Let's flash back to the original purpose of the project - to give me experience with using every single type so I could write a single-type challenge FAQ. As it turns out, I'm going to have some spare time next week, so in between clearing out a backlog of games that's built up in the 133 days of this project and travelling, I'm going to actually get that thing written.
That's the easy part. Now, I'm definitely going to take a few weeks off from actually playing through X repeatedly, because at this point I basically have the game memorized. There's something still single-type related for me to work on though - the oft-discussed "Bugs Only" run in the Singles Battle Maison. Galvantula, Heracross and Crustle await as I aim for a Goldbergian run with a bunch of high stat bug Pokemon - just have one round of ST and some light grinding to do and we'll be ready to start that.
But as for challenge-running Pokemon - the main reason I keep doing it is to give me something to keep me sane at work. And that's still going to continue in a few weeks. Quite frankly, I've enjoyed having the pressure of channeling my inner Pete Davison and having something to blog daily (or close to it).
Some of the challenges that have been proposed to me, or I've thought of doing:
- An "all-star" run comprising my favorite Pokemon from the mono-type challenge. The hard part in doing this is that I set the restrictions on myself of no duplicated types (which sucks, because I *really* want to use Gardevoir and Azumarill together again... sounds like that'd be fun for my Aqua Sapphire game, actually), one Pokemon per generation (god, gen 2 sucks in this regard) and only one ingame Mega (which I'm pretty sure is Aerodactyl).
- A Nuzlocke run (never done this before)
- A Eevee-run (as proposed by Zach Miller over at Nintendo World Report) - the question then becomes how long do I put up with Umbreon's inability to attack before I panic and send a spare Eevee to Y for immediate Leafeonage
- A happy-evolvers only run (proposed by my Nintendo Free Radio cohost Stephen Shook) which will get hilariously broken really quickly (XY Pokemon available: Lucario, Azumarill, Crobat, Snorlax, technically Raichu)
- A Bidoof-only run (proposed by my brother) which will happen shortly after a Gold/Silver version that doesn't suck
So yeah,, I've got some options. Of course, this becomes moot in late November/early December anyway because then Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire hit, and there's no way in hell they're adding enough Pokemon to the base game to make a repeat of the type-only runs feasible. Right?
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Fire run complete!
The team going in:
Prometheus - Flamethrower, Psychic, Grass Knot, Shadow Ball (196 SA/Speed)
Phoenix - Fire Blast, Fly, Thief, Steel Wing (160 Atk, 156 Speed, 172 Speed)
Aslan - Flamethrower, Hyper Voice, Dark Pulse, Hidden Power [Ice] (186 SA, 182 Speed)
Salamando - Flare Blitz, Dragon Claw, Brick Break, Shadow Claw (183 Atk, 185 Speed before Mega - 248 after)
Baskerville - Flamethrower, Dark Pulse, Sludge Bomb, Thunder Fang (207 SA, 186 Speed)
Apollyon - Fire Blast, Shadow Ball, Psychic, Energy Ball (269 SA, 133 Speed)
Wikstrom
Two in a row with Steel to open.
Baskerville v Klefki
Spikes get dropped, then Flamethrower OHKOs.
Salamando v Probopass
Salamando goes Mega and hits with Shadow Claw for 30%, then takes a Power Gem (90/188) and finishes with Brick Break.
Apollyon v Aegislash
King's Shield misses a Fire Blast, but the second one hits true and OHKOs through the Shield form.
Aslan v Scizor
Take a wild guess. (Flamethrower)
Malva
I'll take the resistance here.
Salamando v Pyroar
Mega Brick Break OHKOs.
Apollyon v Torkoal
I have nothing to SE straight Fire, so Shadow Ball does 90%... and a critical Stone Edge leaves Apollyon on 14 HP out of 160. Full Restore 1 is countered with a critical Psychic, which leads to a double Shadow Ball finish.
Baskerville v Chandelure
Dark Pulse OHKOs.
Baskerville v Talonflame
Thunder Fang only does 30%, and Brave Bird drops Baskerville to 40/178 (but runs him below 50% on recoil). Dark Pulse finishes.
Drasna
One obvious winner, but we took a chance here so let's see if it pays off.
Salamando v Dragalgae
Mega Dragon Claw OHKOs, with a probably-gratuitous critical.
Aslan v Altaria
Hidden Power does 90%... plan failed. Altaria Cotton Guards, then eats a Hyper Voice on the Full Restore for 40% and Hidden Power finishes.
Salamando v Druddigon
What does it take to OHKO Druddigon? A 248 attack, 90 pwr STAB SE move.
Aslan v Pyroar
Another 90% Hidden Power as Aslan's faster, the Super Fang does half, then Hyper Voice->Hidden Power wraps.
Siebold
I've been avoiding using Apollyon for now specifically for this.
Apollyon v Clawitzer
269 SA Energy Ball = OHKO? YES!
Prometheus v Gyarados
A critical Grass Knot does 60% as Gyarados Dragon Dances, and Prometheus is still faster so a 2nd Knot finishes! Holy cow!
Prometheus v Barbaracle
Grass Knot OHKOs! We're rolling!
Baskerville v Starmie
Dark Pulse OHKOs! Water cleared with no HP lost!
Diantha
One last shot for glory...
Prometheus v Hawlucha
Psychic OHKOs.
Salamando v Tyrantrum
On Route 21, I OHKOed the Tyrantrum with Dragon Claw. We do it again when it counts.
Salamando v Goodra
Apparently not getting the memo, Goodra is Claw'd out as well. Salamando dings 65.
Phoenix v Aurorus
Steel Wing does 90%, and Aurorus squeezes in a Reflect. On Full Restore 1, Fire Blast does 30%, and Steel Wing does 60%... and PHOENIX SURVIVES THUNDER (29/185). Full Restore 2 meets a critical + Def+ Steel Wing for a OHKO anyway.
Baskerville v Gourgeist
Flamethrower OHKOs. Reflect is gone. Here. We. Go.
Salamando v MegaGardevoir
One last Mega showdown... and Shadow Claw connects for the win!
Pictured: I actually managed to pull off color co-ordination for once.
So with that, the time of the fall is 28:34, and with that, I can safely declare the end...
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.
..
.
.
?
Prometheus - Flamethrower, Psychic, Grass Knot, Shadow Ball (196 SA/Speed)
Phoenix - Fire Blast, Fly, Thief, Steel Wing (160 Atk, 156 Speed, 172 Speed)
Aslan - Flamethrower, Hyper Voice, Dark Pulse, Hidden Power [Ice] (186 SA, 182 Speed)
Salamando - Flare Blitz, Dragon Claw, Brick Break, Shadow Claw (183 Atk, 185 Speed before Mega - 248 after)
Baskerville - Flamethrower, Dark Pulse, Sludge Bomb, Thunder Fang (207 SA, 186 Speed)
Apollyon - Fire Blast, Shadow Ball, Psychic, Energy Ball (269 SA, 133 Speed)
Wikstrom
Two in a row with Steel to open.
Baskerville v Klefki
Spikes get dropped, then Flamethrower OHKOs.
Salamando v Probopass
Salamando goes Mega and hits with Shadow Claw for 30%, then takes a Power Gem (90/188) and finishes with Brick Break.
Apollyon v Aegislash
King's Shield misses a Fire Blast, but the second one hits true and OHKOs through the Shield form.
Aslan v Scizor
Take a wild guess. (Flamethrower)
Malva
I'll take the resistance here.
Salamando v Pyroar
Mega Brick Break OHKOs.
Apollyon v Torkoal
I have nothing to SE straight Fire, so Shadow Ball does 90%... and a critical Stone Edge leaves Apollyon on 14 HP out of 160. Full Restore 1 is countered with a critical Psychic, which leads to a double Shadow Ball finish.
Baskerville v Chandelure
Dark Pulse OHKOs.
Baskerville v Talonflame
Thunder Fang only does 30%, and Brave Bird drops Baskerville to 40/178 (but runs him below 50% on recoil). Dark Pulse finishes.
Drasna
One obvious winner, but we took a chance here so let's see if it pays off.
Salamando v Dragalgae
Mega Dragon Claw OHKOs, with a probably-gratuitous critical.
Aslan v Altaria
Hidden Power does 90%... plan failed. Altaria Cotton Guards, then eats a Hyper Voice on the Full Restore for 40% and Hidden Power finishes.
Salamando v Druddigon
What does it take to OHKO Druddigon? A 248 attack, 90 pwr STAB SE move.
Aslan v Pyroar
Another 90% Hidden Power as Aslan's faster, the Super Fang does half, then Hyper Voice->Hidden Power wraps.
Siebold
I've been avoiding using Apollyon for now specifically for this.
Apollyon v Clawitzer
269 SA Energy Ball = OHKO? YES!
Prometheus v Gyarados
A critical Grass Knot does 60% as Gyarados Dragon Dances, and Prometheus is still faster so a 2nd Knot finishes! Holy cow!
Prometheus v Barbaracle
Grass Knot OHKOs! We're rolling!
Baskerville v Starmie
Dark Pulse OHKOs! Water cleared with no HP lost!
Diantha
One last shot for glory...
Prometheus v Hawlucha
Psychic OHKOs.
Salamando v Tyrantrum
On Route 21, I OHKOed the Tyrantrum with Dragon Claw. We do it again when it counts.
Salamando v Goodra
Apparently not getting the memo, Goodra is Claw'd out as well. Salamando dings 65.
Phoenix v Aurorus
Steel Wing does 90%, and Aurorus squeezes in a Reflect. On Full Restore 1, Fire Blast does 30%, and Steel Wing does 60%... and PHOENIX SURVIVES THUNDER (29/185). Full Restore 2 meets a critical + Def+ Steel Wing for a OHKO anyway.
Baskerville v Gourgeist
Flamethrower OHKOs. Reflect is gone. Here. We. Go.
Salamando v MegaGardevoir
One last Mega showdown... and Shadow Claw connects for the win!
So with that, the time of the fall is 28:34, and with that, I can safely declare the end...
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.
..
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.
?
Fire Day 5: The Oncoming Train At The End Of The Tunnel
So where were we?
Oh, right. Lysandre. Fight 2 went as I anticipated - two Hidden Power Electrics from Salamando beat Gyarados, the third one was a little trickier as it required a Grass Knot from Prometheus and a Will-o-Wisp from Apollyon to run out the Gyarados. Phoenix took great pressure in making Mienshao miss with Fly as well.
Oh, and due to various factors I missed the Flamethrower TM again. So that meant I had to buy Fire Blast in Anistar for Phoenix and Apollyon, and the latter has had issues with it missing. Route 18 and Terminus Cave were dealt with by burning all the Fighters... and that worked well until the Guts guys (Conkledurr, Hariyama) showed up.
Route 19 needed an Aerodactyl counter - the Sky Trainer on the route and one of the Scoobies (Trevor) both pack them, and he's a prime threat to the team. Turns out, a Mega Dragon Claw with a Tough Claws boost solves a lot of problems, and not just Aerodactyl.
There wasn't much happening on Route 20, and Snowbelle Gym had another bout of miss-itis from Apollyon, but other than that it was a dead cinch. The gym leader was a three stroke fight - Flamethrower, Flamethrower, Flare Blitz. The only damage was on recoil. We picked up all the TMs, as I'm thinking I should swap around for Salamando's 3rd and 4th slots, but Psychic, Dark Pulse and Brick Break were pressed into immediate service.
The main issue with Victory Road was running out of PP, as I couldn't really use the healing lady before the Rival to restore PP as I usually do. We had to actually use an Ether *gasp* at one point, but we got through and we're now at the Pokemon League.
And that... is next.
Oh, right. Lysandre. Fight 2 went as I anticipated - two Hidden Power Electrics from Salamando beat Gyarados, the third one was a little trickier as it required a Grass Knot from Prometheus and a Will-o-Wisp from Apollyon to run out the Gyarados. Phoenix took great pressure in making Mienshao miss with Fly as well.
Oh, and due to various factors I missed the Flamethrower TM again. So that meant I had to buy Fire Blast in Anistar for Phoenix and Apollyon, and the latter has had issues with it missing. Route 18 and Terminus Cave were dealt with by burning all the Fighters... and that worked well until the Guts guys (Conkledurr, Hariyama) showed up.
Route 19 needed an Aerodactyl counter - the Sky Trainer on the route and one of the Scoobies (Trevor) both pack them, and he's a prime threat to the team. Turns out, a Mega Dragon Claw with a Tough Claws boost solves a lot of problems, and not just Aerodactyl.
There wasn't much happening on Route 20, and Snowbelle Gym had another bout of miss-itis from Apollyon, but other than that it was a dead cinch. The gym leader was a three stroke fight - Flamethrower, Flamethrower, Flare Blitz. The only damage was on recoil. We picked up all the TMs, as I'm thinking I should swap around for Salamando's 3rd and 4th slots, but Psychic, Dark Pulse and Brick Break were pressed into immediate service.
The main issue with Victory Road was running out of PP, as I couldn't really use the healing lady before the Rival to restore PP as I usually do. We had to actually use an Ether *gasp* at one point, but we got through and we're now at the Pokemon League.
And that... is next.
Friday, June 20, 2014
Fire Day 4: Never Darken My Doorstep Again
Current location: Geosenge Town, so much so that I started this post while the AZ flashback cutscene was playing.
Current team, L50 with one exception:
Prometheus: Flamethrower, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Grass Knot *L51*
Phoenix: Hidden Power (Fire), Fly, Thief, Quick Attack
Aslan: Flamethrower, Hyper Voice, Snarl, Hidden Power (Ice)
Salamando: Flare Blitz, Dragon Claw, Shadow Claw, Hidden Power (Electric)
Baskerville: Flamethrower, Snarl, Rock Smash, Thunder Fang
Apollyon the Chandelure (Quiet, Flame Body, SA/Speed): Flame Burst, Hex, Inferno, Will-O-Wisp
We picked back up with a quick whip around the map to finish the outfit, bar the last piece which awaited in Laverre City. Rival fight 3 was quite simple as I threw out Salamando, turned the water weak into a resistance, and plowed it to death with Wing Attack.
The Laverre Gym was quite simple even without Poison Jab - except for Azumarill, obviously. The Valerie fight was obvious Mawile OHKO from Sniper, who proceeded to run Valerie out of Hyper Potions on Mr Mime before Baskerville got a clutch Smog poison on Sylveon and Sniper swapped in to finish with Fire Fang.
The Poke Ball Factory was no great shakes, then it was candle-hunting time. A good Litwick was found on the sixth shot, and thanks to having to get its evo item Super Training took about ten minutes between vitamins and six Double Bags. We used Route 15 to level it up and once it became Chandelure... it had 140+ SA. At L41. I originally wanted to name it Apollo, but I modified it slightly to the bringer of doom once I saw that SA.
The collective team picked up some experience on Routes 16 and the rest of the hotel, then we trucked off to Frost Cavern. The fighting gauntlet almost ran us out of Revives, but Apollyon came through with clutch WoW burns and a Hex shot to wrap that up.
Anistar had a couple of interesting developments - aside from Baskerville basically Snarling the entire gym to death, we picked up Hidden Power... which hit three times. Since I didn't get Anistar until after the Flamethrower availability ended, I'm using HP Fire as Phoenix's primary STAB, Aslan picked up HP Ice so I won't have to use Solarbeam and have something to potentially deal with Drasna, and I'm going to try Salamando as the anti-Gyarados device for the 2nd Lysandre fight coming up. The first one though, ended on Chandelure WoWing it, Hexing it, and having Aqua Tail miss TWICE, so I beat a Gyarados with a Chandelure. Giggity.
As for the rest of Lysandre's lab, it was basically "Get Ember off Baskerville STAT", and that happened just as the last scientist was going to throw out Weavile. Perfect timing. Xerosic went down to a Psyshock, a Flamethrower from Baskerville and a Mega Dragon Claw.
Tomorrow: Shooting for the endgame.
Current team, L50 with one exception:
Prometheus: Flamethrower, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Grass Knot *L51*
Phoenix: Hidden Power (Fire), Fly, Thief, Quick Attack
Aslan: Flamethrower, Hyper Voice, Snarl, Hidden Power (Ice)
Salamando: Flare Blitz, Dragon Claw, Shadow Claw, Hidden Power (Electric)
Baskerville: Flamethrower, Snarl, Rock Smash, Thunder Fang
Apollyon the Chandelure (Quiet, Flame Body, SA/Speed): Flame Burst, Hex, Inferno, Will-O-Wisp
We picked back up with a quick whip around the map to finish the outfit, bar the last piece which awaited in Laverre City. Rival fight 3 was quite simple as I threw out Salamando, turned the water weak into a resistance, and plowed it to death with Wing Attack.
The Laverre Gym was quite simple even without Poison Jab - except for Azumarill, obviously. The Valerie fight was obvious Mawile OHKO from Sniper, who proceeded to run Valerie out of Hyper Potions on Mr Mime before Baskerville got a clutch Smog poison on Sylveon and Sniper swapped in to finish with Fire Fang.
The Poke Ball Factory was no great shakes, then it was candle-hunting time. A good Litwick was found on the sixth shot, and thanks to having to get its evo item Super Training took about ten minutes between vitamins and six Double Bags. We used Route 15 to level it up and once it became Chandelure... it had 140+ SA. At L41. I originally wanted to name it Apollo, but I modified it slightly to the bringer of doom once I saw that SA.
The collective team picked up some experience on Routes 16 and the rest of the hotel, then we trucked off to Frost Cavern. The fighting gauntlet almost ran us out of Revives, but Apollyon came through with clutch WoW burns and a Hex shot to wrap that up.
Anistar had a couple of interesting developments - aside from Baskerville basically Snarling the entire gym to death, we picked up Hidden Power... which hit three times. Since I didn't get Anistar until after the Flamethrower availability ended, I'm using HP Fire as Phoenix's primary STAB, Aslan picked up HP Ice so I won't have to use Solarbeam and have something to potentially deal with Drasna, and I'm going to try Salamando as the anti-Gyarados device for the 2nd Lysandre fight coming up. The first one though, ended on Chandelure WoWing it, Hexing it, and having Aqua Tail miss TWICE, so I beat a Gyarados with a Chandelure. Giggity.
As for the rest of Lysandre's lab, it was basically "Get Ember off Baskerville STAT", and that happened just as the last scientist was going to throw out Weavile. Perfect timing. Xerosic went down to a Psyshock, a Flamethrower from Baskerville and a Mega Dragon Claw.
Tomorrow: Shooting for the endgame.
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Fire Day 3: Grant Me The Power To Bring The World (Mega) Evolution
(You have *no* idea how long I've wanted to use that title.)
Current location: Lumiose City after being Clemont.
Current team, at L37:
Prometheus (now a Delphox) - Mystical Fire, Psyshock, Grass Knot, Fire Spin
Phoenix (Talonflame) - Flame Charge, Fly, Thief, Quick Attack
Aslan (Pyroar) - Fire Fang, Headbutt, Thief, Dig
Salamando (Charizard, @ Charizardite X) - Fire Fang, Rock Tomb, Wing Attack, Shadow Claw
Baskerville - Ember, Bite, Smog, Rock Smash
Sniper - Fire Fang, Dig, Bite, Strength
The day began with a round of nicknaming, Chateau clearing, TM acquisition (Aerial Ace, Rock Tomb, the usual) and rolling through Route 10. We started swapping around here to try and get the experience distributed as much as possible to get the evolutions (which all hit at the 35-36 area) faster.
Geosenge saw the team wipe out Lucario - Aslan actually got the first KO in when Lucario 1 used Metal Sound, but couldn't handle the Power Up Punch of #2. Thankfully, Salamando picked up the pieces. Nothing to report in Reflection Cave, but Shalour was pretty wild - the Rival went down to two Sniper Dig shots (Frogadier) and type matching (the others), we got the badge, and for the first time in the project I lost the Mega Lucario duel to a stray crit. 1/18 is roughly 6.25%, right?
Not much happened on Route 12 and in Azure Bay, except needing about five tries to get through the Sky Battles (4 resets on the Charge Beam/T-Wave Sigilyph, 1 on the Fletchinder/Pelipper combo thanks to not Water Pulsing). Courmarine Gym was a 3-shot, though Gogoat needed help from a Fire Fang burn.
TRTSNBM was its usual annoying self, as the male character's short hair makes it harder to see if it's worth trying the ramp to Charge Beam (disappointingly, nobody learns it). Then the evolutions started - Phoenix, then Aslan, with Prometheus and Salamando joining the party before the Power Plant ended.
Finally, there was Lumiose Gym - the trainers were slightly annoying (LANTURN), but Clemont himself was simple. A Rock Tomb, a Shadow Claw/Fire Fang rush and a Dig later, we had Thunderbolt (which again, nobody learns. Mrgrgr).
Tomorrow: Let's shoot for clearing Frost Cavern. Sadly, nobody on the team can Poison Jab, so we'll have to find a way around that. Also, the end of Super Training... for now.
Current location: Lumiose City after being Clemont.
Current team, at L37:
Prometheus (now a Delphox) - Mystical Fire, Psyshock, Grass Knot, Fire Spin
Phoenix (Talonflame) - Flame Charge, Fly, Thief, Quick Attack
Aslan (Pyroar) - Fire Fang, Headbutt, Thief, Dig
Salamando (Charizard, @ Charizardite X) - Fire Fang, Rock Tomb, Wing Attack, Shadow Claw
Baskerville - Ember, Bite, Smog, Rock Smash
Sniper - Fire Fang, Dig, Bite, Strength
The day began with a round of nicknaming, Chateau clearing, TM acquisition (Aerial Ace, Rock Tomb, the usual) and rolling through Route 10. We started swapping around here to try and get the experience distributed as much as possible to get the evolutions (which all hit at the 35-36 area) faster.
Geosenge saw the team wipe out Lucario - Aslan actually got the first KO in when Lucario 1 used Metal Sound, but couldn't handle the Power Up Punch of #2. Thankfully, Salamando picked up the pieces. Nothing to report in Reflection Cave, but Shalour was pretty wild - the Rival went down to two Sniper Dig shots (Frogadier) and type matching (the others), we got the badge, and for the first time in the project I lost the Mega Lucario duel to a stray crit. 1/18 is roughly 6.25%, right?
Not much happened on Route 12 and in Azure Bay, except needing about five tries to get through the Sky Battles (4 resets on the Charge Beam/T-Wave Sigilyph, 1 on the Fletchinder/Pelipper combo thanks to not Water Pulsing). Courmarine Gym was a 3-shot, though Gogoat needed help from a Fire Fang burn.
TRTSNBM was its usual annoying self, as the male character's short hair makes it harder to see if it's worth trying the ramp to Charge Beam (disappointingly, nobody learns it). Then the evolutions started - Phoenix, then Aslan, with Prometheus and Salamando joining the party before the Power Plant ended.
Finally, there was Lumiose Gym - the trainers were slightly annoying (LANTURN), but Clemont himself was simple. A Rock Tomb, a Shadow Claw/Fire Fang rush and a Dig later, we had Thunderbolt (which again, nobody learns. Mrgrgr).
Tomorrow: Let's shoot for clearing Frost Cavern. Sadly, nobody on the team can Poison Jab, so we'll have to find a way around that. Also, the end of Super Training... for now.
Fire Day 2: Dear Eevee Family - Most is Forgiven
Current location: Cyllage City after beating Grant
Current team, all L26:
Prometheus - Ember, Psybeam, Scratch, Fire Spin
Phoenix - Ember, Peck, Thief, Quick Attack
Aslan - Fire Fang, Headbutt, Thief, Bulldoze
Salamando - Ember, Dragon Rage, Rock Smash, Shadow Claw
Baskerville the Houndoom (Rash, Early Bird, SA+Speed) - Ember, Bite, Smog, Odor Sleuth
Sniper the Flareon (Jolly, Atk+Speed) - Fire Fang, Rock Smash, Bite, Strength
Let's pick up with the back half of Route 6, which was roundly routed with all of the Bug trainers rolling around. We stopped in on Route 7 to pick up some experience and cash at the Chateau, and blitzed Route 8 (including the first Phoenix Sky Battle win). The first event of note came with the finding of a Fire Stone on Route 9, saving me a few rounds of Super Training.
After wiping out Team Flare, it was time to dodge trainers on Route 8 so we could get a filler member and a Water-killer. Eevee was easy to find, and immediately evolved - then I managed to get a quality Houndour out of a Horde battle, of all things. I would've preferred an Attack booster for Thunder Fang's sake, but I can deal.
After the final round of double Super Training (so glad the last time I do this, it'll be with the help of Calcium and Carbos) and some well timed TMage, we cleared out the trainers on Route 8 despite Baskerville's annoying habit of dying to a Tackle. When we returned to Cyllage, the party was L21 or L22 going into a type disadvantage situation. This wouldn't work, so a round of light grinding went down to get the team to L25.
As we entered, it was down to Salamando's Dragon Rage which thankfully 2HKO'd the Relicanth the first trainer throws at you, Sniper (borrowed from Sudowoodo in Twitch Plays Heart Gold because he's a Rock wrecker) Biting the celestial Rocks into next week, and a Normal/Fire going 1-on-1 with Rhyhorn and winning after two Bulldozes. Grant turned out to be easy, as Sniper one-shot Amaura with Rock Smash and then got Tyrunt in two hits after tanking a Rock Tomb. #likeaboss
Today: Since there's no distracting ST to worry about, we'll be aiming for Courmarine City as an outside shot, and at least getting past the Shalour gym.
Current team, all L26:
Prometheus - Ember, Psybeam, Scratch, Fire Spin
Phoenix - Ember, Peck, Thief, Quick Attack
Aslan - Fire Fang, Headbutt, Thief, Bulldoze
Salamando - Ember, Dragon Rage, Rock Smash, Shadow Claw
Baskerville the Houndoom (Rash, Early Bird, SA+Speed) - Ember, Bite, Smog, Odor Sleuth
Sniper the Flareon (Jolly, Atk+Speed) - Fire Fang, Rock Smash, Bite, Strength
Let's pick up with the back half of Route 6, which was roundly routed with all of the Bug trainers rolling around. We stopped in on Route 7 to pick up some experience and cash at the Chateau, and blitzed Route 8 (including the first Phoenix Sky Battle win). The first event of note came with the finding of a Fire Stone on Route 9, saving me a few rounds of Super Training.
After wiping out Team Flare, it was time to dodge trainers on Route 8 so we could get a filler member and a Water-killer. Eevee was easy to find, and immediately evolved - then I managed to get a quality Houndour out of a Horde battle, of all things. I would've preferred an Attack booster for Thunder Fang's sake, but I can deal.
After the final round of double Super Training (so glad the last time I do this, it'll be with the help of Calcium and Carbos) and some well timed TMage, we cleared out the trainers on Route 8 despite Baskerville's annoying habit of dying to a Tackle. When we returned to Cyllage, the party was L21 or L22 going into a type disadvantage situation. This wouldn't work, so a round of light grinding went down to get the team to L25.
As we entered, it was down to Salamando's Dragon Rage which thankfully 2HKO'd the Relicanth the first trainer throws at you, Sniper (borrowed from Sudowoodo in Twitch Plays Heart Gold because he's a Rock wrecker) Biting the celestial Rocks into next week, and a Normal/Fire going 1-on-1 with Rhyhorn and winning after two Bulldozes. Grant turned out to be easy, as Sniper one-shot Amaura with Rock Smash and then got Tyrunt in two hits after tanking a Rock Tomb. #likeaboss
Today: Since there's no distracting ST to worry about, we'll be aiming for Courmarine City as an outside shot, and at least getting past the Shalour gym.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Fire Day 1: One Final Super Training Marathon
Current location: Route 6, just finished the west end of the tall grass and about to raid the east side.
Current team, all at L17:
Prometheus the Braixen (Bold) - Ember, Flame Charge, Scratch, Howl
Phoenix the Fletchinder (Mild) - Peck, Ember, Thief, Quick Attack
Aslan the Litleo (Naughty) - Ember, Headbutt, Thief, Noble Roar
Salamando the Charmeleon (Lonely) - Ember, Dragon Rage, Scratch, Smokescreen
It took about eight tries to get a Fennekin I could live with, and then we found a Fletchling that was suitable on about the third catch. This set up two rounds of Super Training after we caught a Weedle to serve as the training unlocker - SA and Speed for Prometheus (or as he was known until Camphier, "Pronetheus") and both Attack stats for the future Phoenix.
Luckily, it takes about 45 minutes for me to fully ST something, so I'm confident in my Kid Icarus and Codename STEAM abilities.
Moving into the forest, picked up Pansear and promptly ignored it, snagged the run's Official HM Mule (tm) in Panpour, and a gratuitous rat. We ran through Santalune City, picked up Aslan on Route 22, and after Super Training (SA/Speed) doubled back to level him up on the Route 3 trainers, Turns out, he was with the other two by the time we entered the gym. The key to the gym was avoiding Water Sport, which happened with two Phoenix Pecks and a Quick Attack, making Aslan's Ember a kill move against Vivillon.
After picking off a few trainers on Route 4, it was Salamando time. And it took about twelve sequences of beat Sycamore, grab the Pokemon, nickname it, and curse Sycamore's inability to shut up before I got a decent (Attack+ - the ST was Atk/Speed) nature. People started evolving on Route 5 - or at least, Prometheus did - Salamando went up on Route 6 after the Parfum Palace events, and Phoenix went up when it dinged L17 on the Furfrou fight. Double Dragon Rage for the win there.
Tomorrow: Goal is to reach Grant. Not sure if I'm going to Super Train the Eevee, but I probably will.
Current team, all at L17:
Prometheus the Braixen (Bold) - Ember, Flame Charge, Scratch, Howl
Phoenix the Fletchinder (Mild) - Peck, Ember, Thief, Quick Attack
Aslan the Litleo (Naughty) - Ember, Headbutt, Thief, Noble Roar
Salamando the Charmeleon (Lonely) - Ember, Dragon Rage, Scratch, Smokescreen
It took about eight tries to get a Fennekin I could live with, and then we found a Fletchling that was suitable on about the third catch. This set up two rounds of Super Training after we caught a Weedle to serve as the training unlocker - SA and Speed for Prometheus (or as he was known until Camphier, "Pronetheus") and both Attack stats for the future Phoenix.
Luckily, it takes about 45 minutes for me to fully ST something, so I'm confident in my Kid Icarus and Codename STEAM abilities.
Moving into the forest, picked up Pansear and promptly ignored it, snagged the run's Official HM Mule (tm) in Panpour, and a gratuitous rat. We ran through Santalune City, picked up Aslan on Route 22, and after Super Training (SA/Speed) doubled back to level him up on the Route 3 trainers, Turns out, he was with the other two by the time we entered the gym. The key to the gym was avoiding Water Sport, which happened with two Phoenix Pecks and a Quick Attack, making Aslan's Ember a kill move against Vivillon.
After picking off a few trainers on Route 4, it was Salamando time. And it took about twelve sequences of beat Sycamore, grab the Pokemon, nickname it, and curse Sycamore's inability to shut up before I got a decent (Attack+ - the ST was Atk/Speed) nature. People started evolving on Route 5 - or at least, Prometheus did - Salamando went up on Route 6 after the Parfum Palace events, and Phoenix went up when it dinged L17 on the Furfrou fight. Double Dragon Rage for the win there.
Tomorrow: Goal is to reach Grant. Not sure if I'm going to Super Train the Eevee, but I probably will.
Monday, June 16, 2014
Type Preview: Fire
The final run returns full circle, as the first time I played X (on October 12/13) I did this run. Now with seventeen types down, we return to where it all began. Can I beat the game one more time, this time without the aid of a Mega Blaziken?
Time to kill this run with Fire.
Type Effectiveness:
Attacking: SE's Grass, Ice, Bug and Steel. Half to itself, Water, Rock and Dragon. No immunities.
Defending: SE'd by Water, Ground and Rock. Half from itself, Grass, Ice, Bug, Steel and Fairy. No immunities.
Dual types: Normal, Electric*, Flying, Psychic, Rock, Ghost, Dragon* and Dark ingame. Postgame adds Ground, Bug, and Steel.
Probable Final Team:
Fennekin/Braxien/Delphox: The original starter, the one who provides a gratutious Shadow Ball, and in all honesty one of the main weapons against Water. Moveset; Flamethrower, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Grass Knot
Fletchling/Fletchinder/Talonflame: The pure-Flying power for the run, Flame Body solves a lot of physical defensive issues for the team in general. Also the Flyer. Moveset: Fly, Flamethrower, Steel Wing, Thief
Litleo/Pyroar: Returning champion from the Normal run, provides quick Normal power and if it can survive a turn, pain to Water-types. Moveset: Flamethrower, Hyper Voice, Dark Pulse, Solarbeam
Charmander/Charmeleon/Charizard: The sole Mega for the team, and much like Ampharos in previous runs he has to tank a lot of things and hit real hard. Shouldn't be too bad. Moveset: Flare Blitz, Dragon Claw, Shadow Claw, Earthquake
Houndour/Houndoom: Dark's actually the most common type on this run in terms of move types, but Houndoom gives STAB for it and has the only Electric move for Gyarados (eep). Moveset: Flamethrower, Dark Pulse, Thunder Fang, Sludge Bomb
Chandelure: The closer, returning from the very first run of the tour. And this time, I'll be STing to make sure it won't be leaving anything alive. Moveset: Flamethrower, Shadow Ball, Psychic, Energy Ball
Other team members: I might carry Flareon for a bit, since it'll have a full moveset by Shalour) and for early game HM muling. That's about it.
Why not use...?
Simisage: Monkeys not named Infernape suck. kthnx
Magcargo: Hasn't learned Power Gem in the last eight weeks.
Torkoal: Route 18 Pokemon who's main gimmick is being immune to stat drops and having Shell Smash. I'd trade the former for Sturdy if I could.
Heatmor: Main purpose in life is to get beaten by Durant. Very similar to Lebron James in that respect.
Major Battle Expectations:
Viola: Hmm, I'm packing Fire types. How do you THINK this will go?
Grant: The physical Fires get to Rock Smash everything in sight. Failing that, Dragon Rage 2HKOs everything.
Korrina: Talomflame and Psybeam from Braxien roll here.
Ramos: lol
Clemont: No Fighting type for Heliolisk? No problem, Charizard should resist everything by this point.
Valerie: Dazzling Gleam is resisted all 'round, so it comes down to "Did anyone still have Poison Jab"?
Olympia: Chandelure likes this.
Wulfric: The entire team LOVES this.
Rival: Houndoom and the Grass moves will carry things, but the first two fights will be tricky to say the least.
Team Flare: We resist Houndoom, but those bloody Gyarados will present a problem.
Elite 4: Siebold's last, obviously.
Champion: One last Mega v Mega fight, will they know to Moonblast Charizard?
Trainer:
I need a Fire master... so why not, let's go with Wheeler (yes, the Captain Planet guy) with a nickname of Prodigy (as in "Firestarter"). The Pokemon will be references to Fire users.
Time to kill this run with Fire.
Type Effectiveness:
Attacking: SE's Grass, Ice, Bug and Steel. Half to itself, Water, Rock and Dragon. No immunities.
Defending: SE'd by Water, Ground and Rock. Half from itself, Grass, Ice, Bug, Steel and Fairy. No immunities.
Dual types: Normal, Electric*, Flying, Psychic, Rock, Ghost, Dragon* and Dark ingame. Postgame adds Ground, Bug, and Steel.
Probable Final Team:
Fennekin/Braxien/Delphox: The original starter, the one who provides a gratutious Shadow Ball, and in all honesty one of the main weapons against Water. Moveset; Flamethrower, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Grass Knot
Fletchling/Fletchinder/Talonflame: The pure-Flying power for the run, Flame Body solves a lot of physical defensive issues for the team in general. Also the Flyer. Moveset: Fly, Flamethrower, Steel Wing, Thief
Litleo/Pyroar: Returning champion from the Normal run, provides quick Normal power and if it can survive a turn, pain to Water-types. Moveset: Flamethrower, Hyper Voice, Dark Pulse, Solarbeam
Charmander/Charmeleon/Charizard: The sole Mega for the team, and much like Ampharos in previous runs he has to tank a lot of things and hit real hard. Shouldn't be too bad. Moveset: Flare Blitz, Dragon Claw, Shadow Claw, Earthquake
Houndour/Houndoom: Dark's actually the most common type on this run in terms of move types, but Houndoom gives STAB for it and has the only Electric move for Gyarados (eep). Moveset: Flamethrower, Dark Pulse, Thunder Fang, Sludge Bomb
Chandelure: The closer, returning from the very first run of the tour. And this time, I'll be STing to make sure it won't be leaving anything alive. Moveset: Flamethrower, Shadow Ball, Psychic, Energy Ball
Other team members: I might carry Flareon for a bit, since it'll have a full moveset by Shalour) and for early game HM muling. That's about it.
Why not use...?
Simisage: Monkeys not named Infernape suck. kthnx
Magcargo: Hasn't learned Power Gem in the last eight weeks.
Torkoal: Route 18 Pokemon who's main gimmick is being immune to stat drops and having Shell Smash. I'd trade the former for Sturdy if I could.
Heatmor: Main purpose in life is to get beaten by Durant. Very similar to Lebron James in that respect.
Major Battle Expectations:
Viola: Hmm, I'm packing Fire types. How do you THINK this will go?
Grant: The physical Fires get to Rock Smash everything in sight. Failing that, Dragon Rage 2HKOs everything.
Korrina: Talomflame and Psybeam from Braxien roll here.
Ramos: lol
Clemont: No Fighting type for Heliolisk? No problem, Charizard should resist everything by this point.
Valerie: Dazzling Gleam is resisted all 'round, so it comes down to "Did anyone still have Poison Jab"?
Olympia: Chandelure likes this.
Wulfric: The entire team LOVES this.
Rival: Houndoom and the Grass moves will carry things, but the first two fights will be tricky to say the least.
Team Flare: We resist Houndoom, but those bloody Gyarados will present a problem.
Elite 4: Siebold's last, obviously.
Champion: One last Mega v Mega fight, will they know to Moonblast Charizard?
Trainer:
I need a Fire master... so why not, let's go with Wheeler (yes, the Captain Planet guy) with a nickname of Prodigy (as in "Firestarter"). The Pokemon will be references to Fire users.
Normal run complete!
The team entering, with relevant stats (Attack and Special Attack, then Speed):
Pyroar - Hyper Voice, Flamethrower, Dark Pulse, Solarbeam (225/202)
Snorlax - Body Slam, Earthquake, Heavy Slam, Rock Slide (209/95)
Exploud - Boomburst, Surf, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball (201/145)
Zangoose - Return, X-Scissor, Poison Jab, Brick Break (209/185)
Heliolisk - Thunderbolt, Surf, Dark Pulse, Grass Knot (192/224)
Staraptor - Return, Fly, Steel Wing, Close Combat (229/189)
And let's start it off with...
Wikstrom
Well, I lead with a Fire type normally, so why not?
Pyroar v Klefki
klefki drops a Spike layer but get roasted out by Flamethrower.
Zangoose v Probopass
Brick Break takes Probo to 1, Power Gem after Spikes brings Zangoose to 82/186. X-Scissor on the Full Restore turn sets up a Brick Break KO.
Snorlax v Aegislash
Sacred Sword takes Snorlax to 42HP, but Earthquake OHKOs.
Pyroar v Scizor
Flamethrower, g'bye.
Siebold
Gentlemen first, and I may be able to run the table here.
Heliolisk v Clawitzer
Thunderbolt...
Heliolisk v Gyarados
Thunderbolt...
Heliolisk v Barbaracle
Grass Knot for variety...
Heliolisk v Starmie
...and Thunderbolt to go 4/4!
Drasna
I think Exploud can pull off the last few, but that poisonous roadblock tho :/
Snorlax v Dragalgae
Can a 209 Atk non-STAB EQ get rid of Dragalgae? Yep, one shot.
Exploud v Druddigon
Weird that they'd go to the non-W4 here. Ice Beam does 70%... and Exploud survives Revenge by 6 HP! (Out of 226... damn.) Boomburst finishes.
Exploud v Altaria
Ice Beam OHKOs. I don't trust it against Noivern, though.
Snorlax v Noivern
Flamethrower does 24 damage... and Rock Slide misses. ::facepalm:: Noivern Super Fangs to 130, and Rock Slide does 60%. Dragon Pulse leaves Snorlax at 58, and sets up the Rock Slide finish with a gratuitous CH.
Malva
Last one standing, turn out the lights.
Staraptor v Pyroar
My desire to get Staraptor in before Diantha beats my desire for a mirror match. Close Combat OHKOs.
Exploud v Torkoal
Surf leaves Torkoal on about 5%, and Stone Edge does 66 (160/226). Boomburst on the Full Restore... faints, no crit or anything. Love this move.
Heliolisk v Talonflame
Thunderbolt OHKOs.
Pyroar v Chandelure
Dark Pulse OHKOs, and here we go!
Diantha
Aerial combat to open, play it by ear from there.
Staraptor v Hawlucha
Fly OHKOs.
Snorlax v Tyrantrum
Earthquake does 70%, Head Smash does 216 and Tyrantrum goes down from recoil.
Staraptor v Goodra
Fly misses Dragon Pulse and does 75%, then takes 117 (86/203) on the landing Dragon Pulse. A second Fly finishes.
Zangoose v Aurorus
Brick Break OHKOs.
Pyroar v Gourgeist
Flamethrower OHKOs.
Snorlax v MGardevoir
Moonblast picks off the weakened Snorlax. OK, plan B.
Staraptor v MGardevoir
Steel Wing... does 98%. If she's not Mega, it's a OHKO. Psychic (gratuitous crit) finishes.
Zangoose v MGardevoir
On the Full Restore turn, Poison Jab criticals and we have a new champion!
Pictured: Exploud, you can chill out now.
So there we go. One run remains. Time to light this joint on Fire.
Time Of The Fall: 28:45
Pyroar - Hyper Voice, Flamethrower, Dark Pulse, Solarbeam (225/202)
Snorlax - Body Slam, Earthquake, Heavy Slam, Rock Slide (209/95)
Exploud - Boomburst, Surf, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball (201/145)
Zangoose - Return, X-Scissor, Poison Jab, Brick Break (209/185)
Heliolisk - Thunderbolt, Surf, Dark Pulse, Grass Knot (192/224)
Staraptor - Return, Fly, Steel Wing, Close Combat (229/189)
And let's start it off with...
Wikstrom
Well, I lead with a Fire type normally, so why not?
Pyroar v Klefki
klefki drops a Spike layer but get roasted out by Flamethrower.
Zangoose v Probopass
Brick Break takes Probo to 1, Power Gem after Spikes brings Zangoose to 82/186. X-Scissor on the Full Restore turn sets up a Brick Break KO.
Snorlax v Aegislash
Sacred Sword takes Snorlax to 42HP, but Earthquake OHKOs.
Pyroar v Scizor
Flamethrower, g'bye.
Siebold
Gentlemen first, and I may be able to run the table here.
Heliolisk v Clawitzer
Thunderbolt...
Heliolisk v Gyarados
Thunderbolt...
Heliolisk v Barbaracle
Grass Knot for variety...
Heliolisk v Starmie
...and Thunderbolt to go 4/4!
Drasna
I think Exploud can pull off the last few, but that poisonous roadblock tho :/
Snorlax v Dragalgae
Can a 209 Atk non-STAB EQ get rid of Dragalgae? Yep, one shot.
Exploud v Druddigon
Weird that they'd go to the non-W4 here. Ice Beam does 70%... and Exploud survives Revenge by 6 HP! (Out of 226... damn.) Boomburst finishes.
Exploud v Altaria
Ice Beam OHKOs. I don't trust it against Noivern, though.
Snorlax v Noivern
Flamethrower does 24 damage... and Rock Slide misses. ::facepalm:: Noivern Super Fangs to 130, and Rock Slide does 60%. Dragon Pulse leaves Snorlax at 58, and sets up the Rock Slide finish with a gratuitous CH.
Malva
Last one standing, turn out the lights.
Staraptor v Pyroar
My desire to get Staraptor in before Diantha beats my desire for a mirror match. Close Combat OHKOs.
Exploud v Torkoal
Surf leaves Torkoal on about 5%, and Stone Edge does 66 (160/226). Boomburst on the Full Restore... faints, no crit or anything. Love this move.
Heliolisk v Talonflame
Thunderbolt OHKOs.
Pyroar v Chandelure
Dark Pulse OHKOs, and here we go!
Diantha
Aerial combat to open, play it by ear from there.
Staraptor v Hawlucha
Fly OHKOs.
Snorlax v Tyrantrum
Earthquake does 70%, Head Smash does 216 and Tyrantrum goes down from recoil.
Staraptor v Goodra
Fly misses Dragon Pulse and does 75%, then takes 117 (86/203) on the landing Dragon Pulse. A second Fly finishes.
Zangoose v Aurorus
Brick Break OHKOs.
Pyroar v Gourgeist
Flamethrower OHKOs.
Snorlax v MGardevoir
Moonblast picks off the weakened Snorlax. OK, plan B.
Staraptor v MGardevoir
Steel Wing... does 98%. If she's not Mega, it's a OHKO. Psychic (gratuitous crit) finishes.
Zangoose v MGardevoir
On the Full Restore turn, Poison Jab criticals and we have a new champion!
So there we go. One run remains. Time to light this joint on Fire.
Time Of The Fall: 28:45
Normal Day 7: Standard Operating Procedure
Current location: Saved at the Pokemon League.
Started out with Route 18, and the Sky Battle was actually quite easy when I threw a Electric-resist berry on Staraptor to get past a Stone Edge Flygon/Thunderbolt Drifblim combo. The Terminus Cave ran me out of Revives on the 2nd basement, but the last one was actually self-inflicted (Boomburst hits EVERYTHING).
In dealing with the Scoobies on Route 19, Zangoose started reaching the point where he was levelling faster than the rest of the team (thank you, Shedinja curve). The entire team was L55 coming into Snowbelle, then L56 in the gym itself. The Ice gym was a three-shot (2 Flamethrowers, one Heavy Slam).
Route 21 actually saw me complete the route versus just grabbing the Rare Candy and Flying out to ditch Cut from whoever got stuck with it (Heliolisk), and then Victory Road went down with the team ending at L63-L64 - running out the Rare Candies later, we're L65 going into the Elite 4.
Started out with Route 18, and the Sky Battle was actually quite easy when I threw a Electric-resist berry on Staraptor to get past a Stone Edge Flygon/Thunderbolt Drifblim combo. The Terminus Cave ran me out of Revives on the 2nd basement, but the last one was actually self-inflicted (Boomburst hits EVERYTHING).
In dealing with the Scoobies on Route 19, Zangoose started reaching the point where he was levelling faster than the rest of the team (thank you, Shedinja curve). The entire team was L55 coming into Snowbelle, then L56 in the gym itself. The Ice gym was a three-shot (2 Flamethrowers, one Heavy Slam).
Route 21 actually saw me complete the route versus just grabbing the Rare Candy and Flying out to ditch Cut from whoever got stuck with it (Heliolisk), and then Victory Road went down with the team ending at L63-L64 - running out the Rare Candies later, we're L65 going into the Elite 4.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Normal Day 5/6: Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul
Current location: Back in Anistar City after the Flare event.
Current team:
Pyroar - Hyper Voice, Flamethrower, Snarl, Dig (L52)
Snorlax - Body Slam, Bulldoze, Heavy Slam, Rock Smash (L52)
Exploud - Boomburst, Surf, Crunch, Howl (L52)
Zangoose - Strength, Dig, Poison Jab, X-Scissor (L53)
Heliolisk - Thunderbolt, Grass Knot, Surf, Cut (L52)
Staraptor - Return, Fly, Thief, Close Combat (L52)
Quick hits on two days of action sandwiched around a collapse for long sleep:
Shalour City - Took out the Rival with Strength and Body Slam, Staravia Aerial Aced the Gym to death.
Route 12/Azure Bay: Grind central, Staravia won the Sky Battles.
Courmarine: Picked up Fly, Heliolisk actually beat Jumpluff (3 Parabolic and a Surf), Zangoose X-Scissor took out the other two.
Route That Shall Not Be Named: Hit the jump to Charge Beam first shot, thankfully had Staravia lead to avoid. Litleo evolved against Team Flare.
Lumiose Gym: Snorlax beat Emolga in two Rock Tombs, Zangoose dealt with the rest
Route 14: Just missed getting Loudred to evolve here.
Laverre City: There we go, Loudred is now an Exploud and picked up Surf.
Route 15/16/Lost Hotel: Lots of leveling, Snarl actually was useful here.
Dendemille: Only beneficiary was Boomburst for Exploud.
Frost Cavern: Ran out of Revives in the Fighting gauntlet but powered through. Somehow, Heliolisk OHKOd Doublade with Thunderbolt.
Anistar Gym: Forgot to lead with Heliolisk to down Sigilyph before Light Screen got up, so beat it down with Body Slam/X-Scissor.
Team Flare events: Heliolisk is at best a two-shot against Mega-Gyarados without the 4x. Thankfully, the 2nd hit paralyzed. Snorlax also shrugged off Fire Blast from Lysandre's Pyroar, but that burned it.
Tomorrow: Finish the fight, er, run.
Current team:
Pyroar - Hyper Voice, Flamethrower, Snarl, Dig (L52)
Snorlax - Body Slam, Bulldoze, Heavy Slam, Rock Smash (L52)
Exploud - Boomburst, Surf, Crunch, Howl (L52)
Zangoose - Strength, Dig, Poison Jab, X-Scissor (L53)
Heliolisk - Thunderbolt, Grass Knot, Surf, Cut (L52)
Staraptor - Return, Fly, Thief, Close Combat (L52)
Quick hits on two days of action sandwiched around a collapse for long sleep:
Shalour City - Took out the Rival with Strength and Body Slam, Staravia Aerial Aced the Gym to death.
Route 12/Azure Bay: Grind central, Staravia won the Sky Battles.
Courmarine: Picked up Fly, Heliolisk actually beat Jumpluff (3 Parabolic and a Surf), Zangoose X-Scissor took out the other two.
Route That Shall Not Be Named: Hit the jump to Charge Beam first shot, thankfully had Staravia lead to avoid. Litleo evolved against Team Flare.
Lumiose Gym: Snorlax beat Emolga in two Rock Tombs, Zangoose dealt with the rest
Route 14: Just missed getting Loudred to evolve here.
Laverre City: There we go, Loudred is now an Exploud and picked up Surf.
Route 15/16/Lost Hotel: Lots of leveling, Snarl actually was useful here.
Dendemille: Only beneficiary was Boomburst for Exploud.
Frost Cavern: Ran out of Revives in the Fighting gauntlet but powered through. Somehow, Heliolisk OHKOd Doublade with Thunderbolt.
Anistar Gym: Forgot to lead with Heliolisk to down Sigilyph before Light Screen got up, so beat it down with Body Slam/X-Scissor.
Team Flare events: Heliolisk is at best a two-shot against Mega-Gyarados without the 4x. Thankfully, the 2nd hit paralyzed. Snorlax also shrugged off Fire Blast from Lysandre's Pyroar, but that burned it.
Tomorrow: Finish the fight, er, run.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Normal Day 4: Actual Progress Edition
Current location: Shalour City
Current team at L29:
Litleo - Headbutt, Ember, Bulldoze, Fire Fang
Snorlax - Body Slam, Bulldoze, Rock Smash, Lick
Loudred - Uproar, Howl, Pound, Bite
Zangoose - Strength, Rock Smash, Aerial Ace, Shadow Claw
Heliolisk - Parabolic Charge, Thunder Wave, Razor Wind, Bulldoze
Staravia (Naughty, Atk/Spd) - Aerial Ace, Quick Attack, Thief, Whirlwind
So after a 2am Super Training session, the day began with another round of Chateau training before we ran through Glittering Cave quickly. I took a few shots at getting a Sun Stone through Solrock, but elected to take Snorlax (he of the 1000+ pt shots) through Special ST instead as that also made training Staravia easier (two Speed, two Attack Ls and a Double before we got the Sun Stone).
I dropped Litleo, Quacklin' and Snorlax after the training ended to level up Loudred/Zangoose/Helioptile, so after pounding the Route 8 Water trainers we hit Cyllage at L21 for all. Some light Exp Share-aided grinding brought the team to L25, and Zangoose/Snorlax Rock Smash and Bulldoze rolled the gym. Grant went down to a Rock Smash and two Bulldozes. Oh, and I evolved Helioptile here.
Route 10 had not much to report, and the Geosenge fight actually went well as Litleo could 2 shot the Lucario, and the first one used Swords Dance in lieu of punching Litleo in the face. Yay. Route 11 saw us put Quacklin' away to pick up Staravia, who managed to win the Sky Battle on the route first try even though the first Pokemon was Emolga.
Thanks to some well-timed levelling, Staravia was able to dull the offensive powers of the Fighting types with only a casualty (Snorlax). At the end of the cave, we pulled into Shalour and I grabbed the two TMs with the several hundred thousand $ before end of day.
Today and tomorrow: I'm hoping to be at least through Clemont today and the Flare quest tomorrow. Hope for a quick edit.
Current team at L29:
Litleo - Headbutt, Ember, Bulldoze, Fire Fang
Snorlax - Body Slam, Bulldoze, Rock Smash, Lick
Loudred - Uproar, Howl, Pound, Bite
Zangoose - Strength, Rock Smash, Aerial Ace, Shadow Claw
Heliolisk - Parabolic Charge, Thunder Wave, Razor Wind, Bulldoze
Staravia (Naughty, Atk/Spd) - Aerial Ace, Quick Attack, Thief, Whirlwind
So after a 2am Super Training session, the day began with another round of Chateau training before we ran through Glittering Cave quickly. I took a few shots at getting a Sun Stone through Solrock, but elected to take Snorlax (he of the 1000+ pt shots) through Special ST instead as that also made training Staravia easier (two Speed, two Attack Ls and a Double before we got the Sun Stone).
I dropped Litleo, Quacklin' and Snorlax after the training ended to level up Loudred/Zangoose/Helioptile, so after pounding the Route 8 Water trainers we hit Cyllage at L21 for all. Some light Exp Share-aided grinding brought the team to L25, and Zangoose/Snorlax Rock Smash and Bulldoze rolled the gym. Grant went down to a Rock Smash and two Bulldozes. Oh, and I evolved Helioptile here.
Route 10 had not much to report, and the Geosenge fight actually went well as Litleo could 2 shot the Lucario, and the first one used Swords Dance in lieu of punching Litleo in the face. Yay. Route 11 saw us put Quacklin' away to pick up Staravia, who managed to win the Sky Battle on the route first try even though the first Pokemon was Emolga.
Thanks to some well-timed levelling, Staravia was able to dull the offensive powers of the Fighting types with only a casualty (Snorlax). At the end of the cave, we pulled into Shalour and I grabbed the two TMs with the several hundred thousand $ before end of day.
Today and tomorrow: I'm hoping to be at least through Clemont today and the Flare quest tomorrow. Hope for a quick edit.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Normal E3 Edition: A Whole Lot Of Nothing
For clarification: Between E3, work generally beating me down, and E3 podcasting... this is probably going to be the longest run since Fairy. We're three days in and I just got to Route 9, for instance. And this team needs levels badly.
Here's where we stand right now in terms of team members:
Litleo (Unnerve, Mild, SA/Speed) - Headbutt, Ember, Bulldoze, Work Up *L21*
Quacklin' (ingame-traded Farfetch'd) - Slash, Aerial Ace, Knock Off, Fury Cutter *L21*
Snorlax (Thick Fat, Naive, Atk/Speed) - Chip Away, Bulldoze, Rock Smash, Lick *L19*
Whimsur (Soundproof, Modest, SA/Speed) - Uproar, Howl, Pound, Astonish *L17*
Zangoose (Immunity, Naive, Atk/Speed) - Slash, Rock Smash, Pursuit, Fury Cutter *L17*
Helioptile (Dry Skin, Naive, SA/Speed when it's STed) - Thunder Shock, Tail Whip, Mud Slap, Charge *L15, just caught*
Day 1:
Started with Chespin as promised, picked up Bunnelby and Zigzagoon at first opportunity and let them take charge. Forgot momentarily which Pokemon you needed for the Quacklin' trade and inadvertently caught Fletching, so needed a second Bunnelby and ended up not doing the trade until after the gym. Also grabbed Bidoof for muling purposes on Route 3.
Picked up the first permanent member on Route 22 (Litleo) after about a half hour of searching. Mild's not ideal, but I'll settle. I can always Heart Scale Noble Roar back for the big ones. STed, and then had Litleo beat the gym down. Pulled the Farfetch'd trade and basically left town with Bidoof (trying to grind it to Bibarel), Quacklin' and Litleo in the back.
On Route 4, I simply let the derp and duck combo take out the trainers and ended up going into the Sycamore fight at L14. Came out of it with Litleo at 15, a gratuitous Charmander, and no time left.
Day 2:
Because of meetings and busted logins, I didn't get to start back up until halfway through the day. We took care of Route 5 and Bidoof evolved (so I stopped caring). Quacklin' and Litleo took the reigns from there and we went into Camphier at L17 for those two.
I'm almost to the point that I have Parfum Palace down to a science. We got out of there quickly, and went over to grab Snorlax - and I caught one with the right ability (extra resistances are always nice when you DON'T HAVE ANY) and a livable nature on the first Quick Ball. At this point, work stupidity kicked back in and I only had a chance to get Snorlax STed before end of day.
Day 3:
Things appeared to slow down, so I had Snorlax run a train on Route 6 for some levels, then took the gang down Route 7 to pick up Whimsur and Zangoose. Whimsur was accepted on the 8th attempt with a perfect nature, while Zangoose was good on the first shot after about 20 minutes or so of crawling Route 8 - didn't even hit the swarm.
Of course, the two sets of ST took a long time. They always do.
Once that was finished, I grabbed some extra cash and experience in the Battle Chateau, finding quickly that Zangoose has the Nincada experience curve. Thankfully, Zangoose can do damage so it's not so bad. We picked off Route 8, I picked up a few TMs in Ambrette, and caught Helioptile before the day ended, and I'm about to ST it (at 2am, because I'm hoping against hope for something to hit before I finish what could be $1200 worth of E3 preorders.)
Tomorrow; Since Helioptile will be STd, we're running back to even out the levels. I'm going to beat Grant, and hopefully get to Shalour before the end of the day (but it's a long shot).
Here's where we stand right now in terms of team members:
Litleo (Unnerve, Mild, SA/Speed) - Headbutt, Ember, Bulldoze, Work Up *L21*
Quacklin' (ingame-traded Farfetch'd) - Slash, Aerial Ace, Knock Off, Fury Cutter *L21*
Snorlax (Thick Fat, Naive, Atk/Speed) - Chip Away, Bulldoze, Rock Smash, Lick *L19*
Whimsur (Soundproof, Modest, SA/Speed) - Uproar, Howl, Pound, Astonish *L17*
Zangoose (Immunity, Naive, Atk/Speed) - Slash, Rock Smash, Pursuit, Fury Cutter *L17*
Helioptile (Dry Skin, Naive, SA/Speed when it's STed) - Thunder Shock, Tail Whip, Mud Slap, Charge *L15, just caught*
Day 1:
Started with Chespin as promised, picked up Bunnelby and Zigzagoon at first opportunity and let them take charge. Forgot momentarily which Pokemon you needed for the Quacklin' trade and inadvertently caught Fletching, so needed a second Bunnelby and ended up not doing the trade until after the gym. Also grabbed Bidoof for muling purposes on Route 3.
Picked up the first permanent member on Route 22 (Litleo) after about a half hour of searching. Mild's not ideal, but I'll settle. I can always Heart Scale Noble Roar back for the big ones. STed, and then had Litleo beat the gym down. Pulled the Farfetch'd trade and basically left town with Bidoof (trying to grind it to Bibarel), Quacklin' and Litleo in the back.
On Route 4, I simply let the derp and duck combo take out the trainers and ended up going into the Sycamore fight at L14. Came out of it with Litleo at 15, a gratuitous Charmander, and no time left.
Day 2:
Because of meetings and busted logins, I didn't get to start back up until halfway through the day. We took care of Route 5 and Bidoof evolved (so I stopped caring). Quacklin' and Litleo took the reigns from there and we went into Camphier at L17 for those two.
I'm almost to the point that I have Parfum Palace down to a science. We got out of there quickly, and went over to grab Snorlax - and I caught one with the right ability (extra resistances are always nice when you DON'T HAVE ANY) and a livable nature on the first Quick Ball. At this point, work stupidity kicked back in and I only had a chance to get Snorlax STed before end of day.
Day 3:
Things appeared to slow down, so I had Snorlax run a train on Route 6 for some levels, then took the gang down Route 7 to pick up Whimsur and Zangoose. Whimsur was accepted on the 8th attempt with a perfect nature, while Zangoose was good on the first shot after about 20 minutes or so of crawling Route 8 - didn't even hit the swarm.
Of course, the two sets of ST took a long time. They always do.
Once that was finished, I grabbed some extra cash and experience in the Battle Chateau, finding quickly that Zangoose has the Nincada experience curve. Thankfully, Zangoose can do damage so it's not so bad. We picked off Route 8, I picked up a few TMs in Ambrette, and caught Helioptile before the day ended, and I'm about to ST it (at 2am, because I'm hoping against hope for something to hit before I finish what could be $1200 worth of E3 preorders.)
Tomorrow; Since Helioptile will be STd, we're running back to even out the levels. I'm going to beat Grant, and hopefully get to Shalour before the end of the day (but it's a long shot).
Monday, June 9, 2014
Type Preview: Normal
The second most common type in the game, it's got no type advantages whatsoever but a lot of potent attackers. There's a wide variety of offense available, with one very annoying weakness that we've dealt with far too often.
One more run after this and we'll be back to Normal.
Type Effectiveness:
Attack: Super-effects nothing, resisted by Rock and Steel, and can't touch Ghost.
Defending: Super-effected by Fighting, no resistances, Ghost immunity.
Available dual types:
Fire, Water, Electric, Ground, Flying, Fairy ingame. Grass, Fighting and Psychic in the postgame.
Probable Final Team:
Litleo/Pyroar: Always a tricky battle in the E4, Normal/Fire doesn't do it any type favors but it does allow for a surprising Special focus for the team. Plows through the Steel Elite, if nothing else. Moveset: Hyper Voice, Flamethrower, Dark Pulse, Solarbeam
Snorlax: I usually catch it, now I have to use it. Physical cleaner who relies a lot on stray Body Slam paralysis or flat-out destroying things with Return. Moveset: Return, Heavy Slam, Rock Slide, Earthquake
Whimsur/Loudred/Exploud: Fills several Special-based holes on the team, also provides the E4 grinding with two major horde-clearing moves. Moveset: Boomburst, Surf, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball
Zangoose: 115 base Attack on Route 8? Are you kidding me? Also serves as an anti-Psychic and a mid-game anti-Fairy. Moveset: Return, X-Scissor, Poison Jab, Brick Break
Heloptile/Heliolisk: Anti-Water play that can defend itself quite well against Ground-Rocks. Returning champ from the Electric run. Moveset: Thunderbolt, Surf, Grass Knot, Dark Pulse
Staravia/Staraptor: Returning champ from Flying, now more important than ever. Defensive issues mitigated by Intimidate, for the most part. Moveset: Fly, Return, Close Combat, U-Turn or Steel Wing
Other team members: Unfortunately, I want to use Bibarel for late-game Waterfall purposes which means Bidoof. Diggersby will also return, and by the time Staravia joins I'll probably have a Farfetch'd to box.
Why not use...?
Pidgeot: Outclassed by Farfetch'd as an early gamer and Staraptor at the end game.
Linoone: Even with physical Fairy offense, just gets outclassed by the other Normals.
Dunsparce: A lot of interesting toys but lacks the skills to use them.
Delcatty: 50% chance of being complete crap (Normalize), 100% chance of being somewhat crap (Delcatty).
Furfrou: Usefulness falls off a cliff right around Route 8.
Dodrio: See Pidgeot
Furret: No real skills outside of HM muling
Kecleon: Both of its abilities would violate the point of the run anyway.
Audino: Exists solely to grind on.
Smeargle: The least efficient Pokemon possible for an ingame run.
Swellow: See Pidgeot + limited movepool.
Kangaskhan: Scrappy's not all that useful ingame - there's no Ghost specialist - and Zangoose hits harder. Mega Stone being postgame finishes it.
Tauros: Snorlax tanks like a mofo and Zangoose has more move variety.
Miltank: Not sure where it would fit, quite frankly.
Chatot: Worse than Pidgeot. Does that tell you anything?
Watchog: I might've used it if it was early, but Route 15 means it's punching about nine routes above its weight.
Fearow: Victory Road? nothxbai
Noctowl: Better than Chatot, but Route 20 dooms it.
Wigglytuff: I almost brought it, but finding out that Exploud does everything it would except for Fairy offense means I can't justify it.
Spinda: Needs an evo before I'd touch it.
Ursaring: Route 21 is way too late for this run.
Lickilicky: Why does this thing even EXIST?
Ditto: See Kecleon
Major Battle Expectations:
Viola: Litleo Ember sweep with a side of Farfetch'd getting rid of Surskit.
Grant: Normal might not be able to scratch it, but there's a full team of Bulldozers and Rock Smashers to play with.
Korrina: I'll have Staravia at this point, so he'll be able to Intimidate-sweep.
Ramos: Staravia's Fly is the key here.
Clemont: Snorlax tanks the whole place, with Zangoose hitting the last two with Fighting offense.
Valerie: Stray Poison Jabs ho.
Olympia: Balls and Claws carry the day here.
Wulfric: Exploud and Zangoose tag-team the place.
Rival: Definitely taking Chespin to minimize my Fighting exposure.
Team Flare: Not the best defenses, and Heliolisk works OT wiping out Lysandre.
Elite 4: Definitely have to leave Steel until the end.
Champion: The main reason Snorlax is hanging onto Heavy Slam? Mega Gardevoir.
Trainer:
I'm actually tempted to go with a) a canon name (Serena) for the trainer, and b) no nicknames on the Pokemon. It's a run so boring, there's no lore around it at all.
One more run after this and we'll be back to Normal.
Type Effectiveness:
Attack: Super-effects nothing, resisted by Rock and Steel, and can't touch Ghost.
Defending: Super-effected by Fighting, no resistances, Ghost immunity.
Available dual types:
Fire, Water, Electric, Ground, Flying, Fairy ingame. Grass, Fighting and Psychic in the postgame.
Probable Final Team:
Litleo/Pyroar: Always a tricky battle in the E4, Normal/Fire doesn't do it any type favors but it does allow for a surprising Special focus for the team. Plows through the Steel Elite, if nothing else. Moveset: Hyper Voice, Flamethrower, Dark Pulse, Solarbeam
Snorlax: I usually catch it, now I have to use it. Physical cleaner who relies a lot on stray Body Slam paralysis or flat-out destroying things with Return. Moveset: Return, Heavy Slam, Rock Slide, Earthquake
Whimsur/Loudred/Exploud: Fills several Special-based holes on the team, also provides the E4 grinding with two major horde-clearing moves. Moveset: Boomburst, Surf, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball
Zangoose: 115 base Attack on Route 8? Are you kidding me? Also serves as an anti-Psychic and a mid-game anti-Fairy. Moveset: Return, X-Scissor, Poison Jab, Brick Break
Heloptile/Heliolisk: Anti-Water play that can defend itself quite well against Ground-Rocks. Returning champ from the Electric run. Moveset: Thunderbolt, Surf, Grass Knot, Dark Pulse
Staravia/Staraptor: Returning champ from Flying, now more important than ever. Defensive issues mitigated by Intimidate, for the most part. Moveset: Fly, Return, Close Combat, U-Turn or Steel Wing
Other team members: Unfortunately, I want to use Bibarel for late-game Waterfall purposes which means Bidoof. Diggersby will also return, and by the time Staravia joins I'll probably have a Farfetch'd to box.
Why not use...?
Pidgeot: Outclassed by Farfetch'd as an early gamer and Staraptor at the end game.
Linoone: Even with physical Fairy offense, just gets outclassed by the other Normals.
Dunsparce: A lot of interesting toys but lacks the skills to use them.
Delcatty: 50% chance of being complete crap (Normalize), 100% chance of being somewhat crap (Delcatty).
Furfrou: Usefulness falls off a cliff right around Route 8.
Dodrio: See Pidgeot
Furret: No real skills outside of HM muling
Kecleon: Both of its abilities would violate the point of the run anyway.
Audino: Exists solely to grind on.
Smeargle: The least efficient Pokemon possible for an ingame run.
Swellow: See Pidgeot + limited movepool.
Kangaskhan: Scrappy's not all that useful ingame - there's no Ghost specialist - and Zangoose hits harder. Mega Stone being postgame finishes it.
Tauros: Snorlax tanks like a mofo and Zangoose has more move variety.
Miltank: Not sure where it would fit, quite frankly.
Chatot: Worse than Pidgeot. Does that tell you anything?
Watchog: I might've used it if it was early, but Route 15 means it's punching about nine routes above its weight.
Fearow: Victory Road? nothxbai
Noctowl: Better than Chatot, but Route 20 dooms it.
Wigglytuff: I almost brought it, but finding out that Exploud does everything it would except for Fairy offense means I can't justify it.
Spinda: Needs an evo before I'd touch it.
Ursaring: Route 21 is way too late for this run.
Lickilicky: Why does this thing even EXIST?
Ditto: See Kecleon
Major Battle Expectations:
Viola: Litleo Ember sweep with a side of Farfetch'd getting rid of Surskit.
Grant: Normal might not be able to scratch it, but there's a full team of Bulldozers and Rock Smashers to play with.
Korrina: I'll have Staravia at this point, so he'll be able to Intimidate-sweep.
Ramos: Staravia's Fly is the key here.
Clemont: Snorlax tanks the whole place, with Zangoose hitting the last two with Fighting offense.
Valerie: Stray Poison Jabs ho.
Olympia: Balls and Claws carry the day here.
Wulfric: Exploud and Zangoose tag-team the place.
Rival: Definitely taking Chespin to minimize my Fighting exposure.
Team Flare: Not the best defenses, and Heliolisk works OT wiping out Lysandre.
Elite 4: Definitely have to leave Steel until the end.
Champion: The main reason Snorlax is hanging onto Heavy Slam? Mega Gardevoir.
Trainer:
I'm actually tempted to go with a) a canon name (Serena) for the trainer, and b) no nicknames on the Pokemon. It's a run so boring, there's no lore around it at all.
Water run complete!
Team going in:
Vyse - Surf, Dark Pulse, Ice Beam, Extrasensory - 201 primary Attack stat, 184 Speed
Hook - Water Pulse, Dark Pulse, Ice Beam, Flash Cannon - 192 / 164
Picard - Waterfall, Play Rough, Dig, Brick Break - 130 (260 w/Huge Power) / 129
Tenneal - Surf, Psychic, Sludge Bomb, Flamethrower - 190 / 129
Leela - Surf, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Dazzling Gleam - 146 / 142
Starbuck - Waterfall, Brick Break, Earthquake, Rock Slide - 187 / 153
And of course, there's only one place to start.
Malva
I believe the term is "Duh..."
Starbuck v Pyroar
Waterfall puts the kitty down.
Leela v Talonflame
Brave Bird does 195/257, Surf OHKOs after recoil.
Leela v Torkoal
Surf OHKOs again.
Vyse v Chandelure
And Surf completes the sweep.
Siebold
Resist STAB and have good counters? Check.
Leela v Clawitzer
Thunderbolt does 90%, Dragon Pulse brings Leela to 172/257. Dazzling Gleam on the Full Restore does a quarter to set up the T-Bolt finish.
Leela v Gyarados
Thunderbolt OHKOs.
Hook v Barbaracle
Oops, forgot the Grass Knot. But a Mega Water Pulse does 70% and confuses, NBD. Barb hits Stone Edge through the confusion (134/197) but a second Water Pulse finishes.
Vyse v Starmie
Dark Pulse one-shots to end it.
Drasna
Throwing a quality anti-Dragon at it.
Picard v Dragalgae
Picard Digs to avoid a Sludge Bomb, then OHKOs on the turn 2. Apparently Dig CAN one-shot if it's coming from 260 Attack.
Leela v Altaria
Ice Beam, next.
Hook v Noivern
Dragon Pulse brings Hook to 68 (forgot to heal), but at least it's not an Air Slash flinch. Ice Beam OHKOs back.
Hook v Druddigon
Ice Beam... leaves Druddigon at 2%. Dragon Tail brings Hook to 25, but enter Picard.
Picard v Druddigon
On Full Restore 1, Play Rough OHKOs (181/206 after Rough Skin).
Wikstrom
Only one left, and time for Tenneal to prove his worth.
Tenneal v Klefki
Opening Flamethrower does 95%, Dazzling Gleam hits (117/180). Full Restore 1 meets 70% from Surf, and a second Surf finishes. No Spikes here, luckily.
Leela v Probopass
Surf does 70%, and Earth Power brings Leela to 163/257. Surf 2 gets the duke. Leela dings 66.
Hook v Aegislash
Mega Launcher aided Dark Pulse is my best shot here... first shot hits a King's Shield, but the 2nd drops Aegislash to 10%. Shadow Claw hits for 125/197 left, but Wikstrom Full Restores in Blade form, so Pulse 3 is an easy OHKO. Hook levels.
Tenneal v Scizor
And Flamethrower happens.
Diantha
I don't usually lead with Pokemon that have levelled, but it's my best shot here.
Leela v Hawlucha
A not-very-effective Flying Press does 42, a SE Thunderbolt one-shots.
Picard v Tyrantrum
Play Rough OHKOs. Picard dings. Don't mess with the fairy.
Starbuck v Aurorus
Brick Break, goodbye.
Vyse v Gourgeist
Dark Pulse OHKOs.
Picard v Goodra
Play Rough... MISSES! Focus Blast... hits (178/209, NVE) and lowers the Special Defense. What is that, a set up for Sludge Bomb? PR 2... MISSES AGAIN! This time, Goodra Fire Blasts Picard to 132. A 3rd PR finally puts the Undergooder down, and HERE WE GO...
Hook v Gardevoir
A critical Flash Cannon... leaves Gardevoir on 5%. The retailiatory Thunderbolt brings Hook to 52HP. On the Full Restore I Water Pulse for half... AND WATER PULSE 2 DOES IT! NEW HERO!
Pictured: First he makes it into Kerfuffle, then he becomes a two time champion.
So we'll send them off and then go back to Normal for a bit...
Time of the fall: 30:42
Vyse - Surf, Dark Pulse, Ice Beam, Extrasensory - 201 primary Attack stat, 184 Speed
Hook - Water Pulse, Dark Pulse, Ice Beam, Flash Cannon - 192 / 164
Picard - Waterfall, Play Rough, Dig, Brick Break - 130 (260 w/Huge Power) / 129
Tenneal - Surf, Psychic, Sludge Bomb, Flamethrower - 190 / 129
Leela - Surf, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Dazzling Gleam - 146 / 142
Starbuck - Waterfall, Brick Break, Earthquake, Rock Slide - 187 / 153
And of course, there's only one place to start.
Malva
I believe the term is "Duh..."
Starbuck v Pyroar
Waterfall puts the kitty down.
Leela v Talonflame
Brave Bird does 195/257, Surf OHKOs after recoil.
Leela v Torkoal
Surf OHKOs again.
Vyse v Chandelure
And Surf completes the sweep.
Siebold
Resist STAB and have good counters? Check.
Leela v Clawitzer
Thunderbolt does 90%, Dragon Pulse brings Leela to 172/257. Dazzling Gleam on the Full Restore does a quarter to set up the T-Bolt finish.
Leela v Gyarados
Thunderbolt OHKOs.
Hook v Barbaracle
Oops, forgot the Grass Knot. But a Mega Water Pulse does 70% and confuses, NBD. Barb hits Stone Edge through the confusion (134/197) but a second Water Pulse finishes.
Vyse v Starmie
Dark Pulse one-shots to end it.
Drasna
Throwing a quality anti-Dragon at it.
Picard v Dragalgae
Picard Digs to avoid a Sludge Bomb, then OHKOs on the turn 2. Apparently Dig CAN one-shot if it's coming from 260 Attack.
Leela v Altaria
Ice Beam, next.
Hook v Noivern
Dragon Pulse brings Hook to 68 (forgot to heal), but at least it's not an Air Slash flinch. Ice Beam OHKOs back.
Hook v Druddigon
Ice Beam... leaves Druddigon at 2%. Dragon Tail brings Hook to 25, but enter Picard.
Picard v Druddigon
On Full Restore 1, Play Rough OHKOs (181/206 after Rough Skin).
Wikstrom
Only one left, and time for Tenneal to prove his worth.
Tenneal v Klefki
Opening Flamethrower does 95%, Dazzling Gleam hits (117/180). Full Restore 1 meets 70% from Surf, and a second Surf finishes. No Spikes here, luckily.
Leela v Probopass
Surf does 70%, and Earth Power brings Leela to 163/257. Surf 2 gets the duke. Leela dings 66.
Hook v Aegislash
Mega Launcher aided Dark Pulse is my best shot here... first shot hits a King's Shield, but the 2nd drops Aegislash to 10%. Shadow Claw hits for 125/197 left, but Wikstrom Full Restores in Blade form, so Pulse 3 is an easy OHKO. Hook levels.
Tenneal v Scizor
And Flamethrower happens.
Diantha
I don't usually lead with Pokemon that have levelled, but it's my best shot here.
Leela v Hawlucha
A not-very-effective Flying Press does 42, a SE Thunderbolt one-shots.
Picard v Tyrantrum
Play Rough OHKOs. Picard dings. Don't mess with the fairy.
Starbuck v Aurorus
Brick Break, goodbye.
Vyse v Gourgeist
Dark Pulse OHKOs.
Picard v Goodra
Play Rough... MISSES! Focus Blast... hits (178/209, NVE) and lowers the Special Defense. What is that, a set up for Sludge Bomb? PR 2... MISSES AGAIN! This time, Goodra Fire Blasts Picard to 132. A 3rd PR finally puts the Undergooder down, and HERE WE GO...
Hook v Gardevoir
A critical Flash Cannon... leaves Gardevoir on 5%. The retailiatory Thunderbolt brings Hook to 52HP. On the Full Restore I Water Pulse for half... AND WATER PULSE 2 DOES IT! NEW HERO!
So we'll send them off and then go back to Normal for a bit...
Time of the fall: 30:42
Water Day 7: Surrounded by Idiots
Not going to bother dumping the team since I'm writing this at the Pokemon League, so that'll lead off the next post.
The day began with cleaning out Route 18, and the realization that Leela could never really catch up in experience (especially to Picard), so she pretty much took the lead through Terminus Cave. It almost worked as well, until the Nido-combo came calling.
After beating down Sycamore in Couriway Town, I picked up Sludge Bomb (selective fairy destruction) for Tenneal, rendering him the backup for Gardevoir. From there, it was time to beat down the Scoobies - curse you Aerodactyl, for making Hook hit himself twice between Sky Drops - and pick up Waterfall.
The Snowbelle Gym was basically the entire team Surfing things out of existence, with Hook taking the lead to pick off stray things with Mega'd Flash Cannon. Wulfric went double Flamethrower, then a Brick Break to take Cryogonal, and we have the 8th badge - and more importantly, Ice Beam! That began a string of TM acquisition, as we kind of needed every single one bar Stone Edge (and I still went down for an extra Heart Scale).
Victory Road saw the team hit L65 after Rare Candies and the Rival finally employing strategy for the first time in like, ever by switching to Chesnaught from Meowstic. It managed to faint Leela before getting Flamethrowered out of existence.
And now, the League awaits...
The day began with cleaning out Route 18, and the realization that Leela could never really catch up in experience (especially to Picard), so she pretty much took the lead through Terminus Cave. It almost worked as well, until the Nido-combo came calling.
After beating down Sycamore in Couriway Town, I picked up Sludge Bomb (selective fairy destruction) for Tenneal, rendering him the backup for Gardevoir. From there, it was time to beat down the Scoobies - curse you Aerodactyl, for making Hook hit himself twice between Sky Drops - and pick up Waterfall.
The Snowbelle Gym was basically the entire team Surfing things out of existence, with Hook taking the lead to pick off stray things with Mega'd Flash Cannon. Wulfric went double Flamethrower, then a Brick Break to take Cryogonal, and we have the 8th badge - and more importantly, Ice Beam! That began a string of TM acquisition, as we kind of needed every single one bar Stone Edge (and I still went down for an extra Heart Scale).
Victory Road saw the team hit L65 after Rare Candies and the Rival finally employing strategy for the first time in like, ever by switching to Chesnaught from Meowstic. It managed to faint Leela before getting Flamethrowered out of existence.
And now, the League awaits...
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Water Weekend: Revenge of the Antipode
Current location: Route 18
Current team in the L53:
Vyse - Surf, Cut, Extrasensory, Grass Knot
Hook - Water Pulse, Bite, Tackle, Flash Cannon
Picard - Aqua Tail, Play Rough, Strength, Rock Smash
Tenneal - Surf, Flamethrower, Ice Beam, Signal Beam
Leela - Surf, Thunderbolt, Dazzling Gleam, Signal Beam
Starbuck - Bubblebeam, Low Sweep, Poison Jab, Dig
As per the advice of my advisor, I elected to keep Hook around and see if I can do something with Clauncher down the road. We picked up on Route 15 and went through leveling the team and clearing out 15, the Hotel and 16 (though I couldn't pick up Snarl the first time because I missed a skating trick).
Following the end of 16, I actually picked up the Super Rod and killed a little time by flying around doing some fishing to round out the levels. Didn't catch anything worth using, though. I flew back to Dendemille from there and availed myself of the move returner's services to get Hook off Bubble - now, if I could get him off Tackle, I'd be happy.
In the Frost Cavern, nothing major happened except for being caught out with Vyse against Hariyama, but that's why Goddish invented Revives. Anistar Gym saw Vyse try the sweep but due to a lack of offensive power, Night Slash let Light Screen get up - but Leela's Signal Beam confused on the first shot, resulting into Slowking KOing himself.
The final event of the weekend was the Flare quest, and Leela did most of the Gyarados KOing when it came in off the hop, and Vyse took out the Mega form with a newly-super effective Grass Knot.
Tomorrow: The run winds down, and we go down to 2.
Current team in the L53:
Vyse - Surf, Cut, Extrasensory, Grass Knot
Hook - Water Pulse, Bite, Tackle, Flash Cannon
Picard - Aqua Tail, Play Rough, Strength, Rock Smash
Tenneal - Surf, Flamethrower, Ice Beam, Signal Beam
Leela - Surf, Thunderbolt, Dazzling Gleam, Signal Beam
Starbuck - Bubblebeam, Low Sweep, Poison Jab, Dig
As per the advice of my advisor, I elected to keep Hook around and see if I can do something with Clauncher down the road. We picked up on Route 15 and went through leveling the team and clearing out 15, the Hotel and 16 (though I couldn't pick up Snarl the first time because I missed a skating trick).
Following the end of 16, I actually picked up the Super Rod and killed a little time by flying around doing some fishing to round out the levels. Didn't catch anything worth using, though. I flew back to Dendemille from there and availed myself of the move returner's services to get Hook off Bubble - now, if I could get him off Tackle, I'd be happy.
In the Frost Cavern, nothing major happened except for being caught out with Vyse against Hariyama, but that's why Goddish invented Revives. Anistar Gym saw Vyse try the sweep but due to a lack of offensive power, Night Slash let Light Screen get up - but Leela's Signal Beam confused on the first shot, resulting into Slowking KOing himself.
The final event of the weekend was the Flare quest, and Leela did most of the Gyarados KOing when it came in off the hop, and Vyse took out the Mega form with a newly-super effective Grass Knot.
Tomorrow: The run winds down, and we go down to 2.
Friday, June 6, 2014
Water Day 4: A Fine Mess I've Gotten Into
Current location: In Laverre, just cleared the Poke Ball Factory.
Current team:
Vyse - Surf, Round, Smack Down, Grass Knot
Hook (now a Blastoise, @ Blastoisinte) - Water Pulse, Bite, Tackle, Bubble
Picard - Aqua Tail, Strength, Dig, Rock Smash
Tenneal - Surf, Psybeam, Ice Beam, Signal Beam
Leela - Surf, Thunderbolt, Dazzling Gleam, Signal Beam
and Starbuck the Poliwrath (Adamant, Water Absorb, Atk/Spd) - Bubblebeam, Low Sweep, Poison Jab, Dig
Picked up in Courmarine and started by Flying around to grab some Water types I missed - a couple of prospects were in the crowd as well. After that it was back to TRTSNBN to pick up some levels, including getting the now-departed Vaan to evolve. The first Team Flare grunt in the Power Plant actually helped us pull a double, as Vyse AND Hook both evolved as well.
Once we returned to Lumiose, it was Electric gym time... and the only Pokemon in there who managed to KO anyone was, as expected, Heliolisk. Even the Ampharos who squeezed in a KO during Fighting didn't fare well - though I threw Leela at it, so that probably did the trick. In the badge fight, Leela wore out Emolga with Surf, Picard's Rock Smash set up a Tenneal Aurora Bea win, and Leela came back to beat Magneton.
The third Rival fight was a Tenneal fest, then we swam through the rain of Route 14 and bid farewell to Vaan so we could go tadpole hunting. And in a situation where I wanted the opposite of my old Poli- we got it (Adamant AND Water Absorb), so a quick round of ST, a Water Stone and some TMs later it was ready to take on Valerie. Although it didn't fare well against Aromatisse's Moonblast, it handled the rest up to Sylveon - who fell to, of all things, Mega Water Pulse. Meh, I'll take it.
After the Poke Ball Factory diversion, I randomly did a PC check (as we're nearly into box 2 and I had a couple of crit catches), and... remember what I said in the preview about getting a good draw on Clawitzer and giving it the Hook spot? Well, the Clauncher I caught is Modest. Who would get the boot? I've got a weekend to post a E3 podcast and figure that out.
Current team:
Vyse - Surf, Round, Smack Down, Grass Knot
Hook (now a Blastoise, @ Blastoisinte) - Water Pulse, Bite, Tackle, Bubble
Picard - Aqua Tail, Strength, Dig, Rock Smash
Tenneal - Surf, Psybeam, Ice Beam, Signal Beam
Leela - Surf, Thunderbolt, Dazzling Gleam, Signal Beam
and Starbuck the Poliwrath (Adamant, Water Absorb, Atk/Spd) - Bubblebeam, Low Sweep, Poison Jab, Dig
Picked up in Courmarine and started by Flying around to grab some Water types I missed - a couple of prospects were in the crowd as well. After that it was back to TRTSNBN to pick up some levels, including getting the now-departed Vaan to evolve. The first Team Flare grunt in the Power Plant actually helped us pull a double, as Vyse AND Hook both evolved as well.
Once we returned to Lumiose, it was Electric gym time... and the only Pokemon in there who managed to KO anyone was, as expected, Heliolisk. Even the Ampharos who squeezed in a KO during Fighting didn't fare well - though I threw Leela at it, so that probably did the trick. In the badge fight, Leela wore out Emolga with Surf, Picard's Rock Smash set up a Tenneal Aurora Bea win, and Leela came back to beat Magneton.
The third Rival fight was a Tenneal fest, then we swam through the rain of Route 14 and bid farewell to Vaan so we could go tadpole hunting. And in a situation where I wanted the opposite of my old Poli- we got it (Adamant AND Water Absorb), so a quick round of ST, a Water Stone and some TMs later it was ready to take on Valerie. Although it didn't fare well against Aromatisse's Moonblast, it handled the rest up to Sylveon - who fell to, of all things, Mega Water Pulse. Meh, I'll take it.
After the Poke Ball Factory diversion, I randomly did a PC check (as we're nearly into box 2 and I had a couple of crit catches), and... remember what I said in the preview about getting a good draw on Clawitzer and giving it the Hook spot? Well, the Clauncher I caught is Modest. Who would get the boot? I've got a weekend to post a E3 podcast and figure that out.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Water Day 3: Taking Care of Business and Working Overtime
Current location: Courmarine Pokemon Center after beating Ramos.
Current team (all L34 but the last one):
Vyse - Surf, Round, Quick Attack, Lick
Hook - Water Pulse, Bite, Tackle, Bubble
Vaan - Surf, Air Slash, Fly, Roost
Picard - Aqua Tail, Strength, Dig, Rock Smash
Tenneal the Octillery (Hasty, SA/Speed, Sniper) - Surf, Psybeam, Aurora Beam, Signal Beam
Leela the Lanturn (Bashful, SA/Speed, Volt Absorb) - Surf, Electro Ball, Thunder Wave, Confuse Ray *L33*
Not a lot got accomplished today, honestly - and thanks to a timely illness at work and a screwing from the Random Number God, I had to play after getting home to get where we did.
To begin, I put Picard through the training from hell, in which he admitted there were four lights and got his Attack rating to the proper, insane proportions. Our first Chateau run actually got it to evolve, as well.
Next was the mad dash to get the Good Rod, and I found you can bypass the trainers going one way to Courmarine with a Skiddo - you just can't do it with the return trip. With the Good Rod, it turned out that both Remoraid and Chinchou are in the same area (Shalour), so much fishing ensued. Remoraid - 3rd shot was fine. Chinchou... not so much. I believe I was fishing for over an hour, soft resetting all the while, and largely getting Adamant and Jolly for some reason. Finally, I said "screw it" (maybe not in those words) and grabbed the first non-SA reducing nature that had Volt Absorb on it.
From there, we went through two rounds of ST, which took about an hour and a half. With the team ready, we set off for Route 12 and the Azure Bay, but that only got the group out of the range that Repels stopped working on the encounters. We entered Courmarine for the 2nd time with a third of the team needing five levels fast, so enter The Route That Shall Not Be Named.
By the time we got to L31, it was time to take a break, go home, and eat. We picked back up there, finished off the leveling and steamrolled the Rival (the as-of-yet-unnamed Tenneal 2-shot Quilladin with Aurora Beam, hoo-rah). The gym caused me to run out twice to heal due to lack of supplies, but the gym battle went quite well: A Thunder Wave/Electro Ball combo felled Jumpluff, Weepinbell got OHKOed by Aurora Beam, and after Air Slash didn't finish off Gogoat, a second Aurora Beam did the trick.
Tomorrow: Gonna Fly around for a bit grabbing some things I missed real quick as Clemont prep, with an end goal of beating Valerie and having Poliwrath on board.
Current team (all L34 but the last one):
Vyse - Surf, Round, Quick Attack, Lick
Hook - Water Pulse, Bite, Tackle, Bubble
Vaan - Surf, Air Slash, Fly, Roost
Picard - Aqua Tail, Strength, Dig, Rock Smash
Tenneal the Octillery (Hasty, SA/Speed, Sniper) - Surf, Psybeam, Aurora Beam, Signal Beam
Leela the Lanturn (Bashful, SA/Speed, Volt Absorb) - Surf, Electro Ball, Thunder Wave, Confuse Ray *L33*
Not a lot got accomplished today, honestly - and thanks to a timely illness at work and a screwing from the Random Number God, I had to play after getting home to get where we did.
To begin, I put Picard through the training from hell, in which he admitted there were four lights and got his Attack rating to the proper, insane proportions. Our first Chateau run actually got it to evolve, as well.
Next was the mad dash to get the Good Rod, and I found you can bypass the trainers going one way to Courmarine with a Skiddo - you just can't do it with the return trip. With the Good Rod, it turned out that both Remoraid and Chinchou are in the same area (Shalour), so much fishing ensued. Remoraid - 3rd shot was fine. Chinchou... not so much. I believe I was fishing for over an hour, soft resetting all the while, and largely getting Adamant and Jolly for some reason. Finally, I said "screw it" (maybe not in those words) and grabbed the first non-SA reducing nature that had Volt Absorb on it.
From there, we went through two rounds of ST, which took about an hour and a half. With the team ready, we set off for Route 12 and the Azure Bay, but that only got the group out of the range that Repels stopped working on the encounters. We entered Courmarine for the 2nd time with a third of the team needing five levels fast, so enter The Route That Shall Not Be Named.
By the time we got to L31, it was time to take a break, go home, and eat. We picked back up there, finished off the leveling and steamrolled the Rival (the as-of-yet-unnamed Tenneal 2-shot Quilladin with Aurora Beam, hoo-rah). The gym caused me to run out twice to heal due to lack of supplies, but the gym battle went quite well: A Thunder Wave/Electro Ball combo felled Jumpluff, Weepinbell got OHKOed by Aurora Beam, and after Air Slash didn't finish off Gogoat, a second Aurora Beam did the trick.
Tomorrow: Gonna Fly around for a bit grabbing some things I missed real quick as Clemont prep, with an end goal of beating Valerie and having Poliwrath on board.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Water Day 2: Seven Seas of Rye
Current location: Santalune City with a new friend to train
Current team:
Vyse L32 - Surf, Round, Quick Attack, Lick
Hook L31 - Water Pulse, Bite, Tackle, Bubble
Vaan L32 - Surf, Air Slash, Water Pulse, Roost
freshly caught Marill "Picard" L25 - Lonely, Huge Power, Atk/Speed - Aqua Tail, Double-Edge, Bubblebeam, Helping Hand
Picking up in Camphier, the first trick was to catch Vaan up. Route 6 took care of that quite handily, as I actually managed to do the route without a map for once and still get everything on it. Water Pulses for all was the order of the double Furfrou fight. Route 7 went quickly, though I have bypassed the Chateau so far so the financials would look a little weird down the road.
On 8, I was distressed to discover that although Swanna can enter Sky Battles, Vaan as he is constructed cannot due to a lack of height. We pressed on, managing to get rid of the Axew, and rolling through Glittering Cave due to the Electrike's unwillingness to use actual Electrical attacks.
As we entered Cyllage, I elected to forego the usual session on Route 10 in favour of just storming the gym - and it worked well, we finished at the usual L25 and Vyse Water Pulsed us to the badge. I haven't really used any of the traditional TMs thus far - Rock Tomb, Bulldoze, et al - but that was due to lack of competent physical attackers which Picard will remedy tomorrow.
There were no trouble spots on Route 10, though the AP boosted-Dunsparce did scare me slightly, and Vaan proved more useful than his namesake by actually *gasp* sweeping the Lucario fight. The two Metal Sound misses helped immensely here, as did a confusion effect on one Lucario who hit itself with a +3 stage Attack.
The Reflection Cave had the traditional trouble spots, but we were able to slow down Hawlucha and Sawk long enough for them to be Air Slashed away. Moving into Shalour, the three on three match with the Rival saw Bite actually be useful against Meowstic, and another round of aerial slashery brought us the 3rd badge, got us the Mega, and... Surf. Booya.
That led us all the way back to Route 3, where a Lonely (should work fine, it's not staying in against Steel anyway) Marill was snagged as the day ended.
Tomorrow: After Picard gets his groove back.. tomorrow is about STing, as we're adding two OTHER members to the team and hopefully having enough time to level them past Ramos.
Current team:
Vyse L32 - Surf, Round, Quick Attack, Lick
Hook L31 - Water Pulse, Bite, Tackle, Bubble
Vaan L32 - Surf, Air Slash, Water Pulse, Roost
freshly caught Marill "Picard" L25 - Lonely, Huge Power, Atk/Speed - Aqua Tail, Double-Edge, Bubblebeam, Helping Hand
Picking up in Camphier, the first trick was to catch Vaan up. Route 6 took care of that quite handily, as I actually managed to do the route without a map for once and still get everything on it. Water Pulses for all was the order of the double Furfrou fight. Route 7 went quickly, though I have bypassed the Chateau so far so the financials would look a little weird down the road.
On 8, I was distressed to discover that although Swanna can enter Sky Battles, Vaan as he is constructed cannot due to a lack of height. We pressed on, managing to get rid of the Axew, and rolling through Glittering Cave due to the Electrike's unwillingness to use actual Electrical attacks.
As we entered Cyllage, I elected to forego the usual session on Route 10 in favour of just storming the gym - and it worked well, we finished at the usual L25 and Vyse Water Pulsed us to the badge. I haven't really used any of the traditional TMs thus far - Rock Tomb, Bulldoze, et al - but that was due to lack of competent physical attackers which Picard will remedy tomorrow.
There were no trouble spots on Route 10, though the AP boosted-Dunsparce did scare me slightly, and Vaan proved more useful than his namesake by actually *gasp* sweeping the Lucario fight. The two Metal Sound misses helped immensely here, as did a confusion effect on one Lucario who hit itself with a +3 stage Attack.
The Reflection Cave had the traditional trouble spots, but we were able to slow down Hawlucha and Sawk long enough for them to be Air Slashed away. Moving into Shalour, the three on three match with the Rival saw Bite actually be useful against Meowstic, and another round of aerial slashery brought us the 3rd badge, got us the Mega, and... Surf. Booya.
That led us all the way back to Route 3, where a Lonely (should work fine, it's not staying in against Steel anyway) Marill was snagged as the day ended.
Tomorrow: After Picard gets his groove back.. tomorrow is about STing, as we're adding two OTHER members to the team and hopefully having enough time to level them past Ramos.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Water Day 1: Don't Believe Lysandre's Lies
Current location: Camphier Pokemon Center, need to ST someone.
Current team:
Vyse the Frogadier - Quiet, SA/Speed - Water Pulse, Lick, Pound, Quick Attack (male, L18)
Hook the Wartortle - Rash, SA/Speed - Water Gun, Tackle, Bubble, Bite (male, L17)
Vaan the Ducklett - Timid, no ST yet (planning same as other two) - Water Sport, Defog, Wing Attack, Water Pulse (male, L14)
Ishmael's adventure opened with attempting to find a quality Froakie - and at some point, I need to get a female so I can call her "Leela". Anyway, it took about six tries before I got a nature I could deal with, so after the requisite ST we marched off to Santalune, picking up a Panpour, rat, Bidoof and Azurill (who I might've kept if I managed to catch one with Adamant/Huge Power or similar, it ended up with Careful so nope, gonna wait for Marill still.)
The Santalune gym proper was a tad tricky as I didn't bring the usual complement of Potions, leading to Froakie ending up at 6 HP at one point against Vivillon. Luckily, we were able to overcome that to grab badge 1.
After a sneaky dash through Route 4, it was Squirtle time - and we had a few scares in which Leech Seed managed to cause a lot of problems. Eventually, we won out and I got a usable Squirtle in Hook on about the sixth successful match.
I doubled back to clear out 22 and 4 to get Hook leveled up, and both Pokemon ended up evolving on the double battle of Route 5. They were at the current level by the end of Route 5, so we cleared Parfum Palace, grabbed Snorlax, and managed to find a good enough Ducklett for our purposes on about the third ball before the end of the day and the obtaining of Mario Kart.
Tomorrow: The next time I go for a Pokemon on the team, it'll be once we obtain Surf... so we're probably going to push to at least get past Grant.
Current team:
Vyse the Frogadier - Quiet, SA/Speed - Water Pulse, Lick, Pound, Quick Attack (male, L18)
Hook the Wartortle - Rash, SA/Speed - Water Gun, Tackle, Bubble, Bite (male, L17)
Vaan the Ducklett - Timid, no ST yet (planning same as other two) - Water Sport, Defog, Wing Attack, Water Pulse (male, L14)
Ishmael's adventure opened with attempting to find a quality Froakie - and at some point, I need to get a female so I can call her "Leela". Anyway, it took about six tries before I got a nature I could deal with, so after the requisite ST we marched off to Santalune, picking up a Panpour, rat, Bidoof and Azurill (who I might've kept if I managed to catch one with Adamant/Huge Power or similar, it ended up with Careful so nope, gonna wait for Marill still.)
The Santalune gym proper was a tad tricky as I didn't bring the usual complement of Potions, leading to Froakie ending up at 6 HP at one point against Vivillon. Luckily, we were able to overcome that to grab badge 1.
After a sneaky dash through Route 4, it was Squirtle time - and we had a few scares in which Leech Seed managed to cause a lot of problems. Eventually, we won out and I got a usable Squirtle in Hook on about the sixth successful match.
I doubled back to clear out 22 and 4 to get Hook leveled up, and both Pokemon ended up evolving on the double battle of Route 5. They were at the current level by the end of Route 5, so we cleared Parfum Palace, grabbed Snorlax, and managed to find a good enough Ducklett for our purposes on about the third ball before the end of the day and the obtaining of Mario Kart.
Tomorrow: The next time I go for a Pokemon on the team, it'll be once we obtain Surf... so we're probably going to push to at least get past Grant.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Type Preview: Water
It's the most populous type in the game, with a full 120+ Pokemon represented, and it's one unreleased event legend away from being paired with everything. It's a solid type on offense and defense, except for the one part of the midgame. I can probably run two teams with all the Pokemon here.
These puns are starting to not hold Water.
Type Effectiveness:
Attacking: Super effective on Fire, Ground and Rock. Resisted by itself, Grass, and Dragon. No immunities.
Defending: SEd by Electric and Grass. Resists Fire, itself, Ice and Steel. No immunities on type alone.
Dual-types: Normal, Grass, Electric, Ice, Fighting, Poison, Ground, Flying, Psychic, Bug (temporarily), Rock, Dragon, Dark, and Fairy ingame. Postgame adds Ghost, Steel and (once they get around to releasing #721) Fire.
Probable Final Team:
Froakie/Frogadier/Greninja: Well, let's see, it's a starter, it's /Dark which is a useful STAB, and it's a ninja frog. Last time I used this thing it made Smash Brothers. Probable Final Moveset: Surf, Dark Pulse, Extrasensory, Grass Knot/Ice Beam depending on the situation
Marill/Azumarill: Note what's missing there; I'm not starting the run with it this time, so I can pass it up until Surf comes in and I can double back to Route 3 to pick it up in the pond. Anti-Dragon and designed to Aqua Tail Valerie into next week. PFM: Waterfall, Play Rough, Dig, Brick Break
Squirtle/Wartortle/Blastoise: Run-Mega, for one thing. Sadly, his extra Pulse moves don't come into play unless I breed it with a Clawitzer, so I'll have to make do with a somewhat oddball moveset. PFM: Water Pulse, Dark Pulse, Flash Cannon, Ice Beam
Lanturn: Main switchin for Electric-types - screw being immune, I get HP *back*. Also provides much tanking and suprisingly good versatility. PFM: Surf, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Dazzling Gleam
Remoraid/Octillery: It's been my favorite Pokemon for years and FINALLY I get to use it in a run. Fills in some key coverage holes. PFM: Surf, Flamethrower, Sludge Bomb, Psychic
Poliwhirl/Poliwrath: Solid phyiscal cleaner, don't need to be heavy on the Special end this time. PFM: Waterfall, Brick Break, Earthquake, Rock Slide
Other team members: If I get a good draw on Clawitzer I might swap Blastoise for a full Mega Launcher-abuser. I'm also considering options for a Water/Flying at least until we get past Ramos and The Route That Shall Not Be Named, and I'm truthfully leaning toward Swanna.
Why not use...?
Let's start with the previous teammates that don't make it: Starmie, Lapras, Barbaracle, Ludicolo and Gyarados. /pours a .40 In all seriousness, they didn't really provide the team balance I needed for the run.
As for the rest: (deleted due to absurd length)
A few prominent ones:
Vaporeon: Yes, even Vaporeon got the sting of Eeveelution movepool shrinkage. Maybe when Move Tutors return.
Relicanth: Not enough physical variety again.
Bibarel: Is still related to Bidoof.
Major Battle Expectations:
Viola: Sheer power of Froakie should get me past Vivillon.
Grant: Type advantage does it, just have to be careful to avoid the Thunder Wave.
Korrina: By the time I get here, I should have access to high-powered Water Pulses *and* an Air Slash.
Ramos: The first of two problems... There's going to be a lot of Aurora Beaming and Air Slashing involved.
Clemont: Lanturn can actually sweep this gym provided I can get something in to deal with Heliolisk's Grass Knot.
Valerie: Going for the straight sweep with Azumarill based on Fairy resistances.
Olympia: Greninja goes off here.
Wulfric: It helps to be Ice-resistant, but there's a little Flamethrower and Brick Break action.
Rival: Getting past Chesnaught might be tricky until the late game when we start getting Fairy moves.
Team Flare: Aside from Manectric, we should be able to overpower it.
Elite 4: Finally, an E4 where I'm picking the first type based on what I'll have more fun beating.
Champion: MegaBlastoise v MegaGardevoir: WHO YA GOT?
Trainer:
Despite not using a Wailord, I have always looked at using some of these Pokemon as a white whale if you weeeeel. So call me Ishmael. As for the Pokemon, I'm thinking of a Captain theme... and not just a bunch of sea captains.
These puns are starting to not hold Water.
Type Effectiveness:
Attacking: Super effective on Fire, Ground and Rock. Resisted by itself, Grass, and Dragon. No immunities.
Defending: SEd by Electric and Grass. Resists Fire, itself, Ice and Steel. No immunities on type alone.
Dual-types: Normal, Grass, Electric, Ice, Fighting, Poison, Ground, Flying, Psychic, Bug (temporarily), Rock, Dragon, Dark, and Fairy ingame. Postgame adds Ghost, Steel and (once they get around to releasing #721) Fire.
Probable Final Team:
Froakie/Frogadier/Greninja: Well, let's see, it's a starter, it's /Dark which is a useful STAB, and it's a ninja frog. Last time I used this thing it made Smash Brothers. Probable Final Moveset: Surf, Dark Pulse, Extrasensory, Grass Knot/Ice Beam depending on the situation
Marill/Azumarill: Note what's missing there; I'm not starting the run with it this time, so I can pass it up until Surf comes in and I can double back to Route 3 to pick it up in the pond. Anti-Dragon and designed to Aqua Tail Valerie into next week. PFM: Waterfall, Play Rough, Dig, Brick Break
Squirtle/Wartortle/Blastoise: Run-Mega, for one thing. Sadly, his extra Pulse moves don't come into play unless I breed it with a Clawitzer, so I'll have to make do with a somewhat oddball moveset. PFM: Water Pulse, Dark Pulse, Flash Cannon, Ice Beam
Lanturn: Main switchin for Electric-types - screw being immune, I get HP *back*. Also provides much tanking and suprisingly good versatility. PFM: Surf, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Dazzling Gleam
Remoraid/Octillery: It's been my favorite Pokemon for years and FINALLY I get to use it in a run. Fills in some key coverage holes. PFM: Surf, Flamethrower, Sludge Bomb, Psychic
Poliwhirl/Poliwrath: Solid phyiscal cleaner, don't need to be heavy on the Special end this time. PFM: Waterfall, Brick Break, Earthquake, Rock Slide
Other team members: If I get a good draw on Clawitzer I might swap Blastoise for a full Mega Launcher-abuser. I'm also considering options for a Water/Flying at least until we get past Ramos and The Route That Shall Not Be Named, and I'm truthfully leaning toward Swanna.
Why not use...?
Let's start with the previous teammates that don't make it: Starmie, Lapras, Barbaracle, Ludicolo and Gyarados. /pours a .40 In all seriousness, they didn't really provide the team balance I needed for the run.
As for the rest: (deleted due to absurd length)
A few prominent ones:
Vaporeon: Yes, even Vaporeon got the sting of Eeveelution movepool shrinkage. Maybe when Move Tutors return.
Relicanth: Not enough physical variety again.
Bibarel: Is still related to Bidoof.
Major Battle Expectations:
Viola: Sheer power of Froakie should get me past Vivillon.
Grant: Type advantage does it, just have to be careful to avoid the Thunder Wave.
Korrina: By the time I get here, I should have access to high-powered Water Pulses *and* an Air Slash.
Ramos: The first of two problems... There's going to be a lot of Aurora Beaming and Air Slashing involved.
Clemont: Lanturn can actually sweep this gym provided I can get something in to deal with Heliolisk's Grass Knot.
Valerie: Going for the straight sweep with Azumarill based on Fairy resistances.
Olympia: Greninja goes off here.
Wulfric: It helps to be Ice-resistant, but there's a little Flamethrower and Brick Break action.
Rival: Getting past Chesnaught might be tricky until the late game when we start getting Fairy moves.
Team Flare: Aside from Manectric, we should be able to overpower it.
Elite 4: Finally, an E4 where I'm picking the first type based on what I'll have more fun beating.
Champion: MegaBlastoise v MegaGardevoir: WHO YA GOT?
Trainer:
Despite not using a Wailord, I have always looked at using some of these Pokemon as a white whale if you weeeeel. So call me Ishmael. As for the Pokemon, I'm thinking of a Captain theme... and not just a bunch of sea captains.
Fighting run complete!
You'd think after the last post I'd go after the thing I can SE first.
You'd be wrong.
Malva
Fewest problem Pokemon off the hop...
Dangerously v Pyroar
Hyper Voices does 58 (137/195) and Surf OHKOs back.
Eaton v Talonflame
Eaton's faster and has Rock Slide, which connects for a OHKO.
Dangerously v Torkoal
Surf OHKOs, as usual.
Zbyszko v Chandelure
Crunch OHKOs after a gratuitous Flame Body burn.
Siebold
Relax, we'll get to Steel soon.
Rude v Clawitzer
Seed Bomb OHKOs.
Eaton v Starmie
X-Scissor... does 90%. I didn't want to chance Zbyszko coming in and getting Dazzling Gleamed to death, but he'll have to come in as Psychic OHKOs back.
Zbyszko v Starmie
On the Full Restore, Crunch OHKOs.
Rude v Barbaracle
Seed Bomb does what you would expect.
Austin v Gyarados
Even with Intimidate, Austin manages to hit the Stun Gu... er, Thunder Punch and OHKO.
Drasna
I've got a theory about this one but I doubt I'll be able to attempt it...
Zbyszko v Dragalgae
Dragon Claw crits and OHKOs. I'm hoping for a certain type of skin to show next...
Dangerously v Altaria
...and I don't get it, so I bring in Dangerously to OHKO with Ice Beam.
Dangerously v Noivern
He's got good SpDef, so as long as Air Slash doesn't start flinching I'll be OK... first hit brings it to 81/192 and of course, flinches. Second AS finishes.
Eaton v Noivern
On the ground of "two can play at that game", I try Rock Slide for 60%, but no flinch. Air Slash 3 is also a OHKO.
Anderson v Noivern
The Enforcer goes Mega, takes about 120 (62/186) from Flamethrower, and Psychic gets the faint.
Austin v Druddigon
I wanted to see if a +1 Dragon Claw could OHKO... but I didn't need to, as a standard High Jump Kick did the job. (146/169 due to Rough Skin.)
Wikstrom
There's one Pokemon I'm frightened of, and it's his main.
Zbyszko v Klefki
High Jump Kick does 85%, clearly missing the Moxie boost, and Dazzling Gleam OHKOs
Rude v Klefki
I Brick Break (saving the Earthquake PP) for half, and Klefki drops Spikes. A second Brick Break finishes.
Rude v Aegislash
Here we go... The one thing I would have normally brought is gone. I use Earthquake 4 times - 1 and 3 hit King's Shields, but the 2nd and 4th are enough to bring it down. On the one offensive turn for Aegislash, Iron Head did 131/204.
Austin v Scizor
After Austin takes 21 from Spikes (148/169), Fire Punch OHKOs.
Austin v Probopass
Can't get around Sturdy with anyone, but a Fire Punch does a quarter... and burns. Doesn't affect Flash Cannon's damage any (84 HP left), but High Jump Kick ends it.
Diantha
Starting with the Mirror Match again, clearly.
Eaton v Hawlucha
Eaton Flies away from a Poison Jab... but the Vainville Jam MISSES and Poison Jab hits for 142/188.. and poisons. A second Fly connects for the duke.
Dangerously v Aurorus
Focus Miss... hits like a Flair top rope move and OHKOs.
Austin v Gourgeist
Fire Punch... DOESN'T OHKO. (What.) On Phanton Force, I swap to the Cruncher.
Zbyszko v Gourgeist
The incoming Phantom Force does 28 damage. Crunch does 90% and lowers Defense on the Full Restore allowing a 2nd Crunch on Full Restore to OHKO.
Zbyszko v Goodra
I take the Moxie boost and OHKO with High Jump Kick. Zbyszko levels.
Austin v Tyrantrum
High Jump Kick OHKOs again to set up the Mega match.
Anderson v Gardevoir
Moonblast goes first and takes Anderson to 45... but Mega Metal Claw OHKOs! New heroine!
Pictured: I'm not sure Rude should be going after this one.
After a run to the Bank, it's... well, time to jump into the pool as we're getting a little Water-logged.
Time of the fall 26:48
You'd be wrong.
Malva
Fewest problem Pokemon off the hop...
Dangerously v Pyroar
Hyper Voices does 58 (137/195) and Surf OHKOs back.
Eaton v Talonflame
Eaton's faster and has Rock Slide, which connects for a OHKO.
Dangerously v Torkoal
Surf OHKOs, as usual.
Zbyszko v Chandelure
Crunch OHKOs after a gratuitous Flame Body burn.
Siebold
Relax, we'll get to Steel soon.
Rude v Clawitzer
Seed Bomb OHKOs.
Eaton v Starmie
X-Scissor... does 90%. I didn't want to chance Zbyszko coming in and getting Dazzling Gleamed to death, but he'll have to come in as Psychic OHKOs back.
Zbyszko v Starmie
On the Full Restore, Crunch OHKOs.
Rude v Barbaracle
Seed Bomb does what you would expect.
Austin v Gyarados
Even with Intimidate, Austin manages to hit the Stun Gu... er, Thunder Punch and OHKO.
Drasna
I've got a theory about this one but I doubt I'll be able to attempt it...
Zbyszko v Dragalgae
Dragon Claw crits and OHKOs. I'm hoping for a certain type of skin to show next...
Dangerously v Altaria
...and I don't get it, so I bring in Dangerously to OHKO with Ice Beam.
Dangerously v Noivern
He's got good SpDef, so as long as Air Slash doesn't start flinching I'll be OK... first hit brings it to 81/192 and of course, flinches. Second AS finishes.
Eaton v Noivern
On the ground of "two can play at that game", I try Rock Slide for 60%, but no flinch. Air Slash 3 is also a OHKO.
Anderson v Noivern
The Enforcer goes Mega, takes about 120 (62/186) from Flamethrower, and Psychic gets the faint.
Austin v Druddigon
I wanted to see if a +1 Dragon Claw could OHKO... but I didn't need to, as a standard High Jump Kick did the job. (146/169 due to Rough Skin.)
Wikstrom
There's one Pokemon I'm frightened of, and it's his main.
Zbyszko v Klefki
High Jump Kick does 85%, clearly missing the Moxie boost, and Dazzling Gleam OHKOs
Rude v Klefki
I Brick Break (saving the Earthquake PP) for half, and Klefki drops Spikes. A second Brick Break finishes.
Rude v Aegislash
Here we go... The one thing I would have normally brought is gone. I use Earthquake 4 times - 1 and 3 hit King's Shields, but the 2nd and 4th are enough to bring it down. On the one offensive turn for Aegislash, Iron Head did 131/204.
Austin v Scizor
After Austin takes 21 from Spikes (148/169), Fire Punch OHKOs.
Austin v Probopass
Can't get around Sturdy with anyone, but a Fire Punch does a quarter... and burns. Doesn't affect Flash Cannon's damage any (84 HP left), but High Jump Kick ends it.
Diantha
Starting with the Mirror Match again, clearly.
Eaton v Hawlucha
Eaton Flies away from a Poison Jab... but the Vainville Jam MISSES and Poison Jab hits for 142/188.. and poisons. A second Fly connects for the duke.
Dangerously v Aurorus
Focus Miss... hits like a Flair top rope move and OHKOs.
Austin v Gourgeist
Fire Punch... DOESN'T OHKO. (What.) On Phanton Force, I swap to the Cruncher.
Zbyszko v Gourgeist
The incoming Phantom Force does 28 damage. Crunch does 90% and lowers Defense on the Full Restore allowing a 2nd Crunch on Full Restore to OHKO.
Zbyszko v Goodra
I take the Moxie boost and OHKO with High Jump Kick. Zbyszko levels.
Austin v Tyrantrum
High Jump Kick OHKOs again to set up the Mega match.
Anderson v Gardevoir
Moonblast goes first and takes Anderson to 45... but Mega Metal Claw OHKOs! New heroine!
Pictured: I'm not sure Rude should be going after this one.
After a run to the Bank, it's... well, time to jump into the pool as we're getting a little Water-logged.
Time of the fall 26:48
Fighting Day 5: Guts and Glory
Current location: Saved at the Pokemon League, ready for the main event.
Current team at L65:
Rude - Brick Break, Seed Bomb, Earthquake, Rock Slide (211 Atk, 148 Speed)
Anderson - Aura Sphere, Metal Claw, Psychic, Shadow Claw (194 Atk, 196 SA, 127 Speed, Mega puts them in the 240s)
Zbyszko - High Jump Kick, Crunch, Poison Jab, Dragon Claw (188 Atk, 140 Speed)
Austin - High Jump Kick, Zen Headbutt, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch (149x2 Atk, 155 Speed)
Eaton - High Jump Kick, Fly, X-Scissor, Rock Slide (200 Atk, 203 Speed)
Dangerously - Focus Blast, Surf, Psychic, Ice Beam (163 SA, 145 Speed)
The Frost Cavern opener was a tad tricky, largely because of a certain spectral sword who hit through Dig of all things (thanks, No Guard) and of course, Sawk shooting on everyone because I didn't bring it on this team. That was the only trouble spot, except for the troubling trend of High Jump Kick missing 1 out of every 5 or so that lasted the whole day.
The trickiest part of any Fighting run in XY is of course, the Psychic gym. Zbyszko had to take the lead here to keep us from losing 2-3 guys per round to the Psychic moves, before Anderson came out for the gym fight and started Mega Shadow Clawing everything in sight. Olympia wasn't actually that hard, though - a Thunder Punch got Sigilyph, a Crunch OHKOed Slowking and Meowstic got the aforementioned MegaClaw.
The Team Flare quest finished before lunch, including a Mega fight that Anderson managed to win by about 20 HP (though it helped that Gyarados goes Fighting-weak when he goes Mega). The next big fight was the Scoobie gauntlet, which had one scary moment at the end with Aerodactyl - however, unlike his real-life counterpart, Dangerously hung on after the big aerial offense and managed to drop it in one Surf.
The last badge came in Snowbelle, and it went as I thought it would - Kick KO x 2, Mega Aura Sphere. By this point, I was 1-2 levels ahead of normal pace and stayed there until I flipped the Exp Share off after the rival fight in Victory Road. Even then, we ended up at 65... so I'm not as scared of Wikstrom as I was (even though I *know* I'll only be able to one-shot Scizor there).
That match... is next.
Current team at L65:
Rude - Brick Break, Seed Bomb, Earthquake, Rock Slide (211 Atk, 148 Speed)
Anderson - Aura Sphere, Metal Claw, Psychic, Shadow Claw (194 Atk, 196 SA, 127 Speed, Mega puts them in the 240s)
Zbyszko - High Jump Kick, Crunch, Poison Jab, Dragon Claw (188 Atk, 140 Speed)
Austin - High Jump Kick, Zen Headbutt, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch (149x2 Atk, 155 Speed)
Eaton - High Jump Kick, Fly, X-Scissor, Rock Slide (200 Atk, 203 Speed)
Dangerously - Focus Blast, Surf, Psychic, Ice Beam (163 SA, 145 Speed)
The Frost Cavern opener was a tad tricky, largely because of a certain spectral sword who hit through Dig of all things (thanks, No Guard) and of course, Sawk shooting on everyone because I didn't bring it on this team. That was the only trouble spot, except for the troubling trend of High Jump Kick missing 1 out of every 5 or so that lasted the whole day.
The trickiest part of any Fighting run in XY is of course, the Psychic gym. Zbyszko had to take the lead here to keep us from losing 2-3 guys per round to the Psychic moves, before Anderson came out for the gym fight and started Mega Shadow Clawing everything in sight. Olympia wasn't actually that hard, though - a Thunder Punch got Sigilyph, a Crunch OHKOed Slowking and Meowstic got the aforementioned MegaClaw.
The Team Flare quest finished before lunch, including a Mega fight that Anderson managed to win by about 20 HP (though it helped that Gyarados goes Fighting-weak when he goes Mega). The next big fight was the Scoobie gauntlet, which had one scary moment at the end with Aerodactyl - however, unlike his real-life counterpart, Dangerously hung on after the big aerial offense and managed to drop it in one Surf.
The last badge came in Snowbelle, and it went as I thought it would - Kick KO x 2, Mega Aura Sphere. By this point, I was 1-2 levels ahead of normal pace and stayed there until I flipped the Exp Share off after the rival fight in Victory Road. Even then, we ended up at 65... so I'm not as scared of Wikstrom as I was (even though I *know* I'll only be able to one-shot Scizor there).
That match... is next.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Fighting Day 4: Devestation in Laverre City
Current location: Dendemille Town, visited the Returner.
Current team (L44):
Rude - Low Sweep, Seed Bomb, Dig, Rock Tomb
Anderson - Aura Sphere, Metal Claw, Shadow Claw, Dragon Pulse
Zbyszko - High Jump Kick, Crunch, Poison Jab, Rock Tomb
Austin - High Jump Kick, Zen Headbutt, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch
Eaton - High Jump Kick, Fly, X-Scissor, Rock Tomb
and newcomer Dangerously the Poliwrath (Modest, Damp, SA/Speed) - Low Sweep, Surf, Mud Shot, Poison Jab
We picked up in Lumiose, grabbed a few extra items for the road and had our third rival fight to open. The Cruncher (Zbyszko) took out the two Psychics on the team to earn a much needed evolution, and then it was up Route 14 to find Poli Dangerously.
Thankfully, we found a quality Poliwhirl fishing on about the 4th try - only complaint is no Water Absorb, but I can deal. Also, it helped that Dangerously came at L35, so it only took a few rounds in the Laverre Gym to get him caught up.
As for Valerie herself... turns out Adamant and Poison Jab does mean you can sweep Valerie with a Pokemon 4x weak to Fairy. The Speed+ O-Power saved him from using an X-Speed, allowing High Jump Kick to OHKO Mawile for a Moxie +1, then two Poison Jabs put down Mr Mime for the duke.
After the Poke Ball factory, we went to Route 15 and I decided to clear the 15 and 16 areas before going into Dendemille. There were no problems there, and the team got to L44 right as 16 ended. Back in Dendemille, it took all of the Heart Scale supply to get Anderson and Austin outfitted, but we're ready to go for tomorrow.
Tomorrow's goal: At least get past the Flare event.
Current team (L44):
Rude - Low Sweep, Seed Bomb, Dig, Rock Tomb
Anderson - Aura Sphere, Metal Claw, Shadow Claw, Dragon Pulse
Zbyszko - High Jump Kick, Crunch, Poison Jab, Rock Tomb
Austin - High Jump Kick, Zen Headbutt, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch
Eaton - High Jump Kick, Fly, X-Scissor, Rock Tomb
and newcomer Dangerously the Poliwrath (Modest, Damp, SA/Speed) - Low Sweep, Surf, Mud Shot, Poison Jab
We picked up in Lumiose, grabbed a few extra items for the road and had our third rival fight to open. The Cruncher (Zbyszko) took out the two Psychics on the team to earn a much needed evolution, and then it was up Route 14 to find Poli Dangerously.
Thankfully, we found a quality Poliwhirl fishing on about the 4th try - only complaint is no Water Absorb, but I can deal. Also, it helped that Dangerously came at L35, so it only took a few rounds in the Laverre Gym to get him caught up.
As for Valerie herself... turns out Adamant and Poison Jab does mean you can sweep Valerie with a Pokemon 4x weak to Fairy. The Speed+ O-Power saved him from using an X-Speed, allowing High Jump Kick to OHKO Mawile for a Moxie +1, then two Poison Jabs put down Mr Mime for the duke.
After the Poke Ball factory, we went to Route 15 and I decided to clear the 15 and 16 areas before going into Dendemille. There were no problems there, and the team got to L44 right as 16 ended. Back in Dendemille, it took all of the Heart Scale supply to get Anderson and Austin outfitted, but we're ready to go for tomorrow.
Tomorrow's goal: At least get past the Flare event.
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