[15] pathos vs Keldeo (ref: Totodile)

[Eifie]

3 vs 3
Style: Set
DQ: 7 days
Damage Cap: 40%
Banned/Restricted Moves: OHKOs, direct healing, Pain Split, Perish Song, Super Fang, moves that KO the user. Trick Room does not affect command order.
Arena: Tower of Mastery

After a long spiraled climb around a humongous Mega Lucario statue, approved trainers will find the topmost location of the Tower of Mastery to be a large semicircular balcony with a lovely view of distant mountains, the sea, and awe-inspiring clear skies. It has been historically the place where chosen trainers are given Mega Rings, designated with the purpose of reminding those trainers to set their sights ever skyward.

For this round of the tournament, Battle Arena (or, as it were, Battle Korrina) rules will apply. Each pair of Pokémon sent out will only battle for up to three rounds before being recalled, at which point the sums of their remaining Health and Energy percentages will be compared to determine the winner of the bout, and the next two Pokémon are sent out thereafter. The first to win two bouts wins the match as a whole. Furthermore, while sending out Pokémon at the beginning of each bout, the trainers will also PM their assigned referee to pick one of the Masteries listed below, and the Masteries chosen that way will be publically announced in the battle thread before commands are issued (however, in the third and final bout, the masteries from the previous bout are applied, and no new ones are chosen). These two Masteries will be the only ones applicable in the current bout, and by fulfilling the conditions that they outline, players can have a score of 20 added to their final Health and Energy sum (up to a maximum of 40). More details are outlined in the tournament round post. The following are the masteries that can be chosen from:

• Movepool Master: Awarded to the Pokémon that used the highest amount of different moves during the bout.
• Elementalist: Awarded to the Pokémon that used moves of the highest amount of different types.
• Skill Striker: Awarded to the Pokémon that used the most moves with 70 or less Base Power (after accounting for effects that change a move's Base Power).
• Efficiency Expert: Awarded to the Pokémon that spent the least energy during the bout (restored energy, such as that gained by Chills or energy-targeting indirect recovery, does not contribute to this Mastery).
• Set-Up Specialist: Awarded to the Pokémon that had the highest net total of stat changes at the end of the bout (e.g., 6+ Attack and 2- Defense makes for a total of 4+).
• Plague Pawner: Awarded to the Pokémon that inflicted the most status conditions on the opponent.
• Daredevil: Awarded to the Pokémon that had the least Health remaining at the end of the bout.
• Own Worst Enemy: Awarded to the Pokémon that took the most self-inflicted damage during the round (only self-inflicted damage from regular sources like recoil and costs are counted; intentionally attacking oneself does not contribute to this Mastery).
• Obstinate Orders: Awarded to the trainer that used the least conditionals in their commands. Only the trainer who is issuing the first commands in the current bout can choose this Mastery.

pathos's active squad

Mal the male Electivire <Motor Drive> @ Muscle Band
Castiel the male Togekiss <Serene Grace> @ Sachet
Blood on Fire the male Monferno <Blaze> @ Electirizer
Papayawhip the female Ivysaur <Overgrow> @ Eviolite
Tye the male Clefable <Magic Guard> @ Life Orb
Boom the female Steelix <Rock Head> @ Leftovers
Orev the female Honchkrow <Super Luck> @ Prism Scale
Topher the genderless Metagross <Clear Body> @ Electirizer
Starbuck the female Marshtomp <Torrent> @ Wise Glasses
pathos the male Gengar <Levitate> @ Electirizer


Keldeo's active squad

Eris the female Dusknoir <Pressure> @ Muscle Band
Vesper the female Crobat <Inner Focus> @ Black Sludge
Lover Man Sugar Monster the male Pangoro <Iron Fist> @ Expert Belt
Super Smile Tommy the female Wooper <Water Absorb> @ Weakness Policy
Robin the female Haxorus <Mold Breaker> @ Shell Bell
Marins Popping Soda the female Emolga <Static> @ Rocky Helmet
M. H. Milky Way of Boo Foo Woo the male Castform <Forecast> @ Wise Glasses
Luke Atmey the male Sigilyph <Magic Guard> @ Life Orb
Kangaskhangfroidish the female Kangaskhan <Scrappy> @ Expert Belt
Zipper the female Mawile <Hyper Cutter> @ Expert Belt

Up next:
1. Keldeo sends out
2. pathos sends out
3. Byrus announces the chosen Masteries
4. pathos issues commands
5. Keldeo issues commands

 

[Keldeo]

Re: [15] pathos vs Keldeo (ref: Byrus)

"Hello, listeners, and thank you all for tuning in to Asber Channel 5. Today we're bringing you an exclusive program, featuring live coverage of the tournament currently going on in Kalos. I'm Barry."

"And I'm Bob."

"And this is Live Tournament Coverage with Barry and Bob!"

"To start us off today, we'll be looking at several battles, in both the late and normal brackets, and profiling the trainers and Pokemon in each one."

"And next time, we'll bring you specialized commentary on individual rounds. We'll begin by taking a look at a battle where some activity is already taking place: pathos vs. Keldeo."

"In the blue corner, it's pathos! Would you care to give us a short introduction, Barry?"

"To be honest, Bob, pathos needs no introduction. It's a seasoned ASB vet, and all of the Pokemon it's bringing to this match have participated in a few fights of their own already, including such battle-hardened 'mons as Topher the Metagross, who ties for having the most experience in the entire league, and Mal the Electivire and Castiel the Togekiss, BOTH of whom have a whopping FIVE experience points!"

"Completely correct!"

"To wrap up this Asber 5-exclusive trainer profile, we look to the near future. It'll be exciting to see what strategies and Pokemon pathos brings to this fight, won't it?"

"Yes it will, Barry, yes it will."

"Aaaand moving to the other blue corner, it's Keldeo! Oh, and get this, Bob, the first sendouts of this very battle are taking place right now!"

"--yeah, talk about a bad naming decision! Why aren't those corners blue and red like everywhere else?"

"...Er, anyways! As always, Asber 5 will be the first to reveal who the first combatant on the other blue corner of pathos vs. Keldeo will be, coming up in five, four, one... and it's Me Home Milky Way of Boo Foo Woo, also known as Airplane Baguette, the only Castform in the league! Decked out in a dashing pair of Wise Glasses, who knows what forme the Weather Pokemon will be taking for this match?! There's one for every weather, as our more battle-wise listeners surely know and our less battle-wise listeners can easily figure out from Castform's species name!"

"Except Sandstorm, Barry, you can't forget."

"Well, yes, except that. Er, anyways, the first combatant has truly been revealed, hasn't it, Bob."

"Yes it has, Barry, yes it has."

"Aaaaand that is all for this exciting, exciting episode of Live Tournament Coverage with Barry and Bob. I'm Barry. ...Ahem! I'm Barry."

"Oh, and I'm Bob."

"And this is Live Tournament Coverage with Barry and Bob, exclusive to Asber Channel 5. Up next, we'll be taking another completely live, completely exclusive look at one featured battle - as always, vote now for your top choice by phoning in. We hope you'll tune in next time for the next episode of Live Tournament Coverage with Barry and Bob! Now, it's time for a message from our sponsors..."

 

[shy ♡]

Re: [15] pathos vs Keldeo (ref: Byrus)

You flatter me, Keldeo :p And dammit, my counter for castform is also my counter for another poke... wah... Oh well, Mal, you're up!! (ps Byrus Mal is based on the char of the same name from Firefly if you've seen it and want to include the flavor in your reffings ok that's all)

 

[Byrus]

Re: [15] pathos vs Keldeo (ref: Byrus)

And the chosen masteries are:

pathos - Movepool Master

Keldeo - Movepool Master

pathos can now issue commands.

 

[shy ♡]

Re: [15] pathos vs Keldeo (ref: Byrus)

Oh boy, isn’t this a bit of a pickle…

Okay Mal, we’re faster, so we’re gonna start with a nice 20% sub. That should take a while to break and leave us with some wiggle room. Then go for a Hammer Arm and Low Sweep.

If … dammit I’m not saying that name every time, castform’s got clones up, and there’s no weather that clarifies which one is real, go for Discharge instead of Hammer Arm, and wide-spread Rock Slide instead of Low Sweep. If they’re protect/detecting or otherwise unhittable for some reason, you can go ahead and Meditate instead of Hammer Arm, or Curse instead of Low Sweep.

Substitute (20%) ~ Hammer Arm / Discharge / Meditate ~ Low Sweep / Rock Slide / Curse

 

[Keldeo]

Re: [15] pathos vs Keldeo (ref: Byrus)

(You can call him Baguette or M.H. or some other abbreviation if it makes reffing/commanding easier! :o) Anyway, I've agonized over these commands for long enough. Your default commands are to start with a Swift and then float high enough that he can't get you - Electivire are 1.8m tall, we can add 2 for how high Mal can jump and reach, and let's round that up to 4 just to be safe, so around 4 meters from the ground. After that, wait for him to deem you unhittable and use Meditate/try and fail to hit with Hammer Arm, float back down, and get rid of the sub with Energy Ball, potentially aiming from midair if you have to - try to wait until you have near-perfect odds of hitting, though. Finally, take advantage of Low Sweep to power up an Avalanche.

If you would find it easier to use/aim Energy Ball while floating up, go with Energy Ball while floating up, Swift while floating down, and then Avalanche. If you can't float that high or you aren't able to float to/from 4m up quickly enough to also attack in those actions despite your inherent hoveringness, just Swift ~ Protect ~ Energy Ball because I did some number-crunching while half-asleep yesterday and think that works out better.

Swift (float up) / Energy Ball (float up) / Swift ~ (float down) Energy Ball / (float down) Swift / Protect ~ Avalanche / Energy Ball

 

[Eifie]

Re: [15] pathos vs Keldeo (ref: Byrus)

Kratos Aurion is going to be taking over reffing this match, to avoid having Byrus and Keldeo reffing each other's battles. There shouldn't be any need to recommand, so he can get right on reffing this round.

 

[Eifie]

Re: [15] pathos vs Keldeo (ref: Kratos Aurion)

Whoops! I appear to have misspelled Totodile. She'll be reffing this match from now on.

 

[Totodile]

Round One​

pathos (Ooo)

Mal (M) Motor Drive
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Total: 200
Status: Twitching his tails.
Commands: Substitute (20%) ~ Hammer Arm / Discharge / Meditate ~ Low Sweep / Rock Slide / Curse

Keldeo (Ooo)

M. H. (M) Forecast
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Total: 200
Status: Bobbing up and down.
Commands: Swift (float up) / Energy Ball (float up) / Swift ~ (float down) Energy Ball / (float down) Swift / Protect ~ Avalanche / Energy Ball


Atop the Tower of Mastery, another round of the tournament rolls into action. On this side: a hulking yellow yeti, ready to lay down some smackdown. On this other side: a cloudy puffball, whistling happily to himself. The crowd looks on in anticipation, hoping to see a hilariously one-sided fight (though in whose favor, no one is sure). Yet they are disappointed when, at a signal from the ref, the bigger Pokemon seemingly ignoring his foe. Mal, though aiming to misbehave, knows the little Castform probably has some tricks up his sleeve, and so decides to build a Sub. Looking around, he catches sight of some chairs not being used by the audience; he stomps toward them, grabs a few in his tails, and pulverizes them happily. Then, channeling his own life force, he builds them into an Electivire-like thing that stands at his side. He’ll call it … Zoe? Yeah, that sounds like a good name. Zoe stands there, ready for action. And not a moment too soon - a barrage of attack stars streak through the air with a chorus of pew pew pew, only stopped from striking Mal by his loyal Sub Zoe. M.H., currently in the process of floating upward, pouts a little at the lack of bloodshed, but once he’s gotten four meters off the ground, he seems to have gotten over it.

Mal considers his next move. He’s pretty tall, but he’s also pretty sure even a mon of his stature can’t reach the little puffball. Thus, with a long exhalation, he settles down to focus his spirit, thinking of the teachings of ancient Medicham so that he can approve his offense in battle. M.H. looks on from above, grinning. That guy’ll never see this coming! He gathers the power of nature around him as he descends, looking vaguely like a setting sun, before sending the Ball of Energy hurtling toward Mal. The Electivire doesn’t even notice, though: Zoe jumps in the way for a second time, exploding magnificently. Mal, coming out of his trance, looks on in dismay.

Shaking himself, Mal ready to get down to business at last. Immediately he leaps forward, reaching out with a huge hand, and swipes M.H. decisively in the gut. M.H. squeaks in displeasure, struggling to right himself … and when he does, he looks mad. His eyes glow icy blue, and a cloud of snow-covered rocks materialize, spinning around his head furiously. With a cry, he sends them clattering down at Mal, who growls audibly even as he disappears under the Avalanche. After a moment, he climbs out, flexes his tails, and glares, dares M.H. to pull that again. M.H., though still a little sluggish from that Low Sweep, glares right back, and the audience members mutter to each other in interest.


pathos (Ooo)

Mal (M) Motor Drive
Health: 68%
Energy: 85%
Total: 153
Status: “Alas, poor Zoe.” Att +1.
Actions: Substitute (20%) ~ Meditate ~ Low Sweep

Keldeo (Ooo)

M. H. (M) Forecast
Health: 86%
Energy: 85%
Total: 171
Status: “I’m unsympathetic.” Spd -1.
Actions: Swift + float up ~ float down + Energy Ball ~ Avalanche


Movepool Master:
- Mal has used 3 moves (Low Sweep, Meditate, Substitute).
- M.H. has used 3 moves (Avalanche, Energy Ball, Swift).

Arena Notes:
- Bits of chair are scattered all over the place.

Calculations:
- Mal’s health: 100% - 20% (Substitute) - 12% (Avalanche) = 68%
- Mal’s energy: 100% - 10% (Substitute) - 1% (Meditate) - 4% (Low Sweep) = 85%
- Mal’s Substitute: 20% - 9% (Swift) - 11% (Energy Ball) = 0%
- M.H.’s health: 100% - 14% (Low Sweep) = 86%
- M.H.’s energy: 100% - 2% (Swift) - 1% (hovering) - 5% (Energy Ball) - 1% (hovering) - 6% (Avalanche) = 85%

Other Notes:
- Mal outspeeds M.H. (95 > 60).
- Castform is inherently hovering, so M.H. can go up and down at will (though I’m considering hovering above his normal level to cost 1% energy per action).

Next Round:
- Keldeo commands
- pathos commands

 

[Keldeo]

Good job this round! Let's keep our momentum up with a Flamethrower. Sweep it around if there are clones, use Weather Ball instead if it's raining, and use Work Up if he has a Light Screen up, is Detecting, is Biding, is using Rage, or is unhittable, besides Substitute. If he tries to use Teleport reactively to dodge, the balcony is small enough that you should probably be able to sweep Flamethrower wherever he goes. If he's trying a dodge-with-Dig strategy, wait a little bit to see if he burrows up, but default to Cosmic Power if he doesn't.

Next, go with an Ice Beam, sweeping if there are clones or he tries to Teleport away. If he has a Light Screen up and no clones, take the chance to steal his Muscle Band; put your Wise Glasses down for this one, but make sure they're somewhere you can still reach if we need to pick them back up or something. If he's completely unhittable, besides Substitute, or is Biding, Raging, or Detecting, use Cosmic Power. The Dig clause applies here too. Also Cosmic Power if he has both a Light Screen and clones or both Light Screen and Reflect; you'll take care of that next action. If he has discarded his Muscle Band and has a Light Screen up, go with Cosmic Power.

On the last action, let's try to burn him with Scald, sweeping it if there are clones or he tries to teleport. If he's already burned from Flamethrower or he has a Light Screen up, use Natural Gift instead; Natural Gift rather than Scald if he has clones and a Light Screen, or he has both Light Screen and Reflect, unless it's also raining in one of these cases. If he's completely unhittable, Biding, Raging, or Detecting, I suppose we'll use Defense Curl. Dig clause applies.

If he gets a Barrier up at any time he also has Light Screen, try to lure him away from it. He'll probably have to if he wants to use contact moves, since you're so small. If he tries to use Dynamic Punch, try to dodge, and use your attack for the action to throw off his aim - target his face. All Double Team-related clauses are nullified if there's weather or some other arena effect that clarifies definitively which one is real. If he tries to trap you in a Rock Tomb or something like that, you should be small enough to get through the cracks, but if it's too tightly packed just default to your nondamaging option for that action. If you're Taunted and the clauses to use your nondamaging option are true, go with Weather Ball, Thief, and Natural Gift to waste the least energy.

Flamethrower / Weather Ball / Work Up ~ Ice Beam / Thief (discard Wise Glasses) / Cosmic Power ~ Scald / Natural Gift / Defense Curl

 

[Totodile]

Well, it looks like pathos is dropping out, so Keldeo wins by default! She gets $30 and 1 Rare Candy; he gets $15 and the buyable Hidden Ability Pokemon of his choice. I grab $25 for reffing.

 

[Eifie]

Unfortunately, there are no prizes for forfeits; they're treated the same as a loss by DQ.

 

[Totodile]

Oh right. Keldeo should still win her prize though, right? Or is it reduced due to the DQ?

 

[Eifie]

Yeah, you and Keldeo get prizes as normal.