Hey Sabrina, remember Riz? Cause he is allowed to take on Elite teams now and he's coming for YOURS.
(Doesn't he already have the badge? Yes. Is he still going to do this? Also yes.)
vs Jynx
Against Jynx, Riz is going to start strong and bring out his Silvally Hangdog. As a pure Steel type, Hangdog has resistances to most of the kind of moves Jynx can do.
Because of Jynx's relatively low defence, Riz is going to focus on physical moves this battle -- specifically ones like Iron Head (steel type move, STAB damage, may make Jynx flinch) and X-scissor (bug type move). These are both moves that Jynx is vulnerable to. He'll prioritise using Iron Head (because of the chance of making Jynx flinch) but he has X-scissor in reserve should he become unable to use Iron Head for whatever reason.
If Jynx uses Sing to put Hangdog to sleep, Riz will have him use Snore to still inflict damage. In the event Jynx uses Perish song, Riz will switch out Hangdog for another one of his pokemon, (most likely his Honedge) to clear the Perish Count, then switch him back in.
vs Wobbuffet
Against Wobbuffet, Riz will be bringing out his Spinarak Tisz.
While it is true that Spinarak has a weakness to psychic moves, Wobbuffet's only offensive Psychic move is Magic coat which returns any special damage done twofold. Thus, Riz's brilliant scheme is that he simply will not use special moves. Instead, all his moves this round are going to be physical ones. Now, Wobbuffet has a way of countering physical moves too -- but it does that using Counter, a Fighting type move, which just like Magic coat returns damage twofold. And it just so happens that Spinarak has a double resistance to Fighting Damage, which in the end balances out to Spinarak taking half damage.
To start off the battle, Riz will have Tisz use Poison Jab, repeating this move until Wobbuffet is poisoned. If Wobuffet uses Safeguard, he'll stop the jabs and immediately move on to phase two.
In phase two, Riz will have his Spinarak use Pin Missile (Bug, STAB). Should he become unable to use Pin Missile, he'll use Shadow Sneak (ghost). The trick here is to simply do more damage to Wobbuffet than it can do to Spinarak due to its resistance.
One thing to note is that there is a chance Wobbuffet will use Destiny Bond, forcing Spinarak to faint alongside it. Unfortunately, Riz has no defence against this (and Wobbuffet's ability prevents Spinarak from switching out) so should this happen, he'll accept that this round will essentially be a draw, and apologise to Tisz later.
vs Espeon
Against Espeon, Riz will bring out his Sableye Chit. As a dark / ghost type, Sableye is immune to Psychic and Normal moves, which make up most of Espeon's roster. Espeon does have some fairy type moves, however these are all stat-lowering ones. To prevent these moves from having too much effect on Chit, he'll be going into battle wearing a Clear Amulet. It does have one dark type move that can inflict damage on Sableye, but Riz figures that he should easily be able to outpace the amount of damage Espeon can deal using that.
To start the battle, Riz will have Sableye use Confuse Ray to inflict confusion on Espeon. This will hopefully see Espeon inflicting some damage on itself, and it is one status that it cannot pass back onto Sableye using its ability Synchronize.
Once Espeon is confused, Riz is going to have Sableye use Nasty plot twice in a row to sharply increase its special attack.
With his special attack sufficiently boosted, Riz will have Sableye use Dark Pulse. This is a Dark type move, so it has STAB damage, will be further boosted by Sableye's raised special attack, and Espeon is weak to it. In addition to all that, it can also cause Espeon to flinch (though most likely won't, as Espeon should be moving first in this battle. Still, it is a thought)
If he becomes unable to use Dark Pulse (or just bored) he'll switch to using Nightshade, which calculates its damage off the Pokemon's level. As Sableye is level 100, that should do a nice amount of damage. Plus it is a ghost move which Espeon is weak to.
Now, Riz in general isn't too worried about the amount of damage Espeon can inflict using Bite, but one small thing to consider is its chances of making Sableye flinch. Should this occur more than once, Riz will switch to using Shadow Sneak, which is a +1 priority move and therefore completely bypasses Sableye's weak speed stat. And once Espeon's bite comes second, flinching suddenly becomes of no concern.
vs Gallade
For this round, Riz will bring out his Ninjask Tufsa. Ninjask doesn't have any resistances to Psychic or Fairy type moves (but it also doesn't have any weaknesses). Gallade, meanwhile, does have a weakness to Flying types.
Starting off this battle, Riz will have Ninjask use Toxic to badly poison Gallade. Once that is done, he'll have Ninjask use Swords dance to sharply boost her attack.
At this point, Riz's next move depends
- If Ninjask has already taken two strong hits and is low on HP, he'll have her use Rest. While Ninjask is asleep because of Rest, he'll have her use Sleep Talk which will have her randomly use one of her moves. When Ninjask wakes up, he'll have her use Aerial Ace. This move never misses and inflicts Flying damage to which Gallade is weak. If Ninjask gets low in health again, he'll repeat the Rest-Sleep Talk combo.
- If Gallade hasn't dealt much damage yet, he'll immediately use Aerial Ace and keep this up until Ninjask's HP drops low, at which point, he'll start using the above-mentioned Rest-Sleep talk combo, switching back to Aerial Ace whenever Ninjask wakes up.
Riz hopes Ninjask alone is enough to deal with Gallade. Should Gallade be able to bring Ninjask down, he'll bring Chit the Sableye out again. This is not ideal, as Sableye is weak to Fairy moves. However, Riz hopes that should this become necessary, Gallade is already on its last legs, and Chit will be able to tough it out.
If Sableye comes into play (with his stats still boosted from before), Riz will have him use Fake out on the first turn (which will go first if used on the first turn and will make Gallade flinch) and afterwards switch Shadow Sneak, which is a +1 priority move and therefore completely bypasses Sableye's weak speed stat. This will allow him to move ahead of Gallade and hopefully take him out before Gallade can take Sableye out.
vs Gardevoir
Against Gardevoir, Riz will bring out his Honedge Grum. Honedge is a combined steel/ghost type, which is two things Gardevoir is weak to. Additionally, Honedge has resistances to both Fairy and Psychic moves which make up move of Gardevoir's roster.
Riz will have Honedge start off using Sword Dance to increase its attack by +2. After this, he'll have him use Shadow Sneak (Ghost, STAB). Shadow Sneak is a priority move, so Honedge should be going before Gardevoir which will help make up for Honedge's rather weak speed stat. He'll also switch this up by using Iron Head. (Steel, STAB)
There is a chance Gardevoir will put Honedge to sleep, in which case he will use Snore. If his HP drops sharply (and Gardevoir hasn't used Misty Terrain), he'll use Rest.
Now hopefully, Honedge will be capable of dealing with Gardevoir by itself. However Gardevoir does have a lot of moves that replenish its HP (while Honedge only has Rest), so there is a chance this turns into a long battle of attrition. If Honedge finds himself on the wrong side of this battle and faints, Riz will send out Hangdog the Silvally again.
The first thing Hangdog will immediately do is use Heal Block to keep Gardevoir from using moves that replenish its HP. With that done, Riz will have Silvally use Iron Head and Poison Fang to target Gardevoir's weaknesses. He'll refresh the Heal Block until Gardevoir is down.
vs Alakazam
Against Alakazam, Riz's choice is quite simple -- he'll bring out his Shedinja. Alakazam's entire move pool consists of psychic and normal-type moves, both of which Shedinja is entirely immune to.
For this battle, Riz's strategy is simple. He will have Shedinja just sit there and absorb attack after attack with no damage while using Shedinja's various Ghost-type moves on Alakazam. And as this is Sabrina's last Pokemon, he doesn't even need to worry about her switching to another pokemon.
Please know that Riz absolutely knows he is not getting anything out of this battle cause he already has the badge. He just doesn't like being told that he cannot do something for what he feels is a very stupid reason.
no subject
Badge/Gym Leader: Saffron City / Sabrina
Elite/Regular: Elite Team
Team: Asfel the Shedinja (lvl 100); Grum the Honedge (lvl 100) (Holding Focus Sash); Hangdog the Silvally (lvl 100) (holding Scope Lens); Tisz the Spinarak (lvl 100); Chit the Sableye (lvl 100) (Holding Clear Amulet); Tufsa the Ninjask (lvl 100);
Battle Details:
Hey Sabrina, remember Riz? Cause he is allowed to take on Elite teams now and he's coming for YOURS.
(Doesn't he already have the badge? Yes. Is he still going to do this? Also yes.)
vs Jynx
Against Jynx, Riz is going to start strong and bring out his Silvally Hangdog. As a pure Steel type, Hangdog has resistances to most of the kind of moves Jynx can do.
Because of Jynx's relatively low defence, Riz is going to focus on physical moves this battle -- specifically ones like Iron Head (steel type move, STAB damage, may make Jynx flinch) and X-scissor (bug type move). These are both moves that Jynx is vulnerable to. He'll prioritise using Iron Head (because of the chance of making Jynx flinch) but he has X-scissor in reserve should he become unable to use Iron Head for whatever reason.
If Jynx uses Sing to put Hangdog to sleep, Riz will have him use Snore to still inflict damage. In the event Jynx uses Perish song, Riz will switch out Hangdog for another one of his pokemon, (most likely his Honedge) to clear the Perish Count, then switch him back in.
vs Wobbuffet
Against Wobbuffet, Riz will be bringing out his Spinarak Tisz.
While it is true that Spinarak has a weakness to psychic moves, Wobbuffet's only offensive Psychic move is Magic coat which returns any special damage done twofold. Thus, Riz's brilliant scheme is that he simply will not use special moves. Instead, all his moves this round are going to be physical ones. Now, Wobbuffet has a way of countering physical moves too -- but it does that using Counter, a Fighting type move, which just like Magic coat returns damage twofold. And it just so happens that Spinarak has a double resistance to Fighting Damage, which in the end balances out to Spinarak taking half damage.
To start off the battle, Riz will have Tisz use Poison Jab, repeating this move until Wobbuffet is poisoned. If Wobuffet uses Safeguard, he'll stop the jabs and immediately move on to phase two.
In phase two, Riz will have his Spinarak use Pin Missile (Bug, STAB). Should he become unable to use Pin Missile, he'll use Shadow Sneak (ghost). The trick here is to simply do more damage to Wobbuffet than it can do to Spinarak due to its resistance.
One thing to note is that there is a chance Wobbuffet will use Destiny Bond, forcing Spinarak to faint alongside it. Unfortunately, Riz has no defence against this (and Wobbuffet's ability prevents Spinarak from switching out) so should this happen, he'll accept that this round will essentially be a draw, and apologise to Tisz later.
vs Espeon
Against Espeon, Riz will bring out his Sableye Chit. As a dark / ghost type, Sableye is immune to Psychic and Normal moves, which make up most of Espeon's roster. Espeon does have some fairy type moves, however these are all stat-lowering ones. To prevent these moves from having too much effect on Chit, he'll be going into battle wearing a Clear Amulet. It does have one dark type move that can inflict damage on Sableye, but Riz figures that he should easily be able to outpace the amount of damage Espeon can deal using that.
To start the battle, Riz will have Sableye use Confuse Ray to inflict confusion on Espeon. This will hopefully see Espeon inflicting some damage on itself, and it is one status that it cannot pass back onto Sableye using its ability Synchronize.
Once Espeon is confused, Riz is going to have Sableye use Nasty plot twice in a row to sharply increase its special attack.
With his special attack sufficiently boosted, Riz will have Sableye use Dark Pulse. This is a Dark type move, so it has STAB damage, will be further boosted by Sableye's raised special attack, and Espeon is weak to it. In addition to all that, it can also cause Espeon to flinch (though most likely won't, as Espeon should be moving first in this battle. Still, it is a thought)
If he becomes unable to use Dark Pulse (or just bored) he'll switch to using Nightshade, which calculates its damage off the Pokemon's level. As Sableye is level 100, that should do a nice amount of damage. Plus it is a ghost move which Espeon is weak to.
Now, Riz in general isn't too worried about the amount of damage Espeon can inflict using Bite, but one small thing to consider is its chances of making Sableye flinch. Should this occur more than once, Riz will switch to using Shadow Sneak, which is a +1 priority move and therefore completely bypasses Sableye's weak speed stat. And once Espeon's bite comes second, flinching suddenly becomes of no concern.
vs Gallade
For this round, Riz will bring out his Ninjask Tufsa. Ninjask doesn't have any resistances to Psychic or Fairy type moves (but it also doesn't have any weaknesses). Gallade, meanwhile, does have a weakness to Flying types.
Starting off this battle, Riz will have Ninjask use Toxic to badly poison Gallade. Once that is done, he'll have Ninjask use Swords dance to sharply boost her attack.
At this point, Riz's next move depends
- If Ninjask has already taken two strong hits and is low on HP, he'll have her use Rest. While Ninjask is asleep because of Rest, he'll have her use Sleep Talk which will have her randomly use one of her moves. When Ninjask wakes up, he'll have her use Aerial Ace. This move never misses and inflicts Flying damage to which Gallade is weak. If Ninjask gets low in health again, he'll repeat the Rest-Sleep Talk combo.
- If Gallade hasn't dealt much damage yet, he'll immediately use Aerial Ace and keep this up until Ninjask's HP drops low, at which point, he'll start using the above-mentioned Rest-Sleep talk combo, switching back to Aerial Ace whenever Ninjask wakes up.
Riz hopes Ninjask alone is enough to deal with Gallade. Should Gallade be able to bring Ninjask down, he'll bring Chit the Sableye out again. This is not ideal, as Sableye is weak to Fairy moves. However, Riz hopes that should this become necessary, Gallade is already on its last legs, and Chit will be able to tough it out.
If Sableye comes into play (with his stats still boosted from before), Riz will have him use Fake out on the first turn (which will go first if used on the first turn and will make Gallade flinch) and afterwards switch Shadow Sneak, which is a +1 priority move and therefore completely bypasses Sableye's weak speed stat. This will allow him to move ahead of Gallade and hopefully take him out before Gallade can take Sableye out.
vs Gardevoir
Against Gardevoir, Riz will bring out his Honedge Grum. Honedge is a combined steel/ghost type, which is two things Gardevoir is weak to. Additionally, Honedge has resistances to both Fairy and Psychic moves which make up move of Gardevoir's roster.
Riz will have Honedge start off using Sword Dance to increase its attack by +2. After this, he'll have him use Shadow Sneak (Ghost, STAB). Shadow Sneak is a priority move, so Honedge should be going before Gardevoir which will help make up for Honedge's rather weak speed stat. He'll also switch this up by using Iron Head. (Steel, STAB)
There is a chance Gardevoir will put Honedge to sleep, in which case he will use Snore. If his HP drops sharply (and Gardevoir hasn't used Misty Terrain), he'll use Rest.
Now hopefully, Honedge will be capable of dealing with Gardevoir by itself. However Gardevoir does have a lot of moves that replenish its HP (while Honedge only has Rest), so there is a chance this turns into a long battle of attrition. If Honedge finds himself on the wrong side of this battle and faints, Riz will send out Hangdog the Silvally again.
The first thing Hangdog will immediately do is use Heal Block to keep Gardevoir from using moves that replenish its HP. With that done, Riz will have Silvally use Iron Head and Poison Fang to target Gardevoir's weaknesses. He'll refresh the Heal Block until Gardevoir is down.
vs Alakazam
Against Alakazam, Riz's choice is quite simple -- he'll bring out his Shedinja. Alakazam's entire move pool consists of psychic and normal-type moves, both of which Shedinja is entirely immune to.
For this battle, Riz's strategy is simple. He will have Shedinja just sit there and absorb attack after attack with no damage while using Shedinja's various Ghost-type moves on Alakazam. And as this is Sabrina's last Pokemon, he doesn't even need to worry about her switching to another pokemon.
Please know that Riz absolutely knows he is not getting anything out of this battle cause he already has the badge. He just doesn't like being told that he cannot do something for what he feels is a very stupid reason.