[Challenge] The Ones that got away v3

[Duck]

Found a spare gaming moment to start this.

How about: Smeargle, Flareon, Hitmontop, Porygon, Sunflora and Qwilfish

 

[Devalue]

How about: Smeargle, Flareon, Hitmontop, Porygon, Sunflora and Qwilfish

Should be an interesting ride. Confirms that team. Forgot about Porygon 2 coming in this generation. (Always seemed a generation or two later. Must have been thinking of Z in Generation 4.) Helps on the Special front.

 

[Devalue]

Section 1: Falkner​

Wanted to replay Generation 2 at some point. Has not played it since before Generation 3. Always liked Gold and Crystal. Introduced breeding, nicer sprites, time, two regions, and good-looking Pokemon. How will it feel now after many other changes? Finds out now.

Chose a theme of "Things that People Forget". Named the trainer "Pidove", a very forgetful Pokemon. Randomed into the female trainer.

Uses only the following Pokemon lines: Flareon, Porygon2, Qwilfish, Sunflora, Hitmontop, and Smeargle. Covers the Fire, Water, and Grass trifecta. Looked into the rival fights. Was least scared of Feraligatr. Grabbed Cyndaquil from Professor Elm.

Cannot obtain some of the aforementioned Pokemon until late or post-game. Hacked in three Pokemon to start off: Eevee, Porygon, and Qwilfish. Randomized their DVs three times each and picked the best. (Usually catches four-ish wild ones and chooses one. Knocked it down by one due to seeing actual DVs.)

Password the Eevee's :t133: DV choices:
5/10/13/8
5/1/1/0
13/11/13/15

#3. Very easy.

Charge the Porygon's :t137: (as in, charging a device) DV choices:
9/13/8/13
15/0/6/1
2/9/12/1

Preferred #1's overall stats over maximum Special.

Keys the Qwilfish's :t211: DV choices:
7/7/13/4
3/7/6/9
15/15/13/0

#3. Pretty simple again.

Took a look at them. Had Tackle on all three, with Keys's :t211: Poison Sting as the only other attacking move. Okay then.

Walked to Mr Pokemon and back to New Bark Town. Met the rival on the way. Named them "Silvaly", given all of its different memories (and a character limit).

Played with Charge's :t137: Conversion 2 a bit. Changes its type to something resistant (or immune) to the opponent's last attack. Seemed fun and useful. Could become a clutch Ghost type against a Fighting gym or Steel-type versus Lance.

Reports little else before Falkner. Tackled a lot of stuff. Did not set a strict item or level limit. Would like to stay close, though. Was about levels 8-10 for this one. Changed the battle style to Set, also. Now then, the Falkner fight.

Turn 1: Porygon :t137: (Tackle, 45%) / Pidgey :t016: (Tackle, 33/36)
Turn 2: Porygon :t137: (Conversion 2, Ghost-type) / Pidgey :t016: (Tackle, immune)
Turn 3: Porygon :t137: (Tackle, 30%) / Pidgey :t016: (Mud-Slap, 32/36, -1 Accuracy)
Turn 4: Porygon :t137: (Tackle, the rest)
(Level up.)
Turn 5: Pidgeotto :t017: (Gust, 30/39) / Porygon :t137: (Tackle, 15%)
Turn 6: Pidgeotto :t017: (Gust, 25/39) / Porygon :t137: (Conversion 2, Electric-type)
Turn 7: Pidgeotto :t017: (Mud-Slap, 20/39, -1 Accuracy) / Porygon :t137: (Tackle, 15%)
Turn 8: Porygon :t137: (Switch to Password :t133:) / Pidgeotto :t017: (Mud-Slap, critical, 27/32, -1 Accuracy)
Turn 9: Pidgeotto :t017: (Gust, 19/32) / Eevee :t133: (Tail Whip)
Turn 10: Pidgeotto :t017: (Gust, 11/32) / Eevee :t133: (Tackle, 30%)
Turn 11: Pidgeotto :t017: (Gust, 3/32) / Eevee :t133: (Tackle, 30%)
Turn 12: Eevee :t133: (Switch to Keys :t211:) / Pidgeotto :t017: (Gust, 24/30)
Turn 13: Pidgeotto :t017: (Gust, 18/30) / Qwilfish :t211: (Poison Sting, the rest)

Did not pan out with Conversion 2 that time. Technically wanted Rock. Would have run into the same Mud-Slap issue, though.

Section 2: Bugsy​

Traveled south to Union Cave. Mercifully learned a non-Tackle attack on Charge :t137:: Psybeam. Arrived just in time for all the Geodudes and Onixes. Blew them all away. (Waits until level 19 on Keys :t211: for Water Gun. Bleugh.)

Beat up all the trainers prior to Bugsy. Worked out very well, experience-wise. Fought one wild Pokemon with Keys :t211: to equal Bugsy's Scyther. Did not care much about the others.

Will spare you the battle log. Short version: Set up six Minimizes and six Hardens on Keys :t211: on Bugsy's Metapod. Chipped away at everything for ~10% health per attack, minus back-to-back criticals on Metapod. Spanned 30 turns in all. Unnecessary? Maybe. Lost only 12 health the whole battle.

Notices much slower-paced combat (not counting this battle), relative to newer games. Credits the weak attacking moves and little opportunity for super-effective attacks. Works with 35 power Tackle, 15 power Poison String, and a sparkly 65 power Psybeam. Learns 60 power Water Pulse at level 12 for Sobble in Sword/Shield, by contrast

Section 3: Whitney​

Gratefully accepted the Headbutt Technical Machine in Ilex Forest. Taught it to Keys and Password, thanks to infinite Technical Machines. Ramps way up in power (35 -> 70), 100% accuracy, and a flinch chance. Helps immensely.

Left Ilex Forest. Hits a big moment for the team. Picked up the Odd Egg for Tyrogue. Hatched it 21 times (approximately). Received three shinies (Magby x2 and Smoochum), but zero Tyrogues. Opted to hack it in rather than wasting more time.

Birthday the Tyrogue's :t236: DV choices:
1/13/14/1
14/9/12/5
1/3/6/1

#2, no doubt. Will want to train against high Defense Pokemon to even out its stats for evolution. Was not too lopsided, at least. Enters at level 5. Kept its special egg move (Dizzy Punch) too.

Finds an important trainer nearby: Schoolboy Alan (east of National Park). Gives out Fire Stones after a phone call. Fiddled with the clock a bit. Got one in short order.

Evolved Password :t133: into Flareon :t136: immediately. Learns Ember at level 16. Picks up no other Fire moves by level-up until Fire Spin at 36. Missed out on nothing important as Eevee either. Grows massively in stats as well. Leaps from base 55 Attack to 130. Adds 200 stat points in all.

Hunted for a Sunkern in National Park next. Caught four and named them "Names".

Names the Sunkern's :t191: stat options:
17/17/17/17/14
17/16/16/16/13
13/14/14/14/13
14/15/15/15/17

First option. Moves incredibly slow at base 30 Speed anyways.

Arrives at a crossroads: wait until level 31 for Synthesis or evolve now? Decided to evolve now. Makes more sense to use Growth and Giga Drain instead of a Sunny Day moveset. Lacks a strong Fire option on the team anyways.

Won the Bug Catching Contest on the second try. (Hoped for a first encounter Butterfree to win. Would have won on the second try, coincidentally.) Caught a Pinsir for 344 points. Tapped Names with the newly acquired Sun Stone to become Sunflora :t192:.

Checked out the Game Corner. Forgot about the Goldenrod location. Offers Fire Blast there. Effectively costs 110,000 Pokedollars, though. Not now.

Grinded out a bunch of levels. Took a while. Hit 20 on everyone. Evened out Birthday's :t236: stats with the help of two Irons. (Costs a fortune at this point. Stalked Onixes in Union Cave for a while too. Accomplished too little.) Successfully evolved it into Hitmontop :t237:.

Why is Birthday's :t237: level-up move list so trash? Evolves at 20. Learns Rapid Spin (25), Counter (31), Agility (37), Detect (43), and Triple Kick (49). Level 49 for your first actual Fighting-type move? Seriously? Technically gets Rolling Kick from level 1. Will not see the Move Relearner for a while, however. Learns Dig via Technical Machine, as a plus. Bagged that in the National Park (without looking it up).

Understands why Whitney was so tough in Generation 2 now. Probably had Croconaw, Sentret, maybe Pidgey, a freshly caught Abra, and a freshly caught Oddish. Guesses Croconaw around level 18-19, with the rest at 15 and under. Likely walked straight into the gym without fighting in the Underground or north of Goldenrod. Confronts you with a level 20 Miltank, capable of shutting down your (likely male) starter with Attract and solid Stomp damage/flinches. Probably healed on its third Rollout. Demolished Croconaw on Rollout 4.

Anyways, the Whitney fight. Called up Names :t192:. Needed to prove something. Included these Pokemon as candidates for this run due to their longstanding neglect, in a sense. Might have been bad stats, bad moves, or silly rarity. (Lived up to that.) Felt favorably towards them over time. Becomes special. Who better to take down this legendary Miltank than a pitiful Sunflora :t192:?

Turn 1: Sunflora :t192: (Growth) / Clefairy :t035: (Doubleslap, 55/67)
Turn 2: Sunflora :t192: (Growth) / Clefairy :t035: (Mimic. Learned Growth)
Turn 3: Clefairy :t035: (Metronome: Razor Leaf, miss) / Sunflora :t192: (Growth)
Turn 4: Clefairy :t035: (Doubleslap, 40/67) / Sunflora :t192: (Growth)
Turn 5: Sunflora :t192: (Growth) / Clefairy :t035: (Doubleslap, miss)
Turn 6: Sunflora :t192: (Growth) / Clefairy :t035: (Doubleslap, 31/67)
Turn 7: Sunflora :t192: (Mega Drain, 100%, heal to 57/67)
Turn 8: Miltank :t241: (Attract) / Sunflora :t192: (Infatuated)
Turn 9: Miltank :t241: (Stomp, 35/67) / Sunflora :t192: (Mega Drain, 100%, heal to full)
(Level up)

A glorious victory. Who needs a Machop, Geodude, or Onix? Just get a Sunflora and win with full health. Easy. Was definitely not sweating about the Attract + Flinch chance.

(Also, get wrecked, Clefairy. Missed Razor Leaf and a Doubleslap.)

Concludes this update. Fully evolved everyone except Charge :t137:. (Decided to evolve them at 36, which is the level for Typhlosion.) Waits a bit longer for Smeargle :t235: also. Would not do much now anyways.

Spoiler: Team

(Stats: In the order of Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed)

Names the Sunflora :t192:
Level: 21
Hitpoints: 70
Stats: 44/35/57/48/21
Moves: Mega Drain, Growth, Absorb, and Sunny Day

Charge the Porygon :t137:
Level: 20
Hitpoints: 64
Stats: 35/40/44/40/28
Moves: Psybeam, Tackle, Conversion 2, and Recover

Birthday the Hitmontop :t237:
Level: 20
Hitpoints: 55
Stats: 51/51/26/56/37
Moves: Headbutt, Dizzy Punch, Tackle, and Dig

Keys the Qwilfish :t211:
Level: 20
Hitpoints: 63
Stats: 51/43/34/34/42
Moves: Headbutt, Poison Sting, Water Gun, and Minimize

Password the Flareon :t136:
Level: 20
Hitpoints: 64
Stats: 65/36/50/56/39
Moves: Headbutt, Ember, Sand Attack, and Tackle

 

[Devalue]

Finished writing a second update.

Section 4: Morty​

Replaced Keys's :t211: Water Gun with Surf. Really enjoyed having Water Gun for a single level. Taught Birthday :t237: their first real fighting move for a long time: Rock Smash. Oh boy.

Considered grinding everyone up to 25 for Morty. Only made Birthday :t237: that high level. Placed everyone else at 23. Seems to not expect you to be equal level. Equipped Charge :t137: with a Mint Berry (cures Sleep)

Sort of wants to try getting Dark from Conversion 2. May or may not happen. Gave these jerks Curse and Hypnosis.

Turn 1: :t092: Curse / :t137: Psybeam (100%)
Turn 2: :t093: Hypnosis (Charge's :t137: Mint Berry) / :t137: Psybeam (90%, confusion)
(Curse damage to 54/72)
Turn 3: :t093: Hit itself (the rest)
Turn 4: :t094: Hypnosis / :t137: Asleep
(Curse damage to 36/72)
Turn 5: :t137: (Switch to Birthday :t237:) / :t094: Dream Eater (no effect)
Turn 6: :t237: Dig / :t094: Hypnosis (miss)
Turn 7: :t094: Hypnosis (miss) / :t237: Dig (65%)
Turn 8: :t094: Hypnosis (miss) / :t237: Dig
Turn 9: :t237: Dig (the rest)
Turn 10: :t093: Mean Look / :t237: Dig
Turn 11: :t093: Night Shade (miss) / :t237: Dig (100%)

Was very confused by turns 6 and 7 for a while. Forgot about giving Birthday :t237: the Quick Claw. Grew accustomed to the message. Nice.

Received an amazing Technical Machine from Morty: Shadow Ball. Learns it on Password :t136:. Counts as physical this generation. Brings its monstrous base 130 Attack to bear.

Section 5: Chuck​

Stumbled across Entei on the way to Olivine City. Never woke up Charge :t137: from the gym battle, though. Chucked a ball for fun. Nope, unsurprisingly.

Who designed Olivine Lighthouse? Requires you to fall down a floor to reach the top. Will report this place to OSHA.

Stepped into Cianwood's gym with levels 24-26. Shook hands with a level 27 Hitmonlee at the door. Almost one-shotted Charge :t137:. Retaliated for maybe one-third of its health with Psybeam. Looked grim for Chuck without some leveling. Brought everyone up to 27, with the help of decent experience encounters on the water.

Plan: Cheese it with Keys's :t211: Minimize. May not work great against Mind Reader + DynamicPunch. Resists that, at least.

Turn 1: :t211: Minimize / :t057: Rage (77/83)
Turn 2: :t211: Minimize / :t057: Karate Chop (67/83)
Turn 3: :t211: Minimize / :t057: Fury Swipes (52/83)
Turn 4: :t211: Minimize / :t057: Fury Swipes (miss)
Turn 5: :t211: Minimize / :t057: Karate Chop (miss)
Turn 6: :t211: Minimize / :t057: Karate Chop (critical, 33/83)
Turn 7: :t211: Super Potion (heal to full) / :t057: Karate Chop (miss)
Turn 8: :t211: Headbutt (critical, 90%) / :t057: Flinch
Turn 9: :t211: Surf (the rest)
Turn 10: :t211: Headbutt (15%) / :t062: Flinch
Turn 11: :t211: Headbutt (15%) / :t062: Mind Reader (no effect)
Turn 12: :t211: Headbutt (15%) / :t062: Mind Reader
Turn 13: :t211: Headbutt (critical, the rest)
(Level up)

Expected Mind Reader to always work. Appears not. Good fight by Keys :t211:.

Section 6: Jasmine​

Grabbed Fly. Seems like a good time for the final party member: Dream the Smeargle :t235:. Thought about a few directions.

1. Spore + Protect + Mind Reader + Guillotine. Hilarious, but very low PP. Not very useful for the Elite Four.
2. Spore + Protect + Leech Seed + X (likely Mimimize, maybe a Wrap-like attack). Effective, but slow.
3. Spore + Protect/Minimize + Baton Pass + Swords Dance/Agility. Liked this the most. Helps on multiple fights and single battles.

Decided on Spore, Minimize, Baton Pass, and Swords Dance. Found all of these moves on trainers before the Elite Four. Shows up fairly late (Route 26 and 27 on the way to Indigo Plateau), however. Makes it difficult to use Dream :t235: for most of the run.

Hunted for four level 20 Smeargles at the Ruins of Alph (10% chance of Smeargle, 50/50 on the right level). Led with Keys's :t211: Minimize for all of them. Sketched that. Allows them to get a new Sketch at level 21.

Dream's :t235: stat choices:
(HP, Atk, Def, SpAtk, SpDef, Speed)
- 52/14/21/13/23/40
- 55/15/22/14/24/38
- 53/17/22/17/27/39
- 54/17/22/17/27/35

Hm. Picks #3. Values good Speed with Spore. Noped out of #4. Sports better survivability than #1. Weighed 1 Speed + 3 SpDef over 2 hitpoints. Tough call.

Flew over to Olivine City. Cured Amphy. Eyed the gym leader's team: level 30, 30 and 35. Stands at level 27 across the board, minus Keys :t211:. Feels like a bad idea. Lands into a bunch of Technical Machines for beating the sixth gym, though.

Turn 1: :t237: Dig / :t081: Thunderbolt (miss)
Turn 2: :t237: Dig (100%)
(Level up.)
Turn 3: :t237: Rock Smash (10%) / :t208: Iron Tail (27/74)
Turn 4: :t237: Switch to Keys :t211: / :t208: Iron Tail (63/89)
Turn 5: :t211: Surf (70%) / :t208: Sunny Day
Turn 6: :t208: Hyper Potion (heal to full) / :t211: Surf (30%)
Turn 7: :t211: Minimize / :t208: Iron Tail (miss)
Turn 8: :t211: Switch to Password :t136: / :t208: Iron Tail (54/84)
Turn 9: :t136: Ember (45%) / :t208: Screech
(Sun down.)
Turn 10: :t136: Ember (the rest)
Turn 11: :t136: Mud-Slap (75%, -1 Accuracy) / :t081: Thunder Wave
Turn 12: :t081: Supersonic / :t136: Hit itself (12/84)
Turn 13: :t136: Switch to Names :t192: / :t081: Thunderbolt (miss)
Turn 14: :t081: Thunderbolt (miss) / :t192: Mega Drain (15%)
Turn 15: :t081: Supersonic (miss) / :t192: Mega Drain (the rest)

Would have been less sketchy by switching to Password :t136: immediately after Sunny Day. Worried about it choosing Rock Throw.

Okay, what Technical Machines are post-game? Curse, Toxic, Hidden Power, Sunny Day, Hyper Beam, Protect, Giga Drain, Psychic, Double Team, Dream Eater, and Steel Wing.

What is everyone's Hidden Power?

• Names :t192:: 65 power Bug. Eh. Physical too.
• Charge :t137:: 68 power Bug. Pairs better with Psychic.
• Birthday :t237:: 63 power Water. Bad with base 35 Special.
• Keys :t211:: 64 power Dark. Special, so not that Special.
• Password :t136:: 69 power Steel. Physical and useful versus Rock and Ice types.

Added Hidden Power to Password :t136:, Charge :t137:, and Names :t192:. Taught Giga Drain to Names :t192:. Upgraded Charge's :t137: Psybeam to Psychic.

Section 7: Pryce + Team Rocket​

Headed over to the Lake of Rage. Caught the shiny Gyarados for fun. (Hit hard, partially thanks to being level 30.) Turned in the Red Scale at Mr. Pokemon for an Experience Share. Helps Dream :t235: stay in step, level-wise. Cannot go too high, however, for fear of missing a Sketch.

Breezed through the Rocket Base. Should have done this first. Oh well.

Finally suffered the first in-battle faint at Mahogany's gym. Led with Names :t192: for experience. Healed off most of the Ice damage (against primarily Water-types). Met a Jynx. Barely missed the one-shot knockout with Hidden Power Bug. Lost maybe 35% health from Jynx's first attack. Ought to be fine, right? Nope. Pulled out Ice Punch.

Anyways, Pryce. Has not given Password :t136: much of the spotlight. Handles Ice well. (Right? ...Yes. Resists Ice in Generation 2, but not 1.) Should rough up everything fine with Headbutt. Sits at level 29 (two levels under the 31 Piloswine). Close enough.

Turn 1: :t136: Headbutt (75%) / :t086: Flinch
Turn 2: :t136: Headbutt (the rest)
Turn 3: :t136: Headbutt (35%) / :t087: Headbutt (75/90)
Turn 4: :t136: Headbutt (35%) / :t087: Headbutt (61/90)
Turn 5: :t136: Headbutt (the rest)
(Level up)
Turn 6: :t136: Hidden Power Steel (critical, 100%) / :t221: Fainted

Vicious. Do not take one of the highest Attack Pokemon in the game lightly. (Ties for 3rd with seven others. Comes in just below Dragonite and Tyranitar.)

Received a call from Elm about the tower. Blew him off. Remembers seeing Sludge Bomb available on Route 43. Returned there. Found a house. Got the Hidden Power Technical Machine at the Lake of Rage. Uh...whoops? Well, not really. Says "Celdadon Shop, $3000" for Hidden Power. Cannot help Serebii being wrong.

Spoke to a person for Sludge Bomb. Upgrades Keys's :t211: Poison Sting massively. Weighed the option for Names :t192:. Wants Mega Drain for the better PP still. Pits Sludge Bomb against Hidden Power Bug. What does Poison do? Covers Grass's bad matchups. What does Bug do? Hits Psychic and Dark hard, but falters against many of Grass's bad matchups. Chose the higher power Sludge Bomb.

Dropped another Hidden Power, this time Charge's :t137: Hidden Power Bug for Icy Wind. Finally taught it Swift instead of Tackle, also.

Ah. Met a higher level Porygon (by 1) at the Broadcast Tower. Disapproves of that hacking Porygon. Knew Tri Attack, which is level 36.

Cleaned up the Rocket invasion. Understands this being unpleasant in certain challenge runs without a Ghost-type. Bamboozled fewer exploding Koffings and Weezings than desired. Dodged...one? Never worked out with Dig. Took one Self-Destruct at +6 evasion too.

Ends this update here. Tackles the rest of the main game next time.

Spoiler: Team

(Stats: In the order of Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed)

Names the Sunflora :t192:
Level: 32
Hitpoints: 103
Stats: 66/53/86/73/31
Moves: Mega Drain, Growth, Sludge Bomb, and Giga Drain

Charge the Porygon :t137:
Level: 33
Hitpoints: 101
Stats: 57/66/72/66/46
Moves: Psychic, Swift, Icy Wind, and Recover

Birthday the Hitmontop :t237:
Level: 33
Hitpoints: 86
Stats: 83/82/42/92/61
Moves: Headbutt, Dizzy Punch, Rock Smash, and Dig

Keys the Qwilfish :t211:
Level: 34
Hitpoints: 103
Stats: 88/73/58/58/69
Moves: Headbutt, Sludge Bomb, Surf, and Minimize

Password the Flareon :t136:
Level: 34
Hitpoints: 105
Stats: 109/60/85/95/66
Moves: Headbutt, Ember, Hidden Power (Steel), and Shadow Ball

Dream the Smeargle :t235:
Level: 28
Hitpoints: 74
Stats: 24/31/24/38/55
Moves: Minimize and Sketch

 

[Devalue]

Finished the third and final update.

Section 8: Clair​

Forgot to insert this before. Loves the Medium trainer sprite. Appeared in Morty's gym, and at least one other spot.


Began by catching Suicune. Took two tries. Hit through Minimize a frustrating number of times.

Traveled through Ice Path. Understands getting stuck here now. Forced a lot of (relatively) difficult Strength puzzles. Probably got stuck on the sliding ice section, though, to be honest.

Hates Clair's gym trainers. Taught everything Thunder Wave and Dragon Rage. Takes down anyone on the team in 3 Dragon Rages.

Saw the writing on the wall with Clair. Has three Dragonairs (all with Thunder Wave) at level 37 and a Kingdra at 40. Cannot overcome the Dragon typing and a level disadvantage (levels 33-35 for the team). Grinded everyone up to 37 on wild Pokemon and the slew on trainers below Blackthorn City. Evolved :t137: Charge :t233: at level 36, due to Up-Grade being in Silph Co in postgame. Chose a fine time for that.

Strategy time. Is not confident about Charge :t233: handling this. Will not one-shot any Dragonairs with Icy Wind (barring criticals), even with Nevermeltice. Opens them up to Thunder Waves. Thought about letting Keys :t211: set up Minimizes. Might be the right move. Decided to let Charge :t233: take charge. Assisted in major battles before. Never really shined. Deserves another chance with the new evolution.

Turn 1: :t233: Icy Wind (66%, -1 Speed) / :t148: Thunder Wave
Turn 2: :t148: Dragonbreath (106/128) / :t233: Icy Wind (the rest)
Turn 3: :t148: Dragonbreath (83/128) / :t233: Icy Wind (66%, -1 Speed)
Turn 4: :t148: Dragonbreath (62/128) / :t233: Paralyzed
Turn 5: :t148: Dragonbreath (39/128) / :t233: Paralyzed
Turn 6: :t148: Dragonbreath (19/128) / :t233: Recover (heal to 82/128)
Turn 7: :t148: Dragonbreath (59/128) / :t233: Recover (heal to 123/128)
Turn 8: :t148: Dragonbreath (critical, 83/128) / :t233: Icy Wind (the rest)
Turn 9: :t148: Dragonbreath (62/128) / :t233: Recover (heal to 126/128)
Turn 10: :t148: Dragonbreath (103/128) / :t233: Icy Wind (60%, -1 Speed)
Turn 11: :t148: Dragonbreath (80/128) / :t233: Paralyzed
Turn 12: :t148: Dragonbreath (critical, 37/128) / :t233: Recover (heal to 101/128)
Turn 13: :t148: Dragonbreath (77/128) / :t233: Recover (heal to full)
Turn 14: :t148: Dragonbreath (107/128) / :t233: Paralyzed
Turn 15: :t148: Dragonbreath (84/128) / :t233: Recover (heal to full)
Turn 16: :t148: Dragonbreath (107/128) / :t233: Paralyzed
Turn 17: :t148: Dragonbreath (84/128) / :t233: Recover (heal to full)
Turn 18: :t148: Dragonbreath (108/128) / :t233: Paralyzed
Turn 19: :t148: Dragonbreath (87/128) / :t233: Recover (heal to full)
Turn 20: :t148: Dragonbreath (106/128) / :t233: Icy Wind (critical, the rest)
(Level up.)
Turn 21: :t230: Surf (59/131) / :t233: Tri Attack (35%)
Turn 22: :t233: Hyper Potion (heal to full) / :t230: Surf (81/131)
Turn 23: :t230: Smokescreen (miss) / :t233: Tri Attack (35%)
Turn 24: :t230: Surf (33/131) :t233: Tri Attack (the rest)

Wasted about seven turns just trying to fight Kingdra with as much health as possible. Not a bad fight for Charge :t233:, nevertheless. Chose correctly in dropping Conversion 2 instead of Recover. Used a Hyper Potion for fear of getting Hyper Beamed.

Pried the badge from Clair's whiny hands.

Section 9: Elite Four​

Enters Kanto for the second time. (Hoped to meet one of Dream's :t235: target trainers before getting blocked. Walls you with Waterfall immediately.) Found the first important trainer: Psychic Gilbert. Brought in Girafarig second (of three). Waited for it to Baton Pass to Exeggcute. Knocked that out. Returned to Girafarig alone. Sent out Dream :t235:. Wound up being slower than Girafarig. Gambled on a Sketch (without save stating, for some reason). Lucked into getting Baton Pass. Nice.

Beat up a few wild Pokemon to get Dream :t235: to the next Sketch. Skipped by one (accidentally). Ran into Cooltrainer Jake first. Restarted a few times to get this one. Needed Minimize to dodge Spore, then Sketch it. Contended with Swords Dance and Slash in the meantime. Got it eventually.

Grinded up to the Sketch after that too. Fiddled with the clock to force trainer rematches with one of two Cooltrainers. Worked sort of like a VS Seeker. Also:

Cooltrainer Gaven: "I doubt I'll see a Flareon that's better than mine." Already did. Must be even more forgetful than Pidove.

Challenged the final piece of the puzzle: Bird Keeper Jose and their Farfetch'd. Spams Fury Attack until depleted, annoyingly. Drew Swords Dance to complete Dream's :t235: moveset. (Sidenote: Could have Sketched Agility off that same Farfetch'd.)

Tested it out on the first trainer in the way. Outsped a Rapidash (5 levels lower, but still). Stuffed Dream's :t235: face full of as many Carbos as it would take. Might have paid off. Apparently not enough, though. Fainted to Rapidash waking up and hitting two Stomps before reaching even +4 evasion. Will need to be more proactive on healing for the Elite Four, clearly.

Why not record the rival fight at the end of Victory Road? Stuck Dream :t235: in front, expecting them to show up (despite not playing this game for so long).

Turn 1: :t235: Spore / :t215: Asleep
Turn 2: :t235: Minimize / :t215: Asleep
Turn 3: :t235: Minimize / :t215: Screech
Turn 4: :t215: Quick Attack (83/116) / :t235: Spore
Turn 5: :t215: Asleep / :t235: Minimize
Turn 6: :t235: Minimize / :t215: Asleep
Turn 7: :t235: Minimize / :t215: Asleep
Turn 8: :t235: Minimize / :t215: Asleep
Turn 9: :t235: Spore (no effect) / :t215: Faint Attack (67/116)
Turn 10: :t235: Spore / :t215: Faint Attack (67/116)
Turn 11: :t235: Swords Dance / :t215: Asleep
Turn 12: :t235: Swords Dance / :t215: Faint Attack (51/116)
Turn 13: :t235: Spore / :t215: Asleep
Turn 14: :t215: Asleep / :t235: Swords Dance
Turn 15: :t215: Asleep / :t235: Baton Pass to Birthday :t237:
Turn 16: :t215: Faint Attack (96/101) / :t237: Agility
Turn 17: :t237: Agility / :t215: Faint Attack (91/101)
Turn 18: :t237: Agility / :t215: Faint Attack (86/101)
Turn 19: :t215: Quick Attack (69/101) / :t237: Rock Smash (100%)
Turn 20: :t237: Headbutt (100%) / :t042: Fainted
Turn 21: :t237: Headbutt (100%) / :t064: Fainted
Turn 22: :t237: Dig / :t093: Confuse Ray (miss)
Turn 23: :t237: Dig (100%)
Turn 24: :t237: Headbutt (99%) / :t160: Flinched
Turn 25: :t237: Rock Smash (the rest)
Turn 26: :t237: Dig / :t082: Thunder Wave (miss)
Turn 27: :t237: Dig (100%)

Usually scouts trainers for situations like this. Wonders if Substitute would have been better than Minimize. Could have grabbed that from a Mr. Mime trainer after Morty. Leans towards no, though. Makes the setup much safer, yes. Appreciates Minimize's ability to compensate for the team's middling Speed. Should prove handy against Lance's fast team.

Trained everyone up to level 42 (Will's highest level), except for Dream :t235: at 44 (Lance's Gyarados's level). Falls well below the level 50 Dragonite ace. Probably intended a disadvantage like this, honestly.

First up: Will's Psychic types. Plans to demolish everything with Password's :t136: Shadow Ball.

Turn 1: :t136: Shadow Ball (100%) / :t178: Fainted
Turn 2: :t136: Shadow Ball (75%) / :t080: Amnesia
Turn 3: :t136: Shadow Ball (the rest)
Turn 4: :t178: Psychic (92/128) / :t136: Shadow Ball (100%)
Turn 5: :t124: Psychic (50/128) / :t136: Shadow Ball (100%)
Turn 6: :t136: Shadow Ball (90%) / :t103: Psychic (6/128)
Turn 7: :t136: Shadow Ball (the rest)

Lived thanks to those two extra levels of grinding.

Second: Koga's Poison types. Dares not set up against an Ariados with the same trick as Dream :t235: (Double Team + Baton Pass). Looks like a job for Charge :t233:.

Turn 1: :t233: Psychic (100%) / :t168: Fainted
Turn 2: :t049: Toxic / :t233: Psychic (90%)
(Poison damage to 135/144)
Turn 3: :t049: Supersonic (miss) / :t233: Psychic (the rest)
Turn 4: :t233: Switch to Password :t136: / :t205: Protect
Turn 5: :t136: Ember (100%)
Turn 6: :t136: Switch to Charge :t233: (Poison damage to 117/144) / :t089: Sludge Bomb (73/144)
Turn 7: :t233: Psychic (55%) (Poison damage to 55/144) / :t089: Minimize
Turn 8: :t233: Psychic (the rest)
Turn 9: :t233: Full Restore (heal to full) / :t169: Double Team
Turn 10: :t169: Toxic (miss) / :t233: Psychic (60%)
Turn 11: :t169: Toxic / :t233: Psychic (miss)
(Poison damage to 135/144)
Turn 13: :t169: Wing Attack (108/144) / :t233: Psychic (the rest)
(Level up.)

Went almost as well as it could have. Ethered Psychic after the fight, just in case.

Next: Bruno's Fighting types. Seems weird to call up Dream :t235: now (now at level 45, thanks to the Experience Share). Gave Bruno's lead (a Hitmontop) a fittingly terrible moveset. Contains no Fighting moves. Definitely exploits that. Will probably pass it off to...Birthday :t237:? Uses the Attack boost the best without being hit hard from stray hits.

Turn 1: :t235: Spore / Bruno's :t237: Asleep
Turn 2: :t235: Minimize / Bruno's :t237: Asleep
Turn 3: :t235: Minimize / Bruno's :t237: Dig
Turn 4: :t235: Minimize / Bruno's :t237: Dig (88/123)
Turn 5: :t235: Spore / Bruno's :t237: Asleep
Turn 6: :t235: Minimize / Bruno's :t237: Asleep
Turn 7: :t235: Minimize / Bruno's :t237: Dig
Turn 8: :t235: Minimize / Bruno's :t237: Dig (miss)
Turn 9: :t235: Spore / Bruno's :t237: Asleep
Turn 10: :t235: Swords Dance / Bruno's :t237: Dig
Turn 11: :t235: Swords Dance / Bruno's :t237: Dig (miss)
Turn 12: :t235: Spore / Bruno's :t237: Asleep
Turn 13: :t235: Swords Dance / Bruno's :t237: Asleep
Turn 14: :t235: Baton Pass to Birthday :t237: / Bruno's :t237: Asleep
Turn 15: :t237: Agility / Bruno's :t237: Dig
Turn 16: :t237: Agility / Bruno's :t237: Dig (90/108)
Turn 17: :t237: Agility / Bruno's :t237: Dig
Turn 18: :t237: Dig / Bruno's :t237: Dig (miss)
Turn 19: Bruno's :t237: Detect / :t237: Dig (blocked)
Turn 20: :t237: Headbutt (100%)
Turn 21: :t237: Headbutt (100%) / :t106: Fainted
Turn 22: :t107: Mach Punch (miss) / :t237: Headbutt (100%)
Turn 23: :t237: Headbutt (95%) / :t068: Cross Chop (miss)
Turn 24: :t068: Max Potion (heal to full) / :t237: Rock Smash (45%, -1 Defense)
Turn 25: :t237: Headbutt (the rest)
Turn 26: :t237: Rock Smash (90%) / :t095: Sandstorm
(Sandstorm damage to 77/108)
Turn 27: :t237: Rock Smash (the rest)

Hopes for better sleep turns for Lance.

Number four: Karen's Dark types. Ignores a set up strategy against an Umbreon with Sand Attack and Confuse Ray...right? Actually, maybe not. Outspeeds it. Could do a quick Swords Dance to Birthday :t237:. Actually likes that idea.

Turn 1: :t235: Spore / :t197: Asleep
Turn 2: :t235: Swords Dance / :t197: Asleep
Turn 3: :t235: Baton Pass to Birthday :t237: / :t197: Asleep
Turn 4: :t237: Headbutt (35%) / :t197: Asleep
Turn 5: :t237: Headbutt (35%) / :t197: Asleep
Turn 6: :t237: Headbutt (the rest)
Turn 7: :t237: Dig / :t045: Stun Spore (miss)
Turn 8: :t237: Dig (40%) / :t045: Petal Dance (78/108)
Turn 9: :t237: Headbutt (50%) / :t045: Petal Dance (49/108)
Turn 10: :t237: Headbutt (the rest)
(Level up)
Turn 11: :t094: Curse / :t237: Dig
(Curse damage to 25/111)
Turn 12: :t094: Lick (miss) / :t237: Dig (the rest)
Turn 13: :t237: Switch to / :t198: Pursuit (critical, 0/111) / to Keys :t211:
Turn 14: :t211: Sludge Bomb (90%, poison) / :t198: Faint Attack (86/127)
Turn 15: :t211: Sludge Bomb (the rest)
Turn 16: :t229: Crunch (6/127) / :t211: Surf (65%)
Turn 17: :t211: Hyper Potion (heal to full) / :t229: Pursuit (85/127)
Turn 18: :t229: Crunch (12/127) / :t211: Surf (the rest)

What was that garbage critical Pursuit? Knew it had it. Expected Birthday :t237: to survive. Got good sleep turns on Umbreon, at least.

The final fight: Lance's Dragon types. Raised Dream :t235: to 47 with the Experience Share. Hopefully outspeeds Gyarados between the three level advantage and all those Carbos. Will pass to Charge :t233:. Uses Tri Attack as the primary means of damage, as a physical move. Recovers after any stray hits. Should have the sustain to carry, barring massive critical Hyper Beams.

Turn 1: :t235: Spore / :t130: Asleep
Turn 2: :t235: Minimize / :t130: Asleep
Turn 3: :t235: Minimize / :t130: Rain Dance
Turn 4: :t235: Spore / :t130: Asleep
Turn 5: :t235: Minimize / :t130: Asleep
Turn 6: :t235: Minimize / :t130: Surf (miss)
Turn 7: :t235: Spore / :t130: Asleep
(Rain down.)
Turn 8: :t235: Minimize / :t130: Asleep
Turn 9: :t235: Minimize / :t130: Asleep
Turn 10: :t235: Swords Dance / :t130: Asleep
Turn 11: :t235: Swords Dance / :t130: Asleep
Turn 12: :t235: Swords Dance / :t130: Rain Dance
Turn 13: :t235: Spore / :t130: Asleep
Turn 14: :t235: Baton Pass to Charge :t233: / :t130: Asleep
Turn 15: :t130: Asleep / :t233: Tri Attack (100%)
Turn 16: :t149: Thunder Wave (miss) / :t233: Tri Attack (100%)
(Rain down)
Turn 16: :t149: Thunder Wave (miss) / :t233: Tri Attack (100%)
Turn 17: :t142: Wing Attack (111/148) / :t233: Tri Attack (95%)
Turn 18: :t142: Hyper Beam (49/148) / :t233: Recover (123/148)
Turn 19: :t142: Recharging / :t233: Recover (heal to full)
Turn 20: :t142: Hyper Beam (critical, 34/148) / :t233: Psychic (critical, the rest)
(Level up.)
Turn 21: :t006: Flamethrower (0/151)
Turn 22: :t006: Hyper Beam (72/127) / :t211: Surf (60%)
Turn 23: :t006: Recharging / :t211: Surf (the rest)
(Level up)
Turn 24: :t211: Sludge Bomb (35%) / :t149: Outrage (0/127)
Turn 25: :t235: Spore / :t149: Asleep
Turn 26: :t149: Full Restore (heal to full) / :t235: Swords Dance
Turn 27: :t235: Spore / :t149: Asleep
Turn 28: :t149: Full Heal / :t235: Baton Pass to Password :t136:
Turn 29: :t149: Hyper Beam (6/128) / :t136: Shadow Ball (48%)
Turn 30: :t149: Recharging / :t136: Shadow Ball (48%)
Turn 31: :t136: Hyper Potion (heal to full) / :t149: Hyper Beam (0/128)
Turn 32: :t149: Recharging / :t192: Sludge Bomb (the rest)

Tries not to use items. Should be able to Recover fine, right? What are the odds of four consecutive attacks with 33% accuracy hitting? (About 1 in 81, or 1.23%). Certainly took the scenic route after that. Thank goodness for no Guillotines on these things.

Was sad to lose the second Hyper Beam damage roll on Password :t136:. Lived because of those two levels of grinding against Will. Survived because of them on the first Hyper Beam. Could not hold a third time.

Entered the Hall of Fame.

_______________

Section 10: Kanto Gym Leaders​

Listed Red as an extra challenge. Wanted to play Crystal again, so why not? Jumped into Kanto instantly. Too instantly, in fact. Meant to talk to the Move Tutor with Flamethrower, Ice Beam, and Thunderbolt. Prevents you from easily returning, annoyingly.

Will pare most of these battles down to quick descriptions, rather than full logs. Amounts to an Elite Four battle, but with fewer Pokemon (and/or levels) sometimes.

• Surge: Swept with Birthday :t237:, with the help of a single Swords Dance from Dream :t235:.
• Sabrina: Wrapped it up in three turns with Password's :t136: Shadow Balls.
• Erika: Swept with Keys :t211: without being touched.
• Janine: Battled through confusion. Crushed these low-level chumps with Charge :t233:
• Misty: Had to switch out Names :t192: because of hitting itself in confusion twice.
• Brock: Done in five Mega Drains and a super unnecessary Growth.
• Blaine: Lead with Birthday :t237: for experience. Called in...Password :t136: (?) midway through.

Beelined to the machine part. Still needed the pass to ride the train. Thought the lost item necessary for it was in Viridian. Misread it. Had to go to Vermillion. Whoops.

Reached Blue. Raised everyone to level 46-50 throughout Kanto. Falls well below Blue's team of level 54-58s. Strategy: Dream :t235: and sweep with Charge :t233:. May not work with Pidgeot's Whirlwind. Will have to see what unfolds.

Turn 1: :t235: Spore / :t018: Asleep
Turn 2: :t235: Minimize / :t018: Asleep
Turn 3: :t235: Minimize / :t018: Asleep
Turn 4: :t235: Minimize / :t018: Asleep
Turn 5: :t235: Minimize / :t018: Mirror Move (Minimize)
Turn 6: :t235: Spore / :t018: Asleep
Turn 7: :t235: Minimize / :t018: Asleep
Turn 8: :t235: Minimize / :t018: Asleep
Turn 9: :t235: Swords Dance / :t018: Asleep
Turn 10: :t235: Swords Dance / :t018: Asleep
Turn 11: :t235: Swords Dance / :t018: Asleep
Turn 12: :t235: Switch to Charge :t233: / :t018: Wing Attack (miss)
Turn 13: :t018: Wing Attack (miss) / :t233: Tri Attack (100%)
Turn 14: :t065: Reflect / :t233: Tri Attack (100%)
Turn 15: :t233: Icy Wind (50%, -1 Speed) / :t112: Sandstorm
(Sandstorm damage to 147/168)
Turn 16: :t233: Tri Attack (15%) / :t112: Fury Attack (127/168)
(Sandstorm damage to 106/168)
Turn 17: :t233: Recover (heal to full) / :t112: Fury Attack (miss)
(Sandstorm damage to 147/168)
Turn 18: :t233: Icy Wind (the rest)
(Sandstorm damage to 126/168. Reflect down.)
Turn 19: :t130: Rain Dance / :t233: Tri Attack (the rest)
(Level up.)
Turn 20: :t233: Tri Attack (100%) / :t103: Fainted
Turn 21: :t059: Extremespeed (91/172) / :t233: Tri Attack (100%)

Thanks Pidgeot for cooperating.

Section 11: Red​

Heads towards the final challenge. First wild Pokemon of Mt Silver: Dodrio. Froze Charge :t233: on its Tri Attack. Remained frozen for at least four turns. Never lasted that long in any modern generation. Also cannot recall ever getting a secondary effect from Tri Attack this playthrough except for one paralysis.

Looked up Red's team. Remembered most of it: Pikachu lead, Kanto starters, and Snorlax. Thought it was Lapras, though, not Espeon. Is not thrilled about the level 81 Pikachu. Figured it was level 70 maximum.

Grumbles about needing Flash. Dropped...Giga Drain from Names :t192:. Assumes being able to Baton Pass (and maybe Growth). Kept the physical move and the one with more PP.

Made it to Red. Only needed Flash, at least. Remains at the same level 47-50 team as with Blue. Already knows the strategy, right? Good luck, Dream :t235:.

Turn 1: :t025: Thunder (0/137) / :t235: Fainted
Turn 2: :t025: Charm / :t192: Flash (miss)
Turn 3: :t025: Thunder (100/157) / :t192: Flash (miss)
Turn 4: :t025: Thunder (51/157, paralyzed) / :t192: Flash
Turn 5: :t192: Full Restore (heal to full) / :t025: Thunder (miss)
Turn 6: :t025: Thunder (miss) / :t192: Flash (miss)
Turn 7: :t025: Thunder (miss) / :t192: Growth
Turn 8: :t025: Thunder (miss) / :t192: Growth
Turn 9: :t025: Charm / :t192: Mega Drain (60%)
Turn 10: :t025: Thunder (miss) / :t192: Mega Drain (the rest)
Turn 11: :t003: Sunny Day / :t192: Growth
Turn 12: :t003: Solar Beam (80/157) / :t192: Mega Drain (5%)
Turn 13: :t003: Solar Beam (critical, 0/157)
Turn 14: :t003: Solar Beam (critical, 0/143) / :t136: Fainted
Turn 15: :t003: Solar Beam (5/172) / :t233: Psychic (35%)
Turn 16: :t003: Solar Beam (charging) / :t233: Psychic (35%)
Turn 17: :t003: Solar Beam (0/172)
Turn 18: :t003: Solar Beam (charging) / :t211: Minimize
Turn 19: :t003: Solar Beam (0/145)
Turn 20: :t003: Solar Beam (charging) / :t237: Agility
Turn 21: :t237: Dig / :t003: Solar Beam (miss)
Turn 22: :t237: Dig (5%) / :t003: Solar Beam (charging)
Turn 23: :t237: Dig / :t003: Solar Beam (miss)
Turn 24: :t237: Dig (5%) / :t003: Solar Beam (charging)
Turn 25: :t237: Dig / :t003: Solar Beam (miss)
Turn 26: :t237: Dig (5%) / :t003: Solar Beam (charging)
Turn 27: :t237: Dig / :t003: Solar Beam (miss)
Turn 28: :t237: Dig (the rest)
Turn 29: :t237: Headbutt (15%) / :t196: Flinch
Turn 30: :t237: Headbutt (15%) / :t196: Flinch
Turn 31: :t237: Headbutt (15%) / :t196: Psychic (0/121)

Yeah, no. What was that opening? 3 Flashes misses of 4 while getting roasted by Thunder? Okay, game.

Round 2. Leads with Names :t192: this time. Flashes the Pikachu a bunch. Attempts to set up after that. Gave two Rare Candies to Dream :t235: and three to Charge :t233:. Saved them this entire run in case of getting outsped on Dream :t235:. Appears to be inevitable. Might survive a hit, though.

Turn 1: :t025: Charm / :t192: Flash
Turn 2: :t025: Thunder (miss) / :t192: Flash (miss)
Turn 3: :t025: Thunder (108/157) / :t192: Flash
Turn 4: :t025: Thunder (miss) / :t192: Flash
Turn 5: :t025: Thunder (miss) / :t192: Flash
Turn 6: :t025: Thunder (miss) / :t192: Flash (miss)
Turn 7: :t025: Thunder (58/157) / :t192: Flash
Turn 8: :t025: Thunder (miss) / :t192: Flash
Turn 9: :t192: Switch to Dream :t235: / :t025: Thunder (0/142)

Rage quit out of that one. Idle thought: Is the way forward to learn Sketch on Dream :t235:, take Pikachu's Charm, and then try to set up on someone else? ...No. Cannot sacrifice any moves.

Attempt 3. Stuffed Charge :t233: with all the Rare Candies instead.

Turn 1: :t025: Charm / :t192: Flash
Turn 2: :t025: Thunder (107/157) / :t192: Flash (miss)
Turn 3: :t025: Thunder (miss) / :t192: Flash
Turn 4: :t025: Thunder (miss) / :t192: Flash
Turn 5: :t025: Thunder (miss) / :t192: Flash (miss)
Turn 6: :t025: Thunder (miss) / :t192: Flash
Turn 7: :t025: Thunder (miss) / :t192: Flash
Turn 8: :t025: Thunder (52/157) / :t192: Flash
Turn 9: :t192: Switch to Dream :t235: / :t025: Thunder (miss)
Turn 10: :t025: Thunder (miss) / :t235: Spore
Turn 11: :t025: Full Restore (Cured Sleep) / :t235: Minimize
Turn 12: :t025: Thunder (miss) / :t235: Spore
Turn 13: :t025: Full Restore (Cured Sleep) / :t235: Spore
Turn 14: :t025: Asleep / :t235: Spore (failed)
Turn 15: :t025: Asleep / :t235: Minimize
Turn 16: :t025: Asleep / :t235: Minimize
Turn 17: :t025: Asleep / :t235: Minimize
Turn 18: :t025: Asleep / :t235: Minimize
Turn 19: :t025: Thunderbolt (miss) / :t235: Spore
Turn 20: :t025: Asleep / :t235: Minimize
Turn 21: :t025: Asleep / :t235: Swords Dance
Turn 22: :t025: Asleep / :t235: Swords Dance
Turn 23: :t025: Asleep / :t235: Swords Dance
Turn 24: :t025: Thunderbolt (miss) / :t235: Spore
Turn 25: :t025: Asleep / :t235: Baton Pass to Birthday :t237:
Turn 26: :t025: Asleep / :t237: Agility
Turn 27: :t237: Agility / :t025: Asleep
Turn 28: :t237: Dig / :t025: Asleep
Turn 29: :t237: Dig (100%)
Turn 30: :t237: Headbutt (critical, 100%) / :t196: Fainted
Turn 31: :t237: Headbutt (48%) / :t006: Wing Attack (miss)
Turn 32: :t237: Headbutt (48%) / :t006: Flinched
Turn 33: :t237: Headbutt (the rest)
(Level up)
Turn 34: :t237: Rock Smash (40%) / :t143: Body Slam (22/123)
Turn 35: :t237: Hyper Potion (heal to full) / :t143: Body Slam (miss)
Turn 36: :t237: Headbutt (40%) / :t143: Flinched
Turn 37: :t237: Headbutt (the rest)
Turn 38: :t237: Headbutt (50%) / :t003: Flinched
Turn 39: :t237: Headbutt (the rest)
Turn 40: :t237: Headbutt (45%) / :t009: Rain Dance
Turn 41: :t237: Headbutt (45%) / :t009: Flinched
Turn 42: :t237: Headbutt (the rest)
(Level up to level 49)

"Birthday is trying to learn TRIPLE KICK." Snickered at that ending the battle. Ending time: 36:10.

Went extremely well. Successfully predicted Pikachu waking up twice (not including the Full Restore). Criticaled Espeon. Unleashed a flurry of flinches to keep Birthday :t237: safe.

May have noticed Birthday :t237: sweeping rather than Charge :t233:. Chose the wrong Pokemon by mistake. Considered Birthday :t237: too. Kept Agility + Headbutt for the sweep potential. Made a good showing in the first attempt as well.

Final Thoughts​

• Names the Sunflora :t192:: Okay. Never had lots of opportunities to shine in the end, given the Elite Four. Possessed a workable set with Growth and Mega/Giga Drain, however.
• Charge the Porygon2 :t233:: Eh. Felt like a Psychic-type. Preferred other Pokemon for Normal-type attacks. Had some fun with Conversion2, at least.
• Birthday the Hitmontop :t237:: Salvaged by Agility. Never felt like a great choice. Favored other Pokemon for Normal-type attacks (once again). Acts more like a Ground-type.
• Keys the Qwilfish :t211:: Pretty good. Helped early with Minimize. Dealt respectable damage (and flinch chances) with Headbutt and especially Sludge Bomb. Learned a decent Water move, unlike many others on the team with their typings.
• Password the Flareon :t136:: The best all-around. Delivered nasty Headbutts, Shadow Balls, and a surprise Steel move. Helds its own in most battles. Fails utterly as a Fire-type, however. Ended the game with Ember. Did not cut it against Grass-types. Describes Password as the team's Normal-type.
• Dream the Smeargle :t235:: Very handy, but dead weight for far too long. Literally fought its first battle at the door to Victory Road. Ultimately proved essential in claiming victory (without massive grinding). Compensated for the team acting outside their type.

Best TM: Headbutt. Wound up being the go-to move on three different Pokemon.

The challenge as a whole: Not a bad challenge.

Crystal as a whole: Did not hold up to the rose-tinted memories. Trickled in moves too slowly. Used Tackle on everyone for a while. Became Headbutt after that. Finds far too weak of Pokemon in the wild.

Understands why it felt so good then, though. Leapt forward so far from Generation 1. Varied up enemy teams much more from Generation 1. Still had good music. Added lots of interesting new mechanics and little events.

Somehow found the routes more interesting than (most of) Sword/Shield's, oddly. Experienced more events outside of town. Varied from the shiny Gyarados, to a sick Miltank, to trainer rematches, to the Bug Catching Contest. Might be at the heart of it, actually. When did anything interesting happen outside of town in Sword/Shield? The fossil person? The digging brothers? Maybe technically Max Raids.

Spoiler: Team

(Stats: In the order of Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed)

Names the Sunflora :t192:
Level: 49
Hitpoints: 157
Stats: 104/84/135/116/50
Moves: Mega Drain, Growth, Sludge Bomb, and Flash

Charge the Porygon2 :t233:
Level: 55
Hitpoints: 188
Stats: 118/133/144/133/100
Moves: Psychic, Tri Attack, Icy Wind, and Recover

Birthday the Hitmontop :t237:
Level: 49
Hitpoints: 126
Stats: 125/122/64/137/92
Moves: Headbutt, Agility, Triple Kick, and Dig

Keys the Qwilfish :t211:
Level: 48
Hitpoints: 145
Stats: 125/104/82/82/101
Moves: Headbutt, Sludge Bomb, Surf, and Minimize

Password the Flareon :t136:
Level: 47
Hitpoints: 143
Stats: 154/84/118/132/93
Moves: Headbutt, Ember, Hidden Power (Steel), and Shadow Ball

Dream the Smeargle :t235:
Level: 50
Hitpoints: 137
Stats: 46/60/46/71/113
Moves: Minimize, Baton Pass, Spore, and Swords Dance

 

[Duck]

I've been having a lot of time while waiting for stuff so I managed to finalize this

Update Final

Spoiler:

This was the first time I played Ultra Sun and I was expecting the long intro from Sun, but no, this one is very streamlined. I'm glad they did this to be honest.

Either way, picked Rowlet because while Incineroar >>>>, Rowlett's the cutest and then hacked my team in, permaboxing Rowlet.

Beat Hau easily, but I do appreciate the Refresh screen there and how it interacts with the rest of the game. Makes sense from an in-game standpoint.

After Nebby stopped being a nuisance, destroyed public property, needed divine intervention to prevent a kid from dying by their actions, stole objects of archeological importance and gave them to foreigners, we managed to move on.

I saw the catching tutorial and then played with a cute little doggo for a while. Then I did the festival and to be honest, I'm a little bit surprised. That would have been tricky if I only had one Pokémon still - parahax can be annoying.

After that, and a small surprise solar eclipse, I went to school for a second. Which was harder than you'd expect, since the team was physically bulky and I didn't have a lot going on to deal with them. Plus, there were a lot of poison types that means I couldn't poison and win a war of attrition.

And then I played the tourist for a bit, because I'm not sure how to deal with Ilima. In the end I just weathered Yungoos' hits and got Lizard to poison Smeargle and let Cow tank his hits.

I think I stole offerings for the dead while training for the trial? And then I beat Team Grunt a couple of times, and with their help I could graciously beat the Trial. Now onto Totem Gumshoos!

vs. Totem Gumshoos
- A combination of Work Up and Brick Break from Cow did short work of Totem Gumshoos and helper Yumgoos.

After being accosted by some futuristic weirdos, I beat Hau once more and cleaned Route 3 up to get that sweet sweet TM Roost. And after that, Hala.

vs Kahuna Hala
- I managed to get Bird to set up in front of Machop and then I just spammed Air Cutter and OHKOed everybody.

Did a sidetrack to get Flyinium Z (didn't even know it was there, but nice to get anyways). After that, I got acquaintanced with Mantine and got to the next island over.

Beat Dexio and then accidentally wandered into Rat Valley. After getting into Paniola Ranch, I faced Hau - Cow set up in front of Brionne and then just killed everything. Then I got access to a useless derpy dog and beat an emo kid up.

Then I did the Brooklet Hill trial.

vs. Totem Araquanid
- I thought it was going to be Totem Wishiwashi so I started with Cow, but oh well, I did some damage and eventually when Cow fell, Bird came in and Supersonic Striked it to hell.

Boxed Bat for a second for Cicada's sake and I wasn't expecting the game to just throw Poipole in so early. It was solemnly tanked by Cicada's Mud Slaps - cheap yes, but it was against a legendary so I don't really mind that much. Shortly after, Cicada evolved and became Shell, the Shedinja.

I can safely say I wasn't expecting Kiawe's trial to be that.

vs. Totem Marowak
- I tried to set up with Cow but it called Salazzle turn 1 and killed it before I could do much. They managed to mow down most of my team, but eventually Lizard who has a pretty terrible moveset managed to poison Totem Marowak and kill Salazzle, so I just stalled the timer out on the big guy (since my other options were Shell and Iceberg, which would go down like paper towels).

Either way, after that we get access to the dragon taxi and meet with a terrorist fleeing from justice - he looks pretty snazzy though. Then we're forced to engage with Festival Plaza, ew. Mallow's trial seemed simple enough - get the ingredients and get rid of the pests.

vs. Totem Lurantis
- I forgot to give Lizard the Firium Z, but I managed to poison Lurantis and more or less keep going in a war of attrition due to Synthesis and ally Comfey being annoying.

After that I saw the other half of the best couple in Alola, a crack in the sky and went spelunking. After some mishaps I went to face Olivia, which is hard because I have a lot of rock weaknesses and I'm underleveled.

vs. Kahuna Olivia
- I sent Cow up as a lead to set up in Anorith's face. I needed to use some healing items but eventually I managed to get enough set ups to just coast with Brick Breaks and the occasional Milk Drink.

Apparently a shell wins against an Ultra Beast since Nihilego couldn't touch Shell. Then, I lost to Hau because I'm generally underleveled and I've been procastinating on grinding.

After that we kinda mosey on to Hokulani Observatory, and got a Steelium Z for ... riding the bus?

vs. Totem Togedemaru
- Spammed Bulldoze with Gligar and then just Flame Bursted with Lizard to clean up. She evolved just after this too, so nice.

I beat Guzma, which, tbh I kinda vibe with. Really like him as a character. Then we got Mudsdale and trampsed around Route 12, all the way to Route 13 to grind away fishing until I can get a Razor Fang to evolve Bat.

Did more or less the usual progression until Acerola. Iceberg evolved in the process. The totem was easy enough because Scrappy Miltank is the anti-ghost. Totem Mimikyu's reveal was boss though, I knew it was coming and still got a little jumpscare lol.

vs. Totem Mimikyuu
- Let Lizard take front and center since it quarter resisted Play Rough, but I forgot to bust the disguise before switching so I couldn't Toxic it. I send Miltank in and didn't do nearly as much damage as I wanted ...

Still both Pokemon in the field were physical attackers so I decided to let Iceberg set up, only to get Cursed and burned the turn I got in. I tried with some other Pokemon, but ultimately lost.

vs. Totem Mimikyuu (Reprise)
- Now I had information, so I led with Bat to knock off the Lum Berry and lower the speed, letting Lizard get a Toxic and a Venoshock on Mimikyuu before getting knocked out. From there I let Iceberg get Curses to stall out the Toxic timer and kill ally Banette.

Beat Plumeria, found Grimsley. Looking nice, in a mature kind of way. Did the Team Skull plot. Beat Guzma, got the Buginium Z because Guzma unknowingly is pretty much an Island Captain. Then I beat the emo Skull. And Nanu.

Then we raided a private business, and just did the whole Aether subplot.

I really don't care for how Lillie basically decided to be the narrative main character without doing any of the actual legwork to move the plot. The strength puzzles look even dumber this time because a teenager could easily walk besides the boulders on the railings.

Did the Exeggutor Island subplot (I really thought there'd be a boss encounter there, but no, apparently) and now it's Team Skull time again. And a Z-Crystal apparently, I guess.

Dulse was easy enough. Miltank > Poipole. Vast Poni Canyon was more annoying (mostly due to Lillie and Strength Puzzles without a top down camera) than hard, to be honest.

"Sou-unnd" is a terrible onomatopeia, and guess who couldn't touch Shedinja? If you guessed Totem Kommo-o, you guessed right! Unfortunately, Noivern could. Iceberg couldn't tank both Kommo-o and Noivern for too long, but Lizard got a Toxic and put a timer on the Totem, after that Bird cleaned up.

After that we had the whole Necrozma unpleasantness.

vs Ultra Necrozma
- I lost. Hard. So I went back to Poni Wilds to get a Focus Sash, and used that to get a Toxic on Necrozma, and after that, I stalled. At the end, it died just before I let Shedinja out (but I would have been able to force the KO with Shadow Sneak even if it died a turn later). The *only* reason I won was because of ToxicSash.

Having a trial after that just feels ... anticlimactic, really. Mina let me get Salazzle to +6 SpA and then I just steamrolled her team. And Ilima's. And Mallow's. And Sophocle's. Kiawe was the only one that was less of a curbstomp (and even then it wasn't hard still).

vs Totem Ribombee
- ToxicShock dealt with the bug and Bird cleaned up the ally Pelipper.

Iceberg dealt with most of Hapu's team, and what she couldn't handle, Bird and Bat dealt with. Gladion was also easy enough to deal with.

After some last minute backtracking to get some TMs and items, and trawling Mt. Lanakila, we were ready to face the League.

vs Elite Four Molayne
- Bat got to Atk+6. The earth shook and Molayne was knocked down. The one spot of trouble was Dugtrio-Alola outspeeding Bat, but it didn't outspeed Lizard so I still got the OHKO, even if I didn't get the clean sweep.

vs Elite Four Olivia
- A combination of Bat and Lizard made short work of Olivia.

vs Elite Four Acerola
- The only Pokemon that really gave me trouble was Palossand, because it had Iron Defense and my team was mostly Physical.

vs Elite Four Kahili
- Revelation Dance goes brrr

vs Challenger Hau
- Bat killed Raichu, Lizard killed Crabominable, Cow beat Tauros, Bat beat Flareon, Bird beat Primarina and Iceberg beat Noivern.

GAME END

All in all, a cute game, with lots of heart. The one thing I'd change is cut down on Lillie time, a lot.
Or make her the rival or something at least.

Since I was completely incidental to the plot, and Lillie didn't really feel like she was doing enough to help move the plot along, it felt like the game portions dragged on instead of being something I was invested in.

Final Team

Spoiler:

Bat the Gliscor, Lvl. 65 @ Leftovers
- Steel Wing
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off

I barely used it, but when I started to use it, it proved it could work.

Shell the Shedinja, Lvl. 66 @ Spell Tag
- Shadow Ball
- Confuse Ray
- Shadow Sneak
- Leech Life

It's very hard to use it, but when you do find someone that doesn't have the coverage, you can troll them to high heavens. Great for buying time to heal your team.

Bird the Oricorio-Pompom, Lvl 65 @ Flyium-Z
- Revelation Dance
- Roost
- Air Slash
- Work Up

It's one flaw is that it takes forever to get Revelation Dance, after that it's pretty alright.

Cow the Miltank, Lvl 64 @ Leftovers
- Work Up
- Milk Drink
- Brick Break
- Body Slam

It was the greatest during Early Game and it was still pretty good at late game. It needs Scrappy to function though.

Lizard the Salazzle, Lvl 65 @ Leftovers
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
- Venoshock
- Nasty Plot

It takes forever to get good moves, but when it does, it's a great Pokémon.

Iceberg the Avalugg, Lvl 65 @ Leftovers
- Avalanche
- Rock Tomb
- Curse
- Gyro Ball

It's a great wall, but not very good at damage output (probably because Ice is just a terrible type in general). Still, it worked well enough when I needed it to work.

 

[Kostucha]

The Ones that got away - Final update

The challenge was a lot of fun, my team had varying usability throughout the game but they all came together in the end. I had minor troubles at Kiawe's trial, even with Drampa that I hacked in early and later at Ultra Necrozma - it could outspeed and OHKO everyone on my team, so I had to use Focus Sash + Toxic to get past it. Also I found 2 shinies while playing: a Magnemite when training up Pichu early on and a Corsola later when I was hunting for a Mareanie:

Spoiler:

Hall of Fame:

Spoiler:

Team:

Spoiler:

Scan, Hasty, Skill Link, lv.60, @Flyinium Z
- Drill Peck
- Bullet Seed
- Return
- Rock Blast
Powerful, although a bit frail and slow, still solid all the way through the game.


Cheapu, Bold, Surge Surfer, lv.60, @Aloraichium Z
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Nasty Plot
- Nuzzle
I waited to evolve it until it reached level 42 so it could get Thunderbolt. Because of that it was very until then but became a strong part of the team after evolving.


Pixie, Jolly, Merciless, lv.60, @Leftovers
- Liquidation
- Baneful Bunker
- Venoshock
- Toxic Spikes
The defense boosts and Baneful Bunker it gets upon evolving really let it shine. It could easily wipe full teams as long as they weren't full of flying pokemon.


Prime, Timid, Berserk, lv.60, @Choice Specs
- Dragon Pulse
- Hyper Voice
- Shadow Ball
- Fire Blast
Not as powerful as I thought it would be - probably because of the weak moveset through most of the game. It usually wouldn't survive very long on the field so Choice Specs was a great item for it.


Whistle, Careful, Shields Down, lv.60, @Rockium Z
- Psychic
- Cosmic Power
- Shell Smash
- Power Gem
I wish Shields Down activated when the HP actually dropped below half and not at the end of the turn. It really limited its usefulness. Shell Smash really saved it - one or two of those and it could easily wipe full teams.


Vista, Quiet, Fluffy, lv.60, @Fightinium Z
- Hammer Arm
- Return
- Bulldoze
- Brutal Swing
Very strong all the way through

Also signing up for another game, felt like replaying Shield :)
Username: Kostucha
Game: Shield
Pokemon that got away:

Spoiler:

Obstagoon
Drednaw
Centiskorch
Barraskewda
Alcremie
Appletun
Cursola
Grimmsnarl
Hatterene
Weezing
Copperajah
Cramorant
Toxtricity
Runerigus
Morpeko
Frosmoth
Grapploct
Pincurchin
Mr. Rime
Darmanitan
Stonjourner
Dracovish

Parameters: full team of 6, I can trade Pokemon in

 

[Duck]

- snip -

How about ... Frosmoth, Stonjourner, Cramorant, Copperajah, Appletun and Darmanitan?

Edit: Also, updated the OP

 

[Kostucha]

How about ... Frosmoth, Stonjourner, Cramorant, Copperajah, Appletun and Darmanitan?

Thanks! Was really hoping for Frosmoth and Stonjourner :)

 

[Janp]

The Ones that got away in Pokémon Ultra Moon

UPDATE 1

​

7 weeks. That's how long it took me to take a brand new savefile and add Porygon in PKHeX in it. But it's done now so I can officially start with this adventure. As for the nicknaming theme, I went with music genres.

Porygon is surprisingly tanky, which helped with classic obstacles like Emily or Ilma. It also learns Psybeam, that wasn't exactly helpful during the first Trial, since I'm playing Ultra Moon and have to fight Alolan Raticate. Luckily, I found Crabrawler fairly early, but more on that later. Porygon carried me through the rest of the Melemele Island on its own. Poor Hala. I can imagine him thinking I'm stupid for bringing Normal-type Pokémon against him.

But, let's not get ahead of ourselves. First, I had to get through Ilma's Trial. And luckily, I caught Crabrawler on Route 2 on my first visit. Sadly, Crabrawler was a huge letdown so far. Yes, he decimated Totem Alolan Raticate, but he's also super super-effective against it. And I let him learn Brick Break, so... I'll have to teach him some elemental punches, because his moveset is bad. Also to my surprise, there are not that many Normal-types Pokémon to face in this section. so I usually just put him on a bench and killed everything with Porygon.

Back to Hala's Grand Trial. Starting with Porygon was risky, but worth it. I used Conversion to change Porygon's type to Psychic and easily beat both Machop and Makuhita, only getting hit by Makuhita's Fake Out. I was a little worried about Crabrawler's Z-move, but Porygon survived and finished Crabrawler with Psybeam.

So far, this was pretty straightforward run, but I'm sure it will get more complex with more Pokémon. I also want to use more Conversion shenanigans.

Team

Pop, Mild - Porygon
lvl 17, Download
- Tackle
- Psybeam
- Sharpen
- Conversion

Rock, Careful Male Crabrawler
lvl 14, Iron FIst
- Brick Break
- Bubble
- Leer
- Pursuit​

 

[Janp]

The Ones that got away in Pokémon Ultra Moon

UPDATE 2

​

After the last update, I checked my assigned team and realized I've completely skipped getting Vullaby. But I'm glad I did, because I could use new strategy against Hala. I quickly got back and caught one. I originally wanted to use Mandibuzz in my first gen V playthrough, but since it was late-game Pokémon, I never caught one. While she evolves fairly late, Her moveset isn't that bad and she was useful in Lana's and Mallow's Trials.

I also got Carbink in Ten Carat Hill. It was originally on my gen VI team, but since it's defensive Pokémon with no prominent or unique feature (aside from its typing), it never really clicked with me. I'll probably use it to set up Reflect and Light Screen if needed. I can't really imagine it pulling punches, unless it sets up 6 Calm Minds.

With my new teammates, I got to Akala Island. First Hau battle was harder than I expected. Vullaby and Carbink weren't on usable level yet and Crabrawler was weak against majority of his team, so I once again had to rely on Porygon. And since I (as always) forgot to buy healing items, I had to play very carefully. Porygon's Download boost way nice and Normal Z-move was great anti-Brionne measure.

Continuing on, I quickly made it to Lana's Trial. Totem Araquanid was hard opponent. It beat my Vullaby before I could use Flying-type Z-move, bur luckily I've picked up a Revive somewhere, so I got another opportunity to try that. And it worked quite well. Araquanid needed few more attacks, but the Trial was over.

With that, I got a Fishing Rod and could backtrack to Melemele to get Corsola. Not the first time I've hunted this 1% Corsola. I shiny hunted Meranie and it can only appear as SOS encounter on Corsola. I also went on Route 5 and caught Fomantis. Really cool Pokémon that I couldn't wait to use more.

Not much happened for the rest of Akala. I had a full team at this point and was slightly overleveled. My Corsola easily dispatched Totem Alolan Marowak and my newly evolved Porygon2 and Vullaby beat Totem Lurantis. And not even Olivia could stop my team. Or at least Porygon2, Corsola and Fomantis, because the rest mostly just stayed on the side and got experience through Exp. Share.

Team

Pop, Mild - Porygon2
lvl 31, Download
- Round
- Psybeam
- Sharpen
- Conversion

Rock, Careful Male Crabrawler
lvl 27, Iron Fist
- Brick Break
- Bubble Beam
- Power-up Punch
- Pursuit

Birb, Adamant Female Vullaby
lvl 29, Overcoat
- Pluck
- Feint Attack
- Flatter
- Nasty Plot

Gem, Naive - Carbink
lvl 25, Clear Body
- Smack Dowm
- Stealth Rock
- Reflect
- Sharpen

Pink, Relaxed Female Corsola
lvl 30, Hustle
- Brine
- Ancient Power
- Spike Cannom
- Refresh

Leaf, Impish Male Fomantis
lvl 29, Leaf Guard
- Leaf Blade
- Growth
- Fury Cutter
- Synthesis​

 

[Janp]

The Ones that got away in Pokémon Ultra Moon

UPDATE 3

​

Okay, this update will be short.

I beat the story all the way to the final Island. Hau battles went okay, but Guzma proofed to be a worthy opponent. His Golisopod was faster and hit harder than anything on my team. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Let's talk about Sophocles' Trial. I had a small type advantage in a form of Crabrawler, but Togedemaru is bulkier and faster, especially in the Totem form. I had to throw everything at it and even then it was close battle.

After that, I had pretty stressful battle with Guzma. I should really get some Fire-types moves for coverage.

Anyway, continuing on, my Pokémon were slowly getting their best moves and final evolutions, so the run got a little bit boring. Acerola's Trial went great. As is a tradition, I forgot about Mimikyu's ability, but still beat it with Lurantis and Vullaby.

After that, I had to once again face Guzma. I was more prepared this time, but it was still a pain to deal with. Nanu's Grand Trial on the other hand was easy. Carbink and Crabrawler finally got a moment to shine. Their are still pretty useless to be honest. Now that I think about it, I didn't evolve Crabrawler when I could.

Team

Pop, Mild - Porygon-Z
lvl 47, Download
- Discharge
- Psybeam
- Signal Beam
- Conversion

Rock, Careful Male Crabrawler
lvl 43, Iron Fist
- Brick Break
- Crabhammer
- Power-up Punch
- Pursuit

Birb, Adamant Female Vullaby
lvl 46, Overcoat
- Air Slash
- Dark Pulse
- Flatter
- Nasty Plot

Gem, Naive - Carbink
lvl 42, Clear Body
- Ancient Power
- Stealth Rock
- Reflect
- Sharpen

Pink, Relaxed Female Corsola
lvl 45, Hustle
- Brine
- Power Gem
- Mirror Coat
- Shadow Ball

Leaf, Impish Male Lurantis
lvl 45, Leaf Guard
- Leaf Blade
- Growth
- X-Scissor
- Synthesis​

 

[Janp]

The Ones that got away in Pokémon Ultra Moon

FINAL UPDATE

​

Phew, I've made it. The worst and the most boring part of the game is behind me. And I found out I don't really have much to say about it. Aether Paradise is just such a slog to get through. And then there is that minigame, where you ride legendary Pokémon, but it has bad controls at first, so you have to backtrack to Akala to get better controls. And Poni Islands isn't much better. I'm already overleveled and can one-shot everything. The only exception being Ultra Necrozma, which took 2 hits to beat. Really THE hardest battle in Pokémon ever. Did I mention I've used Carbink?

Anyway, let's leave a toxic commentery behind and let's talk about something more interesting. E4 battles were actually fun! Even tho I've basically used one strategy on all of them.

I started with Molayne and well... His first Pokémon is Klefki. Which is Steel/Fairy-type, meaning I don't have a coverage for it. How could I miss it? I wanted to sent out Crabominable, but Klefki knew Flash Cannon, so I had to sent out Porygon-Z and beat it with Discharge for neutral damage, while Klefki set up Spikes. I kept Porygon-Z up for Bisharp and it somewhat worked, but I had to heal every other turn to stay alive. Same goes for Magnezone. It was only when Molayne sent out Metagross that I painfully switched out to Mandibuzz. After one quick Dark Pulse and Metagross KO, I sent out Corsola as my counter against Molayne's final Pokémon - Dugtrio. It wasn't really smart decision, because Dugtrio OHKO Corsola with Z-move. That's when I realized I could get rid of Klefki with Electric-type Z-move. If only I gave the proper crystal to Porygon-Z. Anyway, I sent out Crabominable to finally do something and beat Dugtrio with Close Combat.

Next up was Olivia. I wanted to use Crabominable more, because it was more usable since it evolved and got access to elemental punches. Sadly, it can't learn any Fighting-type moves that would get boost from Iron Fist, aside from Power-Up Punch, before post-game. Thankfully, it can learn elemental punches that are also boosted by Iron Fist. And it went well. Crabominable sets up +6 Attack with Power-up Punch, while also beating majority of Olivia's team. It took whole Z-move to take my crab down. But at that moment, I still had 5 Pokémon, while Olivia only had Lycanroc.

Acelora fight was similar in lots of ways. I've used Mandibuzz to set up +6 Special Attack and just cut through her team. And Kahili... Is one of the Elite Four members of all time. I mean half of my team had advantage over her. Poor girl.

I like final battle with Hau. It has awesome atmosphere, soundtrack and Hau's team is well balanced and can hit hard. I always have such a great time fighting him.

So, let's talk about my team. I think it's obvious that Porygon-Z was the MVP of this run. It felt off a little bit in the middle, but got back on track after final evolution. Crabominable started being useful only after evolution and getting elemental punches. I wish it had better early moveset. Mandibuzz was great Special Attacker, that I enjoyed leading in battle, because it could usually one-shot everything. I'm surprised I've used Carbink quite often. It didn't hit hard, but could tank few hits. Corsola was okay. Classic Water-type experience. Nothing more, nothing less. Lurantis was cool. Pretty much physical Mandibuzz.

Overall, it was nice to try more Pokémon.

Team

Pop, Mild - Porygon-Z
lvl 63, Download
- Discharge
- Psybeam
- Signal Beam
- Tri Attack

Rock, Careful Male Crabominable
lvl 59, Iron Fist
- Close Combat
- Thunder Punch
- Power-up Punch
- Ice Hammer

Birb, Adamant Female Mandibuzz
lvl 61, Overcoat
- Air Slash
- Dark Pulse
- Flatter
- Nasty Plot

Gem, Naive - Carbink
lvl 60, Clear Body
- Power Gem
- Stealth Rock
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast

Pink, Relaxed Female Corsola
lvl 61, Hustle
- Scald
- Power Gem
- Mirror Coat
- Shadow Ball

Leaf, Impish Male Lurantis
lvl 62, Leaf Guard
- Leaf Blade
- Growth
- X-Scissor
- Synthesis​

 

[Kostucha]

What a delightful run, I had a great team that started strong and ended even stronger, I didn't even have to use any items in battle. Only Appletun fell behind a bit in the late game, it just felt too slow in such hard-hitting team.

Hall of Fame:

Spoiler:

Team:

Spoiler:

Mare, Modest, Shield Dust, lv.59, @Bright Powder
- Ice Beam
- Bug Buzz
- Dazzling Gleam
- Quiver Dance

Hedge, Jolly, Power Spot, lv.59, @Rock Incense
- Rock Slide
- Brutal Swing
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake

Crumble, Adamant, Gorilla Tactics, lv.58, @Choice Band
- Icicle Crash
- Superpower
- Bulldoze
- Fire Punch

Fanta, Relaxed, Sheer Force, lv.59, @Life Orb
- Iron Head
- High Horsepower
- Play Rough
- Zen Headbutt

Snek, Hasty, Ripen, lv.59, @Leftovers
- Protect
- Apple Acid
- Leech Seed
- Dragon Pulse

Miss, Calm, Gulp Missile, lv.58, @Sea Incense
- Surf
- Air Slash
- Brave Bird
- Ice Beam

 

[kaizodakitten]

OH, this is pretty interesting!
Username: kaizodakitten
Game: XY (vanilla)
Pokemon that got away:

Spoiler:

Delphox
Chestnaught
Crawdaunt
Florges
Pangoro
Furfrou
Haxorus
Malamar
Rotom
Honchkrow
Bisharp
Emolga
Carbink
Dragalge
Clawitzer
Krookodile
Chandelure
Aurorus
Leafeon
Glaceon
Dedenne
Reuniculus
Drapion
Goodra
Noivern
Hydreigon

Parameters:
-I actually want to have a bit of rotation, so give me 8.
-Aim for type diversity.
-At least 2 Dark-types if Pangoro is chosen somehow.
-Can't hack or do trade evos.

 

[Eleanor]

Ping!

Spoiler:

OH, this is pretty interesting!
Username: kaizodakitten
Game: XY (vanilla)
Pokemon that got away:

Spoiler:

Delphox
Chestnaught
Crawdaunt
Florges
Pangoro
Furfrou
Haxorus
Malamar
Rotom
Honchkrow
Bisharp
Emolga
Carbink
Dragalge
Clawitzer
Krookodile
Chandelure
Aurorus
Leafeon
Glaceon
Dedenne
Reuniculus
Drapion
Goodra
Noivern
Hydreigon

Parameters:
-I actually want to have a bit of rotation, so give me 8.
-Aim for type diversity.
-At least 2 Dark-types if Pangoro is chosen somehow.
-Can't hack or do trade evos.

Hello there, here's a team for you ♥

1. Delphox
2. Furfrou
3. Clawitzer
4. Aurorus
5. Bisharp
6. Rotom
7. Goodra
8. Florges

Good luck and have fun with your challenge!