#SchemeTeam - Hilda Plays: Reborn (Again)

[Fumble]

o.o how did you get a sharpedo this early?

I guess she joined Team Aqua, since if you do so, Aqua gives you a Carvanha, and in evacuated Magma's base, a wild Houndour will be there.

[Chase]

Shelly was actually pretty straight forward.

I was able to outsmart the AI here by keeping my Pyroar in the back of the party until the two rain setters were gone. This worked out well, as Shelly didn't go for Rain Dance. From there, it was a brawl tipped in my favor with Fearow, Ampharos, Pyroar, and Graveler.

Don't BANK on Shelly not going for the water though. I may have just gotten really lucky.

currently preparing for Shade, and I've only seen half of his team on my first dry attempt (I usually try to test the waters and sort of photo memorize the team for further preparation by just "going for it" before conceiving any kind of strategy if I'm not familiar with team composition.

Wonky things you will see is Thunderbolt on Gengar, which is there solely to capitalize off of the Factory Field, putting Sharpedo at immediate risk for me.

Scouted Pokemon:

Prospective Counter Team:

Pyroar will not be taking any damage from Shade's gym-sake STABs, and it's incredibly powerful with the one up on Tree and Doublade, so there isn't a reason not to run it. Ampharos can take advantage of the field and may not see much use after this gym, so I figured it may be best to retire it in style. Sharpedo can position itself to sweep. Houndoom can take an incoming Will-O- Wisp and instead get a boost to it's Fire type attacks with Flash Fire, and will also just put pressure on Shade due to it's Dark typing. My Banette not only has access to Shadow Sneak for super effective STAB priority -and- Will-O-Wisp to cripple the opposing Banette or other physical attackers, but also has access to the egg move Gunk Shot, which would do a serious number on the Trevanent should something happen to Pyroar. Golem has been one of the most reliable Pokemon in this run in it's own right, and may find a place to shine with Sturdy - although is the most tentative Pokemon on my projected team.

Other Pokemon that may be of use:

Shinies:

[Shad_]

Have you picked up Espurr when you were in Peridot Ward?

Because with Psychic/Shadow Ball Meowstic F can destroy easily at least 3 Shade's Pokemon (Banette, Trevenant and Doublade)

To take down Corey (Gengar) in my run i used Emolga (and trust me, this thing with Nuzzle and Electro Ball makes miracles)

[Dragon116]

Watch out for field boosted TBolt as well as whatever pokemon has Brick Break.

[Odybld]

Obscure resistance of the day: Ghost resists Poison, Trevenant is neutral to GS, just mine a spoopy plate and Sneak up on him to not just miss and die. You're supposed to be a schemer anyway, sneaking up on people is what you do. Or Suckerpunch it, if you dare risk the WoW.

Ampharos is good. Don't box it. It is really great to shuffle fields, and especially the most common ones, Factory/Shortcircuits and Caves to Crystal Caves with Power Gem. And Electric Terrain as well. And... you already got inside info on that. So yeah. Keep it in action, Amphy can scheme just fine.

Keep Golem around for Chandelure. Walk in, kick ass.

[Chase]

Thanks for the tip, Ody!

I might bench it anyway for for Heliolisk later on, only because it __also__ has electric terrain, has better coverage, and is faster. However, I -have- been unaware of Power Gem's ability to shuffle fields around. That's actually really good.

Also, yeah, I'm getting really tired of these obscure resistences. Today I learned, I suppose. Again, thanks for the heads up.

Speaking of Electric types, I picked up probably one of my all time favorite lines today - thanks to the first Thunderstorm of the run.

This thing - which isn't due for tuning until a little bit later - is definitely a Pokemon I wanted to use. It has the advantage of Heliolisk in terms of taking Fighting type attacks better, not to mention both Heliolisk AND Ampharos in being outright immune to Ground type attacks. It's coverage is also very stellar, and depending on what's available first, I can decide if I want it to be a physical attacker or a special attacker, with the ability to pick up U-turn AND Volt Switch accordingly.

[Odybld]

Hilda, you are not playing competitive. Slow pivoting is just a waste of Eelektross' health in the game Eele is nice, but you have to know from beforehand what you're dong. You need to evolve it after 49 for Special (Acid Spray) or 59 for physical (Coil + Wild Charge). With Grass Knot, Flamethrower or Iron Tail, Brick Break, Acrobatics, it will improve great at the final bits of the game, as TMs and tutors are getting available. But you won't be able to do jack with it before it evolves, you can't run a mix set because you are really limited if you run dual stabs, and AS/Coil are really needed to help it tear stuff down.

Also god is that line ugly, even by gen5 ugliness standards. Never put that thing in the same sentence with the Lightkeeper of Olivine Town, who megaevolves into a most fabulous Supar Saiyajian.

Also check my sub480 BST run who I just decided to continue

[Lord Chespin]

Aw, I think Eelektross is kinda cute. Especially since it earned a special place in my heart after it single-handedly swept Hardcore Solaris' team in my electric-type monotype run.

[Chase]

Alright, so, I beat Shade, I obtained a "semi-legitimate" Ditto, and I made it outside of the urban jungle to Apophyll. Lots to explain later tonght - but FIRST!.... Let's start breaking down some potential team members.

LOCKS for Kiki:

Fearow has really come on quite nicely up to this point and it's usefulness is beginning to wane as more and more avian Pokemon are becoming available. You may be asking yourself "Wouldn't Flying types cause the field to lower everyone's accuracy?" This only applies for Special-based Flying type moves. The biggest reason I've carried Fearow this far is because throughout the early game - Earlier than when you can pick up Dodo, even, Ody - Fearow has been able to apply a complimentary learn-set to it's superior attacking stat - Physical Attack. Which means Fearow is a safe, familiar option that -won't-, I repeat -won't- cause issues with Kiki. It's typing isn't the greatest defensively, but after recently acquiring Roost and never missing regardless of what accuracy debuffs I may have with Aerial Ace, this battle may be a very good "Swan Song" for a partner who would easily make my top five favorite partners of this run. I might have to do that some time down the road. Maybe after Aya.

Granbull's best time to shine is right here, as Kiki is supposedly very ill prepared for fairy types. Close Combat variants have the ability to even tackle Lucario if it can survive a hit (Mine's Heal Bell, so I'll probably need another answer for the Jackal Pokemon.) and after beating Shade, you are finally able to level this thing up to 43, where the move 'Play Rough' comes along giving Granbull some offensive might. For those of us that didn't pick up the Azumarill from the Mystery Event, Granbull is a solid out if you are looking for a physical fairy thus far. It even comes with Intimidate, which means Granbull will be able to get at least one KO for free after debuffing the physical attack of one of Kiki's Pokemon - and Fighting is a type that is susceptible to being reliant on physical attacks.

Gothita is currently the most intimidating Pokemon stat/IV/nature-wise that I have in my entire arsenal. With Psyshock already and Psychic in the learn-set, Dark Pulse already there, and Shadow Tag to prevent any AI shenanigans, I can trap Kiki into some unfavorable match-ups. If this doesn't pan out the first time whatever, but this Pokemon just looks way too damn good to have it benched during a Fighting gym challenge. Supposedly, Psychic types also get some help from the field.

Potential Pokemon for Kiki:

Masquerain is......not going to get too many chances to shine in much of anything, but it's ability Intimidate actually works really nice with Granbull -AND- it's able to completely change the game by setting up my favorite hazard (after patiently leveling Surskit to 38)... Sticky Web. Web is really the only thing I could really ask for out of this thing, as it will still hold a lot of Surskit's moves or Struggle Bug in it's arsenal > but being able to slow down the remaining Pokemon on Kiki's team (provided the opening Pokemon doesn't just Meditate in my face.) would be a boon for other Pokemon on the 'Potential' list to set up or knock the pins down as they are reset. This Pokemon may make my scout trip against Kiki just to see how effective Sticky Web really is.... If it's bad, it won't make the final team.

Banette, like Fearow, is starting to lose it's usefulness but is still in a great spot to assist for this battle. Will-O-Wisp cripples physical attackers, and with Sticky Web up Banette can get the burns off without taking damage AND being freely able to get off it's new toy - Shadow Claw, recently obtained from Shade as a parting gift. Shadow Claw is a STAB that won't see much use over Shadow Sneak due to Banette's often painstaking speed, but it takes advantage of the raw attack power Banette is able to bring to the table. Kiki's Ace, Medicham, with Sticky Web up, may be forced to take a Shadow Claw before retaliating. As before, Shadow Sneak is also available to provide the Grudge Pokemon with priority should it absolutely need it, which still will allow for safe revenge killing.

Going again with the concept of Sticky Web, I decided to pick up Aromatisse over Slurpuff for three reasons. 1. I HATE SLURPUFF, 2. Not only can Aromatisse bring the highly opportunistic Fairy type pressure against Kiki, but it's also a good special defensive wall, which will give Lucario a little bit of resistance where it has looked grim with my earlier picks, and 3. I really like Aromatisse's learnset. Draining Kiss is my favorite Fairy type move, not dealing too much damage, but dealing enough -and- providing sustainability. Moonblast is just a really solid Fairy type offensive weapon to have somewhere in your party. Since I can't take Gardevoir to Kiki, why not take this thing? It's only drawback is that it is indeed slow and if Sticky Web -isn't- up, it will have to bulk it out to get going.

Nidoqueen is the "redshirt-freshman" that I'm really excited about in the future. With the ability to pick up Earth Power by level up, and Sheer Force as it's ability, 'Queen plays a nice defensive special attacker that is capable of inflicting pain but also taking physical hits well. It's been said that Kiki is prepared for Poison types, but this weapon is a Pokemon that under the Web support can cause a weakened Lucario trouble, as well as anything else on the team for that matter, while being able to bulk other Pokemon besides Luke and 'Cham. The real fun for this Pokemon starts later down the road though, when Aya awards the player with Sludge Wave, giving Queen dual-sheer-force-boosted stabs to play with.

The basic idea I've constructed is simple. Slow Kiki down and hit her with a type she's not prepared for for the most part, followed by safe-bets. I'm not a big fan of the Fairy type....

...but Kiki was the start of my first attempts nightmares, and all bets are off at this point.