RedAlert's Grass Monotype [Previous Gym: Serra]

[RedAlert]

Part Listing

 

PART 1: I can't think of a title so I'm already failing at this

PART 2: Julia and Pulse! Tangrowth

PART 3: Grass Grill Florinia

PART 4: Chattertots, Tankrowths and Corey in the House

PART 5: Valuable new members and taking on Shelly!

PART 6: The hunter is the hunted! Gym Leader Shade!

PART 7: Rejecting common sense to make the impossible possible! Defusing Cal and Defeating Kiki!

PART 8: Meteor Shenanigans and Gym Leader Aya

PART 9: Sigmund, Bennett and the Ice Model Serra!

 

________________________________________

 

This is a story about Fern. A little weird since stories are generally written about the wise and great, and almost never about the moronic and delusional. I'd like to bring that trend to a halt, and pride myself in breaking the little nuisance into pieces by proving that I am in every way better than him in brains, looks, style, charisma, strength and most importantly, Pokemon battling. And what better way to do that then to repeatedly defeat him using the exact same type he considers himself to be a master at: the Grass type.

 

Credits to @Jess for being the inspiration behind this monotype run. I don't have the Ph.D-esque skills to write up stories nearly as entertaining as hers (or any other monotypers here), but I'll give it a go nevertheless. I've stolen her scheme as well, apologies

 

In advance, thanks for reading!

 

PART 1: I can't think of a title so I'm already failing at this

 

So overlord Ame introduces us to the Reborn region and takes our credentials so it's all razzle-dazzle at the start. For this run, I've decided to make our hero be a girl because she's eyecandy for a change and subsequently named her Red, so much creativity right there. After the skirmish with the train and we're pulled to safety, we're exposed to the Reborn we've heard so much about - except it's not quite what what we expected. It's filthy and there are dozens of street urchins staring at us, eyes gleaming - I'm not sure whether they're just after our money, and to be honest, I really don't want to know. Luckily for us, Ame and Julia are there to rescue the moneyless, Pokemonless, helpless but cute little girl that we are, and give us straight directions to the Grand Hall where we can officially begin our journey.

 

So after grabbing a Potion from a helpful lady down the street and meeting up with Victoria in Opal, we're finally left free to make the most important decision of our life.

 

This was actually a very incredibly amazing start here, I didn't expect such a high level of awesomeness this early in the game. Reason being...

 

Spoiler

 

On my first try, no jokes! Also another blessing considering that I was unsure about going for a special or physical moveset for this little guy, well girl here, and that Adamant nature has made all my decisions. Moreover, the IV spread on this guy is also great. I'm not too depressed about not getting the hidden ability, since this one is already pretty fast by itself.

 

I should mention that I'm not exactly the greatest with nicknames, so if any of you can think of something better than what I have right now, go for it. Name Rater's just 'round the corner.

 

It was then time to battle Cain (who's not gay anymore for some reason?) and pound his Nidoran to oblivion. Eww, now I sound like him. Following suit was Victoria, which involved the same age-old scratch/pound/tackle each other to death battle, and this little critter survived with 1 HP and a lucky critical hit, taking it to Lvl. 7 in the process.

 

So after a painful cutscene and a LOT of painful battling, I managed to get two new additions to our team - Thorn, a shiny Budew (yayyy) and Kirsche, the Cherubi. The difficulty of the game was already getting to us, and the abundance of poison so early on did not help. I was also wiped out once thanks to a certain Doxy who had an Oddish with Acid that tore through my team. Nevertheless, we stood strong, determined to never give up (although markedly, this has become a shonen trait that I have grown rather tired of) despite all the odds. We finally managed to get a Zigzagoon (for pickup and headbutt) although I didn't have the energy to train it up.

 

Finally, we meet up with king cuntwad himself, and the battle ensuing from the encounter wasn't pretty.

 

VS. FERN

 

Alright, coming up is one of the most drawn out and worst battles I’ve ever had. Grass versus Grass is terrible and painfully slow at the start of a game. Anyways, he sends out Lotad and I try to set up with Growth on Kirsche, only to have it nullified by Lotad’s growls. So I brute force my way past it with Tackles, with him frantically trying to see a way out with Absorb, Astonish and Bubble in random order, finally force him to use a Potion and switch over to Thorn for some better neutral damage with Absorb.

I finally finish it off, and he sends out his Snivy (ugh), and I retain Thorn for momentum. I used a couple Growths and am able to absorb that horrible thing to moderate levels of HP, but realizing Thorn was low on HP, switch over to Slash. Slash thankfully is able to dish out relatively good damage and kills it with two Quick Attacks.

He finally sends out his Budew, I send out my trusty assist pokemon Headbutt (Zigzagoon) to heal up my other pokes, but horror of horrors, no potions! I manage to get a Tail Whip in before it finally succumbs to a second Mega Drain. I then replace Headbutt with Kirsche, try healing with Morning Sun but Budew gets a critical Mega Drain in, taking Kirsche down to red again. I get one last Tackle in before Kirsche faints, taking his Budew to yellow. I then sent out Slash and spam Quick Attack until it fainted.

 

Overall not a very pleasant battle, since there was no real strategy involved but more of a muscle-through. I did beat him on the first try though, so there’s that to be happy about

 

After we listen to Fern yammering on about "cheap tricks" and luck and whatnot, we fastforward to the Mosswater Factory. Fern and I team up and plow through the grunts and end up finally facing the iconic duo, Aster and Eclipse.

 

VS. ASTER & ECLIPSE

 

They send out Elekid and Magby, while we simultaneously send out Kirsche and Budew. Elekid moves first and uses Swift dealing roughly 1/5^th of both our HPs and Magby (thankfully) uses Ember on Fern's Budew, taking it down to red. I set up with Leech Seed on Elekid and Fern uses Mega Drain on the Elekid. Elekid then proceeds to use a field-boosted Shockwave on to Budew, after which it has barely any HP and Magby finishes it off with a Fire Spin. Kirsche is left unscathed in the meantime and I use a Growth (shoulda used a Leech Seed on Magby, eh? stupid me). Turn 3 comes up, Fern sends out Lotad. Elekid nearly kills it with a Shock Wave and Magby does the same to Kirsche. I use the opportunity to use another Leech Seed, this time on Magby. Lotad uses Bubble, doing slight damage to the opponents, and lowers Elekid’s speed. Magby gets the first hit this time, taking out Lotad with a Feint Attack and Elekid gets a critical Shockwave on Kirsche, knocking it out.

I then send out Thorn, Fern sending out Snivy. Magby again uses another Fire Spin on Snivy, doing a great deal of damage, but luckily for us, Thorn is faster than Elekid due to the reduced speed. I set up with a Water Sport, hoping to reduce the damage done by the friggin’ Magby. Elekid uses a Shock Wave on Thorn, doing very little damage, Snivy counters with Vine Whip, taking Elekid to the red. Leech Seed activates and almost knocks it out, DAMMIT. Potion time for the duo. Magby then knocks out Snivy with a Feint Attack and I successfully paralyze it with a Stun Spore. Now that Thorn is the fastest mon on board, I get him to use a Mega Drain on Elekid. Elekid retaliates with Shock Wave, followed by Magby’s Fire Spin which does a lot less damage due to Water Sport. After Leech Seed damage, Elekid is taken out with a final Mega Drain, getting it down to Magby and Thorn. Magby remains paralyzed, HA. Only a matter of time before a couple Mega Drains finished it off.

 

At this point, I'm very happy with my progress, since despite individual trainers really doing a number on me, the boss battles have worked out rather well. Completely different from the first time where I had to soft reset 10 times before I managed to get a critical on that Elekid with Frogadier...

 

I'll be fighting Julia next time, so stay tuned - but before that, I'll need to get another party member. 3 Pokemon and one that doesn't know any damaging move other than Tackle is a little too adventurous,  already lost twice to that darn Electrode so I'll need a little more strategy (and one more valuable Pokemon) to overcome her.

 

My team as of the end of this part: 

 

 

Slash, Grovyle

Lvl. 17

Adamant, Overgrow

• Fury Cutter
• Mega Drain
• Leer
• Quick Attack

 

 

Kirse, Cherubi

Lvl. 16

Modest, Chlorophyll

• Leech Seed
• Morning Sun
• Tackle
• Growth

 

 

Thorn, Budew

Lvl. 17

Lax, Natural Cure

• Mega Drain
• Growth
• Water Sport
• Stun Spore

Edited July 11, 2017 by RedAlert

[Jess]

10 minutes ago, RedAlert said:

Credits to @Jess for being the inspiration behind this monotype run. I don't have the Ph.D-esque skills to write up stories nearly as entertaining as hers (or any other monotypers here), but I'll give it a go nevertheless. I've stolen her scheme as well, apologies

Lol, now I am flattered! Good luck with your run and may Shelly, Charlotte and Ciel be merciful. 

 

13 minutes ago, RedAlert said:

I should mention that I'm not exactly the greatest with nicknames, so if any of you can think of something better than what I have right now, go for it. Name Rater's just 'round the corner.

 

Name your Treeko "Leon". You know, from Chameleon. Or Komodo. I don't know, just throwing out names, lol! 

[Zarc]

good luck to you  if you need some grass mons i can provide you some 

[RedAlert]

3 minutes ago, Jess said:

Name your Treeko "Leon". You know, from Chameleon. Or Komodo. I don't know, just throwing out names, lol! 

Good suggestions, but it's a female. xD

 

3 minutes ago, Zarc said:

good luck to you  if you need some grass mons i can provide you some 

I won't ask for random grass types, but I might cheat and ask for a Shroomish in case I don't get one from the mystery egg

Some amount of cheating I'm comfortable with, lol

[Jess]

4 minutes ago, RedAlert said:

Good suggestions, but it's a female. xD

 

I won't ask for random grass types, but I might cheat and ask for a Shroomish in case I don't get one from the mystery egg

Some amount of cheating I'm comfortable with, lol

Then name her Lioness! xD Cause Chameleon-->Leon-->Lion-->Lioness. I will stop now.  

 

I asked for a Larvesta. I don't consider it cheating, it is just "boosting your luck with the Mystery Egg". As long as you use it after the point when you get the Mystery Egg and not earlier, it is OK. I also got myself a Dwebble to breed Counter on it and defeat Solaris' Garchomp. But then, I only used it again when I accessed the Crustle puzzle area, where I could rightfully get it in game. I'd not consider that cheating.  

Edit: @RedAlert Also, you can ask for any mons necessary to breed moves, if it is absolutely vital for you strategy. I got myself a Mudkip and a Turtwig to breed Wide Guard on my Paras to use vs Charlotte. (I needed Tirtouga too, but got that via a Fossil I dug up myself xD). 

Edited June 17, 2017 by Jess

[RedAlert]

11 minutes ago, Jess said:

I asked for a Larvesta. I don't consider it cheating, it is just "boosting your luck with the Mystery Egg". As long as you use it after the point when you get the Mystery Egg and not earlier, it is OK. I also got myself a Dwebble to breed Counter on it and defeat Solaris' Garchomp. But then, I only used it again when I accessed the Crustle puzzle area, where I could rightfully get it in game. I'd not consider that cheating.  

Edit: @RedAlert Also, you can ask for any mons necessary to breed moves, if it is absolutely vital for you strategy. I got myself a Mudkip and a Turtwig to breed Wide Guard on my Paras to use vs Charlotte. (I needed Tirtouga too, but got that via a Fossil I dug up myself xD). 

Edited just now by Jess

Thanks for the clarification. By the way, where is the thread to ask for Pokemon? I couldn't find it myself, sorry

Edited June 17, 2017 by RedAlert

[Jess]

Just now, RedAlert said:

Thanks for the extended clarification. By the way, where is the thread to ask for Pokemon? I couldn't find it myself, sorry

It is this one. However, it will probably be easier to just ask us (all the monotypers) for the pokemon you need and we'll trade it to you. No need to wait ages for someone to hack it in your file.  

 

[Satoshi]

A Grass Type run huh?... well,good luck with Charlotte.  

[Gentleman Jaggi]

That's a very nice Treecko you've got there, lucky. ;P
I'm looking forward to see her performance throughout your run. *points at avatar and signature*

 

There's no real rules on what is or isn't allowed in a Monotype, only what you yourself decide to be acceptable or not.

 

Good luck with all the Poison trainers; I've got a feeling those are gonna be more of a hassle than Charlotte.

[EliteTrainerRalph]

A shiny, Adamant Treeko on the first try.. If your luck is any indication, your run should be a breeze. Best of luck to you, I'm interested to see how it goes! 

[rayyan]

Fern isn't as easy as you think. He was absolutely hell to defeat in my grass mono run due to his ferothorn and roserade at byxbision wasteland. Not to mention Bennett with his field boosted bug attacks. However in my run the gym leaders were very easy. Like I KO'd 4 of Ciels mons with a cradily, KO'd 4 of charlottes mons with a serperior not to mention taking out Aya with a eggsecutor. A little advice.........get a ludicolo with hydropump or a jumpluff with acrobatics else you won't beat Shelly.Goodluck and believe me a grass mono is fun cause of all that challenge even with trainers (especially with those meteor grunts with golbats) 😀

[Anime]

if you ever had trouble, i have a HP fire tangela hanging around

[RedAlert]

Thanks for the replies guys! It means a lot, the difficulty of this game is already getting to me...

 

PART 2: Julia and Pulse! Tangrowth

 

So after yesterday's skirmishes with Team Meteor, we decide to pay the ol' Boom-Boom lady a visit. But before that, we get a new addition to our team: Shelter, the Burmy. It did take a while, but I was finally able to grind it up to Lvl. 15 where it learned Bug Bite, after which I deemed it gym-battle-worthy. So it is now time to face the first Reborn gym leader, which wasn't exactly easy the first two times I fought her, so I had to develop some sort of strategy.

 

GYM #1  - vs. JULIA

 

Julia first leads up with Helioptile, and I send out Thorn, the Budew. I start to set up with Growth, and it attacks Budew with a field-boosted Thundershock, doing very little damage due to the Electric resistance. I take advantage of this situation and get Thorn to use at least 5 Growths in totality, and end up demolishing her first pokemon (with a critical hit, I should mention).

She then sends out Emolga. This could be a little tricky, I think to myself. The thing knows STAB Acrobatics and has no item which gives it a 110 base power, but I had to take my chances. It hits me with a Charge Beam for some reason, giving it a +1 boost in Special Attack, and I use a Mega Drain, getting it down to Yellow and taking me back to green HP. Stroke of luck here, it uses another Charge Beam, getting another +1 in Special Attack, and I take the opportunity and wipe it out with a Mega Drain.

Alright, two down. She then sends out her Voltorb. This thing knows Sonicboom and SelfDestruct, if not wrong, so I really have to be extra careful with this one. Voltorb turns out to be faster, using a Charge Beam, after which I cautiously use Mega Drain, wiping it in one hit. Well, that was quick.

Julia sends out her next Voltorb. I pray to god that she doesn't use SelfDestruct in my face right now, little freak, but luckily she's stupid enough to Charge Beam me again, after which I take it out with one Mega Drain. Budew is now at full health, and has grown two levels at Level 19.

She then sends out her Blitzle. Since I already had the opportunity to experiment with her twice, I wasn't going to fall for her again! This Blitzle has the ability Sap Sipper, increasing its Attack by 1 stage when hit by a Grass Type move. I therefore use a Water Sport, reducing her fire type moves, after which she falls into my trap, using a Flame Charge, doing very little damage. Since Budew itself has no other damage-dealing moves, I switch into Slash which gets Quick Attack'ed this time by Blitzle, doing very little damage. I then use a Pursuit, which deals about half HP damage, and it Thunder Waves Slash, paralyzing her, Cheri Berry activates and I get Grovyle to use a Quick Attack, taking Blitzle to red, after which it uses a Charge Beam, which still does negligible damage. I predict her using a Potion at this point, so I use a Fury Cutter and render the healing useless, taking Blitzle to red again. I use another Fury Cutter, which destroys it.

5 Pokemon down, and all mine are still intact! Very lucky me!

She then sends out her ace, Electrode. It uses Charge Beam, and I'm literally dancing at this point and use my third superpowered Fury Cutter and I stop dancing because it... misses. DANG IT Grovyle why CAN'T YOU BE USEFUL WHEN ITS NEEDED FUGGG. A game of Charge Beam vs. Quick Attack ensues, after which it decides to finish off Slash once and for all with a Sonicboom. Well, I still have three very functional others, I think to myself. And this was already going much better than I expected.

I send out Kirsche and proceed to Leech Seed it after it gets hit with a Sonicboom. Kirsche right now has about 47 HP at Lvl. 16, so a Morning Sun would replenish about 23 HP, so I get a bonus of 3 HP every time. I continue to spam Morning Sun while Julia retaliates with Sonic Boom, finally defeating the Electrode with a Tackle (and Leech Seed after that), once Kirsche's HP was got to a safe zone.

 

Madame Luck is definitely on my side, how else would a little noobie like me survive here? xD

 

Julia then gives us the Volt Badge and Charge Beam, which raises our level cap, which I am very thankful for. She falls asleep immediately, and that I can empathize with, because my eyes are drooping shut already.

 

No time for that though, since it was time for us to be the hero again. No sooner did we leave the gym when we bump into Victoria, who spouts off something about plants attacking human beings? How is that possible? Kid is definitely on plants, heh. Leaving behind the gym and my crappy jokes, we trudge towards the previously closed off Obsidia Ward, now opened up to us thanks to Fern's much more likable sister, Florinia.

 

So Obsidia Ward isn't too different from the Peridot Ward, except for the fact that I could access the daycare unit. Or... not. Gah, Team Meteor grunts. How often must you be beat? After I pulverize them, I get Thorn to get a great haircut, enhancing its looks and style and strengthening the incredible bond between us. One battle later, it levels up to Level 20, and it evolves to Roselia. This was much faster than I expected, but then again, I never let Thorn faint, which could've been a factor!

 

I then proceeded southwards, meeting up with Victoria again, who demands a battle to "test" our abilities. So, it's time to whoop her ass, eh?

 

VS. VICTORIA

 

The battle starts off with Burmy vs. Ralts, and a Disarming Voice/Bug Bite battle ensues until Burmy takes out Ralts. We both consume two Potions in the process, Burmy being slower than Ralts, but dealing slightly more damage.

She then sends out her Pignite, and I send out Thorn, a much stronger Roselia now. I set up with Water Sport, after which it Flame Charges. It Flame Charges again, this time hitting first, thanks to its increased Speed stat, after which I use a Stun Spore. I switch out to Kirsche because it needs some of that Tasty EXP and it lucky remains paralyzed. I use a Leech Seed, hit a Growth and proceed to Tackle (only damaging move at this point ) until Kirsche falls to a critical Flame Charge. I switch out to Thorn again and set up another Water Sport, switch out to Slash  and get a couple Quick Attacks in, taking very little damage in the process, until a Quick Attack + Leech Seed combo takes it out.

Victoria then murmurs about something and sends out her Makuhita. Slash proceeds to anhilate it with a critical Mega Drain, winning the battle.

 

So, she leaves. Well, she wasn't wrong entirely. Slums were no place for a little girl, although a little girl with strong Pokemon helped. We trudged through the area, evading the numerous annoying little Pidoves and Trubbishes, both preventing us from running away and doing a great deal of damage to our team. I ended up running back and forth a LOT to repetitively heal my tired out party, until we finally came to the close. A bunch of Scraggy and a Scrafty blocked our way out though, so we had to get rid of them. Shelter and Slash proved especially useful for this battle, and jointly killed the boss Scrafty. More painful walking revealed that one part of the path was blocked out, so we trudge southwards to our next unblocked destination, Coral Pier.

 

Well, events unfolded, we met one of the highest ranking gym leaders who has a Lvl. 80 Lapras, no big deal. She was unable to save an Oshawott two feet away because the water was poisoned, but surely you'd think she'd know how to deal with a situation like this? You'd think so, especially if you consider the things she does in the future. But not now, because Cain's here to save the day! After smooth-talking Amaria, (I guess gay guys have better influences on girls than straight ones? Why?!) he decides to battle us, with a new teammate in hand.

 

VS. CAIN

Ehhh, not much of a battle. I led up with Kirse and he with his Grimer. I leech seeded, he sludged, I morning sunned, and eventually got him to use his potions, and somehow managed to take it out.

He then sent out his Nidorino, and I decided to change the pace with Slash. Two critical hit poison stings later, I send out Shelter which manages to defeat him with Tackles. Painful battle here and not all interesting...

Venonat is next, and I send out mah boi Thorn. Thorn gets hit by a confusion after a Growth, and is confused and I switch out to avoid damage to Kirsche. Kirsche also gets hit by a Confusion, gets confused and hits itself three times in a row, beautiful. I send out Shelter, which kills it with one Tackle and levels up to Lvl. 20, Thorn growing up to Lvl. 22.

Fern next sends out Oshawott, and for free EVs sake, I send out Thorn and decapitate it with a Mega Drain. Poor Oshawott.

 

So... Shelter evolves. To Wormadam-Grass. Which finally makes it legitimate for this monotype, haha. It learns Hidden Power, later which I find is Hidden Power Ground.

 

So it's all fine and dandy because Amaria is awestruck by our performance, god knows why a post-14 badges gym leader is astounded by a Tackle battle, but let's put that aside for now, since we have work in Obsidia!

 

So, back to Obsidia, eh? I meet up with the two gym leaders, who are pleased to find me there and give me the TMX1, Cut. I use it to slash down the tree and access the blocked area, and watch helplessly as two gym leaders are tentacled by a Lvl. 22 Tangrowth. Yes, a gym leader with a Lvl. 80 Lapras. Very plausible. In any case, it's not for us to ask questions, but to wordlessly kill helpless Pokemon on steroids.

 

My lord, did I underestimate the monotype run. I underestimated that monster Tangrowth, which I was hardly able to reduce to yellow HP with combined team effort. What was worse was the Tangrowth gets an addition Poison typing on transforming to Pulse! Tangrowth, which gives it a 4X resistance to my grass type moves as opposed to the original 2, and I lose supereffectivity with bug type and poison type attacks. Not to mention, I had no Poison type attacks, even on Roselia. What's more, I couldn't Leech Seed it, Poisonpowder it, or Stun Spore it, which really gave me very little options. What's more, the Tangrowth knew Acid Spray, which reduced my Special Defense by 2 stages every single time. I was about to throw my computer out of the window, when I saw a way out.

 

A very little way out, but a way out, nonetheless. Just before we trigger the event with ZEL, a tree stands in place towards the east in the Obsidia Park, and on cutting it I discovered a small, almost invisible patch of grass I missed the first time I played this game. I stealthily caught myself Pothead, the Oddish and Victory, the Bellsprout, and ran all the way back to the slums. Amaria and Florinia could wait, I needed to do some training.

 

So I went back to the slums and leveled up Victory to 18, and trust me, it was tedious as hell. Pidoves and Trubbishes were the most common Pokemon, and they almost always prevented me from running away and KO'd Victory. One particular Trubbish was super annoying because it landed a triple critical hit, 5-time-hitting Doubleslap thrice in a row - it was even more painful to watch as my HP dwindled away with that superslow battle animation.

 

In any case, I repeated the same with Pothead, this time in the Obsidia park to give it some special EVs, and as I was going back to heal, I saw another window of opportunity.

 

A lone tree was the only obstacle that blocked our way from the west side of Obsidia, which we could easily access because we already obtain the TMX for Cut. I went to the backalley located to the west of the slums, and defeated the trainers there, getting some valuable EXP like the beggar I was. Honestly, this game really is making me give my all - I'm literally on my knees all the time for any hint of a Pokemon, item, money, and even EXP. I finally encounter two Lvl. 25 Mightyena bullying an Electrike, and lick my lips in anticipation of some juicy EXP.

Many deaths occurred, but in the long run, I was able to evolve Pothead and Victory.

 

I now proceed back to the park, determined to take revenge on Team Meteor, with them having no clue who I was thanks to soft reset gods.

 

VS. PULSE! TANGROWTH

 

Well, this was going to be one hard fought battle. Spoiler alert, I win.  Albeit in a very tiresome and not strategic manner.

 

ZEL sends out Tangrowth (obviously) and I lead up with Pothead. My plan is to use the side of effect of Special Defense-reduction with Acid, hopefully I get at least one.

Tangrowth transforms to its PULSE! form and hits first with Acid Spray, sharply reducing Special Defense. I counter with Acid, not reducing anything. On the second turn, Pothead moves first thanks to PULSE! Tangrowth's dropped speed and hits it with Acid, getting a critical hit, although doing visually almost nothing, still wayyyyyy more than 75% HP. My only choice was to continue spamming this since Pothead, other than Acid, only knew Mega Drain, which had a 4x weakness, Sweet Scent and Sleep Powder, which wouldln't help me at all. Pothead uses another Acid and falls to Acid Spray.

I then send out Shelter and use Bug Bite until it also falls to two Acid Sprays.

I repeat the same with Victory, using Wrap first to deal more consistent damage, use one Growth and use Vine Whip until she gets KO'd after 3 Acid Sprays.

Kirsche is next with Magical Leaf and also gets knocked out with two Acid Sprays. Note: Tangrowth is now at yellow HP.

I send out my most dependable boy Thorn, who shines his roses in the Tangrowth's face as if envisioning some omen. I start up and use 2 Growths to set up, and Tangrowth is merciful enough to use Mega Drain both times. On turn 3, Thorn hits it with Mega Drain, after which it uses Growth itself. Three more Mega Drains and Acid Sprays later, Thorn falls valiantly. All upto Slash now. Would Slash fail me like she did against Julia? Or would she understand the severity of the situation?

Slash bows her head and understands. She uses Fury Cutter, getting a critical hit against Tangrowth, taking it to red. I now know that another Fury Cutter would defeat it, and I pray that it doesn't miss. My prayers are heard, the lord Arceus is merciful and Fury Cutter connects to take out Tangrowth. Slash gets some well-earned EXP and levels up to 23, learning Leaf Blade in the process.

 

So ZEL is furious, or at least Zero is, while Amaria and Florinia are thrilled. Although I do wish they were a little bit more grateful after the suffering I went through just for them...

 

Thanks for reading! Next time, we will be taking on Florinia!

 

My team as of the end of this part: 

 

 

Slash, Grovyle

Lvl. 23

Adamant, Overgrow

• Fury Cutter
• Pursuit
• Leaf Blade
• Quick Attack

 

 

Kirse, Cherubi

Lvl. 19

Modest, Chlorophyll

• Leech Seed
• Morning Sun
• Magical Leaf
• Growth

 

 

Thorn, Roselia

Lvl. 24

Lax, Natural Cure

• Mega Drain
• Growth
• Water Sport
• Stun Spore

 

Shelter, Wormadam

Lvl. 20

Modest, Anticipation

• Protect
• Tackle
• Bug Bite
• Hidden Power (Ground)

 

Victory, Weepinbell

Lvl. 21

Docile, Chlorophyll

• Vine Whip
• Growth
• Wrap
• Poison Powder

 

Pothead, Gloom

Lvl. 21

Modest, Anticipation

• Mega Drain
• Sweet Scent
• Acid
• Sleep Powder

Edited July 3, 2017 by RedAlert

[Gentleman Jaggi]

I've swept Julia using only Grovyle twice, so shame about that Fury Cutter missing. It's still a pretty useful attack whenever neither combatant can properly hurt the other. (Hint: using a healing Item doesn't reset Fury Cutter's power.)

[RedAlert]

7 minutes ago, Gentleman Jaggi said:

I've swept Julia using only Grovyle twice, so shame about that Fury Cutter missing. It's still a pretty useful attack whenever neither combatant can properly hurt the other. (Hint: using a healing Item doesn't reset Fury Cutter's power.)

Ahaha incredible! Grovyle is great yes, but I wanted a lot of that EXP to flow into my other hard workers! And yes, I know, but I was sure that I'd finish off that Electrode considering the damage already dealt.

 

Julia was still okay, true that I got lucky with the Emolga but the worst was that Tangrowth. Boy, I don't know how I managed to defeat that thing...

[Gentleman Jaggi]

Sometimes even the enemy AI makes really weird decisions. I also like how it will often try to cherry tap your Pokémon when they're low on HP, but fail because either you healed, or the attack they used was just way too weak. xD

 

Tangrowth is extremely tanky for that point, yes. The next ones aren't going to be much easier either, so hopefully you've got a plan for them.

Also: Chatot

[Jess]

@RedAlert

Good job there! You still have 2 Tangrowths, so, Brace yourself! Or get a Hoppip and murder it with Acrobatics xD

 

 

[rayyan]

Tangrowth almost got me to leave my grass mono run but I got an eevee which later evolved in a leafeon and was able to take it out. You'll eventually find out the bane of your existence, the battle with Zel+ Taka. You have to deal with 5 other idiots other than tangrowth with a very limited pokemon choice.

 

[RedAlert]

6 hours ago, Jess said:

 

@RedAlert

Good job there! You still have 2 Tangrowths, so, Brace yourself! Or get a Hoppip and murder it with Acrobatics xD

HOW COULD I FORGET ABOUT HOPPIP

You've made my life easier, thanks

 

5 hours ago, rayyan said:

Tangrowth almost got me to leave my grass mono run but I got an eevee which later evolved in a leafeon and was able to take it out. You'll eventually find out the bane of your existence, the battle with Zel+ Taka. You have to deal with 5 other idiots other than tangrowth with a very limited pokemon choice.

 

An Eevee so early in the game? Did you trade it?

And yes, I know how hard those battles are. Even with my stellar team the first time, I had to soft reset twice to win against them..

[Orasha]

11 hours ago, RedAlert said:

HOW COULD I FORGET ABOUT HOPPIP

You've made my life easier, thanks

Jumpluff doesn't learn acrobatics until level 34 but it'll still be great at its job. It also gets U-turn at level 49, which makes it a good status setter. 

 

Also, you might know this already, but hitting the Alt key speeds the game up, which makes grinding (and refights) a lot less tedious. 

 

Good luck on your run! i can't wait to see how you handle Corey and Aya  

[Gentleman Jaggi]

Hoppip can also have Grassy Field as an Egg Move, which is pretty generally usefull as well. Not particularly against Fire or Poison Types, but otherwise it is.

[rayyan]

Hoppip if not evolved can learn acrobatics at lvl.28 but I've never used one so don't know much except that it's attack and sp.attack aren't wonderful but stab acrobatics with its massive power is very useful. Shame I didn't use one to defeat the tangrowth which made my grass mono hell. Aya is one of the easiest gym leader in a grass mono if you have a grass terrain set up

 as it can nuetralise the spike and toxic spike and allow you to abuse eggsecutor's psyshock with cacturne switched in for coverage with sucker punch. Honestly a grass mono in my opinion is the easiest except Corey. Just don't ask me how I beat him 

Edited June 19, 2017 by rayyan

[RedAlert]

 

Alright, because I was very busy the past week pretending to have a life, I wasn't able to do anything with this, until now. For those of you who were actually following this, apologies.

 

In any case, continuing where we left off last time:

 

PART 3: Grass Grill Florinia

 

So the first thing I do right here is go get that Lotad in Coral Ward. And a Hoppip. And ensure that both have decent Natures and IV spreads. I soon acquired Mama, the Lotad (Mama because I was thinking of breeding Giga Drain from Thorn, my Roselia, but it sadly didn't work out [terrible natures 5 times in a row on the babies]) and Wing It, The Hoppip. Problem here was that I had to make a couple adjustments to my team in the process while going through. I'll go through them one by one, if you guys are interested:

Spoiler

• In the Lotad family, only Lotad can learn Giga Drain. And at Level 30  Sooo I decided to breed a Lotad with Giga Drain but as I mentioned before I got terrible natured eggs, so I gave it up. Running around like that also caused Thorn to level up several levels, all the way to Level 28, and he learned Toxic Spikes. I decided to use this to my advantage and bought several common candies to get him down.
• Wing It, on the other hand was terrifyingly weak. I hunted a bit to get a Jolly natured one with Grassy Terrain, but unfortunately never got the two combined. I eventually settled for one with a Hasty Nature, and the dropped defense hurt quite a bit while training it up.
• As pointed out by @rayyan, Hoppip could learn Acrobatics at Level 28, so I cheated again like with Thorn, put him in the daycare and leveled him up to 28, common-candied down to 22, level him up again to 23 and evolved him to Skiploom.

In the end, these are what I had before I went up against Fern:

 

 

Pothead, Gloom

Lvl. 22

Gentle, Chlorophyll

• Mega Drain
• Sweet Scent
• Acid
• Sleep Powder

 

 

Mama, Lotad

Lvl. 22

Relaxed, Swift Swim

• Natural Gift
• Mist
• Mega Drain
• Bubblebeam

 

Victory, Weepinbell

Lvl. 21

Docile, Chlorophyll

• Vine Whip
• Growth
• Wrap
• Poison Powder

 

Thorn, Roselia

Lvl. 24

Lax, Natural Cure

• Giga Drain
• Growth
• Water Sport
• Toxic Spikes

 

 

Slash, Grovyle

Lvl. 24

Adamant, Overgrow

• Fury Cutter
• Pursuit
• Leaf Blade
• Quick Attack

 

 

Wing It, Skiploom

Lvl. 23

Hasty, Leaf Guard

• Grassy Terrain
• Leech Seed
• Bullet Seed
• Acrobatics

 

I have to say that at this point Fern is the most annoying person I have ever seen. Oh well, all those extra trainers means extra EXP. Anyways:

 

VS. FERN

 

Spoiler

As usual, he sent out his Lombre while I sent out Pothead, my Gloom. I spam Acid until it dies, getting him to waste two super potions in the process.

 

 

Next up is his Roselia. I recall Pothead and send out Slash, my trusty Grovyle. It uses Poison Sting twice, the first of them getting a critical as well as poisoning Slash. However, three Fury Cutters take it down.

 

 

His Servine is up next. I heal Slash up while it uses a Leaf Tornado, getting a critical and dealing quite a bit of damage. 1 Fury Cutter knocks it into oblivion.

 

Pitiful. Hopefully your sister does better.

 

I have to mention that strategy is rather minimal from my side, and I'm just kinda going with the flow xD I do hope my career doesn't end with Corey

 

Anyways, Florinia's up next, the more pleasant version of Fern. Grass versus grass, eyyyyyyyy. I equip Thorn with Rose Incense and Mama with Sea Incense (although this was totally unnecessary).

 

GYM #2 - vs. FLORINIA

 

Spoiler

First up is her Maractus. I send out Thorn and set up two layers of Toxic Spikes, while it sets up with two layers of Spikes. I then switch out to Wing It, and it takes in pretty hard hitting Desert-boosted Pin Missiles, getting it to yellow HP. I use Grassy Terrain to stop that thing, resulting in a weakened Pin Missile, which conveniently decides to hit 5 times in a row, nearly knocking it out. STAB Acrobatics does the deal tho:

 

 

Next up is her Ferroseed, and I send out Victory, mah Weepinbell. One Wrap later, Weepinbell down due to three critical hit Pin Missiles (why are there so many of these?) thereby preventing any further consistent damage done by Wrap.

 

Slash up next, critical Fury Cutter takes it down to yellow, down with four (now desert-boosted) super-effective Pin Missiles.

 

Ayy, not good. Wing It is back again and Acrobatics takes down both of them (totally forgot about its stupid Iron Barbs). No picture, unfortunately

 

Florinia then sends out her Cacnea while I send out Pothead. Poisoned Cacnea manages to take it out with four Pin-Missiles in a row (does it have Skill Link WHAT THE FUCK)

 

Mama up next. Sigh, she never stood a chance. Pin Missile takes it down immediately.

 

Down to my last bud, my buddy Thorn. Hopefully he doesn't fail me. Giga Drain takes it down to yellow while it hits Thorn for very little with Needle Arm.

Florinia switches to Cottonee, which gets poisoned. Giga Drain takes down 1/4th of its health. Yayy Rose Incense. Cottonee then attempts to use Protect, Thorn using Growth (HA!). Florinia then gets her Cottonee to use Nature Power --> Sand Tomb while I rack up one more Growth. Giga Drain then takes it out (forgot to take a screenshot again ).

But...

 

 

 

 

Desert boosted Smack Down was scary, alongside with Thorn disobeying me for one turn. Somehow managed it in the end tho

Can I say how much I HATE the Desert Field? Pin Missile was almost enough to decimate my entire team if not for Thorn's intervention. Super effectivity + continuous critical hits + terrain boost was absolute butchery. In any case, too close for comfort.

 

So Florinia gives us the badge because she for some reason thinks its okay to forcibly involve the little helpless girl we are with terrorist organizations that are known to murder people outright. Well, she isn't wrong, hopefully. We take the badge with grace, enjoy the benefits of the increased level cap, but all that next time!

 

Thanks for reading! I (hopefully) will cover Corey's badge next time!

 

PS: Sorry for not replying to y'all, I swear I've been taking your advice and reading all your replies but I somehow never found the time to reply back. I will do so in the future

Edited July 3, 2017 by RedAlert

[RedAlert]

It was finally a sunny day outside, and instead of going out for a good walk, I had other plans: to take on what would be the start of the more challenging part of Reborn. Two more Tangrowths and a Poison Gym Leader on a Grass mono? Challenging as hell, so I decided to go for it.

 

PART 4: Chattertots, Tankrowths and Corey in the House

 

After clearing up with Florinia last time, my next goal was to fix up the Beryl and Jasper Wards. Several battles, faints, and rescuing policemen later, I got myself a new mon.

 

 

I thought of getting Paras and Carnivine, but opted not to since I felt I had several superior other options. Anyways, clearing Jasper Ward meant I had to deal with Taka, who seemed to be hesitant about Team Meteor's methods. No time for sympathy though!

 

VS. TAKA

 

Spoiler

Taka sent out Lileep while I responded with Victory, my Weepinbell. I set up with Growth, which were sharply boosted thanks to the forest field, and knocked it out with two Vine Whips.

 

 

Next up was the ANNOYING AF Chatot, which had access to the pest that is Chatter. I switched out to Slash, my Grovyle hoping to outspeed it and thankfully it did with a field-boosted Leaf Blade taking it down to red, while it used a Nasty Plot (honestly, if this thing hit any of my pokes, I am so so screwed). Taka uses a Super potion and Slash takes it out with another Leaf Blade.

 

 

Next up is the bulky Tangrowth, which nearly devastated my entire team. It first proceeded to take down Slash with two Acid Sprays, after taking damage from Fury Cutters.

 

Following was Wing It (Jumpluff), which also fell to two Acid Sprays after taking it yellow with two Acrobatics.

 

Victory was up next, falling to a critical Acid Spray.

 

Mama the Lotad dealt enough damage with two Bubblebeams, taking it down to red.

 

Pothead the Gloom was up next and it dealt enough damage to take it out in a hit. I wanted Kush to get the EXP (for an evo) so I spammed Sweet Scent until it fainted.

 

 

One Bug Bite sealed the deal.

 

Well after that Taka apologized (or did he? didn't read the dialogue, sorry) and it was then time to clean up in Beryl. A double battle that I would definitely not enjoy was coming up, so I decided to make a couple adjustments to my team.

 

Mama was too weak for anything at this point, and since I wanted Giga Drain on it (only Lotad learns it at Lvl. 30), so I left it in the daycare while training up my other mons.

 

Soon...

 

 

And...

 

 

Two very necessary power buffs for my upcoming battle.

 

VS. ZEL + TAKA

 

Well, if this isn't hard, I don't know what is. Three super powerful Eeveelutions combined with a stronger PULSE! Tangrowth that we barely managed to take out before combined with a OP Chatot that spammed Chatter and an OP Lileep that liked to spam Confuse Ray? Overkill. If I had this team, I'd sweep Reborn

 

I thought up a couple strategies for this: One was to bring back in Kirsche the Cherubi and evolve it into Cherrim for the beautiful ability it had that would greatly help me in this battle, but I was too lazy to train up another mon. The second was to Toxic Spikes-kill the team (since PULSE!Tangrowth doesn't gain Poison typing until it actually transforms, it wouldn't be able to absorb the spikes which meant it would continue to work against the rest of the team, and hence would be pretty effective against the two. In the end, I didn't do either

 

Spoiler

The duo sent out Glaceon and Lileep and I sent out Victory (Weepinbell) and Pothead (Gloom). Glaceon luckily used a Bite instead of STAB Super Effective Icy Wind on Victory, after which Victory used an Acid. I then took the turn to get Pothead to use Sleep Powder on Glaceon, after which Lileep used a Confuse Ray on Pothead.

 

I then switched Pothead out to Jumpluff and used a Growth on Weepinbell. Lileep uses Acid.

I then set up with Grassy Terrain with Jumpluff, Grassy-terrain boosted (+2) Growth on Victory. Lileep uses another Acid.

 

Glaceon continues to sleep, Vine Whip + Acrobatics finishes it off.

 

 

Lileep realizes its mistake and uses a Confuse Ray on Victory.

 

ZEL sends out Espeon. I withdraw Wing It and send out Kush (Leavanny). Espeon uses a Future Sight, followed by Victory thankfully connecting and Aciding both. Lileep uses another Acid, barely scratching Kush in the process.

 

Espeon knocks out Victory with a Psybeam after which it gets knocked out itself by a Bug Bite from Kush.

 

 

Thorn and Umbreon are then sent out. It's at this point that I think of setting Toxic Spikes but I realize the terrain is almost at its end. After Bug-Biting Umbreon, taking away nearly half of its HP, I take advantage of the terrain and use Giga Drain instead on Lileep, knocking it out.

 

 

Umbreon proceeds to Feint Attack Thorn.

 

Chatot is sent out

 

Kush uses String Shot, followed by Chatter from Chatot, ending Kush. Giga Drain takes Chatot to half HP, followed by a Future Sight and Feint Attack which nearly kills Thorn. Slash (Grovyle) is sent out.

 

Thorn stays on to finally end Chatot with a Giga Drain-Leaf Blade combo with Slash, finally valiantly falling to Feint Attack.

 

 

Tankrowth is sent out. UGH. Why is every one of their Pokemon so OP?! I send out Wing It to replace Thorn. Acrobatics on Tangrowth and Fury Cutter on Umbreon is followed by a combination of Acid Spray and Feint Attack, nearly killing Wing It. Another Acrobatics on Tangrowth (taking it to about 2/3rds) and a Fury Misser later, Wing It falls to Quick Attack. Acid Spray hits Slash instead, dealing a good amount of damage, along with its ridiculous side effect.

 

Pothead is next. I take up his turn to Cotton Candy Kush, and Fury Cutter Umbreon. Slash then dies to a combination of QA-AS.

 

I send out Kush and Bug Bite Tangrowth, followed by Acid from Pothead. Umbreon faints and Tangrowth decides to use Vine Whip (WTF).

A combination of Bug Bite and Acid takes it to the red zone, and a super potion is used in the next turn. FUCK. I use another Bug Bite + Acid in the free turn.

I again repeat Bug Bite + Acid, after which Tangrowth uses another Vine Whip (this has probably ensured my Victory).

Another round of BB + A takes it back to red, and Tangrowth finally decides to Acid Spray. Too late now, you idiot!

 

 

Bug Bite finishes it off.

 

Well, isn't that dandy. I deserve some serious applause for that effort right there, especially from Florina. Let's not forget how useless she was against just one of these things. Anyways, the mysterious hooded figure then storms off after Heather and the police track him down, and it is disclosed that he is actually Corey, the gym leader of Beryl Ward. More drama follows up and we find ourselves at the gym.

 

I have to admit, I underestimated that Crobat the first couple of times. I declared Lotad as useless for this battle and left Mystery Egg proceedings for later. I however discovered an egg that I had completely forgotten about, only to find that I unluckily got the useless-for-this-run Drowzee egg. However, since I was already at the point where I could rightfully get myself a Cacnea, I traded it with my main game account. Soon,

 

Spoiler

 

Reason why I have Sucker Punch at 28: I used the same technique I used on Thorn, day-cared it up to Lvl. 34 where it learned Sucker Punch, evolved it, common-candied it down to 28 and there you have it.

 

So I finally decided to beat Corey with slight adjustments in my team. I sent Victory back to the PC for this battle and replaced him with Cacturne (just realized I haven't nicknamed her, you're welcome to suggest one)

 

 

Anyways,

 

 

TAIM TO KEEL

 

GYM #3 - vs. COREY

 

Spoiler

Ah, good old fashioned single battles.

 

Corey first sent out Skrelp. This thing's not  very strong, so I deem it as setup-worthy and start setting up a couple Growths with Thorn. 3 Acids (one of them a crit) and Growths later, I use a Giga Drain, activating Focus Sash. An Acid and Super Potion later, Giga Drain takes it out.

 

 

Skuntank comes along uses two Acid Sprays but I kill it off with two Giga Drains anyways

 

 

 

Poor fella never stood a chance.

 

Grimer is up next. I use another Giga Drain, nearly knocking it out while it uses Acid Armor, psshhh. I decide to use one more Growth to certify my win, while grimer uses Disable. Poor guy

 

 

One Bite and Giga Drain later...

 

 

 

Guess I was pushing my luck there. Well, time to do what I actually had to do. I send out Pothead.

Air Cutter misses ( <3 ) and Pothead uses a Sleep Powder. I recall Pothead and send out Wing It to use a Grassy Terrain. Unfortunately, Crobat gets right back up and takes Wing It out with a Venoshock. 

I resend Pothead and use another Sleep Powder (after Air Cutter misses AGAIN, lucky luck). I send out Cacturne this time, use a Growth to level up its Attack and Special Attack by two stages, while Crobat continues to sleep.

Sucker Punch nearly knocks it out, Crobat continues to enjoy its midday siesta.

And...

 

 

Ironic that I had to sacrifice Victory for victory in this battle, eh? K I'll stop srry bai

 

Corey is thankless and gym-badgeless as usual, storms out of the gym and commits suicide after saying goodbye to his Pokemon. The shock and gravity of the moment is ruined completely when dickwad shows up, mocking everything as usual. An explosion then takes place, after which Fern tells us to look over the wall (if only our player could push him over right now) and tells us our next location: Lapis Ward, also home to Shelly's gym.

 

All that in the next part! Thank you for reading (if you did)!

Edited July 3, 2017 by RedAlert

[Jess]

@RedAlert Wow, good job! I didn't think you'd defeat Corey THAT easily!

Good strategy to take advantage of weak Skrelp and setup Growths!

Also, I had no idea that Sucker Punch connects when an enemy is asleep. I guess it only has to do with the move it selects to use, regardless of whether it manages to use it! Learn something every day!

Congrats for your badge oh, wait a second and keep going!