Badge Requests

[indigo_league]

 What does it take? It changes for each gym! Normally, the games increase in difficulty as you progress, but that wouldn't be any fun if characters could just as easily take on the Gyms that are supposed to be for top trainers only. THEREFORE, the gym leaders aren't going to be pushovers like in the games! In order to win a badge, the mods will take into account your current roster and the attacks and advantages to see whether your pokémon is strong enough to win a badge or not.

Each gym leader has a Regular Team of pokemon and an Elite Team of pokemon you can challenge. It's up to a trainer to decide which team to challenge, but if you take on the Elite Team of six level 100 Pokemon, you'll receive double the prize money. The items, however, are not doubled. Excellent for trainers looking for the extra challenge or those looking to make money fast.

!!! Badges must be mod approved. To earn a badge, please comment on this post. Please don't ask for more than two badges to be approved at once!

JOHTO
Violet City Badge: Zephyr Leader: Falkner Team: Noctowl (L: 30) Honchkrow (L: 32) Pidgeot (L: 35) Rewards: [P10,000] TM Roost Can use Fly outside of battle Elite Team: Pidgeot, Dodrio, Swellow, Xatu, Staraptor, Pelipper	Azalea Town Badge: Hive Leader: Bugsy Team: Pinsir (L: 35) Heracross (L: 37) Scizor (L: 40) Rewards: [P12,000] TM U-Turn Can use Rock Smash outside of battle Elite Team: Scizor, Venomoth, Vespiquen, Yanmega, Galvantula, Heracross	Goldenrod City Badge: Plain Leader: Whitney Team: Girafarig (L: 40) Clefable (L: 42) Miltank (L: 45) Rewards: [P14,000] HM Rock Smash TM Attract Can use Strength outside of battle Elite Team: Ursaring, Granbull, Blissey, Exploud, Tauros, Snorlax	Ecruteak City Badge: Fog Leader: Morty Team: Haunter (L: 45) Misdreavus (L: 47) Gengar (L: 50) Rewards: [P16,000] TM Shadow Ball HM Strength Can use Surf outside of battle Elite Team: Drifblim, Spiritomb, Dusknoir, Mismagius, Gengar, Chandelure
Cianwood City Badge: Storm Leader: Chuck Team: Hitmonlee (L: 50) Hitmonchan (L: 52) Poliwrath (L: 55) Rewards: [P18,000] HM Fly Elite Team: Medicham, Machamp, Hariyama, Breloom, Primeape, Toxicroak	Olivine City Badge: Mineral Leader: Jasmine Team: Skarmory (L: 55) Magneton (L: 57) Steelix (L: 60) Rewards: [P20,000] HM Surf HM Whirlpool Elite Team: Metagross, Bronzong, Skarmory, Steelix, Magnezone, Empoleon	Mahogany Town Badge: Glacier Leader: Pryce Team: Dewgong (L: 60) Lapras (L: 62) Mamoswine (L: 65) Rewards: [P22,000] TM Hail Can use Waterfall outside of battle Elite Team: Abomasnow, Dewgong, Glalie, Froslass, Mamoswine, Walrein	Blackthorn City Badge: Rising Leader: Clair Team: Gyarados (L: 65) Kingdra (L: 67) Dragonite (L: 70) Rewards: [P24,000] HM Waterfall Can use Whirlpool outside of battle A reusable ticket for the SS Anne* Elite Team: Aerodactyl, Charizard, Kingdra, Salamence, Garchomp, Dragonite       *For defeating the Elite team only. Three week paid cruise vacation to be taken whenever and as many times as the holder desires. Boat can be caught from Olivine or Vermilion.
KANTO
Pewter City Badge: Boulder Leader: Brock Team: Rhyhorn (L: 30) Golem (L: 32) Onix (L: 35) Rewards: [P10,000] TM Rock Slide HM Rock Smash Elite Team: Rhyperior, Rampardos, Golem, Omastar, Kabutops, Onix	Cerulean City Badge: Cascade Leader: Misty Team: Golduck (L: 35) Lapras (L: 37) Starmie (L: 40) Rewards: [P12,000] TM Water Pulse Can use Surf outside of battle Elite Team: Quagsire, Lanturn, Floatzel, Lapras, Milotic, Starmie	Vermilion City Badge: Thunder Badge Leader: Lt. Surge Team: Electabuzz (L: 40) Magneton (L: 42) Raichu (L: 45) Rewards: [P14,000] TM Thunder Can use Strength outside of battle Elite Team: Manectric, Electrode, Pachirisu, Magnezone, Electivire, Raichu	Celadon City Badge: Rainbow Leader: Erika Team: Jumpluff (L: 45) Tangrowth (L: 47) Bellossom (L: 50) Rewards: [P16,000] TM Giga Drain HM Strength Can use Fly outside of battle Elite Team: Shiftry, Jumpluff, Victreebel, Bellossom, Roserade, Vileplume
Fuchsia City Badge: Soul Leader: Janine Team: Crobat (L: 50) Ariados (L: 52) Venomoth (L: 55) Rewards: [P18,000] TM Toxic HM Surf Can use Rock Smash outside of battle Elite Team: Crobat, Weezing, Toxicroak, Drapion, Arbok, Venomoth	Saffron City Badge: Marsh Leader: Sabrina Team: Espeon (L: 55) Mr. Mime (L: 57) Alakazam (L: 60) Rewards: [P20,000] TM Psychic HM Fly Elite Team: Jynx, Wobbuffet, Espeon, Gallade, Gardevoir, Alakazam	Cinnabar Island (Seafoam Islands) Badge: Volcano Leader: Blaine Team: Magcargo (L: 60) Magmortar (L: 62) Rapidash (L: 65) Rewards: [P22,000] TM Fire Blast HM Whirlpool Can use Whirlpool outside of battle Elite Team: Torkoal, Camerupt, Magcargo, Houndoom, Magmortar, Rapidash	Viridian City Badge: Earth Leader: Blue Team: Exeggutor (L: 65) Machamp (L: 66) Rhydon (L: 67) Gyarados (L: 68) Pidgeot (L: 69) Arcanine (L: 70) Rewards: [P25,000] TM Hyper Beam A reusable ticket for the SS Anne* Elite Team: Venusaur, Blastoise, Charizard, Tyranitar, Pidgeot, Jolteon       *For defeating the Elite team only. Three week paid cruise vacation to be taken whenever and as many times as the holder desires. Boat can be caught from Olivine or Vermilion.

The Elite Four is now distributing Keystones and Mega Stones to promising trainers! Any trainer who has defeated all eight gyms of a single region will be granted a Keystone and one Mega Stone of their choice. No player will be able to have more than one Mega Stone at a time, and those looking to switch theirs out may do so once every four months. Mega Stones may be used in any casual trainer battle, but as far as gyms go may only be used in Elite battles.

The Indigo Plateau is now open to challengers! To qualify, trainers must have all sixteen badges from Johto and Kanto. Every Pokémon they face will be level 100, and the Elite Four and the Champion have heaps of talent and experience. As such, we will be reviewing Indigo Plateau challenges with more scrutiny than we bring to badge requests. A higher level of strategy is required to win on this field. Show us what you've got!

ELITE FOUR
Bede Team: Mawile (L: 100) Sylveon (L: 100) Galarian Rapidash (L: 100) Primarina (L: 100) Tinkaton (L: 100) Hatterene (L: 100) Rewards: [P30,000] TM Draining Kiss Life Orb	Koga Team: Skuntank (L: 100) Venomoth (L: 100) Toxicroak (L: 100) Swalot (L: 100) Crobat (L: 100) Muk (L: 100) Rewards: [P35,000] TM Venoshock Expert Belt	Bruno Team: Hitmontop (L: 100) Hitmonlee (L: 100) Hitmonchan (L: 100) Hariyama (L: 100) Machamp (L: 100) Lucario (L: 100) Rewards: [P40,000] TM Power-Up Punch Protective Pads	Karen Team: Weavile (L: 100) Absol (L: 100) Spiritomb (L: 100) Houndoom (L: 100) Honchkrow (L: 100) Umbreon (L: 100) Rewards: [P45,000] TM Snarl Ring Target
Lance Team: Salamence (L: 100) Gyarados (L: 100) Garchomp (L: 100) Altaria (L: 100) Charizard (L: 100) Dragonite (L: 100) Rewards: [P60,000] TM Giga Impact A Dragon-type egg with one egg move and one TM move of your choice The League Certificate qualifying the winner to create and lead their own Pokémon "Gym." This Gym is part not of the Indigo League, but the Aurora League.	Aurora League Gym Leaders may choose their own battle specializations, as well as. design their own unique Gym (which will take one month to build from the time of request) and Badge (which will be available as soon as the Gym opens). They will be compensated for their work as Gym Leaders with a stipend that will cover building costs, labor (the Leader's and any Trainers they may employ), and rewards for victorious challengers. We ask that Aurora Gym Leaders think carefully about the location of their Gym and the difficulty level they wish to present challengers. We also ask that they create their own Badge Request page like this one so that others can request battles with them. To officially request an Aurora League Gym, fill out the provided template and comment here.

Please use this form to request a badge or a showdown with the Elite Four! Post your request as a comment to this post. Badges will generally be processed once per week, on either Wednesday or during the weekend. Please try not to PM or IM mods about badges (including elite challenges) unless your request has gone unanswered for more than a week.

!!! Please request badges as your character is actually in the general area of the gym!

!!! To preserve the spirit of the game, obtaining badges using recently-inherited Pokémon (ie, Pokemon received from dropped characters) that massively outlevel your own is discouraged. If this happens, you may be asked by the badge mod to revise your team. Inherited Pokemon that your character has had for a while and are the same level as the rest of your character's team are fine to use!

!!! Remember that you must fight all four members of the Elite Four and Champion Lance in a row. You may heal your Pokémon between battles and take a short break, but you cannot leave without ending your challenge.

<b>Character:</b> CHARACTER NAME | <user name="JOURNAL"> <b>Badge/Gym Leader:</b> NAME OF THE BADGE OR GYM LEADER YOU'RE CHALLENGING <b>Elite/Regular:</b> ELITE TEAM OR REGULAR TEAM <b>Team:</b> LINK TO POKEMON ROSTER <b>Battle Details:</b> MISCELLANEOUS DETAILS ABOUT YOUR TEAM/CHARACTER THAT'LL HELP YOU IN THIS BATTLE (recommended!)

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Comments

Backdated to right after the Dondozo fight!

[rolltoavoidpossession]

Character: Ryou Bakura | rolltoavoidpossession
Badge/Gym Leader: Clair | Rising Badge
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Change of Heart, Will-o-Wisp, Doppelganger, Reaper
Battle Details: Ryou was originally going to wait for spring to face Clair since he didn't want to make the trip in the winter, but since he happened to go to Blackthorn to help find the missing Delibird, he might as well challenge the gym after assisting in the Dondozo/Tatsugiri fight!

VS Gyarados

He'll open up with Change of Heart the Morpeko, who will lead with Thunder Wave to paralyze the Gyarados, followed by either Aura Wheel or Thunder Fang for damage, depending on if Heart is in Full Belly Mode or Hangry Mode (he wants the super effective damage and Aura Wheel has a nasty habit of changing to Dark type whenever Morpeko switches to Hangry Mode). Speed in shutting down this Gyarados is key here, since it potentially has access to numerous stat boosting moves (Dragon Dance), weather moves (Rain Dance), and general powerful moves (Hyper Beam, Thrash, Aqua Tail). He's also given Heart a Sitrus Berry to hold, to help offset any damage from the Gyarados.

VS Kingdra

So, Kingdra can potentially have Sniper as an ability, which makes crits more powerful than normal. That, combined with moves like Focus Energy and Laser Focus to boost crit rates or even guarantee crits, has Ryou very nervous. So nervous, in fact, he built his Kingdra strategy around stopping Sniper hax.

Ryou will switch Change of Heart out for Will-o-Wisp the Gourgeist, who will lead with Worry Seed to forcibly change Kingdra's ability to Insomnia, stopping any potential crit hax in their tracks. This will be followed up by Leech Seed for quick chip damage and healing and Moonblast for damage.

If Will-o-Wisp gets too low health, Ryou will switch out for Doppelganger the Mimikyu, who will try to clean up with Play Rough.

VS Dragonite

Doppelganger is coming out to fight if he isn't already out, and will open up with Double Team to boost evasion before using Play Rough for damage. The Mimikyu's typing should render him immune to all Dragon and Normal type attacks, and Disguise should soften the first blow from the Dragonite if the earlier Kingdra didn't already activate it. Doppelganger is also holding a Cheri Berry to cure paralysis in case of Thunder Wave.

If Doppelganger gets too beat up to continue, then Ryou has one more trick up his sleeve: Reaper the Dragapult, inherited from Kaiba after he vanished some months ago and now ready to fight. Reaper is holding a Haban Berry to reduce damage from one super effective Dragon attack, and will just go for Dragon Darts to finish things up fast if it's gotten to this point.

[mywayistheway]

Character: Bo-Katan Kryze | mywayistheway
Badge/Gym Leader: Rainbow Badge
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Mesh'la, Laaran, Kotep, Nau'ul, Eparavur, Ori
Battle Details: Bo-Katan is feeling much better than she did! She's still got a bit of a limp and a wrapped hand but her brain is functioning better at the very least. As always Ori, her Dragonite, is beside her during the course of the battle.

Jumpluff

Bo starts with a bitty vulpix of the Alolan variety! Mesh'la is a bit underleveled but she thinks the little fox will pack a punch against the Jumpluff. She has her start with Hail, changing the weather in her favor. Not knowing that they will actually get that weather later in the week, lol. With her Snow Cloak ability the Vulpix's evasion goes up due to the hail while also raining down ice on Erika's Pokemon. She won't stop there though knowing that grass types can be tricky with all their status altering attacks and will have Mesh'la use Confuse Ray too. After that the real damage will start with the Vulpix using Ice Beam. The Hail will be kept going if it expires. Hopefully Mesh'la will be victorious! If she's not then she will be replaced with Laaran the Lapras.

Tangrowth

If Mesh'la makes it past Jumpluff, she probably won't against Tangrowth. She will give it her best though and try to keep Hail going! Laaran will definitely be taking over though and fire off a Confuse Ray of her own and a Blizzard to bypass accuracy checks thanks to the Hail if its still going. In which order those attacks are done will depend on how long the Hail has left before expiring. Whenever the Tangrowth manages to damage Laaran though there will be retaliation with an Avalanche to double its power! If she gets low on HP Bo will have her use Life Dew to restore some of it and possibly use Ice Beam at some point also. Hopefully Laaran will succeed but if she doesn't, she will be replaced with an unexpected battler!

Bellossom

If Laaran beats the Tangrowth she will keep going against the Bellossom until she can't anymore. Whenever the Lapras is defeated though Bo-Katan will reach for her one fire type but will be stopped when her Dragonite suddenly insists on stepping in! A shock! This is the first time Ori has willingly wanted to participate in a gym battle! It is now tiny dancing flower vs giant dragon. Bo gives him commands and he actually listens! Starting off with Extremespeed to get a good hit right off, followed by Thunderwave for paralysis. This will be followed by Hurricane with hopefully some confusion on top of that. Whether or not it does though, Bo will have him go in with Fire Punch and Wing Attack too.

Hopefully all goes well! But if it doesn't, she has other Pokemon to use as well. Such as her Lampent with its moves like Confuse Ray, Fire Spin, and Inferno. As well as her Heracross which would make good use of Megahorn, Aerial Ace, and Counter. Then finally her Snorlax which if put asleep would use Sleep Talk and Snore but otherwise could use Body Slam and Heavy Slam. I would really have to be that Bellossom up against Eparavur.

[mywayistheway]

Character: Bo-Katan Kryze | mywayistheway
Badge/Gym Leader: Soul Badge
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Kal, Ori, Balutar, Taakur, Bes'uliik, Nau'ul
Battle Details: Janine is in for a treat when this armored woman comes into her gym today. Granted the invisible walls and the trainers dressing like her a bit annoying, but the Mandalorian is nonetheless determined as per the usual. She has her Dragonite out and waiting beside her as is the tradition. As a note all of her Pokemon, except the steel types, will be holding pecha berries in case of poisoning.

Crobat
The first Pokemon that Bo-Katan sends out is her hefty Metagross. Perhaps a bit predictable due to the steel type being immune to poison and the psychic type giving a clear advantage. However, her strategy might not be quite as predictable. She has it use Trick to start off with. The Metagross switching items with the Crobat (if it has any) and handing off an Iron Ball to the flying type. Which immediately grounds the bat with a thunk. Bo will then have her Metagross use Earthquake! Then a Meteor Mash to hopefully raise her Pokemon's attack and another Earthquake. Then maybe a Psychic for good measure if things get that far. If somehow the Crobat manages to defeat her Metagross then she will throw in her Marowak, Taakur, to finish things up with ground attacks as well.

Ariados
If the Metagross still lives then Bo-Katan will just keep going with it. Though instead of using using ground attacks she will go with Zen Headbutt. Maybe it'll make the bug flinch? Then Meteor Mash to hopefully up the Metagross's attack and then Zen Headbutt again with another Psychic for good measure. Again if things get that far. If Taakur was the one who defeated the Crobat than she will keep going with ground attacks such as Earthquake though they won't be as effective against the Ariados and she likely wouldn't last much longer. If either of them get defeated then Bo will send in her Chandelure, Nau'ul. Starting off with Confuse Ray and then resorting to fire attacks like Inferno.

Venomoth
However things go with the first two Pokemon, Nau'ul will likely be facing off with the Venomoth at some point. Starting off with Confuse Ray and then Fire Spin, followed by Inferno and Overheat for heavy fire damage! Hopefully resulting in burns and keeping the bug trapped in the Fire Spin for a few turns. However, should the poison types be too much for the ghost type then Bo-Katan will send in the big guns, namely her Dragonite. Ori will come in using Wing Attack, Fire Punch, and Hurricane on the Venomoth.

If things don't go well with the Pokemon already mentioned, Bo-Katan also has her Cyclizar and Bisharp on standby to be used. With Balutar making using of Shed Tail and swapping out with the Bisharp to protect him from the bugs while using attacks such as Slash, Iron Head, and even Guillotine.

[mywayistheway]

Character: Bo-Katan Kryze | mywayistheway
Badge/Gym Leader: Marsh Badge
Elite/Regular: Regular Team
Team: Kal, Ori, Eparavur, Balutar, Kad, Paz
Battle Details: Hello Sabrina! SHE'S BACK. And feeling better this time! Hope you're ready for a stomping. Bo-Katan might be a little spiteful after her experience the last time. She comes in with her Dragonite like before, but things will be a little different this go around.

Espeon
Remember her little Pawniard from last time? Well now he's a Bisharp and he's ready to thrown down! Bo-Katan will have him start with Swords Dance to sharply raise his attack and then come at the Espeon with damaging physical moves such as Night Slash, Iron Head, and Slash. Hopefully some flinching will come as a result of some of those moves! If his opponent's speed happens to be faster she might also have him use Assurance. Though if Kal is also having trouble, she will have him use Guillotine since his level is now greater than any of Sabrina's Pokemon. If Kal is defeated though he will be replaced by Bo-Katan's Aegislash, Kad. She will have the ghost type use Retaliate right away as a result.

Mr. Mime
If her Bisharp manages to defeat the Espeon then he will go on to fight the Mime with much of the same strategy. But whenever Kal is defeated he will be replaced by Kad who will use Retaliate for double the damage in retribution! It too will then use Swords Dance to sharply increase its attack! Following that Bo-Katan will have it use Fury Cutter repeatedly for increasing bug damage each time until it misses or something and breaks the cycle. She will then have it use Night Slash and Iron Head for flinching and physical damage, as well as Shadow Sneak. If there is any indication that the Mime will use a highly damaging attack though then she will have it use King's Shield for protection! If the Aegislash is defeated it will likely be replaced with Balutar her Cyclizar who will use attacks such as Bite and Dragon Rush to hopefully finish it off.

Alakazam
This is the one that Bo-Katan has truly been waiting for. If her Aegislash defeats the Mime she will have it keep going until the Alakazam defeats it. If its her Cyclizar that faces it, she will have Balutar use U-Turn to switch in her Snorlax. Either way, Bo-Katan intends to have Eparavur face off against the Alakazam one way or another. A big fat normal type against a powerful psychic type? Seems like an odd choice. But there is always method to Bo's madness. Sabrina's Alakazam might breathe a sigh of relief since its not her iron ball chucking Marowak, but should it? Eparavur will have to weather a couple hits as she is moving slower than is normal even for her. Bo-Katan has her use Belly Drum first to significantly raise her attack. Then in the next turn all becomes clear as the Mandalorian has her use Fling, and there's that darn Iron Ball that the Snorlax had been holding all that time. Thrown at the Alakazam's face with even more power than the Marowak had! Bo-Katan's intention was a OHKO, but if that doesn't work out she will have her Snorlax follow with attacks such as Crunch and Giga Impact.

If all doesn't go to plan she will send in her Dragonite, Ori to hopefully finish off whatever is left. Bo-Katan would have him use powerful attacks such as Dragon Rush and Hyper Beam. She also has her Cyclizar on standby as well as her Blastoise who would use Rain Dance and water attacks such as Hydro Pump and Surf. Whatever the case may be, Bo-Katan is determined to win this time!

[bloodysnarky]

Character: Astarion | bloodysnarky
Badge/Gym Leader: FALKNER
Elite/Regular: Regular!
Team: Here!
Battle Details:
- Yula goes against the Honchkrow, attacking it with Thunder Punch and Overheating after she took enough damage.
- Rune goes against the Noctowl, weakening it with Fake Tears before going to pummel it with Shadow Ball.
- Drago goes against Pidgeot, using Ice Punch, Dazzling Gleam...Endure as he took a hit, but would come back with another Ice Punch.

[livlaughlove]

Character: livio | livlaughlove
Badge/Gym Leader: sabrina / marsh badge
Elite/Regular: regular
Team: Ursaluna (68) | Skiploom (65) | Scovillain (62) | Bramblin (62) | Clodsire (60) | Yamask (58)
Battle Details: Baby's first Gym Battle! Livio has been studying strategy and is in town, so... why not!

Versus Espeon:
Yamask will lead, throwing up a Crafty Shield first turn to protect from status moves. Livio will focus on using Shadow Ball for the chance of lowering Espeon's special defense. If at any point Espeon uses a super-effective move (looking at you, Bite) Yamask will Disable it. Yamask resists Psychic and is immune to Normal moves, so hopefully Yamask can solo Espeon.

But if Yamask seems to be in trouble, Livio will switch it out for Scovillain, who will Crunch until Espeon goes down.

Versus Mr. Mime:
Enter Clodsire, holding a Payapa Berry, to halve one super-effective Psychic attack while Clod sets up. In order: Yawn first, then Toxic to inflict Poison, then Amnesia to raise its own Special Defense as preparation for when Mr. Mime wakes up. His plan of attack will center on Poison Tail for the increased crit ratio. If Clodsire looks like he'll be KO'd in a few turns, he will Substitute for the chance to get off a Toxic Spikes first.

Regardless of whether Clodsire goes down or not, after the Toxic Spikes, Skiploom will sub in for it to wait out Mr. Mime's inevitable KO to Poison. She will use Bounce for the physical STAB, and Synthesis if necessary to outlast Mr. Mime...

Versus Alakazam:
... because Livio has her pop a Leech Seed on Alakazam before switching to Bramblin!

Bramblin leads with Infestation, so all told, Alakazam will suffer damage over time from Poison, Leech Seed, and Infestation! (Livio may be retired, but he still recognizes that overkill is how you survive...) He will use Hex for damage as its power is doubled as long as Alakazam is Poisoned. Should Bramblin still end up in deeper trouble than Alakazam, he uses Pain Split to further harm it before Ursaluna takes his place.

Ursaluna moves pretty slow, so she will bide her time with Payback and Rest if necessary while waiting for all the damage over time to take down Alakazam.

[nightyorb]

Character: Riz Gukgak | nightyorb
Badge/Gym Leader: Pryce | Glacier badge
Elite/Regular: Elite
Team: Puk the Kecleon (lvl 100), Loggy the Hisuian Voltorb (lvl 100), Crab King the Klawf (lvl 96), Chit the Sableye (lvl 100), Niknik the Wishiwashi (lvl 100), Ezka the Hisuian Sneasel (lvl 100)
Battle Details:


You know what would be great in an ice gym? A fire pokemon! Too bad the last time Riz went to catch one, he actually just got a giant crab instead. Anyway.


Held items

Kecleon - Sitrus Berry (restores 30hp)
Hisuian Voltorb - Sitrus Berry (restores 30hp)
Klawf - Scope Lens (boosts critical hit ratio)
Sableye - Sablenite (allows it to mega-evolve)
Wishiwashi - Sitrus Berry (restores 30hp)
Hisuian Sneasel - Clear Amulet (Negates stat changes)


VS Obamasnow Abomasnow

Riz is going to start off strong against Abomasnow and bring out Puk the Kecleon. Kecleon has the ability Protean which changes its type to that of the move it's using, meaning that every attack it does gets STAB damage.

As a dual Ice/Grass type, Abomasnow has a 4x weakness to Fire attacks. Intending to keep this match short and simple (as Puk will be serving as Riz's back-up for any other match-ups), Riz is going to command Kecleon to start with Fire Punch, favouring its high accuracy, and knowing that between the 4x weakness and the STAB damage, Abomasnow will be taking hefty damage. He'll repeat this until Abomasnow goes down. In the event that Kecleon becomes unable to use Fire Punch, Riz will switch to Fire Blast instead.

Again, Riz is trying to keep this particular match short and sweet. He also won't be focusing on health regain for Kecleon, as Abomasnow has mostly grass and ice moves, which Kecleon will only take half damage from once transformed into a Fire type via Protean


VS Dewgong

Against Dewgong, Riz will withdraw Kecleon and instead bring out his Hisuian Voltorb Loggy who is just really Happy To Be Here, Gang.

As an Ice/Water type, Dewgong is weak to both Electric and Grass type moves, both of which Hisuian Voltorb has in ampere ample amount. Hisuian Voltorb does, admittedly, have a weakness to ice, but its speed is higher than that of Dewgong, which hopefully will have Hisuian Voltorb going first each turn, allowing it to deal damage before taking it.

To start, Riz will have Loggy use Grassy Terrain, which will turn Pryce's lovely ice gym into an indoor meadow. (for five turns, at least). This will also power up grass type moves, and restore a bit of health each turn.

After this, Riz will use Energy Ball, a grass type move which not only deals damage (now boosted by Grassy Terrain and STAB damage), but which also has a chance of lowering Dewgong's special defence. Riz will try to keep using this move until Dewgong goes down. Should this move become unavailable for whatever reason, he'll switch to using Seed Bomb.

However, while this is going on, Riz will also be keeping an eye on Loggy's health, which is lower overall than Dewgong's. He's hoping that the boosted grass moves will be enough to take Dewgong down before Dewgong can take down Loggy, but if his HP is getting very low, Riz will have Loggy us Explosion. He'd rather draw against Pryce than lose the match!

(Don't worry, afterwards, Loggy will be taken out for delicious treats and maybe some wood oiling? How does one organise a spa day for a wooden ball?)

((Also, not 100% certain if Dewgong has relevant moves but Loggy's ability is Soundproof which makes him immune to any sound-based moves. So things like Sing or Perish Song won't work on this ball!)


VS Glalie

Against Glalie, Riz'll bring out Crab King the Klawf. Crab King is slightly lower in level (96 vs Glalie's 100), but Riz hopes between weaknesses and resistances, the field will be level enough.

As an Ice Pokemon, Glalie has a weakness to Rock type moves. It just so happens that Klawf is a rock type pokemon with several Rocky moves!

To start with, Riz'll have Klawf us Rock Tomb, which not only inflict damage, but it also can lower a target's speed. Glalie's base speed is higher than Klawf's, so Riz is hoping that with a hit or two of Rock Tomb and some speed drops (only a 10% chance though), Klawf will be quicker than Glalie.

If Riz successfully manages to drop Glalie's speed, he'll switch to using Rock Tomb instead which has a chance of making the opposing pokemon flinch (which obviously is only useful if you are going first!)

If Riz doesn't manage to lower Glalie's speed enough, he'll switch to using Rock Blast, which can hit Glalie 2-5 times, with each hit having the potential of causing a critical hit.

One thing to note is that Klawf has the ability Anger Shell. This means that once his HP gets down to half, his Attack, Special Attack and Speed rise by one, while his Defence and Special Defence drop by one. To counteract this, once Riz notices Anger Shell activating, he'll have Klawf use Iron Defence on his next turn, which will raise his defence by two stages.

Hopefully between the boosted stats and Glalie's weakness to Rock, Klawf will be able to make it out of this battle alive and still the reigning crustacean monarch. If he goes down however, Riz'll bring out Puk the Kleceon as a back-up, having him use either Fire Punch or Fire Blast depending on which is still available to him.


VS Froslass

Against Froslass, Riz'll bring out his Sableye Chit. He'll also be using his keystone (which he is now wearing on an Extremely Functional and Definitely-Not-Purchased-Because-He-Thought-It-Was-Cool Bracer on his wrist) to Mega-Evolve Sableye to Mega-Sableye. With Chit now a Mega-Sableye, his ability changes to Magic Bounce, which reflects back certain status moves back on the opponent.

Froslass has a weakness to Ghost and Dark moves, which Sableye has plenty of (and conveys STAB damage to). Sableye does have one critical weakness to Fairy moves, which Froslass has one of. Riz is going to see what Pryce does, but if he has Froslass use Draining Kiss, Riz will retaliate on the next turn with Disable which will make Froslass unable to use that move.

To start, Riz will have Sableye use Confuse Ray to confuse the opposing Froslass and hopefully have it inflict some damage to itself. He doesn't need to worry about Froslass striking back and returning the favour, as Confuse Ray is one of the moves reflected by Magic Bounce.

With Froslass Confused, Riz'll have Sableye use Shadow Sneak. This is a +1 priority move, so it should be going first, unless Froslass also uses a priority move. Riz hopes to get around Sableye's low speed stat this way. If Froslass cures itself of its confusion, he will use Confuse Ray to renew it. Should he become unable to use Shadow Sneak, he'll switch to using Shadow Claw.

Again, as noted earlier, Riz will drop a Disable on Pryce if he uses Draining Kiss, taking that move off the board.


VS Mamoswine

Against Mamoswine, Riz will bring out the only logical opponent - One Tiny Fish.

As a dual Ice/Ground type, Mamoswine has a weakness to water. Wishiwashi is a water type, but also resists ice type moves, which makes up the majority of Mamoswine's move set.

Starting off, Wishiwashi will, of course, transform into her School form, boosting nearly all of her stats. Riz's first move will be to have her set up Aqua Ring so she can regain a bit of HP every turn. Then, if Mamoswine hasn't damaged her too much yet, he'll add a Tearful Look to lower Mamoswine's attack (though he'll skip this if Mamoswine has already hit hard twice)

With that set up, Riz will have Wishiwashi use Dive. This two-turn move means that Wishiwashi will be protected from Mamoswine one move (during which she will be gaining HP because of the Aqua Ring), before attacking on the next. He'll continue using Dive until Wishiwashi's HP drops to below 50%. At this point, he'll switch to using Brine, which does double damage once a pokemon is down halfway in health.

With Wishwashi able to heal a bit every turn, and able to target Mamoswine's weaknesses, while Mamoswine is unable to target Wishiwashi's, Riz hopes this is enough to eke out the win.


VS Walrein

For this final match-up, Riz will bring out his Hisuian Sneasel Ezka.

As an Ice/Water pokemon, Walrein has a weakness to Fighting moves. Ezka is a combined Fighting/Poison type has no particular weaknesses to either Ice, Water or Normal moves which make up the majority of Walrein's roster.

To start, Riz will have his Hisuian Sneasel use Swords Dance to boost her attack by two stages. Her next move depends on whether Walrein has dealt damage to her on the first round -- if Walrein dealt damage, Riz'll have Ezka use Drain Punch to recover the lost HP (and target Walrein's Fighting Weakness); if Walrein didn't deal damage to her, Riz'll have her use Rock Smash to potentially lower Walrein's defence.

The rest of the battle will continue much like this. Riz'll use Rock Smash to try and lower Walrein's defence and make the big beast even more vulnerable, and he'll sprinkle in Drain Punches to recover any lost HP.

When Walrein is down to one third of its health, Riz'll toss in a quick Taunt, forcing it to use damage dealing moves, and preventing it from Resting to restore its HP. At this point, wanting to finish off the battle quick before the Taunt wears off, Riz'll have Ezka use Close Combat, which does a lot of damage, but also lowers her defence. Hopefully though it will only take one or two hits of this for Walrein to go down, meaning that the other pokemon cannot exploit her lowered defence too much. Though, again, if her HP is looking risky, Riz will have her use Drain Punch to recover.

[curuiosity]

Character: Rui Kamishiro | curuiosity
Badge/Gym Leader: Falkner
Elite/Regular: regular team
Team: Nepeta, Daisy, Wattson, and Echo
Battle Details:
Rui's going to start the battle off with Wattson the Pawmo. The 1st move will be Thunder Wave, and then Growl. This will be the same combination of moves for any new Pokemon Wattson faces in this battle. Then he's alternate using Thunder Shock, Quick Attack, and Spark, until he's around half health.

Once Wattson is around half health Rui will swap him out for Daisy the Floette. She is only going to be out for 1 turn, and that's to use Wish, and then she'll be swapped back for Wattson to continue the pattern from the previous paragraph. Rinse and repeat until Wattson faints or wins.

Should Wattson faint, Daisy will come back out, set up Grassy Terrain, and then be swapped out for Nepeta the Meowscarada. Nepeta will take one turn to set up Hone Claws and then will alternate Flower Trick and Seed Bomb, meanwhile healing every turn from Grassy Terrain. If Nepeta gets below 1/4 health, U-Turn will be used.

Next up is Echo the Golbat. Echo will start with Supersonic, and then go into Poison Fang. After that is a barrage of Air Cutter.

If Echo faints, Daisy will be swapped in (if she hasn't fainted yet). She'll start with Wish on herself, and then if she stays in battle long enough to heal herself, she'll alternate Petal Blizzard and Fairy Wind.

If all else fails, Rui will send Nepeta back out with Flower Trick.

[phoenixwiz]

Character: Harry Potter | phoenixwiz
Badge/Gym Leader: Storm Badge | Chuck
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Gardenia | Violet | Cho | Molly | Roger
Battle Details: Oh gosh it has been 84 years- Now that Harry’s bad luck from the Snorunts nerfing his gym battle capability is over, he can FINALLY go back into fighting once again. Luckily for him during his gym battle downtime in the first two months, he got his team to work hard and many of them are over the required level threshold to take on Chuck and his team. Plus it is a mostly ladies fight club he is bringing with him. He could just have his recently evolved Togekiss Gardenia to do an epic sweep on the gym but he is trying to get everyone to take turns so they can all have the spotlight on them.

And since Harry is intriguing by the fact that Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan are weak to Psychic, Fairy and Flying Types, he is going to go all in with these types with some as backup to take on Poliwrath.

Hitmonlee - Hitmonlee is going to be in a big surprise to learn that its main opponent happens to be a ridiculously powerful angel fairy bird like Gardenia. She is part Flying and part Fairy and has a diverse move set so she is going to steam roll it big time even though she is coming into this thinking that the Hitmonlee wants to play with her. She will mainly use Air Slash, Sky Attack, Fairy Wind, Psychic, and Play Rough as her main moves. Seismic Toss, Flamethrower, and Aura Sphere will be her secondary attacks. What happens if Gardenia gets an injury? She can always use Draining Kiss, Roost, and Life Dew to heal up.

Hitmonchan - Cho the Swanna is next and she is pretty confident to knock out Hitmonchan with very little problems. Being a Flying type is going to play into her favor as she aims to strike hard and take full advantage of her type strength. She will begin with Brave Bird (she does get recoil damage but she is going to push through) before switching to Wing Attack, Fly, Hurricane, Air Slash and Aerial Ace for her main moves. She can use Roost to regain her HP and use Feather Dance to lower Hitmonchan’s special attack. If ever she gets weakened, Violet the Espeon will take over and she will rely on her swiftness and high special attack to fight back. She will primarily use Shadow Ball, Psybeam, Psychic, and Dazzling Gleam for the main moves while she can use Quick Attack and Swift for a swift attack. Violet can weaponize Confusion to mess with its head a bit. She may use Future Sight to pull off a surprise attack on Hitmonlee which it comes in effect after two turns.

Poliwrath - Harry has two Pokémon to face Poliwrath and each of them have a big Electric type advantage against its Water Type. Molly is going to be the main Pokémon for the match as she has both Electric and Psychic typing to send poor Poliwrath packing. She will first begin with Nuzzle in the hope to give the giant fighting polliwog some electric shock before she comes in to attack with Psychic, Play Nice, Thunder Shock, Thunderbolt, Electro Ball, and Thunder. Molly may even use Double Team to outright confuse Poliwrath while the real Molly herself shoots more Electro Balls and Thunder attacks. She will use Discharge and Thunder Wave as last minute attacks when needed. Due to her psychic ability she can float on her tail to dodge many of Poliwrath’s attacks as much as she can. Roger will be the backup if she falls. He will fight it with Thunder, Thunder Shock, Electro Ball and Thunderbolt and he could utilize with Discharge, Quick Attack and Iron Tail as secondary moves as well using Double Team to make it difficult for Poliwrath to attack the real Roger. And just in the Zephyr Badge battle, Nasty Plot will be used to raise his Special Attack twice so he can hit hard.

[phoenixwiz]

Character: Harry Potter | phoenixwiz
Badge/Gym Leader: Mineral | Jasmine
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Godric | Zinnia | Helga | Roger | Lily | Olive
Battle Details: Harry has already known about Steel types to thanks to months of battle strategy research, living in Olivine, and having tons of Pokémon who could easily knock out Jasmine’s team right away. Also he wants to apologize to her for any emotional distress his team might unleash onto her.

Godric will handle much of the Steel Type’s Fire weakness since he is pretty strong enough to blast fire moves easily and the same can apply to Zinnia. With moves like Ember, Flamethrower, Flare Blitz, Flame Wheel, and Fire Fang, they are going to give all three Steel types a hard time. Zinnia also has Endeavor which can lower the HP of Jasmine’s Pokémon to her HP’s current level if she wishes to use it. Roger meanwhile can easily knock Skarmory out with several Electric moves (such as Nuzzle for status effect, Thunder, Thunder Wave, Thunder Shock, Thunderbolt, and Electro Ball).

Lily does have a good type advantage against Magneton and Steelix with her Fighting type so she will use some of her Fighting moves (Aura Sphere, Triple Arrows, Low Kick and Brick Break) on the both of them. She can use Bulk Up to boost up her Defense and Attack stats and Feather Dance to lower the opponent’s Special Attack. Helga also has the type advantage with her being Ground type (especially against Magneton) so she can fight back with Sand Tomb, Dig, Earthquake, and Fire Fang. She also has Thunder Fang to fight off Skarmony. Olive has a type advantage with Ground too, she can fight back with Mud-Slap, Mud Shot and Earthquake to hit Jasmine’s team hard.

[phdepression]

Character: Jotaro Kujo | phdepression
Badge/Gym Leader: Boulder Badge
Elite/Regular: Regular Team
Team: The Squad the Falinks, Bearbarian the Bewear and Chomp the Drednaw
Battle Details: Good grief, now the breeder wants to fight gym leaders? Well, it makes sense given that you level up Pokemon faster (and get them new moves) by fighting strong trainers. And besides, despite everything, Jotaro loves a good fight.
Regardless of who is sent out first on Brock’s side, Bearbarian is coming out first on Jotaro’s since she resists most moves from Brock’s Team. Since Rock Pokemon are mainly physical attackers, Bearbarian’s going to open with Baby-Doll eyes to get both priority and lower the attack of her opponents.

If Rhyhorn or Onix is first, she’ll do one Baby-Doll Eyes and then Hammer arm until it’s down. However, if Golem comes out, the priority will be switched to Leer. Jotaro wants Golem to go down in one Hammer Arm to try stop a Self-Destruct (a move he hates with a passion) and logically you wouldn’t just detonate when you’re on full HP, right? You’d want to get one hit in...

If Golem goes off early and/or takes out Bearbarian OR if Bearbarian’s speed drops thrice because of the Hammer Arm spam, Jotaro will switch to his Falinks. Never back down, never what! Jotaro will get The Squad as BUFF as they can be with Bulk Up. The Squad don’t have a hard-hitting fighting move but what they DO have is Rock Smash! Between their upped stats and their opponents lowered stats from Rock Smash and the earlier Baby-Doll Eyes, they should be able to clear the gym.

In case of emergency though, Jotaro has one of his newer Pokemon in the wings: his Drednaw (the Pokemon he actually needs to be training). With high defences, Drednaw can fend off most that Brock’s team has to throw at him and wittle them down with Razor Shell or even Water Gun. Better still, he has access to Counter which is super effective and counters physical moves. And with any luck, that’ll get him his first gym badge of the Kanto region.

~*~*~*~

Character: Jotaro Kujo | phdepression
Badge/Gym Leader: Cascade Badge
Elite/Regular: Regular Team
Team: Crazy Diamond the Hisuian Decidueye, Hojo the Hakamo-o, Qtaro the Pangoro
Battle Details: Success or failure of the first gym will have Jotaro raring to continue. Though Jotaro will want to just spend some time talking to a Water Pokemon expert and ask if she knows anything about salinity regulation in water Pokemon, she’s next on the chopping block.

But Jotaro will open up with CD. CD’s mark is the Golduck where he’ll open with a barrage of Triple Arrows to lower the defence of Golduck and raise his own crit rate. Then he’ll use CD’s superior speed to Razor Leaf it down. If Lapras is sent out instead, the plan stays the same except Jotaro is going to play Crit Fast, Crit Hard and Triple Arrow spam. Jotaro only has to worry about Ice Shard, where he’ll have CD synthesis off the damage.
If CD’s health gets low or if there’s ANY sight of Starmie, CD’s gonna use U-Turn for both super effective damage and GET OUT OF THERE. Starmie’s marked for Qtaro the Pangoro who is going to laugh off any psychic moves. Between Crunch to lower defences and Night Slash for the crits, Jotaro is pretty sure Qtaro can take it out, provided he can tank the water moves Starmie has. If Qtaro looks like Starmie is hitting it too hard, he’s going to swap to Hojo. Being pure dragon, it resists all the water attacks and can use Noble Roar to lower to attack and special attack of all of Misty’s Pokemon. It only has to worry about Lapras which CD and Qtaro can take care of with their plethora of fighting moves like Circle Throw and Arm Thrust.

Between debuffs and some smart switches, hopefully Jotaro will make it through.

[phdepression]

Character: Jotaro Kujo | phdepression
Badge/Gym Leader: Thunder Badge
Elite/Regular: Regular Team
Team: Fortress the Pallosand, Freight the Mudsdale, Callie the Toedscruel
Battle Details: Jotaro’s ready to hit the gym again with his team of ground types and nothing is going to stop him from challenging Surge, even Surge’s incredibly tedious gym puzzle.

While Jotaro wants to train up Fortress, it wouldn’t be fair if his devilish sandcastle has all the fun so he’ll be opening up with Callie. Callie is a little underlevelled and she may not be as fast as some of Surge’s Pokemon but she is incredibly specially defensive. That’s going to be key in setting up. If Surge sends out either Electabuzz or Raichu to meet her, Jotaro will have Callie use Poison Powder. If it’s Magneton, Callie will use Supersonic instead to get Magneton confused. Once her opponent has some sort of status, Jotaro will order Callie to use a surge of Mud Bombs. In addition to getting STAB, Mud Bomb lowers an opponents’ speed and Callie is fast.

If somehow Callie gets knocked out, Jotaro will send out Fortress. While Callie is super-fast and Fortress embodies slow and steady, both use the same tactic: Dropping speed. Fortress’ main tactic is spamming Bulldoze to drag opponents down to his level. Additionally, for any Pokemon without a status (Magneton especially), he’ll use Hypnosis and almost always follow it up with Sand Tomb to trap his opponent in with him. Being ground and ghost, both electric and normal moves are completely ineffective and on top of that Fortress has Giga Drain to heal himself up. Jotaro’s pretty confident that Fortress will be able to take out the remainder of Surge’s Pokemon.

Somehow if he doesn’t, Freight is there to finish the job. Freight will use Rock Smash to take down the defence of his opponents and then use High Horsepower. If things look particularly dicey, Jotaro will spend the time using Mud Slap to lower the opponent’s accuracy so Freight can more easily clean this up. And hopefully that’s Surge taken care of.

-------

Character: Jotaro Kujo | phdepression
Badge/Gym Leader: Soul Badge
Elite/Regular: Regular Team
Team: Gyro the Iron Treads, Crimson the Armarouge, Shred the Salamance
Battle Details:
Apologies, Janine, Jotaro’s been trying to train his Iron Treads but Gyro’s been viewing everything as “beneath them” and “not a worthwhile challenge”. Hopefully, fighting a gym leader and their team will show them listening to a trainer is worthwhile.

Since they’re the star, Jotaro’s going to start with Gyro the Iron Treads. Given its typing of ground/steel, Gyro is defensively made for this fight with resistance to bug and flying moves and complete immunity to poison. A best offense is a good defence so Jotaro’s going to mainly rely on the tried-and-true method of Defence Curl and Rollout, especially since Rollout is super-effective on all of Janine’s team.

Jotaro will try to use Gyro alone but if somehow Gyro gets knocked out, Jotaro has two Pokemon waiting for some action. If Janine has Crobat out, Jotaro will send out Crimson the Armarouge to use Psyshock and whittle down Crobat’s HP. If Janine sends Ariados and Venomoth out, Jotaro will prioritise Shred the Salamence since he’ll be able to resist bug type moves (opposed to being just neutral like Crimson). With Intimidate to lower the opponent’s attack and Dual Wingbeat with super-effective STAB, he’ll hopefully make short work of Janine’s bugs. And if Janine starts using psychic moves or anything that may cause problems, Jotaro will start getting Shred to use Fly on his opponents. Shred shouldn’t get knocked out, but Crimson can pick up the slack if he gets low in health and use her powerful Flamethrower to finish off anyone else in the wings.

[phdepression]

Character: Jotaro Kujo | phdepression
Badge/Gym Leader: Rainbow Badge
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Echoes the Hisuian Typhlosion, Crimson the Armarouge, Shred the Salamence
Battle Details: Erika, he’s rode UP the Cycling Road to get here, so he’s not leaving until he gets his badge.

Unless Erika opens with Tangrowth, Jotaro’s going to open with Crimson, his Armarouge. Crimson will immediately use fire spin to lock in Bellossom or Jumpluff into a deathmatch (faint-match?) and prevent a switch into Tangrowth. Since Crimson resists most moves that Erika’s team has, Jotaro will have her stack Calm Minds before starting to rip the cord on Flamethrower.

If Tangrowth is sent out, Jotaro will be switching to Shred. The reason why Jotaro’s being cautious of the Tangrowth is because Tangrowth has access to Knock Off, a move that’s super effective on both Echoes and Crimson. Once the Tangrowth comes out, Jotaro will be switching to Shred, his Salamence. Additionally, since Tangrowth is a physical attacker, Shred’s Intimidate will make tanking attacks easier. To soften Tangrowth’s monstrous defence, Shred will use leer before aggressively using Dual Wingbeat.

Shred will be recalled if Erika sends out Bellossom, for fear of a Moonblast. If Crimson is still up, the same strategy as before will be used. If not, Jotaro will use Echoes, his shiny Hisuian Typhlosion. Being part ghost, Normal attacks can’t hit it and the Fire typing will resist Grass, Bug and Fairy moves. Jotaro will be making liberal use of Flamethrower to take care of Jumpluff and/or Bellossom.

Nothing disastrous should happen but if Tangrowth is somehow still up while Shred is not, Jotaro is going to have Crimson use Will-O-Wisp to lower the attack and then spam Flamethrower. Worst case scenario, JoJo may have to pray for a burn and stall but he should make it out, one way or another.

-------

Badge/Gym Leader: Marsh Badge
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Fortress the Pallosand, Zahand the Hisuian Samurott, Gyro the Iron Treads
Battle Details: Jotaro’s been in Saffron City so many times but now he finally feels confident enough to take on Sabrina. Time to punch a psychic in the face (which is ironic because none of the Pokemon JoJo has brought has fists).

Jotaro will open with Fortress the Palossand. Sabrina has fast psychic Pokemon which can learn lots of coverage moves so Jotaro will be trusting Fortress to tank a blow and use Hypnosis to slow her team down. Then, he’ll have Fortress use Giga Drain the health back up until Sabrina switches or her Pokemon wakes up. Then, he’ll have Fortress immediately put it back to sleep (They’re just the worst).

However, once the Pokemon is asleep, Jotaro will swap to Zahand to hit it hard with Ceaseless Edge. Not only is Ceaseless Edge super-effective or at least neutral on Sabrina’s Pokemon but it sets up spikes, making switching difficult for Sabrina. If Sabrina’s Pokemon is still asleep, Jotaro will have Zahand set up Swords Dance and then start spamming Ceaseless Edge until he goes down.

If Alakazam (a known Focus Blast user) is still up, Jotaro will preferentially send out Palossand to start his Hypnosis-Giga Drain strategy again. If not (or if Fortress is knocked out), Jotaro will send out Gyro. Gyro is good for its bulk and resistance to Psychic moves. Additionally, it can hit Alakazam and Espeon for Super-Effective with Knock Off and poor Mr. Mime with Heavy Slam. It also can slow down Sabrina’s team with Bulldoze, forcing her to decide if it’s better to put up with slower Pokemon or chip damage from Ceaseless edge.

If all else fails, he’ll go back into Fortress and start spamming Sand Attack then Shadow Ball. Jotaro doesn’t want to but he can and will play cheap.

[phdepression]

Character: Jotaro Kujo | phdepression
Badge/Gym Leader: Volcano
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Zahand the Hisuian Samurott, Ono the Dracovish and Chomp the Drednaw
Battle Details: Look, if a strange, old man approaches you on the beach and demands you to battle, you beat the shit out of him.

Unfortunately for Blaine, Jotaro loves Water Pokemon and coming out of the ocean means he’s just trained some of his trusted aquatic companions.

To start this beatdown, Jotaro is going to send out Zahand, the Hisuian Samurott. Preferentially, Zahand will fight Magcargo (Since Magcargo struggles to hit Zahand and is even out sped by it) but it’ll stay in even if Magmortar is sent out. Zahand will open with a Ceaseless Edge to dissuade switches from Blaine. If Blaine keeps Magcargo in and if the first blow doesn’t put Zahand in danger, he’ll follow it up with a Swords Dance. Then, it’s Aqua Tail time. If it’s still Magmortar, Jotaro will send out Chomp, one of the main Pokemon he’s been training on Kanto journey.

Magmortar is the bulkiest creature in Blaine’s arsenal so to deal with it Jotaro will want Ono to deal with it. However, Ono is not a fast Pokemon (Oh no!) and Jotaro will want to take advantage of the special ability of Fishious Rend, which doubles the move’s base attack when Ono goes first. That’s why Chomp’s job is to lower the speed of Magmortar with Rock Tomb. Once Chomp harshly lowers that speed and does some good damage, Jotaro will switch him out and send out Ono. Between STAB and Ono’s dangerous attack stat, Blaine’s bulky Magmortar will likely go down.

If Blaine sends out Rapidash, Jotaro’s going to send out Chomp again and have Chomp use Jaw Lock to stop it from switching out, since Rapidash is the only one of Blaine’s team that has no way to hit Chomp for Super-Effective damage (Steel is neutral on water/rock). To slow down Blaine’s Rapidash, Chomp will use Rock Tomb to make life miserable for it, and then follow up with Liquidation for both power and a chance to knock it out. If Chomp goes down, Ono gets back into the fray and does more Fishious Rends.

Jotaro’s water Pokemon hit hard. With some smart and good switches, hopefully JoJo will turn the tides of this beach showdown in his direction.

---

Character: Jotaro Kujo | phdepression
Badge/Gym Leader: Earth
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Kakoyin the Ariados, Ono the Dracovish, Zahand the Hisuian Samurott, Crimson the Armarouge, Jerry the Pikachu, Natsumi the Pawmot
Battle Details: Jotaro’s team has done a lot of growing and Jotaro’s much more confident in his battling skills – so it’s time to kick ass.

Despite being weak to 5/6 Pokemon, Jotaro will send in Kakoyin the Ariados first. Kakoyin is usually more one for showing off in a contest but he’s more than willing to spin a yarn for battle - That yarn being Sticky Web! It’s Kakoyin’s job is to lower the speed of all of Blue’s Pokemon, giving Jotaro’s heavier hitters much better chance of taking out Blue’s team. If somehow Kakoyin isn’t immediately knocked out, he’ll also set up a Toxic Thread to lower Blue’s Pokemon and poison it too.

Once set up is done, Jotaro will start the brawl with Zahand. Regardless of what Pokemon is sent out, Zahand will use Ceaseless Edge to set up a layer of spikes. If the opponent is Rhydon or Arcanine, Zahand will keep fighting, else he’ll switch (although, if the opportunity arises, he’ll use Encore to lock Blue’s Pokemon into a non-advantageous move). The strategy for Rhydon and Arcanine (which are both bulky and defensive Pokemon, with one having access to intimidate) is to Swords Dance it up and start using Aqua Tail. Both Pokemon struggle to hit Zahand’s good typing and Zahand can steal some cheap KOs with Sucker Punch and/or Aqua Jet.

In case Zahand goes down at any point, JoJo has Ono in the back. Kakoyin’s has set up Sticky Web which has made it more likely for Ono to go first, meaning Fishious Rend has double its base power. Not only that, but Ono is a Strong Jaw Pokemon, meaning any Pokemon facing Ono (Especially Rhydon and Arcanine) is in for a bad time. If Ono is forced to face the Exeggutor then it’s ready to Crunch but otherwise it’s the mean fish attack all the way.

Ono only struggles against Gyarados and Pidgeot, who don’t get the speed drop from Sticky Web. That’s where the rats come in. Jotaro’s trained up Jerry, the Pikachu, who’s ready to use his crazy speed to Nuzzle and paralyse both the Gyarados and Pidgeot before doubling down with Thunderbolt and Electro Ball. Electro Ball is dependent on speed and takes into the account the speed drop from paralysis, so Jerry is going to be hitting hard as well as fast. If Rhydon is switched in, Blue is in for a nasty surprise since Jerry can use Surf too (but maybe Blue could tell since the Pikachu is carrying a surfboard).

But rats, as in a plural? Yes, because Jotaro has brought in Natsumi the Pawmot too. Since Pikachu is fragile, Pawmot is here to break backs if her on and off partner goes down with Wild Charge. Additionally, Natsumi can use Revival Blessing to restore one member of JoJo’s party to full health if they faint. Jotaro will try and avoid using this for a fair fight but… hey, Blue didn’t say he couldn’t do it.

This exclusive revive is mostly going to be saved for Crimson, since she’s the only one Super-Effective against both Machamp and Exeggutor. Crimson has Will-O-Wisp to lower Machamp’s scary attack stat and reduce the damage of any dark moves about to hit her. Then, she can set up with Calm Mind and go to town, using Flamethrower to clean up Exeggutor and Psyshock to finish business with Machamp.

And maybe, just maybe, that’s the Kanto Gym Challenge done!

[phdepression]

Character: Jotaro Kujo | phdepression
Badge/Gym Leader: Zephyr
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Kei the Gyarados, Yoh the Tirtouga, and Poly the Spheal
Battle Details: It's a New Year so that means a new gym challenge. And having both a Pidegot and a Noctowl himself, Jotaro has a pretty good grasp on most of Falkner's team! So watch out!

Jotaro's going to start the battle with Yoh the Tirtouga. The Stealth Rock TM Jotaro trekked out to Pewter City specifically for is going to be set up first turn to make life miserable for Falkner. Yoh has Sturdy to protect him from getting knocked out too, letting him safely set it up. All of Falkner's Pokemon are much faster than Yoh, so after setting up Stealth Rock Jotaro will have Yoh use Curse to raise his attack and defense stats until he's ready to start throwing rocks. And then even after that, it's going to use a mix of Ancient Power for stat boosts and Smack Down to stop Falkner's birds from using Fly. Once Yoh starts taking significant damage, Jotaro will have his little turtle start using Aqua Jet to get those quick kills or at least big damage.

Falkner has two special attackers in his team in the form of Noctowl and his terrifying Honchkrow. Jotaro's counterpick for those once Yoh is down is his Spheal. Spheal is a mixed defender that can lower Special Attack with Aurora Beam (and also deal super effective damage) and lower attack with Growl. If Poly gets too low on health, she will use Rest and follow it up with Snore to do some good damage. If Falkner does any form of set up move, Poly will Encore it, trapping Falkner in and then starting to charge up Defense Curl. Because Defense Curl into Rollout is a tried and true strategy.

But the real beast that Jotaro is bringing in is Kei. Who, unlike Jotaro's other Pokemon, is fully evolved. Kei's ability, Intimidate, is going to be crucial against Falkner's Pidgeot and his Honchkrow as both Pokemon have high attack stats for their level. Jotaro is somewhat concerned about Honchkrow's ability to Swagger and have Kei hit herself in confusion, so if Honchkrow is still up when Kei hits the field, he'll only do one dragon dance before hitting the Ice Fang. But if it's gone? Well, Jotaro is going to spam Dragon Dance to get his attack and speed up before taking down the birds with Ice Fang.

Jotaro is a set-up kind of guy. Then an improvise and roll with the punches. Then start punching. So hopefully his strategies will get through and get him his first badge of the Johto region.

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Character: Jotaro Kujo | phdepression
Badge/Gym Leader: Hive
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Joseph the Crustle, Leona the Pyroar and Candela the Litwick
Battle Details: Jotaro may be more of an ocean enthusiast but he respects the passion Bugsy has for his Bug Pokemon. To meet that passion, he's going to send out a Bug Pokemon of his own, Joseph the Crustle. Jotaro didn't intend on starting two gym battles in a row with a Rock Pokemon with Sturdy throwing out Stealth Rock on the first turn, but that's what he's doing. Jotaro will keep Joseph in if either Heracross or Pinsir are out. Pinsir will likely go down to a spam of Rock Slide (being super effective on it and having a chance of flinching) but Jotaro is going to be cautious of Bugsy's Heracross which does have Counter. To get around this, he's actually going to spam Rock Blast on Bugsy. Rock Blast is neutral on Heracross but has the advantage of being a multistrike move. Fun fact, when calculating the damage on multistrike attacks like Rock Blast, you actually only use the damage from the last attack that hit you. So it will hurt but a hell of a lot less than Countering Rock Slide, so Jotaro will likely have a good chunk of damage done on the Heracross done before Joseph is knocked out.

If Joseph is knocked out OR the Scizor comes out, Jotaro has the rest of his team suited up to take it out. The Pokemon to take priority is Leona, a quick fire type that's specifically there to take out Scizor with Flamethrower. She can also soften the Scizor's blows out with Noble Roar if it looks like she needs to be in battle for longer. However, she is weak to fighting, so if Heracross is sent out against her, she will be swapped for Candela. Candela is both Ghost and Fire, making it outright immune to Bugsy's Fighting moves and a good swap to block Bug moves too. Candela will open with Will-O-Wisp to burn Bugsy's Pokemon, encouraging Bugsy to switch his Pokemon out frequently and take Stealth Rock damage. Then, she'll use confuse ray, and then minimise. If Bugsy is on his last Pokemon, Fire Spin will come out, for more chip damage. Between Jotaro's two fire Pokemon and one very silly hermit crab, he'll hopefully get his next badge.

[phdepression]

Character: Jotaro Kujo | phdepression
Badge/Gym Leader: Plain
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Cirrata the Grapploct, Crank the Revavroom, and Qtaro the Pangoro
Battle Details: Hi Whitney. Sorry, Jotaro's not cute and he's brought no cute Pokemon along. He's just here with his team to win.

Jotaro is going to open up with his Revavroom, Crank. Unless Whitney opens up with Girafarig, Jotaro is going to have Crank open up with Poison Gas to poison Whitney's lead. After that, Crank will lower Whitney's Pokemon's defense using Screech before following up with some STAB'ed Iron Heads. Crank has good bulk and great offensive capabilities, so it's likely able to take out the Clefable quickly and do some good damage to Miltank even if it has to tank a super-effective hit or two. If forced to stay out against the Girafarig, Crank is fast and will use Assurance to attack it for more damage. However, due to Crank's low Special Defense, Jotaro's hoping not to have to resort to this.

The preferred counter to Girafarig is the Pangoro, Qtaro. Girafarig can't do much to hit Pangoro, being a Dark/Fighting type, but Qtaro can certainly hit it with Crunch to lower defense and Night Slash. He can also raise his attack with Work Up. However, being the only Pokemon not weak to Psychic moves, Jotaro will try and preserve his Pangoro until the Girafarig gets taken down, preferentially switching to his other Pokemon if Clefable or Miltank is out. Once the Girafarig is down, Jotaro will let his Pangoro stay out and use Bullet Punch against Clefairy for a super-effective move with priority or Vital Throw against the Miltank to guarantee a meaty hit.

And oh boy, Whitney's Miltank. Jotaro has heard horror stories about it and has made sure he has something ready to fight it. Saved in the back for that thing is Cirrata, the Grapploct. Jotaro will set up with Bulk Up to make sure his friendly octopus has Attack and Defense to deal damage while taking minimal damage. If Whitney also starts setting up, Jotaro will try stop that in its tracks with Taunt and continue setting up. Once she's forced to attack him, he'll have Cirrata crack his tentacles and use Reversal. Whitney hits hard, so Jotaro plans on sending that strength right back at her.

Jotaro's Pokemon have been chosen to take out specific Pokemon of Whitney's. However, they do have good coverage and are able to fight the Pokemon not assigned to them. Jotaro may love Water types but Fighting Types are a close second, and hopefully he'll be able to take home another badge.

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Character: Jotaro Kujo | phdepression
Badge/Gym Leader: Fog
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Yume the Noctowl, Landmine the Overqwil and Aggression the Annihilape
Battle Details: You see ghosts, Morty? Well, so does he. JoJo, no. That's the trauma. But while Jotaro feels dead inside, he's certainly got enough life in him to challenge this gym.

Jotaro will open the fight with Yume the Noctowl against Morty's Haunter and Gengar for three reasons, 1) She's partially normal type and thus immune to almost all of Haunter and Gengar's moves, 2) She learns Extrasensory which hits for super-effective damage, and 3) she has the ability Insomnia, stopping Morty from putting her to sleep. With her high special attack, Roost to restore her HP, and Reflect to reduce the damage that Sucker Punch or Payback would deal, this tireless bird should be able to clean up Morty's main two Pokemon in no time.

If Morty sends out Misdreavus and Jotaro can switch, he's going to send out his Overqwil, Landmine. Landmine only really has Bite for Super Effective damage but Misdreavus has middling defenses at best. Additionally, he resists nearly every attack Misdreavus can throw, and Jotaro will have him use minimise just to make things infuriating. Jotaro's confident that Landmine can play the long game and outlast Misdreavus for the most part.

Unless Morty pulls out the Perish Song. Jotaro's Pokemon do outclass Morty but if Morty is willing to sack his Pokemon by doing the feared Mean Look and Perish Song combo, there's not a lot he can do. The second Mean Look comes out, Jotaro is going to abandon his usual strategy of set-up and start ordering super effective moves. And if both their Pokemon go down, well... Well that's why you don't only have one Pokemon to fight a gym. You always bring a hard-hitting backup.

That backup being Aggression the Annihilape. While most of Morty's ghosts are faster than Aggression, they all have the defense of wet paper towels. A combination that is not good when facing Annihilape's Rage Fist. Rage Fist doubles in power when the Pokemon is hit... so good luck surviving Annihilape's super-effective STAB move that will be 100 base power at minimum after Morty hits.

TLDR: Jotaro's going to try play smart and play around the strengths of Morty's ghosts. But if he's backed in a corner, he's gonna just release the angry monkey and hopefully win. The battle could go either way but hopefully that's the 4th badge of Johto right there.

[loopsiedaisy]

Submitting this early for March when Loop will actually be in the vicinity of the gym!

Character: Loop | loopsiedaisy
Badge/Gym Leader: Zephyr Badge/Falkner
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Orrery (Metang, Lvl. 47); Fleuirk (Banette, Lvl. 46); Burnoît (Quilava, Lvl. 39)
Battle Details:
Loop has exactly three Pokemon that can battle. One of them is a Ghost type. Another is a Psychic type that's at a severe disadvantage to that Honchkrow. So... it's fortunate that they're all pretty overlevelled for this!

Of note: Loop did a test run of this gym before, months ago! That said, they didn't make it to Falkner, and they also didn't research the gym at any point, because it's not a thing that would occur to them to do. They're gonna be flying by the seat of their pants and I'm a-okay with it if that means they fail this attempt... but they are actually trying this time!

They will start with Fleuirk; they're pretty familiar with Ghost-Normal interactions at this point so they will very quickly realize and adjust for Falkner's Normal type birds when one of Fleuirk's attacks fails to impact. Instead Fleuirk will use Will-O-Wisp, then trade between Feint Attack and Sucker Punch, depending on whether she and Loop think the other Pokemon is about to attack or not. If she's fighting the Honchkrow and Loop realizes that one isn't a Normal type, probably by seeing the resistance to Dark, Loop will get her to use Night Shade instead for the flat damage.

...also, if Fleuirk thinks that the other Pokemon has a held item - or honestly even if she doesn't - she will use Trick at some point. What is she holding? Well, it's not an actual held item with an effect, that's for sure! It's, uh... one of those prank can toys that explodes a fake snake Ekans out of the lid.

If Fleuirk manages to knock out a Pokemon specifically while she has very little health remaining, Loop will swap her out. Otherwise, she will continue staying out until she faints, because... she has one last strategy that she does on her own initiative (Loop isn't a fan). If she thinks she's about to lose, she will use Curse and knock herself out. Nasty status effect for you!

Orrery will be out next. She's high enough in level and resists enough things that she should be able to handle anything but the Honchkrow, and potentially even that. She'll use Iron Defense first, then rely on outlasting the other Pokemon with her attacks. If the Honchkrow comes out and Loop sees that Orerry is taking super-effective hits, they will swap to Burnoît - if he gets knocked out and they have to send Orrery back out, she will use Miracle Eye on her own initiative, so that she can return to using her Psychic type attacks.

Speaking of Burnoît, if he ends up coming out - he'll start with Smokescreen to lower his odds of getting hit. (Of course, this might not work if he's facing up with the Pidgeot or Noctowl... but Loop doesn't know that.) Past that, Loop will get him to stick to Flame Wheel and Flame Charge - depending on whether they think he needs to speed up more to deal with the birds, or if he can just start trying to burn them. If Burnoît gets hit with accuracy-lowering moves, they'll tell him to swap to Swift. That's about it!

Backdated to just before the contest in March

[swordarc]

Character: III | swordarc
Badge/Gym Leader: Brock | Boulder Badge
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Slowpoke, Mask the Golett
Battle Details: It's finally time for III to take a shot at a gym!

VS Rhyhorn

III's feeling pretty confident with his lead Pokémon, Slowpoke. He'll lead in with Yawn, then follow up with Water Pulse in hopes of hitting the confusion chance. Yes, Yawn should put the Rhyhorn to sleep, but confusion is a nice extra bonus just in case it wakes up.

VS Golem

Second verse, (mostly) same as the first. Yawn, followed by Water Pulse. III might choose to mix in some Slack Off for health recovery if Slowpoke gets too low health somehow.

VS Onix

Okay, now he's mixing it up. Slowpoke is being switched out for Mask the Golett, who will lead with Iron Defense before leading into Stomping Tantrum. If Mask gets paralyzed by Dragon Breath, then III will try to switch back to Slowpoke and pivot into Water Pulse, but if he can't switch due to Sand Tomb or Stealth Rock makes switching too risky, then he'll keep Mask in and hope the paralysis works in his favour to power up Stomping Tantrum.