Anstane's Water Mono

[Gentleman Jaggi]

How did you deal with Mienshao? It's faster than Hawlucha and packs Acrobatics as well.

[Anstane]

Either by having Samson switch Mienshao into an Air Slash or it not using Acrobatics.

[Gentleman Jaggi]

He, pretty simple solution for something that gave me hell more than once.

[rayyan]

It's all down to that goddam meinshao and hawlucha but if you had a samurott you could've used a feild boosted sword dance and sweeped the floor but good work and destiny bond was a bit unfair. You've lost reputation points with Samson. 

[RedAlert]

Mienshao really gave me so much shit the first time. So did Conkeldurr. So did Hariyama. So did Hawlucha. Dafuq, that guy is super OP. Not that other leaders are complete jokes, but I remember Ciel and Terra being nowhere near as hard as Samson was.

[Anstane]

To be honest, Samson was always the one that was like "Hard at first, but easy after a bit of grinding". Hell, I managed to break him on my first try during my Ice Mono. This is by far the most trouble I ever had with his team.

 

And yes, I am aware I could have had Samurott set up Swords Dance. Two problems with that:

1) Nowhere I could really set up Swords Dance.

2) One Swords Dance is not enough to OHKO his Pokemon.

 

And yes, Destiny Bond is a little unfair, but his Conkeldurr has literally infinite bulk otherwise. I felt like I have no choice.

[Jess]

5 hours ago, Anstane said:

And yes, Destiny Bond is a little unfair, but his Conkeldurr has literally infinite bulk otherwise. I felt like I have no choice.

It's fine! I did same vs Terra's Garchomp using Vespiquen in my Bug Monotype. I just had enough of her by then, wouldn't face this horror again!

[Anstane]

Well, guess I'm on a bit of a roll.

 

Chapter 13: A trip through the mountains

 

Well then. After we got to witness Titania and Amaria do their thing, we were able to use Surf to teach our Mons...well, Surf. Thus, our team's power level went up a fair bit. Anyway, after surfing our way up the mountain, we found our way to Ametrine blocked off. We decided the best thing to do is to seek help from Calcenon. Anyway, en route there, we got an evolution!

 

I'll be honest, I prefer Walrein even though I have to say Lapras is better because of superior natural movepool.

 

Anyway, Aya and us fight through a bunch of Meteor's before we encounter the main obstacle between us and Calcenon: Aster and Eclipse.

 

Spoiler

This battle was quite painful. Between Magmortar OHKO'ing everyone on my side with Thunderbolt, Electivire doing the same with Thunder Punch, Golurk and Rhyperior taking advantage of the Short-Circuit field to become immune to Surf...yeah. The battle was painful. Lost the first time too because I got focused down. Thankfully, second try went much better for me and I was able to pull off a win, albeit *barely*.

 

 

After that, more plot happened and one thing was needed: Leveling up and evolving Neptune. So that's what I did.

 

My favorite Dragon-type :3

 

Anyway, it was time for Charlotte. Sounds like it should pretty easy, right? Right?

 

Spoiler

Well...she was, actually. Defeated her first try. Neptune and Wallace immediately wrecked her my nerfing Fire and killing her field. Wallace fell soon after, but Neptune and Jet were able to pick up the slack and everything was going well...until she sent out her last two Pokemon: Her Delphox and her Ninetales. Drought immediately went to work, greatly weakening my team. Soo enough, I was down to just Tortolla and Slug Lord. Thankfully, I was able to get rain back up and, between Rock Slide and Muddy Water, I was able to strike her last Pokemon down.

 

 

And as, per usual, the team used for Charlotte:

 

[K_H]

For those of you wondering why I (Otto) am not in the team used for Charlotte, it should be mentioned that Anstane's team is fluid, much like the element we get our powers from. I am not permaboxed, I'm just in rotation.

[Anstane]

Chapter 14: Mountains and Computers

 

that was a freaking pain to make

 

So, after defeating Charlotte, we got the right to use Dive out of battle. Which means, you guessed it, time for more Pokemon hunting that I might use but probably not.

 

Spoiler

I actually want to try using Lanturn, but training it up now would be a huge pain. Plus, competition for team slots is getting more and more intense.

Yes, I caught two Clamperls because they evolve into two different Pokemon.

 

Once that streak was taken care of, it was time to deal with the giant wall of Ice. The one that knows Freeze-Dry. Yeah...

 

I legit was 1-2 attacks away from losing this battle because Freeze-Dry spam just tore straight through my team.

 

Once that was taken care of, it was off to Ametrine. After saying "Yes" to Blake for the first time ever, it was off to the Ametrine Assault and, while I lost out on an epic final battle vs Aster, I don't mind because screw fighting his Magmortar and Electivire *again*. So instead I got to deal with Blake right off the bat.

 

Spoiler

So, you would think that "Hey, Water vs Ice. Easy win, right?" Hahaha, nope. Blake is brutal. Between his Rotom, Jynx, Froslass and Vanilluxe, he tore through my team a number of times with Thunderbolts, Volt Switches, Energy Balls, Freeze-Dries and Blizzards. Who ended up being my MVP? Frosty, literally just spamming Icy Wind. Turns out being able to outspeed his Mons made a big difference in this battle. And the best part? I had to do this twice because I forgot to save after my first win against him.

 

And even then, it was damn close.

 

That taken care of, it was time to confront Terra who...fled into the computer...sure, why not. Anyway, after a fairly lengthy chase, we got confronted by a rather nasty opponent.

 

Not gonna lie, this bastard swept me twice before I got really lucky. Namely, Slug Lord managed to get the Accuracy Drop on Mewtwo, then, against Stingray, it missed three consecutive Psystrikes, giving me the opening needed to strike it down.

 

And with that, only the Qu33n o' b00ty was left.

 

 

Spoiler

This was the easiest battle I had so far this run. Neptune, Slug Lord and Lotus just tore through her team effortlessly.

 

Until she sent out Rawrchomp and it tore into my team, eliminating Wallace and Stingray by itself. Thankfully, Lotus was able to step up and take it down after evading the second Stone Edge that battle.

 

 

And the Special team that had to deal with this field:

[Anstane]

Well, hope you enjoyed those short updates, because now...now we've got one hell of a long one.

 

Chapter 15: The Gauntlet.

 

Having obtained waterfall, I obtained access to a few more Water-types I could obtain. Specifically, Totodile, Lapras and Feebas. Thus, my first order of business was to find their locations and capture them.

 

Spoiler

 

Huh. I just realized they share a nature. Either way, I'm not planning on using them, though I do plan on training Leon up.

I also picked this guy up while surfing around.

 

Finally, the newest member to by team rotation:

 

Once that was taken care of, it was time to begin the chapter of many battles. After we stormed the WTC, it didn't take long to run into our first major obstacle...

 

Just kidding. I was not in the mood to put up with it and it's Discharge spam.

 

No, the actual first serious battle was against Taka whom we decided to battle.

Spoiler

Taka had one problem Mon: Klefki. Holy hell his Klefki was a problem. Setting Spikes, bulking Hydro Pumps and Foul Plays, it ravaged my team, enough for Aerodactyl to enter and destroy. Once I got past those two, however, the rest of his team could not hold up...

 

 

 

After that, we got a brief reprieve to reorganize my team. Once I did so, it was time for the main Gauntlet. For starters, the duo of Meteor Aces deserve a mention.

 

Spoiler

The battle itself was not that difficult, but they did manage to put up a pretty decent fight, overall. Heck, they managed to go through almost all of Florinia's team and a fair bit of my own. However, while decently challenging, they were not *too* difficult.

 

 

Then came the battle that always tripped me up before: Fern and Blake.

 

Spoiler

Holy crap that Walrein is bulky as all hell. It actually managed to outlast all of Fern's team. I got fortunate that it ran out of Blizzards soon, leaving Flo and myself to tear through Fern's team (Not before losing most of it myself: By the time Fern's Serperior was down, I was down to my last two Pokemon.) Eventually, I was able to wear the Walrein down, with the rest of Blake team following. For the first time ever, I was able to win this battle on my first attempt.

 

Not gonna lie, this picture actually legitimately angers me a bit.

 

And even then the battle was really close. One more attack and, chances are, we would have lost to the Rotom.

 

And then, at long last, it was time for the main event!

 

Spoiler

This battle ended up being easier than the one against Fern and Blake. Solaris has an overall weakness to Water and Ice, two types I am fairly well versed in. John did not get to last long. Solaris put up more of a fight, but not enough of one as his team fell one by one, before, finally, his Garchomp fell as well.

 

This one's funny because the Gyarados suicided via Outrage on the Ferrothorn.

 

 

By now, I was starting to get tired of this and wanted to get this chapter over with. Thus, all that was left is the Gym Leader, Ciel.

 

Spoiler

Holy. Crap. My lack of putting any effort into EV's has finally bit me in the ass as Ciel tore through my team again and again. The primary problem Mons were her demonic Togekiss, her Noivern and, of course, the Altaria. Whether I just got Flinch Haxed, outsped and annihilated with Boombursts, Acrobatics'd by Gliscor and Archeops or Hyper Voiced by the Altaria, I lost more times to Ciel than all previous attempts against her. In fact, before now I don't think I lost to Ciel ever on Normal difficulty, maybe once. That just went up 20 times.

 

 

And the team that finally broke through this barrier. Ciel, that is. I used a variety of Mons throughout the entire chapter.

 

So yeah, I'm going to need to go out of my way to get my Mons at least *some* EV's, even if it means using vitamins.

[BlueMoonIceCream]

These must take a long time to do o-o

 

Never tried doing a mono before, I always liked using certain pokemon way too much to >->

 

It's a decent wee read though, I will live it through you u-u I also didn't know you made the posts this long.

 

As for using vitamins I guess you'd have to huh, things aren't getting easier that's for sure, at least you have a solid set up for the most part

[Anstane]

Well, it's about time I finished up the run, at least as of E16.

 

Chapter 16: Devonyx Gauntlet

 

As soon as we exited the Agate Circus tent, we taught Louis Fly (The only Pokemon of mine to be able to learn it) and, with that, it was time to get busy with Reborn...reborn content.

 

My first priority: Get the Super Rod (And the Toxic TM while I was at it). Once that was taken care of, I went off and started fishing everywhere and amassing a collection of new Pokemon. And a fair few new Pokemon I got to get.

 

Spoiler

My very first catch. Quite a way to start it out, I must say, even if I don't plan on using Sidney.

The two Slow's. I actually like them, but I had something else I wanted to use.

 

Man...way back in Chapter 3, I was hoping to get a Tentacruel from the Mystery Egg. Alas, by now, I just have too much competition.

 

The first of three Pokemon I ended up putting into my rotation (After I used a bunch of vitamins on it, alongside just about all my other Pokemon.) It might not seem like it now, but, a bit later, I suspect Calgon here will be quite a problem to deal with.

The second of three Pokémon I'm going to be using. I really wanted to have a Psychic on my team for a while and I do like Starmie, so Starlight here fit the bill quite well. And yes, the EV's are post-training.

 

The third of the three newcomers to my rotation. Skill Link + Rock Blast (bred) + Icicle Spear + Shell Smash + Ice typing = Yes please.

 

Funny enough, I am not going to use Storm here in my rotation, despite having an ability that is literally a no-brainer. Thing is, there's just too much competition as is for team slots and I have a bunch of Rain Dancers already, so...yeah.

 

Despite Swampert being my second favorite all-time Pokemon, I'm not going to use it just to give the other Water/Grounds (Mainly Slug Lord) a chance to show off.

 

Alongside all of that, a few more evolutions took place, mainly of Pokemon I don't plan on using, but...well, why not.

Spoiler

 

After such a lengthy journey to collect everything, it was finally time to raid Devon Corp. The first part of the assault went well. Then I lost to Orderly David (The last one before Devonyx). So I had to redo the puzzles in the building and battle him and his Ferrothorn again. Second time lucky, thankfully. Then we were forced to step into a trap because plot.

 

After that, the Devonyx gauntlet began. First up, Victoria.

 

Spoiler

Goddamn that freaking accursed Mienshao of hers! It's *not* fun to get your entire team OHKO'd by HJK spam! However, I found a way to deal with it. You see, Slug Lord was able to bulk a HJK and set up Rain Dance. My team had two Swift Swimmers. See where I'm going with this? Her Togekiss and Scrafty were a bit annoying to deal with, but once those were gone, Lotus in rain just swept Victoria aside completely.

 

The Dancing Pineapple of Doom strikes again!

 

After Victoria, it was time for Arclight. You know, the Elec/Sound using Arclight. Against my Water Mono. Yep.

 

Spoiler

Arclight was actually kind of a pain. The main problems were his Raichu and his Mega Ampharos. His Jolteon could have also ruined me, but I took pre-emptive measures by always D-bonding it. Eventually I just got lucky with the Raichu, leaving just Mega Ampharos...who proceeded to, of all things, use Zap Cannon. IT missed, obviously, which allowed Wallace to 2HKO it. The rest of his team didn't put up too much resistance, though his Luxray was annoying.

 

 

And, finally, it was time to finish things up with one of the Meteor Admins. It was time for the final battle with ZEL.

 

Spoiler

There were two problem points with their team: Their Espeon and their PULSE Magnezone. The former just outsped me and had really powerful attacks while the latter just destroys what survives the rest of the gauntlet. Eventually I was able to get to the Magnezone with my team in a sufficiently good condition. And how do I deal with Mons that I refuse to deal with? D-bonding it. Hey, I think it's justified in this matter. Took two attempts, first time I didn't have enough of a team left to D-Bond the Magnezone.

 

 

After completing all those battles and the subsequent search for recruits (That, and this is when I went off to get Mudkip), it was time for Adrienn and to finally finish this run, at least for now.

 

 

Spoiler

Adrienn had two Mons that caused me problems: Togekiss and especially xyr Mega Mawile. Yeesh, it was not fun to get OHKO'd by everything by it. Er, anyway, with a bit of luck, I was able to set up a pair of Shell Smashes with Frostbite who then went to town upon the fairies, namely helping Jet finish off the Mega Mawile and then one-rounding xyr Florges, letting the others on my team to stroll to victory.

 

 

And, with that, the run, for now, is over. First of all, the Pokémon that I used against Adrienn.

 

Secondly, I might as well show off all the Water-types I had accumulated up to this point.

For reference, the upper three rows of the second box are the Pokemon I am using in my rotation, all 18 of them. All the others are ones I am not using, at least currently.

 

 

And with that, I am done for now. Any comments on this run would be definitely welcome.

[HongaarseBeer]

I'd say well done! I enjoyed following your run and I appreciate all the time you've put into this

[K_H]

"The dancing pineapple of doom strikes again!"

Anstane, you make the most wonderful quotes sometimes. Here's to Episode 17 when it comes out!

[Filthy Casual]

This was a really fun run to read! Congrats on a job well done!