Battle Tree Super Doubles 1646 wins (completed)
Battle #1,337 32KG-WWWW-WWWH-SUZB
Battle # 1,647 8GKW-WWWW-WWWY-5NBX
Foreword:
After a 2 month hiatus from Pokémon I watched the latest "Pokémon - I choose you!" movie and somehow it triggered me to grab my New Nintendo 3DS to play Pokémon Ultra Moon. After not having touched my 3DS since december 2017 I wasn't that surprised to see myself in front of the receptionist of the Battle Tree. She rewarded me with the standard rewards you get for a finished 200+ streak; the last time I touched my 3DS was after losing battle #769 with the team below, the same team I used to beat the AI a thousand times in a row. I played Sun and Moon briefly, using different strategies. From good stuff teams (Tapu Koko / Mega Kang / Golisopod / Talonflame) to a variety of Trick Room strategies, mainly Dusclops / Aron / Mega Kang / Conkeldurr, the "solid four" that made me write history in ORAS Battle Maison with a 4.000+ streak. The change in AI mechanics and the introduction of Z-moves made Trick Room Endeavor seem to be a non-effective strategy for high record streaks. I came back to show you that this is not true.
I am not good at doing write ups so I hope you'll enjoy this post while reading it.
To make this slightly more interesting I encourage you to watch the battle videos and read along while things take place.
Team:
Dusclops @ Eviolite
Ability: Frisk
Nature: Relaxed
IVs: 31/31/31/07/31/00
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 156 Sp.Def
- Trick Room
- Foresight
- Night Shade
- Brick Break
Dusclops, the Trick Room setter.
Same set as I used in Battle Maison, the EV spread is slightly different though.
Dusclops and I go way back; I have always considered it the best Trick Room setter there is because it has so much bulk thanks to Eviolite.
It also has the right move pool to do what I need it to do: Scout, set up Trick Room, identify Ghosts and finish those weakened by Endeavor.
The biggest drawback of Dusclops in comparison to other Trick Room setters is that, despite the insane bulk, it cannot set-up Trick Room when it flinches, get's frozen, paralysized or 1HKO'd by a STAB Z-Move or 1HKO move. And that is where Togedemaru comes in.
Togedemaru @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Brave
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/00
EVs: 100 Sp.Def
- Fake Out
- Endeavor
- Toxic
- Spiky Shield
Togedemaru, the "Aron replacement".
Just when you figured nothing would ever surpass a Pokémon like Aron as the number one, level one Endeavor baitmon, Gamefreak gave Togedemaru Endeavor in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon via tutoring. Togedemaru outclasses Aron in multiple ways; most importantly by having Fake Out in it's move pool. I could write a book about the importance of having Fake Out in a Doubles team, be it in a Trick Room strategy or any other strategy. Togedemaru also has a "damaging protect" in the form of Spiky Shield, being able to break Focus Sash or deal just that bit of chip damage when a physical orientated Pokémon tries to damage Togedemaru. Togedemaru is also part Electric which means it is not affected by paralysis through Thunder(bolt), Thunder Wave or Pokémon carrying the Static ability. Being able to scout which sets I'm up against through Frisk and act to that accordingly with either Fake Out or Spiky Shield makes Dusclops + Togedemaru the deadliest Trick Room Endeavor couple to date.
Conkeldurr @ Assault Vest
Ability: Iron Fist
Nature: Brave
IVs: 31/31/31/25/31/00
EVs: 108 HP / 252 Atk / 148 Sp.Def
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
Conkeldurr, the powerhouse.
Destroys Normal, Steel, Rock, Flying and Dark types and is my first answer to Ghosts types.
Conkeldurr does everything I need it to do; when Dusclops or Togedemaru faint it is always the first back-up Pokémon I send out because the amount of Pokémon it cannot hit effectively is so slim. Conkeldurr's bulk and movepool allow it to operate extremely well if Trick Room isn't even up, which is a very important in a AI generation where getting Trick Room up in the first place is not as easy as it was in ORAS Maison.
Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy (Parental Bond)
Nature: Brave
IVs: 31/31/31/05/31/00
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Sp.Def
- Fake Out
- Double-Edge
- Drain Punch
- Sucker Punch
Kangaskhan, the Mega kangaroo.
Scrappy, Fake Out, Parental Bond Double-Edge and priority Sucker Punch in the same set; godlike.
Many criticized Mega Kangaskhan because of the drop in damage output from Parental Bond and the Sucker Punch nerf.
Mega Kang is not as good as it was in ORAS Maison but it was so good in ORAS Maison that it is still better than almost anything suitable for USUM Tree. Mega Kang is usually preserved to enter the battlefield as last member because it has multiple tools to turn a difficult battle around. Where Conkeldurr is slightly more Trick Room dependent, Mega Kangaskhan is less because of Fake Out and Sucker Punch.
Basic strategy:
The basic strategy is quite simple but quite hard in excecution.
On turn 1 you want to get Trick Room up and either Protect or Fake Out with Togedemaru, depending on the AI's Pokémon you're up against.
This was way simpler in the previous generation were the AI would almost always attack the Level 1 Endeavor Pokémon.
The introduction of Z-Moves and change in AI mechanics do not guarantee a simple Trick Room set-up which means you really need to think twice before you select the moves you're going to make.
Threats:
(1) (Jolly / Bright Powder / Shadow Claw / Slash / Double Team / Thunder Wave / Atk / Spd)
(3) (Jolly / Fairium Z / Play Rough / Shadow Claw / Wood Hammer / Swords Dance / Atk / Spd)
(4) (Adamant / Rocky Helmet / Play Rough / Shadow Claw / Destiny Bond / Shadow Sneak / Atk / Spd)
Mimikyu is the biggest threat. Any set needs to be Foresighted in order for Kangaskhan to actually damage it. Set 1 isn't assured for me to connect, set 3 completely destroys Conkeldurr while set 4 breaks Berry Juice and has a priority move. Mimikyu is usually paired with other Pokémon my team has trouble with, mainly Alolan-Ninetales. In order to actually hit it on top of all that I also need to break it's abillity: disguise.
(1) (Timid / Icium Z / Aurora Veil / Hypnosis / Dream Eater / Blizzard / HP / Def)
(2) (Timid / Psychium Z / Freeze Dry / Dazzling Gleam / Extrasensory / Ice Shard / HP / Spd)
Alolan Ninetales isn't difficult to beat but I cannot afford to get frozen or put to sleep by set 1 while set 2 comes with priority and both sets have a Z move. Alolan Ninetales also comes with Snow Warning 50% of the time which makes Togedemaru a lot less effective. Set 2 basically forces me to Endeavor the Ninetales or it's partner and if that partner is Mimikyu I am in a lot of trouble at the very beginning of the battle.
(4) (Bold / Lax Incense / Sheer Cold / Fissure / Rest / Sleep Talk / Def / SpD)
While it is slightly better to control thanks to Fake Out Togedemaru, Walrein 4 is still a big threat.
(2) (Bold / Leftovers / Double Team / Moonlight / Toxic / Protect / HP / SpD)
While it cannot beat Togedemaru 1 vs 1 Cresselia 2 is still one of the most annoying stallers to face.
(2) (Bold / Bright Powder / Charge Beam / Ancient Power / Double Team / Roost / HP / SpD)
Conkeldurr walls Zapdos for a great deal but Zapdos2 can become very powerful and hard to hit once it get's Charge Beam and Double Team boosts.
(4) (Modest / Waterium Z / Sparkling Aria / Dazzling Gleam / Blizzard / Aqua Jet / HP / SpA)
This thing completely walls Conkeldurr while it is "faster" than Mega Kangaskhan. It comes with Blizzard, Aqua Jet and Hydro Vortex.
Primarina 4 is a very dangerous Pokémon.
(4) (Adamant / Quick Claw / Flare Blitz / Cross Chop / Crunch / U-Turn)
In worst case scenario it sits in the back and comes with Intimidate. Incineroar has a thing for activating Quick Claw, hits very hard with Flare Blitz, Crunch and Cross Chop. Conkeldurr has a 75% chance to 1HKO it with Drain Punch while Flare Blitz in return does 55% - 65%. It is guaranteed to 2HKO Mega-Kangaskhan while Crunch only 2HKO's Dusclops 10% of the time, Dusclops however, cannot defeat it on it's own.
I have considered using Incineroar as a back up replacement with the set below:
Incineroar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Brave
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/00
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Sp.Def
- Fake Out
- Flare Blitz
- Knock Off
- Low Kick / Superpower
However: When I started looking for a HA Litten in january and not finding it I discovered it has not even been released yet...
(4) (Modest / Bright Powder / Nasty Plot / Shadow Ball / Grass Knot / Baton Pass / HP / SpA)
Deciduye 4 is an absolute nightmare. It has a tendency to flat-out attack Dusclops with Shadow Ball and when it boosts up via Nasty Plot it becomes public enemy #1. I know I simply hit it 80% of the time but only Conkeldurr 1HKO's it 25% of the time so I need to pray and hope I do not miss.
(1) (Rash / Quick Claw / Ice Shard / Blizzard / Mirror Coat / Helping Hand / HP / SpA)
(3) (Modest / Focus Sash / Hail / Blizzard / Mirror Coat / Hyper Beam / Def / SpA)
(4) (Modest Bright Powder / Blizzard / Shadow Ball / Aurora Veil / Detect / Def / SpA)
Glaceon is very tricky to play, I absolutely don't want it to Blizzard or Hail but need to watch out for Detect and Bright Powder too (set 4).
(3) (Relaxed / Leftovers / Moonblast / Giga Drain / Strenght Sap / Spore / HP / Def)
(4) (Sassy / Weakness Policy / Moonblast / Grass Knot / Moonlight / Spore / HP / SpD)
Shiinotic is a very dangerous enemy, set 3 and 4 both carry Spore and it may have Effect Spore as it's ability. Shiinotic cannot really damage me hard with attacking moves but the fact that these two sets carry Spore pretty much force me to Fake Out on it, hoping I do not end up being put to sleep through it's ability as well.
(2) (Timid / Bright Powder / Fissure / Toxic / Substitute / Sandstorm / HP / Spd)
I will not comment on this one, you all know what it is capable of doing.
(3) (Relaxed / Rocky Helmet / Rage Powder / Spore / Giga Drain / Sludge Bomb / HP / Def)
(4) (Calm / Black Sludge / Giga Drain / Spore / Clear Smog / Synthesis / HP / SpD)
Rocky Helmet, possible Effect Spore, Rage Powder (!!) ánd Spore make Amoonguss 3 and 4 really big threats. I lost to Amoonguss 3 before.
Battle videos:
Battle #116 vs.
GRJW-WWWW-WWWH-M3P3
This is a losing battle video where I did not figure out yet how to actually deal with Amoonguss 3 or actually understood how big of a threat it is/was. I lost at #116 against this and at #154 against Aurorus/Dhelmise/Talonflame/Mudsdale prior to winning 1.000 times in a row.
Battle #745 vs.
58NW-WWWW-WWWH-M9PP
In this battle the AI makes very weird decisions when it comes to the usage of priority and Z-moves.
This is a classic example to showcase how lucky I am for Alolan-Ninetales not to have the Snow Warning ability.
Battle #750 vs.
763G-WWWW-WWWH-M9QN
This battle is actually against a Snow Warning Alolan-Ninetales 1, paired with Decidueye 4, Incineroar 4 and Primarina 4. It involves quite some hax.
Battle #864 vs.
QAEW-WWWW-WWWH-M9QC
I go back way back when it comes to Pokémon, I have played each Frontier/Tower/Subway/Maison/Tree generation Gamefreak gave us and I've been upset, mad and emotional multiple times when the AI went massacre-haxing against me. But this must have been one out of thousands of battles were I was really emotional. I had one single mission and that mission was to get to 1.000 straight wins in a row. This is battle #864, this is 86.3% mission completed and this is Dugtrio 2.
Battle #945 vs.
C6WG-WWWW-WWWH-M9RF
As I stated in the comment of battle #864 my sole mission was to get to 1.000 straight wins. Every number below that would feel like a loss. Josh C. is too far out of reach to be even thinking of dethroning him and I have no single or double (Yea, you get that bad joke too) intention to even do so; all I wanted to do was to break the 1.000 win mark in two generations in a row, something no one ever did before in Doubles. But then you are at 944 straight wins and turskain is only 16 battles away from dethroning his second place. I want you to take that into account when watching this battle video, it ends with a 1 vs. 2 situation in the AI's advantage.
Battle #954 vs.
RJVW-WWW-WWWH-M9RP
This battle isn't that very interesting but it's a psychological battle -for me-, between me and Turskain. I'm still not at a thousand wins and I'm still not in second place. I make very bad decisions in this battle against Virizion 1, a Pokémon I used to Fake Out every time I faced it but I completely blurred in this battle because of the burden I carry to beat Turskain and get to a thousand wins.
Battle #958 vs.
XTHW-WWWW-WWWH-M9S7
One of the few battles were I am forced to send out Kangaskhan over Conkeldurr. I win this fairly easily but things could have gone into a different direction as easily too.
Battle #1,000 vs.
VAHG-WWWW-WWWH-M9SK
Mission accomplished! 1,000 straight wins in Super Doubles Battle Tree!
Afterword:
All in all this must have been the most thrilled run I ever did in "Eppie vs. AI" history.
Battle Tree is so much harder than Battle Maison to start with, getting to 1.000 wins is so much harder than getting to 2.000 wins in Battle Maison if you ask me. I went on a journey and this journey had to get me to 1.000 straight wins, everything below the 4-digit number would not have been good enough for me. If I would have lost during this last particular run before that 4-digit mark I honestly do not know if I would have ever made a post in this thread again, I even think that I would not have even tried to try again. My personal life and work don't allow me to play as much Pokémon as I want to do. This run was done in a three week period which means I averaged at 47-48 battles per day. I obviously played more in the weekend and less during work days. The last ~200 battles psychologically exhausted me as I could not or would not motivate myself again to actually try and achieve a thousand straight wins. Thankfully my team and the Pokégods have been kind to me to not ever worry about that personal dillema again.
I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as the time I spend to actually write this down because, once again, I am not really good at doing long write-ups.
I wish you all good fortune in achieving goals, be it in life or in Pokémon.
I have and will never forget the Pokémon series and the threads built for people like you and me that allow us joy or competition to achieve goals.
Kind regards,
Eppie