Pokémon Warstory: Battling with a Trick Room Rain Team

Is this your first time to read a Pokémon warstory? If so, it's best that you know exactly what it is. Basically, I build a team of six Pokémon and battle against another online player on a simulator. The match proceeds the way it does in the Game Boy, but without the lengthy battle text and animations. All that is provided are logs of what's happening. Now if you take those logs and provide commentary on each move that you make, this allows the reader to know your thought process. That is a warstory.

I’m currently playing with a Rain Room team, which basically mixes Rain Dance and Trick Room. This allows the team to be anti-metagame, and at the same time weakens fire attacks (which I hate going against). The team isn’t perfect, and I would appreciate some suggestions. The battle maybe not be as spectacular as the archived warstories, but I hope it is an enjoyable read. However, what I’m most interested to hear about is your opinion of the formatting (specially the pictures which I personally customized), as I plan to improve on it as you give me ideas.

Also note that the game was done last December 2010, which is why the Gen V Pokémon Ferrothorn, Sigilyph, Scrafty and Zebstika are called by their Japanese names Nattorei, Shinboora, Zuruzukin and Zeburaika, respectively.

zyrefredric sent out Politoed!
The foe sent out Ditto!
The foe's Ditto transformed into Politoed!
The foe's Ditto's Drizzle made it rain!

Although I have Politoed as a lead, mine is not a rain dance team. Drizzle is only there to weaken fire attacks. If the opponent doesn’t have another weather starter, I get less careful with Politoed, since it’s the most expendable member of the team. Otherwise, I do all I can to protect him since I don’t have any back-up rain dancers. I noticed that most Ninetales are offensive while Politoeds are defensive. Trying to be unconventional, I use a SpecsToed with Hydro Pump/Ice Beam/ Focus Blast/Psychic. My opponent uses a Ditto lead with Scarf (virtually all Dittos are scarfed). Now he knows all my attacks, but so do I. First two of his ditto’s attacks are ineffective and focus blast is inaccurate. He is either going to use Psychic or switch. I’ll start putting pressure early with a mini-sweep.

zyrefredric called Politoed back!
zyrefredric sent out Bronzong!
The foe's Ditto used Psychic!
It's not very effective...
Bronzong lost 21 HP! (7% of its health)
Rain continues to fall!

With 4x resist, it’s nothing but a scratch. Good thing my prediction was right. At an earlier match, a lead Ditto used Focus Blast and hit three times in a row (what are the odds of that?). Offensive Trick Room Bronzong is an underrated threat. With levitate and the rain, it has zero weaknesses (take that! Spiritomb, Sableye and Shibirudon). It is superb as a clean-up pokémon, but I always use it for an opening strike. Usually it survives 5 turns of wreaking havoc, gets a Wish later, and does it all over again. Ditto is stuck with Psychic so it has to switch. That gives me a free turn to set up.

The foe called Ditto back!
The foe sent out Zeburaika!
The foe's Zeburaika is floating on a balloon!
Bronzong used Trick Room!
Bronzong twisted the dimensions!
Rain continues to fall!

Every time the opponent sends out a Ground-weak pokémon, I remind myself to read the log to check for balloons. And the Zeburaika does have a balloon, ruling out Earthquake as an option. That balloon simply needs to be popped and we’ll take it from there. 

Bronzong used Zen Headbutt!
The foe's Zeburaika lost 63% of its health!
The foe's Zeburaika's Balloon popped!
The foe's Zeburaika used Overheat!
It's super effective!
Bronzong lost 94 HP! (34% of its health)
The foe's Zeburaika's Sp. Att. sharply fell!
Rain continues to fall!

Although it says “It’s super effective!”, Bronzong takes that Overheat neutrally because of the rain. Now I knew that Zen Headbutt can KO the zebra judging from the damage it did. But I was hesitant to use it, afraid that a Dark-type can get a free switch-in. I also figured he would predict that I predicted that he predicted that I would use the obvious Earthquake, and so I should use Earthquake to outpredict him. (I know that was confusing, but believe me that was my thought process at the time.) Whatever it is, a switch is guaranteed with him at -2 Sp. Att.

The foe called Zeburaika back!
The foe sent out Shinboraa!
Bronzong used Earthquake!
It had no effect!
Rain continues to fall!
The foe's Shinboraa's Flame Orb activated!
The foe's Shinboraa was burned!

It is never a good idea to overpredict early in a game when you don’t know the opponent’s play style. And so his Shinboraa got in unscathed (Zen Headbutt will be resisted anyway), and burned himself. Either Shinboraa is a pyromasochist, or he’s a burn-psychoshifting variant. I’d guess the latter. Bronzong getting burnt would neuter his offensive prowess, but I don’t have anyone I’d like to take the burn for him. So I would just attack while Trick Room is still up.

Bronzong used Gyro Ball!
The foe's Shinboraa lost 67% of its health!
The foe's Shinboraa used Cosmic Power!
The foe's Shinboraa's Defense rose!
The foe's Shinboraa's Sp. Def. rose!
Rain continues to fall!

That’s interesting. Him using Cosmic Power means he overestimated his Shinboraa’s bulk and/or he underestimated my Bronzong’s strength. Psycho Shift + Roost would have been a better option, but to each his own. The best thing he could do now is to let his Shinboraa take the hit and use up the last Trick Room turn.

Bronzong used Gyro Ball!
The foe's Shinboraa lost 33% of its health!
The foe's Shinboraa fainted!
Rain continues to fall!
The twisted dimensions returned to normal!
The foe sent out Zeburaika!

I take the first kill of the match this turn. But at the same time, the dimensions stopped twisting, making my Bronzong sluggishly slow. He’s trying to revenge-kill me with an Overheat, but with the rain, Bronzong can comfortably take the heat and screw up the dimensions once again for another 5 turns of pain. Seeing that he didn’t show a steel resist or a priority user so far, one or two of his pokémon is bound to die with Bronzong alone.

The foe's Zeburaika used Overheat!
It's super effective!
A critical hit!
Bronzong lost 161 HP! (58% of its health)
The foe's Zeburaika's Sp. Att. sharply fell!
Bronzong fainted!
Rain continues to fall!
zyrefredric sent out Politoed!

Critical hits are a part of the game, and we all just have to deal with them. Most of the time, they don’t even affect the final outcome of a match. But that crit was a crucial one. It was impossible for Zeburaika to KO Bronzong, allowing me to set-up. An unsuccessful Trick Room makes a huge difference. This just makes the game harder than it would have been. I sent out Politoed to bait a Wild Charge, get a Lightningrod boost with my Zapdos, and start firing off +1 Thunders.

The foe called Zeburaika back!

The foe sent out Ludicolo!
zyrefredric called Politoed back!
zyrefredric sent out Zapdos!
Rain continues to fall!

A double-switch, and an unlucky one. I usually enjoy taking down Swift Swimmers, but that’s with Trick Room up. With Bronzong gone, it would be very hard to set it up again. With its fantastic type coverage, I find Ludicolo the hardest to counter out of all rain sweepers. I can see Ice Beam coming, but I’m confident Zapdos can take it and deal some damage before I switch.

The foe's Ludicolo used Ice Beam!
It's super effective!
Zapdos lost 302 HP! (94% of its health)
Zapdos used Thunder!
The foe's Ludicolo lost 59% of its health!
The foe's Ludicolo is paralyzed! It may be unable to move!
Rain continues to fall!
Zapdos restored a little HP using its Leftovers!

That did more damage than I expected, but Zapdos survived and dealt a good blow back. More importantly, the 30% chance of paralysis couldn’t have picked a better timing to kick in than now. That makes Ludicolo easier to handle. I could Roost here, halving Ice Beam’s damage and gaining some much needed health. However, I can’t risk him realizing that a STAB rain-boosted Surf deals more damage than a super effective Ice Beam.

zyrefredric called Zapdos back!
zyrefredric sent out Nattorei!
The foe's Ludicolo is paralyzed! It can't move!
Rain continues to fall!

Parahax strikes, but it’s insignificant. Nattorei has full Sp. Def. EVs, and resists all of Ludicolo’s attacks. At this point, he would have to switch giving me a free turn to do whatever I please. I would like him to try Zeburaika’s Overheat, but I doubt he’s going to do that. I’m guessing he would reveal another pokémon this time.

The foe called Ludicolo back!

The foe sent out Ditto!
The foe's Ditto transformed into Nattorei!
Nattorei used Curse!
Nattorei's Attack rose!
Nattorei's Defense rose!
Nattorei's Speed fell!
Rain continues to fall!

I take the opportunity to Curse and boost my Atk. and Gyro Ball’s base power, while he sends out his Ditto. Everybody knows that Ditto is the ultimate revenge-killer, but fewer people know that he is arguably the ultimate scout (sorry Kitsunoh). Eccentric allows the user to see all of the opponent’s moves. At times, this information could prove invaluable. However, Nattorei’s moveset isn’t really that hard to guess. Probably he switched Ditto to block a predicted Leech Seed? Nonetheless, an opposing Natorrei is set-up fodder for me.

The foe's Ditto used Gyro Ball!
It's not very effective...
Nattorei lost 5 HP! (1% of its health)
Nattorei's Iron Barbs hurts the foe's Ditto
Nattorei used Curse!
Nattorei's Attack rose!
Nattorei's Defense rose!
Nattorei's Speed fell!
Rain continues to fall!
Nattorei restored a little HP using its Leftovers!

This is, without a doubt, the most foolish move made by my opponent the whole match. Not only is Gyro Ball resisted, but him having a Choice Scarf just means his Nattorei is faster than mine, giving Gyro Ball the lowest possible base power. And it even activates my Iron Barbs. People should learn that when two Nattoreis face each other, one of them must switch out. They can’t do anything to each other (unless one of them is a Curser, like mine). Funniest encounter I had was against an Ingrain/Leech Seed Nattorei which managed to trap himself while I boosted up to 6 Curses. He better switch or I’ll ragequit!

The foe called Ditto back!
The foe sent out Zeburaika!
Nattorei used Curse!
Nattorei's Attack rose!
Nattorei's Defense rose!
Nattorei's Speed fell!
Rain continues to fall!

And so I am right all along, Zeburaika at another attempt in heating things over (I just started learning how to play with words). Nattorei can take most 4x super effective unboosted special Fire Attacks once and hit back with boosted attacks. Another kill is overdue, so here we go.

The foe's Zeburaika used Overheat!
It's super effective!
Nattorei lost 172 HP! (59% of its health)
The foe's Zeburaika's Sp. Att. sharply fell!
Nattorei used Power Whip!
The foe's Zeburaika lost 37% of its health!
The foe's Zeburaika fainted!
Rain continues to fall!
Nattorei restored a little HP using its Leftovers!
The foe sent out Ludicolo!

He now sends out his Ludicolo to clean up now that my spikeweed is sufficiently weakened. If Trick Room was up, a Curse allows Nattorei to smack all opponents before taking a hit. But unfortunately, it’s not. And so, he has no hopes of outspeeding even paralyzed opponents.

The foe's Ludicolo used Hidden Power!
It's super effective!
Nattorei lost 136 HP! (47% of its health)
Nattorei fainted!
Rain continues to fall!
zyrefredric sent out Slowking!

I’m running out of options, and I need to wrap things up fast. Slowking is my only other Trick Room user, and my only special sweeper, designed to clean things up. Well it sure has a lot of cleaning up to do. Setting up is of top priority. Being able to do that would secure me the match (somewhat).

The foe called Ludicolo back!
The foe sent out Ditto!
The foe's Ditto transformed into Slowking!
Slowking used Trick Room!
Slowking twisted the dimensions!
Rain continues to fall!

I know I said that Ditto is the ultimate scout, but I think my opponent is overdoing it. I seriously see no purpose in scouting any pokémon with such an obvious moveset. He can’t hurt me with anything, but I’m afraid he’s going to use Trick Room to revert the dimensions back to normal. I considered using Trick Room myself, to counter his Trick Room. But I know that’s highly improbable. Besides, even if he does use Trick Room, I can always set it up again as he switches out. In the end, I decided to boost Slowking’s power.

Slowking used Nasty Plot!
Slowking's Sp. Att. sharply rose!
The foe's Ditto used Psycho Shock!
It's not very effective...
Slowking lost 80 HP! (20% of its health)
Rain continues to fall!

Ditto decides to get some damage in, but both his attacks are ineffective. But at least he knows Slowking has a higher Sp. Def. than Def., making Psycho Shock the better option. Even then, it only did minimal damage, so I decided to be greedy and boost even further.

The foe called Ditto back!
The foe sent out Zuruzukin!
Slowking used Nasty Plot!
Slowking's Sp. Att. sharply rose!
Rain continues to fall!

And here is the biggest misplay that I ever did the whole match. You know how you can look at a pokémon and immediately know what type it is? In battling I usually just look at the sprite to help me remember what types are super effective against it. Zuruzukin comes in and I go “Fool! That’s obviously a fighting-type! That will go down with just one hit!” Guess what I did?

Slowking used Psycho Shock!
It had no effect!
The foe's Zuruzukin used Bulk Up!
The foe's Zuruzukin's Attack rose!
The foe's Zuruzukin's Defense rose!
Rain continues to fall!

I mean seriously, I just can’t see the dark-typing in there. His looks have many times deceived me. I already tried using psychic moves on him countless times, hoping for the kill, and I still never learn, ugh. I would have paid dearly for that mistake, but no. He thought, "Slowking’s no threat, I’ll bulk up!” Well, +4 STAB Life Orb rain-boosted Surf anyone?

Slowking used Surf!
The foe's Zuruzukin lost 100% of its health!
The foe's Zuruzukin fainted!
Slowking is hurt by its Life Orb!
Rain continues to fall!
The twisted dimensions returned to normal!
The foe sent out Ditto!
The foe's Ditto transformed into Slowking!

That misplay certainly came back to bite me in the ____ (well, where do you want it to bite me?). It wasted a Trick Room turn, so it’s gone one turn earlier. That makes me susceptible to the ultimate revenge-killer: Ditto. (I have a tendency to repeat myself, I know). Now I will be at the receiving end of a +4 STAB rain-boosted Surf, and I’ll know just how painful it is firsthand.

The foe's Ditto used Surf!
It's not very effective...
Slowking lost 275 HP! (70% of its health)
Slowking fainted!
Rain continues to fall!
zyrefredric sent out Vaporeon!

And so I send out my last pokémon. Vaporeon with Water Absorb forces Ditto out, unless he feels generous today and wants to give me some free healing. I know what you’re thinking, “Why didn’t you let Vaporeon take the +4 STAB rain-boosted Surf?” Not only does it skip the “Slowking fainted!” part, but it allows Slowking to Regenerate (BW ability) and hopefully set up Trick Room again later on the match. I knew that. But even without the rain boost, a +4 STAB Psycho Shock would have maimed Vaporeon. We are almost at the last leg of the match, and I want a healthy Zapdos with me. I can’t have Vaporeon hurt and so, Slowking must faint (die is too harsh a word for me). 

The foe called Ditto back!
The foe sent out Ludicolo!
Vaporeon used Wish!
Rain continues to fall!

Vaporeon was able to make a Wish, but I needed it granted on Zapdos. However I can’t risk switching Zapdos in and receiving an attack from Ludicolo. The only option is to let Vaporeon faint right after he makes a Wish, and then let Zapdos in safely to nab 200+ HP. Me using Toxic on a paralyzed Ludicolo next turn is to let me faint faster. But I changed my mind, so turn 24 – 26 is Wish/Protect in hopes of PP stalling Giga Drain and hoping for parahax, which failed. But I was able to get what I was aiming for: a healthy Zapdos.

Vaporeon used Toxic!
But it failed!
The foe's Ludicolo used Giga Drain!
It's super effective!
Vaporeon lost 366 HP! (78% of its health)
Vaporeon had its energy drained!
Vaporeon's wish came true!
Rain continues to fall!
Vaporeon restored a little HP using its Leftovers!

Vaporeon used Wish!
The foe's Ludicolo used Giga Drain!
It's super effective!
Vaporeon lost 350 HP! (75% of its health)
Vaporeon had its energy drained!
Rain continues to fall!
Vaporeon restored a little HP using its Leftovers!

Vaporeon used Protect!
Vaporeon protected itself!
The foe's Ludicolo used Giga Drain!
Vaporeon protected itself!
Vaporeon's wish came true!
Rain continues to fall!
Vaporeon restored a little HP using its Leftovers!

Vaporeon used Wish!
The foe's Ludicolo used Giga Drain!
It's super effective!
Vaporeon lost 299 HP! (64% of its health)
Vaporeon had its energy drained!
Vaporeon fainted!
Rain continues to fall!
zyrefredric sent out Zapdos!

Now that Zapdos is in, I can Roost to take the attack, and then gain HP from Wish. That would put me at a comfortable health to end this game. 

Zapdos used Roost!
Zapdos landed on the ground!
Zapdos regained health!
The foe's Ludicolo used Giga Drain!
Zapdos lost 189 HP! (58% of its health)
Zapdos had its energy drained!
Vaporeon's wish came true!
Rain continues to fall!
Zapdos restored a little HP using its Leftovers!

The last turn told me a lot of things. You know how you can look at the damage an opponent makes and you can tell if he is Banded or Specs’d? Well I don’t know how to do that, yet. But the fact that he used Giga Drain on my Zapdos makes me think that he has a Choice Specs Ludicolo. Forget that, I’ll bet my house his Ludi’s pimping some Specs! That explains the 94% damage he did on my Zapdos with Ice Beam on turn 9. If I have known then that he was stuck with his moves, he would have been easier to deal with. Now seeing that Giga Drain with a roost did 58%, Zapdos should be able to take a Giga Drain without a roost (it will be ineffective). If I’m lucky I can 2HKO him with Thunder, but I am predicting a switch to Ditto to nab a Lightningrod boost. I have many options. I could put up a sub, or I could HP Ice to hit the Ditto switch-in hard. But I am not much of a risk taker, so I made the conservative move.

The foe called Ludicolo back!
The foe sent out Ditto!
The foe's Ditto transformed into Zapdos!
Zapdos used Roost!
Zapdos landed on the ground!
Zapdos regained health!
Rain continues to fall!

My prediction is spot on this turn. Since he can’t use Thunder, his only option is Hidden Power. Although Ditto copies the opponent’s EVs and stat boosts, I doubt it also copies IVs. If I’m correct, he has HP Dark (the default) while I have a super effective HP Ice, and can Roost at any notice. I can KO this Ditto, but before I do that, I put up a sub in case of a Ludicolo switch.

The foe's Ditto used Hidden Power!
Zapdos lost 71 HP! (22% of its health)
Zapdos used Substitute!
Zapdos made a substitute!
Rain continues to fall!
Zapdos restored a little HP using its Leftovers!

I was correct that he doesn’t have a super effective Hidden Power, and he was even unable to break my sub. I’m not sure if Dittos don’t really copy IVs or it’s just not programmed in the simulator correctly. Either way, my Zapdos will win over this fake Zapdos no matter what happens. I decide to roost to prepare better for the end game, before taking Ditto down.

The foe's Ditto used Hidden Power!
Zapdos's substitute took the damage!
Zapdos used Roost!
Zapdos landed on the ground!
Zapdos regained health!
Rain continues to fall!

My own Zapdos has the upper hand in this match up. I can easily 2HKO Ditto, and I think I can even manage to do it with full health remaining, or in the very least, an intact sub. This is the time that I am thankful I switched to Lightningrod/HP Ice from Pressure/Toxic.

The foe's Ditto used Hidden Power!
Zapdos's substitute faded!
Zapdos used Hidden Power!
It's super effective!
A critical hit!
The foe's Ditto lost 100% of its health!
The foe's Ditto fainted!
Rain continues to fall!
The foe sent out Arcanine!

And I get my fair share of crit hax this time. I see this as payback for the Overheat crit on my Bronzong on turn 7. Ditto will be defeated eventually anyway, all that crit did was let my Zapdos stay at full health. My opponent finally reveals his final pokémon: Arcanine. But the sun isn’t shining bright for him though. Close Combat is ineffective, Wild Charge is a no-no, and his fire moves are weakened by the rain. But at least they get STAB?

The foe's Arcanine used Overheat!
Zapdos lost 121 HP! (37% of its health)
The foe's Arcanine's Sp. Att. sharply fell!
The foe's Arcanine is hurt by its Life Orb!
Zapdos used Thunder!
The foe's Arcanine lost 66% of its health!
Rain continues to fall!
Zapdos restored a little HP using its Leftovers!

Overheat huh? Never seen a special Arcanine, so it’s most likely mixed. But in the event that it is pure special, the -2 Sp. Atk. means I can roost on it all day. All I want is to be at full health when I face Ludicolo. 

The foe's Arcanine used Flare Blitz!

Zapdos lost 127 HP! (39% of its health)
The foe's Arcanine is hit with recoil!
The foe's Arcanine is hurt by its Life Orb!
Zapdos used Roost!
Zapdos landed on the ground!
Zapdos regained health!
Rain continues to fall!
Zapdos restored a little HP using its Leftovers!

So he used Overheat followed by a Flare Blitz rather than two consecutive Flare Blitzes for the off chance that he could survive the recoil. Well played by my opponent here, ‘coz it paid off, with Arcanine hanging by a mere 1% HP. Lucky for him, unlucky for me. This means that he can get a hit in before fainting. Nothing to do but to try roosting and to let recoil do its work.

The foe's Arcanine used Flare Blitz!
Zapdos lost 139 HP! (43% of its health)
The foe's Arcanine is hit with recoil!
The foe's Arcanine fainted!
Zapdos was burned!
Zapdos used Roost!
Zapdos landed on the ground!
Zapdos regained health!
Rain continues to fall!
Zapdos restored a little HP using its Leftovers!
Zapdos is hurt by its burn!
The foe sent out Ludicolo!

Before biting the dust, the original legendary dog left my legendary bird a nasty burn. I would have preferred my Zapdos at full health against Ludicolo, but I don’t think even then it would have a chance of surviving a Specs’d rain-boosted Surf (a guy could hope right?).

Zapdos used Thunder!
The foe's Ludicolo lost 53% of its health!
The foe's Ludicolo used Surf!
Zapdos lost 274 HP! (85% of its health)
Zapdos fainted!
Rain continues to fall!
zyrefredric sent out Politoed!

We are both down to our last pokémon. It’s ironic that they are the ones facing each other in the final turn, considering how my Politoed is the one giving much support to his Ludicolo. Also, for those who take careful notice, Politoed never did anything significant the whole match. The first time it came out was as a lead to bring Drizzle, and then was switched out mmediately after. The second was to bait a Wild Charge from Zeburaika, which failed. This is the third time it came out of its pokeball. Would it be able to DO something this time around? Let’s find out!

Politoed used Ice Beam!
The foe's Ludicolo lost 47% of its health!
The foe's Ludicolo fainted!

Would you look at that. Politoed was able to grab the final kill for this match. There is no suspense here. With some calculations it turns out Politoed’s 252 SpA Evs Modest Specs Ice Beam 43.9% - 51.8% to Ludicolo. That’s 39% chance to KO, which it did. If I had a BulkyToed instead, it could only manage 29.2% - 34.6%. But that doesn’t matter. Ludicolo is stuck with his move. His STAB Specs rain-boosted Surf hits Politoed for a measly 32.7% - 38.3%. Politoed is guaranteed a win here.

So there you have it. Keep your comments and suggestions coming, and I promise I will take them all into consideration. For those who are wondering, I made all those images myself, manually, with only MS Paint. It takes long, but it is easy to do as long as you get the hang of it. If anyone can direct me to a warstory picture maker software that gives the same results, I would be greatly disheartened. Imagine all the effort not knowing that there was a much easier way. But as it stands, I’ll stick on my way. I enjoyed making it.