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

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.