Noel VS Fern: thoughts.

[Outside Indoorsman]

After a recent milestone in my third playthrough (I just defeated Noel, and then Fern), I had a realization when Fern said he was going to track down Noel to battle him.

 

Noel was probably the worst opponent that Fern could have chosen with the team that he had.

 

Radomus and Luna, the nearby Leaders, were probably both not too well-suited for fighting Fern, since their teams both have a weakness against his Scyther, which is very fast, and no real type advantage anyways. (Since he was headed south, he probably hadn't battled Serra yet).

 

Fern's lineup at the time he fought us was - Ferrothorn, Fraxure, Scyther, Roserade, Serperior, and Krookodile.

 

If Fern managed to find him, Noel's (equal/higher-leveled) team must have destroyed him even worse than Noel destroys most of us.

 

Think about it - half of Noel's team has a Fire-type Hidden Power, which deals SE damage to 2/3 of Fern's team.

 

Noel's first pokemon, Wigglytuff, is part Fairy type, and probably annihilated Fern's Fraxure with Dazzling Gleam before it could even attack.

 

Scyther has no advantage against any of Noel's pokemon except Girafarig (and Scyther probably got destroyed by Swellow anyways).

 

Finally, Noel's trump, Clefable, is fairy-type, and probably beat Fern's Krookodile with ease.

 

So, if your day is going poorly, just imagine this particular matchup. And how enraged and humiliated Fern must have felt when a kid who probably hasn't even hit 12 years of age (who he couldn't fight again later to make himself feel better, since Noel was on the move at the time) more or less mopped the floor with him right after he and his team lost to you.

Edited January 9, 2017 by Outside Indoorsman

[Lord Drakyle]

Assuming he found Noel at all...

 

We know Fern has switched members of his team out before so he probably has some rotation available, which makes me feel he has a fair chance

[Outside Indoorsman]

True, he has rotation. But... on the other hand, the only other pokemon he has that we know of right now are a Rhyperior at Fiore Manor (and I don't think you can catch Rhyhorn or Rhydon at that point in the game... though if he did have Rhydon, he'd have a better chance at winning until Cinccino came out) and Ludicolo, which probably still gets destroyed by Swellow's Brave Bird.

 

He probably has something else on his PC, but considering he went up against Aya the first time with a team of grass-types, how arrogant he is in general, and how he referred to Noel as "a dumb kid", he seems unlikely to do much beyond heal his pokemon before fighting Noel and generally underestimate him.

 

Considering Noel's reputation here on the forums, underestimating him seems like a very quick route to a crushing defeat.

 

If Fern changes out one of his teammates for Rhydon before the battle (again, if he has Rhydon yet) and makes sure to get rid of Cinccino before sending Rhydon out, i'd give him better odds. 

 

But that really doesn't seem too likely, in my opinion.

Edited January 9, 2017 by Outside Indoorsman

[Therrester]

Honestly, I've always wondered if it's even possible for Fern to beat all the leaders he's claimed to beat with the pokemon we know he has. I've always wanted to hack in the 8-9 pokemons we've seen Fern use and try to complete the game with them. See if I get walled somewhere or if it's in fact truly feasible. 

Edited January 9, 2017 by Therrester

[Commander]

Based on my test runs with the Party System for Hardcore, Fern could've easily defeated Noel if he really wanted to. The field was far into his advantage and he had a pretty good team topped with a few sweepers. Scizor could've taken care of Swellow the only major threat to him as Serperior would've swept the floor with the rest of his team. Theoretically, Aya would've been the only leader (besides Kiki...but that's the Hardcore version) just due to her being able to counter offensive tactics hard. Charlotte he had a Rain Dance Ludicolo if he really needed it and Ciel would've been a challenge which is probably why he had a Rhyperior in the first place.

 

Actually I want to say another big lie Fern made: he got his butt kicked hard by Shelly. Like my soul was being crushed trying to fight her hard and I had two more Pokemon than regular Fern did. Corey also gave me hell, but beyond those two fights, there wasn't too much that was super scary that he didn't have counters for.