#moxie boosted

[ima-ghost-art]

I feel like no one has mentioned that dan OFFERED TO GIVE HUNCH UPPIES????

[darksilvania]

PRAWNIARD [Pawniard + Prawn] Water/Fighting The Shrimp Pokemon Abilities: Moxie/Hyper Cutter - Tough Claws (HA) Dex: "They patrol the ocean floor in small gangs, comprised of several PRAWNIARDS and a single EBISHARP, very similar to its surface counterparts. Their pincers are extremely sharp, even when closed, resembling blades, but what makes them specially dangerous is the speed with wich they use them. PRAWNIARDs are know for constantly training the speed of they slashes, until they claws become faster than the eye can see.” Moveset: -Karate Chop -Jet Punch -Fury Cutter -Sword Dance

EBISHARP [Bisharp + Ebi (Shrimp in Japanese)] Water/Fighting The Pistol Shrimp Pokemon ->Evolves from PRAWNIARD after learning BOILING HOOK<- Abilities: Moxie/Hyper Cutter - Tough Claws (HA) Dex: "It leads a squad of PRAWNIARDs and controls a small territory under the command of a powerful KINGAMBA Its claws can deliver blows at speeds above the speed of sound, this punches are so fast they make the water around them boil.” Moveset: -Boiling Hook: Fighting type / pwr 90 / acc 95 / pp 10 “The user launches a punch at such a speed the water around its fist boils up.” -This might leave the opponent burn -This move power is boosted against water type pokemon or if it is raining -Razor Shell -Aqua Cutter -Soak

KINGAMBA [Kingambit + Gamba (Shrimp in Spanish)] Water/Fighting The Mantis Shrimp Pokemon ->Evolves from EBISHARP after defeating 5 wild EBISHARP using BOILING HOOK<- Abilities: Moxie/Hyper Cutter - Tough Claws (HA) Dex: "It controls a large territory under the ocean, with many EBISHARPs as its lieutenants, each one commanding a squard of PRAWNIARDs" It vibrates its claws with such speed they become searing hot. Being hit with them is said to feel as being hit with a hot branding iron. They use this burning pincers to mark its lieutenants.” Moveset: -Boiling Hook -Crab Hammer -Cross Chop -Guillotine

Finally finished my convergent Pawniard line, I think I made them at the begining of the year but Im just getting to finishing things by now

PRAWNIARD is based on a Velvet Blue Shrimp

EBISHARP is based on a Bullseye Pistol Shrimp

KINGAMBA is based on a Peacock Mantis Shrimp

[strontiumsun]

Happy New Year! As the clock turns, I have a special fakemon gift! I've already shared the regional Pikachu for my in-progress fan region, but we also have a regional Eevee with regional Eeveelutions.

This regional Eevee, known as "Smokee" to locals, is a Ghost type. Its body is made of ash and smoke. Despite its strong resemblance to Eevee, Smokee never reacted to any of the known Eevee evolution methods. That was until recent events in the region uncovered a material that, when exposed to Smokee, causes it to evolve!

Regional Vaporeon live in misty mountain valleys. They exhale thick plumes of vapor to hide in. They're known to be temperamental. They have the Marvel Scale ability.

Regional Jolteon live in the forest abutting the foot of the mountain. They fire off stinging spines from their bodies with startling accuracy. They have the Compound Eyes ability.

Regional Flareon fly about in the thin mountain air. The fluff on their bodies absorbs sunlight to keep themselves warm at high altitudes; at night, it releases a pleasant glow. They have the ability Flare Boost.

Regional Espeon have an uncanny ability to dowse for water in their alpine desert homes. When their tails straighten, it means water is near. They have the Water Absorb ability.

Regional Umbreon form packs in the swamps. A strange, sickly glow emanates from the jewel on their foreheads, making them look like will-o-wisps in the night. They have the Corrosion ability.

Regional Leafeon's blades are ultra-light razors that can cut nearly anything, even sheer mountain rock. When its blades dull, it sheds them and grows new ones. It has the Sharpness ability.

Regional Glaceon live in caves, where they use their gem-studded heads to bash open pathways in the dark. They have the Rock Head ability.

Regional Sylveon live in cities. By tightening and loosening the wraps on their legs, they can control the power of their blows. They have the Moxie ability.

As I hope you can see, my idea with creating these Regional Eeveelutions was to fill out the rest of the type chart while keeping the designs within the basic silhouettes of the existing Pokemon. I hope you guys like them!

[superstaridolstart]

Pokémorph Au Character Sheet Part: 16

This time, we are doing our favorite character from the remakes, Zinnia

Displayed Pokémorph Form: Salamence

Related Ability: Moxie: Gets an attack boost when she KOs an opponent

Current Moveset:

Iron Defense

Hurricane

Dragon Rush

Shadow Claw

Extra Notes:

Before she even became a Pokémorpher, she trained herself to be able to fight in hand to hand combat in case she was ever chosen

She has been training herself to fly at incredibly high speeds, so far, her current record is over 300 Mph, or over 480 Kph, or over 260 Knots

And that's it for Zinnia! Hope this did her justice, and if you have any questions or need clarifications, my ask box is open.

[adobe-outdesign]

Any headcanons about the Pancham line (Especially about the bit with "conversing with your fists")?

Pancham really want people to be intimidated by them. It's good to pretend to be scared of them, as it boosts their self-confidence and helps them do better in battle.

Pancham need to be able to learn via dark-types. Not only does this help them evolve, but it also helps them become stronger in battle and learn more underhanded strategies to utilize in combat,

They feed almost exclusively on a specific kind of bamboo, and live only in areas where that bamboo is found. Food can be bought and imported for them easily enough, but it does make them more expensive to care for.

Pangoro are fairly aggressive and aren't overly impressed with Pokemon battles. If you want one to do something for you and need to earn its respect, fist fighting it is unironically your best option. Even if you lose, they'll at least respect your moxie.

Pangoro will prevent bullying, not only to Pancham but also to virtually any species of Pokemon. They're also been known to save prey Pokemon from predators before.

Pangoro's coat helps insulate it from the cold. In cold-weather regions, the coat is longer.

Pangoro are fiercely protective of their young and are considered incredibly dangerous during their breeding season.

A popular 90's manga featured a protagonist who used a Pangoro as his main Pokemon, which gave the species a massive boost in popularity.

[go-go-gadget-autism]

If you could create an ultimate team lineup of Pokémon that would be the best team, who would they be? Also they don’t have to be from the same Pokémon game. (Sorry if this is a weird question, I only know a little bit about Pokémon)

To start off, this is a very broad topic. there are 1025 pokémon, so i’m going to try to make a team without legendary or mythical pokémon as they tend to be overpowered. also i’m just making a team based on something i’m most likely to use, because there are so many strategies, move combos, and many many factors that make finding the “best team” essentially impossible. it’s all up to each individual person and how well they use their pokémon. so this is just tailored to me mostly!! <3

I’m not great at strats or EV and IV training, but I’ll try my best. don’t judge, I’m also partial to pokémon I like. also i’m really bad at using items so im not going to include those! please do research based on what others say and websites such as Smogon, Serebii, and Pokémon Database!

Garchomp. Ground/Dragon. Good attack and speed stats, can learn swords dance to boost attack sharply. Resistant to Electric, Fire, Poison, and Rock type attacks. Its hidden ability is Rough Skin, which does 1/8 of the attacker’s max HP upon using a physical move (i.e something like Tackle or Bite, but not like Thunderbolt or Fire Blast). Garchomp has access to moves of various types when used by TM or HM, which means that being well prepared for a fight will work very well in your favor.

Metagross. Steel/Psychic. Okay, i know, two pseudo legendary pokémon on one team. talk about unique. But Metagross pairs well with Garchomp, resisting some of its weaknesses like Fairy and Ice. It has a high attack stat and naturally very bulky, so it can tank hits, making up for slower speed due to its weight.

Gengar. Ghost/Poison. Good speed and Attack stats. It’s weak to Dark, Psychic, and Ghost types, but ghost type moves are super effective against Psychic and other Ghost types, and poison is super effective against Fairy and Grass.

4. Greninja. Water/Dark. Has great Special Attack and Speed stats. Its Water type moves are super effective against Fire, Ground, and Rock types, while it’s Dark type moves are super effective against Ghost and Psychic types. Greninja is weak to Bug, Fairy, Fighting, Electric, and Grass type moves. The other pokémon in this list counter these decently well, with Ground resisting electric, Gengar being able to learn Fire Pumch resists Grass and Bug, and Metagross’s Steel and Psychic typing counters Fighting and Fairy types.

Heracross. Fighting/Bug. It has high Attack and Special Defense stats, and a decent Speed stat. Its Hidden Ability, Moxie, raises its Attack stat by one stage (50%) each time it KO’s another Pokémon. It’s weak to Fire, Psychic, Flying, and Fairy types, all of which can be countered by this team. Heracross being a Fighting type can counter Normal type Pokémon, and Fighting is the only weakness of Normal types. Fighting is also super effective against Dark, Ice, Rock, and Steel types, while Bug types are super effective against Grass, Psychic, and Dark types.

Aegislash. Steel/Ghost. With its stance change, it can have very high Attack and Defense stats. A lot of the points i’ve said for other pokémon that have similar typing such as Gengar and Metagross stand here, and I honestly just like Aegislash. Very cool pokémon 10/10 sword

[magical-regical]

What an ordeal this was.

Зима, once again, was my saving grace. Him and the 'Pour Rien' card on Vertin. An extra move is useful, who would've thought?

I wish I realized sooner that if there were 3 of them fuckers on the field, when one of them goes under 40% they won't spawn a new one even if a vacancy opens in the next round.

Specific character and psychube levels and some strategy things under the cut if that's something y'all wanna know (and I just need to sit and write down what tf just happened because brain was on auto pilot that whole fight):

Use First Melody for Vertin's tuning skill

Зима - i2lv30, psychube lv 40

The silence debuff on his basic attack is what made this fight work. I had to pray for a bit of luck with getting attack cards.

Save all of Vertin's moxie for his basic attack, or if you have to use it for extra heals, make sure you have enough for the next round.

Bkornblume - i2lv40, psychube lv 40

I gave her 'A Free Heart' because I need her to live. She does enough damage, especially with the card that boosts damage every time she moves and her ult is what will bring these fuckers to under 40%.

Once they're at under 40%, try to hold off on her damage until after all three are under 40%. Which is a lot harder than it seems? Because you need to build her ult but can't attack too much because her attack hits two people and if she kills someone before everyone is at 40%, that's gg, that's a restart because I cannot deal with a fourth one.

Dikke - i2lv30, psychube lv 30

I had Sotheby as my healer at first but poison was not doing me any favors and her ult hits everyone and (ironically) deals too much damage when you're trying to beat everyone within an inch of their life.

So Dikke works out better because she heals enough and her ult is single target. She moved a lot since she has the card that gives the character on the left a damage boost which made Зима hit a bit harder.

A Knight - i2lv40, psychube lv 30

In a previous run, I got to the point where I thought I could breathe in the enemies' general direction and they'd die, but my entire team went down and I had to go to the reserve unit, which at that time, was Jessica. I had to kill at least two so she lived the next round. Jessica has a mass attack so it should be fine right? Wrong. She killed neither of them. I was, a little miffed.

So I switched in A Knight because he hits the hardest out of my entire roster and even bumped him up from 30 to 40 so if I ever end up in that situation again, I know for sure he will sweep.

Luckily it didn't come to that. He still had to come in to clean up but he had Зима with him. Maybe he would've been alright at level 30 but eh.

[patheticmenscuffle]

i was writing some gilear propaganda but he is so pathetic that there was so much and my phone died so here are the greatest hits

-last night he couldnt get to sleep so he tried to jack off last night but was too sad so he stayed up all night eating expired yogurt

-his car got repossessed by the rideshare app he works for

-the most divorced man in the realm. cucked in his first marriage by a demon from the nine hells called gortholax the insatiable who was trapped inside a ruby at the time

-passed over for guidance counsellor at his daughters school for a drug dealing werewolf named jawbone

-jawbone was objectively better at the job than gilear ever would be. and also later got with his ex-wife

-(trying to talk to a woman hes interested in) "sklonda i'll level with you: i recently found out that one of my shoes is so filled with mildew from a leak in my apartment that i have this new kind of foot fungus, and my doctor says..." "thats a nat 20 charisma?"

-gortholax the insatiable later got with sklonda also

-got hired as the lunch "lad" instead. his daughter fig set up a tip jar to try and boost his moxie but all he received was written cruelty

-somehow became vice principal

-soon fired as vice principal and demoted to "intern" on fig and her friends' spring break quest

-"gilear do you want some elven whey bread?" "ah, no id better not i cant afford it." "im giving it to you, its a gift." "i know, but if i eat it then ill remember how it tastes and i wont be able to get any of it later"

-died no less than 4 times on said quest (maybe more i cant remember)

-the first time was after having his face used as a launchpad by his stepson fabian to get advantage on an attack roll. fabian "got advantage from jumping but also got disadvantage, cause its gilear, so it cancels out"

-fabian wants to kill him. his mother (gilears girlfriend) makes gilear sleep in the garage

-the second time was upon taking ambient damage from a rain of hellfire immediately upon following his daughter to the nine hells ass moral/legal support

-the third time was after a sarcophagus he was hiding in was shot from a canon

-last time was when he clipped the tip of his penis putting on the armour of the sin of pride. he almost survived because he has no pride but then he started feeling good about how he was doing and immediately died and his body was spat out naked into the forest of the nightmare king. hes hung btw

-(unprompted) "mm, this yogurt tastes exactly like potatoes!" "gilear thats potatoes" "what?" "youre eating mashed potatoes" "ah.. another 'own goal' for gilear faeth..."

-got all jammed up in the wheel well of a van while "trying to do a little trick for himself" and let his bare foot touch the morning dew while reversing very slowly and eating an apple at the same time

anyway. gilearsweep!!

God they're really jsut throwing this poor fuck into the washing machine over there huh?

-Mod Knight

[your-favorite-champion]

Hello there! How did you decide on your starter? I don’t think I could choose just one of the Paldea starters, they all look so dang cool/cute

Well, except for the stage-three cat’s (I forget how to spell the name) hands but you get the point

(From @starlight-over-hisui)

sorry i took so long to answer lol. this website hates me with a burning passion.

anyway, good question. I picked based off of the final evolutions.

Meowscarada was always out of the question because of how bad grass/dark is defensively, and it competes with darkfu. darkfu wins every time.

Skeledirge is cool, but I’m not its biggest fan. Its base speed stat is underwhelming for a sweeper, and you can’t do much to change that in Singles. Especially because of how much it likes hdb.

That leaves Quaquaval, which I’m fine with. Aqua Step is decent when you’re boosting your attack instead with Moxie and a choice band can put it where it needs to be with damage output. And in such a switching-focused metagame as singles, being locked into it is fine as long as you switch later. Besides, it’s weakness in grass types is negated by a nice switch-in from sap sipper goodra.

[darkx-the-dragon-kn1ght]

Chapter 9- Part 5

Hmm, yet another healing spot? Such suspicious placement…something must be coming up. Maybe we can finally find Amaria!

We found this, though! More gross floor Berries, yay!

With nothing else to find, we go up here, and…

Oh?? Oh!! It’s a Scraggy! I knew the guy from earlier was talking about them when he talked about the “Sc”! Is that what was making those boxes move, was it like- under the boxes? Can we catch that Scraggy? I hope so!

We can follow it up north-

-after finding this hidden item. We’re not in need of using the Light Shard, so let’s proceed.

Oh- ooooh…oh yeah, this was heavily foreshadowed with all the Pokémon gang talk earlier, huh? But like- can we still catch one of the Scraggy, though?

Oooh, that’s how they’re doing this big horde battle with the multiple Pokémon- it’s like a Trainer battle! Or, well, it is a Trainer battle, but like- not against a legit “Trainer”, it’s- ah, you see the screenshots, you can see what’s happening.

Sadly, that means we’re not catching a Scraggy today- there is only warfare, and both sides have Intimidate. Although, only one Scraggy has that as its Ability, so the other…Shed Skin or Moxie? Well, we’re about to find out- I’m having Glare paralyze the higher-leveled while Breeze uses Gust on the weaker one.

And that confirms it, the other Scraggy has Moxie! I don’t think that’ll be much of an issue, though, just have to make sure none of my Pokémon faint. Anyways, with another Gust from Breeze, we take out the first Scraggy-

And Glare uses Acid to deal some damage to the second one, so from here we should be fine, and Glare should be fine-

BUT NOT IF SCRAGGY’S ATTACK CRITS!

Welp, so much for not allowing Moxie to proc- good thing we had Intimidate, so the boost isn’t really a boost, it’s just…evening things out a bit.

Anyways, I think the best thing to do here would be to send in Prong- either her Bug-type attacks will do good, or we take more…drastic measures, hehe…

Question is, what’s gonna come out next? Another Scraggy, or-

Oh shoot, they’re bringing out the Scrafty already!? This isn’t good- we’ve gotta get the big one off the field sooner instead of later. Focus all of our attacks on the Scrafty- Bug Bite and Gust, let’s go!

That did not do nearly as much as I hoped it would! Plan B- heal up Breeze with a Potion while Prong prepares to let loose with Charge.

So far so good, now she should be able to survive another round of attacks…

BUT NOT IF SCRAGGY’S ATTACK CRITS! AGAIN! What is this Scraggy on!? And why isn’t Paralysis activating at all!?

Welp, looks like we don’t have much choice- bring in the starter!!

With some help from Riptide and Charge, Prong is in a perfect position to start BLASTING! GET ‘EM WITH THE CHARGE BEAM!

Ooohohoho, now we’re REALLY playing with lightning!

That one Scraggy’s still up, though, and for the last Pokémon, they send in the third and final one!

They’re both kinda spooky- one for the Moxie boost, one for being slightly higher-leveled…but the Moxie one is still paralyzed while one isn’t, so it might be better to face down the non-Paralysis Scraggy first.

With the power of +1 Sp. Attack Prong, that Scraggy is as good as-

W…What? IT LIVED THAT!? HOW!? STAB-boosted and Sp. Attack-boosted Charge Beam (including a 4-level advantage)- WHAT!?

OH AND RIPTIDE’S DOWN TOO. TO THE SAME SCRAGGY. TO A THIRD CRITICAL HIT- this one being completely unnecessary because he would have gone down to a regular attack anyways…

Okay, FINE! BLOOM GAMING IT IS! Yeah, he gets have to have screentime again because the rest of the party��s levels are catching up to his.

We finish off that one stubborn Scraggy with Bloom’s Magical Leaf first and foremost-

And as for that accursed Moxie Scraggy…you guys know what I’m about. AVENGE YOUR SISTERS AND RIPTIDE, PRONG! FIRE THAT LASER!

Yeah! There! What do you have to say for yourself now!?

Previous

Next

[shoppncarticles]

The Sandile Family

Alright, we’re in the big leagues now. The next ten or so articles might be the most densely packed collection of high-quality Pokemon we’ll see for a while, and it all starts with this cute little crocodile.

Sandile feels like a homage to the last generation’s Hippopotas, being sourced from a river-dwelling animal which has apparently adapted to life swimming in the sands of the desert rather than water. In a clever display of fantastical biology, Sandile is described to have also grown a membrane around their eyes, surrounded by dark scales, to protect them from the harsh desert sun and the sand they dig through. Sandile’s got a natural combination of sunglasses and sand goggles! I love when Pokemon comes up with biological details like that to explain the weirder changes it makes to real-world animals, it helps ground them in reality better and make them feel more believable and alive.

I should also clarify that Sandile is both a Ground/Dark type, though if you’ll remember Dark as a type refers to personality rather than light, which will make more sense in a minute.

Krokorok builds upon Sandile to become a bipedal croc punk, now standing around all smuglike in its default pose. The scales around its eyes have also shifted in shape to better resemble sunglasses now, fitting its cooler attitude. It’s a middle evolution like those of the starter families more than anything, just being an intermediary between the cute baby and badass final form, but I still like it for what it is.

The wonderfully named Krookodile ends the family off, its body having developed sick, dark maroon scales, a sharper tail just to add emphasis, and the area and scales around its eyes have further changed shape into resembling triangle shades, which is great. Krookodile is said to be relentless, pinning things down between its jaws and refusing to let go, just like the real thing. I like how despite being an intimidating, more anthropomorphized crocodile, its still got a beefier lower body to prevent it from being too humanoid.

Additionally, its abilities do a great job characterizing it. Intimidate and Anger Point both portray Krookodile’s menacing power and how quick it is to descend into rage, but what I find most noteworthy is Moxie. Moxie is an incredibly fun ability which boosts the user’s Attack stat which each enemy KO it gets, and if you extrapolate a bit, can be used to characterize Krookodile as a battle-loving powerhouse who gets a ton of flair and confidence from every successive victory it takes. That’s what makes me really like Krookodile, imagining this big badass triangle-shaded croc wrecking house with unparalleled swagger. That just can’t be beat!

Score: 5/5 – PERFECT!

The whole biological explanation with their scales is a great touch.

[Gen 5 Archive]

[dungeonmastertyrant]

Quaxly the Duckling pokemon a water type

1ft 8inc

13.4lbs

Ability: Torrent Hidden Ability: Moxie

Egg Groups: Flying and Water 1

Highest Base Stat: Attack: 65

Lowest Base Stat: Defense and Special Defense: 45

Base Stat Total: 310

This pokemon migrated to Paldea from distant lands long ago. The gel secreted by its feathers repels water and grime. Its strong legs let it swim easily around in even fast moving rivers. It likes to keep things tidy and is prone to overthinking things.

At level 16 it becomes Quaxwell the Practicing Pokemon a water type

3ft 11inc

47.4lbs

Ability: Torrent Hidden Ability: Moxie

Egg Groups: Flying and Water 1

Highest Base Stat: Attack:80

Lowest Base Stat: Special Defense: 60

Base Stat Total: 410

These pokemon constantly run through shallow waters to train their legs then compete with each other to see which of them kicks the most gracefully. The hardworking Quaxwell observes people and pokemon from various regions and incorporates those movements into its dance routines.

At level 36 it evolves into Quaquaval the Dancer Pokemon a water and fighting type

5ft 11inc

136.5lbs

Ability: Torrent Hidden Ability: Moxie

Egg groups: Flying and Water 1

Highest Base Stat: Attack:120

Lowest Base Stat: Special Defense:75

Base Stat Total: 530

A single kick from Quaquaval can send a truck rolling. This pokemon its powerful legs to perform striking dances from far-off lands. Dancing in ways that evoke far-off places this pokemons mesmerizes all that see it. Florishes of decorative water feathers that slice into its foes.

Quaquaval is the only pokemon that can learn Aqua Step. ( Power 80 PP 10 The user toys with the target and attacks it using light and fluid dance steps. This also boosts the user's Speed stat.)

[crystalelemental]

I know I’m in a bad mood, but I am going to try to be judicious with their overall performance and kits.  Because while I’m not happy, these kits are...enticing.

SYNGA SUIT HAU Hau got a Sygna Suit with Tapu Koko, and is an Electric Tech unit.  He gives Electric Terrain on entry and Extension 5, powers up moves of all allies while under Electric Terrain, and +1 special moves next when setting a field effect.  Moves are Dazzling Gleam, Fairy Wish, Buddy Electroweb which is AoE and doubles in power under terrain then hits -2 speed on foes and +2 speed for allies, and a trainer move that's +4 special attack and +2 crit for himself, then reduces sync countdown by 1 under Fairy Zone.  Instantly, this kid is trying to compete with SST Red, and while I appreciate his moxie, it's never going to work.  Red beats the game solo.  Thankfully, I like Hau better, and he offers what Red cannot: actual team support.  At 1/5, Hau is offering perfect Cakewalk/Inertia support in just three actions.  Adding in Fairy Zone support that speeds up sync cooldown is nice too.  This is great for a 1/5 pair.

Grid offers Adrenaline 1, Unfortuitous 9 which is great with his AoE moves, Fairy Wish Brain Gain 1 which is actually good this time because it means +2 stacks, Team Altered Field Dodge for evasion boosting when a field effect is set, it says Weird Vibes but I'm guessing it's the electric version, Whimsical Sync 5, MIND GAMES 9 HOLY SHIT, Shock Recovery, Power Plant to apply terrain again after sync, and Cakewalk.  His 5/5 nodes are Brain Gain 9, Quick Tempo, Unfortuitous, and Adrenaline.  Which...Unfortuitous is okay, but Brain Gain is the big bonus if you care.

Okay yeah, I actually like this one a lot.  He supplies some insanely useful tools for both Electric and Fairy pairs, but has unique tools broadly. Having a move that can be spammed right away that hits -2 foe speed and +2 team speed? That's Inertia and Cakewalk simultaneously.  Gordia and Lodge Serena are weeping with joy.  To say nothing of the Electric types that need those skills, like Sophocles.  And having Fairy Zone with -1 cooldown is ideal for SS Wally and Diantha.  And the special moves up next?  That's just icing.  Hau is actually great, at just 1/5, as a supportive boy for his team.  I am particularly stoked for Eevee Kris.  Nonstop infinite Terrain, with Mind Games at 3/5, is fantastic utility. I really like this.  Definitely getting 1/5, 3/5 debated. SYGNA SUIT MINA Mina. Why did Mina get Fini?  I just...ugh, I guess this is better than Hapu. Anyway.  Fairy Zone on entry and extension, so there's our answer: Misty Terrain isn't real.  I agree with this decision.  30% special damage reduction under Zone.  Ooooh, okay, +1 to both defenses for the team when any field effect is set.  Slow, but nice.  Draining Kiss, Rain Dance, Buddy Protect to give damage guard next to the team and restore 20% of their HP (30% if Fairy Zone) then resets stat debuffs, and trainer move gives crit defense +4 special attack and Gradual Healing to the team, alongside +2 more special attack if it's rainy.  Instantly, there is a problem.  We need crit rate.

Grid offers Team Sharp Entry which is great, Flabbergast 4 which is nice synergy with Wally and Bede, Sync Wall which is one I'm a personal fan of, Whimsical Immunity which is pretty nice, Fairy Kingdom which is the sickest entry skill ever for Fairy Zone, Barricade Buddies on Rain Dance, and Refreshing Rain.  5/5 nodes are Catalytic Kick on Rain Dance, Master Healer 1, Adrenaline, and Synchro Healing.

It's...okay. The good news is, that Team Sharp Entry and instant +6 under Rain is basically Diantha firing at full power on turn 2.  Any special attacker with Dire Hit+ in their kit is getting full benefits from Mina regardless, which is pretty nice. I do think it's important to note that her max special is two turn, thanks to Rain Dance, but if your support acts first in the rotation (which they should), then this is free money.  Turn 2 full power.  As long as you can buff your own crit by 2. The main issue with Mina is that, unlike Acerola, Fairy Zone and Rain do not synergize.  There aren't any sync pairs who need both.  So Mina has to be relegated to one or the other.  And Rain Support means competition with SS Kris.  While Mina is faster for basic offenses, this is a fight she cannot win.  Kris is miles ahead.  And C!Calem helps physical Rain, so Mina's left without much niche there.  Fairy Zone compression on support is really what she gains from this, and it's a pretty respectable niche.  But again, just like Acerola, the Zone won't last until second sync, so she's reliant on DPS allies if she's taking first sync.  Which, in Fairy?  Is basically none of them.  Certainly no one she wants. Diantha and/or SS Wally take first sync every time.   Bede and Valerie have shit for DPS.  NY!Lisia, the obvious DPS unit, is physical.  Mina is a really cool support without much of a niche right now. SYGNA SUIT LANA UUUUGH. Okay look, I don't like Lana.  She does absolutely nothing but chatter on about finding hunky swimmers, and listen.  If I don't like it when the men are perverts, I assure you I will not like it when the girls do it.  She's weird about it, and not in a good way.  She's just offputting to me, and I'm pissed they gave her Lele.  Literally anyone else would have been preferable, but this is my cross to bear.  Oh, and she's a strike, so get ready for some real heavy salt.

Psychic Terrain on entry and extension.  Powers up moves of all allies by 20% under Terrain.  Increases both moves up next when any field effect is activated, but unlike everyone else, only for herself. Moonblast, Psychic Terrain, Buddy Psycho Cut which is sure crit and Piercing Gaze and costs 2 less gauge under terrain.  Its power is fairly middling, and her offenses aren't great.  Trainer move gives +6 to both offenses, and SEUN.  Instantly, you can sense the problem, but I'll hold on to that for now.

Grid offers...I'm sorry is that Power Induction?  Is Hau's thing with Psychic not incorrect?  Weird.  Critical Sync so she doesn't need crit support, On a Roll 2 on Moonblast which is a 90%, Terrain MPR which none of the others got for their effects, Weird Might 4 to get +1 Physical Moves Up Next every time she attacks under terrain, Weird Charge 9 to regain 1 gauge when she attacks under terrain, Haymaker, Weird World for a second terrain application on sync, Propulsion on trainer move, and Furious Brain.  Her 5/5 tools are Adrenaline, Brainpower, Catalytic Kick on Terrain, and Impervious.

Okay, let's jump into the obvious: SS Lusamine has been waiting for Lele all her life.   Unfortunately, she received it as a joke.  Lele is stronger than Necrozma. Straight-up, its DPS and sync performance is far and away superior, with better self-sufficiency.  Sure, it can offer the needed terrain forever, and provides -1 sync cooldown to complete Lusamine's setup.  But who cares?  Lele's EX Strike sync clears CS just fine, and it's not like you'd run both in one comp in Gauntlet.  Lele wins even harder there, where everything is single-target, so Lusamine loses her only value as a no-penalty AoE DPS.  This is always the issue with these kinds of units.  They outshine the options they're supposed to be supporting, so they don't actually hold any value.  In order to perfectly complement Lusamine, you need 3/5 for that Propulsion.   Without it, Lana's just a minor 15% more move damage over Bianca.  Half a Furious Brain, hope it's worth it.  But on the other hand, if you want to just never run out of terrain, here's Lana with the steel chair.   Even just entry and 2MP on Psychic Terrain with extension is a guarantee of a whole fight.  So a 1/5 can't hurt, but it does come at the cost of variety like the other Tapu. SYGNA SUIT ACEROLA God, I know it's island-themed and appropriate but I hate the midriff exposing outfits so much.  Anyway.  Grass support, Grassy Terrain on entry with extension 5, reduces physical damage 30% under terrain, and physical moves up next +1 when anyone sets weather.  Bullet Seed which should've been Horn Leech, Sunny Day, Buddy Swords Dance to give +2 attack +1 physical moves and +2 gauge under sun each use so have fun with physical damage, and trainer move with 1MP giving +2 defense +3 crit and +2 speed if sunny.  And she's got gauge control.  Hot damn.   Acerola here is attempting to compress the roles of SS Morty and SS Lyra into one unit for the purposes of someone like SS Erika or SC Sonia.   It's an ambitious goal, but I respect it.

Grid gives Bullet Seed No Quarter and Tripping Stirke 4 which are fine.  Pep Rally on trainer move is fairly nice, +3 is about what you can expect out of SS Morty.  First Aid 4 and Safety Tether are nice.  Team Grassy Restoration approximates Morty as well.  Green Thumb is the second application on sync.  5/5 stuff is Recharging/Punishing Strike, Vigilance, and Adrenaline.

I'd say Acerola does well enough as a compression of Morty and Lyra.  It's not the worst job I've seen.  The main issue is one application of terrain.  Moreover, she's support.  So she wants first sync when possible, but Terrain won't last to second sync.  Extension 5 is double time, but if regular terrain won't last from entry to first, extended terrain won't last from entry to second.  Which is why Adrenaline was key, it saved a turn.   But it's 4/5, and at that point just take 3/5 with the second application man.  There's also the issue of SS Lyra having the guaranteed flinch, so like...I don't think Acerola quite competes with that.  Or with Morty's pop heal Potions.  She's trying her best, but she literally can't duplicate all the nonsense those two throw out.  If was an attempt though, I'll give her that.  What she does do is excel at Grass-type strikers who need Sun.  Because of SC Steven offering Rebuff, SEUN, and extra physical moves up next, and bottoming out defense.  Those two are the response to Morty and Lyra.  But it’s only for physical. LODGE ACEROLA Acerola is our lodge unit this time around.  She comes with Banette, which I love, but cannot mega evolve.  She's a support that emphasizes evasion. Uh-oh. Group Slapdash boosts team speed by 1 when she dodges, Fail Forward gives 1 gauge when she dodges, and Wide Awake prevents sleep.   Her moves are Confuse Ray, X Atk All, Phantom Force, and trainer move buffs +4 evasion, +2 crit, and Gradual Healing but that last bit only for herself.  Now, I believe that things like fail forward count when confuse denies an attack, and Phantom Force ensures a miss.  So she has means of capitalizing on this stuff by default.  What I'm hoping to see is Ridicure, Team Sharp Entry, and Stop Hitting Yourself.  But she's free so...

Static Cling 2 is interesting if inconsistent; she's partially responsive to Uxie. Offensive Defense 4 on Phantom Force is...choices, but at least she gets MPR. Recuperation 1 is...fine.  Stop Hitting Yourself 5!  Okay, that's nice.  Queue Cutter is a cute -1 sync cooldown 20% of the time when she dodges, too unreliable.  Tighten Up 4 is odd, because it relies on her getting hit. Quick Cure is nice.  Yeah, I guess 1/3 isn't the worst outcome, but this isn't good.  She has no real staying power.  Evasion play is high-risk high-reward, and most Gauntlet stages involve boosted accuracy, and eventually Piercing Gaze.  Her kit also doesn't cap attack or crit, so like...that's a pain.  Moreover, Hop exists, does her buffing job much better, and is more consistent.  Acerola's pulled between getting hit and not getting hit for random chance effects that don't amount to much.  I can't see this alt being particularly good.

VARIETY LANCE *sigh*   Lance and Dragonair.  You know, I have this whole thing where I like to think Clair keeps Dragonair because she's trying to differentiate herself.  And now that's gone.  I'm not mad.  Anyway,  Dragon Shift, so Hyper Beam.  Shocked Hit Freebie is a 50% chance for Free Moves Next when the foe is paralyzed, so already better than Caitlin.  Afflict Dragon TR Down, which is just applying Dragon rebuff when his Thunder Wave hits.  Dire Hit All+ is nice, and his trainer move is -1 sync cooldown, +4 special attack, +2 team speed, +1 team accuracy, and -20% of his own HP, because Lance cannot help himself.  It's better support than I would have given credit for.

Grid gives paralysis synergy 3, Brain Gain 2 broadly which feels legitimately insane, Brainpower because fuck Caitlin in particular, First Aid 4, Ramp Up 2 on trainer move for max special attack, Static Shock 5, and Go Viral...4 for some reason.  Yeah, this is good for what it is, and what it is is pure power.  Lance is pretty easy to understand here.  Self-setup, paralysis with potential spread, start firing Hyper Beam.  The ability to boost his own special moves next is kinda nuts.  I'm gonna be honest, I...might like this more than Dragonite.  Not that I'll pull for it.   Dragon isn't hard to come by.  But you know.  It's actually kinda decent, unlike a lot of the variety scouts with Kanto.

VARIETY AGATHA Variety Agatha is a Poison support with Arbok, which is...cute.  She can heal all allies a bit when attacking a foe under status (50% rate), boosts her own defenses by 1 stage each when using a move, and has Hostile Environment 1.  Moves are Acid, Wrap, Leer, and a trainer move with 1MP that boosts both offenses and crit rate by 2.  1MP.  Are you serious?

Grid gets Hostile Environment 2, Team Sharp Entry, Hit And Heal (just for herself), All Ramped Up and Berserk Bunch for +3 to offenses, First Aid 4, Status Immunity, Quick Cure, and a 40% chance to heal with Leer.   Listen.  It's not that it's strictly bad.  It's that it doesn't do anything useful.  This is a stall mon.  A stall mon that functionally accomplishes the same goal as BP Erika and Lucy.  Sure, she's more defensive, and has more passive healing.  That's not a terrible thing.   But this isn't...needed.  Like, the combination of BP Erika/BP Clemont accomplishes the same thing for free.  So forgive me if I kinda feel like Agatha is a BP unit in disguise, given defensive stats above that weight class and locked to limited for no reason.

ETHAN Ethan got his grid expansion!  He's literally the only one!  For some fucking reason!  No common EX, no other general pool, not even a PokeFair expansion! Just Ethan.  Alola’s hated so bad that even Johto outranks them.  But don't worry!  He got Brainpower!  Because fuck Caitlin!  Oddly, his upgrade seems just as bad, if not worse.   Critical Eye on X Sp Atk is okay but leaves him with three turn setup, while Caitlin got two.  Initial Guard is fine but it's not like it's doing a ton beyond preserving Eruption damage slightly.  And Recuperation 1 is fine, but given Lodge Lillie, I think Synchro Healing would've bee justifiable.  Recuperation 2 at the very least, since he's a striker.  I dunno, this is...kind of another stinker.  I think they got us, guys.  I think they found out the general pool upgrades were too good and started making them worse on purpose.

SOLGALEO Solgaleo gains an EX and expansion, and admittedly, I'm curious.  Solgaleo sucks as a sync nuke, I'm curious what they'll give it.  Critical Eye on its Trainer Move means Sharp Entry finishes the job, immaculate self-setup, called it. Haymaker good.  BOGO on its trainer move is fantastic.   Furious Brain is a delightful multiplier as well, considering how easy it is to cap.  Solgaleo eatin good.

FINAL THOUGHTS I have many.  The Tapu are interesting, I will credit them for that.   Instead of just playing to their one role as a Terrain setter, they included some interesting variety that is...well, not good, per se.   Only Acerola's double effect combo overlaps.  Grassy Terrain and Sun are a venn diagram that is also a circle; grass types love this.  But compared to the SS Morty/SS Lyra combo, the role compression doesn't offer anything truly substantial that isn't covered in the initial core.  A major reason SS Kris and SS Morty and Ingo worked so well when they came out was that their buffing kits combined with the field effects opened up options for debuffers and the like.  And that's still technically true, but SS Lyra's flinch and Morty's god-tier healing more than made up for the lack of Leer, you know?  I don't find her essential.  Hau and Mina, by comparison, and wildly bad, having almost nothing that appreciates the combination of their Zone and Terrain/Weather.  No Fairy also needed Electric Terrain or Rain.  So instead of being role compression, they're just...able to support two different styles.  Which is fine, for the record.  I think the other aspects they offer are sound. Really, it's Lele that loses this round hard.  While infinite Psychic Terrain is a blessing, she struggles with the same thing as, say, Champion Hop.   Everyone you could support is worse than you, so why would you bother being a support?  You're a striker, and you're better at it than they are.  Lean into that.  So I actually think Lana has the least value of all four, which hurts my entire soul, because I was legitimately hopeful on Lele's introduction being a solid option.  But I guess this leaves the door open for a Psychic Terrain support?  Maybe Caitlin stands a chance after all (she does not).

The Variety scouts are bad.  Lance has some nice tools, but isn't exactly going to break records.  He's just better than the others, which is a low bar.   Agatha is probably the worst of the set, offering basically nothing that I consider valuable. She'll be useful in Gauntlet as a general blanket check to basically everything, but I really feel like you can get the job done with free pairs and miss nothing. Additionally, Ethan's expansion is fairly poor, so even that's not all that exciting. At least Solgaleo is doing well for itself.

Do I feel like this month could be safely skipped?  Probably.

Hau is good 1/5 for the archetypes he supports, so he's worth a copy.

Mina is okay at 1/5, but I think 3/5 is fairly necessary for Team Sharp Entry to save buffing turns, and the second application of Zone for her low DPS allies.

Acerola at 1/5 emulates the SS Morty/SS Lyra comp well enough, but isn't as reliable, unless you got SC Steven.

Lana is a greedy Psychic Striker whose "Support" is being stronger than her allies but at least she doesn't consume gauges so you have dual strike comps right?  1/5 is fine.

Variety Agatha is just BP Erika with Leer and some recovery, nothing BP Clemont couldn't do for stall.   Good news is, 1/5 will get your needed tools just fine.

Variety Lance is solid DPS and Tech sync from what I can see, but isn't breaking any new borders with what he does.  3/5 kinda necessary for the tech, though Hyper Beam DPS is fine 1/5.

Ethan's upgrade is kinda butt.

Solgaleo is now self-sufficient and has real multipliers, which is nice.

I dunno.  It's weird.  I think everything has some utility, even though nothing is groundbreaking.  What's odd is that there's an argument that all of them are fine 1/5.  In the era of 5/5 PokeFair, it's odd to have so many that are like...yeah, 1/5 will do just fine actually.  I dunno. Is anyone else weirded out by this?  It's weird.

[strontiumsun]

Gnashling tear up lawns and fields with their sharp tooth, looking for things to eat. Though they're known to hiss menacingly, some Trainers find them to be cute.

Greeser travel in flocks, searching for the best sources of food in the area. They use their large teeth to bully the Pokemon who already live there away.

---

Back for Fakemon Friday with more Dark-types. These are based on the ferocious Canadian Geese that live at the pond near my apartment. With Strong Jaw, they get a boost on already-STAB Crunch and Jaw Lock, but you can also go for a sweep with Moxie and Choice Scarf.

[sboochi]

Oh you Asked for it here we go

Going on to Merida because I wanna do her next- I actually changed her primary type, from Fighting to Normal

Why?

Because I wanted to give her a bear. That's about it

So! Merida, with Normal types-

Ursaring - Normal, with ability Guts

Pyroar - Normal/Fire, with ability Moxie

Kangaskhan - Normal, with ability Scrappy

Snorlax - Normal, with ability Thick Fat

Obstagoon - Normal/Dark, with ability Defiant

Sawsbuck - Normal/Grass, with ability Serene Grace

She hits and she hits hard. This team is much slower than Jack's on average but in my experience they can all take hits pretty well and dish them back dangerously enough to ruin your entire day

Stat boosts, a wide array of moves (ghost types will not save you) and combined with Merida's stubbornness? Yeah it is Unlikely that you get out of this battle with your team intact, if she doesn't manage one-hit KOs she'll get you stuck in an endless healing loop as you struggle to figure out what to do!

Really fun stuff :)

Omg I'm sweating just by reading this and imagining it, like

You're wasting all your precious healing items, boss music is going HARD, you think maybe you can endure it and-- oH SHIT SHE HEALED TOO OH FU-