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!

[indigo_league]

Plain Badge denied, but Zephyr Badge accepted!

Unfortunately for Kirishima, Clefable is a Fairy type, making it super-effective against his Noivern. In addition to its beefy health, Hurricane's low accuracy will more than likely result in Jack quickly falling to Whitney's Clefable, leaving the rest of his team to scramble to clean up the mess. Nevertheless, Whitney gives him a smile and encourages him to try again! (And perhaps this will give him a lesson in fearing Fairy type Pokémon.)

[un_oiseau_rebelle]

Character: Shinobu Tsukuyomi | un_oiseau_rebelle
Badge/Gym Leader: Plain/Whitney
Elite/Regular: Regular Team
Team: Scarlet the Midnight Lycanroc, Estrella the Toxtricity, Murasaki the Salazzle (backup)
Battle Details: Shinobu doesn't have much in the way of Fighting pokemon, so he's going to have to take on the Regular team instead of the Elite team. 

Girafarig: Girafarig's status skills are an annoyance, so Scarlet is going to take those out right away with Taunt, before switching to Crunch and Throat Chop, with occasional hits from Lash Out for variety. She's not Dark-element, so she doesn't get STAB, but she does have twenty-two levels on Girfarig, so she can still do a decent amount of damage. If Girafarig somehow manages to hit her with Growl, Lash Out's power doubles, in which case she'll switch to that as her primary attack. Naturally, she'll also be reapplying Taunt as necessary.

Clefable: Estrella is starting this one off, opening with Toxic, then switching to Venoshock. There is some danger here in that Estrella is five levels below Clefable, but she does have a type advantage, and her poison attacks have STAB as a result. If she starts to struggle (or Clefable gets a few really good hits in), Murasaki will switch in to tank while Shinobu heals Estrella up so she can be switched back in. As a bonus, Murasaki can fire off a Taunt or two while she's there.

Miltank: Scarlet is coming back in for this one, using Taunt to shut down Milk Drink before going on the attack with Brick Break. She still doesn't get STAB, but she's seventeen levels above Miltank, has a variety of offensive moves in addition to Brick Break (which may not hit Miltank's weakness but are still decently effective) and being able to shut down Milk Drink counts for a lot.

Shinobu is on healing item duty, as always.


Badge/Gym Leader: Hive/Bugsy
Elite/Regular: Elite Team
Team: Akari the Chandelure, Murasaki the Salazzle, Kanchou the Empoleon, Fuyu the Aurorus, El Diablo Verde the Grapploct, Kirin the Galarian Rapidash
Battle Details: Note: This is happening the day after the Snorunt swarm, where Shinobu earned Great Fortune from the Snorunts in the form of his team's attempts to inflict status effects being 50% more successful for the month.

Scizor: A 4x weakness to Fire does Scizor absolutely no favors here, nor does the fact that Akari is outright immune to several of Scizor's own attacks. Scizor also can't hit any of Akari's weaknesses, and Akari also knows Taunt and can thus shut down any status skills Scizor has. Add the fact that Akari has Flame Body, so any physical attacks that do land have a chance to inflict Burn on Scizor, and this is probably going to be one of the shorter fights. Sorry, Scizor.

Venomoth: Murasaki starts this one off; she has Taunt to shut down Venomoth's own status ailments, as well as Corrosion-aided Toxic to try to inflict Poison on it, and Flamethrower and Fire Lash to hit one of Venomoth's weaknesses. However, she also has a weakness to Psychic attacks, and that could be a problem. If it becomes one, Kanchou will switch in and hammer at Venomoth with Drill Peck. Kanchou's immunity to Poison will help him here as well, although he'll periodically need to be spelled by a healed-up Murasaki (or Akari) as she re-applies Taunt. 

Vespiquen: Murasaki is back in for this one, where she opens with Taunt followed by Toxic (Taunt is especially vital here, given that Vespiquen has Destiny Bond). Once that's all in place, she'll switch to Fire attacks and try to take her down quickly. The one major concern for Murasaki here, besides Destiny Bond, is Vespiquen's Power Gem attack, which hits her Rock weakness. If Vespiquen gets lucky, Kanchou may once again need to spell her while Shinobu heals her up (or revives and then heals her, if need be). 

Yanmega: This is a tag-team battle of sorts, with speedy Murasaki once again starting things off with Taunt to shut down Yanmega's status moves. She'll be spelled by Fuyu, who has an arsenal of Ice skills, as well as Ancient Power, to hit two of Yanmega's weaknesses (with Ancient Power hitting Yanmega's 4x Rock weakness). One concern is that Yanmega also has Ancient Power and Fuyu is weak to it, which means that Shinobu's going to have to keep a very careful eye on Fuyu and Murasaki's health throughout. If necessary, Kanchou can swap in to tank again, though Shinobu may need to top up his Drill Peck skill with Leppa Berries.

Galvantula: El Diablo Verde is starting this one off for a change, and the reason for that may become clear if Galvantula tries to open with a move that inflicts Paralysis: the Grapploct's Limber ability makes him immune. Worse, he knows Taunt. Galvantula might be able to neutralize Limber via its Gastro Acid skill, but it only gets one chance before El Diablo Verde pulls the plug on that. The downside, of course, is that El Diablo Verde has no way to hit any of Galvantula's actual weaknesses, although he does have Drain Punch, Skitter Smack, Surf, and Brick Break, among other skills, to do some decent damage nonetheless. Still, he may end up switching off with Akari - who can hit Galvantula's weaknesses and also knows Taunt, but isn't immune to Paralysis - more than once. Shinobu will have Paralyze Heals in addition to the usual healing items ready for this one.

Heracross: This one is Akari's. Taunt starts things off as always, after which she'll pummel Heracross with Fire spells; if it manages to hit her with a physical move, her Flame Body also has a chance to Burn it, although enough of its Attack skills are Normal- or Fighting-type that it may struggle to do this. That said, Akari's probably getting a bit tired by now, so Kirin, who only takes 1/4 damage from Fighting attacks and doesn't have weaknesses that Heracross can hit, may step in to pummel it with Psychic and Fairy attacks while Shinobu heals Akari and gives her a few Leppa Berries. Whether all of this will be enough to win the day is the question.

Shinobu has a lot of healing items at the ready for this one.

[bestswordmaster]

Character: Felix Fraldarius | bestswordmaster
Badge/Gym Leader: Zephyr Badge/Falkner
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Ubert the Dedenne (level 32), Alexandre the Luxray (level 36), Varley the Liepard (level 33), Zoltan the Doublade (level 38), Fellstar the Meowstic (level 27)
Battle Details: Felix studies and trains...a lot. Basically at every opportunity. And he makes his traveling companions train with him, so he can pit his team against a wide variety of different opponents and figure out strategies for defeating them. He runs them through combat drills like they're soldiers in an army. Even the most laid-back of his Pokemon are battle-ready, because he insists.

So! Alexandre takes the lead in this fight due to type advantage and level, focusing on taking down the Noctowl quickly with Charge and Spark. When the Honchkrow comes out, Felix will use Volt Switch to tag Ubert in for the extra resistance to Dark moves, thanks to its Electric/Fairy dual type.

If Felix can manage to take down all three fliers with just Alexandre and Ubert without either of them getting too hurt, he will--he wants to be as efficient as he can. If either of them gets too injured, he'll Volt Switch them out before they faint and put in Zoltan, who thanks to his Steel/Ghost dual type is resistant to many things and outright immune to Normal moves.

It's weak to Honchkrow's Dark moves, though, so against that one, Felix will Volt Switch out for Varley instead, who's resistant to those Dark moves and can Fake Out on the turn she comes in.

Fellstar is here as a last resort if for some reason things go horribly wrong. He's weak to Honchkrow's Dark moves but has a lot of annoying tricks up his sleeve, like various debuffs and using Mean Look to keep one of the non-Dark fliers in the battle. If for some reason he does go up against the Honchkrow, he can use Disarming Voice for a guaranteed and super-effective hit.

Overall, Felix has trained his team to be as quick, efficient, and relentless as he is in battle, and has no qualms about using unorthodox or unfair tactics to win. He's even given Alexandre the Quick Candy he received from Arceus for Christmas to help with this!

EDIT: due to the Snorunt incident, a whole lot of boy band fans are in the stands screaming and swooning during this match. Felix has a lot of experience ignoring distractions and annoyances in battle, so he's unfazed; his Pokemon, though, aren't used to this. Alexandre is spurred on by all the attention, but Ubert gets nervous. Varley and Zoltan are more likely to try to intimidate the fans into shutting up than anything. Fellstar will just ignore them.

[amaure]

Character: Emet-Selch | amaure
Badge/Gym Leader: Pyrce for that Glacier boy
Elite/Regular: Regular Team
Team: The greatest mystery of our—no, it's still Rotom. Specifically Ghost, Heat, and Wash.
Battle Details: Even with the 30+ level discrepancy, Pyrce isn't the 7th gym leader because he doesn't know how to fight against the odds. Being an ice-type trainer is testament to that, and maybe being an elderly gentleman on top of it is what earns him Emet's lack of flippancy with his approach. It's less that Emet has any worries towards his assured victory, but merely that he knows better than to get arrogant before victory is within your grasp.

This is why he leads with his ghost Rotom. With its speed, it makes laying down electric terrain a quick endeavor. Already being at a type advantage, it doesn't take much to dispatch his Dewgong with a few well placed Thunderbolts. Not that the Rotom wouldn't suffer some damage, those powerful ice attacks are nothing to snuff at, and should there be a chance to be frozen, Emet has more than came prepared with Ice Heals.

Regardless of who he swaps to next, Rotom will maintain electric field, and either dispatch more electric attacks (leaning into thunderbolt) against Lapras, or use confuse ray and rely on his ghost attacks (Astonish to attempt to inflict a flinch, then follow up with Hex) against Mamoswine, relying on Levitate to protect it from any ground attacks.

Assuming he dispatches of Lapras, leaving Mamoswine last to be dealt with, Emet will swap to Heat Rotom. From here he will open with Overheat, follow up with Will-o-Wisp. Between Hex getting a boost from the debuff and weaving in a Confuse Ray, Mamoswine isn't likely long for this world.

However, if Mamoswine was second, Emet would run Ghost Rotom to the end, and assuming it gets knocked out, he would swap to Heat Rotom to do a similar strategy. However, with more HP gone, the Overheat would likely take Mamoswine out. As Pyrce swaps to Lapras, Emet would have Heat Rotom establish electric field again, then follow up with Discharge assuming Lapras doesn't get a lucky crit super effective move off to take Heat Rotom out. In the case that does happen, Emet will finish this with Wash Rotom.

Between being resistant to water and ice, powered up by electric terrain, Lapras will not be long for this world. With a few well placed Discharges, the battle is likely decided.

Badge/Gym Leader: Claire for that Rising Badge
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Same as above, but he'll be using Ghost, Freeze, and Wash.
Battle Details: Needless to say, Gyarados' four times weakness to electricity makes it awful quick work against Ghost Rotom's powered up thunderbolts from electric terrain. Regardless of who Claire swaps to, Emet plans to keep Ghost out to wear them down—with their dragon typing balancing out their weakness to electricity, Emet doesn't expect to necessarily take them out by sheer type advantage. Instead, he aims to, at the very least, weaken and debilitate. With those powered up electrical attacks and thunder wave, either case one will be pretty heavily worn down.

Should it be Kingdra, Emet will bring forth Wash to finish it off. Between the boosted Discharge and its resistance to any water or steel attacks it might have (taking only ordinary damage from its dragon-type attacks), there's little reason to assume it cannot. From there, Emet will maintain electric terrain, aim to paralyze Dragonite and whittle it down with Wash, before sending out Frost to take it out with that double weakness to ice. Granted, blizzard doesn't have the best accuracy, but even a single well-placed one can be pretty decisive.

Should it be Dragonite, then he will swap to Frost to finish it off. Laying it on thick with the blizzards, and after the damage done by Ghost, Dragonite will likely succumb. There is the worry of Dragonite's possibility to have fighting moves or rock moves, but between it being paralyzed and weakened already, it's not likely to take Frost down. Whatever state Frost is in when Kingdra is brought forth, it will work to paralyze and confuse it, and if it can get some electric attacks off, it will certainly do that. Then, if or when Frost falls, Wash will finish the fight. Electric Terrain, Discharge, and even Hex is powered up by the paralyze. With the sturdy defense that Wash has, and the resistance to most of Kingdra's attacks, he should be able to secure victory.

[un_oiseau_rebelle]

Character: Shinobu Tsukuyomi | un_oiseau_rebelle
Badge/Gym Leader: Fog/Morty
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Mochi the Mimikyu,  Akari the Chandelure (backup)
Battle Details: Shinobu still has that Great Fortune from the Snorunts, where any move with a chance of inflicting a status effect on the opposing pokemon is 50% more likely to be successful - not that it's likely to come into play in this battle given the nature of Monty's team, but still. Alas, he doesn't have enough high-level pokemon for an elite battle, so he's going to have to make do with the regular crew.

Haunter: The first thing Mochi is going to do here is cast Taunt, because they are not interested in being hit with Hypnosis or Confuse Ray. And then they are going to hit Haunter with Curse, which halves their own HP (which Shinobu will promptly heal) but also causes Haunter to lose 1/4 of their maximum HP each turn - not that Mochi is necessarily going to wait that long, going on the attack with Shadow Claw and Dark Pulse. If Haunter manages to get in a lucky hit with a status skill, Shinobu will immediately heal Mochi up, but overall this is probably going to be a relatively easy battle for Mochi in spite of its own weakness to Ghost attacks. 

Misdreavus: Mochi is still out there for this one as well, because they have an advantage of over thirty levels and probably didn't break much of a sweat over Haunter, mutual Ghost attack weakness aside. The basic plan is the same: Taunt to shut down Misdreavus's status moves, followed by Shadow Claw and Dark Pulse. Mochi isn't going to use the Curse strategy this time; its use on Haunter was mostly a test. 

Gengar: Mochi is still hanging in, and still opening with Taunt because they do not want to deal with Destiny Bond, Curse, Spite, or any of Gengar's other status moves. Gengar not having Taunt, it can't really respond in kind, so Mochi is free to use their own status moves - including Curse, which Shinobu will once again offset with healing items, after first making sure Mochi is healed enough to properly use it. After that, Mochi will once again stick to Shadow Claw, Dark Pulse, and their other attack moves, plus periodic reapplications of Taunt, until Gengar goes down one way or another. 

If at any point Mochi falls, Akari will swap in, although Shinobu hopes it doesn't come to that given that Akari is level 100 and not prone to holding back. It's bad enough that Mochi is as overleveled as they are. Either way, Shinobu will be watching Mochi's HP very, very closely. 


Badge/Gym Leader: Mineral/Jasmine
Elite/Regular: Elite
Team: Akari the Chandelure, Tamamo the Delphox, El Diablo Verde the Grapploct, Tonbo the Flygon, Raiju the Luxray
Battle Details: The Great Fortune from the Snorunts, where any move with a chance of inflicting a status effect on the opposing pokemon Shinobu's pokemon use is 50% more likely to be successful, is still in effect.

Metagross: Depending on how things went with Monty, Akari may not have had much of anything to do, and she bores easily anyway so she's starting this battle off. As ever, she's going to lead off with Taunt to cut off Metagross's access to its status skills. This doesn't prevent her from using her own, of course, and she'll smack Metagross with Confuse Ray and then alternate between Flamethrower (normally 10% chance at a burn), Shadow Ball (20% chance of lowering the target's Special Defense), Night Shade, and possibly Inferno. Metagross being part-Psychic doesn't really do it any favors here, and Akari is happy to take advantage of that.

Bronzong: Depending on how Akari's doing, there's a good chance she'll stick around for this battle as well because Bronzong also has partial Psychic typing, in which case she'll use the same strategy: open with Taunt, smack Bronzong with Confuse Ray, and then switch to damage-dealing. Shinobu will be keeping a very close eye on Akari's health. If Bronzong manages to hit Akari with Confusion, she'll use the Persim Berry Shinobu gave her to heal herself; otherwise Shinobu will dip into his Berry reserves to keep her from harming herself. Depending on her health, Shinobu may have her employ the Curse strategy, then immediately heal her up; Bronzong losing 1/4 of its HP per turn should speed things up, if nothing else. If Akari isn't up to this, Tonbo will swap in to hit at Bronzong's Ground weakness while Akari gets healed up.

Skarmory: Akari probably needs some time to rest up, so Tamamo is going to spell her for a bit while Shinobu heals her up. Tamamo, surprisingly, is faster than Skarmory, and most of her attacks are magical in nature, which allows her to potentially overwhelm Skarmory's middling Special Defense. Lucky Chant cancels out Skarmory's ability to get critical hits (along with the rest of Jasmine's team) for five turns, and she has Flamethrower, Fire Blast, and Mystical Fire, among other skills, to hit Skarmory's weakness (with the first two having a 10% chance to inflict Burn as well and the last decreasing Skarmory's Special Attack). For variety, she also has Thunder Punch to potentially (10% chance) inflict Paralyze, but she doesn't get STAB with that the way she does with her Fire skills, and her attack stat isn't that great anyway. Her defense stat is also a bit lacking, so once again Shinobu will be watching her health very, very carefully and feeding her Hyper Potions where necessary.

Steelix: Steelix's weakness to Fighting, along with its list of status-inflicting moves, means it gets to meet an El Diablo Verde who has Taunt and isn't afraid to use it. He also has Brick Break, Drain Punch, Rock Smash, Reversal (from those times when Steelix gets a good hit in) - and, slightly incongruously, Surf. Topsy-Turvy to reverse any buffs Steelix manages to give itself, Bulk Up to strengthen his own Attack and Defense stats, and Octazooka as an alternative means of hitting Steelix's Water weakness (with a 50% chance of lowering its accuracy as well) will also serve him well, and Superpower (eventually) makes a good finisher.

Magnezone: El Diablo Verde is starting this one off too, inflicting one more Taunt to cut Magnezone off from Magnet Rise. If he manages that, he'll be giving the ground floor to Tonbo, who is going to hammer that 4x Ground weakness for all he's worth: Dig, Bulldoze (which also lowers Magnezone's Speed stat), Earthquake, Earth Power (which has a 10% chance of lowering Magnezone's Special Defense), and so on. He might even make an attempt at Fissure, although that only has a 30% chance of hitting. Bulldoze will probably be the attack of choice to start with, though, to get Magnezone's speed down; Tonbo's immunity to Electricity will also help him here. Akari will probably have to leap in at intervals to renew the effect of Taunt, as she's faster than Magnezone. If Magnezone manages to get Magnet Rise in, El Diablo Verde or the healed-up Akari will go back on point, respectively targeting Magnezone's Fighting or Fire weakness until they either take Magnezone down or Magnet Rise wears off and Tonbo can resume.

Empoleon: El Diablo Verde starts this one off with the usual Taunt, and then switches out in favor of Raiju, who starts out with Electric Terrain to boost her attacks and then shifts to Rising Voltage, whose base power is doubled from 70 to 140 under Electric Terrain. She also has Discharge (30% chance of inflicting Paralysis), Thunder Wave (90% chance of inflicting Paralysis), and - if she needs to switch out for El Diablo Verde to use Taunt again - Volt Switch. Shinobu does have a supply of Persim Berries if Empoleon decides to use Swagger on her, so they may forego the switch out-Taunt-switch in strategy in favor of keeping Electric Terrain up and continuing to hammer Empoleon with Rising Voltage, because that 100% damage increase is nothing to sneeze at.

Whether this is all enough to win the day, of course, is an open question. Either way, Shinobu will be at the ready with as many healing items as his team needs to keep them going.

pretend I submitted this on Saturday, shhhhh

[demonpuppy]

Character: Chip Abaroa | demonpuppy
Badge/Gym Leader: Whitney for the Plain Badge
Elite/Regular: Regular!
Team: Check 'battle' under the teams section
Battle Details: So Chip has...no idea what to do about Normal types. Just no clue. They're so weird and Chip has not found a SINGLE weakness they have (did you know there is an amazing lack of wild Fighting types on the early routes?), but they DO know that Necro types are immune to them!

...and Normal types are immune back.

But it's a start!

So for lack of any better idea Chip leads with Michelin and starts using the elemental punches to actually do damage. Given that Girafarig knows both Astonish and Assurance, that goes...not well, but between being overleveled and tanky as hell it's probably fine. Next out is Rocky, who is good and strong and a DRAGON nothing can beat a DRAGON--

...yeah, you'd think they learn by now. Hi, Clefable. Sponk comes out to tank past that, and now we come to...

Miltank. Destroyer of children's dreams.

Here's the thing. Pretty much all of Chip's team is fairly over-leveled for this. They can get a lot of damage out pretty quick. But Chip's tankiest Pokemon have all been either knocked out or are at low health, and Rollout is a fucking bitch. Honestly, Whitney probably does a round of setup with Defense Curl just to be extra rude here because that's how she do. Each of them has probably only one turn to do anything before taking that hit to the face.

Regardless, if they do win Chip is going to be very confused about her crying and may try to give her a hug.

[indigo_league]

Badge acceptedx2

[indigo_league]

Badge accepted!

[indigo_league]

Badge accepted x2!

[indigo_league]

You can only apply for two badges per week. Please do not post new badge challenges until the previous ones have been processed.

[indigo_league]

While Chip had a good attempt at beating Witney, in the end, they just barely end up losing. Not that it wasn't a close match! Judging by Witney's composure, it was probably the most tight and exciting match she had all day-- no, all week. In the end, they were so closely matched, that it really came down to luck; an unexpected misser here, a much hoped for crit there, those are the things that end up deciding this match, but unfortunately for Chip, not in their favour. Though really, if only their pokemon had been able to hang on for one turn more. Witney's Miltank would surely have gone down instead...

So, unfortunately, badge denied.

[un_oiseau_rebelle]

The others were meant for the previous week, but I didn't quite finish in time. I'll remember from now on.

[braveloyalhugs]

Character: Scorpia | braveloyalhugs
Badge/Gym Leader: Whitney, Plain
Elite/Regular: REGULAR TEAM
Team: LINK TO POKEMON ROSTER Emily (Drapion, 49), Perfuma (Bellosom, 49), Mr. and Ms. Huggles (Bewears, 49), Kyle (Persian, 49), Millie (Miltank, 49)
Battle Details:
Scorpia's been warned that Whitney is not actually a true Normal Type user, and knows the other types involved. She's waited until her team is a bit overleveled and gotten a bunch of Potions and other healing items.

Vs. Girafarig
--Setup/Battler: so, lots of Rockets have Psychic types for reasons, and Scorpia knows that they're weak to Dark which she thinks she's got only one of. She... hasn't realized that her Drapion switched from Bug to Dark, but does know she's got Dark attacks! So she's leading with Emily anyway in a lucky accident! And her strategy is Poison fixes everything: Toxic, Knock Off, Venoshock, Night Slash, repeat. If it's going better than Scorpia expects, she'll have Emily set Poison Spikes twice. (It probably will.)
--Backup: if Emily is taking a lot of damage, Scorpia will send in little Kyle! He's a normal type, but he has Taunt, Bite and Assurance, which he'll be using. (Emily will be healed while she's out)

Vs Clefable
--Setup/Battler: Scorpia does know what Fairy types are weak to, and Emily has it in spades. If Clefable isn't already badly poisoned, she'll lead with Toxic. And then it's Venoshock until Emily is out of PP. Then Cross Poison.
--Backup: if Emily needs a break Scorpia will send in little Perfuma, who has Acid, and also Quiver Dance to buff herself, and Mega/Giga Drain for some healing.

Vs Miltank
--Setup: if Emily is still doing okay and Miltank isn't badly poisoned from Poison Spikes, Emily will use Toxic and a Bite or two before switching.
--Battlers: the Huggles! Mr. and Ms. Huggles the Bewears are gonna tag-team Whitney's cow. Scorpia has one of her own, and knows that Zen Headbutt and Play Rough will do extra damage. (But it also means she won't have to deal with Rollout as much). The Huggles will have the same strategy, switching off for healing if necessary. Taunt, Baby-Doll Eyes, Hammer Arm, Endure. Then Pain-Split if the Miltank is still going strong on HP. If not switch. They both know Toxic and will absolutely re-apply if Whitney heals Miltank of it.
--Backup: If the Huggles are both struggling, Scorpia will send in her own Miltank, Millie! Defense Curl, Rollout. Stomp and Body Slam. and Milk Drink.
--Emergency Backup: little Kyle is probably still mostly fresh and will go in with Taunt, Screech and Pay Day and Bite and Slash. little Perfuma will go with status first (Sleep Powder, Stun Spore) and then her draining moves.

Scorpia will totally start apologizing, attempt to apply hugs, and try to give the badge back if she wins and Whitney bursts out into tears.


Badge/Gym Leader: Bugsy, Hive
Elite/Regular: REGULAR TEAM
Team: LINK TO POKEMON ROSTER Lonnie (Hawlucha, 48), Emily (Drapion, 49), Rogelio (Donphan, 49), Mr. and Ms. Huggles (Bewears, 49), Millie (Miltank, 49)
Battle Details:
For all that she only has one Pokemon that she "knows" is strong, Scorpia goes in fairly confident in her chances. After all, poison solves everything and Emily is great. (Too bad she can't bring little Perfuma, but she's got her bears, Rogelio knows a Fire Move, and Millie is a great backup for almost anything!) Let's just say it's a really good thing that Scorpia brought lots of potions.

Vs Pinsir
--Battler: Bugs are weak to birds! Scorpia has exactly one, her Hawlucha little Lonnie. She will Hone Claws, Feather Dance, and then spam Aerial Ace and Wing Attack. If her health gets low, Roost!
--Backup: Emily the Drapion will Toxic Pinsir and then hit hard with Venoshock and Fire Fang.

Vs. Heracross
--Setup: if Lonnie needs healing, Emily the Drapion will unleash Toxic and some Venoshock before Lonnie is sent back in.
--Battler: Lonnie is going to do the same thing. Hone Claws, Feather Dance and spamming Aerial Ace and Wing Attack. Scorpia doesn't know about Heracross's Aerial Ace, so Lonnie will have to Roost at least once.
--Backup: little Rogelio will Defense Curl and Rollout, and maybe Fire Fang in there too, if Lonnie needs backup.

Vs. Scizor
--Oops: Scorpia is going to realize fast that Lonnie is a bad match for Scizor, but is going to send her in first because bugs are weak to birds (darn that Steel type anyway)
--double oops: Emily will be switched in when Lonnie is pulled out fast and is totally going to waste a turn on Toxic (double darn those Steel types!), but Scorpia does realize bugs are weak to Fire too, so will then switch to Fire Fang. It will work really well, but the wasted turn is going to put Emily behind and so:
--hail mary battler 1: Rogelio is gonna come in with Defense Curl and Fire Fang. Hopefully he'll be enough to finally take Scizor out.
--back...ups???: Mr. and then Ms. Huggles will be sent in if Rogelio fails. Taunt, Payback and Hammer Arm will be the jury-rigged strategy for either of them if they need to come in
--oh gosh, this is our last chance: Millie will Defense Curl, Rollout, Milk Drink and repeat. If it gets that far Scorpia will be a nervous wreck.

[apshot]

Character: Bakugou Katsuki | apshot

Badge/Gym Leader: Whitney
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Here
Battle Details: Bakugou is actually, like, studious. So he'll definitely attempt to use type advantages if he can. I am NOT a battle detail sort of person so...

Typhlosion vs Giafarig: Shouldn't be much of a contest with a lvl 60 versus a lvl 40. Flamethrower and Lavaplume should work well enough. Though he'd open with a Quick Attack to test defense.

Corviknight vs Clefable: Type advantage. Steel vs Fairy? Hmmm. Yeah. Sorry about your luck there Clefable. Downside is that. Not listed, but it should have Steel Wing as an attack too ( forgot that it learns this upon evolution oops ).

Lampent vs Miltank: At least this is how he'll start the battle off. Ghosts can't be hit with Normal type attacks. He'll see how this goes with attempting to Fire Spin and inflicting burn on Milktank. Charm might be a problem. If Lampent goes down he'll switch back to Typhlosion for clean up. She can't be affected by charm.

Badge/Gym Leader: Falkner
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Here
Battle Details: Type advantage with Luxray. Clean out with Typhlosion. Does this one really need much detail?

[nastyboy]

Character: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd | nastyboy
Badge/Gym Leader: Whitney for the Plain Badge
Elite/Regular: Regular Team
Team: Team of Gremlin the Rattata, Grindy the Kingler, and Dean the Emboar, with backup consisting of Cofgodas the Raticate and Fowi the Luxray
Battle Details: Dimitri is going to do his Absolute Best to come in at a time where not a lot of people around while Gym hours are still going, hiding as best he can in a hoodie, and hoping no one looks too closely at him and "recognizes" him as either a member of TEXO (he isn't) or the guy that was on the Cooking Contest episode (he is). That's going to fail almost the second he removes his hoodie and some trainers in Whitney's gym may possibly fangirl, not counting anyone else who hears of him being there.

So, like, he'll be honest: not loving that. Still, best as he can, he focuses on the match... although only after releasing one little bonus Pokemon that won't be a part of his fighting team. It might be hard to see what Pokemon it is, considering it tries to hide behind Dimitri's leg the second it's released from its ball...

Whitney may appreciate that Dimitri also busts out a Normal type Pokemon for the first go around with her Girafarig: Gremlin the Rattata.

Dimitri has tried to attend all the matches Chip has done before, so he knows that Girafarig has some psychic tricks up its sleeve. Thus, he does his best to make sure that Gremlin uses all the tricks in the book to buy himself time so that he doesn't get hit with Flinch or Confusion from one of Girafarig's attacks. This means abusing Quick Attack to get hits in before Girafarig does, and Bite for both that type advantage and hopes of a flinch in turn. If Whitney tries to pull Girafarig back, that's time for Pursuit, and if Gremlin is on the ropes, that's when Endeavor is brought out before followed up with a Quick Attack to try and pull Gremlin out ahead.

Dimitri will pull Gremlin out of the match if it looks like his rat is going to Faint, and finish things off with Cofgodas.

Up against Whitney's Clefable, Dimitri lets loose Grindy the Kingler. Grindy is just full of murder, as it turns out, and he's glad to go right into it with a Razor Shell which acts as something of a setup for the following Metal Claw. Much like before, Dimitri and his Pokemon want to finish this quick before Whitney's Clefable can bust something out like Sing, although they'll use Protect against her as an experiment in seeing if that helps.

Should Grindy look like he's going to faint, that's when Fowi the Luxray steps in, ready to just zap the shit out of everything.

And finally... Against Whitney's Miltank, whose power Dimitri has already witnessed, there's really only one solution in his mind. That would be Dean the Emboar, who strengthens up with a Defense Curl and then... It's Rollout VS Rollout, a battle to see whose strength can push through as the pair slam into each other again and again all throughout the arena. It's really just a matter of pushing through on strength, although Dean's higher level and Defense Curl do add a bit more power to his own attack. If both Pokemon manage to stay standing by the end of this high impact exchange, Dean will clean up by utilizing his Fighting strength with an Arm Thrust or three.

Win or lose, Dimitri still approaches Whitney after the battle to reveal what little Pokemon was watching all of this: a baby Miltank, not even old enough to have grown horns or udders! Dimitri wants Gaibhenenn the Miltank to properly meet Whitney's own, and tells the little cow Pokemon that this is what they are aiming for. Gaibhenenn is quite sparkly eyed about it all, with this being the first proper battle she's seen.

...Also please don't cry, Whitney, Dimitri doesn't know how to deal with that.

[demonpuppy]

Character: Chip Abaroa | demonpuppy
Badge/Gym Leader: Whitney for the Plain Badge
Elite/Regular: Regular!
Team: check 'battle' under the teams tab
Battle Details: Okay! So Chip has learned a bit, and been training with Felix to better figure out how to deal with Normal types. They've got a new strategy and a week's worth of levels to help them out, so lets start!

First up is Espie to take on Girafarig. Chip starts out with a Thunder Wave, then goes into an Agility+Electro Ball combo to take advantage of the speed penalty there. If she does go down, however, Michelin is there to take up the slack.

Next is Clefable, and that means that Lazzo is coming out! This time Chip is aiming to use Toxic type to their advantage, using...well, Toxic, Poison Fang for flinching, and Venoshock to get some good hits in. Sponk is backup here.

And now...the main event. This time it's Precious who fights Miltank, which is...maybe a bit of a risk, given the level disparity, but Chip is banking on a few things. One: Precious is Earth type and therefore resistant to Rollout. Two...Chip finally figured out how Counter can be a good move! When it looks like Precious won't be able to take much more, they go for broke with a (hopefully) high-power Reversal to knock Miltank out and win the day!

If that doesn't work, then Rocky is there to Superpower to victory, but Chip REALLY wants Precious to get this.

[copykiri]

Character: Kiri | copykiri
Badge/Gym Leader: Bugsy, Hive
Elite/Regular: REGULAR TEAM
Team: LINK TO POKEMON ROSTER Skarmory (lv 40), Pikipek (lv 39), Murkrow (lv 33), Spearow (lv 39), Fletchling (lv 27), Chatot (lv 30)
Battle Details:

So a little girl in a feathered headband and costume wings walks into a bug gym with a Chatot on her shoulders... the punchline is that she's been warned about the Scizor.

Kiri also spends the battle imitating Pokemon calls with the occasional attack name thrown in (copying a man's voice, of all things?) and it seems like the Chatot is either translating or giving the actual orders here. The strategy is pretty simple, regardless. Kiri also only has a few potions and a few berries, so aside from healing moves like Roost, there isn't much she can do if her team is taking a beating.

Vs. Pinsir
Spearow comes out first, after a brief squabble with Pikipek. She uses Agility to help improve her speed, Focus Energy and then Drill Peck. Then she'll repeat Focus Energy and Drill Peck until Pinsir goes down. And add in Roost if she's hurting on HP.

If Spearow can't keep going and Pinsir isn't down, Pikipek will step in. Pikipek will use Feather Dance and Screech before spamming Drill Peck.

If a third is needed, Chatot will take over, Sing, and then spam Chatter. Sleep and confusion are both useful statuses! (Chatot has dibs on what few potions and berries Kiri does have whenever she goes in. )

Vs. Heracross
Pikipek comes in whether Spearow is exhausted or not (or might be already in, whichever) because he's the star battler of the team. His strategy is the same: Feather Dance, Screech, then spam Drill Peck. Roost if necessary to restore HP.

If he's struggling to get attacks in between Roosts, he'll get frustrated and... evolve! He's been struggling to hold it off lately because the last evolutions on the team upset Kiri badly, but he's determined to win! His strategy doesn't change as a Trumbeak, but the stat increase should help him tank hits better and attack harder.

If Heracross is still holding out via luck or healing items, Murkrow will come on the field. He's a good deal faster than the other two birds, so hoping to use that speed to his advantage. He'll Taunt and throw in a Haze if Heracross has some Swords Dances up, and then Wing Attack, Wing Attack away! Maybe some Astonish for the Flinch chance.

If another backup is needed Chatot will come in, Sing, and spam Chatter (even if Heracross isn't asleep from Sing, there's a fair chance it will hurt itself in confusion).

Vs. Scizor
Little Fletchling heads in to face Scizor. She only has a minute or two before the big bug flattens her, but thanks to Kiri and big brother Steven, she's got a new, really powerful move: Overheat! And she's going to use it. Twice if Scizor hasn't damaged her yet after her first use. But once she gets hit, she's going to have to retreat.

The stupid really strong bug who breaks the rules is going to be hard, so Kiri has saved her strongest bird for this battle: Skarmory. She'll start out with a couple Sand Attacks and then spam Drill Peck. Hopefully Overheat damaged Scizor enough that Skarmory can take the steel bug out, but she doesn't have Roost, so when she starts getting hurt bad she'll have to retreat too.

Chatot (who's been healed as much as possible if she came in before) comes in next because if the bug is sleeping, it can't hit back! So she'll Sing! And then use Chatter, because if the bug is confused and hurting itself, that's also great. Chatot doesn't have Roost yet either, so if she gets too hurt, she'll also have to retreat.

If that happens, Kiri's in trouble, but the rest of her birds will try their best! Spearow and Pikipek/Trumbeak will both be willing to go in again even if they're in bad shape, in hopes of getting a Roost off quick and getting some attacks in (Drill Peck or Pluck/Aerial Ace) before fainting and if they get a chance, things like Feather Dance or Supersonic. Skarmory will come back in and go down Drill Pecking to the death faint. Murkrow will try too with Wing Attack if he needs to. Even little Fletchling will attempt to sneak in another Overheat before fainting if the team is really on the ropes. Chatot will be the absolute very last to go back in to battle until she faints, and Kiri will try to hold her back.

If Kiri wins, she'll be a very happy child. If she loses, she'll frown mightily with a tear streaked face and tell Bugsy to "Go fuck yourself."

[indigo_league]

It's more about the pace that we mods work at than the speed of your character's progress, although it's that, too!

But now it's a new week, and Shinobu's Mineral Badge and Fog Badge have been approved!

[indigo_league]

Whitney accepts the hugs and hugs Scorpia back while she finishes her cry, but will not accept an attempt to return the Badge! She really means it! You earned that fair and square!

Hive Badge and Plain Badge both approved!

[indigo_league]

Rollout, as a Rock type attack, does hurt Fire types a lot.... but with clear level advantages and plenty of backup (ahem) firepower...

Bakugou's Fog Badge and Plain Badges are both approved!

[indigo_league]

Emboar can't win a Rollout-off, because Rollout is a Rock type attack, and Emboar is a Fire type.... but Dimitri has plenty of other Pokemon that can finish the fight, and he probably won't forget Rollout's typing again any time soon!

Unfortunately, Whitney totally cries. Like, super extra hard because of his baby Miltank.... it's just so cute and this is so sweet and wholesome, she's so MOVED (moo-ved?)........... sorry, Dimitri.

But hey!

Plain Badge approved!

[indigo_league]

Unfortunately, Whitney still cries when she loses, but if they stick around until she's only sniffling, she tells them she's SO proud of them for the victory.

Plain Badge approved!

[indigo_league]

Fortunately, Bugsy doesn't have to get cussed out by a child (today, anyway), because Kiri gets her prize.

Hive Badge approved!

[vrdantwind]

Character: Claude von Riegan | vrdantwind
Badge/Gym Leader: Whitney, for the Plain Badge!
Elite/Regular: Regular
Team: Claude's battle team is at the top!
Battle Details: So, as Whitney starts with Girafarig, Claude opts not to default to his dream team of Sicily the Sawsbuck and Sturm the Toxtricity right out of the gate - instead, he'll lead with Basque the Vivillon! Using her extra accurate Sleep Powder (thanks to her Compound Eyes) and Basque's likely getting to go first due to the 15-level advantage she's got, he'll be having her send Girafarig off into dreamland.

And from there? Quiver Dance.

A number of them. If Girafarig wakes up and attacks during this setup phase, Basque will likely either tank the damage if it's slight (especially if it's a special move) or heal it up with the Roost move she learned from Falkner's TM reward...after, of course, sending Girafarig back to sleep again.

Once her power is sufficiently monstrous, of course, Girafarig will be treated to a very powerful Bug Buzz, which is really just overkill. But the setup wasn't for Girafarig - Claude is going to see if he can sweep Whitney's entire roster with one sufficiently bulked-up butterfly. (And, of course, some very strong and accurate Hurricanes.) He may even stand a decent chance of destroying Whitney's dreaded Miltank with Basque...despite Basque's 4x weakness to the terrifying Rollout. Hey, weaknesses don't matter if they never get a shot off, right???

(That said, if Basque does end up getting incredibly unlucky somehow, especially against the Miltank, Claude's likely to bring out Sturm to paralyze with a Nuzzle and hopefully break up attacks, and especially any moves chaining to greater levels of power. And with Sturm's even greater level advantage, he can likely clean up himself with some powerful Punk Rock-boosted Overdrives and Boombursts. And there's always Sicily and his powerful, super effective Jump Kick in the wings as a last resort.)

Claude really needs to start taking on gyms before he's totally outleveled them.