Dragon run complete!

So off we went to the Elite 4... and you know what this means. PBP time!

Malva
Probably the type I'm best equipped to handle.

Naga v Pyroar
Opening Earthquake OHKOs.

Komodo v Torkoal
Surf does about 85%, and Torkoal counters with Earthquake for 100 dmg (61/161). Dragon Pulse up against Full Restore 1 does 2/3, allowing Sludge Bomb to finish.

Kaiser v Talonflame
Plays out just like in Rock -  Brave Bird does about 40 and Rock Slide ends it.

Alcar v Chandelure
Earthquake OHKOs.

Siebold
Figured I could take the Water next, but I made this one way harder than it needed to be.

Seath v Clawitzer
Mega Thunderbolt OHKOs.

Seath v Gyarados
Remember, when an Ampharos goes Mega, its speed actually DROPS. So Gyarados can get in an Earthquake to bring Seath near 1/3 health (69/203) before getting the inevitable Thunderbolt. I probably should have gone to Komodo here, since it had similar Defense and I wouldn't be stuck against Starmie.

Komodo v Starmie
Starmie gets the jump and throws up a Light Screen, meaning Komodo can only do about 45% with Thunderbolt. Starmie throws a Psychic that takes Komodo to 45/161 and drops Special Defense, while a second Thunderbolt puts it in Full Restore range.I switch to Kaiser.

Kaiser v Starmie
After the Full Restore, Starmie KOs the weakened Kaiser with Dazzling Gleam.

Hurtslime v Starmie
Dragon Pulse goes first and takes 30% off, while Dazzling Gleam takes 70 off Hurtslime (129/199). The Light Screen drops, so I probably should have gone to Sludge Bomb which would've put it in Dragon Pulse KO range even with the Light Screen, but a second Pulse means it gets to Full Restore after putting Light Screen back up. Dragon Pulse is now a 4HKO, and Hurtslime can only squeeze in two before falling to Dazzling Gleam.

Alcar v Starmie
At which point I declare a motion of "F it" and Earthquake Starmie to death.

Seath v Barbaracle
And Mega Thunderbolt OHKOs again.

Drasna
Yay, mirror match!

Alcar v Dragalgae
Earthquake OHKOs, as it should.

Kaiser v Altaria
Dragon Claw OHKOs.

Hurtslime v Noivern
Dragon Pulse takes Hurtslime to 91 before Ice Beam OHKOs.

Hurtslime v Druddigon
We go for the sweep, but Dragon Pulse leaves Druddigon at about 5% and Dragon Tail picks it off. I forgot for a minute that 48 was the base SPEED, not Special Defense.

Seath v Druddigon
Full Restore gets met with a Mega Dragon Pulse for the circuitous OHKO.

Wikstrom
Saving the worst for last here.

Alcar v Klefki
Klefki falls for the bait and gets Earthquaked to death.

Alcar v Probopass
No multi-hit moves here, so we do it the old fashioned way - Earthquake to 1HP, take Flash Cannon (123/219), Brick Break on the Full Restore and EQ for the finish.

Hurtslime v Aegislash
Flamethrower does half to Shield Form, then Hurtslime gets Iron Head to 64HP. Second Flamethrower finishes.

Hurtslime v Scizor
Remember how Scizor's had four or five opportunities to prove Bullet Punch WASN"T theoretical? Yeah, about that. He finally pulls it out to finish the weakened Hurtslime.

Naga v Scizor
Fire Fang OHKOs coming back, as I thank Goddish I kept that one.

Diantha
Time to hope this is more Ice than, well, anything else.

Seath v Hawlucha
Hawlucha Swords Dances futilely and falls to Mega Thunderbolt.

Alcar v Aurorus
You'd think I'd be crazy to throw out a Ground/Dragon against Ice. As it turned out... crazy like a Delphox. Brick Break OHKOs.

Naga v Goodra
Dragon Claw OHKOs.

Hurtslime v Tyrantrum
Dragon Pulse OHKOs...

Hurtslime v Gourgeist
Flamethrower OHKOs...

Alcar v Gardevoir
...and Poison Jab justifies its existence by OHKOing! New hero!

 Pictured: The last time Ricky won a title like that, it was in 23 minutes in Chicago.

And this time, I remembered to upload the team (sorry Rock dudes), so we'll sleep on this and start Bugging out in the AM.

Time of the fall: 35h00m.

Dragon Day 7: Technical Mastery

Current location: Saved at the Pokemon League.

Team at time of entry, all the usual L64:
Naga - Dragon Claw, Fly, Fire Fang, Earthquake
Komodo - Sludge Bomb, Dragon Pulse, Thunderbolt, Surf
Kaiser - Dragon Claw, Rock Slide, Crunch, Earthquake
Seath - Thunderbolt, Dragon Pulse, Power Gem, Signal Beam
Alcar - Earthquake, Dragon Claw, Poison Jab, Brick Break
and Hurtslime - Dragon Pulse, Sludge Bomb, Flamethrower, Ice Beam

Picked up Flamethrower off the hop and dropped Komodo (who was actually L55, but it's hard to tell the difference) before embarking on the Route 18 area... and it was great to go on that route for the first time in a long while without geeting OHKOed by everything that moves in Terminus Cave's basement.

Based on what he was packing, it was fun having Hurtslime solo Sycamore's starter trio with a full collection of moves (OK, Flamethrower and two Thunderbolts, but w/e). The Route 19 Rival Gauntlet Of Mild Discomfort lived up to its name, letting Seath pick off the originals and the entire team was L56 at Snowbelle's entrance.

I ducked over to Route 21 and spent an hour seeing if I could potentially get a good draw on Dratini or Dragonair... and I didn't see either one. Hell, I saw a SHINY BASCULIN, but no dragons. I left without even going for Altaria, because the hell with that.

Snowbelle Gym didn't even get a chance to fire Ice Beams... Hurtslime OHKOed 2/3 with Flamethrower and Alcar managed to outrun Cryogonal (lols) to waste it with Rock Tomb.

Victory Road went down quite quickly, and it only took about four Honeys to put us in Rare Candy range. Also, because of a lack of care, I ended up north of $1.9m in cash so I bought myself up to 99 Max Potions, Full Restores, Revives and Full Heals because *eff* you, that's why.

The Elite goes down tonight... and Bug starts tomorrow.

Dragon Weekend 1: Hitting The Stride

Current location: Saved in Anistar after Flying back post-Flare event. The current team:

Naga - Fly, Fire Fang, Crunch, Dragon Breath (L53)
Komodo - Sludge Bomb, Dragon Pulse, Surf, Thunderbolt (L56 - benching until Snowbelle or at least the triple-threat match)
Kaiser - Crunch, Dragon Claw, Earthquake, Rock Tomb  (L52)
Seath - Thunderbolt, Power Gem, Signal Beam, Dragon Pulse (L52)
Alcar - Dragon Claw, Dig, Rock Tomb, Crunch (L52)
Hurtslime - Dragon Pulse, Hidden Power, Thunderbolt, Muddy Water (L52)

The trek began with a hard round in the Battle Chateau to get Hurtslime up in levels - to the point where I actually encountered a Gym Leader for the first time. Clemont's not as hard as his gym fight thought, as I was able to beat the leader from five levels down (45 thanks to a bad writ).

Route 14 was quickly dispatched and the team hit the Fairy gym... and it was surprisingly easy to deal with. A combo of two well-placed Digs and a couple of Mega-TBolts wiping out Sylveon to get the Fairy Badge. Sadly, nobody can get Dazzling Gleam on this team - why can't Seath, whose entire purpose is to shed light, use it? (Then again, he's needed Tail Glow since Gen 3 and hasn't gotten it... mrgrgr)

There wasn't much to pick up on the first run to the Move Returner, but it finally got Seath some usable Dragon power. The Frost Cavern was surprisingly easy for a bunch of Dragon types, but so much of the team being middle-evos (only had Kaiser and Seath in final form) started to be a drain on resources.

In Anistar, the Gym went down to Hurtslime as I quickly moved into "get evos by any means necessary" mode, so Thunderbolt and a few Crunches pelted the gym. The first part of Team Flare's area was the final straw, but Alcar evolved about halfway through... and we nearly got Naga to evolve by L50 by a couple hundred experience. Two Rare Candies - one on Naga and one on Hurtslime after the 2nd Fly landed me back in Laverre - solved the evo problem, and the 2nd Flare run was so much easier now that everything was going down in one hit.

Tomorrow: Maybe we can beat this? Who knows.

Dragon Day 4: Crashing and Banging

Current location: Saved in Camphier and about to raid the Battle Chateau (again) for levels for our final member. The team current stands at L38 except for our newcomer, Ampharos is now "Seath" after a Dark Souls dragon who fires cursed crystals (Power Gem), the Gabite is "Alcar" who is a late-game boss I could never beat in Xenoblade, and the new Goomy (L32, Naive, Sap Sipper, Dragonbreath/Thunderbolt/Rain Dance/Flail) is "Hurtslime".

It started with a quick Super Training session on Gible, then we stuck Komodo out front to try and level it up in Courmarine Gym. Just as we were finishing off the last trainer in the gym... the game crashed. That's the first time I ever saw that, and considering going in my total time clock was at about 320 hours I'm not even mad. It let me change up strategy and stick Alcar out front and let the Exp Share level Komodo up. Ramos went down to a couple of well placed Rock Tombs and a lot of Aerial Aces.

Route 13 served another purpose - get Komodo up to the rest of the team by Surfing all of the Pokemon I couldn't run from into, uh, fainting. By the time we entered the Flare base, it was L35 and Flare got it up the rest of the way. Clemont ended up Volt Switching to Heliolisk, who futilely Quick Attacked Seath while it Rock Smashed the night away. Alcar picked up the pieces with a couple of Rock Tombs and proved he can dig it, sucka.

Finally, we pounded the Rival into dust and went out Hurtslime hunting. I was looking for something with Hydration, but that ability is entirely theoretical as I have *never* encountered a Hydration member of that family once. The first nature I got that was acceptable was Naive (again), and considering the base at endgame is 150 that would be acceptable. Also, I used the Rare Candy on the route to take care of the last level Kaiser needed to evolve.

Tomorrow (or this weekend, since I have a couple of podcasts to attend and a couple of things to play for said podcasts), we're going to at least get to the final Flare showdown - and I'm going to have the final forms of these guys, even if I have to fly all over Kalos to find the spot to feed Hurtslime a Rare Candy.

Dragon Day 3: The Most Electrifying Reptile In Sports And Entertainment

Current location: Saved in Courmarine, ready to raid the Gym. In addition to Fangoro, Naga and Kaiser, the newcomers are:

Ampharos (pending nickname) - Naive, Static - L32 - Electroball, Thundershock, Thunder Wave, Confuse Ray @ Ampharosite

Gible (pending nickname and Super Training) - Naive - L28 - Sandstorm, Take Down, Sand Tomb, Slash

Skrelp "Komodo" - Timid - L1 - Tackle, Smokescreen, Water Gun

The day started on Route 10 and wrapped into Geosenge Town, where the Lucario went down to a combo of Naga and Kaiser. By the time Naga got caught up, I was L29 (the highest I've ever been at this point when I wasn't soloing the game back in Ice) and Reflection Cave was a nice break as opposed to an exercise in frustration.

The first stop in Shalour was a quick run to Route 12 to pick up Mareep... and there's nothing more irritating than five sheep slinging Growls and Thunder Waves on physical, slow Pokemon. I got a good draw on the third one - Amphy has high HP, for one thing - and STed it up before doing some leveling in Reflection Cave to get it back to par.

After beating the Rival for the first time and a few trainers in the gym, I was able to stick the then-Flaaffy out against Korrina, and the nasty Electro Ball/Thunder Wave combo brought it to Machoke (whose Rock Tomb was probably Guts boosted, knowing my luck), before Kaiser finished it. Route 12 served to get us Ampharos, and then Azure Bay held the Mega evo stone. Booyah.

Upon pullng into Courmarine, we got the items and I snuck out to Route 13 (yuck) to get Gible. Thankfully, the first one had a nature I could live with so I got the hell out of there, and went to grab Komodo - who had to hatch in Y because Bank apparently blocks Egg transfer. But I did get to apply a suitable nickname AND get Komodo's Super Training done, so no big loss there.

Tomorrow: Hopefully everybody catches up, we're gunning for Clemont, and maybe we'll get to join the Church of Goomy. (Yes, that exists.)

Dragon Day 2: Rock Solid Performances

Current location: Saved on Route 10. The team currently stands at L27/L28:

Charmeleon "Bahamut" - Scratch, Fire Fang, Dragon Rage, Shadow Claw
Axew "Fangoro" - Dragon Claw, Aerial Ace, Rock Tomb, Strength
Bagon "Naga" - Ember, Rock Tomb, Aerial Ace, Shadow Claw
Tyrunt "Kaiser" - Rock Tomb, Bite, Rock Smash, Bulldoze

Yes, that's two Final Fantasy, one Fire Emblem, and a KIRBY'S EPIC YARN reference. I regret nothing.

Started out by wrapping up Naga's ST, then leveled them up through the Glittering Cave until we got to the Jaw Fossil. Kaiser is Hasty (+Speed -Defense), which I can deal with by simply KOing everything in sight.

After that, I actually boxed Bahamut for a bit and rolled Route 8's bottom part with just the three Dragons, since Bahamut was L25 and the rest were in the low 20's. It also involved a lot of trips to the Battle Chateau - so much so that I'm a few battles away from unlocking the L35 rounds and have more money than small countries right now. Instead of the Amulet Coin, I'm giving the slow growers (Fangoro/Naga) the Lucky Egg.

The team of 3 carried into the Rock gym, where I solved my Amaura problem by sticking a Cheri Berry onto Naga before it got Rock Smashed to smithereens. Kaiser rolled his counterpart to pick up Rock Tomb for pretty much everyone.

Tomorrow's plan: Get to Shalour, get a good Mareep, and get a certain something bred...

Dragon Day 1: The Bugs Lie Bleeding

Current location: Standing around (literally) outside the Connecting Cave. Current party is:

Charmeleon L22 - Rash - Scratch, Ember, Dragon Rage, Smokescreen
Axew L14 - Jolly, Mold Breaker - Leer, Assurance, Dragon Rage, Dual Chop
Bagon L14 - Mild - Rage, Bite, Leer

Yeah, I just caught the last two. Axew's STed, but Bagon isn't, and I still need to nickname and TM the buggers. Tyrunt's coming tomorrow, which will slow me down further.

Got a lot of defensive affecting natures on Froakie and Fletchling, actually decided to use Pikachu this time because why not? Viola went down to three Thundershocks from Pikachu, after Fletchling ran it out of Potions.

Picked up Charmander - got a good draw on the first shot, which helped - and STed it up, got it past the two double battles (Routes 5 and 6) and immediately started soloing everything in sight. Dragon Rage as a fixed 40 dmg helped immensely. I'm also carrying the Snorlax who went down to a Quick Ball, but it didn't get any experience.

Catching Axew and Bagon was not fun, though - Axew's 10% in Connecting Cave (so roughly 5% of the right ability) and Bagon's even rarer. It took about 6 or 7 Axew before I got the Jolly one, and both times I managed to find the worst possible ability on both of them (Timid - +Speed, -Attack - good for Amphy/Skrelp/Goomy, not so much these guys). Thankfully, Bagon got an acceptable nature in the 2nd.

Tomorrow; Level up, get Tyrunt, beat Grant. Anything beyond that is a bonus.

Type Preview: Dragon

It's a type so devestating for two generations they had to introduce a hard counter to stop it, and THAT didn't appear to help. It's a group of Pokemon who count among its numbers over 50% of the psuedo-legendaries, and as a group they have the highest collective stats in the game.

Get the Sisqo blaring, it's time to unleash the Dragons. (FINALLY! GEEZ! - Kaiba, Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged)

Type Effectiveness
Attacking: Super-effects itself, resisted by Steel, no damage to Fairy.
Defending: Super effected by Ice, itself and Fairy. Resists Fire, Water, Electric, and Grass. Yeah, I'd take those too.

Dual types:
Thanks to Mega evos, Fire, Water, Electric, Poison, Ground, Flying, Rock and Dark are available in game. Postgame adds Ice, Psychic, Ghost, and Steel.

Probable Final Team:
Bagon/Shelgon/Salamence: I don't even have to remember to use Fly once I get Salamence since he'll learn it naturally. Provides air coverage and hyper-offense, plus Intimidate is always fun.

Skrelp/Dragalgae: Look, I'm aware this is supposed to be an X run. This is purely for research purposes, as I want to see if carrying a Poison/Dragon actually means anything in the endgame so I can say you would be best served doing the Dragon run in Y. (It will come in at L1, as I'm sending an egg through Bank.)

Tyrunt/Tyrantrum: Played his way onto the team in the Rock run, and now we don't have to worry about wasting moveslots all the time.

Mareep/Flaaffy/Ampharos: Only qualifies as a Dragon for purposes of this run by virtue of the Mega evo, but that's good enough for me. Will fill some holes in the coverage if nothing else, and I'd like to carry STAB Thunderbolts for things like Mega-Gyarados.

Gible/Gabite/Garchomp: Will spend a grand total of about five minutes as a Gible, STAB Ground is always handy, even if he is a little redundant with Tyrantrum. We'll make it work, though.

Goomy/Sliggoo/Goodra: Probably the most controversial pick of the bunch, especially given the hoops I have to jump through to get the damn thing to evolve. Main purpose is to provide physical/special balance, so I'm hoping to get something like Rash or Modest. Has access to Sludge Bomb AND Ice Beam for some reason.

Why not use...?
Charmander/Charmeleon/Mega Charizard X: It'll be the run inagurator, but I'm not going to go all the way with it simply because I need Ampharos more and to keep in the spirit of the run, I can't let either one be unable to go Mega.

Axew/Fraxure/Haxorus: If there were more Levitators in this game I'd keep it around, but it's made redundant by Bagon (ON THE NEXT ROUTE) and Goodra. (Either one of them could fill in for Tyrantrum if I don't feel like taking it again, but Haxorus is more likely to do so.)

Horsea/Seadra/Kingdra: Evo item is pre-8th badge, and it's a trade evo.

Trapinch/Vibrava/Flygon: Uh, Gible is RIGHT THERE. Awkward middle phase as a Vibrava.

Noibat/Noivern: Comes in too late (post-Flare) or it'd be in the Salamence slot.

Swablu/Altaria, Dratini/Dragonair/Dragonite, Druddigon, Zweilous/Hydreigon: Come in even later (realistically, I'm IN Snowbelle next to an Ice gym for the first two, and in Victory friggin'  Road for the last two).

Major Battle Expectations:
Viola: Don't have anyone at that point, but I'm probably grabbing Froakie so it'll probably involve use of a Fletchling.
Grant: Bulldoze rocking faces should get us through here.
Korrina: No real positives or negatives, though I'll probably be swapping Mareep/Flaaffy/Ampharos in a lot.
Ramos: Everyone resists Grass, so that'll make things easier.
Clemont: Gabite will shine here, with Tyrunt on standby/Emolga destruction duty.
Valerie: Eeeeh... Poison Jab TM working overtime here, I think. As well as Skrelp.
Olympia: All about the power and some Amphabulous Thunderbolt action.
Wulfric: Should be able to overwhelm the Ice types, I just can't afford to get hit.

Rival: I'm taking any possibility of decent damage away by grabbing Froakie, so I'm expecting to stall out Absol and waste Chesnaught, especially when Salamence hits.
Team Flare: Sheer power and Gabite/Garchomp win the day here.
Elite 4: Aside from Steel, these are all extremely winnable matchups.
Champion: Going to have to overwhelm and find a way to outrun Mega Gardevoir (Good luck).

Trainer:
Pokemon has a rich history of dragon trainers, but for this one I'm going to look to another fandom... the realm of professional wrestling, as it turns out. From Vainville Town, 140 pounds, Ricky "The Dragon". As for the nicknames? Probably a lot of mythological references.