The Date of Birth Challenge

Explorer of Time · Mar 24, 2024

Pokemon X
Date of Birth Challenge - Rising Star Gregory
Update 4 (Route 12 -> Coumarine Gym)

This has been a pretty short update, but I still got a whole bunch of new moves. Braixen learned Light Screen via level-up, though I plan to have him forget it eventually since I'm giving him a Calm Mind build in the long run. Still, it's better than Thief. Meditite learned Power-Up Punch and Rock Tomb via TM right after the Shalour Gym, the latter being another TM I had forgotten about and should've taught earlier. Dwebble got a pair of excellent STAB moves, X-Scissor via TM at Azure Bay and Rock Slide via level-up, and both of these are staying on until the end of the game. Finally, Espeon didn't get a new move but did get the Leftovers, which are excellent for its current Future Sight stall build.

Serena (Coumarine Battle): This battle was quite similar to Serena's battle in Shalour, only with better luck on my part. Her Meowstic started off by setting Light Screen, then it nearly KOed Dwebble with a Disarming Voice and Psybeam, but he did manage to 3HKO it. Frogadier ended up KOing it the next turn with Quick Attack, though.

Frogadier hit Meditite with a Quick attack, confused him with a Water Pulse, and hit with another Quick Attack before Meditite 2HKOed it with Return. Meditite did end up hurting himself once, in-between the Returns, and got KOed by Absol right after finishing off Frogadier. Braixen hit Absol with Fire Spin and then Return, but was 2HKOed by Slash. The Rocky Helmet did do a lot of damage to Absol along with Braixen's attacks, so it was weak enough that I could have Espeon simply finish it off with Swift.

Ramos: This battle was more difficult than I expected, mostly because of Jumpluff's STAB Acrobatics, and it ended up getting healed twice. First off, I had Braixen set Light Screen, but he got hit by Leech Seed, and Braixen hit the next turn with Fire Spin, but Jumpluff outsped and 2HKOed it with Acrobatics.

Espeon failed to KO Jumpluff with Swift, and took half damage from Acrobatics, and Ramos healed it with a Hyper Potion. Espeon barely survived the next Acrobatics thanks to his Leftovers, and set up Future Sight, then used Protect and got healed by a Soda Pop while Future Sight nearly KOed it. I forgot he had a second Hyper Potion, which he used, and Espeon hit with a Swift that would've KOed it had he not healed, and then set up another Future Sight, but fainted to Acrobatics. I sent out Dwebble, which weakened it with a X-Scissor, but got 2HKOed by Acrobatics, and then Jumpluff finally fainted to Future Sight.

After Jumpluff and Dwebble fainted, I switched to Meditite, and let him get 4HKOed by Poisonpowder and three Acids from Weepinbell, and revived and healed both Braixen and Dwebble. I then switched to Braixen, and, though he got poisoned by Weepinbell, he 2HKOed it with Psybeam. Then, he hit Gogoat with a Fire Spin but got KOed by poison damage after nearly fainting to Bulldoze. Dwebble then easily survived two Take Downs and won the badge with two X-Scissors.

Team

Spoiler:

Eleanor · Mar 25, 2024

Avril's journey through Kalos, part 1

🛼 Game: Pokémon Y
🌸 Team: Poppy (Floette), Acacia (Vespiquen), Hawthorn (Gogoat), Cherry (Meditite)

I've already been playing ahead and enjoying the game, it's been a long time since I've picked up Pokémon Y and I've avoided it for most challenge runs so far, but this was meant to be. My roleplay character, Avril, is from Laverre City. She is not going to be that open about it but she does like fashion and she's been skating during her (rp) adventure. Probably because letting her do those things was my coping mechanism when I had not yet started skating and looking more into fashion :)

How will Avril deal with the challenges of her own home region?

BADGE 1
Nothing too important here. Avril couldn't even get to a hair dresser to get a pixie cut and look like her usual self, nor get any of the Pokémon that she's supposed to use during this challenge. She spedran the game up until after Viola with her "official" starter, Fennekin, who had very little problems against the first gym leader... to be fair, a Potion was needed during the battle. I'd usually try to avoid items in battle, but for this run, I decided it was going to be ok. Also, because it's me, I just forced all of my rivals to use "Princess" as nickname for Avril. They deserve it for all the dialogs they put me through.

BADGE 2
From one Pokémon to four... this stretch of the game is pretty long. Avril was reunited with her best friend Poppy the Red flower Flabébé on Route 4, then she caught a female Combee there too (Acacia), and was promptly put in her place by Prof. Sycamore and his three starters. Even Route 5 proved to be quite a big obstacle because Combee and Flabébé were just so underleveled, until Hawthorn the Skiddo came to the rescue. From there onwards, Avril was once again almost mauled by the Route 7 Snorlax and by the following rival battles, but Poppy came to the rescue. By the time Avril reached Cyllage City, both Poppy and Acacia had evolved once, and the team also gained a new member, Cherry the Meditite... who honestly just stayed back for most battles and got experience through the Exp. All.
Grant? Hawthorn dealt some damage to Amaura before paving the way for Acacia (somehow) and finally Poppy to defeat Tyrunt. With no Fighting move on Meditite, she just couldn't do much.

BADGE 3
This team is not that great against Flying-types and this part of the game just made me despise Hawlucha in particular... Korrina defeated Avril the first time they battled, because of Hawlucha in particular, but the second time, Acacia was able to shrug off the opponent's Flying Press and stall with Toxic (it's a level up move for Vespiquen!). After that battle, Hawthorn (who helped against Mienfoo) evolved too! The Lucario vs Lucario battle was made trivial by the fact that Avril's Pokémon outsped Korrina's, but if that were not to happen, it might have ended differently. Regardless, it was nice to meet a fellow skater and glide on a proper surface. The game lets you skate on everything, including cave floors, grass, even water, and now that I have actually been skating in real life and have terrible flashbacks of that time I had to skate in the rain, this just looks so amusing to me :p

Eleanor · Mar 27, 2024

Avril's journey through Kalos, part 2

🛼 Game: Pokémon Y
🌸 Team: Poppy (Floette), Acacia (Vespiquen), Hawthorn (Gogoat), Cherry (Medicham), Iris (Lapras), Tamarix (Stunfisk)

BADGE 4
The gift Lapras from Route 12, despite being the token water type of the run, turned out to be the best option against Ramos. Vespiquen would've been just as good if not for Jumpluff's Acrobatics forcing a switch, and after that, Lapras just continued the battle (mostly because of Set mode). That was easy. Plus, the Skiddo ranch was super cute!

BADGE 5
Route 13 is skating hell. All the Arena Trap encounters you can't skip with repels, the wind pushing Avril back, the rails that you need to get onto a high speeds but that likely have a Dugtrio popping up right in front of them. The Power Plant made for quite a tense run of consecutive battles and Poppy got some use thanks to all the dark types used by Team Flare, so that was interesting! But nothing too difficult.

Finally, Clemont. Not a fight I remember particularly well I admit... Gogoat was able to deal with both Magneton and Heliolisk thanks to Bulldoze, while Emolga required some additional help from Vespiquen and her Power Gem. Definitely not a Pokémon I'm fond of fighting against...

BADGE 6
This is where I could finally get my last team member, Tamarix the Stunfisk, and where finally Cherry evolved into Medicham! I have no super effective move against Fairy, but Gogoat (again with Bulldoze) was able to power through most of Valerie's team.
Laverre City is Avril's canon hometown and it definitely fits her personality in the roleplay, but apparently it also fits her fashion sense. This is the first place where I got to change Avril's outfit with a new dress I got from the local boutique. Still addicted to character customization as ever :)

Eleanor · Mar 27, 2024

Avril's journey through Kalos, part 3

🛼 Game: Pokémon Y
🌸 Team: Poppy (Floette), Acacia (Vespiquen), Hawthorn (Gogoat), Cherry (Medicham), Iris (Lapras), Tamarix (Stunfisk)

BADGE 7
Things were still smooth sailing up to Anistair City (where I got an even better dress for Avril). The Gym was easy enough but not necessarily because of Vespiquen, who unfortunately is starting to get a bit too slow and "counterable", but thanks to Pokémon like Lapras and Stunfisk, who could exploit the added weaknesses of Olympia's Sigilyph and Slowking. None of the rival fights gave me much trouble up to this point either.

TEAM FLARE
I'm so happy that Cherry is in the team. Poppy took more of a backseat during this part of the game but Cherry swept the floor and turned out to be the most important team member when dealing with Team Flare and the various battles at the Lumiose base and the Geosenge hideout. Against Lysandre I had some trouble at first, mostly because of Mienshao, but the final battle was alright.
Gyarados? Well... this is where I have to point out something about Stunfisk. Usually electric types are so important in a team, at least in my opinion, because they can easily deal with water types, but Stunfisk just can't do that! I was lucky to have Lapras to step in, learn Thunderbolt herself, and do what Stunfisk couldn't, which is dealing with Gyarados... during the Lysandre fight at Lumiose at least. For the final fight, Gyarados mega-evolves into a Water/Dark type, so guess what... Cherry. Again.

BADGE 8
I mean... Cherry just swept Wulfric by herself. Who else could've done it, really? The typing of the gym obviously worked to her advantage, but it needs to be said that her crazy attack make her a great choice against every trainer (as long as they don't have Pokémon with typings that screw her over, like Ghost for example). I have to once again report that Vespiquen is not that strong, but most importantly, that she missed three Air Slashes in a row against a random trainer on Route 19. It's a bit frustrating, but mostly because I like Vespiquen as a Pokémon and I wish it was more useful and interesting in terms of its gameplay.

Explorer of Time · Mar 28, 2024

Pokemon X
Date of Birth Challenge - Rising Star Gregory
Update 5 (Route 13 -> Lumiose Gym)

This is going to be a short update, but I finally evolved my whole team. Dwebble evolved into Crustle after beating Aliana at the Power Plant, Braixen evolved into Delphox in Lumiose City, and Meditite evolved into Medicham in Prism Tower. Delphox learned Psyshock and Mystical Fire via level up, and Crustle learned Bulldoze via TM once I made it back to Lumiose.

Aliana was a pushover, her Mightyena boosted Dwebble's attack with Swagger after it used Swords Dance, and she 1HKOed her only Pokemon with a drastically-boosted X-Scissor.

Clemont ended up being the easiest Gym Leader so far, too. I led with Crustle, and set Swords Dance as his Emolga Volt Switched into Magneton, then used Bulldoze as it set Electric Terrain. Sturdy triggered and left Magneton with 1 HP, and then Clemont wasted both his Hyper Potions on it, both times being sent back down to 1 HP and lowering Magneton's speed. The fourth Bulldoze KOed Magneton, and then Clemont switched to Heliolisk and KOed Crustle with a Thunderbolt.

Electric Terrain wore off at this point, and I switched to Medicham, which nearly 1HKOed Heliolisk with Power-Up Punch but got 2HKOed with Thunderbolt. I switched to Espeon, outsped and KOed Heliolisk with Swift, and set Future Sight against Emolga. Clemont had his Emolga use Aerial Ace twice, bringing Espeon down to the yellow, but he used Swift and then hid behind Protect as Future Sight finished off his Emolga and won the battle.

Team

Spoiler:

Eleanor · Mar 29, 2024

Avril's journey through Kalos, part 4

🛼 Game: Pokémon Y
🌸 Team: Poppy (Floette), Acacia (Vespiquen), Hawthorn (Gogoat), Cherry (Medicham), Iris (Lapras), Tamarix (Stunfisk)

League time! It ended up being pretty easy...

DRASNA
I started with Lapras and was able to whittle down both Dragalge and Druddigon. Thanks to Iris's bulk I was able to survive a Revenge at 7 HP... but when Drasna had the choice to send in Noivern or Altaria, she opted for Altaria, who is slower than Iris and got knocked out with just one Ice Beam before doing anything. Poppy took care of Noivern in the end, but that truly felt like a bad decision on Drasna's part.

WIKSTROM
I was able to deal with him by using just one Pokémon, and that had to be Cherry the Medicham. I taught her Fire Punch, which has 100% accuracy (unlike her STAB moves), and she put it to good use against Klefki, by making Wikstrom use all his Full Restores and only allowing him to set two layers of Spikes. Aegislash was somewhat easy to play around because Cherry could Detect the first turn, prompt the form change, then nail it with Fire Punch before Aegislash would attack again with Shadow Claw. I'd assume Aegislash wouldn't spend time changing form if it could try to go for the KO instead, and I guess it worked.
Probopass went down with a High Jump Kick and a Fire Punch (thanks to Sturdy) and Scizor also went down to a single Fire Punch.

SIEBOLD
I started off with Hawthorn the Gogoat and easily dealt with Clawitzer and Barbaracle. Not sure why Siebold would send out Barbaracle against Gogoat when he still has Gyarados alive and well. Said Gyarados was a bit scarier, since I had to switch to Iris and he had time to set up two Dragon Dances, but Iris was bulky enough to take hits and retaliate with Thunderbolt. For Starmie, I let Acacia the Vespiquen get her only KO of the league with Attack Order.

MALVA
Here I wanted to try Tamarix the Stunfisk at all costs, and it worked well enough against Pyroar, but... she's no Iris. Torkoal survived her Mud Bomb and knocked her out before Gogoat (yes, Gogoat) could come in and finish Torkoal off with Earthquake. I sent in Lapras against Talonflame, but she was quite hurt against Chandelure. I tried sending in Hawthorn again, her Earthquake was consistently sending Chandelure into healing range... until a clutch critical hit ended the battle <3

DIANTHA
I wish this battle was a bit more interesting but... this was a Poppy sweep. Diantha started with Hawlucha, who is weak to Moonblast. She then sent in Tyrantrum... who is also weak to Moonblast. Aurorus was able to stall Poppy for a bit, setting up screens and freezing her while I was trying to waste time by just clicking Calm Mind and Wish... until Diantha, for some reason, switched in her Goodra. Who is weak to Moonblast. After the screens ran out, Poppy (with all her boosts still there) was able to knock out Aurorus and even Mega Gardevoir with limited damage. And so Avril is the champion of Kalos!

AZ
This battle was of course easier than the other ones in the league. I was able to use Tamarix a bit more against Torkoal and Sigilyph, while Iris dealt with Golurk. I guess the battle felt a bit more special, knowing that AZ in the past had a Floette and Avril's best friend is also a Floette (at least in the roleplay).

TEAM CONSIDERATIONS
- Poppy: during the game I felt like this evolution line was a bit one-dimensional and with a lot of Grass-type support moves that you just don't get to use much in a normal run. Some Kalos Pokémon seem to suffer from the problem of having just one low power and one high power STAB move in their moveset, leaving them somewhat underwhelming in the mid-game, and Floette was a bit like this. But Florges made up for all of that in the late game and I'm happy to have used her in the challenge. Fairy is also a very solid typing, too.
- Acacia: I do like Vespiquen, I find it interesting, but for this "Queen" Pokémon that is so hard to find in most games, it feels a bit underwhelming. It's still a strong Pokémon in the early-mid game with a lot of interesting moves, even Destiny Bond at one point, but it's hard to use them well because of Vespiquen's slowness and Bug/Flying type. I haven't used it that much in the late game, but it was very useful when dealing with Grass-types or when Poppy needed some support against certain types.
- Hawthorn: maybe the Pokémon that impressed me the most. So strong, with a lot of powerful level-up moves, maybe a little straightforward but always useful in a lot of different situations. Somehow held her own even against Malva.
- Cherry: another very strong Pokémon, but maybe it was easier to see it coming. I barely used it as Meditite, as it was way too frail and didn't learn the moves I would've wanted, but once those arrived, Medicham was basically unstoppable. Being able to learn the Elemental Punches was also very useful, in this case for Fire Punch - my other Pokémon couldn't learn Fire-type moves that easily and there are some situations where it's nice to have those moves available.
- Iris: the thing that impressed me the most was the bulk, but it's also important to say that you get a nearly ready Lapras by the time you receive it, with Ice Beam already learned and easy access to Surf right after. Add in Thunderbolt later on and this becomes a very important safety net against so many Pokémon. But this was nonetheless a rare, high BST Pokémon from Generation 1... I could sort of expect that already. Surfing on a Lapras was a bit strange at first but it's pretty cute looking back!
- Tamarix: learning Earth Power by EGG move is a crime against all Pokémon. Being stuck with Mud Bomb was pretty miserable. Like I said in another update, the Ground-type made Stunfisk a bit helpless against the Water-types that her Electric-type would help her to deal with, and her stats just weren't that special. Eventually though, I got to appreciate Stunfisk a bit more as I kept using her and finding the right situations to bring her in. Her defenses got her out of some bad situations too, and it was just very cool to try out a Pokémon I would've probably kept overlooking otherwise.

I feel like this was a pretty standard team, without any particular typing, gimmick or high set of resistances, but it got me through the game just fine, and for a more chill challenge, it was perfect.

Explorer of Time · Mar 30, 2024

Pokemon X
Date of Birth Challenge - Rising Star Gregory
Update 6 (Route 14 & Laverre Gym)

This is another pretty short update. I fought Serena on Route 14, easily beat her, then went up to the Laverre Gym and beat that too. Not very many new levels and Medicham didn't even level up once, but I did get a couple moveset updates. When going through TMs after Clemont, I realized I forgot to check the TMs after Ramos and teach Grass Knot to Espeon and Delphox. That was quickly corrected, and then Delphox also learned Fire Pledge via move tutor in Laverre. It's going to be replaced by Flamethrower eventually, but it's a step up from Mystical Fire since I don't need the Sp. Def decrease. Espeon also finally got a non-gimmick STAB Psychic move in... well... Psychic, and also learned Toxic via TM to replace Swift since he doesn't have many other good options at the moment.

Serena's battle was quite easy. Crustle swept her whole team, 2HKOing Meowstic after a Light Screen and Disarming Voice, 1HKOing Absol after a Bite, and 2HKOing Greninja after it idiotically picked Quick Attack then only hit twice with Water Shruiken.

Valerie was also on the easier side even though I had a level disadvantage. Medicham took 1/3rd damage from her Mawile's Crunch, then 2HKOed it with Power-Up Punch, the latter being a critical. Unfortunately, he was outsped and KOed by Mr. Mime on its first turn with a Dazzling Gleam, as I was hoping it would set a screen and get hit by a +2 Attack Pure Power Return, which would probably have KOed it.

Thankfully, I had other Pokemon that could deal with the rest of Valerie's team, and I switched to Espeon, and did a Toxic and Protect while it set screens, then switched Delphox into a Dazzling Gleam and used his own Light Screen. This pretty much made Mr. Mime's attacks do negligible damage because of both Light Screen and a type disadvantage, and Delphox easily survived two Psychics, hit Mr. Mime with a Fire Pledge, and let it faint to Toxic damage. I had Espeon switch in against Sylveon, getting hit by Quick Attack. This battle of the Eeveelutions pretty much involved Espeon starting off with Toxic, then protect-stalling and hitting with two Psychics after the screens wore off, and getting 3HKOed by Dazzling Gleam right before Sylveon fainted to toxic damage. Thankfully, Delphox had already been in this battle a little bit, so the experience points didn't get wasted.

Team

Spoiler:

Explorer of Time · Apr 8, 2024

Pokemon X
Date of Birth Challenge - Rising Star Gregory
Update 7 (Poke Ball Factory -> Anistar Gym)

This update saw some huge moveset changes, as every single one of my Pokemon learned key moves that they'll keep for the rest of the run. First off, Espeon learned Dazzling Gleam via TM right after the Laverre Gym battle was won. Delphox learned Flamethrower via level up and Shadow Ball from the Dendemille Town move tutor. Medicham finally got a good STAB special Psychic move in Zen Headbutt from the move tutor, and also learned Fire Punch there as well. This is my planned final moveset for Medicham, but the rest of my team still has some TM moves I want to teach them.

Crustle also learned Shell Smash from the Move Tutor, turning her from a very risky slow Swords Dance attacker into an absolute powerhouse that can outspeed and sweep pretty much anything that doesn't have priority moves, especially if her opponent doesn't start off with an attack move, and she even has Sturdy on top of that. Like, I knew going in that I'd be getting one of two Shell Smash users from the Route 8 rocks, but I feel incredibly lucky that the 1/3 chance of getting a Sturdy Dwebble ended up in my favor. I am absolutely certain that she'll be my MVP for the run.

All of the boss battles this time around were pushovers, mostly because of Crustle. She 1HKOed Bryony's Liepard with X-Scissor and easily beat Celosia's Manetric too, set up two Shell Smashes against Serena's Meowstic and 1HKOed her whole team, and easily beat Olympia too. Her gym battle involved her Sigilyph setting up Reflect and only hitting Crustle with a single Psychic, which did send her into the red, but after two Shell Smashes, she was able to 1HKO Olympia's entire team even with Reflect still standing. The only boss battle that Crustle didn't solo this update was Mable, who got her Houndoom 1HKOed by Medicham's Power-Up Punch.

Team

Spoiler:

Explorer of Time · Apr 9, 2024

Pokemon X
Date of Birth Challenge - Rising Star Gregory
Update 8 (Lysandre Labs & Team Flare Secret HQ)

I'm going to do a short update here just for the Team Flare battles because I fought a ton of boss battles in a short period of time, and I'm about to get my fifth Pokemon and a new move for Espeon immediately after. My only moveset changes are putting Calm Mind on Delphox and Espeon, getting rid of Grass Knot on the former and Toxic on the latter, and giving Crustle the Earth Plate since Medicham needs the Quick Claw more now that Crustle has Shell Smash instead of Swords Dance.

Lysandre (1st Battle): I had Crustle set two Shell Smashes while Mienfoo set Swords Dance and trigger Sturdy with High Jump Kick. Crustle then 1HKOed Lysandre's whole team, Mienfoo with Bulldoze, then Gyarados, Murkrow, and Pyroar with Rock Slide.

Aliana: I started off with Espeon, and nearly took down Mightyena with Dazzling Gleam, but he got 1HKOed by Crunch. Medicham finished off Mightyena with a Power-Up Punch and nearly took down Druddigon with a Zen Headbutt, but also got 1HKOed, this time by a critical Shadow Claw. I had Delphox finish the battle with a Psyshock.

Celosia: The first time I beat Celosia, Delphox got paralyzed by Thunder Wave and took 1/3rd damage from Thunderbolt, but he 2HKOed it with Flamethrower without losing any turns. Drapion KOed it with Night Slash the next turn though. Drapion then got lucky with Acupressure twice and sharply boosted its defense, then attack, then something else I don't remember. Medicham hit with Power-Up Punch four times but still didn't KO it, and got 1HKOed by Poison Jab when Drapion was done boosting its stats. Espeon outsped and finished it off with Dazzling Gleam. Since I lost to Bryony, I had to rematch her and I don't normally record rematch data, but I won this time with Espeon beating Manetric and fainting to Drapion, and Crustle beating Drapion with 1HP left.

Bryony: I actually lost my first battle against Bryony, since I didn't know I'd be forced into a second battle immediately after without a chance to heal. I ended up with Espeon leading against Liepard which was the last Pokemon I wanted leading this battle, and Crustle got Taunted and stopped from using Shell Smash, and KOed by Bisharp. The second battle went much better. I had Delphox as my lead and used Calm Mind once before getting Taunted. Delphox then survived a Sucker Punch and 1HKOed both Liepard and Bisharp with Flamethrower.

Mable: Medicham just 1HKOed her Houndoom and Weavile with Power-Up Punch. Easiest boss fight in the game so far.

Xerosic: I started off with Espeon, survived an X-Scissor, and 1HKOed Crobat with Psychic. Espeon also did 2/3rds damage to Malamar with Dazzling Gleam, but got finished off by Payback. I switched to Crustle, easily survived a Superpower, and KOed Malamar with an X-Scissor.

Lysandre (2nd Battle): I had Medicham lead this battle, and his Quick Claw activated and he 1HKOed Mienshao with Zen Headbutt. He also nearly took down Honchkrow with two Fire Punches, but got 2HKOed by Aerial Ace. I switched to Crustle, got hit by a Steel Wing, and used Shell Smash. Crustle then KOed Honchkrow with Rock Slide, then nearly KOed Gyarados with Rock Slide before fainting to an Aqua Tail. I sent out Delphox, finished off Gyarados with a Psyshock, then 3HKOed Pyroar with Psyshock too after barely surviving two Dark Pulses.

Lysandre (3rd Battle): I intentionally lost the first battle against Lysandre so I could get rid of Xerneas (who I caught with a Quick Ball on turn 1) and lead with the right Pokemon. Espeon 1HKOed Mienshao and 2HKOed Pyroar with Psychic, but got hit by a Fire Blast from the latter and burned. He nearly 1HKOed Honchkrow with Dazzling Gleam too, but got finished off by Night Slash after putting it in the red. I sent out Delphox to faint Honchkrow with Flamethrower and waste Gyarados' Intimidate, and then did a tiny bit of damage with Shadow Ball before he got 1HKOed by Aqua Tail. I switched to Medicham, and put Gyarados in the red with two Power-Up Punches, getting the Quick Claw boost both times and dodging the first Aqua Tail. The second Aqua Tail, however, 1HKOed Medicham. I sent out my Sturdy Crustle, my last Pokemon, and expected her to be brought down to 1 HP by Aqua Tail and win the battle with X-Scissor. However, Aqua Tail missed and Crustle won the battle with full HP.

Team

Spoiler:

Explorer of Time · Apr 15, 2024

Pokemon X
Date of Birth Challenge - Rising Star Gregory
Update 9 (Route 18 -> Snowbelle Gym)

Now for the second part of the Eighth Badge segment. First things first, I caught a Lairon on Route 18 right after beating Team Flare, then evolved her into Aggron one level later. She has a bad nature, but she does have Sturdy which gives me two Pokemon with this excellent ability. Later, after beating my friends on the bridge and making it to Snowbelle, I caught an Ursaring with my Master Ball just west of Snowbelle. Coincidentally, every Pokemon on my team except my starter has a nature that decreases Defense, though this isn't something I was trying for.

In moveset changes, all that really changed apart from my new team members was that Espeon learned Shadow Ball and Delphox learned Psychic. I also switched Crustle's held item for a King's Rock. Aggron got a physical attacking moveset with Autonomize as a fourth move to make up for her poor speed. Ursaring also got a Swords Dance Facade build, though sadly I can't get a Flame Orb for her until the postgame.

Wulfric and Sycamore were both total pushovers. Delphox set Calm Mind four times against Sycamore's Venusaur, which used the useless Worry Seed and did more damage to itself with Petal Dance against the Rocky Helmet than it did to Delphox. Then Delphox 1HKOed Venusaur with Flamethrower, 1HKOed Blastoise with Psyshock, leveled up and learned Psychic, then used it to 1HKO Charizard. Wulfric wasn't much harder. Delphox 1HKOed Abomasnow and then Avalugg with Flamethrower, but didn't 1HKO Cryogonal and ended up getting confused, hurting himself, and getting frozen by Ice Beam. I just switched to Aggron and KOed with Iron Head.

Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor actually ended up being a little more challenging this time. I didn't record these in detail but Shauna was easily the hardest, fainting Espeon and Medicham and wounding Crustle, while Aggron ended up nearly soloing Tierno before going down to a heavily-wounded Roserade, which just got KOed by my next Pokemon. Trevor's Raichu was beaten in a close battle by Espeon, but Espeon got KOed by Aerodactyl, and Aggron 1HKOed both Aerodactyl and Florges.

Team

Spoiler:

Explorer of Time · Apr 20, 2024

Pokemon X
Date of Birth Challenge - Rising Star Gregory
Update 10 (Victory Road -> Pokemon League)

My team has finally beaten the Pokemon League. I'm going to do one more update for the postgame, to get my Mega, fight Serena in Kiloude, and complete the Looker Bureau sidequest, but I've done enough to get my name on the HoF whenever the mods get around to it. My team changes were minor this time around. I got the Stone Edge and Earthquake TMs, taught both to Aggron and the latter to Crustle, switched Medicham's elemental punch to Thunder Punch, and switched around my Held Items a little once Aggron learned Stone Edge. I also turned the Exp. Share on for a little bit to get my team leveled up to 60 so my Repels would work in Victory Road.

Serena: I sent out Ursaring, who was still Burned from the last battle with the Hex Maniac's Gourgeist, and she 1HKOed everything on her team with Facade. Ursaring's Quick Claw activated three times so the only thing Serena actually did the whole battle was set Swords Dance on Absol once.

Siebold: Medicham 1HKOed Clawitzer, Starmie, and Gyarados with Thunder Punch, getting outsped by Starmie and hit by a Dazzling Gleam. Thanks to Intimidate, Medicham only did 45% damage to Barbaracle though, and got KOed by Razor Shell. I switched to Crustle, had her set Shell Smash, then KOed Barbaracle too with an Earthquake.

Malva: This may have been the second League battle, but it was still the hardest. Aggron led the battle, failing to 1HKO Pyroar with Earthquake after using Automize and getting 2HKOed by Flamethrower. I had Crustle set Shell Smash twice while she healed Pyroar and triggered Sturdy with Flamethrower, then 1HKOed Pyroar and Torkoal with Earthquake. Malva then sent out Talonflame and KOed Crustle with Quick Attack. I switched to Delphox, Talonflame criticaled with Brave Bird but barely failed to KO him, and he KOed it with a Psychic after it finished taking recoil and Rocky Helmet damage. Malva then sent out Chandelure, Delphox hit it with a Shadow Ball before getting KOed by Chandelure's Shadow Ball, then Espeon won the battle with a second Shadow Ball against Chandelure.

Drasna: Espeon led this battle and set 6x Calm Mind against Dragalge. I used a single Full Restore to cure poison between the 4th and 5th Calm Minds, and then 1HKOed everything on her team, outspeeding everything but a Dragon Pulse from Noivern.

Wikstrom: Klefki set spikes but Delphox 1HKOed it with Flamethrower. I switched over to Medicham, getting hit by a Power Gem from Probopass, then put it in the red with a Power-Up Punch, surviving a Flash Cannon. Wikstrom actually wasted both his Full Restores in Probopass and let Medicham build up 4+ attack before Probopass actually fainted, and then he did 2/3rds damage to Aegislash with Thunder Punch before fainting to a Shadow Claw. I switched back to Delphox, KOed Aegislash with Flamethrower, then 1HKOed Scizor with Flamethrower too.

Diantha: Crustle set Shell Smash twice against Hawlucha (which used Swords Dance and then Flying Press) and 1HKOed her whole team. This includes her Gardevoir, who she Mega Evolved when not Mega Evolving it would have let it keep the Sturdy it Traced and KO Crustle.

AZ: Crustle set Shell Smash and 1HKOed Torkoal with Earthquake, but got 2HKOed by Torkoal's Stone Edge and Golurk's Phantom Force after the latter survived an Earthquake. Delphox finished off Golurk with a Shadow Ball and 2HKOed Sigilyph with Shadow Ball, with a Cosmic Power weakening the latter attack.

Team

Spoiler:

Explorer of Time · Apr 21, 2024

Pokemon X
Date of Birth Challenge - Rising Star Gregory
Update 11 (Postgame)

Not much really changed here, other than the fact that I finally got my Medicham's Mega Stone, and a Flame Orb for Ursaring. I shifted my Quick Claw over to Delphox now since everyone else has held items they need more.

Serena's final battle was quite tough since she had a Mega and I didn't. I had Ursaring 1HKO Meowstic with a Guts-boosted Facade after a Fake Out, but Clefable 1HKOed her back with Focus Blast. Aggron failed to 1HKO Clefable with Iron Head and got 2HKOed by Focus Blast, too.

I switched to Medicham and KOed Clefable with Poison Jab, and then 2HKOed Altaria with Zen Headbutt, flinching it to stop it from moving. Medicham missed Flareon with a Zen Headbutt and got 2HKOed by Fire Blast, but he at least managed to hit Flareon with his second Zen Headbutt before fainting.

Espeon then finished off Flareon with a Dark Pulse, survived a Dark Pulse from Greninja, then brought it to 1/3rd HP with Dazzling Gleam. Greninja then fainted Espeon with another Dark Pulse, so I switched to Crustle and KOed it with X-Scissor after Hydro Pump triggered Sturdy. Mega Absol then KOed Crustle with Quick Attack, 1HKOed Delphox with Night Slash while I used a Max Revive on Ursaring, then nearly KOed Absol with Brick Break after it used Swords Dance. I let Ursaring get 1HKOed too and used a Max Revive on Aggron, which survived a critical Night Slash because of Sturdy, and finished the match with an Iron Head.

Essentia's battles were all significantly easier than Serena's. Ursaring easily swept through her first and third battles, Delphox swept her second battle, Espeon finished off her fourth battle, then her Crobat in the rematch, then Crustle finished off Malamar in the rematch.

Final Thoughts:

Delphox: For a starter Pokemon, Delphox was amazing in the early game but kinda fell into mediocrity later on. Still, I needed a second special attacker on my team so that the only one didn't end up being Espeon.

Medicham: Medicham is a great Pokemon, but one I've used in two recent runs, so I'm a little sick of it now. That being said, this Medicham got to differentiate himself from the previous two with Power-Up Punch, which combos well with his Pure Power ability, and Poison Jab to deal with Fairy types, as well as actually getting access to a STAB physical Psychic move in Zen Headbutt.

Crustle: She might have been weak as a Dwebble, but Crustle is undoubtedly the most powerful Pokemon on this team. Shell Smash combined with Sturdy is an utterly amazing combination even despite Crustle's poor base speed, and she was basically unstoppable if given time to set up. She soloed and 1HKOed Diantha's entire team with only two moves of setup.

Espeon: Let me be frank, Espeon had a bad movepool up to around the 6th gym. Past that, he was more useful than I expected because he was the only Pokemon on my team who could learn Dazzling Gleam, which gave him a niche that Delphox didn't have.

Aggron: I expected Espeon to be the team's LVP, but Aggron ended up being unexpectedly worse this go around. I caught her too late in the game to make much of a difference, her typing wasn't exactly what I needed at the time, and she was the only Pokemon on my team that couldn't boost her own attacking stat when necessary.

Ursaring: Well, she was great while I had her, but I didn't have her very long. She was only available right before Gym 8 and never saw battle in the League because I had burned her beforehand and was saving her for Diantha, but then Crustle swept through Diantha easily because she used Gourgeist and Gardevoir very stupidly. Still, Guts STAB Facade was super powerful when I could get it.

Overall: This was a fun challenge, which got me using a few Pokemon I normally wouldn't use in the monotype runs I usually play, like Espeon and Ursaring. It wasn't too hard, but I still lost two non-Battle Maison battles (not counting an intentional loss to Lysandre to fight him with a team of four), one to Grant, and one to Bryony of all people in the Lysandre Labs.

Team

Spoiler:

Devalue · Apr 23, 2024

Name: Devalue
Game: Moon
Pokemon Team: Route encounter, Salazzle, Stoutland, Alolan Ninetales, Seaking, and Parasect.

Hid the math. Randomized the order too.

Quick notes:

Will trade in four Alolan Vulpix eggs and take the best. Cannot obtain it in Moon. Works well, due to zero team members on the first island. (Bodes ill for Hala, though.)
Technically should have an Ultra Beast. Only appears in Sun's postgame. Could trade one in...at level 60. Exceeds the champion's highest level (58). Vetoed that. Halved the number again.

Read a Smogon thread about Seaking being one of the least used Pokemon in playthroughs. Appears in lots of games. Competes with other (better) Water types, including starters. Looks forward to trying to use it.

Devalue · Monday at 5:12 PM

Update 1: Start - Totem Salazzle

"Quick" personal rules:

Limit 3 items per battle. No X items or in-battle Revives.
No Z-moves
Limit 1 Leftovers.
Set mode
Restricts Refresh to 2 hearts
Soft level cap. Tries to be at these levels for the specified battles. Will not bench anyone over the cap for that fight, though. Likely ignores the numbers for Totem Raticate and Hala, due to being solo.
- Totem Raticate: 12
- Hala: 15
- Totem Wishiwashi: 20
- Totem Salazzle: 22
- Totem Lurantis: 24
- Olivia: 27
- Totem Vikavolt: 29
- Totem Mimikyu: 33
- Nanu: 39
- Hapu: 48
- Lusamine Round 2: 50
- Elite Four/Champion: 55

Team for this challenge: Route encounter, Salazzle, Stoutland, Alolan Ninetales, Seaking, and Parasect.

Random number: 7. Picked the female trainer, third from the left. Named them "Anni", short for Anniversary.

Sighs. Engage chicken hat. Kind of looks like a party hat, though. Rolls the female trainer a lot for this game.

Chose Litten. (Probably should have randomized that, but too late.) Was this Litten any good? ...Rash. Good Speed and Special stats. Middling on hitpoints. Awful Attack and maybe weak Defense. Eh.

...Why do you battle Hau on the path? Could have gone to the arena fifteen steps away.

Received the Rotomdex. Can you even catch Rotom in Alola? ...No, not in the original Sun/Moon. How peculiar. Ordered it, but even so.

Unlocked trading. Sent over four Alolan Vulpix eggs. Put the stats into an IV calculator. (Gives ranges for most stats, especially at level 1.)

Vulpix 1: 11/5/5/6/6/5 for stats. Sassy. 31 IVs in Special Defense. Unknown to lower-half for everything else.
Vulpix 2: 11/5/5/6/6/6 for stats. Docile. Okay to good Special Attack. Unknown to lower-half for everything else.
Vulpix 3: 11/4/5/6/6/6 for stats. Timid. Good Special Defense. Unknown to lower-half for everything else.
Vulpix 4: 11/6/6/6/5/6 for stats. Naive. 31 IVs in Hitpoints. Upper-half Attack and Defense. Unknown on the rest.

Yeah, Vulpix 3 for the Timid nature. Named it "Cake". Finds that at a birthday party.

Boxed Litten. Officially begins the challenge. Deals with a rough start at level 1. Ran away from the level 3 Alolan Rattatas. Beat up a level 2 Spinarak in five Powder Snows. Fainted to a level 2 Rattata (while at level 2) after failing to run away. Found some Pikipeks after that to be at a safe level.

IV update: 18 Special Defense. 8-23 Hitpoints, 0-16 Attack, 4-19 Defense, 17-19 Special Attack, and 10-18 Speed. Pretty average, overall. Wondered if these Vulpixes would be kinda strong. Bred it with a 4 perfect IV Japanese Ditto and a freshly-caught Vulpix (no held items for either of them). Clearly received none of the good IVs.

Barely weathered the Trainer School Alolan Grimer. Remembered it being nasty. Took five Powder Snows to bring it down, despite being a level higher than it. Lost half of Cake's health from a Bite (plus Poison Touch immediately). Knocked it down to -2 Attack. Still burned three Potions (the limit). Ended at 4 hitpoints (6 after the level) and poisoned.

Lucked out so hard on the Trainer School principal. Fainted Magnemite after two Potions and six Powder Snows. Immediately Baby-Doll Eyes'd Alolan Meowth, then healed with the last Potion. Apparently moves slower than Alolan Meowth. Flinched on two consecutive Bites. Fell to 2 hitpoints. Accepted the loss...and then got a Powder Snow freeze. Locked down Alolan Meowth for two turns. Fainted it before it unthawed.

Recorded the Ilima battle.

Spoiler: Ilima Battle

Dreads the Hala fight even more. What about Totem Raticate, for that matter? Takes way too much damage from an Alolan Rattata's Quick Attack as-is (25-33%). What happens when one uses Hyper Fang?

Finds out now. Enters the Totem Raticate fight at level 13. (Tried to not go too far over the cap. Barely avoided being level 14.) Handed an Oran Berry to Cake. Definitely saved.

Spoiler: Totem Raticate

Feels like calculating out Hala's Crabrawler. Wants to know how many trainers to fight en route. Rarely maths it out before a fight. Warrants it, after that massacre. How much damage would Hala's level 15, 31 Attack IV, Adamant Crabrawler do on its Z-move versus...a level 17 Alolan Vulpix with middling IVs? Sure. ...176.1 - 214.2%. Ruh roh. What level does Cake have to be to not instantly faint? Level 25 at a 3 in 8 chance.

Problem-solving time. Is there a way out of massive overleveling? Cannot learn any TMs besides Confide (useless). Sees no others ahead. Banned Z-moves, X items, and Refresh. Learns no helpful moves (Dark moves? Seriously?).

Oh, right. How much does Baby-Doll Eyes prevent the impending disaster? Survives 25% of the time at level 19 with Crabrawler at -1. Okay, assume level 21. Lives 93.7% of the time. Hits with Icy Wind for...39.6% - 47.1%. Cannot even two-shot it.

What about items? Spies a Nevermeltice in Seaward Cave. Enters possible two-shot range with Icy Wind. Are there any other wild hold items available? No (thankfully, due to 5% chances for most). No Ice Stones before Poke Pelago either.

Beat up every trainer on Route 2 and grabbed the NeverMelt-Ice. Handled Hau no problem. Passed on learning Payback. Fainted to a trainer's Growlithe on a critical Ember. (Almost two-shots Cake without the critical, despite the 5 level advantage. Knew it was here somewhere. Thought it was the Red Card trainer.) Won the rematch.

Struggled through the Red Card trainer. Went to the item limit, yet again. Swears on sleeping the maximum turns for every Yawn. Probably slept over 10 turns that battle and, plus one confusion hit. Defeated Slowpoke after 7 Icy Winds, 2 Powder Snows, and 1 Ice Shard. Scored a freeze on Slowpoke, only for the trainer to have a Full Heal. When does Vulpix actually do good? (Non-spoiler: Not Hala.)

Gave Hala a shot with Cake at level 19. Wanted to see how bad it really was. Saved beforehand.

Spoiler: Hala

The short version of the Hala fights in the spoiler: Incurred many losses because of Turn 1 Karate Chop from Mankey. Faces Crabrawler directly after Mankey. Must be at full health and hit Crabrawler with Baby-Doll Eyes to survive the Z-move. Dealt with Thick Fat Makuhita and Sand Attack after that, which was not great either. Leveled Cake to 24 in the process.

Left Melemele Island immediately. Picks up three Pokemon before the next trial. But first...Sina. Dealt with Glaceon fine in an Icy Wind battle. Escaped without using an item.

Caught four Lillipups. Disregarded the two Pickup Lillipups. (Would have gone until the first Vital Spirit Lillipup, if all four were Pickup.) Lost out on a Lillipup with pretty good IVs (1/31/21/23/21/13), but oh well. Values Intimidate over that.

Lillipup 2: 14/25/5/20/31/3 on IVs, approximately. Naive nature (+Speed / -Special Defense). Decent.
Lillipup 3: 28/13/22/4/5/10 on IVs. Timid nature (+Speed / -Attack). Not bad, outside of the nature.

Chose #2 and named it "Friend". Invites those to birthday parties. Expects Friend to be the team's strongest member, in time.

Only knows Bite, as far as attacking moves. Trained it to level 15 for Take Down before proceding. Turned off the Experience Share to limit Cake's experience...hopefully. (Still hit level 25.)

Cleaned up the route with Friend. Took more damage than it should have because of trash luck. Missed two Take Downs (out of six total?). Also got flinched from Bite both times and one fully paralyzed. Beat Hau in town, albeit with Cake in the lead accidentally. Tossed Friend in, who got Static'd by Pikachu. Sent Cake back out for Dartrix.

No major problems with the Carbink or Sableye trainers (with Full Restores). Grabbed the Hidden Power TM. Turned out to be Steel type for Cake. Finally, something positive for Cake. Taught that over Powder Snow.

Was impressed by Gladion's Type: Null. Smacked it for about half health with a +1 Take Down (with Silk Scarf). Resorted to Cake to finish it. Noticed Friend's levels creeping up (19 before Brooklet Hill). Dodged as many trainers as possible.

Hm. Stands slightly corrected. Cannot get Goldeen until after the Water Trial. No matter. Waited several hours for daytime for Paras. Caught four. Scouted for Effect Spore, as able. Wound up being all Dry Skin without ever triggering Effect Spore, so all the better.

Paras 1: 20/27/18/10/5/15 IVs. Nature: Jolly.
Paras 2: 27/13/15/6/22/3. Nature: Quiet
Paras 3: 9/13/10/2/0/5. Nature: Timid.
Paras 4: 6/10/24/13/25/13. Nature: Bashful.

Hoped for better natures here. Will likely never outspeed anything with base 30 Speed as Parasect. Ignores Special Attack with an underwhelming base 60. Borders on neutral natures, at least. Deliberated for a while between #1 and #2. Chose #2 for the better survivability. Named it "Balloon". Kind of looks like that after evolving into a Parasect. Just squint a little more.

Regrettably chose the Paras with the lowest level of the bunch (14). Fortunately handles some of the local Pokemon well. Gobbles up those Water moves from the Psyducks and Poliwags via Dry Skin. Faced the same bad luck as Friend, though. Missed four straight Absorbs after a single accuracy drop from a Barboach. Fainted itself later, from confusion, versus a trainer's Goldeen.

Leveled Balloon the Paras to 20. Brought Friend the Herdier to 21 unwillingly (see: Spider Web from wild Dewpiders). Did not really matter, though. Planned to win with just Balloon.

(Totem Wishiwashi's aura: +1 Defense. Rain active.)
Turn 1: Paras: (Quick Claw) Poison Powder (miss) / Totem Wishiwashi: Water Gun (absorbed)
(New enemy: Wishiwashi.)
Turn 2: Wishiwashi: Aqua Ring / Totem Wishiwashi: Soak (absorbed) / Paras: Poison Powder (on Totem Wishiwashi)
Turn 3: Wishiwashi: Helping Hand / Totem Wishiwashi: Growl / Paras: Poison Powder (miss)
Turn 4: Wishiwashi: Helping Hand / Totem Wishiwashi: Growl / Paras: Poison Powder (on Wishiwashi)
Turn 5: Wishiwashi: Helping Hand / Totem Wishiwashi: Soak / Paras: Absorb (10%) (Totem Wishiwashi's Sitrus Berry)
Turn 6: Wishiwashi: Feint Attack (44/49) / Totem Wishiwashi: Soak (absorbed) / Paras: Absorb (10%)
...

Blah blah blah. Continued until turn 9 or so. Suffered negligible damage from Feint Attack. Healed about that much from the rain and Dry Skin. Was basically invincible. Knew about the power of Paras for this totem well beforehand.

Earned the fishing rod for beating the totem. Put it to use immediately to catch Goldeens. Notes one interesting quirk about Goldeen. Calls Seaking for help 13% of the time. Normally evolves at level 33, despite being at level 10-16. Represents a huge early stat boost (320 base stat total versus 450) with no downside. Scored one.

(All Swift Swim too, by chance. Wanted that anyways.)

Goldeen 1: 1/2/16/19/10/10. Relaxed nature.
Seaking: 3/11/7/27/3/18 IVs. Docile nature.
Goldeen 2: 25/2/26/20/6/10. Naive nature.
Goldeen 3: 6/25/3/13/3/4. Adamant nature.

...Yikes. Totals of 58, 69, 89, and 54. (Expects 93, on average.) Tosses out #1 straight off.

Case for Seaking: Strong now (relatively). Helps versus Totem Salazzle and Olivia. Lacks great answers for them, outside of this Pokemon.
Case for Goldeen 2: Much better physical defense and better Speed.
Case for Goldeen 3: Hits considerably harder than the others. Represents about a 12% damage boost over Seaking (after evolving). Needs that damage badly, given base 90 attack. Suffers until Waterfall (the only physical Water move it learns) at level 32. Hits almost half as hard with Scald than Seaking right now (~55% of Seaking's damage).

Selected Goldeen #3. Cannot resist the better long-term choice. Surpasses Seaking just in time for Totem Mimikyu. Faces a bumpy road until then. Trusts in Swift Swim to cover the poor Speed. Named it "Card", also. Has a point, much like a birthday card can be a little pointy.

Grabbed the Scald TM and taught it to Card. Leads to question #1: does Scald or Horn Attack hit harder? Answer: ...Identical. Wow. Picks Scald, naturally, for the burn chance. Boosts it with Rain Dance later too.

Reached Royal Avenue. Bought a super pricy Rain Dance TM for 50000. Synergizes well with Swift Swim and Dry Skin. Wanted to buy Hail too, but oh well.

Picks up the fifth party member now: Salandit. Settles for the first decent female Salandit here, rather than four. Set the chance for female Salandit at 1 in 9. Hates fighting these things. Calls for help pretty often. Also learns Dragon Rage at level 13 for some dumb reason.

Salandit #1: 19/23/18/0/11/12 IVs. Nature: Mild. Ehhhh one more.
Salandit #2: 12/9/5/19/31/19 IVs. Nature: Lonely.

What is the equivalent IVs for a neutral nature versus 0 IVs and a positive nature? Looks like 19-24, roughly. Good enough. Selects Salandit #1. Named it "Candle". Adorns most birthday cakes (or substitutes). Also has Hidden Power...Fire. Beats Ember right now.

Backtracked for a Thief TM, Acrobatics TM, Expert Belt, and Leftovers. Cleaned up some old trainers on Akala Island too. Progressed through Wela Volcano Park. Mentions a little trouble versus the Kadabra trainer. (Hit it for maybe half its health with a rain-boosted, Mystic Water boosted Scald. Should have Horn Attacked.) Learned Spore on Balloon, which is a great boon for it. Leveled everyone to 22. Benched Cake, expecting little contribution and trying to keep it close to Totem Lurantis.

Strategy: Lead with Card (Goldeen) for the trial lead-up. Likely enters the totem fight pretty hurt. Will set up Rain Dance and try to get off a Scald. (...Does that do more damage than Horn Attack? Maybe not.) Sends in Friend (Herdier) with a Pecha Berry when Card faints. Should be able to finish it with a Take Down. Please do not miss. Has Candle with Dragon Rage, if need be.

Activated Cursed Body on Alolan Marowak. Only has one non-Normal attacking move. Wasted three turns. Dropped to half health already.
Healed on Magmar. (Does not count against Totem Salazzle's items.) Hit Magmar for about 80% with Scald in the rain. Took some damage.

(Totem Salazzle's aura: +1 Special Defense)
Turn 1: Totem Salazzle: Toxic / Card: Rain Dance
(Toxic damage to 36/53?)
Turn 2: Card: Scald (at Totem Salazzle, 40%) / Totem Salazzle: Venom Drench / Salandit: Venoshock (0/53)
(Friend's Intimidate)
Turn 3: Totem Salazzle: Torment / Friend: Take Down (at Totem Salazzle, 40%) (Totem Salazzle's Petaya Berry) / Salandit: Poison Gas (Friend's Pecha Berry)
Turn 4: Totem Salazzle: Flame Burst (34/63) / Friend: Bite (at Totem Salazzle, 19%) / Salandit: Taunt
Turn 5: Totem Salazzle: Flame Burst (12/63) / Friend: Take Down (at Totem Salazzle, the rest, level up) / Salandit: Venoshock (0/66)
(Rain over.)
Turn 6: Candle: Dragon Rage (75%) / Salandit: Scratch (49/56)
Turn 7: Candle: Dragon Rage (the rest)

Literally had Totem Salzzle on 1 hitpoint. Forgot about the Petaya Berry.

Fiddled with Poke Pelago a little. Mainly just set up berries (1 Sitrus, 4 Leppa, 1 Oran). Will likely not bother with anything more.

Spoiler: Party

The Date of Birth Challenge

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