As a simple note, I brought a camera to the event and charged it the night before but it wouldn't turn on!!! alas no photos
Anyways our story begins the night before when I start to trade with muffinhead. I asked him to make 4/6 of my team because I am a hopeless rng abuser and am very busy during the school year (my friend to be introduced later said he would do the other two). As I start to trade with him, our conversation was basically as follows (at 11 PM at night):
Smith: HEY thanks for doing this for me!
moof: no problem, are you going to ev all of these yourself?
Smith: EVs?
moof: -___________________-
I assumed he would ev them for me when if I had just looked at his thread I probably would have been able to figure it out. Unable or perhaps unwilling to ev 2 out of 4 of the members all night, i decided I would take the two he had ready, ditch the other two, and just take replacements from the mons he had 100% finished. These two mons ended up being very helpful and I'm glad he suggested them (he helped me with choosing which 2 of the available 12 or something I should take). This is probably a good time to post my team! I really won't bother with exact sets because they are all just standard.
Funnily enough Gigalith and Golurk were supposed to be Carracosta and Bouffalant but the replacements ended up coming very much in handy. Gigalith was great in the earlier matches to explode when paired with golurk or jellicent and Golurk was fantastic for just dealing with Terrakion and being generally awesome by laying a massive hurt with Shadow Punch.
So I wake up the day of ready to kick ass and humming Karate Kid. I ate a meal of breakfast burritos (my dad likes making big breakfasts on important days) and after attempting unsuccessfully to coerce my dog into defecating and a break moment of panic at some lost keys, we were on our way. I arrive at the event to discover that my friends had been here since the early morning with their little brothers and were the very first people in line! In total our little entourage was as follows:
-Myself. I was feeling confident about my team and ready to do work.
-My twin brother (henceforth referred to as Nick). He has not and does not play competitive Pokemon and had the team that he used in-game. I told him, to his dismay, that Pokemon below level 50 were not knocked up. His in-game team was not level 50, so I just told him to beat the Elite four. He then told me he hadn't bothered to beat the E4 yet. I suggested he might try that. He spent the morning attempting to raise his team of level 43-44s through excessive reviving and button smashing.
-My buddy *firstnamecensored* Tan (smogon username Tan). If you haven't heard of him on Smogon, its because hes 30% wifier and 70% lurker. He too had a real rng'd team.
-My friend Davis. Basically the same boat as Nick but they were all level 50.
We basically spent the morning watching the juniors and seniors matches, and chatting and testing teams and helping people just walking in (no this isn't the end of the line, its the front, the line snakes all the way around there). As masters matches drew nearer I caught my first look at a duck, chatting casually with a man that could only have been Alaka (judging by the shirt which had "Alaka" on the back). We were scared shitless that we might have to play them at some point, but I didn't really want to talk to them (or rather I just pussied out). I spent the day avoiding them like the plague.
Of course the best part was when a kid walked up to Tan and I and inferred that we were from Smogon. I introduced myself and Tan and asked him him username. He said he was shinyweavile. Tan and I both looked at each other and then nearly shouted "ITS THE ATTITUDE IMPAIRED KID". We laughed for a solid minute. They began to hand out trainer tickets and I was #0016- good luck right? I really wanted to qualify for nats so top 16 was my very far reaching goal.
Soon the curtain was up and the battled had to commence! Being at the very front of the line, I got paired against Tan and Nick against Davis. However we really didn't want to play each other so I got to switch. Nick and Davis decided they would stay, as they knew that basically their only chance of getting to r2 was to beat each other (especially because Nick's team was level 46-48). After soaking in anticipation for 30 minutes, we were finally allowed to begin.
Round 1: vs. Ben I.
He was a very cool guy. After I started talking to him and the people around me and giving them some hints (stay away from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, beware Whimsicott + Terrakion), he began to wish that I hadn't nudged his away in against him by invoking the friend clause (his original r1 opponent was easy prey for Tan). The battle itself was rather ordinary- his whole team was incredibly slow but had no TR, so my golurk and Jellicent actually outsped it so I never set up TR. Gigalith laid an awful hurt with Explosion and it was a solid 2-0 win. Ben said he wanted to see me win the whole thing and pledged to assasinate me should I fail. Like I needed more pressure...
Round 2: vs. Nick V (coincidentally the same initials as my brother).
Sadly the battle I remember least. He was totally unprepared for tr and I won 3-0 by a significant margin. Don't remember much.
Round 3: vs. Charles H.
He and I had surmised that we both knew what we were doing, but he denied going on smogon or skarmbliss. We had tried to avoid each other but here we were. For the first two turns I got double flinched by rock slide and I was NOT happy- but from there I got incredibly lucky (my paralyzed Jellicent hitting both opponents with Blizzard and freezing one) and recovered to a 2-0 defeat in possibly the worst game of Pokemon in history. He said afterwards that we a member of Skarmbliss by the name Chalkey. Incredibly chill guy.
Round 4: vs. Ryan O.
By this point I began to get a flicker of a hope that I might get into the top 16, and was nervous as piss. However this battle was really easy, and I won 4-0. He set up Tailwind and Hail turn 1, but once I got TR up nothing could take a water spout or a rock slide. He tried to stall it out to no avail. He wished me luck as I went into the famed finalists' lounge.
As I walked out I say all my friends, defeated. Nick lost r1 to Davis who then lost r2. Tan lost r4 on a close one I think, I don't remember how he described it but he was disappointed in a misplay. I checked in and released the massive poop I had been holding since the battles started. I talked with the guy I beat r1 and he was pretty glad I had gone so far, made him feel better I guess. I sat back down in the finalists lounge once everybody was present (except for Dennis N. who mysteriously disappeared). Alaka sat down right behind me next to Kongler and I was worried as fuck I would have to play them. I glanced around and realized I was by far the youngest person in the lounge, which the person in front of me cited as "totally badass". I was basically 7 months from Seniors. I wasn't fortunate enough to get a bye so I sat down nervous as hell.
Top 32: vs. Joel D.
This guy clearly knew what he was doing. He led with Whimsicott and Terrakion (which I had predicted, leading with Golurk and Jellicent). However he didn't use beat up and just kind of went for goodstuffs rs/ giga drain or something like that. I got TR up and did a number but soon it wore off, and with no sweeper. It got pretty close and it was down 1-1, my Druddigon vs. his Terrakion. This next part sucks. For some reason I decide not to use Superpower but instead Dragon Claw, because I wasn't fucking thinking (Superpower would have OHKOd). Then I take a rock slide and critical hit him with Dragon Claw. I think if I was a bit older he would have been really angry, but as he was he was just crestfallen, as was I when I realized I had just relied on hax to bail me out of a losing situation.
As I move into the next room, Nick Davis and Tan (all outside watching) scream like crazy because I had qualified for nats. Then probably the funniest thing that happened all day, happened. Nick stopped cheering and glared at me for a second, serious as fuck, and then just said "sweep the leg" (Karate Kid reference if it takes you a sec). I sat down in front of my next opponent.
Round 16 vs. Arwn A.
Anti-climactic as fuck. I set up TR the same turn his Tornadus uses Rain Dance and his Whimsicott uses Tailwind, and just bowl throw his team with Water Spout and Shadow Punch. I honestly don't think I took damage.
Quaterfinals vs. Milan P.
This match took forever and I had to wait for them to finish when everybody else was underway. This guy was really nice and I have already posted in his warstory the account of the battle, so you can see that here. It really wasn't close at all, I realized I lost as soon as turn 1 was over. I didn't save the battle video because my DS was acting stupid. Afterwards Tan told me that he had heard of Milan before so I felt a bit better.
Defeated but proud, I exit the ring and see that my opponent had to play Alaka, so I felt better. I then looked at the information they gave me (since I qualified for nats) and realized I'm out of town when it was happening (why had I not investigated this??????) I don't think you can go to worlds without going to nats (right?) so I was very unhappy. I hitched a ride back to distant Denton with a friend who was there by coincidence and arrived back home just in time for my dad to volunteer me for babysitting. Didn't really check Smogon thoroughly until midnight.
Props:
Myself in far exceeding expectations!
Muffinhead and Tan for basically making my team.
Nick in somehow conjuring a ride home by meeting our friend by coincidence
Slops:
Tan and Nick for losing (Davis getting to r2 exceeded his expectations so he was happy)
Being Amoongus weak
Not talking to any of the Smogoners (I think I was sitting kitty corner to Werecario in the finalists lounge) although I guess shinyweavile counts!
Not knowing when nationals were and not being able to make it.
Anyways our story begins the night before when I start to trade with muffinhead. I asked him to make 4/6 of my team because I am a hopeless rng abuser and am very busy during the school year (my friend to be introduced later said he would do the other two). As I start to trade with him, our conversation was basically as follows (at 11 PM at night):
Smith: HEY thanks for doing this for me!
moof: no problem, are you going to ev all of these yourself?
Smith: EVs?
moof: -___________________-
I assumed he would ev them for me when if I had just looked at his thread I probably would have been able to figure it out. Unable or perhaps unwilling to ev 2 out of 4 of the members all night, i decided I would take the two he had ready, ditch the other two, and just take replacements from the mons he had 100% finished. These two mons ended up being very helpful and I'm glad he suggested them (he helped me with choosing which 2 of the available 12 or something I should take). This is probably a good time to post my team! I really won't bother with exact sets because they are all just standard.
Funnily enough Gigalith and Golurk were supposed to be Carracosta and Bouffalant but the replacements ended up coming very much in handy. Gigalith was great in the earlier matches to explode when paired with golurk or jellicent and Golurk was fantastic for just dealing with Terrakion and being generally awesome by laying a massive hurt with Shadow Punch.
So I wake up the day of ready to kick ass and humming Karate Kid. I ate a meal of breakfast burritos (my dad likes making big breakfasts on important days) and after attempting unsuccessfully to coerce my dog into defecating and a break moment of panic at some lost keys, we were on our way. I arrive at the event to discover that my friends had been here since the early morning with their little brothers and were the very first people in line! In total our little entourage was as follows:
-Myself. I was feeling confident about my team and ready to do work.
-My twin brother (henceforth referred to as Nick). He has not and does not play competitive Pokemon and had the team that he used in-game. I told him, to his dismay, that Pokemon below level 50 were not knocked up. His in-game team was not level 50, so I just told him to beat the Elite four. He then told me he hadn't bothered to beat the E4 yet. I suggested he might try that. He spent the morning attempting to raise his team of level 43-44s through excessive reviving and button smashing.
-My buddy *firstnamecensored* Tan (smogon username Tan). If you haven't heard of him on Smogon, its because hes 30% wifier and 70% lurker. He too had a real rng'd team.
-My friend Davis. Basically the same boat as Nick but they were all level 50.
We basically spent the morning watching the juniors and seniors matches, and chatting and testing teams and helping people just walking in (no this isn't the end of the line, its the front, the line snakes all the way around there). As masters matches drew nearer I caught my first look at a duck, chatting casually with a man that could only have been Alaka (judging by the shirt which had "Alaka" on the back). We were scared shitless that we might have to play them at some point, but I didn't really want to talk to them (or rather I just pussied out). I spent the day avoiding them like the plague.
Of course the best part was when a kid walked up to Tan and I and inferred that we were from Smogon. I introduced myself and Tan and asked him him username. He said he was shinyweavile. Tan and I both looked at each other and then nearly shouted "ITS THE ATTITUDE IMPAIRED KID". We laughed for a solid minute. They began to hand out trainer tickets and I was #0016- good luck right? I really wanted to qualify for nats so top 16 was my very far reaching goal.
Soon the curtain was up and the battled had to commence! Being at the very front of the line, I got paired against Tan and Nick against Davis. However we really didn't want to play each other so I got to switch. Nick and Davis decided they would stay, as they knew that basically their only chance of getting to r2 was to beat each other (especially because Nick's team was level 46-48). After soaking in anticipation for 30 minutes, we were finally allowed to begin.
Round 1: vs. Ben I.
He was a very cool guy. After I started talking to him and the people around me and giving them some hints (stay away from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, beware Whimsicott + Terrakion), he began to wish that I hadn't nudged his away in against him by invoking the friend clause (his original r1 opponent was easy prey for Tan). The battle itself was rather ordinary- his whole team was incredibly slow but had no TR, so my golurk and Jellicent actually outsped it so I never set up TR. Gigalith laid an awful hurt with Explosion and it was a solid 2-0 win. Ben said he wanted to see me win the whole thing and pledged to assasinate me should I fail. Like I needed more pressure...
Round 2: vs. Nick V (coincidentally the same initials as my brother).
Sadly the battle I remember least. He was totally unprepared for tr and I won 3-0 by a significant margin. Don't remember much.
Round 3: vs. Charles H.
He and I had surmised that we both knew what we were doing, but he denied going on smogon or skarmbliss. We had tried to avoid each other but here we were. For the first two turns I got double flinched by rock slide and I was NOT happy- but from there I got incredibly lucky (my paralyzed Jellicent hitting both opponents with Blizzard and freezing one) and recovered to a 2-0 defeat in possibly the worst game of Pokemon in history. He said afterwards that we a member of Skarmbliss by the name Chalkey. Incredibly chill guy.
Round 4: vs. Ryan O.
By this point I began to get a flicker of a hope that I might get into the top 16, and was nervous as piss. However this battle was really easy, and I won 4-0. He set up Tailwind and Hail turn 1, but once I got TR up nothing could take a water spout or a rock slide. He tried to stall it out to no avail. He wished me luck as I went into the famed finalists' lounge.
As I walked out I say all my friends, defeated. Nick lost r1 to Davis who then lost r2. Tan lost r4 on a close one I think, I don't remember how he described it but he was disappointed in a misplay. I checked in and released the massive poop I had been holding since the battles started. I talked with the guy I beat r1 and he was pretty glad I had gone so far, made him feel better I guess. I sat back down in the finalists lounge once everybody was present (except for Dennis N. who mysteriously disappeared). Alaka sat down right behind me next to Kongler and I was worried as fuck I would have to play them. I glanced around and realized I was by far the youngest person in the lounge, which the person in front of me cited as "totally badass". I was basically 7 months from Seniors. I wasn't fortunate enough to get a bye so I sat down nervous as hell.
Top 32: vs. Joel D.
This guy clearly knew what he was doing. He led with Whimsicott and Terrakion (which I had predicted, leading with Golurk and Jellicent). However he didn't use beat up and just kind of went for goodstuffs rs/ giga drain or something like that. I got TR up and did a number but soon it wore off, and with no sweeper. It got pretty close and it was down 1-1, my Druddigon vs. his Terrakion. This next part sucks. For some reason I decide not to use Superpower but instead Dragon Claw, because I wasn't fucking thinking (Superpower would have OHKOd). Then I take a rock slide and critical hit him with Dragon Claw. I think if I was a bit older he would have been really angry, but as he was he was just crestfallen, as was I when I realized I had just relied on hax to bail me out of a losing situation.
As I move into the next room, Nick Davis and Tan (all outside watching) scream like crazy because I had qualified for nats. Then probably the funniest thing that happened all day, happened. Nick stopped cheering and glared at me for a second, serious as fuck, and then just said "sweep the leg" (Karate Kid reference if it takes you a sec). I sat down in front of my next opponent.
Round 16 vs. Arwn A.
Anti-climactic as fuck. I set up TR the same turn his Tornadus uses Rain Dance and his Whimsicott uses Tailwind, and just bowl throw his team with Water Spout and Shadow Punch. I honestly don't think I took damage.
Quaterfinals vs. Milan P.
This match took forever and I had to wait for them to finish when everybody else was underway. This guy was really nice and I have already posted in his warstory the account of the battle, so you can see that here. It really wasn't close at all, I realized I lost as soon as turn 1 was over. I didn't save the battle video because my DS was acting stupid. Afterwards Tan told me that he had heard of Milan before so I felt a bit better.
Defeated but proud, I exit the ring and see that my opponent had to play Alaka, so I felt better. I then looked at the information they gave me (since I qualified for nats) and realized I'm out of town when it was happening (why had I not investigated this??????) I don't think you can go to worlds without going to nats (right?) so I was very unhappy. I hitched a ride back to distant Denton with a friend who was there by coincidence and arrived back home just in time for my dad to volunteer me for babysitting. Didn't really check Smogon thoroughly until midnight.
Props:
Myself in far exceeding expectations!
Muffinhead and Tan for basically making my team.
Nick in somehow conjuring a ride home by meeting our friend by coincidence
Slops:
Tan and Nick for losing (Davis getting to r2 exceeded his expectations so he was happy)
Being Amoongus weak
Not talking to any of the Smogoners (I think I was sitting kitty corner to Werecario in the finalists lounge) although I guess shinyweavile counts!
Not knowing when nationals were and not being able to make it.
