#quiver dance

[haveyouusedthispokemon]

not allowed to not have used scatterbug. mandatory scatterbug.

[carpethedamndiemdejavu]

Theta Tauri

[fishing-lesbian-catgirl]

As much as I talk about the flaws of the ice type it should be noted that the bug type is far worse. Ice might suck defensively but at least it has a beneficial field condition and Aurora veil and it hits offensively super effectively to provide very solid coverage. Bug has decent resists, but offensively is so horrible it’s depressing. Resisted by 7 types and being super effective against a trio of types that you really don’t need bug moves to hit super effectively. Combine that with the lowest average stat total and some pretty common weaknesses and you’ve cooked up the worst type in the game. No terrain or weather benefits it either, and I can’t exactly imagine them introducing bug terrain any time soon

[scorchrend]

this is so funny im not even mad.

[moonscape]

i love primarina

[iruludavare]

{ ooc. I know i recently changed her main team (again) but listen... the thought of serena being known as the champion that can sweep your team with a vivillon of all pokemon is hilarious to me and eating at my brain }

[narwhalandchill]

Nuzlocke update wahoo

so uh it appears that precisely Because i was like. scared shitless going towards elesa. that it ended up just a straight fucking sweep that was Brutal 😭 to her. i overprepared Again

(tw: MASSIVE pokemon nerd moment)

bc like. i was there thinking abt worst case scenarios and how none of my new encounters since route 4 (darumaka, yamask, minccino, gothita, cottonee) seemed to leave me with any better options than what i had before aka. myyr the drilbur that cant even evolve for the level cap and just pray i hit those 1hkos on dig and that rock slide (better known as rock miss in some circles) hits emolga and that static and paralysis doesnt fuck me over. but then its like. even putting aside how i Dont want to lose this mon bc excadrill is so good. if myyr falls the answers i would have left against whichever elesas pokemon remained were still ehhh like. zip the herdier with eviolite and dig?? and emolga remains a problem still.

so yeah i was stressed tf out bc. bitch i remember elesa terrorizing me as a kid and that zebstrika never stopped being scary as hell. so i ended up just. looking up if theres maybe some well known and used nuzlocke strat there and. Well. not exactly but an ancient reddit thread had a comment w an Interesting suggestion

So. turns out theres an NPC on route 4 in black 2 that trades a cottonee for a petilil. a mon whose (stone) evolution . Happens to learn a very funny silly move . called quiver dance . within elesas level caps.

.....and im just. hey why the fuck not. so bye bye peony the cottonee it is. hello petulia the petilil (based NPC nickname btw thats so cute) who learns giga drain at lvl 26 and then with sun stone becomes lilligant who gets quiver dance at 28.

and you know what this girl has?????????????

atk reducing spd boosting nature and THIRTY-ONE IVs in special atk 💀💀💀 on a quiver dancer??????????? this is a weapon of mass destruction holy Shit. (her speed stat aint half bad either!!!!!)

anyway i was still getting stressed abt it bc like. chances were in the actual fight if i lead w lilligant elesas emolga will just volt switch straight to zebstrika who has flame charge so i. unironically went to relic castle to get enough defense EVs to survive 3 flame charges if necessary too JSJSJSKSKDKSK and bc i didnt know (and did not look up at first) the IVs her team would have i just assumed worst case scenario aka all 31s meaning the initial damage calcs looked Way scarier

bc the way i was looking at this was just. ill obviously have to lead w lilligant (bc a sweeper needs to setup 1 to 2 qdances depending on how many turns i get before zebstrika is in) and have myyr who was originally meant to be the Star against elesa be more the. emolga cleanup crew and/or emergency hidden ace. And bc i actually fucking planned this shit all out so it Could Not Fail (or close to it)

scenario 1: emolga wastes a turn on like. pursuit before volt switching zebstrika in. i get 2 quiver dances up and just win (+2 boosted SpA giga drain from lvl 30 lilligant w miracle seed is just a 1hko every time. Yes i calced it). Almost unfairly easy

scenario 2: emolga volt switches immediately (most likely) and i only get one quiver dance. this means giga drain is 2hko against zebstrika. i will outspeed on the next turn bc petulia at +1 and then i take a flame charge (leaving me outsped w zebstrika at +1 speed). and whats scary is that while i would survive a crit flame charge on that turn (non crits are ez). i Would die to the second one afterward bc zebstrika is faster again. so then itd have to be like. myyr to the rescue. alternatively my giga drain Could high roll the dmg & get zebstrika into hyper potion range which means free quiver dance turn as elesa heals and we outspeed and win again.

but like. okay. these odds are acceptable. best case scenario petulia sweep worst case scenario petulia gets crit and myyr just needs to clean up a fairly scary +2 speed zebstrika thats Luckily below 50% hp. im also still giving zip the eviolite and teaching it dig so we have a 3rd hail mary in the back.

Anyway then i look up the actual in game IVs for bw2 gym leaders and in non-challenge mode theyre all set at 12 💀💀💀💀💀 so like. Scratch all this with the new IVs a +1 boosted giga drain is actually a roll for a 1hko not a guaranteed 2hko KSKSKAJEKSKSKDKEK which means even if i dont 1shot with just one quiver dance elesa Will heal and thats +2 boost.

so yeah i walk in to the gym slightly relieved slightly embarrassed of yet nonetheless taking some pride in my first foray to Proper big nuzlocker strategy planning and looking up damage strats (might be needing those in the future fr) . even if it was due to making way too scary assumptions abt elesas team stats lmao

anyway the fight itself was uhhh. Truly anticlimactic. emolga did volt switch on first turn but petulias +1 giga drain just Casually rolled the 1hko on zebstrika after all and then proceeded to eviscerate flaaffy and then i let myyr handle emolga just for some exp 💀💀💀

Anyway. Well if nothing else this is absolutely a teammate i will be utilizing again . Very soon in fact. Clay watch the fuck out ive created a monster.

Like did my girl calla (the OT NPC) even know what kinda godlike power she was casually handing to me there???? 😭😭 guess she rly wanted a whimsicott

but like. Hell yeah we continue after deathless elesa and with a new powerful companion thats a W for sure SHSKDKSKFKJS

current team btw (i kinda like these cards for a visual update of sorts tbh). fig evolved so i can finally stop looking at golbats ugly design <33 crobat is so much better man

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

back on my struggle bus about the fact that interacting with someone aside from working makes me feel so viscerally terrified I end up sick to my stomach

[goldensunset]

*person who used two max revives voice* huh. pushover champion. but like i said that’s honestly to be expected within the lore and i’m fine with that

[the-splodge]

sunny day + protosynthesis + mystical fire + L + ratio

[exeggcute]

volcarona got banned to ubers???

[carpethedamndiemdejavu]

Louise Benton, Creation Sun

[lemonade-juley]

My god Lavinia, my beloved.

A lot happening in the whole period of time before Gym 3 and directly after it.

Lavinia is so so incredibly worried about Scarlett, and she also gave Ava the biggest damn hug after reuniting with her at the bottom of the mountain.

New friend in Tristan! She's horribly worried about him too for reasons she can't really pinpoint herself (idk maybe all of the flags pointing at "already dead" or some other very similar scenario.)

Hardy is here, I don't think she's particularly torn or betrayed about his relation with the Foxes, mostly because they've met a whole twice, but she does feel for him.

Her Butterfree named Rainbow has over 500 confirmed kills how did I not realize how fucking strong this hug is.

[gelatinous-blob-in-the-sea]

Just sweeped this kid with a Vivillon on Pokemon Showdown lol

[r4bbitdragon]

glad my mc could canonically absolutely dunk on my buddy every time~

[iruludavare]

{Headcanon}

     Serena does not use Xerneas or Diancie in battle often. Aside from the unnecessary public attention that would be drawn to them, and the people who would seek to hunt either down, Serena believes it to be entirely unfair on the other party involved. This is why, despite catching Xerneas and always having them on-hand, her main A team appears as follows:

     The only exception to Serena using this team is if her opponent is in possession of a legendary pokemon and has communicated to her beforehand that they want to use them in the battle. In which case, she scales accordingly. Her Drifblim is replaced and her team will look like:

     If they have at least two legendaries/mythicals/etc., then her team shifts to:

     In either case, battles will always be done in the most private, difficult to find spaces as possible. For her sake, for the legendaries' sakes, and for her opponent's sake. Especially if Diancie is involved— in their case, she knows there are people who make it their life's work to find one for their own selfish purposes.