So, I'm Milan Patel, but you guys probably don't know me. Obviously, I am PokemanMaster on Smogon. I went to represent both Texas and our beloved Smogon as an "underdog," having no experience in this particular field of Pokemon. I chose to run Trick Room again because it got me 9th at Dallas VGC Regionals. Also, it's a fun team to play. Without further ado, here is my epic warstory.
Thursday Night:
It's like midnight and I can't find a flight to Indi. With a stroke of luck, God gives me a sign and I bid for a ticket on Priceline. $190!? Hellz yeah!!! So now, I have a way to get to Indi. I frantically pack in everything (DS Charger, Ipod Touch, Itouch charger, Pokemon cards to sell, wallet, clothes, etc...).
Friday:
My flight is at 6 AM, so I quickly get into the car and arrive at the airport at 5:15. After saying bye to my dad, I board the plane and go to Kansas City, as my ticket is a One-Stop. I get to Kansas and wait 45 minutes to board for Indi. I get onto the plane to Indi and, before I knew it, my plane touched down at 11:00 AM. It's time to go to the Convention Center. My very very very very very distant relative comes to drop me off there.
Friday(Convention Center):
So, I walk in, and I immediately get interviewed from a guy on Pokemon.com. I was thinking, "Sweet! I don't know why this guy is interviewing me, but I like the attention. lol". Anyways, after I get interviewed, I meet up with some Dallas peeps(Tyler422 and ImaWario). Later, I proceed to find people randomly via GS Cup and battle them. I got 17 battles and won each one, playing against 7 zerowing teams. Anyways, I go to sleep at like 10 PM after playing a long time in the league area and watching Texas dominate in TCG. Also, the LCQ for Juniors and Seniors was pretty cool. :)
Saturday(Nationals VGC Day!!!):
So, me, being stupid, stayed up till' 4 AM EV training and getting items for my entire team, including backups. I wake up at 7:00 AM and head to the Convention Center. I meet up with Alaka, Tyler422, and some others that aren't on Smogon. Before I know it, we start, and here comes the biggest test. Can I get into Top 16 as a beginner???
The Team:
Smeargle AKA VGC Dawg
Brave Nature
Item Held: Focus Sash
Moveset:
Follow Me
Fake Out
Dark Void
Endeavor
Dialga AKA Minhimal!
Quiet Nature
Held Item: Chople Berry
Moveset:
Trick Room
Draco Meteor
Flamethrower
Protect
Kyogre AKA Milan Jr.
Quiet Nature
Held Item: Leftovers
Moveset:
Protect
Thunder
Blizzard
Water Spout
Abomasnow AKA Mr. Bigfoot
Quiet Nature
Held Item: Sitrus Berry
Moveset:
Ice Shard
Blizzard
Grass Knot
Protect
BACKUPS:
Blissey AKA Missionary-----This Blissey was from Smogon. :)
Calm Nature
Held Item: Lum Berry
Moveset:
Toxic
Blizzard
Softboiled
Protect
Snorlax AKA Lil' Bear----- from Smogon :)
Sassy Nature
Held Item: Life Orb
Moveset:
Selfdestruct
Curse
Fire Punch
Protect
That was my team. I only used Blissey in Top 16. Snorlax was never used. :( And of course, I moved around items as Blissey and Snorlax don't need those items.
Here starts the Swiss rounds:
Round 1 vs. a Smogon lurker(Abomasnow, Mewtwo, Palkia, Hitmontop)
This guy told me that he was lurking on Smogon to see the metagame and such, so I knew he had an idea of what he was doing. I start with my Smeargle/Dialga lead and him with Mewtwo and Abomasnow. I Fake Out Mewtwo and Trick Room, letting his Abomasnow hit me with a Blizzard. Smeargle gets KOed by Hail. I send out Kyogre. Kyogre uses Water Spout and Dialga uses Flamethrower on Abomasnow. Both Pokemon get KOed. It's 3-2 now. He sends out Palkia and Hitmontop. Even though Trick Room is up, I double Protect so I don't get Faked Out. Palkia uses Spacial Rend, but my Pokemon are protected. Next turn, he Mach Punches Dialga, but Chople Berry kicks in, only doing 20-25% damage. Kyogre Water Spouts and Dialga uses Draco Meteor on Palkia. Both Pokemon get knocked out, so I win. 1-0
Round 2 vs Len Deuel AKA Alaka(Hitmontop, Giratina, Dialga, Abomasnow)
Aw man! I didn't want to battle this guy. He's a really good player and friend from my league and he helped me get started into VGC and the tournaments. But God pit us against each other. Only one Texan would win this match. Anyways, we start, my Smeargle/Dialga lead vs. his Top/Tina. I Dark Void and Trick Room, while he Fake Outs Dialga and Dragon Claws Smeargle with Giratina. Both his Pokemon go to sleep. A few turns later, he KOs Smeargle before it can attack. I Draco Meteor Giratina for the OHKO. I send out Kyogre and he sends out Abomasnow. Ok, this is good. I can Blizzard. So, I Blizzard with Kyogre and Draco Meteor Hitmontop. Abomasnow Blizzards back, KOing Dialga. Hitmontop faints, and here comes Dialga. So it's 2-2. My Kyogre uses Protect and Abomasnow uses Blizzard. Dialga goes down to almost half and his Abomasnow lives. Kyogre avoids Grass Knot. My Abomasnow dies because of his Dialga's Flamethrower. I Water Spout and crit the Abomasnow for a KO and also hit Dialga for a KO. I felt bad because I won off a crit, but I knew he'd rally up the wins that he needs. GG man! 2-0
Round 3 vs random guy (Mewtwo, Abomasnow, Palkia, Kyogre)
I don't remember much about this match. I Faked Out Mewtwo like Round 1 and put up Trick Room. With TR up, I swept 3-0. 3-0
Round 4 vs a Duck I believe(Toxicroak, Palkia, Togekiss, Kyogre)
He Draco's my Dialga with Palkia and I have 3 HP left! I'm like, "WTF!!!! How'd it do so much?" Then I realized it was Spec'd. He KOs Smeargle AND Dialga T2 and I'm left with a heavy hit Kyogre and Abomasnow. This is where something drastic happened. The guy shuts his DS and starts cussing. I'm like, "Yo man! What happened?" He said, "I accidently pressed Fled." I was like, ":O." He was okay with it. He shoulve won that game as he was winning 4-2. I was bound to lose, but I got the win for that. Bad way to win though. Sorry man. :( 4-0
Round 5 against a Mighty Duck named Rory using Zerowing's team
I was like, "FINALLY! A Mighty Duck!" I was glad to play one, as I knew most of them were running zerowing's team. And sure enough, so was Rory. Like he said in his warstory, I Follow Me and set up Trick Room. With TR up, I swept, taking out Hitmontop first with Draco and ending with a Blizzard on his Abomasnow. 3-0 GG man. 5-0
Round 6 vs. Omari Travis(BadIntent) with a team idr(it had Blissey though)
This match was all a blur. It came down to my Abomasnow against his Blissey tank. I keep using Blizzard and Ice Shard, as Blissey has low Defense and Blizzard is a stab in Hail. With perfect timing, Omari gets a Toxic on me. So, I end up losing with 2 seconds left on the clock. It was a close game, as my previous Kyogre parahaxed his Blissey, so he was kinda crippled too. It was nice meeting you man, and if you could help me with details on this match, I'd be very grateful. :) 5-1
Round 7 vs. Matthew Coyle with Palkia, Toxicroak, Abomasnow, ???
I really didn't care for this match as I already had a spot on the Top 16, but I still tried. He got some crits after Trick Room was up, and they were at perfect times, so I ended up losing. I think he was trying to throw me off track as he was talking about matters off topic than what was happening, but oh well. 5-2
I see that BadIntent and Coyle are Seeds #1 and #2, and I lost to them, so I know I made it to Top 16. I get 5th seed. :D I'm exhilarated at this point as this is my first year and I made it so far. I get another interview, pics with Pikachu, a couple of Top 16 pics, and check the pairings for Top 16 tomorrow. Matthew is my next opponent. I turn around and Matthew walks up behind me to say hi. I shake hands and he asks, "Are you from Smogon?" I say yes, and then he says, "Cool! My name on Smogon is Mattj." Inside, I was like, "OMFGSH! My opponent is Mattj?! He's a kickass player and I'm a beginner. How am I supposed to win?" He leaves and after felling traumatized, I go sleep in my room. Wow! That was a crazy day!!! :O
Sunday(Top 16 matches!!!!!):
So I wake up at 7:30 and get to the Convention Center at 8:00. I quickly check in and talk to Alaka and Tyler422. After a couple of minutes, Top 16 starts. I pray that Trick Room helps me to Top 8 and make my way to battle Mattj. Our match is on TV with lots of players watching, so it's really nerve-racking. Anyways, here we go... Mattj vs. PokemanMaster!
Game 1 vs Mattj using Shiftry, Groudon, Gengar, Ho-oh
I start with Follow Me and Trick Room against his Shiftry/Groudon leads. He Fake Outs Smeargle and EarthQuakes. My Dialga HP is draining still, and suddenly it stops... AT EXACTLY 1 HP LEFT!!! :O I was like YES! I get Trick Room off and watch Smeargle faint. I send out Kyogre and Water Spout and use Dialga's Flamethrower on Shiftry. Double KO. 3-2 He sends out Ho-oh and and Gengar. I Thunder Ho-oh as he KOs Dialga and Protects with Gengar, I believe. I get a parahax on Ho-oh. I send out Abomasnow. 2-2 Pkmn left. I KO Gengar and he KOs Kyogre. It's Ho-oh vs Abomasnow. I Blizzard and he lives, but is paralyzed and can't move. He said that was a Brave Bird! :O I wouldve been done for! D: I Ice Shard Ho-oh and win the game. 1-0
Game 2 vs Mattj with Gengar, Groudon, Giratina, Togekiss
I use Dark Void instead of Fake Out and Protect with Dialga. His Groudon uses EarthQuake, bringing Smeargle to 1 HP and nothing to Dialga. Gengar uses Focus Blast on Dialga, but it's Protecting itself. Dark Void hits Groudon only. Gengar uses Focus Blast on Dialga, bringing it to use Chople Berry and only dealing 45-50% damage. Groudon stays asleep. Smeargle uses Endeavor on Groudon and brings it to 1 and Dialga uses Trick Room. I switch out Smeargle for Abomasnow so Groudon dies from hail damage. Dialga's Draco Meteor misses Gengar, so Gengar KOs Dialga with Focus Blast. Groudon stays asleep and gets KOed by hail. It's tied 3-3. He sends out Giratina and I send out my 1 HP Smeargle. I Blizzard, but Giratina Protects. Gengar gets hit and goes to the red zone in HP. Smeargle Dark Voids and hits Gengar! Yay! Gengar goes to sleep and Smeargle gets KOed by Hail. I send in Kyogre. I use Abomasnow's Blizzard and KO Gengar and do 70-75% damage to Giratina. Kyogre's full STABed Water Spout KOs Giratina. I'm up 2-1. He sends out Togekiss. I Blizzard and Water Spout, but Togekiss Protects. Trick Room vanishes! Great, this sucks! But, I start using Ice Shard from Snow and Thunder from Kyogre. Ice Shard hits, but Kyogre flinches from Air Slash for 2 consecutive turns. I Ice Shard again and he has like 30% HP left. This time, he Air Slashes Abomasnow, bringing it to red HP and activating Sitrus Berry. Kyogre Thunders Togekiss and it gets KOed. What a great game! That was one of the best I had every played! Thanks for the great game and tips on Smogon Mattj! I'll always be in debt for what you have done for me. :) 2-0
So I now have my free trip to Hawaii and I'm am EXCITED!!! My mom and I are gonna go there and relax on the beaches and of course, play Pokemon!!! lol In a couple of minutes, Top 8 stars.
Game 1 vs. Briana with Absol, Infernape, Dialga, Kyogre
I Follow Me and Trick Room. Her Absol uses Sucker Punch, but fails. Infernape uses Fake Out on Smeargle. Infernape KOs Smeargle with Mach Punch, while Dialga KOs Absol with Draco Meteor. I send out Kyogre and she sends out Dialga. I use Water Spout and Flamethrower on Infernape, knowing that she probably Sashed Infernape. My hunch was right and Infernape goes down. Her Dialga uses Dragon Pulse on Kyogre and does maybe 25% damage. She sends out Kyogre. I'm like, "Yes! This should be easy!" But no, it isn't. She haxes me SOOOOOO much!!! Her Kyogre's Quick Claw hits 4 straight turns and I lose Dialga, Kyogre, and my last Abomasnow. I was kinda mad, seeing the chances of that happening are very very very very very low. -_____- 0-1
Round 2 vs Briana with Absol, Infernape, Dialga, Kyogre
I switch out Abomasnow for Blissey, as she has many Special Attackers.
Same leads and same first turn. Infernape and Absol die quickly. We have 40 minutes left on the clock. She sends out Dialga and Kyogre and AGAIN, Kyogre gets 3 Quick Claws in a row! WTF?! I KO Kyogre and she KOs both Kyogre and Dialga. It's her paralyzed Dialga vs. my Blissey tank. EVERYONE is watching this match, as it's the last match. We still have 35 minutes left. I begin stalling her out with my tank. There's now 2 minutes left on the clock. I had been stalling her for 33 minutes now, using Toxic, Protect, Blizzard, and Softboiled. She uses Flamethrower in the rain, AND IT BURNS ME! :O Time expires and she gets the win as her Leftovers Dialga has 100% HP left and my Blissey has 99% HP left. This is lameeeeeee. But oh well, I got my free trip and I was happy with that. :) I kindly shake her hand and wish her best luck for Top 4, which she sadly loses. :( 0-2
So, I end up getting 7th place overall. I go get my papers to sign for my Travel Award and go to root Len, who got 2nd place. WOOT!!! ^_^ Anyways, I'm really excited that, as a beginner, I managed to get Top 8 at Nationals. I think that's a great feat to accomplish. I'll be going to Worlds for 3 STRAIGHT YEARS! And this time, it's free and in Hawaii! :D I know I got outhaxed in Top 8, but she played a great game. There are no grudges or bad things to say about Briana or anyone else I played... because Pokemon is just a game. Sure, it would've been nice to get farther, but this is what happened. I got 7th and I was proud. Period. :)
It's time to start training for Hawaii and I can't wait to get there! I feel very honored to meet some great people (BadIntent, Rory, dtrain, more Mighty Ducks, TTS, and Bluecookies). This Nationals was the best ever. I can't wait to write a warstory from Hawaii! lol XD
Props:
Trick Room for being SO good
Aqueos for SOOOO much help for practicing, trading with me, and more
Human for the BP on Smeargle (Thanks man! I really owe you one!!!)
Alaka for getting me started to VGC and helping me succeed
meeting BadIntent and Mattj----two very nice and great players both in VGC and on Smogon
Getting Top 8 in my first year
free trip to Hawaii
Texas for reppin' well in both VGC and TCG
many interviews
getting to talk to Marriland
nice judges and great judging
great venue
Slops:
7 Quick Claws in 2 games -__- lol
not enough sleep the night before Nationals
inflated prices for water and other beverages/foods
Thursday Night:
It's like midnight and I can't find a flight to Indi. With a stroke of luck, God gives me a sign and I bid for a ticket on Priceline. $190!? Hellz yeah!!! So now, I have a way to get to Indi. I frantically pack in everything (DS Charger, Ipod Touch, Itouch charger, Pokemon cards to sell, wallet, clothes, etc...).
Friday:
My flight is at 6 AM, so I quickly get into the car and arrive at the airport at 5:15. After saying bye to my dad, I board the plane and go to Kansas City, as my ticket is a One-Stop. I get to Kansas and wait 45 minutes to board for Indi. I get onto the plane to Indi and, before I knew it, my plane touched down at 11:00 AM. It's time to go to the Convention Center. My very very very very very distant relative comes to drop me off there.
Friday(Convention Center):
So, I walk in, and I immediately get interviewed from a guy on Pokemon.com. I was thinking, "Sweet! I don't know why this guy is interviewing me, but I like the attention. lol". Anyways, after I get interviewed, I meet up with some Dallas peeps(Tyler422 and ImaWario). Later, I proceed to find people randomly via GS Cup and battle them. I got 17 battles and won each one, playing against 7 zerowing teams. Anyways, I go to sleep at like 10 PM after playing a long time in the league area and watching Texas dominate in TCG. Also, the LCQ for Juniors and Seniors was pretty cool. :)
Saturday(Nationals VGC Day!!!):
So, me, being stupid, stayed up till' 4 AM EV training and getting items for my entire team, including backups. I wake up at 7:00 AM and head to the Convention Center. I meet up with Alaka, Tyler422, and some others that aren't on Smogon. Before I know it, we start, and here comes the biggest test. Can I get into Top 16 as a beginner???
The Team:
Smeargle AKA VGC Dawg
Brave Nature
Item Held: Focus Sash
Moveset:
Follow Me
Fake Out
Dark Void
Endeavor
Dialga AKA Minhimal!
Quiet Nature
Held Item: Chople Berry
Moveset:
Trick Room
Draco Meteor
Flamethrower
Protect
Kyogre AKA Milan Jr.
Quiet Nature
Held Item: Leftovers
Moveset:
Protect
Thunder
Blizzard
Water Spout
Abomasnow AKA Mr. Bigfoot
Quiet Nature
Held Item: Sitrus Berry
Moveset:
Ice Shard
Blizzard
Grass Knot
Protect
BACKUPS:
Blissey AKA Missionary-----This Blissey was from Smogon. :)
Calm Nature
Held Item: Lum Berry
Moveset:
Toxic
Blizzard
Softboiled
Protect
Snorlax AKA Lil' Bear----- from Smogon :)
Sassy Nature
Held Item: Life Orb
Moveset:
Selfdestruct
Curse
Fire Punch
Protect
That was my team. I only used Blissey in Top 16. Snorlax was never used. :( And of course, I moved around items as Blissey and Snorlax don't need those items.
Here starts the Swiss rounds:
Round 1 vs. a Smogon lurker(Abomasnow, Mewtwo, Palkia, Hitmontop)
This guy told me that he was lurking on Smogon to see the metagame and such, so I knew he had an idea of what he was doing. I start with my Smeargle/Dialga lead and him with Mewtwo and Abomasnow. I Fake Out Mewtwo and Trick Room, letting his Abomasnow hit me with a Blizzard. Smeargle gets KOed by Hail. I send out Kyogre. Kyogre uses Water Spout and Dialga uses Flamethrower on Abomasnow. Both Pokemon get KOed. It's 3-2 now. He sends out Palkia and Hitmontop. Even though Trick Room is up, I double Protect so I don't get Faked Out. Palkia uses Spacial Rend, but my Pokemon are protected. Next turn, he Mach Punches Dialga, but Chople Berry kicks in, only doing 20-25% damage. Kyogre Water Spouts and Dialga uses Draco Meteor on Palkia. Both Pokemon get knocked out, so I win. 1-0
Round 2 vs Len Deuel AKA Alaka(Hitmontop, Giratina, Dialga, Abomasnow)
Aw man! I didn't want to battle this guy. He's a really good player and friend from my league and he helped me get started into VGC and the tournaments. But God pit us against each other. Only one Texan would win this match. Anyways, we start, my Smeargle/Dialga lead vs. his Top/Tina. I Dark Void and Trick Room, while he Fake Outs Dialga and Dragon Claws Smeargle with Giratina. Both his Pokemon go to sleep. A few turns later, he KOs Smeargle before it can attack. I Draco Meteor Giratina for the OHKO. I send out Kyogre and he sends out Abomasnow. Ok, this is good. I can Blizzard. So, I Blizzard with Kyogre and Draco Meteor Hitmontop. Abomasnow Blizzards back, KOing Dialga. Hitmontop faints, and here comes Dialga. So it's 2-2. My Kyogre uses Protect and Abomasnow uses Blizzard. Dialga goes down to almost half and his Abomasnow lives. Kyogre avoids Grass Knot. My Abomasnow dies because of his Dialga's Flamethrower. I Water Spout and crit the Abomasnow for a KO and also hit Dialga for a KO. I felt bad because I won off a crit, but I knew he'd rally up the wins that he needs. GG man! 2-0
Round 3 vs random guy (Mewtwo, Abomasnow, Palkia, Kyogre)
I don't remember much about this match. I Faked Out Mewtwo like Round 1 and put up Trick Room. With TR up, I swept 3-0. 3-0
Round 4 vs a Duck I believe(Toxicroak, Palkia, Togekiss, Kyogre)
He Draco's my Dialga with Palkia and I have 3 HP left! I'm like, "WTF!!!! How'd it do so much?" Then I realized it was Spec'd. He KOs Smeargle AND Dialga T2 and I'm left with a heavy hit Kyogre and Abomasnow. This is where something drastic happened. The guy shuts his DS and starts cussing. I'm like, "Yo man! What happened?" He said, "I accidently pressed Fled." I was like, ":O." He was okay with it. He shoulve won that game as he was winning 4-2. I was bound to lose, but I got the win for that. Bad way to win though. Sorry man. :( 4-0
Round 5 against a Mighty Duck named Rory using Zerowing's team
I was like, "FINALLY! A Mighty Duck!" I was glad to play one, as I knew most of them were running zerowing's team. And sure enough, so was Rory. Like he said in his warstory, I Follow Me and set up Trick Room. With TR up, I swept, taking out Hitmontop first with Draco and ending with a Blizzard on his Abomasnow. 3-0 GG man. 5-0
Round 6 vs. Omari Travis(BadIntent) with a team idr(it had Blissey though)
This match was all a blur. It came down to my Abomasnow against his Blissey tank. I keep using Blizzard and Ice Shard, as Blissey has low Defense and Blizzard is a stab in Hail. With perfect timing, Omari gets a Toxic on me. So, I end up losing with 2 seconds left on the clock. It was a close game, as my previous Kyogre parahaxed his Blissey, so he was kinda crippled too. It was nice meeting you man, and if you could help me with details on this match, I'd be very grateful. :) 5-1
Round 7 vs. Matthew Coyle with Palkia, Toxicroak, Abomasnow, ???
I really didn't care for this match as I already had a spot on the Top 16, but I still tried. He got some crits after Trick Room was up, and they were at perfect times, so I ended up losing. I think he was trying to throw me off track as he was talking about matters off topic than what was happening, but oh well. 5-2
I see that BadIntent and Coyle are Seeds #1 and #2, and I lost to them, so I know I made it to Top 16. I get 5th seed. :D I'm exhilarated at this point as this is my first year and I made it so far. I get another interview, pics with Pikachu, a couple of Top 16 pics, and check the pairings for Top 16 tomorrow. Matthew is my next opponent. I turn around and Matthew walks up behind me to say hi. I shake hands and he asks, "Are you from Smogon?" I say yes, and then he says, "Cool! My name on Smogon is Mattj." Inside, I was like, "OMFGSH! My opponent is Mattj?! He's a kickass player and I'm a beginner. How am I supposed to win?" He leaves and after felling traumatized, I go sleep in my room. Wow! That was a crazy day!!! :O
Sunday(Top 16 matches!!!!!):
So I wake up at 7:30 and get to the Convention Center at 8:00. I quickly check in and talk to Alaka and Tyler422. After a couple of minutes, Top 16 starts. I pray that Trick Room helps me to Top 8 and make my way to battle Mattj. Our match is on TV with lots of players watching, so it's really nerve-racking. Anyways, here we go... Mattj vs. PokemanMaster!
Game 1 vs Mattj using Shiftry, Groudon, Gengar, Ho-oh
I start with Follow Me and Trick Room against his Shiftry/Groudon leads. He Fake Outs Smeargle and EarthQuakes. My Dialga HP is draining still, and suddenly it stops... AT EXACTLY 1 HP LEFT!!! :O I was like YES! I get Trick Room off and watch Smeargle faint. I send out Kyogre and Water Spout and use Dialga's Flamethrower on Shiftry. Double KO. 3-2 He sends out Ho-oh and and Gengar. I Thunder Ho-oh as he KOs Dialga and Protects with Gengar, I believe. I get a parahax on Ho-oh. I send out Abomasnow. 2-2 Pkmn left. I KO Gengar and he KOs Kyogre. It's Ho-oh vs Abomasnow. I Blizzard and he lives, but is paralyzed and can't move. He said that was a Brave Bird! :O I wouldve been done for! D: I Ice Shard Ho-oh and win the game. 1-0
Game 2 vs Mattj with Gengar, Groudon, Giratina, Togekiss
I use Dark Void instead of Fake Out and Protect with Dialga. His Groudon uses EarthQuake, bringing Smeargle to 1 HP and nothing to Dialga. Gengar uses Focus Blast on Dialga, but it's Protecting itself. Dark Void hits Groudon only. Gengar uses Focus Blast on Dialga, bringing it to use Chople Berry and only dealing 45-50% damage. Groudon stays asleep. Smeargle uses Endeavor on Groudon and brings it to 1 and Dialga uses Trick Room. I switch out Smeargle for Abomasnow so Groudon dies from hail damage. Dialga's Draco Meteor misses Gengar, so Gengar KOs Dialga with Focus Blast. Groudon stays asleep and gets KOed by hail. It's tied 3-3. He sends out Giratina and I send out my 1 HP Smeargle. I Blizzard, but Giratina Protects. Gengar gets hit and goes to the red zone in HP. Smeargle Dark Voids and hits Gengar! Yay! Gengar goes to sleep and Smeargle gets KOed by Hail. I send in Kyogre. I use Abomasnow's Blizzard and KO Gengar and do 70-75% damage to Giratina. Kyogre's full STABed Water Spout KOs Giratina. I'm up 2-1. He sends out Togekiss. I Blizzard and Water Spout, but Togekiss Protects. Trick Room vanishes! Great, this sucks! But, I start using Ice Shard from Snow and Thunder from Kyogre. Ice Shard hits, but Kyogre flinches from Air Slash for 2 consecutive turns. I Ice Shard again and he has like 30% HP left. This time, he Air Slashes Abomasnow, bringing it to red HP and activating Sitrus Berry. Kyogre Thunders Togekiss and it gets KOed. What a great game! That was one of the best I had every played! Thanks for the great game and tips on Smogon Mattj! I'll always be in debt for what you have done for me. :) 2-0
So I now have my free trip to Hawaii and I'm am EXCITED!!! My mom and I are gonna go there and relax on the beaches and of course, play Pokemon!!! lol In a couple of minutes, Top 8 stars.
Game 1 vs. Briana with Absol, Infernape, Dialga, Kyogre
I Follow Me and Trick Room. Her Absol uses Sucker Punch, but fails. Infernape uses Fake Out on Smeargle. Infernape KOs Smeargle with Mach Punch, while Dialga KOs Absol with Draco Meteor. I send out Kyogre and she sends out Dialga. I use Water Spout and Flamethrower on Infernape, knowing that she probably Sashed Infernape. My hunch was right and Infernape goes down. Her Dialga uses Dragon Pulse on Kyogre and does maybe 25% damage. She sends out Kyogre. I'm like, "Yes! This should be easy!" But no, it isn't. She haxes me SOOOOOO much!!! Her Kyogre's Quick Claw hits 4 straight turns and I lose Dialga, Kyogre, and my last Abomasnow. I was kinda mad, seeing the chances of that happening are very very very very very low. -_____- 0-1
Round 2 vs Briana with Absol, Infernape, Dialga, Kyogre
I switch out Abomasnow for Blissey, as she has many Special Attackers.
Same leads and same first turn. Infernape and Absol die quickly. We have 40 minutes left on the clock. She sends out Dialga and Kyogre and AGAIN, Kyogre gets 3 Quick Claws in a row! WTF?! I KO Kyogre and she KOs both Kyogre and Dialga. It's her paralyzed Dialga vs. my Blissey tank. EVERYONE is watching this match, as it's the last match. We still have 35 minutes left. I begin stalling her out with my tank. There's now 2 minutes left on the clock. I had been stalling her for 33 minutes now, using Toxic, Protect, Blizzard, and Softboiled. She uses Flamethrower in the rain, AND IT BURNS ME! :O Time expires and she gets the win as her Leftovers Dialga has 100% HP left and my Blissey has 99% HP left. This is lameeeeeee. But oh well, I got my free trip and I was happy with that. :) I kindly shake her hand and wish her best luck for Top 4, which she sadly loses. :( 0-2
So, I end up getting 7th place overall. I go get my papers to sign for my Travel Award and go to root Len, who got 2nd place. WOOT!!! ^_^ Anyways, I'm really excited that, as a beginner, I managed to get Top 8 at Nationals. I think that's a great feat to accomplish. I'll be going to Worlds for 3 STRAIGHT YEARS! And this time, it's free and in Hawaii! :D I know I got outhaxed in Top 8, but she played a great game. There are no grudges or bad things to say about Briana or anyone else I played... because Pokemon is just a game. Sure, it would've been nice to get farther, but this is what happened. I got 7th and I was proud. Period. :)
It's time to start training for Hawaii and I can't wait to get there! I feel very honored to meet some great people (BadIntent, Rory, dtrain, more Mighty Ducks, TTS, and Bluecookies). This Nationals was the best ever. I can't wait to write a warstory from Hawaii! lol XD
Props:
Trick Room for being SO good
Aqueos for SOOOO much help for practicing, trading with me, and more
Human for the BP on Smeargle (Thanks man! I really owe you one!!!)
Alaka for getting me started to VGC and helping me succeed
meeting BadIntent and Mattj----two very nice and great players both in VGC and on Smogon
Getting Top 8 in my first year
free trip to Hawaii
Texas for reppin' well in both VGC and TCG
many interviews
getting to talk to Marriland
nice judges and great judging
great venue
Slops:
7 Quick Claws in 2 games -__- lol
not enough sleep the night before Nationals
inflated prices for water and other beverages/foods
