So he's not levelling up in caves now
Correct. The aforemented Bonsly fight was on Route 215, a regular route which has constant rain. I'm probably going to grind Can'tdoit mercilessly before I get anywhere near Mt. Coronet or Snowpoint City again. Although, due to a technical loophole, I can grind for XP near Snowpoint City, then Fly somewhere else to get the last bit of XP to level up... :p
I just reached Veilstone City, so next job is to fight Maylene! Purify will be trying to solo one of her Pokémon, which I figure should be easy enough; he
does have Calm Mind and a STAB super-effective Confusion, after all... watch this space, anyway.
IAR, "obliterating everything" is probably right... though I find the notion of a Stunfisk Enduring anything ever to be amusing. Especially an incredibly pissed-off overlevelled Krookodile. :p
Edit: Alright, Maylene fight. I'll remind you all that I never got this far in Platinum before; I have no idea what's coming up at all. :D
Required solo:
Purify (Lv29 Meditite) @ Mind Plate
Nature: Mild (+SpA, -Def)
Ability: Pure Power
Moveset:
Hidden Power [Poison]
Calm Mind
Confusion
Detect
Purify must solo one of Maylene's Pokémon.
(Note: Purify tried to learn Force Palm upon reaching level 29... but since I hadn't done this solo yet, I couldn't learn it... D: I think I've used Hidden Power like four times since I worked out the typing. Ah well.)
I decided to lead with Purify, since the first Pokémon is generally the easiest and I could get up to +6 SpA and SpD with the smallest amount of effort. Why solo one Pokémon when you can clean sweep them all?
So, out went Purify, only to be met by... another Meditite. One level lower, interestingly enough. I started with my usual, Detecting to scout a move and plan my course of action. I'm glad I did - it blocked a Fake Out! Nothing for it now but to spam Calm Mind.
Things started off just fine - Maylene's Meditite just kept spamming Confusion, dealing less and less damage with each Calm Mind. Of course, the RNG gods were not content with that... after my third Calm Mind, Confusion confused Purify, who then hit himself over the next two turns. Somehow Purify managed to tank two Drain Punches during those too. He really is a boss. <3
Finally, I reached +6, healing twice in the process using my boatload of Moomoo Milk (this stuff is seriously amazing, I bought 55 bottles :p). Unfortunately, the other Meditite hit me with Rock Tomb, which meant I was now slower. Needless to say, the RNG gods were not finished with me, as the other Meditite struck first with Confusion, once more confusing Purify and forcing him to hit himself, necessitating another heal. When you don't know what's approaching, you want as much health as possible. That's difficult when you're outsped and repeatedly smashed with Rock Tomb, but eventually my Confusion went through with a reasonable amount of HP remaining, crushing the other Meditite under the force of a +6 "anything at all".
Next up was a Machoke. Now, obviously I'll OHKO with Confusion (hell, Hidden Power would probably do it), but just as obviously, I'm outsped and despite what I was saying about Purify being a boss, he really doesn't like too many physical attacks on him. I went for the Detect, luckily still moving through the confusion, blocking the Machoke's Strength. I had 38 HP left (out of 61), so I fancied my chances and ordered a Confusion.
Goddammnit I nearly had a heart attack. Strength left Purify on 1 HP. One. Purify proceeded to
snap out of confusion and show that Machoke who was running the place, moving to level 30 in the process.
Last Pokémon... Lucario. Hmm. The odds were not in my favour. I healed with a Moomoo Milk, taking a Metal Claw to the face in return. It did 40 damage, a clean 2HKO no matter how you cut it. I could theoretically PP-stall him with Moomoo Milk and the last few uses of Detect, but one crit would kill him and Lucario was bound to have other attacks. Sorry, Purify...
Lucario used Force Palm.
It dealt 22 damage. Purify was left with one HP. Again.
Purify used Confusion.
It OHKOed Lucario, with a (most likely useless) crit to make things even sweeter.
What. The. Fuck.
Purify, you are a fucking BEAST.
Here's the current team, introducing first the incredible force that is Purify:
Purify (Lv30 Meditite) @ Mind Plate
Nature: Mild (+SpA, -Def)
Ability: Pure Power
Moveset: Hidden Power [Poison] | Calm Mind | Confusion | Detect
A truly excellent member of the team. I need to go find the Brick Break TM; according to Bulbapedia I have the resources necessary to get it (Rock Smash and the Bicycle). Once he's got hold of that, between Brick Break and Calm Mind/Confusion, nothing will be stopping him.
Lola (Lv27 Buneary) @ Quick Claw
Nature: Gentle (+SpD, -Def)
Ability: Run Away
Moveset: Quick Attack | Defense Curl | Baton Pass | Jump Kick
You can probably tell what I'm going for here. As soon as Lola learns Agility (lv33, not long left!), the entire team is going to be rolling in speed boosts. Once Agility is learned, I'll be replacing Quick Attack with Return. Not sure whether to keep Defense Curl for more Baton Pass abuse or Jump Kick for some nicer coverage; I'll soon have Fighting STAB after all. Lola is certainly able to dish out the pain when she needs to, and has a remarkable tendency to pull through when I'd consigned her as fainted. A trait she has shared with Purify, it would seem!
Fiddle (Lv29 Kricketune) @ Shell Bell
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
Ability: Swarm
Moveset: Leech Life | Rock Smash | Cut | Slash
Still haven't been able to meet the requirement for having all different move types, so Slash is locked off. Hopefully I'll run into the move deleter soon so I can get something else, though I have Heart Scales if I need them. Fiddle's usefulness has been gradually deteriorating, but he does still have very nice Attack and HP stats and that Rock Smash / Leech Life combo works surprisingly often. I gave him the Shell Bell figuring I may as well, but it tends to give just a couple of HP each attack, so I may just take it away.
Can'tdoit (Lv28 Piplup) @ Amulet Coin
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk)
Ability: Torrent
Moveset: Pound | Growl | Peck | Water Sport (learns Mist at lv36)
I have a love-hate relationship with this guy, I really do. On the one hand, his Growl spam has saved my ass a couple of times. On the other, his attacks are virtually pointless and he no longer holds the title of highest Defence on the team (having been beaten out by Purify, who is two levels higher but has a base Defence of 55 and a retarding nature!). Growl is literally the only niche he has anymore. I can't really say Can'tdoit is much more than dead weight, but yet... the team wouldn't be the same without him. As I said, love-hate relationship. :)
Oldie (Lv26 Cranidos) @ Odd Incense (completely pointless, but everybody else had a hold item and he was feeling left out)
Nature: Relaxed (+Def, -Spe)
Ability: Mold Breaker
Moveset: Focus Energy | Pursuit | Take Down | Scary Face
I like Oldie. The only reason his level is this low is due to the difficulty in safely switching him in, along with needing more EXP for each level as it is. I love his restriction, it's really creative and forces you to think of how best to get around it. Oddly enough the worst move to "forget" is Scary Face, since it's really useful during a turn where I can't use a physical attack and Focus Energy is a little pointless, especially if I have to use it twice. He'll be a bit easier to use once I can get a special attack on him - some damage is better than nothing. Definitely looking forward to his evolution into Rampardos too!
Can't wait until I can complete my team with Confused the Riolu, hopefully Iron Island isn't too much further now. This run has been so much fun so far, I can't thank you guys enough for giving me such a great team. :)