#competitive pokemon moveset

[dinoserious]

pikasona doodle design

[askteamsupernova]

What was Sheena's rescue team like? Is she still in contact with them?

Sheena: I'm very glad Requiem and I moved to Treasure Town, but I will admit I miss seeing my old friends in person. Letters and photographs are excellent, but something about sitting down for tea with someone you love is so very healing.

[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)

[noelledeltarune]

i love watching ur pokemon posting like yess go noelle u got those bitches!!!

THANK YOU!!! + PERFECT TIMING I LITERALLY JUST BEAT INGO

[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

[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...

[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"

.

[unriding]

just so you know evie ive been having such bad pokemon brainrot i just need to get it out

what would you be in the pokemon au ? trainer ? gym leader ? researcher/professor ? breeder/caretaker ??? does your team work well with moze in a duo team ?? any pokemon you both have traded with each other ??? what's your main type and whos your ace pokemon ??? i need details 🙏🙏🙏

HI NICK i let this sit and marinate so i could think of a proper response!! im so sorry … BUT i have finally come up with an overly specific & lengthy answer (expected) u^u i was originally planning on responding by building an entire proper competitive team he could use with the move sets & items bahahaha but maybe not!!

but anyways, i want to imagine moze as the 8th gym leader w dark types being his specialty, & then i would be working with nurse joy as a caretaker nodsnod!!

since it’s like that- i’d like to send my audino to keep him company sometimes when im not able to come & he’s there late at night :> maybe she could bond with his pkmn since she’s always healing them after fights!

moze found my florges as a flabebe (cradled it in his hands & came up to show her to me ajajsnk) (“i found this.”) & i came across his hydreigon as an injured deino & healed it! he seemed to naturally prefer being around moze- & so he ended up taking deino in to raise him :] so i guess not an official trade but a gift to each other!

my ace would ofc be florges since it was moze who trusted me to take care of her!! i think i would definitely include moonblast in her moveset & give her either leftovers or a kee berry :] she could be super strong… likely with wish too… but in general, i would love to use fairy and / or grass types 🤍

(also.. if i were to battle alongside him, i would want to build them to support his own pokemon!!!)

[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~

[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

[candyredappledragon]

Does Furret participate in Pokémon battles or are they moral support?

both actually! furret is a support pokemon! he has a moveset to help others and- ah sorry i got a "little" into competitive but you know for fun! florian inspired me to make a team that involves with pokemon i love and build it from there. though furret prefers to be my moral support. i grab him, hug him tight and i forget about my loss.

though some of my pokemon do enjoy the quiet and relaxing life so its a win-win for us! i leave some of them with my grandparents to help them around the house or do activities. i am very grateful for them!

[kob131]

Lily Orchard and Pokemon: Gen 3

Okay I'm gonna try to keep these shorter. But to be fair- Lily is going to start belly aching in Gen 4 beyond so I might have more to cover.

"Brendan misogynyist because he assume Gym Leader kid guy!"

Lily's, he's fucking ten. I don't even think you CAN be sexist at that age because I don't think your brain is developed enough to form complex thoughts or beliefs. Also that is LITERALLY the one time he mentions it.

"I like Brendan because he's not trying super hard to be friend or be rude!"

Again, Lily. You misread Blue who does nothing but slag you off and throw tantrums. Your view on story elements is so thoroughly tainted they can't be taken seriously.

"Brendan's salty when he loses!"

Huh, he actually kind of is. I never noticed that. I guess Brendan has about a quarter of a character. ... What, more than what May or anyone in Gen 6 got.

Still doesn't raise him above 'one of the worst rivals in Pokemon.' Also, good job Lily. You actually showed me something new. Took you only...50 minutes...

*Another captialism dig*

We get it Lily- You long to be locked into a gulag and then shot by a firing squad. Move on.

"What is it about Rock that makes it good for a first time Gym?"

That's the kind of thing a retrospective is supposed to SOLVE, Lily. You're supposed to be asking yourself 'Why did the developers choose to do this at this point instead of something else?' But so far, your video has been nothing but you either belly aching or you making half baked jokes.

Anyway- Rock is chosen to encourage the player to diversify their moveset as Rock resists Normal, the most common attacking type in the early game, as well as all of them being physically defensive, which counters most attacks in the early game as Physical Normal moves. It's also weak to Grass and Water, encouraging the player to experiment and understand type matchups better. The Fire problem is solved by either slapping the Fighting type onto the starter or giving it a Steel move in the case of FR/LG.

"Match Call is stupid! Before you could refuse everyone's numbers but now they get forcibly added and they bother you all the time!"

It's called 'world building' Lily. They call to make them feel like real people.

"The Macho Brace is dumb in the main game because you can't control what you fight in the main game so all your Pokemon become worse faster!"

... What?

First off- Wouldn't that make the Macho Brace a competitive focused item? Thus there being no real reason to bring it up?

Second- Yes, you can control what you fight. Go fight wild Pokemon with the Macho Brace. They'll give you the proper EVs if you care THAT much.

Third- EVs...can't make your Pokemon worse. They can be wasted but they are only ever buffs. And you don't need perfect EVs for the main game. Try proofreading.

"Team Magma/Aqua are good because you don't encounter them that often so they can concoct their plans!"

Lily, you just got done explaining why Maxie (and by extension, Archie in Sapphire) is a fucking moron for trying to erupt a volcano which would kill INNUMERABLE PEOPLE just to make land (or water) for Pokemon. (She says it's for people.)

By definition, they are not good just because there is less of them and thus they can make plans. It just means they have less time to fail those stupid plans.

"The Lavaridge Gym sucks because you have to navigate mud titles and which ones transport you and which ones are trainers are up to fate to decide!"

... Lily. If there are two titles right next to each other that seem to be blocking off more, distant titles that correspond to ones from above- they're probably trainers. Its very obvious which ones are trainers.

I found this out when I was EIGHT.

"Flannery stammers her intro which is dumb!"

Her character is that she's a newbie Gym Leader uncertain of what to do.

Story telling, Lily. A key feature of RPGs. Engage with it.

"Gardevoir broken because Special bulk and Calm Mind!"

A. This is a game for children Lily. Numerous Pokemon can sweep Gym Leaders.

And B. Fun Fact Lily- Most offensive Pokemon prefer high Speed over high bulk since cries are a thing. So if a bulky Psychic is broken, guess how monstrous a Psychic with say...10 extra Sp.ATK, 20 SP.Def and a HUGE increase in Speed would be.

... Oh right, that's GEN 1 ALAKAZAM. The same Pokemon you mocked as 'not being that strong'. Contradicting yourself AGAIN Lily.

"Hoenn has too many water routes, which are boring and annoying-"

Hub, I actually agree-

"-but everyone mock IGN!"

And there it is.

Lily, people mocked IGN both as a joke abd because they gave Ruby and Sapphire, objectively worse games, a 9.5.

"No one ever talks about how Pokemon uses music! They use good themes for the legendaries causing peoples in Ruby and Sapphire but not Emerald! Certainly not BW where N is fucking stupid or Zinna's theme is intense but not battle! The remakes ruined them!"

A- People bring up how Pokemon uses music all the damn time. The Area Zero theme was dissected for giving an atmosphere of entering a new world, unknown and dangerous waters and something completely foreign to everywhere else you went.

B-Lily, the remakes simply had cleaner OSTs. They sound very much the same. You even admit this as you call Omega Ruby's OST for Groudon 'like trying to escape a star going supernova'. A supernova. A term synomous with IMMENSE, INCONCIEVABLE HEAT.

and C-Ignoring N where you just go 'N bad!'- Zinnia's theme is intense because you're facing a Dragon Specialist, using a VERY dangerous Type of Pokemon, before rocketing into space to destroy a meteor threatening to kill everyone.

"Team Aqua and Magma aged well because they're charming! Not like other villains who just spout off philosophy!"

We get it, Lily. You don't pay attention.

Doesn't change the fact that you admitted that these one-note caricatures are so fucking stupid they didn't know fucking with primordial gods would cause issues. Or that exploding a volcano is BAD. That's bad writing Lily. You are praising bad writing.

"Why did you change Wally's Gardevoir to a Gallade? YOU MADEIT EASIER, SEXISTS!"

... Because they wanted to promote Mega Gallade. And they both represent Wally growing from a shy, insecure kid to a confident ACTUAL rival.

Gallade was made because it's a fucking knight guarding a lady, moving on.

"I was pleasantly surprised by Gen 3-"

Not surprised one of the blandest Gens got your approval, Lily. Considering your response to any game that tries to have any kind of ambition is to get pissy.

Well, let's go check Sinnoh.

[soaringonblackwings]

Crow’s Pokémon team.

Please note that I am taking into account egg moves, tutor moves, and TM/TR moves when making move sets (I am ignoring Legends Arceus moves). Nothing is off the table, I don’t really care about competitive rules for the most part. Movesets will be influenced by my personal preferences. (Ex: I hate recoil moves so they will be ignored). I am going to consider hidden abilities too. I am not going to consider held items for the most part since my knowledge on them are limited to Leftovers only. Same with natures, I am not knowledgeable on that.

So onwards!

-

Corviknight (Flying/Steel)

Ability: Mirror Armor

Moveset: Hone Claws, Roost, Steel Wing, Drill Peck.

Extra: Corviknight helps Crow the most with his Blackbird Delivery service. This is the mon that typically goes second after his other mons to gain the Baton Pass effects.

-

Drifblim (Ghost/Flying)

Ability: Aftermath

Moveset: Minimize, Stockpile, Baton Pass, Protect

Extra: Crow caught this Drifblim as a Drifloon when it was trying to kidnap a child. He knows the stories about this Pokémon and is not a fan of them. He is happy that it helps with his delivery job.

-

Togekiss (Fairy/Flying)

Ability: Serene Grace

Item: King Rock

Moveset: Air Slash, Ancient Power, Double Team, Baton Pass

Extra: This is one of his strongest mons but it also hates fighting. It mostly stays behind and watches the kids.

-

Honchkrow (Dark/Flying)

Ability: Super Luck

Moveset: Night Slash, Air Cutter, Sucker Punch, Acrobatics

Extra: Crow met this birdie as a Murkrow during one of his stings against Sector Security. Ever since, it just kind of hung around with Crow.

-

Oricorio (Pom-Pom - Electric/Flying)

Ability: Dancer

Moveset: Revelation Dance, Quiver Dance, Air Slash, Baton Pass

Extra: Crow found this Pokémon as an egg. Usually stays with the kids and cheers from the sidelines. Having an electric type in Satellite is a huge boon.

-

Maushold (Normal - Family of four)

Ability: Technician

Moveset: Population Bomb, Tidy Up, Aerial Ace, Baton Pass

Extra: Stays behind with the kids. If it wasn’t for Maushold, the garage would be a mess. Of course I would give Crow the family Pokémon.

-

Happiny (Normal)

Ability: Fiend Guard

Moveset: Heal Bell, Hyper Voice, Protect, Seismic Toss

Extra: Yes, this is a level 100 Happiny. It is comedically strong has insane physical strength. Loves playing with the kids.

-

Leavanny (Bug/Grass)

Ability (Overcoat)

Moveset: Leaf Blade, Protect, Baton Pass, Calm Mind

Extra: I can’t believe I forgot to give this Pokémon to Crow. Is left behind on the island with the kids. Leavanny is the one that travels with the kids to the city. Crow met this one when it was fully evolved. Crow doesn’t know much about its past, but welcomed them into the group. Crow was happy to have more help caring for the children.

Leavanny’s backstory is that is was abandoned by its previous trainer when it expressed interest in things other than battles. It mostly fights for self-defense or when no other option is available.

-

I tried giving as many Pokémon Baton Pass to emulate the Blackwings ability to special summon themselves on the field when another Blackwing is present.

Oricorio, Maushold, Leavanny, and Happiny are not a part of the main team. These four stayed behind in Satellite with Martha and the kids. Though Oricorio flies over to Neo Domino to visit, trading places with Togekiss.

Crow tends to keep his Pokémon out of their pokeballs. When he moves to Neo Domino he has to keep his bigger mons in pokeballs at all time due to rules. Only exception is on private property or if Corviknight and Drifblim is helping him with work.

Crow could work at a pokemon daycare. He would be good with baby pokemon much to everyone’s surprise.

[applesjuice]

I decided to just base Juliana's team off of my own for the Legends Arceus AU (because it's easier to write what I have in front of of me and can theory test without spending 400 years minmaxing movesets). She has a few flexmon that she switches out to do raid dens but generally her team consists of:

Meowscarda (starter)

Tinkaton

Azumarill

Clodsire

Ogerpon

and she swaps between a Blissey and Annihilape depending on what she's doing. She also has a basic-ass Magikarp that only knows splash that she pulls out in Ditto dens lol.

Only other pokemon she always has on her is Miraidon, and the battle mode Miraidon who they all refer to as the Evil Twin. There's a bit of a Lilo and Stitch situation going on with it where rather than using it to battle she's working on training and domesticating it so it stops attacking people. Truly it is the shadow the hedgehog of this universe.

When it comes to the BB League, thanks to Drayton's trial she actually had to put time and effort into training another team. This one is not as established and trained up as her Paladean team and it is a lot of work having two whole functioning competitive teams. I feel like people don't just leave their pokemon in boxes forever, it's not healthy for them since the pokemon are turned into data. It's kind of like being stuck in limbo of star trek teleportation. After so long that energy has to go somewhere. So box storage has a time limit. A lot of trainers with more than a standard team of 6 either have all the pokemon live with them, or there's a bit of an outdoor cat thing going on with them where there's a clear distinction that they are captured and they just do their own thing living their best lives and reaping the benefits of frolicking around in the wilderness and going to a nice warm house with a guaranteed meal when they feel like it. They're pretty much chipped lol and the trainer can locate them with their phone.

But anyway her BB team is:

Primarina

Lapras

Whimsicott

Farigiraf

Galarian Slowbro

and she hasn't really figured out the sixth yet. She's still working on this team comp since doubles doesn't really come naturally to her. And maybe she is me because how dare this game make me replace my whole team with Terrarium mon ONLY, how dare they.

[indecisive-v]

tempted to do an "assigning every paradox live character a pokemon" post except instead of it being for the pokemon trainer au it's just assigning them ou/vgc competitive movesets i pulled from smogon and world championship teams

except for chisei who gets banished to ubers with his rayquaza