Wulfric Gives Me the Cold Shoulder (heh, heh)

I was getting sick of Skrelp constantly dying, so I took advantage of all the grass and fairy types present in the forest to get him some easy training.  five levels and about ten super potions later, Skrelp evolved into a terrifying atrocity called Dragalge, a Poison/Dragon type.  Dragalge is not only an awesome-looking pokemon, but it is an absolute tank with its special attack and defense.  I look forward to using him...just not against the next gymleader.  Dragon types are definitely allergic to Ice types.

The forest itself was a bit of a puzzle--and it gave off a severe "Altering cave" (from firered version) vibe what with its maze-like room structure, but I found Wulfric at the end and convinced him to return to the gym.  Imagine if the real world was like this--like if you had to find and convince a teacher to come to school or a lawyer to come and steal all your money.

In preparation for my eighth gym battle I decided to make things extra-challenging for myself and to only carry three pokemon with me into the match--the same number that I know Wulfric will use.  I don't know what pokemon he will have--just that my three-pokemon squad will have to take him on alone.

Gymkiller Squad # 8: The Three Icebreakers

I was unsure of whether to take Gardevoir or Scrafty.  Scrafty is strong against Ice types with his fighting moves and his huge defenses, but Gardevoir is something of a juggernaut of my team: she has never been defeated.

PLUS: If I know anything about this game and Nintendo in general, there MUST be some Ice-Fairy that they are about to unveil in this battle--and the only thing Scrafty fears more than fairies is dying alone.
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Gym Attempt #1: Wulfric opens with Abomasnow, who is a complete mismatch against my Flareon.  Flareon takes out Abomasnow with only one Flame Charge, but now it is hailing, which means I will have to end the match quicker than I had hoped.  His next pokemon is Avalugg.  Avalugg is apparently a monster of physical defense, because Flare Blitz, the strongest physical fire move in the game, does barely 50% damage.  Also, Avalugg has the ability: Ice Body, which heals it during hail.  Drat.

Avalugg then takes out both of my remaining pokemon handily, but not before I find out how small its special defense is after I nearly take it out with one Psychic delivered by Gardevoir.  Hmmm.  Maybe we can deal with this after all...

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Gym Attempt #2: After removing his Abomasnow, Flareon is once again battling Avalugg.  I still haven't seen his third pokemon, so this is a little unnerving--it COULD be Articuno...probably not.

Avalugg is now using Curse while Flareon is being worn down by hail.  And Wulfric uses a hyper potion...I decide to send-in Gardevoir before Lucario this time to try to pick it off with Psychic, but she dies with one boosted Avalanche.

However, Lucario is able to take-out Avalugg with one Aura Sphere, and Wulfric's final pokemon is Cryogonal (luck is on my side), who dies with one Power-Up Punch in its big, stupid, snowflake face.

Current Squad:

GRENINJA/Froakles/lvl.46
VENUSAUR/Venus/lvl.45
FLAREON/Hotfoot/lvl.47
SCRAFTY/Scrappy/lvl.46
HIPPOWDON*/Leviathan/lvl.45
AERODACTYL/Scarydactyl/lvl.45

On Rotation: Gardevoir, Pikachu, Lucario, Dragalge

Over Rock and Under Tree

The road to Anistar City, and surely my next disappointingly easy gym battle, took me through an ice cave called the "Frost Cave" and over a snowy mountain that was most likely called "Snowy Mountain".
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I do have to admit that I love exploring all the dungeons in this game--and ice caves are a kind of guilty pleasure of mine.  Of course they all end up having that one predictable sliding-on-the-ice minigame, but I actually like that one (see also: Conveyer Belt minigame.  But fuck you, teleporter game).
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The reason I was rerouted into the Frost Cavern is because the only other way East is through a snowy path in the mountains that can only be crossed by riding on the back of a Mamoswine.  Very Cool.  Apparently the Mamoswine in question was feeling down in the dumps and the only way I could make him feel better was to go through the Frost Cavern.  Very Uncool.

Frost Cavern was full of interesting Ice pokemon, including a new pokemon called Bergmite whom I caught easily--and at the end, the big revelation was that Team Flare was behind the whole mess! >GASP<

Apparently Team Flare was picking on a resident Abomasnow (most likely for being a stupid Sesame Street muppet) and I had to fight them off to make the Abomasnow feel better--and therefore to make the Mamoswine feel better.

After I made the Abomasnow feel better, it gave me "Abomasnowite" (which I assume mega-evolves Abomasnow) and I made my way East on the back of a Mamoswine.  Along the way, "Scrappy" the Scraggy evolved into "Scrappy" the Scrafty.

Current Squad:
GRENINJA/Garcon/lvl.40
VENUSAUR/Venus/lvl.38
FLAERON/Hotfoot/lvl.38
SCRAFTY/Scrappy/lvl.39
HIPPOWDON*/Leviathan/lvl.40
AERODACTYL/Scarydactyl/lvl.41

On Rotation: Gardevoir, Pikachu, Lucario, Skrelp