Ray's got a lot of battles to do, and we're starting in a bit of an unusual place: The Battle Agency battle.
I did a test run of the Battle Agency where I got Bethany to join in. Despite this, however, I did not get her to join in a second time.
We'll have to take comfort in the fact that we at least got Noah. I'm extra happy because of how miraculous this team lineup was.
Noah not only has a Kommo-o, like Ray himself does, but the best Kommo-o. Atk/Spd EVs, Dragon Dance, good dual-STAB and a nice coverage move. There's a White Herb kit with Draco Meteor and Poison Jab, but the other options are a pure Special kit and one of those weird ideas that only works half of once.
The generic Festival Fan, who didn't even load in, also gets a really awesome Pokemon that Ray happens to carry- although it is a shame it's not Dusk Form, but that's not an option at all. Life Orb Atk/Spd investment with both her favourite Rock moves, a coverage option, and Quick Attack as a dud. If you're wondering, Lycanroc only has four kits total, but two of them are Midday and two are Midnight. The other Midday Kit is really weird- it's got a bunch of Rock moves for Rockium Z to work with, and Rock Climb.
As for Ray's choices in his own Pokemon, well... I couldn't say no to quite possibly the greatest team one could ask for. Porygon2, Kommo-o, and Lycanroc? Ray's using a team exclusively composed of Pokemon he happens to own. Porygon2 and Porygon-Z have four kits each, and Porygon2 has three different Eviolite sets, all with Tri Attack and Psychic. I think this one's my favourite, and the fact I got Analytic to go along with it is just icing on the cake, no pun intended. 252 EVs in HP/Sp. Atk.
Rotom (Platinum): Its electric-like body can enter some kinds of machines and take control in order to make mischief.
The other options are little slouch. Here's one of Rotom's twenty kits- it has four unique kits for each appliance. This one is running a trick I hear a lot of good about- Choice Trick. Rotom uses the Choice Scarf to use Trick and lock its opponent into a move that isn't necessarily in its interest, at which point it is now allowed to choose something else because it's no longer Choiced. Not the greatest option in this battle, and not one I like in general. This one's 252 EVs in HP/Spd, which isn't helping.
Pidgeot (Firered): It spreads its gorgeous wings widely to intimidate enemies. It races through the skies at Mach-2 speed.
Pidgeot has two kits with a Pidgeotite. Honestly, I kind of hate all of its kits- one of the Pidgeotite ones has Tailwind, and I hate that one the least, but the moves it chooses to run are just... blegh. 252 HP/Sp. Atk on this one.
Yeah, even if it wasn't for the hilarity of three Pokemon that Ray is using, I'd pick this.
I imagine Noah can customise that, but like hell I was customising dialogue for all four kids that I was never going to use.
...Also, it might be Noah can't customise that because he's an SM player. I dunno, they give you way more options than I'd want to customise for even one kid.
Huh, strange. He doesn't always lead with Raticate. Just gonna make it more disappointing later.
I'd laugh, but it has Glare and Kommo-o has a Cheri Berry, so that can work for it.
Not that it ever would, Porygon2 has Psychic.
...Killer Psychic. Thank you, Analytic!
Raticate inspired me to switch, which does show off an element of the Battle Agency that Ailey didn't:
The character who owns the current Pokemon is the one who sends it out. The backup isn't just for show.
...Ray, that's Noah's Battle Style, not yours.
Probably best that one didn't hit Porygon2.
Wow, poor Ailey, given how badly Ray is humiliating this guy.
...I'm not leaving the Fighting type out here.
Huh. Noah's using his Battle Style, but now Ray isn't using any style- he does have one equipped.
Oh no. Not residual damage on a glass cannon.
I'll just need to smash everything.
That's the 10% from Life Orb. Lycanroc probably didn't have many attacks with a Toxic, too, but it sure didn't need them.
Huh, never mind, that centre pose is using a Battle Style- I think Ailey is using the Battle Style she expects, but I clearly don't see enough of it to be sure. Ray is finally using his Battle Style- he's using Gladion's Smug style- but now Noah isn't.
...Probably should've finished with one of the normal kids.
Now to begin the onslaught in the Paradise itself. Starting with Faba, actually- it felt like a fight worth counting.
So the gimmick of this battle is an onslaught of stat drops? How about the Clear Body Ability! Metagrossite won't be desired here- we want the advantages the base form offers. Add an Assault Vest, which is literally consequence free for Deep Blue, and this is a Pokemon that could go far despite the lack of clear plans for Psychic.
If it was just Faba, Ivy would be the way to go, but sadly, Faba is engaging in unsportsmanlike conduct, so we'll have to improvise.
If Ivy is my favourite, Terri is a close second. With the Scarf and Moxie, Faba's plans for dealing with her are "wait, do I have something that resists Dark?"
Paul's job is to Sucker Punch. Shouldn't be an issue.
Gary'll cover for Bruxish, probably the scariest thing on that team.
Volty is just here because she's one of my lowest level Pokemon. Bug Buzz wouldn't be horrible, either.
Anyway, Ray's got your number, Faba.
I'm not dealing with this.
That might cause some issues.
You know, when it's actually being aimed at Deep Blue.
Isn't Meteor Mashing so much nicer when you're immune to Intimidate?
Light Screen. Earth Power will have a few hits yet.
Didn't work the first time, ain't gonna work the second time.
You call that a weakness?
...OK, this Scrafty might take a while longer.
Annoyingly, she's not going to use Reflect again when it'll actually be useful.
Just taking it in turns, apparently.
Oh, that's a huge help, Lillie!
Shiinotic can actually do annoying things to Deep Blue- mainly Spore- but it's worth remembering that Shiinotic is weak to Meteor Mash. We ought to be fine.
More fine if Claydol could stop doing that, though.
Phew. Was worried Spore might come up, but Deep Blue had that sorted.
Excellent. Nothing inspires more confidence than seeing an Atk drop.
Starting to worry about Clefairy. This is still further than Ailey got her.
...Probably should've done a Meteor Mash.
Wow. Go Lillie!
...Although it would be nice if you could renew that.
That hurt.
...On the other hand, there's nothing scary coming up that's Special, while I would like that Reflect for Bruxish.
Hypno's not much threat.
Oh, that'll be really nice. Little late, but I can deal.
...Every little bit helps?
I had a plan for that, though.
Bruxish... as it happens, resists all three of Steel, Psychic, and Ice.
Now seems like as good a time as any to get the Amulet Coin bonus. Not that Deep Blue was useless, but...
...OK, to be fair, that would have broken Reflect. Still, feels a little bad I couldn't force it to use that.
Why not let the rest of the team contribute? Or, well, half of them, it seems Bruxish doesn't need all six hits.
This feels a lot weirder in the daytime, honestly.
I actually had Ray check- Faba disappears when he walks off screen.
The Guzma teamup had a cute moment where Dawn got two flinches off from the same Rock Slide. Although it only really makes it more pathetic.
Anyway, time for a real fight.
Isabella, it turns out... can not do what I had in mind. That Dragon Fang was supposed to be a clever ploy, but it only works if one thing in particular goes her way, which I only got on failed attempts when I was using a different item.
Siri- wait, hold on, where did your nickname go?
Anyway, Siri will be trying to show off a cool party trick. I thought it'd be good for this fight, but it turns out it has a bit of a downside.
Paul will be handling the opponent that Siri is scared of. Frustratingly, I can't switch Siri out, so I'll have to find some other way to get that dealt with.
Volty is still trying to gather EXP, despite gaining two levels since Faba. I think that says plenty about how much battling there is before Archie.
What do you do when you're up against a powerful Special wall Water type? Bring a Physical Grass!
Candy is here to turn off the rain if necessary, and little more.
Right then, starting with Archie again, mostly because I wanted the EXP from his wing.
I had somehow forgot to take Intimidate into account when planning my strategy. OK, maybe I did, but not quite how devastating it would be.
Dragon Dance should cover much of the issue, giving back Isabella's Speed.
At which point I am reminded that "the Fangs" include Ice Fang. Fortunately, Isabella can take two of those.
Less fortunately, this only puts me at +1 Atk.
I can Sky Uppercut Mightyena with that much, at least.
Crobat, meanwhile?
Not so much.
Without the Dragon Fang, +2 Isabella is a damage range shy of the oneshot. I can get +2 Isabella from an Ice Fang miss, but unfortunately, I did not get one of those while holding the Dragon Fang.
Incidentally, the old item was Leftovers. Not much help.
Unfortunately, this isn't even a chance to switch in Siri, since Muk is still unaccounted for.
Well, that could have gone a lot worse.
Archie wasn't prepared for that.
There's the Muk.
Wanted to see how Volty would do. Not as well as I'd hope, but it's not like she has a Poison resist.
You should've seen what Siri was doing to this thing. Let's not hit it with Special moves.
Paul will do! In hindsight, should probably have tried to save Volty's HP, but I wasn't sure a Fire Punch was incoming.
That is more like it.
Now then, Sharpedo is going to be a bit scary to Paul. Might even outspeed-
Never mind, nope.
Here I was expecting an Isabella or Siri sweep, and I got one for Paul.
Kyogre is not so easily defeated, even without any investment in the relevant defensive stats.
That was not going to be anything but a oneshot.
Alena, this is what I brought you for.
...Kyogre outspeeds abort abort abort
...Never mind. Don't mess with Alena, apparently.
That makes one of us.
OK, so if Isabella didn't work, I'm gonna go with Kane the second time. Ray's overall lack of Special Attackers is not helping against these Mightyenas.
On the plus side, Kane and Guardia should be enough to handle most of Maxie's team on their own.
Ivy, it turns out, got the job of hitting Groudon first. Surprisingly, given Groudon's weaknesses, Ray doesn't have much that can hit it Specially.
As evidenced by the fact Plan B is still a Physical Attacker. Trop Kick would be so much nicer if Groudon was actually a Physical Attacker...
Siri's just here for EXP this time. Can't get much use out of her on the Ground types.
Candy will set the weather off Sun, if I need that. It won't quite be the most necessary thing, but despite how it might seem, Sandstorm offers no benefits to Maxie.
...Ray's blink frame.
Now back to your regularly scheduled actual fight scene.
Things do not look fantastic for the Hyena.
Bye bye!
Crobat? To be fair, it is SE on Kane, but uh, so am I...
Never mind, he outspeeds. At least he doesn't oneshot.
I do, though! Ha ha!
I think I haven't taken the Poison tick yet, but clearly Kane isn't sweeping.
Enough HP to take out this Weezing, though. Really confused why he didn't try Camerupt, though.
That was, unfortunately, the last of Kane.
On the other hand, this is a chance for a free switch-in, and Kane has dealt with everything she's good at.
Guardia will be Scalding you, please and thank you.
Terrain and weather in one go. The Psychic Terrain hasn't been doing much, particularly not in my favour, and it won't last long yet, but still, kinda cute. The sun will still be plenty to be dealing with regardless of the terrain.
Nifty, Guardia. That HP is worth something, all right.
Went for the Icy Wind. Scald gets weakened, and while Burn is on the table, I don't think reducing Atk is as valuable as reducing Spd.
Now my priority attacks will be on the table again. Not that I think I packed any.
...Overkill much?
Ivy, I believe it is your turn. Although in retrospect, maybe Candy was the way to go, given those scary moves boosted by the sun...
Oh well. I had hopes. Perhaps it was a bit ambitious.
And it's not like the attack Ivy was worried about was one of the weather ones.
OI! What are you doing, healing up on me?
These Atk drops should be a bit more permanent.
...I know that's sun-boosted, but that's a bit more than I expected Groudon to be doing with the Assault Vest up.
Alena could only take one, but fortunately, one was all she needed.
I'm actually going to try a curveball: Lysandre first, then Cyrus. I wanted to check the reverse outcomes here.
It turns out Brave Bernie was an amazing choice, although it does result in a bit of a weird fight. What you are about to see is the result of an unfortunate set of options presented to Lysandre for dealing with this.
Lysandre's got some good weaknesses to Stealth Rock, and Rocks in general, so I'm packing Dawn for it. It's worth reminding you that the only Pokemon that walls Ghost/Fairy is Pyroar.
So I really want that Pyroar out of the way.
Alena, it turns out, is going to be outsped by Mega Gyarados even with the Choice Scarf, so I'm not sure how much Alena will be able to do, but I have confidence in her.
This is exactly the battle which calls for Deep Blue. And might as well Mega, wouldn't you say?
If Deep Blue doesn't work, could be a chance to show off that Tapunium Z. Something's telling me Kane's going to be the one showing that off regardless.
Red button does result in the same conversation. Lysandre rigged this worse than Xerosic.
All right, Lysandre, it's time you learned a crucial lesson about your Mienshao's kit.
Fake Out, High Jump Kick, Dual Chop, U-Turn. Do you see what I see? Not a single move dealing damage to Mimikyu except U-Turn. Which Brave Bernie double-resists.
This Mienshao is going to utterly humiliate Lysandre.
I do need to pick up Pyroar, though, so out Dawn comes.
Rock may not resist Bug, but at least High Jump Kick wasn't incoming.
Honchkrow, that's an odd choice. Still, though, I have Guardia waiting in the wings.
...Oof, that U-Turn was a big one, though.
How about a Rock Slide oneshot? Probably shouldn't bother with the Rocks at this moment.
Mienshao's back, and probably gonna High Jump Kick me...
...Why not, I see a lot of switching incoming, why not have some Rocks now?
Lost Dawn, unfortunately, but this'll help loads with Pyroar.
Right, Brave Bernie, I wanna see another U-Turn, and I think I know into what.
Guardia, you deal with Pyroar.
Nailed that call.
...OK, what were you expecting out of that? Residual damage? Honestly, that may legitimately have been a valid plan.
I've got little time for such shenanigans, though.
One of these days that Mienshao will actually do something worth writing home about.
For now, it's taking (minor) Stealth Rock damage whenever we go through this.
...You know, I probably could have saved Guardia by switching in Brave Bernie here. I don't think the free switch really changes much. Maybe if I thought a U-Turn was incoming? Not sure why it would be, in retrospect.
...Saving the Disguise might've been part of it, actually.
The thing about Stealth Rocks is- they hit Gyarados before he loses the Flying type.
Do kinda hate that bit...
But you know, right back at you, big guy!
...Oh yeah, that would go through Disguise anyway. Right.
I see a Dark type, Play Rough is going to do well here. In Pokemon X, Lysandre was rather famous for being pretty easily swept should you happen to use the Xerneas the game forces you to catch right before his battle. Seems any Fairy can pull that off still, so long as you have a plan for Pyroar.
Didn't oneshot, thanks to the -1 Atk, but that burn means I'm not taking much in return.
I was expecting that, admittedly. Fortunately, I have just the plan for it...
Swords Dance.
I'll be completely honest, I'm used to a scarier Mega Gyarados introduced in a fan game, where he gets Dragonite's Multiscale Ability. This one's a chump in comparison.
How many times have we gotta teach you this lesson, Mienshao?
Let's be honest with ourselves, that scratch damage isn't contributing, it just makes me feel better.
Particularly since he is forced to use U-Turn again, forcing out...
Xerneas (Y): When the horns on its head shine in seven colors, it is said to be sharing everlasting life.
Lysandre is the first of the Team Rainbow Rocket bosses Ray is fighting to show off the version exclusive Legendaries, and he's packing Xerneas instead of Yveltal. Pure Fairy type, HP/Sp. Atk invested, with the moves Moonblast, Thunderbolt, Psyshock, and its signature move Geomancy. Geomancy is a Fairy Status move that takes a turn to charge, but when fired, it boosts its Sp. Atk, Sp.Def and Spd by two stages each. Dealing with Xerneas requires nipping it in the bud before it can even think about those kinds of shenanigans.
Not quite as Stealth Rock weak as Yveltal, but on the other hand, far less likely to get it back.
All right, it's time to discuss how absolutely hilarious Mienshao using U-Turn to send Xerneas in to take Mimikyu's Play Rough.
1) Xerneas doesn't resist Play Rough.
2) Xerneas's Fairy Aura applies to all Pokemon, not just itself.
3) I am still +1.
4) I do half damage and outspeed the next turn for the other half.
And to think I was worried Deep Blue alone would struggle.
Here we go again...
Nowhere to run this time, though, is there?
You, meanwhile, were so wishy-washy that you let your own wincon go down without a fight. ...Sounds like a fascist, actually.
Anyway, Cyrus.
Cyrus's weakness to Stealth Rock is to be met with Candy this time. It better fits with his lead.
Dawn will be using Rock-type attacks. Although there is a flaw with my strategy.
Terri drew "most likely to beat Cyrus's Legendary". Although this is a tricky sort of task.
I don't think I even need to say what Ivy is doing at this point, do I?
Isabella's getting a second chance at doing her thing, this time with Clangorous Soulblaze on hand.
It's Zero's first battle! I had a little trouble figuring out Zero's kit, and am not even sure this is what I had in mind for him, but it will do for now.
In retrospect, really should've given him the Fighting Memory. I think I was worried about, of all things, sandstorm damage.
It's actually slightly surprising, what Ray struggles with this time. Mostly because you'd think he'd be prepared for Weavile.
Houndoom leads, and Candy makes use of the sandstorm to shrug off those Special moves.
Which she does splendidly.
Rocks are now up.
And Houndoom went down
Things are going just swimmingly-
And then comes Weavile to make everything worse.
He is fast, and he is outspeeding.
I have an alarmingly limited number of options on this team that aren't weak to Ice or Fighting. Zero, as it turns out- and not just the name. Fighting would make Zero neutral and still been SE on the Legendary (like I wanted), but no, I thought the sandstorm chip would matter.
At least Zero can take this even with a weakness.
And especially Iron Head still finishing. Although it's not great that I was worried at all.
Can I do a Zero sweep, against all odds? I don't really think I can justify getting Zero out of here, but...
Of course not. And with Icy Wind, I'm not sure I want whatever's coming in to take the -1 Spd.
Dawn appreciates your sacrifice, Zero!
Crobat... might be a bit trickier, but I have faith.
Crobat outsped anyway, but it still went down in one. Good to see Stealth Rock is earning its keep.
Dialga (Platinum): A legendary Pokémon of Sinnoh. It is said that time flows when Dialga's heart beats.
Dialga honestly scares me more than Palkia. Massive defenses off the back of a Steel typing, still pretty good at the whole "Sp. Atk" thing, and its weaknesses have to go through its superior defenses. HP/Sp. Atk investment, with the moveset Roar of Time, Flash Cannon, Earth Power, and Thunderbolt. Weak to Fighting and Ground, which it isn't directly answering, but then again, Palkia was hitting Shade on the sub-type.
Roar of Time is a 150 BP, 90% accurate Special Dragon move that requires the user spend a turn recharging after use. It says a lot that I'd advocate for making it use that and then swarming on the recharge turn.
It's not STAB, but I was hoping for a little better...
Hahaha... yeah, that wasn't happening.
Going to see if Isabella works out.
Although in hindsight, this was a little ambitious. Maybe I thought the +1 Sp. Def would help? Or maybe I just thought Sky Uppercut wouldn't work anyway. I can believe both.
Only one of those things is going to matter, and I hope it does.
There's actually a really cool animation for Roar of Time on connecting, it's like glass shattering. Came a bit too quick to snap, but it's done its job of completely oneshotting Isabella.
Maybe I should've gone with Adamant.
Terri wound up finishing after all.
Now for Ghetsis.
Theodore is going to find himself quite exemplary in this matchup. Problem solver is back?
Isabella's got one more shot with this trick. Here's hoping.
Terri works out pretty well regardless of Ghetsis's dragon, but it's a lot better here in Ultra Sun.
Kane's going to try the Tapunium Z trick again.
There's honestly something impressive about the fact that Ivy is always finding a place on these teams.
And then there's Paul. Ground types in general are eating well here.
Anyway, yeah, yeah, you madman, let's settle this like children.
Starting off with Theodore, and right off the bat, hitting into some Physical Defence...
Never mind. Never doubt Theodore, apparently.
Bouffalant is a little tricky, as a Normal type. Probably need to sacrifice something to give Isabella a safe switch.
Or Theo can have a good chance on his own.
...Someone is angry, apparently. Not that that anger isn't earned.
Bisharp should be an easy third for Theo-
But he's just a bit too fast. Could also have missed, but it's not like Theo had much hope against Hydreigon.
The worst part is, Terri doesn't actually pull it off herself.
At least Terri can claim the same the other way around? Still, though, this is a really annoying situation to find ourselves in on both our parts.
At least I outspeed.
All right, can I make use of my Moxie boost with a nice Outrage?
Nnope. It was an ambitious ask, but I was running Jolly...
Ivy's got this.
Zekrom (B2W2): This legendary Pokémon can scorch the world with lightning. It assists those who want to build an ideal world.
Zekrom, the mascot of Pokemon White, is a physically-oriented Dragon/Electric type. It's running an Atk/Sp. Atk investment, with the moves Bolt Strike, Hyper Voice, Dragon Claw, and Zen Headbutt. Astute players might notice that this is an identical moveset to that of his Reshiram, although in practice, the only Special move on his kit is Hyper Voice- not at all worth investing in Sp. Atk. Someone was getting lazy designing movesets. Bolt Strike, as Blue Flare's match, is a 130 BP, 85% accurate Physical Electric move with a 20% chance of paralysing.
Identical to Turboblaze, and it's kinda weird to justify the distinct vibes between radiating fire and radiating electricity.
To be fair, that Physical bias also applies defensively. Also, this is Weavile's weakness competitively- using Ice Punch doesn't tend to do one favours.
At least it gave a chance to show off Bolt Strike's animation. Now that is a Volt Tackle.
Isabella, round us off.
...Or, uh, deal with with the whole thing.
Should've done a Clangorous Soulblaze.
...In hindsight, going for Dragon Claw was very ambitious. Yes, it's what Isabella has invested in, but given Isabella's work thus far and Zekrom's hgiher Defence stat? I could viably have seen a missed range here.
That's a you problem.
Now for Giovanni.
Unfortunately, Ivy's profound Speed stat is not enough to outspeed Dugtrio, so I have to Scarf her. Honestly, at that point, I'd start to ask if sand or rocks is bad enough to justify this effort for. I don't have a Focus Sash strategy on hand.
Deep Blue is a surprisingly good choice, despite its Ground weakness, and it is Ray's only Mega-capable choice.
Brave Bernie is one of the greatest possible opponents for Giovanni, and one I could never have imagined going without for my Ultra Sun playthrough. It is no exaggeration to say that Brave Bernie is on the team solely for this fight.
Guardia is just an eminently practical choice. No one else on Ray's team can clean up Rhyperior in any sort of hurry, and the Nidos have Poison Point to encourage a non-Physical strategy.
Zero's job is to deal with Mewtwo, and that's why he's got one of Mewtwo's weaknesses as her Memory. Hopefully it helps.
Wiingo's just here for moral support, but having Intimidate on hand sure strikes me as a nice thing to have. And Scary Face, if we're lucky.
...You reckon Giovanni recognises Red's old hat?
There's something kind of... funny about fighting Giovanni with a Weavile. Might have something to do with his son using a Sneasel in GSC.
That's enough out of you.
Rhyperior. While it is weak to Ice Punch, I have doubts that Ivy, particularly without an Atk-boosting item, is going to even do half to it.
Switching in Guardia, because Ivy is not going to take a single Stone Edge from Rhyperior.
Or, er... Megahorn? Sure, I guess, whatever floats your boat, but...
At least Guardia outspeeds and we won't have to deal with that mess anymore.
It remains to be seen if the Nidos will be as easily dispatched.
Nope. Ah well.
Deep Blue... show them why you're here.
First of all, there's next to nothing in this fight that's going to lower Deep Blue's stats, so we are good to switch to Tough Claws.
And proceed to ignore our hands and slam them in the face with Zen Headbutt. Despite the obvious, Tough Claws boosts all contact moves, so Zen Headbutt is enjoying a hearty boost in power that is enough to oneshot Nidoking.
...And Nidoqueen. Deep Blue doesn't mess around.
Now then... Mewtwo. Like Lysandre, Cyrus, and Ghetsis, Giovanni's Mewtwo is different between Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, although unlike them, it is not immediately apparent how.
Mega Mewtwo X (LGPE): Psychic power has augmented its muscles. It has a grip strength of one ton and can sprint a hundred meters in two seconds flat!
Whereas Mewtwo and Mega Mewtwo Y were famous for being dangerous Special Attackers, Mega Mewtwo X represents a pivot to Physical Attack. The Mega Stone bonuses are +80 Atk, +10 Def, +10 Sp. Def, the addition of a Fighting type, and a change to the Steadfast Ability. Because clearly we're outspeeding 252 Speed to flinch it with. Giovanni's is carrying Atk/Spd investment, with Zen Headbutt, Drain Punch, Earthquake, and Stone Edge. This honestly terrifies me more than Ultra Moon's Y build.
Mewtwo was one of two Pokemon to gain two wholly distinct Mega forms (the other being Charizard), and their namesakes are based on the fact that, in XY, the Mega Stones were version-exclusive to each game. ORAS and SM make them both available at the same time, though.
...And here Deep Blue is taking a weakness like a champ. What have I done to deserve this sort of power?
Half HP. Half. What a neutral hit that was. All bow to the power of our robot overlords!
(As an aside, Mega Mewtwo X is apparently very stretchy, and he has this bizarre animation for physical attacks. Honestly, I'm impressed I caught a frame of it.
Alas, Deep Blue is not wiping out the entire health bar. We'll need to figure out an alternative strategy for the other half.
Now then, I have a bit of a story to tell about Mega Mewtwo X, the first time I ever fought Giovanni's.
...OK, that's not relevant to the story, but it is very humilating for the poor guy. There's a reason to run a Ghost type, it seems.
Anyway, the first time I fought Giovanni, I was prepared for the Mewtwo (or something like it, considering all the Legendaries the other bosses are throwing out), and my plan for it was to use Mimikyu's free hit and Z-Move to take out a solid chunk of it, and then either Shadow Sneak the rest or work from there. I wasn't really seriously entertaining the possibility that it would be sufficient on its own.
When I clicked on the order, I saw only a standard Mewtwo, pure Psychic type. Would probably take a lot of damage from Mimikyu, but a Shadow Claw alone would probably not do the trick.
And then it turned out to gain a Fighting type. Making it weak to Fairy.
For the entirety of this animation, I was laughing internally, realising before the HP bar even dropped that I would be oneshotting Mewtwo with this dark comedy skit from Mimikyu's bip-bop friend time.
They say you should never look under a Mimikyu's cloth.
I'm sure not finding yourself in this situation goes without saying.
...OK, this looks weird on Ray. I'm used to seeing Let's Snuggle Forever with a girl dressed like Bethany is. Let's say it's not that much less weird on her.
Let's Snuggle Forever is probably my favourite Z-Move in the entire game, and while I felt like I probably should've found a use for it sooner, letting it shine here was totally worth it.
Even if I'm not sure that is true.
Before we're done with Ray, there's one thing to mention- I went out of my way to not pick up any items (other than the Electrode), and now there is no way for me to get them anymore. Well, from the ground.
If any such items are potentially lost forever, the game gives you an out by way of this janitor.
They actually only play the "got item" chime and animation once, thankfully. Where was this generosity when the game was intentionally giving me multiple items in one bundle?
Good luck with that, sir.
Next time: Battles I've been avoiding to focus on the postgame items and stories.
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