The Monotype Challenge v8, Tera Edition

"Miss? Excuse me, miss?"

My eyes are totally glazed over, not reacting in the slightest. The room is silent save for the buzzing of screens until I insert another coin. Press the button three times. The number goes up. Insert another coin. Press the button three times. The number-

I jump out of my seat as a hand shakes my shoulder. "Miss! We closed twenty minutes ago, I have to ask you to leave."

"Weh" is all I can rasp out. I drag my hand over my face, peeling some of the crust from my eyes as it moves. The blood rushes to my head, and oh no, I feel myself-

Turmeric and Basil's vines form a net to catch me before I can topple over. Thanks.

How did we get here? After deftly winning our fight against Erika, I decided to wind down in the Celadon Game Corner for a half-hour or so. Well, maybe just one more game than that... okay one more starting now. And so I continued. My coin case is at least crammed to bursting with tokens, but my Grass-types can't use any of the TMs they sell here, so there's not much to do but buy six Miracle Seeds and leave.

"H-Hey, stay away from this poster, you!"

I assume at first I've done something to peeve the staff member again, but when I manage to pitch my head up from the prize counter, I see the voice came from some guy in a black uniform. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"This poster, I saw you getting close to it! I-I need you to stay away!" He punctuates his words by jabbing his finger into the poster, causing... A secret stairway to open up? The man is frozen in place as his eyes train on the stairs. Whatever this is, I'm not ignoring a secret staircase.


what

[I guess this is as good a time as any to point this out. You can really tell this is a gen 1 remake with all the weird stuff you'd never really see in the Pokémon games now. People threatening to beat me up, references to real world events, the infamous guy outside Celadon gym. Sure is something.]

It seems that Team Rocket is holed up in the basement in the Game Corner, maybe it's a front for their crime stuff? That'd be kinda cool if every Team Rocket member weren't a total loser. Their Pokémon are so much lower level than mine and they just keep using Rattata and Zubat all the time. Rue has kind of been struggling in battle lately, but even she can tear apart these Route 1-tier teams. Their boss is only slightly less of a pushover. Rue Bullet Seeds his first two Pokémon, and Basil shreds his Kangaskhan with a few Razor Leaves. Giovanni is shouting about how his crew failed him, but he looks like he's fighting back tears. What a baby. He leaves behind these weird goggles and runs away.

After all that training, I could sure use some time playing some... no we're not doing that. It's bedtime.

The next morning it looks like Team Rocket has pulled out of Celadon, so I guess we've done something of a service.

I'd like to travel West to Fuchsia, but there's a really big man in the way. The goggles I found say they can see ghosts, so common narrative structure dictates I should probably return to Lavender Town and scale the Pokémon Tower where I'll find someone to help me pass. Whatever that means.

Lavender Town is only slightly less eerie in the day time. Fennel is still clinging close to Turmeric and I as we approach the tower. Now or never.

It's of course really somber here; I'm grateful I've never had to put a Pokémon to rest (Rue is still kicking!). I'm sure to be quiet as I pass through the first floor into the second, where only one person is standing.

"Whatcha doing here, Blue? Did your attitude finally kill one of your Pokémon?"

He stops in place, his back still turned to me. He rolls his shoulder, and as he turns his head, I see his eyes brimming with tears. "My Raticate is dead."

I'm such an asshole.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry, I didn't mean... Uuuu... Yeah I think I'm just gonna leave you alone now."

"No," he spits, and opens his Pidgeotto's Poké Ball. "We're gonna fight, and I'm gonna incinerate every last one of your stupid Grass-types." I'm almost tempted to throw the fight right away to placate Blue, but some part of me isn't that willing to ditch my pride. I try not to think about what that says about me. Let's say I just want Blue to earn the feeling of stomping me. Yeah.

Blue's Pidgeotto, Exeggcute, and Kadabra go down quickly, but as always, things get serious when Charmeleon comes in. Maybe this is Karma, but this Charmeleon proceeds to dodge three Sleep Powders from Fennel, and then scores a critical hit Ember that also burns Turmeric. We're in for a penny, and thankfully Turmeric lands the fourth Sleep Powder. Charmeleon stays asleep long enough for Basil to switch in and take him down with Secret Power. He only has one Pokémon left, but it's a really big dragon, if a bit underleveled. A mix of Leech Seed and Razor Leaf takes down his Gyarados before it can Thrash Basil to death.

Blue's eyes are open wide. As the thrill of the battle wears off, I remember just how not-satisfied I am with this victory. He's silent at first, but soon the quiet gives way to a cracked laughter. I might've broken him. "Okay, I think I just need to leave you be-"

"Oh my god, I can't believe you believed me! This is so hilarious!"

what

"You should've seen the look on your face! It was like this." His face twists into a horrified expression for only a moment before he breaks character and bursts back into laughter.

"What is wrong with you?!? Ugh, I'm not dealing with this right now." The only thing I can do is storm off and climb high enough in the tower that I stop hearing him. Even on the third floor, I can hear him cackling like a Mightyena. No, a Poochyena.

There's nobody mourning (or pretending to) up here, but instead everyone is just. Really weird. They're dressed in these strange costumes, they're chanting unsweet nothings to themselves, sometimes their Gastly just stab themselves and faint. Ghosts are actually really not ideal to fight when all of them are also part Poison and can Levitate. The best I can do is have Turmeric and Fennel weather them with resisted Acids - those are weaker than Razor Leaf but at least they're physical [thanks physical special split]. I encounter the ghost of a Marowak on the way up that probably would've bothered me more if I had the capacity to feel something about it right now, but at least I put her to rest.

Team Rocket's up here too? You have got to be kidding me. Basil is almost as annoyed as I am right now, so we both take out our frustrations on these Rocket grunts, enough so that he evolves into a Venusaur. That's at least something that gets us to perk up, and his flower is enormous now. We tear through the remaining Rocket grunts and rescue the old man it seems they're keeping at the top of the tower for some reason.

Sure enough, Mr. Fuji thanks me with a flute which he says can be played to wake a sleeping Pokémon. I wink at the camera.

There are two gyms in our reach now. Saffron gym is closer, but Psychic-types are scary when my Grass-type team is mostly Poison-type with extra steps (Rue is extra steps), so Fuchsia it is.

I'm about to attempt to play a tune, but Fennel reaches out for the flute instead. Whatever, I'm sure it'll be cute to watch her try. She's surprisingly alright at it, at least good enough to wake up the Snorlax blocking our way. [In hindsight, I absolutely should've Thieved the Leftovers this thing holds, but I forgot about it at the time. Most of the tough fights wouldn't really be helped that much by it, so we'll cope].

There's not much to say about the trip to Fuchsia City; I've gotten good enough at cycling that I can weave around the trainers so bent on stopping me to battle. Basil, Turmeric, and Fennel have outgrown their carts a little bit, but they don't complain about it, and I can pedal hard enough to not lose too much speed.

My first destination upon arriving to Fuchsia is their renowned Safari Zone. If there's anywhere I'm gonna find a Grass-type Pokémon, it's here. I wouldn't have expected a cluster of eggs to be even a Pokémon, much less a Grass-type, but when I watch Carroway the Exeggcute fire off Bullet Seeds at an annoying tourist prodding it, I know he's a keeper.

I'm not even sure it's accurate to give Carroway just one name; each egg seems to have a different personality. There's one egg in the center that orders the others around pretty fiercely, with all but one following orders. My Pokédex reacts is though it's one Pokémon, though, so if they want another name they can decide for themselves. He enjoys the Rare Candies I shove down his throat to bring him up to level.

Even so, we need to make sure Carroway is battle-ready, so we train in the Fuchsia gym. Carroway's secondary Psychic-typing is a breath of fresh air compared to the Poison gulags of old, and alongside a TM for Psychic, Carroway can shred the Poison-types that some of the gym trainers are packing (there's an egregious amount of Hypnos here, though).

I initially intended to fight some of the trainers I skipped on my way here, but when I accidentally bump into Koga in his gym, there's no choice but for me to fight him a little under-leveled. [The team's about level 38 here, but we were gonna have to undershoot the level cap a little considering Saffron gym is also level 43]. Carroway deftly takes on Koga's two Grimer and Muk, but only the lead egg is hanging on after that. This was somewhat poor planning, considering the Weezing Koga has remaining is easily his scariest Pokémon. Even so, Basil can land a Leech Seed and then some switching around between him and Fennel with occasional attacks in between takes Weezing down without anyone fainting.

I'm basically a Poison-type trainer too, so I brag to Koga almost as much as I did Erika.

The weather down here is pretty warm, so we celebrate with a picnic in the Safari Zone. We have to stay vigilant to make sure our sandwiches aren't snatched up by a Venonat or Doduo, but Carroway is prepared to throw eggs with anything that comes near. Stuffed with food, Basil leaps into my lap before remembering he's not an Ivysaur anymore. He absolutely squashes me, but as soon as his leg pulls back from my lungs I'm able to push out a laugh.

Some things never change.

0.) Disclaimers
1.) Gym 1: Rock Me, Amadeus
2.) Gym 2: Punch Me, Paulie
3.) Gym 3: Shock Me, Sir Old Guy
4.) Gym 4: Burn, Baby, Burn
5.) Gym 5: Normal is Boring
6.) Gym 6: Fly-girl
7.) Gym 7: Twin Terror
8.) Gym 8: Washed Out
9.) Wally (Doesn't) Win

0. Disclaimers
First - I'm playing at 3x speed. That's it. I tried 4x, but was not able to wrap my mind around it, so I restarted at 3x. Running Shoes and Bikes are now overkill. Call it my tribute to The Flash (series, not the movie, no offense).

Second - I started with Spheal. It's more likely to encounter them (as evidenced by coming across twelve of them in a row when I finally got to the point I could "officially" gnab them). The caveat here is that I think this run would be much worse if starting with Snorunt. At the start, both Snorunt and Spheal start with Powder Snow, but I get an extra boost with Spheal: Water Gun. But not only that, Ice Ball becomes a game breaker.

Finally - This is going to be relatively quick, because there's only two Ice families in the game. And I use one Spheal for the majority of the game until right before the seventh gym, so it'll get really boring to go through it in detail, so I'll try to just give the highlights. Do know that I do fight all the trainers in the gyms, though I don't always fight the ones on the routes (mainly because my level was just getting too high).

1. Gym 1
Best move was spam Water Gun, for obvious reasons.

2. Gym 2
I picked up Ice Ball by this point, which I had forgotten acted like Ice Rollout. As soon as I realized this, I knew I had an option for Brawly.

I tried to use Ice Ball against one of the Trainers earlier, and that one had a Meditite which had Detect. I could not get Ice Ball earlier, so I just used the almighty Water Gun.

3. Gym 3
Ice Ball. All the way. Heal up at the PC when out of PP. At this point, I was a Sealeo.

4. Gym 4
All Together Now: Water Gun.

5. Gym 5
Ice Ball. Worked way too well here.

6. Gym 6
I'm now a Walrein...because I'm just too high level. Aurora Beam on everything for a change of pace.

7. Gym 7
Before Gym 7, I go and fetch me a Snorunt, and start leveling it up. I dump off my HM teammates, then start the battle with Tate and Liza. This was going to be the worry one, but I forgot to grab Revives, but this worked out in my favor. I used Body Slam from Walrein in the hopes that it would Paralyze (no luck), while Snorunt was trying to use Crunch. Snorunt got knocked out, which gave me the opportunity for Walrein to spam Surf. A couple of uses of Surf later, I'm won the battle.

8. Gym 8
By this time, Snorunt has now become Glalie, and I'm focused on using Crunch as much as possible, which surprisingly does quite a bit of damage (let's just say that I used a bunch of Calcium to up Glalie's Special Attack before doing all the leveling). It took me a while to remember how to do the third level of the ice puzzle in the gym...honestly, it might have taken longer for that than the gym battle.

9. Final Wally
Aurora Beam on everything. Magneton takes a couple of hits, as does Gardevoir. Others are one shot (crit on Delcatty was nice). And thus I reach the League. Going to try to be a bit more descriptive for that in the next post, and it might be quick at this point.

1.) Elite Four: Sidney
2.) Elite Four: Phoebe
3.) Elite Four: Glalie
4.) Elite Four: Drake
5.) Champion

1. Sidney
- Start with Walrein. Surf on Mightyena. OKHO.
- Cacturne coming out, so switch to Glalie. Use Ice Beam. OHKO. Glalie to 49.
- Sharpedo coming out, so switch back to Walrein. 2x Body Slam. It paralyzes on the first.
- Absol coming out, so switch to Glalie. 2x Ice Beam to knock it out.
- Shiftry coming out, so leave Glalie in. Ice Beam OKHO for the Win.

2. Phoebe
- She's Ghost, so start with Glalie. Glalie also has Blackglasses on.
- Dusclops out, 2x Crunch to knock out.
- Banette out, get burned, 2x Crunch to knock out. Glalie to 50.
- Sableye out. Get attracted, end up going down to a bunch of Shadow Ball. Walrein's Aurora Beam cleans up.
- Banette out, 2x Aurora Beam for knock out.
- Dusclops out, 5x Aurora Beam for knock out (stupid Sitrus Berry). Walrein to 57.

3. Glacia
- Leave Glalie to start, and I have a nice L50 Glalie versus a L50 Glalie.
- Her Glalie goes down to a Crunch and two Headbutts (second crits).
- Both Sealeo, back to back, go down to Body Slam from Walrein.
- Glalie goes down to Crunches.
- The Walrein goes down to Body Slam.

4. Drake
- Shelgon down to Ice Beam. OHKO.
- Flygon down to Ice Beam. OHKO. Glalie to 51.
- Salemence's Flamethrower takes Glalie out.
- Ice Ball takes out Salemence after I revive Glalie.
- Glalie OHKO's the remaining Flygon and Altaria after Walrein goes down.

5. Champion
- Skarmory's out first. Max Elixir on Glalie.
- A couple of good hits but Glalie goes down to Steel Wing.
- Walrein uses Ice Ball and takes out everything in quick shots other than Aggron and Metagross.
- It becomes spam Surf and Full Restore, but I do end up defeating both relatively easily.

On to Sinnoh.

1.) Slow Start
2.) Jubilife
3.) Oreburgh City/Gym
4.) Windworks
5.) Eterna Forest
6.) Eterna City/Gym
7.) Solaceon Town
8.) Veilstone City/Gym
9.) Pastoria City/Gym
10.) Celestic Town

1.) Slow Start
Well, this was an interesting start. Given the choice between Snover and Sneasel, my best bet is Snover. So, Sneasel it is. Gonna make life horrible for myself going up against the Fighting gym, I know. But that's half the fun.

The challenge with getting a Sneasel for me is that my family has two switches, but one is my primary and the other is my secondary. As per how Switches work, anyone on the primary switch can use anything I buy and download, but only I can use it on my secondary. And, unfortunately, my wife is the only one who has made it to having a Sneasel...and she's also playing BD, so we can't trade because of the "you can't both be trying to trade from/to BD - no no". So, I found a level 1 Sneasel through Home, traded for it. It has Ice Punch, but I will be avoiding using that and just writing over it. I can always get it down the road if I want to use the TM for it.

So, how does a level 1 Sneasel fair at the start? Well...I want to try and focus on HP and Attack EVs, so I'm avoiding Starly and just focusing on Bidoof and Shinx. At both level 1 and 2, I'm too weak to go after the Shinx on Route 202, so I stay focused on Route 201's Bidoof. It only takes a single Bidoof for each level up, so at L3 I attempt a Shinx, and I can do some damage. My goal was level 5, and as soon as I hit it, I move on. Given that I have the Experience Boost due to a different trainer ID on Sneasel, I don't want to go crazy with leveling, so my plan is to just hit the trainers in my way, avoid randoms, and only fight battles to level one level at a time when I hit a roadblock. It's a bit of a way to getting either Snover or the ones in the Grand Underground.

2.) Jubilife
By the time I get to Jubilife, I'm already level 8. Which is about where I'd be anyways. You know how I like to train. I deliver the Town Maps, then take down the two kids and their Abra. Almost gets me to level 10. Just a hair shy of it. I wanted Work Up just in case it's beneficial to me. I get the Poketch, and it's time to move on, as my first test shows up.

The first rival team isn't that bad. A total of seven Scratches later (three on Starly, four on Chimchar), and I've won the battle. In the cave, I pick up Rock Smash, and teach it to Sneasel.

3.) Oreburgh City/Gym
Here comes the pain - 17 attempts. Sounds like a lot, right? Well, guess what...Sneasel doesn't have my trainer ID so I'm stuck fighting the Obedience...or rather, disobedience. I go after all of the trainers in the gym, and it takes a while, but I eventually get through them. The real issue fighting Roark is his Geodude. It knowing Rollout stinks, but I eventually fight through it and knock it out (i.e., the RNG gods let me have a little luck). I'll be stuck until I reach Eterna City with going up against the disobedient Sneasel.

4.) Windworks
No real big issues here - having Rock Smash helps. I'm surprised I got through without any hassle.

5.) Eterna Forest
I probably should have done the dual fights as dual fights, but the two that have Abra basically were a bad idea to do separately. I got knocked out to the second of the two, so I just had to run back and attempt again. Second time, no issue since I remembered to heal this time. I was just so focused on getting to Eterna.

6.) Eterna City/Gym
I go and get the Explorer Kit, because I can get Smoochum at this point, although it's rare. I spend about an hour popping my head in and out and finally find one. I stick Sneasel into the PC, because it has outlived it's usefulness for the moment. I manage to one shot everything up until Gardenia. I can sleep her Turtwig to allow me to not suffer damage from Razor Leaf, but it took a bit for her Roserade to be able to be taken down. I have to get a few levels until I can withstand a hit and then I also have to be able to put it to sleep. Then, no issues.

7.) Solaceon Town
When I finally make it to Solaceon Town, the first thing I do is go into Home and grab one of my Ditto and it is time to make a new team member - Sneasel-Ditto gives me my own Sneasel. But I chose to thank that first Sneasel by giving all of the team names that start with the letters "Sn".

8.) Veilstone City/Gym
One shots all around with Confusion from Smoochum. Had I not looked and saw I could catch Smoochum, I would have still been trying this with Sneasel, which would have been very bad. Lucario requires the Sing/Confusion combination, but I do pull it off. I was more stressed out going in then I was going up against the leader.

9.) Pastoria City/Gym
Crusher Wake. What a jerk. Sneasel doesn't have a Dark move yet, and Floatzel has some pretty nasty moves. I knew I could one shot it with Grass Knot on my-now-Jynx (which I taught it to deal with Quagsire). But I keep getting hit with Bite and flinching. I have five attempts in a row where Bite hits, but then I get one that I get Grass Knot off and I take the win.

10.) Celestic Town
My next step is Celestic, and I immediately go into the Grand Underground to get two more for my team: a Glalie and a Swinub. Swinub gets a quick level to become Pilowsine, and then I hop back to Pastoria to teach it Ancient Power.

4.)
5.) Team Galactic Cleanup
6.) The Final Gym
7.) Victory Road
8.) Elite Four and Champion
Sorta 9.) Next Up: Gen 5

1.) The Next Teammate
I went and bred a Snorunt, got 5 mons with Pickup...and then spent two hours trying to get a Dawn Stone. That took a while...and, hilariously, I picked up six Dusk Stones along the way, but I did get it. I use it on my level 1 Snorunt and now I have a nice brand new Froslass. I wanted this before doing the Hearthome Gym so I could let it gain some levels while I fought all of the trainers.

2.) Hearthome City/Gym
So, that's exactly what I did. Got all the answers wrong and fought everything. Sneasel finally learns a Dark attacking move...and it's Beat Up. Oh yay. Helpful? Sure. But I end up letting Glalie, who has Bite, have some of the fun. No issues here in the gym.

3.) Canalave City/Gym
My Mamoswine made this super easy. I gave it Bulldoze from the Department Store and then just let loose. If it had Levitate, I'd obviously switch up my choice of 'mon, such as for Bronzor. Bronzor required me to swap over to Glalie or Sneasel for Bite and Beat Up. I was expecting this to be more of a pain point than it was, but I guess because of all the setup I had done to get my time evolved, it was just a minor inconvenience at best.

4.) Snowpoint City/Gym
Heading north to Snowpoint gives me the opportunity to pick up my final team member, Snover. My team is finally complete, and will be fully evolved in about ten levels. Was surprised I was able to get this varied of a team (/Ghost, /Grass, /Psychic, /Dark, and /Ground is quite the mix). Having Fighting moves such as Focus Blast on Jynx or Low Sweep on Sneasel is just awesome for the Gym, though I wish I could Pickup a Razor Claw. Oh well, at least I'll have it for the Elite Four.

5.) Team Galactic Cleanup
The best way to word this is really just cleanup. Between the Galactic Building in Veilstone and Mt. Coronet, it's just a matter of having enough Hyper Potions for healing and Revives for those rare cases where they outdamage my ability to heal. Which, two, was rare. Oh, and then I threw a Master Ball to catch a Dialga, and despite Birch wanting to congratulate me, I was just like "yeah, thanks, gramps, off to the next gym" and Escape Rope'd out.

6.) The Final Gym
Mamoswine just beats the crap out of this gym. I had a few scares, such as the Surfing Raichu, but nothing that couldn't be handled.

7.) Victory Road
I didn't realize I had ran out of Revives, but I was already on the second floor when I did come to the conclusion. I decided I was kinda of just stuck and resolved to move forward. It's like I'm desparate to get that Razor Claw or something.

8.) Elite Four
Oh dear god. This took some planning, and I even got my son to help me work through the whole thing. I could go crazy with words, but if you want to see the resulting outcome, I've uploaded two videos. One is for the Elite Four by itself (Flint was quite a fun time for example), and the other is the first and only attempt for Cynthia.

I don't normally make videos, but I wanted to show the fruits of the labor to my son, so I'll share them with you. Here's highlights: Bertha is easy with Grass Knot on Jynx and Abomasnow.

Our thoughts were mainly: Ice really needs to be resistant to more than just itself. It's been mostly focused on what other types it gets paired with more than how strong Ice is on its own. Heck, it probably should have been called Glass for how much of a Glass Cannon it can be at times. Of course, we started going down the rabbit hole on how to attempt a fix, but then I had to get back to writing this post!

The Elite Four Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peQBlXzuex4

The Champion Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQtF--wW-kg

Sorta 9.) Next Up: Gen 5
Only three this time: Vanillite line (my starter), Cubchoo line, and Cryogonal.

Help.

Umbreon (♂) | Dark | Level 19
Moves: Bite, Tackle, Attract, Sand Attack
71 HP / 33 Atk / 51 Def / 29 SpA / 51 SpD / 31 Spe
Ability: Synchronize| Nature: Naughty | Item: Blackglasses

Mightyena (♂) | Dark | Level 20
Moves: Bite, Poison Fang, Dig, Howl
59 HP / 43 Atk / 38 Def / 35 SpA / 32 SpD / 35 Spe
Ability: Intimidate| Nature: Quirky | Item: None

Shiftry (♂) | Grass/Dark | Level 20
Moves: Giga Drain, Secret Power, Refresh, Fake Out
67 HP / 41 Atk / 32 Def / 42 SpA / 32 SpD / 46 Spe
Ability: Chlorophyll| Nature: Timid | Item: None

Houndour (♂) | Dark/Fire | Level 19
Moves: Faint Attack, Ember, Charm, Roar
51 HP / 29 Atk / 17 Def / 39 SpA / 21 SpD / 31 Spe
Ability: Flash Fire| Nature: Naughty | Item: Charcoal

Carvanha (♀) | Water/Dark | Level 16
Moves: Bite, Water Pulse, Scary Face, Refresh
41 HP / 35 Atk / 14 Def / 27 SpA / 12 SpD / 29 Spe
Ability: Rough Skin| Nature: Lax | Item: None

1.) The Start and Striaton Gym
2.) Nacrene Gym
3.) Castelia Gym
4.) Nimbasa Gym
5.) Driftveil Gym
6.) Mistralton Gym

1.) The Start and Striaton Gym
Beginning isn't that bad - though the fight against Cheren in Striaton City really sucks. As does the final gym battle. I have to plan accordingly, but shifting around what turn I start Uproar on is the only way I can see Vanillite getting through this. Thankfully, Uproar is a special move and I've got pretty decent special attack. But any fire attacks just melt me, so this was the first real roadblock. I was thinking about just power leveling, but then I realized I'd be way overleveled for later sections, so as long as I was able to have a decent plan of attack, I went ahead and went after the luck rolls to get Uproar off at a high amount of health. I think it took four attempts to get the luck.

2.) Nacrene Gym
I keep reminding myself that all the rival battles are just so much fun...until Tepig's evolution line comes out. Sort of wish you didn't have to win them, like if you lose, they laugh at you and then you go on with life, but instead we just have to win, right?

Nacrene Gym, however, isn't that bad. The N fight before teaches me a couple of things. First, Fighting types are not defensive against Ice moves, so I can keep my moves in a power-oriented order. Second, I'm starting to hate Water types. In return, this means I can keep the moves in a specific order, top to bottom, based on relative power. For example, my Vanillite might have an Ice move with 60 power and then Uproar which has 90. So, if I generalize the math and say, counting STAB, that Ice move has 90 power, they'd be equal. But Normal can't get a super-effective, so I've put the Ice move before Uproar. It keeps me from having to remember what moves are more powerful than what other moves or bring up the summary screens; I just know things are in the correct order. Weak against Ice? Use Ice move. Strong against Ice? If I can get by with Uproar, do it. Otherwise, think carefully.

I don't like Watchog. I do have Harden, so before I do anything, I spam it until I'm +4 Defense and then I go on the offensive. Otherwise, Watchog takes me down quickly. Regardless, I use some healing first turn it's out to ensure I can survive Retaliate.

3.) Castelia Gym
The only thing I was worried about coming in was the ace, Leavanny. But it's part Grass so my Ice moves just rip into it.

4.) Nimbasa Gym
N's Darumaka and it's Fire Punch suck. That is all for that section. Another "fire off Uproar and hope" situation.

As for the Gym, Elesa's Emolga are weak to Ice, and I just take down Zebstrika with Uproar. I do think Uproar is starting to lose any sense of being worthwhile as I get stronger. I did plan on keeping it as long as possible at this point, so we'll see.

5.) Driftveil Gym
I spend some time with Krokorok out using Acid Armor to boost up my stats. Palpitoad is gonna have to be what it is, because it's got 2 special moves versus 1 physical. Nothing I can really do there but use Uproar and hope. Excadrill turns into me using Icy Wind and hoping for some crits. I didn't get any, but this was a close one. Rock Slide is powerful.

6.) Mistralton Gym
First, I pick up Cubchoo on Route 7, and then start leveling it up. My Vanillite is already over 35 (it's a Vanillish), so I figure, might as well get them both to 37 so Cubchoo gets to evolve. Did a bit of training, and poof, a Beartic.

Any guesses on how the Gym went? It's Flying, after all.

To end me out, I go in Twist Mountain and pick up the final member of my team, Cryogonal. Working on leveling that one up to match, then off to continue in the next part.