Note to Self: Golurk some more (A GBU Warstory)

[Tenodera]

Welcome to Smogon's first Random Matchup Warstory (and my first warstory at that), unless somebody ninjas me while I'm writing this. To decrease the likelihood of said ninjaing, let's go straight to the battle.

Wait... a Disclaimer: All damage percentages are approximates since this is Random Matchup and not a simulator. Also, no sprites for now since I can't access Pe2k from this computer. :P

Begin!

JOSH sent out Yanmega!
Opponent sent out Politoed!
Politoed's Drizzle made it rain.
Yanmega used Bug Buzz! Politoed took 38% damage.
Politoed used Ice Beam! Yanmega took 99% damage. Yanmega hung on using its Focus Sash.

Yanmega: 1% Politoed: 62%

All right, another Rain team. What fun. Anyways I get a tiny beating on the toad and am down to my sash. Yanmega now, regrettably, has about a 30% chance of coming out of this alive. Come on, hax!

Yanmega used Air Slash! Politoed took 30% damage.
Politoed flinched!

Yanmega: 1% Politoed: 32%

Sweet. I can see my opponent marking the first strike on their "Throw DS at wall" list. Hopefully this won't happen again. Anyway, I'm not going to overthink this and just finish off the Politoed.

Yanmega used Bug Buzz! Politoed took 32% damage.
Politoed fainted!
Opponent sent out Scizor!

Yanmega: 1% Scizor: 100%

And... cue fear. My other two Pokemon, Golurk and Hydreigon, don't like this Scizor one bit. Golurk could take it, actually, but I want to preserve his bulk and he'd hate taking 2 possibly CB Bullet Punches. I'm hoping it's CB. A Swords Dance would be ugly. Time to sacrifice Yanmega.

Yanmega used Air Slash! Scizor took 32% damage.
Scizor flinched!
Scizor restored a little HP with its Leftovers.

Yanmega: 1% Scizor: 74%

Strike two. Looks like it tried to SD. However, I'm guessing his frustration will pay off for me and he'll opt to simply Bullet Punch my dragonfly before any further flinching shenanigans.

Scizor used Bullet Punch! Yanmega took 1% damage.
Yanmega fainted!
JOSH sent out Golurk!

Golurk: 100% Scizor: 80%

All goes as hoped. I'll now prepare to harm something with my ghostly golem. Although, I did see a Latios on his team. My Golurk is Choice Banded, with max HP and Attack (and 4 Spe). A lot of people don't expect the extra bulk. Now Shadow Punch looks really attractive, but I'm uncertain. He might not have brought the Latios because of my Scizor, Yanmega, and Regigigas. We'll find out sooner or later, but I'm gonna Earthquake.

Opponent switched in Latios!
Golurk used Earthquake! It doesn't affect Latios...

Golurk: 100% Latios: 100%

Oops. I'm expecting a Rain-boosted Surf that would demolish Golurk and mess up a lot of other things. Except my Hydreigon.

JOSH switched in Hydreigon!
Latios used Surf! It's not very effective. Hydreigon took 45% damage.

Hydreigon: 55% Latios: 100%

The extra HP EVs I run on my Hydreigon come in handy. That damage was massive, though, and I'm thinking he's wearing Specs (or I could just look at Latios' eyes). If he is choiced, he'll probably go to Scizor. Golurk it is.

JOSH switched in Golurk!
Opponent switched in Scizor!

Golurk: 100% Scizor: 86%

Another tricky prediction. I'm still wary of going all out and Shadow Punching, since he knows I know he could run to Latios. Stone Edge, however, will maim either of them just enough for my fragile master plan.

Scizor used Swords Dance! Scizor's attack rose sharply.
Golurk used Stone Edge! Scizor took 64% damage.

Golurk: 100% Scizor: 28%

Stone Miss comes through for me, and Scizor is in a precarious position. I expect a Bullet Punch, and I have nothing better to do than stay in.

Scizor used U-Turn! Golurk took 45% damage.
Opponent switched in Latios!
Golurk used Stone Edge! Latios took 80% damage.

Golurk: 55% Latios: 20%

Perfect! Golurk has done his job, and is sadly doomed. He'll forgive me later. If Latios opts to Dragon Pulse instead of Surf, and that KO's me, then I've lost. But I don't think he'll try that.

Latios used Surf! Golurk took 55% damage.
Golurk fainted!
JOSH switched in Hydreigon.

Hydreigon: 55% Latios: 20%

So I hear Scarf Hydreigon is rare these days. Well, I don't care. He knows that whether he outspeeds or not, he probably won't get me with Surf. So, apparently to take the imminent Dragon move, he switches.

Opponent switched in Scizor!
Hydreigon used Surf! Scizor took 28% damage.
Scizor fainted!

If I were him, I would've Surfed with Latios, hoping my dragon wasn't Scarfed. Then a quick BP from Scizor and it's game over. It wouldn't have worked either way, but I really don't know what happened here. Latios is now free to use its Dragon move and score some revenge points, but alas...

Opponent sent out Latios!
Hydreigon used Surf! A Critical Hit! It's not very effective. Latios took 20% damage.
Latios fainted.

And that's the game!

Good match! Thankfully no disconnect, either.

 

[Ashenlock]

Had a bit too much hax for me, and was kind of short. It seems at some instances you weren't really prepared for the foe's team (All three of your pokemon were Ice-weak, for example). I'm also kind of surprised that Surf did 45% to Hydreigon, even in the rain and with possible Specs, but I don't have a calc to find out one way or the other. Maybe the story will feel more fluid when you get the chance to edit in pictures.

 

[Virizion]

His Scizor used Bullet Punch on your Yanmega, so it (hopefully) wasn't carrying Iron Head. Also, a very minor nitpick; when a Pokémon has 1% HP, PO says the next hit it takes deals 0% damage to it, likely due to rounding down the number.

 

[Tenodera]

Thanks for the comments!

Ashenlock: Haxy? Yeah, I agree. I brought multiple Ice-weaks because I haven't had trouble with Politoed Ice Beams in the past and I think that was his only likely Ice user. As for shortness... most of my GBU battles seem this short! I just thought it was the norm for 3 v. 3.

Virizion: Oh yeah. It did BP me earlier. Bad editing! I deleted that part though so we don't get repeat reminders.

 

[Dark Arceus]

Stoped readnig after you said you were hoping for hax turn 2.

 

[Baz Anderson]

The cries of "hax" are just pathetic really... it's a game, and Air Slash is just a move. It was created with the 30% flinch rate for a reason. Aside from switching, it is obviously going to be the best option on the off-chance...

Yeh, it's annoying when an opponent gets a critical hit or flinches you, but come on - it's a Pokémon game, it isn't chess.

 

[Ashenlock]

Thinking "Hmm, Air Slash is the best option statistically, when factoring in its flinch rate, the number of auxiliary pokemon I have, what set the foe is likely to have, etc." is different from thinking, "I don't know what will happen, but I hope luck will be on my side." And even if it is something we actually hoped for at some point in the battle, writers usually romanticize that part a little, as well they should. Everybody has to piss, and there's nothing evil about that, but we still don't bring it up every time it happens. The ideal in Pokemon is to win your battles with perpetually less and less luck and more and more because of one's and one's own team's merits. I applaud Tenodera's honesty, but it would be better if he didn't wish for good fortune in the first place.

I was never trying to insult the story, just pointing out a weak spot that should be worked on in future stories. I don't know Singles very well, especially in the GBU, so maybe my other criticisms are unfounded.

 

[Baz Anderson]

Ok, fair enough.