Figured this would probably be necessary.
(If the pics don't work I will fix it later)
I'm gonna break this into each day. This is going to probably end up being longer than it should be, but there was so much awesome stuff that happened that it's worth noting it all.
FRIDAY
So it all started with me leaving college north of Milwaukee on Friday. I was going to be picking people up but that ended up falling through, so I went straight home. I got on GBU, traded Crow for a few of my mons (all level 1 except Virizion and Tyranitar). I then failed at trading some mons to Lucien and Ashby. At about 3:00 I had to go pick my friend David up from his school, as he was going to go along with me. We came back to my house, got the last stuff needed for the trip, then headed into town to meet Jhud (Jake) and the Pokecrew (Amy, Chris, Sam).
We met them at the gas station and drove them down to the Bar + Grill for a fish fry. It was delicious as always. We then proceeded to go back to my house for a visit. We stopped in, said hi to my parents, I gave them a 10 cent tour, we talked a little bit, and then went outside and walked down the trail. But apparently, I have pink carpet.
OK SERIOUSLY THAT IS RED IS IT NOT
Anyways David's parents gave us free lasertag (:D!) so we went down there and played 3 games, winning two before getting piled by like 25 kids D:. After lasertagging we went to Madison to our hotel room. It was so windy that it looked like I was drunk but it is just not worth it to try to steer back every half a second so yeah. We got to the road by the hotel and suddenly OH MY LORD IS THAT SERIOUSLY A BUS COMING AT ME?! Yes, indeed it was a bus going the wrong way down the boulevard...well needless to say it stopped before it ended my life thank goodness. We made it into the hotel, checked in, convinced Jhud the pool closed at 5, went up to our rooms, got organized, then went to the pool, which really closed at 11. We did, however, find a warm welcome to Wisconsin for the Pokecrew in the elevator.
After getting Jhudslammed into David in a dunk contest and relaxing in the hot tub, we went back up to the room and battled a little. Suddenly a wild hunger appeared and we decided to go down to Denny's for some breakfast at around midnight. This was so reminiscent of Steak n Shake in Fort Wayne- there were a group of Snorlaxes speaking in Spanish next to us, and a group of Asians sitting at the other table all in suits at the other end of the room. Needless to say we didn't feel awkward talking about Pokemon. As we were ready to leave and paying the bill, we were figuratively told "YOU SHALL NOT PASS"
We got back to the hotel, and saw the guy at the front desk walking out back carrying something to the dumpster. He was balding with a mullet and looked like the guy you don't want to take free candy from...so this was quite creepy.
We talked for a bit then went to sleep.
SATURDAY
I woke up Saturday and Jake was in the room asking us if we wanted to go to the Zoo. I wasn't all that thrilled about the idea so I said I'd stay back with David and go to the Terrace to check out what the venue looked like. We headed down there after a bit and it was really cool looking. I took a few snapshots of the city on the drive down. The view across lake Menona was really awesome! You can see the convention center from the lake, it's the big roundish dome-ish thing.
We went in and talked to Marriland, Steve from the PKMNcast, and Jim (I'm pretty sure that was his name), the guy running the event. Everyone there was running it smoothly and had everything under control, which was really good to see, contrary to Fort Wayne. We left after a bit, and on the way back ANOTHER car was going the wrong way...on the same street. I don't know what to say. We went back in and met up with the rest of the gang, and went back down and brought our DSes with us just incase. We ended up getting a triple battle with some kid and then left after hanging out a bit. On the way back we overran the exit and went down the highway to turn around, and a guy on a yellow motorcycle in overalls passed us. Pics, it happened.
We spent the rest of the afternoon in our hotel rooms. I get a text from Sixonesix asking if I can pick him up, and that he has to go to the bathroom so I should wait about 10 minutes. At about 7:00 David and I left to go run to Walmart and pick up Sixonesix and Tad. We got a little lost on the way to finding Sixonesix but it worked out...however there were NO bathrooms at the bus station so...I'll let you draw conclusions. After that we got Tad, and then went to Wendy's to meet up with everyone, and Reeeeseee and Corray from Skarmbliss were also meeting us there. We got food, I got an AIDS nugget, we talked for a while, then went to leave before a random battle broke out outside of the Wendy's.
I moved my car up to pick everyone up to go back to the hotel and jumped out quick. All of a sudden I see my car rolling backward towards the Wendy's and SPRINTED toward the car, slammed on the brake, and moved it back into the spot. Crisis averted!...and Wendy's saved. We got back to the hotel, and a wild Jhud in a thong appeared! ...I got him out of the room as quickly as possible and let them go down to the pool, and Tad and I played a game of Madden (28-0 before the game 'never happened'), then I took Tad back to his apartment. On the way back it was storming pretty hard, a bit of cloud to ground lightning and a lot of rain.
I went down to the lobby afterward to trade JRank Lucien's mons, and then traded Ashby (TheAshAttacks) the team as well. Afterward I figured I'd do one more battle before I went back upstairs. I went on GBU rated and got the second ranked player on the GBU! I was pretty pumped to get to battle someone good as warmup. He haxed the crap out of me early (which I wanted to happen, I wanted to get it out of the way) and then I came back and narrowly won the battle! That was a pretty good way to end the night, so I went back upstairs, showered, then went to try to sleep.
At like 2am I heard the door rattle and open, then heard someone run off. I went up to the door, closed it, and told Sixonesix that someone tried to break in, which it appeared happened. Five minutes later I heard it happen again, and sprinted to the door and opened it, only to see Sam SPRINTING down the hallway! I was really irritated because I didn't know the actual intentions and assumed he was trying to steal stuff, but it turned out that he was trying to pull a prank on us and put kool-aid in the shower so whoever took a shower in the morning would turn blue. We didn't take a shower in the morning so the next person to stay there would have some REALLY interesting complaints, but it didn't end up happening. But it was a somewhat good idea for a prank, I'll give them that.
I hadn't fallen asleep before that, and now it was about 3am so I figured I was screwed for the VGCs. I finally fell asleep eventually.
SUNDAY
I woke up somewhat naturally at like 6:50am and wasn't feeling completely awful, but it was enough to be irritating. We packed up the room and headed down for breakfast. There was a good breakfast at the hotel, I wasn't hungry though so I just had an apple. Sixonesix made waffles and David had some toast, and since I was done I went up to try to wake up the Pokecrew. Nothing. Jhud borrowed my 3DS the night before, I had my spare, but didn't want to go without it just incase my old DS's battery wasn't going to make it. Before we left I knocked one more time and they still didn't wake up so I just hoped they'd be ready. We went down to the convention center and got registered, then I called Jhud and apparently he wasn't awake, so thankfully I called! We met up with Tad, Evan, Synre, Psycho, Oberon, and a few others and talked for a while. They told us the event didn't start until 10, so once Jhud got there we went back to the car and grabbed some water and Vitamin C packs (so we could stay awake rofl) and went back in about 10 mins before it started.
So, it began...
(I will add the team in a little bit!)
ROUND 1
Vs Tyler ???
Random round 1, it must have been his first year in Masters because he really didn't look like he was older than 14. He had a REALLY scary lead that I saw in team preview but hoped he would avoid. Swampert-Weavile was a dagger to my team and I wasn't really prepared to see it even though they were his first two mons. He led them, I led top-Tyranitar...oops. His other 4 Pokemon were weak to Rock Slide so I figured I might as well lead that and hope he doesn't lead one of the two. I made a really bold prediction that he'd fake out Tyranitar instead of low kicking and then Muddy Water, so I Rock Slide-Close Combatted the Swampert. He switched out Weavile into Arcanine, which looked like a great move at first, but he was like "OH CRAP I MISCLICKED, I EARTHQUAKED". He was like "I hope Swampert dies..."...well, I Close Combat CRIT Swampert and he kind of thanked me for it...>_>. I ended up being able to rock slide away, he didn't run Low Kick on Weavile, and I took the battle 3-0.
ROUND 2
VS ???
I remember so little about this battle, all I know is we each had two crits that meant absolutely nothing. I think he led Garchomp and had a Krookodile, and Mamoswine took care of a lot of things.
ROUND 3
VS Theamericandream38
So since Tad won Fort Wayne and we were cool w each other, he said he'd give me the match, but he wanted to play me to the end. I was kind of distracted because we accidentally started before the people told us to begin the round, so it was hard to try to kind of pretend we weren't battling and pick my leads/moves. However we battled the night before and he beat me cleanly so I think he just had a better team and played me better both times. I'm really appreciative of him letting me take the win though, since he didn't have anything to really gain. :D <3
ROUND 4
VS Cameron (from BPL)
First Buckeye Pokemon League opponent. He was clearly running TR from the start and I congratulated him on having the prowess to run that type of thing, and told him he'll be able to get top 20 because of knowing TR alone. He outplayed me the first 3 turns, but then Amoonguss came in and things were never the same. I got a scare from Lum Rhyperior, but after that I was able to clean up with Mamoswine and Volcarona. His Lickilicky scared the daylights out of me because of possible explosion (which he told me he DID have) but I protected one mon per turn and duked it out for a win.
After Four rounds we stopped for a lunch break. We went to an Irish pub downtown and ate some food and grouped up with the BPL.
ROUND 5
VS Evan
Of all the people I wanted to face out of sheer curiosity of what they were running, it was Evan. I also wanted a rematch because of how stupid I was at Nationals and how good of a Carracosta he had there. This was a back and forth affair from the start. I led Top-Swine, which I never do, and it somewhat worked. He outplayed me on a couple turns early, but it came down to his Heatran and Breloom vs my Zapdos and Mamoswine. I noticed during the battle that Mamo was moving slower than Zapdos, which was not right...and he didn't get an Icy Wind off on it before that. The HP flying and Earthquake 4x super effectiveness were clutch, and I was able to sneak away with a win. It was a really enjoyable battle as always, having someone like Evan to joke around with during the battle makes it more relaxing and fun to do, and an easier win or loss. Probably the best battle of the day.
ROUND 6
VS Trainer Gold
I had faced Gold a few times on Skarmbliss but didn't know what he was running until I saw the dreaded Yanmega. That thing was my team's biggest problem, and I wanted to make sure it died an awful death before anything. He lead Yanmega-Metagross, I saw it coming so I led Top-Moth. I figured he'd either Air Slash or Protect Yanmega turn 1, and I was so incredibly afraid of that Metagross exploding, so I faked out the Metagross and Heat Waved. He Protected Metagross and Heat Wave KO'd the Yanmega, and from there I was able to set up and win the game. The Yanmega scared me but the good play turn 1 was able to get me out of it. It was a close battle at the end but I was feeling good...as long as that darn dragonfly was gone. He was another cool opponent to battle, and it was fun being able to laugh at some of the turns and how they played out, considering we had a few strange moves during the battle.
ROUND 7
VS Trainer Red
I'm 6-0 and pretty relieved to know I'm most likely going to Indianapolis for a discounted price. I knew Red from Skarmbliss but like Gold, I did not know what he was running. From the team preview I saw a rain team, so I instinctively led Hitmontop-Mamoswine, seeing a Toxicroak and an opportunity to KO it. He ended up leading non-rain with Terrakion, which is another nemesis for my team. I ended up being able to peck away at his mons, calling a Close Combat so I switched into Zapdos, and taking them down from there. Mamoswine came in and Earthquaked things, Ice Sharded off Terrakion, and left it and Zapdos for dead after Scizor came in and Bullet Punched away, and Thundurus had Electric Gem THUNDER so Zapdos was also gone (which is my Scizor counter). I had Hitmontop and Tyranitar in the back, so I figured I'd be okay as long as no misses happened. I faked out Scizor and Rock Slided, but he double protected. I figured his Scizor was slower than my Hitmontop, so I Close Combatted it second turn, hoping it was not bulky (assumed not since it had Life Orb). Sure enough it KO'd, and Rock Slide KO'd the Scizor but missed Thundurus. He got off a Thunder on my Tyranitar (thankfully not Hitmontop) and it did about half damage. On the last turn I Sucker Punched for a KO and won. Really intense battle, right next to Evan's for the best of the day.
So somehow on 3 1/2 hours of sleep I won. I hadn't been this confident in a team since Washington DC at my first regional, where I got top 16, and had learned a lot since then, so I felt good about it, but never really expected to win it all. There was no major hax either way all day, and that I am really thankful for. All the battles were against players who at least EV'd their teams and knew the basics, so that was also refreshing to see.
After it was over I got the paperwork, got the trophy, took a few pics, congratulated the others, lost my bag a few times, then headed out.
I'm gonna note this because it kind of happened, but after the event I found out my Mamoswine had NO EVs whatsoever. I got it as a level 1 Swinub who was just RNG bred and from there on out for some odd reason I assumed it was all set as soon as I leveled it up and gave it its moveset. I never bothered to check it...which could have backfired in a few situations. I used Mamoswine 6 out of 7 battles, which says a lot about how much it does, even without attack and speed EVs. It was extremely clutch in 3 of those battles, so it did make a huge difference. After being told it's a terrible Pokemon, too lackluster, and 'eats up a good sash', it felt good to come in and win with it, considering it IS the Pokemon that benefits most from a sash (priority, resists both sand and hail, strong attacker, somewhat fast).
The team was also used by Ashby at Colorado Springs, Lucien Lachance at Houston, and Crow380 at Athens. Ashby got 6th, Crow got 1st, and Lucien got 11th. Ashby and Lucien also used the non-EV'd swine, and only once was there a time the EVs might have mattered (but possibly not). I was told many times that this team was not good, not worth using, and had too many flaws. I saw THREE of the things it got beat by and was able to handle them today. The success it had at four different places says at least that it's competent and can be used effectively.
I'd like to thank everyone who made that such an awesome weekend, who helped with the team, and who helped make training for the event fun- Crow380, Lucien Lachance, TheAshAttacks (Ashby), Theamericandream38, Sarious (David), Sixonesix, Jhud, Sam, Amy, Chris, Evan, Synre, Psycho, Oberon, the BPL, JRank, and anyone else who was directly or indirectly part of it (I know I forgot at least one :x and I apologize in advance but there were so many people and so many things happening that it is hard to recall it all). That was one of the most enjoyable weekends ever and I'm thankful for everyone who was a part of it.
Also congrats to the Smogon and Skarmbliss communities for having a really strong outing at all the events this weekend, and congrats to Crow, Fishy, R Inanimate, Trainer Red, Trainer Gold, Ben7000, Wolfey, Human, MangoSol, Fish, Alaka, LPFan, Babbytron, the Arnold Dynasty, JiveTime, and anyone else who I forgot here too.
I'll proofread, add my team, and edit and stuff after my nightclass.
See you all at Nationals!
(If the pics don't work I will fix it later)
I'm gonna break this into each day. This is going to probably end up being longer than it should be, but there was so much awesome stuff that happened that it's worth noting it all.
FRIDAY
So it all started with me leaving college north of Milwaukee on Friday. I was going to be picking people up but that ended up falling through, so I went straight home. I got on GBU, traded Crow for a few of my mons (all level 1 except Virizion and Tyranitar). I then failed at trading some mons to Lucien and Ashby. At about 3:00 I had to go pick my friend David up from his school, as he was going to go along with me. We came back to my house, got the last stuff needed for the trip, then headed into town to meet Jhud (Jake) and the Pokecrew (Amy, Chris, Sam).
We met them at the gas station and drove them down to the Bar + Grill for a fish fry. It was delicious as always. We then proceeded to go back to my house for a visit. We stopped in, said hi to my parents, I gave them a 10 cent tour, we talked a little bit, and then went outside and walked down the trail. But apparently, I have pink carpet.
OK SERIOUSLY THAT IS RED IS IT NOT
Anyways David's parents gave us free lasertag (:D!) so we went down there and played 3 games, winning two before getting piled by like 25 kids D:. After lasertagging we went to Madison to our hotel room. It was so windy that it looked like I was drunk but it is just not worth it to try to steer back every half a second so yeah. We got to the road by the hotel and suddenly OH MY LORD IS THAT SERIOUSLY A BUS COMING AT ME?! Yes, indeed it was a bus going the wrong way down the boulevard...well needless to say it stopped before it ended my life thank goodness. We made it into the hotel, checked in, convinced Jhud the pool closed at 5, went up to our rooms, got organized, then went to the pool, which really closed at 11. We did, however, find a warm welcome to Wisconsin for the Pokecrew in the elevator.
After getting Jhudslammed into David in a dunk contest and relaxing in the hot tub, we went back up to the room and battled a little. Suddenly a wild hunger appeared and we decided to go down to Denny's for some breakfast at around midnight. This was so reminiscent of Steak n Shake in Fort Wayne- there were a group of Snorlaxes speaking in Spanish next to us, and a group of Asians sitting at the other table all in suits at the other end of the room. Needless to say we didn't feel awkward talking about Pokemon. As we were ready to leave and paying the bill, we were figuratively told "YOU SHALL NOT PASS"
We got back to the hotel, and saw the guy at the front desk walking out back carrying something to the dumpster. He was balding with a mullet and looked like the guy you don't want to take free candy from...so this was quite creepy.
We talked for a bit then went to sleep.
SATURDAY
I woke up Saturday and Jake was in the room asking us if we wanted to go to the Zoo. I wasn't all that thrilled about the idea so I said I'd stay back with David and go to the Terrace to check out what the venue looked like. We headed down there after a bit and it was really cool looking. I took a few snapshots of the city on the drive down. The view across lake Menona was really awesome! You can see the convention center from the lake, it's the big roundish dome-ish thing.
We went in and talked to Marriland, Steve from the PKMNcast, and Jim (I'm pretty sure that was his name), the guy running the event. Everyone there was running it smoothly and had everything under control, which was really good to see, contrary to Fort Wayne. We left after a bit, and on the way back ANOTHER car was going the wrong way...on the same street. I don't know what to say. We went back in and met up with the rest of the gang, and went back down and brought our DSes with us just incase. We ended up getting a triple battle with some kid and then left after hanging out a bit. On the way back we overran the exit and went down the highway to turn around, and a guy on a yellow motorcycle in overalls passed us. Pics, it happened.
We spent the rest of the afternoon in our hotel rooms. I get a text from Sixonesix asking if I can pick him up, and that he has to go to the bathroom so I should wait about 10 minutes. At about 7:00 David and I left to go run to Walmart and pick up Sixonesix and Tad. We got a little lost on the way to finding Sixonesix but it worked out...however there were NO bathrooms at the bus station so...I'll let you draw conclusions. After that we got Tad, and then went to Wendy's to meet up with everyone, and Reeeeseee and Corray from Skarmbliss were also meeting us there. We got food, I got an AIDS nugget, we talked for a while, then went to leave before a random battle broke out outside of the Wendy's.
I moved my car up to pick everyone up to go back to the hotel and jumped out quick. All of a sudden I see my car rolling backward towards the Wendy's and SPRINTED toward the car, slammed on the brake, and moved it back into the spot. Crisis averted!...and Wendy's saved. We got back to the hotel, and a wild Jhud in a thong appeared! ...I got him out of the room as quickly as possible and let them go down to the pool, and Tad and I played a game of Madden (28-0 before the game 'never happened'), then I took Tad back to his apartment. On the way back it was storming pretty hard, a bit of cloud to ground lightning and a lot of rain.
I went down to the lobby afterward to trade JRank Lucien's mons, and then traded Ashby (TheAshAttacks) the team as well. Afterward I figured I'd do one more battle before I went back upstairs. I went on GBU rated and got the second ranked player on the GBU! I was pretty pumped to get to battle someone good as warmup. He haxed the crap out of me early (which I wanted to happen, I wanted to get it out of the way) and then I came back and narrowly won the battle! That was a pretty good way to end the night, so I went back upstairs, showered, then went to try to sleep.
At like 2am I heard the door rattle and open, then heard someone run off. I went up to the door, closed it, and told Sixonesix that someone tried to break in, which it appeared happened. Five minutes later I heard it happen again, and sprinted to the door and opened it, only to see Sam SPRINTING down the hallway! I was really irritated because I didn't know the actual intentions and assumed he was trying to steal stuff, but it turned out that he was trying to pull a prank on us and put kool-aid in the shower so whoever took a shower in the morning would turn blue. We didn't take a shower in the morning so the next person to stay there would have some REALLY interesting complaints, but it didn't end up happening. But it was a somewhat good idea for a prank, I'll give them that.
I hadn't fallen asleep before that, and now it was about 3am so I figured I was screwed for the VGCs. I finally fell asleep eventually.
SUNDAY
I woke up somewhat naturally at like 6:50am and wasn't feeling completely awful, but it was enough to be irritating. We packed up the room and headed down for breakfast. There was a good breakfast at the hotel, I wasn't hungry though so I just had an apple. Sixonesix made waffles and David had some toast, and since I was done I went up to try to wake up the Pokecrew. Nothing. Jhud borrowed my 3DS the night before, I had my spare, but didn't want to go without it just incase my old DS's battery wasn't going to make it. Before we left I knocked one more time and they still didn't wake up so I just hoped they'd be ready. We went down to the convention center and got registered, then I called Jhud and apparently he wasn't awake, so thankfully I called! We met up with Tad, Evan, Synre, Psycho, Oberon, and a few others and talked for a while. They told us the event didn't start until 10, so once Jhud got there we went back to the car and grabbed some water and Vitamin C packs (so we could stay awake rofl) and went back in about 10 mins before it started.
So, it began...
(I will add the team in a little bit!)
ROUND 1
Vs Tyler ???
Random round 1, it must have been his first year in Masters because he really didn't look like he was older than 14. He had a REALLY scary lead that I saw in team preview but hoped he would avoid. Swampert-Weavile was a dagger to my team and I wasn't really prepared to see it even though they were his first two mons. He led them, I led top-Tyranitar...oops. His other 4 Pokemon were weak to Rock Slide so I figured I might as well lead that and hope he doesn't lead one of the two. I made a really bold prediction that he'd fake out Tyranitar instead of low kicking and then Muddy Water, so I Rock Slide-Close Combatted the Swampert. He switched out Weavile into Arcanine, which looked like a great move at first, but he was like "OH CRAP I MISCLICKED, I EARTHQUAKED". He was like "I hope Swampert dies..."...well, I Close Combat CRIT Swampert and he kind of thanked me for it...>_>. I ended up being able to rock slide away, he didn't run Low Kick on Weavile, and I took the battle 3-0.
ROUND 2
VS ???
I remember so little about this battle, all I know is we each had two crits that meant absolutely nothing. I think he led Garchomp and had a Krookodile, and Mamoswine took care of a lot of things.
ROUND 3
VS Theamericandream38
So since Tad won Fort Wayne and we were cool w each other, he said he'd give me the match, but he wanted to play me to the end. I was kind of distracted because we accidentally started before the people told us to begin the round, so it was hard to try to kind of pretend we weren't battling and pick my leads/moves. However we battled the night before and he beat me cleanly so I think he just had a better team and played me better both times. I'm really appreciative of him letting me take the win though, since he didn't have anything to really gain. :D <3
ROUND 4
VS Cameron (from BPL)
First Buckeye Pokemon League opponent. He was clearly running TR from the start and I congratulated him on having the prowess to run that type of thing, and told him he'll be able to get top 20 because of knowing TR alone. He outplayed me the first 3 turns, but then Amoonguss came in and things were never the same. I got a scare from Lum Rhyperior, but after that I was able to clean up with Mamoswine and Volcarona. His Lickilicky scared the daylights out of me because of possible explosion (which he told me he DID have) but I protected one mon per turn and duked it out for a win.
After Four rounds we stopped for a lunch break. We went to an Irish pub downtown and ate some food and grouped up with the BPL.
ROUND 5
VS Evan
Of all the people I wanted to face out of sheer curiosity of what they were running, it was Evan. I also wanted a rematch because of how stupid I was at Nationals and how good of a Carracosta he had there. This was a back and forth affair from the start. I led Top-Swine, which I never do, and it somewhat worked. He outplayed me on a couple turns early, but it came down to his Heatran and Breloom vs my Zapdos and Mamoswine. I noticed during the battle that Mamo was moving slower than Zapdos, which was not right...and he didn't get an Icy Wind off on it before that. The HP flying and Earthquake 4x super effectiveness were clutch, and I was able to sneak away with a win. It was a really enjoyable battle as always, having someone like Evan to joke around with during the battle makes it more relaxing and fun to do, and an easier win or loss. Probably the best battle of the day.
ROUND 6
VS Trainer Gold
I had faced Gold a few times on Skarmbliss but didn't know what he was running until I saw the dreaded Yanmega. That thing was my team's biggest problem, and I wanted to make sure it died an awful death before anything. He lead Yanmega-Metagross, I saw it coming so I led Top-Moth. I figured he'd either Air Slash or Protect Yanmega turn 1, and I was so incredibly afraid of that Metagross exploding, so I faked out the Metagross and Heat Waved. He Protected Metagross and Heat Wave KO'd the Yanmega, and from there I was able to set up and win the game. The Yanmega scared me but the good play turn 1 was able to get me out of it. It was a close battle at the end but I was feeling good...as long as that darn dragonfly was gone. He was another cool opponent to battle, and it was fun being able to laugh at some of the turns and how they played out, considering we had a few strange moves during the battle.
ROUND 7
VS Trainer Red
I'm 6-0 and pretty relieved to know I'm most likely going to Indianapolis for a discounted price. I knew Red from Skarmbliss but like Gold, I did not know what he was running. From the team preview I saw a rain team, so I instinctively led Hitmontop-Mamoswine, seeing a Toxicroak and an opportunity to KO it. He ended up leading non-rain with Terrakion, which is another nemesis for my team. I ended up being able to peck away at his mons, calling a Close Combat so I switched into Zapdos, and taking them down from there. Mamoswine came in and Earthquaked things, Ice Sharded off Terrakion, and left it and Zapdos for dead after Scizor came in and Bullet Punched away, and Thundurus had Electric Gem THUNDER so Zapdos was also gone (which is my Scizor counter). I had Hitmontop and Tyranitar in the back, so I figured I'd be okay as long as no misses happened. I faked out Scizor and Rock Slided, but he double protected. I figured his Scizor was slower than my Hitmontop, so I Close Combatted it second turn, hoping it was not bulky (assumed not since it had Life Orb). Sure enough it KO'd, and Rock Slide KO'd the Scizor but missed Thundurus. He got off a Thunder on my Tyranitar (thankfully not Hitmontop) and it did about half damage. On the last turn I Sucker Punched for a KO and won. Really intense battle, right next to Evan's for the best of the day.
So somehow on 3 1/2 hours of sleep I won. I hadn't been this confident in a team since Washington DC at my first regional, where I got top 16, and had learned a lot since then, so I felt good about it, but never really expected to win it all. There was no major hax either way all day, and that I am really thankful for. All the battles were against players who at least EV'd their teams and knew the basics, so that was also refreshing to see.
After it was over I got the paperwork, got the trophy, took a few pics, congratulated the others, lost my bag a few times, then headed out.
I'm gonna note this because it kind of happened, but after the event I found out my Mamoswine had NO EVs whatsoever. I got it as a level 1 Swinub who was just RNG bred and from there on out for some odd reason I assumed it was all set as soon as I leveled it up and gave it its moveset. I never bothered to check it...which could have backfired in a few situations. I used Mamoswine 6 out of 7 battles, which says a lot about how much it does, even without attack and speed EVs. It was extremely clutch in 3 of those battles, so it did make a huge difference. After being told it's a terrible Pokemon, too lackluster, and 'eats up a good sash', it felt good to come in and win with it, considering it IS the Pokemon that benefits most from a sash (priority, resists both sand and hail, strong attacker, somewhat fast).
The team was also used by Ashby at Colorado Springs, Lucien Lachance at Houston, and Crow380 at Athens. Ashby got 6th, Crow got 1st, and Lucien got 11th. Ashby and Lucien also used the non-EV'd swine, and only once was there a time the EVs might have mattered (but possibly not). I was told many times that this team was not good, not worth using, and had too many flaws. I saw THREE of the things it got beat by and was able to handle them today. The success it had at four different places says at least that it's competent and can be used effectively.
I'd like to thank everyone who made that such an awesome weekend, who helped with the team, and who helped make training for the event fun- Crow380, Lucien Lachance, TheAshAttacks (Ashby), Theamericandream38, Sarious (David), Sixonesix, Jhud, Sam, Amy, Chris, Evan, Synre, Psycho, Oberon, the BPL, JRank, and anyone else who was directly or indirectly part of it (I know I forgot at least one :x and I apologize in advance but there were so many people and so many things happening that it is hard to recall it all). That was one of the most enjoyable weekends ever and I'm thankful for everyone who was a part of it.
Also congrats to the Smogon and Skarmbliss communities for having a really strong outing at all the events this weekend, and congrats to Crow, Fishy, R Inanimate, Trainer Red, Trainer Gold, Ben7000, Wolfey, Human, MangoSol, Fish, Alaka, LPFan, Babbytron, the Arnold Dynasty, JiveTime, and anyone else who I forgot here too.
I'll proofread, add my team, and edit and stuff after my nightclass.
See you all at Nationals!
