Ground run complete!

By the way, the stats for the record going into the Elite:
Kamina - 221 Atk, 164 Speed
Simon - 222/116
Nia - 342 (171x2)/105
Gurren - 206/123
Leyte - 247/168
Gimmy - 155 SA, 106 Speed

...so yeah.

Wikstrom
Wait, seriously? Yes, we're LEADING with Steel. This happens two more times.

Kamina v Klefki
Klefki drops a layer of Spikes, but Earthquake crits for a gratuitous OHKO.

Kamina v Aegislash
Earthquake OHKOs... in Shield Form. DAMN.

Simon v Scizor
Fire Fang, next.

Nia v Probopass
Bonemerang hit 1 triggers Sturdy. Of course, there's a second. (4/4)

Malva
Obvious matchup #2 on the way...

Leyte v Pyroar
Earthquake does it in 1.

Kamina v Talonflame
Talonflame's faster, and Flare Blitz drops Kamina to 78/202 HP. Rock Slide... MISSES. Back to Leyte...

Leyte v Talonflame
Flare Blitz brings Leyte to 179/221 on the switchin. Brave Bird brings it to 91, and Dragon Claw finishes but causes a burn (64/221)

Gimmy v Torkoal
Surf does 75%, and Torkoal uses Curse. On the Full Restore, Mud Bomb does 95% for Full Restore 2, and a Thunderbolt/Surf combo finishes.

Simon v Chandelure
Flamethrower takes Simon to 77/219, but Earthquake hits true. (6/8)

Drasna
Creates a nice Z pattern... and just ignore the hose coming from the bottom-right corner.

Gurren v Dragalgae
Finally, an Earthquake that finishes in one.

Leyte v Altaria
Foregoing the Moxie strategy because... reasons. Well, that and STAB Dragon Claw still OHKOs, so why bother?

Leyte v Noivern
Dragon Pulse takes Leyte to 51/221 and Dragon Claw OHKOs back.

Leyte v Druddigon
And Dragon Claw finishes here as well, leaving 24HP after Rough Skin. (10/12)

Siebold
This is it... don't get scared now.

Nia v Clawitzer
Bonemerang connects for a full OHKO.

Kamina v Starmie
Crunch OHKOs.

Kamina v Barbaracle
Now, I have an idea for the end here... Earthquake OHKOs, and Moxie's at a +2...

Kamina v Gyarados
Intimidate brings it to +1, and Rock Slide... LEAVES GYARADOS ON 5%. Waterfall OHKOs back.

Gimmy v Gyarados
Gyarados gets Full Restored, then Thunderbolted to death. (13/16)

Diantha
And to the strains of "Libera Me From Hell", we have endgame...

Gimmy v Hawlucha
Hawlucha Swords Dances, but eats a Thunderbolt to the face for the OHKO.

Leyte v Aurorus
sup Brick Break

Kamina v Goodra
I didn't get to use Outrage on Drasna, so I turn it on the other D-lady for the OHKO and a Kamina levelup.

Simon v Gourgeist
Gourgeist Trick-or-Treats, and takes 2/3 + sandstorm from Ice Fang. Phantom Force does about half even SE, and Ice Fang finishes.

Nia v Tyrantrum
The first hit of Bonemerang gets a critical OHKO, and you know what this means...

Gurren v Gardevoir
Shadow Ball brings Gurren to 39... and Heavy Slam does it! (18/22)

Pictured: If I tried to use her canon outfit this blog would be pushing TV-14.

While the credits roll and I prep for an upload, plug in... 'cause the next run's going to be positively Electric.

Time of the fall: 29:45

Ground Day 6: Don't Underestimate Us

Current location: Pokemon League.

Current team, ready to go and L64 except for one (who went to 65):
Kamina - Earthquake, Crunch, Outrage, Rock Slide
Simon - Earthquake, Ice Fang, Fire Fang, Thunder Fang
Nia - Bonemerang, Rock Slide, Brick Break, Aerial Ace
Golurk - Earthquake, Shadow Punch, Fly, Heavy Slam
Leyte - Earthquake, Dragon Claw, Brick Break, Poison Jab
and Gimmy (the L65) - Mud Bomb, Thunderbolt, Surf, Sludge Bomb

The run was early to rise on Route 18, and Terminus Cave had no casualties even if I could've skipped half of it due to not needing Shadow Ball this time. I figured out a good doubles combo on the Nidoqueen and Nidoking combo - Fly and Earthquake.

In Couriway, the Sycamore fight got me really worried about the E4... Gimmy's getting hit hard by any Water move, and she's slow enough that it's losing damage races even with Thunderbolts. Adding in Sludge Bomb on 19 before the rival gauntlet helped a little bit, but then Leyte picked up Poison Jab and I believe my word was "welp".

As for the gauntlet itself, I elected to Heavy Slam the Florges... a wise decision indeed. The team was L56 going into Snowbelle. And after a quick janut to the Pokemon Village, it was time for... THE ICE GYM. *dramatic chipmunk .gif*

I started by finding out the slower guy wins in a double weather race - but Fire Fang OHKOed Abomasnow from Simon. Kamina outran Cryogonal with Rock Tomb, then it was Avalugg time... and he wasted half the team before I could get Gimmy into to hit two Thunderbolts (the first on a Hyper Potion, he had three Curses) to win the badge.

I elected to forego some of the TMs - just picked up Earthquake and Rock Slide, then went to Victory Road and managed to get all the way up to L62, with Gimmy and Nia at L63. With 11 Rare Candies, I gave everyone but Nia a +2 to make sure we're ready for the Elite 4, starting... NOW.

Ground Day 5: Who The Hell Do You Think We Are?

Current location: Team Flare is gone. Wow, that was fast.

Current team:
Kamina: Your argument is invalid.

(Dig, Rock Tomb, Low Sweep and Crunch... but seriously, this is probably the best combo of nickname to Pokemon yet. Yes, even better than my Slowbro and Slowking named "Kotaku" and "Joystiq".)
Simon: Earthquake, Ice Fang, Fire Fang, Thunder Fang. (Wanna guess what we passed today?)
Nia: Bonemerang, Rock Smash, Aerial Ace, Strength @ Thick Club (current attack rating somewhere north of 270)
Gurren (now a Golurk): Earthquake, Shadow Punch, Fly, Heavy Slam
Leyte (now a Garchomp): Dig, Dragon Claw, Rock Tomb, Aerial Ace
Gimmy: Mud Bomb, Thunderbolt, Surf, Discharge

We picked back up on Route 14, and left Rossiu in the box while we picked our way through the trainers on the route. The rain actually helped because it basically gave me the equivalent of STAB Surfs. In Laverre, we pulled out Rossiu one last time... and he proceeded to sweep the entire Fairy gym, though it took a crit against Mawile who managed to get an Iron Defense up, and I had to switch in Gimmy for a couple of rounds to get rid of Charm effects. Still, Rossiu went out as expected.

The team's levels were all over the place at this point because of boxing and the Exp Share - the different growth rates make it hard to keep them close together. Route 15 and the environs were pretty well wasted, no fun battles or anything to report there.

Frost Cavern was weird as I somehow managed to avoid the last trainer on 1F (the 2 Graveler + Carbink Hiker) until after I beat Team Flare and was just going down to heal. Whoops. Gurren evolved just before, so his Fly was much appreciated getting back.

The Anistar Gym was fun, as we got Sigilyph in one thanks to Kamina's Crunch, but Meowstic proved surprisingly durable - surviving Leyte's Shadow Claw, for instance. Eventually, Nia was inserted and you know how that ends up. Thinking if I had found a male Cubone back then, I would've called it Boota since it's an emergency boost of pain.

Finally, Team Flare... and surprisingly, I had more trouble with Lysandre's Pyroar than I did with his Gyarados. Sure, the first time I wasn't able to squeeze in a KO with Gimmy, but once I went to a "lead with Leyte, switch to Simon and Thunder Fang before Outrage wears off" strategy there wasn't as many problems. Of course, I brought Gimmy for the sole purpose of being an anti-Gyarados device, so it's going to need a Shinxesque redemption story soon...

Tomorrow: I *may* be able to at least get into Victory Road, so we'll shoot for at least beating Snowbelle Gym. Though meetings may get in the way of this.

Ground Day 4: The Winding Spiral Path

Current location: Back in the north Pokemon Center of Lumiose after a round of training, about to raid Route 14.

The team is all L37 with one exception, and the movesets haven't changed for the big 5 from yesterday (though Simon's now a Hippowdon) - but we did add two newcomers:

Leyte the Gabite - Brave, STed Atk/Speed - Dragon Claw, Dig, Rock Tomb, Aerial Ace/Shadow Claw depending on the needs of the team at that moment
Gimmy the Stunfisk - Timid, STed SA/Speed, Limber - Thunderbolt, Surf, Mud Bomb, Discharge

After dropping Diggersby for the last time, we set out for a quick jaunt of grinding on Route 12 and the Azure Bay -  despite carrying all of these Ground-types, they didn't get a single Water move off in all of the Azure Bay. Upon our return, it was down to Route 13 and the first Gible caught happened to be Brave - not ideal, but ingame it's workable.

The hard part was getting it to evolve, until I realized there was a new experience mechanic in XY that gives Pokemon past their experience level a 50% booster, which got me a Gabite after beating the rival with some timely switching. For beating down disaster bringers, there's nothing better than a rampaging Nia.  :-)

In the Courmarine gym, I decided to see if Gabite could run it - and after swapping in Rock Tomb to not get nearly wrecked by Jumpluff (one Tomb meant Gabite was faster) and a few Soda Pop Gabite managed to bring down a rampaging Gogoat who helped by committing Take Down-induced suicide.

It was back to the Route That Shall Not Be Named afterwards, and into the Flare office to let Leyte finish catching up inside the Power Plant. Though somehow, Kamina managed to hit L37 first.... Completing the plant meant Lumiose Gym, and the only damage I took prior to the gym battle were a couple of Static-induced paralysis incidents. Clemont managed to inflict the only damage of the gym when Leyte's Rock Tomb didn't OHKO Emolga so it had time to fire an Aerial Ace - thankfully, Nia cleaned up from there. And yes, that included OHKOing Magneton by using Bonemerang to get around Sturdy.

Another round of rival fighting followed, then as it turned out, I didn't need to bring the Pikachu with me after all - a few resets and I managed to find a Timid Stunfisk. Sadly, no Static, but maybe that's for the best.

Tomorrow: I've got to deal with Route 14 by dropping Rossiu for now and leveling up Gimmy. Rossiu's going to probably solo the Laverre Gym, then we'll go from there. I'm thinking the goal for tomorrow is to get through Frost Cavern.

Ground Day 3: Invisibility Is A Man's Soul

Current location: In Shalour, post-Mega tutorial but pre-Surf acquisition. Current team at L31:

Kamina (now a Krokorok) - Dig, Crunch, Rock Tomb, Low Sweep
Simon - Dig, Crunch, Rock Tomb, Rock Smash
Nia (now a Marowak) - Bonemerang, Rock Tomb, Aerial Ace, Rock Smash @ Thick Club
Gurren - Magnitude, Shadow Punch, Rock Tomb, Power-Up Punch
Rossiu - Dig, Poison Jab, Rock Tomb, Shadow Claw
(non-EXP gaining Surf mule Panpour)

We picked up on Route 11 and I immediately set out to take Rossiu through the Chateau and for a quality nicknaming... this got him to L23, so the Brains and Brawn on 11 got him to L24 and Reflection Cave did the rest.

In the cave itself, the key problems were Counterbufffet when it couldn't be one-shot, Sawk dude until Gurren won a damage race, and accidentally engaging the last Hiker with a fainted lead because he blocked the shortcut to the healing lady. Upon arrival in Shalour, Diggersby returned to the box that he will not return from for a while, as I don't need Strength for the next few routes and he doesn't learn Surf.

The first Rival round didn't  go as expected, as Meowstic was in that awkward phase where he could 2HKO Kamina with Disarming Voice but didn't have any Psychic moves (or wasn't using them, not sure). Nia wrapped that up, then Simon beat Absol and Braxien.

The Shalour Gym went largely as expected - a lot of Gurren stall. And by stall, I mean "Magnitude 8ing everything in sight". As usual, he didn't take a single hit, but I did have Nia take on Machoke for the badge.

Tomorrow: Back to work, and since it's a holiday here I should have some extra time to get in... so we'll shoot for having the full final team.

Ground Day 2: Let's See You Grit Those Teeth

Current location: Saved in Geosenge after STing a new team member.

Current team (L26 except for 1):
Diggersby (Cut, Strength, Double Kick, Bulldoze) - first against the wall when Gible enters
Kamina (Bulldoze, Thief, Rock Tomb, Assurance)
Simon (Bite, Dig, Rock Tomb, Rock Smash)
Nia (Bonemerang, Rock Tomb, Aerial Ace, Rock Smash) @ Thick Club
Gurren the Golett - Hardy, Iron Fist, At/Speed STing (Shadow Punch, Magnitude, Rollout, Rock Tomb)
and Rossiu the Nidorino - Hasty, Poison Point, Atk/Speed (Poison Sting, Double Kick, Shadow Claw, Fury Attack)

We picked up with the three in Ambrette, so I grabbed Nia and put her through the L20 Chateau for some experience... after that, it was Ghost hunting time. And a hunt it was... took about 45 minutes before I realized maybe I should move the Thick Club off of Nia if I'm using her for wear-down purposes, and only found about five Golett in that time. I decided to proceed with a neutral nature because hey, this one will actually do better against Bites and I have enough Lonely Pokemon. (Wanna know why I'm sticking with Stunfisk? Consider how biased this team is toward the physical end...)

After STing and clearing out the Route 8 trainers, I still had the guys at L21... so I pulled Diggersby back out because why not and raided the gym. Classic moments included Bone Club nearly dropping Relicanth (it of the base 140 Defense) into the red in one shot and Kamina showing the boys how it's done by hanging on with one HP against Tyrunt's Stomp. Just who the hell do you think we are, indeed.

Route 10 served to get them into the L25 range, and Geosenge's Double Lucario is way easier when you can pick and choose who gets to super-effect it (it was Simon, since he's the Slow grower of the bunch). From there, I took out the first couple of trainers on Route 11 before deciding to pick up the future Rossiu - explaining that's a spoiler - and THAT took 45 minutes. I anticipate an hour and a half of pure hell when I go ater Gible (I'm bringing outside help for Stunfisk in the form of a certain rat I caught back in Santalune Forest).

So tomorrow... Not sure how much progress to expect, probably just the rest of 11 and Reflection Cave.

Ground Day 1: Kicking Reason to the Curb

Current location: Saved outside of Glittering Cave. Current team:

L20 male Hippopotas "Simon" - Lonely, Atk/Speed, Tackle, Bite, Dig, Rock Smash
L21 male Sandile "Kamina" - Lonely, Atk/Speed, Moxie - Bulldoze, Thief, Sand Tomb, Assurance
L15 female Cubone "Nia" - Naughty, no ST yet, Lightningrod - Tail Whip, Bone Club, Headbutt, Leer

Grabbed Chespin to start (giving the rival Delphox) and went on the longest catch spree yet - it took about 20 Bunnelby before I found one I was happy with (Brave). Trained it up for reasons I can't figure out, and it proceeded to three-shot the entire Bug gym with Tackle at L12. Cool beans, except that's three per Pokemon. Not three total.

Nothing major happened until I decided to peel off after catching Snorlax, but before doing anything else on the route as quite frankly, I was getting bored to tears. We managed to avoid every trainer on routes 7 and 8 except for the mandatory double battle against Trevor/Tiermo to get down to Route 9, and the future Simon and Kamina were caught on about the third round and STed up.

Coming back, I decided to go to Route 6... and I really need to start bringing special moves for those darn Furfrou. They managed to two shot everyone at L15 to L17, so much so that I reset and put Simon through the Battle Chateau before attempting it again and getting the duke. No other incidents happened, but by the end of Route 6 the three of them were in the 20 range, I had Diggersby tho :/ and was already ready to dump it.

Upon returning to Route 9, we went all the way to Glittering Cave, and though I caught Rhyhorn and Onix (neither that useful), I also managed to get... a shiny Machop. (Experiment shiny #6, or roughly once every two runs or so.) But the big prize was grabbing a Thick Club off a stray Cubone, catching it and finding out it had Attack+ and was over 30 Atk at base. Time to train her up and get her on the rest of the team's level. All things considered, I'll probably drop Whiscash for it - a Thick Club-aided Aerial Ace should do more on average than a middling-Attack Zen Headbutt.

Tomorrow: Train Cubone, catch us a Gurren - er, Golett, and beat Grant.

Type Preview: Ground

It's the most potent offensive type in the game, including being the only Pokemon capable of super-effecting Electric types. It's going to remain far from one Elite 4 member as long as I can avoid it. It almost had enough Pokemon to make two teams out of it.

Now let's see how long it goes before I run these type puns into the Ground.

Type Effectiveness:
Attacking: Super-effects Fire, Electric, Poison, Rock and Steel. Resisted by Grass and Bug. Can't touch Flying.
Defending: SE'd by Water, Grass and Ice. Half from Poison and Rock, immune to Electric.

Dual Types: Normal, Water, Electric, Ice, Poison, Flying, Bug, Rock, Ghost, Dragon, Dark and Steel ingame. Postgame brings Fire, Grass, and Psychic.

Probable Final Team:
Hippopotas/Hippowdon: Purely designed to teach me how to spell the final form's last name. Provides a Sandstorm that doesn't dick over the rest of the type, so yay. Also can play a version of the Aerodactyl role given its access to Crunch (though that would be redundant) and the Fangs. Probable Final Moveset: Earthquake, Fire Fang, Ice Fang, Thunder Fang

Sandile/Krokorok/Krookodile: Guess who's back, back again. Yes, we have the return of the E4 MVP from Dark, complete with the same "Earthquake, Outrage, ???, profit" strategy that rocked Drasna's world on that run... provided I end up with Moxie. (I'll end up with Moxie.) PFM: Earthquake, Crunch, Outrage, Rock Slide

Golett/Golurk: Given how much of a PITA this thing was, I'm holding out for a really good nature and hoping the Super Training makes up for Golett's lack of offense. Ghost STAB is just that useful when you're staring down a Mega Gardevoir at the endgame. Will suddenly get a 50 pwr/+1 Attack move when he solos Korrina. PFM: Earthquake, Shadow Punch, Fly, Heavy Slam

Gible/Gabite/Garchomp: Dude, it's Garchomp. Do I have to draw you a diagram? PFM: Earthquake, Dragon Claw, Brick Break, one of Poison Jab, Shadow Claw or Fire Fang.

Stunfisk: At which point you're all like "hu-WHAAAAAT?" To which I point out that I happen to find STAB Thunderbolts useful, and he also learns Surf for some reason so I don't have to waste a slot down below. PFM: Mud Bomb, Thunderbolt, Surf, Sludge Bomb

Barboach/Whiscash: His stats are just good enough for offense that I can take a risk running this thing. Also learns Zen Headbutt by Returner for anti-Fighting power. PFM: Earthquake, Waterfall, Zen Headbutt, Rock Slide.

Other Team Members: I'm stuck with Diggersby for a full Pokedex. Thumper the Steelix can return, and if I get a Thick Club out of Cubone it's in and treated as the run Mega. (Note in that instance, I *will* use Bonemerang as an anti-Probopass move.) Lastly, Nidoking will probably come along for anti-Fairy shenanigans if I don't end up using Thumper.

Why not use...?
Rhyhorn/Rhydon/Rhyperior (also Geodude/Greveler/Golem): I'm not worried about needing Rock STAB, and it's a trade evo when I can avoid that.

Nidoqueen: Prefer the offensive to the defensive, as I mentioned back in Poison.

Dugtrio: Because RBY critical mechanics aren't walking through that door.

Flygon: Ground/Dragon role filled by a freaking LAND SHARK.

Quagsire: I can get Barboach/Whiscash on the same route and it's capable of having a full learnset.

Mamoswine: Saw use in Ice because I needed the Earthquake STAB, and half the team was in Frost Cavern anyway. Now, EVERYTHING has Earthquake STAB.

Sandslash: Hippowdon does it better for pure-Ground, and it's an 18 Pokemon.

Gligar: Can't evo until postgame.

Major Battle Expectations:
Viola: Sheer power of... Bunnelby... overwhelms her.
Grant; The entire team has access to Bulldoze at minimum and most candidates learn Rock Smash.
Korrina: Send out Golett and laugh the night away.
Ramos: Gabite overwhelms with power and a timely Grass neutrality. Nidoking has fun here too, Thumper not so much considering everything has Grass Knot and he weighs in at a total combined weight of "TILT"
Clemont: :D
Valerie: Nidoking or Thumper's last hurrah before box duty.
Olympia: A Krookodile sweep backed up by Hippowdon's Crunches.
Wulfric: Basically counting on out-speeding everything and Moxie-wasting.

Rival: Sorry dude, you're stuck with Braixen/Delphox again. And everything dies to Earthquake.
Team Flare: Their predominant Pokemon (Houndour/Electrike) are Ground weak, thankfully. Getting past Gyarados will probably be tricky, though.
Elite 4: Oh, the fun that will be had with Malva... we just have to avoid Siebold for a long time.
Champion: I'm going to make damn sure Aurorus doesn't survive this time. Oh, and I get to try a new strategy on Gardevoir: Heavy Slam the crap out of it.

Trainer:
Really, there's only one way to go with this type... row row, fight the powa. Since I'm playing female on the physical types, the trainer name is Yoko. And the best part is, I even have a mecha on the team!