You are a type specialist in a hostile region. How do you best represent your chosen element?

[Hugin]

That was pretty tight competition for Psychic-type first place. I hope we get more entries for this one, it's fun seeing what everyone else did.

So, Ice-types. In poke-Hawaii. And not the island with a cold mountain. So where on Akala WOULD we find cold enough to have an ice-type specialist? At the bottom of the ocean, of course. So, here we have a diver/scientist/submariner, exploring the deepest reaches of the oceans around Akala, where the water is frigid and dark.

Crabominable is an ice-type that lives in the water and evolves when it's very cold. Lanturn and Mantine are both species that live in deep water. Aurorus is an ice-type fossil, and fossils are often found in underwater rocks. Stoutland is, of course, based on a cold-adapted dog that commonly swims. And Glaceon is the final ice-type and I have no other justification for it.

And for our diver, they mostly all serve another purpose. Mantine is transport to the dive site, Lanturn is light in the depths, Crabominable can operate that deep, Stoutland is the emergency rescue dog(and having a Stoutland is what got our diver swimming heavily in the first place), Aurorus acts as a beacon from shore or the ship, Glaceon exists...They all have a reason.

Hide

Aurorus @ Icy Rock
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock

Lanturn @ Assault Vest
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 40 HP / 220 Def / 248 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Volt Switch
- Icy Wind
- Signal Beam

Mantine @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Scald
- Tailwind
- Haze

Glaceon @ Light Clay
Ability: Snow Cloak
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aurora Veil
- Blizzard
- Shadow Ball
- Hail

Stoutland @ Choice Band
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return

Crabominable @ Icium Z
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Ice Hammer
- Earthquake
- Thunder Punch

Lead Aurorus for Rocks+Hail. Lanturn is bulky with Volt Switch. Mantine is a stall set with Tailwind. Glaceon sets Veil and/or Hail. Stoutland comes out with Choice-Locked STAB Return, fitting for our diver's first mon*. And Crabominable in theory has Z-Ice Hammer but dies before landing a blow. This team's honestly okay, but the Ice-type hurts. I've got a lot of speed control, but none of the mons are fast enough to outspeed a snail even if Tailwind or Icy Wind is helping them. And a single Steel or Fighting type sweeps. But at least Fire and Rock aren't auto-wins, and even water can't wall these hits.

*We were talking earlier about how we build our teams. If I use a choice item, I want to make it as hard to misuse the mon as possible. That often means picking a single strong move and ignoring coverage. Which, with Scrappy, is honestly fine.

Other options: Miltank's(or RaticateA's) Thick Fat was an option. I considered Ghosts for a shipwreck vibe, but the flavor on all of them was a bad fit. Kecleon and Castform's type-shifting shenanigans were appealing, but they both just suck so hard(I love Castform and it's so bad). And as always with Ice, there were like 20 waters I could viably have chosen. I really wanted to use Z-Aurora Veil or Z-Hail for setting+speed boost, but ugh all Ice-types are slow enough that it doesn't seem likely to matter.

 

[Hugin]

And see, this is why I don't read other people's posts before making my own. Ironmage and I had the same basic thought(bottom of the ocean=cold) and then went about it in rather different ways. And it's not that either team is better, I just enjoy seeing multiple approaches to the same concept.

Also,

Item: Icy Rock. Moves: Hail, Weather Ball, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt. Honorary Ice Mon. In case Aurorus Hail ends, this is the second setter.

YAY CASTFORM.

Item: Light Clay. Ability: Snow Warning. Moves: Reflect, Light Clay, Stealth Rock, Frost Breath, Ice Mon and second lead. Puts Screens and Rocks. Also has Frost Breath for the next Mon.

Why Reflect+Light Screen instead of Aurora Veil?

 

[Ironmage]

Why Reflect+Light Screen instead of Aurora Veil?

Aurorus did not learn Aurora Veil in gen 7.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Feels like it's been forever since I laid eyes on this thread (even though it's been, uh... six days). A reminder that the current round closes this evening - we only have five teams submitted currently, so if you've not gotten involved yet this is me imploring you to take a shot.

 

[SturdyShedinja]

I haven't had much time to participate in these recently with school starting back up, but it's been one of my favorite threads to scroll through and I always enjoy seeing what people can come up with! Please give this a shot if you haven't already, I'd love to see your ideas!


Movesets here!

Lead aurorus gets up the hail immediately and can spread paralysis for crabominable. Glaceon's set is as annoying as possible because it's movepool is suprisingly awful. (A bit of a side tangent, but why do the eeveelutions have such terrible movepools?) Castform is an honorary ice type with its ability and is a secondary hail setter. Stoutland is known for rescuing people on snowy mountains, and would've probably recieved slush rush as an ability if it existed in gen 5. Lastly, octillery is one of the few water types to naturally learn an ice move through level up.

Thank you for reading! Again, please give this a chance if you haven't already, it's great to see so many interesting ideas here.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

I haven't had much time to participate in these recently with school starting back up, but it's been one of my favorite threads to scroll through and I always enjoy seeing what people can come up with! Please give this a shot if you haven't already, I'd love to see your ideas!

Thank you! And echoed.

(A bit of a side tangent, but why do the eeveelutions have such terrible movepools?)

The general explanation is that this is to prevent each evolution from having overwhelmingly massive movepools, hence they're mostly restricted to moves of their own type. It's why Eevee's natural learnset is so generally unimpressive, and most of the moves it can acquire are Normal (though comparative to a lot of other Pokemon it has an incredible range of egg moves).

Ironically I'd say Glaceon was one of the better Eeveelutions in its introductory gen when it came to the diversity of offensive move types it could learn, since it got Water Pulse, Signal Beam, Shadow Ball, and of course retained Hidden Power as a special move; Vaporeon has the same, but has the edge in that it learns better Water moves. Espeon probably has the best versality of the bunch off the top of my head, especially since it regained Zap Cannon in Gen VII.

*which is weird because all you really need to do is restrict Eevee's movepool, not the evolved forms. Like, if Flareon learned Crunch or Jolteon learned Flash Cannon there wouldn't be much justification for Eevee to get those as an egg move.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

New poll is up! Because we only had six entries this time around, I figured "screw it" and made the voting system be for 6 points instead of the usual 5. You have until October 4th, 9PM GMT to cast your votes!

https://strawpoll.com/NMnQ5vwjGn6​

Number time.

Numbers

Crabominable: 6
Glaceon: 6
Aurorus: 6

Goodra: 2
Lanturn: 2
Stoutland: 2
Octillery: 2
Castform: 2

Politoed: 1
Tyranitar: 1
Cradily: 1
Mantine: 1
Oricorio: 1
Gengar: 1
Probopass: 1
Vikavolt: 1


Neatest batch of contenders ever. All the Ice-types got equal representation, and all the wildcards were either once or twice, meaning five species tied for most popular wildcard.

And the others are a funny bunch. Tyranitar was a surprise to me, as were Vikavolt, Oricorio, and Cradily.

Stuff I expected to see more (or at all)

Surprised that no-one used Kecleon, but then also not that surprised because (as mentioned) it's not great.

Miltank. Thick Fat and all that.

Incredibly surprised no-one chose to use Starmie, but there's such an absolute swathe of Water-types in Alola I guess it got crowded out. Carracosta, Golisopod, Poliwrath, Milotic, and Seaking are also potential picks I think could work well, but simply didn't make the cut due to there being more appealing options.

Of all the missing Waters, though, Vaporeon is a pretty funny omission. It makes for an interesting pair with Glaceon but I suppose if you go with Vaporeon the temptation creeps in to use Sylveon... and perhaps Espeon... or even Eevee... and then before you know it you're an Eevee specialist with a Crabominable and an Aurorus thrown in. So maybe not as it puts the team out of balance.

Weirdly even though it's very much a jungle mon, Oranguru seems like a good fit for this round. Partly I suppose because Psychic pairs with Ice well, but also just more aesthetically: white and purple just makes it fit. It, like Starmie, learns Gravity and I quite like the idea of a Gravity-themed doubles team in which the Ice-types get to fling around accurate Blizzards, with Aurorus and Starmie also getting to benefit from Thunder; Crabominable gets Stone Edge and Dynamicpunch which also benefit from an accuracy boost as well.

In general, Ice can frequently be a fairly passive type so I wouldn't have been surprised to see Pyukumuku, Comfey, Alomomola, Corsola, or Blissey on more stall-oriented teams. Fairy and Ice have a passing familiarity in that they're both often quite fey and feminine in concept; the latter four all qualify as that, though of course only Comfey is a Fairy-type.

There's not a lot else but the last mon that sprang to mind was Masquerain, as it learns a few Water and Ice moves and also supports the typically-fragile Ice mons with Intimidate. But it's more of a strategic pick than a thematic one.

 

[Hugin]

Crabominable: 6
Glaceon: 6
Aurorus: 6

Goodra: 2
Lanturn: 2
Stoutland: 2
Octillery: 2
Castform: 2

Politoed: 1
Tyranitar: 1
Cradily: 1
Mantine: 1
Oricorio: 1
Gengar: 1
Probopass: 1
Vikavolt: 1

Small competition this week. Everyone who stayed out of things these past couple weeks, I do hope y'all will come back.

This time around, the wildcards were plentiful, just not very distinct. Lots of water, a handful with various cold associations, and then "this fits my concept". Which is fine, seeing why someone went Octillery over Politoed is part of the fun, but it did make it harder to spot outliers when I was voting.

Agreed that Miltank and Kecleon were clear options that no one used, for one reason or another. Other than that, the results mostly matched my gut instincts.

 

[Axiemeister]

i have been SO busy lately i will try my best to come back next round but i couldn't even attempt this time

will still vote though

 

[Pikachu315111]

Look back to the Psychic Mountain Kalos results, since there was only 7 entries (though with two ties brings it down to 5 placements), I'll give a comment on each on:

Mind Over Mountain

Cobalt Empoleon (17 pts): While those who tried a theme tried to tie the Psychic-type with being in the mountains, you thought outside-the-box just focusing on the Type and any additional Pokemon on offer. Your Chess theme is nicely thought-out, justfying the inclusion of the unique picks, and still threw in a surprise twist! While it's tempting to try and link the Type with the Region (and location), it's a good reminder that most Type Specialists' occupations/hobbies don't have anything to do with their Region.

Ironmage (15 pts): While going for a witch theme as a few of us did, you took the approach of just running with it while making a good team and not focus too much on justifying picks. While othes were worried about what to do with their witches, you were busy trapping them with the real threats.

I and Hugin (14 pts): So I guess it's not too surprising the teams that really went into the witch theme tied for third.

Axiemeister & CTNC (11 pts): Axiemeister attempted a pretty unique theme of a Rain Seer while CTNC stuck to Pokemon that match the Type. Both nice attempts, but overshadowed by just stronger themesn (at least in how they appealed to voters).

Eeveeto (8 pts): A strong Double Based team. It's unfortunate (though also understandable) that theme teams usually get the most eyes on them, out of all our teams you'll probably do very well if not the best if we faced each other in a battling competition.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Voting's over, and a hearty congratulations to Eeveeto on your first win!

Will DM you shortly.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

My theory is it's hard for ppl to come up with stuff in the more obscure newer games that ppl know less about and have less of an attachment to. Bring back Kanto/johto/hoenn

 

[Ironmage]

My theory is it's hard for ppl to come up with stuff in the more obscure newer games that ppl know less about and have less of an attachment to. Bring back Kanto/johto/hoenn

There are honestly areas in Gen 7 that I have much more attachment to than most of Kanto. Those areas just happen to be in Ultra Space and thus useless when talking about the island dexes.

 

[Imperial Magala]

My theory is it's hard for ppl to come up with stuff in the more obscure newer games that ppl know less about and have less of an attachment to. Bring back Kanto/johto/hoenn

I didn't post any teams because I just didn't like the last two prompts. It's just random whether a good theme can be scrounged up from a pool of Pokemon.

 

[CTNC]

For me, there was too much must use stuff this round. It looks hard at first when there's 3 Ice Types, but there's also Castform and you can't not use a Water type. That's already 5/6 the team. You get to pick the Water type instead of having it picked for you, so you might want to not count it, but 4/6 can still be too much to be interesting.

 

[Cobalt Empoleon]

Whether your problem is having too little or too much to work with, picking a genuinely offbeat theme can solve it. Picking something weird and unintuitive is unlikely to score you a ton of points (out of my own submissions, the ones I liked best were the ones that didn't win!), but you should never feel constricted by the idea of 'must-include Pokemon' imo

you can't not use a Water type

why not

 

[CTNC]

Whether your problem is having too little or too much to work with, picking a genuinely offbeat theme can solve it. Picking something weird and unintuitive is unlikely to score you a ton of points (out of my own submissions, the ones I liked best were the ones that didn't win!), but you should never feel constricted by the idea of 'must-include Pokemon' imo

I'm not sure how to explain why I let myself be restricted by must use Pokemon because it's a mental thing. I know I don't have any reason other than it feels right and I like focusing on the type and movesets, but what feels right is based on opinion instead of fact. Is autism an explanation?

It doesn't help seeing some theme picks I think feel way off from the type the team is representing. Using something I tried for example: Hatterene for Fighting. The theme/strategy was Double Battle bros buffing the other Pokemon with the move Coaching. Between Hatterene being able to heal their ally with Heal Pulse and boosting the ally's Special Defense with Aromatic Mist, I thought it worked with the theme but. I really didn't like using it for a Fighting team.

That said, I'm glad people are being creative with themes because it's interesting to see what people come up with and themes can work very well with the type. I was surprised you didn't win because of sticking to the type and going with a clever theme.

why not

I thought everyone thought Water types fit too well for Ice to not use... *double checks* 7/10 people used Water types last Ice round and 5/6 people did this round... I'm surprised 3 people didn't last time and not surprised the guy asking why do I have to use a Water type is the one who didn't this time.

Explaining why if feels right to me is just stating the obvious. Water and Ice are have the closest link between any types. Almost every Water type can learn lots of Ice moves like Ice Beam, Blizzard, Icy Wind, and Hail/Snowscape and the only difference between water and ice (the things, not the types) is the state of mater.

TL;DR: It works for you, but it doesn't work for me.

 

[Cobalt Empoleon]

TL;DR: It works for you, but it doesn't work for me.

That's totally fair! To clarify, my perspective is one I've arrived at after years of having a visceral aversion to including almost any off-type mons on a roster that's meant to specialise in a particular type. It's only after participating in this thread that I discovered I enjoy this more vibes-based approach.

After a couple of posts made in previous rounds, I'm just a little sensitive to phrasing that implies there are 'correct' or 'incorrect' choices.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

My theory is it's hard for ppl to come up with stuff in the more obscure newer games that ppl know less about and have less of an attachment to. Bring back Kanto/johto/hoenn

Those regions have been done before and will be again, but if we cycled Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn every instance I guarantee you people would be commenting saying they were bored with those. And people have willingly chosen topics set in later games, so it's not as if there's zero appetite for those ones. I don't think there's any harm in going offbeat occasionally; obviously not everyone will agree. But noted all the same.

 

[R_N]

This thread has also been going for 5 months, there's bound to be interest that comes and goes week to week

 

[Cobalt Empoleon]

Prompts for earlier gens are also limited by the fact that you can't neatly carve out a chunk of the Pokedex to limit your options the way you can in Gens 6/7 with their subregional dexes and (to a lesser extent) Gens 8/9 with DLC.

Even with a logical subdivision (e.g. the 'Shellos split' for Sinnoh or the Sevii Islands as their own thing separate from Kanto), there usually isn't a super convenient list of the eligible mons to use as a reference.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Good morning. Our newest concept has been decided...

You are a Dragon-type specialist in RBY Kanto. How do you best represent your chosen type?​

A reminder to please read the guidelines in the OP before commenting, especially if you're new to the thread. You have until October 12th, 9PM GMT to make your case!

RBY Dex is here for those who need it: https://pokemondb.net/pokedex/game/red-blue-yellow

Teams so far

Misterdarvus: Dragonite, Dragonair, Gyarados, Charizard, Lapras, Aerodactyl
Cobalt Empoleon: Dragonite, Dewgong, Ditto, Rhydon, Gyarados, Golbat
Ironmage: Dragonite, Machamp, Jolteon, Arcanine, Starmie, Arbok
Pikachu315111: Dragonite, Snorlax, Rhydon, Flareon, Onix, Aerodactyl
Imperial Magala: Dragonite, Jynx, Lapras, Aerodactyl, Chansey, Hitmonlee
Eeveeto: Dragonite, Dragonair, Arbok, Gyarados, Charizard, Seadra
CTNC: Dragonite, Lapras, Gyarados, Aerodactyl, Charizard, Arcanine
Hugin: Dragonite, Slowbro, Gengar, Kangaskhan, Nidoking, Charizard
Axiemeister: Dragonite, Rhydon, Exeggutor, Electabuzz, Arcanine, Lapras

 

[Cobalt Empoleon]

my experience with this prompt so far:

 

[misterdarvus]

View attachment 558622

Left lane please without mentioning where did I pull this.


And then make sense of it by myself later....

...Uuh nope, this is just typical Lance team plus Lapras which is reptilian I guess.

Okay, submit.

 

[Cobalt Empoleon]

Build-a-Dragonite

Essentially the idea here is that a trainer obsessed with Dragonite used their Ditto's Transform, along with Pokemon that resemble Dragonite in some specific way, to create a representation of Dragonite as part of their research into the Pokemon. I'm pitching this as happening far enough in the past that people aren't just like 'oh yeah Dragonite like that Lance guy has'. Eventually, they succeed in finding and capturing a Dragonite to complete their team.

Narrative

A long time ago, a scientist on Cinnabar Island dreamt of seeing a Dragonite. Compiling all the information they could from recorded sightings, fossil records, and hearsay, they quickly became the foremost Dragonite expert in Kanto. With the help of their trusty partner Ditto, they sought to construct an image of the rare Dragon-type Pokemon, identifying key physical features and mimicking them for further analysis. They told themself that the goal was to clearly define the target to narrow down the search parameters, but perhaps they were also afraid that they'd never realise their dream and wanted to get as close to the genuine article as possible with Ditto's chimera transformation.

What they learned seemed impossible. Dragonite was said to have a bulky and powerful physique, comparable to Rhydon, but it flew using small leathery wings like a Golbat. It had antenna-like structures resembling the whiskers of a Gyarados, but they seemed to protrude not from the fearsome brow of a beastly dragon, but a small, rounded head, similar to that of a Dewgong.

The scientist dutifully assembled the required Pokemon, establishing a secondary base of operations at the Seafoam Islands and travelling as far as Fuchsia City's new Safari Zone to find what he needed. Ditto did its job excellently, helping the scientist estimate Dragonite's proportions and flight capabilities. At last, the search could begin in earnest!

Months passed. The scientist searched the seas of southern Kanto methodically, but never even felt like they came close to a proper breakthrough. Physically and emotionally exhausted, they decided to return to Cinnabar Island.

On the way back, however, a cataclysmic storm descended upon the scientist. With what we know of Dragonite today, I'm sure you can figure out how the story ends.

Sets

Golbat
- Wing Attack
- Mimic
- Screech
- Confuse Ray

Dewgong
- Skull Bash
- Surf
- Blizzard
- Mimic

Rhydon
- Body Slam
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Mimic

Gyarados
- Dragon Rage
- Surf
- Hyper Beam
- Mimic

Ditto
- Transform

Dragonite
- Fire Blast
- Blizzard
- Thunder
- Hyper Beam

Each of the first four Pokemon has a move to represent the physical feature of theirs that evokes Dragonite. Golbat's Wing Attack, Dewgong's Skull Bash, and Rhydon's Body Slam are obvious, but there isn't exactly a whisker/antenna move so Gyarados has Dragon Rage. They also all know Mimic. Ditto is Ditto and Dragonite has the classic generic power moves rather than any kind of genuinely competitive Wrap-stun shenanigans or whatever.

EDIT: added sets and summarised the ~story~ stuff