I started off by grinding Venipede in the forest. He's a fricking toxic staller - Poison Sting seems to have like a 50% poison chance, and with protect, no non-poison type was a problem for him. We trained until Phobia learned a good move (Poison Tail) and then I headed on to Castelia. Receiving the water stone, I decided to evolve Panpour once it learned a good STAB move, since I can always use TM's like Ice Beam and Surf if I need to, and he was currently kinda weak. The foursome scaled Company Tower, and defeated all the employees, as well as the eccentric Janitor-CEO. Along the way, both Phobia and Chimpaqu evolved (Chimpaqu as soon as it learned Scald).
Team Plasma was up to their usual shenanigans, and were easy to defeat. Burgh, on the other hand, was more difficult. The Dwebble and it's Smack Down was a big threat towards my Whirlipede, but with the Eviolite you can find in Castelia, it became more easy, enough for Whirlipede to clinch the victory.
ThePhalanx, you must solo Burgh with a Pokemon from Pinwheel Forest. You may not use Pansear or Simisear for this solo.
CHALLENGE COMPLETE!
Moving on from Castelia, Bianca and Cheren attempted to challenge me, but were no problem for the fantastic four. They made short work of all the trainers in the Desert and in Desert Resort, easily cleaning house and earning a lot of EXP. While doing this I encountered a Darumaka; I wasn't originally going to catch it, but after it very nearly 2HKO'd my Eviolite Blitzle, I realized it's true power. So the team gained a new member: Pyromaniac the Darumaka. It's sheer power with Hustle was easy to abuse (especially with a good STAB in Fire Punch/Fire Fang), and it soon was at the same level as the rest. Now I have a FWG Offensive Core in Narcissism, Chimpaqu and Pyromaniac!
More Team Plasma shenanigans in Nimbasa, N posed no problem whatsoever. After grinding quite a bit in Desert Resort, I felt confident enough in Blitzle to immediately challenge the gym. But it was HARD. VERY HARD. Zebstrika COMPLETELY WALLED Blitzle, especially when Flame Charge only deals like 10% when the opponents does 20-25%. I tried many different strategies, to no avail. Finally, I realized the only way to win was through hax, so I taught Blitzle Flash, and proceeded to hax a -6 accuracy Zebstrika to death. Unfortunately, I was still forced to use a Soda Pop.
Each time you use Healing Items in a battle, you must throw out 15 non-Healing Items from your bag.
Ouch. That hurt.
After the battle, I finally allowed Blitzle to evolve, and taught it Volt Switch.
Shadowfax wants to prove that he is the best electric type pokemon. Therefore he must solo Elesa's whole gym without evolving beforehand
CHALLENGE COMPLETE (again)!
Leaving Nimbasa, Alder taught me and Cheren the meaning of life. Though not really. We just smashed a couple of preschoolers in order to test ourselves (lol). After crossing Charizard Bridge, I looked at my next challenge:
The Phalanx, you are challenged to Solo Clay with a Drilbur, without using any x-items. It must be a Drilbur, NOT an Excadrill.
Siri, I mean Pokédex, where can I find a Drilbur before Clay's gym?
"The only place where Drilbur can be found is all the way back at Wellspring Cave, you know, back where the Day Care is? Oh and they're level 10."
... I say this a lot, but... FML.
Soooo I went ALL THE WAY BACK and caught a Drilbur. A lot of grinding is ahead of me, but whatever. Zinzolin of the Seven Sages was huddling inside a shipping container in the Cold Storage, so I took the opportunity to give Pimple (don't ask, I don't even remember why I called it that) some levels. After that, I went outside the town and spent a LONG time grinding. Oh, and Phobia evolved into a Scolipede while grinding.
Once Pimple learned Earthquake, I challenged the gym. Smashed through the gym leaders no problem. Challenged Clay. Krokorok uses Bulldoze, I'm at -1 Speed. No problem. Palpitoad uses Muddy Water and OHKO's from full health even with Eviolite.
FUCK.
So I tried many times, and finally, on the last try his Palpitoad decided to use Aqua Ring instead of Muddy Water, and died to a +1 (Hone Claws) EQ. I thought Excadrill would be a problem since I can't use moves twice in a row, but a +1 Dig still managed to OHKO. Oh well. Drilbur ftw.
The Phalanx, you are challenged to Solo Clay with a Drilbur, without using any x-items. It must be a Drilbur, NOT an Excadrill. You are not required to use Drilbur beyond this challenge
CHALLENGE COMPLETE (once again)!
So I went to the grassy area outside Chargestone Cave and grinded, until Drilbur learned Swords Dance, and then I let it evolve. Then I grinded Pyromaniac until HE evolved. Currently, I am sitting outside Chargestone Cave, grinding my team members and waiting for more challenges.