Final Gyms
Okay, so I did this part last weekend, and it was in-between a very full day of family visits, so I didn't keep great notes. Suffice to say, these weren't a real challenge.
Marnie Fight
Bagel led. KO'd Liepard with Drill Run. Scrafty came in. Bagel dynamaxed and KO'd Scrafty with Max Knuckle + Max Steelspike, but she was confused at the end. Morpeko swapped in. Bagel knocked herself out from confusion. Popover swapped in and hit with Drain Punch, but Morpeko held on at one percent and KO'd her with Bullet Seeed. Ladyfingers came in and cleaned up. Grimmsnarl came in and gigantamaxed. Ladyfingers hit once with Earthquake, then fainted. Biscuit swapped in. She used Bounce, to stall for a turn. She hit, paralyzed Grimmsnarl, and survived his attack. She finished the fight with Earthquake.
Hop Fight
Bagel led. Hop tried to heal through Brick Break, but it was too much for Dubwool. Snorlax swapped in. Donut swapped in. Two Brick Breaks brought him down. Corviknight swapped in. Shadow Punch, Shadow Punch, Hyper Potion, Shadow Punch, and we get the KO. Pincurchin swapped in. One Stomping Tantrum was enough to KO her. Rillaboom swapped in. Muffin swapped in. Both mons dynamaxed. Muffin came out hard with Max Hailstorm, which took Rillaboom to the red. The hail was enough to pick up the win.
Oleana Fight
I don't normally record "team admin" or "team boss" battles, but used dynamax on Muffin here, so I guess I'll do a quick summary. Muffin came in first, and took turns trading out with Bagel against the stuff I thought they were safe to fight. Muffin probably could have done it all alone, but she got burned on the first turn.
Bede Fight
Muffin led. Mawile went down after one Earthquake. Gardevoir came in, and Bagel came in to meet her. One Smart Strike was enough for a KO. Rapidash came in. I went ahead and Dynamaxed, then hit with Max Steelspike. Hatterene came in, but Mas Steelspike was too much for her, as well.
Nessa Fight
Muffin led. Golisopod came out first. Rock Slide didn't trigger Emergency Exit on the first hit, and it was enough to get a KO on the second hit. Very lucky. Barraskewda was up next, so I swapped in Popover. None of Popover's moves were great, here, but combined with Rocky Helmet and poison touch, I kinda just let Nessa's monster beat itself to death against mine. Seaking was next. This was a good opportunity to feed Popover some potions. Dig & Venoshock eventually got the KO. Pelliper came in, and Ladyfingers came in to meet him. I'm still underestimating her squishiness. She got one good hit with Rock Slide, but Peliper KO'd her on the same turn. Bagel swapped in to clean up with another Rock Slide. Drednaw was up last. Both Pokemon dynamaxed, and Bagel lashed out with Max Quake. I really thought it would be enough, but Drednaw hung on. She KO'd Bagel with Max Stonesurge. At this point, I realized that I never farmed up enough Dynamax Candies for my whole team. D'oh! Muffin came in to end the fight with another Earthquake, though.
Bea Fight
Muffin led. Hawlucha came out first, and outsped us. However, High Jump Kick missed, and we countered with Ice Fang for the KO. Falinks swapped in. Donut Swapped in. Falinks set up like crazy, but I guess the only move it could hit with was Rock Tomb, which just wasn't good enough. Sirfecth'd came in and KO'd Donut with Leaf Blade. Donut was able to get in one Shadow Punch before fainting, which allowed Muffin to come back in and KO with Earthquake. Grapploct came in and wasted its turn with Octoblock. Muffin fired off two more Earthquakes, to get the KO. Machamp came in last. I opted not to Dynamax on this turn. Muffin hit once with Earthquake before fainting. I swapped in Ladyfingers, Dynamaxed, and used Max Quake. To my surprise, this wasn't enough. Fortunately, Ladyfingers survived, and picked up the KO on the next turn.
Raihan Fight
Muffin led. She KO'd Torkoal immediately, with Earthquake. Turtonator came in, and Popover swapped in. A couple of Digs were enough to get the KO. Flygon swapped in, so I swapped Muffin. Ice Fang was lethal. Goodra didn't hold up against Ice Fang, either. Duralodon was up last, and I swapped in Bagel to meet him.
Max Quake spam eventually got me the win.
Rose Fight
Muffin led. Two Earthquakes, and Escavalier was down. Ferrothorn came in, and I swapped in Donut. Hammer Arm put a dent in him, but Power Whip KO'd Donut. Biscuit came in (for the first time in a long time) and KO'd Ferrothorn with Earthquake. Perrserker was up next. A couple more Earthquakes finished him up. Klinkklang came out, and outsped us with Gear Grind. Biscuit fainted. Popover used Drain Punch to beat it. Copperajah came out last, and we both dynamaxed. We took turns trading Max Quake, but of course, Popover won.
Leon Fight
Donut led. Aegislash knocked him out with Shadow Ball, immediately. Bagel came out and traded blows with Aegislash, but the Earthquake game was strong. Haxorus came out, and Muffin swapped in. Ice Fang, followed by Ice Shard, secured the KO. Dragapult was up next, and I swapped in Popover to soak some damage while I healed Muffin. Popover fainted, and I brought Muffin back in. Ice Ice combo again, to KO Dragapult. Inteleon swapped in, and I used a Max Revive to bring back Popover. Popover used Drain Punch until Inteleon was poisoned, and I tried to finish with Venoshock, but Inteleon hit hard with Snipe Shot. I swapped in Bagel. Snipe Shot KO'd Bagel, but the poison took out Inteleon. I swapped in Biscuit, and Leon brought in Mr Rime. I thought my best bet was to Max Revive Bagel, at this point. Mr Rime started with Teeter Dance. Fair enough, I Max Revived Popover, as well. Biscuit went down, so I brought in Bagel. I dynamaxed, and KO'd Mr Rime with Max Steelspike. Charizard came out, and I was banking on Bagel being faster than him. She wasn't. Ladyfingers got outsped, as well. At this point, I knew Charizard was faster than my whole team, so I just used a Max Revive to bring up Donut again. I used this time to bring back Popover & Bagel with Max Revive, while Charizard was charging & firing Solar Beam. Donut went down, so I brought in Popover. Popover used Scald, and Charizard readied his beam again. I swapped in Muffin to take the hit, and she survived. Too bad Fire Blast hit her before she could hit with Rock Slide. I was down to my last Pokemon, but bad AI is bad, so Charizard attempted Solar Beam again. Scald again, and the game is won.
My takeaway from this challenge:
I'm excited to play some more Sword. I will probably buy the DLC and play it, or start working on a semi-competitive team, soon. It's a relief to be a monotype champ again, on the latest gen. It's something I'm trying to do for every main series game. Pokemon is always fun, but the balance in this game feels all wrong. Dynamax/Gigantamax really throws off the flow of combat in an awkward way, and the final battles (Eternatus & Leon) have about a 10-level bump from the fights immediately before them. That's fine, if the game had given me any indication that I was supposed to go grind before fighting him. I also feel like Ground-type was done dirty in this gen. I'd like to see some better Ground-types brought in, on the next DLC, but that doesn't help with a monotype run at all. Seismitoad, Excadrill, and Mamoswine all felt very strong in this game, and each had a moment to shine. Golurk was okay, but its speed limited its ability to get in and fight. Diggersby & Dugtrio were just too fragile to be of much use, and my other monsters were roughly matched with them in speed & type coverage.
Mamoswine (M) - "Muffin"
Lv. 56
Snow Cloak - Bashful
Ice Shard / Earthquake / Ice Fang / Rock Slide
Excadrill (F) - "Bagel"
Lv. 58
Sand Rush - Serious
Earthquake / Brick Break / Smart Strike / Rock Slide
Dugtrio (F) - "Ladyfingers"
Lv. 56
Sand Veil - Naughty
Rock Slide / Slash / Night Slash / Earthquake
Diggersby (F) - "Biscuit"
Lv. 56
Cheek Pouch - Mild
Bounce / Brick Break / U-turn / Earthquake
Seismitoad (F) - "Popover"
Lv. 57
Poison Touch - Rash
Scald / Dig / Drain Punch / Venoshock
Golurk - "Donut"
Lv. 55
Iron Fist - Careful
Stomping Tantrum / Mega Punch / Hammer Arm / Shadow Punch