#howthedistortiondidanoivernlearnvideoediting?

[thebard490]

Battle Breakdown: Sam vs. Burgh

[video id: A noivern messing with a camera, hopping back, moving forwards to check, and nodding in satisfaction. He stares at something offscreen for a moment. "No, that's a stupid intro. Let's just say hello like a normal person."

"Hello, and welcome back to Battle Breakdowns. I'm your host, Mordred the Noivern. In this series I break down the tactics, strategies, and techniques of battles, to help you learn how to battle better. My last video showcased a fairly high level brawl between myself and Cheren's Braviary, however, in this episode, we'll be breaking down a battle a bit more in line with what a newer trainer might experience, my trainer Sam vs. Gym Leader Burgh of Castelia city!"

"Now, bit of context, Sam is my second trainer, and I got most of my training under my first trainer, Paul, which is also where I learned so much about battling. Sam's still a rookie, but she's got some serious fire and has been working her butt off to develop her skills in battle and train up the rest of the team. Speaking of which, let's meet my juniors!"

An image appears of a Goomy named Gawain, Level 31, with a set consisting of Water Pulse, Dragon Breath, Rain Dance, and Draco Meteor. "This is Gawain, he's the second member of the team, met him tangled up in my mane, long story. Calm nature and strong special attack IVs give him a cool head in fight and some serious firepower for his level, plus that Draco Meteor TM I loaned him. He's probably the best strategist on the team. We've been giving him an Assault vest to boost his special defense into a relative wall for his level, and training HP EVs to compensate for his meager physical defense."

Another image appears, this one of a Trapinch named Bedivere, level 30. "This is Bedivere. He's probably the most straightforwards fighter on the team, move fowards and bite down. That said, as a Trapinch, he's got some of the strongest physical attacks in his weight class, working well with Bulldoze, Dig, Crunch, and Rock Slide. His biggest weakness is going to be getting on target, as he's not very fast or durable at the moment. With a Hardy nature and decent IVs across the board, he doesn't have any exceptional strengths or weaknesses. For the moment, we've given him an Oran berry".

The next team member appears, a Tyrunt, level 30. "This little peacock is Percival. He's convinced he's a Tyrantrum already. He's certainly got some skills, in terms of pure combat instinct, he's a step above the rest of his peers. Thanks to that, he was able to get some powerful TMs fairly early on. Fire Fang, Thunder Fang, and Ice Fang, combined with Rock Slide and his Strong Jaw ability make him the team's most versatile attacker, enhanced further with an Expert Belt. He's got the nature for it too, Adamant, and he shows it. His biggest weakness is honestly his ego. Sam's having to put in work to keep him in line."

An image appears of a Gibble, level 25. "Finally, our newest member, Lancelot. We got him from that huge Gibble outbreak, and still has a way to go to catch up with the rest of the team, hence why he's got the XP share on him. He's underleveled, but can still land a nasty Bite or Bulldoze, and might be able to even the odds with a Sand Attack or paralysis off of Dragon Breath if it comes to it. Now to our opponent."

An image appears, showing Burgh's team of a Dwebble (level 30), Shelmet (Level 31), Karablast (Level 28) and Leavanny (level 33). "This is going to be a decently challenging team. Bug types tend to get written off as weak because of their less impressive first forms, most famously Caterpie. But that's a serious mistake. While the Bug type does tend to have fairly serious weaknesses, especially in their early forms, they can grow to be some of the most versatile and effective pokemon out there. Next episode will be a real showcase of this as I have an exhibition match with Burgh's Scizor. This team has a nice setup of some serious defense (for their weight class) with Dwebble and Shelmet, and the well rounded stat package on Leavany that comes from being fully evolved."

"In terms of expected stategy, Gawain is going to be a Lynchpin for Sam, as his special attacking can help get around the physical defenses of Dwebble and Shelmet. However, he's still slow and fairly frail, she's going to have to protect him. Bedivere has the attack necessary to crunch through that defense, but is similarly slow and vulnerable to commonly known Grass moves, which will be even worse if he takes a hit from Leavany. Let's see how she deals with it."

A video begins of the battle, as a woman with brown hair tied back in a ponytail faces off with Burgh. "I've been waiting to see you come off the stands!" Burgh calls out from across the field. "Show me what you can do!"

"Alright. Let's do this, Gawain, you're on!" Both throw their pokeballs, releasing a Goomy and a Dwebble. Burgh orders rock blast, and Sam orders a Water Pulse. The video pauses.

"Good calls on both their parts." Mordred comments. "Gawain's Water Pulse will hit Dwebble's weak Special Defense for super effective damage, should be a one-shot. On Burgh's part, Rock Blast is Stab and targets Gawain's paltry physical defenses. Based on the damage calculations, four hits from Rock Blast will be enough to KO Gawain, but Rock Blast is 2-5."

Both pokemon exchange blows, a flurry of sharp stones smashing into Gawain, moments before the Goomy braces himself and retaliates with a powerful spout of water that sends Dwebble spinning back before it manages to stabilize and devour a sitrus berry. The video pauses.

"So, Gawain took two hits, minimal damage. However, Dwebble's Sturdy just kicked in, preventing an OHKO, plus, Dwebble definitely outspeeds Gawain, meaning if he stays out, he's in serious trouble. Of course, thanks to that Sitrus Berry, it's going to be trickier for any other pokemon to switch into a hit and then land a KO."

Sam recalls Gawain, and sends out her trapinch, Bedivere instead. Dwebble uses Rock shot, blasting the area around Trapinch, but to relatively little effect. "Good call, Trapinch's resistances let it take a rock shot, and they've certainly got the firepower to break through that shell." Bedivere takes a Struggle Bug from the Dwebble, and counters with a powerful rock slide that knocks it out.

"Nice job. All that time watching's given you a good grasp on theory." Burgh notes as he recalls his Dwebble, and sends out Shellmet instead. "Now keep putting it in practice!"

"Gladly! Bedivere, another Rock Slide would you kindly?" Sam orders, and the trapinch prepares the attack.

"You're not the only one with effective moves. Shelmet, Mega Drain." The shelmet reacts more swiftly, and manages to knock out Trapinch with a powerful surge of green energy that pulses out, wraps around the smaller pokemon, and then pulls back in. Bedivere flops over onto his back dramatically, then passes out.

"Alright, Percy, you're on!" Sam replies, throwing out a Tyrunt. "Rush em down, Fire Fang!" The Tyrunt complies, moving in and biting down on the Shelmet, flame leaking into the shell as the lizardlike pokemon shakes its opponent like a terrier with a rat. "That's enough! He's down!" Sam orders, and Percival obliges by dropping the smoking Shelmet.

The video pauses again. "So this little exchange highlights two major factors that come into play in low level battling. They're important at the higher levels too, but when your pokemon don't have much HP because of their low level, you really need to get these things down."

"First, type effectiveness is huge. With a few exceptions, the offensive output of a young pokemon will grow far faster than their defenses, especially if you take advantage of TMs and Move Tutors. This is amplified even further by combining elements like Type Effectiveness and even more if you have access to offensive abilities or Same Type Attack Bonus. It's fairly easy to one-shot or be one-shot at lower levels due to a lack of HP and strong defensive stats providing you land those x1.5+x2 or x4 bonuses."

"Second, because offense is so powerful, especially when you haven't developed defenses or techniques, speed is extremely important. That clash there went the way it did because Shelmet is faster than Trapinch, and Tyrunt is faster than Shelmet. I'm aware I have a bit of a bias, being a speed-type mon myself, but it is extremely important at lower levels, and remains so at the higher levels as well. You could have a x8 effective move, and it wouldn't matter if you couldn't land it. So have an effective move, and be fast enough to use it, or have a plan to take a hit even with low HP and defenses (such as Sturdy or a Focus Sash)."

"Alright, looks like you're the one to beat then, my little friend." Burgh notes as he sends out a Karrablast. "Make a path! Poison spray!" The smaller bug fires off a powerful mist of purple fog, making Percival roar in frustration, clawing at his eyes.

"Hang in there Percy, take him down with another fire fang!" Sam orders, and Percival complies, coming through the poisoned mist with a roar trailing flames, before delivering a powerful bite that knocks Karrablast out. The video pauses again.

"Fairly standard stuff here, but I do want to bring attention to that move Karrablast just used. Poison Spray, a legitimately great move that sadly isn't learned by many pokemon outside of Paldea because of TM export restrictions. It doesn't do much damage, but it can chip to bypass Focus Sash or Sturdy, while also dropping the target's Special Defense by two stages. On the right pokemon able to capitalize with bulk and high special attack, or on a fast mon paired with a special attacker in doubles or triples, it can set up for some extremely nasty attacks. Don't discount low level moves, even at the higher level. It's not going to be the next Moonblast, but it's got some strategy you can use around it."

"It's always great to see a young artist beginning to bloom. Now show me you can truly blossom!" Burgh laughs, and sends out his ace, a Leavany. "Magical Leaf!"

"Called it!" Sam shouts in joy, already swapping. "Gawain, eat it up!" Goomy deploys, and completely absorbs the incoming Magical Leaf using Sap Sipper. Sam throws him a potion, restoring him to full health. "Alright let's finish this in style! Draco Meteor!"

"Leavany, get clear and punish with struggle bug!" Burgh orders, as Gawain summons a meteor twice his own size and slams it onto the battlefield. For a moment, both trainers hold their breath, before the shards of Struggle Bug slam home onto Gawain, further sapping his strength. The video pauses.

"Yeah, and this is why some trainers hate Draco Meteor. It drops your special attacks twice over and has a long enough lead time that your opponent will get out of the way at least 10% of the time. That said, great read on Sam's part. She knew either a grass-type attack, a special attack, or a grass-type special attack was incoming, and switched out to the pokemon best able to absorb it, and even threw on a heal with the spare time since Gawain had taken some damage. Excellent play. Equally good punish on Burgh's part. Doubling down on crippling Gawain's special attack with Struggle Bug means that now, unless Sam switches out and gives Burgh a free hit, Gawain can't do any damage. However, if there's one thing I've learned and passed on, it's that you don't always need to do damage to win a battle."

"Gawain! Water pulse, focus on slowing her down and soaking the arena!" Sam orders.

"Raphael is a he actually! I know it can be hard to tell though!" Burgh notes from across the room.

"Sorry, focus on slowing him down!"

"It's alright. Take them down and keep your footing, Aerial Ace!"

The Leavany, apparently named Raphael, jumps into the air, and extends a set of wings from under his cloak, zipping through the air towards Gawain. Meanwhile, the Goomy surrounds himself with a bubble of water, seemingly charging it, before Raphael cuts through and knocks him out, becoming soaked through, and covering the floor in water. No damage is sustained.

"So. This looks not great. Why would Sam try a special attack that isn't even effective? Simple! It's not supposed to do damage!" Mordred comments with clear pride in his voice. "Gawain just used a pseudo-move! One reliant on getting hit and having it disrupted! This is why I say he's probably the smartest one on the team. He picked up the idea so quickly, and recognized that he could sacrifice damage to instead coat the enemy in water and slime. Which for those of you who haven't ever met a Goomy, they are sticky as anything, meaning Raphael here just had his speed tanked, plus the water which means..."

The video resumes, as Sam pulls out another Pokeball. "Alright Percival, Gawain set you up! Ice Fang! Freeze the water solid!"

"Oh clever, but too slow! Leaf Blade!" Burgh orders in turn, but it is in fact Raphael who is too slow, restricted by the slime. Percival bites down on the water, turning it into a rushing wave of ice that locks the Leavany in place.

"Alright, he's all yours, finish the job, FIRE FANG!" Sam roars, clearly pumped up, and Percival is as well. With flame trailing behind him, and a mighty TYYYYYYYYYY! He leaps into the air and brings his blazing jaws down hard on the Leavany, smashing them to the ground and KOing them in a single hit.

"NOW THAT'S FUCKING TEAMWORK!" Mordred shouts, clearly extremely proud. "Great work to all of you, and Percival the MVP, Arc he's going to be insufferable later but for now I am so proud of them all!" The noivern is clearly delighted with the younger members of his team. He looks like a proud parent.

"Let that be the last lesson then. With good switching, teamwork, and proper knowledge of the mechanics of your moves and type effectiveness, even an unevolved team can take down a fully evolved ace!" Mordred concludes, still clearly delighted as the video shows Sam quickly reviving her KO'ed team members, and giving all of them hugs before starting as Burgh walks over and coughs. She stands up, quickly apologizing, and wipes off a slime-covered hand and shakes with the gym leader before obtaining her badge. Mordred's face cam sees him clearly beaming.

"Well, I hope this helped trainers new and old to appreciate that there's often still a lot of merit in these lower level battles. For those of you younger, don't consider the time you're training a lower level team up to be something you just have to get through. It's full of all its own kinds of excitement. For those of you further beyond, don't forget that the lower levels still have plenty of potential to be tapped, both in terms of moves, and in terms of their own unique tactics and strategies. Please do remember to send in your own battles, high or low level, for me to analyze, though next time will be one of my own, and it won't be one you want to miss. Until then, this has been Battle Breakdown. I've been Mordred, signing off to go give my juniors another congratulatory hug.

[thebard490]

Battle Breakdown: Sam vs. Drayden, Duel of Dragons!

(Video Id: A noivern hopping back from the camera. “Finally got it in one. Hello! Welcome back to battle breakdown! I’m Mordred and in this series I break down the tactics, strategies, and techniques used in battling. This time, a head on clash and object lesson in how to handle super-effective matchups, my trainer, the Dragon Witch Samara, vs. the Spartan Mayor, Drayden!”

“Now, for a bit of context, Sam’s actually been training with Drayden for a while. As they’re both dragon-type trainers, Sam’s been fairly eager to learn with him over the past bit. With that in mind, each one of them knows the other’s tricks, at least somewhat, and we’ve also seen some changes to Sam’s team, plus Drayden’s bringing out an unusually strong one for the seventh badge. Let’s get into both.”

The screen cuts to Sam’s trainer card, displaying a Noivern, Deino, Goodra, Garchomp, Flygon, and Tyrantrum. “So, Sam’s not going to be using me in this battle, as I’m still thirty levels higher than the rest of my teammates, and she won’t be using Arthur either, since she’s too low level and trying to push her up to the level of the rest of the team would drop her squarely into the Zwielous evolution. We’re saving that trouble for a dedicated space, and even then, against Drayden’s team, she’d still fall behind, so really, Sam’s working with a team of four, but four fairly strong ones.”

“First off, Gawain the Goodra. You’ve probably seen him turning the Mistralton city gym into a slimy mess. Excellent special attack and nearly unbreakable special defense, including with his Assault Vest. He also boasts Scald for hampering physical attackers using a Burn, Ice Beam for freeze, Sludge Bomb to poison and deal with fairies, and Draco Meteor for when something absolutely needs to go down, but he’ll need to switch out after that. A well rounded moveset supplemented with Scald-Derived pseudomoves, he’s an excellent teammate, although he remains vulnerable to physical attacks.”

“Next, Percival the Tyrantrum, making the most of his Strong Jaw and exceptional physical attack stat with Fire, Thunder, and Ice Fang, along with a brutal STAB head smash. He’s the one member of the team without a Dragon-type move, but he brings excellent coverage, boosted even further by Strong Jaw and his Expert belt. A pure physical attacker and a straightforward combatant, but he boasts decent physical defense alongside murderous physical attack.”

“After him, Lancelot the Garchomp. Percival makes the most of his abilities and item to provide great coverage and maximizes his damage outside of that. But in terms of pure physical offense, Lancelot runs away with superior Attack and Speed, leaning fully into it with STAB Dragon Claw and Earthquake, alongside Iron Head to shatter physical defenses. Unlikely that he’ll need it though, because he wears a Focus Sash to help safely set up Sword Dance. While the Garchomp line doesn’t get the crucial speed boost of Dragon Dance, they make up for it with the sheer overwhelming power of Swords Dance. If Lancelot gets tat off, he’s going to one-shot everything on Drayden’s team.”

“Finally, Bedivere, the Flygon. The Flygon line is interesting. While they’re not as bulky as Goodra, or as offensively strong as Garchomp or Tyrantrum, they’re instead a very well rounded, decently fast, decently strong physical attacker. They can fill a wide variety of roles, but I’ve found in working with Bedivere that his mind is his strongest asset. While a Trapinch might be dumb as a post, Vibrava and Flygon think nearly twice as fast as humans, however they think smaller thoughts. This is a neurological adaptation necessary for processing information from their compound eyes and operating their complex wings. Flygon aren’t rocket scientists, but their ability to think quickly makes them highly adaptable. Beyond this, Bedivere has taken to pseudomoves like a fish to water, developing several from a unique moveset of Steel Wing, Dig, Earthquake, and Dragon Claw.”

The screen cuts back to the noivern, who has a proud expression. “Overall, these four have each become excellent Pokemon, each in their own unique way. Gawain’s cool head and sheer bulk, Bedivere’s quick thinking, Percival’s natural combat instinct, and Lancelot’s more refined technique, all are valuable assets to their trainer, and with their full evolutions, they’re now reaching the point where they can fully express their talents. However, it won’t be easy in the slightest. Drayden’s team is every bit as strong, and he’s got a two mon advantage.”

The screen sweep cuts to Drayden’s gym card, showing a team of 6. Dudgrion, Flygon, Altaria, ???, ???, and Haxorus. “Drayden isn’t messing around. Even with her previous training with him, Sam’s got an uphill battle against his team. She’ll need to pick up two KO’s just to even the odds, and none of Drayden’s team are weak. Let’s address them one by one.”

“Druddigon. Sheer force boosting the damage of attacks by 30% if they would normally have another effect makes Druddigon an excellent offensive threat, but also slightly limits their movesets. Regardless, an excellent offensive Pokemon, though I’m not sure they make the best leads. Dragon Tail and Rock Slide both heavily benefit from his ability, as does Crunch since it can flinch. However Revenge would likely be better on a Rough Skin Druddigon.”

“Flygon. As discussed with Bedivere, these guys are versatile, tricky fighters. However, one thing that’s true of both Flygon and Garchomp, and also Tyrantrum, is that they suffer from an exceptional x4 weakness to Ice. Any hit from an Ice-type move is going to be extremely dangerous for them, and so both sides will need to be very careful to keep away from the opponent’s Ice Fang users. Interesting mixed set on his, Rock Slide, Earth Power, Dragon Tail, and Crunch. Able to outspeed and deal decent damage to most opponents, or send troublesome ones away with Dragon Tail.”

“Altaria. Those of you who saw Sam’s battle with Skyla know that these guys are pretty well useless when they’re soaked, but that weakness is no reason to underestimate them. They can be impressively bulky with all that fluff, and boast offensive firepower in their own right. There’s a reason Sam’s plan revolved around neutralizing Skyla’s, but there won’t be an option for that here. Not only does Drayden know that trick, unlike Skyla he’s smart enough to not fall for it in the first place.”

“Hydregion. Dragon types are known as special attackers, and Hydregion is the strongest of them all. A Pseudo-Legendary with a temper the power that kind of a description warrants. Thankfully this one isn’t packing Nasty Plot. I’ve seen that set tear through Sylveon in one hit, and I don’t just mean a knockout. Dark and Dragon Pulses for STAB effectiveness, Flash Cannon and Flamethrower for coverage. If I had to guess, Drayden’s sticking with these in favor of Fire Blast and Draco Meteor to avoid causing permanent injury, or maybe he just prefers the consistent accuracy, can’t say I blame him. Either way a pure special attacker and a serious threat to everyone on the team. Even Gawain’s not going to be able to take more than two hits from him.” 

“From an offensive threat to a defensive one, Turtonator. The fire/dragon type gives him a distinct advantage against teams that would normally rely on Ice and Fairy moves to deal with dragons, along with STAB coverage against them, along with excellent physical defenses. This combines nicely with Shell Trap to punish moves that make physical contact if the opponent tries to close the distance. An excellent mixup for Drayden’s team. Flamethrower, Dragon Pulse, Shell Trap, and Shell Smash. Those latter two certainly can lead to some interesting mind games. If Drayden anticipates a switch to a pokemon who can safely avoid Shell Trap, he can get off Shell Smash and suddenly turn his tank into a major offensive threat.”

“Finally…” Mordred takes a deep breath, before addressing Drayden’s ace. “Belisarius. Drayden’s Haxorus. These guys scare me in general. Belisarius in particular terrifies me. We have… history. Nothing fancy about them, they’re just some of the most lethal pokemon in Unova by simple physics. In terms of their offensive firepower, practically unmatched. Other dragons might technically have higher Attack, but that’s only half the story. Those axe blades of theirs concentrate the sizeable mass and speed of their heads into a very small point. Quite simply, anything they hit with those has a good chance of going down. It doesn’t matter how much HP you have, how much defense, a direct hit from their Guillotine will put you down. Even outside of that, Earthquake is no joke, and Mold Breaker means Levitate offers no defense against it. Dragon Claw is actually accurate and more than sufficient to cleave through most things, and Dragon Dance can push his attack and speed into truly terrifying levels. He is without a doubt the strongest Ace in Unova, and he is a nightmare. Well, there’s one stronger, but given he’s her father and thirty years older, I don’t think the right hand of the Champion being stronger than him is much of a mark against the old executioner.”

“With each one of these powerful contenders laid out, you can see that this is going to be a truly earth shaking clash, and should have noted one other thing. Every single Pokemon here, no matter which way they’re paired up, is super-effective against one another, and most of those are STAB besides. Now, while having two entire teams lined up this was is rare except for when dragons duel, the situation where each side has a STAB move that’s super effective against the other, or even just both have SE moves, aren’t that uncommon. In particular at higher levels, coverage moves mean that SE on both sides isn’t that rare. Now normally this can lead to a switch and the complex psychology of reads involved in that. This battle doesn’t have that, so instead it’s going to be an excellent showcase of dealing with this sort of high stakes situation in a variety of different ways, besides just being one of the most spectacular battles I’ve seen in quite some time. Let’s get into it.”

The video cuts to a recording, as Drayden and Sam stand opposite each other atop the black and white dragons of Opelucid City. The crowd goes silent as the two approach one another, and bow deeply, before returning to their positions. “Samara. Show me what you’ve learned.” Drayden calls out as he turns.

“It will be my honor Drayden-Sensei!” Samara replies, and the two send out their first Pokemon. Samara sends out Gawain, Drayden his Druddigon, and the crowd begins to cheer. Druddigon barrels forwards to use Dragon Tail, but Gawain uses Ice Beam, covering the arena in frost. The Goodra uses the force of his own attack to push himself away on the rapidly growing ice, while the Druddigon stumbles briefly on the suddenly slick surface. Gawain takes advantage, and blasts Druddigon with Draco Meteor to KO him. The video pauses.

“So, for Showdown maniacs, one might assume that just outspeeding your opponent to land your Super-Effective attack first would be enough. Well, not necessarily. Even with a speed disadvantage, ranged attacks have the advantage of easier spacing. You have to be in melee to hit with a melee attack after all. Always remember, the accuracy numbers of any attack are listed within their optimal range, and when your opponent is too far away to hit, the accuracy is always zero. In this way, better spacing through the use of ranged attacks and controlling the environment are extremely useful in these sorts of clashes.”

The video resumes. Sam sends out Bedivere, her Flygon, and Drayden sends out his own. “A mirror match. In this case, there’s a crucial gamble to be made. Which one has the higher speed? You don’t know your opponent’s IVs or EVs going in, and even if it’s the same, it can be a fifty/fifty, while both sides may be capable of one-shotting the other with a good hit. So, how does one react with the same capability on either side of the field?” The video pauses. “There are three options. Firstly, you can gamble that you will outspeed your opponent. If you both do this, fifty/fifty odds of winning the trade. Secondly you can defend with moves like Protect or a defensive pseudomove, this costs your opponent power points. Useful if your opponent is using low PP moves like Fire Blast. Third, you can switch, and refuse the mirror, but will give your opponent a free hit if they chose to attack. Or, you can find a way to do both.”

The video resumes. “Bedivere, Advancing Guard!”

“Interesting. Dragon Tail.” Drayden muses.

The two flygon move forwards towards one another. Bedivere coats his wings in steel energy, and then stops beating them, positioning one wing forwards like a shield, the other ready for a counterstrike. His opposite number advances, and swings a tail infused with energy against the shield. This drives Bedivere back, but inflicts little damage due to the shield. Bedivere holds on as long as he can, but ultimately only manages to deliver a counterstrike before being forced back into his ball. The video pauses. “In this case, Drayden refuses the mirror match by using Dragon tail to force a switch, and still also manages to attack, so a partial gamble, and partial refusal. Sam meanwhile used a pseudomove, a variant on Steel Wing, to try and attack and defend at the same time, though doing so means Bedivere still took damage and was forced out, and only inflicted minor damage.”

The video resumes, and Sam sends out Percvial. The Tyrantrum lands between Flygon and Drayden, obscuring the old trainer’s view of the battlefield. “Thank you very much for the free switch, Drayden-Sensei!” Sam offers, tone teasing but still ultimately respectful. “Now then, Percival, Ice Fang!”

Percival goes for the ice fang, but instead of biting down on a relatively fragile Flygon, he instead strikes the hot, hard shell of a Turtonator, with minimal effect. He leaps back like he’s just bitten a hot stove, and regards the dragon turtle very carefully. Each trainer stares at the other with careful intent, before they move again. Percival uses Head Smash, successfully KOing Turtonator, before being taken out in turn by the detonating spikes. The video pauses.

“No, this isn’t telepathy, it’s contingency. Sam and Drayden have battled each other a few times while she was training under him, and each one knows what the other can do. Drayden knows that Percival has no moves that avoid contact, and so any move other than a switch is going to result in Shell Trap being triggered, meaning that if Sam wants to keep Percival in, she has to switch. That would imply that Shell Smash would be the right play. However, if he does that and Sam keeps Percival in for a Head Smash, then he’s down a pokemon for no benefit. If Sam switches and Drayden goes for Shell Smash, she now has to deal with the possibility of being swept by a Turtonator of all things. So, having already considered possible strategies, the option which consistently offers the highest reward results in the trade. All planned out before the battle even began, since this isn’t the first time Percy has eaten a Shell Trap to the face.”

The video resumes, and both trainers bring out their Flygon again. The two trainers smile at one another slightly, before issuing orders. “Dragon Claw!” Sam roars.

“Dragon Tail!” Drayden replies.

The two flygon rush at one another, but this time Bedivere pulls a trick. He drops out of the air and begins running along the ground, slipping under the increased reach of Dragon Tail before springing back into the air to uppercut his opposite number with a powerful Dragon Claw, knocking the other Flygon out. “As I always say, never sweat the intangibles.” Mordred says, beaming with pride.

As quickly as the sense of triumph comes, it passes in the face of dread as Drayden sends out Hydreigon. Bedivere and Sam both visibly narrow their eyes at the sight of the immensely powerful pseudo-legendary. The crowd stills slightly, as Drayden nods, and issues an order for a dragon pulse in his usual calm, stern manner. Sam withdraws Bedivere, and quickly deploys Gawain instead. The attack impacts on the slime dragon, and pushes him a step back, before he finds his footing and repulses it. Gawain’s expression is unusually serious for a normally rather silly looking Goodra. Sam has begun to visibly sweat, the strain of the intense battle clear on the rookie trainer’s face, only amplified further by the clash against one of Drayden’s most powerful pokemon.

“Alright. This is all I need from you and then you can rest Gawain. Draco Meteor!”

“Don’t allow it. Dragon Pulse, again!” Drayden orders, and the Hydreigon complies, firing off another blast. The powerful energy washes over Gawain, the impact blowing Sam’s hair wildly as purple flames blaze around her. Then they begin to blaze with even brighter light, as Gawain conjures an orb of similar energy between himself and the incoming attack, fueling it with his own power, and sending it hurling back at the Hydreigon. The dragon pulse’s beam is pushed aside by the significantly more powerful attack, and the huge ball of draconic energy explodes in the hydra’s face, sending it crashing back towards Drayden. The old trainer, unphased by three hundred and fifty kilograms of dragon hurtling at his face, simply raises his hand and recalls the incoming pokemon midflight.

The video pauses. “Of course, this is the simplest strategy for dealing with an opponent where you both have Super Effective moves against each other. If you have the HP and defensive stats to take a hit, you can trade hits, provided you can also bring enough firepower to lay your opponent low faster than they can defeat you. This can wear you down over the course of a long battle, but it’s not the worst short-term strategy.” The video resumes, and as if to prove this point, Gawain falls to a knee, breathing heavily, before struggling back up onto his feet. Sam recalls him with a smile. “Could have put that on Saturday morning cartoons Gawain. Good job.”

Drayden sends out Altaria, and Sam sends out Bedivere, her flygon, in response. Drayden orders a Dragon Pulse, and Sam, curiously, orders Dig. Bedivere vanishes under the ground in a sudden spray of basalt dust, leading Drayden to raise an eyebrow. “Dragon dance.” He orders, clearly expecting the move to not affect his Altaria. “You’re up to something, aren’t you Samara?”

“Well, I couldn’t show you all my tricks during training. What do you think Mordred and Bedivere were up to off on their own? Show them what you figured out Bed, False Precipice!” The ground begins to shake, and suddenly stalagmites erupt from the ground underneath Altaria, catching the Flying pokemon off guard and leaving it hanging limply among the jagged rocks. Bedivere emerges from the ground, clearly bruised. The video pauses.

“So, a bit of explanation here. First off, another excellent way to not get hit by a super effective attack is to simply be unable to be hit, either by manipulating your opponent’s accuracy, or using a move like Fly, Dig, or Phantom Force that takes you off the field to “dodge”’ an attack. Bedivere pulled this trick here, and then supplemented it with a Pseudomove we’ve labeled “false precipice” as it holds a passing resemblance to Precipice Blades. As it turns out, if you use Earthquake on the bedrock of an arena directly, you can create this effect. Of course, this requires you to be underground, so it takes up two move slots, requiring dig and earthquake, and also causes recoil damage. In exchange, you get a single target rock-type earthquake. Excellent for catching flying types off guard. It’s a costly move, but grants Bedivere a powerful mix-up out of Dig and a counter to otherwise troublesome Flying Types.”

The video resumes, and each trainer withdraws their pokemon. “You know what’s next, of course. And saved him for it.” Drayden notes, and reaches for an old acorn-made Hisuian Pokeball. “It’s time. Show me the height of your strength. Belisarius, THE TIME HAS COME!” He roars, sending out his Haxorus. The venerable pokemon is covered with the scars of a lifetime of battling, but still stands proudly, his blades sharpened by uncountable victories.

“You heard the man Lancelot, let’s do this!” Samara roars in reply, sending forth the young Garchomp in response. The two pokemon, young and old, face one another. Lancelot takes a step forwards, and raises his arms, displaying his bright red belly and flaring his wings. Belisarius in turn shakes his head from side to side, scraping his head blades along the stones until they spark and shine. “The height of power, eh? Swords Dance.”

“Dragon Dance.” Drayden responds. His Haxorus brings his foot down, as a cloud of black and purple sweeps around and into him, making his old scars glow with pure energy, and lighting dances along his blades. In contrast, Lancelot stands square, feet under shoulders, and brings his claws together in a manner almost mimicking prayer. Energy blazes along his talons, wings, and fangs, sharp and bright. He puts one foot forwards, and the ground shakes.

“Once, long ago, men called the power of the dragons “the color of kings”, for their power was enough to conquer nations, and the ability to control these incredible pokemon was considered a sign of a divine right to rule.” Drayden considers. “This was such a limited understanding of what it is. Each energy wielded by Pokemon is part of the fundamental nature of the world, but that of Dragons is poorly understood. It is not the power to rule the world, but instead the power to conceive the world. To imagine what might be, what should be, what must be. To define truth and embody ideals, to dream and then make that dream a reality. That is the power of the dragons. They are the guardians of Arceus’s dream of how the world should be, the lords of fantastic places born from imagination. Those who are attuned to them, we are those who dream most deeply, and make the imaginary real, potential into action. Conquerors, artists, inventors, and teachers. This is what it means to embody that power. So then, Samara, you who carry the shadow of the fantastic alongside me.” Drayden points a challenging finger. “Show me the power of your dreams!”

Samara smiles, proudly. “Thank you for showing me how. Now then, Lancelot, shake the heavens and the earth!”

Both trainers break into grins like madmen. “Earthquake!” They roar, and the two dragons answer. A wave of black basalt in hexagonal scales roars forth from Sam’s position, met by a moving mountain of marble. The two dragon statues seem ready to tear one another apart as the shockwaves strike one another with the force of moving mountains.

“Lancelot, move through the stone and strike them down, Dragon Claw!”

“Cleave.” Drayden replies, a single and a singular word, answered with a singular strike. Lancelot dives into the freshly formed mountain and begins digging his way through, just in time for the mountain to be cut in half. The top part of the rock formation goes flying, cut apart like butter by a single strike from the Haxorus’s blades. “Now, Earthquake.” Drayden continues, and the lower half of it is reduced to rubble.

But no Garchomp is found in the rubble, as Lancelot leaps from the flying upper half, crashing into battle to deliver a devastating blow across the whole of Belisarius’s body, the impact sending the elder Pokemon staggering back, the shockwave ripping two massive gouges in the arena on either side of him. But as Lancelot catches his breath, the massive titan still stands, and now brings his massive axe head down, wreathed in murderous energy.

Lancelot takes a step back to brace himself, and blocks with both arms and all the force he can muster. The clashing energies ripple off one another in terrible bolts, making the arena shake. Neither dragon actually makes contact with one another, the energies radiating off their natural weapons repulsing one another like potent magnetic fields. Lancelot is clearly struggling though, against the overwhelming mass and leverage of his larger opponent. Then Belisarius brings his foot down. The earth shakes.

Lancelot stumbles.

A blow like the sword of an angry god scythes through him, leaving a single, gaping chasm that Sam must dodge to avoid falling into. Lancelot staggers back, eyes rolling back in his head, ready to fall.

And then he brings his foot down.

Lancelot’s head snaps forwards, his eyes shark-black. As the Haxorus tries to raise his head for another swing, Lancelot meets it with a counter, and the terrible clash of dragons resumes. But now Lancelot has the leverage, and the weight of Belisarius’s head works against him. The crowd is going insane, as Belisarius brings his foot down, and Lancelot matches. The shockwaves of the two earthquakes ripple off one another, sending ripples through both of the dragons, black basalt shooting up and out like glitching textures, and white marble splintering into spiderwebs. Even with all of this, even with the leverage and gravity on his side, Lancelot is still not able to break through Belisarius’s dragon claw.

He brings his foot down again, and the crowd goes silent. A slash cleaves through empty air. Lancelot is now above his venerable foe, one arm raised high and blazing with power. Then he brings it down, with a sound like thunder, and drives Belisarius into the ground, knocking the elder dragon off his feet and smashing his face into the stone with enough force to leave an imprint.

Then it gets back up.

The massive Haxorus pulls itself back to its feet with seeming ease, shaking off chunks of stone like a dog shaking off water. Then it bows again to Lancelot, and walks back to Drayden. Lancelot watches him silently, and then sits down like he never wants to get up again. “Congratulations Samara. Well done.” Drayden says with clear pride. “Though next time we battle, it will have to be elsewhere. I do not think my gym will survive when I face you without limiters.”

Sam looks mildly ill at that suggestion, but manages to make her way across the broken ground to shake Drayden’s hand and claim her badge, though she does so without saying much of anything. At least not loudly enough for the cameras to hear.

“I didn’t comment much through that section I admit.” Mordred comments. “Because quite frankly it would take away from things, and on some level, that’s not the kind of thing where trainers can necessarily have as much impact. The rest of this battle was between Sam and Drayden. That last round was Belisarius testing Lancelot. When it comes to a clash of true power like that, grand strategies start to break down, save for Lance’s focus Sash, or else that would have been over the moment he took that Dragon Claw. Ultimately, no matter what kind of battle it is, you eventually do need to be able to trust your Pokémon, in the training before hand, understanding of technique, and a million other factors that ensure that battling is always unpredictable. Duels between dragons are always brutal, and while we’ve covered many ways to deal with these kinds of high stakes matchups, from speed, to toughness to strategy, trades, handling mirrors, there are still things that you can’t boil down to simple science.”

“Here there be dragons, so be bold and be ready, because the maps won’t ever cover everything. Much as I make this series about understanding the strategy and tactics of a battle, don’t make the mistake that you can win just by thinking, because some things you can’t think of until you see them. Until next time, I’ve been Mordred, this has been Battle Breakdowns, thank you very much, and goodbye.”

[thebard490]

Battle Breakdown: Sam vs. Clay

[video id: A noivern standing in front of a camera. He hops forwards, double checks something, and then nods. "Finally. It's taken me only half the journey to actually get the camera right the first time. Now if I could only figure out an intro besides just hello, or just make it a running gag." He mutters to himself, and then hops back.

"Hello! Welcome back to Battle Breakdowns! In today's breakdown, my trainer Sam vs. Gym Leader Clay! Featuring Weather effects, abilities, counter strategies, thinking a few moves ahead, and the dangers of too much Texan Drawl. Let's get into the teams."

The trainer card of a brown haired woman wearing what can best be described as a noivern inspired longcoat appears, showing a team of five: Noivern (the same one presenting the video), Goomy, Gabite, Vibrava, and Tyrantrum.

"For those unfamiliar, this is my trainer Sam, accidental specialist and a solid argument for some humans being fighting-type. While my level disparity prevents me from participating in her gym battles, the rest of the team is solid.

Gawain the Goomy, Sap Sipper for his ability, equipped with Scald, Draco Meteor, Sludge Bomb, and Dragon Pulse. Calm nature plus an Assault Vest for high special defense, and enough EVs to be a strong special attacker. Though for this battle we swapped the Assault vest for a sitrus berry, since Clay uses Physical Attackers.

Lancelot the Gabite, a particularly skilled brawler for his species. Focus Sash to give him some more staying power, and allow him to set up with Swords Dance to later punish with Dig, Iron Head, and Dragon Claw.

Bedivere the Vibrava. Still getting used to being a Vibrava. His Levitate ability will be extremely useful here, and while he's lost some of the raw power that he had access to as a Trapinch, but he's still able to pack a punch with Dig, Dragon Tail, Steel Wing, and an ace in the Hole: Superpower. Leftovers, mostly because we can't get him to drop them.

And last but not least, the strongest member of the team aside from myself, and boy does he know it, Percival. Carrying an Expert Belt to take advantage of his wide type coverage and powerful jaws using Thunder, Fire, and Ice Fang alongside crunch. Bit of a brat but undeniably has some of the best pure combat instinct I've seen in years. If not for me he'd be Sam's Ace right now.

Now, let's take a look at the other side. Krokorok, Sandslash, Onix, and Exadrill. A seriously powerful team. Ground types can be tricky to deal with, extremely strong strengths but equally profound weaknesses. Glad Sam's not an electric specialist.

Krokorok is a great lead, able to debuff the opposing lead with Intimidate and then set up the rest of the team with Sandstorm. Crunch and Bulldoze, both with STAB, mean he's a decent threat in his own right.

Sandslash certainly is strong enough on his own right, with excellent attack and defense. Combined with Sand Veil and he's going to be a serious problem in a sandstorm.

Onix is probably the weakest member of the team. While he does boast incredible defenses, his pitiful HP stat means he'll crumble concerningly quickly. That said, Sturdy means he's always going to be able to do something and that's worth being wary of.

Finally, Exadrill. Probably the scariest Ace so far in the gym challenge for most trainers. Fast, tough, powerful, and an utter menace in a sandstorm. The problem being, Clay's team only has one way of making that Sandstorm, so Clay is going to have to finish the fight quickly, since his team's power drops substantially once that Sandstorm is gone.

Clay is a classic weather team. As long as he can maintain control over the environment, he's going to have a serious advantage. If that control slips, either due to another weather setter or simply his opponent running out the clock, he's going to be in trouble. There's a few ways to deal with Weather Teams. One is to bring a weather setter of your own and counter their weather with your own, but unless you're a weather team this can be a waste of a move slot. Another is to adapt to the weather and have plans for how your team can react to different conditions. The third and final way is to stall your opponent out once you've eliminated the weather setter. Normally you need some serious bulk to pull this off, but there are more psychological ways to accomplish this."

The video cuts back to Mordred. "And yes, this is foreshadowing. Let's get into it."

A video of the battle begins to play. Sam and Clay shake hands, and are chatting amicably. "Alright then Ms. Suruga, let's see what y'all can manage! Krokorok, rock and roll!"

"We've got a plan, Gawain let's do this!" Sam retorts, and sends out her Goomy in return. The Krokorok takes a look at the slime dragon, then at Clay.

"Oh fine. Bulldoze instead." Clay relents.

"Hey the slime's not that bad!" Sam snarks. "Gawain, teach em some manners, Scald!"

The two pokemon clash, the Krokorok diving into the arena and dragging a wave of earth forwards to slam the Goomy back, who counters with a surprisingly large gout of boiling water, sending the larger pokemon back burned. Gawain chomps down on a Sitrus berry, as the Krokorok takes a wary stance.

"Heh, whole lot o' spunk in the little feller, I like to see it! Krokrok, start the music an' you can rest a bit. You done good."

"Don't let him get away with that! Scald again!" Sam orders, but too late. A whirlwind of stinging sand fills the arena, forcing Sam to don her flight goggles to keep it out of her eyes. Gawain powers through, and knocks out the other Pokemon. "Well, so much for plan A, come on back Gawain, time for plan B!"

The video pauses. "So, Sam's initial strategy wasn't bad in principle, counter a weather team by KOing the weather setter before they can start the weather. The problem is that unfortunately, Gawain is a Goomy. He's done great so far, but unevolved, his BST isn't high enough. Even a Draco Meteor wouldn't have taken down Krokorok simply due to his poor stats, and he wouldn't have been fast enough anyways, and Clay's smart enough to know to go straight for the Sandstorm in that circumstance. That said, he should have gone for the Crunch, with good damage range that one-shots Gawain. Perks of being slimy I suppose, nobody wants to bite you. So, having failed to prevent the Sandstorm, how can Sam deal with it?"

"Well, Goomy can learn Rain Dance, and so she could have brought that and countered with her own weather. However, Gawain is the only member of the team who uses water moves, and he's not going to sweep. It might seem to just neutralize things, except for one problem: Exadrill. With his Steel/Ground typing, the best tool Sam has to deal with him will be a Fire Fang from Percival or a Superpower from Bedivere. In rain though, the former is severely weakened, leaving one of her two answers to Clay's ace ineffective. So, given she has ways of taking advantage of the sandstorm herself, best to leave it up."

The video resumes, and Sam withdraws Gawain and sends out her Gabite, Lancelot. Clay sends out his Sandslash, and the two immediately rush one another in a flurry of claw strikes, but each withdraws with no damage suffered. "Sand Veil, the ability of both Lancelot and Sandslash, increasing evasion in the already low visibility environments of a sandstorm! Neither pokemon can effectively harm the other!" The announcer remarks.

"We've got plans for that. Sandlash, Hone Claws."

"Just like we practiced Lance. Swords Dance!"

Both pokemon prepare themselves for the next clash, tension rising. "Swords Dance." Mordred remarks. "One of the more infamous moves for a reason. A double increase to Attack results in doubled damage output, treating his Attack as a whopping base 180, even higher given Lancelot's Lonely Nature and EV training, probably closer to between two hundred and two hundred forty. Hone claws is similar, but trades one level of Attack for increased Accuracy, making it the superior option for countering other Sand Veilers. Of course, moves aren't the only way to improve your chances of hitting."

The Sandslash uses Bulldoze, closing rapidly on the Gabite, who stands his ground and takes a stance. "Just like we practiced, we've trained for this. Wait for the right moment and then-" Sam encourages her pokemon, before the Sandslash impacts, hitting Lancelot in the chest. Lancelot takes a step back to keep his footing, and then grabs the Sandslash and throws him over his shoulder. "DRAGON CLAW!" Sam orders, and the Gabite obeys, whirling and delivering a devastating attack that puts the Sandslash down in a single, brutal hit across its exposed belly.

"The intangibles. Technique, strategy, and specific preparation. Training isn't all about stats and moves." Mordred comments. "Showdown and Smogon are good fun, but in a real battle, there are intangible, non-quantifiable metrics that truly make the difference between simply a good trainer, and a truly great one. Sam knew Sand Veil could be a problem, and so, we spent quite a bit of time learning that delayed hit technique to ensure Lance could land that hit."

"Good work Sandy. You done good." Clay encourages his pokemon as he withdraws them. "And as for y'all Ms. Suruga, I must commend you for placing me in an unfortunate position. It has been many a long year since I saw a Gabite that knew how to dance proper. Most are all muscle, no head, but you've got plenty. Good on ya, but I'm not about to go easy just because you've impressed me!"

Clay sends out Onix. "Alright partner, one for all an' all for one. We're in a bit of a pinch so we'll need you to bust us out!"

"Gonna need more than that Clay! Time to put what Dusty taught into practice Lance! Iron Head!" Sam orders confidently, and rightly so as Lancelot engages in a powerful head on collision with the Onix that makes the far larger pokemon shudder from head to tail, but it grits its teeth and holds on.

"Sturdy, same trick as that Focus Sash of yours. Great for setting up, or countering somebody on a rampage. Clear the path, explosion!" Clay remarks. Sam's eyes go wide, as a massive explosion rocks the arena and throws Lancelot back, entirely knocked out. The arena shakes as Onix falls to the ground. Both trainers acquire their wounded pokemon. Sam picks Lancelot up before helping him into his ball, and Clay strokes his Onix's head. "Hate to make you do it that way partner, but you done good." The gym leader remarks before sending Onix back into his ball.

"You done pushed me into a corner Ms. Suruga, but I don't ever back down until I'm done! Houston, it's on you again. Let's turn this around!"

"Sorry, but you are done!" Sam shoots back with good natured confidence. "Bedivere, finish this!" Her Vibrava appears in turn. "Superpower!"

"Don't go getting cocky now Ms. Suruga." Clay replies, entirely calmly. "Houston. Metal Claw."

The Vibrava closes in for the finishing blow, zipping back and forth across the arena, charging for a powerful attack. The exadrill by contrast remains entirely still, until Bedivere closes into range. Then there is a flash, and Bedivere's unconscious body goes flying, momentum carrying him to nearly crash into clay.

Sam stares in seeming shock for a moment, her eyes wide. "What? How?"

"Everybody underestimates how quick a ground type feller can move when they feel like it. Your vibrava's good proof, easy there young feller you're fine. Good try." Clay replies, helping Bedivere back onto his feet and giving him a berry. The vibrava seems very confused, but just remains on the ground, still shaking slightly from the impact of the attack. "Why this one time I-"

The video begins to fast forward. "So, this is plan C, and in this case C stands for "keep Clay talking" The other way to stall out a sandstorm is to stall out their trainer. This isn't difficult to do if your opponent is from a southern region." Mordred comments. "As we do so, explanation of what exactly just happened. Exadrill is actually quite fast for a ground type, Base 88 speed, and I happen to know Houston has a speed boosting nature. Brave, if I recall correctly. Clay plays into the classic stereotypes of ground types being slow, and has him conceal his speed until the right moment to catch his opponents off guard. Another one of those intangibles. As for how it one-shot Bedivere, Exadrill boasts an impressive 135 base Attack, adds STAB to metal claw, and then boosts that damage by another 30 percent in sandstorms during Sand Force, which boosts Ground, Rock, and Steel type attacks. I wasn't kidding when I said Houston is probably the strongest Ace out of the first five trainer battles, and he's arguably the second or third strongest of any Gym leader's Ace. Dreydan's Haxorus is number one, and I haven't personally fought Drey yet to tell on his side, but as the traditional 8th gym badge, I'm going to presume he's rather strong."

The video begins playing at normal speed several minutes after the sandstorm fades. "Anyways." Clay concludes. "It's been fun but-". Sam holds up another pokeball. "I forgot about the Tyrantrum again didn't I?"

"Yup. Thanks for stalling the Sandstorm out though." Sam replies cheerily, before sending out her Tyrantrum, who enters with a bellowing roar. Houston turns around to give his trainer an exasperated expression. Clay shrugs in response.

"I've also still got Gawain, but he'd go down in one hit before he could do anything." Sam admits. "Anyways, back to finishing this. Percival! Fire Fang!"

"Alright alright. Houston, another Metal Claw if'n you please!" Houston rolls his eyes almost as the Tyrantrum charges him, then moves in another blur, landing a silver streak across the larger Pokemon's throat. But Percival continues, raises his tail, and brings it down on the Exadrill as he falls. The mole-like pokemon bounces off the ground once, before he is caught in the Tyrantrum's blazing maw. Percival shakes Houston like a terrier with a rat, before throwing him out onto the floor of the stadium and roaring at his unconscious body. Sam recalls her pokemon, and Clay his. The two shake hands and the match concludes.

"So, what have we learned today?" Mordred comments as the video cuts back to him. "Firstly, what a weather team is, and a few different ways of dealing with them. Counter, adapt, or outlast. Each one depending on your team and your opponent. Second, abilities can be absolutely crucial to any strategy, and building around them can be a recipe for success and unexpected twists. Third, Exadrill is scary. Fourth, don't monologue during battles, and Fifth, make sure that you always have a backup plan, and that your plans don't contradict each other. Sam knew Bedivere might not land that Superpower due to getting outspeed and one-shot, so she made sure that she had another answer for the Exadrill in the form of our local Tyrantrum. Plenty to learn from this one, and it was just fun to watch besides. Anyways, until next time, this has been Battle Breakdowns, I've been Mordred, signing off."

[thebard490]

Battle Breakdowns: The World's Fastest Trapinch

[video id, a Noivern messing with a camera. "Well one of the upsides of putting this together fairly quickly is that I didn't have time to delude myself into thinking some stupid intro looked good on paper." He mutters, before hopping back.

"Hello and welcome back to Battle Breakdowns! I'm your host Mordred, using my years of competitive battle expertise to break down battles sent in both by you and my rookie, well, not quite as much of a rookie anymore, trainer Sam. In this episode, we'll be reviewing her gym battle with Elesa, a battle I didn't find particularly interesting on my first view, but one that still showcases some important strategies and concepts. Let's get into it."

The video cuts to a feed of a battle between Sam, now clad in a long coat. The coat has a purple dragon scale pattern and a large ruff which looks similar to a noivern's mane. She's facing off against Elesa on stage. "So, I'm skipping the usual pre-battle stat comparison because it's not entirely necessary today. What you need to understand is this. Sam is about to take Elessa's four pokemon team, including multiple fully evolved pokemon, to task with nothing but a Trapinch and a Goomy. How's she going to do that? Let's take a look and see what it can teach us about battling."

Sam sends out Bedivere, her Trapinch, and Elesa sends out her Emolga. The video pauses. "So, I'm fairly convinced Elesa is using Emolga entirely as a way of allowing trainers to show off any interesting strategies they develop. Emolga is not a directly strong pokemon. Not that they don't have a place, but in a battle at this level, they really don't keep up if used as a direct brawler. Pretty much the only thing Emolga has going for it is its speed, which isn't exactly spectacular, and a learnset that can make it good at disrupting your opponent's strategy with Light Screen, Nuzzle, and its Static ability, or setting up another pokemon using Baton pass. It can outspeed and knock out other low HP pokemon with a type advantage, but so can other pokemon which are faster, bulkier, and have stronger attacks. Simply put, it's a good support pokemon, but it doesn't brawl."

"For whatever reason, Elesa's is an attacker, and it isn't even running any particularly strong attacking moves. Its best choice is Aerial ace, which with STAB is okay, but Emolga doesn't have the Attack stat to make it more than niche. Which we're about to see vs. Bedivere here. It's something Sam is going to take advantage of."

The video resumes, and Emolga lands an Aerial ace, damaging Trapinch. Sam pulls out an item, and throws it to Bedivere, who scarfs it down swiftly. This action repeats, and after the next hit, Bedivere pulls out a berry and chomps down. Sam then throws a Hyper potion, allowing Bedivere to take a third Aerial ace, and retaliate with a Rock Slide, OHKOing Emolga. The video pauses.

"Now, that was hardly thrilling, but what comes next might surprise you." Mordred notes, and lets the video play. Elesa sends out Ampharos. "Alright. Ampharos, bring them down! Take Down!" Elesa orders.

"Bedivere, dig!" Sam orders in return. The Apharos charges forwards, only to strike a cloud of dust as Bedivere vanishes into the ground faster than the Ampharos can reach them. The Ampharos looks exceedingly confused, before Bedivere emerges from beneath them and lands a powerful bite on their throat, bringing them to the ground and half-burring them before scuttling back at high speed. The video pauses.

"If you're wondering how in the world Ampharos got outsped by a Trapinch of all things, it's simple. Their trainer let them. Let's go back." The video rewinds to the Emolga. "Emolga can do decent damage with an Acrobatics and Flying Gem set, or Thunderbolt and a Magnet, depending on your preference. However, Aerial Ace doesn't do much damage in exchange for being a sure hit. Emolga can't use any electric moves because Bedivere here is a ground-type. So, this is their best option. However, it's not enough to KO them, which let Sam set up using items."

"Now, some trainers think using items isn't good sportsmanship. There are plenty of tournaments which ban using them. However, for a gym battle, they're entirely fair. Which is why Sam gave Bedivere two X-Speeds. Plus another speed boost from his Saha berry. The end result being that Bedivere has now increased his speed by 5 levels. This means that Bedivere is just fast enough to outspeed an Ampharos. Now, why would Sam do this? Well besides being funny, Ampharos is far and away the strongest pokemon on Elesa's team. Excellent special attack, solid overall bulk, they're very well rounded pokemon. But getting hit by a Trapinch's equally mighty attack, with a STAB ground-type move, that will do the trick for putting them down. Sam recognized the biggest threat on the field, and made a plan to counter it using items to produce a truly unexpected maneuver. Because nobody expects the fastest trapinch in Unova."

Elesa stares for a moment, clearly holding back a chuckle at the unexpected sight, and sends out Galvantula. Sam recalls Bedivere as Elesa orders an Energy Ball. Sam sends out a Goomy, who absorbs the attack using Sap Sucker. Mordred narrates as the battle continues. "Now, it might seem insane to switch out when you've got a +5 going, but the simple fact was it's not enough. Bedivere might be the fastest trapinch in unova when that's going, but that's still not that fast, certainly not fast enough to outspeed Galvantula, and an Energy Ball would still be enough to take him down. So Sam looked ahead, memorized her opponent's learnset (entirely fair, you can look up anybody's team and registered set with their BiD), and knew that she was going to lose Bedivere if she didn't switch, and that Gawain would take no damage. You still lose buffs if the pokemon holding them goes down, same as if you swapped them out, you just lose the pokemon too."

As he is speaking, the Galvantula lands an X-Scissor on Gawain, sending him flying, but he retaliates with Draco Meteor, smashing the giant bug into unconsciousness with a single extremely powerful attack. As Elesa sends out her Zebistrika, Sam sends out Bedivere again. Having lost his speed, the trapinch takes a painful stomp from the larger Pokemon, but uses the impact to move itself into the ground with Dig. "Here's another way Elesa misused her Emolga. If she'd saved it for last, she could have swapped it out to negate a ground-type move, especially dig. But without that, her team is vulnerable, and so, they fall."

The ground collapses under the Zebistrika, causing it to lose its footing. As the dust clears the Zebistrika is holding very still, with Bedivere's powerful jaws on its throat. Elesa recalls her pokemon, and Sam picks up Bedivere, only for the trapinch to begin to glow a brilliant white. Sam is toppled by the unexpected weight of a newly evolved Vibrava.

"And so, dear viewers, I do need to rush this one out to congratulate my junior on his excellent performance, and on his evolution. I chose to believe that the realization he could actually move that fast triggered a evolution into a form that could achieve those kinds of speeds without items. But, I hope it has shown you both how not to use an Emolga, and some of the unusual and often hilarious strategies available to you when you begin exploring the power of items. Until next time, I've been Mordred, and this has been Battle Breakdowns."

[thebard490]

Battle Breakdown: Exhibition Match, Mordred vs Leonardo (Scizor)

[Video id: A noivern messing with a camera. He hops back and tries clicking a couple of different buttons, messing with the lighting slightly, checking something offscreen, and then just resetting the lighting. "I'll work on that later. This one's already going to be late" he mutters. "Alright, live in three, two, one. Hello, and welcome to Battle Breakdown! I'm your host, Mordred. In this series I break down battles to help explain the tactics, strategy, and techniques used so you can become a better battler."

"In this episode, we'll be analyzing another one of my matches, mostly because I don't have anyone sending matches in yet. In this case, an exhibition match between myself and Burgh's ace on his champion circuit team. Let's get into the competitors."

An image appears of Mordred, alongside his stats, held item, and moveset. He boasts remarkable speed and decent special attack, but relatively poor attack and defenses. He is holding Bright Powder, and equipped with Psychic, Fly, Dragon Pulse, and Double Team. "So, me, for those unfamiliar, I'm a classic speed type, with a focus on using pseudomoves and my exceptional speed to help confound and outthink my opponents. However, I'm in for a serious challenge this time."

An image appears of a Scizor, alongside their own impressive defense and murderous attack stats. They are holding a Life Orb, and have the ability Technician. They are using Swords Dance, Bullet Punch, Fury Cutter, and Focus Punch. "So this is Leo, Burgh's ace when it comes to fighting trainers who've already completed another region's circuit. Extremely skilled fighter, as evidenced by how he managed to learn Focus Punch, only Scizor I've ever seen with it. I found out after the battle he used to be part of the Ferrum Circuit, which is entirely focused on 1v1s and allows a much broader set of moves. Must have learned it up there. He's really making the most of his Technician ability with a priority move, multi-hit, and then Swords Dance and Life Orb to push those low power moves as far as possible. He's got a clear battle plan and plenty of ways of forcing pressure. The type matchup really isn't in my favor either, resisting everything except my Fly, which his heavy physical defenses and my poor attack makes a poor choice. I won't win a head on fight, but that's fairly normal."

"See, there's many different strategies used by different teams and pokemon, from hyper-offense, pivot, sweep setup, and BIG STALL. However, when it comes to one on one, there are four general types pokemon tend to fall into.

"The first and simplest are the pure power types. These are the ones with the raw power to simply take their opponents on directly and crush them. This includes both your typical physical brawlers like a Garchomp, and can also involve those with exceptional special attack, such as Gardevoir or Alakazam."

"The second type are the technique focused types. These ones don't necessarily have the raw power and bulk of others, but instead make the absolute most of what they do have. Lucario is pretty much the poster boy for this style, and it covers most fighting types."

"The third are tricks focused, myself included. Rather than focusing on direct combat, we focus on preventing our opponent from executing their strategy, and wearing them down using evasion, status effects, and superior tactics. I use Accuracy manipulation for my approach, but others will use confusion, paralysis, sleep, freeze, or burn to hamper the opponent's offense. I'm an example of this, but you'll also commonly see this among Zoroark."

"Finally, the fourth type are focused on attrition, using remarkable bulk and the ability to heal to wear the target down. They might use similar techniques as a tricks fighter, slowing down the target with a status effect, but they tend to favor passive damage approaches like Toxic, Bind, and Leech Seed, while either preventing an opponent from switching out, or punishing them for doing so using Stealth Rock or Toxic Spikes. These guys tend to have bad reputations due to Leech Trappers, but it is a valid strategy for bulky mon who lack traditional offensive abilities."

"So, based on Scizor's stats, you'd expect most of them to be powerhouse types. They're physically bulky and physical powerhouses, with next to no weakness aside from an admittedly major vulnerability to fire. We'd expect him trying to rush me down and clean my clock, keeping pressure high, but ultimately relying on brute force. Let's see what happens."'

A video begins, showing Mordred and Leonardo both facing one another down. The two remain paused for a long moment, before blurring into motion. The scizor closes in, fist cocked back, and Mordred unleashes a Dragon pulse, causing minimal effect. Mordred retreats to try and create space, before Scizor closes the area in a burst of motion and lands a body blow with Bullet Punch. Mordred responds with a blur of motion, evading the next strike with double team, continuing to fall back. Scizor keeps the pressure on, preparing another powerful blow, before being hit with another Dragon Pulse. The video pauses.

"So, this is already a pretty bad situation for me." Mordred admits. "Precisely because of Focus Punch. Let's get into this move in detail. It's a move with an extremely low priority, but immense power. If it lands, it hits just as hard as a hyper beam. With Leo's attack and Life Orb, if he lands it, I'm done. This means I can only try and set up my Double Teams if I know he's not using it, in other words, after he's already socked me with Bullet Punch."

"While I could get lucky and have him miss, bright powder plus one double team drops his chance to hit to 65% on a 100% move. Thanks to his Life Orb, he's dropping 10% of his HP each turn, and each one of his hits has dropped mine by about 25% each time he hits. An X-Scissor will do around 15%. So at the moment, he needs 2 hits to finish me, or one Focus Punch, and has lost probably around 40% of his HP thanks to the Life Orb and my Dragon Pulses. So I need to survive three more hits if I counter every time, or just dodge 6 moves, both of which seem improbable. So, time to get creative."

"Of course, the battlefield, despite being Burgh's, isn't actually that well suited to creativity. It's a solid floor, no substrate to kick up, inside a building, so minimal ability to use outside factors, and in this cocoon, limiting my area to move. However, he does keep his paints up here, so-"

The video resumes, and Mordred uses psychic to fling several of Burgh's paints up and into Scizor's face, blinding him. "Accuracy down by another stage, odds to hit on a 100% move, down to 50% with a 100% accurate move." Scizor goes for another Bullet Punch, and whiffs. Mordred goes for a Fly to punish, but Scizor evades and lands a powerful Bullet Punch, sending Mordred sprawling. The video stops.

"Alright, let's go back and look at this again, slowed down, because this is a seriously impressive trick he just pulled. You can see right here." Mordred says, scrolling back to the exact point where the attack wiffs. "He recognizes he's missed and is already moving to recover. You can see how he turns, moves with the momentum of his strike to keep as much speed as possible, sees me setting up a counter, anticipates it, and then this very light correction here to get himself out of the way, and counter-punch my counter for a guaranteed hit even with my evasion boosted. That's not a powerhouse type fighter, that's honestly masterful technique. There aren't many who are outright better than me in the air, and while I am faster than him, his skill in aerial maneuverability puts me to shame. This is the difference between a Gym Leader's ace and just a normal battle trainer. Quite frankly, I'm getting rinsed. Fortunately, I'm not fighting on my own." The video resumes

"Mordred! Fall back towards the edge, use the strings!" Sam calls out, and Mordred listens. "This is why it's always important to listen to your trainer. In the middle of a fight, you're focused on the fight, and can't necessarily see the full picture. Your trainer can keep a cooler head and help you recognize strategies you wouldn't in the moment." Mordred comments, as his past self falls back and evades another bullet punch. Pink Psychic energy shrouds several strands of the cocoon walls, and pulls them out, catching and entangling the Scizor.

"Now, set it ablaze! He's weak to fire!" Sam calls, and Mordred uses Dragon Pulse on the cocoon walls, creating a massive blast of fire and smoke that sets the Scizor ablaze, falling to the ground and rolling to extinguish itself. The video pauses.

"No matter the arena, there's always something you can use to overcome your weaknesses, and take on an opponent who would be traditionally more powerful, and even more skilled than you are. However, you also need to take into account any hazards from an arena. Such as for example, what tends to happen when you generate a ton of smoke inside a building." Mordred comments, grimacing in anticipation.

The video resumes, and the smoke from Mordred's attack sets off the fire alarm, filling the building with a piercing screeching sound. The bat dragon is clearly overwhelmed by the noise and staggers, unable to move clearly. The Scizor has no such limitation, and closes in, fist gleaming. There is a powerful BOOM that sounds through the arena, shaking the cocoon, and Mordred goes flying, smashing into the ground hard enough to dig a trench through the wooden platform.

"And that my friends is why you respect the focus punch. For anyone wondering, no that didn't hurt, I was unconscious too quickly. When I woke up on the other hand, that hurt like a motherf@#$#@. If you were wondering why this and the last one were a bit delayed, that's why. I'm still kind of sore from that."

"The headache aside, I hope this analysis further showed off the difference between different fighting styles, and some of the approaches one can use to overcome a power disadvantage, as well as the importance of understanding all the elements of your arena, and the consequences of your actions. No action takes place in a vacuum. If nothing else, I'm happy to show off another ace at the top of his game. I'm gonna have to go to Ferrum at some point if they're that skilled at fighting."

"In any case, this has been Battle Breakdowns. This is Mordred, signing off to go get another ice pack."

[thebard490]

[Video ID: A noivern is busy using psychic to adjust a camera. He hops back a few steps, as the camera shows the inside of a Luxury ball. He moves over and grabs something from the side, a small device, and begins using psychic to type on it. It begins to play back.

"Test test one-two, one-two. Alright. This thing's working. Audio levels are good. Alright. Script? Got it over there. Let's do this. Lights, camera, action! Hello, I'm Mordred and this is Battle Breakdown. In this series of videos, I'll break down the tactics, strategy, and advanced techniques used by myself and other high level pokemon, to help explain the details of how higher level battling works for both pokemon and their partner trainers. In this first episode, I'll be breaking down one of my own battles, an exhibition match between myself and gym leader Cheren's Braviary. Let's get into it.

A screen appears, showing an image of Mordred, his stats, and his registered moveset (Double Team, Psychic, Dragon Pulse, Fly). "Let's begin with an understanding of both parties. Some older trainers may tell you looking up your opponent's team isn't sporting, because it used to be that way, but when everyone can look up the full details of another trainer with their BID in seconds, it's just become part of higher level strategy. Ah the wonders of technology. In any case, understanding yourself, and your opponent is crucial. In my case, I have the strengths of a top-tier speed and strong mixed attack stats, but my HP isn't the highest and neither is my defense. I'm fast, hit decently hard in multiple ways, but I can't take more than one or two good hits. Let's check out my opponent."

Another image appears, showing a Braviary, its stats, and its moveset of Aerial Ace, Slash, Iron Head, and Hyper Beam. "So, Braviary. Decent bulk due to high HP, unspectacular defenses at best, decent speed but slow for a flying type, especially given this one's nature, but an absolutely brutal physical attack stat. The one thing I might suggest as a change would be to swap Hyper Beam for either Sky Attack, if you want to use it as an opener relying on high HP, Giga Impact, or Brave Bird. Hyper Beam is a great trick to pull when your opponent doesn't know your moveset, but in this day and age those kinds of tricks won't work on experienced pokemon or trainers."

"So" the images are now presented side by side. "Comparing the two of us, while I have a definite speed advantage and am generally more versatile, Braviary is stronger and tougher in most cases. If it comes to a head-on clash, then I'll lose. At least, in most cases. Based purely on our stat sheets, we'd expect the battle to turn into a case of me trying to evade him and bring him down gradually with between two and four Dragon Pulses, while he pursues and tries to land a telling blow with Aerial Ace and Slash. Understanding the likely strategies of both sides is crucial, because then you can subvert them. Let's get into the replay and I'll show you an important technique for pulling that exact kind of stunt."

A recording of a battle begins, taken by Mordred's trainer. Mordred begins by immediately bluring into motion, throwing up a huge cloud of dust which covers the arena. The video pauses. "Now, Sandstorm isn't one of my moves listed, and I can't learn it anyways. But this isn't sandstorm. This is double team. By using it close to the ground when the surface is a fine particulate, like the sand used for most gym battles, or even just basic dirt and grass, I can throw up this huge wall of debris. This not only gives me the benefit of increasing my evasion, but also decreases my opponent's accuracy. This is what is called a "Pseudo-move" since it uses a single move to produce a different effect than normal. These are entirely legal, and always have been (a lot of fighting-type moves originally were pseudos. They're just not commonly used since they tend to have a drawback.

In the case of this one, it would also decrease my accuracy, if I relied on my eyes that is. This demonstrates one of the first principles of Pseudo-Moves. You should understand their drawbacks, and develop your techniques in a way where you can avoid those drawbacks using the gifts unique to your species.

So, my accuracy is fine, my evasion is up one stage, and his accuracy is down one stage. What's he going to do? Well naturally use the move which bypasses accuracy altogether: Aerial Ace, his weakest move. Which, yeah it still hurts, but I can take it, and better than getting hit with Slash or Hyper Beam.

The recording continues, and Braviary indeed uses Aerial Ace, closing on Mordred and landing a fairly impressive attack that sends the Noivern staggering back. Then, a rock tears itself out of the ground, surrounded by the pink aura of Psychic. It smashes into Braviary's back, knocking them to the ground. The video pauses again.

"This is a second, important use of Pseudo-Moves. Cleverly used, you can change the type of damage you inflict. By using this rock instead of directly targeting him with Psychic, I was able to hit him with a super-effective move and Flinch him. Of course, the damage would be fairly pathetic and the accuracy a lot worse if he wasn't both a flying type and currently half-blind. This is another lesson in how to use Pseudo-Moves, tailor them to your opponent and use setups to compensate for their drawbacks."

The video resumes. Mordred closes in on the downed Braviary, armoring the edges of his wings with psychic, and begins striking the Braviary with the reinforced wings. The Braviary tries to counter with Slash, but it misses, and Mordred lands a fairly serious hit to his opponent's neck.

"Now, there are three things going on here. Two are good, one less so. First things first, I'm using yet another Pseudo-move, using Psychic to create an energy shield around by wings to hit harder. This one has some of the fewest drawbacks when performed correctly, and is even a signature technique of Gallades, and Lucario will do something similar with aura. However, while it's very effective if performed correctly, it is extremely dangerous to use this technique without proper training. You can seriously hurt yourself trying this in battle without practice. If you want to try this, get a Gallade to teach you, and make sure to use the same motions you'd use for a physical attack you normally know. In my case, I'm imitating Wing Attack."

"The second thing that is good is that I've closed into melee. Now, shouldn't this be a bad idea on my part? Based on our stats and movesets, yes. Which is exactly why I've created a situation were doing it is useful. Coming into this, we'd have expected a game of cat and mouse, because in a head to head mid-air battle, he'd clean my clock. However, on the ground, and in a dust storm, the situation's reversed. He's half blind, I'm moving faster, and my body is better suited to moving on the ground rather than his, which is entirely specialized for the air. This situation reverses what you'd expect purely based on moves and stats, and thus completely throws him off his game, leading to the third thing."

"Since he's off his game and should be in his element right now, he's reacting, not acting. Rather than trying to out-manuever me, he's accepting the close-range battle, since he should be superior there. This leads into the most important lesson of all battling, and one that I admit I have a hard time with, even with my years of experience. Never let your ego get the better of you."

"We have all been given unique gifts by Arceus, both in terms of our species, and each one of us as individuals. But if we come to believe the way we have been gifted is superior to everyone else, we'll make fools of ourselves at best, being surpassed by things we never expected, or failing to learn from our brothers and sisters, or even from our human partners."

The video resumes. Cheren calls a command. "Braviary, fall back and use Hyper Beam!" The video pauses.

"This is a good call. Cheren correctly identified how both me and his pokemon were doing. I can take another Aerial Ace, and possibly even a Slash. But Braviary, despite his higher starting HP, has been brought down enough that I can finish him with nearly any hit. However, if he lands Hyper Beam, I'm done. Besides that, it's a ranged attack, letting him fall back above the dust cloud to increase his accuracy."

The video resumes. Braviary retreats above the dust cloud, charges a hyper beam, and fires down. There's a huge flash as the brilliant beam smashes down onto what appears to be Mordred. But then it passes through, hitting an afterimage. The real Mordred retaliates with a Dragon Pulse, knocking Braviary out of the sky and sending him plummeting to the ground. "Thank Arceus for Double Team. And much as I have talked up Pseudo-Moves during this video, don't forget just using a move normally will pretty much always do more damage and be more accurate. Pseudos are for specific situations where a head-on clash isn't something you want to risk."

"Strictly speaking, Braviary was stronger than me. He was better specialized, tougher, and had plenty of options to end that fight. However, through superior technique and tactics, I kept him from using those options effectively, and was able to wear him down. Any pokemon, even the strongest, can be beaten if you come at it with the right game plan, determination, and a whole mountain of hard work. And even when you do lose, pick yourself up, examine the match, figure out what you could do better and what your opponent did well. You're only ever truly defeated when you refuse to keep growing."

"That's all for this episode. Feel free to send in any of your own battles you found interesting and I'll give them a look over. If it turns out to be interesting or highlight an important lesson, it might show up here. In any case, this has been Battle Breakdown, I've been and still am Mordred, signing off!"

video ends]