#(trying to draw shiftry is for another time)

[arvoze]

grassy terrain

[fakemonexperiments]

any tips for drawing grass type pokemon?

grass types, despite the name, are actually about the concept of plants/vegetables rather than strictly being plants. this is why mushroom pokemon (amogus etc) are considered grass types.

my general process for grass pokemon is about the same as any other pokemon except that

pick a plant or fungus. determine the defining characteristics of this plant or fungus and what would make it unique and interesting, either to the naked eye or in terms of function/role in the ecosystem. be as specific with this plant or fungus as possible - this will make it easier for you to highlight defining traits.

find another concept to marry with your plant. this will help you anthropomorphise it but also give depth to your pokemon. this can be anything - a literal animal (bulbasaur is a frog-dinosaur mixed with a flower bulb), a character type (shiftry is a ninja), or something more abstract/referential (applin worm in an apple). think about whether this pokemon comes in groups, like paired pokemon or an evolution line. how does it interact with other pokemon? if in an evolution line, base stages tend to be simpler and much more aligned with seeds/sprouts, while fully evolved forms are flowering/mature plants. alternatively, you could just pick a bigger version of an adjacent plant (see cacnea and cacturne). pokemon tend to develop more arms and legs as they get bigger, also.

characterise your pokemon. what’s their personality like? how would this appeal to a child? for this I like to use the five contest appeals (cool, smart, beautiful, tough, cute) and sort of pick 1-2 that i think will work. write 2 pokedex entries - this should help you determine how your pokemon would function in the wild, or how it interacts with humans! around this time, you can also finish off the laundry list of pokemon characteristics: things like type, stats, and so on.

now that you have your pokemon concept clearly laid out, it’ll be much easier for you to draw the pokemon. the complexity of your drawing should scale with A) the evolution stage and B) box legendary-itis. in general however, you should think of the pokemon as something that a child should be able to draw if they tried hard enough. for grass pokemon, focus on your concept and see how you can break it down into simplified shapes (e.g. virizion does not look like a real life deer, it looks like a very stylised deer slimmed down to reflect a sort of elegance). simplify the shapes and proportions. remember that this isn’t necessarily about what the things you’re drawing from look like in real life, but something that should be easily parseable to a child. lastly, try to convey their personality: through their size, shape, pose.

grass types lean towards being green because of the generalised plant theme, but this is not the only colour a grass pokemon can be. even grass starters don’t have to be fully green - think rowlet and green bowtie as an accent. pick the colours that work best for the vibe you want to give off: they do not have to be realistic to your plant or animal at all. shiinotic is purple because it glows in the dark, not because shiitakes are purple. do whatever you want 🙏

at this point I feel like I should give an example of a grass pokemon I’ve designed, so here’s coconaught again:

I started with the concept of a coconut, but I wanted to do something different from alolan exeggutor. I always kind of thought that the three holes in a coconut kind of looked like its face, so that of course became its face. when I doodled a first draft, it looked somewhat haunted, which gave me the idea to give it a secondary ghost typing! coconuts are naturally round, so the silhouette was easy but too simple - I gave it the coconut tree/sprout to make it distinct at first glance what the pokemon was intended to be. then I trialed different legs (whether one leg to hop around on or two legs to waddle on) and sort of settled on this mr game & watch type legs, which had a sort of synergy with the haunted/ghosty nature of it all. I think I went for something cute but in a kind of spooky way - sort of mimikyu-adjacent. then I named it coconaught (coconut + naught as in nothing, to convey the sense of hollowness). anyway I think he’s really good. hope that helps

[themurphyzone]

Absolutely Disastrous Ch 13

Ch 13: Get Your Flames on, Zack and Lydia! Treecko’s Growing Potential and Tepig’s Dazzling Debut!

Bradley accepted the free PokéNav in exchange for agreeing to not leave a bad review of Mahlson Corp on the Internet, though he refused to follow Milo into the CEO’s office and stormed off to train for his next gym battle. Milo felt pretty bad when he watched Bradley try to press an elevator button, but misjudged the length of his new Breloom arm and wound up poking at empty air. 

“Don’t worry,” Amanda said, settling Minccino on top of Milo’s head to provide him with fluffy reassurance. Minccino stretched out, trying to flatten Milo’s cowlick with her tongue. “If he’d been fully turned into a Breloom, every trainer in the city would be bombarding him with Poké Balls.” 

“I’ll make sure the scientist is written up and disciplined for this incident,” Orville asserted, gesturing for everyone to take a seat on the plush, luxurious couches in his office. Diogee laid down on the deep red carpet, nuzzling into its soft fuzz, Milo tried to sit too, but the couch cushion swallowed him until only his legs poked out and he had to be extracted by Melissa and Zack. He settled for the floor instead. 

“I assume the scientist isn’t why you brought us here,” Melissa said. “What’s so top secret that you couldn’t tell us in the Pokémon Center?” 

Orville set the briefcase on top of his desk, removing the documents and locking them into a vault behind a painting of a Relicanth. “I’d like to know about the people who were interested in my company’s research. Did the thieves talk about what they planned to do with this data?” 

“Something about creating more land and being heroes,” Zack said. “Sorry, I was a little more focused on the walls suffocating us than anything that old man said.” 

“Walls can’t suffocate you,” Melissa scoffed. 

“They can if they sense you’re claustro-avoidant,” Zack retorted. 

Lydia sat between Melissa and Zack, forcing them to the ends of the couch and ending their argument. “The businessman mentioned something about magma.” 

“Cavendish and Ignacio—that’s who stole your documents—belong to an organization called Team Magma,” Milo added. “You have data on ancient geographical formations and they want to reawaken a Pokémon named Groudon.” 

“Wait a minute,” Zack said, holding his hand up in a time-out. “Didn’t Dakota say something about reawakening something called a Cry-ogre?” 

Melissa pounded the armrest at the mention of Dakota’s name. “It’s not Cry-ogre. It’s KY-owes me seven thousand Pokédollars-gre!” 

“He dined and dashed on us. Though he mentioned he was the boss of Team Aqua, whatever that is,” Milo explained for Lydia, Amanda, and Orville’s benefit. “But his sandwich and smoothie cost a thousand.” 

“The other six thousand includes taxes, interest, and emotional distress,” Melissa said. “And I’m gonna keep tacking on other charges ‘til he coughs up the money.” 

Orville winced. “You planning to go into business?” 

“Nope. My career goals are strictly journalist, author, and queen of the universe,’ Melissa replied. 

“Er, good career goals. I think,” Orville said, unsure of how to respond to the last one. To be fair, most people didn’t think Melissa could be queen of the universe. Not that it was a hard title to obtain if she ever succeeded in stuffing Arceus into a Poké Ball. “Now, I want to give each of you a PokéNav. Along with helping you navigate the different biomes of Hoenn, it has the Mahlson Corp number and my personal cell registered in there too. I understand that all of you carry cell phones, but it wouldn’t hurt to carry a spare. Besides, I’d like to keep in touch due to the threat of the ancient Pokémon awakening if either Team Magma or Aqua succeed. If you find any more information, please contact us. In the meantime, I will place more funding into the areas of study these documents cover.” 

“Hypothetically, what’s your policy in case the PokéNav catches on fire or is somehow destroyed under weird circumstances?” Zack asked as Milo reached for his device.

The PokéNav caught on fire, and Diogee pulled Milo back before he could touch it. Melissa stamped it out quickly, but the PokéNav was charred and blackened beyond repair. 

“We replace it,” Orville said, pulling out another PokéNav from his desk. 

The girls made sure everyone’s numbers were placed into the PokéNavs, then sealed them in fireproof bags before storing them into their backpacks. 

“I also have two favors to ask,” Orville said. “First, I have a letter to my son, Orton. He’s probably in Granite Cave again. It’s just outside Dewford.” 

He slid a sealed envelope across his desk. 

“Lydia and I are skipping Dewford actually,” Amanda said. “We’re heading to Slateport after her contest in Rustboro.” 

“In that case, would you two mind delivering these parts to a friend of mine?” Orville asked. He handed a small toolkit full of gears and rods to Amanda. “His name is Captain Bob Webber, and you can find him in the Shipyard. Bob is currently in the process of building a submarine for deep-sea exploration. There’s much we don’t know about the world, the ocean especially, but perhaps he’ll be able to shed some light on these mysteries upon the submarine’s completion.”

Melissa carefully folded the letter into a travel book. “We’ll deliver the letter,” she promised. 

Orville nodded in approval. “Thank you. Orton’s researched many old myths and legends, partly for interest and partly for the storylines on Dr. Magnezone. I believe his knowledge will be useful. That’s all I have on my end. Feel free to call if you have any questions.” 

“You don’t mind if we hold off for a few days, right?” Milo asked. “Zack and Lydia are competing in the Rustboro Contest soon.” 

“Tepig and I have a totally rocking routine!” Lydia boasted. “We’re gonna get that Ribbon for sure!”

“I should probably figure something out with Treecko,” Zack admitted.

Melissa yawned. “But not tonight. It’s been a long day, and I just want a nice, comfy bed.” 

As they gathered their belongings, Diogee sprang up and growled at a bookshelf. 

“What’s he growling at?” Lydia asked. 

Milo shrugged. He tried to hold Diogee back with his collar, but he was slowly dragged forward instead. “I’m not sure. Maybe he just doesn’t like dust bunnies.”

Once Diogee was close enough, he pounced on the bookshelf. Milo let go of the collar just in time, avoiding a head collision with the wooden frame. The books trembled, and Milo reached out to catch an expensive figurine of a Shiftry.  

Something small and pink fled from the gap between the wall and bookshelf, and Diogee shot after it. A piercing wail erupted, and everybody shrieked and covered their ears. Zack and Melissa fought over a pillow to further muffle the noise while the Whismur continued its tearful rampage. Diogee was now more concerned with keeping his paws pressed to his head rather than chasing Whismur though. 

In an attempt to escape the room, the Whismur crashed into Zack, and Melissa triumphantly claimed the pillow. A spare Pok é was knocked loose from Zack’s belt and hit Whismur on the head. 

A red light engulfed Whismur and sucked it into the container, stopping the piercing wail to everybody’s relief. The Poké Ball fell to the floor, shaking three times before emitting a small popping noise. 

Orville was the first to recover. He patted Zack on the shoulder. “Seems Whismur decided to choose you! Treat it well, okay?” 

Zack could only stare at the Poké Ball in disbelief. “That was kinda anticlimactic for a capture.”

“Don’t worry, guys. I have noise-canceling earmuffs in my backpack,” Milo said. “As my dad always says, ‘Always protect yourself from Dr. Magnezone fans crying over the Season 4 finale and freak biplane accidents.’“ 

The next day, Milo focused on taking preventative measures against interruptions to Zack and Lydia’s training. After yesterday’s chance meetings of crime syndicate bosses, strange battles filled with moves he was pretty sure weren’t legal, and befriending the Mahlson Corp CEO, he was glad for a quiet day. Well, unless one counted the panic that ensued when Milo was carried across town by an entire line of remote-controlled shopping carts, but there was no harm done beyond accidentally busting Rustboro Elliot’s kneecap. 

Minccino was more interested in helping Amanda make PokéBlocks than in battling, just as Marshtomp was more interested in eating Amanda’s PokéBlocks rather than making them. 

Melissa worked on Torchic and Poochyena’s teamwork, praising them whenever their combined attacks landed a hit on the practice dummy. She recorded Torchic unleashing a spiral of flames that surrounded the practice dummy in a mesmerizing fiery column. 

“First time I’ve seen more than a few embers!” Melissa exclaimed as she gave Torchic and Poochyena several PokéBlocks for a job well done. “Fire Spin’s definitely gonna be a huge help.” 

“That’s great, but Flame Charge is stronger,” Lydia declared. 

Tepig agreed wholeheartedly. 

“Wanna put that to the test?” Melissa asked. 

“You’re on!” 

The girls and their Fire-starters rushed onto the practice field, trading fire attacks as they jokingly taunted each other. Torchic’s brute force and Tepig’s carefully executed attacks proved to be an equal match. 

Just in case, Milo set a few fire extinguishers within reach. 

Meanwhile, Zack was trying to perfect an appeal with Treecko and Whismur. Treecko used a rapid-fire Bullet Seed while Whismur countered with Echoed Voice, destroying each seed with its cry. Then Treecko switched to Mega Drain, drawing energy from the remaining seeds. Green sparkles showered the room. 

Milo could barely tell that Whismur was caught less than a day ago. 

Since his friends were preoccupied with training, Milo decided to call his folks on the Pokémon Center videophone. He hadn’t really gotten the chance to chat with them since leaving Murphy Ranch. 

“Diogee, would you mind getting Marshtomp?” Milo asked as he logged into the system. “He’s probably trying to swipe Amanda’s PokéBlocks again.” 

Diogee trotted off.

The phone was only halfway through the first ring before someone on the other side picked up. 

“Milo! About time you called!” Sara grinned, her screen flickering to life. 

Milo smiled. “Sorry, it’s been hectic. I have a badge now!” 

He proudly displayed his Stone Badge to Sara, who shrieked at the sight of it. “Oh my gosh, you already have a badge! You’re like a mini Pokémon Master already. Wait right there, let me get Mom and Dad! They gotta see this too!” 

While he waited for Sara to come back, he polished his Stone Badge on a clean cloth. He was about to hold the badge against the light to check for smudges when a Linoone calmly strolled up to him and snatched it from his hand. 

Hope you don’t get tired of this same old tune, 

He’s Recurring Linoone! 

“Get back here!” Milo shouted. “And how did you even hire backup singers?” 

Milo dove for the badge, but Recurring Linoone jumped onto his head and scurried to the exit. Before the thieving Normal-type could reach it, he slammed into a wall of white fur and dropped the Stone Badge. While Diogee carefully returned the badge to its case, Marshtomp tossed Recurring Linoone out of the Pokémon Center. 

“Thanks,” Milo said gratefully as he sat down at the videophone. Sara had returned with Brigitte and Martin during the commotion, and they waved excitedly as they fired question after question at him. 

“Yes, no, Melissa has a Torchic, I’ve met lots of interesting people already, yes, and I haven’t broken my clavicle yet,” Milo said. He tilted the camera down to Diogee and Marshtomp. “Say hi, you two!” 

His Pokémon happily greeted his family. 

“You’re doing a great job with them,” Martin said. “And Diogee’s doing a great job at being your partner.” 

Diogee stood up a little straighter. 

“We’re also traveling with Zack. He’s Professor Underwood’s son,” Milo said, recounting how they rescued Professor Underwood from the swarm of Magikarp and gained their starters in the process. “And he caught a Whismur in the Mahlson Corp CEO’s office! He’s training it right now, but he’s not using it in the contest. He’s sticking with Treecko. Oh, and Melissa caught a Poochyena in Petalburg!” 

Sara’s jaw dropped. “Back up, Milo! You actually went to the Mahlson Corp CEO’s office?” 

Milo nodded. “Uh, yeah. I guess it sounds weird without the context, but his name’s Orville and he’s really nice. We’re delivering a letter to Orton as a favor actually and-” 

“YOU’RE GOING TO MEET ORTON? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” Sara shrieked, her smile stretching so much that Milo was afraid her face was going to stay that way. “CAN YOU GET ME AN AUTOGRAPH? CAN YOU DOCUMENT THE EXACT SPOT WHERE HE’LL STAND SO WE CAN CREATE A NATIONAL MONUMENT TO DR. MAGNEZONE IN THAT AREA?” 

Sara’s Absol, Nyx, got annoyed and carted her off while she begged for Dr. Magnezone’s autograph. 

“The Absol pups are doing well,” Brigitte said. “We’re still trying out shampoo brands on Rowdy to tame his fur though. No success yet.” 

“Razor and Zorro keep challenging each other,” Martin added. “Nobody wants to judge whose horn is longer, so they have a tendency to decimate a few trees since they have to decide for themselves.” 

Milo giggled as his parents gave him updates on the Absol and the entire Murphy family. His cousin Reggie was now banned from Kalos due to the Mona Florges incident, Nate had a sprained ankle from stepping on a Drilbur and still denied having EHML even though the examination table collapsed with him sitting on it, and Uncle Joey had crashed into a set belonging to Pokéstar Studios and was being approached for a major role in a new movie. 

“Lucario Man vs Brycen Man: Dusk of Revenge? Well, good for Uncle Joey!” Milo said, though he wasn’t sure what that movie would mean for Brycen Man’s established canon. 

“And be careful, okay?” Brigitte said. “There’s been some weird activity around the mountain. Some strange people in red hoodies keep talking about meteorites and rocks.” 

“I’ll see if Richard thinks it’s worth investigating,” Martin promised. “Sometimes they come onto the property, but they don’t seem interested in stealing the Absol. They just take soil samples and leave.” 

“Not to mention the pirate dress-up party,” Brigitte said. “Though they don’t seem to do much except insult people in hoodies.” 

“Oh, we had a few run-ins already,” Milo admitted. “It was how I met Orville. He’s the CEO of Mahlson Corp, by the way. The people in red hoodies are called Team Magma, and they went after Mahlson Corp’s research. We stopped them in Rusturf Tunnel. And the boss of Team Aqua owes Melissa seven thousand Pokédollars.”

Martin and Brigitte fell silent as they processed this information. 

Milo decided to tell them about Bradley, Lydia, and Amanda instead.

Though the Rustboro Contest wouldn’t start for another hour, the registration line was open and coordinators could use the extra time to prepare. Zack had been relieved when he discovered that Hoenn didn’t place a huge emphasis on appearances like Sinnoh, because he didn’t have a formal outfit to change into. Milo didn’t mind lending the tuxedo he packed for emergency formal occasions to Zack, but it was probably wrinkled from being crammed into his backpack. 

Zack and Lydia presented their Contest Passes to the attendant, who waved them into a room for participants only.

Whismur sat in Milo’s lap since he wouldn’t be performing, shying away when any stranger passed them. Diogee stood guard on the side, watching for signs of a rail breaking or a seat collapsing in addition to making sure nobody got too close to Whismur. 

Diogee really wanted to make up for scaring Whismur when they met. 

“-and Musicals favor Pokémon with arms. Minccino would do well since she can hold the props, but Tepig wouldn’t get much applause,” Amanda said. “There’s way more room for creativity in Contests.” 

“You think Zack and Lydia are gonna move into the battle round?” Melissa asked. 

Amanda nodded. “Lydia works super hard. Sometimes it’s hard to convince her that she needs to take the break I scheduled. I don’t know about Zack though. Maybe he’ll pass, maybe he won’t.” 

“Zack’s gonna pass. He worked really hard yesterday,” Milo said. 

“Might not be enough,” Melissa admitted. “It’s not Zack’s fault, but he didn’t have time to train considering everything that happened since we came to town.” 

The lights onstage flared, and the announcer cleared her throat to get the audience’s attention. 

“Welcome to the Rustboro Contest! My name is Shelley, and I’ll be your MC! Before we begin, let’s give a round of applause to our judges!” Shelley declared, gesturing to the judges’ panel. 

“Rustboro City’s Nurse Joy. Looking forward to seeing all these lovely Pokémon!” 

“Mr. Sukizo, president of the Pokémon Fan Club. Let’s make this a remarkable Contest!” 

Mr. Sukizo, the Remarkable Pokémon. He hails from a remarkable town in a remarkable country and judges remarkable Pokémon in remarkable competitions.

“Whoops, forgot to turn the silly thing off,” Milo said, quickly shutting down his Pokédex. 

“So...is he one of Hoenn’s native Pokémon?” Amanda asked. 

Melissa shook her head. “No, but it’s an easy mistake to make.” 

Shelley heaved a great sigh, shooting an irritated glare at the empty seat next to Mr. Sukizo. “Due to unfortunate circumstances involving a Lairon, a tube of mint toothpaste, and a sombrero, Mr. Contesta will not be presiding over today’s competition. Instead, please give a warm welcome to-” she squinted at a note card “-the Supreme Lord of Subterranous and its Colony of Mrs. Forrester’s Basement. Give it up for Scott the Undergrounder, everybody.” 

“The winner shall be our leader!” Scott exclaimed. 

“The winner will receive the Rustboro Ribbon, which will bring them one step closer to the Grand Festival!” Shelley yelled. “Let’s get this Contest underway! Introducing our first contestant, Russell!” 

Russell sent out a Wurmple, which showed off its climbing prowess through String Shot. Mr. Sukizo and Nurse Joy complimented Russell for using Wurmple’s natural abilities to weave a beautiful picture of a flower, while Scott tried to collect the string for some weird art project.  

His performance was followed by a Slakoth, a Nincada, and a Lombre before Shelley finally shouted Lydia’s name. 

Lydia gave the audience a dazzling smile, sending her Poké Ball flying high into the air. 

“Let’s get our flames on, Tepig!” Lydia shouted as the Fire-type materialized. 

Tepig squealed, stomping the ground and snorting tiny embers. 

“Use Attract!” 

Tepig winked, and several small pink hearts surrounded his body. Then he cloaked himself in a Flame Charge and zigzagged around the stage in an intricate pattern. The hearts zoomed after Tepig, blazing in spectacular red and gold flames when they touched the fiery streaks he left behind. 

“Finale time!” Lydia cheered. “Roll into those hearts with Defense Curl!” 

Tepig cut off Flame Charge and rolled into every heart, tucking into a ball just before impact. The flaming hearts burst into a brilliant cloud of warm sparkles. 

Lydia and Tepig struck a pose and bowed to the captivated crowd. 

“WHOO! GO, LYDIA!” Amanda screeched, her voice rising above every other cheer from the captivated crowd. 

“What a passionate performance!” Shelley clapped. “Let’s see what our judges have to say!” 

“You don’t see Tepig very often around here, but I’m sure there are many people here who’d like to catch one for themselves after today!” Nurse Joy exclaimed. 

“Remarkable!” Mr. Sukizo added. 

“The bacon shall be our leader!” Scott declared. “And we will happily be enslaved to His Lardiness for all eternity!” 

Nurse Joy and Mr. Sukizo inched away from him.

Shelley stared at Scott for a moment, then recovered and introduced the next competitor. 

“Lydia was really amazing!” Milo exclaimed. Whismur flinched, and Milo stroked one of his ears to calm him down. “Sorry, I’ll gush quietly next time.”

“You should save your compliments, Milo,” Amanda said. “I’m sure Lydia and Tepig want to hear them. Those two thrive on attention.” 

“We have one more competitor left in the appeal round! Give it up for Zack Underwood, everyone!” Shelley shouted. 

The curtains parted to reveal Zack, who waved nervously at the audience before releasing Treecko. He didn’t shout anything spectacular like most coordinators during their appeal.

“Zack Underwood? As in the Lumberzacks?” 

“Aren’t they from Johto?” 

“He’s the cutest one!” 

“No, Max is cuter!” 

The announcement of his name seemed to stir something in the crowd, especially the preteen girls who seemed interested in getting him to sign their faces in permanent marker. 

“I think we should help him figure out a catchphrase,” Milo suggested.  

Unfortunately, Zack’s nerves were affecting Treecko. Bullet Seed didn’t form a perfect circle into the ground. The top portion stuck out into a point and one side was wavy. Luckily, Treecko was trying to play it off by crossing his arms and acting like the unusual shape was deliberate. But Zack didn’t seem to take the cue. 

“Mega Drain!” Zack yelled.

Treecko spread his arms and closed his eyes, drawing bright green energy from the seeds to create a large, verdant circle around Treecko. Zack closed his appeal with a display of Treecko’s agility, ending with Treecko messing up a landing on Zack’s shoulder. 

“His Treecko is amazing!” 

“They’re cute in a dorky way!” 

Melissa folded her arms. “Why is everyone focusing on how cute he is and not his performance?” 

Milo held Whismur so he could cheer for Zack too. Whismur’s cries blended in with the fangirls’ screaming. “What, you don’t think he’s cute?” Milo asked. 

Melissa punched him in the shoulder. 

“That question was rhetorical.” 

“Good.” 

They missed out on Nurse Joy and Mr. Sukizo’s comments, but they bore witness to Scott’s incredibly bizarre dance moves that didn’t resemble chopping down a tree while eating pancakes in any culture no matter what he claimed.  

Shelley called for a brief interlude to allow the judges enough time to decide who would be moving onto the battle round. Milo, Melissa, and Amanda rushed out of their seats to meet up with Zack and Lydia, who were hanging out in the lobby.

Whismur jumped out of Milo’s arms and hopped straight into Zack’s lap, greeting Treecko with an enthusiastic shout. Treecko chewed his leaf and held up his hand in response. 

“You were on fire, Tepig!” Milo exclaimed. “Literally and figuratively!” 

Tepig lifted his tail proudly. 

“Don’t get a big head,” Lydia warned playfully. 

“Told you feeding him those Cheri berries would make his flames brighter,” Amanda said. 

“It totally worked, Amanda,” Lydia agreed. “I can’t wait for the battle round! Though I really hope we don’t face that Lombre. That Water Gun and Nature Power combo would be awful for anyone weak to Water.” 

“That Lombre slipped on a puddle and lost control of Water Gun too,” Amanda reminded her. “There’s a good possibility it won’t be in the battle round.”

“I don’t think I’ll be in the battle round either,” Zack admitted. “It was nice of the judges to say we had potential, but I could tell Treecko and I weren’t in sync.” 

“Don’t say that, Zack! All we need to do is find your confidence and think up a catchphrase for you!” Milo exclaimed. 

Zack raised an eyebrow. “A catchphrase?” 

Melissa shrugged. “You didn’t yell anything when you sent out Treecko. Your previous popularity was the only thing that kept the fangirls’ eyes on you.” 

“It’s not a bad idea,” Lydia agreed, snapping Zack out of his panic over the idea that the majority of the audience was made up of fangirls with a crush on him. “You just need a catchphrase to psych yourself up!”

The TV screens flickered to life, and pictures of the participants flashed onto the screen. Lydia’s picture appeared in the second slot, but Zack’s didn’t show up. Eight coordinators were moving on.

Much to Lydia’s relief, the Lombre trainer didn’t appear either.  

“If your picture is onscreen, please head to the backroom immediately. Matchups will be randomly determined by the computer.” 

“That’s our cue! Wish us luck!” Lydia exclaimed, running off with Tepig in tow. 

The others headed back to their seats, and Zack put on a pair of sunglasses and hat to avoid being recognized. Strangely, he didn’t change out of his clothes or recall his Treecko, so Milo figured that Zack’s fangirls had really bad eyesight.

Tepig’s Flame Charge knocked out Russell’s Wurmple before half the allotted five minutes had passed. Wurmple didn’t get the chance to show off any fancy maneuvers with String Shot. 

A Beautifly’s Gust rendered a Shroomish’s powder-based attacks ineffective, and a Skitty accidentally knocked itself out through recoil damage when Assist unexpectedly turned into Double-Edge. 

In the semifinals, Lydia faced an Aron who was fond of using Mud Slap. A quarter of her points were knocked off after Tepig was hit by a splatter of mud, but she recovered quickly by immobilizing Aron with Attract and letting an Ember finish the job. 

Beautifly fended off Dustox’s poison attacks and advanced to the finals as well. 

“Let’s all get hyped for our final round!” Shelley exclaimed. “Will Becky and Beautifly blow away Lydia and Tepig’s flames? Remember, whoever wins the final round will get the Rustboro Ribbon! You have five minutes to knock out your opponent or deplete as many points as you can! Without further ado, the battle starts now!” 

Becky ordered a Stun Spore as soon as the clock started, which Tepig dodged. But since the Stun Spore enhanced Beautifly’s shimmering wings, Lydia still lost several points. 

“Ember!” Lydia shouted. 

Tepig aimed several sparks of fire at Beautifly, but a Gust attack blew them away harmlessly. Then Tepig followed up with Attract, and although Beautifly wasn’t affected the way Aron had been, it was lulled into a false sense of security and failed to counter the next onslaught of Ember. 

Becky’s point bar decreased by a quarter. 

“Use Absorb!” Becky yelled. 

“Ember again!” 

The attacks dissipated into red and green sparkles. 

“Approaching the halfway mark!” Shelley warned. 

“We gotta hurry up, use Flame Charge!” 

“Counter with Silver Wind!” 

Beautifly’s Silver Wind whipped at Tepig’s body, and he stumbled and lost the fire he’d created for Flame Charge. 

“Go around!” Lydia yelled. 

Tepig scrambled out of Silver Wind’s way, quickly cloaking himself in Flame Charge and zooming around the stage. Beautifly broke off Silver Wind and flew after Tepig, only to stop in confusion when its target disappeared. Tepig’s fire flashed in streaks and disappeared just as quickly, causing Becky’s point total to decrease further. 

Once Beautifly was low to the ground, Tepig slammed into it. 

Beautifly crumpled into a heap, and the buzzer sounded. 

“ALRIGHT, SHE WON! SHE WON!” Amanda screeched so loudly that even Shelley glared at her. Minccino shook her head at her trainer’s behavior and climbed onto Diogee’s fur in an attempt to camouflage herself. 

Melissa and Zack held onto Amanda’s arm to prevent her from climbing over the railing. 

“Congratulations, you two!” Milo shouted. 

Becky recalled Beautifly and walked off stage as the judges ushered Lydia and Tepig onto the winner’s platform. 

“Bacon shall be our leader!” Scott declared. Somehow he’d gotten hold of Shelley’s microphone. 

Nurse Joy and Mr. Sukizo congratulated Lydia and presented her with the Rustboro Ribbon as Shelley and Scott fought for control over the microphone. 

The Contest Hall cleared out rather quickly because Mildred dug her way to the surface and felt the need to decimate a few walls in order to defend her master. 

Bob Webber is actually from Phineas and Ferb (the guy who says okay and snaps his fingers in The Lake Nose Monster and Candace’s Big Day), but hey I needed another captain and he came to mind.

I don’t like Pokemon Musicals. Not nearly as fun as Contests.

Shelley is the name of the announcer in Battle of the Bands. The one with the blue streak in her hair and voiced by Olivia Olson. I checked the MML wiki. Apparently, her name was mentioned in the closed captioning.

While a Contest Hall doesn’t exist in Rustboro in the games, there was a Rustboro Contest that served as May’s introduction to contests in the anime.

Hoenn contest battles tend to be a little more like regular battles where the objective is to knock out the opponent, but with a creative twist. This isn’t the case in Sinnoh, where more emphasis is placed on execution rather than power.

Well, this concludes Rustboro! Next time, setting sail to Dewford!

[nelvana]

In which a temporary team is formed

First: In which the human is transformed Next: In which they finish building a house Previous: In which they go to the kangaskhan’s home

    In the morning, the group enjoyed a quick breakfast with Kangaskhan, who had to get up early for her job, before heading back to Pokemon Square to complete some missions. When they stopped by the mission board, they were reminded that Peaky still wanted to show them those wanted posters that Team Meanies had made up, so they decided to make a quick stop there, now that business at the post office had slowed down mostly to normality.

    However, for once Peaky wasn’t available to speak with them, so they decided that they would have to return later. Luckily, Alex’s badge had arrived, so the stop wasn’t pointless. His badge had a similar appearance to Keahi and Nelvana’s, however smaller than theirs. He cheerfully pinned it onto the bag, as he lacked an accessory like the leading pair, and off they went.

    There were still a few dungeons left to show Tsuki, and there ended up being enough jobs for those locations to take up the morning. They returned to Pokemon Square early, and enjoyed a simple picnic lunch before trying to check back in at the Pelipper Post Office. This time, Peaky was chatting with a pidgeotto behind the counter. They looked up at the sound of the quartet entering, and Peaky hopped over to greet them.

    “Hey Team Galaxy! You here to send a letter?” Peaky chirped.

    “Actually, we were hoping to see those posters you mentioned a couple days ago,” Keahi told them.

    “Oh! Right! Here, I’ll grab one!” Peaky exclaimed, scurrying back behind the counter. “Each copy looks different, I think that they drew each one individually!” they added, “ah! Here we are!” Peaky hopped back over to the team, laying down a large paper in front of them.

    Across the top of the page written “WANTED” in letters so big that there wasn’t enough room, and it had to be squeezed together to have the entire word. Underneath, written slightly more properly, was “Team Galaxy: Dead or Alive,” which made Nelvana take in an uneasy gulp of breath as she silently read it. Below all the text, were three poorly done drawings of Keahi, Nelvana, and Alex respectively. Whichever of the Team Meanies members had drawn up this particular poster seemed to have had a lot of difficulty with Keahi’s beak and Nelvana’s skull, the former ending up as just a triangle, and the latter being practically a spiky ball surrounded by pencil smudges.

    “Huh, they forgot to write down the reward for catching us,” Alex commented, “I guess we’re priceless,” he joked.

    Nelvana snickered, her tension at the text melting away the longer she looked at the drawings, “I have to give them some credit on my portrait, cubone skulls are challenging to get the hang of drawing,” she said, “that doesn’t excuse Alex’s nose though. At least they remembered your scar.”

    “Yeah, but they forgot where! Why did they draw it through my eye?” Alex responded.

    “I guess it looks more intimidating?” Nelvana suggested, “I think you really scared Gengar. Plus, they all had to draw from memory. And the one he could base off, he was probably more focused on finding more excuses.”

    Keahi giggled, “they drew one of my eyes bigger than the other! And look at the feathers! They’re practically just one big mound!”

    “I wonder if they’re just bad at drawing, or if they needed reference?” Nelvana asked no on in particular.

    “I guess we’ll never know,” Alex answered, stepping back from the poster to signal that he was finished looking.

    “Perhaps they should have taken art lessons from you, Nel,” Tsuki suggested, “then again, there is still the matter of whether you’d even give lessons.”

    “Uhh, I don’t consider myself a good enough teacher to give lessons to anyone,” Nelvana murmured.

    “Thanks for letting us see this anyway, Peaky!” Keahi chirped.

    “No problem! Now I guess all of us should get to work, shouldn’t we? See you guys later!” Peaky replied.

        The spearow fluttered back to the pidgeotto, who was patiently waiting for their return, and Team Galaxy turned and left the office. They went back home, and watched Nelvana doodled in the dirt while they waited for the others to arrive so they could get started.

    Wynaut and Wobbuffet were punctual, arriving at noon, excited to get to work and help out the silver-ranked rescue team with their base. It was another ten minutes before the mankeys arrived, but they had reluctantly brought Primeape with them. It turned out that she had forcefully come along to assist with the basics, certain that everyone just needed a better push to get started than the next to no experience most of them had. She had modified their notes, and went ahead and put an order for all the supplies, which left Team Galaxy in a mix of thankfulness, and bitterness at their work being discarded so easily, when they had thought that they had a better grasp on all of this.

    The materials wouldn’t arrive until the next day, but fortunately there was still work to be done. They had to prepare the land for building a new base, which mainly meant that they had to get rid of the old one. By breaking it apart. It was sad to have to destroy their old home, but knowing that they would build a better one kept their spirits up, and it helped release some tension. Wynaut and Wobbuffet weren’t able to help terribly much, but the mankeys enjoyed themselves in the destruction. Primeape simply continued supervising everyone, over calling out a comment or critique every so often, much to the displeasure of Team Galaxy, especially since the fighting-type wasn’t actually assisting with the manual labor.

    With the area cleared out, they were left with no way to progress until the supplies arrived, and so everyone left for the day. Team Galaxy ended up having enough time to complete a few more missions before heading back to the cottage with Kangaskhan, enjoying another evening with the normal-type family.

    It was the next morning that they spotted a new arrival in Pokemon Square; Shiftry. The older grass-dark-type was brooding off to the side of town, and surprising, Lombre was standing beside him. They appeared to be speaking to each other, but it was being done much too quietly to be heard by bystanders.

    “Shiftry? He’s back? And there’s Lombre too?” Keahi whispered.

    “Who’s Shiftry?” Tsuki asked.

    “He…” Keahi trailed off, “He was the nuzleaves’ team leader.”

    “Ah,” Tsuki murmured, “do you know him well?”

    “No, we only watched his team accept Jumpluff’s mission,” Nelvana answered quietly, tracing the cracks on her club as she recalled the event.

    Despite them staying quiet, it didn’t take long for Shiftry to look up and notice the team. Lombre looked over as well, and stiffened upon seeing them. He was about to sneak away, but Shiftry dragged the grass-water-type over to the quartet.

    “Hello Team Galaxy,” Shiftry greeted somberly.

    “H-Hey,” Lombre mumbled, struggling against Shiftry in a way to try not to make it obvious what he was doing, but failing in all forms.

    “Hi guys!” Keahi greeted, “we… we haven’t seen either of you in awhile, how are you?”

    “I’ve… been managing,” Shiftry sighed, “look, I just wanted to thank you guys. For everything. You rescued me from Zapdos, and while you couldn’t rescue my teammates… you brought that damned murder to justice. So, thank you for that.”

    “Oh, uh, no problem!” Keahi replied, “look, we…”

    Shiftry shook his head, “look, don’t worry about it. I just want to move on, alright? Just needed to give you your thanks first. You deserve it.”

    “Okay,” Keahi sighed, “so, you’re staying here now?”

    “For now.” Shiftry nodded. “Anyway, this lil’ frog has something to say too,” he continued, shoving Lombre at them.

    “Ack!” Lombre croaked, stumbling forward. “Geez, you don’t need to be so rough…” he huffed, brushing off his arms before turning back to Team Galaxy and stiffening again. “Shoot…”

    Shiftry glowered down at Lombre, who was looking more uncomfortable by the minute.

    “F-Fine!” Lombre hissed, “I’m sorry for distrusting you like that! And for almost joining Team Meanies to hunt you down! And for… and I really messed up, didn’t I? I’m sorry.”

    Keahi smiled warmly at Lombre, “it’s alright. You messed up, but we forgive you.”

    “Would have been nice to not have you be so reluctant about apologizing though,” Alex mumbled.

    “He’s just a wimp,” Shiftry chuckled, harshly nudging Lombre.

    “Yeah, yeah. Can I go now?” Lombre sighed.

    “Sure, go ahead, frog,” Shiftry hummed.

    Just as he said, Shiftry stuck around Pokemon Square during the next few days. He continued avoiding most of the townsfolk, but would give Team Galaxy a wave as they went by, and sometimes they would see him chatting with the kecleon brothers.

    Construction continued as well, the supplies arriving on time to the Kecleon Shop for further work. Primeape kept coming with the mankeys to contribute with her advice, and by the end of the day, was actually helping with the work instead of sitting on the sidelines. It was a new, challenging, and long job, but they all found themselves enjoying their first few days of working.

    It was the fourth day that brought more change. Arriving in Pokemon Square with Kangaskhan that morning greeted them with a large crowd in the center of town with many unfamiliar pokemon.

    “Woah, that’s a big crowd. Wonder what’s happening this time?” Keahi gasped, “hey look! Those guys have badges! And so do they! And… is everyone here part of a team?” zie continued.

    “Look, there’s Team New Blooms, let’s go ask them,” Nelvana suggested, pointing over to the familiar chikorita and machop.

    The quartet weaved their way around the crowd towards the pair, who were standing beside a piplup and chimchar wearing matching scarves around their necks.

    “Oh, hey Galaxy!” Melanie greeted, “you’re late!”

    “Late for what?” Keahi asked.

    “We… we don’t know,” Everett admitted, “Shiftry sent out letters to every team asking us to meet here yesterday, but didn’t specify why.”

    “Yeah, didn’t you guys get one?” Melanie questioned.

    “No… but that might be because we don’t have a mailbox right now. We’re rebuilding,” Nelvana told them.

    “Ah! That explains it!” Everett chirped, “anyway, this is Team Disaster! We started talking while we were waiting for Shiftry to get this meeting started,” he added, acknowledging the other duo.

    “Hello! I’m Cecil, and this is my partner Poplar,” the chimchar said.

    “Hey there,” Poplar huffed, crossing her flippers across her chest. “Let’s hope this starts soon, this is boring.”

    “Be patient Poplar…” Cecil sighed, not looking to pleased to be waiting so long himself.

    As if on cue, Shiftry began speaking, “alright everyone! Quiet down!” he yelled, and waited until the huge group went quiet. “Look, I know you’re all antsy and confused, so I’ll do my best to be quick, alright?” he continued, “I don’t like giving public speeches much anyway,” he added under his breath. “Team A.C.T. left to fight Groudon nearly a week ago, and no one has heard from them since!”

    The crowd began whispered amongst one another again, and Shiftry waited for everyone to calm down again before continuing.

    “So, this probably means they got stuck, and their badges malfunctioned. And I refuse to leave them there a moment longer! Which means we have to send out a team to rescue them! That’s why you’re all here! I sent letters out to every team that’s a silver or gold rank in hopes that we can combine forces for a search team,” Shiftry explained, “since clearly, as none of us have been able to achieve platinum rank on our own, there is no way just sending one team will be successful. I suggest that the stronger among us to face the perils of Magma Cavern, where Groudon resides. Any volunteers?”

    This final question was met by silence for the first few seconds, filling the air with a tense silence, everyone wondering who would volunteer to go into the dungeon that the highest ranked team hadn’t returned from.

    “Maybe we should go!” Keahi whispered to zir teammates.

    “We should…” Nelvana agreed, but hesitated.

    “What about the base?” Tsuki pointed out.

    Keahi scrunched up zir face, “oh right… this feels more important though.”

    “Look, if no one else volunteers, then we will, alright?” Nelvana offered.

    “Okay,” Keahi nodded.

    “I’ll go.”

    A large blastoise wearing a striped green bandanna on his head walked from out of the crowd, and up to Shiftry.

    “Magma Cavern sounds like there will be a lot of fire-types, and my water-type attacks will blast right through them!” Blastoise proclaimed.

    With first volunteer, the ice seemed to be broken for others to join in this make-shift team as well.

    “Very well, I’ll help out too,” Octillery, who wore a lavender sash around her neck, announced. “You’ll need the extra strength here, sweetheart,” she purred.

    “Me too!” Golem, one of the few in the crowd with no accessory, called out. “We can’t only send in water-types! My rock and ground moves will shake up those caverns!” he boasted.

    “Two waters and a rock-ground…” Nelvana murmured, “but… Groudon is a ground-type with drought. This won’t be enough to beat them if we’re just going off of type, which seems to be what they think they’re focusing on.”

    Alex blinked, “you’re right… should we tell them? We should, shouldn’t we…”

    Nelvana bit her lip, but nodded. With a glance back at their teammates, along with Team New Bloom and Team Disaster, they took a step further into the crowd.

    “Hey, just a warning, Groudon is a ground-type with drought! Are you sure this is the plan you want to go with?” Alex yelled.

    Everyone turned towards the pair, causing both of them to stiffen uncomfortably from being stared at. Keahi and Tsuki quickly joined them, Keahi leaning close beside Nelvana to comfort her.

    “Knew it was a ground-type, but drought, huh? Where did you hear that?” Blastoise questioned.

    “Ditto,” Nelvana answered courtly before Alex could.

    Blastoise blinked in surprise, but Octillery chimed in, “don’t you kids worry about it. We shouldn’t have to fight Groudon, this is just a search mission. We just need to get through the dungeon, which will have fire-types,” she told them.

    “Thanks for the tip though!” Golem added, “I think we’ve got this though!”

    “Anyone else, then?” Shiftry asked, his eyes lingering on Team Galaxy for a moment as he scanned the crowd, before passing them by.

    “I think we can take this! Feeling pretty confident about this mission!” Blastoise exclaimed.

    “We should name our team, for good luck!” Golem announced.

    “Boys… I don’t think we have time for that,” Octillery sighed.

    Shiftry coughed, “you three can decide that on your own. If no one else wants to join them, then meeting dismissed, I suppose.”

    Eagerly taking the chance to do their own thing, nearly all the teams departed, many of them to the Pelipper Post Office, and the rest out of town. Team Galaxy and a couple others lingered around the center of Pokemon Square, whispering to one another. Shiftry left the temporary team and walked up to the quartet.

    “I’m surprised you guys didn’t volunteer,” Shiftry commented.

    “No offense, but it might be for the better,” Blastoise, rudely barging into a beginning conversation that wasn’t his, said. “Look, Team Galaxy, you may have been through that path and beaten the bird trio, but Groudon is an entirely different story. We’re more experienced, we can handle this.”

    Shiftry growled, rolling his eyes at Blastoise’s comment before turning and leaving towards Whiscash Pond. Octillery and Golem, along with their actual teams, who were the other few lingerers, waved Blastoise back over to them, leaving Team Galaxy along.

    “Jeez, what a jerk,” Alex snapped, glowering at Blastoise. “Ditto though? Good excuse, helps keep us from explaining a lot.”

    “It wasn’t a ditto? I can’t remember…” Nelvana murmured.

    “Nah, it was an illusion. Ditto worked better as a quick answer though,” Alex replied.

    “Wait, you guys fought Groudon before?” Keahi questioned, zir beak gaping open in surprise.

    “Not the real one, but yes,” Alex answered.

    “…I… have a bad feeling about this search mission,” Nelvana admitted.

    “Me too,” Tsuki agreed, “but it isn’t me sensing it yet, so we’ll have to see how this turns out. Hopefully it just stays as a bad feeling.”

Cameos: Team New Blooms (Melanie/chikorita & Everett/machop) belongs to @kaidacreator / @kaidacreatorart Team Disaster (Poplar/piplup & Cecil/chimchar) belongs to ChargeCats

[strikeandrun]

Pokemon 2004 Format Rogue Deck - Donphan/Blissey

Anyone who has played in the Worlds 2004 format is familiar with some of the powerful Stage 1 Pokémon featured in the format. Most notable of these is Gorebyss from Hidden Legends as an Attacker and Delcatty from Ruby & Sapphire as a Supporting Pokémon. A lot of the times in this format, Pokémon from RS and onward overshadow the ones from the E-series. They were often more powerful, and so the E-series cards that saw play were mostly the trainers of the era. 

As I was browsing the selection of cards in the entirety of the format looking for a new deck to build, one Pokémon stood out to me for it’s incredibly strong first attack. Donphan from Aquapolis. 

For only 1 energy, Donphan could deal 30 Damage at the cost of inflicting 10 Damage to each of your own benched Pokémon. The downside wasn’t so bad, but I wanted a way to work around that 10 damage without having to run the Stage 2 Pokémon Bellossom from Hidden Legends. It was in the search for Donphan’s partner that I came across Blissey from the same set. 

Blissey let you heal 1 Pokémon on a coin flip, and only heals by the amount of energy attached to the Blissey. However, it is not limited to the “one power per turn” rule that Bellossom is, so you could flip 2 coins if you had 2 Blissey in play. The other thing I loved about Blissey is it’s High HP and the fact it didn’t give up 2 prizes. It’s Higher HP meant it could not be OHKO’d by Blaziken ex from Team Magma vs. Team Aqua like Bellossom could. So it was with this that I began constructing a Skeleton for the deck.

Pokémon-

x4  Dunsparce SS - Dunsparce is used in a lot of decks that require set up and don’t mind sacrificing the 4 slots for it. 4 copies means there is roughly a 40% chance to start with it and use it’s Strike and Run move to set up your basics on turn 1.

x3 Phanpy RS - Phanpy evolves into Donphan. it can also 3HKO Dunsparces or 2HKO RS44 Skitty. It can paralyze and do damage on a flip similar to Dunsparce but it’s attack is more expensive and doesn’t always do damage. avoid attacking with it if possible. It has more HP than the other Phanpy in the format, so you can use Earthquake more times before you need to heal it, and it isn’t OHKO’d by Metagross ex’s Metal Reversal. This is very situaltional but it is generally the better Phanpy.

x3 Donphan AQ - This is the decks main attacker. It can OHKO Dunsparce (which is almost always going to be played by your opponent.) and OHKO any Skitty, Magnemite or any other basic that is weak to Fighting with 60 or less HP. Mid and Late Game, Donphan can OHKO Magneton and Delcatty with a Strength Charm. Another neat play to make is to Deal 60 to a Magneton and 60 to a Delcatty, then use ATM Rock to score 2 prizes in one turn and saving your Strength Charms for later. Donphan’s second attack is a weaker version of Metagross HL’s Attack, and should be used with caution. It can return a OHKO on a Rayquaza ex that KO’d your previously Active Donphan with this move, but it requires Crystal Shard, a Double Rainbow, and 2 Heads flips. It is super risky, but it can pay off.

x2 Chansey AQ - While it might seem like it doesn’t matter which Chansey you play, it is actually much better to run this one instead of the 90HP one in this format. This greatly affects your matchup with the BDIF, RAMBO. Most important is that it can’t be OHKO’d by a Rayquaza ex with Multi+Fire energy after you have used Earthquake once. This forces the opponent to have to find the 3rd energy to get a kill if Chansey has full HP or 1 Damage counter on it. The 90HP one can be OHKO’d with just 2 energy if it has a damage counter on it. Additionally, If Donphan used Earthquake with a Crystal Shard attached and Rayquaza takes 6, and you have Desert Ruins in play, this chansey can KO Rayquaza with 8 Damage counters with 1 energy. It is also safer to bring out than Dunsparce. since Dunsparce could be KO’d by a Fire Stream from Blaziken RS on a following turn. Another perk is that this Chansey can’t be KO’d by a Shiftry HL with a Darkness+Boost Energy and Matching Hand size. Anyways, I’ve talked enough about these hypothetical situations. 

x2 Blissey AQ - This card is pretty incredible. It can (with a little bit of luck) deny your opponent prizes and keep the momentum in your favor, even in situations that look like you aren’t doing so great. Blissey can heal itself or it’s bench buddies as long as it has energy attached. There is rarely ever a situation where you might debate attaching to a Blissey or Donphan, since Donphan’s attack is so low-cost. This deck runs Double Rainbow as a way to let Blissey heal more for less attachments. I already talked about Blissey’s longevity above, and there isn’t much else to say about it. It simply is the best partner for Donphan.

Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums-

2 Fast Ball - Fast Ball reveals cards from the top of your deck until it reveals an Evolution card. This means that you will either hit a Donphan or Blissey, and once you have the other out in play, the odds are better for hitting the one you want next. Once all of either Donphan or Blissey are in play, then it will always grab the other. 

2 Friend Ball - Since most decks run Dunsparce, Friend Ball makes it really easy to set up Blissey. This also makes it easy to grab Donphan with Fast Ball.

2 Switch - Blissey and Donphan both have high retreat costs, so switch is important. That’s all I gotta say about that.

2 Ancient Technical Machine [Rock] - This card is another way to score several KOs. You can also waste your opponent’s Rare Candy plays with this card. It has several uses, so the deck runs 2 in case one gets prized. A second one is also useful since most players only expect the 1-of tech from this card.

2 Strength Charm - This card lets you score KO’s you normally wouldn’t get, or make some very specific things 3HKOs instead of 4HKOs, like against a 100HP Stage 2. 

4 Pokemon Reversal - This card is really important. With some luck, you can grab a lot of prizes in the early game, and this makes it difficult for your opponent to catch up with your prize gain, even if you start to fall behind a little.

Supporters - Donphan/Blissey runs a pretty standard pile of draw supporters. Nothing too fancy here to note, most of your powerful trainer plays will be dependent on when you drop items. I think that you need to run recursion of some form, since it is very easy to run out of resources in a long game. Desert Shaman is key in not decking out, since it is easy to draw a large portion of your deck and not have much to do with it in this format.

Matchups -

Rambo/Blaziken - 65/35

This is your best matchup. The stars don’t have to align when you are up against this deck. Donphan finds it easy to pick apart the opponents board with Earthquake, taking out valuable support Pokémon. The opponent has no choice but to try and bring out their support Pokémon, so it is really only a matter of how you go about dismantling the board, either through Reversals, ATM or brute force. In the late game, when the Blaziken deck is low on resources, it will have almost zero chance at outing a Blissey in the active except with some bad luck on your end and extremely good luck on their side. This matchup is intimidating on paper, but Donphan can handle it. Being able to beat this deck is a key reason to play the deck in the first place.

Magma - 50/50

Magma isn’t impossible to beat, but it is not an easy task. Yes, you have access to easy pickings in the form of Zangoose, and you have some stall tactics but your Blissey is incredibly prone to Groudon in the late game. You may take an early lead in this matchup occasionally, but the fact is that the only prize that really matters to Groudon is the last one. Since Magma doesn’t run any ex Pokémon normally, it’s a big grind to get your prizes in a timely manner. Also the large amount of basics in the deck make your best plays less good (ATM does almost blotting in this matchup.)

Crobyss - 20/80

This matchup is terrible, Phanpys die to Crobat’s entire family, Donphan dies to Gorbyss. You need to get very lucky to win this game. Your opponent has to draw poorly every time. Blissey isn’t going to be enough because Crobat can shut it down so easily. Your saving grace is how good ATM is against Crobyss, but most of the time it won’t be enough.

MLB - 45/55

This is a strange matchup to evaluate. Blissey is pretty medium here, since it is very succeptable to Medicham but does excellent work against Lanturn and Banette. The beauty of MLB's circular game plan really comes through here. The biggest problem here is that Donphan already plays against Lanturn well, but can struggle to overcome Medicham without making some very hard to pull off ATM plays. Maxing out the value of your ATM plays is very important here. You need to blow them out with it early or you will struggle in the late game. I’d almost call it even, but Medicham can do so much early in the matchup and might not allow a late game to even happen. The best thing about Donphan/Blissey in this matchup is that it isn’t so weak to the ATM. Tread carefully and you can take the win here.

Swampert, Gardevoir, Stage 2 decks - 50/50

These decks play against Donphan similarly and the way you beat them is similar. If they are playing a Magneton/Delcatty engine, you go for it first and foremost. You will ALWAYS struggle against a souped up ex-Pokémon, so it is best to just try and take a lead and play the rest of the game carefully with Reversal plays and creating a board state that allows strong ATM plays. You may struggle more against swampert due to the type advantage, But I argue that regardless of type advantage you should be able to control the early game with Donphan every time against Stage 2 decks. You are faster than them every time, simply put. You can force the opponent to play their resources poorly (such as forcing an evolving basic to retreat because it’s been EQ'd). Donphan makes the entire game awkward for Stage 2s, and so long as you know how to take advantage of that you should have a fair shot at winning.

Conclusion:

Overall, Donphan is just another fair deck in a format where you have 3 different viable decks that accelerate energy, dump cards to draw more cards and recur resources. Those fast Stage 2 decks look fair compared to modern Pokémon standards, but they really aren’t. Your greatest strength when playing Donphan is OPTIONS. You have a lot of deck space to work with, since most of the “unfair” (for lack of a better term) decks dedicate so much space to energy and evolution cards, your ability to tech out a Donphan list is much greater. This blog post is simply a primer for a deck with untapped potential.