I normally don’t post on this forum (in fact, I never have before), but today I had a rather interesting battle that I thought would be fun to share with the rest of you.
Now, normally I’m in the habit of creating teams that have a great deal of synergy and in which each of the individual members strive toward a specific goal (e.g. an Agility SubPetaya Empoleon sweep), but this time I decided to try something different, under a new Shoddy account. I wanted to see what the results would be if I just haphazardly threw my six favorite Pokemon together on the same team, with a few adjustments here and there as was necessary (having four Dragons or something, for example, wouldn’t work out too well).
Here is the team that I constructed:
This team does have a few nifty aspects to it, despite being randomly thrown together for the most part:
Within an hour of testing it on a new account, however, I was proven wrong. My opponent, Lorerer, gave me one of the most exciting matches I’ve had in a long time, and this is the match that will follow below. I will post Lorerer’s team in its entirety at the end of the battle.
I will borrow a page from Legacy Raider’s book and use giant X’s to mark when a fainted Pokemon. Additionally, I will only comment when I feel that doing so is necessary, and I won’t color the text with obscenely bright colors, just so the whole format is clear and the story is easy to follow. I have changed both my and my opponent’s account names to our forum names.
With that said, let the battle begin!
Rules: Ladder Match, Sleep Clause, Freeze Clause, OHKO Clause, Evasion Clause, Species Clause, Strict Damage Clause, Soul Dew Clause
It's Super Effective! vs. Lorerer:
Lorerer sent out Azelf (lvl 100 Azelf).
It’s Super Effective! sent out Empoleon (lvl 100 Empoleon ?).
vs.
Empoleon vs. Azelf, huh? Right off the bat, I start to like this match-up, because in my opinion, sacrificing a Pokemon just to get up Stealth Rock is wasteful, and the only member of my team that suffers from SR is Salamence anyway, so I consider myself to have the advantage here. I predict Azelf doing one of two things—using Stealth Rock or Taunting, just like the typical Azelf lead. In either case, Surf is the best option, as I can negate its Focus Sash and then Aqua Jet for the kill.
I hope that it uses Taunt, but 5 Pokemon + SR is far worse than 6 Pokemon + no SR in the majority of cases, so I’m not too worried even if it doesn’t.
************
Azelf used Stealth Rock.
Pointed stones float in the air around the foe's team!
Empoleon used Surf.
Azelf lost 94% of its health.
vs.
Empoleon: 100%
Azelf: 6%
Looks like Lorerer didn’t waste a turn Taunting me. Oh, well. No harm done.
Now I have two choices—I can either try to finish it off with Aqua Jet or set up my own Stealth Rock. If my opponent is familiar with Empoleon leads, he knows about Aqua Jet and will likely switch out, which makes Stealth Rock the better choice (rendering his Azelf dead the next time it switches in). If he isn’t familiar with Empoleon leads, he will probably try to use Explosion—given his low health—not expecting the impending priority attack.
I bank on him not knowing about Empoleon’s access to a priority move and opt to use Aqua Jet. Even if he switches, I can just switch out myself, unless he brings in a Magnezone or something, and my Scizor can priority-kill his Azelf later on down the line. Plus, I do some damage to whatever he elects to bring in.
************
Lorerer switched in Salamence (lvl 100 Salamence ?).
Salamence's intimidate cut Empoleon's attack!
Empoleon used Aqua Jet.
It's not very effective...
A critical hit!
Salamence lost 10% of its health.
vs.
Empoleon: 100%
Salamence: 90%
Wow, that didn’t do much damage at all, even with the crit. I’m not really sure what to make of ‘Mence. I mean, I know it’s packing a super-effective move or else he wouldn’t have switched it in, but whether that move is Brick Break or Earthquake, I can’t be sure; therefore, his Salamence could be Mixmence, CBMence, or DDMence, and I have no clue as to which one it is. My Empoleon has Shuca Berry but I haven’t set up Stealth Rock yet, so I definitely don’t want to risk it against a powerful CB attack.
I decide to switch to Scizor and scare Salamence off with Bullet Punch. My Scizor isn’t CB, but Lorerer doesn’t know that, and most Scizor do indeed carry Choice Band, so it should be pretty easy to fool him into thinking I’m carrying a Band.
Also, my Scizor is very bulkily EV’ed, so even if it is a Mixmence, I think I’ll be able to survive a hit if it decides to stay in for another turn.
************
It’s Super Effective! switched in Scizor (lvl 100 Scizor ?).
Pointed stones dug into Scizor.
Scizor lost 12% of its health.
Salamence used Earthquake.
Scizor lost 45% of its health.
Salamence lost 10% of its health.
vs.
Scizor: 43%
Salamence: 80%
Ouch. That did a lot more than I was expecting. I guess I underestimated the power of Mence. Well, it’s lost another 10% health, so I know now that it’s carrying a Life Orb. And it used Earthquake, which means it’s either Mixmence or DDMence. Either way, I’m in trouble, because another Earthquake from that beast will finish off my Scizor.
At this point, I’m really hoping that he thinks my Scizor is Banded and fears the huge damage that Bullet Punch does to Salamence—Stealth Rock still isn’t up, so he probably will feel secure switching Mence out and bringing it back in later. Still, I can’t risk my Scizor getting killed so early in the battle; it might prove useful against that same Mence later on, revenge-killing it with a Bullet Punch or something. I decide that I’m going to switch regardless of what he chooses to do. He knows I have at least one Steel on my team, so he probably isn’t going to use Draco Meteor. He’ll either switch or Earthquake again, so I decide to bring in my own Salamence . . .
************
Lorerer switched in Azelf (lvl 100 Azelf).
It’s Super Effective! switched in Salamence (lvl 100 Salamence ?).
Salamence's intimidate cut Azelf's attack!
Pointed stones dug into Salamence.
Salamence lost 25% of its health.
vs.
Salamence: 75%
Azelf: 6% (-1 Attack)
I guess he planned on using his Azelf as Bullet Punch or U-turn fodder. It was a very intelligent move on his part so that I wouldn't get the upper hand using U-turn, and it put a serious dent in my strategy, too—my Salamence took 25% damage from Stealth Rock and now will be either forced to switch out or die to the obviously impending Explosion. Even with that -1 Attack, Explosion hurts. I decide that I really only have one viable choice here . . .
************
It’s Super Effective! switched in Rotom-h (lvl 100 Rotom-h).
Pointed stones dug into Rotom-h.
Rotom-h lost 12% of its health.
Azelf used Explosion.
It doesn't affect Rotom-h...
Lorerer's Azelf fainted.
Rotom-h's leftovers restored its health a little!
Rotom-h restored 6% of its health.
vs.
Rotom-h: 93%
Azelf: FAINTED
Score: 6-5
Hurray! It worked! I luckily save myself from Azelf’s Explosive fury. In retrospect, I’m very glad that I put Rotom-H on the team in lieu of Latias, as I had been thinking about using said popular Dragon instead. Moments like these are what make that Normal immunity very, very appealing.
************
Lorerer switched in Machamp (lvl 100 Machamp ?).
vs.
Rotom-h: 93%
Machamp: 100%
Machamp! Against Rotom-H? The only reasonable assumption here is that his Machamp carries Payback. I’m confident that my Rotom-H can out-speed his Machamp, so I decide to stay in and take the hit with Reflect. Maybe then I scare him off with the threat of an Overheat and get the momentum of the battle on my side again.
************
Rotom-h used Reflect.
A barrier was formed!
Machamp used Substitute.
Machamp lost 25% of its health.
Machamp made a substitute!
Rotom-h's leftovers restored its health a little!
Rotom-h restored 6% of its health.
Machamp's leftovers restored its health a little!
Machamp restored 6% of its health.
vs.
Rotom-h: 99% (Reflect)
Machamp: 81% (Substitute)
Uh oh. A sub? And Leftovers. Not really knowing what to expect, because I had never seen a Machamp using Sub before except when leading. I decide to play it safe and just go for Thunderbolt, since Payback is assuredly coming my way. I can probably switch in Scizor to take the Dark attack and then Roost off the damage, but I want to get a chance to bring back Empoleon and set up my Stealth Rock, so that his Salamence won’t be so menacing when it comes back back in.
************
Rotom-h used Thunderbolt.
A critical hit!
The substitute took damage for Machamp!
Machamp's substitute faded!
Machamp used Payback.
It's super effective!
Rotom-h lost 30% of its health.
Rotom-h's leftovers restored its health a little!
Rotom-h restored 6% of its health.
Machamp's leftovers restored its health a little!
Machamp restored 6% of its health.
vs.
Rotom-h: 75% (Reflect)
Machamp: 87%
O.K., now that his Sub is gone, I figure he’ll switch, expecting an Overheat. Maybe he’ll bring Salamence back in? I think about switching now, but I still want to see what tricks his Machamp might have remaining, especially with its Sub gone.
************
Lorerer switched in Flygon (lvl 100 Flygon ?).
Rotom-h used Overheat.
It's not very effective...
Flygon lost 22% of its health.
Rotom-h's special attack was harshly lowered.
Rotom-h's leftovers restored its health a little!
Rotom-h restored 6% of its health.
vs.
Rotom-h: 81% (Reflect)
Flygon: 78%
A Flygon! Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting a second Dragon. I assume that his Flygon is holding a Choice item, but I don’t know whether it’s CB or CS. Either way, with my Rotom-h now having halved Special Attack and Thunderbolt not affecting Flygon, I’m pretty sure that he’s expecting me to switch out and is going to use U-turn for a risk-free maneuver. I recount what I’ve already seen of his team—Machamp, Azelf, Salamence, Flygon. Azelf is gone, but Machamp and Salamence are both equally likely choices, especially since I hadn’t gotten Stealth Rock up yet. And then there are two as of yet unknown Pokemon waiting in the wings.
I decide to continue to play a fairly safe game, and, instead of going through all the possibilities, I bring in my Choice Scarf Heatran, because the threat of a Dragon attack at least will keep Salamence off the field for now (and it has a 4x-resist to U-turn, so behind a Reflect that U-turn isn’t going to do much damage, Choice Banded or not). Machamp I can find a way to deal with; Salamence is going to be very annoying no matter what, and I’ll likely have to sacrifice a Pokemon to it without Stealth Rock up.
************
It’s Super Effective! switched in Heatran (lvl 100 Heatran ?).
Pointed stones dug into Heatran.
Heatran lost 12% of its health.
Flygon used U-turn.
It's not very effective...
Heatran lost 2% of its health.
Lorerer switched in Salamence (lvl 100 Salamence ?).
Salamence's intimidate cut Heatran's attack!
vs.
Heatran: 85% (Reflect)
Salamence: 80%
That U-turn told me absolutely nothing. If that were a Scarf attack, then a Band attack would only have done 1% more damage, so the difference is small enough that I can’t really tell what his Flygon is. I’m annoyed by this, but I’m still relieved that I didn’t take much damage.
Anyway, Salamence? Wha? Well, I hadn’t been expecting that he’d send in a Salamence in response to my Heatran. Maybe he didn’t think it was Scarfed? Scratching my head, I click the button for Dragon Pulse, hoping that I can take down his monster Mence before it can seriously hurt my team. Even if Heatran fell to Earthquake (which I was assuming he would, despite Reflect), I can simply bring in Scizor for the kill with Bullet Punch—since Life Orb recoil will take its toll on Salamence—and I’ll still be at an advantage.
************
Lorerer switched in HisHeatran (lvl 100 Heatran ?).
MyHeatran used Dragon Pulse.
It's not very effective...
HisHeatran lost 15% of its health.
MyHeatran's reflect wore off!
vs.
MyHeatran: 85%
HisHeatran: 85%
Wow, double Heatran. How often does that happen? Yes, very often. At least this is a familiar situation, unlike with that Substitute Machamp earlier! Well, since Scarftran’s decline in popularity, two new non-lead variants of Heatran have arisen: ToxicSub Heatran and LO Heatran. ToxicSub Heatran usually carries Leftovers, so that removes that. I decide that I’m either faced with LO Heatran or Scarftran—if it’s Scarftran, then I can get out of a potential Earth Power by switching in Salamence. If it’s LO Heatran, Salamence is still be the best option thanks to Roost, with which it can comfortably out-stall his Heatran because of Life Orb’s recoil.
For some reason I refuse to even entertain the possibility of Specstran, and I move on to Salamence.
************
It’s Super Effective! switched in Salamence (lvl 100 Salamence ?).
Salamence's intimidate cut Heatran's attack!
Pointed stones dug into Salamence.
Salamence lost 25% of its health.
Heatran used Substitute.
Heatran lost 25% of its health.
Heatran made a substitute!
vs.
Salamence: 50%
Heatran: 60% (Sub)
Ouch, Stealth Rock really hurts. Good thing I’m packing Roost!
Immediately I cringe when I notice that Sub. It’s going to Toxic me! That’s my thought.
. . . But then again, why would a Toxic Sub Heatran be carrying Life Orb? Or maybe it has Expert Belt in order to fool Choice Scarf/Life Orb? Drat! I’ve fallen into its trap!
Although I can certainly bring in Empoleon to take the Toxic, survive an Earth Power (thanks to its Shuca Berry), and then kill Heatran back with a combination of Surf and Aqua Jet, I really don’t want to switch Salamence out again, because next time it comes back in, it’ll only have 25% health, which means that a surprise Scizor could easily wipe it out.
Therefore, I decide to Roost and get back up to full health while scouting Heatran’s next attack, which I now fear is going to be Toxic.
************
Salamence used Roost.
Salamence restored 50% of its health.
Heatran used Fire Blast.
It's not very effective...
Salamence lost 56% of its health.
Heatran lost 10% of its health.
vs.
Salamence: 44%
Heatran: 50% (Sub)
Yes! It IS Life Orb Heatran! And it doesn’t carry Toxic, either! Although this is an odd variant and I applaud my opponent for making it so tricky to decipher, I’m also very confident now that I can out-stall his Heatran using Roost. Fire Blast only has 8 PP, while Roost has 16, and there’s also that nice Life Orb recoil to factor in, so if he doesn’t switch, I’ll have this in the bag. If he does switch, I could at least switch out a full-health Salamence, and I won’t have to worry about him switching in his own Mence again because he doesn’t know yet whether or not mine out-speeds his.
************
Salamence used Roost.
Salamence restored 50% of its health.
Heatran used Fire Blast.
It's not very effective...
Salamence lost 59% of its health.
Heatran lost 10% of its health.
vs.
Salamence: 35%
Heatran: 40% (Sub)
He’s doing more damage with Fire Blast than I’m recovering off with Roost, but Life Orb is taking an even greater toll on him, so I figure I’ll win this. I’m also banking on that 15% miss chance that Fire Blast has—the more Fire Blasts he used, the more likely it is that I’ll secure a miss and get back to full health for a turn. This in particular is the reason I choose not to try a dangerous Brick Break on my enemy. Of course, the opposite could easily happen, and I could get hit with a critical . . .
************
Salamence used Roost.
Salamence restored 50% of its health.
Heatran used Fire Blast.
It's not very effective...
Salamence lost 59% of its health.
Heatran lost 10% of its health.
vs.
Salamence: 26%
Heatran: 30% (Sub)
************
Salamence used Roost.
Salamence restored 50% of its health.
Heatran used Fire Blast.
It's not very effective...
Salamence lost 56% of its health.
Heatran lost 10% of its health.
vs.
Salamence: 21%
Heatran: 20% (Sub)
************
Salamence used Roost.
Salamence restored 50% of its health.
Heatran used Fire Blast.
It's not very effective...
Salamence lost 54% of its health.
Heatran lost 10% of its health.
vs.
Salamence: 17%
Heatran: 10% (Sub)
************
Salamence used Roost.
Salamence restored 50% of its health.
Heatran used Fire Blast.
Heatran's attack missed!
vs.
Salamence: 67%
Heatran: 10% (Sub)
Yes! Finally! I’d really have liked that miss to have occurred earlier, but I’m glad it happened at all. Now I have a 67%-health Salamence! I decide to allow his Heatran to finish itself off (obviously he doesn’t have much use for it anymore, what with Fire Blast retaining only 2-3 PP and it only having 10% health and taking Life Orb recoil to boot).
************
Salamence used Roost.
Salamence restored 35% of its health.
Heatran used Fire Blast.
It's not very effective...
Salamence lost 56% of its health.
Salamence was burned!
Heatran lost 10% of its health.
Salamence was hurt by its burn!
Salamence lost 12% of its health.
vs.
Salamence: 32%
Heatran: 1% (Sub)
Wow, getting burned! I hadn’t even considered that possibility. Drat, that puts a heavy dent into my Mixmence. If I attack now, I’ll lose health from Life Orb recoil and possibly another Fire Blast (I haven’t been keeping track of its PP, unfortunately, only estimating it) and likely die. So I decide to keep on using Roost, in order to stall out the remainder of his Fire Blast PP before attacking.
************
Salamence used Roost.
Salamence restored 50% of its health.
Heatran used Substitute.
But it failed!
Salamence was hurt by its burn!
Salamence lost 12% of its health.
vs.
Salamence: 70%
Heatran: 1% (Sub)
Huh? Substitute? I assume that Fire Blast has run out of PP and cheer in triumph. Now is the perfect time to Brick Break! I’ll end the exchange somewhat low on health thanks to Life Orb recoil and burn damage, so my Salamence will be highly susceptible to a Scizor revenge-kill after this is over, but at the moment I just feel happy to have gotten rid of his Heatran while retaining my own.
************
Salamence used Brick Break.
It's super effective!
The substitute took damage for Heatran!
Heatran's substitute faded!
Heatran used Substitute.
But it failed!
Salamence was hurt by its burn!
Salamence lost 12% of its health.
vs.
Salamence: 48%
Heatran: 1%
************
Salamence used Brick Break.
It's super effective!
Heatran lost 1% of its health.
Lorerer’s Heatran fainted
Salamence lost 10% of its health.
Salamence was hurt by its burn!
Salamence lost 12% of its health.
vs.
Salamence: 26%
Heatran: FAINTED
Score: 6-4
Alright! I’m up by 2! I can’t rejoice just yet, though. I haven’t gotten Stealth Rock up and I still don’t know whether his Flygon is Scarfed or Banded, and I also haven’t chipped away at his Salamence’s health at all. I have to tread carefully or else I can very easily lose this battle. With tentative heart beats, I await his next move . . .
************
Lorerer switched in Metagross (lvl 100 Metagross).
vs.
Salamence: 26%
Metagross: 100%
Ooooh, Bullet Punch revenge-kill. So that’s his intention! Well, it’s no Scizor, but Metagross has even more Attack than Scizor (though without Technician it still does less damage using Bullet Punch), so it certainly isn’t that comforting.
I can technically switch out my Salamence and bring it back in at 1% (thanks to good ole Stealth Rock being up) in order to eat an Explosion or something later, but I doubt that his Metagross is Choice Banded and just decide to give it one last go and hope Bullet Punch doesn’t KO me.
************
Metagross used Bullet Punch.
Salamence lost 24% of its health.
Salamence used Fire Blast.
It's super effective!
Metagross lost 82% of its health.
Salamence lost 10% of its health.
Salamence was hurt by its burn!
Salamence lost 0% of its health.
It’s Super Effective!'s Salamence fainted.
vs.
Salamence: FAINTED
Metagross: 18%
Score: 5-4
So his Metagross isn’t Choice Banded. Good. I've taken out a considerable portion of its HP. I could certainly have used Roost, but since Salamence was burned I didn’t see much point in doing that—if I did get the chance to take an action due to Bullet Punch, and I used Roost, I might be facing an Ice Punch next turn, or whatever else, so the result would be the same overall. Best to just hope to secure one last blow with Fire Blast! I’m very glad that that worked out.
************
It’s Super Effective! switched in Empoleon (lvl 100 Empoleon ?).
Pointed stones dug into Empoleon.
Empoleon lost 6% of its health.
vs.
Empoleon: 94%
Metagross: 18%
Yes, Empoleon. I’m absolutely positive that it’ll try to Earthquake me, as he won’t know about my Shuca Berry, so I can survive that blow, get up my precious Stealth Rock, and Surf him for the kill. I’m pretty sure I’m faster thanks to my considerable Speed investment, so there’s no worry as to that.
************
Empoleon used Stealth Rock.
Pointed stones float in the air around the foe's team!
Metagross used Earthquake.
It's super effective!
Empoleon lost 48% of its health.
The Shuca Berry weakened Earthquake's power!
vs.
Empoleon: 46%
Metagross: 18%
Hurray! I finally have Stealth Rock up! It’s pretty late in the battle, but at least it’s gonna take a hefty toll on his Salamence. Now all that remains is to Surf his Metagross and finish it off.
************
Empoleon used Surf.
A critical hit!
Metagross lost 18% of its health.
Lorerer’s Metagross fainted.
vs.
Empoleon: 46%
Metagross: FAINTED
Score: 5-3
Unnecessary crits are unnecessary. Oh, well.
My opponent is down, but I have no reason to consider myself victorious. Both my Empoleon and my Scizor are low on health, and my prized Salamence is gone, while his remains, so I have to be extremely cautious here.
************
Lorerer switched in Salamence (lvl 100 Salamence ?).
Salamence's intimidate cut Empoleon's attack!
Pointed stones dug into Salamence.
Salamence lost 25% of its health.
vs.
Empoleon: 46%
Salamence: 55%
To be honest, I had expected this. Flygon is holding a Choice item, I’m certain, so Salamence is the natural choice to pose an immediate threat to my team while also removing my Empoleon. I decide to keep Empoleon in and just get a light hit in before it faints. It’s already gotten Stealth Rock up and done a fair bit of damage to his team, so there’s no reason to switch out and preserve it for later.
************
Empoleon used Aqua Jet.
It's not very effective...
Salamence lost 5% of its health.
Salamence used Earthquake.
It's super effective!
Empoleon lost 46% of its health.
It’s Super Effective!'s Empoleon fainted.
Salamence lost 10% of its health.
vs.
Empoleon: FAINTED
Salamence: 40%
Score: 4-3
O.K., so at least his Salamence is down to 40%; that’s neat. I’m sure my Scarftran can revenge-kill it now—that Heatran can act before Salamence has a chance to Roost—so I decide to send in Heatran. If he switches, he’ll have a 15%-health Salamence next time he brings it in due to Stealth Rock, and I’m sure that I can take it on in that condition.
************
It’s Super Effective! switched in Heatran (lvl 100 Heatran ?).
Pointed stones dug into Heatran.
Heatran lost 12% of its health.
Heatran used Dragon Pulse.
It's super effective!
Salamence lost 40% of its health.
Lorerer’s Salamence fainted.
vs.
Heatran: 73%
Salamence: FAINTED
Score: 4-2
Finally, the beast is dead! And I’m up two whole Pokemon! Woo hoo!
************
Lorerer switched in Flygon (lvl 100 Flygon ?).
Pointed stones dug into Flygon.
Flygon lost 6% of its health.
vs.
Heatran: 73%
Flygon: 72%
O.K., this next move is very risky for me, possibly game-breaking. If Flygon is holding a Choice Scarf, the best thing for me to do is to bring in Breloom, absorb an Earthquake, and then set up with the normal Substitute-Spore-Focus Punch combination to win the match.
However, if Flygon is instead holding a Choice Band, it might have enough power behind it to kill my Breloom with two subsequent Earthquakes (Breloom is incredibly frail and Choice Band Flygon has a lot of attack power behind it), or it might even choose to use Outrage, predicting a switch, and I really don’t want to risk losing my Breloom unnecessarily.
In the end, I opt to save Breloom from a potentially early demise, as it will come in handy later, I figure (against Machamp), and I risk the Dragon Pulse.
************
Flygon used Earthquake.
It's super effective!
Heatran lost 73% of its health.
It’s Super Effective!'s Heatran fainted.
vs.
Heatran: FAINTED
Flygon: 72%
Score: 3-2
Shoot. Turned out that my guess had failed. Had it been a stupid move? Possibly, but I’m still very glad that I got to save Breloom for a rainy day. Plus, now I know that his Flygon wields a Choice Scarf.
The score is almost even again, and I’m definitely not at any sort of even remote advantage. I have no idea what would happen next; I decide to send in Breloom.
************
It’s Super Effective!: thought it was CB, not CS
It’s Super Effective! switched in Breloom (lvl 100 Breloom ?).
Pointed stones dug into Breloom.
Breloom lost 6% of its health.
vs.
Breloom: 94%
Flygon: 72%
All is not yet lost, I think. I predict a switch, because Choice Scarfed Earthquake doesn’t do much to Breloom, so I begin with Substitute.
************
Lorerer switched in Machamp (lvl 100 Machamp ?).
Pointed stones dug into Machamp.
Machamp lost 6% of its health.
Breloom used Substitute.
Breloom lost 25% of its health.
Breloom made a substitute!
Breloom was badly poisoned!
Machamp's leftovers restored its health a little!
Machamp restored 6% of its health.
vs.
Breloom: 69% (Substitute)
Machamp: 87%
By this time I’m quite sure that this isn’t a Restalking Machamp—it’s already shown me the moves Substitute and Payback, and I just can’t see Rest and Sleep Talk fitting on that set; who uses Machamp without Dynamic Punch, after all? So I can conceivably use Spore here, since I’m undoubtedly faster.
But there’s something of a doubt in me—I’ve never seen a Substitute-using Machamp used before except as a lead, so I really don’t know what to make of it, ultimately. Rest + Sleep Talk would allow it to Sub up and then heal the health it lost from using Substitute, so it was a vague but distinct possibility. Then again, why would he run Payback over Dynamic Punch? Maybe this was his specific Ghost counter? I had no clue. He had definitely used an odd Heatran set, however, so it was certainly a possibility . . .
I opted to use Focus Punch.
************
Breloom is tightening its focus!
Machamp used Substitute.
Machamp lost 25% of its health.
Machamp made a substitute!
Breloom used Focus Punch.
The substitute took damage for Machamp!
Machamp's substitute faded!
Breloom's Poison Heal restored health!
Breloom restored 13% of its health.
Machamp's leftovers restored its health a little!
Machamp restored 6% of its health.
vs.
Breloom: 82% (Substitute)
Machamp: 69%
O.K., so he chooses to use Substitute. I’m getting more and more convinced that he might really be using an unorthodox Rest/Sleep Talk/Substitute/Payback set, so I try the Focus Punch again. But then . . .
************
Breloom is tightening its focus!
Machamp used Dynamicpunch.
The substitute took damage for Breloom!
Breloom's substitute faded!
Breloom used Focus Punch.
Machamp lost 69% of its health.
Lorerer's Machamp fainted.
Breloom's Poison Heal restored health!
Breloom restored 13% of its health.
vs.
Breloom: 95%
Machamp: FAINTED
Score: 2-1
I’m ready to face-desk at this point. I had totally overanalyzed the possibilities! I should have just used Spore, as my gut reaction instructed me to do. Machamp had had Dynamic Punch after all! Grr . . .
************
Lorerer switched in Flygon (lvl 100 Flygon ?).
Pointed stones dug into Flygon.
Flygon lost 6% of its health.
vs.
Breloom: 95%
Flygon: 65%
I feel really stupid at this point, and now I’m in trouble—Flygon isn’t locked into Earthquake, so it can now Outrage. Plus, I have no more Heatran to revenge-kill it after it gets locked in to Outrage, so I’m in pretty deep trouble.
************
It’s Super Effective! switched in Rotom-h (lvl 100 Rotom-h.
Pointed stones dug into Rotom-h.
Rotom-h lost 12% of its health.
vs.
Rotom-h: 69%
Flygon: 65%
Deciding that in case Flygon’s eventual confusion let me nab an extra turn later on, Spore would be incredibly useful (winning me the match, essentially), I preserve Breloom and switch to Rotom-h.
************
Flygon used Outrage.
Flygon went on a rampage!
Rotom-h lost 40% of its health.
Rotom-h's leftovers restored its health a little!
Rotom-h restored 6% of its health.
vs.
Rotom-h: 35%
Flygon: 65%
************
Flygon used Outrage.
Rotom-h lost 36% of its health.
It’s Super Effective!'s Rotom-h fainted.
vs.
Rotom-h: FAINTED
Flygon: 65%
Score: 2-1
************
It’s Super Effective! switched in Scizor (lvl 100 Scizor ?).
Pointed stones dug into Scizor.
Scizor lost 12% of its health.
Lorerer: gg
vs.
Scizor: 30%
Flygon: 65%
My opponent, no doubt still thinking that my Scizor has a large Atk-EV investment, tells me “gg,” assuming that the battle is over in my favor. But I know better—my Scizor is very bulkily EV’ed, so the battle is definitely not over. I fully expect to lose. Even with Choice Scarf on Flygon instead of Choice Band, Outrage should do enough to kill Scizor and win the match for my opponent, whereas Bullet Punch will definitely not OHKO it at this point. I still have Breloom in the back, hopefully to get off a Spore during a free turn granted by confusion, but my hopes are now all but extinguished.
************
Scizor used Bullet Punch.
Flygon lost 27% of its health.
Flygon used Outrage.
It's not very effective...
Scizor lost 29% of its health.
Flygon's rampage ended.
Flygon became confused!
vs.
Scizor: 1%
Flygon: 38%
Wow. I just barely survive! I am very pleased that Scizor has survived, but my fragile plans haven’t been changed at all.
I desperately hope for a critical hit so that I won’t have to rely on my Breloom getting a lucky extra turn in order to win.
************
Scizor used Bullet Punch.
Flygon lost 30% of its health.
Flygon is confused!
Flygon used Outrage.
Flygon went on a rampage!
It's not very effective...
A critical hit!
Scizor lost 0% of its health.
It’s Super Effective!'s Scizor fainted.
vs.
Scizor: FAINTED
Flygon: 8%
Score: 1-1
Well, there was certainly a crit there. What did I say earlier about unnecessary crits? Oh yeah, that they’re unnecessary.
Now we’re dead even.
************
It’s Super Effective! switched in Breloom (lvl 100 Breloom ?).
Pointed stones dug into Breloom.
Breloom lost 6% of its health.
Lorerer: wow
It’s Super Effective!: gg
vs.
Breloom: 95%
Flygon: 8%
*Comment removed because apparently people didn't like it*
I tell my opponent gg as I prepare for the final outcome of the battle.
************
Flygon is confused!
It hurt itself in its confusion!
Flygon lost 9% of its health.
Lorerer’s Flygon fainted.
vs.
Breloom: 95%
Flygon: FAINTED
It’s Super Effective! wins!
The battle was really close, and though it was determined by sheer luck at the very end, both players played well, and I applaud my opponent for giving me such an exciting match. Cheers!
Note: Some of you may suggest to me that I should have allowed Breloom to die and had Rotom-h use Reflect in order to buy myself some added turns of confusion. I would like to point out that I would actually have ended up buying myself no extra time at all, thanks to my Scizor’s extremely low health upon entering the field of battle (even with Outrage doing half damage, a 2HKO would have occurred).
In case you wish to see my opponent’s team in full, here it is:
Now, normally I’m in the habit of creating teams that have a great deal of synergy and in which each of the individual members strive toward a specific goal (e.g. an Agility SubPetaya Empoleon sweep), but this time I decided to try something different, under a new Shoddy account. I wanted to see what the results would be if I just haphazardly threw my six favorite Pokemon together on the same team, with a few adjustments here and there as was necessary (having four Dragons or something, for example, wouldn’t work out too well).
Here is the team that I constructed:
This team does have a few nifty aspects to it, despite being randomly thrown together for the most part:
- The team features at least 2 resistances to every single type of attack
- 4/6 of its members resist Steel, so eating Bullet Punches is easier for my team (two of those four even 4x-resist Steel)
- 5/6 of the members resist the momentous U-turn
- 6/6 team members are immune to Toxic Spikes
- 3/6 team members are immune to Toxic
- 3/6 team members resist Dragon
Within an hour of testing it on a new account, however, I was proven wrong. My opponent, Lorerer, gave me one of the most exciting matches I’ve had in a long time, and this is the match that will follow below. I will post Lorerer’s team in its entirety at the end of the battle.
I will borrow a page from Legacy Raider’s book and use giant X’s to mark when a fainted Pokemon. Additionally, I will only comment when I feel that doing so is necessary, and I won’t color the text with obscenely bright colors, just so the whole format is clear and the story is easy to follow. I have changed both my and my opponent’s account names to our forum names.
With that said, let the battle begin!
Rules: Ladder Match, Sleep Clause, Freeze Clause, OHKO Clause, Evasion Clause, Species Clause, Strict Damage Clause, Soul Dew Clause
It's Super Effective! vs. Lorerer:
Lorerer sent out Azelf (lvl 100 Azelf).
It’s Super Effective! sent out Empoleon (lvl 100 Empoleon ?).
Empoleon vs. Azelf, huh? Right off the bat, I start to like this match-up, because in my opinion, sacrificing a Pokemon just to get up Stealth Rock is wasteful, and the only member of my team that suffers from SR is Salamence anyway, so I consider myself to have the advantage here. I predict Azelf doing one of two things—using Stealth Rock or Taunting, just like the typical Azelf lead. In either case, Surf is the best option, as I can negate its Focus Sash and then Aqua Jet for the kill.
I hope that it uses Taunt, but 5 Pokemon + SR is far worse than 6 Pokemon + no SR in the majority of cases, so I’m not too worried even if it doesn’t.
************
Azelf used Stealth Rock.
Pointed stones float in the air around the foe's team!
Empoleon used Surf.
Azelf lost 94% of its health.
Empoleon: 100%
Azelf: 6%
Looks like Lorerer didn’t waste a turn Taunting me. Oh, well. No harm done.
Now I have two choices—I can either try to finish it off with Aqua Jet or set up my own Stealth Rock. If my opponent is familiar with Empoleon leads, he knows about Aqua Jet and will likely switch out, which makes Stealth Rock the better choice (rendering his Azelf dead the next time it switches in). If he isn’t familiar with Empoleon leads, he will probably try to use Explosion—given his low health—not expecting the impending priority attack.
I bank on him not knowing about Empoleon’s access to a priority move and opt to use Aqua Jet. Even if he switches, I can just switch out myself, unless he brings in a Magnezone or something, and my Scizor can priority-kill his Azelf later on down the line. Plus, I do some damage to whatever he elects to bring in.
************
Lorerer switched in Salamence (lvl 100 Salamence ?).
Salamence's intimidate cut Empoleon's attack!
Empoleon used Aqua Jet.
It's not very effective...
A critical hit!
Salamence lost 10% of its health.
Empoleon: 100%
Salamence: 90%
Wow, that didn’t do much damage at all, even with the crit. I’m not really sure what to make of ‘Mence. I mean, I know it’s packing a super-effective move or else he wouldn’t have switched it in, but whether that move is Brick Break or Earthquake, I can’t be sure; therefore, his Salamence could be Mixmence, CBMence, or DDMence, and I have no clue as to which one it is. My Empoleon has Shuca Berry but I haven’t set up Stealth Rock yet, so I definitely don’t want to risk it against a powerful CB attack.
I decide to switch to Scizor and scare Salamence off with Bullet Punch. My Scizor isn’t CB, but Lorerer doesn’t know that, and most Scizor do indeed carry Choice Band, so it should be pretty easy to fool him into thinking I’m carrying a Band.
Also, my Scizor is very bulkily EV’ed, so even if it is a Mixmence, I think I’ll be able to survive a hit if it decides to stay in for another turn.
************
It’s Super Effective! switched in Scizor (lvl 100 Scizor ?).
Pointed stones dug into Scizor.
Scizor lost 12% of its health.
Salamence used Earthquake.
Scizor lost 45% of its health.
Salamence lost 10% of its health.
Scizor: 43%
Salamence: 80%
Ouch. That did a lot more than I was expecting. I guess I underestimated the power of Mence. Well, it’s lost another 10% health, so I know now that it’s carrying a Life Orb. And it used Earthquake, which means it’s either Mixmence or DDMence. Either way, I’m in trouble, because another Earthquake from that beast will finish off my Scizor.
At this point, I’m really hoping that he thinks my Scizor is Banded and fears the huge damage that Bullet Punch does to Salamence—Stealth Rock still isn’t up, so he probably will feel secure switching Mence out and bringing it back in later. Still, I can’t risk my Scizor getting killed so early in the battle; it might prove useful against that same Mence later on, revenge-killing it with a Bullet Punch or something. I decide that I’m going to switch regardless of what he chooses to do. He knows I have at least one Steel on my team, so he probably isn’t going to use Draco Meteor. He’ll either switch or Earthquake again, so I decide to bring in my own Salamence . . .
************
Lorerer switched in Azelf (lvl 100 Azelf).
It’s Super Effective! switched in Salamence (lvl 100 Salamence ?).
Salamence's intimidate cut Azelf's attack!
Pointed stones dug into Salamence.
Salamence lost 25% of its health.
Salamence: 75%
Azelf: 6% (-1 Attack)
I guess he planned on using his Azelf as Bullet Punch or U-turn fodder. It was a very intelligent move on his part so that I wouldn't get the upper hand using U-turn, and it put a serious dent in my strategy, too—my Salamence took 25% damage from Stealth Rock and now will be either forced to switch out or die to the obviously impending Explosion. Even with that -1 Attack, Explosion hurts. I decide that I really only have one viable choice here . . .
************
It’s Super Effective! switched in Rotom-h (lvl 100 Rotom-h).
Pointed stones dug into Rotom-h.
Rotom-h lost 12% of its health.
Azelf used Explosion.
It doesn't affect Rotom-h...
Lorerer's Azelf fainted.
Rotom-h's leftovers restored its health a little!
Rotom-h restored 6% of its health.
Rotom-h: 93%
Azelf: FAINTED
Score: 6-5
Hurray! It worked! I luckily save myself from Azelf’s Explosive fury. In retrospect, I’m very glad that I put Rotom-H on the team in lieu of Latias, as I had been thinking about using said popular Dragon instead. Moments like these are what make that Normal immunity very, very appealing.
************
Lorerer switched in Machamp (lvl 100 Machamp ?).
Rotom-h: 93%
Machamp: 100%
Machamp! Against Rotom-H? The only reasonable assumption here is that his Machamp carries Payback. I’m confident that my Rotom-H can out-speed his Machamp, so I decide to stay in and take the hit with Reflect. Maybe then I scare him off with the threat of an Overheat and get the momentum of the battle on my side again.
************
Rotom-h used Reflect.
A barrier was formed!
Machamp used Substitute.
Machamp lost 25% of its health.
Machamp made a substitute!
Rotom-h's leftovers restored its health a little!
Rotom-h restored 6% of its health.
Machamp's leftovers restored its health a little!
Machamp restored 6% of its health.
Rotom-h: 99% (Reflect)
Machamp: 81% (Substitute)
Uh oh. A sub? And Leftovers. Not really knowing what to expect, because I had never seen a Machamp using Sub before except when leading. I decide to play it safe and just go for Thunderbolt, since Payback is assuredly coming my way. I can probably switch in Scizor to take the Dark attack and then Roost off the damage, but I want to get a chance to bring back Empoleon and set up my Stealth Rock, so that his Salamence won’t be so menacing when it comes back back in.
************
Rotom-h used Thunderbolt.
A critical hit!
The substitute took damage for Machamp!
Machamp's substitute faded!
Machamp used Payback.
It's super effective!
Rotom-h lost 30% of its health.
Rotom-h's leftovers restored its health a little!
Rotom-h restored 6% of its health.
Machamp's leftovers restored its health a little!
Machamp restored 6% of its health.
Rotom-h: 75% (Reflect)
Machamp: 87%
O.K., now that his Sub is gone, I figure he’ll switch, expecting an Overheat. Maybe he’ll bring Salamence back in? I think about switching now, but I still want to see what tricks his Machamp might have remaining, especially with its Sub gone.
************
Lorerer switched in Flygon (lvl 100 Flygon ?).
Rotom-h used Overheat.
It's not very effective...
Flygon lost 22% of its health.
Rotom-h's special attack was harshly lowered.
Rotom-h's leftovers restored its health a little!
Rotom-h restored 6% of its health.
Rotom-h: 81% (Reflect)
Flygon: 78%
A Flygon! Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting a second Dragon. I assume that his Flygon is holding a Choice item, but I don’t know whether it’s CB or CS. Either way, with my Rotom-h now having halved Special Attack and Thunderbolt not affecting Flygon, I’m pretty sure that he’s expecting me to switch out and is going to use U-turn for a risk-free maneuver. I recount what I’ve already seen of his team—Machamp, Azelf, Salamence, Flygon. Azelf is gone, but Machamp and Salamence are both equally likely choices, especially since I hadn’t gotten Stealth Rock up yet. And then there are two as of yet unknown Pokemon waiting in the wings.
I decide to continue to play a fairly safe game, and, instead of going through all the possibilities, I bring in my Choice Scarf Heatran, because the threat of a Dragon attack at least will keep Salamence off the field for now (and it has a 4x-resist to U-turn, so behind a Reflect that U-turn isn’t going to do much damage, Choice Banded or not). Machamp I can find a way to deal with; Salamence is going to be very annoying no matter what, and I’ll likely have to sacrifice a Pokemon to it without Stealth Rock up.
************
It’s Super Effective! switched in Heatran (lvl 100 Heatran ?).
Pointed stones dug into Heatran.
Heatran lost 12% of its health.
Flygon used U-turn.
It's not very effective...
Heatran lost 2% of its health.
Lorerer switched in Salamence (lvl 100 Salamence ?).
Salamence's intimidate cut Heatran's attack!
Heatran: 85% (Reflect)
Salamence: 80%
That U-turn told me absolutely nothing. If that were a Scarf attack, then a Band attack would only have done 1% more damage, so the difference is small enough that I can’t really tell what his Flygon is. I’m annoyed by this, but I’m still relieved that I didn’t take much damage.
Anyway, Salamence? Wha? Well, I hadn’t been expecting that he’d send in a Salamence in response to my Heatran. Maybe he didn’t think it was Scarfed? Scratching my head, I click the button for Dragon Pulse, hoping that I can take down his monster Mence before it can seriously hurt my team. Even if Heatran fell to Earthquake (which I was assuming he would, despite Reflect), I can simply bring in Scizor for the kill with Bullet Punch—since Life Orb recoil will take its toll on Salamence—and I’ll still be at an advantage.
************
Lorerer switched in HisHeatran (lvl 100 Heatran ?).
MyHeatran used Dragon Pulse.
It's not very effective...
HisHeatran lost 15% of its health.
MyHeatran's reflect wore off!
MyHeatran: 85%
HisHeatran: 85%
Wow, double Heatran. How often does that happen? Yes, very often. At least this is a familiar situation, unlike with that Substitute Machamp earlier! Well, since Scarftran’s decline in popularity, two new non-lead variants of Heatran have arisen: ToxicSub Heatran and LO Heatran. ToxicSub Heatran usually carries Leftovers, so that removes that. I decide that I’m either faced with LO Heatran or Scarftran—if it’s Scarftran, then I can get out of a potential Earth Power by switching in Salamence. If it’s LO Heatran, Salamence is still be the best option thanks to Roost, with which it can comfortably out-stall his Heatran because of Life Orb’s recoil.
For some reason I refuse to even entertain the possibility of Specstran, and I move on to Salamence.
************
It’s Super Effective! switched in Salamence (lvl 100 Salamence ?).
Salamence's intimidate cut Heatran's attack!
Pointed stones dug into Salamence.
Salamence lost 25% of its health.
Heatran used Substitute.
Heatran lost 25% of its health.
Heatran made a substitute!
Salamence: 50%
Heatran: 60% (Sub)
Ouch, Stealth Rock really hurts. Good thing I’m packing Roost!
Immediately I cringe when I notice that Sub. It’s going to Toxic me! That’s my thought.
. . . But then again, why would a Toxic Sub Heatran be carrying Life Orb? Or maybe it has Expert Belt in order to fool Choice Scarf/Life Orb? Drat! I’ve fallen into its trap!
Although I can certainly bring in Empoleon to take the Toxic, survive an Earth Power (thanks to its Shuca Berry), and then kill Heatran back with a combination of Surf and Aqua Jet, I really don’t want to switch Salamence out again, because next time it comes back in, it’ll only have 25% health, which means that a surprise Scizor could easily wipe it out.
Therefore, I decide to Roost and get back up to full health while scouting Heatran’s next attack, which I now fear is going to be Toxic.
************
Salamence used Roost.
Salamence restored 50% of its health.
Heatran used Fire Blast.
It's not very effective...
Salamence lost 56% of its health.
Heatran lost 10% of its health.
Salamence: 44%
Heatran: 50% (Sub)
Yes! It IS Life Orb Heatran! And it doesn’t carry Toxic, either! Although this is an odd variant and I applaud my opponent for making it so tricky to decipher, I’m also very confident now that I can out-stall his Heatran using Roost. Fire Blast only has 8 PP, while Roost has 16, and there’s also that nice Life Orb recoil to factor in, so if he doesn’t switch, I’ll have this in the bag. If he does switch, I could at least switch out a full-health Salamence, and I won’t have to worry about him switching in his own Mence again because he doesn’t know yet whether or not mine out-speeds his.
************
Salamence used Roost.
Salamence restored 50% of its health.
Heatran used Fire Blast.
It's not very effective...
Salamence lost 59% of its health.
Heatran lost 10% of its health.
Salamence: 35%
Heatran: 40% (Sub)
He’s doing more damage with Fire Blast than I’m recovering off with Roost, but Life Orb is taking an even greater toll on him, so I figure I’ll win this. I’m also banking on that 15% miss chance that Fire Blast has—the more Fire Blasts he used, the more likely it is that I’ll secure a miss and get back to full health for a turn. This in particular is the reason I choose not to try a dangerous Brick Break on my enemy. Of course, the opposite could easily happen, and I could get hit with a critical . . .
************
Salamence used Roost.
Salamence restored 50% of its health.
Heatran used Fire Blast.
It's not very effective...
Salamence lost 59% of its health.
Heatran lost 10% of its health.
Salamence: 26%
Heatran: 30% (Sub)
************
Salamence used Roost.
Salamence restored 50% of its health.
Heatran used Fire Blast.
It's not very effective...
Salamence lost 56% of its health.
Heatran lost 10% of its health.
Salamence: 21%
Heatran: 20% (Sub)
************
Salamence used Roost.
Salamence restored 50% of its health.
Heatran used Fire Blast.
It's not very effective...
Salamence lost 54% of its health.
Heatran lost 10% of its health.
Salamence: 17%
Heatran: 10% (Sub)
************
Salamence used Roost.
Salamence restored 50% of its health.
Heatran used Fire Blast.
Heatran's attack missed!
Salamence: 67%
Heatran: 10% (Sub)
Yes! Finally! I’d really have liked that miss to have occurred earlier, but I’m glad it happened at all. Now I have a 67%-health Salamence! I decide to allow his Heatran to finish itself off (obviously he doesn’t have much use for it anymore, what with Fire Blast retaining only 2-3 PP and it only having 10% health and taking Life Orb recoil to boot).
************
Salamence used Roost.
Salamence restored 35% of its health.
Heatran used Fire Blast.
It's not very effective...
Salamence lost 56% of its health.
Salamence was burned!
Heatran lost 10% of its health.
Salamence was hurt by its burn!
Salamence lost 12% of its health.
Salamence: 32%
Heatran: 1% (Sub)
Wow, getting burned! I hadn’t even considered that possibility. Drat, that puts a heavy dent into my Mixmence. If I attack now, I’ll lose health from Life Orb recoil and possibly another Fire Blast (I haven’t been keeping track of its PP, unfortunately, only estimating it) and likely die. So I decide to keep on using Roost, in order to stall out the remainder of his Fire Blast PP before attacking.
************
Salamence used Roost.
Salamence restored 50% of its health.
Heatran used Substitute.
But it failed!
Salamence was hurt by its burn!
Salamence lost 12% of its health.
Salamence: 70%
Heatran: 1% (Sub)
Huh? Substitute? I assume that Fire Blast has run out of PP and cheer in triumph. Now is the perfect time to Brick Break! I’ll end the exchange somewhat low on health thanks to Life Orb recoil and burn damage, so my Salamence will be highly susceptible to a Scizor revenge-kill after this is over, but at the moment I just feel happy to have gotten rid of his Heatran while retaining my own.
************
Salamence used Brick Break.
It's super effective!
The substitute took damage for Heatran!
Heatran's substitute faded!
Heatran used Substitute.
But it failed!
Salamence was hurt by its burn!
Salamence lost 12% of its health.
Salamence: 48%
Heatran: 1%
************
Salamence used Brick Break.
It's super effective!
Heatran lost 1% of its health.
Lorerer’s Heatran fainted
Salamence lost 10% of its health.
Salamence was hurt by its burn!
Salamence lost 12% of its health.
Salamence: 26%
Heatran: FAINTED
Score: 6-4
Alright! I’m up by 2! I can’t rejoice just yet, though. I haven’t gotten Stealth Rock up and I still don’t know whether his Flygon is Scarfed or Banded, and I also haven’t chipped away at his Salamence’s health at all. I have to tread carefully or else I can very easily lose this battle. With tentative heart beats, I await his next move . . .
************
Lorerer switched in Metagross (lvl 100 Metagross).
Salamence: 26%
Metagross: 100%
Ooooh, Bullet Punch revenge-kill. So that’s his intention! Well, it’s no Scizor, but Metagross has even more Attack than Scizor (though without Technician it still does less damage using Bullet Punch), so it certainly isn’t that comforting.
I can technically switch out my Salamence and bring it back in at 1% (thanks to good ole Stealth Rock being up) in order to eat an Explosion or something later, but I doubt that his Metagross is Choice Banded and just decide to give it one last go and hope Bullet Punch doesn’t KO me.
************
Metagross used Bullet Punch.
Salamence lost 24% of its health.
Salamence used Fire Blast.
It's super effective!
Metagross lost 82% of its health.
Salamence lost 10% of its health.
Salamence was hurt by its burn!
Salamence lost 0% of its health.
It’s Super Effective!'s Salamence fainted.
Salamence: FAINTED
Metagross: 18%
Score: 5-4
So his Metagross isn’t Choice Banded. Good. I've taken out a considerable portion of its HP. I could certainly have used Roost, but since Salamence was burned I didn’t see much point in doing that—if I did get the chance to take an action due to Bullet Punch, and I used Roost, I might be facing an Ice Punch next turn, or whatever else, so the result would be the same overall. Best to just hope to secure one last blow with Fire Blast! I’m very glad that that worked out.
************
It’s Super Effective! switched in Empoleon (lvl 100 Empoleon ?).
Pointed stones dug into Empoleon.
Empoleon lost 6% of its health.
Empoleon: 94%
Metagross: 18%
Yes, Empoleon. I’m absolutely positive that it’ll try to Earthquake me, as he won’t know about my Shuca Berry, so I can survive that blow, get up my precious Stealth Rock, and Surf him for the kill. I’m pretty sure I’m faster thanks to my considerable Speed investment, so there’s no worry as to that.
************
Empoleon used Stealth Rock.
Pointed stones float in the air around the foe's team!
Metagross used Earthquake.
It's super effective!
Empoleon lost 48% of its health.
The Shuca Berry weakened Earthquake's power!
Empoleon: 46%
Metagross: 18%
Hurray! I finally have Stealth Rock up! It’s pretty late in the battle, but at least it’s gonna take a hefty toll on his Salamence. Now all that remains is to Surf his Metagross and finish it off.
************
Empoleon used Surf.
A critical hit!
Metagross lost 18% of its health.
Lorerer’s Metagross fainted.
Empoleon: 46%
Metagross: FAINTED
Score: 5-3
Unnecessary crits are unnecessary. Oh, well.
My opponent is down, but I have no reason to consider myself victorious. Both my Empoleon and my Scizor are low on health, and my prized Salamence is gone, while his remains, so I have to be extremely cautious here.
************
Lorerer switched in Salamence (lvl 100 Salamence ?).
Salamence's intimidate cut Empoleon's attack!
Pointed stones dug into Salamence.
Salamence lost 25% of its health.
Empoleon: 46%
Salamence: 55%
To be honest, I had expected this. Flygon is holding a Choice item, I’m certain, so Salamence is the natural choice to pose an immediate threat to my team while also removing my Empoleon. I decide to keep Empoleon in and just get a light hit in before it faints. It’s already gotten Stealth Rock up and done a fair bit of damage to his team, so there’s no reason to switch out and preserve it for later.
************
Empoleon used Aqua Jet.
It's not very effective...
Salamence lost 5% of its health.
Salamence used Earthquake.
It's super effective!
Empoleon lost 46% of its health.
It’s Super Effective!'s Empoleon fainted.
Salamence lost 10% of its health.
Empoleon: FAINTED
Salamence: 40%
Score: 4-3
O.K., so at least his Salamence is down to 40%; that’s neat. I’m sure my Scarftran can revenge-kill it now—that Heatran can act before Salamence has a chance to Roost—so I decide to send in Heatran. If he switches, he’ll have a 15%-health Salamence next time he brings it in due to Stealth Rock, and I’m sure that I can take it on in that condition.
************
It’s Super Effective! switched in Heatran (lvl 100 Heatran ?).
Pointed stones dug into Heatran.
Heatran lost 12% of its health.
Heatran used Dragon Pulse.
It's super effective!
Salamence lost 40% of its health.
Lorerer’s Salamence fainted.
Heatran: 73%
Salamence: FAINTED
Score: 4-2
Finally, the beast is dead! And I’m up two whole Pokemon! Woo hoo!
************
Lorerer switched in Flygon (lvl 100 Flygon ?).
Pointed stones dug into Flygon.
Flygon lost 6% of its health.
Heatran: 73%
Flygon: 72%
O.K., this next move is very risky for me, possibly game-breaking. If Flygon is holding a Choice Scarf, the best thing for me to do is to bring in Breloom, absorb an Earthquake, and then set up with the normal Substitute-Spore-Focus Punch combination to win the match.
However, if Flygon is instead holding a Choice Band, it might have enough power behind it to kill my Breloom with two subsequent Earthquakes (Breloom is incredibly frail and Choice Band Flygon has a lot of attack power behind it), or it might even choose to use Outrage, predicting a switch, and I really don’t want to risk losing my Breloom unnecessarily.
In the end, I opt to save Breloom from a potentially early demise, as it will come in handy later, I figure (against Machamp), and I risk the Dragon Pulse.
************
Flygon used Earthquake.
It's super effective!
Heatran lost 73% of its health.
It’s Super Effective!'s Heatran fainted.
Heatran: FAINTED
Flygon: 72%
Score: 3-2
Shoot. Turned out that my guess had failed. Had it been a stupid move? Possibly, but I’m still very glad that I got to save Breloom for a rainy day. Plus, now I know that his Flygon wields a Choice Scarf.
The score is almost even again, and I’m definitely not at any sort of even remote advantage. I have no idea what would happen next; I decide to send in Breloom.
************
It’s Super Effective!: thought it was CB, not CS
It’s Super Effective! switched in Breloom (lvl 100 Breloom ?).
Pointed stones dug into Breloom.
Breloom lost 6% of its health.
Breloom: 94%
Flygon: 72%
All is not yet lost, I think. I predict a switch, because Choice Scarfed Earthquake doesn’t do much to Breloom, so I begin with Substitute.
************
Lorerer switched in Machamp (lvl 100 Machamp ?).
Pointed stones dug into Machamp.
Machamp lost 6% of its health.
Breloom used Substitute.
Breloom lost 25% of its health.
Breloom made a substitute!
Breloom was badly poisoned!
Machamp's leftovers restored its health a little!
Machamp restored 6% of its health.
Breloom: 69% (Substitute)
Machamp: 87%
By this time I’m quite sure that this isn’t a Restalking Machamp—it’s already shown me the moves Substitute and Payback, and I just can’t see Rest and Sleep Talk fitting on that set; who uses Machamp without Dynamic Punch, after all? So I can conceivably use Spore here, since I’m undoubtedly faster.
But there’s something of a doubt in me—I’ve never seen a Substitute-using Machamp used before except as a lead, so I really don’t know what to make of it, ultimately. Rest + Sleep Talk would allow it to Sub up and then heal the health it lost from using Substitute, so it was a vague but distinct possibility. Then again, why would he run Payback over Dynamic Punch? Maybe this was his specific Ghost counter? I had no clue. He had definitely used an odd Heatran set, however, so it was certainly a possibility . . .
I opted to use Focus Punch.
************
Breloom is tightening its focus!
Machamp used Substitute.
Machamp lost 25% of its health.
Machamp made a substitute!
Breloom used Focus Punch.
The substitute took damage for Machamp!
Machamp's substitute faded!
Breloom's Poison Heal restored health!
Breloom restored 13% of its health.
Machamp's leftovers restored its health a little!
Machamp restored 6% of its health.
Breloom: 82% (Substitute)
Machamp: 69%
O.K., so he chooses to use Substitute. I’m getting more and more convinced that he might really be using an unorthodox Rest/Sleep Talk/Substitute/Payback set, so I try the Focus Punch again. But then . . .
************
Breloom is tightening its focus!
Machamp used Dynamicpunch.
The substitute took damage for Breloom!
Breloom's substitute faded!
Breloom used Focus Punch.
Machamp lost 69% of its health.
Lorerer's Machamp fainted.
Breloom's Poison Heal restored health!
Breloom restored 13% of its health.
Breloom: 95%
Machamp: FAINTED
Score: 2-1
I’m ready to face-desk at this point. I had totally overanalyzed the possibilities! I should have just used Spore, as my gut reaction instructed me to do. Machamp had had Dynamic Punch after all! Grr . . .
************
Lorerer switched in Flygon (lvl 100 Flygon ?).
Pointed stones dug into Flygon.
Flygon lost 6% of its health.
Breloom: 95%
Flygon: 65%
I feel really stupid at this point, and now I’m in trouble—Flygon isn’t locked into Earthquake, so it can now Outrage. Plus, I have no more Heatran to revenge-kill it after it gets locked in to Outrage, so I’m in pretty deep trouble.
************
It’s Super Effective! switched in Rotom-h (lvl 100 Rotom-h.
Pointed stones dug into Rotom-h.
Rotom-h lost 12% of its health.
Rotom-h: 69%
Flygon: 65%
Deciding that in case Flygon’s eventual confusion let me nab an extra turn later on, Spore would be incredibly useful (winning me the match, essentially), I preserve Breloom and switch to Rotom-h.
************
Flygon used Outrage.
Flygon went on a rampage!
Rotom-h lost 40% of its health.
Rotom-h's leftovers restored its health a little!
Rotom-h restored 6% of its health.
Rotom-h: 35%
Flygon: 65%
************
Flygon used Outrage.
Rotom-h lost 36% of its health.
It’s Super Effective!'s Rotom-h fainted.
Rotom-h: FAINTED
Flygon: 65%
Score: 2-1
************
It’s Super Effective! switched in Scizor (lvl 100 Scizor ?).
Pointed stones dug into Scizor.
Scizor lost 12% of its health.
Lorerer: gg
Scizor: 30%
Flygon: 65%
My opponent, no doubt still thinking that my Scizor has a large Atk-EV investment, tells me “gg,” assuming that the battle is over in my favor. But I know better—my Scizor is very bulkily EV’ed, so the battle is definitely not over. I fully expect to lose. Even with Choice Scarf on Flygon instead of Choice Band, Outrage should do enough to kill Scizor and win the match for my opponent, whereas Bullet Punch will definitely not OHKO it at this point. I still have Breloom in the back, hopefully to get off a Spore during a free turn granted by confusion, but my hopes are now all but extinguished.
************
Scizor used Bullet Punch.
Flygon lost 27% of its health.
Flygon used Outrage.
It's not very effective...
Scizor lost 29% of its health.
Flygon's rampage ended.
Flygon became confused!
Scizor: 1%
Flygon: 38%
Wow. I just barely survive! I am very pleased that Scizor has survived, but my fragile plans haven’t been changed at all.
I desperately hope for a critical hit so that I won’t have to rely on my Breloom getting a lucky extra turn in order to win.
************
Scizor used Bullet Punch.
Flygon lost 30% of its health.
Flygon is confused!
Flygon used Outrage.
Flygon went on a rampage!
It's not very effective...
A critical hit!
Scizor lost 0% of its health.
It’s Super Effective!'s Scizor fainted.
Scizor: FAINTED
Flygon: 8%
Score: 1-1
Well, there was certainly a crit there. What did I say earlier about unnecessary crits? Oh yeah, that they’re unnecessary.
Now we’re dead even.
************
It’s Super Effective! switched in Breloom (lvl 100 Breloom ?).
Pointed stones dug into Breloom.
Breloom lost 6% of its health.
Lorerer: wow
It’s Super Effective!: gg
Breloom: 95%
Flygon: 8%
*Comment removed because apparently people didn't like it*
I tell my opponent gg as I prepare for the final outcome of the battle.
************
Flygon is confused!
It hurt itself in its confusion!
Flygon lost 9% of its health.
Lorerer’s Flygon fainted.
Breloom: 95%
Flygon: FAINTED
It’s Super Effective! wins!
The battle was really close, and though it was determined by sheer luck at the very end, both players played well, and I applaud my opponent for giving me such an exciting match. Cheers!
Note: Some of you may suggest to me that I should have allowed Breloom to die and had Rotom-h use Reflect in order to buy myself some added turns of confusion. I would like to point out that I would actually have ended up buying myself no extra time at all, thanks to my Scizor’s extremely low health upon entering the field of battle (even with Outrage doing half damage, a 2HKO would have occurred).
In case you wish to see my opponent’s team in full, here it is:
