friendyousohard | 22nd Spell: [Video/Action for Route 38]

[The video clicks on with a view of a Magnezone hovering over the long grass, peering around as though looking for something. After several moments, it turns back to the gear and shakes its body back and forth, looking remarkably like a shaking head.]

Well, it's not surprising. I did have to search for weeks to find you, after all.

[The Magnezone bleeps unintelligibly at the gear. Even those who can understand Pokemon (and other Pokemon themselves) will only hear noises that sound oddly like R2-D2.]

Maybe someone else has one you can talk to. [The gear turns around to show Twilight's face.] A question. Well, two. First off, who out there has a Pokemon from the Magnemite line? And second, does anyone else have... trouble communicating with them? Of course most of us can't understand Pokemon when they talk, but even my other Pokemon can't seem to understand anything Tesla has to say. Are there other Magnemites who seem to have that issue? For that matter, other Pokemon in general? It's something I've never even heard of before.

Hmmm... and on a more general topic, here's something I've been wondering about for a while. If you were to take six Pokemon, start them at level one, and try to train them together as a coherent team, which ones would you pick? I've been considering the idea for a while now, and while I'm not certain it's practical to start right now I'd like to start gathering input.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, just based on my own observations, I haven't seen many Toxicroaks, Bronzongs, Metagross, or Smeargles... Can't say Kecleon's all that popular or Darmanitan. And those guys are like flaming bulldozers.

[...okay, that sounded dumb.]

...Or, well, they sure hit like one.

[Scribbling those all down, Twi brings up her dex in a separate window to check on the ones she doesn't recognize.]

Well, Smeargle sounds more like the sort of thing an artist would be able to use more than a fighter. Although, you can't really argue with the amount of moves they can learn. It seems like with proper planning you could teach them just about everything.

Hey, on the upside, that does make them pretty unpredictable. Find the right enemies, and you could load them up with a ton of cheap moves.

[...And then a sinister idea crossed his mind.]

Or how about using one against a Pokémon with metronome?

I don't know whether to call that clever or just plain mean.

[Now she's imagining a Smeargle using attacks like Fire Blast or Hydro Pump...]

What about Toxicroak? That's Fighting/Poison, isn't it?

Can't it be both?

[He snickers. Now he's partially tempted to try that... what hell have you wrought, Twilight?]

Anyway, Toxicroak's not just Poison/Fighting. With the right ability, they're immune to water. It heals them up, even if they do gain a fire weakness in exchange.

[And sun... but eh, there's always some kind of tradeoff when it comes to tough Pokémon.]

The right ability... That would be Dry Skin, right? What about their other ability? Anticipation?

[She highly doubts it's better than being healed by water, but it's one she's never come across before and the Dex's description is a bit unclear.]

Well, I haven't actually played with that ability. The first Croagunk I caught had Dry Skin, so I figured I was set.

[Though, now that she mentions it... He flips through the Pokédex real quick, looking over Anticipation.]

...So wait, if Anticipation's supposed to tell us about the enemy's moves, how does that even work? It's not like Croagunks are psychic types.

That's something that confused me, too. I mean, it would be at least somewhat useful if someone had thought to put a move on that you wouldn't typically see, but if they can't tell us what they're feeling, it doesn't help all that much.

... Probably better to just stick with Dry Skin, on the whole.