Introduction
Autumn 2011 – Providence
Spring 2012 – Philadelphia
Conclusion
Hey guys, I'm Infinity.Cypher, not Infinity.Paralysis which is some hybrid between my username and InfiniteParalysis's (Unoriginal opening). Some of you may know me on the Skarmbliss PO server as .Cypher, a moderator and one of the host of Skarmbliss’s live wifi tours. I’m a master this year, as opposed to last year where I was a senior. I’m pretty much a silly person, who likes to joke around and say random things. Anyways, I’ve been practicing the VGC 2012 metagame around August 2011, before the rules came.
Autumn 2011 – Providence
My first team was a weak sun team. However, as a joke about how this metagame would be ruled by weather, I used Quad Weather, which is using four different weather starters. I used Politoed, Ninetales, Tyranitar and Abomasnow. Although it was a joke team, it became successful. Eventually, after a lot of practicing and testing, my final team was Politoed, Ninetales, Tyranitar, Abomasnow, Ludicolo and Salamence. I dubbed the team “Four Seasons,” after the musical piece by Antonio Vivaldi, and nicknamed each weather starter after each part of the piece, Ludicolo as Vivaldi and Salamence as Baroque. Out of all the teams I have created, this team is my favorite. Anyways, I bet you guys are bored of the teambuilding part, so let’s get to the event.
(In Chronological disorder)
When I first entered the hall where the VGC competition was held, I heard someone say “Mr. Infinity.Cypher” or something along those lines. This was actually my good bubby Kristian Mosquito! If you guys did not know, Kris and I go way back, and he was the reason why I play VGC Anyways, I met Kris, Phillip and Liam again, as well as meet another of their friend. I met Corwin; he was an awesome person, friendly, funny, and just plain cool. Since I knew only the Bloody Roses (Kristian, Phillip, Liam and Corwin), I just hanged around them, occasionally stealing Kris’s fedora. Although they were at the event, they didn’t even finish fixing all the pokemon they need for the tournament! So, I helped them out, trading some of my items and teaching TMs. Later, Kris and Codios were battling each other, and I attempted to watch, but was efforts were in vain since they would try to ditch me and avoid me. Then, I would play Corwin in VGC 2011, but he d/ced on me after I was going to win.
I saw the Skarmbliss gang, which was most of the players on the Skarmbliss PO server such as Cybertron, Unreality, Solace, Sapphire Birch, Wolf, etc. However, I was shy to actually talk to them, so when I went to the group, I awkwardly stood next to them without saying anything. However, I eventually gained the courage to introduce myself to another player, and it was Sapphire Birch, the residential cute girl. It was a great time meeting her, and she eventually introduced me to The Wolf, thegr8 and tennisace, who I talked to before the rounds started. It was pretty neat meeting all of them, especially when they were friendlier than I though. I also like how Wolf mentioned that Kris and I looked similar, like brothers.
Around a certain time, we, the Bloody Roses, left the center to find food. We went to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, which was connected to the convention center, in hopes to find a Dunkin’ Donuts. Sadly, we did not find any. So, we turned around and went to the mall, which was connected to the hotel which was also connected to the convention center. We found the food court, but most stores were closed, so we didn’t buy anything, as well as thinking that they would be a food break in between the rounds. So we went back to the convention center starving. After a while, at the hall, we somehow lost Corwin, and we couldn’t find him. We checked back and looked around, but couldn’t find him! Giving up, we declared that he was lost, but then we found him! He was near the entrance of the hall, charging his DS! Hah, we all laugh.
I don’t remember the order of events correctly, but I met dtrain while going outside of the hall and talked to him for a bit. I also met Blitznburst too, who looked different from what I thought, with Kris. We met more of Team Magma, meeting Chalkey and JTK. Surprisingly, Chalkey and Kris looked similar to each other. I also remember the news of have we could take notes during battles! This shocking piece of news created a little bit of chaos because we could take notes and stuff. I quickly looked around for paper, and soon I got some, but it was tiny notepad paper from Birch, but still, paper was paper! Although, I could have asked Kristian since he had a notebook… Stealing a pen from the sidelines, I was ready for the tournament! Soon, the battles started. I hoped to battle Solace soon, in order to get my revenge on her because she eliminated me in VGC 2011!
(In Chronological disorder)
When I first entered the hall where the VGC competition was held, I heard someone say “Mr. Infinity.Cypher” or something along those lines. This was actually my good bubby Kristian Mosquito! If you guys did not know, Kris and I go way back, and he was the reason why I play VGC Anyways, I met Kris, Phillip and Liam again, as well as meet another of their friend. I met Corwin; he was an awesome person, friendly, funny, and just plain cool. Since I knew only the Bloody Roses (Kristian, Phillip, Liam and Corwin), I just hanged around them, occasionally stealing Kris’s fedora. Although they were at the event, they didn’t even finish fixing all the pokemon they need for the tournament! So, I helped them out, trading some of my items and teaching TMs. Later, Kris and Codios were battling each other, and I attempted to watch, but was efforts were in vain since they would try to ditch me and avoid me. Then, I would play Corwin in VGC 2011, but he d/ced on me after I was going to win.
I saw the Skarmbliss gang, which was most of the players on the Skarmbliss PO server such as Cybertron, Unreality, Solace, Sapphire Birch, Wolf, etc. However, I was shy to actually talk to them, so when I went to the group, I awkwardly stood next to them without saying anything. However, I eventually gained the courage to introduce myself to another player, and it was Sapphire Birch, the residential cute girl. It was a great time meeting her, and she eventually introduced me to The Wolf, thegr8 and tennisace, who I talked to before the rounds started. It was pretty neat meeting all of them, especially when they were friendlier than I though. I also like how Wolf mentioned that Kris and I looked similar, like brothers.
Around a certain time, we, the Bloody Roses, left the center to find food. We went to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, which was connected to the convention center, in hopes to find a Dunkin’ Donuts. Sadly, we did not find any. So, we turned around and went to the mall, which was connected to the hotel which was also connected to the convention center. We found the food court, but most stores were closed, so we didn’t buy anything, as well as thinking that they would be a food break in between the rounds. So we went back to the convention center starving. After a while, at the hall, we somehow lost Corwin, and we couldn’t find him. We checked back and looked around, but couldn’t find him! Giving up, we declared that he was lost, but then we found him! He was near the entrance of the hall, charging his DS! Hah, we all laugh.
I don’t remember the order of events correctly, but I met dtrain while going outside of the hall and talked to him for a bit. I also met Blitznburst too, who looked different from what I thought, with Kris. We met more of Team Magma, meeting Chalkey and JTK. Surprisingly, Chalkey and Kris looked similar to each other. I also remember the news of have we could take notes during battles! This shocking piece of news created a little bit of chaos because we could take notes and stuff. I quickly looked around for paper, and soon I got some, but it was tiny notepad paper from Birch, but still, paper was paper! Although, I could have asked Kristian since he had a notebook… Stealing a pen from the sidelines, I was ready for the tournament! Soon, the battles started. I hoped to battle Solace soon, in order to get my revenge on her because she eliminated me in VGC 2011!
I don’t remember this battle to well, but I knew I was facing a random. He didn’t really play pokemon competitively, but his friend did. His team consisted of Hydreigon, Crobat, Gliscor, Scyther and Magnezone. But I only remembered that he used Hydreigon and Gliscor. It wasn’t that bad of a battle, but I haxed him a little. I won.
I was happy that I won my first battle. Later, Bloody Roses gathered to tell each other about their scores. Everyone was 1-0 except for Kristian! He was 0-1, losing to Prankster Murkrow! Liam was unfortunately paired up against Unreality that round, but his managed to pull off a victory! Also, I think this round that I asked the announcer lady if there was going to be a food break so we can eat food, but she unfortunately said no, so we were disappointed.
This guy was wearing a Team Rocket t-shirt, so I was thinking this was now serious. But his team made me rethinks that. It was a Gastric Acid team, and he used Crobat, Suicine, Cradily and Regigigas. Again, it wasn’t that bad of a battle, but I got a little bit of hax, again. The only funny part of this battle was that his Suicune had Sheer Cold, and managed to OHKO one of my pokemon!
Again, Bloody Roses gathered again to tell each other the scores. I believe that Corwin and I were the only ones to go 2-0, with Liam and Phillip losing and Kris winning, so they were 1-1. Again, Liam was unfortunately paired up against Human and lost. Forgetting to hack check last round, I went to the station and was cleared. Unfortunately, the Sapphire Birch incident occurred this round I think. I sympathized for Birch.
He was the first Skarmbliss player I faced, but I actually did not know that! I thought he was also a random. He was using an unorthodox team, but I knew it was Trick Room. He was using Carracosta, Scizor, Togekiss, Porygon2, Scrafty and Chandelure. I was against Trick Room, which I hated playing against with my team. I believed I was going to lose this battle, but I tried my best anyways. During the battle, I got more haxed against, burning his Scrafty and flinching! I was able to get Perish Song up, and with that, I could have won. But, I here, I kept on panicking. Why? Because he could have switched out, and if he did, I could have hit him on the switch. But, he didn’t. He let his pokemon faint to Perish Song and sent out his Carracosta against my weakened TTar, which meant game. I lose 0-1.
Same as usual, Bloody Roses united and we all told our scores. Corwin and I finally lost, so all of Bloody Roses were now 2-1. We got ready for the next battle, and this match was a surprise of a lifetime for me.
PHILLIP CODIOS! This is the first time that we battled each other (in person) and that we didn’t expect this at all. Our match is found here. It may seem that we made noob mistakes and the such, but that’s because since we knew each other well, that we had to outpredict each other. That’s why we sometimes did not do the obvious and such.
After my struggle with the last match, I managed to pull off a 3-1. Kristian was 3-1, Corwin, Phillip and Liam was 2-2.
This time I was against a rain team, Politoed, Kingdra, Ludicolo, Jellicent and Toxicroak. It was an easy battle because I controlled the weather, using Tyranitar and Abomsnow. I eventually won 2-0.
I felt unstoppable, that I might be able to get top 4, maybe even 2nd place! Appearantly, Phillip and I were the only people to score this round, with Kris, Liam and Corwin losing their battles. Next round was the last battle of swiss.
“Did you hear of the SMOG?”
Or something along the lines of that. I knew that it had to be a Smogon member, and it was Soul Survivor! He looked different from what I thought, but he was still cool. Our match is found here. I was doing good so far, but the flinch set me back and made me go in to panic mode. Also, I knew his Terrakion was scarf because I saw him discuss it on the GBU forums ahaha. So after that, I choked. And lost 0-2
Or something along the lines of that. I knew that it had to be a Smogon member, and it was Soul Survivor! He looked different from what I thought, but he was still cool. Our match is found here. I was doing good so far, but the flinch set me back and made me go in to panic mode. Also, I knew his Terrakion was scarf because I saw him discuss it on the GBU forums ahaha. So after that, I choked. And lost 0-2
So, that’s that. I lost. Phillip and I were the only members of Bloody Roses to go 4-2, while Kris went 3-3 and Liam and Corwin went 2-4. A sad day for Bloody Roses, with most members losing. I got 10th place, Phillip got 16th place, Kris got either 32nd or 33rd place (who we joked about since he was close on not making the top sheet), and I forgot what Liam and Corwin got. Also, at this point, I discovered that my 3rd round opponent won the whole tournament, and that he was Charzaro! I really did not expect this. Also, I saw Enfuego this time, but I did not talk to him due to my shyness, but he got 2nd place, so good for him! There was going to be a group Smogon/Skarmbliss picture, but I left before it happened. I parted ways with Kris, Phillip, Liam and Corwin, as they were going to go to the mall to eat. I left the convention center with my parents, and we drove straight back to New Jersey, home sweet home. Overall, the tournament was decent, but not as grand as the VGC 2011 tournament in Newark, which was, in my opinion, the best VGC experience I had so far.
Spring 2012 – Philadelphia
Redemption time. This time, instead of going there alone, I brought my friend with me, Stephen. Stephen is my best friend since 4th grade, and I told him about my VGC experiences. I was able to convince him to get the game and come with me to regionals. It was his comeback to the pokemon games. Getting beaten for the first time in Pokemon White by a Excadrill, he wanted that on his VGC 2012 team due to how powerful it was. So, I build him a standard Sandstorm team with Excadrill.
For my team, I decided to the use one of my favorite strategies, the “Japanese” strategy, which involves Swagger. I didn’t want to use Four Seasons because it couldn’t adapt to the changing VGC 2012 metagame as well as the fact that I used the team already and that I do not using the same team over. However, unlike most “Japanese” strategy, I used Safeguard over Lum/Persim Berries. For Philadelphia, I wanted to win with pokemon that I like and that can actually function well. I wanted to based it around Munchlax, but that plan failed, so I had to use Snorlax. In the end, my team came to the following:
For my team, I decided to the use one of my favorite strategies, the “Japanese” strategy, which involves Swagger. I didn’t want to use Four Seasons because it couldn’t adapt to the changing VGC 2012 metagame as well as the fact that I used the team already and that I do not using the same team over. However, unlike most “Japanese” strategy, I used Safeguard over Lum/Persim Berries. For Philadelphia, I wanted to win with pokemon that I like and that can actually function well. I wanted to based it around Munchlax, but that plan failed, so I had to use Snorlax. In the end, my team came to the following:
Virgo (Cresselia) (F) @ Mental Herb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 76 Def / 36 SAtk / 140 SDef
IVs: 0 Spe
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Trick Room
- Safeguard
- Swagger
- Psychic
Ressurect (Virizion) @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Justified
EVs: 124 HP / 240 SAtk / 128 SDef / 16 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Helping Hand
- Protect
Lucifer (Arcanine) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 188 HP / 236 Atk / 4 Def / 12 SDef / 68 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- Crunch
- ExtremeSpeed
Penance (Rotom-W) @ Zoom Lens
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
IVs: 6 Spe
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Thunder
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect
Sinner (Krookodile) (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 84 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 12 SDef / 164 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Rock Slide
- Protect
Eucharist (Snorlax) (F) @ Chople Berry
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 196 Atk / 164 Def / 148 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Double-Edge
- Crunch
- Superpower
- Protect
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 76 Def / 36 SAtk / 140 SDef
IVs: 0 Spe
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Trick Room
- Safeguard
- Swagger
- Psychic
Ressurect (Virizion) @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Justified
EVs: 124 HP / 240 SAtk / 128 SDef / 16 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Helping Hand
- Protect
Lucifer (Arcanine) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 188 HP / 236 Atk / 4 Def / 12 SDef / 68 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- Crunch
- ExtremeSpeed
Penance (Rotom-W) @ Zoom Lens
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
IVs: 6 Spe
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Thunder
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect
Sinner (Krookodile) (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 84 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 12 SDef / 164 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Rock Slide
- Protect
Eucharist (Snorlax) (F) @ Chople Berry
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 196 Atk / 164 Def / 148 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Double-Edge
- Crunch
- Superpower
- Protect
I ended with a Christianity naming theme. This is because I did not know what kind of theming I wanted to use as nicknames, so I just used Christianity, the religion that I practice. The EVs may look weird, but that’s for covering certain stuff that I will not explain. The plan for this team was to create a Snorlax sweep with Swagger abuse. I also like the addition of two Intimidate users due weaken Physical attackers. I got this idea from LatiosSinVisa, a user on the Skarmbliss PO server, who used a 4 Intimidate-user team.
(Again in Chronological Disorder)
After waking up, I motivated myself, telling myself that I will win, that I am unstoppable! After preparation, my parents and I picked up Stephen, and we headed to Philadelphia. During our trip, I told Stephen about how to handle certain pokemon such as Hitmontop, Latios, Volcarona, Rain teams, etc.
We got to the convention center, and that we were told that event was taking place upstairs. So we went upstairs, and we see a line for the event! Soon, again, I saw Kristian! Hah, he’s 1 step ahead of me. I introduced Kris to Stephen, and Kris showed us where the Bloody Roses were located. I saw Phillip, Liam and Corwin, and introduced them to Stephen. Corwin and Stephen got together really well, especially since they were both Fighting-games players. Anyways, I left the group for a while to see who the other players are. I saw Solace and the Wolf again, and awkwardly said hi, and then left. I saw the Skarmbliss/Smogon gang again, but only masters. Apparently, at that time, seniors and juniors were playing, which meant Superpokemon67 was already doing work (Who I wanted to win the tournament)!
So, during our wait on line, I battled Liam. He was using his actual VGC 2012 team and I used my Ferroseed team. Yes, I made a team for VGC 2012 utilizing Ferroseed. I lost, but that’s because I got 2 paralyzes on my Hitmontop and 2 Will-o-Wisp misses. However, I shrugged it off, saying, “HAX NOW NO HAX LATER,”. I had another battle afterwards. I played Kris and his basic Trick Room, against my Ferroseed team. Once more, I lost, with hax that involves a freeze. But, again, I shrugged it off. After, apparently Corwin wasn’t finish building his team again. So I helped him again. However, while helping, I noticed that my Cresselia wasn’t holding the Mental Herb! I quickly fixed my battle box, and I registered. Corwin was able to finish building and then he registered. At this time, all of the Bloody Roses were prepared. Sadly, I failed to notice one thing. I’ll explain later.
After registering, the seniors were still playing, apparently round 2. Inside the hall, I looked around for SP67 until I found the mustache crusader once more. He sadly told me that he got haxed in a battle because he missed Ice Shards on Garchomp, and I sympathized with him. I then met thegr8 and Sapphire Birch, and meeting Jio, Ditto and Stormfront. It was pretty awesome seeing everyone again.
Then, the Bloody Roses decided to settle on the spot near the bathrooms since there was an outlet there for charging. So, we just hanged out there, occasionally seeing how the seniors are doing as well as looking around for other people. It was soon lunch time, and that masters would start around 2:30pm. So, around 12pm, we decided to go out for lunch. At Philadelphia, it’s very close to a Chinatown. So, we went there to eat. We walked from block to block until we found a restaurant. It was an Italian café. So, instead of going to a variety of Chinese restaurants (even one that’s ironically name Sakura), we settled for an Italian! Hah, we laugh. There, we ordered lunch, and I decided on a Philly Cheesesteak, since it is Philadelphia and they served Philly Cheesesteak, so why not? So, while waiting for our food, my friends and I had an arm wrestling contest. I played against Corwin, and I was doing fine, until suddenly he brought out the big guns and defeated me easily. I was lucky that I was not injured. Soon, we got out our food and the cheesesteak was delicious! It was very good, and very filling that I could not even eat all of it, so I had it packaged to go. During eating, I battled Kris to a VGC 2011 battle. Everything during the battle was going fine, with my Scarf Terrakion going to sweep. However, a Thunder Wave and two paralyses decided to say screw you to me. Yet again, I shrugged it off, saying the phrase again. At this point of time, I realized my biggest mistake; I forgot to give my Snorlax a chople berry! I was cursing in my mind and I was furious at myself. How could I forgotten about that?! I was already registered so I couldn’t do anything!
We left the café and were back at the convention center again, and we were bored since the seniors were still playing. I believe at this point, I heard rumors about top cut since there were too many players! This brought my hopes up since that meant a bigger chance of winning due to skill and not lucks! Anyways, we, except Kris, decided to play Mario Kart DS until the beginning of the rounds. Stephen and I got bored after, so we decided to play a manly game of Yugioh! It was fun except the part where his deck was more competitive since he bought more cards (Screw Chaos Dragons wahaha). During playing, I saw enfuego come by, so I decided to say hi to him. I introduced myself as Infinity.Cypher, and we started to talk. Apparently, he didn’t expect .Cypher to be Asian since someone said that .Cypher was white. Soon, afterwards, I saw Wolfey and Human, but I didn’t say hi due to my shyness (aaah shyness kicks in again). Apparently, a line forms at the entrance of the halls, so I quickly got my stuff and went on line. It apparently was just a red herring, so we all disbanded. However, another event occurred, in which a huge group of people gathered and that seating arrangements for the masters were posted! The tournament was split into 2 flights, a green and pink flight! I was luckily placed in the Green Flight, which was the easier flight since it didn’t have most of the Smogoners like Wolfey, Human, Jivetime, enfuego, etc. Also, Kris and Liam were unfortunate to get placed their flight, the pink flight. Soon, the battles were to begin.
Soon, the seniors finished and I believed the master started during or after them. Anyways, I was seated across the same person that I was seated across at Providence, so it was nice to see a friendly face again. Soon, we were paired up for our 1st round opponents.
(Again in Chronological Disorder)
After waking up, I motivated myself, telling myself that I will win, that I am unstoppable! After preparation, my parents and I picked up Stephen, and we headed to Philadelphia. During our trip, I told Stephen about how to handle certain pokemon such as Hitmontop, Latios, Volcarona, Rain teams, etc.
We got to the convention center, and that we were told that event was taking place upstairs. So we went upstairs, and we see a line for the event! Soon, again, I saw Kristian! Hah, he’s 1 step ahead of me. I introduced Kris to Stephen, and Kris showed us where the Bloody Roses were located. I saw Phillip, Liam and Corwin, and introduced them to Stephen. Corwin and Stephen got together really well, especially since they were both Fighting-games players. Anyways, I left the group for a while to see who the other players are. I saw Solace and the Wolf again, and awkwardly said hi, and then left. I saw the Skarmbliss/Smogon gang again, but only masters. Apparently, at that time, seniors and juniors were playing, which meant Superpokemon67 was already doing work (Who I wanted to win the tournament)!
So, during our wait on line, I battled Liam. He was using his actual VGC 2012 team and I used my Ferroseed team. Yes, I made a team for VGC 2012 utilizing Ferroseed. I lost, but that’s because I got 2 paralyzes on my Hitmontop and 2 Will-o-Wisp misses. However, I shrugged it off, saying, “HAX NOW NO HAX LATER,”. I had another battle afterwards. I played Kris and his basic Trick Room, against my Ferroseed team. Once more, I lost, with hax that involves a freeze. But, again, I shrugged it off. After, apparently Corwin wasn’t finish building his team again. So I helped him again. However, while helping, I noticed that my Cresselia wasn’t holding the Mental Herb! I quickly fixed my battle box, and I registered. Corwin was able to finish building and then he registered. At this time, all of the Bloody Roses were prepared. Sadly, I failed to notice one thing. I’ll explain later.
After registering, the seniors were still playing, apparently round 2. Inside the hall, I looked around for SP67 until I found the mustache crusader once more. He sadly told me that he got haxed in a battle because he missed Ice Shards on Garchomp, and I sympathized with him. I then met thegr8 and Sapphire Birch, and meeting Jio, Ditto and Stormfront. It was pretty awesome seeing everyone again.
Then, the Bloody Roses decided to settle on the spot near the bathrooms since there was an outlet there for charging. So, we just hanged out there, occasionally seeing how the seniors are doing as well as looking around for other people. It was soon lunch time, and that masters would start around 2:30pm. So, around 12pm, we decided to go out for lunch. At Philadelphia, it’s very close to a Chinatown. So, we went there to eat. We walked from block to block until we found a restaurant. It was an Italian café. So, instead of going to a variety of Chinese restaurants (even one that’s ironically name Sakura), we settled for an Italian! Hah, we laugh. There, we ordered lunch, and I decided on a Philly Cheesesteak, since it is Philadelphia and they served Philly Cheesesteak, so why not? So, while waiting for our food, my friends and I had an arm wrestling contest. I played against Corwin, and I was doing fine, until suddenly he brought out the big guns and defeated me easily. I was lucky that I was not injured. Soon, we got out our food and the cheesesteak was delicious! It was very good, and very filling that I could not even eat all of it, so I had it packaged to go. During eating, I battled Kris to a VGC 2011 battle. Everything during the battle was going fine, with my Scarf Terrakion going to sweep. However, a Thunder Wave and two paralyses decided to say screw you to me. Yet again, I shrugged it off, saying the phrase again. At this point of time, I realized my biggest mistake; I forgot to give my Snorlax a chople berry! I was cursing in my mind and I was furious at myself. How could I forgotten about that?! I was already registered so I couldn’t do anything!
We left the café and were back at the convention center again, and we were bored since the seniors were still playing. I believe at this point, I heard rumors about top cut since there were too many players! This brought my hopes up since that meant a bigger chance of winning due to skill and not lucks! Anyways, we, except Kris, decided to play Mario Kart DS until the beginning of the rounds. Stephen and I got bored after, so we decided to play a manly game of Yugioh! It was fun except the part where his deck was more competitive since he bought more cards (Screw Chaos Dragons wahaha). During playing, I saw enfuego come by, so I decided to say hi to him. I introduced myself as Infinity.Cypher, and we started to talk. Apparently, he didn’t expect .Cypher to be Asian since someone said that .Cypher was white. Soon, afterwards, I saw Wolfey and Human, but I didn’t say hi due to my shyness (aaah shyness kicks in again). Apparently, a line forms at the entrance of the halls, so I quickly got my stuff and went on line. It apparently was just a red herring, so we all disbanded. However, another event occurred, in which a huge group of people gathered and that seating arrangements for the masters were posted! The tournament was split into 2 flights, a green and pink flight! I was luckily placed in the Green Flight, which was the easier flight since it didn’t have most of the Smogoners like Wolfey, Human, Jivetime, enfuego, etc. Also, Kris and Liam were unfortunate to get placed their flight, the pink flight. Soon, the battles were to begin.
Soon, the seniors finished and I believed the master started during or after them. Anyways, I was seated across the same person that I was seated across at Providence, so it was nice to see a friendly face again. Soon, we were paired up for our 1st round opponents.
He was a pretty nice guy. He said that this was his first time at a VGC tournament, and so I thought “Easy pickings!” But he was no newb. He had a Trick Room team, and it was a pretty good one too, which made me panic. Conkeldurr? ****! My Snorlax did not have a Chople, so I couldn’t use it in fear of it. I couldn’t really do anything to Cresselia since Krookdile was weak to Fighting as well. During battle, I was forced to use Swagger to prevent Trick Room for being set up, but Swagger decided to miss! He had a Porygon2 which luckily got the SpA boost, so I was even more screwed! I was able to faint Porygon2, but in comes Escavalier. At this point in time, I realized that my team was incredibly weak to TR Escavalier. I had a chance to take it out with Arcanine’s Flare Blitz, but I doubted my own prediction and screwed up. I then lost when it was just my Virizion and Cresselia against his Escavalier and Cresselia. Even if I did it right, he had a Conkeldurr in the back, so I would have still lost anyways. Lost 2-3
AHHHH! I LOST 1ST ROUND! I was disappointed in myself, losing the first round. But, he was a pretty smart guy! He even managed to make the top 4 of our flight (until eventually losing to Human)! Most of Bloody Roses lost the 1st round, barring Phillip and Corwin. Phillip’s opponent did not arrive, so he got a free win while Corwin actually won his battle. I believe at this point of time that I met Soul Survivor and InfiniteParalysis again. It was pretty cool seeing them again! I also saw Plus Clan (Skarmbliss PO Moderators) and Birch Clan, and I told them of my failures. Soon, 2nd round battles were posted and I was ready to play once more, hoping to redeem myself.
We didn’t really talk to each other that much. At first, I did not know who he is, but looking at warstories and other stuff, I figured out that he was Steven Snype. Anyways, his team consisted of standard VGC pokemon such as Hitmontop and friends. I don’t remember how the battle went, but I think I was able to outpredict him and by switching in and out. Rotom-W and Virizion was a great combo against his team. I think there was hardly any hax. I won 3-0.
I won the 2nd round, so I was happy. Every one of the Bloody Roses won their battle, except Liam, who went 0-2. Somewhat depressed, Liam was talking about how he would drop out of the tournament, despite our pleas to tell him to keep battling. Also, at this point, I think I met Soul Survivor and InfiniteParalysis, who I chatted to.
She was a nice person, who chatted with me during our battle. She used a somewhat-stallish team, consisting of bulky pokemon like Blissey and Vaporeon, and offensive pokemon such as Garchomp. She also noticed that my Snorlax did not have an item and I explained to her what happened. Anyways, it was a difficult battle due to her pokemon healing themselves, but I was able to beat her with my Swagger Safeguard combo. I won 4-0.
Again, I won, which made me happy. However, Phillip and Corwin lost their match, so all of us, except Liam (who was 1-2 now) were 2-1.
I don’t remember anything this round this much, but I think he was an adult. Anyways, he was using Smeargle and Togekiss, which scared me. In addition, he used Terrakion, one of the pokemon I hate facing in VGC 2012. During the battle, he surprised me with a Scarf Volcarona. However, despite using pokemon that I have difficulty playing against. I was able to win, using my Scarf Arcanine’s Close Combat and Flare Blitz to take out Terrakion and Volcarona. I won 2-0.
Kris, Corwin and I won this round, going 3-1 while Stephen and Phillip lost, going 2-2. Liam won, going 2-2. At this point, I managed to build up the courage to say hi to Wolfey, but nothing much after. Sorry Kinderlew for not saying Hi to you, but I didn’t recognize you with your haircut.
I raged internally, showing no anger during the match. I lost 1-2.
After the battle, I RAGED HARD. After the round, I showed my notepad showing my hax of the battle. I’m sorry for my unsportsmanlike manner. Anyways, Stephen and I lost, going 2-3 and 3-2 respectively. Kris, Phillip, Liam and Corwin won.
This is where forgetting to put an item on Snorlax went back to haunt me. I was also tired after this match due to my raging. Anyways, his team was speedy; utilizing some pokemon like Ambipom and Gengar, so my plan was to use Trick Room but my plan was foiled due to Hammer Arm Metagross. In the last few turns of the battle, I had (I think) Rotom-W and Snorlax against his Ambipom and Metagross in TR. If my Snorlax had Chople Berry, I would be able to survive the incoming Hammer Arm (Choice Band), take out his Ambipom with my Snorlax, then 2hko his Metagross with my Rotom-W. But, nope, forgetting the item, Snorlax was taken out. Rotom-W was screwed, as TR deactivated next turn and his Ambipom took out my Rotom-W. I lost 0-2.
I was angry and disappointed in myself, going 3-3, which I considered pathetic of myself. Corwin and I lost, and the rest won. I was impressed by Kris, going 5-1 in the harder flight.
Standard sand team. I don’t remember what happened here because I was very tired. Anyways, he had a Surf Garchomp, which I think koed his own pokemon, but then again, I don’t remember the exact details. I won 3-0.
So I went 4-3, which I didn’t like, preferring to go 5-2, 6-1 or even 7-0. Stephen went 4-3. Kris went 5-2 (after playing TDS and Wolfey). Phillip went 5-2. Liam went 5-2 (A comeback!). Corwin went 4-3. I ended up as 39th place in the green flight, 76th place overall. I didn’t stay around for the winner’s bracket due to how late it was and the fact that my father had work right after the tournament. Stephen and I quickly said our good-byes to the Bloody Roses and other people. We went home afterwards. Stephen was happy, going 4-3 at his first tournament, and Conkeldurr being his MVP. He told me a funny story about how he managed to 2hko a full health Ferrothorn with his Ludicolo’s Hydro Pump! But, I was tired and defeated, sad at how I placed. I told myself that I would stop playing pokemon for a week due to my failure and to take a break off of it. However, during the trip home, I developed a strategy that I would use for my Nationals Team!
Conclusion
I had a really fun time with all of you guys, even though I did not hang out with most of you. But still, I have an exciting time. I’m sorry to say that I WILL NOT BE GOING TO NATIONALS. I AM NOT GOING, SORRY TO DISAPPOINT. I just have no way to get there. My father used all on his vacation days, my mom cannot drive long distances, my friend’s father is working on Friday and Monday, the days before and after the tournament, and that his mom cannot drive long distances as well. I’m not allowed to take the train to Indianapolis (Even though Brandon was very generous enough to allow me to stay with him if only my friend and I take the train there) and flying is too expensive.
Yeah, I’m pretty sad about it. I prepared very long and hard for it, practicing every day for it. But, I’m forced to give it up. But I’m thinking of the bright side of things, especially when this gives me a little bit more time to do other things, especially catching up on school and grades.
So, that is why you see me now in the 5th gen GS Cup on the Skarmbliss PO server. It’s because my VGC 2012 Season has ended yet again on the prevention of me going to nationals. So, hopefully, there will be 3 regionals for each season in VGC 2013, and that I will be able to go to all of them, in addition to finally going to nationals. I strongly believe that VGC 2013 is going to 5th gen GS Cup, so that’s why I’m training now for it. However, due to the release of BW2 and the new forms and tutor moves, I’ll be on hiatus until PO updates with information. However, I will be on the Skarmbliss server still. So, if any one of you wants to practice with me, just pm me.
Yeah, I’m pretty sad about it. I prepared very long and hard for it, practicing every day for it. But, I’m forced to give it up. But I’m thinking of the bright side of things, especially when this gives me a little bit more time to do other things, especially catching up on school and grades.
So, that is why you see me now in the 5th gen GS Cup on the Skarmbliss PO server. It’s because my VGC 2012 Season has ended yet again on the prevention of me going to nationals. So, hopefully, there will be 3 regionals for each season in VGC 2013, and that I will be able to go to all of them, in addition to finally going to nationals. I strongly believe that VGC 2013 is going to 5th gen GS Cup, so that’s why I’m training now for it. However, due to the release of BW2 and the new forms and tutor moves, I’ll be on hiatus until PO updates with information. However, I will be on the Skarmbliss server still. So, if any one of you wants to practice with me, just pm me.
Anyways, until’ then! Godspeed to all of you attending nationals!
See you next time! See you in VGC 2013!
Infinity.Cypher, Out!
