Bigodes

I don't like to nitpick on other people's writing, but I get where you're coming from. The problem, in my opinion, is that Lin was getting so overpowered as a villain that it was really difficult to get rid of her once and for all. But, on the other hand, I don't see anythign that happened to her as a redemption/excuse attemp; more like an explanation about why she went off the rails.

How far into the game are you? I remember this is used for a sidequest in the late game, at that point, IIRC, a NPC opens it for you. But I might be wrong.

Simple Swoobat in the ashen beach field means you'll get +3 Sp. att. with one Calm Mind. Invest your EVs in Speed and Special Attack, beware of Sucker Punch users, and you'll probably sweep with Psybeam in a few tries. Your Ampharos and Donphan might help as well, if you teach Cotton Guard to the first and a STAB movie to the second (thus neutralizing her Lucario). Also, Strength does psychic-type damage in this field, so keep that in mind as well. Though I think no Pokémon learn it by level up, and you only get the TMX later.

There's a guy on Youtube doing a "Two mon run". He basically defeats the E4 and Champion fights with a Honchkrow and a Blaziken. He uses some cheesy strats a few times, but since you have a Blaziken already, maybe he could give you some ideas. I copied his strategy for the second E4 battle almost verbatim! This if you don't mind spoiling the E4 teams, of course. The New World Field, as the other user said, can't be easily changed. Nonetheless, I'd recommend you to get a Prankster male Meowstic with dual screens, Toxic and Misty Terrain. MT is learned naturally, IIRC, and by that point you should already have the TMs for the other three moves. Also, if you get halfway decent IVs and time your moves well, Prankster basically guarantees that he'll move three times before going down. Worked miracles throughout the game. Without knowing the movesets, I suppose your Hydreigon is focused on sp. atk, and the other three are physical, right? If that's the case, I think it would be nice to raise a good special attacker, maybe a Gardevoir with Dazzling Gleam, Psychic and Thunderbolt? Ampharos and Aegislash might as well be great options. I went with Choice Specs Rotom-Wash as my only special mon for most of the game, but I don't really reccomend it... :P Oh, and one more thing: several moves get their power increased in the New World Field. Metagross' Meteor Mash benefit from this field, as well as Dazzling Gleam and most dark moves. Maybe playing around it would be better than trying to control the field overall?

I think you have to go to Tanzan Mountain at night, IIRC. They'll be pretty easy to spot: by the southern entrance, a few steps to the right. Should be visible if you walk straight north.

So there was this computer at the LCCC in Labradorra, in that basement where you fight the Pulse. It prompted me to insert a Data Chip, I did it, it turned off and apparently nothing changed? I tried navigating the Basement again but everything looks the same (unless it went over my head, of course). What was that supposed to be?

Are you starting anew? I'd reccomend you do it, because as GodCabbage said, the game runs smoother in the beginning. Lots of lore and some story changes; also, new Pokémon for your enjoyment. But most of all:

Hi, Edo and Fais! Thank you for your input! I took everything both of you have said into consideration. I really appreciate the time you took to answer this thread! @FaisLittleWhiteRaven, I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets a little too enthusiastic with the 'mons in Reborn! If it wasn't for the escalation of power creeping that happens in the late game, I'd be 100% weak favorites. I really meant Weak Armor on Vanilluxe, my brain probably went "It boosts speed, so... Speed Boost" while I was typing that one, . I actually had Earth Power on Camerupt until Aya, because of the double battles. Maybe I'll reteach her that move for Charlotte! @Edo, thank you for the tip about the Showdown teambuilder! I was spreading my EVs based solely on my intuition. It's nice to know that such a tool exists. I have actually got the Egg Move mod before, because breeding is my least favorite part of Pokémon games. That, and the itemfinder one. I've got nothing against quality of life mods, since I haven't got a lot of time to play. Thank you especially for the Sticky Web tip, I've taught it to Slurpuff, and boy, is that move handy! Based on your comments, I decided to drop (at least for now) Hariyama, Vespiquen, Garbodor, Swoobat, Drifblim, Mawile, Meowstic-F, Vanilluxe and Murkrow (as Edo pointed out, the boss fights are more balanced from now on. Also, most of them have more than one unbeatable Pokémon). I feel like these ones are the least worth the trouble of my team. I'll go through the game with Blaziken, Malamar, Slurpuff, Archeops and Ludicolo as fixed pokémon for now. Also, I'll keep Ampharos, Cofagrigus, Gourgeist, Dodrio, Aggron, and Camerupt for a while, as situational members of the team. As soon as I get Gardevoir, Malamar goes away. Same for Metagross and Aggron. I realized that my team is pretty much physical (except for Ludicolo), so exchanging Malamar for Gardevoir will pack a little more punch on the special side. Also, the lack of ground and water types might grow to be a problem. In the meantime, I got through Luna pretty eventlessly with the five Pokémon listed above plus Aggron. She was the easiest leader so far. I've also done the Type:Null event, which poses another problem, because I'm considering raising Silvally as a jack of all trades of a sort... especially since we'll have all his memories soon. Don't know if it lives up to the gimmick, though. Hard decisions, man. Hard decisions. Thank you once again for your advice!

Okay, so the title is almost self-descriptive. I've just finished Radomus' Gym, and up until now, I've been keeping all of my Pokémon more or less on a similar level. But just the thought of grinding all 21 of them up to level sixty is making me cringe; honestly, it would strip the fun away from the game My question, as with all of the troublesome questions, is pretty simple: What kind of team can I build with these Pokémon? I would like to make at least four or five of them "permanent", leaving one or two slots open for rotation according to my needs. I also plan to get a Metagross and a Gardevoir later in the game. My playstyle is normally fast and agressive, but I've been noticing that, in Reborn, it only gets me so far. Here are the Pokémon. Incomplete EVs mean I have yet to train them/reset the trash EVs. I started EV training right after getting out of Reborn City (since Serra was my first real obstacle), and didn't bother to do it to everybody yet. Bold names mean I particularly like that Pokémon/set. Also, I normally don't spend a lot of time soft-resetting. That's why some natures are weird; I can change them now, though. LV. 57 Blaziken (Adamant with Speed Boost) Sky Uppercut Brave Bird Blaze Kick Bulk Up EVs: 252Atk (Speed Boost Blaziken basically wreaks havoc in the early game, but that's not why I carry him. Torchic was my first Pokémon ever (since Ruby was my first game), and I make a point of, given the option, always picking him as a starter. LV. 57 Archeops (Jolly with Defeatist) U-Turn Rock Slide Dragon Claw Acrobatics EVs: 252Atk/252Spe (He can't take a hit, but he surely doesn't need to if he u-turns what he can't OHKO.) LV. 57 Malamar (Adamant with Contrary) Superpower Psycho Cut Night Slash Light Screen (thinking about replacing it) EVs: 252Atk/252Spe (Superpower Malamar is the best thing since powdered milk. I chose to speed him up, but maybe slow and bulky would serve him better from now on. Who knows.) LV. 56 Ludicolo (Relaxed with Rain Dish) Energy Ball Hydro Pump Zen Headbutt Rain Dance EVs: 252SpD (My groundbreaking, rock-shattering Pokémon. I wanted her to be a wall of sorts, not sure if I should invest the remaining EVs in Def to make her bulky, or in SpA - so she can also pack a punch with Energy Ball and Hydro Pump. Also, I'm thinking about putting Leech Seed on her and changing her nature, but I'm not sure if it would be worth the investment.) LV. 53 Aggron (Adamant with Rock Head) Iron Defense Iron Head Rock Slide Double Edge EVs: 252Atk /160Spe /98Def (Raised especially for Serra's gym. I kind of like Aggron, but I'm not sure about how he will fare at this point of the game.) Lv. 55 Ampharos (Modest with Static) Charge Beam Discharge Cotton Guard Confuse Ray EVs: 252SpA/252Spe (I think Ampharos is kind of lacking in the stats department. Used to have Thunder Wave - parafusion + Cotton Guard set up, but Charge Beam was far more useful nine out of ten times.) Lv. 55 Meowstic (Female, Modest with Infiltrator) Shadow Ball Psychic Signal Beam Fake Out EVs: - (I think Meowstic-F gets worse and less useful after each gym. Just too frail. She saw a little comeback against Radomus, faking the hell out of Reuniclus to keep him from using Trick Room. Also great to revenge-kill those stubborn 1hp survivors.) Lv. 51 Camerupt (Hardy with Solid Rock) Lava Plume Earthquake Yawn Rock Slide EVs: - (Numel was a blessing against Florinia, Corey, Shelly, and Aya, but I think he overlaps way too much, especially after getting Archeops, the official bird-stoning beast.) Lv. 54 Gourgeist (Lax with Frisk) Trick or Treat Shadow Ball Seed Bomb Leech Seed EVs: - (I love Gourgeist's design. His Kit Fisto smile and the whole concept of a grass/ghost Pokémon are really amusing. Seed, ToT and Shadow Ball make a really fun combo. Radomus' Slowking was absolutely no match for him.) Lv. 52 Hariyama (Adamant with Guts) Belly Drum Fake Out Knock Off Wake-up Slap EVs: 252Atk/252Spd (Another early game gamebreaker. I love the idea of a Belly Drum sweep, but it's pretty hard to come across a viable situation to pull it off. I'm not particularly fond of his EV distribution either, but he was a great ally against Shade and just to brute force stuff in general.) Lv. 53 Vanilluxe (Timid with Speed Boost) Icy Wind Ice Beam Mirror Shot Mirror Coat EVs: - (Another really fun Pokémon to use, in my opinion. Both Mirror shot and Mirror coat were really helpful against Serra, and Mirror Coat saved my rear a few times. Unfortunately, he's a little too frail to be a viable MC user. Maybe that's fixable with a few changes in nature/ability and proper EV training. I'm just not sure about how to do it.) Lv. 51 Drifblim (Sassy with Flare Boost) Hex Amnesia Shadow Ball Weather Ball EVs: - (I love Drifblim's eerie look and concept. Unfortunately, the idea of Drifblim was brighter than his actual performance. I feel like Cofagrigus can do everything he does, but a little better. His typing doesn't help either - thunderbolt and rock slide are way too common around Reborn.) LV. 52 Swoobat (Quiet with Unaware) Calm Mind Future Sight Air Slash Psychic EVs: 252SpA (Another early game beast who's gone bad with time. He was a blessing against Kiki.) Lv. 50 Murkrow (Brave with Prankster) Mean Look Perish Song Wing Attack Faint Attack EVs: - (The official bullshit-boss killer. Murkrow took me more soft resets alone than all of the other event Pokémon combined. Totally worth it to get her, though. Solaris' Garchomp, the giant Steelix, Pulse Abra, all swiftly breezen through. I'm thinking about teaching her Tailwind and better STAB moves to make a little use of her great attack stat. Or maybe throwing an Eviolite and status moves at her, I don't know. I just like this fun little girl as a support/troll prankster set.) Lv. 51 Garbodor (Lonely with Stench) Sludge Bomb Stockpile Acid Spray Toxic Spikes EVs: - (Trubbish is really useful early in the game. Toxic Spikes + Acid Spray made a joke out of the three PULSE Tangrowth and the first few Fern showdowns. I haven't come up with a good set for the late game, though.) Lv. 52 Slurpuff (Jolly with Sweet Veil) Play Rough Wish Cotton Guard Aromatherapy EVs: - (Cute little thing, and a pretty good defensive set with Cotton Guard/Wish. Didn't bother to EV train her, though. Maybe she could be useful against Luna and Samson, but I plan to get a Gardevoir as soon as possible. Maybe she would be redundant for the late game.) Lv. 54 Cofagrigus (Gentle with Mummy) Will-o-Wisp Hex Haze Shadow Ball EVs: 252SpD/252SpA (I love how bulky Cofagrigus is. Generally I hate playing the slow game, but WoW + Hex is pretty useful. Haze is also pretty great, especially in doubles. Maybe he could get a little better with Curse, for instance.) Lv. 55 Dodrio (Naughty with Early Bird) Jump Kick Tri Attack Drill Peck Swords Dance EVs: 252Atk (Dodrio is another one of my favorite Pokémon. He does just fine as long as he doesn't get hit. Jump Kick adds a nice coverage against rock-types, Drill Peck is a nice STAB, and as long as I'm able to set up one or two SDs, he can sweep pretty well. Dented Noel's and Serra's teams and shut Solaris' Golisopod down. The problem is that he hardly makes it alive if the enemy can counterattack. LV. 52 Mawile (Careful with Sheer Force) Iron Head Iron Defense Play Rough Crunch EVs: - (I've always loved Mawile's design. Unfortunately she's very lacking in the stats. I raised her for Aya's gym because of her poison immunity, but I don't know if it was worth it. Steel/fairy sounds greater than it is, especially when paired with lackluster stats. Also, as it is with Slurpuff, I fear that getting a Gardevoir would make her too redundant.) Lv. 50 Vespiquen (Timid with Unnerve) Power Gem Air Slash Attack Order Heal Order EVs: 100HP/100Atk/100Def/100SpA /100SpD/10Spe (Vespiquen was the only Pokémon to whose EVs I paid attention since the beginning of the game. Balancing them all around sounded like a great idea, and she really was handy in the early game. My plan was having her as a jack-of-all-trades, but she's not seeing a lot of use since Shade. Still, her gimmick attacks are interesting, and she has good defensive stats. Maybe rearranging her IVs would do her good.) Thanks for reading!

The poem Invictus have always been meaningful to me, despite its acquired cheesiness. There are three very meaningful things that echo to me in that poem: First, what is happening at any moment is a direct consequence of at least one past action of mine. I should not blame anyone else for that, and thinking this way frees me of that toxic whose-fault-is-it? mindset. Second, struggling and suffering are necessary realities. Everyone has their own, it would be too much wanting not to struggle at any point. Third, tough times pass, and they always leave something sweet (or at least bittersweet) behind. Even if it is only the fact that I can be proud for getting through it.