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Battle Tree Discussion and Records

I wonder, wouldn't Frost Breath or another 100% crit option (wasnt there a phisical move too? Can't remind) be a better option for that 4th slot, just to deal with the odds of an enemy setupper? As good as Power Trip can get, there's the issue of running into opposer setuppers, and Moody won't necessarly always be helping with the correct stats to fuel power trip.
Plus, crits iirc ignore -stats so it would also allow you to break through enemy setuppers even without Moody bad RNG.
There is a physical version of Frost Breath - Storm Throw. Unfortunately, it has a terrible distribution (Pinsir, Throh, Pangoro)...
 
I wonder, wouldn't Frost Breath or another 100% crit option (wasnt there a phisical move too? Can't remind) be a better option for that 4th slot, just to deal with the odds of an enemy setupper? As good as Power Trip can get, there's the issue of running into opposer setuppers, and Moody won't necessarly always be helping with the correct stats to fuel power trip.
Plus, crits iirc ignore -stats so it would also allow you to break through enemy setuppers even without Moody bad RNG.

252 Smeargle crit Storm Throw vs. 252/252 Umbreon: 15.8 - 18.8%
+4 252 Smeargle Power Trip (340 BP) vs. +3 Def 252/252 Umbreon: 16.8 - 19.8%


Boosting Attack and other stats on the Truant turns to quickly give Power Trip an absurdly high BP would break through things in fewer turns than waiting around for Smeargle's Attack to get high enough to do actual damage (also with Moody having two attacks is not good practice because you could easily go through all 32 Sub/Protect PP, still have poor boosts, and then be forced to KO a Truant lead), especially when Smeargle is so weak that opponents that have already used Curse once are probably gonna try to KO it rather than Curse too many more times.

When you'd need boosted Attack to break through things like Umbreon-4 and Registeel-3 regardless, you might as well be boosting it on your own and not relying as much on RNG (that or preventing the opponent from boosting stats as often by spamming Spore). The more stats that are already at +6, the higher the odds of Moody eventually boosting the other stat you "need," and with Moody and Power Trip there's not much you'd need in the first place besides Attack, Speed and enough accuracy to actually hit (and the best boosting moves boost two of those three stats at once).
 
Hello agian! This time I could use pointers from the doubles experts. Now I want to make a team that utilizes these behemoth:


blastoise-mega.gif


Blastoise @ Blastoisetite
Ability: Rain Dish/Torrent
Nature: Modest
EVS: 110 HP / 252 Sp. Att /148 Speed
Water Spout
Aura Sphere
Ice Beam / Dark Pulse
Protect

The star player here. With his Special Attack stat, those Water Spout's are gonna hurt when he's at full. And with Tailwind support he should be striking first most of the time. The speed EVs help him get a lot out of Tailwind while the HP investment improves his survivability. Aura Sphere gives good all around coverage, particular against steels and it never misses, making it a good answer to evasion hax. Getting the Mega Launcher boost is also a boon. Ice Beam helps with Grass and Dragon types. Dark Pulse is an option though for flinches and picking off Psychic and Ghost types before they try their shenanigans. And Protect rounds things out by helping me scout for danger.

The question then comes, who would best support him? I figure Blastoise needs 4 things provided to ensure success:

  • Speed Control/Safety Ensurence: Due to Water Spouts mechanics, Blastoise needs to hit first so a Pokemon to give him the initiative or safety to attack.
  • Electric type answer: Electric is one of his 2 weaknesses
  • Dragon and Water typer answer: They resist Water Spout with Water even resisting Ice Beam too
  • Grass type answer: Worst of the above 2. Resist Water Spout AND deals Blastoise super effective damage.

Here some mons that came to mind to fill the roles:

talonflame.gif

Talonflame @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Gale Wings
Nature: Jolly
EVS: 4 HP / 252 Att / 252 Speed
Tailwind
Brave Bird
Flare Blitz / Overheat
Protect

Talonflame is a shell of its former glory but that turn 1 priority can still come in handy. Thanks to Gale Wings, it gets +1 priority on Tailwind when the game starts, making it a good lead for setting up Blastoise. And with Flyinium Z, he can get a turn 1 nuke should something need to be taken out promptly that's more important than getting up Tailwind. Flare Blitz helps Steels and certain Grass types and Protect aids in scouting and stalling. His type synergy is also pretty good with Blastoise. He takes out Grass types while Blastoise manhandles Ground, Rock, and Fire types. Since Gale Wings no longer works at any health, Jolly is used to ensure Talonflame acts first most of the time, even after taking recoil or damage.

pelipper.gif

Pelliper @ Focus Sash
Ability: Drizzle
Nature: Modest
EVS: 4 HP / 252 Sp. Att / 252 Speed
Tailwind
Hurricane
Scald
Protect
What Pelliper lacks in Talonflame's blazing speed, it compensates for with its marvelous Drizzle ability. Focus Sash usually ensures a Tailwind setup. And like Talonflame, Pelliper brings Flying power in the form of its Hurricane that doesn't miss and can confuse in rain. Scald is an accurate move that doesn't harm Blastoise like Surf and Protect scouts Fake Out, Taunt, and double targeting.


whimsicott.gif

Whimsicott @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
Nature: Timid
EVS: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Speed
Tailwind
Taunt
Encore
Helping Hand / Moonblast

Whimsicott is the final Tailwind setter of consideration. It doesn't have the offensive presence of either Talonflame or Pelliper but its Prankster and movepool make it a better supporter. Taunt shuts down opposing taunters and setup mons and walls. Encore can lock a Pokemon into a bad move, give Blastoise or a teammate free pummeling turns. Helping Hand can give Blastoise or any team a 50% power boost while Moonblast is a desperation option. Whimsicott would mean a weaker offensive link but its support would be more consistent. Looking at other records, this is the one

Those would be the Tailwind setters of choice. Along with them, I would need 2 mons to help Blastoise get out of sticky situations or pick up the slack. Here's what came to mind:


kartana.gif

Kartana @ Assault Vest
Ability: Beast Boost
Nature: Jolly
EVS: 100 HP/ 200 Att / 52 Def / 158 Speed
Leaf Blade
Protect
Smart Strike
X-Scissor

The nature is largely because it's the Kartana I have with the best IV spread. (Everything is perfect or darn near perfect aside from awful HP IV. Might Hyper Train it.) From looking at several streaks, it's clear that Kartana is a great Water supporter. It's typing lets it handle opposing Water, Grass, and Electric types. Following Magicxgame's advice, it'll have Protect over Sacred Sword as Blastoise (and possibly Talonflame) will handle Steel types well enough. And in Tailwind, Kartana often gets to strike first. Beast Boost accentuates this as it'll often come in to pick up kills its teammates didn't and get all the stronger for it.

Alternatively I could have Kartana run Assault Vest.

garchomp-f.gif


Garchomp @ Groundium Z / Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Rough Skin
EVS: 252 Att / 4 Def 252 Speed

Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Poison Jab
Protect

Everyone's favorite broken Land Shark is here! With Tailwind, I feel Adamant can be run for extra juice. Groundium Z gives me an accurate Ground type nuke for any Electric types that frighten Blastoise. But if I opt for Talonflame, Life Orb is the item of choice for versatility. Poison Jab helps take out Fairy types while Dragon Claw deals with Dragon types. Protect is for customary scouting.

arcanine.gif


Arcanine @ Sitrus / Aguav
Nature: Calm
Ability: Intimidate
EVS: 244 HP / 188 Def / 76 Sp Def

Flamethrower/Burn Up
Snarl
Morning Sun / Helping Hand
Protect

And then you got Arcanine who's a good option for a non-Talonflame build. Intimidate and Snarl soften the other teams blows. Flamethrower is a reliable STAB while Burn Up is a good nuke that can reduce damage from moves like Earthquake. Morning Sun improves longevity while Helping Hand boosts an ally's power. Protect is good for scouting.

There's probably more but those are what first came to my mind.

I personally think Talonflame / Blastoise / Kartana / Garchomp and Pelliper / Blastoise/ Arcanine / Kartana or Garchomp make good combos. Advice on sets and team composition is vastly appreciated. I'd like to have a good doubles team planned in advance before I start my new Super Singles streak.
 
Hello agian! This time I could use pointers from the doubles experts. Now I want to make a team that utilizes these behemoth:


blastoise-mega.gif


Blastoise @ Blastoisetite
Ability: Rain Dish/Torrent
Nature: Modest
EVS: 110 HP / 252 Sp. Att /148 Speed
Water Spout
Aura Sphere
Ice Beam / Dark Pulse
Protect

The star player here. With his Special Attack stat, those Water Spout's are gonna hurt when he's at full. And with Tailwind support he should be striking first most of the time. The speed EVs help him get a lot out of Tailwind while the HP investment improves his survivability. Aura Sphere gives good all around coverage, particular against steels and it never misses, making it a good answer to evasion hax. Getting the Mega Launcher boost is also a boon. Ice Beam helps with Grass and Dragon types. Dark Pulse is an option though for flinches and picking off Psychic and Ghost types before they try their shenanigans. And Protect rounds things out by helping me scout for danger.

The question then comes, who would best support him? I figure Blastoise needs 4 things provided to ensure success:

  • Speed Control/Safety Ensurence: Due to Water Spouts mechanics, Blastoise needs to hit first so a Pokemon to give him the initiative or safety to attack.
  • Electric type answer: Electric is one of his 2 weaknesses
  • Dragon and Water typer answer: They resist Water Spout with Water even resisting Ice Beam too
  • Grass type answer: Worst of the above 2. Resist Water Spout AND deals Blastoise super effective damage.

Here some mons that came to mind to fill the roles:

talonflame.gif

Talonflame @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Gale Wings
Nature: Jolly
EVS: 4 HP / 252 Att / 252 Speed
Tailwind
Brave Bird
Flare Blitz / Overheat
Protect

Talonflame is a shell of its former glory but that turn 1 priority can still come in handy. Thanks to Gale Wings, it gets +1 priority on Tailwind when the game starts, making it a good lead for setting up Blastoise. And with Flyinium Z, he can get a turn 1 nuke should something need to be taken out promptly that's more important than getting up Tailwind. Flare Blitz helps Steels and certain Grass types and Protect aids in scouting and stalling. His type synergy is also pretty good with Blastoise. He takes out Grass types while Blastoise manhandles Ground, Rock, and Fire types. Since Gale Wings no longer works at any health, Jolly is used to ensure Talonflame acts first most of the time, even after taking recoil or damage.

pelipper.gif

Pelliper @ Focus Sash
Ability: Drizzle
Nature: Modest
EVS: 4 HP / 252 Sp. Att / 252 Speed
Tailwind
Hurricane
Scald
Protect
What Pelliper lacks in Talonflame's blazing speed, it compensates for with its marvelous Drizzle ability. Focus Sash usually ensures a Tailwind setup. And like Talonflame, Pelliper brings Flying power in the form of its Hurricane that doesn't miss and can confuse in rain. Scald is an accurate move that doesn't harm Blastoise like Surf and Protect scouts Fake Out, Taunt, and double targeting.


whimsicott.gif

Whimsicott @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
Nature: Timid
EVS: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Speed
Tailwind
Taunt
Encore
Helping Hand / Moonblast

Whimsicott is the final Tailwind setter of consideration. It doesn't have the offensive presence of either Talonflame or Pelliper but its Prankster and movepool make it a better supporter. Taunt shuts down opposing taunters and setup mons and walls. Encore can lock a Pokemon into a bad move, give Blastoise or a teammate free pummeling turns. Helping Hand can give Blastoise or any team a 50% power boost while Moonblast is a desperation option. Whimsicott would mean a weaker offensive link but its support would be more consistent. Looking at other records, this is the one

Those would be the Tailwind setters of choice. Along with them, I would need 2 mons to help Blastoise get out of sticky situations or pick up the slack. Here's what came to mind:


kartana.gif

Kartana @ Assault Vest
Ability: Beast Boost
Nature: Jolly
EVS: 100 HP/ 200 Att / 52 Def / 158 Speed
Leaf Blade
Protect
Smart Strike
X-Scissor

The nature is largely because it's the Kartana I have with the best IV spread. (Everything is perfect or darn near perfect aside from awful HP IV. Might Hyper Train it.) From looking at several streaks, it's clear that Kartana is a great Water supporter. It's typing lets it handle opposing Water, Grass, and Electric types. Following Magicxgame's advice, it'll have Protect over Sacred Sword as Blastoise (and possibly Talonflame) will handle Steel types well enough. And in Tailwind, Kartana often gets to strike first. Beast Boost accentuates this as it'll often come in to pick up kills its teammates didn't and get all the stronger for it.

Alternatively I could have Kartana run Assault Vest.

garchomp-f.gif


Garchomp @ Groundium Z / Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Rough Skin
EVS: 252 Att / 4 Def 252 Speed

Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Poison Jab
Protect

Everyone's favorite broken Land Shark is here! With Tailwind, I feel Adamant can be run for extra juice. Groundium Z gives me an accurate Ground type nuke for any Electric types that frighten Blastoise. But if I opt for Talonflame, Life Orb is the item of choice for versatility. Poison Jab helps take out Fairy types while Dragon Claw deals with Dragon types. Protect is for customary scouting.

arcanine.gif


Arcanine @ Sitrus / Aguav
Nature: Calm
Ability: Intimidate
EVS: 244 HP / 188 Def / 76 Sp Def

Flamethrower/Burn Up
Snarl
Morning Sun / Helping Hand
Protect

And then you got Arcanine who's a good option for a non-Talonflame build. Intimidate and Snarl soften the other teams blows. Flamethrower is a reliable STAB while Burn Up is a good nuke that can reduce damage from moves like Earthquake. Morning Sun improves longevity while Helping Hand boosts an ally's power. Protect is good for scouting.

There's probably more but those are what first came to my mind.

I personally think Talonflame / Blastoise / Kartana / Garchomp and Pelliper / Blastoise/ Arcanine / Kartana or Garchomp make good combos. Advice on sets and team composition is vastly appreciated. I'd like to have a good doubles team planned in advance before I start my new Super Singles streak.

In general, running max speed modest on blastoise is best, it allows you to outspeed the entire tree barring Aerodactyl1, and its natural bulk is enough to live quite a few super effective hits. For partners, I'd suggest Whimsicott because it has great support in tailwind and helping hand, and it doesn't share any weaknesses like talonflame does.
 
Hello. I have completed the Battle Tree and I wanted to share my experiences with it in this thread. Though I am not really done with the Tree yet, but we'll get to that later. One thing at a time. I should also mention that I'm posting here even if I won't be getting on the leaderboards. At least not right now, but maybe in the future? We'll see about that too.

Last generation, getting all five Trophies in the Maison and getting into the Five Trophies Club was a quite good motivation for me to complete the Maison. Especially Super Multi since I never bothered with it in Gen 5, I would probably not have bothered with it in Gen 6 if it weren't for the Maison thread. And if it weren't for the Five Trophies, I would probably never have posted in the Maison thread in the first place.

This generation, there is no such thing for getting all three Stamps in the Tree. So I'll just create one myself!
OHXbIEO.jpg


PJIwiyb.jpg


2UbF3EI.jpg
Okay, don't take that too seriously, it was just something I wanted to do for fun.

There's only three lines this generation as opposed to five last gen. That means things didn't have to take as long to get done since I didn't have to make as many teams this time around. That said, this still took a while to get done. While I feel a bit sad about Triple and Rotation being gone (especially Triple since it is my favorite and probably also best format), I'm not sure if I would have had the time for all five formats one more time, so it's all okay. I hope they can make a return in the future though.

My goal for the Battle Tree was to get all three stamps and win 200 battles in a row in order to get the berries. Getting the stamps was something I was pretty sure I could do, but I was unsure about winning 200 battles in a row. I'm surprised I managed to make it, didn't think I would be able to do it but somehow, I did. Being able to give yourself a positive surprise in life is a great feeling.

As for my teams, I don't have any super long descriptions for any of them, just some short words about how they worked or how they didn't work. I will not list every streak I made with all teams, the main ones I have listed are the highest one for each team. Though I might mention other streaks as well in the descriptions.

I can't really call any of my teams original. I have been lurking this thread since it started, combined with years of lurking the Maison/Subway/Frontier/Tower threads before it... I think I have come to realize that when it comes to Battle Facilities, I'm not very good at creating original teams that actually work. I wish I didn't have to say this, but that's how it is. Most or rather all of my teams have some sort of inspiration, I'll give credit where it is deserved. I also feel that most of my teams are a bit boring since most to all of the Pokemon I have used are common choices for battle facilities.

I don't have QR Codes for any of my teams but I can create codes for any of the teams if anyone should be interested.

I should mention that I don't have Battle Videos for all of my streaks. All of my battles for Super Single on Moon were played during versions 1.0 and 1.1 of the game, so I can't show any of the videos from them. Regarding my other streaks, I have uploaded as many Battle Videos as possible, with a short description for every video as well. I tried to pick the ones that were the most important or interesting.

I think that's enough as an introduction. Below are my teams.
Moon:

Team 1:

nihilego.gif

Nihilego @ Focus Sash ** Embracia
Ability: Beast Boost
IVs: x/x/31/31/x/31
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Sp.att / 252 Spd
Nature: Timid
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot

pheromosa.gif

Pheromosa @ Life Orb ** Insectoid
Ability: Beast Boost
IVs: x/31/x/31/x/31
EVs: 252 Att / 6 Sp.att / 252 Spd
Nature: Naive
- Low Kick
- Lunge
- Ice Beam
- U-Turn

celesteela.gif

Celesteela @ Leftovers ** Sanctuary
Ability: Beast Boost
IVs: x/x/31/31/x/31
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Att / 140 Def / 4 Sp.att / 94 Sp.def
Nature: Sassy
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower
- Leech Seed
- Protect

Streak: 29

This team was not meant to be serious, I'm mentioning it just because I didn't want to leave anything out. Back in January, I was waiting for Bank to get Gen 7 support before getting started on the Battle Tree for real. As I was getting a bit bored, I decided to try the Tree anyway. My goal then was to get enough BP to buy the Power Items and a Destiny Knot so I had them ready when Bank got updated. I didn't want to do any breeding since I didn't have the Destiny Knot or any Ditto with good IVs, but I had caught all the Ultra Beasts in the game and decided to make a team featuring some of them. So I did, and this became the result.

It is obviously not very good but that was not the point either. If Nihilego could KO the opposing lead and get a Beast Boost, then I could usually win. Celesteela helped against Ground-type moves that Nihilego didn't like. I don't recall Pheromosa being very useful though. I tried a few times until I had all the BP I needed. The best streak I got ended at Battle #30 against Guzma, though I don't remember anything from it. But I think he deserved that win since I beat him every time during the main story.

Team 2:

salamence-mega.gif

Salamence (M) @ Salamencite ** Stormheart
Ability: Intimidate -> Aerilate
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Att / 4 Def / 12 Sp.def / 236 Spd
Nature: Jolly
- Return
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Roost

greninja.gif

Greninja (M) @ Choice Specs ** Crystal Star
Ability: Protean
IVs: 31/x/31/31/31/31
EVs: 92 HP / 12 Def / 196 Sp.att / 6 Sp.def / 204 Spd
Nature: Timid
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse
- Grass Knot

ferrothorn.gif

Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers ** Life Metal
Ability: Iron Barbs
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/0
EVs: 252 HP / 6 Def / 252 Sp.def
Nature: Sassy
- Gyro Ball
- Curse
- Leech Seed
- Substitute

Streak: 47

Here's my first attempt at a more serious team. I tried to mix together some things I had seen both in this thread and in the Maison/Subway threads, this is how it turned out. However, it didn't really work. Salamence often had a hard time setting up which isn't surprising since it didn't get enough support. I was usually too reckless with Mega evolving it as well. I never really felt that Specs Greninja worked either. Once it had locked itself into a move, the opponent was likely to send out something that another move worked better against, forcing me to switch out. I felt that Ferrothorn did most of the work here, it could set up on many things. However, if it didn't have a Sub up and my opponent sent out something with a Fire-type move after Ferrothorn beat an opposing Pokemon, it would auto-lose.

I made several attempts with this team but I never reached 50 in a row. The highest I got was 47, lost in Battle #48 against a mono-Grass team I shouldn't have had any problem beating if I had just played better. I eventually gave up and decided to use the team I should have used from the beginning instead.

Team 3:

salamence-mega.gif

Salamence (M) @ Salamencite ** Stormheart
Ability: Intimidate -> Aerilate
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Att / 4 Def / 12 Sp.def / 236 Spd
Nature: Jolly
- Return
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Roost

aegislash.gif

Aegislash (F) @ Leftovers ** Rafaela
Ability: Stance Change
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/31
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Att / 6 Sp.def
Nature: Adamant
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
- Swords Dance
- King's Shield

chansey.gif

Chansey (F) @ Eviolite ** Luciela
Ability: Natural Cure
IVs: 31/x/31/x/31/31
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 6 Spd
Nature: Bold
- Seismic Toss
- Growl
- Toxic
- Soft-Boiled

Streak: 181

Finally, a team that worked. Salamence stayed while the backups got swapped out for two sisters who could destroy the world and tank anything together... okay, not really. This team was first used by VaporeonIce last generation and have been used by GG Unit, Psynergy and others this generation. The team is rather simple and I believe most people know how it works so I don't feel like there is any need to say anything about how to use it.

I should say some things about the move choices though. I have seen many people go with moves like Substitute and Minimize on Chansey, as well as a Timid Nature, and I can totally understand why. If my Chansey had been faster and had Substitute, it could have made several situations less scary. I was always afraid of running into a fast OHKO-user during the streak. Though I really liked having both Toxic and Seismic Toss as it gave Chansey a chance to beat everything except Gengar, which could just be stalled out eventually anyway. Growl was useful against opposing Physical attackers but I can understand why others choose to not run it since it wasn't always the most optimal.

I made two tries with this team, the first one ended in Battle #67 against a Quick Claw Bewear. The second ended in Battle #182. I don't remember it in exact detail but I lost Salamence on turn 1 against an opposing Salamence (set 3), then my opponent had a Mega Gyarados which managed to beat both Chansey and Aegislash. I could probably have reached 200 in a row if I had played better, it was a rather sour loss but it doesn't really matter anymore. Didn't feel like trying again because this team made things extremely slow, most battles meant I had to stall out special attackers with Chansey or lower the Attack of Physical attackers and then set up Salamence. This team worked but it wasn't super fun to use since the battles generally took a long time to complete. That said, it gave me the Stamp and that was what I was after in the first place, so that's good enough. It was also the first team that got me up to the really serious levels in the Tree.

Sun:

mimikyu.gif

Mimikyu (F) @ Fairium Z ** Fool's Gold
Ability: Disguise
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Att / 252 Spd
Nature: Adamant
- Shadow Claw
- Play Rough
- Shadow Sneak
- Swords Dance

gyarados-mega.gif

Gyarados (M) @ Gyaradosite ** Hydrodynamo
Ability: Intimidate -> Mold Breaker
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 78 HP / 252 Att / 4 Def / 4 Sp.def / 172 Spd
Nature: Adamant
- Waterfall
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Rest

kartana.gif

Kartana @ Focus Sash ** Autumn Water
Ability: Beast Boost
IVs: 31/31/31/25/31/31 (Hyper Trained)
EVs: 252 Att / 6 Def / 252 Spd
Nature: Jolly
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
- Sacred Sword
- X-Scissor

Streak: 86

I had seen several people here use Mimikyu as a lead for Super Single and it seemed like a cool idea. Since I had never used Mimikyu before using it here, Mimikyu being an awesome Pokemon in general, not to mention Fairy and Ghost being my two favorite types, how could I resist giving it a try? Saw some discussions about Jolly vs. Adamant and it seemed like Adamant was the better alternative, so I went with it and still outran a ton of stuff while dealing heavy damage. Fairium Z felt like the best item choice in order to have a one-time super powerful Twinkle Tackle.

I went with Mega Gyarados and Kartana as the backups. Gyarados was meant to switch in on Steel-type moves as well as absorb status and beat Fire-types, I could also choose to not Mega evolve it if it felt better, which was dependant on the situation. Kartana was used for perfect defensive synergy as well as a last resort that could potentially pull of a sweep after a Beast Boost or two. I made five attempts with this team, they ended at battles #15, #50, #28, #71 and #87. Losing against Red was a bit devastating but I managed to beat him again on subsequent tries. The highest I got was to Battle #87 where I lost against a legendary team with powerful Electric-type moves. It was a very simple loss without any real hax or misplay since this team can't handle fast and powerful Special Electric-type moves very well.

Battle Videos:

Battle #50: W75G-WWWW-WWW8-H6ML
Vs. Red
006-mx.png
143.png
003.png


My first battle against Red which resulted in a loss. Bad matchups and misplay from my side are the main reasons, though the fact that both Charizard and Snorlax survived Kartana's attacks didn't help much either. I could have won if I had played better against Venusaur but I underestimated how much damage the poison would potentially do, thought it would be 1/16 but I mixed it up with burn damage.

Battle #50: NSBG-WWWW-WWW8-H6N5
Vs. Red
143.png
006-mx.png
131.png


My first rematch against Red. This battle went much better thanks to a better starting matchup and better moves from my side. Mimikyu was able to sweep everything alone.

Battle #87: W9KW-WWWW-WWW8-H6NJ
Vs. Veteran Ignacio
380.png
381.png
243.png


The loss on my final streak with this team, as well as my final battle with the team overall. Not much to say here, it was a pretty simple loss without hax, I don't think I could have played differently in order to win.
Moon:

Team 1:

tapulele.gif

Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf ** Psychomental
Ability: Psychic Surge
IVs: 31/5-6/31/31/31/31 (Hyper Trained)
EVs: 14 HP / 4 Def / 252 Sp.att / 4 Sp.def / 236 Spd
Nature: Modest
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Dazzling Gleam
- Energy Ball

metagross-mega.gif

Metagross @ Metagrossite ** Power Glove
Ability: Clear Body -> Tough Claws
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Att / 252 Spd
Nature: Jolly
- Iron Head
- Thunder Punch
- Ice Punch
- Protect

hydreigon.gif

Hydreigon (M) @ Dragonium Z ** Brutal Kite
Ability: Levitate
IVs: 31/x/31/31/31/31
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Sp.att / 252 Spd
Nature: Timid
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower
- Protect

hawlucha.gif

Hawlucha (F) @ Psychic Seed ** Predator
Ability: Unburden
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Att / 126 Def
Nature: Adamant
- Low Kick
- Acrobatics
- Tailwind
- Protect

Streak: 58

For Super Double, changing the Terrain seems to be the most efficient way to win and get high streaks in Super Double this generation. Naturally, the Tapu and their Surge Abilities are given choices for this... but you already know this, so let's get straight to the point. I wanted to use Tapu Lele here, got the set straight from Josh C. and his team. Then I tried to build the rest of the team around it, got some ideas from others in this thread which resulted in Mega Metagross, Hydreigon and Hawlucha being added. Can you guess the result? It didn't work. Or at least not as well as I had hoped. My first streak ended in Battle #47 against a Quick Claw Emboar. On the second attempt, I did get past Blue but lost quite soon after him in battle #59. I found that the team had a hard time handling Fire- and Electric-types since I couldn't hit them for super effective damage. I also had a hard time against Steel-types since Lele is weak to Steel while none of my backups resists it. I realized that if I wanted to win 200 battles in a row, things would have to be changed.

Battle Videos:

Battle #50: MWQG-WWWW-WWW8-H6EV
Vs. Blue
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My battle against Blue with this team. A very simple battle without any difficulties, it got me the Stamp.

Battle #59: 3NPW-WWWW-WWW8-H6FK
Vs. Youngster Napoleon
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My second loss with this team, and my last battle with it. Two legendary Electric-types and one Fire-type is not something this team can handle well. But I also played badly, I might have been able to win if I had focused on taking out Zapdos first. Now it ended up becoming a major threat once it had set up a few Double Teams and got some Charge Beam boosts.

Team 2:

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Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf ** Psychomental
Ability: Psychic Surge
IVs: 31/5-6/31/31/31/31 (Hyper Trained)
EVs: 14 HP / 4 Def / 252 Sp.att / 4 Sp.def / 236 Spd
Nature: Modest
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball

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Pheromosa @ Focus Sash ** Zebesian
Ability: Beast Boost
IVs: 0/31/9/31/31/31 (Hyper Trained in Sp.att)
EVs: 252 Att / 14 Sp.att / 244 Spd
Nature: Naughty
- Low Kick
- Lunge
- Ice Beam
- Protect

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Garchomp (F) @ Groundium Z ** Dragonstar
Ability: Rough Skin
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Att / 252 Spd
Nature: Jolly
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
- Protect

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Celesteela @ Leftovers ** Reactor Core
Ability: Beast Boost
IVs: 31/31/31/1-2/31/31 (Hyper Trained)
EVs: 244 HP / 4 Att / 188 Def / 68 Sp.def / 6 Spd
Nature: Impish
- Heavy Slam
- Leech Seed
- Wide Guard
- Protect

Streak: 200 (ongoing)

Changes were made and this team became the new result. I really wanted to keep Tapu Lele, but the rest of the team could be changed. I made one change to Lele: switched Dazzling Gleam for Shadow Ball in order to have a better change against opposing Psychic-types, giving me an extra chance of beating Trick Room users since many of them are Psychic-types. It also lets Lele hit Steel-types for neutral damage... though I guess Psychic does more damage most of the time anyway. I don't think I ever used Dazzling Gleam during my first streak and I never felt like I was missing it with this team so it was all fine.

As for the others... Tapu Lele + Pheromosa is a common duo, first used by turskain and then by many others here. While I wanted to do something original, my main goal was to actually win and since my own ideas rarely work, I went with Pheromosa to see how it would work in Double. Being both original and successful usually doesn't work for me, so why try again when I pretty much already knew the result?

I really wanted to have a good way to handle Fire- and Electric-types this time around and Garchomp does that very well in addition to being a second answer to Steel-types. Once again, I have Josh C. to thank for the set. As for the last slot, I was really unsure. A Steel-type seemed like a good choice, but I wasn't sure which one to go with. I was considering several alternatives like Aegislash, Magnezone, Mega Metagross and Mega Scizor, but also some non-Steel-types like Greninja, Rotom-Heat and Mega Sharpedo. As I was planning and having trouble deciding what to use, I saw this team by kneeshoeshoe. The team featured a Celesteela and kneeshoeshoe had gotten to 400 wins in a row with it. I was very impressed and since my second Celesteela had an Impish nature, that settled it. My team ended up very similar to kneeshoeshoe's, the main difference being that I used Z-Chomp instead of Mega Salamence.

My first tries with this team didn't give me the results I was after. I felt that the team had potential, but could I make it all the way to 200 in a row? I wasn't sure. I could get past Blue without major problems, but I lost twice in different situations in Battles #79 and #88. On my third attempt, I lost very early in Battle #9, quite possibly my most embarrassing and humiliating loss ever. At this point I was considering giving up on trying to reach 200, but I decided to make one more try. And this time, I managed to make it all the way to 200! This team ended up working well in the end and I'm so happy about it.

Battle Videos:

Battle #79: ZGZW-WWWW-WWW8-H6FR
Vs. Black Belt Chucky
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My first loss with this team. Losing Lele on turn 1 is obviously not good (and this is not the last time I will have to say this), this battle taught me that I need to be careful around opposing Mimikyu. Losing Pheromosa on turn 2 was not good either, though it would have happened regardless of the Quick Claw since Lickilicky survived from Low Kick. Having only Celesteela and Garchomp left against 2 Electric-types, one of which is immune to Ground, is not a good situation. Though I could probably have gotten out of if I had played better. I expected Vikavolt to target Celesteela first, but no, it focused on Garchomp. In the end, I could probably have won if I had tried to defeat the bugger with Heavy Slam instead of trying to seed it with Leech Seed.

Battle #88: 9VYG-WWWW-WWW8-H6G3
Vs. Pokemon Breeder Danby
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My second loss. Dhelmise is one of the non-Fire/Electric-types that Celesteela cannot reliably beat. The combination of Phantom Force, Leftovers and an immunity to Leech Seed is rather annoying to deal with if I only have Celesteela left. My mistake here was leaving it for last instead of taking it out earlier in the battle. Though other things like Bronzong's Quick Claw activating and Golisopod surviving a hit with just a little HP left did not exactly help either. I think I also ran out of PP for Heavy Slam towards the end of the battle (I have not used PP Ups on very many of my Pokemon, maybe I should). This battle taught me to be very careful around Dhelmise and take it out quickly unless there are other, more dangerous opponents on the field.

Battle #9: 6MXW-WWWW-WWW8-H6GY
Vs. Office Worker Dominica
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How did I lose here? I blame it on the following: Reflect, Encore and extremely bad playing from my side. I shouldn't have tried to take out Reuniclus first, guess I was afraid of it using Trick Room which it probably wouldn't have anyway. One of my worst battles ever.

Battle #83: THWW-WWWW-WWW8-H6GT
Vs. Golfer Patrick
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A rather close battle, but a win at least. Losing Lele on turn 1 is never good, Volcarona is a dangerous opponent and it is hard to beat without Lele if it has set up at least one Quiver Dance. It was also tricky to play against since I wasn't sure if it would use Bug Buzz or Heat Wave. Thankfully I got lucky towards the end of the battle with Garchomp surviving with exactly 1 HP left and Heat Wave missing against Celesteela. This is the kind of battle which I'm not really sure if I deserved to win.

Battle #179: LAEW-WWWW-WWW8-H6HD
Vs. Scientist Cal
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Trick Room. Couldn't really prevent the opponent from setting it up this time around, but it wasn't that problematic. This battle wasn't really super hard, it just took a while to get it done. It was also rather hilarious as Slowbro's Surf got disabled by Jellicent's Cursed Body... twice!

Battle #199: VRJW-WWWW-WWW8-H6Y2
Vs. Collector Sam
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Losing Lele on turn 1 was scary, other than that this battle was rather simple. Though it would have been pretty bad to lose here. The main reason I saved it is because I wanted to show a somewhat strange AI behavior I have noticed. Though it may already be well-known in this thread, I don't know. Don't think I have seen anyone else talk about it before at least. I use Psychic on Kangaskhan on turn 1 and then on turn 2, the opponent switches Kangaskhan for Hydreigon in order to nullify another Psychic, despite the fact that Lele had already fainted. This has happened to me in other battles too and I find it rather weird that the AI switches to take a hit even if the Pokemon that used the move on the previous turn has fainted.

Battle #200: SWUW-WWWW-WWW8-H6YA
Vs. Wally
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Saved this battle just as proof of winning 200 battles in a row. The battle itself is nothing special, just a simple victory against Wally.

Sun:

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Kangaskhan (F) @ Kangaskhanite ** Resilience
Ability: Scrappy -> Parental Bond
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 252 Att / 6 Sp.def / 252 Spd
Nature: Jolly
- Return
- Sucker Punch
- Power-Up Punch
- Fake Out

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Tapu Koko @ Choice Specs ** Intensity
Ability: Electric Surge
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/31 (Hyper Trained)
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Sp.att / 252 Spd
Nature: Timid
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Grass Knot
- Volt Switch

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Latios (M) @ Dragonium Z ** Obstinance
Ability: Levitate
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/31 (Hyper Trained)
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Sp.att / 252 Spd
Nature: Timid
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic
- Surf
- Protect

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Excadrill (M) @ Focus Sash ** Vivacity
Ability: Mold Breaker
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Att / 252 Spd
Nature: Adamant
- Drill Run
- Iron Head
- Rock Tomb
- Protect

Streak: 200 (ongoing)

Since I was using Tapu Lele on Moon, I decided to go for Koko on Sun as it seemed to be the second of the two most successful Tapu to use in Tree Doubles. I was initially planning to use Alolan Raichu as the lead partner but I was struggling to come up with some good backups for them. Eventually I decided to use Mega Kangaskhan as the lead partner instead, with Latios and Excadrill as the backups because they form a pretty good offensive and defensive synergy together with the leads. These two and their sets were inspired by this team by turskain and this team by lolnub.

At first, this team didn't really work as well as I had hoped. I lost three times before reaching Blue, at Battles #27, #37 and #49. The last one in particular was rather annoying as I lost just one battle before Blue. I was wondering if I would be able to make it up to him after all. I noticed that the team had trouble against certain things, three major ones stand out. The first one is Ice-types since I don't have a resistance against Ice. The second is Trick Room since all four team members are quite fast. The best thing I can do against Trick Room teams is to try and prevent the opponent from setting it up with Fake Out, or defeat at least one of the possible Trick Room users if I can. The third is Ferrothorn since I can't really hit it for super effective damage (only with Kanga's PuP which isn't completely reliable) while it can possibly set up and sweep me if I should get unlucky.

Despite the flaws of the team, I decided to try again. At this point, I just wanted to beat Blue, it didn't matter much if I lost directly after him. To my own surprise, I made it past Blue this time around, and then all the way to 200 in a row! I wish I could explain how, but... I'm not really sure. This team just worked, despite its flaws.

Battle Videos:

Battle #50: 62EW-WWWW-WWW8-H6Z4
Vs. Blue
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My battle against Blue. Easy and without any problems.

Battle #52: HNHG-WWWW-WWW8-H6ZY
Vs. Worker Dan
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A battle against a Ferrothorn, one of the Pokemon my team cannot beat that easily. Wasn't really sure about how to play against it and ended up leaving it for last. Thankfully it decided to try and set up fully instead of attacking which allowed me to beat it in the end.

Battle #57: YCSG-WWWW-WWW8-H6ZQ
Vs. Veteran Xenophon
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Not a close battle, but one showing some interesting AI behavior. My opponent has a Florges with Misty Terrain and an Exeggutor with Grassy Terrain, they end up switching the Terrain instead of attacking me towards the end. I saw this being discussed here in this thread, decided to save and upload this video after encountering it myself.

Battle #130: XGJG-WWWW-WWW8-H6P5
Vs. Sina
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As mentioned, this team doesn't like Ice-types that much so Sina is not one of my favorite opponents to face. Fortunately I got a bit lucky here with Focus Blast missing against Kangaskhan, otherwise it might have gone much worse.

Battle #144: F4MG-WWWW-WWW8-H6PG
Vs. Scientist Cadel
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Trick Room. Played a bit stupidly here since I could have prevented the opponent from setting it up with Fake Out on the first turn, but thankfully the backups weren't too dangerous. Nor were the leads, for that matter.

Battle #171: TX8G-WWWW-WWW8-H6PQ
Vs. Ace Trainer Poppy
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One of the closest battles during the streak. I played a bit badly at first which lead to losing Kangaskhan and Koko early, leaving Latios and Excadrill left to deal with 3 opponents. Thankfully my opponent's last Pokemon was a Klinklang-4 which Excadrill auto-wins against.

Battle #200: G6F6-WWWW-WWW8-H6Q6
Vs. Wally
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Saved this as proof of winning 200 battles in a row here as well. Like on Moon, I got to face Wally as my opponent. But unlike on Moon, this battle became quite close. I usually leave Magnezone for last since Excadrill can beat it pretty reliably, but this time it became annoying with hax in the form of Bright Powder and paralysis. I also completely forgot about the possibility of Gallade having Shadow Sneak which made things very scary for a moment near the end. Thankfully everything worked out eventually, this would have been the worst possible battle to lose at.
Like last generation, I used both games together for this.

Moon:

tapulele.gif

Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf ** Psychomental
Ability: Psychic Surge
IVs: 31/5-6/31/31/31/31 (Hyper Trained)
EVs: 14 HP / 4 Def / 252 Sp.att / 4 Sp.def / 236 Spd
Nature: Modest
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball

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Celesteela @ Leftovers ** Reactor Core
Ability: Beast Boost
IVs: 31/31/31/1-2/31/31 (Hyper Trained)
EVs: 244 HP / 4 Att / 188 Def / 68 Sp.def / 6 Spd
Nature: Impish
- Heavy Slam
- Leech Seed
- Wide Guard
- Protect

Sun:

pheromosa.gif

Pheromosa @ Focus Sash ** Zebesian
Ability: Beast Boost
IVs: 0/31/9/31/31/31 (Hyper Trained in Sp.att)
EVs: 252 Att / 14 Sp.att / 244 Spd
Nature: Naughty
- Low Kick
- Lunge
- Ice Beam
- Protect

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Garchomp (F) @ Groundium Z ** Dragonstar
Ability: Rough Skin
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Att / 252 Spd
Nature: Jolly
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
- Protect

Streak: 50 (ongoing but discontinued, not going to continue as my only goal was to get the Stamp)

This team is nothing special, just my second Super Double team from Moon split over the two games. I didn't create an original team designed specifically for Super Multi because I didn't really have the time or dedication needed for that. I didn't feel that my Multi team on OR/AS last generation worked quite as well as I had hoped, though it did get me the trophy there at least. Anyway, I picked this over my Sun team because it felt more "safe" to win with. Though I'm not sure if that really is the case, but it doesn't matter anymore. The team is mostly the same as in Double, but there are a few minor differences. I learned that I had to play a bit more offensively with Pheromosa compared to in Double as it felt like the opponent would target Tapu Lele more often here. Another (very minor) difference is the placement of the Pokemon, Pheromosa got sent out on the left and Tapu Lele on the right compared to in Super Double. I'm not sure why but I would guess the games simply picks Sun as the "main" game. I don't know it if made any difference either.

This strategy was by no means perfect, changing from Double to Multi meant I had to use different strategies at times, which could be tricky. And of course, I lost once in Battle #46 on my first attempt, which was rather annoying. Regarding the entire Battle Tree, I never made it to 50 wins in a row on my first try in any format. Thankfully, I made it to Battle #50 on my second try. I got up to Red and Blue without major problems and beat them, getting me the Stamp I was after.

Somehow, I found Super Multi to be surprisingly tolerable this generation. Didn't really expect that to be the case, but it is. The lag and delays didn't feel nearly as bad as in Super Double, which was strange. I thought Super Multi would be the slowest format, but Double was probably worse when it comes to delays. I play on 2 old 3DS XL if anyone were wondering, I have considered upgrading to new 3DS/2DS XL, but I'm not sure when and if that will happen. Playing with animations turned on wasn't that bad either, the biggest annoyance was the fact that you had to watch the full animations for all Z-moves. I guess I kind of got used to the pains of Super Multi after playing through it in X/Y and OR/AS which made it less of a pain this time. Though it is still my least favorite format.

I also wanted to post some minor things I noticed about Super Multi. Apologies if these have already been posted by others. First of all, I only got to battle the special trainers that are exclusive to Sun (Plumeria, Sina and Kiawe), didn't see their Moon counterparts a single time. I would guess that this also has to do with the games seeing Sun as the "main" game and that they only pick the trainers that are exclusive to Sun. But I'm not sure, the games may use both sets of exclusive trainers and I just didn't get to see the Moon exclusive trainers a single time. I also noticed that the games always use the regular trainer battle theme when facing the special trainers, independent of which special trainers you meet. This happened when I battled Red and Blue as well which really surprised me as I thought they would use their special battle theme.

Battle Video:

Battle #50: ZD9W-WWWW-WWW8-H6YY
Vs. Red and Blue
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My battle against Red and Blue. Not much to say, it was a quite simple victory. The reason I used Psychic on Alakazam was because it felt like the safest move against the possible backups. Which it ended up being since Red had Charizard as his second Pokemon.
And that's it. Am I done with the Battle Tree now? The answer is no, and there are two reasons. First of all, I need to complete my ongoing streaks for Super Double at some point in the future. I actually need to complete them in order to get the berries. Which I'm not super happy about. If there are a few small things I don't like about the Tree, one of them is the fact that your streak has to end before you get the berries and other items. I preferred the situation in Gen 5/6 where you got the berries even if your streak was still ongoing. But it's not that bad, I'll get back to my streaks eventually. The second reason is simple. I'm definitely expecting the Tree to make a return in US/UM which means I'll have to get back to it once more in these games.

One more thing about my ongoing Super Double streaks. I might come back and write longer and more detailed descriptions for them when/if they should end (it will likely be "when" and not "if"). I decided to keep things rather short here because I didn't want their descriptions in this post to get overly long. I don't have that much else I want to do in S/M before US/UM are out so I think I should be able to get back to my unfinished streaks before the next games hit the world.

Battling in the Tree was not always easy. I found it considerably harder than the Maison, it feels more similar to the Subway in terms of difficulty. Which is a good thing, don't get me wrong. Battle Facilities are supposed to be the hardest part of the games and I really appreciate how they have spiked up the difficulty here compared to last generation.

I'm not sure if I got this far by skill alone. I wish I could say so but... I think it was a mix of skill and luck that made me reach all of my goals. Hopefully more skill than luck but I don't really know.

I also felt that with some of my teams, I had to use them and make many tries before I got comfortable with them. Once I knew how to use my teams more effectively, reaching my goals and getting higher streaks became easier. Especially for Super Double, but also Single and Multi to lesser extents.

There's some more things I want to say while I still can. I like battling in Battle Facilities, but am I good at it? I don't know. Wish I could say yes, but I'm not completely sure. I have been battling in Battle Facilities on and off since the Battle Frontier in Emerald, and while it has mostly been fun, I'm not quite sure if I have ever been good at battling in them. But maybe it doesn't really matter. One thing I really like about the Facilities is how you can set your own goals regarding them. Are you satisfied with just getting the Stamps (or other things like symbols/prints/trophies/TC upgrades in previous generations), beating 200 in a row to get the berries, or do you need to be number #1 on the leaderboards? Plus many other different challenges and ideas I have seen here, such as Cheesedick using only non-legendary Alola Pokemon and forms to win 50 in a row in each format, or PikaAbuser winning 50 battles in a row with as many different Megas as possible. Those are great ideas! I am also always very impressed by Smuckem and all of his various ideas and teams. Everyone has their own goals and that's a good thing. Maybe this would have been better to post here instead, I don't know. Just wanted to say this somewhere and I figured I should do it here.

I think that was all I had to say about the Tree for now. Like in previous generations, this thread has been a big help for me. Many posts here have been very inspirational and informative. Thanks, everyone. I'll see you again, hopefully soon.
 
There's some more things I want to say while I still can. I like battling in Battle Facilities, but am I good at it? I don't know. Wish I could say yes, but I'm not completely sure. I have been battling in Battle Facilities on and off since the Battle Frontier in Emerald, and while it has mostly been fun, I'm not quite sure if I have ever been good at battling in them. But maybe it doesn't really matter. One thing I really like about the Facilities is how you can set your own goals regarding them. Are you satisfied with just getting the Stamps (or other things like symbols/prints/trophies/TC upgrades in previous generations), beating 200 in a row to get the berries, or do you need to be number #1 on the leaderboards? Plus many other different challenges and ideas I have seen here, such as Cheesedick using only non-legendary Alola Pokemon and forms to win 50 in a row in each format, or PikaAbuser winning 50 battles in a row with as many different Megas as possible. Those are great ideas! I am also always very impressed by Smuckem and all of his various ideas and teams. Everyone has their own goals and that's a good thing. Maybe this would have been better to post here instead, I don't know. Just wanted to say this somewhere and I figured I should do it here.

Um, I would say that's a clear yes. Look at it this way:
- You have all of your stamps, something plenty of people on here are still struggling to achieve
- In a facility you have observed yourself to be stone-hard, you've managed to hit 200 twice over, something several people on the leaderboard have never managed
- You have all of your Maison trophies, something else plenty of people on here never managed (granted, that's partly because some of them don't have Gen 6 games, but my point still stands)
- You have a place on the Maison leaderboard: did you know you are the only person in the Triples section with Chandelure and/or MegaGross?
- Apparently, you have work in Frontier/Subway that, as far as I know, has never been documented. Given how vastly different Emerald Frontier is from everything that came after, given how different DP Tower is from PtHGSS Frontier, and given how inherently difficult the latter is, that you had any success in any of these is a testament to your skill (and luck, I guess)
- With your Tree work, once your Doubles streaks are wrapped up you will have made the Tree leaderboard three times over. I'll drink to that (which is saying something, since I don't drink)

"Not completely sure"? It's an easier question to answer than you might think.
 
Completed another 50+ streak with a Mega Pokemon, this time adding Sharpedo to the list. This one ended at Battle #83 :(

Team Speedy Jaw
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I employed the now classic set with Psychic Fangs Mega Sharpedo on Psychic Terrain. Once again, my Legendary Pokemon's natures are not perfect since I don't yet have access to the ones I needed, so the team can definitely be stronger. I enjoyed using this team very VERY much because of its sheer brute force that can finish most battles in just a few turns. The only setup being Speed Boost, everything else is just about hitting very hard right out of the gate.


Sharpedo @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost ---> Strong Jaw
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Sp
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Waterfall
- Psychic Fangs
- Protect

Under Psychic Terrain, Psychic Fangs is its strongest move and hence the most used, it can straight up OHKO lots of things that didn't invest in Def. It usually Protects on the first turn to get the Speed Boost, attracting all attacks to it in the process due to its low bulk. Other times, it's better to Mega Evolve immediately, especially if I suspect Trick Room. It is sort of a suicide lead, since usually after Sharpedo and Lele attacked, and there is still a Pokemon standing, that Pokemon is likely to KO Sharpedo right away. So it is rare for Sharpedo to still be swimming when the battle ends.


Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Sp
Hardy Nature (should be Modest nature...)
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Thunderbolt
- Energy Ball

I really really need to get a Modest nature Lele. I noticed she brought alot of things down to critical, which would've been an OHKO with Adamant Nature. She is locked in to using Psychic 85% of the time and Moonblast 10% of the time. Thunderbolt and Energy Ball are only used against 4x weakness opponents like Gyarados and Swampert. Moonblast is exclusively used against lead Dragon or Dark types. For some reason, the AI really likes to hit her with status moves on the first turn instead of the Protecting Sharpedo.


Thundurus-Therian @ Life Orb
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Sp
Naive Nature (should be Timid...)
- Thunderbolt
- Sludge Bomb
- Grass Knot
- Protect

The finisher of the team. Thundurus is included for the sole fact that he doesn't share weakness with any other team members and is a powerhouse on his own right. It is placed in the 3rd place just to mess up the AI's anti-team lineups, but it usually comes out last. Volt Absorb can be used to troll anything targeting Sharpedo with electric moves, but most times I would rather Sharpedo hit then get killed than do a switch with this team.


Blaziken @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Sp
Adamant Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
- Protect

The second speed booster of the team. Blaziken's job is to come in, Protect to get the boost, then Fightinium Z some mofo. Earthquake is used in conjunction with either Thundurus or a Protecting Sharpedo to get rid of some nuisances.



Videos:

Legend battle: W86W-WWWW-WWW8-YENL

A really close one, I am really starting to really hate seeing Articuno in the tree: D7ZG-WWWW-WWW8-YEZB

Losing battle at #83 :( I pretty much lost to a complete jank item. Otherwise, Sharpedo would've OHKOed the Rotom Heat and everything else would proceed as planned. The Delphox not dying to Earthquake then outspeeding Thundurus was also very backbreaking. Just so many things went wrong there...
8NPW-WWWW-WWW8-YEZN
 
I've been following this thread, and the Maison one, for awhile and decided to make an account and join in. I'm not that good at these Battle Facilities and my streaks don't usually last that long although I've got a half decent streak going with my current team.

Currently on-going streak of 92 in Super Doubles. I'm really happy with this team so far and find it really fun to use. I've had a few close calls but think I could reach at least 100 provided the hax doesn't get the best of me. There was no real reasoning behind it as the Pokemon are just a bunch of my favourites that I felt like using. The Pokemon are as follows:

salazzle.gif
tapukoko.gif
mimikyu.gif
lopunny-mega.gif


Salazzle @ Focus Sash
Nature: Timid
Ability: Corrosion
IVs: 31/0/31/31/31/31
EVs: 0/0/0/252/6/252
Moves:
- Toxic
- Sludge Bomb
- Flamethrower
- Protect

My left-hand side lead Pokemon. Salazzle is my favourite Pokemon introduced this Generation. I love how she looks, she has a nice typing and ability so I decided to give her a go in the Tree and she's been a staple member of the team. Salazzle's main role is to poison walls, put dents in things and scout for moves. Corrosion is such a good ability for the Tree as I can poison the annoying bulky Pokemon I generally struggle with like Mega Venusaur, Nidoqueen, and Tentacruel. Sludge Bomb and Flamethrower are standard attack moves while Protect is for the scouting and to keep Salazzle around. Timid nature for max speed while the EV spread is to give her as much speed and fire power as possible and there's no point in investing in her defences as she's far too frail to survive SE hits anyway. Due to this a lot of opponents regularly target her first which allows Tapu Koko's replacement to come in relatively safely. Focus Sash is so she can take at least one hit before going down.

Tapu Koko @ Choice Specs
Nature: Timid
Ability: Electric Surge
IVs: 31/0/HT/HT/31/31
EVs: 0/0/0/252/6/252
Moves:
- Grass Knot
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Volt Switch

My right-hand side lead Pokemon. Standard Specs-Koko. Dazzling Gleam and Thunderbolt for STAB, Volt Switch for obviously switching out and Grass Knot for coverage. I rarely use the latter but I don't have many options as this Tapu Koko doesn't have HP Ice (it has HP Water which could come in handy but I don't see any situation where I'd need it). Obviously Timid natured as its the event shiny one from July which is always Timid. I'm not knowledgeable enough to make a more specialised EV spread like other users so I've stuck with the max special attack and speed set for maximum fire power. Tapu Koko's main role is to set up Electric Terrain and hit something extremely hard with Volt Switch. It KOs a surprising amount and its base 130 allows it to out-speed a huge amount of Pokemon.

Mimikyu @ Fairium Z
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Disguise
IVs: 31/31/31/X/31/31
EVs: 0/252/6/0/0/252
Moves:
- Shadow Sneak
- Play Rough (Twinkle Tackle)
- Shadow Claw
- Hone Claws

Backup 1. Mimikyu is an interesting Pokemon. With Disguise it basically has a free substitute which makes it an ideal Pokemon to switch in after Tapu Koko Volt Switches out. As Tapu Koko KOs something on the switch Mimikyu very rarely takes any damage, although he occasionally loses his Disguise. Shadow Sneak is for obvious priority while Play Rough and Shadow Claw are STAB. Hone Claws over Swords Dance as Play Rough missing has almost cost me several times and I didn't want to take any chances at this stage. I don't often use Hone Claws but it does come in handy. Fairium-Z is the item of choice as Mimikyu doesn't have the best attack stat without setup but Twinkle Tackle does a good amount of damage to a lot of Pokemon. The 100% accurate physical Fairy move is also nice to have. He originally held a Ghostium-Z but after my opponent KOd his own Pokemon, who I'd been targeting, with a Tauros who's obviously immune to Ghost type moves, I switched it to Fairium-Z. The fact that Shadow Sneak Never-Ending Nightmare isn't priority (I thought it was) is the other reason I changed.

Lopunny @ Lopunnite
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Limber > Scrappy
IVs: 31/31/31/X/31/31
EVs: 0/252/6/0/0/252
Moves:
- Return
- High Jump Kick
- Ice Punch
- Fake Out

Backup 2. Mega Lopunny is a favourite of mine. She took me to a streak of 67 in OR Maison Super Multi and I only lost because in the losing battle I'd decided to switch her out for Mega Salamence which I've regretted ever since. She has huge offensive power and Scrappy means nothing is safe from a High Jump Kick. Fake Out is for the flinching threatening Pokemon, while High Jump Kick and Return are Lopunny's strongest STAB moves. Ice Punch is for coverage but I rarely use it. Standard EV spread for maximum power and Jolly nature because Mega Lopunny is nice and fast, and I think speed is more important in the Tree than power. Mega Lopunny is mainly the late game sweeper of the team. I very rarely switch her in after Tapu Koko switches out as Mimikyu is a much safer option.

I had quite a slow start in the Tree. Without Triples, which is still my favourite type of battle, I found it very difficult to find the motivation to build a good team as I don't enjoy Singles and Doubles all that much. I decided to focus on Doubles as that's the type I like the most out of what's available. I've experimented with a lot of different teams although none have really been that good. Only one team made it past 50 but that team was swiftly eliminated at battle 52 and could never reach 50 again which makes me think it was a fluke that it got that far in the first place. That team consisted of Clefable, Sableye, Kommo-o and Mega Mawile.

I like to use random and interesting sets when I play Pokemon which probably contributed to why it's taken me this long to get a good team. I've run random things like Eviolite Braixen, Snarl Liepard and, my personal favourite, Spite Greninja. I've even used my own variation of Walrein4 (the Sheer Cold, Fissure one) which surprisingly made it to 40 before losing. None of these gimmicky sets do very well despite being fun to use. I also prefer to use my favourites rather than the normal Pokemon which is another reason I'm not very good at these facilities.

With the release of the shiny Tapu Koko event I felt that it was finally time to start working on a proper team (sort of). After getting the IVs I wanted and getting it Hyper Trained I experimented with various different Pokemon to try and get a good team. IIRC the first iteration of my team had Tapu Koko and Mega Sableye as the leads with Clefable and Walrein(4) as backups. While this team did surprisingly well I lost because I kept forgetting that Electric Terrain prevents grounded Pokemon from falling asleep and had Walrein use Rest. I switched out Walrein after this for something else that I can't remember but if I can't remember what it is then it clearly wasn't good.

Originally I wasn't going to use Salazzle until I hatched a shiny one, as I adore her shiny, but decided to just breed for a normal one as the odds for the shiny are so low and I've run out of patience for now (maybe in USUM). After finally getting my 5 IV, 0 attack female Salandit I levelled her up and added her to the team. I kept Tapu Koko and chose Mimikyu and Mega Sceptile for backup. Salazzle and Tapu Koko haven't changed since the start of this team while Mimikyu had Ghostium-Z until about 15. Mega Sceptile was on the team until around 30 wins but he very rarely did anything and, even when he did, he wasn't doing anywhere near enough to make him reliable for the team so I switched him for Mega Lopunny.

Offensive Nidoqueen. While this doesn't sound like much of a threat, for this team, it can be problematic especially if it's a lead Pokemon. Tapu Koko has nothing to hit her with outside of Grass Knot which doesn't do anywhere near enough damage to risk staying in on the potential Earth Power/Earthquake. Mimikyu is also completely walled by her as Shadow Claw doesn't do a lot without setup and Twinkle Tackle is wasted on her. Salazzle can at best poison her and hit her with Flamethrower but Nidoqueen's natural bulk can be an issue. Thankfully I don't see her that often.

Mega Venusaur. Straight up Toxic-on-sight. I lost at 50 on Super Multi because of this thing (and Custap Blastoise), so I'm always wary of it appearing as it causes huge problems for Tapu Koko who has nothing to hit it with at all.

Mega Beedrill and Mega Gengar. I was not aware either of these Pokemon are faster than Tapu Koko so I've lost it turn 1 to both. I need to watch out for these in future.

Lead Immunity Snorlax. Snorlax has huge natural special defence and both of my leads are special attackers. The ones I usually see have Earthquake which is bad for both my leads as they're weak to it and one of the sets carries a Life Orb which makes it even more threatening. Lopunny can one-shot it with High Jump Kick but I can't safely switch her in unless she's replacing a fainted Pokemon.

Scarf Garchomp. Namely from Cynthia and Wally. I HATE Scarf-Chomp. I hated it in Gen4 and I still hate it now. It's extremely difficult to work around as I always have to straight up switch out Tapu Koko to save him which results in Mimikyu losing his Disguise and taking a huge chunk of damage the next turn, if he survives at all. Lopunny can somewhat deal with it with Fake Out to stop it for a turn but I essentially need to be able to KO it with my other Pokemon otherwise it's just going to knock out my entire team. Again...

That's all I can really think of just now.

Overall I'm very happy with this team. I'm hoping I can at least get to 100 as I've never had a streak go that high before.
 
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In similar fashion to previous M-Lopunny mentions, have you considered swapping HJK for Low Kick? Low Kick hits nearly everything that you'd want to not use normal stab on for comparable damage of HJK, without the accuracy issue, and your other pokes more or less all have answers to the odd light steel/rock types and dark types.
 
In similar fashion to previous M-Lopunny mentions, have you considered swapping HJK for Low Kick? Low Kick hits nearly everything that you'd want to not use normal stab on for comparable damage of HJK, without the accuracy issue, and your other pokes more or less all have answers to the odd light steel/rock types and dark types.
I've never actually considered Low Kick. High Jump Kick was what I used on my ORAS M-Lopunny so I just ran with it this time as well. I don't like using it unless I have to because of the accuracy and recoil so Low Kick might be a better option. I'd at least feel a lot safer using it.

*needs to breed new Lopunny*
 
If you are planning in breeding a new Lopunny, consider making sure it will have also Encore and Fake Out (resulting in Ice Punch, Encore, Low Kick, Fake Out egg moves), which are both also significant options to try out as "4th move".

If you have the luxury to breed in gen 6, it's significantly easier as you can get Low Kick and Ice Punch tutored before breeding, only resulting in picking Encore and Fake Out (unfortunately, there's no Pokemon that gets both and is breedable with Buneary so you'll need 2 steps for those).
 
Shura Prinny - Stylish team you've got there, always happy to see more Mega Lopunny action on the thread! Have to agree with Worldie here though, switching to Low Kick will remove the risk factor of HJK entirely, with the danger of the AI protecting on top of that chance to miss outright. LK I've found to be very consistent in what you need to hit with it - OHKO'ing any Tyranitar (even the Chople one), Drampa, Spiritomb etc. without fear of missing or having half your health stripped away due to Protect is much appreciated. Having just reached 500 wins using a M-Lopunny team myself, it's a move I'd certainly vouch for.

And since you mentioned Ice Punch hasn't seen much use...have you considered Encore? IP is acceptable for smacking 4x-weak things like Salamence, Landorus etc. if your team really needs it but in a lot of cases M-Lopunny will require chip damage from elsewhere to actually achieve the KO; low Base Power from those coverage options combined with the Jolly nature (and when you think about it, base 136 Attack without being able to run a boosting item isn't amazing either) equates to the bunny often requiring an ally to double into said threat, if it needs to be eliminated ASAP.

Encore is actually really nice on a Mega as frail as Lopunny is - it lets you capitalize on the many non-attacking moves the Tree might throw at you, extending Lopunny's lifespan (keep attacking while rendering that slot useless for a couple turns, switch out to have a second Fake Out for later) and simultaneously relieving pressure on your teammates. This move has been key in squeezing the most mileage out of her for me personally, so I'd also wholeheartedly recommend it!
 
If you are planning in breeding a new Lopunny, consider making sure it will have also Encore and Fake Out (resulting in Ice Punch, Encore, Low Kick, Fake Out egg moves), which are both also significant options to try out as "4th move".

If you have the luxury to breed in gen 6, it's significantly easier as you can get Low Kick and Ice Punch tutored before breeding, only resulting in picking Encore and Fake Out (unfortunately, there's no Pokemon that gets both and is breedable with Buneary so you'll need 2 steps for those).
My current Lopunny already has Ice Punch, Encore and Fake Out as her current egg moves (plus Switcheroo) so I just need a parent with Low Kick and I'm all set. I have a 4IV Scraggy with Low Kick I can use.

Shura Prinny - Stylish team you've got there, always happy to see more Mega Lopunny action on the thread! Have to agree with Worldie here though, switching to Low Kick will remove the risk factor of HJK entirely, with the danger of the AI protecting on top of that chance to miss outright. LK I've found to be very consistent in what you need to hit with it - OHKO'ing any Tyranitar (even the Chople one), Drampa, Spiritomb etc. without fear of missing or having half your health stripped away due to Protect is much appreciated. Having just reached 500 wins using a M-Lopunny team myself, it's a move I'd certainly vouch for.

And since you mentioned Ice Punch hasn't seen much use...have you considered Encore? IP is acceptable for smacking 4x-weak things like Salamence, Landorus etc. if your team really needs it but in a lot of cases M-Lopunny will require your chip damage from elsewhere to actually achieve the KO; low Base Power from those coverage options combined with the Jolly nature (and when you think about it, base 136 Attack without being able to run a boosting item isn't amazing either) equates to the bunny often requiring an ally to double into said threat, if it needs to be eliminated ASAP.

Encore is actually really nice on a Mega as frail as Lopunny is - it lets you capitalize on the many non-attacking moves the Tree might throw at you, extending Lopunny's lifespan (keep attacking while rendering that slot useless for a couple turns, switch out to have a second Fake Out for later) and simultaneously relieving pressure on your teammates. This move has been key in squeezing the most mileage out of her for me personally, so I'd also wholeheartedly recommend it!
Thanks :) M-Lopunny is one of my fave Megas along with Salamence and Audino so I really enjoy using it. Hearing that Low Kick is that useful makes me even more keen to switch from HJK. If I know a Pokemon can carry Protect I make sure to never target it with HJK. I hate being risky and HJK missing did cost me a few times in the Maison.

500 wins is very impressive. I can only dream of ever getting that far.

I haven't considered Encore either. I do like having Ice Punch for extra coverage if needed especially against the likes of Garchomp who's a huge pain for me if it appears late game. I am going to have Encore as an egg move on my new Lopunny so I'll have the option to switch if I change my mind.

Thanks for the help guys :) Going to put my streak on hold till I get my LK Lopunny.
 
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Howdy! Sometimes I feel like Battle Tree'ing when I have subpar internet connection, and so Google Drive isn't an option. I don't have reliable hosting like the old maison spreadsheet with shaw.ca, but i can definitely use hastebin! here's a raw text version of the sets if you want to tree when you have subpar internet connection as well.


https://hastebin.com/raw/upovufexiz
 
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So I was using the spectacular google sheets Battle tree look up sheet and I run into veteran Xenophon. I have thus far just had the IV value set to 31 and the first two pokemon he uses are both on the list, though it's a much shorter list than the previous trainers I've encountered. Then he pulls out a Dhelmise which isn't on the list at all. At first I think the sheet must be incomplete but then I try some different IV values, 30 in particular makes many more pokemon appear on his list. So my question is, what am I missing? How do I decide what to put in the sheet as the IV?
 
My team reached 100 wins last night. I never dreamed I could make it this far so I'm over the moon. I'll upload some Battle videos later when I figure out how. I play in Japanese so the Festival Plaza and Global Link are a bit of a faff when my knowledge of Japanese is basically just being able to read the Hiragana/Katakana while having no idea what any of it means.

Same team from the previous page. Apologies for the lack of detail. On my phone browser on the train as I'm posting. Proper write up is on the previous page.

salazzle.gif
tapukoko.gif
mimikyu.gif
lopunny-mega.gif


Salazzle @ Focus Sash
Nature: Timid
Ability: Corrosion
IVs: 31/0/31/31/31/31
EVs: 0/0/0/252/6/252
Moves:
- Toxic
- Sludge Bomb
- Flamethrower
- Protect

Tapu Koko @ Choice Specs
Nature: Timid
Ability: Electric Surge
IVs: 31/0/HT/HT/31/31
EVs: 0/0/0/252/6/252
Moves:
- Grass Knot
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Volt Switch

Mimikyu @ Fairium Z
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Disguise
IVs: 31/31/31/X/31/31
EVs: 0/252/6/0/0/252
Moves:
- Shadow Sneak
- Play Rough (Twinkle Tackle)
- Shadow Claw
- Hone Claws

Lopunny @ Lopunnite
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Limber > Scrappy
IVs: 31/31/31/X/31/31
EVs: 0/252/6/0/0/252
Moves:
- Return
- High Jump Kick > Low Kick
- Ice Punch
- Fake Out

Lopunny ran High Jump Kick up until battle 92 when I switched to Low Kick after recommendations from Worldie and Josh C. Been helpful so far and I don't have to fear HJK missing anymore.
My next goal is to try and hit 200 and win myself the Starf Berry. Going to take a break tonight as all day yesterday was non-stop Battle Tree and I'm a bit burnt out. I know full well not to battle when I feel this way. Many streaks were lost because of this.
 
So far we're seeing a lot of Mega Salamence + Aegislash + Normal type on the leaderboards. Two Pokemon that more than hold their own in Ubers and resist all of each other's weaknesses save for Ghost, which is what the Normal is for (and when you consider that all your Pokemon essentially have Shadow Tag in addition to their regular ability, you can believe Shadow Tag Chansey would be beyond broken as well). With Salamence and Aegislash alone, you can set one of the two up on any physical attacker that has no means of boosting Attack (and several that do), and obviously a Pokemon like Chansey has special attackers on lock. I'm just past my pre-bank record now on my first run with Seismic Toss Chansey (obviously could have run it back with Toxic or Confide Chansey and taking better care to select the right moves, but no need to stick with an inferior team) and wanted to put the team here mostly to answer people's questions about how Chansey works.


Salamence
salamence-mega.png

Item: Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate/Aerilate
Jolly nature
Level 50 stats: 171/187/101/104/102/165 (171/197/151/113/112/187 as Mega)
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 12 Sp.Def / 236 Spe
- Substitute
- Roost
- Return
- Dragon Dance

Possible EV change: Mimikyu3 has a 1/16th chance of OHKOing MegaMence with a critical hit Play Rough, which could be avoided by moving the 12 Special Defense EVs to Defense (Mence could break the disguise and OHKO with Return). I guess that gets the Porygons a Special Attack boost, but Chansey could care less about that (and if things somehow got rough with a Ice Beam/Tri Attack freeze and a bunch of crits or something you could always switch stall Tri Attack and Shadow Ball). Right now, I deal with Mimikyu by switching to Chansey, using Evasion and Sub to stall out its Play Rough and then spamming Sub to get it to KO itself with Wood Hammer recoil. Obviously could lose to that if it gets really lucky with never missing, getting crits, etc. but it seems to be manageable for now. On the other hand, Mimikyu would definitely KO with Rocky Helmet and a crit Play Rough, so it probably is best to stay with the Chansey plan.

Aegislash
aegislash.png


Item: Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
Adamant Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Level 50 stats: 167/112/170/63/170/81
- King's Shield
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword

I was a relative latecomer to using Aegislash in the Maison but have gotten more comfortable with using Stance Change to manipulate what the opponent will use. For example, I switch Aegislash in on Tyranitar leads, and if it uses Dragon Dance on the switch I King's Shield. If Tyranitar DDs again (to get to +1 Attack) that's obviously not good, but then I do another switch back and forth between Mence and Aegislash so Aegislash can take some damage from Rock Slide, ensuring that Crunch would KO the following turn. Then I can be pretty much assured Tyranitar will Crunch into King's Shield and then DD again to get its Attack back up to at least +0, which buys a turn to Sacred Sword. That doesn't KO thanks to Chople Berry, but then Aegislash in Blade Forme is going to get Crunched again the following turn, so you can repeat the pattern.

Chansey
chansey.gif

Item: Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
Timid Nature
EVs: 244 Def / 20 Sp.Def / 244 Spe
Level 50 stats: 325/9/56/44/128/111
- Substitute
- Minimize
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled

While I like the creativity on the Silvally and Type:Null sets, Chansey has the flexiblity in many cases to decide whether it wants to cripple then opposing lead (through PP stalling) or set up and attempt to sweep on its own, and it has the special bulk (and ability) to care less than anything else does about critical hits, flinches, Special Defense drops, and status effects. RXHG-WWWW-WWW5-X92T is a good example of this versatility: normally I would have switched Chansey into Empoleon to set up, but it pissed me off by freezing it with Blizzard on the switch (and also for all the times I had to PP stall it for even longer before Seismic Toss Chansey was available), so I went on to PP stall it out of Surf and bring Salamence in to Sub stall the remaining 4 Blizzards and set up all the way. If you're constantly on the lookout for opportunities like that (and sometimes you may have to use Aegislash as a pivot to get Mence back in safely), you'll pretty much never have to worry about Chansey running out of PP.

So the team is working well, I'm at 400+ wins in a row, but it's not perfect. Different attack-boosting leads could punch pretty big holes in this team if they're getting crits or unexpectedly boost or attack when I'm expecting the opposite, and that would leave me at the mercy of the matchup of whatever 2-on-2 or 1-on-2 ensues. Hopefully this can get 1,000, 2,000, whatever, but I'm not going to act like I have enough experience in the Tree to know how it will hold up against every combination of threats out there.

Anyway, that brings me to my main point. I have a Truant team that I think is ready to go. I've been saving battles this streak against leads that I want to do some mock battles against. However, when I go to do a mock battle and select the Durant team, I get a message saying that there is a problem with one of the Pokemon and I can't do a mock battle. At first I thought it was due to some update issue where it had some issues with post-bank Pokemon or moves, but I'm able to do practice battles and upload videos with the above team. Then I thought it was maybe an issue with post-Bank Pokemon and not moves, but I was able to do a mock battle with a Charmander in Durant's place. As a final test, I actually did a battle in the middle of my streak with the Durant team to see if that video would fail to upload, but it actually was allowed to! So it seems like the only thing off limits right now is actually doing a mock battle with Durant. Has anyone else encountered problems like this?

So currently I *think* this team would be as good or better than the one I'm using in my streak, but I don't have enough confidence in it to toss aside what I have going right now and start winging it. Here's literally the only battle I've fought with it so far (D89G-WWWW-WWW5-X9KY) since I can't put it in any mock battles for whatever reason. Feel free to give it a try yourself , improve it, use it as a template for your own Durant team with a different sweeper, offer suggestions, or whatever.

Durant
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Truant
Jolly Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Def / 4 Sp. Def / 236 Spe
Level 50 stats: 165/129/135/48/68/174
- Entrainment
- X-Scissor
- Substitute
- Iron Head (still not sure for this one)

X-Scissor hits possible Mega Absol as well as Espeon this generation (but then again, maybe it would be better to switch in Mimikyu and take on something different). Substitute is the best answer I can think of for Dugtrio 2, one of the leads I'd most like to mock battle. It outspeeds Scarf Manectric, with the rest of the EVs going to maximize physical defense and then 4 extra points left over for Special Defense.


Glalie
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Moody
Timid Nature
EVs: 176 HP / 4 Def / 140 SpA / 188 Spe
Level 50 stats: 177/88/101/118/100/136
- Substitute
- Protect
- Taunt
- Frost Breath

Different EVs this time around. The old ones had some Defense for Glalie's Sub at +5 Defense to survive a non-crit Stone Edge from Donphan or Technician Bullet Punch from Scizor in the Maison. There's no more Donphan, and the Scizor sets hit a little harder than before, so I'm putting them into making Frost Breath more powerful now. The HP EVs maximize the number of turns Glalie can PP stall a move while fishing for the right boosts or a miss against a non-Truant opponent, and there's a little bit more Speed than before for +1 Glalie to beat a few of the things that sit just ahead of the base 130 crowd. Glalie got massively buffed this generation with the ability to see its stat changes at any given moment, and Drapion is most likely nerfed due to Choice-locked Pokemon now switching out rather than struggling and the Knock Off-resistant Megas that can overpower it if not fully boosted.

Mimikyu
Item: Red Card
Ability: Disguise
Jolly Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Sp. Def / 236 Spe
Level 50 stats: 162/110/100/63/128/160
- Thief
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave
- Confide

The panic button against leads that Durant can't or would rather not try to Entrain. Obviously the worst-case scenario would be the Red Card dragging another such Pokemon out, but that's what the moves are for. Even if Entrainment isn't possible, lowering the opponent's Speed and/or Special Attack can be more than enough to let Glalie set up easily.



I really have no idea how to play this team.

I met in my first couple battles the following flaws:
1. Team lead or pokemons with ability like roar, wirldwind to force swap
2. The second pokemon after red card triggered has ability like soundproof so confide doesn't go through
3. Simply get outsped or after using red card, met a typing that is super effective against steel before durent can use entrainment on it.
4. No other alternative way once you met the two above (which I met in almost 3/3 battles I tried with this strategy in the beginning of the battle tree, what are the odds, and somehow the poster can go thruogh this 1000+ battles without meeting those teams? Not really implying that but just curious.)

I searched online and also found other flaws, such as u-turn, volt-switch, those are attack moves but could change the pokemon.
I don't know how many more flaws are there in this team but it seems to be a lot.

I literally have no idea how you get through those pokemon teams, especially when they happen so often in the first 10 battles. Would you mind teach me how to really use this team?
I'm just curious and thinking this team looks cool but I somehow can't get through even the first couple teams.
 
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I really have no idea how to play this team.

I met in my first couple battles the following flaws:
1. Team lead or pokemons with ability like roar, wirldwind to force swap
2. The second pokemon after red card triggered has ability like soundproof so confide doesn't go through
3. Simply get outsped or after using red card, met a typing that is super effective against steel before durent can use entrainment on it.
4. No other alternative way once you met the two above (which I met in almost 3/3 battles I tried with this strategy in the beginning of the battle tree, what are the odds, and somehow the poster can go thruogh this 1000+ battles without meeting those teams? Not really implying that but just curious.)

I searched online and also found other flaws, such as u-turn, volt-switch, those are attack moves but could change the pokemon.
I don't know how many more flaws are there in this team but it seems to be a lot.

I literally have no idea how you get through those pokemon teams, especially when they happen so often in the first 10 battles. Would you mind teach me how to really use this team?
I'm just curious and thinking this team looks cool but I somehow can't get through even the first couple teams.

I think GG describing the threats to the team can serve as sort of help:

Threats (lead position)
Switch to Mimikyu on turn 1 (if possible): Mimikyu, Minior, Wishiwashi, Komala, Darmanitan (ability can't be changed), Magnezone (don't want crit Volt Switch turn 1), Dugtrio, Drampa, Incineroar, Mismagius, Gothitelle, Turtonator (if Turtonator-3 is possible for trainer to have), Slowbro (if Slowbro-2 is possible), Glaceon.

Protect/Detect/Fake Out/evasion items: This generation I've noticed weird stuff where even something like Heatran will occasionally use Protect the first turn against Durant. The AI has also figured out that if you switch on the turn it uses Protect, it's free to Protect again the following turn, so you have to count PP at times. These will be touch and go where you try Entraining turn 1 and switch Durant out only if it's in danger of being KOed with a crit or statused.

U-Turn/Volt Switch/Explosion: I err on the side of caution and use Protect more often than normal. Once Glalie has 10 Protect PP left or so I'll see about trying to KO the lead rather than setting up all the way and risking getting the Sub broken on a turn the opponent uses one of these three moves. Against something like Magnezone-4 that Durant had to stay in and Entrain due to Magnet Pull, I can be reasonably confident it'll use Flash Cannon at least a few times before trying to Volt Switch, but past a certain point trying to predict what move the AI will choose is futile. A full health Glalie behind a Sub with 10-15 turns of boosts is a very safe proposition on its own, and if I don't like the 2nd Pokemon that comes out I can always switch to Mimikyu (or PP stall a move that threatens Durant before switching back to it).

Low-PP Choice users: The most likely scenario for a loss with this team (and I'm at least pretty sure I'm not saying this just because it's how the only loss in ~1500 battles occurred). Alakazam, Archeops, Heatran, and Manectric are a few leads that can OHKO Durant while choice-locked into a 5 PP move. When I see these I check the trainer roster; if there aren't too many other Pokemon that qualify as trouble leads I'll switch to Mimikyu (or hit Alakazam with X-Scissor). Otherwise the worst-case scenario is that the lead KOs Durant (in the case of something like Archeops, that's a 40% chance factoring in it being Archeops-3 and Head Smash hitting) and then Glalie will be at full health from behind a Sub after 9 turns of boosts and get a free hit with Frost Breath on the opponent's switch-in by the time anything gets to move against it. An opponent would need to have a Sub-bypassing move (Glalie at +1 at least 2HKOs all Infiltrators except Chandelure and Assault Vest Malamar) or 15+ PP of 100% accurate super-effective moves to have much of a chance of breaking through at that point. I don't know of any 10 PP moves a Choice user would have to OHKO Durant with, but that gives Glalie enough turns that it would take something really crazy like being at negative accuracy and missing a bunch of attacks against a bad match-up to somehow lose.

Z moves: Normally they're not a big deal because of Glalie's bulk but I had a battle in the 1st streak where Glalie was at something like -3 Defense 25 or so turns in and Arcanine's All-Out Pummeling would have KOed through Protect had it gotten a critical hit. So just gotta be careful of that.

Baton Pass: Ribombee and Decidueye are the main culprits here. Glalie is about as well-equipped for these as any Truant sweeper can be thanks to Taunt as well as Frost Breath being able to crit through Quiver Dance boosts, but Decidueye's Bright Powder and/or untimely accuracy drops can still make things a little hectic. Generally I treat them the same as I do Volt Switchers where I'll sacrifice a few turns of boosts to KO from behind a Sub.

Threats (non-lead)

Here I'm referring to stuff that has a shot of beating a Glalie that I'd consider to be reasonably well set-up (+4 or more in all relevant stats). If Durant is OHKOed or otherwise incapacitated it's important to set up as much as possible; the Special Attack EVs on Glalie were set to do at least half to Mega Scizor at +5, which would make it attempt to Roost rather than go for a Bullet Punch that could crit and OHKO if it managed to break Glalie's Sub the first turn it was out. Obviously the list increases if coupled with a bad lead match-up, but the vast majority of the time Mimikyu can come in and cripple something enough for Glalie to set up without Entrainment support.

Quick Claw: Sturdy Steelix-3 and Incineroar-4 are the main ones that can take a hit from a fully-boosted Glalie, break its Sub, and then Quick Claw crit to take it out. However, this is a very minor problem considering they first have to hit through boosted evasion. If one comes out 2nd and breaks Glalie's Sub, Mimikyu can switch in (in Sturdy Steelix's case I'd protect first with Glalie in the event it uses Explosion). If one comes out last, Mimikyu and Durant can take off that last bit of health. Durant can easily OHKO Malamar and do 54 HP minimum to Incinerorar, which adds to the 59 HP of Flare Blitz recoil and Frost Breath hit it would have taken from KOing Glalie.

Infiltrator/sound moves: Malamar-4 and Chandelure can't be OHKOed and can OHKO back with a crit. I don't see Malamar too often; if some Sun-exclusive trainer has it on their roster that's some unintended luck on my part and you should use a copy of Moon if you're trying to maximize your chances at a 1000+ streak. Infiltrator is a 1-in-3 ability in addition to the previous caveats about needing to land a critical hit and not missing. Infiltrator Chandelure in my experience will attempt Will-O-Wisp or Calm Mind first against a Glalie with boosted Special Defense, which allows for a Frost Breath 2HKO without even risking a crit. Also with Malamar I have the option of switching directly into a healthy enough Durant or pivoting with Mimikyu to waste some Superpower PP.

Heatran-1: Takes 4-5 Frost Breaths to KO even at +6 and has 20 PP of moves that will break even a +6 Special Defense Sub. This is the one Pokemon in the Tree that really requires some evasion "luck" to break past (to the extent that evading 2-3 attacks when a move has 33% accuracy counts as luck).
 
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