Rematch with Salazzle

After rushing my battered pokemon and my battered pride to the pokemon center for some nursing, I regrouped and thought about what I had learned.  I figured out that the problem was that the match was somewhat out of my control; my team was put together to battle fire pokemon.  I couldn't have anticipated that my trial would be a fire and poison trial.

Let's take stock.  I had one pokemon that was suited for the match: Brionne resisted Flame Burst and hit hard with its Hydro Vortex move.  Had I weakened the Salazzle with any other move, I could have knocked it out with Pako Pako's Z-move.  However, of all my other pokemon, only Ori-chan was any use and it was unfortunately outside and outclassed by Toxic + Venoshock.  My other Pokemon, Grimer and Crabrawler, were each at a severe disadvantage in battling a poison type.  It was a mismatch from the start.

Now who could I use? Probably not Sylveon (Sidetone: I have recently renamed Sylveon Sailor "Star Fighter" because "duh") because he would take extreme damage from that Venoshock.  I could use Trumbeak, but it's a bit too slow and frail to survive more than one turn.  Misdreavus has Thunderwave as an option, but this would require it to survive a venoshock...

...unless I had it out before Salandit is summoned.

I was on to something.  With Salazzle (and maybe also Salandit) paralyzed, my pokemon would have a chance to cause some damage before the inevitable 120 base power venoshock nukes are launched. I just had to choose my fastest and strongest pokemon to support.

Vs. Salazzle Rematch: Speedy Thunder

My plan was weirdly simple: paralyze the opponents and take them out.  I was pleasantly surprised when I was successful in successfully using thunder wave on both salazzle and her summoned salandit.  With luck on my side and the wind in my sails, I was able to slowly whittle the pokemon down.  The major change was that now Venoshock was no longer a one-turn-one-hit KO move.  I was able to move before the speedier foes.

Soon enough, only Pako-Pako remained.  My ace.  It was tight, but I knew I had won.

Hydro Vortex.

VICTORY!

Vs. Salazzle

I wanted a challenge, so I had decided to take only four pokemon with me on my run up the mountain (Editor's note: Foreboding is an adjective that means 'uninvited dread', but in this case, take it to mean 'the anticipation of disaster').  The squad that I had come up with was made up of my most reliable pokemon that have followed me around all the way from the first island.

Vs. Salazzle: The Melemele Firefighters

During the initial phases of the trial back when I was playing "is there a hiker in this photo", I had been subjected to a few surprise battles.  The first was against that fire-dancing Marowak.  The second was against the Hiker himself.  These matches, while not difficult, had taken their toll on my lead Grimer.  Indeed, Sludj was forced to enter battle with the totem Salazzle with only 13 HP remaining.

"You Toxic bitch, you"

Because I own a Salandit, I already knew how fast the totem pokemon was, so I knew that Grimer wouldn't last very long.  One Flame Burst later and it was now a 3-on-1 match: 3-on-2 once Salazzle summoned Salandit as its partner.

This did not bode well.

I reassessed and found that, while Crabrawler was a good choice against a fire type, the dual Poison/Fire Salazzle/Salandit combo meant that the crustacean would be at a disadvantage.  Fighting moves are weak against the poison type.  I sent it in and attempted to whittle down the supporting Salandit with Bubblebeam.

It was then that the enemy duo revealed their master strategy.  Venoshock is a niche move amongst Poison Pokemon Trainers.  It has a base power of 60 damage under normal circumstances, but a base power of 120 if the opponent is afflicted by poison.  Salazzle knew Toxic.  Salandit knew Venoshock.  Because both opponents were faster than any of my underleveled pokemon, I lost my next two without even scoring a hit.  Salazzle would use Toxic, Sanandit would use Venoshock, and my pokemon would be knocked-off in one hit.

The only pokemon that even had a chance was Pako Pako, who miraculously survived Venoshock.  My partner retaliated with its Hydro Vortex Z-move!!

Salazzle surprised me with its strength.  It clung on and survived (barely) the ultimate water move.

And thus it was that foreboding became foreshadowing.  I was given my first loss.