You are a type specialist in a hostile region. How do you best represent your chosen element?

[Count Bleck]

Third place on my very first attempt? Well thats rather exciting, thanks everyone! Since the round is over, here are some of the concepts I came up with.

Life and Death: Attempt to lean into the Grass type for their draining and status effects. Would lean into mons like Parasect, vileplume, and maybe Tangela. Abandoned because too many grass types were also poison, and wanted to avoid Ghosts being conflated with Poison. I mean, Agatha already does that!

Decay: Lean even further into poison, but use mons like Muk and Weezing. Abandoned for simillar reasons as above, also noticed people picking up on Weezing being a floating ball of gas.


Ghosts in the Shell: Lean into the electric type for paralysis and ghost hunting, with Magneton being one of the main stars. Abandoned adding other electric types, but ghost hunting became my focus for the prompt.

Through The Mist: Lean into Smokescreen, Mist, Haze, and other fog like moves. Abandoned for lack of compatible targets. Lapras and Jynx almost made it for team diversity, but I really wanted to keep the Primape/Annihilape gag.

Dead and Buried: Lean into Rock and Ground types, including Fossils and Marowak and possible other ground types. Felt it was way too obvious.

Hunting for Ghosts: This one I felt might have been too out there to work, but it IS funny. there were so few ghost type moves and pokemon available, I was almost convinced I could make a team with no ghost type moves or pokemon at all. We would instead use our teambuilding to demonstrate what ghost types typically do using moves and mons of other types, to mimic a ghost hunting show and lean into psuedo science to make the reaches reach further. Abandoned for being too risky for a first impression (and possibly against the rules? not sure) but its one of the funniest parts of the experience

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Hello hello, and we're back.

You are a Grass-type specialist in Coastal Kalos. How do you best represent your chosen type?
​

It's rare we get to do Grass. This one should be fittingly weird...

A reminder to please read the guidelines in the OP before commenting, especially if you're new to the thread. You have until September 30th, 9PM GMT to make your case!

Once again to be perfectly clear: you may only select Pokemon from the Coastal Kalos Pokedex, i.e. Drifloon-Lapras. Any teams which include Pokemon from either the Central or Mountain Kalos dexes will not be valid for this round and will be disqualified.

Coastal Kalos Dex is here for those who need it: https://www.serebii.net/xy/coastalpokedex.shtml

Teams so far

Ironmage: Exeggutor, Ferrothorn, Pinsir, Salamence, Hawlucha, Dedenne
Pikachu315111: Exeggutor, Ferrothorn, Leafeon, Houndoom, Heliolisk, Octillery
WarriorGallade: Ferrothorn, Exeggcute, Heracross, Mantine, Solrock, Clamperl
Frostbiyt: Exeggcute, Ferroseed, Yanma, Relicanth, Carbink, Helioptile
CTNC: Exeggutor, Ferrothorn, Leafeon, Barbaracle, Corsola, Dragalge
Eeveeto: Exeggutor, Ferrothorn, Leafeon, Pachirisu, Octillery, Heracross
DrPumpkinz: Exeggutor, Ferrothorn, Steelix, Slowbro, Mr Mime, Mawile

 

[Ironmage]

Berries show up for a lot of different uses, being the main form of single-use held items. Seems like a reasonable enough mechanical theme.


Ferrothorn @ Occa Berry
Ability: Iron Barbs
- Protect
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball
We lead off with a weakness-mitigating berry on a bulky mon that isn't threatened by much other than its weaknesses.


Exeggutor @ Lum Berry
Ability: Harvest
- Rest
- Energy Ball
- Psychic
- Sleep Powder
Berries that can heal Sleep are often used on Rest mons, but usually Chesto is preferred since you would rather clear Rest itself since it deals with other statuses. Here, in contrast, we have a large enough supply of berries for it to not matter.


Dedenne @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Cheek Pouch
- Recycle
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot
- Substitute
The mon that pushed the theme away from dropping objects on opponents heads, a concern when dealing with both durians and coconuts. With infinite-use healing obtained from its Ability, the actual berry effect can be used to help with offense.


Hawlucha @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Unburden
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- Low Kick
- High Jump Kick
A third Ability that triggers off of eating a berry, though Hawlucha can theoretically be run with other consumable items. Of course, its main current option of terrain seeds is pretty Grass-aligned as well, wouldn't you say?


Salamence @ Lansat Berry
Ability: Moxie
- Natural Gift
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
So we've gone through weakness mitigation, status healing, low-HP stat boosts, and HP healing. What's left that can be done with a berry? Well, attacking with it, of course! Nature Power's damage was buffed across the board in gen 6, giving the possibility of a mon whose Mega shows it's only constrained by a lack of Flying STAB a 100 base power attack without using up the Mega Ring.


Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
- Bug Bite
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
Of course, running a Mega brings its own complication when the team is so focused around the held item slot. Well, I never specified my mons needed to eat their own berries. Scizor would have been great here, getting Technician on the centerpiece move, but Pinsir can at least make do by running a lower power attack in for its other STAB.

 

[Pikachu315111]

Tropical Energy:
Okay, I'm going to admit something here: I'm just going off vibes with this one. Now you'd think the shoreline of a rather green region would be a pretty good place for a Grass-type specialist, especially with there being three native Grass-type Pokemon (well, two; Eevee is always the oddball when its one of the Type representation). So it should be no problem finding a connection between the three and finding three other Pokemon that matches. Well, Coastal Kalos had other plans. When you go either through the Dex or the Routes, you realize that, no, it's not particularly Grass supportive. If anything, the Grass-types are the ones which feel the odd ones out. And in terms of plant synergy they don't really relate to one another well: a (metal) thorny seed pod, a coconut tree, and a leafy mammalian-plant hybrid. But with two having Sun-based Abilities that's something to work off of, and came up with a strange Sun team of exotic Pokemon. Exotic Sun =/= Tropical Energy.

Ferrothorn (Grass/Steel. Iron Barbs. Occa Berry. Bullet Seed/Stealth Rock/Spikes/Sunny Day)
Exeggutor (Grass/Psychic. Harvest. Petaya Berry. Solar Beam/Psyshock/Leech Seed/Sleep Powder)
Leafeon (Grass. Chlorophyll. Life Orb. Leaf Blade/Synthesis/Aerial Ace/Sunny Day)
Octillery (Water. Moody. Quick Claw. Energy Ball/Bullet Seed/Soak/Sunny Day)
Heliolisk (Electric/Normal. Solar Power. Heat Rock. Grass Knot/Volt Switch/Thunder Wave/Sunny Day)
(Mega) Houndoom (Fire/Dark. Flash Fire//Solar Power. Houndoomite. Solar Beam/Overheat/Dark Pulse/Nasty Plot)

Here Comes The Sun

Ferrothorn: While I don't have a set order, Ferrothorn is out first as its the hazard setter. Despite being a Sun team and Ferrothorn having Sunny Day, I'd actually have it set up Stealth Rock first (and maybe a layer of Spikes or two) before bringing out the weather that increases the Power of the Type its weak too. The Occa Berry may give it some Fire-type protection, but it's not impervious to being 1HKO. Though, Fire-types aside, Ferrothorn is a decent wall that'll make physical attackers think twice before getting poked by it (and if they choose to swap out hopefully by then the hazards will be out to pre-poke them). And if it has the time or opportunity, it knows Bullet Seed, which feels pretty appropriate for it to have). Speaking of which, though its primarily based on seed pods, there may also be a smidge of spiky fruits inspiration in there such as a durian or a pineapple, both tropical fruits; it all comes together.

Exeggutor: THE tropical Grass-type Pokemon. In a way Exeggutor is the face(s?) of the team, even if it's not the ace. Harvest is a unique Ability as it's only a Hidden Ability, and this uniqueness comes with a quirky way to use it all depending on which Berry you choose to give it. You could try making Exeggutor a tank by giving is a healing Berry, or a revenge killer with a Speed-increasing Salac Berry. But for this energy-focused team I think I'll go for the wallbreaker setup with a Special Attack increasing Petaya Berry. Besides, this Exeggutor has plenty of tricks up its trunk. To give the Harvest strategy its best chance, Exeggutor can buy turns with Sleep Powder and gradually heal with Leech Seed. And of course with the sun out no reason for it not to run Solar Beam, with even just one Petaya Berry would bring a new definition to "Tropical Storm". It also has Psyshock for coverage with both its other STAB Type and/or for opponents with lower Defense stats (though still benefits from a Petaya boost). It's truly one quirky, tropical vibe.

Leafeon: Though Eevee is mostly from Coastal Kalos, you could argue its a stretch for it to be a Leafeon. That's because, in GF's infinite wisdom, they placed the MOSS Rock all the way on the OTHER side of Kalos, on Route 20... next to SNOWbelle City (aka the location of the EIGHTH Gym. GF why?). Then again, with it having to go to one of the coldest places in Kalos to evolve, maybe its make perfect sense it'll then rush back to its native home in the warm sun. So much so it's Ability is Chlorophyll, doubling its pretty decent 95 base Speed! Leafeon is oddly a Physical Attacker (though its highest stat is Defense; GF WHY?), luckily it gets Leaf Blade. It also gets Synthesis, and so with that I decided to let Leafeon loose with a Life Orb; also having Aerial Ace for coverage and Sunny Day to keep the tropical sun shining and its rampage going.

Octillery: An aquatic animal-based Water-type on a Sun team (before Walking Wake)? Just let it cook; NO, not like that! To start with octopus are tropical animals, and Octillery is also a cannon meaning its packing plenty of energy. Octillery's role & strategy is to be a spanner in the works, pulling out so many odd tricks the Grass-type prepared opponent may not see it coming, especially if they have a Fire-type. Octillery doesn't directly benefit from Sun, but it'll make sure the opponent doesn't either. The strategy is that Octillery will use Soak to turn its opponent into a Water-type making its Grass-type Moves Super Effective. If not dangerous enough, Octillery has Moody meaning it could quickly become a very spicy calamari if the opponent doesn't take it down. Since we're already taking chances, it has Quick Claw for some lucky first strikes. It's the oddest Sun Setter you'll probably ever see, but I feel that just means it'll be effective at it.

Heliolisk: Heliolisk is an odd Pokemon because, despite its sun-based design, it has a complicated relation to the Sunny weather condition (especially in Gen VI). Its normal Abilities is Sand Veil and DRY SKIN, for it to receive any benefit from the Sun it needs its Hidden Ability: Solar Power; which still hurts it, but at least it gets a Special Attack boost! Now you may be wondering why I have mine using Grass Knot instead of Solar Beam; that's because in Gen VI it can't learn Solar Beam! So why in the world did I make it the Sun Setter with the Heat Rock? Simple: Volt Switch. Heliolisk isn't meant to stay out in the sun, it's supposed to get onto the field, setup the sun, maybe Paralyze the opponent with Thunder Wave, and get out of there with Volt Switch. The only reason it wouldn't be able to is if its up against a Ground-type; and that's what Grass Knot is for (and remember Ground-types are usually heavier Pokemon). Oh, and if you think we've moved on from the "tropical" theme, think again: The "tropics" describe a large band of area on eitherside of the equator. While when we think "tropical" we think of white sand beaches, clear blue water, & palm trees, it also includes rain forests and savannahs. Such as the ecosystems you find on Australia and New Guinea, which is where you'll find the frilled lizard, the basis for Heliolisk, and a tropical animal (your guess is as good as mine why they're in PokeFrance).

(Mega) Houndoom: HELLFIRE! Gotta have a Mega Pokemon in Kalos, and Mega Houndoom fits right on in a Sun team. Starting with normal Houndoom, it may not be here for long but Flash Fire is a handy Ability you may be able to pull a surprise swap with. With or without a boost to Fire-type Moves, Houndoom then Mega Evolves to receive an additional Solar Power boost. But now the clock is ticking, so Mega Houndoom has to do as much damage as possible. It does have Nasty Plot to give it some extra power (or to restore the dropped Special Attack from using Overheat), but otherwise its just pick the best attack and let it clean up. It may not be the most tropical, but it'll make-up with its own sunburn you'll never forget.

 

[WarriorGallade]

"Oui! The Kalosian coastline may not be able to grow many berries, but it is perfect for growing the most exotic herbs - collected from both the shallow sea and the embedded earth! They grow on the harsh rocks that litter the beaches, and we use only the sharpest of implements to selectively cleave them for maximum flavor. Bon appetit!"

@ DeepSeaTooth
Ability: Shell Armor
- Aqua Ring
- Barrier
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Whirlpool
First up, Clamperl.
Clamperl is well equipped at using Whirlpool to funnel nutrients from the seafloor, using them to cultivate full-fledged herbs in the safety of its shell, creating a shimmering casing around them as it does so - akin to a pearl. It then uses the DeepSeaTooth to harvest them when ready. To protect itself from attacks during this long process, it sets up a Barrier and a veil of water to offer extended longevity. And of course, if it's attacked en route, its hidden power usually protects it from the other Water types that would try to do so.

@ Hard Stone
Ability: Water Veil
- Aqua Ring
- Seed Bomb
- Dive
- Rock Tomb
Second up, Mantine
Mantine acts as the aerial surveyor, knowing Dive to help transport Clamperl's collection of enriched herbs back to shore - ready to eat. It also specializes in a similar veil of water for protection en route, but also helps break down any gargantuan rocks into more soil through its powerful Seed Bomb and Rock Tomb (or well, as powerful as 40 base Attack is).


@ White Herb
Ability: Chlorophyll
- Ancient Power
- Sunny Day
- Leaf Storm
- Extrasensory
Third up, Exeggcute
Exeggcute is the star of the show, using Extrasensory to find the optimal spots for planting herbs, stirring up the soil with leaves, and letting loose sunlight to start their growth - in areas cleared out by Mantine. Three heads may be better than one, but how about six? That's why Exeggcute prides itself on not evolving, as each egg is able to independently inspect particular soil patches and analyze them as needed, increasing productivity quite substantially.

@ Power Herb
Ability: Levitate
- Ancient Power
- Calm Mind
- Solar Beam
- Earth Power
Fourth up, Solrock.
Solrock aims to keep a level head and blasts the herbs with sunlight to spark their growth, as well as increasing their vitality, drawing power from both their past glory and the ground. Of course, this doesn't stop it from munching on a herb every now and then, though how it eats with no mouth is another mystery in itself. In turn, Solrock's levitation lets it keep a watch on the entire supply chain, to ensure nothing goes wrong.


@ Heracronite
Ability: Skill Link
- Bullet Seed
- Pin Missile
- Arm Thrust
- Vacuum Wave
Fifth up, Heracrorss.
If Mantine performs logistics at sea, then Heracross does it on land. It's able to skillfully link all of the nutrient pods that Ferrothorn scatters about in the caves, and launch them towards the beach where the rest of the Pokemon perform their tasks, in a single barrage. Its fists contain enough power to blast air in the form of Vacuum Wave, which it uses to surprising effect as an invisible attack of sorts against any Woobat lurking about.

@ Razor Fang
Ability: Iron Barbs
- Bullet Seed
- Pin Missile
- Ingrain
- Rock Polish
Last up, Ferrothorn.
Ferrothorn lurks in the caves of Coastal Kalos, and it uses Ingrain to gather minerals aplenty from the rocks, crystalizing them in its thorn pods. In a bid for efficiency, it keeps its body well polished amidst the crystals at both Reflection and Glittering Cave. Once it's done, it fires these nutrient-filled pods out as missiles out towards the cave's entrance, where Heracross goes on to deliver them to the others - essentially fertilizer for the growing herbs. Of course, it can't have any interruptions, so if it can flinch any would-be interruptions, that's more time for it to do what it does best.

 

[Frostbiyt]

The Carboniferous Period

Y'all ready for science class? Deep in our world's past, long before even the dinosaurs existed, the Carboniferous period marked the time when plant and animal life went from merely existing on land, to thriving on it.

The Suicide Lead

Ferroseed @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
- Spikes
- Seed Bomb
- Iron Head
- Explosion

Putting the Ferro in Carboniferous*, we have Ferroseed. Something as basic as a seed feels so integral to plant life, yet when the Carboniferous rolled around, seeding plants were a novelty. This wouldn't be the case by the end, as they'd come to dominate the plant kingdom in this period.

Ferroseed's fantastic defensive traits gives it time to set up spikes while punishing physical attackers. Once it has outlived its usefulness, it can punch a hole through the opponent's team with Explosion.


The Defensive Pivot

Carbink @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
- Stealth Rock
- Nature Power
- Power Gem
- Calm Mind

Putting the Carbin in Carboniferous, we have Carbink. The period gets its name from the vast coal fields that were produced as massive amounts of dead plant life piled up, before decomposer had evolved the ability to break down lignin*, leading to this plant material being compressed into coal. Just as Carbink were "Born from the temperatures and pressures deep underground", some of that coal would go on to form diamonds*.

Rock and Grass attacks offer good neutral and supereffective coverage. Grass attack, you may ask? Nature Power goes by many names, but in the tall grass or in Kalos' Grass gym, located in the coastal Coumarine City, it's better known as Energy Ball. With its sky high defenses, Carbink can take advantage of weak or resisted attacks to set up rocks, force switches, or potentially even set up with Calm Mind.


The Offensive Pivot

Helioptile @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
- Grass Knot
- Volt Switch
- Dark Pulse
- Dragon Tail

The tetrapods (four legged animals) had just crawled out of the ocean during the previous period, evolving from lobe-finned fish. During the Carboniferous, a lineage of tetrapods would gain adaptations to become fully terrestrial rather than amphibious. The breakout success of this group were the reptiles, who saw an explosion in diversity during this period. To represent no longer relying on water, Helioptile is equipped with Sand Veil rather than Dry Skin.

Helioptile's not locked in here with your Ground type, your Ground type is locked in here with Helioptile. Grass Knot punishes a Ground switch-in which would otherwise prevent Volt Switch from providing momentum, Dark Pulse offers some additional coverage, and Dragon Tail can also punish switches when hazards are on the field.


The Wallbreaker

Relicanth @ Zoom Lens
Ability: Rock Head
- Head Smash
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Aqua Tail

Speaking of the lobe-finned fish, while they would eventually dwindle to a small number of species alive today, they were at their height during the Carboniferous period. The Coelocanth, once thought to be long extinct, is one of the few relics of this ancient lineage.

STAB, no recoil Head Smash is extremely threatening on its own, but combined with the rest of the moveset, nothing resists Relicanth's attacks, making it hard to switch in on and serving to soften up the opposing team.


The Revenge Killer

Yanma @ Miracle Seed
Ability: Speed Boost
- Bug Buzz
- Air Slash
- Giga Drain
- Ancient Power

Meganeura, AKA the griffenfly, AKA a big-ass dragonfly*. Yanma, and especially it's evolution, are inspired by what is possibly the most iconic animal of the Carboniferous period. The bountiful plant life during this period increased the amount of oxygen available in the atmosphere*, allowing for bugs to grow to massive sizes. Meganeura had a wingspan that reached nearly two and a half feet!

This set has dual STAB to hit hard, Miracle Seed boosted Giga Drain to stay healthy, and Ancient Power for coverage and as a reference to its long-extinct design inspiration. Yanma is already quite fast for a NFE Pokemon (tied for 4th I believe), letting it effectively revenge kill right away, but speed boost will quickly make it the fastest thing on the field.


The Setup Sweeper

Exeggcute @ Heat Rock
Ability: Chlorophyll
- Solar Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Synthesis
- Sunny Day

Bookending the lineup, we have our other Grass type. Another seed Pokémon (yes, Exeggcute are seeds*) to represent this pivotal trait in plant evolution. While seeds existed in this period, berries did not, so the Harvest ability was out of the question. This period was marked by widespread wildfires due to the abundance of oxygen*, so a sun sweeper set makes thematic sense.

This set functions much like a conventional setup sweeper, with the sun making the powerful Solar Beam viable, boosting HP Fire, and doubling Exeggcute's speed. Synthesis lets it take advantage of the extra sun turns it gets from the Heat Rock.

Lies

Don't take this as an accurate description of the Carboniferous period. The level of research I put into this amounted to reading Wikipedia articles and relying on potential misconceptions about the period. The inaccuracies in the post that I caught I make note of below, but there are potentially other things I got wrong or over-simplified.

• Fero- and Ferro-, both Latin roots, are completely unrelated.
• The lack of lignin decomposers is one possible explanation, but it may not be true and there are other possible explanations for why so much of our coal comes from this period.
• Apparently the coal into diamonds thing is a misconception, or at least a very rare occurance. Most diamond deposits evidently far predate this period.
• The Carboniferous may not have actually had a consistently high level of oxygen after all, but it's a well known "fact" about the period.
• According to the Pokedex, Exeggcute are "mistaken for eggs" and are "like" seeds, so for the purposes of this team, I'm considering them to be seeds.
• It likely was elevated for some portion of the Carboniferous, which is partially determined by the increased frequency of wildfires.

 

[CTNC]

Thoughts after last round

Voting over - congratulations to Pikachu315111 for winning this round!

Will DM you shortly.

View attachment 772005View attachment 772006

*sees my name on top*
:D
*sees congrats to Pikachu315111*
:)
*looks at left screenshot*
:(
That explains how I was on top with only 15 Points. That felt oddly low until I realized I was fourth... Fourth is pretty good, but I'm still slightly disappointed and I can never get over this.

You are a Grass-type specialist in Coastal Kalos. How do you best represent your chosen type?​

Okay. I'm over it. Congrats to the actual winner, Pikachu315111, and thanks for picking Grass! :D

Also, congrats to Count Bleck on getting third on their first round!

I could do Status Moves only because Grass is so good for that and I use multiple Grass types every playthough because Leech Seed is that good. Let's see what's in the dex first...
...
Huh... Between the three Grass types and a Pokemon who disguises itself as a plant, I'm seeing a much more clear theme than peace, love, and plants... Pain! :D



Exeggutor
Chlorophyll
-Seed Bomb
-Zen Headbutt
-Egg Bomb
-Gravity

If you've seen any old cartoons, I don't need to explain where this is going. If you haven't, you have no idea what you've missed out on. Also, do you know how much coconut falling on your head hurts? Between how tall palm trees are and how heavy coconuts are... I think it might depend on if being knocked out stops you from feeling pain.

The three Attacks are pretty much hitting things with coconuts. The last move helps Accuracy issues and is way too perfect.


Dragalge
Poison Touch
-Draco Meteor
-Gunk Shot
-Play Rough
-Toxic Spikes

As much as I don't like using anyone who can't learn moves of the type the team is supposed to represent, no one else felt like they fit a Grass team more than the Pokemon who camouflages as a piece of kelp and, as much as I don't like using moves that are only learnable after the games the team is for, Draco Meteor fitting the pain theme a bit too well and not wanting other moves getting weakened by it meant I had to go with Gunk Shot.

Dragalge is second to take advantage of Gravity if Exeggutor used it and it's still up. With every Attack having less than 100 Accuracy, it could use the global nerf to Evasion. The first move is because giant space rocks hit a little harder than coconuts and a little less expected from what appears to be a harmless piece of kelp. Gunk Shot is the only Physical Poison Attack other than Poison Tail. Play Rough's animation is a cloud of cartoon violence and I love the idea of a move about being playful on a team about pain. Since I think just using 4 Attacks is less interesting, I went with Toxic Spikes to cause long term pain long after Dragalge is done.

Poison Touch was chosen over Poison Point because I thought the "Insult to Injury" Poison adding more to Attacks fit the theme more than the "Do Not Touch" Poison.

Corsola
Hustle
-Ingrain
-Sandstorm
-Toxic
-Head Smash

I thought Corsola would be able to learn Giga Drain...
*checks movesets*
Oh. It can in Gen 8. And only Galarain Corsola can learn it. Also, the games that introduce Galarian Corsola are the ones that remove Ingrain from Corsola's Egg Moves... Does Game Freak not want me the Pokemon based on something that looks and acts like a plant on my plant team? Well, this is still Gen 6, so I'm going with Ingrain!

Anyway, real life coral is where the slapstick comedy stops. There are types of coral that are sharp, poisonous, and can easily break off into pointy shards. Since both Ingrain and the Poison move everyone can learn until Gen 8 lean into Stall, I leaned into that touching coral can cause a lot of pain for a really long time. I'd lean into spikiness too, but Spike Cannon is Normal and only has 20 Power. Sandstorm boosting Special Defense makes it function as slow acting "offense" and long lasting defense. For the last move, I went with the move that most embodies pain. I don't know why Corsola can learn Head Smash, but I'm not complaining. 64 Accuracy with Hustle means it probably won't hit, but 150 Power and 50% Recoil means it will probably KO at least one Pokemon if it does hit.


Leafeon
Leaf Guard
-Leaf Blade
-Iron Tail
-X-Scissor
-Swords Dance

You may be wondering how Leafeon fits into the theme of pain. It's so cute and (probably) fluffy! How can you not want to pet the plant? Well, turns out it's a really pointy plant. Seriously. Leafeon has Base 110 Attack and it was one of the few Pokemon who could learn Leaf Blade in Diamond and Pearl. Also, Each Eeveelution gained a new Level Move at Level 78 in Platinum. (Flareon, infamously, gained Lava Plume instead of Flare Blitz.) What did Leafeon gain? Swords Dance. (Which it already learned through TM) I thought it sliced things with its tail until I thought about X-Scissor and remembered its ears look a lot like its tail. Turns out Leafeon is just pointy all over... I still want to pet the little guy though. Totally worth the blood loss. :D

Barbaracle
Tough Claws
-Grass Knot
-Razor Shell
-Cross Chop
-Shell Smash

Like most plants, Barbaracle is practically embedded into whatever its grew onto. Unlike plants, it doesn't see why that means it should have mobility problems and tore its rocks from the ground to make its mobility someone else's problem instead. If it's still not someone else's problem yet, that's what Shell Smash is for. Mobility makes it a lot less like fungus or plants than real life barnacles, but the claws also make it a lot more painful.

Razor Shell is as powerful as Stone Edge, thanks to Tough Claws, and more accurate. Cross Chop is used over Rock STAB because Tough Claws isn't much worse than STAB and contact moves help with the feeling that you should stay away. Also, a mere 100 Power Rock Attack feels kind of lame after Corsola. :P Grass Knot is somehow a contact move, so it's boosted by Tough Claws. If you want to tell me it sucks, yeah. It does. It's still a Grass Attack and still way stronger than when it's used by the Sawk in BW's Elite Four though.

I'd feel a worse about two Water/Rock on the same team causing type overlap, but Water/Rock resists 4 out of 5 of Grass's weaknesses and Grass resists 3 out of 4 of Water/Rock's weaknesses.


Ferrothorn
Iron Barbs
-Power Whip
-Iron Head
-Rollout
-Hone Claws

You know what's known for falling on heads and being more painful than coconuts? Durians!

'nuff said.

If I actually need to say more, Hone Claws is more menacing than Curse and makes it so Attacks won't miss unless the player uses Evasion. Rollout was chosen as coverage because it's the coverage move most likely to make people wince if they think about Ferrothorn using it. :D



I'm not sure if that says more about the type or the theme I went with, but I'm pretty sure these are the 6 Pokemon I would've gone with if I hadn't thought about a theme. Also, I probably had more fun thinking about causing pain than I should have... Then again, coconuts are comedy gold.

 

[Eeveeto]

Did you know that Grassy Terrain is a Gen 6 move? Unfortunately, out of all Coastal Kalos, only 1 Pokemon learns the move, but that doesn,t matter that much if the battle is Double.

Item: Sitrus Berry. Ability: Harvest. Moves: Grassy Terrain, Stun Spore, Giga Drain, Psychic. Grass Mon, nothing to justify. Its the Grassy Terrain setter, a move that makes all our team stronger and more durable. Has Harvest + Sitrus Berry combo and Stun Spore to paralyze. Of course, with 7 weaknesses in a Double Battle it won,t last much... but it has a VGC winning teammate to support it.
Item: Air Balloon. Ability: Pickup. Moves: Nuzzle, Follow Me, Seed Bomb, Super Fang. Several Pachirisu's Pokedex entries state that it lives on trees and likes berries. It makes sense, since its a squirrel. Pachirisu happens to learn some Grass moves, so it fits into our theme. This Pachirisu uses Follow Me to allow Exeggutor to attack. It has Air Balloon to not only avoid first turn Earthquake (which will then be nerfed by Grassy Terrain), but also to be itemless after being hit. This allows Pachirisu to collect a Sitrus Berry each time Exeggutor consumes one, therefore healing the same turn.
Item: Leftovers. Ability: Moody. Moves: Soak, Octazooka, Energy Ball, String Shot. Octillery is based on an octopus (Really? Who could have known!). Octopus live on sea floor and camuflage themselves to hunt their preys. Sea weed is very useful for this, allowing octopus to change their color and hunt unsuspecting fishes that want to eat such sea weed. Octillery the Pokemon learns Grass moves to reflect on this. Our Octillery supports the team by dropping Speed of both opponents with String Shot and changing their typings with Soak, in order to make them weak to Grass. The offensive moves are Octazooka, which is signature and drops Accuracy, and obviously a Grass move. Moody is another cool ability that abuses the paralysis and accuracy drops.
Item: Rocky Helmet. Ability: Iron Barbs. Moves: Power Whip, Iron Head, Thunder Wave, Spikes. Oh, cool, an actual Grass type. Iron Barbs + Rocky Helmet = fun. Thunder Wave= fun. Spikes = grounded opponents won,t be noticing the Grassy Terrain if it still lasts.
Item: Heracronite. Ability: Moxie. Moves: Pin Missile, Arm Thrust, Rock Blast, Bullet Seed. Like Pachirisu, Heracross lives on trees (until someone Headbutts them) and likes to ear honey and tree sap. Its the Mega of the team and uses its new ability Skill Link with 4 different moves, Bullet Seed among them. The Speed drop the 4 previous Mons provided start to make sense with this slow Mega.
Item: Life Orb. Ability: Chlorophyll. Moves: Leaf Blade, Knock Off, Iron Tail, X-Scissor. If there is an Eeveelution in the type, it has to be the ace. Being the ace, it uses the most powerful moves possible to sweep.

 

[DrPumpkinz]

|

A prickly Steel-type trainer and a goofy Psychic-type trainer initially bond over their ace Pokemon both being part Grass-type, and eventually their relationship blossoms into a love that has lasted 40 years. You find these two celebrating their anniversary on the beach.

team

Steelix @ Life Orb
Ability: Rock Head
- Iron Tail
- Earth Power
- Rock Slide
- Ice Fang


Mr. Mime @ Light Clay
Ability: Soundproof
- Fake Out
- Light Screen
- Dazzling Gleam
- Psychic

First up is Steelix and Mr. Mime. Steelix hits stuff hard with its Sheer Force attacks, while Mime plays support with Fake Out and Light Screen.


Mawile @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
- Iron Head
- Play Rough
- Incinerate
- Sucker Punch


Slowbro @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Own Tempo
- Scald
- Psychic
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam

Next up is Mawile and Slowbro. This time, the Psychic-type takes on the offensive role, with Mawile supporting with Intimidate and Incinerate.


Ferrothorn @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Iron Barbs
- Curse
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Payback


Exeggutor @ Starf Berry
Ability: Harvest
- Wood Hammer
- Psychic
- Nature Power
- Ancient Power

Finally, the Grass-types that brought these trainers together all those years ago. Both Pokemon go on the offensive by stacking boosts, Ferrothorn with Curse and Exeggutor with Harvest Starf Berry. Chekhov's Beach makes its return, turning Exeggutor's Nature Power into Earth Power.

 

[Frostbiyt]

Why have you done this to me, Carbink sprite?

 

[DrPumpkinz]

Why have you done this to me, Carbink sprite?

If you want to make inserting sprites into your posts easier, you can just surround the Pokemon's name in colons. So doing
: carbink :
without the spaces gives

and these will pretty much always line up with each other.



Similarly, you can insert most battle sprites by putting a generation's abbreviation before the Pokemon's name.

: rb/charizard :


: dp/charizard :


: sv/charizard :

(everything past xy looks the same because I'm pretty sure the images are taken directly from Showdown)

Unfortunately you can't insert shiny Pokemon or sprites from other games in a given generation this way.
:gs/charizard-shiny:
:fl/charizard:

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Good evening - new poll is up.

https://strawpoll.com/7MZ0kDbWmgo​

You have until 2nd October, 9PM GMT to cast your vote!


Numbers time.

Numbers

Ferrothorn: 6

Exeggutor: 5

Leafeon: 3

Exeggcute: 2

Ferroseed: 1

Heracross: 2
Octillery: 2

Barbaracle: 1
Corsola: 1
Dragalge: 1
Mr Mime: 1
Hawlucha: 1
Solrock: 1
Helioptile: 1
Heliolisk: 1
Houndoom: 1
Pachirisu: 1
Slowbro: 1
Steelix: 1
Dedenne: 1
Pinsir: 1
Salamence: 1
Relicanth: 1
Mawile: 1
Clamperl: 1
Carbink: 1
Mantine: 1
Yanma: 1


Analysis

Well. Was this one as weird as hoped for? I'd say so. Quite the odd array of species we have here. I was going to say how funky this environment was, but I'll just quote Pikachu315111's initial comments as I think they put it rather well:

Coastal Kalos/Grass is interesting though. You'd think being near the water it would be a fine habitat for plants, but not only is there just three Grass-type families (Ferroseed family, Leafeon, and Exeggcute), but also surprisingly not that many obvious "cross overs" as most Pokemon here are Water (obviously), Ground (surprisingly), Psychic (random), and Poison (no clue why Route 11 is Poison-type central).

So, to start, we've got three Grass lines with very little unity. Exeggutor is a tropical palm tree, Ferrothorn a brutal and offensive spiky ball of aggression, and Leafeon the most docile of all Eevee's many evolved forms (Platinum dex entry: It basically does not fight. ...Cool, thanks).

And the coast of Kalos is a somewhat wild and untamed place for all its stunning beauty: not a relaxed sun-drenched beach like the shores of Alola or a peaceful grassland like Kanto or Johto. Instead, we've got blustery cliff faces, caves full of lurking bloodsuckers, grasses full of things that sting and bite, and a sea absolutely teeming with poison. It's perhaps not a surprise, in such an inhospitable locale, that Ferrothorn would prove to be the most popular Grass-type, and Leafeon the least.

This was another round where the wildcards are very thinly spread out, with almost no consistent picks. And as noted, it's home to a great many Poison-types: despite Mountain Kalos being a place with literal swamps abundant in Poison-types and Poison-adjacent species like Wooper, Goomy, and Shuckle, coastal Kalos has its fair share too. Despite that, not many of them actually made it in. Instead, our picks mostly stuck to the Grass-adjacent: there's a host of Bugs here, and honey-loving tree-dweller Heracross fittingly got a couple of inclusions. Yanma, Pinsir, and Salamence also felt quite at home in a windy cliffside environment; we also got species at home in the many caves found in this area, like Steelix, Mawile, and Carbink. Dedenne and Pachirisu, being berry-loving squirrelly species, made it in as well.

Of course, being a coast, it's often sunny, and so sun-loving Fire-types make a fairly natural fit: Heliolisk, Houndoom, and Solrock (itself not a Fire-type, but very much often aligned with Fire). But we're also near the sea, so water-dwellers are the obvious go-to. You'd think coastal Kalos would be a natural place to find a Grass-Water type, but amusingly Lombre isn't found until Mountain Kalos. Instead, we have Dragalge, Corsola, Barbaracle, and Clamperl. Interesting that Octillery topped the list of wildcards: though not particularly grassy, it has much-vaunted elemental diversity and learns Bullet Seed.


Stuff I expected to see more (or at all)

Not a whole lot that wasn't already used. Pelipper might have been interesting, though it doesn't connect well to a lot of Grass concepts. Crustle has some interesting aesthetic overlap with Ferrothorn, as does Cloyster: there's actually a potentially interesting shell theme you could develop, or even some sort of explosion-centred doubles team.

Other Eeveelutions! Espeon would work on a sun team, as would Flareon.

Emolga, to complete the squirrel trifecta.

Though not a Grass-type, Chimecho has some interesting thematic overlap and could have been an interesting cleric.

Miltank is one I often think of as Grass-adjacent, though it learns few Grass moves (for some reason, it gets Solarbeam! Why on earth) - but cows are creatures often found in fields, I suppose.

Ampharos was a surprise not to see, as it's had long assocation with Grass thanks to learning the rare Cotton Spore (and, after Gen V, Cotton Guard) and Mareep is a Grass-affiliated type, often being found on farms and grassland areas.

Not sure why Chatot feels so like it should fit on a Grass team, but something about it feels like it should. Idk exactly. Maybe I'm reaching...

 

[Count Bleck]

Ah, nuts, missed out on it. Oh well, good luck everyone!

Suppose I could tell a lil of what I had been brewing: a doubles team with a focus on not only Trick Room, but Rototiller! Using ground types to deter fire types while boosting our grass allies, while Mega ampharos keeps the pesky Talonflames away. Alas, I didnt get to finish the final movesets, so let this be a what could have been,

 

[Pikachu315111]

and Leafeon the most docile of all Eevee's many evolved forms (Platinum dex entry: It basically does not fight. ...Cool, thanks).

Not to mention up until Gen VII (and still even after) all its other dex entries is essentially P H O T O S Y N T H E S I S (and clean air).

Then we got some more interesting dex entries:
Moon: "When young smell like grass, old smell like fallen leaves" I guess fallen leaves have a different smell from grass?
Ultra Sun: "Doesn't like disputes, but sharpens its leaf-like tail if it has to shank you for its friends" ... Wait, what?
Sword: "Galarians love its smell and make perfume of it!" No no, go back to the sharp leaf tail.
Shield: "It's blade tail can cleanly cut through tress" Awesome!... and shouldn't you be the Sword dex entry?
Legends: Arceus: "Plant cells found in fur, blade tail can fell large trees in one stroke, sharper than a master-crafted sword" Don't underestimate Leafeon!
... And then SV go back to repeating two of the boring dex entries. Boo.

caves full of lurking bloodsuckers

I knew you couldn't trust Whismurs...

Of course, being a coast, it's often sunny, and so sun-loving Fire-types make a fairly natural fit: Heliolisk, Houndoom, and Solrock (itself not a Fire-type, but very much often aligned with Fire).

Solrock wouldn't have been a bad pick for my team now thinking about it. I was trying not to double up on non-theme Types but since I had a whole team of Grass a second Psychic wouldn't have been too off, would fit better than a random octopus.

You'd think coastal Kalos would be a natural place to find a Grass-Water type, but amusingly Lombre isn't found until Mountain Kalos.

Eh, the coastal environment doesn't feel quite right for lily pads, that's more for a pond or lake. Looking through the other Grass-types in the Kalos Dex, I feel others that could have been in the Coastal Dex are the Oddish family & Hoppip family. Outside of Dex, maybe Tangela family.

Not sure why Chatot feels so like it should fit on a Grass team, but something about it feels like it should. Idk exactly. Maybe I'm reaching...

Maybe because of its bright green and blue colors? Being sorta sound-based you'd think it would also learn Grass Whistle, but it doesn't.

Suppose I could tell a lil of what I had been brewing: a doubles team with a focus on not only Trick Room, but Rototiller! Using ground types to deter fire types while boosting our grass allies, while Mega ampharos keeps the pesky Talonflames away. Alas, I didnt get to finish the final movesets, so let this be a what could have been,

Reuniclus (over Leafeon who would receive the benefit of Rototiller)?

 

[Count Bleck]

Reuniclus (over Leafeon who would receive the benefit of Rototiller)?

You never really want to leave a TR team with just one setter, and leafeon does not benefit from being in TR at all. Plus: Reuni literally has a green thumb and the theme is tending to your plants.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Voting over - congratulations to CTNC on winning this round!

Will DM you shortly.

 

[Frostbiyt]

Damn, so close. Congrats CTNC, yours was my favorite.

QuentinQuonce it appears that the ranked choice voting system you're using allocates points based on where someone is ranked and whoever has the most points wins, is this correct? If so, it's a system that encourages strategic voting. I could have ranked CTNC last (from 4 points to 0) and I'd have won the poll. Generally, it encourages people who submitted entries to rank those they think have a good shot of winning low so they get as few points as possible. Instant runoff voting would solve this. If I rank myself first, the only way CTNC (or whoever) would get any points from me is if I was eliminated, so I'd have no incentive to rank them lower than I think they deserve.

 

[Hugin]

Damn, so close. Congrats CTNC, yours was my favorite.

QuentinQuonce it appears that the ranked choice voting system you're using allocates points based on where someone is ranked and whoever has the most points wins, is this correct? If so, it's a system that encourages strategic voting. I could have ranked CTNC last (from 4 points to 0) and I'd have won the poll. Generally, it encourages people who submitted entries to rank those they think have a good shot of winning low so they get as few points as possible. Instant runoff voting would solve this. If I rank myself first, the only way CTNC (or whoever) would get any points from me is if I was eliminated, so I'd have no incentive to rank them lower than I think they deserve.

It does, but that's complicated. And I think people mostly do want the best team to win, rather than trying to win themselves.

TBH things are chaotic enough that I think people being honest wins out just in general(there are even people who don't always put themselves at #1). I've only ever won with teams that aren't my faves, and my fave teams usually land lower on the rankings, so at least personally I have no confidence in my ability to guess what the voters will do and always rank honestly(with myself at #1, to be clear).

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Damn, so close. Congrats CTNC, yours was my favorite.

QuentinQuonce it appears that the ranked choice voting system you're using allocates points based on where someone is ranked and whoever has the most points wins, is this correct? If so, it's a system that encourages strategic voting. I could have ranked CTNC last (from 4 points to 0) and I'd have won the poll. Generally, it encourages people who submitted entries to rank those they think have a good shot of winning low so they get as few points as possible. Instant runoff voting would solve this. If I rank myself first, the only way CTNC (or whoever) would get any points from me is if I was eliminated, so I'd have no incentive to rank them lower than I think they deserve.

Interesting point. I guess it comes down to whether you want yourself to win vs the best team (if you consider someone else's the best). Like, if everyone gave themselves 5 points, but CTNC's team (as an example) was uniformly considered the best and everyone gave them 4 points, they'd still come out as the winner.

I kind of assume that most of the time people will vote highly for themselves, but it's seemingly not always the case. I also deliberately don't make the results public before voting closes, precisely so that people can't strategically vote to displace a leading candidate.

Interested in hearing more perspectives though!

 

[Eeveeto]

Personally I almost always give myself the second place, unless I see many teams that look cooler than mine. By principle, I never give myself the first place, but giving low (or not at all), score would mean I am not believing in what I cooked, at which point, question arises: "Why try at all?"

 

[Frostbiyt]

Interesting point. I guess it comes down to whether you want yourself to win vs the best team (if you consider someone else's the best). Like, if everyone gave themselves 5 points, but CTNC's team (as an example) was uniformly considered the best and everyone gave them 4 points, they'd still come out as the winner.

I kind of assume that most of the time people will vote highly for themselves, but it's seemingly not always the case. I also deliberately don't make the results public before voting closes, precisely so that people can't strategically vote to displace a leading candidate.

Interested in hearing more perspectives though!

If you do want to consider an alternative, it looks like strawpoll doesn't do instant runoff. I did find this site that does (the ice cream flavor sample poll is a good example of how it would work), though idk if it has all the features you'd want and its UI is less user friendly.

 

[ItsScaryCary]

im very late to the original question but I'd be a ice type leader in either the crowned tundra OR somewhere in hissui

 

[QuentinQuonce]

im very late to the original question but I'd be a ice type leader in either the crowned tundra OR somewhere in hissui

You're also very late to actually reading the rules of the thread, because what you've posted here has no relevance.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Hello! Our last round's winner has selected our next topic.

Given the upcoming release of Pokemon Legends: Z-A, I thought it'd be fun to stay in the Kalos region, and so it's to another slice of that tripartite land we head to, and a type that's always fun to play around with.

You are a Dragon-type specialist in Central Kalos. How do you best represent your chosen type?
​

A reminder to please read the guidelines in the OP before commenting, especially if you're new to the thread. You have until October 16th, 9PM GMT to make your case!

Once again to be perfectly clear: you may only select Pokemon from the Central Kalos Pokedex, i.e. Chespin-Haxorus. Any teams which include Pokemon from either the Coastal or Mountain Kalos dexes will not be valid for this round and will be disqualified.

Central Kalos Dex is here for those who need it: https://www.serebii.net/xy/centralpokedex.shtml

Teams so far

Ironmage: Haxorus, Talonflame, Charizard, Lucario, Gyarados, Scrafty
Magnus0: Haxorus, Alakazam, Aegislash, Pangoro, Charizard, Blastoise
Eeveeto: Haxorus, Fraxure, Axew, Venusaur, Blastoise, Charizard
Pikachu315111: Haxorus, Fraxure, Charizard, Smeargle, Scrafty, Chesnaught
Frostbiyt: Haxorus, Fraxure, Charizard, Kecleon, Gyarados, Charmeleon
CTNC: Haxorus, Fraxure, Dodrio, Charizard, Crawdaunt, Gyarados
Lunaflare: Haxorus, Dunsparce, Scrafty, Lucario, Gyarados, Chesnaught
DrPumpkinz: Haxorus, Sharpedo, Charizard, Crobat, Exploud, Doublade

 

[Ironmage]

I never was a huge fan of Dragon, and this team kind of vents that frustration. Back when I was getting into things around gens 3-5, Dragon always gave the impression of using high stats to get away with low skill. Outrage especially, no reason to even consider switching attacks when nothing can switch in on it anyway. Gen 6 may have introduced the Fairy-type, but this trainer still sticks to the old ways of doing things (derogatory)


Talonflame @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Steel Wing

Nothing says straightforward in gen 6 like Choice Band Talonflame. Honestly, there's a part of me that thinks that U-turn is too kind. In any case, a flying firebreather checks some aesthetic boxes.


Gyarados @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
- Ice Fang
- Waterfall
- Outrage
- Earthquake
Moxie's great for this theme. No need to spend any turns on setup, just keep clicking attacks.


Charizard @ Choice Specs
Ability: Blaze
- Dragon Pulse
- Air Slash
- Flamethrower
- Focus Blast
Rounding out Lance's classic dragon substitutes and the set of choiced attackers at the same time.


Scrafty @ Life Orb
Ability: Moxie
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Poison Jab
- Brick Break
Another Moxie Outrage user, though one that lacks a good source of speed and so needs to (ugh) use a non-attacking move


Haxorus @ Assault Vest
Ability: Mold Breaker
- Rock Slide
- Outrage
- Draco Meteor
- Poison Jab
As a real Dragon-type, Haxorus can use the strongest Dragon move, Draco Meteor! What's a "stat distribution"? That sounds like something for weaker types.


Lucario-Mega @ Lucarionite
Ability: Justified
- Close Combat
- Iron Tail
- Aura Sphere
- Flash Cannon
Adaptability's a fine ability in certain circumstances. Like Beedrill, who needs all the help it can get, or Porygon-Z, where it helps encourage its type-changing gimmick. Outside of that, I feel like it leads to boring play patterns. Tinted lens, its closest comparison, is mostly confined to Bug-types, whose STAB generally has interesting interactions outside the type chart.