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!)

「 NAVIGATION 」

Comments

[indigo_league]

Badge approved!

[amaure]

Character: Emet-Selch | amaure
Badge/Gym Leader: Falkner | Zephyr Badge
Elite/Regular: regular
Team: OOPS ALL ROTOM, but specifically Ghost (57), Frost (47), and Wash (47, not that he'll likely need a third)
Battle Details: Well, besides the obvious level and type advantage afforded by his team of electrically charged ghosts possessing appliances, he will lean further into that by setting the stage with Electric Field. You know, just in case Falkner had any hope that this match up would somehow go in his favor at all. Leading with his Rotom that isn't currently possessing anything, he'll rely on his boosted up electric attacks like Thunderbolt, Discharge, and so on to do away with Falkner's team.

However, he isn't so arrogant to think that he shouldn't be cautious, and so with Honchkrow being the biggest threat here, he'll set up Substitute and Double Team to deal with any Dark-type moves that might threaten Rotom. Then like the others, he will work that electric advantage to dispatch of Honchkrow.

Should he not be able to sweep Falkner with his leading Rotom, he will bring forth his Frost Rotom, and mercilessly Blizzard what remains—that is if Electric terrain by this point has worn out. Knowing full well the accuracy leaves something to be desired, the power behind the move should more than make up for it. If it misses, then he will reinstate electric terrain, followed up with Thunder Wave to paralyze and slow down that Pidgeot, and with lil Frosty man being Timid in nature...the newly formed discrepancy in speed will work to bolster Electro Ball to finish this.

If not, well, there's always Wash Rotom to clean up the mess, eh???

[cyan_maid]

Character: Jane Crocker | cyan_maid
Badge/Gym Leader: Brock for the Boulder Badge
Elite/Regular: ELITE TEAM
Team: Dinah the Audino, Marnie the Seaking, Madeline the Primarina, Ramsay the Leafeon, Dart the Bisharp, and Deva the Indeedee
Battle Details: Jane has literally decided to stack her deck full of type advantages in her fight against Brock. While Dinah and Deva don't have the best advantage against such high-Defense opponents, they do have stat-altering moves that can bring their opponents to heel. Deva's got Calm Mind to boost Attack and Special Attack, and then can use Baton Pass to not only switch out with another Pokemon, but pass that stat boost onto them as well. Dinah has Baby Doll Eyes, Attract (if we can bring gender into play), and Simple Beam, as well as Power-Up Punch, a Fighting type move that is not only super effective against Brock's rocks, but boosts Dinah's attack with every connecting hit.

As for her other Pokemon, they are going all in on moves that will get a STAB - Marnie and Madeline's Water moves, Ramsay's Grass moves, and Dart's Steel moves will slam into their opponents with as much force as possible. We're going for a type advantage overwhelming kind of strategy here.

[shiro2hero]

Character: Shiro | shiro2hero
Badge/Gym Leader: Viridian | Blue
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Here
Battle Details:
The plan here is type advantage, with a whole lot of buffs, should there not be a strong standing advantage. Gengar and Gallade using Confusion, Hypnosis and Protect to help boost and alter the status of their side and the opposing side, respectively. Gallade will also be chipping in with Heal Pulse when its teammates are withdrawn, to assist with keeping HP topped up. From there, it's a rolling matchup, 1:1.

For Exeggutor, Shiro uses Incineroar, and its fire type moves.

Machamp vs Gallade, relying on psychic type moves (confusion and Psycho Cut, with Healing Pulse and Protect if things get hairy)

Rhydon and Gyarados are taken on by Tropius. Tropius' grass type moves versus Rhydon's Rock/Ground and Gyarados' water.

Pidgeot has to take on Aggron's Rock Tomb, Rockslide, and deal with its high defense, plus Iron Defense.

Lastly, Arcanine gets to deal with Marowak, and its ground based moves.

If all else fails, Shiro falls back on the old standby. Mega Aggron, with its Sturdy ability - able to withstand potential 1 Hit KO's with a remaining hitpoint, and keep going.

[indigo_league]

Zephyr Badge approved!

[indigo_league]

The use of Tropius against Rhydon and Gyarados isn't as effective as Shiro might have hoped: Tropius' Flying type renders it weak to Rock, and Gyarados' Flying type means it has no real weakness to Grass!

However, Shiro also has five other Pokemon, so...

Earth Badge approved!

[indigo_league]

Boulder Badge approved!

[cutesneeze]

Character: Catra | cutesneeze
Badge/Gym Leader: Hive/Bugsy
Elite/Regular: Regular team
Team: Grey (Corviknight, 64), Spinner (Sigilyph, 44), Ember (Vulpix, 48), Tank (Shelgon, 63)
Battle Details:
Grey the Corviknight will be going in first against the Pinsir. She'll start off with Taunt to avoid status effects, then Scary Face to slow her opponent down. Then it's Drill Peck and Pluck, refreshing Taunt as needed.

She'll remain out to use Taunt against Heracross, then withdraw to let Spinner the Sigilyph have the floor.

Spinner will open with Sigilyph to raise her defenses, followed by Confusion in hopes of getting lucky with that 10% chance and to take advantage of Heracross's 2x Psychic weakness. She'll then continue with Air Slash in hopes of hitting that 30% Flinch chance, and to take advantage of that sweet, sweet 4x Flying weakness. If Heracross is still up, she'll throw out another Confusion, then return to the Flying attacks with Air Slash, Air Cutter, and Gust.

If Spinner goes down, Grey will come back out with some more Drill Peck and Pluck.

Once Heracross is down, Ember the Vulpix will come in against Scizor. Ember will open with Confuse Ray, then Tail Whip, followed by Will-O-Wisp in hopes of inflicting a Burn. Fire Spin will be next, followed by Flamethrower.

If and only if Ember goes down, Catra will bring in Tank the Shelgon to take up Flamethrower duty.


Character: Catra | cutesneeze
Badge/Gym Leader: Zephyr/Falkner
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Skipper (Pachirisu, 30), Breeze (Galarian Rapidash, 77), Tank (Shelgon, 63)
Battle Details:
Skipper will be going in first against the Noctowl, and will open with Sweet Kiss to confuse his opponent, followed by Charm to lower Noctowl's attack. He'll then use Electro Ball and Spark, in order of priority, to take advantage of that 2x Electric weakness, throwing in another Sweet Kiss every four moves or so to keep the confusion up as much as possible.

Breeze will come in against Honchkrow. She'll open with Agility to boost her own speed, and then use Growl and Tail Whip to reduce Honchkrow's attack and defense. Then she'll use Dazzling Gleam and Fairy Wind to take advantage of the 2x Fairy weakness, with an occasional Stomp thrown in in hopes of causing a flinch.

Tank will come in against Pidgeot, and will start with Scary Face, then Crunch, Leer, Bite, and Double-Edge (taking advantage of his Rock Head ability to avoid recoil damage) in order. If Pidgeot is still up, he'll throw in a Flamethrower in hopes of triggering a Burn for some damage over time, then repeat from the top.

[angewiesen]

Character: Jean Kirstein | angewiesen

Badge/Gym Leader: Soul Badge
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team:
Battle Details: For this battle, Jean is letting his Steel Types shine, since Poison Types normally can't effect them at all and they even resist the secondary Bug, Psychic and Flying Types. He's leading with Rook (Pawniard) because she's slightly under-leveled and he just wants her to get some experience while she can. After that, Pinch (Escavalier) gets a shot, and after that, he hopes to sweep with Edge (Aegislash) and Chess (Corviknight) since Edge is somewhat over-leveled and Chess is really over-leveled. He'll be going straight for the KO with his strongest physical moves since none of Janine's Pokemon have good defenses, and it's best to take Poison Types down down quickly before their various statuses and tricks can build up.

Badge/Gym Leader: Marsh Badge
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team:
Battle Details: Jean's strategy is pretty similar to the strategy above, except replace "Steel Type" with "Dark Type and Bug Type". Jean has heard that Sabrina can be a particularly difficult opponent, so he did a little research on her team, and found that all of her Pokemon can only naturally learn Psychic, Fairy, and Normal Type damaging moves. Rook (Pawniard) either flat out can't be damaged (Psychic vs Dark) or takes little damage (Fairy and Normal vs Steel) from those attacks, so he hopes for her to get far, even though she over-leveled. After her, he plans to deploy Pinch (Escavalier) and Puck (Accelgor) to hit hard with strong physical Bug Type moves, and he has Edge (Aegislash) and Chess (Corviknight) to clean up anything that's left, as they're of a more appropriate level. Like Janine's Pokemon, Sabrina's also have poor defenses, so he plans to hit hard and fast-- Except for that pesky Mr. Mime. If He tries to set up barriers, Jean plans to retaliate with Max's (Lycanroc) Psychic Fangs. If he tries to use Guard or Power Swap, Puck can reverse the effects with her own Guard or Power Swap.

[indigo_league]

Badge approved x2

[indigo_league]

Badge approved x2

[fearinahandfulof]

Character: Cassandra | fearinahandfulof
Badge/Gym Leader: Glacier/Pryce
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Blue the Lapras, Snow the Absol, Elizabeth the Aegislash, Licht the Mimikyu
Battle Details: This is not a great dungeon for Cassandra; her pokemon don't have the best coverage of the necessary elements. That means she has to compensate with judicious TM purchases. It's a good thing she has a steady job.

Dewgong: Blue is a bit of a weird choice for this, because he's three levels below Dewgong and he's a water/ice pokemon. However, he is a water/ice pokemon who's known Thunderbolt since he hatched, which means he can actually do some damage here. If he starts to struggle, then Elizabeth will step in - and since Elizabeth has 25 levels on Dewgong and two Fighting-type attacks (Sacred Sword and Brick Break), which both hit one of Dewgong's other weaknesses, Dewgong likely won't last long if she does.

Lapras: On paper, Snow does not seem like the best match, as while she doesn't have any type weaknesses, she doesn't really have a type advantage either. However, she does know Taunt, and more importantly Cassandra taught her Thunderbolt, so she's actually in a halfway decent position here. She'll use Taunt to lock away Lapras's status skills, Double Team on herself, and then she'll start hitting Lapras with Thunderbolt. As they are evenly matched and Snow doesn't have an innate type advantage, there is a chance she will begin to falter; in that case Elizabeth will step in again.

Mamoswine: Licht is another pokemon that doesn't seem ideally suited to an ice dungeon. However, Licht has exactly two weaknesses and Mamoswine can't hit either of them, while Licht can hit a couple of Mamoswine's with little difficulty. Taunt locks away Mamoswine's status skills, and Burning Jealousy and especially Wood Hammer will hit two of its weaknesses, to Fire and Grass respectively, and whittle down its HP. To make things even more challenging for poor Mamoswine, Licht is also immune to all of its Normal-type attacks, and while Mamoswine has no weakness to Licht's Draining Kiss, it doesn't resist it, either.  Mamoswine's high defense may be an issue, but even if Licht does start to run out of PP, then Elizabeth is once again waiting in the wings - this time with Steel Beam to hit another of Mamoswine's weaknesses. She might even have a few Sacred Swords left for the occasion.

Cassandra, as always, is waiting in the wings with healing items.

Badge/Gym Leader: Rising/Clair
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Lily the Pikachu, Blade the Silvally, Rhiannon the Alolan Ninetales
Battle Details: Time to get (more) serious.

Gyarados: It's really too bad about that 4x electric weakness. Lily sympathizes. Unfortunately, Lily also wants to win, so her sympathies in this case are conveyed via Thunderbolts. Sorry, Gyarados.

Kingdra: Honestly, Blade's overleveled for this. On the other hand, Blade has exactly one Fairy-type attack despite being Fairy-typed itself, so its utility is slightly limited. However, Multi-Attack is a very good attack, and Blade's other attacks, while not super-effective, do decent damage in their own right (Poison Fang will probably be deployed at least a few times in an attempt to inflict that status). It will also be using Swords Dance to up its own attack, and potentially Imprison if they have many skills in common.

Dragonite: Given that Blade is both Cassandra's starter and one of her two level 100 pokemon, one might think she'd be deploying it against Dragonite. Not so. Rhiannon's been looking forward to this battle almost from the moment she'd hatched. Rhiannon is actually one level below Dragonite, but as an Ice/Fairy type she has a significant type advantage and a plethora of attacks from both of those elements. She also has a number of status skills that she will happily break out for the occasion (including Aurora Veil to blunt Dragonite's attacks, Nasty Plot to up her own special attacks, and Double Team to increase her evasion), and if her HP runs low, she can always use Draining Kiss - which Dragonite is weak to. And Dragonite's 4x ice weakness is a huge liability against a even a partial Ice-type pokemon with the likes of Ice Beam and Blizzard in her arsenal. Rhiannon will likely try to end this battle with Triple Axel for style points, but only if she can get away with it. She's in this to win.

If Rhiannon somehow falters, then Blade will likely step back in, but that's a huge 'if.'

Cassandra will continue to dole out healing items as needed.

[cyan_maid]

Character: Jane Crocker | cyan_maid
Badge/Gym Leader: Misty for the Cascade Badge
Elite/Regular: ELITE TEAM
Team: Dinah, Poirot, Bettina, Ramsay, Dart, and Madeline, all lv 100
Battle Details: The struggle for Jane has always been that she doesn't have Electric types at high enough levels for these Elite Battles, which is no better exemplified here in her fight with Misty - she has to be creative, and she has to think, and she has to stock up on the healing items as always.

This, however, is at least not a problem against Quagsire, whose 4x weakness to Grass should make it fall quickly to Ramsay the Leafeon's Swords Dance and Leaf Blade combo. He'll stay in the fight (keeping those boosted stats) when Lanturn comes out, hopefully working quickly to cut it down to size, and then he's taking a well-deserved rest for the remainder of the battle.

Floatzel on average have lower Defense/Special Defense stats (as per Pokemon DB) and as such Jane will bring out Madeline against it. As a Primarina, she can take Water Type attacks with resistance and dish out Moonblast and Dazzling Gleam; while Fairy Type attacks don't have a particular advantage, they're also not disaffective either. She will also make use of Sing, Attract (if we can abuse the gender binary yet again), and Baby Doll eyes to trip up her opponent.

Lapras on the other hand will meet the full force of both Dart and Dinah. While Lapras's dual typing keeps it from being weak to Dart's Steel attacks, Swords Dance + Metal Claw or Night Slash is still potent, and if he should fall, Dinah can pick up the slack with Power-Up Punch and Thunder Punch. Hopefully Dart will have dealt plenty of damage to Lapras to keep Dinah from being hurt too badly, so she can wait in the wings if needed against Milotic or Starmie.

Speaking of Milotic and Starmie, both will be fought with two different approaches. Bettina the Crobat will be taking on Milotic, going in for a Confuse Ray + Poison Fang to poison + Venoshock combo, stacking damage with STAB and status effects. Considering that Milotic has a fair amount of HP recovery moves, hopefully these measures in place will be enough for Bettina to make some headway with her Flying moveset arsenal of Air Cutter, Fly, Acrobatics, and Wing Attack. Starmie, on the other hand, is facing off against sweet little Poirot the Kricketune. As long as there are other Pokemon still up and kicking in Jane's team, he will lead off with Perish Song and do as much damage with moves like X-Scissor and Fell Stinger as he can to really dig into Starmie's Psychic typing. Dinah is his backup should this strategy fall through, but hopefully this will be enough to topple Misty's team.

[indigo_league]

Badge approved!

[indigo_league]

Badges approved!

[cyan_maid]

Character: Jane Crocker | cyan_maid
Badge/Gym Leader: Sabrina for the Marsh Badge
Elite/Regular: ELITE TEAM
Team: Dinah, Poirot, August, Madeline, Ramsay, and Dart (all lv 100)
Battle Details: Man we are just slamming down badges this week, huh? Anyway, Jane is going to lead with August the Delphox against Sabrina's Jynx. Tossing up a Sunny Day before letting loose Mystical Fire, Flamethrower, and Fire Blast, he will make good use of STAB against Jynx's Ice typing. That shouldn't be too hard. It's Wobbuffet that Jane has to worry about, and to counter it she'll let August set up a Will-o-Wisp and keep hammering it with Fire attacks. If it looks like he'll be on the ropes, he'll set up Sunny Day again before letting Ramsay the Leafeon take over. Ramsay's superior Speed stat and the STAB from moves like Leaf Blade and Giga Drain should be able to bring Wobbuffet to its metaphorical knees.

For Espeon, Dinah the Audino will come out and make liberal use of Shadow Ball; her status lowering moves are more for Attack than Special Attack, so Jane's not going to bother bringing that stat down when Espeon is likely to focus on using special moves over physical ones. If she can push past Espeon, she'll counter Gallade with Dazzling Gleam, hopefully making a dent before switching off to Madeline the Primarina, who can definitely finish it off with Moonblast. She'll then be returned to serve as backup for the last two opponents, should she be needed.

Gardevoir is going to be fought via a gamble with Dart the Bisharp. While his Dark typing makes her weak to Gardevoir's Fairy moves, Gardevoir is also weak to his Steel moves, and he is going to go out with Scary Face to ensure Speed is lowered, then Iron Head and Metal Claw. Madeline is there to provide backup via her Water type attacks should he fall, but hopefully he can deal some serious damage to Gardevoir before that happens.

Alakazam, of course, gets to face off against Poirot the Kricketune - this is the second time he's come in at the end to be the big damn hero, and he shalln't let Jane's faith in him go unrewarded! He'll start off with Screech to lower Alakazam's Defense and then go to town with X-Scissor, Fell Stinger, and Fury Cutter (the last of which will attack in succession to stack damage). Jane will have healing items on standby as always, so hopefully she won't have to resort to a Perish Song play, but as long as she has another Pokemon standing she will have it on the backburner, just in case.

[un_oiseau_rebelle]

Character: Shinobu Tsukuyomi | un_oiseau_rebelle
Badge/Gym Leader: Storm/Chuck
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: El Diablo Verde the Grapploct, Ran the Lurantis, Kirin the Galarian Rapidash, Midori the Leafeon
Battle Details: Well... he's here, and his pokemon are restless. Might as well.

Hitmonlee: El Diablo Verde is starting this battle off, with castings of Taunt and Octolock. Then he's getting out of the way in favor of Ran, who is admittedly not the speediest or strongest pokemon in Shinobu's roster; however, she does have Aerial Ace, learned via TM. Hitmonlee also takes full damage from Grass, and Ran has access to a number of strong Grass attacks (including Solar Beam) as well as Sunny Day to power up said Solar Beam. El Diablo Verde may need to switch back in a few times to cast Taunt again, and may take one or two swings at Hitmonlee himself.

Hitmonchan: El Diablo Verde is also on Taunt duty for this battle, although the bulk of the attacking is going to be done by Kirin, who as a Psychic/Fairy pokemon has a dual type advantage. Between Confusion, Fairy Wind, Psybeam, Psycho Cut, Dazzling Gleam, Psychic, and Expanding Force, she can do a lot of damage, while El Diablo Verde periodically switches in to re-up Taunt to keep Hitmonchan's status moves locked down. Kirin also has over ten levels on Hitmonchan in addition to the type advantage, so she's in good shape here.

Poliwrath: Once again, El Diablo Verde is starting things off with Taunt.  This time, though, it's Midori switching in to take advantage of Poliwrath's Grass weakness. Midori has a lot of different attack options (plus Sunny Day to further weaken Poliwrath's Water skills, which she's already resistant to, and Sand Attack to lower its accuracy), as well as numerous additional status moves to keep herself going. And if her HP starts to drop, she has both Synthesis and Giga Drain to top herself back up, with the latter having the bonus of really hurting Poliwrath. Add the fact that Midori has a good ten levels on Poliwrath, and barring unforeseen events, this should go well.

Shinobu, for his part, is keeping various healing items at the ready, just in case.

At the end of the week, after a ferry to Olivine City, it's time for another battle.

Badge/Gym Leader: Mineral/Jasmine
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Raiju the Luxray, Akari the Chandelure, El Diablo Verde the Grapploct, Murasaki the Salazzle
Battle Details: This may be ill-advised.

Skarmory: Skarmory has a glaring weakness to Electricity. Raiju is an Electric pokemon with a couple of levels on Skarmory who is happy to take advantage of both of these facts. She'll try to hit Skarmory with Thunder Wave and then use her Electric attacks to do as much damage as possible as quickly as possible. Her ability being Intimidate is also helpful, as that weakens Skarmory's attacks right off the bat. The one tool Raiju doesn't use is Electric Terrain, because it wouldn't do to strengthen Jasmine's next pokemon.

Magneton: Akari isn't in the most ideal position for this fight, as Magneton has a couple of levels on her. On the other hand, her partial Fire typing does give her a type advantage here, and after a brief assist from El Diablo Verde (Taunt), she'll press that type advantage for all she's worth - mostly with Flamethrower, but she also has access to Inferno and Burning Jealousy. If she's in a decent enough position, she might also employ Curse, with Shinobu healing her to full on the next turn, but this is a somewhat riskier strategy given that she's slightly underleveled, and they'll likely avoid it unless conditions are particularly favorable. El Diablo Verde will cut in to cast Taunt as needed, and even take a couple of swings at Magneton himself, since as a Fighting type, he also has a type advantage. If Akari falters, Murasaki will spell her.

Steelix: Murasaki is starting this one off as well, since her partial Fire typing means she can hit one of Steelix's weaknesses, and her Corrosion ability means she can actually poison Steelix and then hit it with Venom Drench for good measure. However, her weaknesses to Ground and Rock are a problem, so at the first sign of trouble El Diablo Verde will be coming back in. El Diablo Verde lacks those two weaknesses - or weaknesses to any of Steelix's attacks, for that matter - and can hit it with Fighting moves while keeping it locked down with Taunt. Even if Steelix does somehow get a chance to cast any buffs on itself (e.g. while Murasaki is still in), El Diablo Verde has Topsy-Turvy to turn those into debuffs. And El Diablo Verde also has Octazooka, so he can hit Steelix's Water weakness as well.

Shinobu will be (nervously) waiting in the wings with healing and curative items as needed.

[cutesneeze]

Character: Cata | cutesneeze
Badge/Gym Leader: Plain/Whitney
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Rogue (Murkrow, 44), Garnet (Drapion, 62), Alwyn (Leafeon, 62), Dory (Kommo-o, 76)
Battle Details: Let's call it Monday.

Rogue the Murkrow will go out first against Girafarig, and will open with Taunt to lock down those status effects, followed by Mean Look to keep them there. Then he'll make liberal use of Assurance, Feint Attack, Payback, and Dark Pulse to take best advantage of STAB and Girafarig's Dark weakness, throwing in the occasional Taunt to keep the status effects offline. If he goes down before Girafarig does, Garnet the Drapion will come in early to Taunt, Crunch, Bite, and Night Slash poor Girafarig into unconsciousness. If Girafarig goes down first, he'll withdraw to get healed up.

Whether she's already out or is switched in, Garnet will face off against Clefable. Again, the opening move will be Taunt because seriously, let's not with the status effects. She'll follow up with Toxic, then Venoshock, Cross Poison, and Poison fang, with Taunt thrown in as needed to continue avoiding status effects, and the occasional Bite because even though Clefable is resistant to Dark attacks, the flinch chance is useful.

Garnet will stay out just long enough to hit Miltank with Toxic when she switches in, then will withdraw to get some healing by potions and allow Alwyn the Leafeon to switch in. Alwyn will stay just long enough to apply Leech Seed to Miltank, and then switch out for Dory the Kommo-o.

Dory will start out with Taunt and Scary Face, then follow with Dragon Dance to boost her own Attack and Speed, and Clanging Scales and Noble Roar to lower Miltank's Defense, Attack, and Special Attack respectively. Whenever Rollout hits, she'll use Iron Defense to boost her own defense, and hopefully that combined with her Rock resistance and the healing from Leech Seed will let her weather it. Then it's Close Combat, Brick Break, Boomburst, with Taunt thrown in as needed, and the occasional Headbutt worked in to provoke flinch.

If Dory goes down, Garnet - who should be healed up - will come back out to hit Miltank with Crunch, Bite, X-Scissor, and any Venoshock and Cross Poison she has left. And more Taunt. Always the taunting.

If Garnet goes down, Alwyn will come back out and hit Miltank with Baby-Doll Eyes. He's so cute, please don't squash him. He'll Swords Dance to raise his attack, then STAB with Leaf Blade, Razor Leaf, and Magical Leaf, use Synthesis and Giga Drain to heal if Leech Seed can't keep up, and if Rollout comes out, he'll use Copycat to inflict it right back on Miltank.

If Alwyn also goes down, Rogue will try to Peck Miltank's eyes out before he's flattened like the fragile bird he is.

--

Win or lose, Catra's going to hop the Magnet Train to Saffron City afterward, and spend a few days loitering around the gym there before challenging on Friday.

Character: Catra | cutesneeze
Badge/Gym Leader: Marsh/Sabrina
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Nocturne (Liepard, 49), Princess (Mismagius, 68), Dancer (Cofagrigus, 74), Garnet (Drapion, 62),
Battle Details: Nocturne the Liepard will come out first against the Espeon. She's a little underlevelled, but Catra's hoping that the combination of her Psychic immunity and Espeon's Dark weakness will make up for that, and she's brought backup in case the gambit fails. Nocturne will open with Taunt, then use Hone Claws to buff herself, then Growl and Sand Attack to lower Espeon's attack and accuracy. She'll cycle Night Slash, Sucker Punch, and Assurance, repeating Taunt as necessary to keep Espeon's status effects locked down.

If she goes down, Dancer the Cofagrigus will switch in, deploy Crafty Shield, then Night Shade, Shadow Ball, and Shadow Claw Espeon into the ground.

Once Espeon's down, Catra will recall whichever of her team's on the field for healing, and send Princess the Mismagius out to face Mr. Mime. She'll open with Taunt, then deploy Confuse Ray, followed by Shadow Ball, Payback, and Astonish. If her health starts getting low, she'll deploy Perish Song to take Mr. Mime down with her.

If Princess drops while Mr. Mime's still standing, Catra will send Dancer out, with the same tactics as mentioned earlier.

Once Mr. Mime's down, she'll recall whichever of her team's on the field, give them some healing, and send Garnet the Drapion out against Alakazam.

Garnet will start out with Scary Face to slow Alakazam, then follow up with Taunt, then Toxic. She'll Hone Claws to boost her own attack, then proceed to Crunch, Bite, and Night Slash, repeating Taunt as needed to keep the status effects on lockdown. If she goes down, Catra will send out Princess (if she hasn't fainted), followed by Dancer, followed by Nocturne as the Pokemon of last resort, all following similar tactics to those described above.

[bravury]

Character: Ardbert | bravury
Badge/Gym Leader: Hive badge
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Here! Levels at this time: Purrserker lvl 58, Corvisquire lvl 42, Hakamo-o lvl 51, Fennekin lvl 48.
Battle Details: He'll mainly be relying on his Fennekin and Corvisquire for the fight utilizing their type advantage in battle. Should they fall (being the lower levels of his team) he would swap to Hakamo-o and finally Perrserker. Ideally Corvisquire can sweep Pinsir and Heracross leaving Fennekin for Scizor, but if push comes to shove he'll just rely on pure strength and go on the offensive with his last two Pokemon.

Character: Ardbert | bravury
Badge/Gym Leader: Zephyr badge
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Here!
Battle Details: He doesn't have any type advantage to help him with this battle, but he does have level advantage (not that he knows). Assuming he's able to win against Bugsy, I wanted Fennekin and Corvisquire to evolve so he'd have Braixen and Corviknight for this fight. He'd lead with his Hakamo-o who may have a hard time reaching Falkner's bird Pokemon but the dragon is nothing if not persistent. Otherwise he's got long ranged attacks with his Braixen's Psybeam and Flamethrower and his Corviknight who could take the fight to the air being a flying type as well as well as being a sturdy Steel type.

[amaure]

Character: Emet-Selch | amaure
Badge/Gym Leader: Whitney for Plain Badge
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Rotom, Heat Rotom, Wash Rotom
Battle Details: Emet will start with his regular Rotom facing off against Whitney's Girafarig. With its higher speed, he'll place down a substitute first to take whatever attack she might lead with, but then follow it up with electric terrain. From there, assuming the substitute was able to withstand another attack, or that his Rotom could, he'll then hit the Girafarig with a powered up Thunderbolt. If the Girafarig still stands, it will be hit with another thunderbolt—but if the Girafarig is able to knock Rotom out, he'll swap to Wash Rotom to finish it off.

In the event that his Rotom was able to defeat the Girafarig, then depending on who Whitney decides what he does next. If it's Clefable, then he'll keep Rotom out and use Thunder Wave immediately. Should that paralyze Clefable and afford him another turn, he'll reinstate Electric Terrain. However, if Rotom was defeated by the Girafarig, then he will simply use Thunder Wave to paralyze with Wash Rotom before swapping to Heat Rotom. From there he'll use Overheat, since even with Electric Terrain going, Overheat has more power from the STAB bonus. Taking advantage of Clefable's paralysis, he'll follow up with Hex, that is if Overheat didn't take the poor thing out already.

When Miltank is swapped in, Emet will have Heat Rotom Thunder Wave. With it being likely that Whitney will spend this first turn using defense curl, this affords him time to reinstate Electric Terrain. Now, erring on the side of caution, should the paralysis only serve to slow Miltank down, and not interrupt defense curl nor the probable roll out, Heat Rotom is likely able to survive enough to get one more Overheat in before being taken out.

With Wash Rotom left, he'll be taking no chances with Hydro Pump, and instead taking full advantage of Discharge being buffed. From here, he'll basically aim to trample Miltank down between paralyze slowing it down, interrupting Roll Out's combo, and the powered up Discharges.

[fingersandteeth]

Character: Steven Durante | fingersandteeth
Badge/Gym Leader: let's stab Sabrina
Elite/Regular: regular plz
Team: Penny (Drifblim 74), 2000 Leagues (Dhelmise 73), and Ursula (Cursola 64)
Battle Details: Okay so. Honestly, it's a good thing that Steven is constantly picking up new ghosts, because that's the only reason he isn't stuck fighting the elite team for this gym. He's got some mid-ranged spoops that aren't ridiculously overleveled for the gym and yes, he is going to be using them.

Anyway, Penny is the main pokemon he's going to be sending up against both Espeon and Alakazam. Sadly, he's going to have to be a little careful with Penny's moveset because Espeon is a bitch and has Synchronize as its common ability and that's also one of Alakazam's ability options.

ANYWAY, Penny's got Phantom Force and Shadow Ball to hit either opponent hard and Thief to make off with their held items, should they have any. If it looks like she's about to go down, she'll Destiny Bond right before her opponent lands the final blow.

For Mr Mime, 2000 Leagues is the main opponent, because he's got a bunch of handy Steel attacks to go with his Ghost, even though he's not a Steel-type. Metal Sound to reduce special defense, Anchor Shot to keep Mr Mime from switching out, then lots of Heavy Slamming into our mimey friend.

Ursula is back-up for either of the other two and will be lobbing Shadow Balls when she's switched in and scaring the shit out of them with Night Shade, plus Poltergeisting if she suspects they have an item. Disable to keep them from using effective moves in a row.

(And, of course, if Ursula goes down while 2000 Leagues is still up, he's going back in to smack with Shadow Ball and Phantom Force too.)

[indigo_league]

Badge approved!

[indigo_league]

Badge approved! x2

[indigo_league]

Badge approved! x2

[indigo_league]

Storm badge approved, but Mineral badge denied! It seems as though Shinobu's team doesn't quite scrape by--though, Jasmine encourages him to try again!