Epic Journal Entries Season 2 Episode 2: The Curious Case of the Portal to Hell

TO ANYONE ACTUALLY READING THIS:
First of all, holy goodness, you're here? Awesome! Stick around!
Second, bear with me! We're messing around with the overall design here, so things will be changing here and there during the coming weeks. Posts will still exist, however!

And with that, I've once again remembered who I am. The author with a look into an alternate world. Here's another tale from said world. Enjoy!

Tyros walked a long, winding road down from his home on the Hill of Kings. Morning rounds, he called it, taking each new morning to trek the trails around his homeland to assure it remained safe. In a world filled with impending adventure, one could never be too careful, for one never knew when 'destruction of property' would decide to be the start of a new adventure. His current house was actually the Tyros Household Mk. IV, the house being absolutely obliterated three adventures before. Ever since the second time, Tyros had started his rounds.

Today presented itself as an amazing day, not even a cloud in the sky. Tyros almost felt like nothing could go wrong. Almost, except it was extremely rare for a day to go by without some kind of intense event. Sure enough, as he walked up the Hill of Kings, on its crest, the shape of a four-legged creature appeared, silhouetted in the rising sun. Its tail stood stiff at attention as it watched Tyros approach. Something felt off, Tyros noted. On the Hill of Kings, many residents owned dogs, but few allowed them to roam. In the past, the few that did happen to roam demonstrated immediate friendly actions. This one, however, was thus far neutral. A hand rested on his blade as he continued his walk, determined to finish undeterred.

Reaching the top of the hill, he let go of a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. It was just a normal dog, probably escaped from someone's back yard. He let his hands drop again to his sides and continued walking. It let out a loud bark and started running at him.

“Oh, great.” It wasn't exactly friendly. Tyros stood his ground, puffing his chest and stomping a foot before him. The dog stopped in its tracks, “Yeah. That's what I thought.” Tyros stared it down a moment before turning away again to continue his walk. It was nothing more than an annoying distraction from patrol. It's not that bad, he told himself as he turned his gaze up to flawless blue skies. A hawk flew over, and he raised his brow as a serene kind of amazement came over him at the rare sight and the impressive wingspan. Closing his eyes a moment, he drew in a deep breath and was greeted by autumn's unique scent. Late-blooming flowers, the smoky scent of a fire burning leaves and sticks, the cool scent of the air itself, and... Heated sulfur?

“Wait, what?” His eyes snapped open. The same amazing scenery from before filled his field of vision, and yet the smell persisted. Turning on his heels, he scanned the area behind him and found... Absolutely nothing. Well, except that the dog from before had apparently decided to follow him. It started as Tyros turned and stepped back a stride, apparently intimidated from the previous display, but curious enough to follow. Tyros scratched his head, then noticed the smell had vanished.

“Must be my imagination...” Tyros shrugged and turned to continue his walk. The instant he took his first step, the scent of hot sulfur assaulted his senses again. This time, it even pervaded and irritated his eyes. He whirled, frustration written on his face. Still, his gaze fell on nothing but the dog, though it was much closer this time. It gave a short howl before retreating a few steps once again, “It's not you, is it?” Tyros joked. The dog tilted its head, “Of course it's not you. That's just ridiculous.” Defeated, he turned back and continued walking.

This time, not only did the smell come back stronger than ever, something hot and wet dripped onto his shoulder. “Okay, that's it!” He yelled, turning and unsheathing his blade with more force than was necessary, all in the same instant. Looking upward from where the drip surely had to have come from, he found... Absolutely nothing. “Ugh!” He yelled, and from by his feet came another yelp as the dog, close enough to be right at his heels this time, scurried away. Turning with forceful purpose, Tyros stomped onward, only to realize he had just reached the end of this particular part of the Hill of Kings.

Of course, the scent had come into existence once again, but he was fed up at this point. He turned to come back the way he came, the sun now at his back. Of course the scent vanished once again, and of course the dog yelped and scurried off. Donning a sour expression, he continued his march, leaving the dog behind him. That's when he noticed the shadow.

With the sun now behind him, all shadows were cast the same direction he was walking. As such, he found sudden confirmation that something was indeed following him. As the heated sulfur smell rose around him again, he noticed a shadow first starting behind his feet, but then growing bigger. Before long, it stretched far in front of him and engulfed him entirely. Its top jumped and shifted in the wispy effect normally found in a shadow cast by fire. Tyros stopped, his heart hammering and tightened his hand around his still-drawn blade. He spun on his heel, stamping his other foot down against the ground, drawing the blade up in a fighting position. He focused a fierce glare above him and found, staring down at him, the open, blue sky.

Fighting the urge to tear out his hair, he lowered his blade and his gaze. His eyes stopped on the dog at his feet, the same one that had been following him the entire time. It looked up at him and tilted its head before letting its tongue fall out of its mouth. Tyros' eyebrow raised and the hair on the back of his neck stood up as something clicked.

“No way... It couldn't be. Could it...?” He muttered to himself and turned in place, watching the ground at his feet. Again, the shadow began to grow. This time he payed attention to the particularly dog-shaped aspect of the mutating shadow, “It... Is.” Tyros said as he turned again to find the dog looking up at him again. He set his jaw and sheathed his blade. This was a problem.

“I can't just slay you like any other monster, you belong to someone...” He said as he squatted to the dog's level. It startled and retreated a few feet, “And yet you're a monster when my back is turn. Probably when anyone's back is turned. What would happen if someone left you unattended?” The dog watched, curious, but obviously unable to answer, “And there's no way you've been this way forever. I need to figure out what did this to you. And yet, I can't leave you.” The dog walked closer and Tyros held out a hand. One sniff later, the dog relaxed significantly and trotted up to Tyros' side. Tyros was sure to keep an eye on it the entire time he considered the problem.

“I need some help on this one. I need to go to the Bank of Dreams.” A serene river alongside a sandy, rocky bank formed as an image in his mind. Tyros stood, “I hate to do this... But I can't just leave you.” He kept an eye on the dog as he began to stretch, preparing for a lengthy run. Satisfied, he turned his back and took a breath, nodding as sulfur filled the air again. A low growl from behind caused his entire body to vibrate. The sound was his starting gun. He dashed forward, running back along the Hill of Kings. An unearthly howl pierced his ears for just a moment before he felt huge, shuddering, running footfalls shaking the ground behind him. It was a race, but Tyros knew still that he faced no true danger. Any instant the demon dog pulled too close, a simple glance behind him would turn it again to the friendlier normal dog for just enough time for him to pull ahead once more. He knew he would make it until he turned a corner for the path to forest which led to the Bank of Dreams. Two more dogs, both much smaller than the normal form of the monster behind him, watched his approach.

Oh, please don't be... He thought as he ran. They turned and ran too, terrified of the monster behind him. However, they didn't continue running in the same direction as him, and turned down a different path. As he ran past them, he shivered mid-stride as two more ear-wrenching howls split the air. Of course they are. Now running from three beasts instead of one, Tyros reflected on his overall lack of luck. This kind of thing just didn't seem to happen quite as often to his friends.

In the corners of his eyes, he noticed movement on two sides. Glancing to the right, the huge shape was suddenly just one of the small dogs, which stopped for a moment, looking around in confusion before Tyros turned his head to the other side. There, he saw the other smaller dog, but knew the one on his right had shifted again. Oh good, now I can't look at all three at once. Tyros stared forward grimly, continuing his dash for the forest, which he could see a couple hundred yards ahead. Once he made it there, the dogs could not follow him through the tightly-packed trees. His legs and lungs burned with exertion, and he could tell the dog behind him was getting closer. The other two, meanwhile, inched sideways with each stride, drawing closer and closer to him.

Gritting his teeth, Tyros redoubled the effort he was pumping through his legs, his breathing ragged. Each step pounding against the pavement sent uncomfortable shocks through his body. Hot breath beat down his neck, and he turned his head, simultaneously glimpsing the dog on his right and the one behind him, buying him precious few seconds before returning his attention to the forest's opening. It was closer than before, but it didn't feel like enough.

Regardless, before he could feel the hot breath and slathering drool on his back again, he reached the entrance, diving into it. He felt a shock as three sets of huge paws kicked off the ground after him, leaping into the air. Landing on the ground, he scrambled back to his feet and kept running. He quashed an urge to turn his neck and look behind him, but that would shrink the dogs again, allowing them to walk through the cage-like trees currently blocking their approach. He hoped the dogs would remain at the forest's entrance, trying to reach him, instead of turning around to wreak havoc in the Hill of Kings. Even if they didn't turn right away, they would grow tired of waiting quickly enough. He knew he had to hurry.

Before long, he arrived at the stream. As he slid down the small hill to the sandy bank, he took note that the stream flowed exactly as he remembered. It filled him with a sense of peace despite the crisis. He had visited here many times before to help with past issues. Closing his eyes, he sat on the sand, and allowed the voice of the stream fill his mind.

They are mutations, which you cannot set eyes upon.

I know that. Why?

A rift leading down to a fiery abyss has opened directly below your manor. It leaks more than just the unnatural heat you feel in your home. It leaks radiation. It affects the wildlife around your house. Tyros' heart skipped a beat. That was a shocker. A portal to hell generating heat under his house was something he always joked about because of strangely high temperatures, but nothing he ever believed was real.

How do I stop it?

It must be plugged. It is a large hole, and it needs something of equal size to-

Tyros opened his eyes, lids lowering in an annoyed expression cast nowhere in particular, “... Really?” He sighed and stood up. He had a plan, though he didn't much enjoy it.

Before long, he stood in front of his house again, eying it through half-lidded eyes. His annoyance was evident all over his face. Behind him, the dogs were once again demons, and likely about to attack, but he was having a hard time bringing himself to care. Blade ready in his hand, he took a deep breath before jumping up high. He knew exactly where the rift was through visions set in his mind by the stream. He knew exactly where to slice. Channeling energy into his blade, he extended it to the length of his house before holding it out and coming down. It sliced through like butter, and with a shuddering crash, the cut piece fell into a massive hole in the ground, plugging it. Instantly, the smell of sulfur vanished from the air as the dogs returned to normal even without his gaze.

Sheathing his blade, Tyros grumbled something about going home to the dogs as he sat down to plan the Tyros Household Mk. V. The dogs surrounded him and licked him in cheerful contrast to Tyros' sour mood.

Chapter 2: Stuck Inside

        Silence weighed heavily over the cavernous unloading dock. Every couple of seconds, the silence broke like a lake's surface under a thrown stone as a monster slammed itself against the Valkyrie's hull. No words came through the intercom, leaving a quiet crowd standing, lost in collective thought. Kevin, a man of action rather than patience, shifted on his feet and sighed, energy flowing out of him as adrenaline left his system. He glanced around at everyone just standing in place, then behind him to the creature dead on the floor. It was his first real, close-up look at it. Its body was covered in a fine, though blood-matted coat of thin hair. The skin underneath appeared nearly black in pigment. Kevin could see eyelids on the right corner of each of its three eyes. They appeared able to slide sideways. It had four legs which ended in what looked like sharpened bone tips. These creatures had evolved for fighting.

        “Excuse me!” Kevin's head perked up, “Pardon me. Let me through.” The crowd was shifting before his eyes, “Sorry, sorry. Didn't see your feet there.” Finally, a man popped out of the crowd. His hair was a brown mess (though everyone's hair was a mess after the last ten minutes) and his blue button-down shirt barely covered him with all the holes ripped through it. Underneath, light scratches (and a deeper one on his forearm) bled into the fabric, darkening it. As his eyes met Kevin's, they narrowed for just an instant. Kevin would have missed it if he'd blinked. The man glanced away for a second, seemingly remembering something before stepping forward.

        “Hi.” Kevin said, raising a brow.

        “Hello.” The man answered, keeping his distance. Every word he spoke seemed hesitant and uncomfortable, “I am Richard. Uh, Richard Lake. I saw you, up front with uh...” His eyes shifted to Kevin's hip, where a gun sat in his pocket.

        “I'm Kevin Collinson. Is something wrong?” Kevin's brow remained elevated.

        “No. Well, not really. I just... I want to see the body.” Richard stepped forward, but Kevin noticed it was in an awkward sidelong way, maintaining his distance.

        “Yeah, sure. It's not like I'm stopping anyone. Why do you need to see it?” Kevin stepped out of the way, away from the strange man.

        “I'm cut. I need to make sure it's not poisonous.” Richard said, still keeping his distance but approaching body as Kevin stepped away. Kevin's attention snapped from the strange man to the sharp bone barbs on the beast's tails. He hadn't considered that possibility.

        “Hell, you're right! Do you know how many people are also cut?”

        “How should I know?” Richard shot a glare at Kevin, “It's not like I took a count before getting up here. Maybe I saw a few more.” Turning back to the corpse, Richard ran a finger over the tail, poking gingerly at one of the protrusions.

        “Fine.” Kevin conceded, “How will you know if it's poisonous?” He knelt beside the body as well.

        “Please. I'm a biologist.” Richard muttered offhandedly, picking the tail up and pressing it against the creature's body. He compressed one of the bone points against its skin. He stared at the tip, watching for something. Kevin wasn't sure of what, but he did know this guys attitude annoyed him. He watched as the scientist finally decided to examine the bone closer and snapped it off with a loud crack that startled more than one curious onlooker. Turning it, Richard nodded, seemingly satisfied, “No channel for any kind of fluid to flow through. We're fine.” Turning away from his studying, Richard noticed Kevin, crouching and watching close by. His brow lowered and he stood quickly, stepping back, “I'll be leaving.”

        “Wait.” Kevin said, standing, “What's your problem?” He watched as Richard's eyes fell on the gun at his hip again.

        “Nothing. There's no problem.” Richard said, keeping his words short as he continued walking away. Kevin watched him a moment before reaching for his shoulder. His fingers barely tapped the scientist's shoulder before he whirled around, “Don't touch me!”

        Kevin held his hands up, “Sorry. I don't mean to startle you-”

        “You wanna know what the problem is?” Richard cut him off, “This is the problem.” His eyes shifted again to his hip, “You brought... Brought... Those.” He glared pointedly at the gun now.

        “Well, actually-” Kevin started before realizing he wouldn't be able to talk. He quieted down, letting the biologist speak his mind.

        “And you're dangerous. I saw you up front. You were ready for this. No one. Else. Was. You knew how to use those weapons. And why would that be? Well, I sure as hell don't know! But having those on board put everyone in danger. And I don't care that your great grandfather or whatever brought them on board before you had them! You should have turned them in!” Richard seethed.

        “These guns helped save your ass, and everyone else aboard this ship.” Kevin countered. The shortness of his counter did nothing to hide its heated undertone. He could feel adrenaline working its way through him for a second time in the last hour, “I was prepared because my family always valued it, enough to sneak these past security. If that bothers you, then I'm sorry. But without them, there would have been a lot more reaching the ship for us to fend off.”

        Richard growled in his throat, but turned again, “Whatever. Just... Keep them away from me. You're dangerous.” As he disappeared within the crowd again, Kevin could see some people watching Richard, confused looks on their faces. More importantly, he could see many more people looking at him, worry in their eyes. Kevin realized suddenly why he was standing alone in such a crowded room, and lowered his gaze back to the corpse, waiting for Gareth to return. He had entered the crowd to look for his family.

- - -

        Up in the cockpit, Captain Riley stared out the window, defeated. Over the past 30 minutes, from when he push door-raise button to now, he had been running options through his head. Everything that came to mind was immediately shot down by the various statistics displayed on the ship's meter board.

        “We could pick up and try landing elsewhere...” Riley muttered as his eyes fell on the fuel gauge. The indicator rested on the last inch of the red part of the meter. The trip was projected to only use three quarters of the ship's fuel, but oversights such as the extra weight of stowaways ensured the trip took almost exactly as much as they had.

        “We could always try to wait them out.” But who knew how long that would take? This territory was most likely their home. And who knew how long food reserves would last? They had more food than fuel, mercifully, but the extra mouths of the stowaways took their tole on that, as well.

        “And we'd lose too many in making the passengers fight their way out.” Riley lowered his head into his hands, fingers curling into thick black hair, “Oh, what are we going to do...” Hesitantly, he compressed the speaker button and forced the worry out of his voice. They needed him to be strong.

        “Men and Women of the SpArk Valkyrie, this is your captain speaking. I sincerely hope the doors closed in time and that we didn't lose anyone.”

        “Yeah.” A response from the other side of the intercom, “We're all fine down here.” Riley nodded.

        “That said, I want to address our current situation. Looking out the viewer, I can see we still have quite a number of those animals out there, and I understand they're dangerous. Now, our reserves are big enough to last three weeks longer, which is good. But we have to be out well before then to ensure we find food to restock before we run out. That gives us at best, another week and a half to figure this out. That's nine days.” He hoped that sounded like a lot, though it certainly didn't feel like it to him, “Plenty of time.”

        “I'll be down to the unloading dock before long, and we'll brainstorm, all of us. We've got a few hundred thousand minds on this ship, we're sure to come up with something in the time we've got.” That's right, he told himself, surprised at the hope in his own words, we do have tons of people to help think, we'll make it out of here, “So, I'll see you soon, folks. Keep your hopes high!”

- - -

        Down below in the dock, after the captain's announcement, a full minute of continued silence pervaded the crowd. Then, it started how every roaring crowd begins: one person began whispering to his friend or family beside him. Then another spoke up. Over time, the sound of multiple whispers layering on top of each other began to drown out every individual whisper, so they spoke louder. The crowd grew louder because of this, so the individuals within the crowd raised their voices even further. Before long, the crowd was absolutely roaring with the sound of thousands of hopeful voices. Kevin, still on the outside but no longer a center of attention, remained silent, but felt a smile forming across his lips. He would have to meet the captain when he came down.

        In the middle of the crowd another was silent, a young girl of only twenty years. Nearly everyone else had left their weaponry in a pile on the floor, but not her. She still held onto hers in small, blood-darkened hands. None of the blood was hers – everything that covered her hands belonged to the over thirty beasts she had punted off the closing ramp. The weapon in her hand was a section of steel beam that had ended up breaking in a way that formed a long, sharp point. Over half of the beasts she sent off the ship had died at the end of that point, instead of just being batted off. It felt lucky, so she held on to it.

       She was staring at it as the crowd's roar went on unnoticed around her. Her eyes traced the length of the spike underneath the caked-on blood. It felt like there was a pattern to the break. 'What?' She asked herself, 'What'd that mean?' Still, she couldn't deny that it made some strange sense in her mind. Furthermore, she felt like she could see another pattern in the blood spatter over the blade. The two patterns meshed together, melding to become one. She brought an arm, wiry, muscled and dark, up to her head as it began hurting a bit. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up to find her mother standing over her.

        “Everything okay?”

        “Yeah, just a headache.” As she lied, something whispered in the back of her mind. Suddenly unable to concentrate on her own thoughts with the crowd and mother stealing her attention, she could not address it this precise moment. But it scared her.

Creation of a Metagame

Who am I again? Oh yes! I am Dr. Walnut, Pokemon Professor, battler, and all around Pokemon enthusiast. Welcome back to my Pokemon spotlight, where all people even remotely interested in Pokemon's competitive aspect will find all the information they'll ever need.

Today, I plan to take you all through the creation and maintaining of a metagame as large as Pokemon's is. To begin, I should explain exactly what makes a metagame.

The term metagame is defined simply as using out-of-game resources and information to influence decisions in-game. This can be applied to card games, video games, or even at times to sports competitions. Normally, the most important outside influence that affects game decisions is an understanding of how your opponent will act with their own knowledge of the game, which allows you to predict their actions and react. Of course, this is easier said than done because any skilled opponent will be attempting to predict your actions as well.

Eventually, the map to just one decision can look awfully similar to this, if you're not careful.

Adding more factors to a metagame creates more complex metagames, and the potential for growth in complexity is nearly limitless as people who are serious about a game will endlessly create more and more strategies within it. For example, let's take a typical character vs. character fighting game. In the beginning a person picks one character and begins to learn how it functions against all other characters in the game. Say this person notices his character has problems with one or two other specific characters, and then more people notice and agree. Before long, the character is labeled as a good character, but not as good as the other two that can beat it. In the metagame, this knowledge is applied when people pick characters to play against each other. But, let's say someone discovers a strategy or exploit within the game that lets this character beat those two characters more easily. The metagame has shifted, adding a layer of complexity: "If I pick character A, and my opponent uses character C or D, I have to use Strategy B, except they'll know it's coming because that's the only strategy that works, so I have to be sneaky about it."

And this is just a fighting game wherein one character fights against another character! In these games, there are typically between 20 and 50 fighters for people to choose from. What about a game where there are literally hundreds? What about Pokemon, where you're using a team of six characters at once, not just one? As you can imagine, the formation of the Pokemon metagame is a ridiculously complex thing, which builds slowly over years, instead of taking just a few months to have it truly figured out. And every new generation adds new fighters to it, which forces gamers to reset the metagame completely and figure out how all the new Pokemon interact with themselves and all the old Pokemon.

What's that you say? Gen 6 is on the way? Oh, Arceus. Get ready to press it again.

After all of these interactions have been figured out, however, something called a tier list can begin forming. Thankfully, this list simplifies everything to a much more manageable degree than, 'How can I possibly counter 400 threats all at once?' How does it manage this simplification, you ask? Allow me to explain. 

A tier list can be described as a list sorting Pokemon (or fighters, in other games) into levels, or tiers, of overall power. Tiers are never explicitly put into fighting games, and instead are usually developed by a game's community as they go through the game's characters and their abilities, along with all other deciding in-game factors. Over time, in almost all games, a number of characters come to the forefront that just trump so many others that they have to be called amazing. These are the top tier characters, and they each counter a large percentage of everything else in the game, rivaled mainly by the other top tier characters.

 Unless they just beat literally everything else mercilessly. Way to go, Brawl!

How does this apply to Pokemon, you ask? Well, that's easy. Every Pokemon has a move list, six base stats, and a typing that gives them weakness, resistance and STABs (Same Type Attack Bonuses), all determining how they fare in battle. Through repeated and painstaking testing of every Pokemon against every other Pokemon the same patterns I mention above emerge, just on a larger scale than other fighting games that contain significantly less characters. And with that, I will list the tiers that Pokemon fall under, as determined by the popular competitive Pokemon site: Smogon.com. I realize that not everyone agrees with their listings and methods, but I have yet to see a better system, so Smogon will be my default.

Uber (Contains 22 Pokemon):  These Pokemon tend to be Legendaries, meaning they have ridiculously high base stats and hugely powered attacks. Pitting them against other Pokemon is somewhat unfair, so they have their own separate section.

Overused/OU (Contains 46 Pokemon): Since Ubers are pretty much separate from the overall metagame, these are the 'top tier' Pokemon. They counter a very large number of Pokemon in battle, and even have the potential, with some smart playing, to play against the Ubers.

Underused/UU (Contains 58 Pokemon): These Pokemon make up the middle tier, being powerful, but having a hard time taking on many of the OU and Uber Pokemon. Smart playing can make them effective against OU Pokemon, and in rare cases, a brilliant strategist may be able to use some of the Pokemon found here to effectively battle Ubers.

Rarelyused/RU (Contains 51 Pokemon): These are low tier Pokemon, and is actually a listing that needed to be added in Generation 5 because of the sheer number of competitors Pokemon has now.

Neverused/NU (Contains 262 Pokemon): This is the bottom tier, and its ridiculously huge number owes to the fact that, while there are a lot of great Pokemon, they are the more uncommon. A game like Pokemon is structured so that the Pokemon with large, great base stats and abilities are less common than the more easily-obtained but less effective Pokemon.

You'll notice that each tier has 'used' in it, aside from Ubers. This is because Smogon ends up listing them by how commonly they're used in competitive play on their servers. This works on the assumption that competitive players use what works in order to win. The more popular something is, the more useful it is in winning. This creates a tier list based on overall use, and it takes quite some time for these statistics to solidify every time more Pokemon are added to the pool.

"But Walnut!" You may be saying after going and looking over the tiers, "My NU Cryogonal could pretty easily outspeed and KO an OU Gliscor with a double-super-effective, STAB Ice Beam!" And you'd be right! A tier list does not tell you who will immediately win in a fight based on their placement. Remember that the list takes in account having full teams, and your opponent would likely know to switch something else into the oncoming Ice Beam from Cryogonal. If, however, you had Cryogonal out as your last Pokemon and your opponent had Gliscor as their last, congratulations! You would likely win, baring some last-minute strategy, like a Focus Sash.

Yes indeed, with the right brilliant strategies, Pokemon lower on the tier list, while harder to use, are perfectly legitimate Pokemon. Except maybe Spinda.

 

It's a good thing you're cute, because a 60 for every base and very few moves makes you so... So bad. Sorry, Spinda fans!

To demonstrate the legitimacy of low-tier Pokemon when used intelligently, allow me to show you the following video of a friend of mine in a Pokemon battle.

 

In this video, you will see Etika's team of six relatively underpowered Pokemon that, through intelligent strategy, all of which he narrates himself so I won't bother to repeat it here, manage to defeat an opposing team of MANU's pretty high-powered Pokemon. What we see here is a man who truly understands the advantages and shortcomings of his Pokemon. He single-handedly demonstrates that a tier list doesn't necessarily always have to be followed, and that Pokemon don't always have to adhere to fighting other Pokemon within their individual tiers.

Often times, however, people do build teams around individual tiers, because as you heard Etika say, not doing so is a challenge. In other words, it's tough to do effectively. So, people build specific OU teams, or specific UU teams, and that's where the simplification of the Pokemon metagame lies. Building teams for specific tiers cuts down the need to counter such a huge number of Pokemon with one team of six. Etika has to plan for each and every threat in the metagame, which is over 400 potential Pokemon. A person planning for an OU team, to fight matches primarily in the OU tier, meanwhile has to plan for only a fraction of that: 46 Pokemon.

 I can see a day when that number gets much bigger, though.

Debates rage about whether it's right to use Pokemon based on how good they are, via the tier list, or whether it's best to try to win with your favorites. Personally, I believe both are legitimate, and the debates are pointless. In anything competitive, there will be people exploiting the best strategies to win. And at the same time, there's a certain level of fun to be had with using things you enjoy. Personally, I do both - using high-powered Pokemon that I also happen to enjoy, with the occasional less-powerful Pokemon thrown in just because I like it too much to not use it.

As this article comes to a conclusion, I hope you've all gained some understanding and insight about what makes a metagame. Remember, what you've read here can be applied outside of Pokemon, as well, to almost anything competitive. We've seen that metagames are winding, complex things, filled with borderline attempts at psychic powers in an attempt to predict your opponent's next move. We've seen that they're more than just 'what's the best and what's not,' even if they're based in that general thought process. Most importantly, we've seen that they give an entirely new level to gameplay that can be both frustrating to learn and thrilling to finally figure out. 

I hope this article has generated some interest in looking into the metagame of whatever you happen to enjoy playing, be it Pokemon or another competitive game. Whether you end up enjoying it or not, I can promise you it will be an interesting experience. Every new metagame I've ever entered has always held surprises for me. So, have fun with your journey, if you're going to start it! You're in for something interesting. And who knows? Maybe it'll bring you to new friends and new rivals. Maybe one day, I'll get to meet you on the field of battle.

See you next time, folks!

~CW

Epic Journal Entries: Crimson Stalks

       Who am I again? Ah yes! I'm a man who lives with an ever-present, ever following window to another world...

        Existence is a layered thing. Think of it like layers of paper, and each individual paper is a full universe. Reality sits atop reality, which in turn sits atop another reality. This continues forever, creating more realities than any being can possibly imagine. Every new choice made is a new reality formed, stacked upon the ever-growing pile, forming a giant tower. Between each reality sits a thin – much thinner than even the paper – yet extremely durable mesh of nonexistence, preventing any two realities from touching. And this is good, for if two realities ever collided in full, the resulting duplicity, felt on a universal scale, would cause unbreakable madness in each of those two reality's inhabitants.

       While no two realities have ever bled into each other fully, it is a somewhat rare, yet still extant, occurrence for glitches to appear in the mesh between two existences. This author can claim to know and understand all of the above because I am privy to such a bleeding point between the worlds. Through it, I have found an amazing world, where every man and woman in this reality exists as an adventurous, heroic version of themselves. All normal events in this world tend to take a decidedly epic twist in the other.

I have taken it upon myself to chronicle the stories and happenings I observe through this glitched section of mesh. You will find these chronicles here, in this section. By coincidental placing of the glitch, they follow my alternate self, and those he happens to come in contact with. Welcome, readers, to the Epic Journal Entries.

- - -

        His feet pounded paved walkways built inside a small forest. Tyros walked quietly alongside D, his mind occupied and his voice silent. D kept pace almost perfectly, sometimes slipping a bit ahead, sometimes falling slightly behind. Tyros' mind kept returning, oddly, to something he hadn't truly thought about in quite some time – his days in the nation of Armstrong out on the Savannah far in the east. His mind wandered over his friends from those days. Great men and women alongside whom he no longer adventured quite as often: Inky, Zook, Row, Tono, and plenty more. He sighed, wondering why his mind lingered on such memories today, as opposed to any other day previous. Never once did he suspect that it was because his journeys approached an all new season, and in another world, an alternate version of him was thinking about those particular adventures from the past.

        A glance around brought his gaze over the forest that surrounded the two travelers. Vibrant green no longer really existed in the treetops, the season lending itself more to shades of red, orange, and even brown. On the ground, underneath rapidly baring branches, piles of crinkled brown leaves were already forming, despite Fall having only begun a few weeks ago. Stretching forward, the path continued through the woods, but Tyros could see where the woods ended, and where the path took a turn to complete its circuit.

        “What were we doing here again, D?” Tyros asked the older man.

        “Power and endurance.” D responded, a man of few words but plenty of wisdom. Tyros' eyes lit up as he snapped his fingers.

        “Ah, of course!” He'd remembered hearing tales of this place, which really wasn't too far from where he lived, between the small town of Cadalu and the Villa D'Lawrence. Walking its small, circling path was said to augment your abilities, focusing mainly on your endurance, and lightly touching up your strength. Tyros nodded, and continued walking. That's when his gaze fell upon the strange plant out in the wilderness.

        It was mostly just a vine, with a couple leaves. It was short, curled in on itself, and more importantly, was colored a deep shade of crimson. Tyros' eyes narrowed, but he continued his walk, although the image stuck in his mind. The path was short, so a second lap would bring him opportunity for another look.

        It felt like the final slope slanted upward over ninety degrees, but they trudged up it, finishing the first hike around. Upon crossing the first lap's endpoint, Tyros stood tall and took a deep breath, the track's magic filling him. Letting it out, he glanced over at D, who looked at him, a knowing smile on his lips.

        “You certainly know what you're talking about.” Tyros smiled back.

        “Yup.” D answered simply, “Another?”

        “Yeah. And this time, I want to stop somewhere. I saw something strange...”

        “Sure.” They continued their journey, Tyros taking in the entrance to the small forest once more. This time, his eyes fell over the bottom of the trunks, stopping upon noticing a bit of deep red starting in the trunk's roots and creeping up its base. At first he thought he saw another vine like before, growing a snaking path up the trunk, but the more he looked, the more he realized: the trunk itself was red, and the color slowly crept upward. Tyros' eyes narrowed for a second time.

        “See that?”

        “Yeah.” D responded, picking up his pace, Tyros following at the same speed, “Where do we stop?”

        “It was a little further up, a vine of red, standing in stark contrast to the forest.”

        “That?” Tyros followed D's pointing finger, his attention falling on a curled, blood red vine. But something was wrong.

        “Yeah, but... We're too early in. Way too early. I would have noticed this one, if we'd passed it before, too. That one's new.” Tyros narrowed his eyes, taking a new look around the forest, noticing more and more red vines throughout. Before his eyes, soil stirred as another vine pushed its way above the soil. All around, he noticed the process repeating itself throughout the forest. Meanwhile that unsettling red color continue creeping into the trunks of every tree he could find. Furrowing his brow, Tyros turned to look down the path, “Come on.” D nodded, and picked up the pace beside him.

        Before long they arrived at the exact spot Tyros had spotted the first vine. He stared, frozen in place, at what they found there. Before the two, a huge vine stood, growing well over the trees in the area. Surrounding it were at least twenty smaller vines, nearly identical to the many they'd already seen sprouting around the area. Would they all reach this size, too? Tyros couldn't shake a confirmatory feeling that, yes, yes they would.

        Lowering himself into a fighting stance, Tyros reached behind him and placed his hand on a sword hilt. He never went anywhere without the blade on his back. Drawing it, he nodded to D, “Keep me covered.”

        “No harm shall come to you.” D responded, closing his eyes and tapping into his healing abilities. Tyros smiled, knowing he'd be safe. He took his first step off the path, and it elicited an immediate response. Each vine suddenly snapped its tip in his direction, and he couldn't help but feel they were looking at him. He looked down at the soil he now stood on. Could they see through it? Had they known they were there in the first place, when they were standing on the paved path? As a vine swung at him, he stepped to the side, reflecting on the sudden hostility. No, they probably hadn't, if this was their first reaction to intruders.

        “D, stay on the path. They can't see you there.” Tyros called as he swung his blade through the vine he'd just dodged. It cut through easily, with a muffled thunk. The vine fell to the ground, thrashing a moment before laying still. Looking up, he noticed the giant vine thrashing in pain as well, “First vine's the main vine, huh? Understood.” He smiled as he approached, dodging and slashing attacking vines. As he approached about ten feet away from the giant main vine, his foot fell on unstable ground.

        “What?” He muttered, as he picked his foot up again and hopped backward, ground falling out from under where he stood only a moment ago. The hole continued crumbling at the edges, revealing a cavern underneath the vine. Below, in quick glances as he dodged and slashed incoming attackers, he could see a bizarre plantlike playground. Children swung on swing sets made of vines, climbed across plants shaped like monkey bars and jungle gyms, and plenty more. Tyros growled, noticing one more detail – each had a vine tapering to a point at the back of their neck. It was living off their youthful energy, likely controlling their mind in the process, to keep them playing forever. It was a horrific parody of the joyful times a normal playground stood for. It had to end.

        “Augh!” A strangled gasp came from behind him, and he whirled. D stood grasping at his neck, where a red vine threatened to choke him out. Glancing down as he dashed forward, he noticed D had accidentally stepped too far backward, just enough for his heel to rest off the path. Apparently even that little bit had been enough for the plant to see. Wasting no time, he was behind D, his sword swinging upward, severing the vine just as he noticed it was attempting to plunge itself into the back of D's neck. D stepped forward as the vine came free, rubbing at his throat with hands that glowed white, healing any lingering pain, “Thank you. Have to be more careful.”

        “Yeah.” Tyros nodded, “It's keeping children hostage in a cavern underneath it, living off them. Not only that, but the cavern makes a convenient moat. I can't get to the vine. Do you still know the Path of Light?”

        “I do.”

        “Perfect, that'll get me across the gap. You ready?” Tyros leaned forward, prepared to charge.

        “Tyros.”

        “Hmm?”

        “The children. If you kill the plant, will they be okay?” Tyros hesitated, standing upright again. He hadn't considered that possibility. Around them, the various vines thrashed around, searching desperately for their presence, finding nothing. Even the trees started twitching as the red color spread toward their top.

        “I... Don't know.” He turned to D, “I can't very well risk that, can I?” D shook his head, “And yet it looks like we're running out of time.” He gestured to a tree, almost fully red from top to bottom. It started shivering as it gained the power of movement, “Before long, even the trees will be hammering around, trying to find us. And in the middle of a forest? We can't continually dodge that for long. I don't have time to go down and free every child.”

        “You're right.” D nodded, “I have a plan.” Tyros raised his brow, “But it's dangerous. I can protect the kid's minds. Reaching out, I can feel them, and I can feel that I can throw a shield around them, stopping the vine's influence for a moment. The moment that it dies, for instance.”

        “But?”

        “But it's either keeping up Path of Light for you, or shielding the children.” Tyros closed his eyes and nodded. He could see where this was going.

        “I can do it.” Tyros answered simply, “We'd better get started.”

        D smiled, “Okay. Go.” Tyros ran forward, jumping over attacking vines, approaching the ground over the underground cavern. Before him, a white, transparent platform appeared in midair. Jumping onto it, he kept running. The plant was again blind to his presence. More platforms appeared ahead of him, forming a staircase of sorts up to the plant. Out of his periphery, he noticed a full tree begin to bend, flexible as a vine but likely still as solid as a tree trunk. Tyros smiled. It was swinging for where the plant guessed he was, based on where he stood a moment ago. Hardly accurate.

        “Now!” He called to D as he leaped off the last platform, planning his trajectory for the oncoming tree. The Path vanished just as he left it, and he knew D had turned his attention to the children below. His foot touched just once on the trunk of the swinging tree, and he launched himself off it, his sword raised above him. It was now or never, this had to be the killing stroke. If he missed and fell into the pit, he'd be at the mercy of the vines down below, unable to call to D, unable to get out, and unable to kill the plant in time. He focused his attention on the center of the main vine, pushing thoughts of failure out of his head. Plants all around flailed widely, trying to intercepting but having no real idea where he was.

        His blade cut deep into the plant. Juices flew everywhere, as deep red as the plant itself. With all of his strength, augmented even by the first pass around the path, Tyros still found trouble keeping his blade straight as it cut down the center of the plant. Still, largely thanks to the extra strength, it was straight enough, the slice only slightly wobbling. He reached the bottom, deep in the central pit, and withdrew his blade. The plant had stopped moving. He looked up and watched it fall in two pieces. The resounding thud of each hitting the ground brought a satisfied smile to his lips. He turned and surveyed the macabre playground. It had all fallen to the ground, returned to normal green colors. The children were rubbing their eyes and stretching, some holding their head, all acting as if coming from a dream. Behind each, a green vine lay on the ground, harmless remnants of what had once burrowed inside their neck.

        Before long, a Path of Light appeared before him, and he glanced up to find D smiling down at them. Tyros grinned back up, “Your favorite trail is safe again.” He called, “And so are all these children. We've rid the world of a strange blight today.”

        D nodded, “Yes.” He said simply and helped Tyros and the children out of the hole, “Now we return them to their normal lives.”

        And that they did.

- - -

        A day later, Tyros kicked back for a moment and smiled. It was good to be back. Sitting up, he quirked an eyebrow, confused by that thought. He wasn't sure where he'd been that warranted the phrase 'good to be back.' Oddly, it felt like none of his adventures between the Savannah and now had quite the same feel as yesterday's, or those on the Savannah. A content sigh escaped his mouth as he envisioned a season full of the many adventures that waiting inevitably on the horizon.

Settlers of Second Earth: Valkyrie's Touch Down

Who am I again? Oh yes! I'm a writer! Well, in that case, here comes the first of three planned sections for this blog. In this particular section, I will begin and continue an ongoing story once a week, as with each other section. Think of it like a webcomic, except with more words! Enjoy!

- - -

        With Earth dying behind them, four ships carrying only ten percent of the human population left for space. For a hundred years, these ships traveled, destined for a newly-discovered life-supporting planet on the edge of the next galaxy. Dangerously untested, and hastily researched antimatter travel powered their journey, and they rocketed through space at speeds previously believed impossible. With no other option than leaving the planet behind, those who were lucky enough to reserve a spot on the ships, along with those who managed to stow away, took the risky journey. Between the choice of certain death and uncertain life, what man would hesitate in making the decision?

       Over a hundred years, you would imagine that plenty of stories happened on each of the four Space Arks. And your imagination would be correct. However, the story you're here for today is none of these. The story you find here begins with humanity's first physical contact with a new planet outside of the galaxy, and the wonders and life they discover there. It continues with their fight to thrive on a completely alien planet. We begin with one ship, though they all land in nearly the same instant (keep that in mind, it will be important.) Our first story is that of the landing of the crew and passengers of the Valkyrie.

- - -

        “Men and women of the SpArk Valkyrie... These are words we've waited to hear for a long time. We've arrived.” Silence filled the ship for possibly the first time ever in the long journey, aside from the initial liftoff from Earth. One hundred years aboard the ship meant that many of the current passengers were the second, third or even fourth generation, and never knew anything but the ship their entire life, “I know we're all feeling apprehensive. I am, too. As long as I've been alive, the world has been this canister of metal.” Throughout the ship, everyone looked at all the metal walls around them, “But that's all going to change. Hold on, we're setting down.” A heavy thump rocked the ship, “Welcome to our second Earth. External sensors read ideal oxygen levels, as projected.” Hundreds of people clustered at the loading/unloading dock, waiting for the doors to open. Waiting for their first glimpse of the new world. A loud clunk echoed through the cavernous room as the locks slid away from the ramp door.

        Collectively, the crowd's eyes narrowed as they bathed in their first glimpse of sunlight. Only the absolute oldest men and women on the ship remembered sunlight, and even those were vague, fogged memories from infancy, stuck in their head because it felt so different from everything else they would know until now. Recalling them was like walking through a bog on a warm day, the rising mist and fog showing illusions of the impossible. The only difference from Earth was that the sky took on a different hue: a pale orange.

        As the opening door revealed more of the sky, the explorers were greeted by something entirely new: two suns. One appeared much larger than Earth's Sun, and was apparently much cooler, considering the moderate temperature pervading the ship's interior despite blazing ball's apparent closeness. The other was but a miniature circle on the first's periphery, orbiting much further from the planet. The two shone together, the small one creeping visibly through the sky, the big one moving much slower, appearing to stay in place.

        The next sight fit to blow the mind were the treetops against the skyline as the lowering door continued to unveil more of the world. An incandescent rainbow of foliage met the crowd's eyes. Trees of red, yellow, blue and more sprouted into the heavens, all of varying heights, all standing tall in the sky. The door continued its descent, showing the tree's trunks to be a deep green. Marveling at the sight, the crowd continued to await their first steps into the new world. Those steps would not come until many hours later.

       Another marvel waited for them in the deep blue hue of the planet's grass. This sight lasted all of two seconds however, as every eye fell on something else entirely. Standing at the base of the forest was their first sighting of the planet's fauna. With a thud that crushed the grass beneath it, the ramp finished its lowering arc, and the first man stepped onto its metal surface. He stared across the length of the field, watching the creature. It watched them back with three eyes, one resting on the hunch formed by its back, the other two in a 'normal' place on what looked like its head. Something twitched and fell behind it to both of its sides. They were tails, the watchers realized, with wicked points of bone sticking out at semi-random intervals. It took a step forward, and the man standing out front realized something. The look in its eyes was not curiosity or confusion. It was rage. Hate.

        It braced itself and arched its head to the sky, letting out a roar that easily traveled across the distance to the ship. From the forest, three more of the same creature stepped out. Then four more. Then eight. Twenty. Before long, they were innumerable.

        “Close the door.” The man out front whispered. The first creature took another step forward. Then another. And then it charged, followed by the many behind it. Thousands, it felt like, and even what looked like new creatures, impossible to identify in the surging crowd, “Close the door!” The man screamed this time, “Everyone get inside!” His screams were engulfed by the crowd's yelling. Inside, someone ran to the ship intercom and pressed it, calling into it.

        “Close the ramp!” Up in the cockpit, the message came through garbled by the yelling. The pilot, still gazing upon the tangerine sky with wonder, assumed it was the celebratory cries of the ship's many passengers.

       “What was that?” Captain Riley pressed the button and called back, “We need to camp? Well of course, we're not going to have a town overnight!”

        “No! The ramp! Monsters! Coming!” His heart stopped. Monsters? He understood the words 'No' and 'Monsters.'

        “What do you mean monsters?”

        “Charging the ship! Thousands!” And then, obviously at the very height of his lung power, the voice called out, “CLOSE THE RAMP!” Wasting no time to reply, the captain slammed the button that closed the door. His heart hammered. Was it too late?

        Down below, the beasts drew closer and closer, and the ramp had only begun to raise. The creature's mouths frothed with anticipatory saliva as deep hatred burned in their eyes. Deep in the crowd, a man sighed and reached inside his dark jacket. “Am I really the only one who thought of this possibility?” From a pocket hidden within he produced two pistols, weapons his great grandfather had smuggled aboard. Reaching for his back, also underneath the coat, he pulled a shotgun upward and handed it to a man standing beside him, “Take it. Fight.” The man stopped screaming as the gunman stepped forward and looked down at the shotgun in his hands. It was a foreign object. “Come on everyone! I'm out of guns, but grab something! Anything! They'll be here before the door closes! Fight!” The gunman called above the crowd before stepping to the front, standing in the opening.

        He raised both pistols and aimed at the first creature, right between the eyes. Years of training his aim, not with the actual gun but with a toy gun that fired plastic pellets, guided him. His father, passing down his grandfather's wisdom, always told him, “Firing guns in the ship is extremely dangerous, never do it.” The first shot surprised him, his arms catapulting over his head like the arms of a trebuchet with the force of the kickback. The bullet went wild, screaming off into the forest, and he laughed – his father warned him, but his toy pistol never had such kick! He could compensate, though. The next shot hit its mark, piercing it between the eyes. It flew backward and landed, the thump inaudible over the screams of men and roars of monsters. He smiled, beginning to take aim at the next attacker, but the smile faded before he fired again. The beast he'd left on the ground was stirring, and soon returned to its feet and charged once more.

        “Hmm. Between the eyes, but not a kill point.” He took aim and fired again, sending a shot deep inside the eye on its back. It fell, and he watched it carefully. This time, it stayed down, “Ah! There we go!” He turned, noticing the crowd had partially torn apart the ship in arming themselves with steel bars and other such metal objects. The door was significantly less than halfway closed, and the creatures would soon descend upon them, “Everyone! When they get here, remember: a vital organ is inside their hump. Aim for that!” The man to whom he handed the shotgun stepped forth from the crowd with a nod.

        “I think they understand.” He held the gun forward, “I don't know how to use this.”

        “Shotguns are pretty simple. Just point it at the enemy, pump that piece right there once, first toward you, and then back to its original position. Then you just pull the trigger, right there, when they get close. Hard to miss with a sawed-off.” He said, giving the most abbreviated explanation he could muster.

        “Thanks, I think. I'll do my best. Who are you?”

        “I'm Kevin Collinson, born of a stowaway.”

        “Ah, that explains the, uh... These.” He gestured to the weapons, “Got any more?”

        “I wish. But with the three guns here, and everyone else with their own makeshift weapons, we'll be able to hold until the ship closes. Now, way I see it, they'll be able to board until the ramp's about halfway closed. At that point, no more will be able to jump that high. Door's at about twenty percent now, at my best guess, and that's not so bad. Time they get here, it'll be twenty five percent. We just gotta fight until it's up far enough. Got all that?”

        “I... I think so. None of us have ever really seen a fight.”

        “I know, neither have I.” Kevin raised his voice, “Just watch the tails! That's the most dangerous part on the bunch.” His voice resumed the quick, conversational tone, “Don't worry. They won't even get close to you or me. It's the people swinging around melee weapons who're in real danger. Here, I forgot to give you these.” He pulled shotgun shells from his pockets, as many as he could find, “There are about twenty shots in total. Use them well. You load it like this.” He took the weapon and broke it down, opening the loading chamber, showing it to the other passenger, “Got that?”

        “I think so...” The other passenger answered once more, this time a bit less shaky.

        “Good. One more thing before they get here.”

        “What's that?”

        “What's your name?”

        “Gareth Redwind.”

        “A strong name. I made a good choice, handing you that.” He threw a wild glance to the approaching beasts, “Here they come!” He turned and fired three quick blasts, the first three crumpling before they could reach the boarding platform. An explosive blast sent Gareth flying backward, falling on his behind. He laughed.

        “Might've warned me about that!”

        “Right! It's got a kickback, by the way!” Kevin called with a chuckle in his voice over the sound of five more shots.

        “Never could have guessed!” Gareth called back, pulling himself back up to his feet and bracing himself before the next blast.

        The beasts reached the platform in the next few minutes, and the passengers of the Valkyrie surged forward. Keeping ahead of the crowd, Gareth and Kevin managed to blast the first wave off the rising platform. Still others tended to the sides of the platform, where still more creatures leaped aboard. It's like baseball, Kevin noted as he watched a passenger winding up a metal bar over his shoulder before letting it fly into the midsection of a leaping beast. He'd seen pictures and even the odd video of the game being played, and he chuckled to himself as he let off another round of pistol fire into the oncoming surge of monsters, It's exactly like baseball.

        Groups of passengers lined almost every inch of the loading dock, wooden planks, steel bars and various other weaponized ship pieces at the ready. Gareth gave a cheer beside Kevin as he blasted another set of three leaping beasts with his next-to-last bullet. Kevin grinned, although he could tell he was running low on bullets, himself. The fight had already waged for at least three minutes, and he felt his feet begin to slip under the increasing angle of the dock. 

       “We're almost out, folks! Start falling back, and let this thing close up!” The combination of having the high ground and having steel weapons readily available had handed even this inexperienced group a victory devoid of casualties. Even as they retreated, one or two beasts still made the difficult jump onto the closing ramp, but Kevin had saved his final shots for exactly that occasion. They fell, and they fell easily, corpses sliding down the ramp to join the passengers still basking in the shared adrenaline rush of a battle won. A cheer filled the unloading bay, followed by the deafening sounds of excited conversation. Kevin remained silent, his thoughts elsewhere.

        By the time the ship closed, the din had died down, shifting to an eery silence. Kevin's one thought had finally jumped through the minds of every passenger: this victory was awfully hollow. With who-knows-how-many beasts out there, and everyone still stuck inside, how would they leave the ship? Food supplies would not last forever.

Introducing Dr. Walnut

WARNING: THOSE OF YOU WHO DO NOT KNOW POKEMON MAY FIND CONTENT YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND IN THIS POST. NON-POKEMON CONTENT WILL COME LATER.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing pertaining to the Pokemon franchise. I am simply here to share thoughts about the strategy behind the competitive metagame of the main-series game. Most specifically, Pokemon Black and White.

Who am I again?

Ah yes, I'm one of the many men and women who study Pokemon, Dr. Cordelius Walnut. Additionally, I'm one of the few who have furthered their studies enough to obtain a Doctorate. Mine was established through close study of the Pokemon genetic code. My ongoing studies continue to include this field, but have also broadened to battle techniques.

This next month will see my studies narrowed to a laser point. The Pokemon World Championships approach, and I intend to enter and, with any luck, win. My friend, another Professor, plans to enter as well. With our combined knowledge and study skills, we will put together two separate teams and throw all we have at this tournament.

As such, while this blog is to be about much more than Pokemon, it will start out with documentation of my days of research. Something new will come the month afterward. Those of you who are not interested in Pokemon (although I don't think many of the current readers fall under that category) feel free to keep acting like there have not been any updates until I get around to something new. Without further ado, I will begin with the strategy that I believe will be the most common in the tournament, and I will end with the first solid decision of the team I will be bringing to the tournament.

Common Strategy 1

Through my time spent online searching for and gathering information, a common strategy for an entire team will be Trick Room. With Trick Room, the Pokemon with the lowest Speed goes first, paving the way for powerful-but-slow Pokemon to dominate all those normally fast destroyers. Truly this is the tortoise's favorite strategy to employ against the hare. Plenty of extremely slow Pokemon have access to huge attacking stats and moves. Examples include Reuniclus, Conkeldurr, Ferrothorn, Jellicent, and quite a few others. Talk abounds in Pokemon circles everywhere of plans to abuse this strategy, which leads me to believe it will be like seagulls to the Championship's beach, and it'll be about as unwelcome, in this Professor's opinion. This strategy will be the most frustrating to shut down. Why, you ask? Well, let's look at common methods of setting it up:

The Setup

The most important thing a Trick Room user needs is the ability to take and survive a hit. Trick Room is a move that will almost always go last, and almost guarantees the Pokemon will take a hit before using it. The move, and the Pokemon using it are obviously pointless if it falls before using it. For this reason, most users of Trick Room are both slow and heinously defensive, usually with a powerful offensive stat thrown into the mix. However, in double battles, the user of Trick Room doesn't even need to worry about being hit. Why? One reason, right here:

"I'm about to piss you off."

 

Amoonguss.

This mushroom fellow who sports the design of the Pokeball "ironically" is made of HP, and has enough defenses to back it up. It has access to a handy little move called Rage Powder, which forces any attacking Pokemon to target it. Worried about Taunt (a move that prevents its target from doing anything but damaging attacks) stopping you from using Trick Room? Worry no more! The Taunt user is forced to target Amoonguss after Rage Powder. Rage Powder even acts on high priority, so even something Taunting from Prankster (an ability that gives priority to non-damaging moves) moves second.

Amoonguss is the sole reason Trick Room is such a powerful team option in double battles. Otherwise, it'd be easily stopped and a gimmick at best.

After Amoonguss has sprinkled his powder full of wrath, its partner is free to set up Trick Room, transferring all your strong, snail-slow Pokemon to strong snails strapped to rocket packs. But just who are these dangerous Pokemon with low speed? Let's examine that now.

The Major Players

Jellicent.

All the best trainers recognize the power of a Pringles mustache.

This jellyfish is actually one of the fastest Pokemon on a Trick Room team with a base Speed of 60. That said, it's one of this generation's best users of Trick Room, with great HP and defenses, along with just enough Special Attack power for its Water Spout to create some major dents in an opponent's team.

Reuniclus.

 You'd be smiling that wide too, if your brain could level a building.

This Psychic goop-beast is the other most powerful Trick Room user in this generation. With a base Speed of 30, he's among the slowest of the generation, making him among the fastest when Trick Room goes off. With a base 125 Special Attack and immunity to Life Orb recoil thanks to its ability, Magic Coat, its Psychics, Focus Blasts and Hidden Power are each like an individual mental truck, slamming into the opponent.

Ferrothorn.

 UFO, with 400% more spikes, 300% more tentacles, 500% more deadly.

Being another base 30 Speed Pokemon, after a Trick Room, this powerhouse is one of the fastest Pokemon around. This beast is such a good defender and powerful attacker that it finds its way on many other teams, as well. With a Choice Band boosting its 120 base power Power Whip, it blasts away many threats while taking almost any hit thrown at it, barring Fire moves, to which it suffers a four times weakness. A Pokemon this powerful being able to attack first is a danger to almost anything your opponent throws out.

Conkeldurr.

 "I will punch you so hard, all you'll be able to say any more is the last part of my name."

With a base 45 Speed, he will move a little slower than the last two Pokemon, but he'll still move before the vast majority of other Pokemon. With a massive 140 base Attack, the instant it arrives on the field, your opponent is guaranteed to start his or her weeping. With access to Hammer Arm, he can even hit hard and slow himself down even further, which, in a method that seems extremely backward, makes him faster and faster under Trick Room.

Cofagrigus.

What do you suppose those hands are for?

If you said, 'beating you mercilessly,' congratulations! You're about to be beaten mercilessly.

Yet another Pokemon with a base Speed of 30. I think you're beginning to catch the theme here: 30 is an extremely low speed, and Trick Room exploits that. Cofagrigus is yet another that can actually set up Trick Room, and has defenses to spare, along with enough Special Attack to Shadow Ball and Psychic its enemies into submission. Additionally, having a reliable Pokemon that can use Will-O-Wisp to burn and thereby cripple physical attackers is a generally good idea.

Escavalier.

You don't wanna know where those poles are going.

The last Pokemon I will feature is the slowest of all of them. With 20 base speed, Escavalier, under the effects of Trick Room, runs right through everything with its base 135 Attack. Scizor proved Bug/Steel typing could be amazing, and once Escavalier gains access to some blistering speed, it proves the fact all over again. With Trick Room, and minimum Speed, this Pokemon will outrun literally everything.

Any Trick Room team hoping to utilize it to its best potential will have some or all of the above Pokemon on it. They are among the best of the best. Additionally, the following Pokemon use and are helped along by Trick Room, as well:

Musharna: 29 base Speed, able to Trick Room, good defenses, good Special Attack.

Gigalith: 25 base Speed, good physical defenses, huge Attack.

Throh: Lots of defense, 100 base Attack, and 45 Speed.

Crustle: 45 Speed, high defense, and moderate Attack.

Carracosta: 32 Speed, 133 physical Defense, moderate Attack.

Stunfisk: 32 Speed, good support options like Thunderwave, but not the best choice.

Druddigon: Slowest Dragon this generation with 48 Speed.

Finally, a Trick Room team usually benefits from one or two faster and still powerful team mates to clean up whatever the opponent has left after Trick Room wears off. What Pokemon those could be, however, would be an entirely new article altogether. Likely, it will be another article, a little later.

Countering the Threat

After battling online and encountering a team that ran off of this exact strategy, I came to realize this type of team truly will be everywhere in the Championships, and it will likely be among the most dangerous. I knew I needed to figure out how to counter it, and initially, I had absolutely no ideas. It worried me, quite honestly. So, as always, I jumped right into the research method. It took time, but I arrived at a few methods, and one that I decided on. But first, I'll look at the other possibilities. 

Archeops.

Amoonguss is shaking under its Pokeball cap.

The most crucial moment in a Trick Room team is the one turn before Trick Room activates. Alongside that, one of the greatest threats in a Trick Room team is the frustrating fact that Amoonguss will be putting everything you send out to sleep with Spore, every turn. With Archeops, you can end that annoyance at the word go. He is the only way to destroy Amoonguss in one hit: Acrobatics + 140 base Attack + Flying Gem is the only thing that will absolutely, 100% destroy Amoonguss, guaranteed. After Amoonguss has fallen, the Rage Powder will no longer be in effect and, ideally, Archeops' partner will be under 110 base Speed and have Taunt on its set to end the Trick Room setup attempt. As an added bonus, Acrobatics will still severely damage whatever comes out, if the opponent decides to switch instead of using Rage Powder with Amoonguss.

This method is likely among the most reliable, as the remaining methods still have a relatively high chance of still having to fight through Trick Room. In fact, this next method relies on either setting up Trick Room yourself, or allowing your opponent to do so.

That's right, the next method is building your own Trick Room team.

 Upon typing Trick Room into Google Images, I found this. I think it's relevant to depicting how Trick Room works!

Proper analysis would give an idea of the most common Pokemon found in the best Trick Room teams. Upon finishing that analysis, you would likely find many of the ones analyzed more in-depth above. The handy thing about these teams is that many of them counter the other quite well. Reuniclus laughs in the face of any Conkeldurr or Ferrothorn, while Ferrothorn generally thinks Jellicent is silly. As such, building your own Trick Room team keeping in mind the most common Pokemon in Trick Room teams makes for an effective strategy. You will, however, have to have nearly perfect prediction in deciding what your opponent will choose upon being faced by your team. This comes with practice, which you may have just enough time for if you start now.

Finally, I showcase the method I've chosen for countering Trick Room.
 

Whimsicott.

 Cute, tiny, fluffy, deadly. One of these things is not like the other. But it's all true.

Whimsicott has one of the most useful abilities introduced in Gen 5. Prankster, which allows any non-attacking moves to nearly always go first, is a great ability for stopping Trick Room teams. When Amoonguss uses Rage Powder, it will still move first, meaning I would be forced to target Amoonguss even though I would prefer to target the Trick Roomer. However, Whimsicott will then target Amoonguss with the move Taunt, which stops him from using Rage Powder again, and more importantly, stops him from using Spore to put your Pokemon to sleep. That said, Trick Room would have also gone off that turn. That's where the next part of the strategy comes into the mix.

This Whimsicott will also have the move Encore, which is sorta like Whimsicott telling the opponent that if it doesn't use the same move it used last turn, something "unfortunate" will happen to its family. Unless that opponenet switches out his Trick Room Pokemon, it will use Trick Room again. When Trick Room goes off with Trick Room already in effect, it actually takes it away, creating a normal playing field again, with slow Pokemon being slow and fast Pokemon moving first like normal. Hopefully, after htis, Whimsicott's partner will be able to take down the Trick Roomer. After that, the opponent's non-rocket snails will fall easy prey to your fast-as-lightning destroyers.

Of course, you'll still have to watch for any speedier Pokemon your opponent put on his team as a fail-safe for this exact situation. A smart opponent would do exactly that. You'll also have to watch for when they do switch out the Trick Room Pokemon, which will leave Trick Room in effect. For this reason, your team should include a Pokemon or two that function well in Trick Room. But that's where further strategy comes in! After all, the counter I just detailed here only really requires two Pokemon, leaving four spaces left to build a truly all-star team.

Stay tuned for more thoughts, tips and tricks coming up in my next blog, where I'll detail how to take on the various Legends that will be allowed in this tournament.

This is Dr. Walnut, signing out!

~CW