POKÉMON CENTER

[wispy yarrow]

Yep

[pliant violet]

getting into games is so quick

[wispy yarrow]

I love it

I love how fast you get into matches

How quickly you can just

start up the game, hit battle, hit ranked, hit matchmaking

4 buttons and you're fighting

and every other menu is accessible from everywhere

[pliant violet]

yee

[pliant violet]

ok so ultra is a massive jump from great in terms of teams and execution

[manic kindle]

yeah ive been in ultra 2 since yesterday morning

lots of really good games but lots of me winning 1-2 then losing 1-2

my hot take is open teamsheets would fix some of my hiccups here

[pliant violet]

same rank buddy

hell, same pattern

I also find I win like 3-0 or 4-0 then most of my lossses are tight 0-1 or 0-2

but a loss is a loss

[manic kindle]

i was really impressed with my last loss

mega scovillain w coaching sneasler

[pliant violet]

ooh

I get really hyped when my opponents snatch those close wins

I think the reason my wins are landslides is the nature of TR

[manic kindle]

you can lose vs trick room in just bringing the wrong 4 right off the bat

[pliant violet]

and the losses are tight because TR and also my team is just kinda bulky and hits hard

[pliant violet]

yee

[manic kindle]

its hard to find a switch turn against TR too, so starting the wrong opening pair is also harsh

[pliant violet]

lots of folks autopiloting their first turn too, with fake outs into farig or using the cotton ball to set tail wind

I usually open farig incin, fake out to ensure they can't double the farig and TR, turn two is usually farig spread and either hard switch incin or use parting shot

[manic kindle]

my current TR open is just basculegion + pelipper so i can attempt to wave crash+hurricane the firag immediately, barring other team previews

[pliant violet]

yeah, tr and fakeout works there, idc if you crash the incin, that's a free switch

usually into hydrapple, and then double the pelipper to take it out before it can hurricane the hydrapple

and then from there I'm in the driver's seat

matchup I've run into a lot

[manic kindle]

a lot of folk sort of get incineroar madness in matchups where you dont Need to kill him immediately

same w whimsicott and sinistea

[pliant violet]

don't you mean polcheageist

whims can be a real problem, as is any prankster mon that gets encore and taunt

[manic kindle]

yeah the matcha tea man

they can get a lot of value over time but for a lot of my teamcomp if i just kill The Thing That Kills (archaludon/meganium) i can power through the supporter

[pliant violet]

TR is a pretty specific HA kinda comp so everything is a thing that kills

meganium I've not had much issue with but I must admit the bridge confounds me a little

[manic kindle]

does your tr team have a way to mess with weather

[pliant violet]

no, and that might be worth a thought, I do have a whims in the back, or I could swap it for torkoal, tr monster that it is

alternatively I could do some sort of conkeldurr thought

2 supportish pokemon for 4 attackers feels right for TR

[manic kindle]

reliable chunky fighting type stab is always nice

[pliant violet]

yeah that was something I enjoyed on the mega kang team with sneasler

[manic kindle]

i fought a mega kang yesterday that did smth interesting; they mega Fake Out'd, then switched out to have the super fake out for later

was a little silly but it was spooky

i had to keep my basc in the back at all times to have a safe ghost switch in

[pliant violet]

I like mega kang because if you don't mega you have scrappy fakeout and folks don't expect that

[manic kindle]

really nice to mess up froslass opens

[timber vale]

Gonna start champions today

[pliant violet]

hell yeah have fun

we're here for ideas if you need them

I recommed doing the tutorials, they're good, quick and easy, and give good reward

[timber vale]

Where can I find the list of mons available

I need to find at least one of my favorites to build around

[pliant violet]

https://www.serebii.net/pokemonchampions/pokemon.shtml

do note you can't just choose what to use, unless you're importing from home

[timber vale]

I wanna try using Mega Charizard X if I can get my hands on it

[pliant violet]

that will probably be quite doable

[timber vale]

Fire/water/grass core and such

[manic kindle]

aiming for 3v3 singles or 4v4 doubles

[timber vale]

Doubles, I wanna try it

[timber vale]

Oh also maybe volc

Though whether defensive or offensive i don't know yet

[manic kindle]

rage powder volcarona is hot

[timber vale]

Did my baby child rocky helmet survive or was it left behind

[obtuse ravine]

typhlosion is there oorah

[pliant violet]

not in atm but doesn't mean it won't get added

hisuian typhlosion is very good

[obtuse ravine]

[timber vale]

Fuuuuck okay I have to pick a different item for Volc then

[obtuse ravine]

don't think i have access to one tho...

[languid lichen]

wait what

[obtuse ravine]

my violet save only has a normal cyndaquil

[languid lichen]

do you mean volcarona or volcanion

[obtuse ravine]

and idk where the breeding place is

[timber vale]

Volcarona

[languid lichen]

because i've never in my life seen a hat on either

rocky helmet volcarona????

[timber vale]

I was thinking of using defensive volc

Idk if rocky helmet is used on it

[languid lichen]

never

[timber vale]

It was just my first thought

[languid lichen]

it has dogshit phys bulk

[timber vale]

Since it also has flame body

[languid lichen]

and crazy offenses

with quiver dance

[pliant violet]

you'll likely run across one just doing pulls every so often anyway

[timber vale]

I know, but defensive volc is a set that's used in VGC

[obtuse ravine]

[timber vale]

And I kinda want to try it

[languid lichen]

wild

what does it stop?

[soft isle]

If you want we can hook you up since we have PLA

Este (they/she) ↩️

[Reply to:](#1160615504562638910 message) don't think i have access to one tho...

[timber vale]

I'll run offense volcarona too, I just wanna try defensive

[timber vale]

Special attackers

[languid lichen]

as opposed to like, a moltres

[timber vale]

It also has redirect and flame body

[pliant violet]

fire bug is not terrible defensive typing

[timber vale]

Also self-heal through giga drain, theoretically

[soft isle]

S/V doesn't have a specific breeding place, it's part of the picnic minigame. If you have two pokemon capable of breeding in the party at the same time, you have a chance of finding an egg in the picnic basket

Este (they/she) ↩️

[Reply to:](#1160615504562638910 message) and idk where the breeding place is

[pliant violet]

and any redirection is good redirection

[timber vale]

And defensive type is okay too yeah

[manic kindle]

Just having access to Rage Powder is huge, yeah

[languid lichen]

ohhh, it gets rage powder

[timber vale]

Yuh

[languid lichen]

okay, that makes it make a bit more sense

[timber vale]

It has really good special bulk iirc and its offensive bulk can be made up for with other tools

[obtuse ravine]

ohh huh

the more you know

[timber vale]

And iirc rock isn't common as a type

[manic kindle]

Mystical Fire, Rage Powder, Struggle Bug, Tailwind, WilloWisp, Sunny Day and Rain Dance, all nice support-y moves

i have lost two matches to it

[obtuse ravine]

aww
I'd greatly appreciate that (whenever I get around to starting)

[pliant violet]

physical attackers are much more easily punished than special

in part because of intimidate being cracked

[pliant violet]

my only gripe with most of these is it's speed

[languid lichen]

base 100?

[pliant violet]

could be faster

[manic kindle]

Hard to compete with the mons that'll be fucking it up for the opening support moments

not fast enough to get around The Sneasler

[timber vale]

If i was doing sweeper volc

What would be good support for it

[pliant violet]

especially now that speed recalculates within a turn, speed altering effects you really want to go off fast

[pliant violet]

sun, redirection, fake out support, some sort of speed control probably tail wind, a physical attacker to pair with it

don't need all of these but they help

[timber vale]

Hrmmm

[manic kindle]

i also think volc could slot in nicely to a Sand core

[timber vale]

Volc, Mega Charizard, Whmsicott, maybe?

And something to cover some other areas

[timber vale]

Really?

[manic kindle]

Yeah, they'd appreciate having big Heat Wave support

[pliant violet]

Sand is solid because you can make it work with like 2 mons

[manic kindle]

and in turn T-tar and Friends help cover what bullies Volc

[timber vale]

Fair, will note this

[pliant violet]

tyranitar and mega drill, boom instant sand core

[timber vale]

Would i want goggles to avoid sand chip on volc?

[manic kindle]

like in my mind i see T-tar, Garchomp/Excadrill, Volc, and Mega Venusaur

[timber vale]

Or

[manic kindle]

no goggles </3

[timber vale]

I thought it lost benefits from sand after evolving?

[manic kindle]

https://www.serebii.net/pokemonchampions/items.shtml

[timber vale]

Why mega venasaur?

[manic kindle]

here's everything we get

[pliant violet]

it does, true, you can always mega t-tar

[manic kindle]

Mega Venusaur covers a lot of nice sand-core weaknesses, has huge bulk even in the Sand, and has strong af Earth Powers to bully opposing sand teams

[pliant violet]

I'm currently not running a mega in my tr team and doing fine

[languid lichen]

cracked bulk, kills waters, walls fighting, scares off some steels

[timber vale]

We're genuinely working with fucking nothing 😭

No LIFE ORB? NO CHOICE ITEMS? NO AV????

[manic kindle]

this is one of the teams i fought against and i thought it was really cool

[timber vale]

I'm tweaking

[manic kindle]

honestly the lack of items has felt fine

[timber vale]

Oooo it does look neat

[manic kindle]

its kinda cool

[timber vale]

Noted

[manic kindle]

i do want More but its sort of like

idk

[timber vale]

...I wonder if... mega garchomp + tail wind support...

Sand...

[soft isle]

out of curiosity, how is mega-ganium?

[languid lichen]

alas, poor chomp

[manic kindle]

everything is a little Less Lethal so you get fun weird moments of 'oh man actually Leftovers Archaludon is a Real Problem"

[manic kindle]

i am LOVING her

full power fire weather balls in rain fucking rules

[timber vale]

Can tailwind genuinely not save it?

[manic kindle]

Garchomp puts in a lot of work dont fret

[pliant violet]

victim to sneasler, a lot harder to deal with when I don't have sneasler unless I'm TR-ing it and can ice beam off primarina or something

[manic kindle]

Ground move of your choice, Poison Jab, Protect, other move puts in the work

[timber vale]

Right but mega specifically

[languid lichen]

it probably does

but losing that speed is so tragic

[timber vale]

Okay cool

[timber vale]

Yea...

[pliant violet]

leftovers hydrapple with giga drain for grass stab is unkillable

[timber vale]

So... tailwind user, t-tar, mega chomp, volcarona, maybe mega venasaur, and a sixth...

[languid lichen]

mega

also mega

[timber vale]

Is regenerator good for it or do you run something else

[languid lichen]

gotta pick one

[pliant violet]

I run regenerator

[timber vale]

It'd be for flexibility

[pliant violet]

it's nice

[timber vale]

If I need mega t-tar, I hit t-tar

If i need what venasaur provides more, it's venasaur

[languid lichen]

oh you're just gonna run all 3 mega stones

[pliant violet]

syrup isn't a bad ability but I don't fuck with attacks that can miss

[timber vale]

...3?

[manic kindle]

a lot of the doubles teams run 2 megas for bring 4 purposes

[timber vale]

OH WAIT RIGHT LMAO

[languid lichen]

...did you forget that you said garchomp?

[timber vale]

I forgor 💀

Okay reconsidering mega stuff there but

[pliant violet]

ignore me using the variable power fickle beam

don't mega chomp

just use regular

[timber vale]

I want to use tail wind mega chomp

[languid lichen]

i mean fickle beam is just a dragon pulse that sometimes presses the Kill You Instantly button

[timber vale]

Sand force quake...

[pliant violet]

I could be using draco meteor though topple

I just don't

[languid lichen]

you could

but fickle beam is good for longevity

[timber vale]

Is dragon dance garchomp any good

Wait

No garchomp doesn't get that

[languid lichen]

chomp has never gotten ddance

[manic kindle]

Setup is a little trickier in doubles

[languid lichen]

if it did megachomp might be a bit better

[pliant violet]

fickle beam is also just very funny, which is really important to me

[languid lichen]

but regular chomp would be even better-er

[timber vale]

What about scale shot

Does that help at all or does the physical loss bulk hurt too much

[pliant violet]

I have exactly one set up move and it's nasty plot on hydrapple

[languid lichen]

scale shot is a good move in singles at least, dunno about vgc

but the problem is the same with any double dance

[pliant violet]

scale shot is also good in vgc

[languid lichen]

you're spending one turn on speed and one turn on power

which makes it awkward to fit in for a sweeper

[timber vale]

Also they lack loaded dice i just remembered

Hrmmmmm

Okay I think I might try a volc sun comp as well theoretically

[pliant violet]

I haven't seen much of the maushold bridge stuff

[manic kindle]

scale shot is really good

maushold super fang </3 it hurts me when it hits me

[languid lichen]

i think dragapult should get population bomb

[pliant violet]

topple you're so right

it wouldn't even be particularly great for it

and yet

[languid lichen]

and yet

[pliant violet]

oh don't sleep on kingambit btw

[timber vale]

They should give veluza population bomb

[pliant violet]

that guy will steal your soul

[languid lichen]

has anyone ever slept on kingambit?

that thing is a fucking nightmare

[pliant violet]

bit spikey for it, I know

[manic kindle]

kingambit gets the Sneasler Special when i see him

[timber vale]

I will not. I play too much singles to doubt its power.

[pliant violet]

it's even nastier in doubles because incin and other intimidators are popular

[timber vale]

Defiant...

[pliant violet]

it's other ability is less popular since it can only get at most 3 pokemon fainted on your side

[timber vale]

Mgm

[languid lichen]

supreme overlord is the world-killer in smogon

"hello yes i would like an extra choice band on my sucker punches"

[pliant violet]

this is when I pivot it to primarina and farig psychics the weasel, I'm sorry

[languid lichen]

normal words spoken by normal people

[timber vale]

You do not run choice band on a sucker punch mon but I get what you mean yeah

[pliant violet]

yeah since sucker punch is so good you don't even have to run it in TR

you should though

[manic kindle]

i do hope you have fun brewing! i think the current limited pool has bred some real weird stuff

[timber vale]

Vanilluxe mega hawlucha skill swap sheer cold

[pliant violet]

I think folks were doing sand teams with skill swap hawlucha and excadrill

[languid lichen]

not running entrainment for it instead?

[pliant violet]

oh maybe? idk the ability changing moves well

[languid lichen]

entrainment gives the target yours, skill swap...swaps

oh

lucha doesn't learn swap lol

just entrainment

so that squares it

[pliant violet]

if you come across anything cool or think of anything cool please do let us know

[timber vale]

Noted

[pliant violet]

or if you need any help

clearly some of us are thinking about this too much

I'm actually really happy hydrapple is as decent as I'd hoped

[manic kindle]

i saw fuckin fake out simipour of all things in ultra ball

anything can be viable if you cook hard enough

[pliant violet]

anything*

[manic kindle]

also was a fun way to learn the monkey trio got Fake Out

[snow wren]

and home is still a subscription right?

[manic kindle]

Home has a free option, but i think its just One Box

otherwise i think its ~$15/year, not sure

i am just using in-game mons and systems

[snow wren]

and you need to buy the extremely expensive modern pokemon games to get pokemon for it

[manic kindle]

Well, the priced as other video games games, yeah

[snow wren]

is champions a sw2 exclusive or both?

[manic kindle]

You do have to play pokemon to get pokemon

Switch 1+2, plus on mobile later

[pliant violet]

the in game system in champions is good enough to at least make ultra

[manic kindle]

unless you really badly need Mega Floette

[pliant violet]

and I see no reason you cannot go higher

[manic kindle]

The real thing is that while you get a lot of frontloaded in-game currency, it does trickle in slower later so its good to make sure you make your first set of pokemon count imo

[pliant violet]

oh and don't waste points on training, make sure you're using training tickets

you use one training ticket to do all the training you're doing which could be assigning all the evs, changing all 4 moves, changing nature, changing ability

[manic kindle]

yeah training tickets are good value and you get a solid chunk early

I am 100% am in favor of "netdecking" a team early, or at least figuring out what are solid easy picks that work in a variety of teams

people joke about Incineroar but that guy works on almost any team

[snow wren]

you can move pokemon from go to champions right?

[pliant violet]

you cannot go wrong recruiting incin or sneasler imo

[pliant violet]

think it's gotta go through home but ye

[manic kindle]

Also of all the mega ability reveals and how theyve played out

Mega Victreebel becoming a landmine that sun teams cant defuse is my favorite

[snow wren]

what does mega victerebell do?

wonder if torterra and serperior will ever get megas

serperior loosing hidden power made them go from ou staple to useless since they have basically no coverage and a bizare statline

although hiddden pwer was probably a good thing to lose for overall game health

[manic kindle]

Mega Victreebel got Innards Out as an ability, which was a flavor win but otherwise not a great ability... except exactly right now, where it means Charizard Y can't click Heat Wave without dying immediately

its very niche but it gets a giggle out of me

[languid lichen]

are people running vic with sucker punch rn?

[manic kindle]

🤔 im not sure what the sets are. i know it gets access to some funny moves, like Strength Sap

specifically the two ive seen ive noted Sleep Powder and Strength Sap

[languid lichen]

yeah, it got sap in gen 9

which is sick

[manic kindle]

it makes it funnier in regards to innards out specifically here

since it makes it a little harder to chunk down and defuse

[languid lichen]

it also has grassy glide and lunge

[manic kindle]

its on my list of pokemon to cook with while the meta can handle him

oo clear smog too, very nice in this hefty incineroar and stamina arch world

[languid lichen]

...how are you clicking clear smog on archaludon?

[manic kindle]

its doubles partner

[languid lichen]

what partner makes poison damage steel?

[manic kindle]

no no

i am using clear smog on archaludon's partner

[languid lichen]

oh

[manic kindle]

wait im dumb

its not haze

[languid lichen]

LOL

correct

[manic kindle]

idk why i thought it worked on both

[languid lichen]

clear smog is a damaging move that targets one adjacent pokemon

not haze but poison

i see the confusion now

[timber vale]

oouughhh... Kitt... Kitt from pokemon champions...

[languid lichen]

what

[timber vale]

started with t-tar

this thing kicks ass

tanked a solar beam without issue and proceeded to sweep

[timber vale]

she's very pretty

[manic kindle]

Shes so pretty

[versed sand]

Gender.

[languid lichen]

oh, her

yeah, i'm super normal about that woman

[runic umbra]

eh. she's cute an' all but also a lil boring.

[torpid pivot]

/points Applejack

[timber vale]

holy shit D-dance tyranitar is genuinely frying everyone in pokeball tier

instantly

I hit one d-dance and win the game

[runic umbra]

the drink?

[manic kindle]

she works better in motion

she's got a ton of little mannerisms that shine

[runic umbra]

sure.

Like I get the appeal but eh. part of me's getting a little cynical about a new pokémon game being teased with hot character designs.

again.

not trying to claim the moral high ground or anything, Loreley is proof that there was always room for hot characters in pokémon games.

[manic kindle]

Oh its not teased, the game is out

Came out earlier this week

also has the most trans coded receptionist and scrunkly dad

they even put her in trans colors

[timber vale]

she's my spirit animal

[runic umbra]

...am I just out of touch?
no, it's the nerds who are wrong

[manic kindle]

🫵 old! old!! out of touch!!!

mods, kill this talhoffer

rearrange his categorization system

peel off all the spine labels

put hilts that could never work on every media sword ever

[timber vale]

randomize the order of his vertabrae

wait

no you mean book spines

[snow cobalt]

cruelty...

[manic kindle]

mods fix everyone's scoliosis but then give everyone different scoliosis

[manic kindle]

mods force this gentleman to only get matches against Mega Floette Balance Offense Rain Core teams

[runic umbra]

anyway that's a good bean.

[manic kindle]

she's great, i like all the commentary she has on whether you win/lose/etc

and her random stuff

sometimes you'll be doing other menu stuff and she hits you with the "i crashed my bike today!" like ok

[obtuse ravine]

awww

that is a good bean 🙂‍↕️

[runic umbra]

hang in there, little trans bean.

[runic umbra]

also I'm fairly sure reggie already tries.

[runic umbra]

and lastly: I'm surprised anyone remembers my rants about that.

also it's catalogue system.
get on my level nerd

[manic kindle]

Hey im a librarian(kinda) too! We suffer together

[runic umbra]

that changes everything

[versed sand]

Debating between picking up a Dragapult, Hippowdon or Crabominable

[manic kindle]

I like dragapult a lot for all formats

Just an all around solid guy

[pliant violet]

I think the first two are really solid, but as listed you have them in ascending order of specific need

[sullen mesa]

started up champions

why tf did they default aggron to have a focus sash lmao

[pliant violet]

Oh with the auto build feature? Who knows

[versed sand]

Crabo fascinates me, largely because of the fight/ice typing lol

[pliant violet]

I like Crabrawler a decent bit, it’s evo a negative amount, and it’s mega is alright

[sullen mesa]

is belly drum aqua jet azumarill washed

[pliant violet]

Idk about washed but it’s not the most common

[sullen mesa]

i'm jettin

[pliant violet]

Hell yeah

I saw belly drum snorlax into my tr team the other day

[languid lichen]

jegus

[pliant violet]

I killed it

[sullen mesa]

nvm its washed, whimmy walls it

[pliant violet]

That is the problem with an all in attacker strategy

[sullen mesa]

no longer washed i have zoroark to fuck with them

also grabbed ice coverage on azumarill for the future

[pliant violet]

so true

[snow wren]

wjp

who's on the right?

oh thats the bisharp one right

trick room is fun, tend sto have pokemon I think are neat, particularly the mix of magey psychic and ghost types with big heavy beasts

[pliant violet]

kingambit

[snow wren]

yeah forgot what their new evo was called

[pliant violet]

I'm currently running a tr team in champions

[snow wren]

what are the mainstays?

[pliant violet]

here's the list, ignore it's sideways

it's basically Farig and incin + two of primarina kingambit hydrapple

really hoping mega golisopod is both good and comes to the game soon

[snow wren]

incineroar is just a super dominant pokemon huh
I don't like their design much personally

[pliant violet]

dominant is debatable but pretty much always useful? undeniably true

[umbral hound]

Kingambit, to keep up the chess theme introduced by the translation

[snow wren]

mimikyu was used as a trick room setter for a bit but has since been phased out with more mons available right?

[manic kindle]

Still in ultra 2 but im cooking...

[pliant violet]

it's still doable as a tr setter but there are better options imo yeah

ole reliable, what a guy

have you considered u-turn instead of coaching?

[manic kindle]

Its on my list to test! For tomorrow
Same w Choice Scarf Adaptability basc instead

[snow wren]

I've always been bad at building pokemon teams

[pliant violet]

I recommend net decking

[snow wren]

would mimikyu/hydreigon/scizor combined with a solid grass/water/fire core be ok?

[pliant violet]

my team is nothing innovative, it's tr setter, thing to enable tr setter, bunch of slow hard hitters

[pliant violet]

so doing dual fantasy and starter cores?

[snow wren]

what does that mean?

[pliant violet]

I've been advised it's best to just worry about one of those

fantasy core is fairy steel dragon

starter core is grass/water/fire

[snow wren]

I didn't know fantasy core was a thing
I just like those three and know they are seen as ok in comp

[pliant violet]

ah

hydreigon is better than ok

[snow wren]

offhand I think they're my most competitively viable favorites

[pliant violet]

you'd be surprised what can be good with a bit of love

idk if there's a good space collating teams for champions rn but it should pop up soon

[snow wren]

maybe something like arcanine, venusaur and some sort of fast water type to protext scizor

greninja maybe?

but thats a dark type where my team lacks a strong counter to fighting

or maybe swap that for a gyrados and a ground type instead of fire

[manic kindle]

Third thing to test: rock tomb sneasler to ko charizards

[snow wren]

oh huh, champions doesn't have galar starters, thats a strange omision

[pliant violet]

that's some hater shit and I'm here for it murdoc

[snow wren]

you know what would be an interesting mode for champions future? curated 150 where there's only 150 pokemon available from a pool decided by someone, maybe a well known fan like wolfy or someone on the team, or thematica reasons

how is mamoswine in the current meta?

[pliant violet]

current meta is very loose, game is less than a week old and some stuff expected to be in it is not so a lot of early theorycrafting was pointless

[pliant violet]

Ok I’m hard stuck at ultra 2

[pliant violet]

It’s not bad imo, sorry realised I hadn’t answered, snow cloak and oblivious are both solid abilities, especially with snow teams helmed by frosslass around

[pliant violet]

out of ultra 2!

went from no points at ultra 2 to a winstreak that took me out of it

I think I'd been playing my turn ones a little too passively, fake out tr almost everytime, I'd forgotten I can kill a motherfucker

if you take a ko turn one you're very scary

whereas I'm willing to take a ko in turn one if I get to set up tr

[manic kindle]

Woooo master ball rank! Spiritomb numero uno i love ally switch

[timber vale]

I need to lock in and get laddering

Also I saw something about using tickets instead of VP to train Pokémon

How do I do that

I want to build a little psyspam

[manic kindle]

When you go to confirm all the training/changes there should be a lil popup to use x to switch to tickets

[timber vale]

Noted

[manic kindle]

Im excited to see what you cook

[timber vale]

yo what the fuck my opponent got full shinies this mf plays too much I might be fried

[arctic dagger]

I mean they might just be a collector

Catching all of the pokemon does not in fact make you better at comp

[versed sand]

Being a Pokémon Master was bullshit all along?

[timber vale]

FUUUUUCk

FUCKKKKK

[arctic dagger]

Always Has Been

[timber vale]

they did endeavor on my armarogue

which gave it speed due to weak armor

so it launched expanding force before my gardevoir could set terrain

I ain't built for this shit gng I need to lock in

[versed sand]

Oh fuck yeah, rolled a Chandelure

[timber vale]

I fucking NEED mental herb to be added to this game

or to get a psychic surge mon

I NEED TO TAKE QUICK CLAW OFF OF THIS GUY WHY DID I GIVE ARMAROGUE QUICK CLAW

AM I GENUINELY BRAINDEAD 😭

[manic kindle]

All a part of the process

[timber vale]

WHAT

HOW DID I WIN

THAT GUY HAD MACH PUNCH AND PSYCHIC TERRAIN JUST WORE OFF

AND HE JUST

DIDN'T USE IT ON T-TAR

bot lobbies type shit

I love undeserved wins

[arctic dagger]

If you won, it wasn't undeserved.

[timber vale]

truthnuke

[arctic dagger]

You don't need to be perfect, you just need to be better than your opponent.

It's like running from zombies

[versed sand]

Tweaked up my Chandelure's moveset to Shadow Ball / Energy Ball / Calm Mind / Fire Blast

Couldn't decide on Timid or Modest for the nature

[arctic dagger]

Does Chandelure not get Heat Wave?

Oh, it does.

Why fire blast instead of heat wave?

[versed sand]

Was looking up recommended movesets, seen that and Flame Burst as the go-to's apparently

[arctic dagger]

I mean it is better single target

I'm just used to seeing heat wave

[manic kindle]

Load into singles to grind it out
Click stone edge turn 1, 2, 3
Miss 3 times
I missed you, stone edge.

[snow wren]

Chandelure is great

[timber vale]

got confused by hurricane 3 times in a row

decided to just forfeit and stop playing to avoid getting tilted

[wild prairie]

Finally downloading champions

[sullen mesa]

stone edge missed you too

[versed sand]

Glaceon or Sharpedo? Choices, choices 🤔

[manic kindle]

Whats the full team like? Singles or doubles?

[versed sand]

So far, just singles

Though now that you mention it, I should start crafting a doubles team too

[pliant violet]

mental herb is in the game

[timber vale]

it is?

oh I probably just haven't bought it lmao

[pliant violet]

oh, wolfey put out an intro to competitive battling video

[wispy yarrow]

Ye, it's cool

Great time, too, as soon as the vgc became the MOST accessible

[pliant violet]

he do be like that

[wispy yarrow]

I am ONLY a little sad that he only talks about doubles

I'm a singles fan

I do think he's now leaning into the meme of "Wolfey mentions winning the world championship"

Bro drops it every video, sometimes multiple times and it's amusing to me

[pliant violet]

the world champ is less impressive to me than the "won more major tournaments than anyone else"

[wispy yarrow]

Agreed

[pliant violet]

oh a wolfy video every day in april

hope he doesn't burn out

[manic kindle]

i do get being a singles fan but the official comps are all the big doubles and thats what brings in da money and prestige

so it makes sense to focus on it

its also gunna be why a majority of tier lists and content you see are gunna be doubles focused

[wispy yarrow]

Nah, I get it, I'm not like, MAD about it

[pliant violet]

oh opponent just kept farig in rear, that's clever

turning off priority in an endgame is sick nasty

[wispy yarrow]

I did see this clip earlier today

read like a goddamn book

[obtuse ravine]

the hoenn champion?

[wispy yarrow]

Yeah some Pokemon can have titles thanks to ribbons

[soft isle]

Probably imported from ORAS with the medal for beat- yeah

THUNDER ON TYRANITAR!?

[timber vale]

bro was tired of rain

[versed sand]

This is my first time really paying attention to the competitive side of battling

[timber vale]

tbh if I suffered like, 3 losses in a row to rain I'd start doing the same shit

[pliant violet]

rain is, I think, the most successful strategy in pokemon since it's introduction

[versed sand]

I don't really know what I'm doing, but it's been interesting to play with more "optimal" versions of mons in an accesible way

[pliant violet]

not that it's always the best but it's always a good option

in some variant

[soft isle]

I guess it makes some sense? Pelipper is water/flying so even with tyrannitar's... 95 special (wow that's more than I thought) it'll probably one shot

Madam Poggers (or Juniper) ↩️

[Reply to:](#1160615504562638910 message) bro was tired of rain

[wispy yarrow]

I'm the andy that wants to win with my favorite pokemon where possible

[pliant violet]

good news, you can!

[wispy yarrow]

https://tenor.com/view/pokemon-slowbro-slowbro-sunday-pokemon-sunday-slowpoke-gif-11447193391046372365

[versed sand]

I need Hawlucha 😭

[pliant violet]

I'm winning with a team rn built around hydrapple, one of my fave guys

[soft isle]

Are slowbro/slowking in champions?

Alice(She) ↩️

[Reply to:](#1160615504562638910 message) https://tenor.com/view/pokemon-slowbro-slowbro-sunday-pokemon-sunday-slowpoke-gif-11447193391046372365 … 📎

[pliant violet]

yep

[wispy yarrow]

They are! All versions

Galarian Slowking my beloved

https://tenor.com/view/galarian-slowking-pokemon-slowking-smiling-gif-13612039193920261924

[versed sand]

I was happy to see Politoed lol

[pliant violet]

I think so long as you pick one, or two if they're synergistic, of your favourites it's pretty reasonable to build a team around your faves

politoed is historically very solid

weather setter and that

[timber vale]

none of my favorites are in yet I think

[versed sand]

I appreciate that you can choose the battle theme

Been repping the gen 4 one

[wispy yarrow]

Likewise

I want them to give us the sword/shield gym theme

[timber vale]

and of my favorites a lot of them are kind of dogwater

[languid lichen]

also yeah blizzard and fire blast ttar have been run a number of times throughout the years!

[timber vale]

Archeops has no place in comp unfortunately

[languid lichen]

god

mega archeops when

please

or stage 3

[timber vale]

I would prefer a stage 3

[languid lichen]

i adore it and carracosta

and tyrantrum and aurorus

[timber vale]

🤝

[timber vale]

🤝

[languid lichen]

weaker on rampardos and bastiodon, but not by a huge amount

[timber vale]

I just need all of the fossil pokemon to be decent

[languid lichen]

there is a lot of affection in my heart for bastiodon

[timber vale]

but they're genuinely all like C tier for comp except dracovish

[languid lichen]

a lot of em are d-tier 😭

[wispy yarrow]

I got swept by a Mega Aerodactyl last night

made me sad

[timber vale]

yeah...

all I need from gamefreak is genuinely just for the fossils to be good

let me figure out how to run Tyrantrum and Archeops on a team

I'll get folded for running two rock types

[pliant violet]

run tyrunt and play little cup

[timber vale]

but at least I'll have my special-est fun guys with me

[pliant violet]

problem solved

[timber vale]

tyrunt is not tyrantrum

[languid lichen]

tyrunt is fine, but it-

[soft isle]

giving us back flying gem will fix it please trust

Madam Poggers (or Juniper) ↩️

[Reply to:](#1160615504562638910 message) Archeops has no place in comp unfortunately

[languid lichen]

yeah

lmfao

[timber vale]

I would rather not

[pliant violet]

sneasler cannot have access to flying gem

[languid lichen]

stage 3 archeops with two extra wings, 20 extra hp, and unburden

no other changes

comes with a flying gem preinstalled

[pliant violet]

it learns acrobatics, has unburden, is sneasler

[soft isle]

fuck that was the one gimmick archeops had

[timber vale]

I say give it a BST of 650. trust. 20 more HP, 40 more speed, 23 more attack

[timber vale]

like, a gimmick set? or

[languid lichen]

wait why are we giving it 163 attack

i don't get the funny number

[timber vale]

...I wanted a rounded out statline so I added 3 to its attack

[languid lichen]

oh wait, 567

the stat difference lmao

[timber vale]

67

[soft isle]

It was just the main thing it did

Madam Poggers (or Juniper) ↩️

[Reply to:](#1160615504562638910 message) like, a gimmick set? or

[timber vale]

I imagine flying gem acrobatics

[languid lichen]

(it's not in ru i was checking its gen 5 ranking)

[timber vale]

it's not a mon with much longevity

[languid lichen]

yeah, that's what it was responding to

[soft isle]

Acrobatics is the best flying move it has access to

[languid lichen]

"fuck, that was the one gimmick it had"

[timber vale]

ohhhhhhhhh

[languid lichen]

(adding the comma for clarity)

[versed sand]

Is Tyrantrum recruitable, or transfer only

[languid lichen]

neither i think

[wispy yarrow]

If they are in the game, they're recruitable

[timber vale]

but uh yeah. I could go for like. Archeops but good

[languid lichen]

we should give archeops and carracosta both 580 bst stage 3s

[timber vale]

13 stat points can't really do much unless we also redistribute

[languid lichen]

just give archeops the 13 in hp and a real ability and it's an unstoppable fuckbeast

i mean

it's 140 atk 110 spe

[timber vale]

okay true it's not exactly slacking

[languid lichen]

let me reiterate

one hundred and forty attack

with a real ability it can get brave bird and then it's just uh

a monster

[timber vale]

that is only 25 less than ice rider calyrex

[languid lichen]

and carracosta just needs the regular stat numbers, preferably with some in speed

[timber vale]

which

[languid lichen]

and then it's a shell smasher

[timber vale]

25 less than ice rider calyrex is high.

[timber vale]

we should cook up an ability for it

[soft isle]

Hmm... emergency exit?

[languid lichen]

fun fact, speaking of fossils

[timber vale]

I feel like we should reverse the idea of defeatist rather than continue it

[languid lichen]

rampardos has the same attack stat as ice caly

both are 165

[soft isle]

Rampardos is tragic tbh

[timber vale]

too slow for normal

[languid lichen]

rampardos, too, needs a third stage

[timber vale]

too fast for trick room

[timber vale]

can we just start throwing third stages and megas at fossil mons

[pliant violet]

ice caly has a spread move doesn't it?

[timber vale]

glacial lance yeah

[pliant violet]

aeroydactyl has a mega

[languid lichen]

LANCE AND ASTRAL BARRAGE ARE SPREAD????

what the fuck

[timber vale]

ok I mean the rest of them

[pliant violet]

ye, knew barrage was

[languid lichen]

aerodactyl was the only one that didn't really need it

[pliant violet]

wasn't sure on lance

[timber vale]

I love them all (except the gen 8 ones I don't really fw them as much)

[languid lichen]

the gen 8s suck galactic ass it's true

i think they're mean-spirited, ugly, and competitively (in singles, at least) atrocious

dracovish and dracozolt were just

a mistake

[pliant violet]

to go back to an earlier question I'm pretty certain the only thing in game that is transfer only atm is floette? could be wrong though

[timber vale]

the idea was kind of interesting but then they wondered "what's the actual worst fucking way to do it"

[languid lichen]

https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_qn16ruZPtn1ttrxmx.mp4

[timber vale]

wait

comeback

ohhh it was meant to be a reply

[timber vale]

artistic rendition of gamefreak offices when designing gen 8 fossil mons

[pliant violet]

I like them, but only because they are meanspirited

many "paleontologists" of the time generally were not trying, just wanted to attach their name to something and show off at dinner parties

[timber vale]

true...

[soft isle]

Dracovish has grown on me honestly

[pliant violet]

ye

[torpid pivot]

Sinful beasts

Life of suffering

[soft isle]

He's so happy and dopey about not being able to breath!

[pliant violet]

I personally am having a goddamn ball with champions

[soft isle]

Also I kinda like arctovish too now that I look at it, they're neat

[pliant violet]

I think that it's in part being able use one of the guys I like a lot to success

now give me mega golisopod with tough claws to add to my tr team

many good tr pokemon are special attacker so having another physical attacker would be nice

[languid lichen]

rhyperior time

i know you said good, but still.

rhyperior time

[pliant violet]

mega golisopod

I need it

I think it would be solid but not the best thing in the meta game

[manic kindle]

ill teambuild with any blorbo

i took spiritomb to masters ill do it again

[pliant violet]

hydrapple always struck me as cool and like borderline playable but didn't exist in a format kind to it

[manic kindle]

yeah i think the current initial format is a nice time to make some unconventional guys work

[pliant violet]

I'm thinking about switching up it's moves a little bit, replacing nasty plot and yawn

[manic kindle]

whats your current set + ideal partner?

[pliant violet]

Fickle beam, giga drain, yawn, nasty plot, and ideally it's alongside primarena or farigiraf, who use strong spread moves

earth power is probably a good idea for poison and fire types

[manic kindle]

Earth Power, Leaf Storm, Protect... Pollen Puff is funny but maybe not as useful in most circumstances, and Syrup Bomb is just as likely to backfire in this kingambit world

[versed sand]

I will take a Mega Tyrantrum, please and thank you

Make my dinoblorb bigger

[pliant violet]

leaf storm idk about but earth power protect is what I was considering

pollen puff is good for dual purpose though

[manic kindle]

yeah, was thinking theres moments where topping off farigiraf might be nicer

[glossy umbra]

I've seen so much Dracovish that I forgot about Artovish

[snow wren]

How is the trainer customization

[pliant violet]

decent ish, not something I've dived into too much

[snow wren]

I know people liked za customization

[wispy yarrow]

What are some really good ice types that aren't froslass?

[pliant violet]

depends what you want to do

[wispy yarrow]

beat ass

[pliant violet]

ninetales is probably the best

set veil and throw off blizzards

[languid lichen]

is weavile good in doubles like it is in singles?

[pliant violet]

it's fine to good, and it's fragility is less of an issue in doubles imo

[wispy yarrow]

I think Sneasler is considered superior, from what I understand? But usable

[pliant violet]

since ya know, almost anything dies if it gets doubled

[wispy yarrow]

I hate sneasler, all my homies hate sneasler, goofy ahhh

[languid lichen]

i mean

its fragility isn't an issue at all in singles

[wispy yarrow]

I was sad to read that setup moves like the stage hazards are less worthwhile in doubles, apparently?

Me love some toxic spikes

[pliant violet]

I love sneasler

[pliant violet]

it's a pace of the game thing yeah

[manic kindle]

Sneasler isnt ice, if it helps

i have fun into some Weavile in the high ranks, its got a really fast fake out, gets knock off and throat chop, gets ice spinner and shard and crash, and then some weird niche shit

[languid lichen]

low kick is one of its bread-and-butter moves, as well

[manic kindle]

yeah, hits a lot of nonsense in the meta

[versed sand]

Kingambit is the spawn of satan

[languid lichen]

it's historically been an important way for weavile to slam things like dialga and white kyurem in ubers

and ttar/heatran in ou

[pliant violet]

kingambit is a good and moral friend who cannot be intimidated

[languid lichen]

i assume similar use case in legend-legal VGC formats

[manic kindle]

low kick does hit t-tar, archaludon, kingambit for solid damage

i think the main thing with Weavile is 'does this compete with my other fake out pokemon'

[languid lichen]

makes sense

[pliant violet]

run 10 million fake outs

[manic kindle]

sneasler and incineroar dont fit Every team but they do fit Almost Every Team

[pliant violet]

part of why farig is good, even outside tr, is turning off priority in general but fake out in specific

[manic kindle]

yeah, and farig is juuuust bulky enough to either need to be doubled successfully or just take a chunky chip from common fake out users

[pliant violet]

sitrus berry says what

[languid lichen]

thank god weavile still gets knock off

[manic kindle]

cool thing i just learned in a match: heliolisk gets shed tail

[pliant violet]

oh?

ohohoho

[versed sand]

Finally out of Poke Ball tier in singles

[pliant violet]

hell yeah

[versed sand]

Oh shit, got a Galarian Slowking too

[manic kindle]

https://tenor.com/view/the-prince-of-egypt-youre-gif-24805198

[obtuse ravine]

ooh cool

reggie mentioned hisuian typhlosion is v good, is regular any good

[manic kindle]

Regular has a really funny niche: being a fun choice scarf Eruption guy next to Torkoal Buddy

[obtuse ravine]

hmm, so choice scarf means you probably get to move first and take advantage of the full hp Eruption?

what does torkoal do there

[pliant violet]

sets sun

[obtuse ravine]

🥵

[pliant violet]

to be clear, h typhlosion fills basically the same niche

but it's immune to fake out for one

[obtuse ravine]

👻

[pliant violet]

you could use typhlosion as more of a cleanup piece, same role but send in later rather than use it as a lead

[wild prairie]

How high on the doubles ladder do I need to get before people stop clicking setup moves in front of my Whimsicott? I feel a little bit bad Encoring Tailwinds and Swords Dances every third match

[obtuse ravine]

gotchaaa

[arctic dagger]

Regarding previous archeops discussion: They're changing abilities now. Just change Defeatist to not suck and it'd be fine. It'd be decent even if it just had an ability that did nothing, tbh.

[pliant violet]

if they made it open teamsheets, a lot sooner, though I imagine some point in ultra

great to ultra is a big jump

[pliant violet]

they've always changed abilities, the big thing with champions, imo, is they don't have to wait till a new game to do stuff like that

[manic kindle]

Ultra was where i started needing to really read far ahead

[pliant violet]

ultra was where I couldn't just hit strongest move

[manic kindle]

Master has been 50/50 on "i am a genius" and "i lost at team preview" (exaggerated)

[arctic dagger]

Yeah. But like, IDK, champs makes me feel like it's more likely to "fix" old pokemon that just don't do anything?

[pliant violet]

yee

[arctic dagger]

Like there's a TON of "minor" changes to stuff here and there

[pliant violet]

commitment to giving more things competitive viability

[arctic dagger]

Which is really cool

[pliant violet]

even if it's not good

[manic kindle]

A random hack i played this last year gave archaeops emergency exit instead and that was funny

[pliant violet]

they're also nerfing things

[arctic dagger]

That's pretty funny. Which hack?

[pliant violet]

no knock off on incin, changing unseen fist

[manic kindle]

I wish i could remember! Ill dig thru all my phone roms tomorrow and see if I still have it loaded

[arctic dagger]

xD

kk

Hmm, googling it just gives a bunch of randos talking about theorizing about giving it to it lmao

Guess it's just a popular idea

[pliant violet]

it makes sense, it's another drawback ability, with the same trigger condition even

[arctic dagger]

And wayyyy less lame

Yeah

[pliant violet]

but it's still impactful

[arctic dagger]

Sometimes it's maybe even an advantage

...Usually not, but y'know

Probably more of one on a really fast pokemon like archeops?

Since it's less likely to trigger before it gets a move off

[pliant violet]

ye, and you're likely to get another off when you bring it back in if it's filling an empty slot

[arctic dagger]

Yeh. Actually like it a lot there. The main problem with it on the G-man is it's just so SLOW

[languid lichen]

well

the point of it on goli is the fact that it's not made of tissue paper (like archeops is)

so it lives the first hit to emergency exit

and then gets to come back in with a first impression

it's a cohesive gimmick, it's just not especially strong in practice

[arctic dagger]

Yeah I mean, I get the concept.

[pliant violet]

yeah if you're doing anything other than e-exit it's really rough

[arctic dagger]

It really should happen at END OF TURN for Goli tho' IMO

[languid lichen]

EoT has the problem, which i think they were designing around, of not saving it from a double-up

in doubles

[pliant violet]

consequently though, goli is really hard to one tap, so if it didn't get forced out leech life with the buff and it's atk would hit very hard

[arctic dagger]

Yeah, I feel like it would still be better tho'.

[languid lichen]

quite probably

[pliant violet]

it's fine, hopefully mega golisopod loses e-exit and we no longer worry

even if it gets a no effect ability, it's stats moves and typing are spooky

with the proposed/expected/unconfirmed leak tough claws, it's downright scary

hell it'll be decent even outside TR

[vague tide]

holding out hope for like, at least stalwart

[wispy yarrow]

Alright I've played ranked double battles now

I'm getting the appeal

Galarian Slowking plus Lopunny mega, fake out start with Lopunny, Chilly Reception Slowking into Alolan Ninetales, Aurora veil and start beating ass

Also I do believe I encountered a bug where I hit something through Protect

Hit a Victreebel with Blizzard through Protect

[pliant violet]

ooh, never seen that before

[languid lichen]

what on?

[wispy yarrow]

Alolan Ninetales during snow

[languid lichen]

huh, weird

[wispy yarrow]

yeah idk

Couldn't find anything resembling a way to make a report

[pliant violet]

probably because they expect folks to spam it

[wispy yarrow]

Makes sense

[versed sand]

I wonder if anyone here's played Pokemon Crown? That was a fun little fanhack.

[pliant violet]

earth power on hydrapple has turned the bridge matchup brutal for them

[versed sand]

So, I'm experimenting with doubles now. Team I cobbled for that is Gallade / Rhyperior / Sharpedo / G. Slowking / Scizor / Sneasler.

[pliant violet]

one thing I've seen advocated for is intentionality, reasoning behind why you run things

Skraw has some good videos for folks new to vgc competitive, and wolfey has one today as well

[pliant violet]

does anyone else feel like the battlepass is really easy to complete? I'm done mine

also looks like it will be 2 months till we get more pokemon, that's when the next regulation starts, though there's a second season in regulation M-A

[pliant violet]

on a glance my first thought is, what're you thinking for speed control

webs, tr, tailwind, various moves with guaranteed speed down, just generally running fast as fuck pokemon, I'm sure there's other things I'm missing

[glossy umbra]

It's okay though in doubles it did also end up being largely outshined by Chien-Pao who has better stats and a good ability..

[pliant violet]

which is not in champions now

[glossy umbra]

Yeah, so Weavile should have a niche for a while longer

[pliant violet]

I was trying to recognise what mega delphox reminded me of

it's that guy from fire force

[glossy umbra]

Surprised that Weavile also never got something like Technician, but that's a different topic.

[pliant violet]

I'm not sure technician would've done it much good, but it definitely wouldn't have hurt

ok what do folks think the teams to beat in champions are? I've not seen much or had much trouble with frosslass, but rain teams have been much more of a challenge

[manic kindle]

yeah it went by very quickly, but also ive been no-lifeing the game

[versed sand]

Totally unsure

I just got an Emboar, an Empoleon and a Hisuian Thyplosion in a row. Might be a workable team in those three?

[manic kindle]

Competitive Empoleon puts in some work

[languid lichen]

would make its ice stab hit like a truck, that's for sure

[wild prairie]

I feel like there's something to be said for Mega Kangaskhan + Whimsicott as a turn 1 check for Zard Y + Venusaur openers.
Charizard is basically guaranteed not to be able to play the game turn 1 because it has to click Protect or get hit with Parental Bond Fake Out for like 40%, and Venusaur is kind of railroaded into clicking Solarbeam or Sludge Bomb into Kang to cover for Whmsicott Protect or Taunt to cover Sleep Powder

[manic kindle]

That's a good way to force some turn 1 action

not a lot wants to switch into a bond fakeout either

[wild prairie]

Yeah I feel like M Kang just has pretty good matchups in general against weather. Scrappy Fake Out -> Turn 2 Mega Sucker Punch murders M Froslass and Drain Punch feels like it kind of invalidates TTar + Excadrill sand comps while Ice Punch breaks Garchomp. Rain depends on what the Pelipper is paired with, but Sun feels like the most interesting matchup

[manic kindle]

when i see kang i usually hold pelipper back and open smth like sneasler+spiritomb or sneasler+basculegion, to try to delay the mega

[wild prairie]

Yeah the rain matchup probably has way more nuance than I've seen so far. I went to bed after climbing into Ultra 4 last night

[manic kindle]

its fun, def can lose on the spot when i pick wrong into the weather wars

[versed sand]

Eyy, rolled Tyrantrum and Kommo-o

[manic kindle]

kommo is a funny guy

[wild prairie]

Yeah I got an Archaludon late last night and I'd like to experiment with that, but I don't really have any other elements of a rain comp right now

[manic kindle]

love my big electric bridge

[versed sand]

So happy to have my chonkasaurus rex in my rotation. Not sure if I'd stick it in my singles or doubles build yet.

[manic kindle]

if i was to try to take best advantage of Tyrantrum, itd probs be singles

[versed sand]

Well, that current team is Gardevoir/Toxicroak/Dragonite/Tyrantrum/Crabominable/Chandelure

[manic kindle]

i see; do you tend to lead off or rely on anything in particular here?

[versed sand]

Well, I usually use Gardevoir, Chandelure and Crabominable (all with mega stones)

That's gotten some mileage

Sometimes, I will alternate one of them with Toxicroak (in most cases)

[languid lichen]

i'm still peeved that mega chandy just got infiltrator

[arctic dagger]

Infiltrator should get the 25% protection piercing

[languid lichen]

that would be nice

[manic kindle]

i do think you could use Less mega stones to better equip other items, but it isnt a huge loss early tiers

some of the fun is trying to get people to figure out if its, say, Choice Scarf Chandelure or Mega Chandelure

[arctic dagger]

I thought we didn't have the scarves?

[manic kindle]

Choice Scarf is in

No band/specs for now

[arctic dagger]

Ah yeah, sorry, choice items, not scarves

[manic kindle]

no scarves all pokemon must get a cold

[arctic dagger]

This is why Froslass so good

Clearly

Not enough scarves

[languid lichen]

no silk scarf?

[manic kindle]

silk scarf is in, as a treat

i am happy to see people shifting from opening veil froslass to nasty plot froslass

might as well take advantage of throwing ohko blizzards if you can

[runic umbra]

I love him he's my son

[arctic dagger]

R2D2?

[runic umbra]

almost

[manic kindle]

b2emo

[arctic dagger]

I'm trying to figure out what pokemon it's supposed to be

Rotom?

[manic kindle]

he is rotom fridge-y

[runic umbra]

his stutter's so cute

he must be protected

[manic kindle]

rotom-fridge is the form i wish i could use more easily

[languid lichen]

it really is unfortunate

it's just too slow

[manic kindle]

he's just so Beeg

[arctic dagger]

RIP slow ice types

[languid lichen]

well, rotom's numbers in general have aged poorly compared to modern mon optimization

but washtom gets to live with okay bulk + excellent typing (levitate included)

[arctic dagger]

I think if it had actual healing it could still be quite relevant

[manic kindle]

something really fun is that choice scarf wash is #back in Champions

[languid lichen]

and wow/twave + volt switch + pain split off of an extremely defense-biased bulk

and the very relevant trick

[languid lichen]

oh shit let's go

[manic kindle]

its like seeing an old friend

[languid lichen]

actual healing and/or a def/spdef buff

to make it more tanky for modern times while still exploiting pain split for what little it's worth

[manic kindle]

rotom's discharge is also a threat to be aware of

[languid lichen]

oven needs...kind of a lot more, because its stab is overheat and its typing is much more vulnerable to common threats

[manic kindle]

its one of the better overall discharge users since they naturally levitate over ground earthquakes

[languid lichen]

but ele/fire levitate is a really strong combination that has been exploited before

yeah, and has hydro pump to scare em off

if enemies are trying to switch in on your own rotom + ground discharge eq spam

[manic kindle]

oven is neat when he pops up in relevance

[languid lichen]

it happens!

oven was pretty good in gen 8 singles

[manic kindle]

bulky fire/elec with big overheat just works when it works

in sword shield pre-dlc vgc doubles i was an oven believer for nuking some of those big pesky grass pests

[languid lichen]

unforchies mowtom, frostom, and fantom are

in so much more dire a spot

especially fan, which doesn't have fucking anything going for it anywhere

just give the thing hurricane instead of air slash and a different ability, i beg you

[arctic dagger]

Levitate on a flying type is SO funny though

Be kinda funny if it got Roost too

So it was immune to ground even when Roosting

[manic kindle]

hurricane fan would be really neat to see

i wonder what the new rotom form will get for its move

[arctic dagger]

I'm assuming boomburst? Since it already gets Hyper Voice

[wild prairie]

Boomburst I'd think, yeah

[arctic dagger]

A thing I would like: Give base Rotom stats equal to the other forms

A ghost/electric with levitate is actually pretty interesting

But its stats are just SO BAD

That's just such a delicious type chart though

[manic kindle]

yeah, buff base rotom or give us a sort of dipplin situation

true rotom evo or Big Rotom Forme

[arctic dagger]

And like, Hex(Sball)/Discharge/TWave(wisp)/Split(Util) is like, actually a pretty interesting moveset iMO

[red rampart]

dipplin situation?

[manic kindle]

we have applin and it had two evos, and then he got a later Super Applin form in the sense of Dipplin

[red rampart]

Ah

[manic kindle]

so clearly we need to dip rotom in caramel

[languid lichen]

nah

do it the other obvious way

an electric/ghost possessing form

[manic kindle]

rotom in an apple, genius

[versed sand]

You can't dip rotom in caramel

The poor thing would short-circuit and die

[languid lichen]

i'm not sure what i would want it to be possessing

maybe something like the broken TV that it shows up in?

in its classic dppt appearance

[manic kindle]

maybe a pokedex-

[languid lichen]

nah, dextom is steel

gotta be

[manic kindle]

maybe the classic possessed tv like you said

for cute fun one of its 'arms' could be an nintendo gaming system :P

wack people with a gamecube controller

[languid lichen]

that would be kind of lovely, yeah

[manic kindle]

def one of my fave weird little guys, made platinum fun

[languid lichen]

platinum making it not natdex-locked was a very good choice

hmmm

ele/ghost broken TV, gets bitter malice?

[manic kindle]

rotoms also just fun in that he sounds like a school rumor

"yeah go to the haunted house and touch the tv and sometimes... theres a special pokemon...! and it can change!"

[languid lichen]

it's v cute

[versed sand]

Mons are silly

Sometimes you catch gods, sometimes you catch a pair of jingling keys

[wild prairie]

Its ghost-possessing form's move would have to be Poltergeist though, right?

[languid lichen]

nah, physical

[wild prairie]

Yeah but like Rotom is literally a poltergeist

[languid lichen]

off 65 atk

right, which is why it already learns poltergeist

[wild prairie]

Oh does it?

[languid lichen]

yes

the only phys ghost move it gets

[manic kindle]

id also be cool with giving super-rotom its own custom move here

[wild prairie]

Some special poltergeist-equivalent signature move then probably, yeah

[snow wren]

does amoongus see much play in champions doubles?

[manic kindle]

Sadly/Gladly he is not in the game yet

[snow wren]

oh huh, oops sorry

[manic kindle]

He is normally a very important staple in VGC Doubles tho

[snow wren]

like that guy

[manic kindle]

very bulky guy who gets Spore and other useful tricks

[snow wren]

what would be a solid grass/water/fire core? I know incineroar is obviously there but I like arcanine so I might use them instead

[manic kindle]

Arcanine is a fun pick; got nice bulk and a good mix of support moves and offensive goodstuff
Do you have a particular way to like to play, or pokemon of those types you know you like

Off the top of my head, fun picks include
water: Milotic (gets Competitive to mess up the intimidate users, gets Hypnosis, fun big water type), Gyarados (regular and mega are both useful), Primarina (valuble big fairy spread move)
grass: whimsicott is a support king, sinistcha is a great support pokemon and healer, venusaur sees a lot of good usage and even outside of sun its mega is a beast

[snow wren]

well I was going to try throwing it with a mimikyu/hydreigon/scizor trio since apparently thats an ok combo. Torterra is neat but I know they're bad. I don't know pokemon team building at all

[manic kindle]

theres a lot, it can be intimidating!

[snow wren]

palafin, incineroar and whimsicott seem like the current meta starter trio

how is scovillain as a mon?

looks like its stat total woudl hold it back

[arctic dagger]

Sometimes those keys are stronger overall than the gods too lmao

[manic kindle]

The big thing with Mega Scovillain is that its ability is a near-guaranteed burn on most pokemon, and it gets Rage Powder, which forces things to attack it

[arctic dagger]

Very strong vs physical teams yeah

I've been vaguely tempted to just throw a scovillain on my team and then build purely vs special

And then plan to almost never bring it

[manic kindle]

also a big thing w vgc doubles comps is you dont really need strict Type Cores

[obtuse ravine]

I won a singular singles battle this morning

undefeated

💪

do pokemon change abilities when they mega evolve?

i used Knock Off instead of Fire Punch on Tyranitar against victreebel to avoid getting destroyed if it mega evolved, but idk if that's how it works

[wild prairie]

Can't remove Mega Stones with Knock Off sadly

But also yes a lot of pokemon change abilities when they evolve

[obtuse ravine]

[obtuse ravine]

oh, I meant i didn't want to OHKO it if it was going to evolve because Innards Out would have eaten me for breakfast

[manic kindle]

that was the correct play then!