[Event] Proof of Affinity - Valentine's Day Challenge 2022 [time to play!]

Eleanor · Feb 19, 2022

Eleanor's adventures in Pokémon Platinum - gym 1
Partner trainer: Cubeth on Leaf Green

After learning about my pen pal and supposed crush starting a journey in their home region, I couldn't help but do my best to follow in their footsteps. Their enthusiasm really is contagious, and with it, comes also a very strong desire to... impress them. To make them proud. And to find my own strengths through this process.

There's not really much to say, despite some rather strange encounters along the way (like that guy trying to hide behind a lamp post, like... why even bother). I have just been able to catch a lot of Pokémon, nearly all of which are male and were caught at level 5, and... with that team I quickly made my way to Roark's gym. Inside of which, all it really took was one attack from one Pokémon... my starter, Piplup.

Yes, even Roark went down to Linux the Piplup literally spamming Bubble. It was difficult because of the very low base power of that move and Cranidos' enormous Attack, but Linux's high level worked to my favor. He wanted to evolve at the end but I blocked it, though... feeling suddenly uncertain of whether or not my pen pal would appreciate it.

Checking on my partner, the team I decided to use was the following, and the pairs we worked on were...

♥ Linux, Piplup, lv. 16 - Squirtle (Ability: torrent)
♥ C++, Starly, lv. 11 - Weedle (size: 0.3 m)
♥ MySQL, Bidoof, lv. 8 - Mankey (size: 0.5 m)
♥ Fortran, Abra, lv. 5 - Pidgey (color: brown)
♥ Ponyta (soon to be named oops), lv. 7 - Pikachu (stats: highest is Speed, lowest is HP)
♥ Binary, Shinx, lv. 5 - Rattata (moves: both know Tackle and have less than 4 moves)

Obligatory image:

[PokeCommunity.com] Proof of Affinity - Valentine's Day Challenge 2022 [time to play!]

More details on the pairs in Cubeth's own update, coming soon... right? :3c

budube · Feb 19, 2022

Cube's 1909803574893806th adventure through Kanto, but this time it's not Fire Red or any hack based around it
Partner: Eleanor aka Bestie on Pokémon Platinum

Part 1:
What is there to say here? Not much tbh I think we all know how Kanto starts. After getting Shelly the Turtle the Squirtle from Professor Oak and beating Blue and delivering Oak's parcel, I went into a catching spree. Before heading to Viridian Forest to also participate in the #MankeyStopGettingPoisonedChallenge

Not much to say after that, Brock wasn't hard, of course. Most of the Gym was taken down by Mankey alone, except for Brock's Onix that was taken down by Shelly. Pikachu was also a bit useful for Viridian Forest, and also grew a few levels, even if it wasn't my intent to train it now. It saves me some grinding for the next Gym I suppose.

The pairs were already listed by my partner earlier, but here they are just in case:

♥ Shelly, Squirtle, lvl. 12 - Piplup (Ability: torrent)
♥ Stingy, Weedle, lv. 5 - Starly (size: 0.3 m)
♥ Angy, Mankey, lv. 10 - Bidoof (size: 0.5 m)
♥ Windy, Pidgey lv. 2 - Abra (color: brown)
♥ Zappy, Pikachu lvl. 7 - Ponyta (stats: highest is Speed, lowest is HP)
♥ Sqweaky, Rattata lvl. 3 - Shinx (moves: both know Tackle and have less than 4 moves)

StanTheSnoms · Feb 20, 2022

Proof of Affinity Challenge

Chapter 2: Bugging Hell

Section 1: Departure

Violet City is now done with. I wanted to make a hasty leave because the place was honestly kind of boring but the old professor wanted me to pick up this random egg. Maybe I'll hatch it another time but I don't see a purpose to hatch it immediately. Giving one last look, I gave Violet City a farewell and left onto the next routes, which weren't as eventful as I imagined. Just a load of trainers in my way, awaiting on battling. Before I knew it, I had already ran through all of the remaining routes, catching Brasilia the Sandshrew in some cave.

Section 2: Slowpoke Well

Before actually getting into the new town, I had noticed a fight between this guy and someone in a black outfit with a bright red R on the front. This turned out to be much worse than I suspected as this old man, Kurt, mentioned how this team known as Team Rocket are harvesting the tails of Slowpokes. . . I mean, I would've told the authorities but guess I have to stop them because what do the authorities have over a child.

Decending into this well, I first nabbed Berlin the Slowpoke (quelle surprise) and saw the abundance of Team Rocket members surrounding the area. Luckily, I was able to quite easily clear through the area with Paris and Sofia. Even the so called executive at the end didn't stand a chance, with his Zubat being OHKO'ed by Paris and the Koffing being beaten quite easily by Baku and Sofia.

Section 2.5: Ilex Forest

This section wasn't as important. However, I did grab Concord the Paras so I'll just leave it at that

Section 3: Dave

Before actually making it into Ilex Forest, I was stopped by the criminal. After his "very evil" monologue, he challenged me to a battle. The Gastly was relatively easy with Sofia and Baku. The Zubat was almost immediately taken down by Paris. However, the Croconaw that he stole became an issue. After Lima was almost immediately killed, I ended up using Sofia and Cursing the Croconaw after barely living a Bite. Eventually, the Croconaw went down. After this and catching Concord, I prepared for Bugsy.

Section 4: Bugsy

Devalue's consistent updates about their adventures have really helped our Pokemon connect in some way and, eventually, we managed to form the following pairs for the next gym:

Root the Bellossom and Canberra the Wooper based on Height
Diameter the Wooloo and Belfast the Geodude based on the moves Tackle and Defense Curl
Degree the Raboot and Bucharest the Zubat based on their highest and lowest base stat
Quotient the Kirlia and Baku the Quilava based on their highest and lowest base stat
Fraction the Galarian Slowpoke and Sofia the Gastly based on their nature
Parabola the Yamper and Brasilia the Sandshrew based on their colour

The gym battle started off incredibly rough. I lead with Brasilia in order to see how the first encounter would work. Immediately, she was one shot by a U-turn. However, this allowed me to easy switch over to Baku and retaliate against the opposing Metapod. Scyther came back in so I switch into Belfast, expecting him to live a U-Turn based on his resistances. This did not work and he was immediately one shot. Again, this allowed me to switch into Baku and OHKO the incoming Kakuna. Baku stayed in against the Scyther and eventually managed to whittle down its health enough to faint to a Quick Attack, allowing us to win the battle and get the second badge.

We made it a quarter of the way through the badges! Next up is the dreaded Whitney. . . this will be an experience.

Duck · Feb 22, 2022

Proof of Afinity
Segment #1

I was going to do this extra thing with a paper CSS and fluff so it actually looked like a letter to fit the spirit, but I'm lazy, having computer troubles and things are just kinda hectic right now, so, let's go with the old reliable.

- Started the game as Pikaboo
- Got Helios the Scorbunny (Male - Level 5 - Serious - Blaze)
- Beat Hop
- Blacked out in some foggy woods after hallucinating about a dog with my bestie
- Got a make-over for my trip!
- Got Jeanne d'Arc the Rookidee (Female - Level 7 - Timid - Keen Eye)
- Got A'Tuin the Chewtle (Female - Level 5 - Bashful - Shell Armor)
- Beat Hop
- I guess I got sponsored to become a region famous athlete? Look for number 314 ('cuz I'm a cutie pie, duh)
- Got Sparky the Electrike (Female - Level 7 - Timid - Lightning Rod)
- Got Diana the Scraggy (Female - Level 15 - Rash - Moxie) (boxed)
- Beat Hop
- Got Gene the Zigzagoon (Male - Level 12 - Quiet - Pickup)
- Scorbunny evolved!
- Beat Bede
- I was forced to catch Roadblock the Slowpoke (Male - Level 12 - Naive - Own Tempo) (boxed)
- I reached the Isle of Armor
- Beat Klara
- Got Hermit the Dwebble (Male - Level 18 - Jolly - Sturdy) and then went back to the mainland
- Jeanne d'Arc evolved!
- Completed the Turffield Gym Mission
- Beat Gym Leader Milo

Team

Spoiler:

The Pairings

Spoiler:

Total Pairings: 6

Devalue · Feb 23, 2022

Section 3: Kabu

"Chairman Rose comes here incognito, but the word always gets out when he's here." Yes, but for other reasons.

Entered Galar Mine No. 2 in search of Kabu. Met Bede first. Swept with Root (Bellossom) after three Quiver Dances. Cut the setup short because of Solosis's Psyshock.

Deposited Root to try to keep their level in check for the gym. Faced the Team Yell double battle with Hop. Won with Degree (Raboot)'s Double Kicks and Parabola (newly evolved Boltund) finishing Thievul and Liepard. Received little help from Hop. Criticaled Liepard for half its health with Pluck. Inflicted maybe 15% of a health bar between the other three Pokemon.

Noticed levels creeping up fast (levels 26 and 27, with a soft level cap of 27). Stored the entire team. Brought in and leveled the B Team: Bias (Tranquill), Radical (Toxel), Outlier (Karrablast), Derivative (Alolan Vulpix), Sine (Alolan Sandshrew), and Exponent (Alolan Persian). Kept Vulpix and Sandshrew unevolved, despite having the Ice Stones for them. Might be useful for height.

Took on Marnie with the B Team at level 25. Felt a little apprehensive about this. Struggled here with an iffy (althought smaller) team before.

Turn 1: Tranquil: Air Cutter (90%) / Croagunk: Venoshock (48/73)
Turn 2: Croagunk: Super Potion (heal to full) / Tranquil: Quick Attack (40%)
Turn 3: Tranquil: Air Cutter (the rest)
Turn 4: Tranquil: Switch to Outlier / Morpeko: Thunder Shock (49/61)
Turn 5: Morpeko: Bite (21/61) / Karrablast: Flinched
Turn 6: Karrablast: Switch to Exponent / Morpeko: Bite (60/75) (Exponent's Rattled)
Turn 7: Alolan Persian: Fake Out (10%) / Morpeko: Flinched
Turn 8: Morpeko: Quick Attack (46/75) / Alolan Persian: Power Gem (40%)
Turn 9: Alolan Persian: Power Gem (40%) / Morpeko: Thunder Shock (34/75)
Turn 10: Alolan Persian: Power Gem (the rest)
Turn 11: Alolan Persian: Switch to Bias / Scraggy: Low Kick (33/75)
Turn 12: Tranquil: Feather Dance / Scraggy: Headbutt (24/75)
Turn 13: Tranquil: Air Cutter (miss) / Scraggy: Headbutt (14/76)
Turn 14: Tranquil: Switch to Derivative (Derivative's Snow Warning) / Scraggy: Headbutt (46/58)
(Leftovers heal to 49/58)
Turn 15: Alolan Vulpix: Aurora Beam (35%) / Scraggy: Low Kick (37/58)
(Leftovers heal to 40/58)
Turn 16: Alolan Vulpix: Aurora Beam (35%) / Scraggy: Low Kick (28/58)
(Leftovers heal to 31/58)
Turn 17: Alolan Vulpix: Aurora Beam (the rest)

Could have been worse. Roughed up Outlier (Karrablast) for about 46% of its health with Eviolite in a single Bite. Forgot about Derivative not being Ice/Fairy type yet.

Decided to challenge Klara now too. Weighs in at about equal level to Marnie. Called on the B Team once again.

(Toxic Spikes active)
Turn 1: Tranquil: Feather Dance / Skorupi: Poison Fang (66/76)
Turn 2: Tranquil: Switch to Radical (Removed Toxic Spikes) / Skorupi: Poison Fang (53/58)
Turn 3: Skorupi: Bite (44/58) (Toxel's Rattled) / Toxel: Nuzzle (8%, paralyzed)
Turn 4: Toxel: Switch to Sine / Skorupi: Paralyzed
Turn 5: Alolan Sandshrew: Metal Claw (35%, +1 Attack) / Skorupi: Bite (60/65) (Sine's Rocky Helmet)
Turn 6: Alolan Sandshrew: Rollout (the rest)
Turn 7: Alolan Sandshrew: Rollout (critical, 30%) / Galarian Weezing: Assurance (50/65) (Sine's Rocky Helmet)
Turn 8: Alolan Sandshrew: Rollout (50%) / Galarian Weezing: Assurance (37/65) (Sine's Rocky Helmet, fainting Galarian Weezing)
Turn 9: Alolan Sandshrew: Rollout (100%) / Whirlipede: Fainted
(Level up. Dynamaxed Galarian Slowbro.)
Turn 10: Alolan Sandshrew: Rollout (100%) / Galarian Slowbro: Fainted

...Oh. Wow. Did not expect the one-shot, even for a 480 power +1 Rollout. Only had a two level advantage over Galarian Slowbro. Might be sleeping on Sine.

Dilly-dallied a little more. Investigated Max Raids for a few special Pokemon. Picked up Integer the Indeedee (with Psychic Surge), Axis the Zorua, Vector the Turtonator, and Factorial the Duraludon. Considers the last two noteworthy for their level. Finds them only at level 45+ on the mainland. Captured Vector at 28 and Factorial at 15. Might not use them. Likes them as options.

Reflected on further connections with Snoomy's Pokemon.
1. Scalene (Squirtle) and Dublin (Heracross) on Colour (Blue)
2. Parabola (Boltund) and Paris (Flaaffy) on Type (Electric)
3. Bias (Tranquill) and Pierre (Nidorino) based on Nature (+Special Attack)
4. Root (Bellossom) with Honolulu (Hoppip) on Ability (Chlorophyll)
5. Diameter (Wooloo) and Taipei (Spinarak) on Nature (+Speed)
6. Degree (Raboot) and Baku (Quilava) on Ability (Blaze)

Strategy: Solo it with Root. Plans to stand up to the entire Fire gym, including a Gigantamax Centiskorch, with a Grass-type. Will know their name. Perfected Root a little more, in preparation. Fed them a Bold Mint for a +Defense nature. Replaced Moonblast with Sludge Bomb.

Intends to Quiver Dance six times while healing periodically with Strength Sap/Giga Drain. Will then Strength Sap the Centiskorch during its Gigantamax turns. Doubts Root's ability to one-shot a Gigantamaxed Centiskorch, even at +6.

Worst case scenario? Pick up the slack with Scalene (with Eviolite) and Bias.

Turn 1: Ninetales: Will-O-Wisp / Bellossom: Quiver Dance
(Burn damage to 80/85)
Turn 2: Ninetales: Fire Spin (66/85) / Bellossom: Quiver Dance
(Leftovers, Burn, and Fire Spin damage to 56/85)
Turn 3: Bellossom: Quiver Dance / Ninetales: Fire Spin (48/85)
(Leftovers, Burn, and Fire Spin damage to 38/85)
Turn 4: Bellossom: Giga Drain (35%, heal to 53/85) / Ninetales: Ember (45/85)
(Leftovers, Burn, and Fire Spin damage to 35/85)
Turn 5: Bellossom: Quiver Dance / Ninetales: Fire Spin (27/85)
(Leftovers, Burn, and Fire Spin damage to 17/85)
Turn 6: Bellossom: Strength Sap (heal to 58/85) / Ninetales: Fire Spin (critical, 26/85)
(Leftovers, Burn, and Fire Spin damage to 16/85)
Turn 7: Bellossom: Moomoo Milk (heal to full) / Ninetales: Fire Spin (77/85)
(Freed from Fire Spin. Negated Leftovers heal with Burn.)
Turn 8: Bellossom: Quiver Dance / Ninetales: Fire Spin (71/85)
(Leftovers, Burn, and Fire Spin damage to 61/85)
Turn 9: Bellossom: Quiver Dance / Ninetales: Ember (55/85)
(Leftovers, Burn, and Fire Spin damage to 45/85)
Turn 10: Bellossom: Strength Sap (heal to 72/85) / Ninetales: Fire Spin (66/85)
(Leftovers, Burn, and Fire Spin damage to 56/85)
Turn 11: Bellossom: Giga Drain (the rest, heal to 79/85)
(Freed from Fire Spin. Negated Leftovers heal with Burn damage.)
(Arcanine's Intimidate)
Turn 12: Bellossom: Sludge Bomb (100%) / Arcanine: Fainted
(Level up. Negated Leftovers heal with Burn damage.)
(Gigantamaxed Centiskorch.)
Turn 13: Bellossom: Strength Sap (heal to full) / Centiskorch: G-Max Centiferno (40/88)
(Leftovers, Burn, and Fire Spin damage to 29/88)
Turn 14: Bellossom: Strength Sap (heal to 77/88) / Centiskorch: G-Max Centiferno (39/88)
(Leftovers, Burn, and Fire Spin damage to 28/88)
Turn 15: Bellossom: Strength Sap (heal to 64/88) / Centiskorch: G-Max Centiferno (34/88)
(Leftovers, Burn, and Fire Spin damage to 23/88. Ended Centiskorch's Gigantamax.)
Turn 16: Bellossom: Sludge Bomb (99%) / Centiskorch: Smokescreen
(Leftovers, Burn, and Fire Spin damage to 12/88.)
Turn 17: Bellossom: Moomoo Milk (heal to full) / Centiskorch: Bug Bite (70/88)
(Leftovers, Burn, and Fire Spin damage to 59/88.)
Turn 18: Bellossom: Sludge Bomb (the rest)
(Level up.)

Screenshotted the end of Turn 16, for anyone uninterested in poring over the log. Pared it down to the health bars. Captures the highlight.

Successfully soloed it. Hoped for greater glory, even so, such as no items. Overestimated Strength Sap's heal. Only survived because of Centiskorch using Smokescreen too. Missed the one-shot on top of that, even at +6 and un-Gigantamaxed. Acknowledges good special bulk on Centiskorch (base 100 Hitpoints and 95 Special Defense), not to mention an off-type attack. Still expected better.

Calculated the scenario. Estimated Root's Special Attack at 58 during the fight. (Sits at 60 Special Attack at level 29.) Found Kabu's Centiskorch's specifics (Level 27, Impish, 20 IVs across the board). Shows Sludge Bomb hitting for 82.2 - 97.9%.

Rolled maximum damage, if true. Really wanted that one-shot. Pats Root for trying. Might have gotten it with Modest instead of Bold. May have taken far more damage too, however.

Challenges Bea next time. Notches an easy win for Root, if desired. Spies an opportunity for someone else, though. Emerges from the depths of mediocrity at the perfect time for it.

Spoiler: Short Version of Team

Kostucha · Feb 24, 2022

Proof of Affinity - Update #1

First segment went rather well, full team against Cheren is more than enough :P

Team:

Spoiler:

The Pairs:

Spoiler:

Duck · Feb 24, 2022

Proof of Afinity
Segment #2

A quick and short segment

- Caught Nogitsune the Vulpix (Male - Level 9 - Mild - Flash Fire)
- Got Alolan Meowth as a gift by accident actually, (Male - Level 5 - Modest - Rattled)
- Got Pupper the Lilipup (Female - Level 20 - Naive - Vital Spirit)
- Got Lenz the Magnemite (Genderless - Level 10 - Serious - Sturdy)
- Got a bike
- Beat Hop
- Did the water puzzle in one of the least eco-friendly gyms out there - maybe this is the reason Galar's about to face an energy crisis, Rose.
- Beat Gym Leader Nessa

Team

Spoiler:

The Pairings

Spoiler:

Total Pairings: 12

Kostucha · Feb 26, 2022

Proof of Affinity - Update #2

Very short segment with another full team of 6 vs early gym leader case.

Team:

Spoiler:

The Pairs:

Spoiler:

Devalue · Feb 27, 2022

Section 4: Bea

Picks up on the road to Hammerlocke. Expected to unlock EV training PokeJobs now. Happens after the next badge, supposedly. Fiiiiiine.

Derailed from the path to the gym. Flew to the Isle of Armor. Blanketed the Fields of Honor in fog. Marks the first time since the first day of the challenge. Swindled a dozen Blisseys out of their Lucky Eggs with the power of Bias's Super Luck (20% Lucky Egg chance per Blissey) and Exponent's Switcheroo.

Hauled in twice the necessary amount of Lucky Eggs while looking for a Brilliant Aura Abra. (No luck.) Grabbed Ellipsoid, a Brilliant Aura Klefki, and Secant, a level 20 Toxapex, on the foggy shoreline.

Meanwhile, back at Hammerlocke:
"Gastrodon, I choose you! SQUEEEAAA-SQUISHY-SQUISHY-SQUISH!" Is this the new Let's Go Gastrodon move?

Battled a pair of Team Yell trainers back-to-back. Discovered how weak Scalene's (Wartortle) damage was. Irritated enemy Pokemon for 15% of their health. Absorbed hits like a champion, but who cares?

Recorded the Clefairy + Clefable trainer's Metronomes.
1. Burn Up. No effect (against a Fluffy Wooloo)
2. Psychic Fangs.
3. Submission (Fainted itself from recoil.)
4. Stun Spore (Why does Diameter get all the status conditions?)
5. Spit Up
6. Petal Blizzard (Bounced off Function the Centiskorch.)

Screenshots the trainer below every time. Feels more unnerving than Oleana.

Battled Hop with Root (Bellossom). Demolished everything with the usual Quiver Dance strategy.

Spent a moment in thought before the gym. Claimed to be a Fighting gym. Detected something off about it. Swore someone was watching, despite no one being there.

Inquired at the entrance. Apparently traded off with a Ghost-type gym leader. Thought of Snoomy's battle against Morty just recently. Deepened that connection between Pokemon.

1. Root (Bellossom) + Moscow (Raticate) on Level Met (15).
2. Function (Centiskorch) + Baku (Quilava) on Moves (Smoke Screen and Ember).
3. Diameter (Dubwool) + Paris (Flaaffy) on Level Met (6)
4. Matrix (Kubfu) + Bucharest (Zubat) on Ability (Inner Focus)
5. Rigor (Alolan Marowak) and Athens (Sudowoodo) on Ability (Rock Head)
6. Integer (male Indeedee) and Sofia (Gastly) on Base Stats (Best: Special Attack. Worst: Defense.)

Awoke something deep within Diameter. Might have been the sheep connection with Paris. Might have grown tired of being one of the weakest on the roster. Underwent a magical girl transformation just before the match.
- New move: Cotton Guard (+3 Defense per use).
- Evolved into Dubwool. (Held off because of Cotton Guard's learn level. Picks it up at 44 as Dubwool (7th gym), but only 36 as Wooloo (4th gym).
- New nature: Timid (+Speed / -Attack) -> Impish (+Defense / -Special Attack)
- New moves: Body Press (Calculates damage based on user's Defense) and Body Slam (Why is Wooloo unable to learn this?).
- PP Up on Body Press.

Stand aside, Root. Seeks to prove something to everyone else. Where better than against the bane of Normal-types?

Turn 1: Dubwool: Cotton Guard / Hitmontop: Revenge (95/108)
(Leftovers heal to 101/108)
Turn 2: Dubwool: Cotton Guard / Hitmontop: Revenge (92/108)
(Leftovers heal to 98/108)
Turn 3: Dubwool: Body Press (100%)
(Leftovers heal to 104/108)
Turn 4: Dubwool: Body Press (100%) / Pangoro: Fainted
(Leftovers heal to full.)
Turn 5: Dubwool: Body Press (100%) / Sirfetch'd: Fainted
(Level up)
(Gigantamaxed Machamp)
Turn 6: Dubwool: Body Press (75%) / Machamp: G-Max Chi Strike (91/111)
(Leftovers heal to 97/111)
Turn 7: Dubwool: Body Press (the rest)

A good, quick showing from Diameter. Avoided an unlucky critical, fortunately.

Next up: the Fairy gym.

Spoiler: Short Version of Team

StanTheSnoms · Feb 28, 2022

Proof of Affinity Challenge
Chapter 3: Just a Normal Day

I decided to bundle Chapter 3 and 4 together because not a lot really happened between the 2

Section 1: Departure. . . again

After beating the gym, we left pretty hastily because we had nothing left to do as of now. I plan on returning shortly for a specific new member of the team. Until then, it was goodbye Azalea Town. The adventure onto the next town didn't give much to do except for capturing this guy's 2 Farfetch'ds in order to carry on through the forest. Turns out I'm physically unable to step over a small tree. On the way out and into the next town, I captured Hanoi the Drowzee and entered the next town

Section 2: Goldenrod City

I entered the city and immediately ran to try and pick up the Eevee. Bill wasn't there though. Shame, guess I gotta wait until I get into the next town. However, I did manage to capture Pierre the Nidoran Male whilst exploring in the nearby area. After the searching, I decided to return to Azalea Town to grab Dublin the Heracross in order to hopefully easily take out the demon that is Whitney's Miltank. Speaking of which. . .

Section 3: Whitney

You lot ready for some pairs? Well, Me and Devalue have you sorted with:

Scalene the Squirtle and Dublin the Heracross based on their Colour
Parabola the Boltund and Paris the Flaaffy based on Type
Bias the Tranquil and Pierre the Nidorino based on Nature
Root the Bellossom and Honolulu the Hoppip based on their Ability
Diameter the Wooloo and Taipei the Spinarak based on Nature
Degree the Raboot and Baku the Quilava based on their Ability

Now time for the dreadfully difficult gym challenge. . . I used brick break with Heracross and won. . . Next gym!

Chapter 4: That's the Spirit!

Section 1: Un-Tree-Lievable

Before I even got the chance to step into Ecruteak, I had to irritate a random Sudowoodo with this Squirt Bottle given to me by the local florist. However, this was not a complete loss as we captured Athens the Sudowoodo. We carried on through the game, reaching Ectruteak and exploring around the surrounding areas, catching Cardiff the Growlithe, Tokyo the Machop and Moscow the Rattata. We also backtracked over to Goldenrod after speaking to Bill to finally get Seoul the Eevee.

Section 2: Burning Tower

Due to how I was very close to the gym and how my travel buddy, Devalue, was at the gym, we decided to create out pairs at this moment. So, for the pairs, we had:

Root the Bellossom and Moscow the "future" Raticate on Level Met
Function the Centiskorch and Baku the Quilava on knowing 2 similar moves
Diameter the Dubwool and Paris the Flaaffy on Level Met (and for being sheep)
Matrix the Kubfu and Bucharest the Zubat on Ability
Rigor the Alolan Marowak and Athens the Sudowoodo based on Ability
Integer the Indeedee and Sofia the Gastly on Stats

Before actually fighting the gym though, I had to fight Dave. . . seriously, why has no one arrested this dude? This fight was fairly easy, Moscow could easily wall the Gastly and take it out with Bite, Zubat and Croconaw were easily fainted by Paris's Thunder Shock and Magnemite was melted by Baku's Ember. Anyways, Morty's in his gym now so it's time

Section 3: Morty

So after a pretty spectacular failure at the first attempt, I managed to easily sweep the team with Moscow on the next attempt, which was definitely made a lot faster learning Crunch half way through the fight. Not really much more to say about it, it was fairly simple.

As I said, these sections really didn't have that much content. Hopefully this will get better in the second half of the game

Eleanor · Mar 1, 2022

Eleanor's adventures in Pokémon Platinum - gym 2
Partner trainer: Cubeth on Leaf Green

It took me quite a while to get into this challenge again, I'll admit. Finding a good team, a strategy that seemed solid, it's all kind of difficult at first, and having other things to deal with didn't help. But now that we're at the half-way point, I've just decided to basically speedrun this section and get to Gardenia quickly and without asking myself many questions...
And it's good that I still did that, because at this point in the game, you don't really need a full team of six. In fact, I beat Mars by just brute force with Piplup and Staravia, whereas Gardenia went down with the help of Ponyta alone! This lets me add a few team members just for the pairs...

The team now is:

♥ Linux, Prinplup, lv. 19 (~~Ability~~) → Zubat
size, 0.8 m
♥ C++, Staravia, lv. 19 (~~size~~) → Raticate
stats: highest is Speed, lowest is Special Attack
♥ CSS, Budew, lv. 20 → Weepinbell
type, Grass-Poison
♥ PHP, Geodude, lv. 5 → Pikachu
gender, male
♥ Ponyta (soon to be named oops), lv. 21 (~~Stats~~) → Wartortle
size, 1 m
♥ Binary, Shinx, lv. 5 (~~Moves~~) → Mankey
stats: highest is Attack, lowest is Defense

Obligatory image:

Let's see what Cubestie has been up to...

budube · Mar 1, 2022

Cube's 1909803574893806th adventure through Kanto, but this time it's not Fire Red or any hack based around it
Partner: Eleanor aka Bestie on Pokémon Platinum

Part 2:
After beating Brock and getting the running shoes I had to box some pokémon before heading to Mt. Moon to y'know, catch the new ones, and get to Cerulean of course.

Ofc, one of those was Zubat, extremely easy to find, but the other one was Bellsprout, which I had to catch in the same route as Nugget Bridge, so after the rival battle.

I also had to do some grinding to evolve Rattata, Squirtle and Bellsprout.

If I'm quite honest, getting past the S.S. Anne (yes I did that before the Gym to get some levels) was more difficult than beating Misty. I was going for a Weepinbell sweep at first, but miss Gluttony got confused and fainted by herself, so I ended up beating her with Zappy and Shelly. Squeaky was also really useful during the pre-cerulean part of the segment.

The pairs were already listed by my partner earlier, but here they are just in case:

♥ Shelly, Wartortle, lvl. 21 - Ponyta (~~ability~~); size: 1m
♥ Squeaky, Raticate, lv. 20 - Staravia (~~size~~); highest base stats is speed, lowest is sp.atk
♥ Angy, Mankey, lv. 11 - Shinx (~~size~~); highest base stat is attack, lowest is defense
♥ Gluttony, Weepinbell lv. 22 - Budew; type: grass-poison
♥ Zappy, Pikachu lvl. 23 - Geodude (~~stats~~); same gender (male)
♥ Batty, Zubat lvl. 8 - Prinplup; size: 0.8m

Devalue · Mar 3, 2022

Section 5: Opal

Exited the gym to an explosion. Found Bede with a big elephant. Called up other Pokemon to handle this. Apporached this section's level cap from previous section's gym battle. Fed the tagged-in Pokemon some candy to make them viable.

Turn 1: Blastoise: Shell Smash / Duosion: Psyshock (critical, 33/114) (Sitrus Berry heal to 61/114)
Turn 2: Blastoise: Bite (100%)
Turn 3: Blastoise: Flash Cannon (60%) / Hattrem: Psybeam (25/114)
Turn 4: Blastoise: Flash Cannon (the rest)
Turn 5: Blastoise: Bite (99%) / Gothorita: Fake Tears
Turn 6: Gothorita: Super Potion heal to 70% / Blastoise: Bite (the rest)
Turn 7: Blastoise: Bite (100%) / Galarian Ponyta: Fainted

Failed to one-shot Gothorita with a +2 Bite. Yikes. Witnesses that Bold nature (+Defense / -Attack) at play.

Rushed through Glimwood Tangle because of experience. Fought one double battle. Reached the next gym 23 minutes after the previous one, even with some team selection and leveling.

Sped through for a second purpose: limiting EV gains. Came time for everyone to reach their full potential. Cleaned off everyone with EV-lowering berries. Pumped out 30 Macho Braces from the Cram-o-matic. (Usual recipe: Armorite Ore + Dynite Ore + 2 treasures.) Assigned all* 28 main team Pokemon, plus Radius (Reshiram) and Correlation (Tapu Koko), to EV training PokeJobs.

(*All at the time. Added more later.)

Increased EVs by 192 every 24 hours. Followed up those sessions with an 8-hour session. Maxed out everyone in three days.

Left plenty of time for idle thoughts. Strayed towards how Snoomy's journey was progressing. Challenged a Fighting gym next. Hopefully helped by describing the battle against Bea. Pondered more of the similarities between the Pokemon.

1. Root (Bellossom) + Boston (Tauros) on Nature (+Special Attack)
2. Pi (Torkoal) + Baku (Quilava) on Type (Fire)
3. Rigor (Alolan Marowak) + Canberra (Quagsire) on Moves (Tail Whip and Headbutt)
4. Rational (Alolan Raichu) + Paris (Flaaffy) on Moves (Thundershock and Thunder Wave)
5. Radical (Toxtricity) + Seoul (Espeon) on Base Stats (Best: Special Attack. Worst: Defense)
6. Quotient (Gardevoir) + Wellington (Butterfree) on Color (White)

Evolved Matrix into Rapid Strike Urshifu, as a sidenote. Brushed aside Mustard's Kubfu easily. Missed a one-shot critical solely because of its Focus Sash.

Strategy for Opal: Quiver Dance in Galarian Weezing's face with Root. Sweep. The usual, in other words.

Turn 1: Galarian Weezing: Sludge (86/140) / Bellossom: Quiver Dance
(Leftovers heal to 94/140. +2 Speed to Bellossom from a correct answer.)
Turn 2: Bellossom: Quiver Dance / Galarian Weezing: Sludge (68/140)
(Leftovers heal to 76/140)
Turn 3: Bellossom: Strength Sap (heal to full) / Galarian Weezin: Sludge (114/140)
(Leftovers heal to 122/140)
Turn 4: Bellossom: Quiver Dance / Galarian Weezing: Sludge (102/140)
(Leftovers heal to 110/140. +2 Defense and Special Defense from a correct answer.)
Turn 5: Bellossom: Quiver Dance / Galarian Weezing: Sludge (96/140, poisoned)
(Leftovers + Poison to 87/140)
Turn 6: Bellossom: Quiver Dance / Galarian Weezing: Sludge (73/140)
(Leftovers + Poison to 64/140)
Turn 7: Bellossom: Giga Drain (85%, heal to 104/140) / Galarian Weezing: Sludge (90/140)
(Leftovers + Poison to 81/140)
Turn 8: Bellossom: Giga Drain (the rest, heal to 90/140)
(Leftovers + Poison to 81/140. +2 Attack and Special Attack from a correct answer.)
Turn 9: Bellossom: Sludge Bomb (100%) / Togekiss: Fainted
(Level up. Leftovers + Poison to 76/144)
(Mawile's Intimidate)
Turn 10: Bellossom: Giga Drain (100%, heal to 120/144) / Mawile: Fainted
(Leftovers + Poison to 111/144)
(Gigantamaxed Alcremie)
Turn 11: Bellossom: Sludge Bomb (100%) / Alcremie: Fainted

Nice. A glorious solo without using items. Pulled out every move as a pleasant bonus. Makes that early farming worthwhile.

Spoiler: Short Version of Team

Duck · Mar 5, 2022

Proof of Afinity
Segments #3 and 4

Quick and short segments

- Got Darlington the Pikachu (Female - Level 22 - Bold - Static)
- Got Zephyr the Tranquil (Female - Level 30 - Gentle - Super Luck)
- A'Tuin evolved
- Beat Bede
- Beat Marnie
- Got Maria the Sizzlipede (Female - Level 25 - Sassy - White Smoke)
- Got Candle the Litwick (Female - Level 25 - Bold - Flash Fire)
- Beat Kabu

Team

Spoiler:

The Pairings

Spoiler:

Total Pairings: 18

As for segment 4, I think the only things of note were:

- I got Yuri the Abra (Female - Level 15 - Brave - Inner Focus)
- Yuri evolved
- I got Sprite the Haunter (Male - Level 28 - Brave - Levitate)

Team

Spoiler:

The Pairings

Spoiler:

Total Pairings: 24

Kostucha · Mar 5, 2022

Proof of Affinity - Update #3-5

Quick-ish update: For those segments we managed to get the uglier pairs out of the way like Nature/Ability/Moves leaving us with more options for the last few segments (main difficulty of the challenge is pairing teams, not beating the game, so I'll just focus on that in the updates from now on :P)

Segment 3:

Team:

Spoiler:

The Pairs:

Spoiler:

Segment 4:

Team:

Spoiler:

The Pairs:

Spoiler:

Segment 5:

Team:

Spoiler:

The Pairs:

Spoiler:

Devalue · Mar 5, 2022

Section 6: Gordie

Tromps towards Circhester's Rock-type gym next. Got distracted by other things, such as Mustard's game.

Altered it a bit to make it more visible. Appears to be a voxel building game.

Back to the adventure. Flattened Hop with Diameter (Dubwool) solo. Resorted to Payback versus Hop's Trevenant. Pitied its 3 damage Horn Leeches. Never even activated Diameter's Sitrus Berry that fight. Values high Defense in these games for a reason.

Spent some quality time with Matrix (Urshifu) on Route 8. Soaked up some experience for others. Doubts ever using it much for level 100 Max Raids in an established save file. Favored Eternatus and Zacian for 5-star raids. Experienced the pleasure of its Surging Strikes animation.

Remarks on one downside: the animation length. Feels like a Z-move every time.

Wandered into Circhester before long. Broke into hotel rooms and houses for stuff. Willingly handed over several TMs. Thanks.

Crawled through more Dynamax Adventures for fun. Completed everything offline, for the record. Highlights (from all sections):
- Controlled Beartic. Partners: Drizzle Pelipper, Wartortle, and Whiscash. Who is the boss? Zapdos, of course. Zapped Wartortle and Pelipper on alternating turns with Thunder. Knew something was fishy when all the initial Pokemon (besides Beartic) were Water.
- A quad-faint for Groudon's Precipice Blades.
- Vanquished Zygarde thanks to a partner's Cryogonal. Landed three Blizzards, including two criticals. Probably contributed 75% of the team's damage.
- Missed with Haunter's Hypnosis 4 of 5 times. Lost because of it.
- Learned about Plus. Changed it to activate with other Plus Pokemon since Generation 5. Hated Dedenne's Entrainment spam before knowing that.

Corresponded with Snoomy some more. Discovered a few more similarities, particularly about each Pokemon's height and their initial power level.

1. Root (Bellossom) + Concord (Paras) on Moves (Poison Powder and Stun Spore)
2. Scalene (Blastoise) + Baku (Quilava) on Level Met (5)
3. Diameter (Dubwool) + Sofia (Gastly) on Height (1.3 m)
4. Radical (Toxtricity) + Canberra (Quagsire) on Level Met (1)
5. Logarithm (Steelix) + Dublin (Heracross) based on Nature (+Defense)
6. Secant (Toxapex) + Moscow (Raticate) on Height (0.7 m)

Aced Gordie's gym challenge. Fell zero times.

Strategy for Gordie: Lead with Diameter. Use Cotton Guard on Turn 1. Defeat the Barbaracle on Turn 2 if it chose Shell Smash. Set up the second Cotton Guard next. Sweep with Body Press from there.

Turn 1: Dubwool: Cotton Guard / Barbaracle: Shell Smash
Turn 2: Barbaracle: Razor Shell (133/149, -1 Defense) / Dubwool: Body Press (100%)
(Level up. Leftovers healt to 145/152)
Turn 3: Dubwool: Cotton Guard / Shuckle: Power Split
(Leftovers heal to full.)
Turn 4: Dubwool: Cotton Guard / Shuckle: Rock Tomb (149/152)
(Leftovers heal to full)
Turn 5: Dubwool: Body Press (100%)
Turn 6: Stonjourner: Stealth Rock / Dubwool: Body Press (100%)
(Gigantamaxed Coalossal.)
Turn 7: Dubwool: Body Press (100%) / Coalossal: Fainted
(Level up.)

A dominating performance for Diameter. Appreciates Gordie for one thing: not letting you set up until doomsday. Forces you to act with Shell Smash.

Spoiler: Short Version of Team

budube · Mar 7, 2022

Cube's 1909803574893806th adventure through Kanto, but this time it's not Fire Red or any hack based around it
Partner: Eleanor aka Bestie on Pokémon Platinum

Part 3:
So after beating Misty, honestly this segment was pretty simple. I had already done S.S. Anne last segment, so I already had the Cut HM I needed, so the only thing I needed to stand against Surge was catching something in Diglett's cave.

Normally, it would've been a Diglett, but I found Ms. Dugtrio at like the 4th encounter, when I was back tracking bc I realized I still had Zappy and Gluttony fainted. That mf consumed all of my pokéballs though, but I still left the place with a Lv. 29 Dugtrio to solo Surge's Gym.

The Gym trainers were taken down by the rest of the team, for the sake of doing some leveling, but Surge himself didn't stand a chance against Diggy.

As for this segment's pairs:

♥ Shelly, Wartortle, lvl. 21 - Luxio (~~ability, size~~); color: blue
♥ Squeaky, Raticate, lv. 20 - Staravia (~~size, highest BS~~); highest base stats is speed, lowest is sp.atk
♥ Diggy, Dugtrio, lv. 29 - Staravia; color: brown
♥ Gluttony, Weepinbell lv. 23 - Bronzor (~~type~~); color: green
♥ Zappy, Pikachu lvl. 23 - Ralts (~~stats, gender~~); size (0,4 m)
♥ Batty, Zubat lvl. 8 - Golbat (~~size~~); ability: inner focus

Eleanor · Mar 7, 2022

Eleanor's adventures in Pokémon Platinum - gym 2
Partner trainer: Cubeth on Leaf Green

So! I got some interesting encounters during this segment, mostly in Wayward cave, but before getting too deep into it I just made up my mind and continued with the story, beating Fantina in no time! Props to Linux and CSS (Prinplup and Budew) though, who couldn't be there for Fantina (due to pairs) but helped a lot with getting there.

Fantina... actually, Ponyta herself dealt with both Haunter and Duskull, all by just spamming Flame Wheel. Positively surprised! And then... Mismagius. That was definitely harder, and even if I got lucky at first with Bronzor's Hypnosis and Confuse Ray, getting some self-hits, I then proceeded to miss Hypnosis three times in a row. And so Golbat came in with Bite, got defeated with Shadow Ball, before finally Staravia took Mismagius down. Hey, we got another badge at least.

The pairs are...
♥ Yahoo, Golbat, lv. 22 → Zubat
ability, Inner Focus
♥ C++, Staravia, lv. 19 (~~Size, Stats~~) → Dugtrio
color: brown
♥ HEX, Bronzor, lv. 20 → Weepinbell
color, Green
♥ Chromium, Ralts, lv. 18 → Pikachu
size, 0.4 m
♥ HTML, Ponyta, lv. 24 (~~Stats, Size~~) → Raticate
gender, female
♥ Binary, Luxio, lv. 24 (~~Moves, Stats~~) → Wartortle
color, Blue

Obligatory image:

Devalue · Mar 8, 2022

Section 7: Piers

Beat up Hop...again. Won with Diameter's (Dubwool) usual solo strategy of Cotton Guard + Body Press. Tied Hop's Dubwool in Speed, amusingly (albeit with a four level advantage). Hit the soft level cap for this section on Diameter from this fight, also. Called up two different sets of Pokemon to dispatch all the trainers ahead without overleveling.

Upgraded the bike to traverse water. Backtracked for items near water and skipped trainers. Scooped up a Choice Band, Choice Scarf, several TMs, evolution items for Fraction (Galarian Slowpoke), and some other odds and ends.

Met actual resistance on the way to the gym. Fainted Matrix (Urshifu) on a one-shot critical Giga Drain in a double battle. Knew about its Water-typing and its great Hitpoints. Was not aware of its terrible Special Defense.

Failed a solo with Coordinate (Falinks) against Marnie's team too. Hit itself in confusion twice (out of four turns) while at +3 Attack and +1 Defense. Survived that second self-inflicted hit. Ultimately fell to the poison from Toxicroak's Poison Jab (the only damage dealt directly by opponents). Admits some fault in not using an item, of course.

Received another Pidove with one of Snoomy's letters. Talked about shiny Pokemon colors and the Pokemon League ahead. Compared Pokemon on familiar grounds of height and power levels.
1. Root (Bellossom) + Hanoi (Drowzee) on Base Stats (Best: Special Defense. Worst: Speed.)
2. Coordinate (Falinks) + Baku (Quilava) on Color (Yellow)
3. Diameter (Dubwool) + Moscow (Raticate) on Typing (Normal)
4. Fibonacci (Armaldo) + Dublin (Heracross) on Height (1.5 m)
5. Integral (Luxray) + London (Gyarados) on Ability (Intimidate)
6. Axis (Zoroark) + Boise (Magneton) on Base Stats (Best: Special Attack. Worst: Hitpoints.)

Trashed the hallway gym challenge with Coordinate's First Impression. Strategy for Piers: The Diameter one. Hopes to not see Sand Attack. Will plow through it, regardless.

(Scrafty's Intimidate)
Turn 1: Dubwool: Cotton Guard / Scrafty: Payback (155/162)
(Leftovers heal to full.)
Turn 2: Dubwool: Cotton Guard / Scrafty: Brick Break (155/162)
(Leftovers heal to full.)
Turn 3: Dubwool: Body Press (100%)
(Level up.)

...Wait. Actually calls in their ace whenever? Interesting. Hm. Obstruct or Counter? Probably the former.

Turn 4: Obstagoon: Throat Chop (163/166) / Dubwool: Cotton Guard (no effect)
(Leftovers heal to full.)
Turn 5: Obstagoon: Throat Chop (163/166) / Dubwool: Body Press (100%)
(Level up. Leftovers heal to full.)
Turn 6: Dubwool: Body Press (100%) / Malamar: Fainted
Turn 7: Dubwool: Body Press (100%) / Skuntank: Fainted
(Skuntank's Aftermath to 127/169)

Borders on embarrassing. Negated their damage entirely with Leftovers, minus Aftermath. Reached the next level cap on Diameter from that battle, as a note.

Skips over to Raihan next. Approaches possibly the shortest section in any Pokemon game.

Spoiler: Short Version of Team

Eleanor · Mar 9, 2022

Eleanor's adventures in Pokémon Platinum - gym 4
Partner trainer: Cubeth on Leaf Green

Lots of new encounters in this part of the game! Luckily. Because after Kirlia and Staravia dealt with Machoke and Meditite, sent in as Maylene's first two Pokémon, all my other Pokémon eventually fell to her ace, Lucario... even my newly evolved, all-powerful Luxray! But a huggable chonky boi came in to save the day...

A yawn and two Mud Bombs were just enough!

As for the encounters, well. I started off with Great Marsh encounters actually since they're high level and some Pokémon are exclusives. This got me Carnivine, Tangela, Tropius (!) and the aforementioned Quagsire. Oh, and a Yanma which I'll probably never use, given my slightly lackluster experience in a Flying Monotype I did of Platinum. I rounded off the catches with the Eevee from Hearthome, a Hippopotas from the Ruin Maniac Cave, and... well, I still found myself without a good pair for my bestie's Golbat, who they need to use against Erika. I found a possible pair in Gastly but... but this Gastly has something weird going on...

Yet another Challenge Shiny! He joins the one and only, the Modest Darumaka, :CATAWE:, from last year's Get Together Challenge. Who just stayed in the box the whole time because I had a perma-death on KO rule, and watched her friend Courtney the Darmanitan demolish the Pokémon Black league. Oops! Let's see what the future has in store for... well... Cube! *temporary name*.

The pairs are...
♥ Cube, Gastly, lv. 22 → Golbat
color, Purple
♥ C++, Staravia, lv. 29 (~~Size, Stats, Color~~) → Pidgeotto
type, Normal-Flying
♥ Wordpress, Quagsire, lv. 31 → Beedrill
size, 1.4 m
♥ Chromium, Kirlia, lv. 28 (~~size~~) → Kadabra
moves in common: Teleport, Confusion
♥ Visual Basic, Eevee, lv. 20 → Raticate
type, Normal
♥ Binary, Luxray, lv. 30 (~~Moves, Stats, Color~~) → Hitmonchan
size, 1.4 m

Obligatory image:

[Event] Proof of Affinity - Valentine's Day Challenge 2022 [time to play!]

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Eleanor

Courtney 🧡

budube

Hi I'm Cube

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🦆 quack quack

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Kostucha

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Courtney 🧡

budube

Hi I'm Cube

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🦆 quack quack

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budube

Hi I'm Cube

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Devalue

Eleanor

Courtney 🧡