The Inescapable Chargestone Cave

Pokemon is pretty formulaic--walk in grass to fight pokemon, walk in caves to fight pokemon. It's a formula that has worked for years and the biggest complaint that I hear from people is that they always want "more pokemon".

This time around, Nintendo said, "Fine! Here are 156 New pokemon, go crazy!"

You would think that this would be a good thing right?

Would I even ask the question if there wasn't a problem?

Once when I was young I decided that I wanted to make the awesomest (its a word now) Lego Castle ever for a school show-and-tell project. I spent days planning it out--it would have towers, and a laser cannon, and a dungeon furnished with skeletons--actually I spent so much time planning out the best castle ever that I never actually made the best castle ever--and I had to scrounge something up for show-and-tell. It was the worst show that I have ever told...

My problem is that I spent too much time on quantity and not enough on quality--its called "spreading yourself too thin" and it's what Nintendo did this time around.

Take those monkeys for example: pansage, panpour, and pansear. They are the exact same pokemon.

Another example: Throh and Sawk. These are two different pokemon who are in no way related--neither by evolution or by any mention in the their pokedex entries--but just look at them! They are the exact same pokemon! Nintendo basically made Burt and Ernie (from sesame street) into fighting-types.

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I'll get to why I brought this up in a minute--its been a while since my last update so bear with me a sec.

Rock Jock (Boldore) was awesome, but I managed to pick up "Terk", Tirtouga by resurrecting it from a fossil, so I put the turtle on my team for my first water-type!

Deedoon surprised me by evolving a second time into Unfezent, the most awesome-looking bird pokemon ever.

Leavanny, newly re-nicknamed "Knives" continues to be the resident powerhouse--snagging a critical victory in my last gym battle (number 5) against the ground-trainer Gymleader Clay.

And "Krookodile" the Sandile just evolved into "Krookodile" the Krokorok. His attitude in that picture just screams "Haters gonna hate'".

I just got out of the longest cave ever--Chargestone Cave. It wasn't long distance-wise, its just that I encountered a pokemon every two steps (not even kidding)--this isn't what I had in mind when I said "more pokemon".

Considering the name of the cave, I encountered some electric and steel types of varying creativity. I saw an iron-barbed seed named Ferroseed, an electric spider named Joltik, and the dumbest pokemon that I have ever encountered, Klink. Now, Joltik looks kind of cool--and hey, even Ferroseed looks like it can at least evolve into something that doesn't look like a sadistic easter-egg (it is, after all, grass/steel, so this forme must be a seed), but Klink is just the worst. Just to prove my point on how easy it is to come up with cool pokemon designs, here are some fake pokemon I JUST took 2 minutes to find on the internet that are each infinitely cooler than "Klink".  Note: I do not own these pictures.
















Current Squad:

The Electric Battle with Elsa!

Let the Battle Begin!


In the opening volleys, Wiggles successfully burns the first Emolga, then Siglyph is sent-in to use Light Screen and Psybeam. The first Emolga is almost KO-ed, but Elsa saves it with a Hyper potion. Totem the Siglyph is Knocked-out soon afterward on Turn 7.
The following two turns I make a mistake. I had sent in Deedoon to lure Elsa into Volt-Switching rather than using a Hyper Potion, but she healed Emolga anyways. Light Screen wears off, and I switch to Wiggles to try to burn the second Emolga, but is instead KO-ed with Volt Switch when Elsa gets her first lucky critical hit of the match.
In the next three turns I capitalize on the free switch-in after one of my pokemon has fainted and send in Krookodile for a revenge kill. With help from intimidate, I wear down the Emolga until it is eventually KO-ed. Krookodile then becomes paralyzed due to "Static".At this point I know I'm in trouble--Krookodile is dead in the water and only one Emolga is gone. I decide to send-in Deedoon to force Burn damage and stall with Detect, then allow Krook to die so I may use a revive later. Next I send in Deedoon for more burn-stalling. The result of these five turns? Deedoon is dead due to a second lucky critical hit, Emolga has nearly succumbed to Burn damage, and Krookodile is revived.The next three turns start off very unlucky--but then ultimately turn the tide of the match in my favor. First, Emolga's Volt Switch has resulted in Zebstrika being brought to the front. Excited about finally setting-up Red for a game-winning sweep, I immediately send him in...where he is one-hit-KO-ed with a lucky critical hit "Spark" attack.  DAMMIT!!!! I retaliate with Rock Jock, who first uses Mud Slap to decrease accuracy, then uses Rock Blast, which luckily hits five times, once for a critical hit--and seems to be EXACTLY enough damage to knock-out Zebstrika...almost there...
Boldore is now more-or-less out of commission (because he is so slow that he will move second and surely be dead by then)--so I use this turn to use a super-potion on Krookodile in case I have once again underestimated Emolga's power. Rock Jock dies easily and I send-in the Krook. The combination of Intimidate and Burn make Emolga's attacks seem to strike like tissue paper--and Krookodile eventually KO's it with Bite on Turn 19!
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Notes:
Krookodile has certainly proven its worth, but I am unsure about replacing any of my current squadmates with him. Leavanny and Scrappy are both amazing fighters. This being said I may need Krookodile in the future--so I will be training him on the side--and keeping him and Siglyph up to par with my main team--as alternates--in case I need them again.

Team-Building Take 1

The team has been assembled and I'm ready to battle Elsa! Today's post will be a strategy rundown of the battle and how I hope it goes. Go ahead and skip if not interested.
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"The Lead"
Yamask (Wiggles)
Types: Ghost
-Wiggles may have the least stopping power in the entire squad, but his real usefulness lies in his ability to burn with "Will-O-Wisp". By burning Elsa's pokemon, they will take 1/8 of their total HP damage per turn and their attack stat will be halved--which is necessary to give my team longevity.

"The Screen"
Siglyph (Totem)
Types: Psychic/Flying
-Totem is a pokemon I found while searching for the correct team anchor in the Desert Ruins and his place is simple: Set up "Light Screen" and then cause as much damage as possible before dying. Light Screen will allow my team mates to survive more "Volt Switch" than usual--and will hopefully allow my team to set-up easier

"The Meatpuppet"
Tranquill (Deedoon)
Types: Normal/Flying
-Deedoon may not make much sense on a team like this, but actually has a very specific, very important place--Deedoon is meant to be "Volt-Switch bait"--meaning he will be sent out to lure Elsa's Emolga into using "Volt Switch" so I may send-in my team anchor. Plus "Detect" will allow me to get a extra turn of burn damage on the foes Wiggles is able to burn.

"The Sweeper"
Pignite (Red)
Types: Fire/Fighting
-Red is meant to be sent-in against Elsa's Zebstrika and to use "Flame Charge" for damage and a guaranteed speed increase. This will allow Red to continue to deal damage by outrunning all of his foes.





"The Wall"
Boldore (Rock Jock)
Types: Rock
-Rock Jock's job is to be tough and deal damage. Rock Blast is an amazingly powerful move--and is super-effective against Elsa's flying Emolga. Rock Jock is meant to switch-into predicted flying type attacks and counterattack with Rock Blast.


"The Anchor"
Sandile (Krookodile)
Types: Ground/Dark
-The head honcho and the reason that I even have a fighting chance--I spent a long time looking in the Desert Ruins for this pokemon--and specifically, a Sandile that has the ability: Intimidate. With Intimidate, pokemon won't be able to attack as hard and being ground type, Volt Switch will not be a problem--the Emolga will be trapped. The idea is to get a free switch-in by sending him into a predicted Volt Switch to block an Emolga's escape, then let Burn and "Bite" take care of the pokemon. With Burn and Intimidate, Elsa's Emolga won't be doing very much damage anymore...
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Hark Elsa! Your time has come!

Drastic Measures

So my playthrough has recently hit its first major roadblock--the Nimbasa City gym. Elsa is an electric pokemon user and she has done an excellent job of picking my team apart. Up until now I never realized that my team is weak against flying pokemon--and how could I? The most powerful fliers I have experienced up to this point, I've been able to take care of by walling them out with "Rock Jock" (who most recently evolved into Boldore) and retaliating with super-effective rock attacks. This is not an option anymore.

The typical way of assaulting electric types is to send out a ground pokemon and set-up while it spins its wheels. Against Elsa's Emolga, who are flying/electric, this is made difficult. Elsa has two Emolga and one Zebstrika, each with the move, "Volt Switch". Volt Switch is the real problem--its an electric move that deals damage, then immediately allows the user to switch-out to another pokemon. Elsa's pokemon abuse this move--and make it impossible to set-up against her. It's impossible to fight and beat each individual--you have to fight the entire team at once.

I have battled her and lost six times.

Most recently I had a flawless strategy--I put her Emolga to sleep with "Pinky", then proceeded to send in "Rock Jock" to use "Iron Defense" to boost my defense to the max. I saw victory in my grasp! Turns out that "Volt Switch" is a special attack, so these boosts were pointless and I lost just like every other time.

As a result, I have been forced to take drastic measures. I have begun construction of a new team--each member handpicked from my list of available pokemon--and each member designed to pick her electric team apart.

And with this new team, Elsa and I both will have the fight of our lives.

Swadloon evolved into Leavanny--who, while being amazing and having the highest attacking stat in my team--is crushed by the flying-typed Emolga.

Current Squad: