#pokemon moveset analysis

[furrama]

I hate it when you go on Smogon to look up pokemon movesets for older generations and they recommend a move that looks really cool or extremely useful. So you look the move up on Pokemon Database and see that it's not learned on level up. Nor is it an egg move or a TM or a move tutor move, nor is it on a special pokemon from the Stadium games or anything. So you do some digging only to find that the move was released on the pokemon in question as a gift in New York City at a single brick and mortar building - for one week only - right after Christmas 20 some years ago.

[epicspheal]

Hi! Congrats on making it through your first year of med school, I know that's hard to do so make sure to take some time for yourself 💜

I wanted to know if you could write something for Gordie? I'll take anything, but please take your time before doing this.

Hi there anon! Thank you so much for the kind words. Medical school has been an interesting challenge to say the least I also have to apologize for the delay in getting to this ask! When I first got this I was like "Oh Great, I'm actually working on a Gordie fic right now and I'll let them see this" Only school and writer's block got in the way So I'm going to bend my own rules for this an actually just do a character analysis for Gordie instead. So here we go... GORDIE NEEDS MORE LOVE FROM THE FANDOM Admittedly, I didn't know much of Gordie because I first played Shield. But since I loved SwSh so much I decided to go back and get Sword and there I actually fell in love with his character. He breaks the mold in a number of ways. Let's start off with his name. In Japanese his name is Makuwa which is the name of fruit called muskmelon (or just melon) which is very similar to Melony's name which is also derived from melon. So that's an easy tie between the two's familial connection. But Melons have interesting symbolism of their own as they represent prosperity, good fortune, and abundance in many cultures. And despite the rift between him and his mom, Gordie has abundance, prosperity and good fortune.

He's a major gym leader in one of the strongest gym circuits to date (minor gym leader if we're talking Shield but that's still huge), he has plenty of adoring fans, and his league card talks about how he's highly suspected of becoming a champion one day. Which is something that I don't see talked about much even in SwSh circles that absolutely should be. One for any trainer to be strong enough to considered a future champion is huge as there's only a handful of trainers who can even attain that rank. Even moreso as a type specialist. As we can see in the list of established champions in the series, the vast majority are multitype trainers with only a handful specializing in one type. And of those who specialize in one type only two of them (Wallace and Peony) that solely use Pokemon of their specialty while the others have at least one Pokemon not of their actual type. Gordie is a rock type specialist where all of his Pokemon are at least partially rock. And let's not forget that of the type specialist champions all of them are either Water, Dragon or Steel (yes Alder could count as a Bug type specialist but he's currently listed as a multitype champion). Rock however is often the specialty of the first or second gym leader on a gym circuit with so far only one trainer (Olivia) being representative of the type in the Elite Four. So for Gordie to be a rock type trainer who is strong enough to be considered a future champion is a huge accomplishment that I think bears mentioning.

Now let's take a look at his team. You can see while he does specialize in Rock types, only one of his Pokemon is pure rock while the others are dual type. The typings not only on the Pokemon but the moves he has are quite diverse allowing him to hit multiple types super effectively and cover 3 out of the 5 rock weaknesses. His team and movesets show he prefers an offensive approach prioritizing speed with Shell Smash, Tar Shot, Sticky Web and Coalossal's Steam Engine. In fact one of his in-game quotes alludes to the fact he prefers quick battles "I'll be bringing my matches to an end in a heartbeat—you'll see. No one who sees them will ever forget me."

He also heavily prioritizes breaking through physical defenses with Body Press and Wonder Room, as well as weather and entry hazards like Stealth Rock, Sticky Web, G-max Volcalith and Tyranitar's Sand Stream. It's a very solid set up that shows why in Sword he's the 6th gym leader challengers face and it shows how this team is very well designed to defeat Melony's.

As I've played through Sword at this point more than Shield (as I've decided for the purposes of cactusverse the Sword line up are canon) as I've gone through his gym, I really appreciate how encouraging he is to the player as they try to avoid the pitfalls in his gym. It's a nice touch to have him do that shows despite the fact he is a strict trainer he does have a soft side.

We know he does get frustrated after losing and unfortunately some people take that to mean he's a sore loser but he's not. Yeah he sulks in his locker and openly talks about his pride being bruised but there have been far better examples of actual sore losers in the franchise and he's not one of them. His fans honestly find his sulking sessions endearing and he even apologizes whenever he loses his cool.

"Sorry to lose my cool... I'll be sure to challenge you again."

And let's talk about the fact that he canonically is very popular and has a large fanbase. As a chubby character that's huge because unfortunately fatphobia exists and chubby characters are rarely portrayed as being popular, desired and highly skilled like Gordie is. Oh and he does backflips too showing his size doesn't mean he is unathletic? There are just so many positive subversions here and it's wonderful to see.

And Gordie cares a lot about his fans. He's stated to take the time to do autographs and meet and greets. He's seen in Twilight Wings opening fan mail in his hotel room. And a lot of what he discusses in Pokemon Masters EX involved him talking about how to best please his fans. It's obvious he cares so much for those who support him and it's heartwarming to see.

Now to get to the main talking point about Gordie...his strained relationship with his mom. I've seen people say that Gordie hates his mom but that's simply just not true! He's frustrated with her for trying to push her training style and preferred typing onto him. He wants to show he can succeed without her methods. But that frustration doesn't mean he hates her and quite frankly it's tiring to see how fandom portrays frustration as hate with Gordie and others. You can be frustrated without hating and I wish people would learn to use that nuance when talking about characters with strained relationships because usually when a narrative wants to display feelings of hatred...it will be very obvious.

In fact when Gordie does talk about Melony it's actually very tame. He mentions wanting to surpass her and how on Pasio the cold nights remind him of her. But nothing that signifies hatred. Sure they aren't on speaking terms but families sometimes go through rough patches. I'm sure at some point they'll begin to mend the rift. But yes, Gordie's a wonderful character that shows how even little details can signify so much. And once again I must say...Gordie deserves more love from the fandom!

[crystalelemental]

I feel silly asking you this, but can you do a characterization analysis for Trace? I feel silly asking because A: you haven't played Let's Go, and B: I think I know what you're going to say about most of his team members (Marowak and his starter are obvious, Vileplume and Rapidash are third in line for BST for their types among the original 151 behind Blue and Green's Exeggutor and Victreebel and Arcanine/Ninetales, but I can't quite grasp why Slowbro's there.

Sure. I'll do it. Honestly, let's see if I know anything I'm talking about.

Mercifully, Trace's team is identical between versions. I'm specifically using his rematch, because...prior, he only has three attacks. A Champion only has three attacks per Pokemon. I promise I will take no further shots at Let's Go.

The Lead (Pidgeot) What I really enjoy about this is that his mega is his lead. That feels very distinct from others, who would set their mega as their ace, or at least late in the game. Trace leading with the mega implies a sense of just going at everything with all he's got. There is no warmup, no assessment of the opponent's strength, it's just going full throttle out the gate, try to keep up.

That said, without knowing Let's Go's movesets, it's odd that his best STAB attacks are Quick Attack and Air Slash. These are fairly low BP, so despite that immediate presence at the outset...his approach is not particularly offensive. His moves are priority, flinch rate, and obvious coverage for Steel that would block him, with U-Turn to flee as needed. Which is quite defensive.

At least in my estimation, this is someone who is trying to show off, but isn't exactly reckless. He's aiming for a big display to put himself at an early advantage, but he's not leaving himself open to your counterattacks. He's cautious, perhaps even worried, about letting his opponent see past him.

The Ace (Raichu/Jolteon) It's interesting that Jolteon is the Eevee form he chooses. Makes my life easy I suppose. I know it's because he already had a Fire and Water type, but still. It's neat.

The big thing that stands out to me is Thunder. Thunderbolt is the more conservative effort, compared to Thunder, and is what you'd expect for someone leading with such a defensive play. Their coverage also includes a really risky move, in Iron Tail/Pin Missile. Brick Break/Shadow Ball are more standard, with Quick Attack being priority, despite being so naturally fast. ...do his starters have the same boosted stats thing your Eevee/Pikachu do? I guess not because they evolve.

As the finisher, this feels, to me, a bit more like desperation. It's aiming for clean OHKOs but risking everything on that swing missing. It feels more "nothing left to lose" than someone aiming to make a safe comeback. It's a sensible choice when you're down that far. When you're on your last, swing with all you've got, and keep every advantage in your corner you can. Yeah you're super fast, but if you need to get a sudden shot in, Quick Attack will do it.

Offensive (Rapidash/Marowak) Marowak is the more obvious one. Earthquake standard, Fire and Thunder cover the typical Grass, Ice, and Water weaknesses of Ground types, Brick Break is just a lot of super-effective coverage.

Rapidash has Flare Blitz, which is self-sacrificial, but its coverage is super awkward. Drill Run and Poison Jab aren't...intrinsically bad, but they're not necessary for Rapidash, they don't do anything for it. Its weaknesses aren't hit any easier, nor does it hit things that threaten it. And again, there's a Quick Attack in there.

Marowak is your most direct, perfect coverage offense. And it's slow. Rapidash has whatever's biggest, but is super fast. I think, taking all of this together, suggests that Trace is someone who's going to push really hard for an early lead, roll the dice when he's down to the wire, but his core is someone balanced. Rapidash fills in what it can because it's quick and can get first strike, while Marowak considers its matchups and tries to cover what it would need to cover. Offensively, these are about as good as we get, without putting some special attacks on Rapidash and aiming for Sunny Day strats. Which would be better offensive coverage! But the lack of that kind of effect suggests either simplicity, or that he's considering a bigger picture, given his Water type, and his Grass type would be even worse off. Although...

Defensive (Vileplume/Slowbro) Vileplume is an excellent choice, 10/10. Don't know how he got that version exclusive in both games but sure. Its defensive backbone is Reflect, which is a fun means of protecting the team at large from physical attacks. The rest is offense, including Sludge Bomb, Dazzling Gleam coverage, and...Solarbeam. Buddy. You should've run Sunny Day on Rapidash.

Slowbro has Light Screen as its defensive support, alongside Surf, Psychic, and Blizzard. Interesting to note, neither heals. Which is...odd. Boost defense so you can't be beaten down easily, but nothing to sustain yourself. I read this as someone who's not about to keep trying at something that isn't working. There's no point to healing and keeping in if you can't beat them, getting caught in The Loop. Just push your way through. He's willing to play his cards directly and make his move, but he's not going to languish on it.

Fun to note: both use the shield that boosts their worse defensive stat. Vileplume has better Sp Def, while Slowbro has better Def, so they're using the right shield for their weaker defensive stat. And it's here I think we can make an assertion.

I've done a lot of competitive in my day, and one of the hardest things I have to think about sometimes is your team's role. Specifically, I am someone who aims to balance defenses in this way. Sometimes it works. But often, you get more mileage on a defensive backbone by playing to a strength than a covering a weakness. And this feels like what Trace is after here.

Final Thoughts Trace is someone who aims to be balanced, and to make each individual Pokemon as good as it can be. This can come at the cost of overall team cohesion, however, as his consistent offensive Pokemon are slow and have no defensive merit, while his fast Pokemon are wasting coverage on ensuring they can drop priority. He runs highly inaccurate moves at times, sacrificing consistency for risky throws that may not be necessary. He aims to take an early lead, but by lockdown rather than ruthless offense. He aims to stick a finish, but through risky plays that could easily seal his fate. He's almost entirely offensive, only playing defensive for the sake of shields that prevent damage, but won't aim to heal off what he takes or extend the fight in a way he can't win. He's a simple, direct boy whose focus is pushing through and doing his best on an individual basis. I just think...well...

He's a worthy successor to Red. He has really strong picks, he has a generally sane approach, but counterpicking him is pretty easy. It's mostly raw offenses, a couple defensive tools, but ultimately, a lot of inconsistencies as a cohesive unit, in favor of maximum individual potential. The risks he takes are calculated, but man is he bad at math. Which is a little unfair, he is run by AI and AI doesn't switch. So maybe he's making the better call after all.

[ramtracking]

Magical Leaf Victreebel in PvP (Community Day Analysis) | Pokémon GO Hub [ Victreebel ]

Magical Leaf Victreebel in PvP (Community Day Analysis) | Pokémon GO Hub [Highlights] It’s Community Day time again, this time featuring one of the more hated (or perhaps beloved?) Pokémon that literally tears through PvP: THE… Pokémon Go’s Bellsprout Community Day event features the flower Pokémon. Our guide lists out perks and how to find a shiny. Pokemon GO Victreebel’s best moveset and…

[jcogginsa]

I doubt Game Freak is unaware of that. Most Pokemon games storymodes can be beaten with a pure offense moveset, where the total decision making required amounts to “What moves do more damage” and the elemental rock paper scissors. 

The additional options are mostly used by competitivee players, who whom that kind of complex cost-benefit analysis is part of the fun. 

Unpopular opinion: RPGs have a problem with too many choices.

I know, that's filthy rich coming from someone who plays Pokemon. But few things will turn me off from a game more than seeing it boast, "750 unique weapons and over 300 different magic styles for you to mix and match to create your own UNIQUE CHARACTER."

That's too many. That's too many fucking things. I don't have time in my life to deal with that many things. If I play your game, I'm going to wind up picking one of the first handful of things that I come upon in the first hour of play and then that's just going to be what my thing is, because who the fuck has time to analyze the pros and cons of that many things?

...

Hell, I hate to be the one to tell Game Freak this, but that's how a lot of people play Pokemon too.

[pokemon-strategy-dex]

Grimmsnarl

Moves: Darkest Lariat is Grimmsnarl’s strongest Dark stab. Sucker Punch provides some powerful priority, making Grimmsnarl a decent revenge killer and a potent tool against offense. Grimmsnarl’s best fair stab is Play Rough. Dark and Fairy are amazing together coverage-wise, and so additional coverage isn’t really necessary. The last move can either be Substitute or Bulk Up. Bulk Up abuses dynamaxing better, but substitute pressures defensive teams more consistently. I’ve been experimenting with both, but I like Bulk Up more.

Spread: Max out the attack EVs to dish out as much damage as possible. I like to put some EVs into HP, giving Grimmsnarl a little more bulk. I’m going with 92 right now, but I’ve been experimenting. The rest of the EVs should go into speed to make sure we’re outpacing the opponent's defensive Pokemon. Prankster is Grimmsnarl’s best ability, giving it priority on Bulk Up. As far as items go, I’m favoring Aguav Berry right now. It gives Grimmsnarl some needed recovery and can catch the opponents off guard. 

Team Support/Usage: Grimmsnarl is a great breaker thanks to its decent attack and stupidly good stab coverage. It's also a decent revenge killer against offense. As far as team members go, Grimmsnarl’s low speed necessitates team members who can take care of the many offensive threats who will pressure Grimmsnarl. You will also want pivots who can bring Grimmsnarl in to deal out some large damage. Lastly, hazard support is always appreciated. 

-PSDex

(Credits go to Serebii for the 3D model crop)

[iliketrainmen]

*gently slides AU based on Emmet messing with the various funky glitchmons and unusual happenings in the OG Gen 1 games*

------

Summary: Emmet angy bc Ingo got isekaied to middle of nowhere Nevada. Emmet seek out MissingNo, the ever mysterious reality distortionist responsible for multiple cases of psychosis in trainers and the reason as to why Kanto's champion abandoned his region for years on end. Emmet find the MissingNo and catch it. Turns out it's just a regular pokemon thats a little fucked up but really likes Sitrus berries. Somehow that leads into him becoming some sort of babysitter for the funky fellas in "Glitch city".

Aka, the AU where Emmet becomes a crazy cat lady but with world-ending Glitchmons instead of sneasels. Help him.

Obviously a very brief and missing the point-ish explanation but if I go any further this is gonna turn into a 6000+ word analysis

---

Poorly drawn bonus comic as to why he wears gloves when handling them. (Specifically .4 bc its starting moveset includes Super Glitch)

(Btw, the names for the glitch pokemon are

•Pink evil beetle guy: .4

•The three legged spider that sucker punched (kicked?) Emmet in the balls: Japanese Symbol

•The Yellow off brand MissingNo: 94h

•The eldtrich being that Emmet somehow made friends with: the actual MissingNo

•Magnemite: O. Yes, that's an actual glitch pokemon. It has 7 different evolutions and none of them are of the magnemite evo line.

(I'm a little nervous to post this pls be gentle when letting me know how dumb this idea is)

[g0dtier]

I feel like it also heavily depends on what chara you running for elden ring. Like I'm going full int noodle arms and I basically tri shot most bossed, sometimes they just bug and give up and state at me un movingly while I spam the only 1 usable sorcery in the game.

Some bosses yea are just continuous spam of attack and u just go guess I'll die. Or fucking crucible knights type enemies that just keep their shit shield up forever then stab you real quick before putting the shield back up and I'm here like 8D

Btw yea the death debuff doesn't curse you just... Insta kills you like ds3.

anon this is gonna be a LONG response cause you just gave me a valid reason to ramble for 50 paragraphs so i will

i currently work with a str/fai build and will probably make at least 1 more character with a dex/int build. i had no idea full int builds were so stronk but im thinking of trying one out at some point.

Srs analysis below:

Honestly I'm just a little sad with the state of enemy encounters in the game. Limgrave, weeping peninsula & liurnia largely have the same enemy encounters in the open world with very little variation, and a Lot of the mobs I've encountered up till now rely on being in a group or homing attacks.

Find a soldier in the wild? He blows his horn and gets his buddies. Find a dog or rat? It barks to alert everyone around, which I'm honestly less likely to care about because while theyve been around since demons souls. Those misbegotten cunts see you and blow their horn and every single one of them comes running. That room in Godricks castle with that one exile soldier who blows his horn and then all the sleepy dudes stand up. The courtyard where theyre all heaped up Even the fucking bears in those woods Walk around in liurnia only for some weird bent over dude to appear and spawn 10 more and they all use homing missiles as well The cartwheeling frogs Those dudes in the academy courtyard where its like oh theres one blue guy just kidding theres 15 now

And now I've entered Caelid and theres these amazingly cool looking big dog enemies and all they do is fucking bark and alert the rest again oh and also theres soldiers again I guess. And the frustrating thing is that, aside from the runebears, pretty much all of the above enemies are complete pushovers on their own. I don't feel like I'm fighting enemies with interesting attack patterns or who pose a serious threat, I feel like I'm in that one room in pokemon gold/silver/crystal where every line you cross spawns 3 incredibly weak rocket trainers.

I get that this is necessary when you include spirit summons in the game but I'd rather they just balanced it a little bit? The mechanics arent bad on their own it's just that I really don't like how many of the fights seem to rely on it. It's like almost every fight relies on everything but making the enemies interesting to fight in order to make them hard.

Rather than making the casters have more health & more interesting moves, just sticking 5 of them in a small hallway so you get to avoid 5 missiles at once should make them hard. Boss fight being 2 enemies that die way too quickly? Add dragon rot to the floor! The dog and bird enemies twice your size die in 4 hits? Just make them alert the rest! Stick a big knight with the same moveset as all the other ones in a small corridor to make him hard!

Maybe it's because they made the more interesting enemies all field bosses but to me it just feels like their actual non-field boss enemy pool is super boring because of that. The erdtree avatar doesn't need to be a field boss. The bell bearing hunter doesn't need to be either, though he does need to be tuned down. Grafted Scion? Seriously? Why are some of the pumpkin heads bosses? The mariner guys, too.

Siofria was the first New new area i encountered I feel and its like. theres a million rock men and you're like "oh shit I wonder what these do" and the answer is jack shit. Theyre only hard because theres 20 of them on one staircase. Then you go out and those snipers 2 shot you from a million miles away with their homing arrows that are literally impossible to dodge.

I'm only at caelid but it feels like there's no difficulty progression in the enemies. Everything is either a pushover or two taps you, there is no inbetween. I'm sure the other big non-optional bosses are gonna be good. Godrick was amazing but following it up with rennala after all I listed above just left a sour taste in my mouth cause her boss fight is just...unfun imo

[havetheavengersdoneanythingwrong]

An Aside — The Professor’s Report

[It seems someone has contacted me. I couldn’t verify their location — but even if I could, I don’t think I can move from this house roof without getting myself stuck in a wall.]

[I suppose the appearance of ♀ . where it shouldn’t belong is worrying enough to begin an analysis. It has evolved to modern times, as the others have.]

[Dear Donator B, I have outlined how to care for this being you have found — and what it can do. I hope you may find use in this.]

—

♀ ., the 4 h Pokemon, is a resident of what I’ve lovingly nicknamed the Dokokashira Region.

It’s more than a little difficult to get your hands on for a variety of reasons, the least of which being that encountering one in Kanto tends to mean your demise. Reality appears to dislike this one more than most — unlike MissingNo, it lacks the ability to ‘maintain’ itself naturally, and thus must take prey with which to validate its existence by cementing itself in the victim’s mind.

In Dokokashira, however, it is far more open to regular human contact. Furthermore, so long as you are in an area of this region where its [deverification] moves are rendered moot, it is perfectly safe to understand and learn of.

I have discovered that it functions as a bit of a mixed bruiser. It carries decent physical strength, as well as decent physical bulk, likely due to its immense size and weight. It is more weak to magical or Special attacks, however.

Its ability is one that most Dokokashira natives share — that being Rule Breaker. This Ability is omnipresent, and due to this, no other Abilities exist for this creature — however, it serves as the only explanation I have for this being’s effects.

Rule Breaker can generally be one of three things.

>Level: The weakest type of the three. It simply breaks the level cap, allowing a unit with it to grow stronger than even the strongest ‘real’ beings out there.

>Power: The middle type. Alongside the strength cap being broken, it also appears to have a special ability unique to itself, whether helpful or harmful. They can often impact fights, steering a battle hard in a certain direction.

>World: The top type. These beings appear to directly alter the world around them, having a ‘Power’ far stronger than even others of their kin. Their strengths don’t just impact the immediate fight — but they also impact everything around them, as well, resulting in catastrophic damage. Generally, there is no way to control one of these — in fact, even seeing one may often result in one’s demise.

♀ .’s variant of Rule Breaker involves its voice — and it’s been ruled by myself as a ‘Power’ variant. It appears, at the start of battle, it inflicts a Medusa-esque ‘lock’ on its opponents with its rampant screams and song — so far as I know, done with the intent to verify its existence in reality before a fight begins. It also does appear to alter the world around it temporarily, turning one’s surroundings pitch black — however, this doesn’t appear to be permanent.

In terms of its moveset, it tends to learn mostly normal attacks — with the exception of two that need to be discussed.

Called the ‘Cooltrainer’ move due to how computers have difficulty reading its name, it’s believed to be the ‘lack’ of a move given form. It appears to be a weak physical attack, but witnessing the attack itself tends to inflict irreversible mental trauma on the witness without preparations taken beforehand. Furthermore, comprehending its name is extremely dangerous in certain scenarios.

The second, referred to by previous researchers as ‘Super Glitch,’ is best described as ‘undescribable.’ Its abilities vary drastically, and it doesn’t appear to have a solid ‘effect.’ Merely thinking about using it can do incredible amounts of mental damage to anyone nearby — however, the effects appear to vary based on your location.

It is often weaponized by wild Dokokashiran fauna alongside careless trainers to guarantee a victory, due to a curiously consistent effect upon its opponent if you check up on a ‘real’ creature before comprehending the move — it tends to freeze and burn your target opponent simultaneously, resulting in your opponent’s demise. However, this will almost assuredly shatter one’s mind as well on use.

Neutralizing these effects requires a bush to be northeast of your location — within eyeshot. The further northeast it is, the less the effect will occur. Once you’ve done this, you will be able to handle ♀ .’s abilities and skills with no harm done to yourself. Furthermore, its song does not appear to effect its Trainer.

Having a ♀ . as your starter is a… curious decision, Donator B. However, regardless of where you are, you will be safe so long as the proper precautions are taken to ensure your safety.

With the brunt of this report finished, I will now go over their raw abilities as my computer dictates them.

—

♀ . (Level 100)

Normal/Normal

Ability: Rule Breaker <Power> (If fought outside of Dokokashira, has a high chance of preventing the opponent from fighting when it lets out its cry, until it has finished. This could go anywhere from 10 minutes to whenever ♀ . is withdrawn.) Cannot hold an item, or be affected by buffs from other Pokémon (Baton Pass, Decorate, etc.).

BST

HP- 134

ATK- 139

DEF- 132

Sp.A - 80

Sp.D - 80

SPE - 145

Moveset <Lv. 100, assuming ‘derealization’ moves intact>

- — (13 PP, ‘cooltrainer’ move)

- [Super Glitch]

- [TM50]

- [TM02]

Nature: [N/A]

[darksilvania]

"On May XXst, 20XX, a ship was launched from the Blackfall Spatial Center, the ship was the newest shuttle developed by the center, small enough to be piloted by a single person yet with enough resources to make a trip to the moon, sustain life for a full lunar cycle and come back to earth without any shortage of rations or energy. After many test trips, the ship and its pilot finally had a mission: To take a robot to the moon. It wasnt exactly a robot, but the latest form of exploration rover depeloped, a fully automated drone that could cross any terrain and had the single objective of preparing the field for the future construction of a Lunar Base by cleaning and building its fundations. But before this delivery the ship had to make a stop midway, in one of the centers satellite orbiting the earth, to install a piece of equipment that would work as a signal amplifier, allowing the space center to monitor the drone's progress in real time. Everything was planned up to the most minimal detail, every precaution had been take, every piece of data had been analized over and over again, there should be no fail, everything was covered, but then again, not everything. The launching was a success, the ship and its pilot, with the drone on board sailed and arrived to the midpoint of the trip with ease, the ship was secured to the satellite and its pilot came out to make the amplifier instalation when something came out of the dark, the monitors on the center coulnt pick it up until it was to late, they tought it to be a meteorite, a piece of debree, but acording to the pilot if was something else, it looked...organic, and when the object crashed with the ship, everything disapeared, comms went dark, the mission had failed. Subsequent ships where sent to investigate the zone but nothing was ever found, no trace of the pilot, the ship, not even the rover or the satellite, as if whatever had hit them took them away, after months of research, they were declared lost in space. After years of the Incident, the Lunar base was finally buit, it was named after the missing Pilot. On August XXst, 20XX, the Blackfall Spatial Center caught something in their radars, something travelling to earth, entering its atmosphere and falling on one of the many islands on the cost of Blackfall city that form the Andromeda Achipelago, called this way for the large amount of 'stars' that fall in them. This mysterious object was first beleived to be a piece of debree, or a specially large meteorite due to its form and size, but then something was discovered, whatever it was that had fallen, it had the same readings as the 'organic object' that had hit the missing shuttle so long ago. A large group of investigators was sent to the crash site for further analysis but what they found on the site was not what they were expecting..." 386-ASTRONOIR [Astronaut-Noir] -Dark -The Space Entity pokemon -Ability: Adaptability -Dex: "After being exposed to the substances know as 'DEOMEGA's Blood', once a mere human, it was mutated into becoming a dark entinty, fusing its organic body with its space suit, creating a single living organism. After its mutation, this entity asimilated the technology around it, allowing it to change forms in order to more effectively move across different enviroments." -Moveset:    -Sig. Move: Cosmic Phaser "The user fires a powerful laser from its hand than has a 30% chance of leaving the foe Paralized  "    Type: Dark    PP: 10 (max 16)    Power: 90    Accuracy: 100%    -Moonblast    -Dark Pulse    -Gravity {To change ASTRONOIR into its alternate forms you must travel to the Blackfall Spatial Center, in the main loby you will find an open exhibition showcasing the models of the shuttle, the rover and the satellite, as well as a complete space suit, ASTRONOIR will change its form after tapping on each model's infobox, when it changes form, its signature move will be changed automaticaly} SHUTTLE FORM -Dark/Flyng -Ability: Adaptability -Moveset:    -Sig. Move: Warp-Speed Rush "The user shoots itself at blinding speed against its foe, this move can bypass any protection and hit pokemons in a semi-invulnerable state flying in the air  "    Type: Dark    PP: 10 (max 16)    Power: 100    Accuracy: 100%    -Extreme Speed    -Flame Charge    -Aqua Jet SATELLITE FORM -Dark/Electric -Ability: Adaptability -Moveset:    -Sig. Move: Satellital Cannon "The user shoots a poweful laser of concentrated dark energy, but must cool down for a full recharge, if used consecutively the attack does half the damage"    Type: Dark    PP: 5 (max 8)    Power: 130    Accuracy: 85%    -Flash Cannon    -Parabolic Charge    -Laser Focus EXPLORER FORM -Dark/Ground -Ability: Adaptability -Moveset:     -Sig. Move: All-Terrain Rumble "The user charges itself with the energy from its enviroment and then runs over its foe at full speed. This move's type and effect changes depending on the terrain "    Type: Dark    PP: 10 (max 16)    Power: --    Accuracy: --%     -Sig. Move: Terraforming "The user unleashes is cosmic power to alter the properties of its enviroment, this move transform the arena into a different Terrain randomly"    Type: Ground    PP: 15(max 24)    Power: --    Accuracy: --%    -Moonlight    -Cosmic Power

[animefighter1717]

My honest thoughts on Byleth+an analysis of Fire emblem in Smash and community reception

Hello tumblr, it’s me animefighter with a new original post. I know it’s late but I though I’d give an objective look at the inclusion of the new DLC Byleth from fire emblem 3 houses. As many of you guys know, this character hasn’t gotten the warmest welcome; especially compared to the other DLC characters, (Even Hero and Piranha Plant got warmer welcomes) I’ll even admit that I was let down by their reveal and I’m a fan for the fire emblem series.  I can’t speak for other people but for me, I wasn’t necessarily “MAD” about Byleth more disappointed and burnt out from the amount of FE reps. Maybe it’s a similar case for other people, they’re not angry nor do they hate the FE series they’re just burnt out and are expressing it in the wrong way in the heat of the moment. At least that’s how I feel. I personally would have been less disappointed if they were released either around the same time as Piranha Plant or started the second Fighter pass. 

Some positive things I can say is that the female alt, just like with Robin and Corrin is pretty cute. and their moveset is interesting and refreshing compared to half the FE reps playing nearly identical to one another. I like the variety for weapons they use for their moves and they look like they’re going to be a long range but slow powerhouse character probably on the mid-heavy side in terms of weight. The low mobility is going to be an issue for me though. Also, a lot of their moves look like they’re going to be very easily telegraphed and punishable if whiffed. I might be able to talk about them more when they come out next week and I lab with them for a bit; but I digress. 

Now let’s take a look down the rabbit hole of history of FE characters in Smash  over the years and the reception that these characters and the franchise got from this community.

Circa 2001/2002 Melee launches and fans rush to buy it and try to unlock all the characters. we get more Nintendo all stars from past and present (at the time) including old school reps like Ice climbers and Mr. Game and watch. Among the other unlockable characters we were introduced to Marth from the OG fire emblem and Roy from Binding Blade. At that point, the series was not known outside of japan at all or at least had a small niche fanbase but as far as I knew, the community more than welcomed these two with Open arms and they were widely used by many players world wide and sparked some interest in this lesser known series. ( Believe it or not, FE was not always one of Nintendo’s major players in america) But regardless, Marth and Roy were very well received in the game and the idea of more sword fighters in Smash was encouraged. (The fact that Marth in particular was  a competitively viable character also helped)

Fast forward to Brawl’s release 7 years after Melee’s and Marth Returned to the fray with a new FE rep, Ike from Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn. Roy, was unfortunately scrapped from Brawl leaving many smash fans, myself included feeling bummed out. Ike played vastly differently from Marth sporting a slower but harder hitting play style and a recovery that meant glory or death if you used it.  Also, being the first of the characters to speak English and have the most quotable taunts and win quotes won Ike his share of fans and again, swodies in smash was something that people actually wanted more of believe it or not. People also wanted more FE reps. I know, it sounds crazy nowadays, right? But that was the case. There was also a system of belief that if one character was added another would be cut. Such was the theory buzzing around during Smash 4′s development.

Now let’s look at the years 2013 and 2014 when smash 4 was announced and FE awakening was out and doing pretty well. Marth was confirmed to return and so was IKe and people were happy. next, later, FE awakening’s Robin and Lucina were comfirmed instead of the games progatonist, Chrom. This I believe is where the division of how many reps and who from this series should be in smash began to start. Many were elated about Robin’s inclusion and playstyle as well as having a female alt, Lucina’s inclusion was a divisive one at best. Some were happy about having another rep and a girl on the roster, but others were put off about her being a clone of Marth just with no tipper hitbox. nonetheless, the 2manyswords argument wasn’t wasn’t that rampant yet and people were still happy with the franchises inclusion in smash for the time being.  Still Chrom not being included hurt many FE fans and Roy being given the ax a second time was an even bigger blow that contributed to the division in both fandoms. That seemed to be alleviated when  Roy returned as DLC. the 2 many swords argument was happening but it wasn’t as bad and was more of a running gag at the time. As far as how many FE characters in smash was, 5 was a good number for the lot of the community. Things took a dive however when Corrin was announced as dlc. That’s when I feel the burnout started.  Corrin’s inclusion solidified 6 FE characters in smash and added fuel to he flame war on sword characters.

Then Ultimate was announced. Everyone is here! everyone is happy!  Right? well, yes for a little while. the clone problem was somewhat fixed with echo fighters meaning Lucina was now an echo of Marth somewhat sharing a roster spot with him. (THough the competitive side of the fanbase will say otherwise) Chrom is finally included as an echo or Roy and his reception was at most lukewarm. No real hate just an “oh, ok.” feeling. The amount of sword fighters in smash was an even bigger issue now especially since the majority of them were in deed form Fire Emblem. Dlc is one again announced and we got Joker, Hero from DQ Banjo and Kazooie, Terry Bogard and here we are today with the latest addition, Byleth aka the real fallout of the franchise in smash.

It’s true that some fans are indeed against FE as a whole and it’s saturation in the roster;with 8 reps, FE is now the 3rd most represented Franchise in smash just behind Mario with 9 (11 if you include Yoshi and Wario, 11.5 if you include DK) and Pokemon having 10 if you include the Pokemon trainers pokemon as 3 seperate characters. it’s even more of a concern when factoring nintendos other known franchises such as Kirby, Metroid Star FOx and even zelda to a degree havent gotten any new fighters from those series or other games not being given a celebration of gaming treatment like golden sun or F-zero, an arguably dead franchise at this point. and while I pesonally agree with the people who say that FE is saturating the roster, I will never justify or defend anyone who harasses Sakurai on twitter or says that he should be fired or that god forbid something bad should happen to him just because they’re feeling some type of way about a character. at the end of the day, Nintendo and the dev team made the choices they made and you’re free to be salty just don’t be an asshole. Hate them or love them, Byleth is here.

[epicspheal]

Shine On: An Analysis on Champion Diantha

Dear Diantha,

The Pokemon fandom owes you an apology. For years she's been the butt of everyone's jokes when it comes to champions because many found her battle too easy. But between Pokemon Masters giving her some much needed focus and some redemption in the Masters 8 tournament in the anime, Diantha is finally getting her flowers as people (myself included) have begun to truly appreciate her.

So let's start with her name. Diantha comes from Dianthus which is part of the scientific name for carnations. Her Japanese name is Carne which again also points to carnations. Now carnations are some of the most beautiful and popular flowers in the world. Just going on that alone her name really suits her as she is very beautiful and in-universe is very popular as an actress. But what about the meaning of carnations in floriography (the language of flowers)? Well broadly speaking carnations symbolize fascination, distinction, love, and captivation. As a champion and A-list actress, she's certainly a person of distinction. Diantha really loves acting and Pokemon battles and she's good at captivating an audience in both fields. If we want to go deeper, each color of carnation also has a meaning. Given that her outfit is primarily white we could assume she's supposed to represent a white carnation. White carnations symbolise many things, such as luck (it's actually supposed to be a potent good luck flower for women) and loyalty. These two are the symbols I think most represent Diantha because as an actress she needs to have a lot of luck in getting roles. She also shows a lot of loyalty to her ace Gardevoir and she talks a lot in both XY and Pokemon Masters about the bonds people share with their Pokemon.

Alright, but what about her team? While Pokemon isn't really known for it's storytelling overall, it's actually really good with environmental storytelling via team composition of the trainers. You can learn a lot about a trainer by which Pokemon are on their team, their moves, which one is the ace, etc. For Diantha, at first glance many people would assume that there wasn't much of a narrative for her team as she is like many champions a multi-type trainer. However when you look at the species she uses there's actually a theme going on. It's a little more abstract than say Lance and Iris' Dragon/Dragon-like themes though.

See Diantha's team all could be tied to various genres of film. Her Hawlucha invokes action, superhero and sports related films. Gourgeist can represent the horror genre. Goodra can represent the fantasy genre. Tyrantrum and Aurorus can both represent the sci-fi genre thanks to be fossils. Finally Gardevoir can represent romance and fantasy genres. That's a wide variety of film genres, so you can infer that Diantha probably doesn't stick to just one genre when she is acting. And she confirms via dialogue in Pokemon Masters explaining that she has been in a wide variety of films. Indeed her team also further speaks to the idea of variety because her team's individual typings span 9 of the 18 elemental types. Their movesets combined span 16 of the 18 elemental types (technically 17 since Flying Press acts both as a fighting and flying type move). So variety is clearly important to Diantha.

Now let's talk about Diantha's dialogue. When we're first introduced to Diantha, she's talking to Lysandre who's asking why she wouldn't want to remain young and beautiful forever. To which she replies the following:

"What a strange question… Why would I want to play the same old roles forever? Youth may be beautiful, but it's not all there is to life. Everything changes. I want to live and change like that, too. So I look forward to playing different roles as I get older."

This is really telling about her outlook. That she's very positive and she enjoys which ties back to her team composition. She's embracing the idea of growing older and being able to play roles she couldn't at the moment. Whereas Lysandre is essentially endorsing society's strict beauty standards and ageism she's actively embracing the idea of changing looks and growing old. And in Pokemon Masters there are lines of dialogue that again have her expressing her interesting playing numerous types of roles and not just being typecast. For someone in her line of work that's a very unique outlook to have and it's really commendable.

But then after Lysandre she introduces herself to the player and she gives a quote that I think really gives insight into her as a character

"[...]You both have lovely names. Oh, and you're both Trainers! Don't your Pokémon look happy? I'm a Trainer myself, in my off time. I look forward to us battling someday!"

The part we're going to be focusing on is "I'm a trainer myself, in my off time". This is significant because despite being a literal league champion she considers being a trainer more of a hobby (since she says she does this in her off time) than a profession like she considers her acting. We also see a similar line Pokemon Masters if we talk to her in random conversation

"I have an identity as an actress—and also as a Champion."

Again she places more weight on her being an actress than being a champion. While there are definitely quotes where she talks about being a champion in Pokemon Masters (which makes sense because Pasio is more battle oriented) the fact that in normal casual conversation she tends to focus more on her identity as an actress is telling. Indeed a good portion of her dialogue does bring up acting in some way. This all shows that she primarily sees herself as an actress. Which isn't a bad thing at all she certainly isn't the first trainer in the series to put more emphasis on passions outside of battling. Not even the first champion- Steven actually does this as well.

This focus on her professional identity as an actress actually helps to shed light as to why she isn't as involved in the Kalos storyline as many would've expected. Actresses are busy people. While we don't have any direct information as to why she wasn't present during the end stages of the Team Flare arc, we can infer she was probably filming somewhere on location during those events. She doesn't show up as much as previous champions because being champion isn't her only or primary job. As I've mentioned before, if we're being technical it's not really the champion's job to intervene in situations (considering that most of them in fact do not) but you know it is something they probably should do as concerned citizens…

…and eventually Diantha realizes this. Let's look a bit at her dialogue when you first challenge her for the title of challenge

"Welcome at last, dear Trainer. As you must know, I am the Champion, Diantha. Oh, but you are… You're the child I spoke to in Lumiose City and Coumarine City, aren't you?! Then that means that you are also the one that dear Augustine said… Of course! How could I--?! Oh, I must look like such a fool not to recognize you sooner! You and your Pokémon are the ones who stopped Team Flare for us all! It seems wrong of me to say this, but thank you! You saved us all… I can't wait to see what you and your Pokémon are capable of now that I know exactly what it is you've done already!"

The line "It seems wrong of me to say this, but thank you! You saved us all…" upon playing Pokemon Y for the second time really gave me the impression that actually she feels remorseful for not being there. That she feels like she should've stepped in more. To be fair she probably should have because she does seem to have a personal connection Lysandre and maybe she and Professor Sycamore could've tried to get through to him (although honestly at that point Lysandre was probably too far gone).

I like this because she's one of the few champions who actually expresses regret for not doing more to help and that's really big of her to admit. This actually even goes further in a quote from her in Pokemon Masters during the Shining Hearts of Dragons story line.

"I think I understand now why Champions are the ones who guide younger Trainers! I always worked hard to improve myself as a Champion and actress, but I never really gave much thought to helping others improve…Now, I think that's something I should have done more."

This is really crucial to understanding who Diantha is as a character, and for me this is really where she won me over. There was a time where she didn't understand the concept of mentoring not only as a Champion but as an actress. And that right there outside of her busy schedule as an actress explains why she wasn't constantly checking in on the player. And her not understanding that is 100% valid.

Again I'm going to reiterate, Pokemon battling and the league itself is really just a very organized sporting event. Mentoring is encouraged but it's not an absolute requirement, so someone can easily become one of the best and not put any effort into looking out for the newer trainers. At the end there only real requirement is to keep winning. Everything else is just added nice things they can do and probably should do regarding their status

And given the fact that acting and film-making is cutthroat and if that's the realm Diantha has spent the majority of her time in, it's totally understandable why it just didn't occur to her to be more of a mentor.

The line "Now that's something I should've done more" is also really pertinent. Again like her statement at the Kalos League, it expresses regret for not being more involved. She understands where she went wrong and she's learning and growing as a person. She's not perfect, and that's what I've really come to appreciate about her.

What I love about Diantha in Pokemon Masters, is that you see that she is actively taking steps to grow by mentoring others. First in the Shining Hearts of Dragons event where she helps Iris one of the only child prodigy champions who actually holds the title. It's a lot of pressure for Iris and she could use some guidance and Diantha is the perfect mentor for her at that moment. Sure she's not a full on dragon tamer, but she knows what's it like to interface with the public and deal with harsh criticism so she can guide a younger champion into learning how to stand in the face of a negative public opinion.

We see this again in the "Melancholy Wally" event where she helps Wally realize that in his pursuit of becoming stronger he's lost sight of just enjoying being with his partner. Considering that Wally was partnered with a Gardevoir and her ace is a Gardevoir she of all people knew firsthand of how sensitive Gardevoir are to emotions and how that would be affecting their bond. She's more of a hands-off mentor as she doesn't really hover over Iris or Wally, but that works because they are very self-driven children so a more hands-off style of mentorship would work.

Sure the Iris and Wally events aren't official game canon, but the sentiment and growth are. It's why it would've been cool to see sequels to XY where she does take more of a mentor role citing that she wished she had of done that earlier

But yeah Diantha is a really cool character who I think gets dismissed a little too easily on account of her champion match. She has a lot more going on than meets the eye and now that the fandom is more receptive to her it's time for us to start looking at her character a little deeper.

[crystalelemental]

I've finally had the time to read through your Pokemon Team characterization! Gen 5 was when I realized that, maybe the Pokemon team and the arrangement actually had something to tell about the characters, but reading through your characterization made me realize that perhaps that already happened a lot sooner than I thought! Thank you for writing all of those, I had fun reading them.

Steven was the trainer that made me want to add Skarmory to my team. Raising it was rough since it's purely defensive, but I had a good experience having it. The Claydol setting the screens...I still remember my Emerald team almost getting defeated because my 10-years old brain didn't understand why his Metagross took less damage from my Blaziken. But yeah, Steven's Emerald battle was so much fun, and I agree his ORAS fight is kind of a downgrade.

I also like your analysis of Cynthia's team, and I very much agree with them. No matter what team she's using, she'll always be a challenge and difficult to defeat...that Double Team-spamming Spiritomb, I hate it. And the fact that I had to raise my own Garchomp just to counter hers in my Shining Pearl playthrough said a lot about how strong her ace is.

And your Hop team analysis...I love it so much! I think the story and characterization behind his team composition are more apparent than the others, especially because he takes center stage in Gen 8. That doesn't mean it's a bad thing, I like it. He's one of my most favorite rivals alongside N and Hau, so I am very happy when you did a post of him.

I read through Whitney and the Poison specialists too, they're all great! This makes me want to request some as well, but feel free to take your time and do it whenever you want to. I was going to request N's BW final fight team and B2W2 seasonal teams but realized that'd be way too much to work on, so...Morty and Zinnia! For Morty, you can do his GSC or HGSS, or B2W2 version, your choice.

I'm honestly interested to see what your characterization analysis of their team will tell about them, especially Morty (other than the fact that Johto doesn't have that much Ghost Pokemon selection he resorted to the Gengar line).

There's a lot, so I'll respond fully under the cut.

In completely fairness, I'm making up a lot. None of this is confirmed, but the idea is to showcase that you can make stuff up, and that's the basis of developing a character back in those times. Gen 5 was the first character-centric game where they really had a lot to work with, and Gen 7, oddly enough, really emphasized character moments to the point you have a pretty effective idea. But before that, you just cobbled together, and I really wanted to see more of that than just the Red and Blue favoritism stuff, so I decided to try my hand at this. I'm glad it seems to be at least somewhat popular, given how some of them got a decent response outside of my immediate sphere.

I was kinda surprised that his first ORAS fight is exactly the same. Like, it's almost the same movesets. Which is kinda funny, the way things change just by mechanics and movepools. But yeah, I really love the Emerald team, definitely my current favorite fight.

Cynthia's generally tough. I haven't done the BW or BW2 fights in a long time, so I don't remember them too well, but I can't imagine it's any easier. And...yeah, my opinion on BDSP is low, but I think as a good example of "Cynthia is always really weak to setup," Cresselia swept both of her big rematches in my game. Cresselia is stupid good as a Calm Mind setter.

Hop's felt slightly like cheating because we know so much about him, but it seemed to go over well with Hop fans, so I'll take the win.

Whitney's...might have been my favorite so far? Because there's so little to go off of. Well...okay, no, Geeta's was my favorite because I have an ulterior motivation (being contrary), but Whitney felt the most cobbled together from stuff we don't know. Which I think was more fun.

I can do all three. No promises on turnaround time, but I'll give each a try. And hey, great news! Morty's in a similar bracket to Whitney, and I don't actually know much about Zinnia! So this will be cobbling together nonsense real good.

[tonymacaroni5678]

Making a Monotype Spikemuth Cup Team Every day until S/V drop part 4: Water

Fire type was more challenging than I thought it would be. Water, however, has a great archetype within it, namely rain. I knew I had to use some Swift Swimmers in this team, Kingdra is the fastest, and Ludicolo has Fake Out, so those are my choices. I needed a rain setter, so the choice between Pelliper and Politoed. I went with Politoed initially, I think the support options are better there, and it's not 4x weak to electric attacks. Golisopod is an excellent Rillaboom answer, and doesn't mind Incineroar either with Emergency Exit actually helping against it. Urshifu-Rapid-Strike is such an offensive powerhouse, especially with choice scarf and in rain, so that set was kind of a no-brainer. For my final mon there were sooo many choices, but having had so much success with Iron Defense/Body Press on my mono steel team, I went with Slowbro. It's really quite bulky, but I feel like this is the weak link in the team, just from a crafting standpoint.

Honorable mentions to a whole lot of pokemon: Milotic, Dracovish, Barraskewda, Tapu Fini, Azumarill (sap sipper is soooo tempting in this specific instance), Gyarados, Rotom-Wash, Seismitoad, Suicune, Gastrodon, and Araquanid. Water does not have the problem fire has where I was struggling to find a balanced fifth and sixth mons for the team, in fact I could probably make a decent team out of mons I didn't include in this one!

Alright on to the battles!

Analysis after battle 1: Ludicolo was not the answer to Rillaboom that I thought it might be. Likely having a faster Fake Out is great, but alongside the mandatory Politoed there really isn't much I'm doing but delaying the inevitable for one turn. Also, Calm Mind Sylveon is an absolute monster. Had I brought Slowbrow in the back, I may have stood a chance, but even that is doubtful. After TR got set up, it was game over for me.

Once again, Rillaboom and Sylveon cause massive problems for the team. This one was a little closer, knowing Aqua Jet in rain does a lot more damage than First Impression when it comes down to Sylveon vs. Golisopod is helpful, definitely a learning point. I also dealt better with the Rillaboom this time, First Impression is seriously excellent for this team but getting the positioning right for it was more of an error on my opponent's side than strategy on mine. Golisopod is such a beast, it took out Rillaboom, Dragapult, and almost Sylveon too. Ludicolo put in more work this time against that Suicune, but I wish I had the chance to KO it earlier in the match, those Helping Hand boosted Grassy Glides did a lot for my opponent. HH Grassy Glide OHKO's Kingdra, which I did not expect.

Okay... so putting detect on a Choice Scarf mon again... my teambuilding suffers lol. Had I chosen Surging Strikes, it may have gone differently. I also missed SEVERAL Muddy Waters; this is unfortunate but it is peak Pokemon, so I can't really complain there. That opposing Spectrier really put in so much work for my opponent, and picking up the Grim Neigh boost on Snarl #1 million put it over the top. This was close, but not as close as it looked. I was pleased with Ludicolo and Kingdra's performance, and Damp Rock was justified; though if I had a shorter window for rain and was able to switch out Politoed to set it back up, that last turn would have been more in my favor.

It's my post, I can do more battles if I want to lol. I feel like Golisopod works so well, and I changed the moveset on Urshifu here to include Drain Punch instead of Detect so that I don't make that mistake again. I finally got a win here; but it was rough. I learned from last battle, switched out Politoed at the right time to bring rain back and clicked Surging Strikes with Urshifu. Golisopod carried this one, even after getting hit with a Thunder Wave, almost all of its moves are priority; and it's so slow naturally that Leech Life was always going to go last. Speaking of, Leech Life came in so clutch, even with burn it took my opponent several turns to KO it. It was interesting to see that burn damage triggers Emergency Exit, good to know for the future.

So version 2 of the team is here

I switched out Slowbro (who never came out to play) for Tapu Fini. Fairy STAB is nice to have, and Misty Terrain helps with any attempts to manage Kingdra/Ludicolo with paralysis. Below is a match where I won handily with version 2 of the team, maintaining weather control by frequently switching Politoed and maintaining good positioning. As always, feel free to borrow the team and hope you enjoy!

[qtrust]

Pokemon compare pokemon

If basing your decision HP alone doesn't settle it for you, look at the species' base stats on the link I provided above. Given Lapras' inherent tankiness, Lapras is a better choice than Cloyster. In the case where both know Hyper Beam, though, they are equally valid choices, since with STAB, Hyper Beam is the most powerful move in the game.įor another example, I'll compare Lapras and Cloyster, both Ice/Water types.Ī level 9.5 Cloyster with 500 CP (roughly mid-range) can have between 41 and 47 HP.Ī level 6.5 Lapras with 500 CP (roughly mid-range) can have between 87 and 92 HP. IVs aside, this low level Snorlax will most definitely tank more hits than the Raticate with equal CP. I did a calculation via the Silph Road IV Rater to show this:Ī level 13.5 Raticate with CP 500 (roughly in the middle) can have between 53 and 61 HP.Ī level 6.0 Snorlax with CP 500 (on the high end) can have between 102 and 107 HP. For example, a Snorlax will typically last longer than a Raticate due to its very high HP and Defense. However, Pokemon with exceptional values in some stats may outperform other species. Two Pokemon with the same CP tend to perform roughly the same, ignoring movesets and typing. To see which one is objectively better, use the Silph Road research page. Is there a way to use this spreadsheet so that it can do this kind of comparison? Or is there other spreadsheet/tool/website where I can do this comparison? D&D clerics are the servants of powerful gods, leveraging vastly different powers depending on the domains their god has sway over.In the world of Pokémon, Arceus is widely regarded as being among the most powerful of the several creatures that could be considered gods. Thus, I would need to compare #2 and #3, which are different levels, but the same CP. To get maximum prestige, I would want to use Pokémon that has around 550 CP. The spreadsheet enables me to compare #1 and #3, so even without understanding what all these ratings exactly mean, I can easily see that Snorlax is far superior to Raticate both defensively and offensively, which is something I would guess just after seeing their CP (1250 vs 550).īut assume, I need to train a gym with Pokémon around 1100 CP in it. Raticate (Bite, Hyper Beam), level 15, CP 550.Snorlax (Lick, Hyper Beam), level 7, CP 550.Snorlax (Lick, Hyper Beam), level 15, CP 1250.Let's assume, I have following three Pokémon: Let me give an example (to simplify things, let's ignore IV or attack types for now): But for the sake of efficient gym training, I would need to compare different Pokémon with the same CP. I am familiar with the Pokémon GO Species/Moveset Analysis Tool spreadsheet, which is very helpful, when one wants to compare movesets of one Pokémon or to compare different Pokémon on the same level.

[pokemon-strategy-dex]

Hawlucha

Moves: High Jump Kick and Acrobatics make up a fantastic dual stab combination, hitting the vast majority of Pokemon for at least neutral damage. Acrobatics gets boosted once Hawlucha burns whichever terrain seed it’s running. Swords Dance boosts Hawlucha’s already decent attack stat by two stages, helping it perform consistent sweeps. Roost makes it easier to set-up Swords Dances and deal with priority moves. It also helps you take on Pokemon who might try to stall you out. Since Hawlucha’s dual stab is already so great, it really doesn’t need any coverage moves. 

Spread: Max attack with an Adamant nature help Hawlucha hit as hard as possible. 124 Speed EVs helps Hawlucha outspeed Jolly Excadrill, effectively making it the fastest Pokemon in OU with the Unburden boost. Put the rest of the EVs into HP, since the other stats don’t really matter and it will help with setting-up a Swords Dance. Unburden is a fantastic ability, doubling Hawlucha’s speed when Hawlucha burns its item. To go with this, Hawlucha should run one of the Terrain Seeds (Electric Seed, Grassy Seed, Psychic Seed) which boosts one of its defensive stats when its corresponding terrain is active. 

Team Support/Usage: Hawlucha is a terrific sweeper, capable of clearing out entire teams once its checks have been weakened. Utilize hazards and wallbreakers to weaken the opponents, and then lure in a Pokemon which Hawlucha can set-up on while the terrain is active. Usually, if a Hawlucha can set-up an SD or two and get the Unburden boost you’ll win that game. I’m personally a big fan of setting up on Lando-T, as it’s usually the opponents main physical check on offense. As such, Hawlucha needs to be partnered with one of the Tapus to set up their Terrain. Additionally, Hawlucha greatly appreciates hazard support for wearing down the opponents team. Lastly, I am quite a fan of putting Hawlucha on rain teams because of the natural  synergy Mega Swampert and Hawlucha have. 

-PSDex