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

Do you know what's in the ground beneath your feet? The only way to be sure is to drill down and check.
Sevii Rock.png

This is a scientist, if possible near a drill rig or a construction site. And each mon is one of the things you can hit when coring. Sand, organics(I once opened a sample in the lab and a large number of ants crawled out, but worms like Dunsparce are possible too), chalk/fossils, rock, ores, and fire(gas lines are a far more likely source of fire than magma, at least for the coring I've done, but you can see it as either).
Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Crunch
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam

Steelix @ Bright Powder
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Tail
- Toxic
- Explosion

Magcargo @ White Herb
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Yawn
- Reflect
- Light Screen

Marowak @ Thick Club
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Bonemerang
- Perish Song
- Focus Punch

Dunsparce @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Glare
- Ancient Power
- Headbutt
- Shadow Ball

Golem @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
In keeping with the theme, I tried to do things that were at least a little unexpected for these mons, which wasn't easy for some of them that only have ~3 viable moves and they all want SlideQuake.
SubSpecial TTar to punish water/grass types and setup, Brightpowder Steelix, Dual Screens Magcargo+Yawn, Marowak with Perish Song and Focus Punch to capitalize on switches, Serene Grace Dunsparce with a few interesting choices, and RestoChesto Golem as the ace.

I'm pretty happy with this one. I tried a mountain theme, but it was too vague to be interesting. I kept narrowing it down to various bits, but until I remembered that I literally work in this field I was just not happy with any of them. Getting Wobbuffet to work was a goal of mine, but couldn't make it happen. Meanwhile, the Organics slot was both overcrowded and not working. The grasses just weren't very Rock even if they were Cave, most of the bugs fly rather than crawl, and thankfully hitting mammals is much rarer than hitting insects. I could have used trash(the number of samples with beer bottles/gas from the drill rig/etc in the first couple feet is shocking, but I was meh on the poison types). Spotting Dunsparce saved me. This week was really fun.
 
Got back from Scotland quite late last night and crashed out so missed this entirely. A day late, here we are!


You have until August 20th, 9PM GMT to make your case!

Let's look at the numbers.

Magcargo: 5

Tyranitar: 4

Golem: 3

Steelix: 4

Dunsparce: 3

Lapras: 2

Donphan: 1
Misdreavus: 1
Heracross: 1
Persian: 1
Skarmory: 1
Machamp: 1
Rapidash: 1
Gengar: 1
Bellossom: 1
Murkrow: 1
Marowak: 1
Starmie: 1
Tangela: 1
Octillery: 1
Magmar: 1


Analysis

Magcargo reigns supreme!

Good old Seviis... one of my favourite, and most evocative, locations. There's so much lore and mystique and geography to mine*, and a fun selection of Pokemon too. It's actually surprising there aren't way more Rock-types here - for an island region, it's practically brimming with caves, cliffs, valleys, and mountains. We very nearly ended up in a situation in which no team contained all of the round's actual Rock-types, curiously. But maybe that's understandable - Tyranitar, Golem, and Magcargo don't share a whole lot in traits or temperament.

When looking at the wildcards, they're all eminently sensible. Murkrow makes a frankly ridiculous amount of sense, given its noted propensity for seeking out precious gems and stones; Steelix, as a former Rock-type; Dunsparce, as a Pokemon with a sizeable amount of Rock affinity. Some more off-the-wall picks ended up slotting in well, too: Lapras, Starmie, Persian, Magmar, Machamp. Heracross is also an interesting pick given that, as Eeveeto noted, it learns many Rock moves (and Rock Smash!), but it's not a particularly mountainous Pokemon design-wise and has more overlap with Grass-types than anything else. Interestingly, Ironmage's looking-ahead-to-the-future team made me think of Mega Stones... there's certainly enough eligible Pokemon here to do a Mega Evolution-themed team (Beedrill, Pidgeot, Slowbro, Gengar, Steelix, Heracross, Gyarados, and Tyranitar)... could be amusing, though it'd be a challenge to justify why specifically here as opposed to any other location.

*pun very much not intended




Stuff I expected to see more (or at all)

Onix. Given the frequency of Steelix, very surprised not to see one instance of this.

Graveler. Hey, with Onix, Graveler, and Pupitar you'd have a full team of six Rock-types! Not actually a bad one at all. Suicide lead Onix with Sandstorm, Glare, and Flail... slap Dragon Dance or Curse on Pupitar and Explosion on Graveler... I'm really liking this idea. Damn.

Murkrow. Given, y'know, the gem thing.

Piloswine. Inevitably, Ground and Rock overlap, and Piloswine has the rugged, sturdy sort of vibe that goes with that.

Skarmory. Used once, but when we're talking rock-solid defensive walls... who else?

Xatu. We didn't get a Ruin Valley-themed team so it's probably fair enough, but this Pokemon comes to mind when thinking about crumbling ruins, ancient mysteries, and forgotten secrets. Would be an interesting pick for a research-oriented vibe, though probably not for a straightforward scientist - too magical and hippy-dippy, I suppose.
 
QuentinQuonce said:
Xatu. We didn't get a Ruin Valley-themed team so it's probably fair enough, but this Pokemon comes to mind when thinking about crumbling ruins, ancient mysteries, and forgotten secrets. Would be an interesting pick for a research-oriented vibe, though probably not for a straightforward scientist - too magical and hippy-dippy, I suppose.
Click to expand...
I did actually plan on making an actual team that was basically "the Tectonix trainer growing up before Tectonix died" and it had a Natu on it.

"This Natu isn't really mine, it just kinda showed up one day and started hanging around Tectonix. I don't know why, but it really seems to like the big guy!"

1755562974540.png

.
The gimmick besides the ominous Natu was that each of the trainer's Pokemon had cool nicknames. Except Slugma. He hadn't come up with a nickname for Slugma yet.
 
QuentinQuonce said:
Xatu. We didn't get a Ruin Valley-themed team so it's probably fair enough, but this Pokemon comes to mind when thinking about crumbling ruins, ancient mysteries, and forgotten secrets. Would be an interesting pick for a research-oriented vibe, though probably not for a straightforward scientist - too magical and hippy-dippy, I suppose.
Click to expand...
That's the angle I was planning on taking, Xatu included, but I didn't get very far in fleshing out the idea. 3 rock types + Machamp, Lapras, and Xatu for navigating the islands was about as far as I got.
 
Back into it!

You are a Psychic-type specialist in SM Poni Island. How do you best represent your chosen type?
​
Been a while since we've done Psychic, it's a weirdly common type for how magical and elusive it comes across as...

A reminder to please read the guidelines in the OP before commenting, especially if you're new to the thread. You have until August 31st, 9PM GMT to make your case!

Once again, you may only select Pokemon from the SM Poni Island Pokedex, i.e. Pikipek-Aerodactyl. Any teams which include Pokemon from any of the other three Alola island dex listings will not be valid for this round and will be disqualified.

SM Poni Dex is here for those who need it: https://www.serebii.net/sunmoon/ponipokedex.shtml

Ironmage: Hypno, Exeggutor, Sableye, Wailord, Ribombee, Golduck
igiveuponaname: Oricorio, Exeggcute, Whiscash, Castform, Magikarp, Aerodactyl
Pikachu315111: Hypno, Ribombee, Lilligant, Blissey, Lucario, Lapras
 
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It was aliens!

Psychic is frequently used for space theming, and Poni Island is pretty explicit about this given it's where the Psychic-type celestial box legend is met. Though since it lacks the concrete examples in its regular dex, this team ends up a bit more on the conspiracy theory side.

:ribombee:
Ribombee @ Focus Sash
Ability: Shield Dust
- Signal Beam
- Sticky Web
- Moonblast
- Energy Ball
While not Psychic-type itself, Signal Beam is an extremely thematic move to include. I also wanted to include a Fairy-type for several reasons. It's pretty close to Psychic normally, at least gets as far out as the moon, and the fae are the more traditional antagonists of mysterious abduction stories.

:hypno:
Hypno @ Leftovers
Ability: Forewarn
- Hypnosis
- Focus Punch
- Psycho Cut
- Substitute
The real Psychic in the crowd works quite well as an abductor. A Focus Punch set emphasizes both the ability to render its targets temporarily unconscious and false material traces.

:golduck:
Golduck @ Expert Belt
Ability: Cloud Nine
- Confuse Ray
- Psychic
- Scald
- Ice Beam
Theories about aliens usually involve the idea that a mundane explanation just can't be true and so, to paraphrase Sherlock Holmes, the truth must be something much more improbable. Considering the platypus was originally thought to be a hoax when specimens were brought to European scientists, Gen 1's infamous not-quite-Psychic fits in nicely.

:wailord:
Wailord @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Pressure
- Body Slam
- Liquidation
- Zen Headbutt
- Rest
Every good alien story needs a UFO. Is it a giant floating mothership, weather balloon, or piece of secret Cold War surveillance equipment? The truth is out there.

:exeggutor-alola:
Exeggutor-Alola @ Psychium Z
Ability: Frisk
- Psyshock
- Draco Meteor
- Wish
- Giga Drain
On one hand, it loses the Psychic typing. On the other, it can now summon meteors.

:sableye-mega:
Sableye-Mega @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
- Confuse Ray
- Recover
- Dark Pulse
- Will-O-Wisp
Sableye is based on the Hobkinsville goblin, an alien encounter in 1955 that may or may not have actually been an owl. For the moveset, I decided to include both the Psychic-aligned confusion status and an extra source of strange lights.
 
:sm/magikarp: :sm/whiscash: :sm/aerodactyl-mega: :sm/castform: :sm/exeggcute: :sm/oricorio-pa'u:

A pair of fortune tellers: one sees a deep darkness hidden away in a seemingly harmless creature, natural disasters abound, and an ancient monster returning from the dead to terrorize the people of today; the other sees amazing weather to bask in, bountiful harvests to feed cities, and celebrations to be had by all. This is a double battle, though both trainers do not wish to work together, as they see the other's predictions as false. The first uses aggressive strategies that hurt all those around themselves, while the second seeks to aid others at the expense of their more aggressive counterpart.


:sm/magikarp:
Magikarp @ Normalium Z
Ability: Rattled
- Celebrate
- Flail
- Hydro Pump
- Bounce

:sm/whiscash:
Whiscash @ Life Orb
Ability: Anticipation
- Future Sight
- Earthquake
- Waterfall
- Dragon Dance

:sm/aerodactyl-mega:
Aerodactyl @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Pressure
- Hone Claws
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Crunch

:sm/castform:
Castform @ Heat Rock
Ability: Forecast
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sunny Day
- Weather Ball
- Energy Ball
- Future Sight

:sm/exeggcute:
Exeggcute @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Harvest
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Psychic
- Protect

:sm/oricorio-pa'u:
Oricorio-Pa'u
Ability: Dancer
- Revelation Dance
- Captivate
- Acrobatics
- Roost
 
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Our trainer, as almost all Psychic type trainers, is very clever. And with his Galaxy Brain he realized that everyone would expect a Psychic trainer to focus on Special Attack. Therefore, he trained the muscles of his Pokemon and will be using a Physical based team. Battle is Double:

:hypno: Item: Sitrus Berry. Ability: Inner Focus. Moves: Belly Drum, Psycho Cut, Drain Punch, Ally Switch. One of the 2 Psychic types available. It uses Belly Drum and then tries to sweep, avoding some hits with Ally Switch.
:sableye: Item: Sablenite. Ability: Prankster. Moves: Fake Out, Shadow Sneak, Sucker Punch, Psych Up. The other lead. With Magic Bounce as the ability of the Mega, it justifies itself on a Psychic team, since all non-Mega Mons with that ability have the Psychic type. With Fake Out, it helps Hypno to boost. On second turn, it uses Psych Up and then attacks with priority moves. Psych Up is not a Psychic move, but close enough.
:exeggutor_alola: Item: Wiki Berry. Ability: Harvest. Moves: Trick Room, Psych Up, Seed Bomb, Dragon Hammer. Has a Psychic type form and pre-evolution. Uses Trick Room and then Psych Up on the surviving lead partner, if possible. Then attacks with STABs, if opponent can,t kill it, Wiki Berry + Harvest is an awesome combo.
:golduck: Item: Psychium-Z. Ability: Cloud Nine. Moves: Hypnosis, Psych Up, Zen Headbutt, Liquidation. I think we can all agree in that Golduck should have been a Psychic type. Like the previous 2 Mons, it uses Psych Up on a +6 partner. Depending on whether Trick Room is still aplied when Golduck comes or not, it uses the Z-Zen Headbutt or Z-Hypnosis, which boosts Speed. Then it tries to sweep too.
:lucario: Item: Air Balloon. Ability: Steadfast. Moves: Sword Dance, Close Combat, Bullet Punch, Heal Pulse. The Aura Pokemon. If it wasn,t a Fight-Steel, it clearly would have been Fight-Psychic. Lucario doesn,t learn Psych Up, so it uses Sword Dance instead and sweeps with STABs. It can also heal a partner with Heal Pulse, which is its Psychic move.
:oricorio_pa'u: Item: Power Herb. Moves: Sky Attack, Acrobatics, Steel Wing, Revelation Dance. "Ace" of the team. The signature Alolan Psychic is in practice the weakest Mon of the team. However, its also the fastest and doesn,t need to be strong, since 4 Mons at +6 likely have caused lots of damage by the time Oricorio appears. It can also boost to +2 if Lucario uses Sword Dance while Oricorio is on the field. The bird uses the strongest physical Moves possible with Power Herb forcing a turn 1 Sky Attack and 110 power Acrobatics after that, having also the only Special move of the team, Revelation Dance.
 
According to Hapu, Exeggutor Island (on Poni Island) was the site of Alola's first trial, long long ago. Poni Island is also the home to the Altar of the Sunne/Moone, a portal to another world bathed in cosmic energy.

Today's type specialist will be stuck in the past, echoing this sentiment of the first Alolan trial (captain) - a trainer who got too close to the Altar's portal and was exposed to Necrozma's light from the other side, affecting their team in strange ways. Scared of what this light might have done to both them and their Pokemon, they choose to isolate themselves from the Poni mainland, staying on Exeggutor Island to guard the Sun or Moon flute, sustaining both themselves and their team on the berries that can grow there.

I like to think this battle would go similarly to the Lusamine Mother Beast battle in SM, where each of her Pokemon get a stat boost when sent into battle, so I'm replicating that for this team.


:Lycanroc-Dusk: @ :Babiri Berry: Babiri Berry
Ability: Tough Claws
- Zen Headbutt
- Accelerock
- Counter
- Stealth Rock
First up, Lycanroc-Dusk. Totem boost: +1 Attack
Given that Poni's Altar can be either sunny or moony, why not both? This Rockruff evolved just as the altar's light struck, and being both types of light, experienced this aberrant evolution. It knows the moves of both of its Midday and Midnight counterparts, as well as Zen Headbutt for decent Tough Claws-boosted damage.

:Ribombee: @ :Occa Berry: Occa Berry
Ability: Sweet Veil
- Psychic
- Quiver Dance
- Struggle Bug
- Roost
Second up, Totem Ribombee. Totem boost: +1 Sp. Atk
This isn't the same totem Ribombee as the present day, as seen by the differing totem boosts. Still, it finds itself at home on the small island pollinating flowers, and being the only team member who can fly, it often delivers messages to and from the Poni mainland, all while practicing social distancing. In battle, it struggles to wear down the foe's Special Attack, all while stacking Quiver Dances with Roost keeping it healthy, poised to lauch powerful Psychic attacks.


:Hakamo-o: @ :Coba Berry: Coba Berry
Ability: Overcoat
- Work Up
- Drain Punch
- Autotomize
- Hidden Power [Psychic]

Third up, Totem Hakamo-o. Totem boost: +1 Sp. Def
Wait, what do you mean you've never heard of a Totem Hakamo-o? Well, it does actually exist - in the Sun and Moon demo, as the totem of Ten Carat Hill. I like to think of this Pokemon as the precursor to the Totem Kommo-o of Vast Poni Canyon, choosing to move there and become the totem there after many years. Alas, it gets no real Psychic type moves, and so has to make do with Hidden Power. It sees its moveset inspired by the Hakamo-o called via SOS during the in-game totem battle. Plenty of snowball potential with mixed attacks.

:Raticate-Alola: @ :Sitrus Berry: Sitrus Berry
Ability: Thick Fat
- Zen Headbutt
- Quick Attack
- Taunt
- Swords Dance

:Gumshoos: @ :lum berry: Lum Berry
Ability: Adaptability
- Psychic Fangs
- Yawn
- Last Resort
- Protect

Fourth and fifth up, Totem Alolan Raticate and Totem Gumshoos. Totem boost: +1 Defense (for both)

These two are incidentally, the only other totems available in the Poni Pokedex, and share quite a few similarities due to ruling over the same area. Verdant Cavern is known for greenery, so it's not a stretch to assume they were peacefully living on the lush Exeggutor Island at one point. Their movesets involve different types of setup - Raticate taunts the foe to foil other setup, and builds up Swords Dance on free turns, while Gumshoos stalls out turns with Yawn and Protect to enable a gigantic Adaptability-boosted Last Resort. And of course, both of them have their requisite Psychic moves to top it off.


:Exeggutor-Alola: @ :Dragonium Z: Dragonium Z
Ability: Frisk
- Dragon Hammer
- Psychic
- Ancient Power
- Moonlight

Last up, Alolan Exeggutor. Totem boost: +1 to all stats.
If it's Alolan light that changed how Exeggcute evolves, surely Necrozma's light would have an even stronger effect on evolving it? Well, that's represented here through the totem-omniboost, making this tall tree a truly terrifying threat. Besides, how could we have a team staying on Exeggutor Island with no Exeggutor? As for its held item, one would think since it's a Psychic specialist, surely the Psychium Z seems apt? Well, the true Psychic attack happens when you switch in a Dark type and learn that it's actually Dragonium Z, launching off Exeggutor's pseudo-signature move of Dragon Hammer for hefty damage. Exeggutor can also fish for omniboosts to become even more totem-like with Ancientpower, reminiscent of the light that bathed the team so long ago.
 
Time for another totem on Poni Island. This one is a lot less memey than Exeggutor. Also it's got six unique Pokemon so maybe it'll count for voting?

Trial:
Pokemon in the area have mysteriously fallen asleep! Go wake them up.

As you search the area for sleeping Pokemon, most of them are peaceful and will wake when interacted with. However, three Pokemon will react violently to your attempts, and you'll have to battle them to wake them up. All three start the battle with a permanent sleep condition, and will only ever select Sleep Talk. You don't actually have to faint them to progress. If you forcefully wake them up with something like Wake-Up Slap or Worry Seed, the battle will end prematurely.

The three violent Pokemon are:

:sm/gyarados:
Gyarados
Ability: Intimidate
- Sleep Talk
- Aqua Tail
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake

:sm/primeape:
Primeape
Ability: Defiant
- Sleep Talk
- Close Combat
- Punishment
- Stone Edge

:sm/tauros:
Tauros
Ability: Intimidate
- Sleep Talk
- Giga Impact
- Wild Charge
- Earthquake

Once all the Pokemon have been awakened, it's time to confront the mischievous Totem Pokemon and its equally mischievous allies.

:sm/hypno::sableye::whimsicott:

Hypno @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
Totem Boosts: +2 All
- Hypnosis
- Future Sight
- Nightmare
- Skill Swap

Totem Hypno is in for a war of attrition. After your Pokemon is put to sleep with Hypnosis, it'll slowly but surely be chipped down by Nightmare and Future Sight. And once one of Hypno's allies hit the field, it'll use Skill Swap to gain the Prankster ability, dashing any hopes you may have had of hitting it before it can Hypnosis. Finally, it holds the Leftovers, so every turn you spend asleep or switching is a turn of healing for Hypno.

Sableye
Ability: Prankster
- Fake Out
- Night Shade
- Mean Look
- Recover

The gremlin hiding in your closet. Should Hypno miss its first Hypnosis, Sableye comes in with a Fake Out to give Hypno another chance. After that, it can chip away with Night Shade, lock you in place with Mean Look to prevent you from clearing Nightmare, or heal itself with Recover.

Whimsicott
Ability: Prankster
- Moonblast
- Grass Whistle
- Leech Seed
- Charm

Your fluffy pillow. When Hypno reaches low health, it calls Whimsicott. Moonblast hits the Dark-types that are immune to Future Sight and Prankster-boosted Hypnosis. Grasswhistle makes up for Hypnosis's shaky accuracy by providing two chances for a sleep-inducing move to land. Leech Seed provides yet more healing and damage-over-time, and Charm protects Hypno on its weaker physical side.
 
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