Subject: -Huinesoron v. Granz's Gym: the Final Battle.
Author:
Posted on: 2016-07-18 14:28:00 UTC
Okay, picking up where we left off: I need a strategy to take down Granz's Slaking. It has 225 HP, 197 ATK, 127 DEF, with Fury Swipes (90, Normal) and Hammer Arm (100, Fighting). My two levelled Pokemon are Probopass (90 HP, 97 ATK, 225 DEF) and Breloom (90 HP, 142 ATK, 105 DEF).
Fury Swipes is Normal-type, meaning it's weak against Rck and Steel, and can't hit Ghost at all. Hammer Arm is Fighting, which has strengths and weaknesses all over the place, but crucially is strong against Rock and Steel, and unable to hit Ghost.
Hmm. On thinking about this, I see two strategies:
1/ Send in Probopass. It can completely ignre Fury Swipes (being Rock/Steel), but will be utterly destroyed by Hammer Arm. So this is a gamble. It's also got very high-powered attacks, so can actually do a good job of cutting through that HP.
2/ Send in Breloom. As Grass/Fighting, it takes normal damage from both moves, but has Sky Uppercut, which gets doubled damage against Slaking. It's got higher attack than Probopass, so it can do more damage - but its defence is lower.
3/ Look for a ghost. Shedinja or Sableye, at this point. Trouble is, my rules nly allow me to take one Pokemon from each post, and I only have a handful of posts I haven't already claimed from. So this is a gamble. But if I find one, it's a no-trouble win.
Okay. I'm going to try option 2 first. If that fails, it's on to Option 3.
Fight 34: Breloom v. Slaking
-Round 1: Breloom actually does more damage than Slaking! Sky Uppercut does 47, while Slaking des 43. But, uh, I only have 47 HP left now, while Slaking has 178.
-Round 2 is even better: 55 versus 34. But I'm down to 13 HP, and...
-Yep, out on Round 3. I got Slaking down to 76 HP.
Time to go hunting.
-Pokemon found: Ralts. No. Though if it evolves into Gallade, it could give it a try.
-Pokemon found: Nosepass. No.
-Pokemon found: Whismur. Don't think so.
-Pokemon found: Wingull. N.
-Pokemon found: Surskit. Bother.
-Pokemon found: Plusle. Nnnnhg.
Okay, let's level up a Ralts.
Fight 35: Ralts v. Max's Taillow
-... and Ralts goes down in the second round.
Fine. Whismur?
Fight 36: Whismur v. Taillow
-Whismur levels up.
Fight 37: Whismur v. Skitty
-Whismur cllapses in tears.
Ugugug. My remaining Pokemon:
Plusle + Minun: No chance, no evolution, nothing.
Taillow: Hammer Arm is weak against Flying, so there's that.
Zigzagoon: Not likely.
Poochyena: Ditto, though its attack is better.
Wingull: Pelipper isn't exactly a big name.
Surskit: Yes, my moth will destroy your beast. Sure.
Nosepass + Probopass: Tough, but tough enough? I don't know.
Lotad: ... hmm.
Lotad can evolve twice, which means it'll end up stronger than most of my other beasts. I don't know what attacks it'll have, but they might be strong. And at least it's not weak to Normal r Fighting...
Okay. One last try.
Fight 38: Lotad v. Skitty
-... Lotad faints.
Okay. Fine. Let's throw the dice.
Fight 39: Probopass v. Slaking
I will only be using Zap Cannon in this match. With 120 STR, it's the more powerful attack, and Electric and Rock are both normal-damage against Slaking.
-Round 1: It uses Fury Swipes. I take 6 damage. It takes 29. 84 v. 196
-Rund 2: 80 v. 178. Fury Swipes again.
-Round 3: ... Hammer Arm takes me straight out of the game. 114 damage; I only had 90 HP to start with.
And that's where this challenge ends. I could train up my other Nosepass and hope for a fluke, but is winning based on a mucked-up RNG really winning? I could also cook up a post full of Nincadas and Sableyes and breeze through, but again, that's cheating. So instead, I will gracefully admit defeat.
Now, what did I learn from this?
-The actual battling is very deterministic. You have

-If you're allowed to bring whatever Pokemon you want, it would probably be very easy. If I'd allowed myself to look for a Sableye, I could've taken the entire gym with it.
-This game could stand a few changes to play up its best aspects.
I think these are the changes I want to make:
-A 'Gym Mode', where you face each of a trainer's Pokem

-A counter on the Collection page that says how many battles you've fought (ie, how many level-ups you've had). There's challenge in trying to keep this number low, rather than just maxing everything.
-I think I really have to take 1visible's suggestion of reimplementing status conditions. Otherwise there's no point in having buttons: the computer can work out the best move just as well as the player (if not better).
-And, uh... more Pokemon! The Gen III 'dex g

hS