Manectric: Manectric presents a potential problem in that it can potentially have Static as an ability, which means contact moves aren't a good idea, in most cases. Thunder Wave is also a potential problem due to that 90% chance of inflicting Paralysis... which is why Cassandra is deploying Thora the Boltund for this one. As an Electric type herself, Thora is entirely immune to paralysis - and she can learn Dig, which enables her to hit Manectric's Ground weakness, while Manectric has no way of hitting hers. Thora can also use Charm to drastically lower Manectric's attack stat, and Crunch to inflict damage and potentially lower its defense. She's also got a Leppa Berry equipped in case she uses Dig too much, although Cassandra's also got a decent supply of them on hand for this gym battle just in case. She's also going to be liberal with the healing items, because while Thora's resistant to Electricity, Electricity moves aren't all Manectric has. Since Manectric's other potential ability is Lightning Rod, Thora will be avoiding her own Electricity attacks, sticking to Dig, Crunch, and Play Rough.
Electrode: Thora is staying in for this one, at least to start with, to try to take advantage of Electrode's Ground weakness until it uses Magnet Rise (because Cassandra suspects it's highly likely to use Magnet Rise). If by some miracle it doesn't, Thora will be casting Substitute while continuing to hammer it with Dig (which will probably require her to use her Leppa Berry), since she's immune to Static and can safely make physical contact if Electrode has that particular ability. For Thora, the Substitute is quite probably a necessity, since Electrode also has Explosion and Self-Destruct and Thora isn't particularly sturdy.
Of course, there's another way around Explosion and Self-Destruct. They're both Normal-type moves, which means a Ghost type won't be bothered by them. Dart, as it happens, is part Ghost-type, and as a bonus is speedy enough to blunt the effects of Gyro Ball should Electrode attempt to use it. What Dart can't do is learn Ground moves, but if Electrode is using Magnet Rise, Ground moves aren't going to be useful here anyway. Since it's not immediately obvious whether or not Electrode has Static, Dart is going to come in equipped with a Lum Berry; if he tries a physical move and ends up paralyzed, the berry will cure it, and Dart will know to switch to special moves like Surf and Flamethrower. This does leave Dart open to Mirror Coat, but again, Cassandra's going to be very generous with healing items.
Pachirisu: On the plus side, Pachirisu doesn't have Static or Magnet Rise. It does have Thunder Wave, though, and even more annoyingly Sweet Kiss, which is why Lily is coming in with a Lum Berry and Dig; fortunately, Cassandra's had a lot of time to grow Lum Berries since the Sinnoh trip, so she's got a decent supply if Pachirisu manages to confuse Lily more than once. In addition, Lily also has Sweet Kiss and will probably try to preemptively land it on Pachirisu. Lily can also use Double Team to raise her evasion, although Dig will be keeping her out of Pachirisu's reach at least half the time, and Draining Kiss will let her steal some health from Pachirisu if need be. Of course, Pachirisu does have Super Fang and Hyper Fang, so Cassandra's going to be extra vigilant about Lily's health.
Magnezone: Magnezone has Magnet Rise, which potentially gets in the way of taking advantage of that 4x Ground weakness. Fortunately, Priscilla has Taunt to shut that strategy down, and Earthquake to take advantage of said weakness. It helps that Magnezone has a much lower base speed than Priscilla does, which means Priscilla will likely be able to get that Taunt off first, cutting Magnezone off from all its status moves. That said, Earthquake isn't the only move in her arsenal and Ground isn't the only one of Magnezone's weaknesses she can hit; she also has Flamethrower to hit Magnezone's Fire weakness, and she'll probably use that liberally. Even better, she's immune to Psychic attacks, which means Mirror Coat can't hurt her. There is of course a chance she might end up paralyzed from Magnezone's Electric attacks, but she does have a Lum Berry equipped, and Cassandra has a number of extras plus a number of Paralyze Heals in reserve, in addition to standard healing items, should Priscilla need them.
Electivire: Vanita is up this time, armed with Dig and a Lum Berry. Dig has the advantage of putting Vanita out of attack range for every other turn, and given that her base speed is actually higher than Electivire's, there's a very good chance she'll get to move first. Not that she's going to rely solely on Dig: she's also got Toxic and Venoshock to speed things along, and Electivire isn't immune to either one. Cassandra, of course, will be monitoring Vanita's health closely, and breaking out healing or curative items as needed. Vanita isn't weak to any of Electivire's moves, either, and can use Iron Defense to shore herself up in the face of Electivire's higher attack... assuming Electivire can catch her above ground, at least. If the battle somehow drags on, Vanita also has Earthquake in her repertoire, but as Vanita's special attack is frankly not great it hopefully won't come to that.
Raichu: There's a chance that Priscilla still has her Lum Berry left, which would be helpful if Raichu opens with a status move; otherwise, Cassandra will have a curative handy so Priscilla can hit Raichu with Taunt to seal away its status moves again as soon as possible. Once Taunt is in place, Priscilla will switch to Earthquake, although Cassandra may need to supply her with a Leppa Berry to let her keep going with it; fortunately, Earthquake isn't a contact move, because Raichu almost certainly has Static for an ability. Priscilla is going to be keeping Taunt in place, but otherwise she'll be pressing the attack with Earthquake, while Cassandra keeps her supplied with healing and curative items as needed. Priscilla's not as fast as Raichu, but she does have very good attack and special attack and Raichu's defense is nothing to speak of, so hopefully that will be enough to let her, and thus Cassandra's team, win the day.
no subject
Badge/Gym Leader: Thunder/Lt. Surge
Elite/Regular: Elite Team
Team: Thora the Boltund (with Leppa Berry), Dart the Dragapult (with Lum Berry), Lily the Pikachu (with Lum Berry), Priscilla the Hydreigon (with Lum Berry), Vanita the Scolipede (with Lum Berry)
Battle Details: Cassandra does not have any Ground pokemon. That does not mean she does not have any pokemon who can use Ground moves.
Manectric: Manectric presents a potential problem in that it can potentially have Static as an ability, which means contact moves aren't a good idea, in most cases. Thunder Wave is also a potential problem due to that 90% chance of inflicting Paralysis... which is why Cassandra is deploying Thora the Boltund for this one. As an Electric type herself, Thora is entirely immune to paralysis - and she can learn Dig, which enables her to hit Manectric's Ground weakness, while Manectric has no way of hitting hers. Thora can also use Charm to drastically lower Manectric's attack stat, and Crunch to inflict damage and potentially lower its defense. She's also got a Leppa Berry equipped in case she uses Dig too much, although Cassandra's also got a decent supply of them on hand for this gym battle just in case. She's also going to be liberal with the healing items, because while Thora's resistant to Electricity, Electricity moves aren't all Manectric has. Since Manectric's other potential ability is Lightning Rod, Thora will be avoiding her own Electricity attacks, sticking to Dig, Crunch, and Play Rough.
Electrode: Thora is staying in for this one, at least to start with, to try to take advantage of Electrode's Ground weakness until it uses Magnet Rise (because Cassandra suspects it's highly likely to use Magnet Rise). If by some miracle it doesn't, Thora will be casting Substitute while continuing to hammer it with Dig (which will probably require her to use her Leppa Berry), since she's immune to Static and can safely make physical contact if Electrode has that particular ability. For Thora, the Substitute is quite probably a necessity, since Electrode also has Explosion and Self-Destruct and Thora isn't particularly sturdy.
Of course, there's another way around Explosion and Self-Destruct. They're both Normal-type moves, which means a Ghost type won't be bothered by them. Dart, as it happens, is part Ghost-type, and as a bonus is speedy enough to blunt the effects of Gyro Ball should Electrode attempt to use it. What Dart can't do is learn Ground moves, but if Electrode is using Magnet Rise, Ground moves aren't going to be useful here anyway. Since it's not immediately obvious whether or not Electrode has Static, Dart is going to come in equipped with a Lum Berry; if he tries a physical move and ends up paralyzed, the berry will cure it, and Dart will know to switch to special moves like Surf and Flamethrower. This does leave Dart open to Mirror Coat, but again, Cassandra's going to be very generous with healing items.
Pachirisu: On the plus side, Pachirisu doesn't have Static or Magnet Rise. It does have Thunder Wave, though, and even more annoyingly Sweet Kiss, which is why Lily is coming in with a Lum Berry and Dig; fortunately, Cassandra's had a lot of time to grow Lum Berries since the Sinnoh trip, so she's got a decent supply if Pachirisu manages to confuse Lily more than once. In addition, Lily also has Sweet Kiss and will probably try to preemptively land it on Pachirisu. Lily can also use Double Team to raise her evasion, although Dig will be keeping her out of Pachirisu's reach at least half the time, and Draining Kiss will let her steal some health from Pachirisu if need be. Of course, Pachirisu does have Super Fang and Hyper Fang, so Cassandra's going to be extra vigilant about Lily's health.
Magnezone: Magnezone has Magnet Rise, which potentially gets in the way of taking advantage of that 4x Ground weakness. Fortunately, Priscilla has Taunt to shut that strategy down, and Earthquake to take advantage of said weakness. It helps that Magnezone has a much lower base speed than Priscilla does, which means Priscilla will likely be able to get that Taunt off first, cutting Magnezone off from all its status moves. That said, Earthquake isn't the only move in her arsenal and Ground isn't the only one of Magnezone's weaknesses she can hit; she also has Flamethrower to hit Magnezone's Fire weakness, and she'll probably use that liberally. Even better, she's immune to Psychic attacks, which means Mirror Coat can't hurt her. There is of course a chance she might end up paralyzed from Magnezone's Electric attacks, but she does have a Lum Berry equipped, and Cassandra has a number of extras plus a number of Paralyze Heals in reserve, in addition to standard healing items, should Priscilla need them.
Electivire: Vanita is up this time, armed with Dig and a Lum Berry. Dig has the advantage of putting Vanita out of attack range for every other turn, and given that her base speed is actually higher than Electivire's, there's a very good chance she'll get to move first. Not that she's going to rely solely on Dig: she's also got Toxic and Venoshock to speed things along, and Electivire isn't immune to either one. Cassandra, of course, will be monitoring Vanita's health closely, and breaking out healing or curative items as needed. Vanita isn't weak to any of Electivire's moves, either, and can use Iron Defense to shore herself up in the face of Electivire's higher attack... assuming Electivire can catch her above ground, at least. If the battle somehow drags on, Vanita also has Earthquake in her repertoire, but as Vanita's special attack is frankly not great it hopefully won't come to that.
Raichu: There's a chance that Priscilla still has her Lum Berry left, which would be helpful if Raichu opens with a status move; otherwise, Cassandra will have a curative handy so Priscilla can hit Raichu with Taunt to seal away its status moves again as soon as possible. Once Taunt is in place, Priscilla will switch to Earthquake, although Cassandra may need to supply her with a Leppa Berry to let her keep going with it; fortunately, Earthquake isn't a contact move, because Raichu almost certainly has Static for an ability. Priscilla is going to be keeping Taunt in place, but otherwise she'll be pressing the attack with Earthquake, while Cassandra keeps her supplied with healing and curative items as needed. Priscilla's not as fast as Raichu, but she does have very good attack and special attack and Raichu's defense is nothing to speak of, so hopefully that will be enough to let her, and thus Cassandra's team, win the day.