85th moon [video]

[paladinlost]

[Cecil sits at a table, smiling pleasantly while holding a cup of coffee. His team is nowhere to be seen.]

Have you ever regretted teaching an attack to a Pokémon?

[For a few seconds, the feed suddenly shakes wildly, before stopping just as quickly. Outwardly, Cecil does not react to this incident.]

...Any attack.

Comments

[islandshore]

Whenever she's bored, usually after flooding the place with Surf attacks and Rain Dance.

[If only he was exaggerating.]

Aerial Ace isn't a bad idea, though. Can't believe I didn't think of that sooner!

[paladinlost]

...Would that not cause mold and terrible damage to the foundations? Especially with an Earthquake following a Surf, the water would infiltrate the ground so easily...

[Suddenly, he's very glad they just want to practice their new attack.]

And since it can be bought and taught to many species, you could have a few Phantom-stoppers available at all times.

[islandshore]

And this is why I keep a Conkeldurr around. Not that it'll help much if she ever brings the whole place down.

[Then again, having a whole team of Pokémon shaking the ground carries risks of its own. Riku's more surprised at the lack of property damage in general. Are the buildings really that durable?]

Well, I've already got a few with Aerial Ace, but I'll see what I can do about stockpiling a few extra TMs.

[Though that does beg the question...]

So, you ever have to bust ghosts with it?

[paladinlost]

See if your insurance covers that. Your poor Conkeldurr will need all the help it can get.

[There's a difference between durable and indestructible, after all.]

Not with Aerial Ace, no. But my second Pokémon was a Shuppet from those foggy nightmare days, and Magical Leaf was Rosie's first non-Normal attack. It had its uses.

[islandshore]

[Fair point. Riku will go ahead and make a mental note to check later.

And man, the nightmare fog... Riku utters a soft laugh, remembering it all too well.]

Man, no kidding. Feels like the only normal types that'd be able to dent ghosts are those that pick up mixed moves or have Scrappy. I'd sure hate to be the trainer who faces Whitney's Miltank with a Gastly...

[paladinlost]

Which is quite unfair. A Normal-type can have Scrappy or use Foresight and Odor Sleuth, while a Ghost-type can only hope that its moveset has greater type diversity, not counting useful secondary types. Psychic- and Ground-types also have ways to bypass immunities, while Poison- and Electric-types do not. You'd think certain species would have adapted to that.

[islandshore]

Well, some Electric types can learn Magnet Rise. That's gotta help at least a little, right? As for Poison... I guess all you can do is hope they've got fighting or poison moves in their arsenal. Maybe dark to take care of Psychics.

[paladinlost]

It helps with their defense, but not with their offense. Most surely have various attacks in their arsenal, and so do the Poison-types, but those do lack a certain power they'd get from matching types.

[islandshore]

And it's not like electrics have access to moves like Surf. You basically have to breed in moves like Ice Fang, hope they can learn Grass Knot, or switch to a different Pokémon altogether.

[And even then, dual typing might nullify their weaknesses. With Pokémon like Swampert, grass becomes a necessity.]

Honestly, I can see why Earthquake's so hard to come by. You could set up a whole team with the move and steamroll everything... not to mention what you're dealing with right now. Are they still at it?

[paladinlost]

And even the Pokémon who can learn those attacks and cover many types cannot always use them effectively, depending on their strengths. Have you ever tried teaching an elemental punch to a Blissey?

[Spoilers: it doesn't do much. He stands up and leaves the image as he speaks, possibly to go look out the window.]

...I think they're trying to lull the local Grimers into a false sense of security before starting to practice again. Goodness.

[islandshore]

I've never really worked with Blisseys, period. All I know is that they're a pain if you aren't packing physical attackers.

[It doesn't surprise him to hear that, though, with such stubby arms...

And at the mention of grimers, Riku snorts. Well, there's a funny thought.]

You think those Grimers are gonna start crawling up the pipes now?

[paladinlost]

That they are, and getting them to do some damage with physical attacks is just as much of one.

[That's what happens when you teach offensive moves to a wall, Cecil.]

If they have any common sense, they'll go to the neighbors and beg for asylum instead. The pipes are far from safe, at the moment.

[islandshore]

That might be a problem, though. I bet that if the Grimers did pull that, they'd get kicked out all because of their stench.

[His face scrunches up at the mere idea. He'd definitely hate to have Grimers camping out in his building, after all.]

Gotta wonder how people can even stand to train them, you know? Same goes for Trubbish.

[paladinlost]

Perhaps the smell can be covered by certain perfumes? Or perhaps they make it worse. I've no idea; I'm not quite curious enough to try it. Or their trainers could simply have a particularly high resistance to unpleasant smells.

[islandshore]

Or no sense of smell at all.

[There's a thought. Maybe exposure to poison type renders people incapable of smelling.]

Makes me glad there are poison types out there that aren't made out of sewage and trash. I'd take a Nidoking or a Toxicroak over a Muk any day of the week.

[paladinlost]

Muks do have the advantage of driving away unpleasant visitors quickly, though I imagine an angry Nidoking would have the same effect if properly motivated.

[It's just that in his team, 'angry and properly motivated' can be a difficult state for a Nidoking to achieve.]