Reporting 2 streaks. One for the leader board, one not so much...
The first team is actually from way back when I was still playing Sun. I just stopped it at 120 because the team got a little bit too boring to play. Since then, I've banked the team to Ultra Moon and just left it aside. Here's the team, which is a pretty standard affair with 1 beater, 1 support, and 1 stall.
Super Singles Pokemon Sun (streak 120):
Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Hyper Cutter --> Aerilate
Jolly Nature
4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Return
- X-Scissor
- Quick Attack
- Close Combat
Heatran @ Firium z
Flash Fire
Docile Nature (because that all I have...)
4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Fire Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
- Will-o-wisp
Cresselia @ Leftovers
Levitate
Bold Nature
252 Hp / 200 Def / 56 SpD
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight
I won't go into detail on this team because I think it's pretty standard. But here are some videos:
3BAG-WWWW-WWWL-9M5U
MZZW-WWWW-WWWL-9MA7
M86W-WWWW-WWWL-9MC3
My second recent streak only reached 50, as I lost immediately after beating Red and getting my Super Singles stamp for Ultra Moon. It's not competitive by any means and required a lot of tinkering just to get to 50, but one that I had more fun playing in the Tree than anything that came before it. Here's the team:
Super Singles Pokemon Ultra Moon (streak 50):
I am the real Champion of Kanto!!
Team Development:
Only 3 Pokemon are allowed in Super Singles, so why use the original Pokemon trio! After all, Red didn't become a champion through using OP tactics, but with the bond he formed with his Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasuar! Now they've all grown up and capable of mega evolving. But with only one mega evolution per battle, the challenge in climbing the tree becomes knowing who and when to mega evolve. Surely I could've built the team to take advantage of the synergy between Mega Charizard Y and Venusaur, but this team is not about synergy! It's about giving each starter and its mega equal opportunity to shine!
During the earlier versions of this team, I led with Charizard as a setup sweeper. Then it became readily apparent that this strategy was flawed because the opportunity to setup didn't happen as frequently as I had hoped, and that I really need to reserve my only physical attacker for time of need. So I decided to lead with Blastoise as the early scout partly because it can check 11 types without setup and also because it is the one that can least afford to take switch in damage, not having reliable way to recover unlike the other two.
Early version also had Venusaur being a bit more aggro-control, running things like Sleep Powder and Sludge Bomb. But I felt that I really needed someone whose job is purely to stall. With a stall build, it became the most important member of the team. It could now conserve my lead Blastoise from having to fight unnecessary battles.
Taken everything together, the basic strategy is to scout with Blastoise, immediately switch to Venusaur against anything that doesn't threaten it to conserve hp, use Charizard as a revenge killer, and only go to a Mega if I know not doing so will cause me to lose.
The Set:
Blastoise @ Blastoisite
Torrent --> Mega Launcher
Modest Nature
252 Hp / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse
- Aura Sphere
Yes, Surf over Hydro Pump, Water Pulse, and Scald. I found that Surf gives me the most consistent damage. Water Pulse is no good if he doesn't Mega, and I don't want to rely on the luck based burn from Scald. As the lead, Blastoise's job is to eliminate anything that can threaten the other two starters, especially Venusaur. He becomes the Mega of choice against Psychic, Ice, and Fire based teams.
Charizard @ Charizardite X
Blaze --> Tough Claws
Jolly Nature
4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Flare Blitz
- Outrage
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
Charizard is the revenge killer and wall breaker of the team. He is also the least bulky and requires the right match-up to be able to switch in and setup. I originally had Dragon Claw here, but switched to Outrage as the better non-setup option. Against some overly aggressive teams, a Dragon Danced Mega Charizard X spamming Outrage is the only option to win.
Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Chlorophyll ---> Thick Fat
Bold Nature
252 Hp / 140 Def / 116 SpD
- Giga Drain
- Toxic
- Leech Seed
- Synthesis
Admittedly, base form Venusaur is the only one of the trio who can hang against stronger Tree opponents without having to go Mega. The nature and Def investment is to take into account Venusaur's less desirable physical defense in its base form. Even base Venusaur can stall out many opponents by doing Toxic/Leech Seed followed by Synthesis spam. In fact, the decision to go Mega with any of the trio is sometimes solely based on threats that base Venusaur couldn't handle. Also, its ability should probably be Overgrow as Chlorophyll never once mattered.
Threats:
Anything Venusaur can't stall out is a threat and requires some dynamic decision making, like should I Mega now or just sac it and Mega the next guy. The decision becomes even more complicated without knowing what other Pokemon my opponent has in the back.
Video Analysis:
Mega Charizard scorches Annabel (Battle 30):
vs
6UBM-WWWW-WWWL-UPMW
The battle start off with a match-up in my favor, it was a match-up base Blastoise can win. Alakazam came out and there's a decision to be made to mega evolve or not, I decided not to in fear of Mega Alakazam's Grass Knot, but it turned out to be Spec Zam who knocked out the turtle and got locked into Psychic. There's only one option here. I figured that Charizard can survive 1 Spec Psychic hit and setup, by Dragon Dance, the only thing I had to worry about is a priority attacker like Lucario as he would outspeed and OTKO anything else with Outrage. And so he did.
Mega Venusaur suffocates a scientist (Battle 42):
vs
GM2W-WWWW-WWWL-UPMY
Scientist guy opened with Eelektross. Seems like a good candidate for Venusaur to stall out, right? Wrong, it started spamming Flamethrower. At this point, I could either switch to Charizard and invest the mega evolution on him, but I never felt comfortable bringing out Mega Charizard X so early, so I decided to invest in Mega Venusaur instead to continue the stall. He stalled out the next two guys too.
Mega Blastoise drowns Poppy (Battle 45):
vs
YGPG-WWWW-WWWL-UPMU
I thought I could stall the Umbreon with Venusaur, turned out its Curse/Rest Umbreon, no way I could stall out that. So I timed it to first waste its Chesto Berry then switch back into Blastoise the turn it went into its second sleep. I needed the power of Mega Blastoise to take it down. Things could go very badly had the Dragonite have Multiscale. It didn't so I rolled.
Legend Battle: The Mirror Match (Battle 50):
vs
RMXW-WWWW-WWWL-UPNA
It's time to show Red whose the true champion of Kanto! And as fate would have it, Red used the Kanto starter trio too! Red started off with his Venusaur against my Blastoise...ain't gonna win that no matter what the set is. I switched to my own Venusaur to scout. Then Mega Venusaur, Red chooses you! At this point, my strategy becomes pp stalling his Mega out of Sludge Bomb, then switch to Charizard to setup. My Venusaur almost died a few times due to wonky speed tie. Once his Mega is out of juice, Mega Charizard, I choose you! He got in 6+ Dragon Dance and I was crowned the new champion of Kanto.
My title was short-lived....(Battle 51):
vs
N4VG-WWWW-WWWL-UPNJ
I probably could've won this had I realized that after my Blastoise got Thunder Waved my Charizard can outspeed the Latias unboosted, so the paralyzed Blastoise would at least give me a fighting chance against Tornadus later on. Then again, it did paralyze a few turns in a row, so maybe not.
Overall, I like my Kanto trio team a lot more than my Mega Pinsir team. Despite being significantly handicapped, I always felt actively engaged playing it and never bored. It always make me ask the team, "Which of you is going to go all mega and save the day!" But onto the next project!