Fighting fire with fire [Reborn Hardcore run]

[Imperial]

At first I wanted to wait until E16 release to start a new run, but I haven't made a run of Reborn for too long (a bit less than 4 months to be exact. Really long). So here am I, starting my 8th playthrough with something a bit different from the monotypes I've already done. This time, instead of sticking to a type the entire run, I'll keep a type just the time I get the corresponding badge, I'm going to fight every leader using their own type (hence the title of the run). And since no one has made such a run yet, I'll try to post it here

The rules :

- I can only use pokemons of the type of the next leader I'm going to face

- Unlike most monotypes, I can't use a pokemon who doesn't have the good type even if its evolution does. So no Trapinch to face Sapphira (yes, I know, stupid example x) )

- This is going to be a Reborn Hardcore run (seems my mono dragon run wasn't enough to make me flee this madness) in set mode

- I can catch pokemons that are not of the good type to keep them for later

- When changing type, I can use hacked rare candies to raise pokemons availables before the last leader to the level of the previous leader's level cap to have an up-to-date team.

So, let's go

First, I need to pick a starter. Torchic has always been my favorite and thanks to the Fighting type of its evolution I'll be able to use it 3 times, so the choice was quick. After a few soft resets, here's my first pokemon :

Torchic (M)
Ability: Speed Boost
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 29 Def / 28 SpA / 18 SpD / 30 Spe
- Scratch
- Growl
- Ember

It's nature is really bad, but with such IV who cares ? Especially since the psychologist is available before Samson and Charlotte.

Then I had to face Cain and Victoria. Cain's Nidoran was easy with Ember, but Tepig was a bit harder due to its resistance to fire. Hard enough to beat me in fact. It doesn't matter, Torchic will have its revenge later.

Now that I'm registered and have my pokedex and my shoes (like, you can't run without Silph Co. shoes ?!), it's time to get pokemons for my first monotype team. A few weeks later (who wouldn't wait actual weeks for a stormy weather to get the pokemons he can't play with. No one ? Really ?) I had my Tynamo and my Blitzle, plus that poor bullied Pachirisu. That's all I can have. I hope it will be enough to beat Julia.

I knew Pachirisu was weak, but training it to lvl 13 (level it learns Sparks) was a real pain. I may have even wished once that those kids threw it in the toxic water before I stopped them... But I got rid of all the small trainers, so I guess I'll have to deal with the grasshole now.

Fern

The team:

Pachirisu (F)
Ability: Volt Absorb
Level: 14
Naughty Nature
IVs: 7 HP / 26 Def / 8 SpA / 8 SpD / 20 Spe
- Spark
- Bide
- Quick Attack
- Charm

Blitzle (M)
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 15
Brave Nature
IVs: 12 HP / 3 Atk / 8 Def / 18 SpA / 7 SpD
- Tail Whip
- Charge
- Shock Wave
- Thunder Wave

Tynamo (M)
Ability: Levitate
Level: 13
IVs: 9 HP / 29 Atk / 8 Def / 30 SpA / 14 SpD / 9 Spe

Poor natures, poor IV usually, but good abilities to face Julia. And I won't use them after her anyway. I also keep a Budew with me, but it's just to raise its happiness.

First try (as the "first" already spoilt: I failed)

After Fern doing his Fern, the battle begins. Tynamo vs Lombre. My Tynamo's Charge Beam barely scratch it, but at least it raises it's Sp Atk. And it's not like Lombre's Growl is more useful anyway. A few Charge Beams later, Lombre is KO and Tynamo almost full health. Fern sends out Servine. Even with the Sp Atk boosts I barely hurt it. Yes, I know electricity is not effective against grass, but I admit I expected better than 1/5 of Servine's HP :/. One turn later, Tynamo is dead and Servine still has 60% of it's HP. Maybe I can paralyse it with Blitzle then attack switch to Pachirisu to attack ? Well, paralysis worked, but now Blitzle is Wrapped and can't escape. And its only damaging move is even worse than Tynamo's Beam... Let's hope I can decrease enough its defense with Tail Whip to allow Pachirisu to win (yes, I'm too optimistic). A few Sparks later, Servine is KO and Pachirisu is mid health. And Fern sends out... Roselia ! Okay, I'm dead. At least I can try Sparks. Good, first Spark, Roselia is paralysed and Pachirisu is not poisonned by Poison Sting. Maybe I can still win. Or not... Poison Touch made sure of that. I try a Bide, last resort move. And Roselia doesn't even attack during it. Great. Guess I'll have to give it another try later.

Second try:

This time I start with Blitzle since Lombre is the only opponent it can beat. T-Wave, Charge + Shock Wave * 2 and a lucky paralysis and Lombre is dead. Now Blitzle is facing Servine. Survives a Vine Whip with 2 HP, just what I needed to place a T-Wave and a Tail Whip to help Pachirisu next. But even with this small help Pachirisu is still so weak... I better use a Charm to survive longer. Or three, so if Pachirisu dies Tynamo will survive long enough to boost with Charge Beam. 2 potions and a few Sparks and Tackles later, Pachirisu is dead and Servine left with 1 HP. Perfect for a Sp Atk boost for Tynamo I hope. And it did, but a single Mega Drain almost OHKO it, and the second end my poor Tynamo. I think I'll go murder some Woobats for EV and xp before my next try...

Third try:

Pachirisu and Tynamo are lvl 16 and Bliztle lvl 18 and it learned Flame Charge. During training I've also been contaminated by the pokérus ! Great ! And I also caught a shiny Woobat for later. Now Fern's gonna pay. I start with Tynamo and face... a lvl 10 Lotad. Ok, I started the normal Reborn. So let's try again. Lombre lvl 15, this is better (I feel like a masochist saying that). 3 Charge Beams and it's over, time to kill a Servine now. After a T-Wave to help my next pokemon, back to Charge Beams. Servine use Vine Whip. Tynamo fainted. At least the snake is paralysed and mid health, Blitzle can end it with Flame Charge now. Or later, I forgot the two potions Fern has. Nevermind, Servine's dead, only Roselia left. 2 Flame Charges and the battle is over. It was really easier with some training. Guess it's time to deal with Team Meteor now

Edited July 16, 2016 by Imperial

[Dreamy]

This sounds like a really interesting run! It should be fun to use the gym leaders field effects against them! I found this out during my first (and so far only) playthrough of reborn about a month ago, where I swept Charlotte with Typhlosion using eruption. because when a move is power 150, STAB, field boosted, flash fire boosted and hitting both opponents, who the hell cares if they resist it!? a variation of this that I just thought of (if someone else wants to try it) is that instead of fighting each leader with their own type, you fight them with the previous leaders type, as if after each leader you are taking their type and using it for yourself.

[Imperial]

Yes, it's this same battle that gave me this idea. Typhlosion and Darmanitan vs Typhlosion and Darmanitan. I didn't lose a single pokemon. And yes, the field effect will help a lot that way.

[Dreamy]

Another variation of the previous variation I mentioned could be that instead of gaining a leaders type when you beat them, you gain their actual team. I'm not sure if this would actually be fun or work well, and it would require a rather large amount of save editing setup for the teams, buts it's just an idea I'll throw out here. we can do that right?

[Imperial]

It's possible with a lot of save editing, but it would make the game really easy since leaders usually have stronger pokemons that the available ones.

So, now I'm in Mosswater factory, ready to prevent this team Meteor to blow Julia's gym. I feel this is going to be another tough battle

Aster and Eclipse

First try:

Tynamo and Roselia vs Magmar and Electabuzz. First turn, Shock Wave and Feint on Tynamo and it can even attack once... Tough battle indeed. I send out, then Roselia gets OHKO, while Magmar and Electabuzz are still in a very good state. Between Electabuzz's Fire punches and Magmar's Flame burst, Pachirisu then Blitzle get quickly killed, without taking down a single pokemon. I already hate them...

A few tries later:

I start with Pachirisu to Charm Electabuzz then deal with Magmar and the next ones. First turn Roselia manage to poison Magmar, good. But it quickly dies and Fern sends out Lombre. Now Electabuzz is at -5 attack stages and Magmar low health. I used a super potion on Pachirisu though, I hope I don't regret it when facing Julia. Electabuzz's Fire Punch still hits hard enough to kill a weakened Lombre while they use a second potion on Magmar. Good, that way they won't use them later. One spark more and Magmar should be out. Or not, it survives just long enough to hit me with a critical Feint. At least Electabuzz barely scratched Servine... Only Electabuzz is left. I thought they had other pokemons, I should have used that super potion. Even better, Electabuzz tries Shock Wave on my Volt Absorb Pachirisu. I love this AI. The battle is quicly over and Pachirisu reaches lvl 21. Without that super potion another one would have gained that xp. I already regret it. But now Meteors are defeated, it's time to get my first badge (and get rid of those weaklings I have to use now...)

I'm at the gym. After a few BOOOOMMMS, I'm before Julia, ready to bite the dust. I just noticed the boost to electric moves is only for grounded pokemons, so Tynamo won't get it. Great.

Julia:

The team:

Pachirisu (F)
Ability: Volt Absorb
Level: 20
Naughty Nature
IVs: 7 HP / 26 Def / 8 SpA / 8 SpD / 20 Spe
- Spark
- Bide
- Swift
- Charm

Blitzle (M)
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 20
Brave Nature
IVs: 12 HP / 8 Def / 18 SpA / 7 SpD
- Tail Whip
- Charge
- Shock Wave
- Flame Charge

Tynamo (M)
Ability: Levitate
Level: 19
IVs: 9 HP / 8 Def / 30 SpA / 14 SpD / 9 Spe
- Tackle
- Thunder Wave
- Spark
- Charge Beam

Second try (yes, the first doesn't even worth a mention x) ):

The battle begins with Magnemite vs Blitzle. Good opportunity to boost Blitzle's speed. Flame Charge vs Magnet Bomb. Magnemite is down, Blitzle at 66% HP. Then Emolga appears. Usually fragile, but Blitzle is so weak Emolga almost doesn't feel its Flame Charge. And kill it with a critical Acrobatics... I send out Pachirisu. Emolga is much less frightening after 3 Charm. After 2 super potions for Julia, one potion for me and a dozen Swift, Emolga is down and a Voltorb is before me. I try a Swift but then Voltorb uses Charge, sharply boosting it's Sp. Def. Better switch to Spark. And after 2 Spark and a lucky miss for Voltorb's Sonic Boom, Julia's third pokemon is down. She sends out Chinchou. I try a Spark hoping it has Water Absorb, but it has Volt Absorb (who would expect the electric gym leader to be attacked by electricity ?!). So Pachirisu is down. My little Tynamo will have to kill 3 pokemons with Charge Beam and Tackle... As you can expect, I died shortly after

A lot of tries later...

After bying some ice creams (since I have no super potions), I try again, starting with Pachirisu. I'm going to play with Bide. Risky, especially with Pachirisu's low bulk, but it's probably my only chance and Charm may help. The battle begins. Magnemite uses 2 Magnet Bombs, not enough to OHKO it with Bide but it brings it in the red, then Pachirisu starts bide on Julia's super potion and take a Sonic Boom second turn, allowing Pachirisu to OHKO Magnemite. Perfect. Then Emolga. This time I'm gonna play Charm and Swift. 3 Charms then a chocolate ice cream before Pachirisu gets killed, and now I just have to spam Swift. I just hope I'll have more than 40 HP left to survive and OHKO Voltorb after. I bring Emolga to the red with no super potion left then use a potion to get back to 51 HP. A last Swift and Emolga is down. Now Voltorb is before me. Obviously it misses one of it's 2 Sonic Boom so doesn't get OHKO by Bide. But doesn't miss it when Pachirisu releashed the stored energy. Since it's red, it will use explosion so it's time to use an ice cream to have a chance to survive. Pachirisu survives, losing only 19 HP (Explosion was really that weak ?!). But it reached lvl 21 so it won't obey now. Shit. Well, it still uses Bide and once the move started it seems it can't stop so it should be good, especially since Chinchou's water gun don't hurt much. Oh no... it can really disobey during the move, and now that Chinchou boosted it's Sp Def with Charge Swift is useless. Guess it's time to switch to Tynamo and its Tackle... Chinchou is down after 2 Tackles but Heliolisk easily gets rid of Tynamo. I'll try Blitzle since Bide is probably my only chance against Electrode. I'm an idiot. But a lucky idiot. I had forgotten Charge ! After 3 Charges Blitzle can easily stall Heliolisk. No way I can use Flame Charge under the rain Heliolisk started, but between STAB, field and Charge Shock Wave should hurt. Or not after Eerie Impulse dividing Blitzle's Sp Atk by 3... Should have remembered it. Well, guess I'll have to spam Flame Charges... At least I still have enough ice creams left. Damn Dry Skin ! It heals almost all the damages from Flame Charge. Guess I better use Tail Whip until the rain stops. Rain started again, but even that can't protect Heliolisk after 6 Tail Whip 2 Flame Charges were enough to kill it. Maybe I can win despite Pachirisu's disobedience. Julia is down to her last pokemon, her ace. Electrode. With all those Sonic Booms I have to alternate between Tail Whip and ice cream. Good thing I spent almost all my money buying them. Now I can Flame Charge it to death ! It's Sitrus berry buys him another turn of life, but in the end I WIN !!!!!

Wow ! That was a hard battle. Hopefully Florinia will be easier to face with a full team.

Edited July 15, 2016 by Imperial

[Imperial]

As soon as I left the Gym, I started to change my team to the next type, grass. And I faced the main problem of this run : training. The only grass type I had at that moment was a lvl 5 Budew. I quickly caught a lvl 5 Cherubi too. But that was not enough for Victoria and her Emboar, so I had to resign to catch a Burmy. But to do so I had to raise a Bidoof to lvl 17, then catch a lvl 7-10 Burmy, and then train those three weak pokemons to lvl 20 to face Victoria, all that with maybe 4 trainers and wild pokemons. Time to tweak a bit the rules of the run : now I can hack rare candies to raise pokemons available before the previous badge to the level cap of this previous badge. Otherwise this run will be almost only training.

So, after a lot of walk to raise Budew's happiness and a few rare candies (I finally discovered how to modify save files), I now have lvl 20 Roselia, Wormadam and Cherubi. Now I can deal with the mess in Obsidia ward. The few trainers I meet are no match for me, but then I meet Victoria on my way to the slums. And of course she tries to stop me. But she won't beat me this time

Victoria

The team:

Roselia
Ability: Poison Point
Level: 22
Modest Nature
IVs: 13 HP / 26 Atk / 28 Def / 22 SpA / 11 SpD / 5 Spe
- Mega Drain
- Growth
- Magical Leaf
- Grass Whistle

Cherubi
Ability: Chlorophyll
Level: 20
Jolly Nature
IVs: 9 HP / 0 Atk / 15 Def / 13 SpA / 25 SpD / 25 Spe
- Morning Sun
- Magical Leaf
- Growth
- Leech Seed

Wormadam
Ability: Anticipation
Level: 20
Impish Nature
IVs: 6 HP / 25 Atk / 14 Def / 0 SpA / 13 SpD / 0 Spe
- Protect
- Tackle
- Bug Bite
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Not the best pokemons I could have but still rather good. Roselia has good IV and a good nature. Cherubi has a lowered Sp Atk but I plan on using it with Sunny Day and Growth so it will compensate. Then there's Wormadam. Poor nature, poor IV, a useless ability when the other one would have helped against Florinia. At least it has HP fire, but I don't think I'll keep it for Florinia

First try:

I start with Roselia against Scraggy. I'm lucky, it's sunny today (in the game at least) so growth will be much more powerful. This battle may be easy. I use Grass Whistle to get enough time to boost. It misses but Scraggy doesn't hurt much and the next one works. I can boost only 2 times before Scraggy wakes up and attack, but it's enough to OHKO it with Mega Drain and regenerate Roselia's health. Of course the next one is Pignite. Roselia is not strong enough to OHKO it, but Pignite is. So I try a Grass Whistle. That works the first time. Good. Now I hit hard with Magical Leaf. I take 3/4 of its life and then... Pignite wakes up and Flame Charge me. OHKO. Shit. None of my pokemon can kill it now. Maybe Leech Seed ? I send Cherubi, which is still faster than Pignite despite a Flame Charge. That thing is really slow, no wonder why everybody prefers the other fire/fighting starters. Cherubi is obviouly OHKO, But now Wormadam can stall. The potions ! I forgot Victoria's potions ! Well, I can still try but I feel Victoria's gonna win this battle. And I was right. Potion then Flame Charge, I out of usable pokemon

Second try:

This is going to be a game of luck. I need to get a full Sp Atk boost while facing Scraggy before it kills me, otherwise Pignite will survive and kill me. So Grass Whistle, 2 Growths then Scraggy wakes up. I can place a last Growth without dying. Especially if Scraggy uses Sand Attack. Usually I would be worried, but Magical Leaf never misses to it's perfect. Victoria send out Pignite, Roselia uses Magical Leaf. And Pignite survives... I can try again I guess

Third try:

I start the same way than before. Grass Whistle + Growth. Scraggy stays asleep 3 turns then I can OHKO it. Now Pignite. Grass Whistle works, than Magical Leaf. Pignite survives, but doesn't wake up. Just what I wanted. One last hit and the only real threat Victoria has is dead. She sends out Kirlia. One Magical Leaf and bye ! Same for Makuhita. And do I even need to say what happened to Poliwag ? As I said, once Pignite is dead she's easy.

Too bad Torchic wasn't there for its revenge, but now Victoria will let me go through the slums. And I don't even need to go to a pokemon center before.

I now go through the slums, just quickly catching a Hoppip on my way. Just to notice after that is learns Acrobatics lvl 28 only, so I'll have to raise it without evolving it to lvl 28, then deacreasing its lvl to 25 to evolve it into Skiploom lvl 26 then Jumpluff lvl 27. This is gonna be long.

The street rat in the slums aren't really hard to beat, it mainly the number of them that gets my pokemons weaker each time. But despite a Fury Cutter Paras that cut through my team (thanks Hoppip for locking it on Stun Spore with encore), I manage to reach the Scraggy gang without much problems.

Scraggy gang

The team is still the same, with a new lvl 13 Hoppip that doesn't really worth mentionning for a boss battle.

First try:

My plan is to send Cherubi and Roselia first. Cherubi sets up Sunny Day while Roselia put one of the Scraggys to sleep, then both set up Growth and sweep the entire gang. Easy in theory, let's see if it is in practice too. First turn, one Scraggy is put to sleep and the weather gets sunny, none of my pokemons are hurt. Good start. Then the asleep Scraggy wakes up , both my pokemon are hurt and my Cherubi is too frail to face another hit. I'll try to put one to sleep again. Grass Whistle fail, and even if it succeded, the other Scraggy attacked Cherubi and killed it. Time to send my "bulky" Wormadam. I use protect while Roselia heals with a Mega Drain. But one of the Scraggys use Dragon Dance. Next turn my Roselia is almost dead while a Bug Bite barely hurt it (I forgot fighting types resist bug :/). Then my Roselia is dead. I won't win with a lvl 13 Hoppip so soft reset

Second try:

Same plan for the first turn, except that Grass Whistle misses. Cherubi ends up badly poisonned and Roselia slightly weakened by a Brick Break. This time, I switch Cherubi for Wormadam to stall while Roselia gets boosted. Good thing, one of them attacked Cherubi, the other one Roselia. Now I get a second turn of boost for Roselia while Wormadam hides behing Protect, then Roselia can use Mega Drain to heal. Dragonborn, the Dragon Dance Scraggy is OHKO While Wormadam almost doesn't hurt Stallord, the Scraggy that used and Iron Defense. The gang sends out Tyson. I don't like the name, I'm such it has some nasty punches my grass types won't like. So Roselia OHKO it while Wormadam hides to avoid a Toxic. It's time to face the Big Boss, the Scrafty. I hope Roselia is faster than it. And it is, but Magical Leaf wasn't boosted enough for a OHKO and Bug Bite too weak to kill and ennemy already in the red... At least Wormadam can still stall one of its hits, while Stallord... stalls, with Amnesia. So Scrafty is sure to die now. And my Roselia reaches lvl 25, learning Giga Drain ! And Wormadam reaches lvl 22. With Giga Drain, maybe I can OHKO Stallord despite Amnesia ? Indeed, and now the battle is over.

The battle wasn't too hard, but still needed a minimum of strategy. Next will be the real nightmare of this mono grass part of the run: the battle with Cain. I don't think Cain will be gentle with me

Cain:

I start with Roselia. Between the sun already shining and the misty field boosting Magical Leaf, it is heavily boosted and is poison type could protect it. First turn, I use Growth, Grimer uses Minimize. Good, Magical Leaf doesn't care of that Acid Spray in the second turn. Less good already, but as predicted, it didn't hurt Roselia much. Then a Shadow Sneak third turn. My Roselia still has 2/3 of its health and it fully boosted. This is going to be fun Grimer OHKO with Magical Leaf. Then Cain sends out Dewott. Good, I wanted my missing health back. Giga Drain. OHKO. Roselia is full health. Cain sends out Venomat. It survives a Magical Leaf then attacks with a super effective Confusion. It hurt a bit, but not enough and Roselia isn't confused. Cain uses a potion, clearly not enough, and just allows me to get more HP with Giga Drain. Venomat fainted. Now Nidorino. This may be harder. Magical Leaf. OHKO. It's good to be wrong sometimes. Last pokemon, Gastly. Not known for its bulk, but maybe faster than Roselia. Faster indeed, and with Confuse Ray. Since Growth boosted the attack too, Roselia can easily kill itself with confusion. But Roselia attacks, and OHKO. I won. I easily defeated a poison type trainer, without losing a single pokemon ?! Wow

Now that the baby Oshawott (that more seemed like a stronger Dewott during the battle x) ) is safe with Cain, maybe I should go back to Obsidia deal with that mess. The pulse battle may be hard since my team only has NVE moves against that bulky pokemon

PULSE Tangrowth:

The team:

Roselia
Ability: Poison Point
Level: 25
Modest Nature
IVs: 13 HP / 0 Atk / 28 Def / 22 SpA / 11 SpD / 5 Spe
- Giga Drain
- Growth
- Magical Leaf
- Grass Whistle

Cherubi
Ability: Chlorophyll
Level: 24
Jolly Nature
IVs: 9 HP / 0 Atk / 15 Def / 13 SpA / 25 SpD / 25 Spe
- Morning Sun
- Magical Leaf
- Growth
- Sunny Day

Wormadam
Ability: Anticipation
Level: 22
Impish Nature
IVs: 6 HP / 25 Atk / 14 Def / 0 SpA / 13 SpD / 0 Spe
- Protect
- Tackle
- Bug Bite
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Hoppip
Ability: Chlorophyll
Level: 13
Timid Nature
IVs: 5 HP / 2 Def / 27 SpA / 7 SpD / 11 Spe
- Tackle
- Fairy Wind
- Poison Powder
- Encore

A few levels more and a baby Hoppip whose Encore may be useful here. I also have my Torchic (for cut) and a Ducklett egg but they don't fight.

First try:

Except my weak Wormadam, all my pokemons have non super effective moves, against such a bulky pokemon it's really a bad thing. I'll start with Roselia. Maybe with Grass Whistle I can maintain it asleep as I slowly damage it. First turn, I miss and Roselia is hit by Mega Drain so it's not a problem. Second turn, another miss but this time Knock Off hurt a bit more. Third turn Grass Whistle succeeds. It better last this time. 2 Growths then Tangrowth wakes up and uses it too. Grass Whistle fails once again, Tangrowth attacks with Knock Off, Roselia is dead. Guess the battle is over. Soft reset

Second try:

This time Grass Whistle hits the first time. I can use 3 Growth before Tangrowth wakes up and uses Mega Drain. I think I can call this a good start. Another Grass Whistle since I can hit hard enough to kill it fast. Success again ! I start using Giga Drain. It take only 1/5 of its health. And Tangrowth sleeps only 2 turns before using Growth. I better touch it with Grass Whistle now. Miss, I take and Acid Spray. Not good. Another try, Tangrowth falls asleep. Tangrowth stays asleep 3 turns, I'm at a single Giga Drain from victory ! Meteor Admin ZEL uses super potion ! Shit. With my Giga Drain on its super potion, I'm at 3 Giga Drains from victory. Tangrowth uses Mega Drain. 2 Giga Drains left. Grass Whistle from Roselia. Tangrowth falls asleep. Giga Drain. I was wrong, now it's 2 left. Damn. Giga Drain. Tangrwoth wakes up and uses Growth. No super potion used. Maybe my next Giga Drain will be the final blow. It is ! Tangrowth fainted. Obsidia is safe now

One PULSE left. Now I can get some more grass types, train them, then beat the grasshole (I love that nickname xD) and Florinia.

Edited July 16, 2016 by Imperial

[Imperial]

After defeating the PULSE I grabbed in Obsidia park the two last members of my team, a Bellsprout and and Oddish. Both lvl 15 so they'll need a lot of training, like my Hoppip. So I start battling all the trainers on my way to Florinia and her little dog Fern. But as I feared those few trainers were far from enough to raise my team, especially since I need to overlevel four of them to teach them moves. So I trained, raised my team as I wanted, and with some new moves including Substitute, the casino's best TM. 7000 coins but it's not really a problem, this Voltorb flip game is kind of addictive when you're on it. Now I can beat the "top dog" to the ground

Fern:

The team:

Roselia
Ability: Poison Point
Level: 24
Modest Nature
IVs: 13 HP / 0 Atk / 28 Def / 22 SpA / 11 SpD / 5 Spe
- Giga Drain
- Growth
- Toxic Spikes
- Grass Whistle

Cherrim
Ability: Flower Gift
Level: 24
Jolly Nature
IVs: 9 HP / 15 Atk / 15 Def / 13 SpA / 25 SpD / 25 Spe
- Morning Sun
- Petal Dance
- Growth
- Sunny Day

Wormadam
Ability: Anticipation
Level: 24
Impish Nature
IVs: 6 HP / 14 Def / 0 SpA / 13 SpD / 0 Spe
- Protect
- Substitute
- Bug Bite
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Jumpluff
Ability: Chlorophyll
Level: 24
Timid Nature
IVs: 5 HP / 2 Def / 27 SpA / 7 SpD / 11 Spe
- Bullet Seed
- Acrobatics
- Poison Powder
- Encore

Weepinbell
Ability: Chlorophyll
Level: 24
Careful Nature
IVs: 4 HP / 25 Def / 6 SpA / 16 SpD / 0 Spe
- Vine Whip
- Growth
- Acid
- Knock Off

Gloom
Ability: Stench
Level: 24
Lonely Nature
IVs: 26 HP / 0 Atk / 27 Def / 24 SpA / 11 SpD / 25 Spe
- Acid
- Mega Drain
- Substitute
- Moonlight

This team is based on two things: Sunny Day/Growth to deal huge amounts of damage while resisting some hits (I hope) due to their type, and Toxic Spikes/Substitute to stall and let the ones that resist raw power die slowly. I don't remember Florinia has any poison type to absorb the spikes so it should be rather powerful.

First try:

I start with Jumpluff. I want to see the power of its Acrobatics. Fern sends out his Ludicolo. As long as it doesn't have Ice Beam I should be fine. My acrobatics doesn't OHKO but brings Ludicolo in the red. Then Ludicolo replies with Bullet Seed. 2 hits, I lost 4 HP... 3 turns later thanks to Fern wasting his 2 super potions, Ludicolo is out. Fern now sends out Grovyle. Acrobatics. OHKO. Now Jumpluff faces Roselia. OHKO once again. Good, because I bet it had some nasty poison moves. But now Jumpluff reached lvl 26 and may disobey. And before it is now a Ferroseed, a tank that will easily resist its Acrobatics. Ferroseed has a shitty Sp Def, right ? I switch to Wormadam. HP fire is just what I need. Ferroseed uses Gyro ball. This would have hurt Jumpluff, but my slow Wormadam doesn't care. 4 HP fire later (was Ferroseed bulky of my Wormadam's Sp Atk that low ?) Ferroseed is out. Fern now uses its last pokemon, Servine. Poor defense, Bug Bite should be enough. I will take 3 bites to kill it, but Servine spend 2 turns boosting with Growth. To use a Leaf Tornado on my bug/grass pokemon... Servine is out, Fern is humiliated on his own battleground. And this is the grass type reserve leader...

Now that the grasshole is out of my way, I can finally battle the leader, Florinia. I hope my strategy will work, I have really bad memories of her from my dragon mono...

Florinia:

The team (same as above):

Roselia
Ability: Poison Point
Level: 24
Modest Nature
IVs: 13 HP / 0 Atk / 28 Def / 22 SpA / 11 SpD / 5 Spe
- Giga Drain
- Growth
- Toxic Spikes
- Grass Whistle

Cherrim
Ability: Flower Gift
Level: 24
Jolly Nature
IVs: 9 HP / 15 Atk / 15 Def / 13 SpA / 25 SpD / 25 Spe
- Morning Sun
- Petal Dance
- Growth
- Sunny Day

Wormadam
Ability: Anticipation
Level: 24
Impish Nature
IVs: 6 HP / 14 Def / 0 SpA / 13 SpD / 0 Spe
- Protect
- Substitute
- Bug Bite
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Jumpluff
Ability: Chlorophyll
Level: 24
Timid Nature
IVs: 5 HP / 2 Def / 27 SpA / 7 SpD / 11 Spe
- Bullet Seed
- Acrobatics
- Poison Powder
- Encore

Weepinbell
Ability: Chlorophyll
Level: 24
Careful Nature
IVs: 4 HP / 25 Def / 6 SpA / 16 SpD / 0 Spe
- Vine Whip
- Growth
- Acid
- Knock Off

Gloom
Ability: Stench
Level: 24
Lonely Nature
IVs: 26 HP / 0 Atk / 27 Def / 24 SpA / 11 SpD / 25 Spe
- Acid
- Mega Drain
- Substitute
- Moonlight

This team is based on two things: Sunny Day/Growth to deal huge amounts of damage while resisting some hits (I hope) due to their type, and Toxic Spikes/Substitute to stall and let the ones that resist raw power die slowly. I don't remember Florinia has any poison type to absorb the spikes so it should be rather powerful.

First try:

I start with Roselia to set up the Toxic Spikes, she starts with Cacturne. Sucker Punch won't hurt me and Needle Arm should be too strong that to Roselia's poison type. Indeed, a critical Needle Arm takes me 20 HP over 61 and Cacturne gets poisoned thanks to Roselia's ability. Then Cacturne uses Feint. Much more powerful, leaving Roselia with 5 HP. Just enough to throw a second set of spikes but it will die next turn. I send Wormadam. Feint Attack doesn't hurt too much and let me use a Substitute. Now I'm going to use a Bug Bite, hoping it's enough to finish it. Damage x4 due to typing, even Cacturne can't survive that. But now I'm facing Tropius. Which is not affected by my Toxic Spikes. But Tropius seems like it wants to use Fly (damage x4 I guess), so it should be easy to use protect. But since Tropius is faster I can't hurt it if I use Protect. Maybe I can switch to Gloom, using Acid, Substitute and Moonlight. But Tropius may not use Fly if it's only x2. I sacrificed Wormadam, the only way I can safely send out another pokemon. I send out Gloom, use Substitute while Tropius attacks with Leaf Blade (on a grass/poison, really ?!). Then moonlight while Tropius takes off and an Acid when it lands (and misses me by the way ). Now this is going to be Acid spam mainly. And I forgot about the Harvest/Sitrus berry combo. I can't damage it enough, except if I spam enough Acids to decrease its Sp Def. This is going to be long... And now I'm out of Substitutes and Moonlights, and Tropius used a Dragon Dance so none of my pokemons can outspeed it. Except Jumpluff maybe. I try an Acrobatics, bring it to the red while it uses Toxic. Then it gets healed by 2 Sitrus berries in the same turn. Cheated. At least it tried a Leaf Blade the next turn and recovered used a single berry, so I can kill it. Then Florinia sends out Breloom. OHKO with Acrobatics of course. Then her Gourgeist finishes Jumpluff with a Shadow Sneak. Time to send Cherrim and its brute force. I set up the weather while Gougeist uses Bullet Seed and touch only 2 times. Then Growth after another Shadow Sneak. Now I'm too weak to risk the use of Morning Sun when Gourgeist can use a priority move. But I still have ice creams ! A single one in fact, I should have bought some before the battle. During Cherrim's setup, the poison slowly hurt Gourgeist. Now enough to make Florinia use a super potion. Good, especially since the poison keeps getting stronger. One last boost and I'm ready for the sweep. But first a Morning Sun. I'm almost full health but I can use Growth the turn the poison will finish Gourgeist, it's safer. Especially since at that same turn I'm hit by a critical sneak. Then the last turn, another 2 hit Bullet Seed while I use a last Growth under the sun, then the poison kills Gourgeist. Now I can sweep her last pokemons. Grotle and Cradily if I recall correctly. I hoped Grotle was already a ground type but after a quick check, it's not. But since its Sp Def isn't huge maybe a Petal Dance will be enough. It was not, I hardly take more than a half of its health. But its Sand Tomb is not better. Second Petal Dance, Grotle is out. I'm not confused yet so I have a last dance for Cradily. Normal damages this time. And no sandstorm to boost its Sp Def. Cherrim uses the last turn of Petal Dance. Cradily survives. With 3 HP at best ! The poison will kill it, its Curse can't change it. But its Leftovers can. Damn. Well, I still have a spare pokemon in case my Cherrim gets killed, an next turn the poison will be strong enough. A small Morning Sun, allowing me to survive a Rock Slide, then the poison finishes Cradily. Florinia lost the battle.

This was a very good battle ! I really thought I wouldn't make it with that Tropius. But the desert rose couldn't survive poison and raw power. Now I'll have to change my team again. Fortunately there's a monotype availability guide to help with that.

Edited July 17, 2016 by Imperial

[javier9627]

Nice man, such an interesting concept and I guess pain in the ass

[Razkar]

Yep! I like your run ! Good luck ^^

[Imperial]

Thanks ! And it's not so much a pain in the ass, not much more than usual monotypes since I use rare candies to train a new team to the level of the previous one. The difference is mainly that since you keep you pokemons the time to get one or two badge, you don't bother making them perfect. I don't look too much for IV, I'll probably never breed, maybe not even EV train them correctly. But since they have a single leader to face, I prepare them for this special leader and I don't have to think "but if I give it this move now it will be hard for the next battles", I prepare them for one battle and I don't care for the next ones.

So now, I'm struck with poison types. I already thought about doing a mono poison run, thinking it would be an easy one with all those poison types you get early. I was wrong, those pokemons are bad. Especially if you plan on fighting a poison type leader with them. They learn almost only poison type moves and they evolve late. Around the level cap so I should be able to evolve them for Corey, but before that I have pulse Tangrowths and worse, a Chatot to defeat. I'm probably gonna play with evasion and stall, since many of them learn SmokeScreen or Minimize. To do that I also spend so time gathering black sludges. Yes, that thing wild Trubbish carry 5% of times. And since I had no pokemon with Thief or Covet, I had to weaken them everytime to see if they regenerate, then catch them if yes.

And now, I'm going to have hell with Taka, with the poor team I have with me. I miss my Cherrim.

Taka

The team:

Grimer @ Black Sludge
Ability: Sticky Hold
Level: 28
Jolly Nature
IVs: 5 HP / 0 Atk / 4 Def / 28 SpA / 7 SpD / 15 Spe
- Disable
- Minimize
- Sludge
- Mud Bomb

Swalot @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
Level: 27
Lonely Nature
IVs: 26 HP / 23 Def / 3 SpA / 11 SpD / 30 Spe
- Body Slam
- Yawn
- Amnesia
- Acid Spray

Venonat @ Black Sludge
Ability: Compound Eyes
Level: 28
Naughty Nature
IVs: 27 HP / 20 Atk / 1 Def / 14 SpA / 2 SpD / 28 Spe
- Supersonic
- Psybeam
- Leech Life
- Stun Spore

Stunky @ Black Sludge
Ability: Stench
Level: 26
Adamant Nature
IVs: 27 HP / 13 Atk / 30 Def / 20 SpA / 15 SpD / 28 Spe
- Slash
- Focus Energy
- Cut
- Smokescreen

Koffing @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
Level: 25
Brave Nature
IVs: 4 HP / 1 Def / 7 SpA / 30 SpD / 13 Spe
- Sludge
- Smokescreen
- Assurance
- Substitute

Roselia @ Black Sludge
Ability: Poison Point
Level: 26
Modest Nature
IVs: 13 HP / 0 Atk / 28 Def / 22 SpA / 11 SpD / 5 Spe
- Giga Drain
- Growth
- Toxic Spikes
- Grass Whistle

As I said, not very impressive. Even Roselia, which was one of the best before Florinia, should be rather useless now between grass/poison pulses, a Chatot and a poison type leader...

First try:

I start with Grimer vs a Lileep. I boost my evasion with Minimize while it attacks me with a Mega Drain that's not so uneffective with the forest field. And even at +6 evasion, Lileep still hit me almost every time. While my Sludge can't even poison it. Ok, now it doesn't touch me anymore, but between its lefties and Ingrain, I can't damage it enough unless I poison it, but than damn Sludge doesn't poison it ! Finally, after 12 PP, it worked. Now I probably won't have enough left to kill it anyway... Especially if Taka uses Super potions... Ok, I'll spam all my Mud Bombs to decrease its accuracy, then I send Roselia to set up. There's no sun but the field still boost Growth so I'll reach +6 quickly. And I guess Lileep will then confuse me. I'll see. I just spams Ingrains, so I guess it ran out of PP (but I should have Confuse Rays left). I'll add Toxic Spikes. Since Tangrwoth turn grass/poison after entering battle it should be poisoned. Toxic Spikes added, now OHKO for Lileep with a Giga Drain. Take then sends out Gligar. Flying type, so not affected by Toxic Spikes. And it's faster than me and with Acrobatics. OHKO. Just my luck. I'll try to put it to sleep with Swalot then spam Acid Spray. And it wakes up after a single turn... Then Bulldoze. And since I could have survived a second Bulldoze, the second one is critical. Last hope (to defeat Gligar at least), Koffing with Smokescreen. I've been able to use 6 of them and a substitute, now I can attack. Sludge hurts after 3 Acid Spray. And poison the ennemy for once. Gligar is out. Chatot is send out. I'm dead. I hoped to use a Smokescreen the time it breaks my substitute, but Chatter bypass substitutes... And when my Stunky can place a Smokescreen while Chatot uses Nasty Plot, Keen Eye prevents it to work. All my pokemons left are OHKO. I hate that bird

[Dreamy]

Hey why don't you get a nidoran from the game corner and evolve that up? limited moves, but would have good bulk if fully evolved.

[Imperial]

Without TM and move relearner, I can't teach it anything good enough. The best it could do is Horn Attack spam, maybe with a Focus Energy to do some critical hits. If I use it now, I would have wasted a pokemon/moon stone I could still use for Aya or Terra, and I'm almost sure in hardcore mod Corey would have super effective moves to destroy it if it can't do more than Horn Attack

[Imperial]

It's been a while, with a lot of work and some other games in the meantime (Rejuvenation v8, Uranium), but it's time to come back to my run.

Last time I played Taka's Chattot swept my team. But this time I think I can do it. Let's start !

I begin with my Stunky vs Lileep. My plan is to decrease at the maximum Lileep's accuracy, then switch to Roselia to set up Toxic Spikes, then re-switch to Koffing to set up a substitute and last long enough to Smoke screen Gligar after Lileep faints. First smoke screen, Lileep uses Confuse Ray. I hate that move. Except when I'm the one to use it. Second turn, Stunky hit itself while Lileep uses Ingrain. Second smoke screen used vs a Constrict that doesn't even compensate Stunky's black sludge. A few turns later, I used the 6 smoke screens and Stunky's health is fully regenerated thanks to those weak Constrict. Time to switch to Roselia. I place a first set of toxic spikes but Lileep succesfully uses Confuse Ray. Seriously, why do I even bother do decrease its accuracy ? Anyway, I placed a second set of spikes without problems. Now I switch to Koffing. First a substitute. Thanks to black sludge my life will regenerate. Then Sludge. 3 times, still no poisonning. At least it hurts it more than with Grimer last time. 6 times, still no poisonning. I'm supposed to have 30% chance of poisonning ! I calculated it has 12% chance to happen. I thought it would be less. At least Lileep is in the red, so Taka should use a first potion now. Indeed, one super potion less. Poisonning at the eighth Sludge. About time. Now I can just spam Assurance and let the poison do the job to spare PP. By the way, my substitute is still there. So the smoke screens weren't useless after all. Lileep is dead. Taka used only one super potion. I expected to make him use them all on Lileep. Now Tangrowth is out. And isn't poisonned. WTF ?! Just looked at Bulbapedia. It must have Leaf Guard. There's no sun but the forest field must activate it. Not good. I'll go for smoke screens, but it uses Growth. Field boosted. If I'm hit, this is going to hurt. Good thing I still have a substitute. Second smoke screen, second growth. Third smoke screen, Tangrowth uses Acid Spray. And hit. The substitute faded, but I didn't thought Koffing's Sp. Def would be decreased since the substitute took the damage. Normal or Bug ? I'll look for that later. For now, I set up a new substitute and Tangrowth misses me. So one more turn for smoke screen. Fourth smoke screen vs missed mega drain. The combo Subsitute/Smoke screen looks really usefull. Fifth somke screen, an Acid spray destroys the substitute. But next turn Tangrowth misses me, I have a new substitute. Last smoke screen, Tangrowth misses again. Now its time to do some damage. With a small smogo on a big Tangrowth. I hope I'll have enough PP. A sludge took it maybe 1/8 of its HP, so no, not enough PP. Then Tangrowth hits me twice. I was behind substitute, but if he keeps touching me I won't be able to create them anymore. Due to a lack of health or PP. Several succesful hits from Tangrowth later, Koffing has not enough HP to make a new substitute. But with a super potion it could still be useful so I switch. I send out Venonat, and Tangrowth directly touches it with an Acid Spray. A second one could kill it I think, but Venonat places a Supersonic first. But Tangrowth, despite confusion and decrease accuracy, still successfully uses Mega Drain and takes Venonat half of its health. On a Bug/Poison. I hate that pulse. Next turn Venonat uses psybeam. Super effective critical hit... That doesn't even take more than Koffing's Sludge. I don't like how this is going. And of course Tangrowth doesn't hit itself. At least it misses its acid spray. Next turn, another psybeam, then Tangrowth snaps out confusion. Damn. It misses its acid spray but still. Then kills Venonat with a Mega drain that regenerates the few HP psybeams took... I send out Swalot. Yawn + Amnesia should make me bulky enough to deplete Tangrowth's Acid Spray PP. I hope. If I still have enough super potions. Swalot's Acid Spray should help a lot too. 3 Amnesia set up and Tangrowth is still asleep. It's going to wake up but I should survive now. Swalot uses acid spray, Tangrowth is still asleep (my calcul was wrong it seems). Second acid spray, Tangrowth wakes up and succesfully uses acid spray too. It took me 3 HP over 98. Amnesia was a good idea. Tangrowth is in the red. Taka should use a super potion now. This should give me the time to use Amnesia again to compensate the sprays. Strangely enough, Taka didn't use potions. Instead Tangrowth failed 2 Vine Whip. So that I can use a super potion on Koffing. I'm going to switch to Koffing, set up a substitute then finish Tangrowth off, so that I'll face Gligar with a subsitute up. I hope I won't regret this switch. I switched. Tangrowth missed a spray. Koffing sets up a substitute, Tangrowth misses a mega drain. Perfect, now a sludge should kill it. Aie. Taka sends out Chatot. And says the sentence used at the last pokemon. No Gligar ? ........... I started vanilla Reborn instead of hardcore. I'm an idiot. Well, I guess for now I better finish the battle. And start the good .exe next time. And not lose to Chatot now. Please Chatot, don't destroy me in normal mode. Chatot used Nasty Plot, I replied with a Sludge. And for once it poisons ! Perfect ! Unless Taka has some spare super potions, which I highly doubt since, well, normal mode, I'm sure to win now. New turn, Chatot used Chatter. It bypassed the substitute and killed Koffing. First the normal mode, and now I make the same stupid mistake than last time ? Maybe it's a good thing I chose the normal Reborn... I send out Swalot. Chatter takes less than half of its remaining HP but the confusion prevents it to use an Amnesia. I just want to last long enough for the poison to kill Chatot so it should be fine. Still, I'll switch to another pokemon, to keep one that can endure Chatter by safety. I send out Grimer, that survives but hardly. Two more turns should be enough. Grimer fainted. One last turn. I send Stunky. And I switch to Swalot, so that Stunky gets the xp. Swalot's strong enough get xp by itself later. Chatot fainted. I won the battle, finally.

This was as expected long and painful, but I did it. I think it could have worked in hardcore too. Maybe. Maybe I'll try again in hardcore later. But for now, Beryl's pulse is waiting for me. I'm scared :'(

[Imperial]

After some training, finding missing officers and getting the mystery egg (Togepi), it's time I battle the last Tangrowth pulse. This battle is going to be much harder than the previous one (and this time I didn't forget to use the hardcore mod x)) but my pokemons are also stronger

First try:

The team:

Grimer @ Black Sludge
Ability: Sticky Hold
Level: 30
Jolly Nature
IVs: 5 HP / 0 Atk / 4 Def / 28 SpA / 7 SpD / 15 Spe
- Disable
- Minimize
- Sludge Bomb
- Mud Bomb

Swalot @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
Level: 30
Lonely Nature
IVs: 26 HP / 23 Def / 3 SpA / 11 SpD / 30 Spe
- Body Slam
- Yawn
- Stockpile
- Acid Spray

Venomoth @ Black Sludge
Ability: Compound Eyes
Level: 31
Naughty Nature
IVs: 27 HP / 1 Def / 14 SpA / 2 SpD / 28 Spe
- Supersonic
- Psybeam
- Leech Life
- Sleep Powder

Stunky @ Black Sludge
Ability: Stench
Level: 31
Adamant Nature
IVs: 27 HP / 13 Atk / 30 Def / 20 SpA / 15 SpD / 28 Spe
- Slash
- Focus Energy
- Cut
- Smokescreen

Koffing @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
Level: 30
Brave Nature
IVs: 4 HP / 1 Def / 7 SpA / 30 SpD / 13 Spe
- Sludge
- Smokescreen
- Assurance
- Substitute

Roselia @ Black Sludge
Ability: Poison Point
Level: 30
Modest Nature
IVs: 13 HP / 0 Atk / 28 Def / 22 SpA / 11 SpD / 5 Spe
- Giga Drain
- Growth
- Toxic Spikes
- Grass Whistle

I choose to start with Stunky and Koffing to spam Smokescreen, then switch to pokemon that will setup. If I recall correctly, Taka and ZEL should start with Glaceon and Lileep. Lileep isn't too much of a threat so I'm going to ignore it to concentrate on ZEL's pokemon so in the end I can face Taka 2v1.

As expected, I face Glaceon and Lileep first, both lvl 26 so I have the advantage. First turn, I use two smokescreens on Glaceon, the most dangerous. It replies with an Icy Wind, painful but not too dangerous after several smokescreens I hope. Lillep uses Confuse Ray on Stunky. I hate that, but I can handle it. Second turn, two smokescreens on Glaceon again. Glaceon's Quick attack hit, but nothing a black sludge can't heal. Then Lileep uses Mega Drain on Koffing. Sometimes I love that AI Third turn, last smokescreens on Glaceon, but not after it successfully uses Ice Fang on Koffing, followed by a critical Ancient Power. Not good, I don't want to lose Koffing that fast but it's already in the red. Next turn, Glaceon's Icy wind hit Stunky but misses Koffing. Better than nothing. I start the smokescreening on Lileep while it uses Ingrain. Two new smokescreens while both Glaceon and Lileep miss. Last smokescreens on Lileep, but they both hit Stunky that then fainted; I was going to switch it but still. I send out Swalot instead. It uses Yawn on Glaceon while Koffing sets up a substitute. Glaceon's Icy wind hit Swalot but that's all, and Swalot is bulky enough to resist that. Swalot starts the stockpiles and Koffing uses Sludge on Glaceon. No poisonning, what disappointed me at first though it's better that way since I already used Yawn on it. Both Glaceon and Lileep miss and Glaceon falls asleep, perfect. Second stockpile and sludge, Glaceon is still asleep and Lileep misses. Third stockpile and sludge, ZEL uses a super potion on Glaceon and Lileep misses again. One potion less, good. Then Acid Spray followed by Sludge on Glaceon. It barely survives, so ZEL should use another potion next turn. Lileep do hit Koffing this time, but with a Mega Drain on the substitute. Quite useless. And with the black sludge Koffing already recovered half its health. Things go rather well for now. I expected ZEL would use another super potion but no. Acid Spray kills it and the Sludge hit Lileep instead. ZEL sends out Espeon then. Aie, I forgot that one. Good thing Swalot is boosted and Koffing still has a substitute, it should give me at least a turn to attack. Espeon uses Psybeam on Koffing, breaking the substitute. Swalot uses an Acid spray that doesn't deal much damage, followed by a CRITICAL 120 BP assurance ! OHKO ! Great ! I'm gonna win this battle. But Lileep's Confuse ray hits Swalot. Next turn, ZEL sends out Jolteon. It uses thunder fang on Koffing, but leaves it with just enough HP to make a new substitute. Swalot hits itself due to confusion so no Yawn. And Lileep misses again. Next turn, Jolteon's thunder fang breaks Koffing's substitute and, strangely, leaves Koffing paralysed. A bug from substitute probably. Swalot succesfully uses Yawn this time, giving me enough time to switch Koffing (or let it die) and set up a new pokemon I hope. Jolteon misses Koffing, and Lileep's Mega Drains weren't enough to kill it, so it's sludge following two Acid Sprays easily kills Jolteon. Now it's Umbreon. The easiest one probably since I can't be poisonned I can destroy its bulk with acid spray. Yawn + Smokescreen on Umbreon that replies with a Quick Attack on Swalot the black sludge should fully heal this turn. Lileep still sleeps. Next turn, Umbreon's quick attack on Koffing wasn't enough to kill it, and Lileep wakes up but misses its Mega Drain, but Koffing was paralysed so no Sludge after the Acid Spray on Umbreon. Next turn, second acid spray, but Umbreon's Lum Berry wakes it up and Koffing was paralysed again. At least Lileep missed again. Third acid spray, Umbreon lost half its HP, but Feint Attack kills Koffing. Lileep's Mega Drain hit Swalot, but barely scratch it and Liquid Ooze damage Lileep. I send out Roselia, my best special attacker that should kill Umbreon then be able to set up on Lileep. Indeed, Giga Drain ends Umbreon, so it should be 2v1 now. Swalot uses Yawn on Lileep to help Roselia's set up, but a confuse ray on Roselia may make it harder. After one turn of confusion, Roselia starts the set up. Since it's not the forest field I'll need 6 turns for that :/ Swalot used two acid sprays on Lileep to make the sweep easier for Roselia once set up. Useless stockpiles to save PP plus a Yawn when Lileep wakes up for Swalot while Roselia fully sets up. Now Roselia is at +6 Sp Atk. This is gonna hurt. One Giga Drain, Lileep is out. Taka sends out Gligar. It used Acrobatics first, but on Swalot that beraly feels it instead on Roselia. Giga Drain. Bye Gligar ! Now Chatot. I hate that thing. A single Chatter should OHKO Roselia. I try a Giga Drain, with Swalot using Yawn just in case. Chatter on Roselia. Roselia survives, but then kills itself with confusion (+6 Atk hurts). I send out Grimer. Chatot used Chatter on it, but took less than half its HP. Swalot's acid pray followed by a sludge bomb (despite confusion) get rid of it. The pulse is the only one left now, right ? Well, I should win by now. Swalot used Yawn by safety while Grimer used Minimize. Tangrowth used Knock off on Grimer, but Sticky Hold let it keep it's black sludge. Never thought this ability could prove to be useful. Now let's go for the Acid Spray + Sludge Bomb spam. First time, Tangrowth is almost down to one HP. It also misses Knock off on Grimer and falls asleep so it's all good. Second Acid spray + Sludge Bomb, Tangrowth is down. Taka sends out Klefki ! Damn. Immune to poison, but Grimer still has Mud Bomb. Klefki uses Reflect, then Swalot Yanw and Grimer Mud Bomb. Swalot uses Stockpile, just to be sure not to paralyse Klefki with a Body Slam before it falls asleep. Grimer used Mud Bomb, but after Klefki used Light Screen to it barely hurts it. And Taka should have a super potion left. This is going to be long. Body slam + Mud bomb, dealing 1/4 of its HP at best. Then super potion as expected. Klefki then wakes up and uses T-Wave on Swalot. Not much of a problem. Next turn was an almost useless Foul Play on Swalot while I made it drowsy again. Then Foul Play on Grimer, much more useful. But now Klefki is asleep and almost in the red, so unless Taka still has a potion it's fine. Two more turn of paralysis and missed moves and that's it, Klefki fainted. I defeated Taka and ZEL on my first try. I'm getting good with that poison team

The last Tangrowth pulse is down. Corey got unmasked in front of Heather then fled to his gym. Maybe some more training to evolve my pokemons, then I'll go find him

I did some training. Training in this part of the game is a real pain, but at least speed hack makes it a bit faster. My pokemons are evolved, lvl 34. Now I can face Corey, poison versus poison

First trial:

The team:

Muk @ blacksludge
Ability: Sticky Hold
Level: 34
Jolly Nature
IVs: 5 HP / 0 Atk / 4 Def / 28 SpA / 7 SpD / 15 Spe
- Disable
- Minimize
- Sludge Wave
- Mud Bomb

Swalot @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
Level: 34
Lonely Nature
IVs: 26 HP / 23 Def / 3 SpA / 11 SpD / 30 Spe
- Body Slam
- Yawn
- Stockpile
- Acid Spray

Venomoth @ Black Sludge
Ability: Compound Eyes
Level: 34
Naughty Nature
IVs: 27 HP / 1 Def / 14 SpA / 2 SpD / 28 Spe
- Supersonic
- Psybeam
- Leech Life
- Sleep Powder

Skuntank @ Black Sludge
Ability: Stench
Level: 34
Adamant Nature
IVs: 27 HP / 13 Atk / 30 Def / 20 SpA / 15 SpD / 28 Spe
- Slash
- Focus Energy
- Flamethrower
- Smokescreen

Weezing @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
Level: 34
Brave Nature
IVs: 4 HP / 1 Def / 7 SpA / 30 SpD / 13 Spe
- Sludge Bomb
- Smokescreen
- Assurance
- Substitute

Roselia @ Black Sludge
Ability: Poison Point
Level: 34
Modest Nature
IVs: 13 HP / 0 Atk / 28 Def / 22 SpA / 11 SpD / 5 Spe
- Giga Drain
- Growth
- Toxic Spikes
- Grass Whistle

Not really a dream team, but the stall using sleep, evasion and substitutes proved to be quite effective. And now they are evolved.

I don't remember what Corey is going to use first, but leaders usually start with the weakest one, made to cripple the opponent. Swalot should be able to set up Stockpiles, then sweep with a field boosted Acid Spray. Doesn't fully compensate the lack of effectiveness due to the type, but it's still better than nothing.

First turn, Corey sends out Qwilfish. Intimidate lowers Swalot attack, so I probably won't use Body slam much. Yawn + Stockpiles and Swalot is easily boosted. Qwilfish's Icy wind was pretty useless especially on an already slow pokemon, and Bubble beam get a poison type in the field making it useless too. 4 Acid sprays later, Qwilfish faints. Corey sends out Nidoqueen. Ground type. Aie. Nidoqueen used Ice Punch. No super effective but a critical hit that bypasses stockpiles. It took less than half of Swalot's HP so except other critical hit or ground type move (or why not both...) I should be fine. And Swalot used Yawn so after the next turn Nidoqueen will sleep. Nidoqueen used Poison Jab. Useless. And so is my Acid spray. Even at -6 Sp Def, Nidoqueen won't take much damage from that :/ I tried a body slam. Still more effective than Acid Spray. I'll use that instead, that way I can spare acid spray PP for a pokemon with a lower Sp Def. 3 other body slams, bringing Nidoqueen to 1/4 HP for it to wake up and use an ice punch that black sludge should heal in no time. These black sludges were hard to get, but they really worth it for my stall team. I expected the use of a super potion for the next turn but Nidoqueen used bite instead. I used another yawn. Corey will surely use a potion after my next hit so it will be useful. Or not. Critical hit, Nidoqueen fainted. Two pokemons down for Corey, none for me. Good Then Corey sends out... Swalot ! This may be interesting. I used Yawn, it used Venoshock. Not sure it was even to even compensate the black sludge x) Then Shadow Ball, still useless. I'll go for Acid spray this time. Several acid sprays + Yawn vs useless moves later, (Corey's) Swalot is down too. Is my Swalot really going to sweep an entire hardcore gym leader alone ?! Well, probably not, but mainly due to a lack of PP I guess. Next to die: Skuntank. I almost want to switch to my own Skuntank for the fun, but it would waste Swalot's set up so no. Skuntank used Flamethrower, boosted by the field (what I planned to use on my own Skuntank). Took roughly 1/4 of Swalot's HP thanks to a critical hit. I went for Body slam instead of Yawn to try to spare Yawn's last PP but I should probably spare HP now instead, Swalot is down to 34/121. I used Yawn, Skuntank Flamethrower. Without critical hits, my black sludge almost compensate it. But then Skuntank used Acid spray, removing almost all my Sp Def setup. Good thing it's asleep now. But Swalot's probably gonna die when it wakes up. Except it will not wake up, Swalot's Acid sprays managed to kill it before. Scolipede now. Resistance x4 to Acid spray, so I won't waste my last 5 PP and use body slam instead. Good thing, Scolipede is physical, as Crobat, so the Acid Spray Swalot took doesn't matter anymore I think. Scolipede used Bug Bite, that doesn't even compensate my black sludge. A second Bite, then Scolipede is asleep. Body slam doesn't deal much damage, but if Scolipede is that weak it's almost a good thing, I'll have more time to regenerate to face Crobat. After 3 turns, Scolipede wakes up. Rock Tomb. Useless. I anticipated him waking up and used Yawn. Which leaves me with a single PP for Crobat. I should have spared it. Anyway, Scolipede is down. Swalot's HP are at 83/125 (it took a level earlier), with 2 PP for body slam, one for yawn and 5 for acid spray. If Swalot was my last pokemon it would be tense. But I still have all my pokemons so the battle is kind of already over. Last Yawn vs Nasty Plot. So Crobat is special. Boosted, on a side my Swalot isn't much boosted anymore. I may lose some pokemons there. Air Slash. Took me roughly 25 HP, so I'm fine. And Crobat is asleep now. Time to spam Acid Spray. 3 Acid Sprays, Crobat was nearly in the red but ate a sitrus berry. Anyway, it's at -6 Sp Def now, so my last 2 PP will be enough. Crobat wakes up. Air Slash. Swalot flinched. Air slash again. Critica hit. Swalot flinched (again !) and is down to 40 HP after black sludge. Air Slash. Third flinch in a row... Air Slash. Fourth flinch. Swalot faints next turn. Air Slash. Swalot fainted... I send out Muk, my bulkiest specially. After 3 Acid Sprays, one sludge wave should be enough. Air Slash. No flinch this time. Muk uses Sladge Wave. "The foe Crobat fainted". I defeated Corey. Almost with a single pokemon. It's soooo good to destroy gym leaders with their own type

Agent Corey is down, Beryl is safe (for now). And now I have to switch to bug types. I complained about the bad team I had with poison type but bug type should be worse. And Shelly is really scary. During my mono-dragon hardcore run, I defeated several leaders with just Deino, Noibat and Fraxure. Damn hard but possible with some luck. But Shelly... I couldn't even get a single of her pokemon down and had to switch to normal Reborn. I'll really need a strong team to beat her. Ah, and I just just remembered Aster and Eclipse with Solrock, Lunatone, Magmar, Rhydon. I'm scared :'(

Edited September 21, 2016 by Imperial

[Imperial]

Seeing how bad my options are with bug types, I trained a lot of pokemon to be able to adapt to both Aster and Eclipse and Shelly. I tried to make something that works well in doubles, we'll see if it works.

So, after I defeated Corey, he jumped off Beryl Bridge (without giving me the badge of course...) and the Grand Stairway exploded. Now I'm under it, ready to free Victoria from Aster and Eclipse. Something I just remembered is that I fight them along with Victoria, that should make things easier.

Aster and Eclipse

The team:

Ledian (M)
Ability: Swarm
Level: 30
Gentle Nature
IVs: 3 HP / 10 Atk / 19 Def / 15 SpA / 13 SpD
- Reflect
- Baton Pass
- Silver Wind
- Light Screen

Forretress (F)
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 32
Impish Nature
IVs: 16 HP / 24 Def / 3 SpA / 5 SpD / 23 Spe
- Mirror Shot
- Spikes
- Self-Destruct
- Bide

Venomoth @ Black Sludge
Ability: Shield Dust
Level: 34
Naughty Nature
IVs: 27 HP / 1 Def / 14 SpA / 2 SpD / 28 Spe
- Supersonic
- Psybeam
- Leech Life
- Sleep Powder

Beautifly (F)
Ability: Swarm
Level: 32
Mild Nature
IVs: 6 HP / 14 Atk / 15 SpA / 11 SpD / 21 Spe
- Air Cutter
- Giga Drain
- Silver Wind
- Whirlwind

Masquerain (M)
Ability: Unnerve
Level: 34
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 25 HP / 4 Atk / 6 Def / 25 SpA / 1 Spe
- Bubble Beam
- Air Slash
- Sticky Web
- Water Sport

Leavanny (M)
Ability: Overcoat
Level: 32
Adamant Nature
IVs: 17 HP / 5 Def / 15 SpA / 15 SpD / 9 Spe
- Sticky Web
- Helping Hand
- Bug Bite
- Razor Leaf

I trained Masquerain over the level cap to teach it Bubble Beam and fed it with common candies. And thanks to the very expensive friend ball (I could buy only one) I've been able to easily evolve swadloon into leavanny that should be useful against Solrock, Lunatone, Rhydon, Milotic, etc.

First try:

I'll begin with Ledian. That thing looks really bad, but at least it can place screens to protect Victoria's pokemons. First turn, I place a Light Screen to protect Victoria's Emboar from Solrock and Lunatone's Psychic. Emboar uses.... Fire Punch ! On Rock types ! That AI is really bad... But I have to admit Emboar hits quite hard, the fire punch took almost half of Lunatone's HP. Then Solrock used Rock Polish, and Lunatone Hypnosis on Emboar. This isn't good, I relied on it for the damage. Hope it will quickly awake. Second turn, I tried to place a Reflect, but Solrock's Rock Slide hit first. OHKO on both Ledian and Emboar. At least sleep isn't a problem anymore... I send out Forretress. It should be able to tank a rock slide (unless the feld gives it the fire type), especially since Victoria's Scraggy decreased the opponents attack with Intimidate. Both Solrock and Lunatone attacked Forretress, but with Psychic and Moonblast so Forretress lost only 1/3 of its HP. Scraggy used Poison Jab. On rock types... Then I used Mirror Shot, super effective and slightly boosted by the field. That was enough to take Lunatone down. Aster and Eclipse then send out Magmar. Against Forretress this is gonna hurt, but I'll try a Mirror Shot on Solrock while I can. Try. Because Solrock used Heat Wave, easily killing Forretress. Scraggy lost half its HP to heat wave and Magmar's flame burst (the light screen was a good idea it seems) then replied with another poison jab. On Magmar at least. Took only 1/4 of its HP, but poisonned it so it could be worse. I tried to send out leavanny for a Razor Leaf, but Solrock immediatly OHKO it with a rock slide that almost ended Scraggy too... Then Magmar's Feint finished the job. I'm going to lose this. I send out Venomoth for a sleep powder on Solrock, but a psychic OHKO it before I could. At least it didn't hurt Hariyama this time. Hariyama took Magmar's flame burst, losing only 1/4 of its HP then attacked with a knock off on Magmar (and not on the very dangerous psychic type near it of course...). It damaged it almost enough for the poison to finish it off, but got burned by Flame Body. I really hope it has Guts, otherwise I'm dead. the meteors used a super potion on Magmar and Solrock attacked with a Heat Wave my Beautifly was surprisingly able to endure. I used Giga Drain on Solrock, taking half its life. Then Hariyama used a critical Brick Break on Magmar. It obviously doesn't have Guts. But Magmar was damaged enough for the poison to kill it at least. Next turn, Rock Slide from Solrock. Beautifly faints of course, but Hariyama avoid the move. It then uses Knock off on Solrock, that barely survives but still survives. Electabuzz Swift barely damages Hariyama, probably less than the burn. I send out my last pokemon, Masquerain. the Meteors used a super potion on Solrock so it didn't attack, but Bubble Beam wasn't enough to kill it and Electabuzz killed Hariyama before it could attack. Victoria is out of pokemon. Now it's Masquerain vs 5 pokemons (at least). It survives a heat wave from solrock and a swift from Electabuzz and a second bubble beam killed Solrock. At least I got my revenge on it. Then Electabuzz' Low Kick finished Masquerain. Game over. Next time I attack Solrock first...