Well, we've got six fights this time, three with Gladion, and three with Nanu. Much like with Guzma and Plumeria, Gladion is more terrifying in USUM than he is in SM, and we'll be seeing more of Ray and Ailey than we will of Noah.
Ailey brought quite a disproportionately large number of babies to this fight, and we're starting to get to the point where they can't cut it. Sue needs the Eviolite for her job, and annoyingly, this is going to be a problem elsewhere. Fortunately, a lot of these babies are about to evolve.
Robin's new! She gets her Dark STAB at 38 and evolves at 39, but for now, she's a little bit behind.
Nemo's even worse. They have their benefits type-wise, but yeah, a lot of the reason they're here is EXP.
Anna's days on the team are numbered, I'm sad to say. With that said, her moment of spotlight won't require stats, which means I can be much more guilt-free about plays which deprive her of EXP- which will be important to my strategy in this fight.
Genevieve still has a long career ahead of her as being a surprisingly bulky and competent special attacker and paralyser. I often count her out because of her speed, but she really can pull it off when it counts.
I wish there was room to have Justy use that Eviolite. On the other hand, look at that Atk. Golett's evolution is known for high Atk, but it looks like that's less true for Golett itself.
Right. Gladion can be tricky, but fortunately, his team isn't quite as rudely assembled as it was back on Route 5.
This is definitely his Golbat. 25/25/25/25/25/30 IVs, 252 EVs in Spd, a Serious Nature, and the moves Acrobatics, Poison Fang and Venoshock. Gladion has some strong Pokemon by base stats, actually- normally we've been seeing 20 IVs in the off stats. Shame about the missing second set of EVs, though.
As extra moves go, Venoshock isn't a great one, but oh boy do those five or so extra levels he has over his SM team pull a lot of weight. Ailey is starting to look incredibly far behind.
At least Rock Slide is still a two shot. And Tyrunt vs Golbat is the sort of fight likely end up like this anyway.
At least the Eviolite means Sue's got the upper hand.
Because she doesn't even outspeed.
The next thing Gladion sends out always looks like it'll be Type: Null, but it could always be his Zoroark. Fortunately, there's a tell- Type: Null is level 43, Zoroark is 42.
Type: Null has flat 30 IVs, 252 EVs in Atk, a Serious Nature, and the same moves Crush Claw, Pursuit and X-Scissor. Numbers are this Type: Null's advantage over the one in SM.
It turns out that Justy is not Type: Null's match. I'm going to use this opportunity to have Anna do some softening up first.
I just love a good Illusion trick.
This was a misclick- I had intended to use Foul Play for Anna's second free move, but my cursor was already on Scary Face and I pressed A one time too many. Foul Play would probably have been awesome, but alas.
Anna is no match for Type: Null unmasked.
Now then, let's let the real deal show his stuff.
Dynamic Punch is a 100 BP Physical Fighting move with 50% accuracy, but a 100% chance of inflicting Confusion on a target if it lands. Since Justy has No Guard, Dynamic Punch will always land, giving him an incredible move. Unfortunately, that low Atk, Null's high Def and the lack of STAB means I didn't even get to yellow HP.
And Null drops Justy to yellow HP just fine.
I'm not sure how, but damage rolls meant that Justy managed to defeat Null in two hits. The damage rolls on Dynamic Punch are 65-77 against an opponent with 147 HP- if one of those hits was the maximum roll, I had a 10/16 chance of finishing with the other hit, while if it were the next-highest roll, I would need a 4/16 chance to finish. Either way, those odds were low.
Robin got her Dark STAB! Not that there's anything to use it on in the near future, everything left to fight is Dark type in this update.
Now for Zoroark himself. 25/25/25/25/25/30 IVs, 252 EVs in Spd, Serious Nature, and the moves Snarl and Hyper Voice. Hyper Voice is a 90 BP Special Normal move, giving it a surprising amount of power. I do notice, however, that this Zoroark would have been helpless to deal with Neo. Ah well. Neo would've taken ages to win in turn.
And Genevieve can take that punishment just fine.
Slow down.
Genevieve was having a lot of trouble hitting here.
It got to the point that it's a good thing she spent so long slowing Zoroark down, because Electroweb wasn't solving things. Maybe Signal Beam was the way to go.
Nemo can take the EXP. He needs to get to level 40 for his evo.
Thank you, paralysis!
This is why I brought Nemo. Bug beats Dark. Also, this'll come in handy against Nanu, so some extra EXP won't go amiss.
This was the most hilarious timing to pick that up. Anorith and Rufflet are the only Pokemon in the main story to get Crush Claw, and while Nemo will probably rather leverage its Rock and Bug STAB, a 50% chance of Def drop isn't the worst use of his time.
It took Ailey a few tries to manage that. And she didn't even have to win!
Noah's turn. Squishy's pretty much here for EXP.
You thought a Golbat could stop an Alakazam?
Buddy, Alakazam has been oneshotting Golbats since before I was born.
Ally Switch is a Psychic Status move with +2 priority that causes you to switch places with your partner in a Doubles match. It can be pretty cool in the right hands, but of course, those aren't going to turn up in single player.
One thing that is worth mentioning, though, is that Z-Ally Switch gives +2 Speed.
Yeah, Melia is not staying in here.
That X-Scissor is a threat that no player of RBY could've seen coming.
Sometimes I forget Defence is actually Gonzales's weaker stat. Because it sure doesn't feel like it sometimes, how high its HP is.
Anyway, I brought Gonzales because it's time I showed off Snorlax's signature Z-Move. Similarly to how Ray has an Own Tempo Rockruff to show off Dusk Lycanroc, I am treating Noah as having acquired the pre-order bonus for the original SM: a Munchlax with the Snorlium Z Crystal. This is why the Snorlium is given out by the same guy who gives the Marshadium and Mewinium Z Crystals.
The unique Z-Poses are always funny, even if they're otherwise the poses you'd expect from the move. In this case, Snorlax's signature Z-Move is a Normal type move, being based on Giga Impact.
I'm not 100% sure if this Z-Move was intentionally based on a Pokemon community joke, but the community ran with it all the same.
If you put the battle sprites/model for Snorlax in a row, it appears as if Snorlax is slowly getting to its feet. After twenty long years of movement, Snorlax's energy is fully charged.
And he goes barrelling forward.
Pulverising Pancake is a Z-Move rated at 210 BP (Giga Impact as a Z-Move is normally rated at 200), and has no bonus effects. One would expect there to be a weight-based calculation or something to show off with.
Because it didn't even oneshot the Type: Null.
Fortunately, Body Slam is also a flattening move.
Snorlax could also probably take Sneasel, but after two Crush Claws, I am going to play it safe.
...That actually hurts quite a bit more than I was expecting. I'll admit, I don't resist Dark...
Fortunately, Flash Cannon is more than enough to slap it back.
Ray's turn.
Deep Blue is such a good counter for Golbat. Immune to two of its moves, resists the third, and without Poison, Golbat has a ceiling on its capabilities.
Fist Jr. is operating at maximum capacity, but its weaknesses are going to become more prominent: Low Speed, frail defences and an unimpressive resist list means that it can't actually do that much once it sets up.
Also, I was supposed to change the joke to "Fist Sr." when it evolved, but it seems to have fallen through the cracks. Then again, if this is what I'm dealing with, perhaps the Jr. is still warranted.
Wiingo's job is to stop Type: Null from tearing a hole in my team with Intimidate. It's weird calling Tauros an Intimidate bot.
Agnes isn't quite as tough as Sue is without being evolved. She needs the EXP to get up there, rather than just taking the handicap on the chin.
Terri, meanwhile, isn't too awful as a Krokorok. Her evolution is coming up soon, at least, but there are worse fates than being a Krokorok.
Volty is going to be a cannon with Choice Specs. One hit is going to do plenty.
Starting with the easy bit: Deep Blue dealing with Golbat as predicted.
Those numbers are adequate. Could've been nicer, but I'm not sure how helpful Deep Blue will be in the rest of the fight.
Just making sure I hit the second time.
Right. You're the Zoroark.
...In hindsight, this was a mistake. I should've saved Fist Jr. for the real Null and had Volty clean up here. Sometimes I think I forget Volty's a Bug type.
At least I was switching in Snarl.
In hindsight, a good reason to avoid Volty.
Until I have to deal with this.
This is probably an indicator that Power-up Punch's time has passed.
Look at that damage. I'm going to be outsped by Null, too. This Atk buildup I'm working on won't pay off.
Honestly, I'm kinda impressed Fist Jr. took the second Hyper Voice.
I do like how Fist Jr. is so giant that his fist is in the way of the camera.
Right. A good Intimidate to start us off. Especially since switching is not an option.
Although it seems like Null was already plenty strong.
Wiingo spends its turn Scary Facing before it switches out, to make things easier for other Pokemon.
Like Agnes.
It does resist Crush Claw, after all.
Also this. Not that the speed drop is too great, but the turn skip might help.
Huh. Not bad. You forget sometimes Amaura is supposed to be kinda tanky, the fact its typing doesn't really work to that advantage distracts from that.
Volty is really enjoying this switch in.
Even with Choice Specs and STAB, it's still nowhere close to a oneshot. That's on Null's numbers, I think.
Gladion has been dealt with. Now for the Nanu fights.
Ridley's Draining Kiss is one of the few sources of Fairy coverage I've got. Considering what Crysantha is running, probably better. Told you Fairy is a surprising weakness across all four party members.
Robin'll be getting use in this fight. She happens to double-resist Dark, which will come in handy.
One of these days, I'll get a Punch in, or replace Z-Splash. Today is not that day.
On a similar note, I can't believe I'm still using Flying Press. Then again, now that Robin is an option, I can afford to get away with the loss of Rock/Steel coverage.
Fairy Wind. Fairy Wind. The fact that Nanu is using a lot of Special Attackers is why I think Crysantha has staying power, but Fairy Wind is not selling her chances.
Look, it would be really cool. Shame about Power Gem being SE, but...
Right-o, how did USUM buff Nanu?
It turns out, not by much. The difference between SM Nanu and USUM Nanu is five levels and all the IV spreads have been changed from mixed 31s and 15s to flat 30s. EVs, Nature, moves, etc, those are all retained from SM. Winning strategies from SM will still work here in USUM, but only if you believe in them a lot more.
Ridley's high Def is doing her wonders for Fake Out, and Draining Kiss ought to recover plenty of that.
Which is good, because the Special Attacks are changing the calcs.
...Oh.
You needed the Expert Belt, or at least the Big Root.
I had so much more faith than perhaps I ought. On one hand, I'm sorry for poor Ridley. On the other hand, I feel bad for saying I should've seen Ridley's incompetency coming.
Robin goes for the finish, just in case I can get some Moxie going.
Unfortunately, she's slow. This is the main reason Moxie doesn't work out as much as you'd think.
On the other hand, I said there wasn't going to be any Crunches? Yeah, at least it's neutral on Sableye. I think Robin's other three moves are not effective.
That is a good number of HP. I have a good feeling about my chances of Moxie setting me up.
Never mind.
Also yes, that level buff means that Krokorok should now have evolved. I'll take it having not done so, but still.
On the plus side, I did handle that Earthquake.
Low Sweep did not finish the Krokorok, sadly. Although...
Who says I can't use that Hyper Potion against him? Heal? Free -1 Spd!
Alternatively, that. I think I liked the first idea better, but this is sufficiently funny to live with.
I like your Moxie, but you are not dealing with Persian. She has Fake Out and Speed.
Let's see if that Sp. Def was worth the Fairy Wind.
Yup. That Sp. Def was something to be proud of.
And that Fairy Wind might actually manage a 3HKO. It remains to be seen if Crysantha has three attacks, though.
Huh. I decided not to take that risk, and instead made use of Wish.
You know what Hawkeye's real job here is? Physical damage on Persian without Fur Coat.
And thanks to Wish, Hawkeye gets a free switch in.
Which is good, because Persian outspeeds Hawkeye. A fast Pokemon with 252 EVs and +Spd is gonna do that, especially with the level advantage.
I ran the calcs. This Persian has 161 Speed- Hawkeye has 118.
Flying Press might, strictly speaking, be a bad idea compared to Fighting moves that have the Fighting type effectiveness table.
But I don't think I'd give up Hawkeye doing cool poses like this.
Nanu sure seemed to appreciate it!
Scrafty (Ultra Moon): It taunts its opponents by spitting. It has a certain territory that it never leaves its whole life long.
Much like Beth, Ailey got an evolution from the Nanu fight that would've been really helpful for the Nanu fight. Scrafty takes the streetpunk aesthetic of Scraggy and dials it up so high I'm fairly sure this guy stops being an actual lizard, but it does make a pretty effective Pokemon.
Nothing to really worry about in the post-script, so we can move right on to Noah now.
I'd say this is a Fairy type, but Disarming Voice. I think my lack of Fairies might have a lot to do with a lack of Fairy moves in the 60-75 BP range, rather than just missing the Pokemon I need.
Aside from not being a Fighting type, and thus not being resistant to Dark moves, Kailey has pretty much everything you could ever want for a Dark type fight. We'll see if we can't get something out of Moxie on her, too.
Lanz is just here for Leech Life. It'd be pretty cool if that even worked as I had in mind. I suppose it could also Icicle Spear Krokorok, but that's making big assumptions about Speed.
Look, just because Quiver Dance is Bug type doesn't mean this is your fight. I'll let it slide, because I like what you're cooking, but be careful.
...In hindsight, I have no idea why I brought PRNDL. I think it's for EXP? I don't think PRNDL is accomplishing much.
Also, in retrospect, it turns out I was training PRNDL for Speed, not bulk. Not sure why I was doing that, but it's not helping.
You know what Gonzales is here to do? Gonzales has forgotten. Can't have been important.
Anyway, let's see Noah's tricks.
Sableye vs Disarming Voice. At least Mio is good at taking Special hits.
I tried Baby-Doll Eyes. Wasn't good enough. Oh well.
At least that's a respectable chunk of HP.
Still on like 86 HP after that. I'm set.
And if I wanted, Sparkling Aria would deal with you easy.
Instead, I'm going to play this game with Nimue and see how that goes for me.
By the way, if you want to try this out for yourself, note that Nimue still gets the Atk buff. I'd probably recommend trying it with a Lickilicky, Purugly, Avalugg or Mudsdale, though- something that will actually use that Atk buff when it has it. This is a good use for Flatter, though.
Still, I don't think this is might chance to setup and knockdown. Best just to solve this now.
Save Persian for Gonzales. And this hilarious plan.
No, seriously, Gonzales has forgotten why it is a part of this plan.
Persian goes for the bold strat of Black Hole Eclipse to try and pierce the Amnesia.
It has not worked out as well as she'd hope.
The worst part is? A few more hits and I heal half my max HP.
That was a Dark Pulse I just took.
Sadly, I have to worry about those flinches because I'm so slow.
At least I'm not so worried about those hits. That crit was unfortunate.
I figured it was time that they had to deal with a little bit of misfortune themselves.
Oh screw you.
Went for the Giga Impact, just out of annoyance with taking that Full Heal.
It didn't work that way. And I lost that turn to Giga Impact's recharge.
Paralysis is back up, and it turns out Nanu only has the one Full Heal.
OK, that Giga Impact was petty.
I did do one more Body Slam, just to be sure that would be enough.
He had fun. So what can we expect with Ray?
I'm surprised you don't have an actual Dark coverage move. Tsareena usually packs a Fighting move and/or Play Rough, so the fact my only SE move makes me leave the fight is worth remembering.
Another day, another chance to see if Fist Jr. can pull off something. I recorded Gladion and Nanu in a burst, so I haven't had the chance to decide if I'm going Brick Break or not.
And no, Low Seep isn't an option.
Ghondor can probably pull something off, but he won't be my first choice.
This is going to be a wincon. No resistance, but a lot of damage.
Again, shame about the Power Gem weakness.
If we want something good with a Resist, this is the way to go. Sandile and Scraggy were found on the same route in BW, and their reputation as brothers seems to have carried on for these teams.
...Or, well, sisters, here.
Bernie is neutral to Dark moves, but that Disguise ought to be worth a few points. Plus, Leech Life.
I think I like this team core, but I am a little apprehensive about the lack of a clear wincon. I've got options, but little more.
At any rate, we're starting by not caring about this whole "Fake Out" business, just coming in fast with Queenly Majesty.
I do wish the Sableye was actually a Physical attacker.
...That's a fair amount of damage. Alena does have some Sp. Def chops to her.
Dang.
Welp, I'm out of here before I'm defeated.
Went for Terri as the substitute.
Now where have I seen this exact situation before...?
Oh yeah.
...Well, um... at least we didn't do the same thing over again? Not the way I was planning on that happening, though.
Let's try not to get hit by that Earthquake again.
OK, this didn't go nearly as well as Nimue's round did. I think Ray definitely had the unluckiest round here.
Oh come on.
Should not have been this risky.
And this is the part where I suddenly realise Volty was my best play for Persian. I'll have to play this one by ear.
OK, Bernie, this is a good chance to switch in, there's a Fake Out incoming, and-
...Not what I wanted to see, but good reason to get Volty out of there. On the other hand, there's no way I'm getting it in.
Disguise was supposed to block this.
Well... at least I swallowed the hit? Brave Bernie's also got a ton of EXP behind her.
...Not the sort of numbers you want to see on Leech Life. Even if I am holding a Scope Lens.
Yeah, let's get you out of here.
Called the right situation to switch in Fist Jr. Fortunately, I'm neutral to Power Gem, not weak, but that'll only go so far.
Well, those numbers aren't terrible at least. More than I was hoping for, though.
...I'm good to take a second. I think.
Which is good, because Power-up Punch didn't even finish what happened to Iron Fist...
Phew.
Ray wound up skipping past the Hmph, so hey, here's Nanu's payout (with the Amulet Coin payout). Our finances are the least of our worries, though.
We're in a bit of a climactic moment here, so there's a small flurry of bosses that wound up incorporating Nanu into things as a matter of course. This relates to another issue Pokemon runs into when it's composing narratives- the League Challenge (as is the case in other games) is taking a narrative back seat, but can't take a gameplay back seat. Pokemon is constructed in a linear order, and League Challenge battles must be included in said order, even if the narrative seems much too urgent to spend time here. They do have a limit, in some cases, but that limit is a little further than mine would be. SM kinda lets the Island Challenge get away from it as the plot kicks into gear around now, but this seems to accompany a general disrepair that surrounds the current state of the Challenge due to "dying interest" and the lack of support from Ula'ula and Poni's kahunas.
SwSh and SV try to take this on board and push the League Challenge back into prominence, but this seems to accompany a downplaying of "the plot kicking into gear" while the League Challenge is going on. SwSh's villain doesn't do anything until the big reveal, which clearly interrupts your Challenge, while SV's villain was mostly contained in one place, and was content to not endanger others until you finished up your Challenge and were ready to approach them. When taken in conjunction with the Orre duology's unfocused gameplay structures due to the lack of a League Challenge, this paints a picture of Pokemon being very uncertain of how to actually compose a story without a League Challenge, but also not being entirely clear on what to do with it when they do include it. This is where I'd suggest using corruption within the League higher-ups as a plot thread, but a) this is something SwSh seemed to be consciously avoiding, which suggests disinterest in the writer's room and b) this leaves little room for the legendary to contribute, which is its own can of worms. Pokemon stories may be weak, but you can kinda see why when you notice the threads.
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