Kalos Dex... and I can use them all, except for Dragon because that involves Skrelp who isn't available in X.
Probable final team:
Bulbasaur/Ivysaur/Venusaur: Hi, built in Mega and it's given to you, have fun. I'm torn on which way to go with it, probably going to go mixed since the SA is quite high and the movepool leans heavy on the physical.
Croagunk/Toxicroak: I've always been intrigued by having a Pokemon THAT ridiculously weak to Psychic, and since I'll have built in defenses, why not? At the very least, I'll have stray-Ground move warning with Anticipation.
Zubat/Golbat/Crobat: Another happy-evolve, but I don't have a time threat to run around with. Provides Fly support, is LIGHTNING fast and surprisingly powerful.
Nidorino/Nidoking: I might drive myself crazy trying to find a good natured one with something that ISN'T Rivalry, let alone going for the possibility of Sheer Force off the hordes. Also, it's nice to have something for that bloody Electric gym.
Tentacool/Tentacruel: Like I said, I don't have access to Skrelp/Dragalgae. So I need something that can Surf. As it turns out, Tentacruel can also use, of all things, Dazzling Gleam. Who knew?
Skorupi/Drapion: At the very least, I appreciate the opportunity to learn how to spell Drapion. Largely here for its Psychic immunity, and either will be immune to crits or gets triple damage off them, plus its Fire Fang is probably more powerful than the comparable Skuntank's Flamethrower.
Why not use...?
Beedrill - Did not get enough of a stat boost to hang around.
Roserade, Vileplume, Victreebel, Amoongus - All outclassed by MegaVenusaur.
Swalot - Creates a considerably sized vacuum.
Scolipede - Better than Beedrill, will probably be here for a while before I get access to Drapion.
Seviper - Simply put, getting one in X will take for-bloody-ever.
Qwilfish - Inferior Tentacruel.
Nidoqueen - Defense is good for competitive, but I prefer offensive efficency for ingame runs.
Gengar - If I feel the need to grab a second Mega I'll bring it in, but I'm not sure where it'll fit and this run is going to be self-sufficient for once so I'm trying to avoid trade evos.
Arbok, Garbodor - Stat issues and come after the team's locked in.
Ariados - Way too late, way too weak.
Major Battle Expectations:
Viola: I should have a Beedrill here, and he'll resist Bug, so I should win by attrition.
Grant: Ivysaur lunchtime, if it can get past Amaura. Croagunk has STAB Rock Smashes for backup.
Korrina: Everybody resists Fighting, but I'm going to have some trouble getting past Hawlucha...?
Ramos: All Grass. Next. Hopefully I have a Crobat here for Fly.
Clemont: Nidoking's reason for membership.
Valerie: The other easy Gym, once I can get past Mawile.
Olympia: Drapion is going to eat the place alive. Crobat's also going to get to tee off with X-Scissor.
Wulfric: Toxicroak should be good here, but I'm sensing some Avalugg problems.
Rival: The main one will get stuck with Chesnaught for an easy win, the other is going to have Delphox at the end but I should be able to get past it with Tentacruel.
Team Flare: They all use Poisons and things weak to Ground. sup Nidoking
Elite 4: Steel's definitely last again (christ, three in a row), probably going Fire first this time.
Champion: oh god the champ has a Psychic going Mega I'm so boned
Trainer:
In the name of stereotype busting, I'll go female this time. For the name, my NFR co-host Austen decided on Pamela, though if she ends up looking like [massive Danganronpa spoiler redacted], I'm not going to complain.
The key is, the Poison type is still a bit of a punching bag with a LOT of junk to wade through.
Type Effectiveness:
Attacking: Super effects Grass and Fairy, not very effective against Poison, Ground, Rock, and Ghost. No effect on Steel.
Defending: Super effected by Ground and Psychic. Resists Grass, Fighting, Poison, Bug and Fairy.
Dual types:
Water, Grass, Fighting, Ground, Flying, Bug, Ghost, Dragon and Dark are all available in the Kalos Dex... and I can use them all, except for Dragon because that involves Skrelp who isn't available in X.
Probable final team:
Bulbasaur/Ivysaur/Venusaur: Hi, built in Mega and it's given to you, have fun. I'm torn on which way to go with it, probably going to go mixed since the SA is quite high and the movepool leans heavy on the physical.
Croagunk/Toxicroak: I've always been intrigued by having a Pokemon THAT ridiculously weak to Psychic, and since I'll have built in defenses, why not? At the very least, I'll have stray-Ground move warning with Anticipation.
Zubat/Golbat/Crobat: Another happy-evolve, but I don't have a time threat to run around with. Provides Fly support, is LIGHTNING fast and surprisingly powerful.
Nidorino/Nidoking: I might drive myself crazy trying to find a good natured one with something that ISN'T Rivalry, let alone going for the possibility of Sheer Force off the hordes. Also, it's nice to have something for that bloody Electric gym.
Tentacool/Tentacruel: Like I said, I don't have access to Skrelp/Dragalgae. So I need something that can Surf. As it turns out, Tentacruel can also use, of all things, Dazzling Gleam. Who knew?
Skorupi/Drapion: At the very least, I appreciate the opportunity to learn how to spell Drapion. Largely here for its Psychic immunity, and either will be immune to crits or gets triple damage off them, plus its Fire Fang is probably more powerful than the comparable Skuntank's Flamethrower.
Why not use...?
Beedrill - Did not get enough of a stat boost to hang around.
Roserade, Vileplume, Victreebel, Amoongus - All outclassed by MegaVenusaur.
Swalot - Creates a considerably sized vacuum.
Scolipede - Better than Beedrill, will probably be here for a while before I get access to Drapion.
Seviper - Simply put, getting one in X will take for-bloody-ever.
Qwilfish - Inferior Tentacruel.
Nidoqueen - Defense is good for competitive, but I prefer offensive efficency for ingame runs.
Gengar - If I feel the need to grab a second Mega I'll bring it in, but I'm not sure where it'll fit and this run is going to be self-sufficient for once so I'm trying to avoid trade evos.
Arbok, Garbodor - Stat issues and come after the team's locked in.
Ariados - Way too late, way too weak.
Major Battle Expectations:
Viola: I should have a Beedrill here, and he'll resist Bug, so I should win by attrition.
Grant: Ivysaur lunchtime, if it can get past Amaura. Croagunk has STAB Rock Smashes for backup.
Korrina: Everybody resists Fighting, but I'm going to have some trouble getting past Hawlucha...?
Ramos: All Grass. Next. Hopefully I have a Crobat here for Fly.
Clemont: Nidoking's reason for membership.
Valerie: The other easy Gym, once I can get past Mawile.
Olympia: Drapion is going to eat the place alive. Crobat's also going to get to tee off with X-Scissor.
Wulfric: Toxicroak should be good here, but I'm sensing some Avalugg problems.
Rival: The main one will get stuck with Chesnaught for an easy win, the other is going to have Delphox at the end but I should be able to get past it with Tentacruel.
Team Flare: They all use Poisons and things weak to Ground. sup Nidoking
Elite 4: Steel's definitely last again (christ, three in a row), probably going Fire first this time.
Champion: oh god the champ has a Psychic going Mega I'm so boned
Trainer:
In the name of stereotype busting, I'll go female this time. For the name, my NFR co-host Austen decided on Pamela, though if she ends up looking like [massive Danganronpa spoiler redacted], I'm not going to complain.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Fairy Run complete!
First of all, in case you haven't voted yet: http://strawpoll.me/1260835
So I finished up at L64, and the team was pretty much as before except for two changes, one key and one not so much:
- As mentioned, Mawile got Brick Break
- Since I only needed one Thunderbolt for the run, I swapped Energy Ball into Tinkerbell's slot. This turned out to be a good idea.
And as usual, have some PBP... now with actual HP loss totals for the whole round.
Drasna
Of course, I'm starting with the Dragon specialist here. I'd be a fool not to.
Morgan v Dragalgae
The opening Psychic takes Dragalgae down to 5%, and it counters with a Sludge Bomb (52/172). The Full Restore gets used, Morgan Moonblasts a little under half life off, and Psychic ends it.
Maleficent v Altaria
Switch in the physical user, Play Rough OHKOs. Next.
Iphys v Noivern
Noivern is able to squeeze in a move, and it's Super Fang (103/205). Play Rough OHKOs again.
Tinkerbell v Druddigon
Dazzling Gleam takes about 3/4 off Druddigon, who survives long enough to Chip Away and Tinkerbell takes it like a boss (142/193). I'm actually surprised it wasn't Retaliate. The 2nd Full Restore meets two Dazzling Gleams to end it.
Siebold
Trying to cram in as much experience before I go after the defensive type and offensive one...
Morgan v Clauncher
Thunderbolt gets Clauncher down to 5% in a nice bit of symmetry, and Clauncher fires a Water Pulse (97/172). On the Full Restore, Morgan Moonblasts to take about 2/3 off and drop the Special Attack... and then Thunderbolt wraps. Welp.
Morgan v Gyarados
Even Kerry Fraser sees this result coming - Thunderbolt OHKO.
Tinkerbell v Barbaracle
And now you see why I brought Energy Ball back - OHKO.
Unseelie v Starmie
Starmie futilely Light Screens, and eats a full power Megahorn for a OHKO.
Malva
Given a choice between Steel and Fire, Fire wins.
Maleficent v Pyroar
Pyroar leads with Noble Roar - and unlike the Ghost run, there's no critical Earthquake. It does about 70% after the debuff. Pyroar then tries Hyper Voice (53/203) and a second Earthquake ends it.
Iphys v Talonflame
Rather than use Brave Bird which wouldn't be resisted, Talonflame Flare Blitzes (157/205), and Waterfall does the rest.
Tinkerbell v Torkoal
Surf rolls off about 90%, and Torkoal fires off a Stone Edge (138/193). On the Full Restore Dazzling Gleam lops off 20%, and Surf finishes.
Iphys v Chandelure
Shadow Ball drops Iphys down to 51, but Waterfall off near-300 Atk finishes.
Wikstrom
Much like leaving the Jeopardy opera category to the end, it's the "Let's get this crap over with" fight.
Maleficent v Klefki
The evil keys drop some Spikes, and the resulting Earthquake... leaves Klefki with about 10%. Two Fire Fangs fire on the Full Restore turns, unfortunately the first one is the one that gets the burn. Klefki Torments but falls to a 2nd Earthquake.
Maleficent v Scizor
OK, question...this Scizor has Bullet Punch, right? WHY DIDN'T IT USE IT?? Fire Fang OHKOs. That was the 2nd theme of the run besides near misses - AI making some stupid moves.
Maleficent v Probopass
Earthquake activates Probopass's Sturdy, and the counter is the obvious Flash Cannon (25/203). Since I can't use a 2nd Earthquake because of Torment, Fire Fang ends it. At this point, Maleficent levels so he's out for the fight (I left Exp Share off).
Tinkerbell v Aegislash
Tink goes down to 169/193 because of Spikes. The first Flamethrower gets blocked by King's Shield, and the 2nd hits Aegislash in Shield Forme for about half. Because of the Spikes, Iron Head is enough to finish.
Gardevoir v Aegislash
Shadow Ball ends the match. Only one KO... phew.
Diantha
This is it. Don't get scared now. And maybe I might use Puck here?
Unseelie v Hawlucha
Hawlucha goes first and leads with the obvious Poison Jab (169/255). Moonblast OHKOs coming back.
Puck v Tyrantrum
Play Rough, the more powerful move here, does 70% and Puck survives the countering Earthquake because of Intimidate (46/148). 2nd Play Rough closes out the dino.
Puck v Goodra
Play Rough OHKOs. After the Ghost run, this is a godsend.
Puck v Aurorus
Iron Head OHKOs this time. He's on fire!
Tinkerbell v Gourgeist
...but now he's gotta come out as I need something to beat Ghost/Grass. Tink fires a Flamethrower... and it crits for a OHKO. Ooooh yeah.
Unseelie v MegaGardevoir
Battle of the Fairies down the stretch. Megavoir is faster (out of the gate, Mega speed doesn't take effect on the transformation turn) and Moonblast leaves Unseelie at 22HP. Flash Cannon... leaves Megavoir at 10%. Sigh. On the first Full Restore, a Moonblast does about 70% and lowers Megavoir's SA... but I have to heal here, giving Megavoir two shots at -1. Both hit, both lower SA, and Unseelie has 52 HP left, but Flash Cannon connects and we have a new champ!
Pictured: Two fabulous Pokemon and a fabulous trainer
I'll make the announcement about the next type Friday night or Saturday with a type preview, poll closes then.
So I finished up at L64, and the team was pretty much as before except for two changes, one key and one not so much:
- As mentioned, Mawile got Brick Break
- Since I only needed one Thunderbolt for the run, I swapped Energy Ball into Tinkerbell's slot. This turned out to be a good idea.
And as usual, have some PBP... now with actual HP loss totals for the whole round.
Drasna
Of course, I'm starting with the Dragon specialist here. I'd be a fool not to.
Morgan v Dragalgae
The opening Psychic takes Dragalgae down to 5%, and it counters with a Sludge Bomb (52/172). The Full Restore gets used, Morgan Moonblasts a little under half life off, and Psychic ends it.
Maleficent v Altaria
Switch in the physical user, Play Rough OHKOs. Next.
Iphys v Noivern
Noivern is able to squeeze in a move, and it's Super Fang (103/205). Play Rough OHKOs again.
Tinkerbell v Druddigon
Dazzling Gleam takes about 3/4 off Druddigon, who survives long enough to Chip Away and Tinkerbell takes it like a boss (142/193). I'm actually surprised it wasn't Retaliate. The 2nd Full Restore meets two Dazzling Gleams to end it.
Siebold
Trying to cram in as much experience before I go after the defensive type and offensive one...
Morgan v Clauncher
Thunderbolt gets Clauncher down to 5% in a nice bit of symmetry, and Clauncher fires a Water Pulse (97/172). On the Full Restore, Morgan Moonblasts to take about 2/3 off and drop the Special Attack... and then Thunderbolt wraps. Welp.
Morgan v Gyarados
Even Kerry Fraser sees this result coming - Thunderbolt OHKO.
Tinkerbell v Barbaracle
And now you see why I brought Energy Ball back - OHKO.
Unseelie v Starmie
Starmie futilely Light Screens, and eats a full power Megahorn for a OHKO.
Malva
Given a choice between Steel and Fire, Fire wins.
Maleficent v Pyroar
Pyroar leads with Noble Roar - and unlike the Ghost run, there's no critical Earthquake. It does about 70% after the debuff. Pyroar then tries Hyper Voice (53/203) and a second Earthquake ends it.
Iphys v Talonflame
Rather than use Brave Bird which wouldn't be resisted, Talonflame Flare Blitzes (157/205), and Waterfall does the rest.
Tinkerbell v Torkoal
Surf rolls off about 90%, and Torkoal fires off a Stone Edge (138/193). On the Full Restore Dazzling Gleam lops off 20%, and Surf finishes.
Iphys v Chandelure
Shadow Ball drops Iphys down to 51, but Waterfall off near-300 Atk finishes.
Wikstrom
Much like leaving the Jeopardy opera category to the end, it's the "Let's get this crap over with" fight.
Maleficent v Klefki
The evil keys drop some Spikes, and the resulting Earthquake... leaves Klefki with about 10%. Two Fire Fangs fire on the Full Restore turns, unfortunately the first one is the one that gets the burn. Klefki Torments but falls to a 2nd Earthquake.
Maleficent v Scizor
OK, question...this Scizor has Bullet Punch, right? WHY DIDN'T IT USE IT?? Fire Fang OHKOs. That was the 2nd theme of the run besides near misses - AI making some stupid moves.
Maleficent v Probopass
Earthquake activates Probopass's Sturdy, and the counter is the obvious Flash Cannon (25/203). Since I can't use a 2nd Earthquake because of Torment, Fire Fang ends it. At this point, Maleficent levels so he's out for the fight (I left Exp Share off).
Tinkerbell v Aegislash
Tink goes down to 169/193 because of Spikes. The first Flamethrower gets blocked by King's Shield, and the 2nd hits Aegislash in Shield Forme for about half. Because of the Spikes, Iron Head is enough to finish.
Gardevoir v Aegislash
Shadow Ball ends the match. Only one KO... phew.
Diantha
This is it. Don't get scared now. And maybe I might use Puck here?
Unseelie v Hawlucha
Hawlucha goes first and leads with the obvious Poison Jab (169/255). Moonblast OHKOs coming back.
Puck v Tyrantrum
Play Rough, the more powerful move here, does 70% and Puck survives the countering Earthquake because of Intimidate (46/148). 2nd Play Rough closes out the dino.
Puck v Goodra
Play Rough OHKOs. After the Ghost run, this is a godsend.
Puck v Aurorus
Iron Head OHKOs this time. He's on fire!
Tinkerbell v Gourgeist
...but now he's gotta come out as I need something to beat Ghost/Grass. Tink fires a Flamethrower... and it crits for a OHKO. Ooooh yeah.
Unseelie v MegaGardevoir
Battle of the Fairies down the stretch. Megavoir is faster (out of the gate, Mega speed doesn't take effect on the transformation turn) and Moonblast leaves Unseelie at 22HP. Flash Cannon... leaves Megavoir at 10%. Sigh. On the first Full Restore, a Moonblast does about 70% and lowers Megavoir's SA... but I have to heal here, giving Megavoir two shots at -1. Both hit, both lower SA, and Unseelie has 52 HP left, but Flash Cannon connects and we have a new champ!
I'll make the announcement about the next type Friday night or Saturday with a type preview, poll closes then.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Fairy Day 9: Don't Go Chasin' Waterfalls
So we're saved in front of the healing Ranger on Victory Road, in the L59-L60 range, and the team is as follows:
Iphys - Waterfall, Play Rough, Superpower, Dig
Morgan - Moonblast, Psychic, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball
Tinkerbell - Dazzling Gleam, Surf, Thunderbolt, Flamethrower
Puck - Play Rough, Iron Head, Strength, Rock Smash (soon to be Brick Break)
Maleficent - Play Rough, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Fire Fang
Xerneas (actual nickname: Unseelie) - Moonblast, Aurora Beam, Megahorn, Flash Cannon
The key is that roughly between badge 7 and Victory Road, you get a lot of the major TMs - Flamethrower, Shadow Ball, Brick Break, Energy Ball, Ice Beam, Rock Slide, Earthquake, Stone Edge, Dark Pulse, Psychic... mother of god, it's a mother load.
Oh, right, there was a Gym there too.
8th gym with Fairies: OHKO Flamethrower, nutshot, OHKO Iron Head, OHKO Flash Cannon.#easierthanyourmom
(Nutshot = hit itself in confusion, thanks Porygon's Big Show)
Right now, the issue is that Repels have started working in Victory Road, so I question how I'm going to get the next levels for the Elite 4 unless the Exp Share goes off big time. Don't have much time to find out how much training we'll have to get in at the final part of Victory Road... but is the Super Training enough that I could go in at L61-L62? Who knows.
Also, it's time to figure out which type is next on the docket. I'm thinking of alternating it based on the old Physical/Special split and since Ghost was physical/Fairy presumably special... it's physical next. Straw poll time!
Iphys - Waterfall, Play Rough, Superpower, Dig
Morgan - Moonblast, Psychic, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball
Tinkerbell - Dazzling Gleam, Surf, Thunderbolt, Flamethrower
Puck - Play Rough, Iron Head, Strength, Rock Smash (soon to be Brick Break)
Maleficent - Play Rough, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Fire Fang
Xerneas (actual nickname: Unseelie) - Moonblast, Aurora Beam, Megahorn, Flash Cannon
The key is that roughly between badge 7 and Victory Road, you get a lot of the major TMs - Flamethrower, Shadow Ball, Brick Break, Energy Ball, Ice Beam, Rock Slide, Earthquake, Stone Edge, Dark Pulse, Psychic... mother of god, it's a mother load.
Oh, right, there was a Gym there too.
8th gym with Fairies: OHKO Flamethrower, nutshot, OHKO Iron Head, OHKO Flash Cannon.
(Nutshot = hit itself in confusion, thanks Porygon's Big Show)
Right now, the issue is that Repels have started working in Victory Road, so I question how I'm going to get the next levels for the Elite 4 unless the Exp Share goes off big time. Don't have much time to find out how much training we'll have to get in at the final part of Victory Road... but is the Super Training enough that I could go in at L61-L62? Who knows.
Also, it's time to figure out which type is next on the docket. I'm thinking of alternating it based on the old Physical/Special split and since Ghost was physical/Fairy presumably special... it's physical next. Straw poll time!
Monday, March 3, 2014
Fairy Day 8: Packing a Legendary
They said I could use anything I ever wanted.
So I used a god.
I’m currently saved in Geosenge Town after clearing out Team Flare, and here’s where the team stands:
Iphys L50 – Aqua Tail, Play Rough, Dig, Rollout
Morgan L49 – Psychic, Moonblast, Thunderbolt, Magical Leaf
Tinkerbell L49 – Dazzling Gleam, Surf, Thunderbolt, Energy Ball
Puck L50 – Play Rough, Iron Head, Rock Smash, Strength
Maleficent L50 – Play Rough, Dig, Rock Tomb, Fire Fang
Xerneas (Dryad) L50 – Gravity, Geomancy, Megahorn, Moonblast (not Super Trained yet)
Sitting in the box: Robin L49 – Moonblast, Petal Dance, Nature Power, Wish
The Fairy gym did have some trouble with Sylveon,
especially – a combination of Fairy not resisting itself unlike most of
the old Special types, and Sylveon hitting like a truck with Dazzling
Gleam. Thankfully, Aqua Tail took care of that.
The happiest part of the whole run is when I beat
Valerie and got Dazzling Gleam, because it finally gave half the team
Fairy STAB or *usable* Fairy STAB. The rest of them got it
through the Move Returner, which made clearing out
the Frost Cave and Olympia’s gym way easier. Team Flare was a flatout
joke – except for a stray Poison Fang Golbat/Crobat. And thankfully, I
got the nature I wanted for Xerneas on the first shot and it appears his
31s are in the Attack stats.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Fairy Week 1: Thunderbolts For Everyone!
So I took a few days off from the run to play things for the podcast (Deus Ex Human Revolution, Retro's Best Game Ever, Bravely Default, Danganronpa) and witness the ascension of a god, messiah, angel, king, prince(ss) and all terrain vehicle to collective godhood. But before that happened, I did manage to get through three gyms in one 24 hour period so maybe I should have updated this earlier.
Oh well.
Here's where we stand, after 5 badges and about to head out to Route 14:
Azumarill (iphys): L39, Aqua Tail/Dig/Rollout/Rock Smash
Gardevoir (Morgan): L38, Confusion/Thunderbolt/Magical Leaf/Calm Mind.
Florges (Robin): L38, Fairy Wind/Magical Leaf/Nature Power/Wish
Slurpuff (Tinkerbell): L38, Draining Kiss/Surf/Thunderbolt/Energy Ball
Mawile (Puck): L39, Fairy Wind/Vice Grip/Rock Smash/Crunch
Granbull (Maleficent): L39, Dig/Rock Tomb/Rock Smash/Strength
The nickname conventions are weird - half actual Fairies, a tribute, and what appear to be a pair of Fire Emblem Awakening references.
The Fighting gym, as was expected, was pretty easy. Sadly, I didn't get Morgan to evolve until after I had gotten Robin's Shiny Stone on Route 12, so it ended up being the final evolution. (Speaking of Robin, who do I have to kill to get a Floette-E? Special Fairy Head Smash off 125 base SpAtk? SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!) The core problem is that the Fairy moves were still weak here - and they haven't improved much either.
I had some unexpected challenges with the Grass gym - in addition to Jumpluff being a pain with Acrobatics until I figured out "hey, we can get it to -4 Attack by swapping between Puck and Maleficent", Gogoat was surprisingly durable and Weepinbel's part Poison nature proved costly. Well, until we installed Morgan. Problem solved.
However, the Clemont fight went largely as I hoped, with much Special Defense tanking. Morgan had Calm Mind at this point, so I charged it up against Emolga and got rid of it, and it pretty well finished the job after that.
Looking ahead: The Fairy gym coming up will likely be won by a combination of resistances and iphys Aqua Tailing everything in sight - its effective Attack rating right now is 176. I'm going to need Heart Scales for Morgan, Robin (x2), Puck (x2) and Maleficent, and then everyone on the team but iphys will have Fairy STAB (that comes at L50). If Venomoth doesn't get Fairy typing in a future game, someone's asleep at the switch.
Last question for this update - should I go against the rules on either the Rock or Water runs and useOmanyte Lord Helix? If so, which one would it be better for? Either way, it'd be joining at the Fossil Lab about the same time Aerodactyl does. (I'm more tempted to use it in Rock because I'm biased towards special Waters, so I can sub out Binacle.)
Oh well.
Here's where we stand, after 5 badges and about to head out to Route 14:
Azumarill (iphys): L39, Aqua Tail/Dig/Rollout/Rock Smash
Gardevoir (Morgan): L38, Confusion/Thunderbolt/Magical Leaf/Calm Mind.
Florges (Robin): L38, Fairy Wind/Magical Leaf/Nature Power/Wish
Slurpuff (Tinkerbell): L38, Draining Kiss/Surf/Thunderbolt/Energy Ball
Mawile (Puck): L39, Fairy Wind/Vice Grip/Rock Smash/Crunch
Granbull (Maleficent): L39, Dig/Rock Tomb/Rock Smash/Strength
The nickname conventions are weird - half actual Fairies, a tribute, and what appear to be a pair of Fire Emblem Awakening references.
The Fighting gym, as was expected, was pretty easy. Sadly, I didn't get Morgan to evolve until after I had gotten Robin's Shiny Stone on Route 12, so it ended up being the final evolution. (Speaking of Robin, who do I have to kill to get a Floette-E? Special Fairy Head Smash off 125 base SpAtk? SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!) The core problem is that the Fairy moves were still weak here - and they haven't improved much either.
I had some unexpected challenges with the Grass gym - in addition to Jumpluff being a pain with Acrobatics until I figured out "hey, we can get it to -4 Attack by swapping between Puck and Maleficent", Gogoat was surprisingly durable and Weepinbel's part Poison nature proved costly. Well, until we installed Morgan. Problem solved.
However, the Clemont fight went largely as I hoped, with much Special Defense tanking. Morgan had Calm Mind at this point, so I charged it up against Emolga and got rid of it, and it pretty well finished the job after that.
Looking ahead: The Fairy gym coming up will likely be won by a combination of resistances and iphys Aqua Tailing everything in sight - its effective Attack rating right now is 176. I'm going to need Heart Scales for Morgan, Robin (x2), Puck (x2) and Maleficent, and then everyone on the team but iphys will have Fairy STAB (that comes at L50). If Venomoth doesn't get Fairy typing in a future game, someone's asleep at the switch.
Last question for this update - should I go against the rules on either the Rock or Water runs and use
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)