Good grief. We are in for a battle this week!
Get ready for an update concerning your Nimbasa City Emolga! This time your Emolga went up against Bagelnoob from Pokemon GO FM and his Ju City Jumpluff! What happens when two up and coming new stars battle against each other? Well, there can only be one winner and this battle was no pushover.
Pre-Battle Prep
Bagelnoob is an interesting person to observe when it comes to battling. He is a Pokemon GO player but he knows a thing or two about competitive battling. Bagelnoob may not know much about draft leagues but he knows how to battle. This can be seen in his strategies and how he uses the strengths of the Pokemon he has chosen.
What makes Bagelnoob even more interesting is that so far he has mostly been battling with two teams. He has forgone countering his opponent to simply just bringing the Pokemon that he thinks will be best for that week. Granted, there is some idea of counter teaming happening there. Just nothing like what you expect from draft leagues. That being said, Bagelnoob has seen some success in doing this with his solid record of 3-3.
As mention before, Bagelnoob has brought pretty much the same two teams each week. It has been a team making up of Toxapex, Weavile, Tornadus-T, Magnezone, Rhyperior, and Mega Houndoom. Sometimes Bagelnoob drops Toxapex and goes with Espeon.
This predictable team makes it easier for me to prep. That doesn’t mean we can take Bagelnoob for granted as he can hit us hard if given the chance.
Lets go down the list of things that I felt most threaten by.
Magnezone: Starting this list is Magnezone who has the pesky Magnet Pull ability. This guy can easily trap our star player, Kartana. It is obvious to see that we use Kartana as our main clean up attacker thanks to Choice Scarf. Though, if we get trap against Magnezone using an attack that isn’t super effective against it then Kartana is going down. Especially if Magnezone is carrying Hidden Power Fire. If Magnezone was Choice Scarf as well then that means we have no choice to use a Choice Scarf on Kartana if we want to get a hit on Magnezone.
Magnezone also has plenty of strong Electric attacks that can toast our Volcanion. There is also Flash Cannon that none of our Fairy Pokemon would like to see.
Our Solution: We will need to make sure that Kartana stay out of the battle until Magnezone is cleared from the field. If Kartana has to come out then we will need to make sure it is against something that Sacred Sword can hit. That way if Magnezone does get swap into battle then it will be hit hard with a Fighting attack that it is weak against. If this happens then we can get a knockout during our second turn of attacking. If Kartana can ride on his silver chaitot then the battle could be ours. Though, we can’t let him get trapped by Magnezone.
Another solution would be to use Gliscor or Scrafty. Both of these Pokemon would hit Magnezone hard. Gliscor is pretty good because it is either immune or resist all of Magnezone’s attacks.
Weavile: Our team has an Ice weakness. Especially for our heavy attackers. That means we could expect some heavy Ice attacks to hit us hard. Weavile is a strong Pokemon with a solid Attack and Speed stat. We will need to make sure that whoever comes out against Weavile can take a hit and hit it back harder. Weavile is another Pokemon that we had to be careful with. If we make one mistake against Weavile then this Pokemon can take advantage of that and take a knockout. Though, we let you see that when the battle tape starts to run.
Our Solution: We will need to be leaning heavily on Scrafty and Volcanion for Weavile. Both of them can hit Weavile pretty hard. Scrafty has Drain Punch which can hit hard and get some HP back. We will have some healing punches if Scrafty can land some hits! Meanwhile, Volcanion can just breath on Weavile and the ice cat melts. Even better, both of these Pokemon can take a solid attack from Weavile.
Rhyperior: Rhyperior will be Bagelnoob’s answer to our Zeraora if it ever came out. Especially if we take our Zeraora out against Toxapex or Tornadus-T. Rhyperior can easily come in and wave that Electric immunity in front of Zeraora. If we make the wrong gamble and keep Zeraora in then Rhyperior can use Earthquake on Zeraora or anybody who comes in. Rhyperior can also makes a solid switch in thanks to solid Defenses and the Rock Solid ability. This ability allows Rhyperior to take less damage from super effective attacks.
Our Solution: We can use Volcanion to take down Rhyperior. Though, if we do not knockout Rhyperior with a single attack then Volcanion will be taking an Earthquake. That will not be good for our Volcanion.
Another option will be Scrafty who can Dragon Dance for a turn and then hit hard with Drain Punch. We do hit another problem if Rhyperior knows Megahorn.
Our best option would be Zeraora. The one thing that Bagelnoob will make sure to switch Rhyperior on. We can arm Zeraora with Grass Knot which will hit Rhyperior for four times damage. Grass Knot will use Rhyperior’s own weight against it. Bagelnoob would think he is safe against Zeraora but instead he will get knockout.
I have to give credit to where credit. I got this idea from Ken who battle Bagelnoob the week before. His Raichu took down Rhyperior using the same attack.
Mega Houndoom: Mega Houndoom has big Special Attack power that can hit anything hard. If we are not careful then we could see Mega Houndoom being used to take down some of our top Pokemon such as Volcanion with Dark Pulse or Kartana with Flamethrower. Mega Houndoom may be a glass cannon but he is still a cannon.
Our Solution: We have Zeraora with Focus Blast to handle Mega Houndoom if needed. Another good Pokemon to take on Mega Houndoom is Scrafty. He can scare off the dog with a Drain Punch. If we click Sacred Sword on Kartana then this is another way to take down the dog.
If we really wanted to be risky then Gliscor can swoop in with a Earthquake and handle Mega Houndoom. That is always an option. A quick vibration will ground the dog.
Tornadus-T: Presenting the first part to Ju City Jumpluff’s Regenerator Core! Tornadus-T is a Pokemon that can easily come in, do some stuff and get back out. This big bird can take a hit but with a simple U-Turn it can run away. Though, that isn’t a problem because Regenerator can heal up most of the damage that Tornadus-T took.
Tornadus-T can do plenty of things while on the field. It can fire off powerful Hurricane attacks that can do solid damage. If there are Stealth Rock on the field then Tornadus-T can use Defog to get rid of them. Are things getting dangerous? U-Turn out of trouble without worry!
When facing this Pokemon, you can expect something to be done. If we don’t have a solid solution to this Pokemon then we can get in trouble quickly. The ability to Defog will be bad because we want to have the Stealth Rock damage on Tornadus-T when it comes out.
Our Solution: The obvious solution is once again have Zeraora come in and use Thunderbolt on Tornadus-T. This will clip the bird’s wings in no time. Though, we will need to get rid of Rhyperior first. If we don’t then we will be in for an endless loop that won’t be good for us.
Bagelnoob will never have Tornadus-T stay in for a Thunderbolt. It may be better for us to lure in Tornadus-T with a Pokemon that Bagelnoob doesn’t see as a threat for it. Welcome Volcanion and Gliscor. Volcanion can simply blow up Tornadus-T with a quick Steam Eruption.
Gliscor can’t touch it with any of this attacks. Bagelnoob should know that. Though, Gliscor can use Toxic to tarnish the health that Tornadus-T is fond of. That way he can’t stay long to sponge attacks or Defog. All we have to do is avoid some Hurricane and Roost up every so often.
Volcanion can simply take a hit and fire back with Steam Eruption. Granted, I don’t want to do that and prefer for either Zeraora or Gliscor to handle things.
Toxapax: And here is the second part of the famous Ju City Jumpluff’s Regenerator Core. If things get too tough for Tornadus-T then Toxapex can swap in to sponge attacks and give Tornadus-T a chance to heal up. Once Toxapex stall out some turns then it will be swapping out.
We can expect Toxapex to do three things. Wall. Scald. Toxic Spikes.
Toxapex will just take hits all day. He has solid Defense and Special Defense. There are not many things that can take this wall down. He can stay in the active for a long time too because of Recover.
Scald is Toxapex’s bread and better. He has a thirty perfect chance to burn which will help Toxapex’s ability to wall against Physical attacks. Scald can also provide turn-by-turn damage. It is nasty.
Toxapex can also lay down Toxic Spikes as well. This will be Bagelnoob’s prefer way to lay down hazards. If we can’t get rid of these Toxic Spikes then our Pokemon will be on a countdown to demise.
Our Solution: Zeraora will be our best way to take down this Pokemon. If we see Toxapex in the lineup then most likely Bagelnoob will open with it. That means our opening Pokemon has to be Zeraora. That way we can zap it with a Thunderbolt and get ready to Grass Knot when Rhyperior comes in. We need to put pressure on Toxapex so that way it can’t do any of those three things.
Another solution to Toxapex will be Scrafty. Why? Scrafty can come in with Toxic Spikes on the field and eventually shrug off the damage. If Scrafty gets Burn by Scald then the same thing. Why again? That is because Scrafty has Shed Skin which removes all status effects. While we wait for Shed Skin to kick in, Scrafty can use Dragon Dance to boost the power of Zen Headbutt. This attack won’t knockout Toxapex from full but it could make Toxapex flinch which will buy us another turn of damage our a switch if planned just right.
Espeon: Bagelnoob’s Espeon has one job. That is to set up Light Screen and Reflect. This is how Bagelnoob handles damage control. This Pokemon is always going to be in the lead if it is brought. Bagelnoob is going to take advantage of our set up Pokemon by setting up his own defenses to ensure his Pokemon can live any attacks.
Espeon can also reflect back things like Toxic and Stealth Rock. That will be bad if our own Stealth Rock is used against us.
Our Solution: We will lean on Noivern against Espeon. Once again, if we see Espeon then our starter has to be Noivern. Why? That is because Noivern has the Infiltrator ability that doesn’t care about screens. Noivern can get behind Espeon’s screens and hit it hard with Draco Meteor and U-Turn. If I use those two moves then Espeon is gone. After all, nobody can deflect the Draco Meteor.
Even if Espeon does get a layer of screens up, we will get rid of those easily. That is because we have Defog on Noivern which can be used to clear any screens. We can also use Brick Break on Scrafty as a way to break the screens. Personally I would like to use Brick Break because Scrafty has more bulk and can risk using Brick Break. That way the damage from our attacks will hit Bagelnoob’s Pokemon for full power.
If I had to choose between Bagelnoob’s two teams then I will prefer the Toxapex team. In practice matches, Zeraora has proven that he can solo this team all by himself. We do have to rely on Focus Blast to hit but it is worth it if Zeraora can take down at least half of Bagel’s team. If Zeraora is successful then he has the chances to be the star of this battle. Perhaps even go platinum with how great he can be in this battle.
The problem is that Bagelnoob may see that if he brings the Toxapex team. That would mean he will have his two premier defense Pokemon going against their weakness.
That is why I think we will be seeing Bagelnoob’s Espeon team. He can set up screens to lessen the damage done to his Pokemon. Zeraora’s damage output will be much less if those screens are up.
So, which team will be go up against? You will see that in the next part of this bizarre battle!
The Battle
Click on the image to watch the battle!
And now our battle with the Ju City Jumpluff begins as the Nimbasa City Emolgas embark on what will be a bizarre battle.
First off, Bagelnoob brought the team that I thought he would bring. He had led with his dual screen Espeon. Bagelnoob started with Espeon in hopes that I would start with Gliscor. That way he could get a screen up for free as I swap out to a different Pokemon.
Too bad that didn’t happen because I opened up with Noivern who doesn’t care about screens! Once again, nobody can deflect the Draco Meteor!
We simply hit Espeon with a Draco Meteor which I think scared Espeon away. That is fine because the plan was to use U-Turn to swap into Scrafty. Once we had Scrafty out, we can use Brick Break to break the screens. We saw Bagelnoob double swap because when Espeon left, we had Scrafty there to greet his Magnezone. I guess getting hit with a Fighting attack was not going to make Magnezone happy.
We were in control of this battle for the most part at the beginning. We made solid switch-ins to ensure that our Pokemon were always in control. We had Gliscor use Toxic in case Espeon wanted to come in and Magic Bounce stuff back. Rhyperior came in on Zeraora to take a Thunderbolt. Just as we planned. And just like we planned. We were able to knockout Rhperior by using Grass Knot.
Maybe I should have Gliscor used Toxic again but at one point instead of Stealth Rock but that was fine. We got Toxic off on Tornadus-T which was good. I wanted to limit what Tornadus-T does by putting it on a countdown. I figured that if Tornadus-T was Toxic then Bagelnoob would be able to do less things with Tornadus-T and force it out to use Regenerator to heal up HP. This plan worked because that Pokemon never stay out long enough. Eventually we forced Bagelnoob to decide if he wanted to get rid of Stealth Rock at the cost of his Tornadus-T or keep his bird alive. He choose get rid of Stealth Rock.
What didn’t go as planned was losing Zeraora to Weavile because Focus Blast missed. Maybe I should have used Thunderbolt but I wanted to make sure that Weavile was gone for good. Though, Focus Blast missed and Weavile used Knock Off to do heavy damage my Zeraora. An Ice Shard did the rest.
I didn’t let that bother me too much. After all, I knew that Zeraora could sweep most of this team but I also knew that I could win without Zeraora.
Though, things didn’t go as plan when Scrafty came out. Weavile had used Icicle Crash to deal over half damage to Scrafty. That wouldn’t have bad because Scrafty would recover all that damage with Drain Punch on Weavile. The problem was that Bagelnoob’s Weavile got the flinch effect from Icicle Crash. That wasn’t good and it meant we needed to retreat to another Pokemon if we wanted to have Scrafty fight later.
After that snag in the plan, we made the safe plays to ensure that we did heavy damage on what could come out or were out. We made the right switch to ensure we took minimum damage from attacks.
Remember how I said that putting Toxic on Tornadus-T was so we can limit the big bird time on the field? That came into play as Bagelnoob had Tornadus-T use U-Turn . I figured that eventually the bird had to leave which was why I kept using Earthquake. That turn when Tornadus-T had used U-Turn, we went ahead and use Earthquake. It just happen to hit Espeon which was fine. It meant we were safe to use Stealth Rock as much as we want.
It was these safe plays and ability to tank hits that lead us to a 4-0 victory against Bagelnoob’s Ju City Jumpluff. We did have to watch Scrafty fall due to taking an Icicle Crash upon switching in. We knew that would happen but we needed to ensure that our next Pokemon had a safe landing. That meant Volcanion who wanted to use Flamethrower to take out either Weavile or Magnezone. It just so happen to be Weavile follow by Magnezone who was taken out by Gliscor.
Did this battle go as planned? No but it sure was bizarre as we did what we can to take another win on our crusade though the UPPL.
Coming Soon
Next for your Nimbasa City Emolga is a battle with the Amsterdam Koffing! This team is being lead by Ken from Lure Up Podcast. Another Pokemon GO podcaster who has been harden by battle in Pokemon GO and the UPPL.
Ken and his Amsterdam Koffing are trying to find their footing within the UPPL. They may not have won many matches but they are obviously getting better with learning different tips, tricks and moves. Each battle Ken has done is making him better.
The Amsterdam Koffing also have some pretty solid Pokemon such as Tapu Fini, Hawlucha and Mega Alakazam. These are not Pokemon to underestimate. Especially with Ken’s growing skill in battling. These Pokemon compliment each other and could be used to spell defeat for us if we are not careful. If you pair these Pokemon with how much Ken has been improving then we are going to in for a tough and crafty battle.
Currently your Nimbasa City Emolga are on a bizarre adventure in the UPPL. How long will the good times stay while on this adventure? We do not know but are willing to find out!
Record: 6-1-0
Signing off!
