Probably not Hatterene, I'm pretty sureconstant roiling anxiety would drive them nuts.
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Trails of Tera Steel (Kiseki-inspired Pokemon Academy Quest)
- Thread starter ArvisPresley
- Start date
- Location
- England, unfortunately.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Alright, so caught up.
Kinda glad I've taken a week off to cool it, I have... no idea why I was so overly emotional when I last commented. I think just binging it all in a day wasn't that good for me parsing out how I felt over stuff, in hindsight.
Anyway, the gym battle has kinda given me a lot of the vibes I thought were missing until now - Mary actually enjoyed having overcome a challenge. It's not really as apparent as it might have been, because it's buried under the sheer shock of "Holy shit I actually won that?!", but that makes sense - Mary has been comparing herself to Nemona, who she's consistently been losing battles against, so it's no surprise that before this battle, she thought that victory was borderline impossible, to the point that actually having succeeded almost felt unreal. It really does feel like she needed this win for her mental state, and I'm glad she got it.
Hell, she actually performed far better than I expected. When I saw the cutiefly against Roland and the second Great Ball, my heart absolutely sank like a rock. Overcoming that with a 2v3 disadvantage was incredibly satisfying.
Then there's also the battle itself. In a lot of ways, I think it showcases that Mary isn't a battler - she's a fighter. The way that she's able to inspire her partners to push themselves to their limits, the way that she places so much emphasis on outcomes, even her overall strategy being something that's far less flashy then Nemona's, but prioritises maximising her chances of victory and being something that didn't rely as much on her knowledge of the specific individual she was fighting. There's a lot of stuff I see in there that's going to be less useful in a structured environment, but which could prove much much more useful when thrust suddenly into a situation where you absolutely cannot afford to lose.
On stuff not related to the battle, I really like some of the glimpses we get of Mariana through others eyes. It really puts into perspective that she absolutely is one of the best in her class. Seeing Erika be so worried for her and also trying to hype her up internally whilst trying to not snap at Nemona was a nice change of pace, and Elise all but confirming that Mariana is probably the best in the group at just getting along with people.
Speaking of which, I really want to see if we can somehow help Elise with her issues whilst we learn some personal combat from her - I was already kinda on this path, but several of the vibes I got this chapter really make me want to invest in Mary being able to do Personal Combat with the goal of being able to fight in sync with our team when things are do-or-die. And hey, we get more involved with the Protagonist and thus the main plot, and Elise manages to better manage some of her team members so she can feel like she's making progress and hopefully have an easier time next Gym Challenge.
There's probably even more that I could say, but I don't want to spend another 2 hours writing it. Hopefully the INCOMING BOSS FIGHT doesn't get us too roughed up. And maybe gives us a bond point with Renne, because goddamn we need the cat, we need the cat ASAP.
Kinda glad I've taken a week off to cool it, I have... no idea why I was so overly emotional when I last commented. I think just binging it all in a day wasn't that good for me parsing out how I felt over stuff, in hindsight.
Anyway, the gym battle has kinda given me a lot of the vibes I thought were missing until now - Mary actually enjoyed having overcome a challenge. It's not really as apparent as it might have been, because it's buried under the sheer shock of "Holy shit I actually won that?!", but that makes sense - Mary has been comparing herself to Nemona, who she's consistently been losing battles against, so it's no surprise that before this battle, she thought that victory was borderline impossible, to the point that actually having succeeded almost felt unreal. It really does feel like she needed this win for her mental state, and I'm glad she got it.
Hell, she actually performed far better than I expected. When I saw the cutiefly against Roland and the second Great Ball, my heart absolutely sank like a rock. Overcoming that with a 2v3 disadvantage was incredibly satisfying.
Then there's also the battle itself. In a lot of ways, I think it showcases that Mary isn't a battler - she's a fighter. The way that she's able to inspire her partners to push themselves to their limits, the way that she places so much emphasis on outcomes, even her overall strategy being something that's far less flashy then Nemona's, but prioritises maximising her chances of victory and being something that didn't rely as much on her knowledge of the specific individual she was fighting. There's a lot of stuff I see in there that's going to be less useful in a structured environment, but which could prove much much more useful when thrust suddenly into a situation where you absolutely cannot afford to lose.
On stuff not related to the battle, I really like some of the glimpses we get of Mariana through others eyes. It really puts into perspective that she absolutely is one of the best in her class. Seeing Erika be so worried for her and also trying to hype her up internally whilst trying to not snap at Nemona was a nice change of pace, and Elise all but confirming that Mariana is probably the best in the group at just getting along with people.
Speaking of which, I really want to see if we can somehow help Elise with her issues whilst we learn some personal combat from her - I was already kinda on this path, but several of the vibes I got this chapter really make me want to invest in Mary being able to do Personal Combat with the goal of being able to fight in sync with our team when things are do-or-die. And hey, we get more involved with the Protagonist and thus the main plot, and Elise manages to better manage some of her team members so she can feel like she's making progress and hopefully have an easier time next Gym Challenge.
There's probably even more that I could say, but I don't want to spend another 2 hours writing it. Hopefully the INCOMING BOSS FIGHT doesn't get us too roughed up. And maybe gives us a bond point with Renne, because goddamn we need the cat, we need the cat ASAP.
KnownParadox
Not a sphere
- Location
- Canada
Honestly even in the structured League battles I can't see our strategy being a bad one. Sure, we don't obsess over studying our opponents like the average competitive trainer, but we instead work purely on our strength and the fundamentals of battle.
Mariana isn't aiming for the weaknesses of her opponents, she's working on her strengths and closing her own weak points. We give our team a variety of tools to use and the training to use them. It won't be as flashy, it won't have a propensity for advanced keikaku, but it will mean when we battle we aim to win against anyone that may come after us, no matter who they are.
Not that I wouldn't mind some of the stuff Nemona is on, because that combo move with an endless amount of finishers was a work of art. But still, second best isn't bad.
I agree, I'm hoping once we don't need to spend AP to bond with Renne instead of just SP we can use that freed up time to get our PROW and CHRM up. I've already written KNOW off as a lost cause and only want to spend one more KNOW xp action to KNOWmax one last time, but I'd like our other three stats to be relatively even until we find something we truly want to do. Getting PROW and CHRM up to 13 like SKLL would be nice be great.
Being able to smooth talk and detect the smooth talking of others is a great skill to have given the politics and conspiracies going around, and considering we've already been attacked physically I'd like to be able to hold our own in combat, like what if we get attacked and can't get our team out in time? Plus the PROW training action is also interaction with the nobles and I want to see their measure.
- Location
- England, unfortunately.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Honestly, I suspect that Nemona truly excels in a comparatively low stakes environment (as in, losing does not mean people die) where she can experiment for shits and giggles and has prep-time.
Like, that's the entire principle of what she pulled. It actively made her gym battle harder, required a good bit of knowledge about her opponent as well as setup from her pokemon, and if she failed completely and had to fight a tough 3 badge mon and didn't get her gym badge... well I hardly see her angsting over it.
I'm curious how she's going to react in a situation where failure means consequences she can't come back from. I expect her to succeed... but a lot of her having a strong mental game comes from her living for the battle and not the consequences. I'm curious whether she's going to eventually suffer from Season 3 Jaden Yuki syndrome, except without becoming an evil overlord.
Anyway, I've been thinking what types we need on our team. I'm thinking we probably want a grass type and or a flying type.
Which leads me to my main suggestion: Whimsicott.
Wind/air control that could combo with our battlefield control specialty? check. Coverage for Water AND grass? check. General setup abilities that could help our more offensively inclined mons like Roland? Check.
Ladies, gentlement, enbies. For your consideration: The Puffball.
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KnownParadox
Not a sphere
- Location
- Canada
I do love me a little prankster... for your information though Whimsicott is a Grass/Fairy type now, although I bet it's still pretty good at wind. If you want a Grass/Fly supporter I'd look for a Jumpluff. But a Grass/Fairy type would be pretty great too.
Speaking of new pokemon, we should think up mons that would support our other pokemon, able to be supported in turn by the team, and mesh well with the battlefield control strategy we picked for Mariana.
- Pronouns
- She/They
I don't really want a fourth mon for a couple of months, tbh. We need to focus on a core team here and the three we've got are already dysfunctional enough. The main thing is, I think, getting Renne's Bond up so we're not fighting with a hand tied behind our back in League battles, and work on coordinating her insane versatility with the others - she can contribute to basically any strategy, but her movepool is so freakishly wide it's going to take practice to find the most effective combinations.
- Location
- England, unfortunately.
- Pronouns
- She/They
This is true, but I'm thinkign semi-long term and I'd rather get ideas in ahead of time. Also I like speculating in general.
Sidenote, whimsicott isn't even grass flying. Clearly we need my favioute Bannana necked brachiosaurus, Tropius. Which is unironically like one of my favourite pokemon, 10/10 design, severely underrated.
but yeah, we've got a solid core once we can get Renne to actually fight with us. problem is, that's going to take at least 5 actions, assuming that 1/3 of the time we can get the DC for a Great Event to pop (we need at least 14, which means 7/20 chance). Which, given we need to do at least 1 gym battle between these field excursions if we want to even be close to Nemona's Ballpark, means we're probably going to do at least one more with this exact same issue.
On the upside, Pounce likely leads to Lunge eventually, maybe U-Turn as well. Useful move for Roland to have, good potential damage if we can train it up.
KnownParadox
Not a sphere
- Location
- Canada
Great, we can name it Emergency Rations.
- Pronouns
- She/They
U-Turn is definitely something our noodle boy is going to want long-term as part of the mix-up/attrition/control strategy we're doing.
As for long-term speculation, I think the biggest thing I'm noticing right now is that we don't have an answer for strong Dark-types, which is a problem when our personal quest is "go deal with some strong Dark-types" (Roland and Renne both have some respectable Bug and Fighting moves available, but they're also both weak to Dark moves without terastilizing). Befriending a Fighting or Fairy type would be an important long-term plan here. There's a lot of good Fighting types, although personally I'm feeling Makuhita/Hariyama or Paldean Tauros for vibes. The list of Fairy types I personally vibe with is shorter, but there's still some great options - I almost want an Imperial Rapidash for the meme, although that loses the resistance to Dark I was looking for in the first place. Togepi/kiss/tic, Whimsicott, and of course Tinkatink are all also great options. Or the Marill line if we feel like cheese.
Hex
A Lingering Curse
- Location
- Texas
- Pronouns
- He/They
I feel like we shouldn't start building factions for what we might catch next until we at least see more options.
On that note though, a tank. Especially for double battles, just having something like Mareanie or Ferroseed just sitting in the middle of the battlefield as an obvious target while the sneaky stuff happened.
Plus I want a flying type.
On that note though, a tank. Especially for double battles, just having something like Mareanie or Ferroseed just sitting in the middle of the battlefield as an obvious target while the sneaky stuff happened.
Plus I want a flying type.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
No no, this is good, FAIRY just demonstrated that she has good opinions we should follow!
Ah fuck.
Tauros would be neat, yeah!
Ironically Lokix' typing should fill that niche too, with Dark resisting itself and Bug providing an effective offensive type against other Dark Pokemon, but we don't really have the bandwidth right now to take in a new team member.
Cutiefly would have a similar type advantage but a) it's Cutiefly and b) Nemona already has one.
going by the last team member vote, those aren't going to last anyway in the face of the actual critters we'll be offered. compare how the tinkatink group collapsed in the face of Nacli and Drilbur
SolarGemX
The Crystalized Sun
- Location
- Somewhere in the Cosmos
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I agree on the wait amd see approach people are suggesting. We really need to get Renne to cooparate sooner rather than later.... but still i do like speculation. (Even if any plans we make will eventually fall apart like explodimg electrode the second we get Options , seriously, we went in wanting a customizable gremlin, debated between that and chargecadet/Teddiursa and then emded up fighting for a rock or mole. Yeah pokemon plans dont survive first contact). Still i like the options... I will forever cope for Hisuian Decidueye, but i do like the alternatives.... Paldean Tauros, Whimsicott, Alcremie or Togekiss are good options. I would go for Water tauros for added swimming and Alcremie for the war story Mary told a couple of chapters back.
Other than that... hmmm think we could find a Alolan Vulpix somewhere in Glaseado mountain? Ice-Fairy sounds fun, but probably not that good for the area comtrol style Mary will probably develop. Hmmm, we previously mentioned larvesta... serious firepower plus probably sticky web, electro web and probably could make a custom fire web (Inferno web: Entry hazard. Lowers opponents speed on switch in and causes a burn. Or make it like a protect esque move that burns on comtact) if not maybe joltik? Elec-bug with sticky web, thunder wave amd electro webs. Skarmory is kinda of a option simce i think it can learn a lot of entry hazards (Stealth rock plus spikes), but it double dips into steel thanks to Ruby.
YEah at the moment idk what else to say. I usually go sweeper in pokemon so a entry hazard/field control team is kinda new to me.
Edit: I just remembered that Kleavors whole stick is havimg a move that leaves Steath rocks on contact so maybe thats an option (wow lots of bugs... this chapter is affecting me).
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Hex
A Lingering Curse
- Location
- Texas
- Pronouns
- He/They
I now have an urge for a Shiny Female Heracross as our Dark counter. Bug/Fighting with good bulk, can fly, bright pink, and has a heart on it's horn?
Also, don't forget people. We'd had the idea for Healer Lucario.
SolarGemX
The Crystalized Sun
- Location
- Somewhere in the Cosmos
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yeah and I would love to have it (what would we even name it.... Cassius is sadly not an R name)
Problem? Where would we even get it? And when? Since the thread is kinda aggreing on not goimg for a fourth mon till we clear the whole Renne situation.
Edit: Also both are mega compatible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
We might get a few actions over the weekend, depending on how the QM decides to play it. Same as the half-day we got on Monday before the Field Exercise officially started, we might get a half-day after it officially ends before we have to go back to the regular grind.
Not guaranteed, but it's possible.
Not guaranteed, but it's possible.
Toaster cult
I Am An Imaginary Living Body
- Location
- Tokyo
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Ireally want to avoid getting ourwhole team in like half a year so I do think jus having 3for most of this year is good for me
StattStatt
Supplier of suspenders for your disbelief
- Location
- On one of your shoulders
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It's a bit amusing though, to think about future team members that if we do go with healer-Lucario and a Tink, we almost become a sort of unintentional half-finished steel type specialist
- Location
- England, unfortunately.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Eh, we can have more than 6 Pokémon if the list of past protagonists and their lineups are any indication, so I don't see much of an issue.
Whilst I think we do need to hold back for now, but "most of the year" feels unlikely, especially with chasing the sun. There's a balance.
StattStatt
Supplier of suspenders for your disbelief
- Location
- On one of your shoulders
- Pronouns
- He/Him
That's only after we've gotten 8 badges though, iirc
- Pronouns
- She/They
Yeah there's a law in this version of Paldea that exists for the QM's sanity that you can only have six registered Pokémon until you reach 8 badges. Presumably accomodations are made for researchers (i.e. the video game protagonists, although all of the past ones we have teams for are at least 8 badge level)