Day six and we arrive at the Battle Palace. Having suffered a bruising loss at the Dome, Emerald arrives at the Battle Palace demanding a match with Spenser in order to maintain his target of defeating all seven facilities within the span of a week. Unexpectedly, Spenser agrees to his request, stating that a battle out of view of the press suits him better anyway...
Analysis
Definitely underestimated how difficult this one would be. Because the Palace has one of the lowest thresholds for the gold, I figured it wouldn't take me too long. But it ended up taking me six tries - one ending at 28 wins, the next at 39, the next at 30, the next at 37, and the one after that at 35. I've warmed to the Palace slightly, though. Very slightly.
Incidentally, I'd be greatly interested if someone with knowledge of the game's internal workings could clue me into the cleverness of the AI. My Pokemon generally used an effective move if it could (only on a couple of occasions did Sceptile use Earthquake against a Flying foe, for instance) but it also played in other intelligent ways as well, such as avoiding using Leaf Blade or Thunderpunch against Sharpedo so as to bypass Rough Skin, or always using Leaf Blade once its HP was low enough for Overgrow to activate. Curiously, the enemy AI seemed much stupider, resulting in all sorts of glorious instances like a Forretress using Explosion while Dusclops was out.
The Team
Sceptile @ Lum Berry
Leaf Blade
Crunch
Earthquake
Thunderpunch
120 Att, 252 Sp.Atk, 138 Speed (Hasty)
These three again. Sceptile is my lead, naturally. Suffers rather from 4-moveslot syndrome but Earthquake generally works out as a better choice than HP Ice. Fortunately, Hasty is a beneficial nature in the Palace and means it attacks nearly all of the time, especially when under half health. But if it ever doesn't, Lum Berry can give it a second chance to strike.
Sudowoodo @ Choice Band (Rock Head)
Earthquake
Rock Slide
Double-Edge
Brick Break
6 HP, 252 Att/Sp.Def (Quirky)
Amazing if it can get the right move off, dead weight if not. Quirky isn't the best nature in the Palace, but it's just good enough to attack most of the time (56%, to be exact). I used Sudowoodo in my last Ultra Moon playthrough and am rather fond of it, but I wish I'd been able to use it in a facility where I could really get the best out of it. It's an interesting Pokemon to EV, though. Max Sp.Def gives it an unexpected amount of staying power.
Dusclops @ Leftovers
Pain Split
Will-o-Wisp
Confuse Ray
Night Shade
48 HP, 210 Def, 252 Sp.Def (Rash)
Honestly really, really starting to dislike this thing. Nearly all of my losses were due to ending up with Dusclops as my final team member and it not being able to outlast anything. I initially ran Curse as a quick way to whittle down enemies, but of course it kept using it at totally inappropriate moments and dying to the opponent's next move.
Unfortunately Rest is classed as a Defence move rather than a Support one, meaning that with a Rash nature it is very unlikely to be chosen. This leaves Pain Split as a decidedly inferior healing option. I really wish this had been given a better nature, Rash is so awful for it and forces me to waste EVs patching up its bulk. Seemed to attack directly far more than its Nature would suggest - Night Shade seemed a more reliable choice than Shadow Ball.
Expected this to be a much longer fight than it turned out to be. Crobat came out first against Sceptile: Crobat used Toxic while Sceptile used Leaf Blade. I considered a switch but thought better of it. Since Crobat's only attacking move is Fly, I can switch to Sudowoodo if it uses it, but I don't want either of the other two poisoned. Sceptile subsequently uses Crunch while Crobat Double Teams. It finally correctly uses Thunderpunch on the third turn, taking it down.
Lapras comes out. This was the one I was most concerned about facing. Since Sudowoodo doesn't have Sturdy, Horn Drill is quite capable of cleaving through my team. Nothing to be done, though. I Leaf Blade as it uses Horn Drill and mercifully misses. It Protects twice but the second one fails, and my second Leaf Blade takes it down.
Slaking last of all. It gets off a Shadow Ball as Sceptile uses Earthquake for chip damage, bringing Sceptile down to the range where it's more likely to attack, and it goes for a Leaf Blade next turn, taking Slaking to around 20%. Unfortunately Slaking Swaggers and Sceptile hits itself next turn, but this brings it down to around 10%, enough to take advantage of Overgrow. So I switch to Sudowoodo. Slaking gets a critical Shadow Ball, bringing the rocky tree down to 30%, and then gets smashed by Rock Slide the next turn.
It's Sceptile v Arcanine. I switch to Sudowoodo to soak up the inevitable Overheat. With the given EV spread and the fact that Spenser's Arcanine has a neutral nature and no Sp.Atk investment, Overheat isn't even a 4HKO when you factor in the Sp.Atk drop. Unfortunately Sudowoodo idles for the next two turns as Arcanine first tries Extremespeed and then Protect. I finally get off a Rock Slide which leaves it on ~5%, and it Roars Dusclops in. I switch back and promptly finish the job.
Slaking comes out next. I switch in Dusclops hoping to burn it. No joy, but Pain Split reduces its HP beautifully after it gets off a Shadow Ball. It takes two uses of Will-o-Wisp to burn it. Wanting to save Dusclops for Suicune, I switch back into Sudowoodo as it Hyper Beams for pitiful damage.
Suicune comes out and, rather than do the sensible thing and drown Sudowoodo with Surf, uses Calm Mind twice, allowing me to get in two hits with Double-Edge. And then on the third turn... it idles, and I finally get the KO. Yes, I just beat a Suicune with a Sudowoodo.
I'm amused too, Spenser.
We're almost done, but not quite yet. Tomorrow, it's time for the greatest challenge of all - the Tower!
Pokemon Adventures: Emerald - GBA
Day 7
Battle Tower
Here we are at last, the final challenge. And what a week it's been. With disaster looming over the Battle Frontier, and a dastardly enemy to defeat, Emerald must race to the top of the Battle Tower in time to save the day - but first, he has 70 floors' worth of Trainers to tackle...
Analysis
I dislike the way Emerald's team is quickly filled out in the final few chapters so as to give him a full team of six with which to challenge the Tower. And while Mantine, Mr Mime, and Snorlax all have their charms it's disappointing not to see the third Hoenn Pokedex holder not get Hoenn Pokemon (even more galling given that Noland takes Mawile for himself). Still, mustn't grumble.
I guess the old saying is true, though... anything goes in the Tower if it can battle well.
Here's the problem. I'm not a patient person. Like, at all. If you're at all familiar with my history in this thread (and god bless you if you are) you'll know I prefer fast and bulky offense to stall-and-set-up teams. I don't like playing so passively because of the sheer multitude of things that can unexpectedly get the lead on you (Vileplume! Espeon! Machoke! Even Crawdaunt!) But this time, I had no choice.
I made it to the silver symbol in just two attempts (the first ending at a miserable 20 wins). I actually found the earlier rounds far harder than the later ones; I guess when you plan for capable AI and top-tier threats, it's easier to get caught off guard.
This team was a lot of fun to put together, and worked far better than I expected it to. Unfortunately, I didn't reach the gold in time, and unfortunately I ended up losing to Anabel anyway. The length of the battles made it physically impossible to do more than a few attempts - my fourth try hit 49 wins at 23:00 GMT, and I only just began the 10th set of battles a few minutes before midnight. But by that point, I was so determined to push to the finish line and win the gold symbol that I stuck with it. I'm detailing it anyway as I'm not letting my slog go uncommemorated, and it's the end of the challenge anyhow.
The Team
Mr Mime @ Lum Berry
Protect
Thunder Wave
Thief
Flash
252 HP/Speed, 6 Def (Jolly)
While it doesn't get a vast array of disruptive moves, Mr Mime learns just enough to act as a decent crippler lead. A couple of accuracy drops is usually sufficient to give Snorlax room to boost, but it's surprising how often I can get in the full six. Protect is used for scouting and to waste PP. Thief is included despite carrying a Lum Berry because, having absorbed a status, Mr Mime can then nab the opponent's item on the next turn.
Mantine @ Brightpowder (Swift Swim)
Mud-Slap
Confuse Ray
Toxic
Dive
244 HP, 236 Def, 16 Sp.Def, 12 Speed (Impish)
The backup crippler. If I can fully incapacitate the opponent's lead with Mr Mime, I will generally switch straight to Snorlax and keep this in reserve. But if I absolutely need to completely reduce the opponent's accuracy, I've got this as insurance. Toxic was rarely used (I considered Haze) but provides a way to nail Double Teamers with no recovery like Umbreon1 and Clefable2.
Snorlax @ Leftovers (Thick Fat)
Substitute
Curse
Amnesia
Hidden Power (Steel)
12 HP, 252 Def, 244 Sp.Def (Quiet)
Pseudo-Registeel. Once it's maxed out and has a Sub up only Quick Claws and random crits are threatening. HP Steel was chosen because nothing is immune to it but unlike HP Flying or Rock it only requires one imperfect IV. It’s incredibly irritating to be forced to run such a useless nature (a Special sweeping Snorlax was never on the cards) but go with it: Snorlax is good enough to cope. The HP EVs allow for five Substitutes with Leftovers recovery if needed.
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Typically, the most difficult fight of all was the battle right before Anabel Gold. The opponent was Battle Girl Kay, who led with Steelix. The database of enemy Pokemon and Trainers informed me that Kay can have the first three variants of Steelix, but all three have Earthquake so it's hard to get a lock on which it is until it finally uses Sandstorm, confirming that it's the second variant. I can't paralyse it, but I manage to get three uses of Flash in before it KOs. I send out Mantine next and finish minimising its accuracy with Mud-Slap while it tries to hit me with Dragonbreath.
Here's where I mess up. Dragonbreath from Steelix is not even a 10HKO (not factoring in Sandstorm damage) and I can't poison it, either. So I figure, why not kill it off and cripple the next Pokemon. Bad idea. The next Pokemon is Machamp.
It promptly fires off a Rock Slide, though I do manage to land a Confuse Ray before Mantine faints. Out comes Snorlax. My only hope here is that I can get a Substitute up and stall it out of Cross Chop PP.
Which is what happens. Blessedly, Machamp hits itself on the first turn, allowing me to get a Sub up. I avoid all 5 Cross Chops and start frantically Cursing (both in-game and IRL) but, to my astonishment, Machamp proceeds to start using Counter over and over rather than try and finish me off with Rock Slide. I max my stats and knock it out. The final foe is Donphan, which is a quick 2HKO.
Every time I get impatient it backfires on me. Why can't I ever learn...
Despite me not being remotely worried about this battle, she actually put up more of a fight than expected. Mr Mime crippled her Alakazam right off the bat and Snorlax comfortably set up on it before knocking it out in a single hit.
Entei was sent out next, and I got in one HP Steel before it Roared Snorlax out for Mantine. Time to do some more crippling, then. I hit it a few times with Mud-Slap before it finished Mantine off. Mr Mime proceeded to paralyse it and finish minimising its accuracy before it got lucky with Return. Now it was just Snorlax left, but that meant I couldn't be phazed again. I set up and bashed it with HP Steel until it died (even at +6, it's still a 4HKO).
She sends out her own Snorlax last. Rather than even attempt trying to break my mighty Sub, she instead tried pointlessly to Yawn me twice as I felled it. Top-level AI intelligence, that.
I get a couple of accuracy drops in with Mr Mime, but Raikou boosts as I do it and promptly manages to hit me with Thunderbolt for a KO. Mantine won't be useful later in the fight, so I send it out next and get one more accuracy drop before Thunderbolt hits again.
This is enough room for Snorlax to get in and boost all the way up. Now comes the annoying part. Anabel's Raikou invests heavily in Defence and HP so even at +6 HP Steel does low damage, particularly if Reflect has been used. The only viable way to win here is to stall it out of PP so I spam Amnesia and Curse while it runs itself out of Rest and Reflect PP. Once that's done I go in for the kill and 4HKO.
Latios out next. It breaks my Sub with Psychic but I renew and proceed to 2HKO.
Snorlax v Snorlax. It Curses as I attack, doing around 40%. It Curses again as I attack again. It then Rests. So now Hidden Power can only 3HKO, and it can stall me out with Rest while it boosts and strikes back. This it does, and I'm just out of PP when it breaks my last Substitute and knocks me out.
Goddammit.
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Final tally
Battle Factory - completed, gold symbol achieved
Battle Pike - completed, gold symbol achieved
Battle Pyramid - completed, gold symbol achieved
Battle Arena - failed, silver symbol achieved
Battle Dome - completed, gold symbol achieved
Battle Palace - completed, gold symbol achieved
Battle Tower - failed, silver symbol achieved
Closing thoughts
So that's the challenge completed. Good fun, creatively engaging, and also bloody frustrating in many places. But it's been good to have something to work toward! It's given me some ideas about which facilities I want to return to in the future, and how to build new teams, so that's something.
I'll let Brandon's words of praise resonate for a moment...
...and I'll leave you with this closing image, in which Mr Mime quite accurately resembles my current battle-weary state:
I hope you've enjoyed reading these posts, and thank you to everyone who's commented nice things about it. If you've not read the Pokemon Adventures manga I would highly recommend it (though not the Viz translations, which are awful). I'm planning a post in the next couple of days relating to the research I did for this challenge, so look out for that.
Set 6 is one of the worst Pokemon to deal with. Lack of STAB doesn't awards you Mind points so you gotta win via Body and Skill which is hard said that done if Regice comes up at a lower percentage (which mostly happens because Latios will usually die doing chip damage to this Pokemon) and it gains the advantage on Body if it uses Rest. I've lost two streaks to Regice 6, so please be mindful of this particular set.
Goes without saying. With Snorlax not having STAB, it takes a while to take it down. Pray that Set 7/8 miss their OHKO moves. There's also Confuse Ray which is extremely annoying.
Less threatening than Lapras because it has less sets but you don't want to mess with Walrein 3/4 because of Sheer Cold
Doesn't appears often unless you're starting on early rounds, but you have to be really careful because if you think that spamming Calm Mind will get you out of the judging round, Guillotine is no joke.
I hate this Pokemon with a passion. It's bulky enough to survive two Psychics and if it is Set 2/6 at low health, it's guaranteed to blow up on Snorlax. Best you can do is set up a Calm Mind once and hope crits are not on its favor.
Same issue with Regirock but Steelix's Quick Claw is problematic if it grabs a lucky Rock Slide flinch. It can also explode on turn 1, but this isn't really the worst outcome.
