Quagsire: Quagsire having only one weakness might have been a bit of a conundrum, but considering that 1. that weakness is Grass, 2. it's a 4x weakness, and 3. Cassandra spent last week getting Grass moves on as many of her pokemon as possible (which admittedly hadn't been very many, but still) mitigates that somewhat. Quagsire is also extremely slow, which means Cassandra's pokemon can get out in front of it and use Taunt to shut down Rain Dance. It's Neideen who gets to do the honors - which is probably overkill, considering that Neideen's base speed is almost 100 points higher than Quagsire's, but Neideen is one of the few of Cassandra's pokemon who can learn Giga Drain and has Taunt. Neideen doesn't happen to be weak to any of Quagsire's moves and can't be poisoned (which renders Quagsire's Toxic useless), and Giga Drain has the added bonus of restoring Neideen's health, so this skirmish is honestly not much of a contest.
Lanturn: Lanturn's ability to inflict status effects, especially paralysis, is a potential problem, especially as Cassandra doesn't have any Electric pokemon who can use Taunt and hit either of Lanturn's weaknesses. She opts to send Licht out armed with a Lum Berry, since Licht can shut down Confuse Ray and Thunder Wave with Taunt and then turn around and hit Lanturn with Giga Drain to strike at its Grass weakness. Paralysis remains a potential problem due to Lanturn's other Electric moves, so Cassandra will be stocking up on Paralyze Heals before the battle just to be on the safe side. Licht being faster than Lanturn helps as well.
Floatzel: There is another reason for Cassandra bringing out Taunters for most of this gym battle, and that because it prevents Misty's pokemon from using Rain Dance - which in turn keeps Floatzel from benefiting from the speed boost it gets from having Swift Swim to boost its already high speed. Thankfully, Floatzel itself doesn't have Rain Dance, which gives Cassandra slightly more leeway against it. Thora gets the honors here, because she's speedier than Floatzel and has the Electric Terrain and Rising Voltage combo, which lets her hammer at Floatzel's Electricity weakness. Neideen might spell her a few times, if only to cast Taunt to cut off Floatzel's access to Agility, but her weakness to Floatzel's Ice Fang means Thora will be doing much of the work here.
Lapras: Lapras has Perish Song, which means a Taunter is a must. Fortunately, Lapras is also not particularly fast and has a number of exploitable weaknesses, including weaknesses to Fighting, Grass, and Electric... all of which Licht can hit, via Drain Punch, Giga Drain, and Thunderbolt, respectively. Licht can even use the first two to keep their own health topped up, and of course keep Lapras's status moves (including Life Dew) locked down via Taunt. This is another relatively straightforward fight.
Milotic: Neideen is back for this one, using Taunt to shut down Milotic's various recovery moves and Giga Drain to hit Milotic's weakness to Grass (though she'll probably need a Leppa Berry or two). Granted, Milotic is fairly bulky, so Licht may need to spell her at some point (and Licht can hit both of Milotic's weaknesses and use Taunt on it), but the two of them together should be able to take Milotic down even with this being Licht's third fight. Still, while Giga Drain will help keep their HP up, Cassandra's going to be keeping a close eye on them just in case.
Starmie: Starmie is speedy and has a number of status moves. Neideen by this point is going to be tired (and has a glaring weakness to Psychic besides), and Thora doesn't have access to Taunt, which means Cassandra's going to get creative. In this instance, that translates to bringing in Priscilla armed with a Lum Berry; Priscilla's not as fast as Starmie, but if Starmie opens with a status move, the Lum Berry will take care of it in time for Priscilla to cast Taunt and shut down any further attempts at status moves on Starmie's part. Priscilla also happens to be flat-out immune to Starmie's arsenal of Psychic moves and can counter with moves like Dark Pulse and Crunch. Even better, Priscilla gets STAB with those, and Starmie doesn't have a lot of base HP, which puts Priscilla in a very good position here despite being slower than Starmie. Cassandra will still be watching carefully in case Starmie manages to use a status move before Priscilla can re-apply Taunt, but overall this battle doesn't look bad for Priscilla.
no subject
Badge/Gym Leader: Cascade/Misty
Elite/Regular: Elite Team
Team: Neideen the Crobat, Licht the Mimikyu, Thora the Boltund, Priscilla the Hydreigon, all equipped with Lum Berries
Battle Details: It's the last gym battle before the Elite Four. Cassandra's team is going to give it their all.
Quagsire: Quagsire having only one weakness might have been a bit of a conundrum, but considering that 1. that weakness is Grass, 2. it's a 4x weakness, and 3. Cassandra spent last week getting Grass moves on as many of her pokemon as possible (which admittedly hadn't been very many, but still) mitigates that somewhat. Quagsire is also extremely slow, which means Cassandra's pokemon can get out in front of it and use Taunt to shut down Rain Dance. It's Neideen who gets to do the honors - which is probably overkill, considering that Neideen's base speed is almost 100 points higher than Quagsire's, but Neideen is one of the few of Cassandra's pokemon who can learn Giga Drain and has Taunt. Neideen doesn't happen to be weak to any of Quagsire's moves and can't be poisoned (which renders Quagsire's Toxic useless), and Giga Drain has the added bonus of restoring Neideen's health, so this skirmish is honestly not much of a contest.
Lanturn: Lanturn's ability to inflict status effects, especially paralysis, is a potential problem, especially as Cassandra doesn't have any Electric pokemon who can use Taunt and hit either of Lanturn's weaknesses. She opts to send Licht out armed with a Lum Berry, since Licht can shut down Confuse Ray and Thunder Wave with Taunt and then turn around and hit Lanturn with Giga Drain to strike at its Grass weakness. Paralysis remains a potential problem due to Lanturn's other Electric moves, so Cassandra will be stocking up on Paralyze Heals before the battle just to be on the safe side. Licht being faster than Lanturn helps as well.
Floatzel: There is another reason for Cassandra bringing out Taunters for most of this gym battle, and that because it prevents Misty's pokemon from using Rain Dance - which in turn keeps Floatzel from benefiting from the speed boost it gets from having Swift Swim to boost its already high speed. Thankfully, Floatzel itself doesn't have Rain Dance, which gives Cassandra slightly more leeway against it. Thora gets the honors here, because she's speedier than Floatzel and has the Electric Terrain and Rising Voltage combo, which lets her hammer at Floatzel's Electricity weakness. Neideen might spell her a few times, if only to cast Taunt to cut off Floatzel's access to Agility, but her weakness to Floatzel's Ice Fang means Thora will be doing much of the work here.
Lapras: Lapras has Perish Song, which means a Taunter is a must. Fortunately, Lapras is also not particularly fast and has a number of exploitable weaknesses, including weaknesses to Fighting, Grass, and Electric... all of which Licht can hit, via Drain Punch, Giga Drain, and Thunderbolt, respectively. Licht can even use the first two to keep their own health topped up, and of course keep Lapras's status moves (including Life Dew) locked down via Taunt. This is another relatively straightforward fight.
Milotic: Neideen is back for this one, using Taunt to shut down Milotic's various recovery moves and Giga Drain to hit Milotic's weakness to Grass (though she'll probably need a Leppa Berry or two). Granted, Milotic is fairly bulky, so Licht may need to spell her at some point (and Licht can hit both of Milotic's weaknesses and use Taunt on it), but the two of them together should be able to take Milotic down even with this being Licht's third fight. Still, while Giga Drain will help keep their HP up, Cassandra's going to be keeping a close eye on them just in case.
Starmie: Starmie is speedy and has a number of status moves. Neideen by this point is going to be tired (and has a glaring weakness to Psychic besides), and Thora doesn't have access to Taunt, which means Cassandra's going to get creative. In this instance, that translates to bringing in Priscilla armed with a Lum Berry; Priscilla's not as fast as Starmie, but if Starmie opens with a status move, the Lum Berry will take care of it in time for Priscilla to cast Taunt and shut down any further attempts at status moves on Starmie's part. Priscilla also happens to be flat-out immune to Starmie's arsenal of Psychic moves and can counter with moves like Dark Pulse and Crunch. Even better, Priscilla gets STAB with those, and Starmie doesn't have a lot of base HP, which puts Priscilla in a very good position here despite being slower than Starmie. Cassandra will still be watching carefully in case Starmie manages to use a status move before Priscilla can re-apply Taunt, but overall this battle doesn't look bad for Priscilla.
Cassandra, as ever, is on item duty.