imperfectluck and OmegaDonut (Un)do the Bible Belt - Nashville VGC 2009 Warstory

Trip to Nashville (this post)
Tournament Report
Post-Tournament Report


THURSDAY

After my mom finally gave up trying to convince me NOT to drive 3100 miles to and from Nashville, IPL and I left with a truckload of snacks and, for some reason, a baby seat in the back. I had no idea what IPL was doing with a baby seat, but didn’t listen to the nagging voice in my mind that told me something was up.

FRIDAY



Despite being stuck with a flat – no, shredded – tire in Tucumcari, New Mexico at 7:30 in the morning, I wasn’t worried. I knew how to change a tire, I was just going to find the car jack and tire iron and put on the spare. No biggie. Except all I find in the truck are a wireless router and some beaten-up Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses. One phone call to IPL’s roommate later, we confirm that no, we do not have tire-replacing tools on board.

Shit.

After half an hour of trying to find our position and explain it to the operator, we finally get a guy from Quality Tire & Lube to come out and replace our shredded tire. For $200.

An hour later, we cross the Texas state line. And not ten minutes into Texas, I got pulled over by a Texas ranger who did a U-turn across a median to pursue us. I wasn’t surprised – I was going 75 in a 70 mph zone, and I had heard that Texas rangers were notorious for cracking down on even minor speeding offenders. So I thought all would go well until this happened:

IPL: This isn’t our truck.
Me: *facepalm*
IPL: It’s my roommate’s, her name is (something I forgot).
Trooper: That name isn’t what’s on the insurance.
IPL: Uh, I think that’s her mom’s name…
Trooper: …
Me: …
Trooper: Sir, please step out of the vehicle.

The trooper interrogated us separately, probably so he could determine if our stories matched up.

Me: We’re, uh, going to a video game tournament.
Trooper: What kind of video game?

No matter how comfortable I’ve gotten with being an “out-of-the-closet” Pokémon player, it’s still tough explaining to a Texas ranger that you’re driving 1500 miles to compete in a Pokémon tournament.

Anyway, it looked like we were in the clear, until the ranger looked in the back seat and said “Is that a BABY?!” Ultimately, the Texas ranger was satisfied that we were just crazy fans who were driving all the way to Nashville for a Pokémon tournament, and not entrepreneuring car thieves who ditched a baby a couple miles back. My girlfriend has an alternate theory, however:

I think he just assumed that since you had Arizona plates you were traveling to Massachusetts to get gay married to your gay boyfriend.

Click to expand...

Naturally, the baby seat was for the kid we were going to adopt when we got there.

My girlfriend’s mom has a clinic in Amarillo, so when I called her to say we were passing through she treated us to Kabuki’s – a Japanese restaurant that was delicious, if not very authentic (Filet mignon? In a Japanese restaurant?)

You can’t tell from this picture, but I was too full and tired to drive
(IPL is on the left, I'm on the right)



For those of you wondering, we took turns driving and sleeping. I had hoped to get through Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations through the trip, but I didn't even make it through the second case.


awwwww

SATURDAY

We finally got internet access at a Denny’s, so I gave FiveKRunner my number over PM, and he called us and said we could crash at his hotel. Then IPL reminded me we were still four hours from Nashville, so I didn’t get to see FiveK, chalky, and tad38 until the tournament doors opened. Once we registered, though, we got to meet mattj, doctorboyfriend, and a few others (let me know if I forgot you).

FiveK and I had time to pull off a few hijinks:




yeah, we're real mature


behind Piplup: FiveKRunner, theamericandreamer38, OmegaDonut. IPL was busy getting Ice Punch taught to his Metagross.

I also got my chance to tango with Chimchar again:


Out of all of us, only imperfectluck, chalky, latios315, and I were selected to compete. ~370 people had signed up. :(

My team is kind of a modified Obi-mode team. Except instead of Smeargle with Endure, I have Infernape with Focus Sash.

Infernape (“Pongo”) @Focus Sash
- Heat Wave
- Fake Out
- Feint
- Endeavor
Random IVs (except for 31 in SpAttk and Speed), Naive
EVs: 6 Def / 252 SpAttk / 252 Speed

Metagross ("Lobot”) @Choice Scarf
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Explosion
- Trick
31/31/20/31/31/31, Adamant
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Attk / 252 Speed

The idea was, I try to predict which of my opponents is going to use Protect first round, then Infernape breaks it with Feint so they won’t be protected from Metagross’ Explosion. But, if it looked like they had a leading Trick Room user like Dusknoir or Bronzong, I would have Metagross Trick its Choice Scarf onto it.

Togekiss (“Saccharin”) @Lum Berry
- Air Slash
- Extremespeed
- Follow Me
- Protect
30/23/26/24/31/31, Calm
EVs: 252 HP / 230 Def / 28 SpDef / 4 Speed

Togekiss uses Follow Me to draw away any priority moves from Infernape, while the 1 HP Infernape uses Endeavor to take down another Pokémon. Extremespeed is here so Togekiss can finish off other weakened Pokémon itself.

Weavile (“Icepick”) @Life Orb
- Fake Out
- Ice Shard
- Night Slash
- Taunt
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Attk / 252 Speed

Weavile was a possible replacement for Togekiss. Weavile could Fake Out a Pokémon who was faster than Infernape and had a multi-hit move, like Scarfed Abomasnow. Togekiss couldn’t stop that, but this could. I ultimately stuck with Togekiss, though.

Cresselia (“Elia”) @Leftovers \ Chesto Berry
- Shadow Ball
- HP Ground 70
- Calm Mind
- Rest
30/27/31/26/30/31, Calm [best HP Ground shiny my game had to offer]
EVs: 220 HP / 184 Def / 88 SpAttk / 4 Speed (wtf I’m missing 10 effort points)

Empoleon (“Pipeshi”) @Chesto Berry
- Hydro Pump
- HP Electric 70
- Iron Defense
- Rest
31/31/31/30/31/31, Calm
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Speed

These two Pokémon were meant to be “last Pokémon standing” – that is, in the event everything went horribly wrong they had the defenses and\or typing to live through assaults from two opponents and win. Empoleon was meant to take on both of the popular Metagross and Snorlax at the same time, tanking with Iron Defense so they couldn’t touch it. The Speed EVs are there to outrun standard Adamant Metagross.

You may have noticed that my team bears a significant weakness to, say, Calm Mind Spiritomb.

Round One
I was operating on the assumption that this guy was a competitive player. Then his Kangaskhan used Strength. (3-0)

Round Two
This guy’s team looked more like a competitive goodstuff team. But honestly, it was so generic and forgettable that all I remember is he had a Swampert. Maybe some Electric type. (3-0)

Round Three
I faced Raymond next. Raymond was pretty sharply dressed for the occasion, so when I was asked to give my thoughts on the match all I could say was “…well, I think we’re the two best-dressed people here”.

His trainer name was “Despair”, if anyone else has faced him.

Raymond lead with Uxie and Gengar. First turn, he switched out Uxie for Electivire and his Gengar Skill Swapped Levitate onto it, but not before Metagross hit Gengar hard with Iron Head. Heat Wave did some damage to Electivire and finished off Gengar. He switched in Heatran next, and I was forced to switch out Metagross and Infernape for Togekiss and Cresselia. At this point, I don’t remember exactly what happened next, but I know Uxie came back in and Skill Swapped Levitate onto Heatran, making Cresselia’s HP Ground useless. However, it wasn’t doing any considerable damage with Lava Plume, and Togekiss and Cresselia eventually wore it down. (3-0)

Round Four (Finalist Match #1)
I saved this match because my opponent, Joseph, came perilously close to beating me. Battle recorder code is 59-62184-02833; youtube version courtesy of Magik0722.
He lead with Swampert and Kecleon. I suspected his Swampert would Protect, and lo and behold, it did. But Infernape broke its Protect with Feint and Metagross blew up, taking out Swampert. Kecleon held a Focus Sash, though, and used Trick Room.

Spiritomb replaced his fallen Swampert. It suddenly occurs to me that Kecleon just might have Rock Slide, which would take out Infernape even if Togekiss used Follow Me. And if Togekiss was going to use Extremespeed, it couldn’t keep Spiritomb from fainting Infernape. So Infernape goes back to the safety of his Pokeball while I replace it with the sturdier Cresselia. Kecleon went down to Extremespeed, but – to my horror – Spiritomb starts to Calm Mind.

This is the point I start thinking “why oh why did I NOT train a Curselax?”

His last Pokémon was Weezing, who burned Cresselia and Togekiss. It eventually went down to Air Slash and Shadow Ball. But his Spiritomb managed to accumulate about 4 CMs, meaning nobody on my team could really touch him damage-wise, except for Infernape which had Blaze-boosted Heat Wave. But I had to get him in safely first. Here Togekiss really proved its worth as the best Follow Me user and support: Air Slash flinchhaxxed it three turns in a row, sacrificing Cresselia to burn damage and giving Infernape a free turn to switch in, at which point it finished off the ~25% Spiritomb with Heat Wave. (2-0)

After the battle, I acknowledged to the announcer’s microphone that Joseph really deserved to win, and that luck saved me in this battle. It was the least I could do for him.

Round Five (Finalist Match #2)
Right before the match started, the announcer told me I was facing a pretty big name: Grey Silvayne, brother of Knight Silvayne, the Junior champion of the world in last year’s VGC.

I remember one of his starters was Uxie. Metagross Exploded, taking out his other starter but Uxie survived with a sliver of health. Luckily for me, it used Safeguard instead of attacking my 1 HP Infernape. He then sent out a Gyarados, but Infernape quickly brought it down to 1 HP with Endeavor, though Gyarados finished off Infernape with Waterfall. Uxie went down to Togekiss’ Extremespeed.

Togekiss tried very hard to finish off Gyarados, but it managed to Protect itself twice in a row while Mamoswine 2HKO’d Togekiss with Ice Fang. I thought that it could’ve been Choice Banded, but it seems just as likely that it simply had no better moves with which to hit Togekiss and Cresselia. Cresselia got two Calm Minds in and finished Gyarados with another Shadow Ball.

I prayed very, very hard that Ice Fang wouldn’t freeze. It didn’t. A few more Shadow Balls later, and the match was mine. (1-0)

After the match, all I could say was that it was an honor to be battling Grey.

Round Six (Semi-finals)

I took one look at Josh’s starters (Zapdos and Jolteon) and thought, “This smells like a Rain Dance team”. Lo and behold, after Infernape used Feint on Zapdos (just in case it used Detect) and Jolteon survived the subsequent Explosion with a Focus Sash, it used Rain Dance.

After Zapdos went down Josh replaced it with a Kingdra. There was no way Infernape was to outspeed the Swift Swim-boosted Kingdra, so I switched him out. Now, Empoleon is my go-to Pokémon for dealing with Rain teams, but I left him on the bench so Cresselia had to do. His Jolteon Protected as Kingdra Surfed for minor damage to Cresselia and modest damage to Togekiss. I had Togekiss Protect itself (I think it was because I was expecting Josh to switch out Jolteon), and Cresselia used Calm Mind. The details are a little hazy, but this is what I remember:

- Jolteon dodged two Extremespeeds with Protect
- Cresselia using Calm Mind twice and finishing off Kingdra
- Infernape coming in after Togekiss fainted from his Vaporeon’s Surf
- Vaporeon going down to Endeavor + Shadow Ball

(2-0)

Round Seven (Finals: vs. imperfectluck!)

Battle recorder code: 55-41110-08516
Youtube version thanks to ShinyShiranai

Before the finalists started battling, IPL told J.P. (the publicist\PR guy) about our road trip, and he was keen on getting the highlights of our trip so when our chance to battle came around the announcer had an exciting story to regale the crowd with – two competitors taking a 36-hour drive all the way from Phoenix, braving flat tires and Texas rangers, fighting our way through the ranks until we faced each other in the very final battle. And that no matter who won, it was going to be an awkward drive home.

IPL and I attracted some suspicion from the judges and Marriland, though. I had four shinies on my team (Metagross, Togekiss, Cresselia, and Empoleon), and IPL had Syberia’s flawless Azelf, Uxie, and Heatran. I think at some point they suggested we give a live demonstration of RNG abuse, though we had so much paperwork to fill out after the tournament we didn’t have the time. (Also worth pointing out is the fact that I gave my team to Giant Enemy Crab to use in London, and he was DQ’d on account of having too many “one-per-game” TMs, like Grass Knot. I suspect, though, that it was just a bullshit excuse to DQ a “hacker” even if my Pokémon passed the hack test.)

I showed my team to IPL back at the Phoenix tournament, since I wasn’t expecting to be competing in another VGC. So I couldn’t rely on the Feint+Explosion strategy because he’d probably do something to counter it, specifically. In retrospect, Heat Wave+Explosion first turn is exactly what could’ve won me the match, but I didn’t want to risk him doing something that would waste my Explosion.

I lead with Metagross and Infernape, and he brought out Uxie and his own Metagross. I think, “well, maybe it’s a Trick Room team” so my Metagross Tricks a Choice Scarf onto Uxie. (I was half right - turns out Uxie DID have Trick Room.) Instead, it used Psychic on Infernape, bringing it down to 1 HP and triggering the Focus Sash. His Metagross flinches from Fake Out.

So I switched out the two for Empoleon and Togekiss. They go *bling!* and I’m cackling like a mad scientist at the fact the crowd is going absolutely nuts over my shinies. Anyway, Empoleon eats Psychic and Earthquake for more than half damage. Togekiss uses Air Slash to try for the flinch on Metagross, it fails but thanks to 92 Speed EVs Empoleon goes first and buffs up with Iron Defense, surviving the EQ with less than a quarter of its health left.

IPL tries hard to take down Empoleon fast, but Togekiss draws away his Bullet Punch and Psychic, giving Empoleon a chance to ChestoRest its way back in the game. Two Hydro Pumps later, Metagross is down. (4-3 me)

However, Uxie scored an important SpDef drop on Empoleon, and it barely survives Flamethrower from IPL’s Heatran with only 6 HP remaining. Heatran drops to another Hydro Pump. (4-2 me)

This was the point in the game I developed a brilliant end-game strategy: get the Choice Scarf back onto Metagross to give it speed back, blow up on his Pokémon and walk away with the champion plaque.

This is what really happened: “Choice Scarf only allows the use of Trick!”

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

I didn't think Metagross would be locked into Trick at all. I guess I'm too used to buggy Shoddybattle.

So instead of switching out Metagross (like I should’ve), I tried to Trick it onto Azelf. It Detected. I tried to trick it back onto Uxie. It Protected. I’m sure my Metagross was fed up with me at this point; it was just begging for Azelf to put it out of its misery. (2-2) It didn’t help that Blaze-boosted Heat Wave missed Azelf, possibly for a KO. Infernape went down shortly thereafter. (2-1 IPL)

I knew my defeat had been sealed, so I shook IPL’s hand. He said he almost forgot to finish the battle because of that, but he finally clicked “Psychic” and Togekiss went down. (2-0 IPL)

I really wanted to hang out with tad38 and FiveK after the tournament, but IPL and I were buried in paperwork – champions just can’t get a break for a social life.

The local Fox news affiliate interviewed IPL (though J.P. wanted us interviewed together). We also got interviewed together about our trip, but I’m not sure what affiliate was handling that interview. I’d have to contact J.P. some other time about getting some of the photos and interview videos.

On our way out, we were stopped by two guys, Steve and Matt, who drove all the way from Florida to compete but weren’t selected. They asked if we could battle them in a multi battle, and then IPL asked if they had a hotel room to crash in because I was really tired. So they made a bet – if IPL and I beat them in a multi battle, without coordinating our efforts, they’d let us crash in their hotel room.

One multi battle later, we were hanging out in their hotel room, which was in the hotel attached to the convention center of all places. In gratitude, I showed Matt how to breed for shinies using RNG Reporter and found his secret ID. We also got a picture of us all together, but I’m still waiting for it to show up in my inbox. (Matt, if you’re reading this, send it to me ASAP! And thanks again!)

The trip back to AZ wasn’t nearly as eventful as the one there. We headed for Oklahoma City, where IPL’s parents let us rest for a couple hours. They treated us to lunch too, although between Kabuki’s and a Chinese buffet I’m kind of tired of Asian food for a while.

I think 377 was the exact number of participants, as Chalkey asked the last guy what his wristband number was. Anyway, great warstory, and although I already knew much of it, it was very interesting to see how your team fared in the matches that we didn't get to see. Also fun to read was your travel experiences, though I knew some of those already as well. Once again, it was awesome meeting all of you and I had a great time despite not getting picked. Although it seems very unlikely that I will go to St. Louis, I wish you all good luck and safe travels!

I was watching your final battle with ipl the other day. Nashville's crowd was awesome, just the fact that they shouted every time each Pokemon made a move.

I hope to see you in StL, did you use all shinies there?

May I say that IPL is a sexy beast?

Wonderful job you two! If only I had hung around longer...DARN YOU FIVEK YOU SAID IT WOULDN'T BE OVER TILL 3:30!!! *just kidding ;D* I did get to watch the video and MAN IT WAS EPIC!!! It's always awe inspiring watching 2 titan's slugging it out! ^.6

Awesome read; good luck to both you and IPL in St. L!

Great read. The hilarity of the police situation did it for me. Also the ingenious nature of some people and their double battle strategies put me in awe. Great work both of you.

Greatest road trip ever? and congrats to you both. If I go to St. Louis I hope to meet you both.

Great last match there. I was wondering what exactly you were trying to do when you got your Scarf back. I thought it was brilliant at first because I too was under the impression you could Explode. Stupid Shoddybattle. GG, hope to meet you in StL.

BTW, that's so fucking awesome you guys drove halfway across the country and finished 1-2, props.

This was an awesome story. Congrats to you both and good luck in St. Louis.

Haha nice finals. And nice flat tire. And nice Palkias :P.

I'm really concerned about the official entry rules for tournaments like this, given what happened to Crab. It seems totally unfair that they can arbitrarily DQ you on grounds that were not stated prior to the tournament beginning, especially considering the money and effort that people like yourselves put into attending.

Perhaps I'm used to Magic the Gathering, where the Tournament Circuit has fairly high stakes and thus has very clear independant rules and enforcement.

That said, they are faced with a really difficult problem given that if hacking is done properly, you can't actually tell when someone's hacked or legitly lucky. I tend to feel the only fair way to set it up to permit people to use hacked things provided all stats and other RNGs are legal.

Nice read Omegadonut, glad to see you at least qualified for St. Louis; good luck when you compete.

rofl at the Palkia pics.

Too bad I can't make it to St. Louis, but maybe I'll see you again in San Diego, one way or another. Then we can mess with kids by using PRNG shinies, haha.

Great warstory. The situation with the trooper, the battles ... everything was nice to read.
Congrats und good luck in St. Louis

If it is any consolation, you do have a better warstory OmegaDonut. A well played outing though, congratulations for taking second.

I fought Despair. Appropriate name...
Hope you win in St. Louis... Heck forget St. Louis, Win the world championship!

(A battle with me afterwards would be nice)

ARGGGGG OD AND IPL SOOO STRONGETH!

great story guys (psssss IPL, I came to Stark just for you)

Hey Diesel I guess you suck for not winning Seattle JKJK ;) Congrats to you both!

great pictures!

nice read.

I really enjoyed reading this, congrats to both of you and good luck in St. Louis!

This was a really a nice and fun read. Congratulations, and good luck in St. Louis, you too!

1st and second, amazingly done guys!
Weren't you worried that you wouldn't get in after the trip?