#^ not true but it needs time..I REALLY LIKE THE SYGNA SUITS

[whenthelightisrunninglow]

i don't think i'm ever gonna draw them in their normal outfits again

[epicspheal]

Suppose DeNA ultimately incorporates the Let’s Go kids into Masters (Chase, Elaine, Trace, and maybe even Green). How would you go about incorporating them to exist alongside the FRLG Pallet trio?

Hi there @ether-gearhead!

Oooh this is a good and tough question! I feel like DeNA is going to likely pull a Johto where they just sort of combine FRLG and Let's Go together like they did with Crystal and HGSS. By that I mean Kris just exist alongside Ethan and Lyra's in the same universe and kind of having her own thing I will say it's a much easier task to do this with Kris because she has the benefeit of the Pokespe manga being able to inform some of her character since in Pokespe she works with Oak and we see her conversing with him a lot in Pokemas and she was searching for Suicune in the manga which again informed her partner for her Sygna Suit. Let's go isn't going to be as seamless of an addition because they truly exist in a different timeline as: 1) The first Kantrio female protagonist is named Green and not Leaf 2) The first Kantrio have a different starter and team composition 3) Chase/Elaine take the place of Red's role in Let's Go being the one to defeat Team Rocket and capture Mewtwo (if we add Origins into this) 4) Trace takes the place of Blue as the surprise champion who gets defeated soon after While Pokemon Masters is definitely a multiverse crossover (especially with the addition of Ash from the anime) I feel like Let's Go's cast is a little harder to integrate since from the PML league, various smaller stories, and the Kanto Villain arc they really hyped up Red as this living legend who defeated Team Rocket and became champion by taking down his true rival Blue. It gets referenced so much that I don't know if they'd be that eager to try a mulitversal counterpart for that scenario, especially when the reception of the Let's Go cast isn't as great unfortunately. And while I can see them adding Green to the mix, I feel like with Leaf already being shafted (she needs another alt I'm hoping she gets a Neo Champion one or something) it would just further hurt Leaf. All this to say (as a long aside)...this is Gamefreak's fault for being too chicken to just go all in on making Let's Go a true sequel and not this halfway reimagining/halfway sequel thing. Because the idea of Red, Blue and Green/Leaf being mentors to a younger squad of Pallet Town kids is fantastic. With a younger Mina appearing in Let's Go and Adult versions of Red and Blue appearing in SM/USUM I think it would've been wiser to just have had Adult Red and Blue with an adult female protagonist (doesn't matter if they name her Leaf or Green) appear in Let's Go as mentors and have Chase/Elaine and Trace take on a new story set in Kanto. Like center it on Meltan/Melmetal and Shadow Pokemon from remnants of Team Rocket (to tie in with Pokemon Go). Maybe since Trace shows that he's easily frightened, make him already a champion (like how they did Nemona) but his lack of courage and at times unwillingness to push his Pokemon in situations be the reason why Chase/Elaine have to step in...which ultimately ends in him losing the title. But since Red and Blue would be adults here, perhaps at some point they run into Kukui and learn about his dream for Alola and we see them decide to go be facility heads for the Battle Tree. And then in the post-game we see Blue handing the reigns of the Viridian City gym to Trace (who I think could be a good successor). They could even with this add more of a plot to the female protagonist. Maybe she decides to stay in Kanto to help the kids out...or maybe she teases traveling to some other region.

That, in my opinion, would've been a way better use of the new kids while giving the first Kantrio some time to shine. And most importantly, it would've made adding the Let's Go kids to Pokemon Masters way more seamless. And more lucrative for DeNA since a more original story would've enhanced the popularities of Trace, Elaine and Chase. But unfortunately that didn't happen I think if DeNA does add them, given what's actually canon for them, I think they may just focus more on Alolan/Kanto variants of Pokemon. Like an event where Alola and Kanto characters (mainly Let's Go) compare variants. Trace has the Marowak so they could have a battle with him and Kiawe and his Alolan Marowak. I could see them just combining Green's character into Leaf and giving her a Ninetales and then giving Lillie an Alola Ninetales (as a nod to the anime) and have them face off. They could then give Chase/Elaine Kantonian Golem and Dugtrio against Alolan Dugtrio (Molayne) and Alolan Golem (Sophocles). They could also use Meltan/Melmetal for a Let's Go event, but I could honestly see them doing an Ash Alt for that since he has Melmetal (if Ash does get more Alts, a Melmetal and Greninja alt are the most likely ones in my opinion). If they were to give it to the let's go kids I can see them doing it for any one of them honestly.

[crystalelemental]

Unit Teambuilding - Sygna Suit Silver

Okay, Silver and Sneasel are happening.  This rules.  Keeping the pre-evolution was the right move. However this also fills me with concern. Like, the egg is his Neo Champion alt right? Please DeNA.

General Overview SS Silver offers a lot.  As an Ice-type Tech whose focus is mostly on damage, his main claim to fame is "Best Ice-type Damage Dealer."  Low bar.  His gimmick is Triple Axel, a move that gets progressively stronger as it lands, but has an unfortunate 90 accuracy.  His Buddy move is the same move, but in this instance, it is his means of capping crit.  Each hit gives +1 crit, but more critically, gives -1 sync cooldown.  Silver is a full turn saved on sync by himself, provided all moves hit.

This leads to a bit of a discussion around Silver, because his Buddy move is bizarre.  On the one hand, that's a lot of utility on that move!  You might want to pop that early!  But on the other, this is his best damage output, if conserved.  Problem: the activation condition is upon entry, but the deactivation condition is "When not at full HP."  In the era of AoE, and especially Gauntlet, this Buddy move will effectively never function as damage.  It is always setup.  And setup is where Silver's oddities start to show.

Tripping Strike 9 into Cakewalk is very respectable.  Buddy move then regular attack caps that.  But he also has Inertia and X Speed+.  So he can set up the speed, but when?  He also has a trainer move that's +3 attack.  Which, again, when?  Silver reminds me vaguely of SS Hilbert and why I skipped him: the desired traits are all there, but they're scattered in such a way that nothing flows nicely.  Whatever tools he may have, he needs allies covering for the ones he doesn't.  If he's debuffing speed (he should), then he needs attack and speed.  If he's buffing speed, he needs Atk/crit.  If he's buffing attack, he needs speed/crit, which I don't think exists.  But most critically, Silver needs accuracy.  And that means he's either gridding Pinpoint Entry 2, which is costly, or he's bringing an ally with accuracy, which is rare.  Real ones know, this means it's time for stonks, but outside of that, his potential partners are fairly limited in scope.

I think it's going to be interesting seeing how Silver shakes out in functional play.  He's got the numbers behind him, and is in a type that desperately needs the help, but I'm really curious how consistency will play.

Move Level and EX? As a damage-focused Tech, 3/5 is fairly demanded.  Silver does almost nothing else of value at 1/5.  There is the use of "is a full fast ramp by himself," but I have a difficult time saying that a sync pair is worthwhile for just -3 cooldown and some speed debuffing.  Aim higher.   And of course, Tech, so without EX the sync isn't always so impressive, so like...man, Silver is demanding.  That said, rare moment of saying “4/5 might legitimately be worth it." Punishing Strike 4 is actually good odds for the debuff, and Evasive Strike 9 is absolutely hysterical if you want to conserve Buddy move.

Team 1: SS Silver, H!Caitlin, Tech Lapras STONKS!  I swear, I will never let go of people calling H!Caitlin niche back on arrival.  The shift in the meta to include grid expansions that let everyone independently cap crit has been a godsend.  Caitlin is Silver's optimal partner, to the point she could be considered his only true partner.  While Silver speed runs first sync, minimizing foe's speed in the process, Caitlin caps Atk and Spd, but also gives accuracy buffs.  Look at that, full power but sync on turn 3.  And the saved grid energy means Heavy Hail 5, so just slap in a random Hail eggmon and you're done.  H!Caitlin is perfect, best sync pair.

Team 2: SS Silver, P!Bea, SS Hau Hau is a very good partner to Silver as well, just because of how he kicks off all known multipliers.  P!Bea adds in Hail, and gives a quick shot of attack for Silver's fast-ramp.

Team 3: SS Silver, Lillie/Aaron/Hop, Masked Royal/Darach Let's talk about some other options.  By support, Lillie and Aaron have offenses and accuracy boosting.  Notably, Aaron's an optimal pick for conserving Silver's buddy move until after first sync, thanks to covering crit.  Hop can do the same, if you want, but lacks accuracy boosting.  In the case where accuracy is covered, Masked Royal is a fair pick.  Speed boosts and potential defense debuffs are very helpful.  But failing that, Darach is the man of the hour.  Darach has Defog, which is free points in CS, but more notably has the combination of Weigh Down and Slo-Mo.  Darach helps spread speed debuffs AoE, something Silver cannot do, and the lowered evasion of the enemy team substitutes for boosts to accuracy, allowing Silver to hit consistently.  Darach is notably great for more defensive teams, thanks to the shift in CS points to Crit Sheld he removes, and the attack debuffs.

Team 4: SS Silver, BP Clemont, Tech Persian/Siebold/Tech Lapras Gauntlet approach.  BP Clemont is a pretty nice partner for Silver in this context, thanks to Spark's paralysis rate, Screech to debuff defense, and X Accuracy All to patch up Triple Axel. Of particular note, when gimmicks like debuffs or status changes (Siebold can confuse with Aggravation) are required, you drop Heavy Hail. This permits picking up Burst In, which can get a guaranteed crit on either first sync (not recommended due to two conditions for speed drops) or Triple Axel (sure crit for damage into +3 crit). You can drop Endurance for Burst In too, but given how Gauntlet is, I'd keep Endurance as a primary concern.

Team 5: SS Silver, Ghetsis, SC Lillie/Support Chansey/Irida Alright, there's one other thing that Silver can do really well, and that's bottom out speed. While generally not exciting, this does set him up for Cakewalk sets. The most notable Cakewalk partner being Ghetsis, who has natural Cakewalk multiplier, and Hunter's Instinct on Glaciate.  Even better, Ghetsis' Double Drop Noble Roar can be used to full debuff the target, easily setting up max power first sync.  For fast-paced stages, SC Lillie gets Ghetsis to capped offenses faster than anything else, and thanks to his Sharp Entry, Silver's fast-ramp the majority of it is achievable in two turns.  For some contexts, Support Chansey may do okay, thanks to the Let's Brainstorm buff complementing Ghetsis' needed offense and low speed.  Leaf is generally better though, due to +2 to all stats on first sync, including accuracy.  But of special note is Irida, who has built-in Vigilance, and can reasonably tank for a team, while supplying special defense drops and Zone.

Final Thoughts SS Silver seems really good. Finally, we have an Ice-type that doesn't have some horrific flaw for no reason. He's just a pure damage dealer and is really, really competent at that job. Triple Axel is legitimately fantastic damage for a two-bar move, all it requires is a little accuracy he can build in himself if needed. And the sync. Finally, a competent sync. SS N got hit with such atrocious multipliers it's almost laughable, but Silver...well, okay, it's still demanding, but it's at least achievable. I hate to say it, because Adaman is ridiculous, but I actually value Silver over him. A competent Ice-type damage dealer is a rare commodity, and Silver's easily the best we've gotten thus far.

[crystalelemental]

Now that I have my Alola concerns out of the way, Kalos VA.

I’m going to start this with “What the fuck is that invisible Pokemon Calem’s talking about?”  This is the first time I’ve felt like I have no idea what something is.  I’ve seen speculation about Volcanion because of the steam, but that’s not invisibility.  I’ve seen people mention AZ’s Floette, but that’s stupid, it doesn’t have that ability as far as I’ve ever known.  And I’ve seen people mention Kecleon, which...okay look.  It’s probably not Kecleon.  Probably.  I’ll get to that.

Anyway!  At present, this arc has some really interesting ground rules.  Diantha’s been achieved, and the protagonists feel wildly unlikely given the recent Champion alts.  This leaves us open on like three potential slots for alts.  Which...isn’t a hard rule, but a general guideline.  Arcs tend to have between 4 and 5 pairs introduced, and we’ve effectively only got two.  So I’m hoping for three more.

Malva is possible, and perhaps downright likely.  I will be sad if Drasna is the only one not introduced, but the eventual CS will fix it.  That’s the one good thing about being E4: inevitability.  But they could also delay Malva until then, or lump her in with it if it happens next month after the VA.  Who knows.

Lysandre is a big hope, but we’ve had villains receive nothing before.  It’s far from guaranteed.  Mega Gyarados, probably shiny, feels most likely if he does get in.  I wouldn’t mind it.  But there’s also the possibility of Volcanion.  Who...had yet to be so much as referenced.

But the big remaining option is Emma.  Not gonna lie, if Emma doesn’t make it in, I’m going to be bothered.  This is important, goddammit.  Looker Fam assemble.  I know she talks about Crobat being her partner, but I’m hoping for Mimi the Espurr.  It’s iconic, and it’s stupid they don’t battle together.  But assuming it is Crobat, god I hope they give her Tech with defense drops and possibly straight-up Poison Zone like Courtney.  Looker needs some goddamn help.  It would also be nice to have a Crobat that functions on the physical side compared to Koga’s.

But as you may notice...all three are questions.  Malva may be with CS.  Lysandre may get nothing at all.  Emma may get nothing at all.  Which leaves us...kinda high and dry here.  We’re picking at straws, with the possibility of Sycamore, the possibility of Tierno and Trevor, the possibility of Gym Leader sygna suits, the possibility of AZ (please no).  But there is one that, if all goes well, would be a delight.

Looker alt.  Looker’s been front and center of importance in this arc, and I think he’s well worth it.  “But how?” you may be asking yourselves.  Hear me out.  Kecleon.  As a member of the international police with an emphasis on his ability to disguise himself, Kecleon would be a wonderful partner to him.  DeNA has also shown this increase in attention to Normal types recently, so another cool Normal type being used by Looker?  That’d be great.  Add in, consider how the arc has been playing out.  There’s apparent infiltrators to Team Flare, trying to use the weapon.  More than likely, this is Team Rocket in disguise like with Aqua and Magma.  I hate to say it, but it’s true.  In retaliation, Malva has plainclothes agents of Team Flare monitoring the entire island for information, and to intercept the rebels.  Looker seems to be on the back foot right now, being at an impasse as far as what’s actually happening, and having to rely on Malva’s support to maintain peace.  The idea that this culminates in Looker having a plan, and using his Kecleon’s disguise to gather his own intel on the sly, would be fantastic.  And it’s the only way this whole invisible Pokemon thing feels like it really comes together narratively speaking.

My personal hope is Emma, Looker, Lysandre, with Malva and Drasna occurring as a “separate” event later in the month, similar to how Sinnoh was introduced.  I think this would be the most exciting outcome for me personally.

[crystalelemental]

Unit Teambuilding - Champion Calem

Okay.  Maybe I was a little harsh on Champion Serena.  The frog bothered me.  And yeah, there’s two frogs, because DeNA has apparently just given up and thinks an event can just be two of the same Pokemon, as long as it’s a really popular one.  I admittedly hate it.  But I should be objective, and surely Calem will be treated a bit nicer since he’s a support, and we know how much I love those.

General Overview Sygna Suit Kris is better.  "That's not really fair."  Yeah but it’s true.  And it’s the entire reason to call him into question.

Here’s our thesis question for the post: What determines whether a support is good? There are a lot of answers. Generalizability to many teams, like Roxanne’s cap to special attack and speed, or Hop’s Attack/crit cap for team. Expanding an archetype by applying new tools like the rebuffs. And of course, role compression, which is the biggest selling point in my book. When a support buffs stats and applies field multipliers, it frees up the third team slot for a host of options, like debuffers, secondary terrain, or dual striker comps. Calem has a lot of speed and a 3 for 2 special on Recharging Strike 9 Brutal Swing, meaning he facilitated all three, and thus enters the coveted S-Tier halls as one of the top five supports in the game. Which is a damn good starting point. But where on this ranking does he fall? To answer that, comparisons have to happen with the other three: Ingo, SS Morty, SS Kris, and Aura Cynthia.

In broad terms, Calem is strictly inferior. He cannot buff a stat to cap without 3/5, where he can get crit. He also has no team healing outside of Dark Zone, so entire archetypes go without aid. He also has to wait until his Buddy move is active before summoning the field effect, while the others draw it at will. And of course, it’s only 2MP, with no MPR. This is the most critical failure in my eyes, as 2MP is not always enough in a Gauntlet context. Cynthia may be on sync, which carries its own problems, but that just makes her excellent with DPS units. So if Calem doesn’t measure up broadly, what about specifics? This guy supports two whole types with their field multipliers, that’s already great. But how well does he help them?

Calem’s Buddy move will set Rain if he’s Water type, and provides +2 stacks of special moves up next. Hopefully the problem is obvious. With the condition of needing 10 hits on foes from all allies, Calem’s getting Rain and +2 special moves in the same time it takes SS Kris to give better special attack/crit and like +7 stacks. Calem cannot compete with Kris under rain. His role should be to complement physical water damage dealers like SS Grimsley, but notably, Grimsley needs Calem to cap crit, or he’s cutting his HP to horrific lows, and Calem cannot heal him. Rain is not Calem’s best showing.

What about Dark? Dark gets its Zone, and +2 physical moves. Which is bad. The only Dark type physical move worth it is Masked Royal, who again needs 3/5 for crit. Nanu, Grimsley, and Sidney have really weak DPS and don’t care, while BP Karen and Halloween Hilbert will absolutely kill themselves with recoil after getting +130% damage, because again, Calem cannot heal them. Special moves would have been significantly stronger as an effect.

I want to impress that Champion Calem is really good.  When your point of comparison is my pick for best unit in the game (yes, still), you’re clearing doing well.  But I also need to make clear that Calem is kind of an awkwardly designed unit.  He feels like he was designed entirely with Champion Serena in mind.  He perfectly complements everything she does, to the active detriment of carving out a more effective niche in his archetypes.  Had the moves up next effects been reversed, I feel like I’d be singing a slightly different tune.  But not an entirely different one.  His buffing kit is notably poor, his Buddy move is very hard to access, and it limits overall effectiveness compared to other field effect supports.  Also I feel like his bulk isn’t great, his grid has a lot of problems, and he feels much more optimized for CS and 3v3 than for the majority of Legendary Arena matches.  But I’m starting to get granular.

EX and Move Level? He's a support, so EX is always a good idea, though nothing he has is all that demanding of sync.  As for move level...much like Serena, this feels like a Master Fair that demands 3/5. Without 3/5, he loses Crit Squad and Safe Start, the only things saving his buff capacity and lack of healing support.  So if you just want the Zone or Rain and the stacks of moves up next, 1/5 is fine.  But you need to be very aware of who he's partnered with and what they can do.

Team 1: C!Calem, Masked Royal/Sidney, Nanu Dark-type team.  Calem can set Zone for them, eventually, and helps cap needed offenses. Note that Masked Royal requires Calem to be 3/5, or you can't cap crit, and it's a disaster. Nanu can debuff defense for their damage output.

Team 2: C!Calem, C!Iris, C!Elesa Champion Iris (I refuse to start calling her alt Iris) is actually a great partner to Calem.  Her own trainer move gives +1 crit and +2 attack, meaning Calem perfectly rounds out her needs.  It’s also worth noting that physical moves up does work out, given Power Play and the high base power of Dragon Rush.

Team 3: C!Calem, SS Grimsley/Lodge Silver, Nanu Similar deal to the first, but now with Rain.  SS Kris is amazing, but does nothing for physical Water types.  Calem gives a lot of physical power to units like SS Grimsley, who needed the help.  That said...3/5 required again, or Grimsley has to use his own trainer move and then dies a horrific death.  Though if you want a 1/5 solution, Lodge Silver gets all the crit rate and attack he needs.

Team 4: C!Calem, SS Cyrus, P!Dawn Calem can support SS Cyrus in CS, by helping set up the Dark Zone he needs to stay operational.  It just frees up a lot of Cyrus' time. Granted, you still need two trainer moves before spamming Dark Void, but you get the idea.

Final Thoughts I know I already stated this.  But I find Calem weird.  I really, truly feel like they designed him as a complementary unit to Serena before being his own unit.  There are such obvious tweaks to make him a more cohesive unit for his desired archetypes.  He’s still good, don’t get me wrong, but he feels really, really awkward in ways I feel like a Master Fair shouldn’t.  But hey, on the other hand, we’re getting second anniversary reruns this month, and if you want to talk about just dogshit units, Calem is not the first thing to yell about.

[crystalelemental]

Here's a question: is Champion Marnie the most ridiculous striker in the game? I don't know, I didn't pull Ash, who seems to be the main contender, but at a guess I'm gonna say "hell yeah."

General Overview Marnie here is 1/5, non-EX. This is the bare essentials of Marnie, no frills or traits that make her excel. And she annihilated Gauntlet.

Rosa and Maylene. Almost entirely Rosa, the only exception being for a really good reason. Like, that's insane. Beating shit with Rosa. Like, beating Tornadus, who is super-effective against her. Beating Moltres and Latias with lower-tier supports. These are obscene successes that Marnie's pulling off with just the base kit. I just...

When Sygna Suit Serena came out, I remember being fairly underwhelmed with her, not because she wasn't good, but because she didn't live up to the hype. Estimations were that she'd beat basically everything, with little resistance, and that...categorically isn't true. She's good, but she can be worn down, obliterated by sure-crit AoE moves, blanked by damage reduction gimmicks without support. And every time a comparable striker has come out, it's felt the same. People lose their minds over the raw damage that is produced, and are salivating over how good this damage dealer is. And every time I'm like "They're fine but they can be stopped, I still prefer a good support over this."

Champion Marnie may be the first time I've actually understood the hype.

Vs. Tornadus Rosa is weak to Tornadus. She's weak to Flying, and I forgot. I walked in here with the single wrongest support. And Marnie still won. It's absurd. Even in the final phases, Buddy Fiery Wrath cuts through damage reduction. That damage could not be stopped. She was going to win no matter what. Marnie's starting off with the craziest clear I've seen in a while.

Vs. Tapu Bulu Rosa heals under the Grassy Terrain, and Persian's Charm meant damage dealt by Bulu is really low. Marnie's flinch off Buddy move lasts forever, so as long as we could keep gauge rolling, she'd win. I will note, her gauge control isn't great. Rosa's trainer move is really needed to keep up pressure, despite the speed boosts she gets.

Vs. Cobalion Cobalion's a scary fight. This is I think the only one I had to reset, and it was largely because of how successfully it could truck Rosa if Snorlax wasn't getting its flinch rate going. With it, Marnie can win, but without it, it's a real struggle.

Vs. Cresselia Catharsis. Seriously, do you see those numbers? And remember, the Buddy move bypasses damage reduction. Marnie is a guarantee to avoid the paralysis, so long as she can hit. And here's the issue: her buddy move is not guaranteed to hit. So you do need to bring a Brycen along to clear those evasion boosts.

Vs. Azelf Another really scary one. Granted, scary because I refused to bring a proper flinch or sleep bot, but I think the results speak for themselves. Marnie's endure effect literally saved it.

Vs. Uxie Lucy setting up what's needed allows Marnie to actually truck this fight. Uxie being eventually immune to flinch means Marnie really can't get around what's hard required for this.

Vs. Latios ...I mean, come on. I will not be surprised if she can solo this dude.

Vs. Latias Maylene was brought for the aforementioned accuracy issues. If the team misses Latias too often in Bar 2, even Marnie's Buddy move can miss, and then it's a disaster. Gauges are already a problem, but missing on top of that? Horrific. Maylene's grid gave her Precision Pals, which is tremendously helpful for this fight in particular.

Vs. Regirock I had to bring Acerola because 1/5 Marnie doesn't have a reliable flinch rate on Fiery Wrath. She'd need 3/5 for it. With the flinch, she...dominated, to the shock of no one. I am impressed with her damage output, though. Clearing the rest of Bar 2 through crit shield is no small feat.

Vs. Entei I figured I wouldn't go classic flinch bot, and instead go special damage reduction, and...wow, that actually worked. Color me impressed, girls.

Vs. Moltres This one was spooky. Acerola's back in for weather and flinch, and that was pretty necessary. The thing is, in the final phase, we ran out of Sandstorm. And Buddy move/move damage was so high she just KO'd anyway. So that's hilarious.

Final Thoughts Marnie's obscene. Like, this much firepower at 1/5 is ridiculous. This is without her multipliers. This is without the 60% flinch rate on her Fiery Wrath that makes her wildly disruptive. This is without Double Endure that would've made her even more impossible to kill. Like...I'm stunned. This is the first time a Striker has lived up to its reputation for me.

[crystalelemental]

Okay.  Okay, I got it this time.  This was a lot harder than it needed to be for me, but mission accomplished, I think.

Anyway, when is it Caitlin’s turn to get the Korrina treatment and get a Sygna Suit?  She needs her true ace in Gothitelle.

The general application is another Psychic Terrain setter, because I’m of the mind we can never have enough, and as a PokeFair level Pokemon, you know exactly where I’m going with this.  If anyone gets Terrain Extension, it will be Caitlin.

1/5 Caitlin is designed to slot in as a technical support for the Psychic archetype.  Psychic Terrain is obviously a huge benefit, but I wanted her to have some other useful tools.  X Speed All is fantastic for the Psychic-types that love spamming high-gauge moves despite not being all that fast, and Head Start 1 is a very nice tool for SS Lusamine in particular, who was a big focus when designing this.  I love SS Lusamine, I’m a bit sad SS Steven has kinda eclipsed her, I want her back on the map.  In general support, I opted for a new passive, Pacify 9, to lower both Attack and Special Attack per successful hit.  This is partly just to lean into Caitlin’s general style of bulky offense, given Reuniclus, but also I wanted someone who can potentially combo with C!Iris and Anni N.  Mind Games 9 was then chosen for some added power behind the attacks, and to really facilitate the Psychic-type archetype, since all of them are special.

“Isn’t three -1 debuffs too much?”  At this point in the meta, I don’t think so.  We’re getting options like SC Rosa throwing out -2 in two stats, packing natural Power Play, and an absurd sync nuke, all in one, that can be set up to full power in three turns to first sync.  Comparatively, Caitlin has a wider spread of debuffs, but is much slower.  This is significant, because it translates to having a much better time in Gauntlet than CS, due to taking considerable time to set up what she needs.  Additionally, consider that these only hit AoE under Terrain.  Which means she has to start with that before attacking.  BUT!  It’s a three-bar move.  And if you want anyone else to do stuff, you need to be setting up her speed buffs.  Meaning at least two uses, then Terrain, and now you’re at first sync.  Hopefully the problem is clear.  Caitlin’s pulled in a lot of directions, and isn’t doing an exceptional job in any particular role.  The fact that Terrain is also short-lived means she doesn’t have a ton of time to actually utilize it.  While it’s active, Expanding Force is a pretty strong move.  80 base power isn’t anything fantastic, especially for a 3-bar, but under Terrain it’s 120.  Granted, split with AoE, but I feel this is a fair trade.  It’s not terrible but not great without Terrain, but with Terrain it’s fantastic, albeit slightly weaker than Blizzard.  Which felt like a fair trade.  Without MPR on Psychic Wish, she just doesn’t get a ton of time to abuse the damage output.  So I feel like while it’s a lot of obscene-sounding abilities and powers, it comes together in the form of a unit that’s good but not a worldbeater.

2/5 would include things like Dauntless, Stalwart, and Antitoxin for fun.  I’d also like Grand Entry 2, to top off special attack from trainer move.  Precognition 2 might be nice, as well.  But nothing too impactful.

3/5 is where we get fun stuff.  The big one is Team Sharp Entry.  This caps her crit rate, but also means getting SS Lusamine perfectly ready for sync after two turns.  She’s an ideal partner now.  I’d also want Power Play as a sync multiplier.  There are like a billion Tech nukers that have overlap between grid multiplier and innate multiplier, like with Relentless, so time for Power Play.  I think two Power Plays are fine, given that it still comes out to less than an innate multiplier and two 100%s on grid.  And of course, we need MPR on Psychic Wish.  I’d want First Aid 4, and ideally Catalytic Cure 3, to lean into her survival.  I really like Caitlin as someone who emphasizes bulky offense.  It doesn’t significantly expand on her baseline effects, but it does give her more of an offensive presence, with some healing options for the more supportive role.

4/5 is tougher.  I’d say maybe Stupefication 9.  I know she doesn’t have Max Moves, but the additional debuffing could be helpful.  Overwhelm 9 basically means doubling up on her targets.  This makes her insane, but that’s the point of “best tiles,” right?

5/5 I’d give the Weird Warning 3, for terrain extension.  This is really significant for a unit like Caitlin that actually uses the terrain for more practical purposes than damage.  I kinda want to say Terrain on entry would be fun, just to really set up her support for debuffing, but you know.  It’s hard to balance 5/5.

But that’s the concept.  A general structure designed to improve further on the Psychic archetype, with SS Lusamine as a central focus.  I love me some debuffers, so I wanted to emphasize debuffing, and Terrain setters are really valuable, so that’s part of her role.  I wanted to bring in Expanding Force as a concept.  I don’t think this would be too much, but I’m open to suggestions.

[crystalelemental]

For some reason, the new EX is Erika and Vileplume, instead of Kahili who desperately needed this to stand a chance of being like Siebold.   Alas, she didn't get it, so Kahili sucks while Erika and Vileplume do.   Was this a good trade?  Is Erika secretly super good?

General Overview No.  What?  Are you serious?  You've seen her base special attack, right?

Look, I really like Erika and Vileplume, I consider her one of the better free units. But that's because of Piercing Gaze Stun Spore, and double On a Roll Energy Ball.  She has nice supportive effects, but her damage is nothing special at all. It's barely even noteworthy.  Sycamore hits noticeably harder than her by move damage.  I get that she's a tech, and therefore has at least some potential as the sync nuker (apparently she’s roughly on par with SS Leaf, who’s at least top 3), but I have only used her as a damage dealer once before.  It was not a great time.  If you want pure Grass-type damage, and you're on an F2P budget, Gardenia is right there, being ridiculously stronger than her on a turn by turn basis.  Weaker sync nuke, sure, but are you really going to knock the value of Gardenia/Rosa as an F2P core, when Rosa is a free supporter EX that easily takes first sync to let Gardenia deal 8k+ damage per Leaf Storm?  When I used her for damage, Erika's sync nuke pre-EX dealt around 8k...after Rosa's sync buff.  You're gonna tell me that was a good trade?

And that's just F2P.  Do you have any idea how saturated Grass is as a damage type?  Selene, Mallow, Brendan, SS Leaf, even Silver has good off-type, and even tanks like Dawn and Lyra can put the hurt on a fool, with Lyra’s sync setting Sun every time. This didn't even mention the best Grass-type in the game with Sygna Suit Erika, which is general pool.  Grass is so stacked that a legitimate criticism of Teatime Sonia is that you're practically guaranteed to have a Grass-type with comparable damage in Brendan or SS Erika.  You're gonna give up all those options for base Erika?  Really and for true?

If it wasn't obvious, I don’t like that she got the EX here.  It had to happen eventually, but I'm super bummed it came at great cost to Kahili, who could actually be a super good common unit like Bruno or Candice, if she just got that EX.  That is all that's holding her back. And instead, it went to Erika, a story unit whose primary benefit was her support, and whose sync nuke is fine but decisively outclassed by better Grass units you’d definitely pulled by now.

I don't like it.

Team 1: Erika, BP Morty, Fantina This was my anti-Uxie team in the last Gauntlet, and it was really good.   Erika supplies the needed paralysis, and can rapidly debuff special defense alongside Fantina.  She's a sturdy secondary tank, too.  Morty gives Confusion, healing through Potion, and Fantina is your primary damage dealer, who doesn't have much trouble dealing reasonable amounts.

Team 2: Erika, Marley, Blue&Arcanine I can't test this, but anti-Cobalion with limited tools.  From my recollection, Paralysis is the status that actually does hold up well.   If I'm wrong, good news, Marley has Hostile Environment 4.  The focus here is that Erika can debuff special defense, and Blue can absolutely blast this thing apart with Hyper Beam.  While a bit awkward, Marley can get Hostile Environment, Hype Up, Hit and Heal on trainer move, and Team Sharp Entry.  This takes a lot of pressure off Blue's setup, and gets to firing Hyper Beams more reliably.  And you get two dogs!

Team 3: Marley, MU Torchic, Erika Let's say.  For the sake of argument.  That you really want to use Erika as your damage dealer.  Listen, I don't get it either.  But let's pretend. This is the F2P approach.  Marley helps with speed control, gradual healing, and an extra point of crit.  MU Torchic gives the last of the crit, and +4 special attack to Erika.  Erika can buff her special attack by 2.  Two turns to cap out her offenses, Stun Spore, sync nuke.  After that it's just rolling for debuffs, and hoping they die before you do.

Team 4: Kimono Jasmine, Palentine's Dawn, Erika The premium choices for Erika's sync nuke.  I kinda feel like this is a team that might die instantly if presented with the sides in CS, but Erika can probably handle the center reasonably well.  It's just...man, this team is slow as dirt.

Final Thoughts If it wasn't obvious, I have a lot of respect for base Erika as a supporter. Paralysis and good debuff potential is great.  What she doesn't do well is offense.  There's at least one option for F2P that can get her to max capacity, but it really feels like a mess.

And we took EX for this!  For the offense!  Her support was fine without it, but EX only exists to give her a sync nuke that does not at all feel worth it!  It's not the worst pick, but like...it just kinda sucks that Siebold got all this attention all at once, and all of Kalos got grids except the one I was most excited for, and Kahili, who I do like and wanted to see get something really good, got not only the most frustrating grid constraint I've ever seen, but also missed out on EX because Erika got it instead.  It's sad.  I'm sad.