#competitive pokemon moveset

[dinoserious]

pikasona doodle design

[starrysmiling]

fern team lore!

about time i started talking about fern's pokemon and how they joined his team. as a forenote i'd like to say that i have removed the relation between nature, taste, and stat boosts, if only because i want their natures to be reflective of how they act and less dependent on what they're like in battle. (the taste thing is bc fern's froslass also has a sweet tooth and i couldn't find a +spatk nature for her. she's a special one.)

apart from that, overall most of fern's pokemon have joined him on their own basis. he also doesn't nickname his pokemon.

before i start, fern's pokemon:

froslass (f), sassy

tyranitar (m), adamant

araquanid (f), bold

gardevoir (f), bashful

flygon (m), jolly

sceptile (m), careful

shaymin (x), impish

toxapex (m), lonely

froslass

meeting: froslass is fern's partner, and she has been looking out for fern for around 15 years. as young children, fern and fresia often played with two snorunt on the mountains around frozen heights. while fresia took one snorunt with her to sinnoh, one stayed in borrius with fern. upon receiving pokeballs from the professor, he asked snorunt to join him on his journey.

personality: sassy (cheeky) nature. like fern, she likes sweets and is a little bit of a prankster! she likes to use her ominous wind and icy wind to spook people and pokemon alike. her prankster's habits do sometimes land her in sticky situations, but she is also very good at mysteriously getting out of them. she is incredibly protective of fern, and often will stay outside of her pokeball while they are travelling as an extra pair of eyes.

evolution (snorunt > froslass): snorunt ran face-first into a rock on route 7 containing a hidden dawn stone while running away from a pack of wild alolan rattata that she angered with a prank. she was able to get away unscathed and evolved in time to fend off the wild pokemon, but fern was not amused.

tyranitar

meeting: fern took a liking to the larvitar in the cage when he broke the cage lock in the shadow base, noticing how he chewed on the bars and was already trying to escape. at this point, fern didn't have as much knowledge of pokemon, and simply just chose the one he liked. larvitar pledged loyalty to fern as repayment for breaking him out of the cage.

personality: adamant (hardworking) nature. as the physically strongest and largest of fern's team, his presence may be intimidating to some, but in reality, he is actually rather earnest, and is very reliable both on and off the battlefield. he will crack a smile at the rare joke, but only if it's somewhat bad. overall, a sturdy and trustworthy companion.

evolution (larvitar > pupitar): larvitar evolved during fern's battle against alice, as his ground-type moves weren't landing at all. pupitar, who was able to float, won the battle for fern.

evolution (pupitar > tyranitar): during his battle against maxima, fern relied heavily on pupitar's trust in him to pull off several risky moves. at the climax of the battle, pupitar evolved into tyranitar as a symbol of his bonds with fern.

araquanid

meeting: before fern made his way to cinder volcano, he stopped by route 3 to do some training, and perhaps pick up a water-type in preparation for the volcano. while training, he followed the cry of a pokemon, hoping to battle it, but instead found a dewpider with a rapidly drying bubble stuck in the crack of a rock. larvitar and fern were able to extract her from the rock with some effort, and once free, she challenged larvitar to a battle. her effortless victory earned her a spot on fern's team.

personality: bold (headstrong) nature. a little prideful and very much confident in her abilities, she has a little one-sided grudge against tyranitar as he saw her stuck in a rock when they first met and finds it extremely embarrassing. however, she respects the rest of the team's power, including tyranitar, and her grudge has softened by a lot. she has a competitive streak and enjoys battling against tougher opponents, especially with fern's creative guidance.

evolution (dewpider > araquanid): dewpider evolved to better utilise her type advantage over zeph's houndoom, which had the advantage in raw power, when they battled after crater town.

gardevoir

meeting: fern returned to cinder volcano after jax had dropped him off, deciding to investigate if any clues had been left. near the end of his investigating, a little ralts ran up to him and began to cling to his legs. a confused fern was able to detect her distress through her ability, synchronise, and determined that she was lost. fern took ralts to the exit of the volcano, but she refused to let go of fern's leg until he took her along with him.

personality: bashful (shy) nature. while she was a little more timid as a ralts and kirlia, her confidence has built up through being able to sense fern's deep trust in her. she can still get easily overwhelmed if too many things are happening, and, if in battle, her pent-up hyper voice is something to be feared. on the flip side, it has helped prevent froslass's antics before...

evolution (ralts > kirlia): on route 9, fern and jax were hard pressed to defeat the shadow warriors. despite her defensive type disadvantage, ralts evolved into kirlia to learn draining kiss, regaining the momentum for fern.

evolution (kirlia > gardevoir): in a similarly desperate situation, kirlia saw fern about to be attacked by aklove's summoned legendaries at the ruins of void. her instinct to protect fern made her evolve into gardevoir, eventually fending off the legendary birds.

flygon

meeting: while lost in the great desert, fern sought shelter behind some rocks to catch his bearings. unfortunately for him, the rocks marked a spot for a wild vibrava who had buried something beneath them, and thought fern was here to steal his things. fern fought off the vibrava as well as he could without harming it, and eventually got across that he was just lost. vibrava, finally understanding, helped lead fern to the edge of the desert in return for some berries. when fern returned to gurun town from vivill town, he was surprised to find a vibrava waiting for him at the edge of the desert. with some cheerful insistence, fern was convinced to take vibrava along with him.

personality: jolly (cheerful) nature. prone to outbursts of enthusiasm, flygon is affectionate with his trainer and teammates. he is rather curious and enjoys patrolling with fern, which is to his advantage as he is fern's main flying pokemon. he doesn't particularly like when fern stays in frozen heights, as the chill dampens his mood, but fern keeps a pile of warm blankets in his room for flygon to bury into. when fern stays over at jax's, he likes to curl up with pyroar.

evolution (vibrava > flygon): vibrava evolved to be able to fly above the waters of tessy's gym, as the heightened vantage point allowed fern to better strategise against tessy's pokemon in the murky water.

sceptile

meeting: formerly a pokemon from the safari zone, sceptile met fern when he was still a grovyle. fern took on a job to capture a missing grovyle who had escaped into cootes bog, and chased the pokemon to the bog's hidden grotto. fern was able to defeat a dynamaxed grovyle, and attempted to return him to the safari zone. however, grovyle violently refused, and fern returned to the safari wardens. he lied that he had lost grovyle in the bog, then returned to tell grovyle that he was free to do whatever he wanted. impressed with fern's strength and understanding of his wishes, he decided to join fern.

personality: careful (cautious) nature. his past habits keep him alert at all times, with quick reflexes and even quicker attacks. overall, he likes to battle and show his strength, especially against stronger opponents, and his style involves utilising his environment to the extremes, but can be a sore loser sometimes. he appreciates fern for adopting him onto his team and giving him the freedom he wanted, especially because he hated being caged up in the safari zone.

evolution (grovyle > sceptile): grovyle evolved in order to launch a fast surprise attack during fern's battle against jax for the champion's seat.

shaymin

meeting: some time after becoming champion, melony asked fern to accompany her to flower paradise, where she wanted to pick some gracideas for ace and marlon. a group of shaymin emerged from the flowers as they were talking together and acknowledged the gratitude within their hearts. when the group left, one willingly stayed behind with fern, and while fern was hesitant to bring a mythical pokemon onto his team, melony pointed out that it would be rude to refuse, and thus fern decided to keep shaymin.

personality: impish (mischievous) nature. shaymin is also a little bit cheeky, but they're less of a prankster and more of a gourmet thief! they particularly like the taste of jax's homemade poffins, and will pilfer them if left to their own devices. they like to defy the elegant image of their species, and prefers to battle in their sky forme, where they can dart around freely.

toxapex

meeting: fern battled a dynamaxed toxapex in a completely deserted underwater cavern to unlock the underwater stone tablet. however, during the battle, he noticed something off about toxapex and instead of letting him go after his victory, he drew closer to investigate. upon finding what seemed like an old injury opening up, fern decided to bring him to a pokemon centre to be checked up. fern took care of toxapex during his recovery, intending to release him afterwards, but even when he was fully recovered, he refused to leave fern's side.

personality: lonely (reclusive) nature. fern isn't fully aware of what happened to him, but from the shape of the scars on his legs, he guesses that toxapex was once attacked by a bruxish and was forced to seclude himself in a warm cave as his injured legs could not fully keep his body warm in the colder months. his dynamaxed form scared away other pokemon, so he spent most of his time alone. although that has made him awkward in expressing emotion, he seemed to connect with fern due to how he perceives fern to be similar. fern hopes to be able to connect with him deeper, and makes sure to leave a bath of warm water for him whenever he can.

other pokemon

gible: the male gible fern found in the shadow base with jax. fern intended to raise him, but after fresia returned with her garchomp in tow (yes, his nickname is gary.) fern gave gible to fresia, as she knew how to raise him better and fern already had eight pokemon to look after.

vulpix (alolan): fern's mom's pokemon. originally, jax received an egg from a girl in blizzard city for helping her, but he had to place the egg in the daycare as he soon found out about the shadows. just before fern became champion, vulpix hatched from her egg, but jax realised he couldn't look after her properly because of dresco town's climate. after the kidnapping at the ruins of void and fern's official induction as champion, jax gave her to fern when fern explained that he wanted a pokemon to keep his mom safe.

hoopa: hoopa. (i haven't thought about it yet)

[epicspheal]

A Strong and Upstanding Heart! A Lance Analysis

Imagine you're a kid in the 90s playing Pokemon Red and Blue…you’ve gotten all eight badges, made it through Victory Road and bested Lorelei, Bruno and Agatha. Now the only person that you think stands before you and the title of Indigo League Champion is a certain cape loving Dragon Master…

That’s right we’re talking about Lance! Lance is definitely one of those character who has very different interpretations depending on whether or not you’re looking at the anime, games or manga. For the sake of consistency with my other analyses…I’m only sticking to the gameverse and any media that corresponds to it (mainline games, Pokemon Masters EX and Generations). 

Let’s start with his name…in English it’s a weapon. Which is very befitting a dragon master as in many pieces of European Folklore knights wielded lances to slay dragons. But considering in Pokemon Lance doesn’t slay dragon-types but befriends them you could compare him to many of the heroes of dragon-rider fantasy who often had weapons they carried while on the back of their flying reptilians. Lance in the games is very knightly in demeanor and one could very easily imagine him riding on the back of his Dragonite wielding a lance. In French his name is Peter which is actually derived from petard which is another medieval weapon again reinforcing that knightly demeanor. His German name is Siegfried who is a legendary hero who bested the dragon Fafnir, further symbolizing Lance as a proud warrior. 

But then his Japanese is Wataru which has a couple of different meanings. First is “Watatsumi” who is a legendary kami and water deity in Japanese folklore that happened to be a dragon. But also it is derived from “wata” which means “cotton” which his Korean name also is derived from. When we think of the language of flowers we usually think of Roses and Forget-me-Nots. Yet cotton has a lot of symbolism. Cotton is known to mean “fortune, gratitude, cherish, well-being and receiving blessings”. When we think of Lance, he’s had a lot of blessings in his life. He was born into a prestigious dragon clan and was chosen as the heir of said clan before he went to the league. He became an Elite Four member which is an esteemed position many trainers could only dream to have. He even manages to become champion afterwards which as a title bestowed upon very few. So much of his life is very much blessed and Lance recognizes that blessing and cherishes it. 

Now let’s take a look at his team. His team varies throughout the series due to his changing roles from Elite Four to Champion so we’ll be covering both

Starting with his Elite Four team, the first thing that often stands out is that he lacks a lot of diversity on his team with him having 3 Pokemon from the same family and two of them being unevolved. While some people may consider it poor team building (at least from a more competitive mindset) it actually means a lot storywise. We have to remember that Pokemon was originally meant to end at GSC and we know by then Lance has ascended to the rank of champion. So him having two Dragonair actually makes sense in that context as it was foreshadowing his growth in his strength as a trainer. Now let’s take a look at his movesets. One thing that sticks out is that he really loves the move Hyper Beam, Outrage and SafeGuard. Hyper Beam is a very powerful move with the drawback of causing the Pokemon to not be able to move after for one turn after its use. It definitely establishes Lance as a power player with a hint of recklessness since the use of Hyper Beam does leave his Pokemon so vulnerable. However it also shows the trust he has in his Pokemon’s power to have that move consistently in the movesets. Outrage is another high-risk, high reward move that allows him to utilize STAB as it’s a dragon type. Again this further solidifies Lances hyper offensive strategy and his trust in his Pokemon. However this is where the move Safeguard comes into play as the move actually protects against the self-inflicted confusion status. This shows that Lance is strategic with his hyper-offensive strategy

Now let’s look at his team as champion! We can see he now has three full Dragonite which again shows that him having Dragonair in the Kanto games was an intentional choice to foreshadow his eventual ascent up the ranks. And now we also see that all of his Pokemon share the flying type which leads to the joke that Lance should be known as the “flying type champion”. His movesets for his Pokemon have also drastically changed. He has way more variety in types which helps to enable better coverage. He still relies on high-risk, high-reward moves but with more focus on moves that have lower accuracy (Thunder, Blizzard, Fire Blast, Dragon Rush). This change in strategy reflects his growth in the time between the original Kanto events and the Johto events. He’s had to step up to the role of Indigo League champion which warrants a change in tactics. That being said, he still definitely relies on his old faithfuls Outrage, Safeguard and Hyper Beam on his signature Dragon type.

His rematch team in HGSS shows more Dragon types and a shift in strategy to involve more set up (Dragon Dance, Swords Dance and Double Team) as well as some more evasive techniques (Roar to get rid of bad matchups)

I also wanted to bring up his team when pairs up with his cousin Clair. His signature Dragonite in these match-ups knows the move Dragon Meteor- a powerful move that can only be learned by Dragon types that have a high enough trust in their trainer. This shows that he has a strong bond with his dragon types which is something Clair at the time hasn’t quite yet gotten to.

"Ah! I've heard about you, <player>! I lead the Elite Four. You can call me Lance the dragon Trainer. You know that dragons are mythical Pokémon. They're hard to catch and raise, but their powers are superior. They're virtually indestructible. There's no being clever with them. Well, are you ready to lose? Your League challenge ends with me, <player>!"

I really like this introduction quote from Lance as he does a good job selling the power of Dragon type Pokemon to the player. Not only that you can see how much pride he has in being the leader of the Elite Four.

"I still can't believe my dragons lost to you, <player>. You are now the Pokémon League Champion! …Or, you would have been, but you have one more challenge left. There is one more Trainer to face! His name is… <rival>! He beat the Elite Four before you. He is the real Pokémon League Champion."This quote here gives us a look into the mindsight of Lance in Gen 1 where he’s a little overconfident in the powers of his team. Which makes sense because as we know up until Blue and Red no one had managed to make it to the league at all meaning that he’s held the title of the strongest for a long time. So him getting beat by not one, but two 11 year old kids in succession was definitely a shock to the system.

"That red Gyarados wasn't acting right. As I feared, somebody must have forced it to evolve… Did you come here because of the wild tales? You're <player>? I'm Lance, a Trainer like you. I heard some rumblings, so I came to investigate… I saw the way you battled earlier, <player>. I can tell that you're a Trainer with considerable skill. If you don't mind, could you help me investigate?" This is our first conversation with Lance in the Johto and you can actually see a change in his demeanor. He’s not boasting about the superior powers of dragon types or his own skill as a trainer. He’s actually more humble with his approach saying he is a trainer “like you”. Also right now he’s focused on trying to solve the mystery of the Red Gyarados, showing that he is taking the mantle of being the champion of the Indigo League very seriously

"Dragonite, Hyper Beam."I just had to put in his iconic phrase in this analysis. We know what’s coming here- he’s about to blast a poor Team Rocket grunt to kingdom come and give him PTSD (as we know from Pokemon Masters as the grunt he hyper beamed is currently on Pasio). We see here how he has no tolerance for evil-doers

"Sorry, <player>. I saw how well you were doing, so I just hung back. Now all there is left to do is to turn off that odd radio signal."A lot of complaints about champions prior to gen 8 were that they let the protagonist take down the bad guys with little to no assistance. But here we get some reasoning from Lance as to why he took a backseat. He noticed that the player could handle the grunts by themself so there was no need for him to step in. 

"It's this machine that's causing all the problems. I don't see a switch on it… We have no choice. We have to make all the Electrode faint. That should stop this machine from transmitting that strange signal. It's no fault of the Electrode, so it makes me feel sad. <Player>, let's split the job.I really like this quote because it complements the “Dragonite, Hyper Beam” quote. Even though he is no-holds barred when it comes to evil, he recognizes that the Electrode are innocent and don’t deserve to suffer even though they have to be fainted in order to help save the Pokemon affected by Radio transmission.

"I've been waiting for you. <Player>! I knew that you, with your skills, would eventually reach me here. There's no need for words now. We will battle to determine who is the stronger of the two of us. As the most powerful Trainer and as the Pokémon League Champion… I, Lance the dragon master, accept your challenge!"Lance’s pre-battle quote before the champion battle is a nice progression from his pre-battle quote when he was an Elite four member. Again he comes to this battle with a more measured, less haughty response than three years prior (although he does kind of borrow Blue’s “I’m the most Powerful Trainer” bit). You can tell how much he’s grown not just in strength, but in attitude.

"…It's over. But it's an odd feeling. I'm not angry that I lost. In fact, I feel happy. Happy that I witnessed the rise of a great new Champion!"

Again we can see more of this growth from the defeat quote as champion versus when he was the leader of the Elite Four. Here we see he’s not in disbelief, nor is he upset that yet another kid bested him. In fact he’s happy to have seen the growth of another champion. 

"I'm glad to be on your team, Silver!"Alright now onto some Pokemon Masters EX quotes. I chose this one of the team ups because I like how we see throughout the game, we see how much Lance looks out for Silver and is proud of him. A far cry from when they first interacted in the Johto games where Lance had to give him some tough love by completely annihilating his team. It all comes full circle for Silver during the Johto Neo Champion arc where he’s finally able to win against Lance, and Lance couldn’t be prouder of him. 

"You all haven't changed one bit, I see! I must admit, I'm looking forward to these battles myself!"I really like this line from the Normal Champion Stadium where the original Indigo Elite Four and Blue team up. It’s nice to see how he interacts with some of his former colleagues 

"(I guess he's right. I was very happy to witness my challengers surpass me.) But maybe that means I'm starting to forget what it feels like to WANT to win.) [...] I still remember how frustrating it was to lose to Red and Blue back in Kanto. Both Dragonite and I need to approach this like challengers, not Champions..."I really like this quote from the Arc-Suit chapter as we see Lance coming towards an important realization. He’s been so focused on being an ideal champion, a trainer who can be a role model to others and mentor as well, that he’s forgotten what made him want to aim for the title of champion in the first place. His drive to win. His joy for the taste of victory. He thinks about his losses to Red and Blue and how he was frustrated he was bested by kids. And now he’s realizing that if he wants to continue to grow stronger, he has to approach battles like he’s not at the pinnacle of what it means to be a trainer.

"It's true that you're strong, Clair. And it's good to have confidence in your own abilities...but there's a limit to what's good and what's not. Too much pride can make you overconfident, and overconfidence can make you vulnerable." 

"You can be a little impulsive sometimes, Clair...but that earnest, straightforward attitude of yours is one of your greatest strengths as well. If you can learn to hone that, the sky is the limit!"I really like the relationship Lance has with his cousin Clair. Even though their personalities clash a bit, we see how much he does care for her even when he is chastising her. He wants her to be the best version of herself that she can

"A long time ago, when I was a member of the Elite Four but not Champion, I was defeated by a Trainer.He claimed to be the greatest of all, and he had the strength and skill to back it up. But eventually, a stronger Trainer came along, and even he was defeated... It was then that I realized something. That title—"the greatest"—can inflate your ego, but it doesn't really mean anything. It's an illusion, there one minute and gone the next...The way I see it, seeking to grow and improve yourself is far more worthwhile than chasing a fleeting illusion of greatness."

This quote here shows the moment where we can see the shift between his Gen 1 and Gen 2 personalities. It was the quick succession between Blue and Red as champion that allowed him to temper himself when it comes to chasing success. Sure he still values the title of champion, but he realizes that just because he obtained it that he can’t rest on his laurels, lest someone else come by and snatch the title away from him

"Leon, I think that capes should be more simple! When you're the Champion and greet new challengers with a swoosh of your cape...I understand that the details of your cape speak volumes about who you are. But for me, the simplicity of my cape helps me stand out more!" The dialogue about capes between Lance, Steven and Leon was a cute little interaction between the three champions regarding capes. We see Lance prefers simple capes compared to Leon’s whose cape is filled with advertisements. We know Lance has a huge fondness for capes even back from the Fame Checker where a woman from the Celadon Department Store mentions he comes by to purchase capes frequently. Even though he disagrees about designs for capes with Leon, we know from further into the conversation that he still greatly respects the symbolism Leon’s cape has showing him to be an open-minded and respectful individual

"I noticed you weren't your usual self right before our match.It was almost as if you were so worked up, you couldn't tell what was happening with your partner. Iris, you must remember that you're no ordinary Pokémon Trainer. You are a role model to others, and you represent Unova as Champion. I hope you can understand that and conduct yourself accordingly."

Ah so this is dialogue from the Iris event that definitely rubbed some people the wrong way. We know from earlier in the event that Iris was struggling with knowing that people seemed to find her an embarrassment as the champion from Unova. And then her Hydreigon goes out of control. We see here Lance actually could tell that something was up, but didn’t know the full context. His words do come off a bit harsh here to someone who knows everything going on with Iris, but you can see that he was trying to help her out. He understands the weight that comes with being champion, and also the weight of being a dragon tamer. 

"It's never too late. You can start with whoever needs you most."I really liked this line from Lance to Diantha once Iris is able to regain confidence in herself. Diantha was lamenting the fact that she didn’t think about mentorship as a champion (as she was kind of removed from the Team Flare plot in the gameverse canon). And we have Lance who's not admonishing her for that but showing there’s room to grow.

"Someday, stories about me will be passed down to future generations of our clan as well. If I think about it that way, it reminds me that I have to be on my best behavior.I'd like to be a good role model for all future dragon masters."This quote from Lance really helps to shine light on why he is so passionate about being a good role model and having a strong and upstanding nature. He realizes that he will forever be immortalized in his clan’s history and in the Hall of Fame. He wants to make sure the legacy he leaves behind is one that makes people feel energized and not ashamed

"This outfit shows off Gyarados's power as a dragon! What's that, you say? Gyarados isn't a Dragon-type Pokémon? Haha, not all dragons are Dragon-type Pokémon!" I remember this quote making rounds on social media as we get to have some in-universe acknowledgement that dragons =/= dragon types! It’s a distinction that you would expect a dragon master like Lance to know!

Lance is an iconic character and he’s a really good case study on how Gamefreak has always cared about their characters even as far back as gen 1. A lot of people deride the first region as being barebones but he’s one of the many characters regions that has had layers woven into him from the beginning as we can see his growth between the events of Kanto and Johto. He grows from the proud (and just a tad cocky) leader of the Elite four to a wise noble Champion and Dragon Master

[cosmic0dust]

Silver as a Gym Leader

- a ramble from someone who’s way too autistic about pokemon and rival Silver

Silver would absolutely either be a Poison or Dark type specialist, but for this I am going for Dark, with his ace of course being Weavile

Important things to note

• Mainly giving him pokemon that are available in gen 4 considering this would probably be hgss

•Also assuming fairy types don’t exist yet, and giving his pokemon egg/tm moves

•Giving some of his pokemon hidden abilities because I think he’d def breed for them and be a mean gym leader to get through

•If this was an e4 team I’d probably fully deck out his pokemon with competitive items, but since it is just a gym leader team only two of his pokemon hold berries.

•Enjoy!

Silver’s Team

Umbreon

Silvers team usually consists of really speedy pokemon/sweepers like Crobat, and Sneasel so I think giving an umbreon would help round out his team and add a tank to take hits, though it’d be different than his usual style. I also think adding an umbreon is a nice nod to Johto, as well as a friendship evolution. Showing off his character development and growth that we see at the end of HGSS.

Ability: synchronize - inflicts status conditions onto the opponent as well if hit by one

Held item: Sitrus berry - restores 25% of max HP

Moveset

Psychic - to deal with fighting types

Dark pulse - good STAB move

Wish - good healing move for a tanky pokemon

Confuse Ray - just feel like this helps round out the set

Houndoom

Houndoom helps deal with the bug types with a good fire type STAB move, and is also a nice nod to the old official art of Gen 2 Silver with a houndoom. It’s also a solid dark type pokemon.

Ability: Early Bird - pokemon wakes up twice as fast if fallen asleep

Moveset

Flamethrower - perfect to take care of bug types

Nasty plot - great for boosting sp. attack

Torment - prevents the spamming of the same move - gives it an opportunity to land a few more attacks if it tanks a water/ground type move

Dark pulse - another dark stab move

Honchkrow

Now this is a nod to Silver in pokespe, who uses a Murkrow and eventually a Honchkrow. I think it’s a cute little reference, and also a solid team member. It’s flying type is also a great counter for bug and fighting type pokemon

Ability: Super Luck - boosts critical hit rate

Moveset

Night slash - we already know what I’m gonna say.. dark stab move..

Drill peck - great stab move for flying and bug types

Feather dance - lowers opponents attack stat by 2 stages, great for fighting types and physical attacking bug types / moves like X-Scissor

Sucker punch - more stab, also good against faster opponents since Honchkrow is kinda slow

Obviously Weavile would be his ace, having assumed he would evolve his sneasel before becoming gym leader. Sneasel is also a pokemon he has in canon, so he has to be here. Ngl, struggling to find a good moveset for this guy. Weavile doesn’t have a ton of options in gen 4. I think it’s best use would be a swords dance sweeper

Weavile

Held item: Chople berry - reduces damage from super effective fighting moves to 50%

Ability: pressure - reduces opponents move PP by 2 instead of 1 each use

Moveset

Night slash - .. duh

Ice punch - the best physical ice move Weavile gets

Swords dance - to crank up the attack

Aerial ace - bug counter go brrr

might make another post about him as an e4 member or how his gym would be designed! I definitely think he could also be a poison specialist (maybe a poison specialist in the e4) or a champion and I’d love to build up his team like fully decked out competitively for a champion style team. Might also do smth like this for spe silver! Thanks for reading :3

[aeonvy]

🟣made for @lordarsonizzzzt [!]🟣I hope u like it :p

Unfortunately I have no witty idea for a title, but here it is!

The full team is composed of:

Scolipede ; Gengar ; Dragalge ; Spiritomb ; Mandibuzz and Banette !

I maybe, kinda, perchance thought up a whole team comp while drawing this, sooo... moveset + nature info under the cut (+ another vulture linework that I scrapped)

OK TO KEEP IT SIMPLE:

_:: Scolipede — nature: jolly ; ability: poison point; item: focus sash;

- Toxic Spikes

- Pin Missile

- Endeavor

- Protect

_:: Gengar — nature: timid; ability: cursed body; item: gengarite;

- Sludge Bomb

- Hex

- Shadow Ball

- Curse

_:: Dragalge — nature: serious; ability: poison point; item: draco plate;

- Venoshock

- Scald

- Draco Meteor

- Focus Blast

_:: Spiritomb — nature: careful; ability: infiltrator; item: black glasses;

- Sucker Punch

- Taunt

- Will-O-Wisp

- Pursuit

_:: Mandibuzz — nature: impish; ability: overcoat; item: rocky helmet;

- Roost

- Taunt

- Toxic

- Foul Play

_:: Banette — nature: adamant; ability: insomnia; item: life orb;

- Shadow Sneak

- Taunt

- Gunk Shot

- Knock Off

OK that's pretty much it. To explain a few things, I chose Curse over Destiny Bond since it was way more approximate to Vulture's killing touch (Curse takes 25%HP of the opponent every turn) than Destiny Bond's mechanic (If I Die You Die). Dragalge has Venoshock to build off of all the moves that poison the opponent. Scolipede fits best as first on the team as it can set the arena to Vulture's favor with Toxic Spikes, but can also hold itself in a fight with Endeavor and Pin Missile.

All pokemon are to scale and YES, Gengar has the same height as Vulture. I think that's funny but I also made it like 2cm taller for a bit more silliness.

I kiiiiiiinda ignored good part of like the competitive side of it all (hence why I do NOT advise you to use this team in any competitive setting at all) and went off with what made most sense in-world instead of only as a game mechanic. Anyway that's it!

Here's the og Vulture lineart I was going to use. It's nice but too...ref-sheet-ish? I wanted the full drawing more dynamic (since they were just lined up in the first draft, but I did manage to do it after some sketching). I put way too much effort in lining it to just not show it at all though lmao

That's all for today. I'm gonna go to bed now probably

[elbdot]

Congrats on concluding such a tremendous community feat OP! It was fascinating to see your posts about them here, and I am quite thankful for the people who were able to obtain footage of some of your matches; I was so curious!! About how everyone was doing their playstyles! My favorite spectator sport LMAO

Also shoutout to Shadic the one victor whose footage made it to the compilation, that man was A KILLER JESUS. That had to have been a brutal time

Thank you so much!! :D I'm glad you enjoyed watching the few battle videos we put up!!

And yes THAT EVO-BOOST SETUP WAS SO CRUEL, I felt like the biggest idiot when it hit me 😂 The second match where Shadic promised not to use any gimmick teams didn't end well for me either tbh :'D But I'm proud to say I fiNALLY managed to win against him on a third match against his Dark type team, I didn't think it was possible to beat him AT ALL with his far more advanced competitive knowledge (I know like - the basics, my team is competitively trained, I know about...most abilities and favored movesets of often used Pokemon, but I'm not that familiar with the actual competitive scene), but alas...I GOT MY REVENGE

I wish we would have been able to record even more matches 😂 There was an absolutely legendary match where one of the challengers, Allie, managed to defeat my entire remaining team of 4 Pokemon with her LAST standing Baile Style Oricorio. I WAS NOT EVEN MAD, THAT WAS AN AMAZING TURN OF EVENTS As a huge Oricorio-fan, being defeated by one still counts as a win in my book LMAO

Unfortunately we only had ONE person on the server with the equipment to record battles and not only is it an INCREDIBLY time-consuming endeavor, but some of the codes for battle videos I put up online didn't even work for some reason, so we only got 6 videos up, but man, I'm glad we have ANY material up AT ALL 😭

Maybe I'll treat myself to a capture card one day, but right now that's over 200€ I don't feel comfortable in spending 😅😂 MAYBE ONE DAY...

[catboybiologist]

Hi beloved mutual. I cannot leave my bed rn and my brain insisted I make you a pokemon team. I have assigned you these pokemon based on your vibes and given them moves and items recommended online because i know fuck all about competitive pokemon.

I mixed Water-, Ground-, and Bug-types with the closest Pokemon to roundworms (Shuckle) and a tortoise. This is the team I'd imagine you using as a general/admin in some kind of Cali-university-themed villain group. (PhD programs are already kinda evil anyway.) Update this if you want, I already had fun tossing it together. Stay safe

Omfg I love this! These are all personal favorites of mine, you got this SPOT on. With one exception, I'm not that fond of shuckle.

But I will say, those movesets need a LOT of work- mostly the abilities, actually. I might actually rework this into a singles team. Not having Aruqanid as a web setter is crazy, though.

[right-there-ride-on]

SBR Pokemon AU or whatever

so the plot is basically steel ball run. but pokemon. and theres a fic about the concept with different teams but its unfinished. fanart also exists for this concept but i. made this anyway. so basically:

Johnny - team is a bit psychic heavy, but makes up for it with diverse movesets

Competes with: Galarian Rapidash. Nickname: Slow Dancer

This Rapidash was retired by its previous owner, but Johnny recognizes that it still has a competitive spirit and wants to coax it out. However, it won't obey anyone it doesn't respect and puts him through his paces before allowing Johnny to ride.

Gastrodon - Inherited an East Sea Shellos from Nick. He doesn't use him much, but when it evolves into a Gastrodon defending him during Scary Monsters, he finally accepts him.

Lampent - starts following him as Litwick after Nick's death. Evolves into a Lampent after Johnny is disowned. He doesn't like her much and pretends she doesn't exist. He finally accepts her as part of the team after Civil War

Tinkatink - Johnny's main partner. He receives the mysterious egg during the Boom Boom Family Incident. It hatches during the Tusk arc into Tinkatink, Tinkatuff during In a Silent Way, and Tinkaton during the D4C arc.

Bonus: He also has a Cleffa gifted to him during his racing days, who isn't much a battler. She prefers to hide in his hood.

Lastly: Azelf, originally intrigued by Ringo, begins following Johnny and Gyro after a True Man's World. Occasionally it offers Johnny assistance and can sense his dark determination. However, Azelf is fickle, and abandons him when it senses his determination wavering. Officially joins his team after Philidelphia.

Gyro - team mostly composed of normal / steel types; considers himself a well-rounded trainer

Competes with: Mudsdale. Oddly fast. Nickname: Valkyrie

Mudsdale - Gyro and Mudsdale get along quite well. They're both very stubborn and determined to do things their way. There's not much they disagree on. Gyro has total faith in Valkyrie, and raised her since she was a Mudbray. She has immense trust in him, though sometimes their similar natures prevent them from taking wiser courses of action.

Dewott - Gyro's primary battler. The Zeppelis learned how to perfect the Golden Rotation by watching Dewott master their Schalchops. Since then, the eldest son of the Zeppeli family has always taken an Oshawott for a partner. However, these Oshawott mysteriously do not tend to evolve further than their second stage. Breaking one tradition along with another, Gyro's Dewott evolves into a Samurott during True Man's World, and he struggles to master Samurott's new skills. Only after facing Wekapipo are Gyro and Samurott able to once again work in perfect tandem.

Ferroseed - a gift from Gyro's father. It's quite sturdy, and enjoys playing along with Gyro's jokes, as well as his cheating. Evolves into Ferrothorn just before the confrontation with Valentine.

Aegislash - another pokemon Gyro brought from Naples. Originally bestowed as a gift from the king, It's been with the Zeppelis for generations, but has never actually left Naples, its homeland. It enjoys seeing new places and is a fierce battler. However, it does have some tension with Gyro because it can sense that Gyro's loyalty is not to the crown. Aegislash mends its bond with Gyro during the battle with Valentine.

Audino - the first pokemon Gyro caught in the states, right before the battle with Oyecomova. It's healing waves are probably the only reason they're still alive. It's quite cheerful and enjoys taking care of Johnny's pokemon, especially Tinkatink and Cleffa.

Spinda - Gyro caught Spinda on a whim just before the Boom Boom family attacked. He thinks its adorable, even if it's not much a battler. Johnny seems to be the only one to recognize it's mischievous nature, which it plays off with its ditziness. It enjoys antagonizing Slow Dancer, but is only actually aggressive towards teams other than Gyro and Johnny.

Diego - a ruthless and cunning breeder-turned-ace trainer.

Competes with: Zebstrika. Nickname: Silver Bullet

Zebstrika - Diego personally invested time and money into breeding a Blitzle with the highest pedigree, which he then trained ferociously until he evolved into a striking and dangerous Zebstrika. It hasn't let him down yet. They're both mean-spirited to others but care for each other.

Vespiqueen - One of Diego's fiercest battlers. He took care of her when she was a Combee; she evolved during his racing days and gained a rather notorious reputation, never letting up until her opponent is totally defeated. However, after Diego's loss in Catch the Rainbow, he lets her go and tells her to build the fiercest colony imaginable, which she accepts. However, she returns to aid him in Philidelphia, rejoining his team for his final battle against Valentine.

Archen - acquired by Ferdinand and given to Diego. As a battler, basically useless, but serves him well in reconnaissance and critical attacks. It's quite primal and initially doesn't really listen to him; however, it starts working better within his team after the Third Stage. Has evolved into Archeops by the time D4C arc starts.

Zweilous - Diego's primary partner. Just as ruthless as him, and quite brutal to her opponents. Zweilous turns on Ferdinand for Diego and joins his team post-Scary Monsters. However, she's not very smart, and often gets distracted by infighting between her heads. She doesn't get along with the rest of his team, which causes problems. She's also quite possessive of Diego but is always ultimately obedient. She evolves into Hydregion during his final match with Valentine, and surprisingly works well with Hot Pants' team.

Bisharp - the first and only pokemon Diego properly catches in the US. Despite her solitary nature, she works well with the rest of his team, even if she prefers to lead. He catches her as a Pawniard, evolving into Bisharp during Diego's match with Gyro in Catch the Rainbow. Has evolved into a Kingambit by the time D4C arc starts and takes out half of Valentine's team before her defeat.

Houndoom - found Diego after his mother's death and fed off of his bitterness and spite. It was abandoned by its pack for being weak, leaving it alone. Diego took care of it and it was his first partner pokemon. Despite this, he appears fairly friendly, at least until Diego deems you an enemy. Evolved into a Houndoom during Diego's racing days. Dislikes most people; however, Houndoom is actually quite fond of Johnny, and despite commands won't attack him or his team, to Diego's frustration. May be due to the fact that Johnny will feed Houndoom food that Diego usually forbids him from eating.

Hot Pants - focuses on dealing heavy damage to opponents and leaving lingering effects

Competes with: Rapidash. Nikname: Gets Up

Rapidash - Hot Pants and Rapidash respect one another, but they are not particularly close. Rapidash was lent to them by the Vatican. This does not mean they aren't an effective team; however, they excel at long-range and prefer taking the race slow and steady.

Toxicroak - Hot Pants' primary partner. Don't get on her bad side. Hot Pants originally met her as a Croagunk after their brother's death, and they have been together ever since. Toxicroak is a fierce battler and likes to deal opponents a flurry of hits, poisoning them with her last blow. Does not take insults lightly, and as such as a vendetta against Gyro.

Kecleon - Not much of a battler, but one of HP's best partners nonetheless. HP often uses Kecleon to sneak up on enemies and knock them out, avoiding a lengthy battle and finishing things quickly. Despite not doing well in one-on-one matches, Kecleon excels with teamwork and is a tough opponent regardless. HP leaves Kecleon with Lucy while Lucy is impersonating Scarlet.

Sigylyph - sent to HP along with Rapidash by the Vatican. Glass canon; strong psychic attacks but a low defense. However, HP strategizes around this by having Sigylyph be used primarily for recon or set-up, or when forced into direct confrontation hovering out of reach. Sigylyph is loyal to HP for most of the story; however, it turns against them during Civil War. This ultimately strengthens their bond, and together they give Valentine not a little trouble in the latter half of D4C.

Gloom - HP's team healer. Gloom is shy but obedient. She often freaks out around men, with the exception of Johnny. However, this proved to be a problem during HP and Diego's tag-team battle against Valentine when Gloom refused to heal Diego's pokemon, only doing so after being threatened by Archeops. Gloom, along with Toxicroak, is the pokemon most often seen with HP. They typically use Gloom's Power abilities to inflict status effects on opponents before switching out.

Wormadam (Trash Cloak) - HP picks up Wormadam in Civil War after it intervenes with their match against Axl Ro. Wormadam isn't much of a battler; however, it's trash cloak is useful against Valentine's more dangerous physical attacks and it manages to wear out his team a bit before being defeated.

Lucy - never had the chance to go on a trainer journey, and as such is a bit frightened by pokemon. However, she does have two partner pokemon that accompany and try to protect her.

Fomantis - gifted to her by Stephen. She tries to protect her as best she can, but in truth is rather weak. However, when she is separated from Lucy while Lucy impersonates Scarlet, she vows to get stronger to it can protect her. She trains herself nonstop and evolves into Lurantis, before being informed by Cutiefly that Lucy is in danger, whereupon it attempts to rescue her. Valentine defeats Lurantis, but in the end Lurantis is able to heal Lucy once Johnny has defeated Valentine.

Cutiefly - Lucy's first partner. It's quite weak, but because it's a small, discreet pokemon it's able to look after Lucy when she's in trouble and seek help. Cutiefly is the one who guides HP and Diego, and in turn Johnny and Gyro, to Lucy and Valentine.

In the place of collecting Jesus' Corpse is a race to find Victini, probably (they both grant limitless power / victory to one who posses them?)

Valentine - Psychic Specialist

Flourgess (orange flower) - a gift from Scarlet to Valentine while a Floette. While beautiful, she is haughty and cruel, and looks down on the rest of Valentine's team. She attempts to kill Lucy when she found out Scarlet was missing. Valentine is often seen with her public, but he leaves her in the gardens otherwise.

Gothitelle - her powerful psychic abilities helped Valentine rise to power. She was the one who initially communicated to him myths of Victini's power. Valentine has had her since he was a boy and she a Gothita. She used to be his primary partner, but they still share a close bond.

Cramorant - passed down from president to president. Valentine was intially a little disgusted upon receiving it, but he learned to appreciate what a brutal battler Cramorant is. Cramorant is usually his second pokemon and easily cleans up an opponent's weakened pokemon.

Malamar - Valentine's current primary partner. Gleefully carries out his dirty work and enjoys intimidating his subordinates. Has a strong distaste for Diego. However, Malamar expects to be pampered in return, which Valentine reluctantly accepts.

Urshifu - Valentine's ace pokemon. He caught it while abroad. It dislikes him but respects his ambition, and as such obeys his orders. A frightening opponent, sweeping half of Diego's team before being defeated in Valentine and Diego's final match.

Victini - forcibly bound to Valentine's will during D4C. Hates him.

Bonus:

Pocoloco - Ludicolo

Soundman - Chimecho

If you read this far. I'm sorry

[pokemonbattletournament]

I don't play competitive so a lot of these stat and movesets I see people posting mean next to nothing to me. For me I vote based on if it were me and my friends playing for fun, which pokemon would likely win in these battles. Sometimes it is type based, sometimes I have other reasons (such as having used a pokemon and it being a beast on my team), and sometimes I'm honestly kinda guessing.

But I do feel like that Arthur meme "that sign won't stop me because I can't read" when people say "X wins bc <insert stats nature and moveset> OHKO's Y"

.

[proseka-headcanons]

wxs pokemon battling types:

emu is the one with 10 year old kid movesets, her team is the epitome of that articuno with four ice moves

nene has the optimised competitive team that has every type coverage and sweeps most of the game

tsukasa picks up whatever he thinks looks cool and will grow unreasonably attached to his pokemon and it pains him to leave anything in the box ever (he probably names his pokemon after his friends)

rui has 6 toxic stallers just to battle with and piss off both tsukasa and nene (he's also the type to use sets like FEAR lvl 1 rattata and items like the focus band just to be a menace)

rui would just be fucking with them the WHOLE time you’re so right anon

[mocc-tok-flip-flop]

So it's been a while since I posted, but I got deep into the Pokemon fandom again and the train twins have now taken over! I just had to design some Pokemon forms for Emmet and Ingo!!

I know some people aren't as into stats and abilities, but I really wanted to sit down and hash out their strategies and movesets. They're subway masters AND ridiculously strong and skilled trainers, so I wanted to make sure that their Pokemon forms also reflected that! So if you're into that (or learning how Hisui changed their partnership) it'll be under the Read More below!

Let me know if y'all want to see more of these guys! I have even written their Pokedex entries and figured out their habits and natures! (Also, just because I thought it was funny, now Ingo is the one who's weak to Earthquake)

Ok, so the first thing I determined were general specialties! Ingo, despite his intimidating appearance and his fighting typing, is actually a better special attacker. I imagine that the twins play up the perception that other people have for them: Ingo is indimidating and Emmet is friendly, so Ingo is actually a sneaky special attacker and Emmet is a surprise physical attacker!

Their base stats reflect this, and I put their total around evolved starter range to make sure they're viable for competitive battling. As for typing, it was mostly based on various Pokemon they have on their teams, but I kinda wanted to make them partially types suited more to their counterpart, so Electric for Ingo and Steel(?) for Emmet? It's not perfect, but I HAD to make sure Ingo shared a typing with Lady Sneasler so they can be friends in Hisui. And Emmet is a Bug type because Emmet.

I agonized over their movesets and abilities for a long time, but I really wanted to show that they are a Duo, Please Do Not Seperate. So their moves and abilities help to cover each other in a double battle! Ingo has the absolute beast of a move Boomburst (both because he's loud and because it's a 140 base special attack with no downsides) so he's got Brick Break to make sure that there's no screens or shields blocking his big finishing move. Workup helps with all of his moves and since it boosts physical and special, it works to hide his little-known special attack specialty until it's too late.

I had fun with Emmet's moveset! Not only does he have Reflect to help cover his beloved brother's weaknesses, but in the case they're fighting a singles battle he's got U-Turn to effortlessly switch into his brother's big finisher move. I waffled between Reflect and another move that would reduce special defence (set up even better for Ingo's finishing move), but ultimately decided I liked Emmet shielding his big brother better.

I also want you to know that for his move Attack Order, Emmet literally commands a small battalion of Joltiks who like to hide in his coat. Verrry cute.

Of course, the codependency doesn't stop at their moves! Ingo's ability literally reduces the damage that Emmet takes when they battle together, and Emmet's Volt Absorb ability means that Ingo can always heal up his little brother if the Joltiks don't heal him first.

And now we get to the sad part. During their separation, both of them change, as now they no longer have each other to rely on in battle. Ingo changes out his Brick Break for an Aura Sphere, as when fighting solo (and sometimes multiple opponents) he doesn't have time for a lot of setup and is best on relying on his special attacking rather than trying to play the long game. His ability also changes to Defiant, to reflect his heightened need for fighting and his determination to find what he knows is missing (YES I know technically abilities can't really change but THEY'RE SPECIAL OK and it was sadder this way).

And oh boy, while Emmet can pretend he's fine as much as he wants, his changes truly show how much Ingo's loss devastated him. There's no-one left to switch with, so he trades his U-Turn for a more aggressive Lunge instead. And even worse, his new ability, Anger Point, will boost his attack once he hits half health. Which means that now he will try to get hurt and stay hurt, since now his brother can no longer heal him :(

Sorry for so much rambling, but I got suuuuper into designing these guys! The actual designs are alright, but I still think they need to be more distinctive somehow. Might go back and tweak it a bit later, but I'm happy with it for now. Why are they weird kangaroo things with hooves? Idk, but they look cool and that's what really matters~

[annihilatius]

Okay so months ago I made a post asking if anyone would want to see a thing I did where I assigned Pokemon to random Bioshock characters, and even tho a lot of y'all said yes I never followed up on it because that was only a little while before I fell out of Bioshock so I just tried to pretend it didn't exist... UNTIL NOW!!!

A lot of these don't go any deeper than, at least in terms of the Pokemons design and psychical body language (personality), "Because I Just Think It Fits Them." There is some clever stuff here but none of it is super deep.. and as you all know I'm no expert on Bioshock 2 and some other characters like Yi Suchong so my perception of what I think they're like may be flawed, so sorry if it's disappointing in that aspect

I don't want to explain my exact thought process for every single one of these because it'd be exhausting and it'd ruin a lot of the subtlety but I will explain more of the niche references or things that make no sense at first glance, like things you would only understand if you read the Pokemon in questions Pokedex entries, because I'm aware most of you aren't complete nerds like me (btw if you don't know, "ace" in Pokemon terms means the head and/or strongest Pokemon in a trainers team, you're gonna see that word a lot)

@splicedm0th @kluskinoodles @yuro-skell @bunnie-killer-laser-beam @fancysilverfox just tagging everyone who interacted with the original post so they can see it (sorry if I forgot someone this is just who I remember)

Kingambit is to me the PERFECT Pokemon for Andrew Ryan like there isn't a single one that fits better. The way these are set up aren't necessarily saying which order which Pokemon is sent out, ace Pokemon most often go last or second to last, but Kingambit specifically goes last in Andrew's team because I imagine his Kingambit would have the ability Supreme Overlord, an ability that stacks the Pokemons ATK & spATK by 10% whenever an ally Pokemon faints. I'm not going to give actual competitive movesets for each character or even just a select few because that would literally take me hours but that was my thought process. Also shiny because why wouldn't the king of Rapture have a shiny?

Jasmine gets Mega Diancie because I just think she would and also because she deserves it. She's been through so much just let her have this one thing. Lilligant and Vivillon are there specifically because they can learn the move quiver dance, a reference to her being a dancer. I made her Vivillon the Polar Pattern to stand as a reference to the headcanon that she's Swedish (Vivillon is a Pokemon whose design changes based on where you are in the world, and the Polar Pattern appears in Sweden)

Brigids team looks ridiculous at first glance but the idea was that each Pokemon except for the last two are Pokemon that are good with kids or have an emphasis on motherhood (Kangaskhan), meanwhile Rhyperior and Kingdra are there so she can actually have some kind of firepower. This is one of the more flawed teams though I'm not fully satisfied with it. Yi Suchongs team really isn't that good either, I couldn't think of much for him, sorry... </3

Side characters/less important characters get teams of three or one, or if I just couldn't think of giving them any more. Steinmans team is like that as a reference to how he acts, I took the idea of him being obsessed with making his (most often female iirc) patients beautiful, so I gave him "beautiful" (shiny) female Pokemon. The fact his Gardevoir can mega evolve doesn't really matter but if I was gonna introduce the concept of megas here, then sure he can have a mega too. Not really fully satisfied with Peach's team but it's serviceable I guess. Julie has a bit more thought though. Florges was THE Pokemon for her, Tsareena is there Because Grass Type but she has a Galvantula because I'd imagine she'd use it to get rid of any pesky bugs among her trees or something like that.

Sander Cohens team requires no explanation but Anna's contrasts him interestingly. Her ace Araquanid counters his Volcarona (water/bug>fire/bug) and has an Oricorio too, but a different style than his. Also has a Decidueye to parallel with his Primarina. Most of the Disciples are obvious, (Kyle has a Noivern because it's a sound-based Pokemon and he plays an instrument) but Hectors Great Tusk was based entirely off the headcanon Kluski made that his favorite animals are elephants and I liked that (the idea was given to me by Yuro-skell though). Now that I look back, Alolan Muk would have worked for him but Great Tusk is infinitely cooler

Here's when it gets a bit more complex: Sofia and Eleanors teams are built in a way where I do think the respective Pokemon *fit* them, but they're specifically made to where all of Sofias Pokemon counters Eleanors (dark>psychic, ice>grass, grass>water, bug>dark, fire>bug, fighting>normal.) The fact Eleanor specifically has an unevolved Eevee is representative of how Subject Deltas actions inspire Eleanor. If you get a good ending, the Eevee evolves into a Sylveon, and if you get a bad or neutral ending, it evolves into a Jolteon

Augustus Sinclair's team is entirely based off of "because I think he'd have them" really. I know that's disappointing but I was satisfied with it and I couldn't really be bothered to change it. Not all of these are gonna be clever, I just FEEL like he'd have a Gallade ya know. Also forgot to include it but the Gallade can mega evolve

No Stanley here sorry. That's not motivated by how I dislike him, its mostly just because I know I wouldn't be able to think of anything... Grace has a Lapras, Altaria and Meloetta as a reference to how she's a singer, to which all three of those Pokemon can learn the move sing, and iirc also perish song? At least I know Lapras and Altaria can. Simon having an Omastar as an ace is a Pokemon community inside joke lol. I do still overall think it fits him through. Alexander The Greats team is by far one of the ones I'm the most satisfied with. (This is specifically spliced Gil btw not normal Gil) I think his team is perfect and fits his personality so well. His Rotom-Wash is shiny because of the color scheme actually. Whenever I think of Fontaine Futuristics, at least the place by Gils tank, I think of a very dangerous looking red, and Rotom-Wash fits the bill for that color perfectly

Charles has a Spiritomb because in its lore, Spiritomb is a collective, almost hivemind vortex of 108 dead peoples souls trapped inside it, and yes I know this is a stretch, it kind of reminded me of how he used The Thinker to imitate a dead person, so in a symbolic metaphorical sense, Pearls soul kind of lives on inside The Thinker? Hate to explain this one but like I said it's so niche and specific I don't think anyone would get it if I didn't explain it. The reason why his Toucannon is shiny is a joke I'm not gonna explain, just google "shiny Toucannon" and you'll immediately get it lol. Charles and Reed's team parallel each other a bit too: both of them having birds with Toucannon and Xatu, both of them having Paradox Pokemon, both of them having a gen 4 starter, both of them having an Eeveelution. Not really satisfied with the Eeveelution part at all but these two were the hardest for me to put together and I just wanted to get it over with. WHATEVER it's FINE

BONUS ROUND!!! If you thought I wasn't gonna include the Multiplayer characters you are sorrowly mistaken my friend... they all only get one but I put some thought into them. Barbara has a Marowak to the reference of how Cubones mourn the loss of their mothers (the mothers being Marowaks), so I thought her having a Marowak would represent her grief as a mother who lost her daughter. Buck has a G-Max Meowth in particular because it has the move "G-Max Gold Rush", a move that does damage and scatters coins across the ground, where the coins get picked up after the battle, as an obvious reference to him being a rich businessman. Blanche has a Lurantis as a symbolic reprentation of her personality: beautiful at a distance but deadly up close. Oscar has a Luxray because he canonically has cats. Luxray is a big cat. So I gave him Luxray. Yeah

[strontiumsun]

Ahead of Pokemon Day, I'm throwing out my Pokemon Legends Z-A starter predictions:

Snivy, that evolves into a Grass/Steel Serperior

Litten, that evolves into a Fire/Fairy Incineroar

And either Piplup, that evolves into a Water/Ghost Empoleon OR Sobble, that evolves into a Water/Poison Inteleon

Color palette from here.

Theory-crafting after the cut!

Snivy

I mentioned on my Serperior art that I think this Pokemon is a shoo-in for Z-A. It's literally based on French nobility. Aside from its design, I think Serperior is deserving of another form with more min-maxed stats. Competitively, Serperior lives and dies by its Contrary ability. Without it, it's base 75 Special Attack is wholly unimpressive. It's fast, somewhat bulky and weak. It can do better!

I'd like to see a Grass/Steel Serperior that wields itself like a rapier or epee. I'd redistribute its Special Defense and Special Attack points into Attack and Defense, and keep the speed, making it a physically defensive fast attacker. With Swords Dance, Leaf Blade, Sacred Sword and Smart Strike - or a new Steel-type signature move - plus its great options like Coil, Leech Seed and Glare, I could see this being a very effective Pokemon in competitive.

Litten

I didn't so much choose Litten as it became the only viable option. Emboar is ruled out because of Snivy; Charizard and Blaziken are ruled out because they have Megas; Skeledirge is too soon. That left Infernape, Incineroar and Cinderace, and of the three I feel Incin has the most potential.

Incineroar may be the most popular and effective support Pokemon in doubles, but it's no secret this Pokemon isn't great in singles. A new Incineroar form based on singles, with an equally busted ability as Intimidate, could be pretty cool.

Theme-wise, I like how Litten is a black cat, reminding me of this famous French poster. As for Incineroar, I think a Fire/Fairy clown or mime-inspired design would rock. Alolan Incin is a wrestler with a heel persona who secretly has a heart of gold; Kalosian Incin could have the appearance of a cheerful clown but really be quite sinister. It would be an interesting juxtaposition.

Stats-wise, Incin's speed is the main issue, but making it bulkier could offset that. I'd gut its Special Attack and move those points into more bulk. I'd also give it Recover so it can act more like a wall with an amazing defensive typing, and Trick to cause havoc by switching items. Flare Blitz, U-Turn and Knock Off would stay in its moveset, with the addition of Play Rough or another new signature Fairy STAB. Now imagine if it had an ability like Magic Bounce. Scary!

Piplup

Piplup seems like an obvious choice... which is why I'm not all in on it. I'm worried that two Pokemon with similar vain personalities based on French rulers in one starter trio might be too much overlap.

If Piplup does get in, I'd like to see a Water/Ghost type Empoleon. Imagine a hazard-setting spin blocker with Competitive. That would be pretty OP.

Sobble

Sobble is my least favorite Pokemon. I despise this creature. But Inteleon really needs something more in its kit to help it stand out from other Water type attackers. I could see it being used to represent the gentleman thief Arsène.

Water/Poison is the type I'd like to see and one I've seen cool concept art for. Kalosian Inteleon could be a fast pivot with the ability to disrupt the battlefield. I'd give it some kind of signature Poison type move that sets Sticky Web, plus Mortal Spin so it can remove its hazards on its side of the field. Stats-wise, I'd move its attack into Special Defense, retaining its high speed and special attack. Kind of like a more potent attacker version of Tentacruel.

[sammylbir]

How I lost my passion for pokemon and how I miss the series still

A bit ventish stuff ahead. I didnt correct grammar, so...sorry.

Heya. This is a bit of a ventish post, so......do stick around. I'm gonna tell you the story, as to why I lost my passion for pokemon yet still miss it deeply.

How did I get into the series? I did play some platinum and heart-gold versions from my friends, but never did a proper run off my own. However, after watching a nuzlocke, I decided to try pokemon for the first time proper. That was in 2015 I believe.

I played pokemon emerald and oh god. It was so magical.

I felt free.....boundless. As if I could express myself properly....

It felt wonderful. And even though back then I was too inexperienced to beat the champ back then, I still had fun. So, I played more games.

All of them.

Whenever I tried playing pokemon, I always wanted to plan ahead. Movesets and such. So I looked for a pokemon guide for movesets.

And unfortunately, it was one for competitive pokemon. Reading this warped my understanding of the game. Suddenly, I judged pokemon based on the tiers they were in. I couldn't just pick pokemon I liked visually anymore.

All I could see, were their stats. And when I saw a mon that was not in the higher tiers, I was afraid of using it. It didn't help that I got into competitive pokemon proper around that time. Starting in Gen 6 PU, shortly before the release of Sun and Moon. I was not good there at all and even criticised for using pokemon that were "unviable". Now granted, back then I took that criticism too personally. Some pokemon are just pretty weak and I get that. But the problem was that I like weak pokemon. I like the underdogs. And I am not a huge fan of blasting through the game with the strong mons.

It didn't feel satisfying.

I played in the lower tiers from them on, and the more I played it, the more and more my passion began to drain. And this influenced my ingame playthroughs too.

Suddenly, I struggled in the games. But not for the reasons you may think. I got overly anxious, changing new pokemon, checking weaknesses and stats. I was a bit mocked by my pokemon choices too, like with Ledian and whatnot. Needless to say, I was obsessed.

I wiped again. And again. Resetting the games over and over again, to finally find a pokemon team that was perfect. Perfect and strong. You can probably imagine how that went.

It went miserable.

But it wasn't just that alone, as a problem. It was also the fandom. (Note: This is not directed at anyone)

My takes on pokemon were a bit unorthodox. I am not much of a fan of Cynthia and prefer champs like Alder. I was attacked in the comments for stating my opinion and just saw so much negativity there.

It wasn't better on YT either. Pokemon being judged harshly, being called trash. I mean I get that Ledian, Unown and Delibird are statistically bad. But I dont know, it kind of made me feel like that if I don't use pokemon that most use, then i'd get bullied.

It became even worse, when Scarlet and Violet came out. Because then, they showed Geeta. I loved her character and her team. Because it felt like it would fit my philosophy about using pokemon I liked.

But alas, I was the only Geeta fan in a sea full of Geeta haters. Their criticism was valid, since Geeta's team had some serious issues (Glimmora last, instead of Kinggambit for instance). Yet there were so many hate vids there that it annoyed me and I guess it caused a breakdown of sorts.

Every time I play pokemon, I get burnt out. Sometimes I wish that I didn't even know what smogon was. Even though I did enjoy my time there.

Yet, I still miss pokemon. It's been a great part of my life and yet I have no clue how to restore my love for the genre.

The End.

[kafus]

okay i’m finally going to explain why i was breeding for a mild eevee in emerald yesterday

so. last year when i had covid i replayed leafgreen to pass time, and i opted to use jolteon on my team. he just so happened to be mild nature and also have maximum base power HP water which is crazy good for coverage (hits ground types immune to thunderbolt for super effective damage)

suffice to say egg quickly became the star of my team, and he naturally became level 100 as a result of leading with him while grinding levels thru exp share on other pokemon (i was making a living dex of all mons i could obtain on a single copy of leafgreen)

then much more recently i started a replay of xd gale of darkness, and even though flareon has a reputation of being not great especially in gen 3, and despite xd being a generally more difficult pokemon game, i decided to run it for the bit and also bc. i have matching plushies of jolteon and flareon with my qpp irl and their names are egg and toast. so i was like i can have toast in gen 3 too! :D

and he also just so happened to be mild nature???? the first eevee i got was modest but -attack is REALLY bad for flareon and because i knew i needed all the help i could get on this flareon, i decided to reset until i got a nature that wasn’t -attack… and literal first reset i got a mild eevee again lol, so i was like omg they’re matching and moved on

for the record flareon actually ended up working out pretty well, you get the charcoal item fairly early on into XD and with fire blast and the +spa nature, toast was still nuking enemies left and right, plus he has physical coverage to boot (ended up with double edge and shadow ball on his moveset)

anyway i need to grind mt battle in xd for a shitton of pokecoupons to get all the special berries from the shop there, and i was indecisive on what to use for my team. the npcs max out at level 70, and you can bring level 100s, so it’s not like i need a particularly competitive team, and egg is my current only level 100 on my new gen 3 saves, so i decided i would definitely bring him. then i decided to level toast to 100 to match and bring him too. and then i was like hmm i feel like i should have one more pokemon… what about vaporeon to complete the trio??

so entirely for the bit. i bred an eevee with mild nature to match the other two. to get a vaporeon named Coffee that will be used for mt battle grinding LMAO

it took 89 eggs jesus christ but i got him. i’m still getting him to level 100, it’s a slow grind lol, even with the trade exp boost from moving him to leafgreen. he has wish as an egg move because WHY NOT.

and yeah that’s the explanation. the mild breakfast brothers. they are going to destroy xd’s mt battle

[girlbob-boypants]

with new pokemon game, wanting to ask: what are some of your favorite pokemon? do you a gen preference? type preference? are there pokemon you like aesthetically but dont like their movesets? any type of designs that you just dont like?

You've fallen into my arena trap cause yeah I have so many feelings about all of this.

Favorites: I'm kind of a stereotypical girl with these BUT. Vaporeon, both forms of Vulpix/Ninetails, Gardevoir, and Flygon

Honorable mentions not shown: Abomasnow, Noivern, Whimiscott

Generation preference: for me that tends to be gens 3, 4, and 5. Most of my favorites are from there and they also feature some of my favorite games. I can't comment on competitive balance cause I've literally never cared. Too much of the competitive scene is trying to read your opponent while sharing 50%+ of your teams.

This was also a great set of generations for side games imo. There was a battle game for the Wii that has content people *still* talk about. The Mystery Dungeon series was during gens 3 and 4 iirc. The Pokemon Ranger games came out during the DS era of gen 4 and I loved those. I never played it but Gale of Darkness has this cult following. Game was SUPER loved by edgelord kids (and also features Lugia one of my most useless faves).

Type preference: You may think it's ice types but those bitches always show up so fucking late in the game and I get really attached to my early game teams. I tend to pick up water types, grass types, and psychic types when I play. It's hard to sell me on fire types, fighting types, and rock types. They tend to have designs that I think are good but not my aesthetic.

Pokemon I like aesthetically but don't like the movesets: Yeag Whimsicott my beloved. They're a TERRIBLE attacker and since I play the single player games I really don't have need for a setup mon. Anything that can't just blast through the enemies is just not something I'll end up using alskdfjsldkfj. Sadly.

I also tend to prefer pokemon that can learn multiple types for coverage rather than using pokemon of different types for that. It's not as good an idea but ehhhhhhhhhh. It works.

Designs I don't like: Ok so before I say this. I need to clarify. I am NOT an early gen purist. I think earlier gens have plenty of bad designs.

However.

I think Gen 9/PSV has been real fuckin bad design wise. Not all of them are bad but there are *so* many that I think just...aren't pokemon designs. People can defend the tinkaton line all they want but I don't get it. That's a digimon and the hammer doesn't add anything to it as an animal thing in the setting. Palafin can perish I hate it. Why are the legendaries so desperate to have motorcycle elements when being dragons of the future and past are more interesting. Ceruledge and Armarouge are perfectly fine designs. For something else. I think they're bad pokemon. Too mega man for me.

Why do the future paradox pokemon kinda suck. Especially with how creative the designs of the past paradox pokemon are.

Sawk and Thro are also. Really bad. In my opinion.

I tend to just not like designs that have like...they don't care to be a living part of the world? If that makes sense? Like the ceruledge/armarouge duo don't feel like possessed armor or creatures that evolved to look strangely like knights.

Also if they're just. Ugly. In a design way not in a "oh it's a little ugly guy" way. Things are allowed to be ugly little dudes but why is the design bad ugly. Why do Sawk and Thro exist.