Character: Thace | insidegalra Elite/Regular: REGULAR TEAM (after the fifteenth) Team:Klefki, Noibat, Cherrim, Honedge Battle Details: Held Items: Zaivar-Sitrus Berry, Brodar and Kaltor-Pecha Berry each, Vrig-Cheri Berry
Pre-Battle: Thace will be found in the gym stands watching battles several times before his attempt. He's probably noticeable because he's stupid tall and never ever has his Pokemon in their balls. He'll also stock up on healing items (lemonade is a favorite, and he has a bunch of Antidotes) to round out his stockpile of foraged Berries.
On the day of the attempt he'll go to the stands first to make sure his non-battlers have a good seat to watch the action. They won't interfere, although the undersized Whismur will probably cry every time someone on the team takes a hard hit and the other one (two?) will cheer on the team a little bit.
He'll take on any junior trainers primarily with his Honedge, make sure she's at full strength and then arrive at his spot as challenging trainer with his Honedge on his back in a sling, his Klefki happily swinging on his belt, his Noibat perched on his shoulder, and his very Smug Cherrim in the position of honor in the sling's front pocket. His Pokemon will array themselves around him, and each gets a press of Thace's forehead to their closest equivalent, and the battle will start!
Battle: One thing to note, Thace will give almost no verbal commands to his Pokemon, except perhaps a "switch" or two. He will give plenty of quiet encouragement when he's administering healing items, but little else. They've prepared and practiced for this well in advance and everybody knows what to do!
Zaivar is the first one out, and leads with Imprison. Hopefully with their decent speed stat and Trickster, it'll prevent Turtwig from using Sunny Day. They'll follow up with Crafty Shield, a couple Metal Sounds, and then Flash Cannon mixed with the occasional Astonish (for the flinch chance, and also to save PP), and Draining Kiss to restore their HP when necessary. If they need to use their Sitrus Berry, they'll follow that up with Recycle. If they need help from Thace with healing items they'll switch temporarily with Kaltor.
Kaltor is the "stall while healing happens" Pokemon. In an ideal match, he wouldn't be sent out at all, but if needed he'll come out with a Take-Down to chip away at HP, and Morning Sun to top himself off if he stays out for more than one turn. (And if he's out during a successful Sunny Day, well, Flower Gift will give his teammates a boost.)
Against Cherrim, Zaivar will use nearly the same strategy and start by resetting Imprison. There's a higher chance of Imprison not going first against Cherrim though(I'm not sure exactly how Priority works in VR). If that happens, and a Sunny Day is set, Zaivar will stall with repeated uses of Fairy Lock, while hopefully tanking any damage Cherrim does to them. (If this happens, the Sitrus berry will come in handy, but Recycle won't be used until Cherrim can't use Sunny Day again.) Zaivar knows how long Sunny Day lasts, thanks to Kaltor, and will use Imprison again on the turn before it expires. If Roserade isn't sent out, they will continue with the strategy of Crafty Shield, some Metal Sounds, and Flash Cannon, Astonish, and Draining Kiss. As before, if they need healing items, there will be a short switch with Kaltor.
If Roserade is sent out with Sunny Day active, Brodar will switch in with Supersonic, Super Fang, then Double Team and Air Slash. This is because Thace knows about Weather Ball and his lead is a Steel-type. For as long as his health is decent, Brodar will spam Air Slash. Brodar is not immune to poison, so if he gets poisoned again after he uses up his Pecha Berry, he'll be switched out (with Kaltor) to get an antidote. With Roserade's healing skills, Brodar might not be able to finish it while his own HP is at acceptable levels (and if he's already switched with Kaltor once, he won't again), in which case, Vrig will step in and use Autotomize, and Aerial Ace with Iron Head and perhaps a Night Slash, and stay in to finish the Cherrim in basically the same way. (Again with short switches with Kaltor for healing if necessary.)
The strategy is very similar if Cherrim goes down before Roserade comes out, except Zaivar will use Imprison, Crafty Shield, and then Metal Sound alternating with Draining Kiss until Roserade's sp. Def is down as far as it can go. Then Brodar will come in with a Super Fang, then Supersonic, Double Team and then Air Slash. If necessary Kaltor is on deck for heal-stalling, and Vrig is most likely completely fresh at this point to step in with her above-mentioned strategy to finish it.
Should things go really badly, Thace will actually step in for a forfeit rather than let any of his Pokemon faint, and he'll do his best to keep them at above the level where one Critical or Super Effective hit could take them out. (He's done the math, and he's good at math)
Should he win, he'll ask if he can speak with Gardenia candidly.
Re: GARDENIA CHALLENGES
Elite/Regular: REGULAR TEAM (after the fifteenth)
Team: Klefki, Noibat, Cherrim, Honedge
Battle Details:
Held Items: Zaivar-Sitrus Berry, Brodar and Kaltor-Pecha Berry each, Vrig-Cheri Berry
Pre-Battle: Thace will be found in the gym stands watching battles several times before his attempt. He's probably noticeable because he's stupid tall and never ever has his Pokemon in their balls. He'll also stock up on healing items (lemonade is a favorite, and he has a bunch of Antidotes) to round out his stockpile of foraged Berries.
On the day of the attempt he'll go to the stands first to make sure his non-battlers have a good seat to watch the action. They won't interfere, although the undersized Whismur will probably cry every time someone on the team takes a hard hit and the other one (two?) will cheer on the team a little bit.
He'll take on any junior trainers primarily with his Honedge, make sure she's at full strength and then arrive at his spot as challenging trainer with his Honedge on his back in a sling, his Klefki happily swinging on his belt, his Noibat perched on his shoulder, and his very Smug Cherrim in the position of honor in the sling's front pocket. His Pokemon will array themselves around him, and each gets a press of Thace's forehead to their closest equivalent, and the battle will start!
Battle: One thing to note, Thace will give almost no verbal commands to his Pokemon, except perhaps a "switch" or two. He will give plenty of quiet encouragement when he's administering healing items, but little else. They've prepared and practiced for this well in advance and everybody knows what to do!
Zaivar is the first one out, and leads with Imprison. Hopefully with their decent speed stat and Trickster, it'll prevent Turtwig from using Sunny Day. They'll follow up with Crafty Shield, a couple Metal Sounds, and then Flash Cannon mixed with the occasional Astonish (for the flinch chance, and also to save PP), and Draining Kiss to restore their HP when necessary. If they need to use their Sitrus Berry, they'll follow that up with Recycle. If they need help from Thace with healing items they'll switch temporarily with Kaltor.
Kaltor is the "stall while healing happens" Pokemon. In an ideal match, he wouldn't be sent out at all, but if needed he'll come out with a Take-Down to chip away at HP, and Morning Sun to top himself off if he stays out for more than one turn. (And if he's out during a successful Sunny Day, well, Flower Gift will give his teammates a boost.)
Against Cherrim, Zaivar will use nearly the same strategy and start by resetting Imprison. There's a higher chance of Imprison not going first against Cherrim though(I'm not sure exactly how Priority works in VR). If that happens, and a Sunny Day is set, Zaivar will stall with repeated uses of Fairy Lock, while hopefully tanking any damage Cherrim does to them. (If this happens, the Sitrus berry will come in handy, but Recycle won't be used until Cherrim can't use Sunny Day again.) Zaivar knows how long Sunny Day lasts, thanks to Kaltor, and will use Imprison again on the turn before it expires. If Roserade isn't sent out, they will continue with the strategy of Crafty Shield, some Metal Sounds, and Flash Cannon, Astonish, and Draining Kiss. As before, if they need healing items, there will be a short switch with Kaltor.
If Roserade is sent out with Sunny Day active, Brodar will switch in with Supersonic, Super Fang, then Double Team and Air Slash. This is because Thace knows about Weather Ball and his lead is a Steel-type. For as long as his health is decent, Brodar will spam Air Slash. Brodar is not immune to poison, so if he gets poisoned again after he uses up his Pecha Berry, he'll be switched out (with Kaltor) to get an antidote. With Roserade's healing skills, Brodar might not be able to finish it while his own HP is at acceptable levels (and if he's already switched with Kaltor once, he won't again), in which case, Vrig will step in and use Autotomize, and Aerial Ace with Iron Head and perhaps a Night Slash, and stay in to finish the Cherrim in basically the same way. (Again with short switches with Kaltor for healing if necessary.)
The strategy is very similar if Cherrim goes down before Roserade comes out, except Zaivar will use Imprison, Crafty Shield, and then Metal Sound alternating with Draining Kiss until Roserade's sp. Def is down as far as it can go. Then Brodar will come in with a Super Fang, then Supersonic, Double Team and then Air Slash. If necessary Kaltor is on deck for heal-stalling, and Vrig is most likely completely fresh at this point to step in with her above-mentioned strategy to finish it.
Should things go really badly, Thace will actually step in for a forfeit rather than let any of his Pokemon faint, and he'll do his best to keep them at above the level where one Critical or Super Effective hit could take them out. (He's done the math, and he's good at math)
Should he win, he'll ask if he can speak with Gardenia candidly.