Vs. Lurantis

Against a Bug and grass type, there is no shelter from my team.  Go Team Foul Wing!

Vs Lurantis: The Hedge Trimmers

I led with Sludj as I always go, spreading poison to Lurantis--and then to its ally partner Trumbeak.  The fact that the mantis pokemon summoned Trumbeak should have been my firs cue that the battle was going to be longer than I expected, but I didn't get the memo.

See, my squad is so strong against grass that I actually started writing this post before I even started the battle.  The original transcript read simply as:

"It was easy and I won easily."

I could not have anticipated that the pokemon would have Synthesis.  Stalling does not work, at the most fundamental of levels, against an opponent that can heal itself. Grimer was able to injure the two, but Lurantis healed itself and Trumbeak took out my lead.  

I switched to the more direct approach.  I sent in Sassy Sally and used the Fire Z-move "Inferno Overdrive".  Against a bug/grass type (even a bug/grass type that is several levels higher) this would be an easy KO.  Apparently however, Lurantis is only grass-typed, and so Inferno Overdrive mortally wounded it.

And then Lurantis just healed itself.

Solar Blade is basically Lurantis
calling upon Divine Intervention.

Obviously this wasn't working; I wasn't losing yet and none of its moves were hurting my pokemon much, but I couldn't keep this up.  Its second ally summon pokemon, castform, had used Sunny Day--thereby making Synthesis doubly effective.  I turned my attention towards the castform and took it out handily enough--but lost Sassy Sally in the process.

I sent in Ori-chan and ate a move called Solar Blade.  Seemingly, this is a two-turn charge move like Solarbeam, but dealing physical damage.  I used Feather Dance and Feather Dance again, then baton-passed out to Trumbeak.  The Feather dances were to weaken that Solar Blade attack.  The baton pass was to ensure that Lurantis' move would target Ori-chan before it switches out so that Trumbeak would enter the battle undamaged.

I knew I had the eventual win at this point.  Trumbeak has Pluck, Flame Charge, Roost, and Work Up.  I could boost my attack and speed and heal off the damage I took with roost--and then take out Lurantis with one attack.  

I'm not going to lie, I felt pretty good about myself after this win.

VICTORY!!

2-0

Mashing Mallows: The Lush Jungle Trial

Anticipating a grass trial, I started putting together my team of lawnmowers.  I was surprised at how strong my team is against the "grass" type.  This should be a cinch.

Battle Squad 5: Hedge-Trimmers

Despite the fact that I always choose water, I never really ever manifest a weakness to the grass type. Partly this is because I love the poison type (I have three separate poison pokemon on my team already in Grimer, Salandit, and Mareanie).  I suppose the other "part" would be how much I love birds.

I like to play this game with people I meet where I bait them into asking me what my top five favorite animals are.  I suppose I derive some sick pleasure in forcing conversations to follow the paths that are most convenient to me.  As it were, those five are the Crimson Shrike, the Toucan, the Cardinal, the Bone Vulture, and the Pangolin.  Four of those are birds.  I have issues.

"What's that, Sport?! Timmy's in the well again?"

I met Captain Mallow with my two poison pokemon and my two birds and set to completing her task.  I was to find four herbal ingredients in the jungle by using Stoutland to sniff them out.  I found the tiny mushroom easily.  When I picked it, I was attacked by a disturbingly gangly pokemon called Shiinotic, which may be based on the shititake mushroom.  I find it kind of funny how these trials are all about doing things other than battling--and then battling anyways.

Along the way, I fought plenty of the pokemon Fomantis, and sadly no Vitreebel.  I always envisioned Victreebel to go really well with Jungles, so this was a legitimate hole in my world view.

Thanks Obama.

I've found that I really like using these small teams for the trials.  It makes the experience really personal.  It's about you and your four mates.  Counting on your pokemon--making sure that they stay healthy.  I guess this is what being a real pokemon trainer would feel like.  Right now I'm on a safari in a jungle teeming with life and I'm having a personal adventure with Sludj, Ori-chan, Sassy Sally, and Pip Pip.

"God damn it, Sludj, stop dying on me!"

After recovering the final ingredient, I regrouped with Mallow at the entrance to the jungle.  Lana and Kiawe were both there for the grand finale where we would summon the totem pokemon with the herbal cooking--but not before Mallow came on to the three of us in the weirdest way possible: pleading with me to pound the ingredients with my stiff bone (Editor's note: the "rare bone" is, indeed, an item in the pokemon series, but the author has left this information decidedly ambiguous for the purposes of comedy and because he's an asshole in general).
_______________
THIS SPACE RESERVED FOR SEX PUNS

Uhm, I know she likes Grass pokemon, but a little bit of a trim on that underbrush might help us both out...

Sigh...if I must...

_________________
Ultimately, though...

Would this five-star recipe turn out to be a recipe for disaster?!

Tune in next time to find out!!

What Lurks at the Bottom

You find her far from home in cold, dark corners.  Once you have left civilization, once you have left the farthest reaches of the sun--then you are nearly there.  Deep in the ocean depths--far below the waves and secluded from watching eyes--in a world of its own.  That's where Mareanie lurks.
_____________
Having Completed my Fire Trial and taking the Firium-Z as my prize, I was free to move north to greener pastures.

I took that Firium-Z and made my way south to catch a Happiny.

See, I really do like the collection aspect of these games.  It gives me this perverse sense of joy to see my Pokedex fill up with new captures.  The new pokedex completion interfaces introduced in this game only make this compulsion even more strong.  Not only do they give you a completion percentage for the entire pokedex, but completion percentages for each island you visit.  In addition to these, the game shows you a sort of trophy case arrangement of all your catches.  A lot of the presentation in this game reinforces the gameplay tenets.  I know that Gamefreak has long ago abandoned "Gotta Catch 'em All" as the slogan for the franchise (it is currently "Train On"), but I really relish the thought of working to truly snag one of each.

I found Mareanie in the Melemele Sea.  I suppose "found" would be slightly false of me to say: perhaps "tracked" would be more correct.  Truthfully, I knew it was there because my pokedex had guided me to that spot.  Indeed, it had even indicated that I would need to fish for it.

I hooked a Corsola.  While I was trying to capture it, it called allies.  One of these allies turned out to be the Sea Star pokemon "Mareanie"

Turns out, Mareanie was a pretty horrible ally because the very next turn, the pokemon turned on its partner; it used "Bite" on Corsola.

I looked it up and it is a pokemon that is based on the Crown-of-thorns Starfish.  This is a venomous echinoderm that consumes coral as its primary source of food.  I told my students this and then had to continue by explaining that coral is actually a creature related to the jellyfish (they are both cnidarians) which absorbs silicates from its environment and incorporates them into its body structure.

This starfish, like all starfish, has an water circulatory system.  This means that the water it lives in helps with circulation--and also that much of its body's structure is seawater.  If it is ever taken out of its habitat onto dry land, it would deflate.  Even its sharp spines, so stiff that they could make short work of exposed flesh, lose their stiffness when not immersed.

Luckily, Meanie the Mareanie didn't deflate once I brought it back with me onto dry land.  I added her to my team.

She has an ability called "Merciless".  This ability causes all of her moves to cause critical hits on opponents that are already poisoned.  Coupled with her attack "toxic spikes", she is going to be a fun and brutal pokemon to use.

I arrived at the "Lush Jungle".  Who thinks this is going to prove to be a grass trial?


Current Squad:
Brionne/Pako Pako/lvl 22
Crabrawler/Ppunches/lvl 21
Salandit/Sassy Sally/lvl 21
Oricorio/Ori-Chan/lvl 22
Steenee/Bouncee/lvl 21
Sylveon/Sly/lvl 20

On Rotation:
Grimer/Sludj/lvl 20
Misdreavus/Missy/lvl 19
Trumbeak/Pip Pip/lvl 21
Mareanie/Meanie/lvl 17

Pokedex: 89 caught