Character: Joey Wheeler | infernofireblast Badge/Gym Leader: Elite Four - Bede Team:"Charizard - LV100", "Dragonite - LV100", "Bisharp - LV100" , "Ceruledge - LV100", "Feraligatr - LV100", "Wailord - LV100" Battle Details: As a standard opener, regardless of who he goes up against, Joey would bring in Bisharp, Legendary Knight Hermos, and throw down a Stealth Rock to start the match off. Depending on what Pokemon his opponent opened with he would then switch-out to it's corresponding counter (With the possibility of Bisharp remaining on the field, of course, should luck of the draw have his preferred matchup come-up first). While this means it might take a hit on the way out it also would mean that just about any subsequent Pokemon Bede might send out will be getting around a quarter of their health knocked-off on-arrival. With his opener delivered, though, Joey would then change his active Pokemon to reflect the following matchups:
VS MAWHILE Against Bede’s Mawhile Joey would send out his Charizard, Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Charizard’s Flying-Typing doesn’t have a weakness to Steel or Fairy while his Fire-Typing is even resistant to the former, meaning that many of the hardest-hitting moves in Mawhile’s arsenal are thankfully less impactful. Through that same Steel-Typing though Charizard is able to deal-out super-effective damage and bypass the normally resistant Fairy-Type defenses. Beginning with Sunny Day to further bolster his Fire-Type moves Charizard would then open up with what’s functionally his go-to method of bombardment by sending-out Flamethrower after Flamethrower. With the benefit of his Wise Glasses Held Item and the STAB bonus added in to the mix he’d be hitting at nearly x4 the damage as normal and laying down the law with every attack. With Flamethrower also having a 1/10 chance of burning the opponent, too, it only sweetens the deal and makes a Charizard victory all the more unavoidable.
VS SILVEON Against Silveon Joey would use his Wailord, Fortress Whale. With neither Water nor Fairy having a weakness to each other things would seemingly be on equal footing, but Wailord would have an ace-in-the-hole that would see him shift the match… heavily. The Steel-Type move Heavy Slam deals damage based on the difference in weight between the attacker and its target, hitting at 120 Base Power if the target amounts to less than 20% of the user’s weight. With Sylveon weighing-in at 52 pounds while Wailord weighs 877 the difference in the two is beyond severe and, so, every single hit would be coming-in at maximum power. Though the move wouldn’t benefit from the STAB bonus or the boost from Choice Specs thanks to it being a Physical Move damage being dealt from the super-effective bonus alone would make it debilitating. With Wailord’s own health pool being large enough to weather whatever Sylveon might send at it the match would have all the makings of a sweep, giving Wailord an easy win.
VS GALAREON RAPIDASH Againts Bede’s Rapidash Joey would go with his Feraligatr, Alligator’s Sword. Much like the matchup between Wailord and Silveon, neither Feraligatr or Rapidash would have a weakness to the other’s typing and so the contest would appear to be even at first glance. Feraligatr knows the Steel-Type move Iron Tail however which, when stacked with the buffs from his Sheer Power Hidden Ability and Life Orb Held Item, would end up hitting at just under x3.5 with every hit. Considering Iron Tail hits at a Base Power of 120 and has a chance to lower the target’s defenses with every hit it would only take a couple of hits to put Rapidash down, meaning that even with the chance of missing present within the move, it wouldn’t take much to put his target on-ice. With the moves that would be coming at him in return only hitting for standard damage, too, it would make for a disparity of damage that should see Feraligatr carving-out a solid win.
VS PRIMARINA Against Primarina Joey would bring-out his Dragonite, Baby Dragon. His Dragon-Typing would be vulnerable to Primarina’s Fairy Moves, but the same applied for their own Water-Typing thanks to Dragonite’s Thunder Punch. Thanks to being a Dual-Type the weakness from both of them was lessened compared to what it would have been as Mono-Types but it would still be a race to the top in terms of damage output. Thanks to his Multiscale Ability he’d be able to open with Dragon Dance without worrying about getting hit with an alpha strike by his opponent, and that extra offensive boost would be enough to give him the edge. Putting out super-effective damage with every move and having a 1/10 chance to paralyze the target would mean that there’d be a fair chance of getting a lucky break to really let him break-out but, regardless of who came out on top, whichever Pokemon was left standing would be a hairs-breadth from knockout.
VS TINKATON Against Bede’s Tinkaton Joey would send forth his Ceruledge, Gearfried the Iron Knight. With weaknesses to neither Fairy nor Steel he’d be in an excellent position to deal-damage as Tinktaton was vulnerable to Fire-Type Attacks. Opening with a Swords’ Dance and following it up with a Flare Blitz would deal serious damage but, more importantly, activate his Flash Fire Ability. The ability would see the recoil absorbed and all further Fire Damage he put-out increased by x1.5 which, when combined with his STAB bonus, Life Orb Held Item, and super-effective damage would be see any Fire-Move he put out hitting at over x5 its regular damage. Spamming Bitter Blade from then on would continue to do potent damage, but would heal for 50% of any of the damage dealt. This would effectively allow Ceruledge to fully heal itself with almost every hit, and mean Tinkaton would functionally have to land a one-hit-knockout if it wanted to stay in the fight. With things so lopsided a victory for Ceruledge would be all but assured, landing yet another win for Team Joey.
VS HATTERENE Against Hatterene Joey would send in his Bisharp, Legendary Knight Hermos. Bisharp would be in a similar boat to Ceruledge’s match, as both he and his opponent are vulnerable to one of each other’s Typings. In another race for the top buffing his damage output would be the key to victory, so opening with a Swords’ Dance would give the edge he needs. Kicking-off the damage output with a Knock-Off would let him do solid damage while simultaneously depriving his opponent of whatever Held Item they may have up their sleeves. Following-up with barrages of Iron Head would allow him to keep up a barrage of super-effective damage while also having a solid chance of causing them to Flinch, giving even better chance that Bisharp could pull-ahead and bring Hatterene down. With a good chance to come out on top in the blow-for-blow Bisharp should be able to take the day.
CONTINGENCIES AND AUDIBLES As a standard closer is the idea that plans can certainly go in ways differently than the planner intended and, in cases like these, it’s important to have your ducks-in-a-row so that you’re able to respond accordingly to how the battle goes. Like he always does in these League Battles Joey would have a stockpile of restorative items like Hyper Potions and Full Restores ready-and-waiting to use on his team should they fall low health. With the majority of his matchups favorable towards his team, too, any of his Pokemon that might be unfortunate enough to be knocked-out prior to defeating their assigned opponent would have their matchup subsequently taken-on another of Joey's Pokemon. With the majority of victories looking like they would tidy victories any of the Pokemon tapped to serve as a "Round 2" would almost certainly be in better condition than their opposition. Even if things went quite badly attrition would be Joey's friend, as each Pokemon his opponent lost would tips the scales further and further into his favor. Once the proverbial walls began to close-in on his opponent Joey would be able to control the match more-and-more, making victory all-but-assured.
Elite Four Challenge 1/5 (Divided-Up Due to Text Limits)
Badge/Gym Leader: Elite Four - Bede
Team: "Charizard - LV100", "Dragonite - LV100", "Bisharp - LV100" , "Ceruledge - LV100", "Feraligatr - LV100", "Wailord - LV100"
Battle Details:
As a standard opener, regardless of who he goes up against, Joey would bring in Bisharp, Legendary Knight Hermos, and throw down a Stealth Rock to start the match off. Depending on what Pokemon his opponent opened with he would then switch-out to it's corresponding counter (With the possibility of Bisharp remaining on the field, of course, should luck of the draw have his preferred matchup come-up first). While this means it might take a hit on the way out it also would mean that just about any subsequent Pokemon Bede might send out will be getting around a quarter of their health knocked-off on-arrival. With his opener delivered, though, Joey would then change his active Pokemon to reflect the following matchups:
VS MAWHILE
Against Bede’s Mawhile Joey would send out his Charizard, Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Charizard’s Flying-Typing doesn’t have a weakness to Steel or Fairy while his Fire-Typing is even resistant to the former, meaning that many of the hardest-hitting moves in Mawhile’s arsenal are thankfully less impactful. Through that same Steel-Typing though Charizard is able to deal-out super-effective damage and bypass the normally resistant Fairy-Type defenses. Beginning with Sunny Day to further bolster his Fire-Type moves Charizard would then open up with what’s functionally his go-to method of bombardment by sending-out Flamethrower after Flamethrower. With the benefit of his Wise Glasses Held Item and the STAB bonus added in to the mix he’d be hitting at nearly x4 the damage as normal and laying down the law with every attack. With Flamethrower also having a 1/10 chance of burning the opponent, too, it only sweetens the deal and makes a Charizard victory all the more unavoidable.
VS SILVEON
Against Silveon Joey would use his Wailord, Fortress Whale. With neither Water nor Fairy having a weakness to each other things would seemingly be on equal footing, but Wailord would have an ace-in-the-hole that would see him shift the match… heavily. The Steel-Type move Heavy Slam deals damage based on the difference in weight between the attacker and its target, hitting at 120 Base Power if the target amounts to less than 20% of the user’s weight. With Sylveon weighing-in at 52 pounds while Wailord weighs 877 the difference in the two is beyond severe and, so, every single hit would be coming-in at maximum power. Though the move wouldn’t benefit from the STAB bonus or the boost from Choice Specs thanks to it being a Physical Move damage being dealt from the super-effective bonus alone would make it debilitating. With Wailord’s own health pool being large enough to weather whatever Sylveon might send at it the match would have all the makings of a sweep, giving Wailord an easy win.
VS GALAREON RAPIDASH
Againts Bede’s Rapidash Joey would go with his Feraligatr, Alligator’s Sword. Much like the matchup between Wailord and Silveon, neither Feraligatr or Rapidash would have a weakness to the other’s typing and so the contest would appear to be even at first glance. Feraligatr knows the Steel-Type move Iron Tail however which, when stacked with the buffs from his Sheer Power Hidden Ability and Life Orb Held Item, would end up hitting at just under x3.5 with every hit. Considering Iron Tail hits at a Base Power of 120 and has a chance to lower the target’s defenses with every hit it would only take a couple of hits to put Rapidash down, meaning that even with the chance of missing present within the move, it wouldn’t take much to put his target on-ice. With the moves that would be coming at him in return only hitting for standard damage, too, it would make for a disparity of damage that should see Feraligatr carving-out a solid win.
VS PRIMARINA
Against Primarina Joey would bring-out his Dragonite, Baby Dragon. His Dragon-Typing would be vulnerable to Primarina’s Fairy Moves, but the same applied for their own Water-Typing thanks to Dragonite’s Thunder Punch. Thanks to being a Dual-Type the weakness from both of them was lessened compared to what it would have been as Mono-Types but it would still be a race to the top in terms of damage output. Thanks to his Multiscale Ability he’d be able to open with Dragon Dance without worrying about getting hit with an alpha strike by his opponent, and that extra offensive boost would be enough to give him the edge. Putting out super-effective damage with every move and having a 1/10 chance to paralyze the target would mean that there’d be a fair chance of getting a lucky break to really let him break-out but, regardless of who came out on top, whichever Pokemon was left standing would be a hairs-breadth from knockout.
VS TINKATON
Against Bede’s Tinkaton Joey would send forth his Ceruledge, Gearfried the Iron Knight. With weaknesses to neither Fairy nor Steel he’d be in an excellent position to deal-damage as Tinktaton was vulnerable to Fire-Type Attacks. Opening with a Swords’ Dance and following it up with a Flare Blitz would deal serious damage but, more importantly, activate his Flash Fire Ability. The ability would see the recoil absorbed and all further Fire Damage he put-out increased by x1.5 which, when combined with his STAB bonus, Life Orb Held Item, and super-effective damage would be see any Fire-Move he put out hitting at over x5 its regular damage. Spamming Bitter Blade from then on would continue to do potent damage, but would heal for 50% of any of the damage dealt. This would effectively allow Ceruledge to fully heal itself with almost every hit, and mean Tinkaton would functionally have to land a one-hit-knockout if it wanted to stay in the fight. With things so lopsided a victory for Ceruledge would be all but assured, landing yet another win for Team Joey.
VS HATTERENE
Against Hatterene Joey would send in his Bisharp, Legendary Knight Hermos. Bisharp would be in a similar boat to Ceruledge’s match, as both he and his opponent are vulnerable to one of each other’s Typings. In another race for the top buffing his damage output would be the key to victory, so opening with a Swords’ Dance would give the edge he needs. Kicking-off the damage output with a Knock-Off would let him do solid damage while simultaneously depriving his opponent of whatever Held Item they may have up their sleeves. Following-up with barrages of Iron Head would allow him to keep up a barrage of super-effective damage while also having a solid chance of causing them to Flinch, giving even better chance that Bisharp could pull-ahead and bring Hatterene down. With a good chance to come out on top in the blow-for-blow Bisharp should be able to take the day.
CONTINGENCIES AND AUDIBLES
As a standard closer is the idea that plans can certainly go in ways differently than the planner intended and, in cases like these, it’s important to have your ducks-in-a-row so that you’re able to respond accordingly to how the battle goes. Like he always does in these League Battles Joey would have a stockpile of restorative items like Hyper Potions and Full Restores ready-and-waiting to use on his team should they fall low health. With the majority of his matchups favorable towards his team, too, any of his Pokemon that might be unfortunate enough to be knocked-out prior to defeating their assigned opponent would have their matchup subsequently taken-on another of Joey's Pokemon. With the majority of victories looking like they would tidy victories any of the Pokemon tapped to serve as a "Round 2" would almost certainly be in better condition than their opposition. Even if things went quite badly attrition would be Joey's friend, as each Pokemon his opponent lost would tips the scales further and further into his favor. Once the proverbial walls began to close-in on his opponent Joey would be able to control the match more-and-more, making victory all-but-assured.