Divine Rights

[wraith89]

Divine Rights

Introduction:

So after a long period of inactivity I got bored for a moment and attempted to play Pokemon in Gen V with another themed team. I'll post up a RMT for fun, and while there are many holes in this team, I had a relatively good amount of success with it, with one loss in the beginning due to me trying to adjust my playing methods.

Objective of this team:

Heh. Well, I guess this is a themed team that involves my few favourite monarchs of the past (most of them maligned). I suppose in competitive terms of view, it helps Dragonite sweep by getting rid of its few enemies, his main enemies being other Dragons and Steels. I probably should put more effort into putting hard counters to steels such as Magnezone, but I can find a way to get rid of them. Garchomp is also another enemy I found but since many tend to be scarfed, they're either locked into Earthquake or Outrage, allowing some of my Pokemon to get in safely if I make the right move. Once his foes are cleared, Dragonite can sweep with little intrusion.

Other Notes:

• This team was designed for Pokemon Online, a battle simulator for Generation II/III/IV/V Pokemon metagame. Since I do not possess this game none of this will be playable on Wifi. Nor do I have perfect IVs on my anyone and I do not possess a Blissey capable of Wishing. Therefore, assume IVs are all 31 unless otherwise stated. Also assume they are all level 100.
  
• I put a little section called history on each Pokemon to tell you what I have learned about each of the historical figures the Pokemon are named after. You do not have to read them, but they are there if you want to learn a little something I guess. Note that it can be quite long and painful to one's eyes, especially if they do not like reading, so I did you all a favour and placed them in spoilers as it has nothing to do with the actual RMT. In other words, don't read if you are not interested in history or whatever, as some of them are exceedingly long.
  
• Since this is my first time playing Pokemon after months, I am not aware of prominent threats nor how the metagame has shifted, so if anyone can give me tips about what to look out for, I would be more than happy to listen.
  

Former Members:

The Royal Martyrs

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“I die innocent of all the crimes imputed to me. I pardon the authors of my death, and pray God that the blood you are about to shed will never fall upon France.”

~ King Louis XVI

Louis XVI (Drifblim) (M) @ Chesto Berry

Trait: Unburden

EVs: 12 HP / 252 Def / 120 SAtk / 32 SDef / 92 Spd

Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

- Calm Mind

- Shadow Ball

- Thunderbolt

- Rest

Ah, and here we have Drifblim, a peculiar ghost for the job. I was hoping to have a spinblocker of some sort, and though Dusknoir is probably better for that job, I find Drifblim's invulnerability to Earthquake valuable, and it has the bulk to take quite a number of hits. The good thing is, like most ghosts, Drifblim is very versatile, being able to do many things, so people do not know what to expect from it. Well, one thing is for sure: its STAB Shadow Ball will HURT. It can force switches if it needs to and it can mess with most spinners such as Tentacruel or Forretress, and when I expect to be in low health, hello Rest + Chesto Berry! With this and the trait Unburden, not only do I get rid of harmful statuses such as Toxic poison, but Drifblim's speed is doubled, allowing it to function as a special sweeper of some sort. I have to watch out for Hex from Tentacruel though if Drifblim is status'd in any way though, as Hex's power doubles when the opponent is statused. Speaking of Hex, perhaps I could employ use of that move myself, but only if I run Toxic Spikes on Forretress. Meh, I think I prefer Shadow Ball's consistency. I also wonder if Drifblim would do better as a support unit... with Will-o-Wisp or even Baton Pass as opposed to the set up now. This Drifblim does catch people by surprise though and nets quite a bit of damage when it does get through, but aside from being an arbitrary "spinblocker" I don't see much to him.

History:

Louis XVI in all his glory. He was a tall and imposing figure, not the weakling he is portrayed to be in popular media.

Now I'm sure we know the famous Louis XVI, the "incompetent, asexual blunder of a king that was justly executed because he did not listen to the people". Actually, that is quite wrong and nothing could be further than the truth. Louis XVI was a compassionate, benevolent, hard working, family loving, and upright king who was unjustly executed by the unhappy masses, and his reputation slandered forevermore and it even continues on to this day. I am rather appalled that people even to this day think so negatively of this kind monarch who has tried his best to fulfill his divine rights. This guy was the same king who helped the Americans defeat the British in Colonial America, but only to weaken France's political rival, but did not support the overthrow of a fellow king, who was George III. France was quite a liberal nation at that time and was the least likely to be even needing a revolution, but when the Jacobins, a extreme leftist party created an artificial grain shortage, there were more discontent among the nation. Louis XVI was known to be quite indecisive at times, but regardless, he worked for the happiness of his people and his family. In fact, he ordered his Swiss Guards not to shoot anyone when the people stormed into Versailles because he did not wish to harm his own people. Some Swiss Guards died as a result and became victims to the bloodthirsty rabble rousers. When Louis XVI was executed that day on 21 January 1793, he took the old glory of France with him, and to this day, France has never been the same again. The so-called pinnacle of European culture has fallen quite a lot. 28 July 1794 was when his regicide was finally avenged when the bloodthirsty revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre was finally executed by his very own friends who has grown sick of his tyranny. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword. His family was the infamous Marie Antoinette, his queen, his two brothers who would later become Louis XVIII and Charles X, his devout sister Marie Elisabeth, and his children Marie-Thérèse, Louis-Charles, Louis-Joseph, and Sophie Helene Beatrix, who died during infancy. Marie-Thérèse nearly idolised her father and lobbied a lot to canonise her father as a saint to the Roman Catholic Church after his death.

Not so sure why I picked Drifblim to take his role to be honest, but I guess Drifblim is a ghost and Louis is dead and... well it is kind of like a head like the decapitated head of Louis... ah whatever! Drifblim is cool just like Louis XVI!

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"I was a queen, and you took away my crown, a wife, and you killed my husband, a mother, and you took my children away from me. All I have left is my blood. Take it. But do not make me suffer long."

~ Marie Antoinette

Antoinette (Ninetales) (F) @ Lum Berry

Trait: Drought

EVs: 8 HP / 248 SAtk / 252 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

- Nasty Plot

- Hidden Power [Rock]

- Flamethrower

- Energy Ball

Ninetales is my fire type that checks MANY foes thanks to her decent defences and her good speed. She is in many ways unexpected because her movepool is enough to be tailored into many roles. Here she is just offering the Fire type support this team needs to take down Steel Pokemon and thanks to her base 100 speed she is able to either speed tie or outpace many of the foes she needs to take down. I put in some SpDef EVs just so she can absorb a few special attacks or even some water moves. Since she tends to lure in Heatran or Chandelure, I figure I might need to run Hidden Power Ground. In fact, a Choice Scarf MIGHT be beneficial to this Ninetales if I plan on revenging most threats, but more often than not, I found Lum Berry to be a good thing to equip because things tend to paralyse poor Ninetales more often than not. Will-o-Wisp is a good tool, however, to nerf physically powerful beasts like Tyranitar who tend to switch in. I am torn between Flash Fire and Drought though. Flash Fire definitely helps Ninetales with an immunity to Fire, but Drought is what I am running at the moment because this allows me to revenge kill Excadrill who runs amok in the sand otherwise and power up my fire moves and weaken water moves. I am considering Hex to ruin Shandera switch ins, but Dark Pulse would do better. However, that means I will lose Drought.

EDIT: Smogon apparently had a new set for Gen IV, which allows Ninetales to survive a Surf from 0 SpA Milotic and 2HKO back with a + 2 Energy Ball, but Milotic normally runs Scald these days, so I don't even know if that 72 is worth putting (not to mention I have Drought), so I'll just leave HP at 8. I put Nasty Plot in, but I might revert back to Psycho Shock seeing how Ninetales is not the sweeper here. Hidden Power Rock can deal with foes like Volcarona and flying Dragons, but the problem is that it lowers her Speed IVs, which is BAD. If I'm running imperfect Speed, I might as well drop it so that I outpace base 95ers, BUT I decided against it because of one common threat: Genosect, who would otherwise mangle with Ninetales badly if I did not outpace. I am quite indecisive about Ninetales right now because of her vast movepool and wondering what her role should be. She isn't doing enough damage without Life Orb, but Lum Berry is crucial as stuff LOVE to throw status around liberally. Now to see if this set up works.

History:

Marie Antoinette, the mother. She would NEVER cease to think about her children, even unto her death.

If you thought Louis XVI's reputation was maligned, then Marie Antoinette was sabotaged, shot at, shred to pieces, dipped into pig waste, spat upon 9001 times, and left rotten for centuries to come because this queen was a much better woman than the adulterous, scandalous, frivolous, vain whorish reputation she was unjustly given ever since the wake of the French Revolution. On the contrary, this woman cared a lot for the poor and lobbied actively to help those in need, and was a very good mother to her children, devoted sincerely to them. Marie Antoinette was the 15th of the 16 children of Marie Theresa from Austria and was given to the 14 year old Louis Augustus (future Louix XVI) in hands for marriage when 12. She was a very good dancer and loved acting and exceled in Latin, Italian and French. She had to get her crooked teeth fixed by painful oral surgeries from a French doctor. She was quite a charmer in the earlier years because of her charming beauty and personality. However, her husband would rarely sleep with her and did not give his wife much affection, even acting coldly to her in the public (this is most likely due to Louis XV, his grandfather, whose mistresses had tremendous effects on French politics). Because of that, Marie thought of herself unattractive and began spending money on lavish dresses and became quite addicted to gambling. Louis told her one day to stop gambling, but the young Daupine would ask him for just one more night. Giving in, Louis was appalled when Marie would allow the game on for three nights. This behaviour would all stop when she finally became a mother years later, and she would begin dressing more modestly and less lavishly. Her first birthgiving resulted to excessive bleeding on her part, which gave birth to Marie-Thérèse Charlotte. Because of this, Louis banned most courtiers from entering the bedchambers when Marie endured future labours (yes, in the past, it was an honour and a public event when a queen gave birth). She also loved to live an idyllic and imitate a common life in the "Hameau de la Reine", where she dressed up as a commoner a lot and lived very simply, contrary to the popular idea of Antoinette being lavish. Throughout her years, however, she was becoming less and less popular as she had been accused of many things, such as giving French treasury money to her homeland Austria to her brother Emperor Joseph II. However, Antoinette had VERY little political powers and was mostly taking care of her children. In fact, she would drive moral values into her children so they could grow compassionate and loving as she was. Due to political reasons and the republican sentiment plaguing France, the queen became a target of many libels and slanders. One example is the famous saying "Let them eat cake", which Marie Antoinette has never said. This was quoted by Rousseau in one of his works where he stated a famous princess stating it, but this was when young Antoniette was 10 years old. However, she did say "It is quite certain that in seeing the people who treat us so well despite their own misfortune, we are more obliged than ever to work hard for their happiness." She was the target of many sexual accusations with others, including Count Axel von Fersen of Sweden, the Comte d'Artois (future Charles X), lesbian relationships with other women like Mdm. Polignac, and even her own 8 year son. The last charge would be a terrible thing for ANY mother to hear, and in October of 1793 on her trial she was bothered by the revolutionaries to answer that charge. When she did, she replied, "If I do not respond, it is because nature refuses to answer such a charge made to a mother. I appeal to all the mothers who are here!" Many of the courtroom cheered for their queen and jeered at the revolutionaries. Many of the other charges (mostly the Count Fersen one) still remains today and is still thought to be true, even when there are no conclusive evidence for such slander. One thing we do know for sure is Antoinette's commitment towards her family and children. No, she did not have a lukewarm relationship with her husband. During their earlier years it is quite excusable since they were quite young, but the two did genuinely love each other and their children are a testimony to that. In Antoinette's heart was always her children, whom she could never stop thinking of, and was deeply saddened when the revolutionaries took her two remaining children away from her. She practiced the Catholic faith and like her husband Louis she wanted to see a more religious France. Her last letter to her sister-in-law Elisabeth would reveal her true heart and who she truly was. It was never delivered to her as the tyrant Robespierre kept it for himself and hid it under his mattress. Fortunately, we have it now. And when she stood on that scaffold, the queen would be relieved of all she has suffered on earth to join her husband on that fateful day of 21 September 1792. Her children would never hear what happened to their devoted mother, and her only living son would be tortured and die of starvation in 1795. Their only living child, Marie Thérèse, would be a living testimony of the terror France endured for the 10 years of the French Revolution. Antoinette's execution has resulted in a shock around the world, along with Louis XVI's. When Queen Charlotte, the wife of King George III, heard of Antoinette's death, she remained depressed and downtrodden for months, for she was Antoinette's pen pal (the two have never met). Heh heh, you can see I have PLENTY to say about this much misaligned queen of France, but I'm afraid this will get tl;dr'd (which is why it is in spoilers). Darn, I could not keep it short... but I encourage you to do some of your own research about the true Marie Antoinette as opposed to listening to the false image painted on this queen by the Revolutionaries who wanted to justify their bloodshed. She is one historical figure I used to question a lot about, but after looking further into her actual letters and the seemingly ridiculous claims from her opponents, I feel she awaits the vindication of her family's reputation. And even now, she is grossly misinterpreted.

Why I picked Ninetales? Heh, I guess Ninetales does have "ghostly attributes" but I suppose I can see Ninetales as a motherly figure to her young Vulpix cubs and they are smart and quite cunning, like Antoinette. Though Antoinette was not evil, Ninetales is deceptive, much like the deceptive portrait painted of Marie Antoinette. Ninetales is considered beautiful and elegant, much like the maligned queen herself. Unlike Ninetales, who is vengeful, Antoinette instructed her son her final letter to not take vengeance on the authors of her death. Tragic is it not?

The Roster:

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"Here lies very high and powerful excellent prince Charles X by name king, by the grace of God, of France and of Navarre"

~ The Tombstone of Charles X

Charles X (Forretress) (M) @ Shed Shell

Trait: Sturdy

EVs: 252 HP / 112 Atk / 144 Def

IVs: 0 Speed

Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)

- Rapid Spin

- Stealth Rock

- Gyro Ball

- Spikes/Toxic Spikes

Seems like I can't get enough of this guy. Forretress lead usually gets its job done by setting up the spikes it needs to and spinning opposing entry hazards away. Gyro Ball usually takes care of many of the faster Pokemon out there due to its STAB and immense power against others since it is normally much slower than most other Pokemon. And if it is at a disadvantage, I would not leave it there and will go straight to another Pokemon. He can come back later to take physical hits as he is very physically sturdy. I may tweak his EVs to be more leaning towards the Special Defence side, but I think most of my team is already sufficient in that area, so I figure a physical defence specialization will do. I'm torn between Spikes and Toxic Spikes though. Toxic Spikes will work well vs stallish teams while Spikes do better against the offensive Pokemon (Excadrill and Lucario come into mind). But I suppose in an offensive team, Spikes will definitely do numbers against grounded threats as mentioned, so I will go along with Spikes for the time being.

History:

1824, Charles X distributes awards to artists in the Louvre

Charles X was the French king after Louis XVIII, his older brother. Their elder brother was Louis XVI, the martyred king during the French Revolution. Charles had a womanising personality, but he was said to be handsome. He was a very talented actor as well. However, Charles was sent away under his brother Louis XVI's orders during the French Revolution to escape danger. He tried to produce a counterrevolutionary movement against the French revolutionists, and lived a lifetime in exile and he finally spent time in England, where George III welcomed him. When Charles returned much later after the deaths of his brother, his older brother Louis XVIII became king until his death. Now Charles was to become king, and he was very traditional and restored the powers of the nobles and the Church in attempts to bring France to its former glory. Rather than attack other Christian nations, he turned against Muslim raiders which led to the French conquest of Algeria in Africa. His reign was short lived however, as the hearts of the revolutionaries were still among the population and many were rather dissatisfied of his attempts to return France to the old ways. He would not give into the ideas of the reformers because he saw his brother Louis XVI do the same and die for it. This resulted in the July Revolution, in which where Charles X abdicated and due to the monstrous crowds, he and his family were exiled to England. Charles X saw less than 6 years of reign but tried to fight for the restoration of the traditional rights of the monarchy until the very end.

I suppose that is why I put up Forretress as Charles X, as he lived most of his life in exile which is somewhat equivalent to hiding? Heh I don't know, but I like Charles X for his restoration attempts of the French monarchy to its rightful place, though after Napoleon III, France would become a Republic forevermore... losing many of its old tradition.

"Poor little thing; you are not what they wanted, but we will love you nonetheless. A son would have belonged to the State; you shall be mine, and have all my care; you shall share in my happiness and soften my sorrows."

~ Marie Antoinette to Marie Thérèse

M. Thérèse (Chandelure) (F) @ Choice Scarf

Trait: Flash Fire

EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

- Hidden Power [Rock]

- Energy Ball

- Fire Blast

- Shadow Ball

Yes I have caved in and decided to use a Gen V Pokemon at last. I am trying Chandelure out as a replacement of both Drifblim and Ninetales from the previous incarnation of the team but as a more solid revenge killer. No, I will not use Shadow Tag because it is insanely broken. Unfortunately, running Hidden Power Rock gives imperfect Speed IVs, but for now, I will have to live with it. Rock is there to mess with things like Volcarona who always think they can set up on Chandelure and mess with it. With max SpA, I hit 389 SpA, which is a LOT, so STAB Fire Blast and Shadow Ball will deal a truckload of damage. Energy Ball hits Grounds and Waters for super effective damage, particularly Swampert. I will not run Psychic because a STAB Fire Blast is just as effective as a Super Effective Psychic on its main targets. I may convert Chandelure to another set later, but for now, I will try the regular revenge killer set.

History:

A pretty endearing picture of Marie Therese and her mother Marie Antoinette

She is the only surviving child of the ill-fated Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, and lived her entire life through exiles after exiles. However, she was instilled the kindness and the good virtues of her mother Marie Antoinette, contrary to what popular media portray the queen as. As a child, she was spoiled and pampered by her father Louis XVI but was raised to be a modest and a loving figure by her mother Marie Antoinette, whom the young Madame Royale despised as a child, but came to love her when she grew older. In fact, while savagely imprisoned by the revolutionaries in the Temple Tower, these words are scratched in the walls:

"Marie-Thérèse Charlotte is the most unhappy person in the world. She can obtain no news of her mother; nor be reunited to her, though she has asked it a thousand times. Live, my good mother! whom I love well, but of whom I can hear no tidings. O my father! watch over me from heaven above, life was so cruel to her. O my God! forgive those who have made my parents suffer."

Every time she would hear her younger brother suffering and screaming and crying in another room but sadly could not go to comfort him. The young Louis XVII would die of starvation and poor prison conditions in 1795. More details to come about her life after the revolution as I simply have no time to write more right now.

Since I got rid of her parents Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette from my team, I figured I'd add their tragic legacy as one in my team in the form of Chandelure. Yeah... though she did not take revenge on the revolutionaries, and this set is a revenger. Whatever.

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"I've come to suck ze blood!"

~ Lame Filler Quote

Vlad III (Gliscor) (M) @ Yache Berry

Trait: Sand Veil

EVs: 192 HP / 96 Atk / 220 Spd

Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

- Swords Dance

- Earthquake

- Ice Fang

- Roost

This here has become my answer to the increasingly prevalent threats in the form of Excadrill, Konkledurr, Lucario, Landlos, etc. 220 Speed trolls on anything that goes 216 Speed with positive 95 speed and the rest of the EVs, I did not really thought of much actually. I am running Earthquake for STAB, but Ice Fang is there for coverage and to take other grounds such as opposing Gliscors out. I am torn betwen Ice Fang and Fire Fang though. While Ice Fang does provide better coverage, Fire Fang can handle with flying steels like Skarmory or Bronzong who otherwise utterly wall me. But for now, I will go with Ice Fang. Swords Dance is there just so I can get a chance to deal massive damage (especially to Konkledurr who would otherwise just Bulk Up without a problem). Yache Berry is there because everyone anticipates Gliscor so much right now that they all pack Ice moves or something to deal with Gliscor switch ins. Hopefully, this will alleviate one otherwise fatal switch in, but I was also considering Leftovers or Lum Berry. The reason I am going 2 attacks as opposed to just 1 is because going pure Ground is a BAD idea and the very thing this guy aims to deal with, Excadrill, often holds a Balloon. It would be pointless otherwise, so a secondary attack to negate that balloon is a must. I should probably invest more into the defences, but again, I need to think this out a bit more. Right now, it serves to provide a reliable check against things that would otherwise annihilate my team. I also hear Fling + Poison Heal + Acrobatics Gliscor is in the rage right now, but aside from dealing with Konkledurr and Machamp easier, I don't really feel it is a must to run Flying STAB. But I will see what works.

History:

I do not know much about the original Dracula, Vlad III the Impaler, but fear not, the Romanian prince will be a subject for me to research about.

Vlad the Impaler and Gliscor DO have SOME form of similarity, no?

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"We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat. They do not exist."

~ Queen Victoria

Victoria (Blissey) (F) @ Leftovers

Trait: Natural Cure

EVs: 252 Def / 80 SAtk / 32 SDef / 144 Spd

Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)

- Wish

- Protect

- Seismic Toss

- Flamethrower

Now what's a team without Blissey? This pink blob is what keeps my team together in many ways, taking special attacking threats with very little problem and can even deal with some physical assaults (provided it isn't a Fighting move). Wish keeps team members healthy and the other two moves are for self-defence. Flamethrower deals with Scizor, but is Scizor as dominant in Gen V metagame as in Gen IV? I may switch to Ice Beam if that is not the case. Now I kick myself quite often now because of all the stupid status inflicted upon my teammates. I feel like Aromatherapy would be a good choice, but I am not sure what to replace for it. Seismic Toss is good and I don't believe I am getting rid of that any time soon. I wonder if Blissey could also be a status inflicter? Would Toxic or Thunder Wave be a good idea?

History:

Victoria and her family, 1861.

Queen Victoria... aka the Grandmother of Europe, is quite a venerated and renown queen of England, where her era was dubbed "The Victorian Era". She was the second longest reigning monarch of England so far (for 63 years and 7 months, surpassed by the concurrent Elizabeth II) and was the last monarch of the House of Hanover (her grandfather was King George III). She married Prince Albert whom she was very attracted to and would not do anything without his approval. It was Victoria who started the whole white wedding dress tradition; before her the woman in marriage would wear her fanciest dress during marriage. Due to Albert's progressional thinking, a lot of scientific advances were done during this era and all nine of her children would live to adulthood. There were many assassination attempts on Victoria, but fortunately, she has survived them all. When her husband died of illness, she was very upset she lived in seclusion for 25 years. A whole generation grew up without ever seeing their queen. During that time period, republican sentimentism grew, but when she resurfaced, the queen's popularity soared again. I do not know enough about Victoria to say much about her, but her reign had many ups and downs, many approvals and disapprovals from her subjects, and yet reigned prosperously and has seen England change through the Industrial Revolution. She outlived three of her nine children (Leopold, Alice, and Alfred, the first to die due to hemorrage, the "royal disease"... and Alice was a carrier) and finally died at 22 January 1901 at the age of 81. She requested a White funeral instead of the traditional black, and when her casket was laid at the mausoleum, it began to snow. Some of her grandchildren includes King George V, the son of her successor and son King Edward VII, and Tsarina Alexandra, the daughter of Victoria's own daughter Alice. Alexandra was the last empress of all Russia... yep, she is the wife of the ill-fated Tsar Nicholas II, and the mother of four daughter and one son, Alexei, who had haemophilia as well... all martyred on that terrible terrible day of 17 July 1918. Yep, Victoria is related to many famous royals. She is one of my favourite royals. Though her era was all about Victorian morals and such, there were some downs such as the high rate of child labour and prostitution. However, while other places were going through crises like America and their Civil War and their Manifest Destiny stuff and France going through repeated overthrows of kings and republican upheavals, Britain continued to flourish overall.

I originally had a female Jellicent named Victoria, but I already have a ghost and a water in this team. Heh, Blissey is popular like Queen Victoria, loved and hated at the same time. Why not? Also, her body constitution is similar to Victoria's in the later years. Not meant to be an insult to her though... but unlike Victoria, Blissey always smiles. Something strange I found in quotes from Victoria is her disdain for marriage, and yet she was happy with her family. Eh whatever.

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"A traitor is everyone who does not agree with me."

~ George III

George III (Empoleon) (M) @ Leftovers

Trait: Torrent

EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 92 SDef / 4 Spd

Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)

- Scald

- Grass Knot

- Ice Beam

- Roar

Now, Empoleon is indeed a remarkable Pokemon known for his high Special Attack and a unique Water/Steel typing. However, instead of playing him like everyone else plays him (as a SubAgilityPetaya Sweeper or variants of that sort), I will capitalise his defences and utilise his resistances to many key typings. Unlike most other bulky waters, Empoleon has immunity to Toxic, which is lethal for most bulky waters, and can usually fight back against them with Grass Knot. All right, he can't do much against Tentacruel, but that guy can't do anything to Empoleon either aside from setting up and whatnot. Anyways, I digress. This defensive spread of Empoleon has been rather nicely and I have been using this guy to revenge Outraging Dragons and counter others like Kingdra very nicely. I am not using Surf or Hydro Pump because it is not this Empoleon's primary concern: it is meant to be a defensive pivot for this team with resistances to attacks that the other Pokemon in this team would love, such as Ice and a multitude of other attacks. Scald is the STAB attack of choice here because of its 30% chance of burning and its decent 80 BP (hey, some other Pokemon settle for 80 BP STAB moves as well such as Tyranitar with Crunch and Gengar with Shadow Ball). It becomes even scarier when Torrent activates. The other moves are for attacking other targets such as Dragons with Ice Beam and other bulky waters with Grass Knot. I even use Roar because this Empoelon is intended to be defensive. However, I do find it bothersome that I rely on Wish Support on Blissey A LOT because Empoleon will not live for long if it keeps taking hits, and both are weak to Fighting, which means the team can fall prey to, I don't know, Machamp or something ridiculous. I have been considering a Gliscor teammate for that very reason, but I'm not sure where to fit it, or if I should get rid of Empoleon altogether and replace it with another water. I'll experiment, but so far, Empoleon works rather well and is generally unexpected.

History:

His Majesty, George III, on a horse

Warning: This will be a LONG ride.

Here we have a tyrannical king in the United States who is hailed as a very good king in the United Kingdom. Oh boy... which side to take? Was George III a noble man who strengthened his country during the darkest times or a tyrant who oppressed his colonies by taxing them forever and ever until all their riches were placed into the coffers? Funny thing is, I took a Facebook quiz sometime long ago and my result was "I am like King George III: The ugly king of England during the revultionary (sic) war, all he is, is a man who thinks he is the best and only cares about himself. He declares himself as a rich man, but he is only rich by jacking money from everyone." This is the American point of view widely held by American children today and the bloke could not even spell 'revolutionary' right! Well, I'll settle the score once and for all, for all of this, I believe, is simply misunderstanding for the most part and critical examination of this king reveals perhaps there's something more to him than "a money hungry jerk". Let's look at who he is first. George III is the grandson of George II, the son of George I, who hailed from the House of Hanover after the last queen of the House of Stuart, Queen Anne, died with no heir. Hanover is a province in Germany so the first two Georges ruled England with German traditions, but after the end of the Stuart dynasty, they were pretty much figureheads and quite tame in ruling as compared to the more involved leaders such as George III. Now George III was different from his predecessors as he was raised in England and so he did not have a funny German accent and was raised in the Anglican faith. His character was quite a strong moral one too, as unlike his brothers and his grandfather, he remained faithful to his wife, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who the people of England called ugly. They met for the first time on their wedding day and had a genuinely happy marriage and produced 15 children. The queen was quite a good natured and humourous woman and was a patroness for the fine arts. George never even took a mistress and was disgusted at his brothers' misconducts on such affairs. He prayed a lot as he was deeply devout in his beliefs. George was mockingly named "Farmer George" because he would visit poor farmers and would do all he can to improve the agricultural life. Under George III did British agriculture flourish. He, unlike the other Georges, also exercised his powers a LOT until after the American Independence War. But enough about his personal conducts and onto his political issues. We all know about the Seven Years War that took place in the American colonies (although it was a worldwide war and is known as the French and Indian War in America). There's so much details to cover, but let's keep it short: the Anglo-Americans in the colonies needed defence from their British motherland to fight against the French, and in doing so, the French were stripped of Canada and all of their colonial claims in the Ohio River Valley, a coveted piece of land for both the British, French and the Native Americans. Spanish got the majority of the west side, but nobody expects the Spanish Inqui-*gets shot*. Okay, well, after the British had won the war and became a world power, there was one problem; their treasury was practically emptied! Wars are quite expensive, especially when taking place worldwide and overseas! So of course, the British who aided their colonies to defend their land from French attacks had to get money somehow to replenish their treasury, but from what? Hur hur... hello colonies, we're here to tax you because well, we helped you in this and spent our money and so we need money in return to sustain our nation. And they were justified in doing so because they were helping the colonists fight the colonists' war using the ENGLAND's money. And as for the citizens in England? They were taxed maybe... 25 times more than the colonists themselves. Not to mention the colonists had much better living condition than the English did. The colonists did not mind as they have always been paying taxes and evaded rules they did not care much for, as it was not strictly enforced. Then came Proclamation of 1763, where the British tells the Americans "you cannot cross this certain line" in order to maintain peace with the Native Americans. This was a rather inconvenient proposition for the land hungry colonists, especially people like George Washington who had just purchased lands there (as if the lands they already possessed was not enough). And then came a bunch of other acts such as the Sugar Act and the wildly unpopular Stamp Act, which caused the colonists to riot and rebel against British officials. The British were shocked as they had no idea that it would cause such a reaction, for it seemed perfectly okay in their eyes. But the Stamp Act, even some of the Parliament members agreed it wasn't well thought out, and so it was repealed an year later. Victory for the colonists... but at the same time came the Declaratory Act, which stated that the Parliament had the right to declare laws to the colonists. Well, whatever, that's fine and it had no real effect on them because that is how it has always been. Another act called the Townsend Duties came straight after, which lowered the tax on many things and taxed on goods like tea, glass, and paint. The British were smart here, as only rich people buy those stuff and therefore they were only taxing the rich, and even then, nowhere near the amount of tax they were putting on the English in Britain. Then some rabble rousing man named Samuel Adams from Boston organized the Sons of Liberty, something like a social network of information across the colonies and started a Continental Congress in Boston calling everyone across the colonies to state that the Townsend Duties were unconstitutional to the British Constitution. Er... what are you kidding me? There is no WRITTEN British Constitution and the people knew that, so they voted down on Adams. However, Adams was smart and waited until everyone went home... well, everyone except the other rabble rousing Bostonians who stayed with him and he made the same declaration again, and got his votes in, and this was published across the press. When news reached London, the British were quite curious and quite infuriated and they ordered the Massachusetts Legislature to be dissolved. And who was happy about this? Samuel Adams of course... snickering in delight as he ticks off the English. In Boston at 5 March, 1770, were a bunch of rowdy men who came by the the House of Representatives, provoking the British soldiers around that area to become angry as they threw various objects, such as snowballs with rocks inside. Of course, they would yell "fire!" mockingly, and what could the soldiers do when being provoked like that? They would fire at the mob, causing 5 deaths among the civilians, one among them being an African American named Crispus Attucks.. This incident became known as the Boston Massacre, immortalized by the famous picture by Paul Revere (the dude who made that midnight ride yelling "The British are coming!"), which would make it look as if the Redcoat British army were the ones who shot the men willingly as opposed to revealing the full story. All but 2 of the soldiers were acquitted of "defending themselves" by none other than the brilliant but arrogant lawyer John Adams (future 2nd president of the US). Then the English reinforce the anti smuggling act where the British can seize ships if they are caught smuggling French/Dutch/Spanish goods to the colonies. This was extremely inconveinent for people like John Hancock, who was a renown smuggler. Then in 16 December 1773, for the first time ever, there were Mohawk Indians spotted in Boston! But they were kinda pale in comparison to regular Mohawks... but huh? What were they doing? They're dumping a bunch of tea from the British East India company down Boston Harbour! What sort of madness is this? In fact, it was like 10000 lbs of tea dumped into the harbour that it is said for the two weeks following that event, you could taste tea in the harbour. The protesting Mohawks were the Sons of Liberty, dressed up as Mohawks to protest against British Authority. While these guys are regarded as national heroes in America these days, the British would see this as just plain rebellion; the colonies have gone amok. The British had no choice but to pass a bunch of laws which targeted Massachusetts especially (for it was a renegade state), which the Americans call the Intolerable Acts. I won't go into the details, but as you can see, after repeated offenses from the colonists and the British being very confused about the state of matters, even giving into some of their demands, it became clear the colonies were at a state of rebellion. Yes, Americans, YOU were the aggressors, just like all the other times! Finally in 1774 the King declared in a letter to Lord North, "The die is now cast; the colonies must either submit or triumph... we must not retreat." And so the American War for Independence began in 1774. If the colonies were in an open state of rebellion, what else could the King do? He has tried all he could to maintain them but they continued to rebel like spoiled children do. Though the Patriot rebels outnumbered the British, the British won most of their wars due to their superior military prowess and the support from the many Loyalists, who are mostly forgotten in the course of history. Now let's get this straight here. Remember the Lexington and Concord incident, aka "the Shot Heard Around the World"? Historians just try to make it look like an epic moment and say "no one knows who fired the first shot". Well, remember the British were not looking for war at all. The militia minutemen were, however, ready for the incident, and of course, the whole incident ended up a disaster in Lexington for the minutemen. I really cannot stand how they like to villainise the British who were merely trying to maintain order in their colonies. The colonies were like jewels to the British Crown, and were very valuable to them. In spite of the British fighting valiantly, the rebels had propaganda at their side and large numbers, but poor leadership. George Washington, much known for his failure when he was 21 during Fort Necessity, was even more incompetent during this war, as he was only good for running and his small victorious moments are often glorified, such as the crossing of the Delaware River to assault a bunch of drunken Hessians. Heh heh, but nonetheless, this is the guy who becomes the Father of the United States. The factor the screwed with the British? It was the French, as without their help, the colonists would be just as incompetent against the British as the colonists were incompetent against the French during the Seven Years War. Finally in 1784, Britain surrendered (which coincided with Lord North's fall of power in Parliament) and in spite of losing the very own colonies that demonised him, he would recognise his new relationship with the independent United States. "I was the last to consent to the separation; but the separation having been made and having become inevitable, I have always said, as I say now, that I would be the first to meet the friendship of the United States as an independent power." There was a large exodus of Loyalists from the States to Canada and to England. Alas, in the later years of his life, George III began to develop symptoms of madness, which only began to get worse in the 1800s. In fact, it was quite bad that he had to be kept in seclusion in 1812 and was taken care of by the Queen until his death. The Revolutionary syndrome has spread from the Americas to France, where the horrid French Revolution took place. George III saw this as God's punishment to Louis XVI for siding with the belligerents of America. Regardless, the same people who fought for the Americans were mostly loyal to their king, for they were really fighting against British power and not for the Republican cause. The Republican cause did spread to England and there were assassination attempts of the king. One time, he was at a theatre and someone tried to make an attempt on his life. However, the king remained calm and ordered the show to continue, with the crowd beginning to sing "God Save the King". Also, it was through his leadership that England was saved from Napoleon's conquest while other nations slowly fell under his power. Well, it was mostly due to England's superior naval power, while Napoleon had all his power in land. In his entire life, George III never left England and never even visited Hanover. He has not even visited his colonies, but if he had, maybe the colonists would have seen what a down-to-earth man their king really was, and may have reconsidered their position in the Revolutionary War. Who knows? This incredible king has become maligned in one nation in order to justify their Independence, and even then, he tried to maintain a diplomatic relationship with them. There's a lot more to say about George III, but I don't believe he should be remembered as the "Mad King" or "The King Who Lost America". He had other redeeming qualities and it certainly does show his true person. In fact, I'd say, it might just be this guy who is my favourite monarch...

Yes, facepalm at me now as I have named a Pokemon strictly designed after Napoleon Bonaparte to George III. I guess I was thinking mostly because George III has used his traditional powers as a monarch during his earlier years and the fact that England had a very powerful naval power at that time, hence why Empoleon is used. Ah well.

[hgsssprite]149[/hgsssprite]

“I can make a lord, but only God can make a gentleman”

~ King James VI & I

James VI & I (Dragonite) (M) @ Lum Berry

Trait: Multi-Scale

EVs: 224 HP / 80 Atk / 204 Spd

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

- Dragon Dance

- Outrage

- Earthquake

- Roost

This is Dragonite, who has become one of my favourite Pokemon and has gained my attention even more starting from Generation IV. They keep making better dragons than this poor guy, and they won't give him a break, but my policy is to make my favourites shine, no matter how many better choices there are. As you can see, this is just an old "bulky dragon dancing" set, and requires tons of support to pull off. Thanks to the new ability Multi-Scale, it will take 50% damage from an attack when Dragonite is in full health. Not bad at all, as it has saved its life MANY times (except for those bloody critical hits from Ice Beams... Tbird you know what I am talking about). Lum Berry is always going to be my choice here as it protects Dragonite from statuses for one time or get rid of Outrage confusion. I'm not so sure what to do with him, as this is the best "sweeper" type Dragonite I have come across, and the goal is to revolve the team around him. I have considered Light Screen over Earthquake but Earthquake gives me the edge over most Steels, so I don't believe I can drop that.

History:

HRM King James VI & I of Scotland & England

When Queen Elizabeth I died, she had no successor left and so her nephew in Scotland, James VI, became the king of England as James I. So for the first time in history, the two kingdoms, Scotland and England, united and hence the beginning of the House of Stuarts. James was a Protestant and like Elizabeth, he strengthened the Protestant cause for England and had many Catholic enemies. He married Anne of Denmark who he loved very much. When her ship was forced into the coasts of Norway due to a storm, James sailed to where she was to fetch her personally, often called the "one romantic episode of his life". He had a strong hatred for witchcraft and John Dee, a prominent occultist during Elizabeth's reign, was expelled from his court, for he was not tolerant to his dabbling in the occult as Elizabeth was. James was quite a smart person and has authored many books such as Daemonologie and Basilikon Doron. The king, well beyond his years, even wrote against smoking in a pamphlet, stating "“[smoking is] hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, and dangerous to the lungs". He was a supporter of the absolute theory of monarchy where due to divine right, the king is allowed to declare law however he wants but to pay attention to what God says is right or wrong. James was the firsts of many, such as the successful colonization in Jamestown (yes it is named after him), the union of Scotland and England (Union Jack unified the two flags), and much more. He was very involved in the affairs of the Church of England, as he was head. James was rather opposed to Catholics and extremist Puritans, but he did try to address the Puritan issues in the Hampton Court Conference of 1604, and from there, he agreed in a new Bible Translation. We now know it as the King James Bible (or the Authorized Version of 1611), and it is still used today (and the only Bible translation known to have no copyright). Of course, he made enemies with the Catholic Church, much like his predecessor Elizabeth I. In doing so, a major assassination attempt was made in 1609 involving gunpowders and Spaniards. Their plan was to kill the king and his parliament members and make his daughter Elizabeth into a Catholic monarch to restore Catholicism in England. The plot failed, however, and the perpetrator, Guy Fawkes, was executed. Even to this day, effigies of that man is burned in England at 5 November, known as Guy Fawkes Night. During James's reign many literary advances were made, such as ones done by William Shakespeare and Sir Francis Bacon. But even this king was not immune to slandering, as one opponent of James, Anthony Weldon, is said to have written against him, denouncing him in many ways, including charges of sodomy. However, this charge is unproven and the king has even written against sodomy in one of his literature. Also given the fact this guy had 9 children (2 stillborn) with his queen should hint against that accusation. A favourite story about the King is when his wife went hunting she accidentally shot the king's favourite hunting dog. When James found out what happened, he bought an expensive diamond ring for the queen, just to say to forget about the illness. There are accounts of how there were marriage tensions between the two and how the two lived separate lives near the end, but James had genuinely loved her and was stricken with grief when she died. James I himself died of an illness, and his successor would be the martyred king, Charles I.

Hmm, I guess James VI & I is one of my favourite monarchs and Dragonite is one of my favourite Pokemon. I guess that is all I can say. Not sure where the correlation comes from

Yes, notice I haven't used any Gen V Pokemon yet. However, I'm open to any suggestions and any updates to the new Gen V metagame, as I have not played in a long time. Oh, and if you can, please try to list some Pokemon that you would consider royal? You know, maybe stuff like Kingdra or Nidoqueen or even Serperior, etc...? Anything that fits in a royal or monarchy theme, be it western/eastern/anything (even legendaries such as King Arthur or Lohengrin).

I am liking the first version of this team a bit better than the second form, but second seems to look better on paper as I really do need stuff like Gliscor to check on stuff that runs rampant in this metagame.

Suggestions Made:

* Removing Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette (Drifblim and Ninetales) to replace them with Shandera and Gliscor. Done

* Replace George III (Empoleon) with another bulky water as I already have Forretress as a Steel, such as Swampert

Notepad Form:

YAY SPOILER LADDERS!

Divine Rights V2

Charles X (Forretress) (M) @ Shed Shell

Trait: Sturdy

EVs: 252 HP / 112 Atk / 144 Def

Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)

- Rapid Spin

- Spikes

- Gyro Ball

- Stealth Rock

M. Thérèse (Chandelure) (F) @ Choice Scarf

Trait: Flash Fire

EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

- Hidden Power [Rock]

- Energy Ball

- Flamethrower

- Shadow Ball

Vlad III (Gliscor) (M) @ Yache Berry

Trait: Sand Veil

EVs: 192 HP / 96 Atk / 220 Spd

Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

- Swords Dance

- Earthquake

- Ice Fang

- Roost

Victoria (Blissey) (F) @ Leftovers

Trait: Natural Cure

EVs: 252 Def / 80 SAtk / 32 SDef / 144 Spd

Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)

- Wish

- Protect

- Seismic Toss

- Flamethrower

George III (Empoleon) (M) @ Leftovers

Trait: Torrent

EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 92 SDef / 4 Spd

Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)

- Scald

- Grass Knot

- Ice Beam

- Roar

James VI & I (Dragonite) (M) @ Lum Berry

Trait: Multi-Scale

EVs: 224 HP / 80 Atk / 204 Spd

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

- Dragon Dance

- Outrage

- Earthquake

- Roost

Divine Rights V1

Charles X (Forretress) (M) @ Shed Shell

Trait: Sturdy

EVs: 252 HP / 112 Atk / 144 Def

Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)

- Rapid Spin

- Spikes

- Gyro Ball

- Stealth Rock

Louis XVI (Drifblim) (M) @ Chesto Berry

Trait: Unburden

EVs: 12 HP / 252 Def / 120 SAtk / 32 SDef / 92 Spd

Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

- Calm Mind

- Shadow Ball

- Thunderbolt

- Rest

Antoinette (Ninetales) (F) @ Lum Berry

Trait: Drought

EVs: 8 HP / 248 SAtk / 252 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

- Nasty Plot

- Hidden Power [Rock]

- Flamethrower

- Energy Ball

Victoria (Blissey) (F) @ Leftovers

Trait: Natural Cure

EVs: 252 Def / 80 SAtk / 32 SDef / 144 Spd

Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)

- Wish

- Protect

- Seismic Toss

- Flamethrower

George III (Empoleon) (M) @ Leftovers

Trait: Torrent

EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 92 SDef / 4 Spd

Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)

- Scald

- Grass Knot

- Ice Beam

- Roar

James VI & I (Dragonite) (M) @ Lum Berry

Trait: Multi-Scale

EVs: 224 HP / 80 Atk / 204 Spd

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

- Dragon Dance

- Outrage

- Earthquake

- Roost

Why Monarchy?

"For every monarchy overthrown the sky becomes less brilliant, because it loses a star. A republic is ugliness set free."

~ Anatole France, 1921.

Even if she was the queen who danced while Paris starved (she was not as we know by now), does it give you any right to invade a person's living space? The people CAN be monsters too...

Good question. Why would I pick such a theme? In fact, why bother when it's such an obsolete forme of government which invites tyranny and no freedom? That's where you're wrong, but I guess when you live in a time where Republicans have taken over basically the entire world, your only mindset is Republican, and therefore, never considering what worked for the past centuries. Like they say, don't fix what's not broken. Of course, the Enlightenment people DID and overthrew what was already there. But to bring up a Republic, these nations had to go through tremendous bloodshed of innocents all for the sake of bringing the light unto the world. But just think for a second about what type of a government it is when it requires the loss of innocence to come into fruition. I'm not going into the specifics about the benefits of a monarchy over a republic at the moment, you can ask me that yourself if you want to find out, but the results do not lie. Some of the least corrupt countries happen to be monarchies and the most corrupt ones are all these republics that came about, a phenomenon that spurted since the 1800s. The only one that is above average is the USA, but that is probably because it was quite shaped by the British constitution. But look at the quote above and see what I want to say. When a Monarchy falls, a star falls. Look at France, a nation that took 3 times to get a republic set up. France was quite the nation in the past, being the pinnacle of European culture, and also powerful enough to be pretty much Great Britain's #1 political rival. Now what is it? We laugh at it for being the "surrender party"! Things just aren't the same once these republics come to be. This spread of democracy across the world is pretty much the spreading of forbidden knowledge... the forbidden fire Prometheus took from Olympus to give to common man. As Joseph II said, a government should be FOR the people, but never by the people. It sounds so weird, sure, since we are living at a time where it is okay to make fun of kings or hate them simply because they ARE kings... but was being equal always the right way? People need a role, something to offer to the world, and by spreading communism-lite, it just isn't happening; we are only dooming ourselves. I have a lot more to say, but... nah, that's not the whole point of this thing

Links

1. A Warstory Involving This Team

2. Thread in Another Forums

Edited June 13, 2011 by wraith89

[wraith89]

British AND French monarchy are represented here as you can see (3 of them are French and 3 of them are British) but yes, I do love the British monarchy. And no Forretress does not evolve (nor does it have to).

I'm actually using Empoleon's STEEL typing to an advantage, and if I wanted pure Water, I would probably use Milotic as Forretress already spins and Blastoise offers spinning as his most valuable tool. Swampert is VERY good of a defender because it has good offences, electricity immunity and resistance to Stealth Rocks and Rock moves in general (which is key), and 100/90/90 defences are no slouch. Only problem is the lack of recovery moves, which can be remedied with Wish support from the likes of Blissey. Also keep in mind that Grass moves are usually quite predictable, and if not STABd, they usually do not OHKO Swampert.

If you read the first notes, I write it is not for Wifi but for a Simulator which assumes IVs are all 31 and such unless otherwise stated, so no, they are not hacked or anything as I do not even have the game.

Dragonite may be super weak to Ice, but it can usually survive at least one blow, especially with Multi Scale. The idea is to bring it out late game once threats are taken away such as ScarfChomp and Skarmory and other stuff. Then I can set up with impunity as it is quite bulky and Outrage the remnants of the opponent's team. I even wrote the purpose of the team in the beginning.

The Kami trio are what they are, kamis (gods in Japanese). Though theocratic societies did exist certainly in ancient Japan and the likes, I am not sure if I would use them.

From another forums, people suggest that Ninetales is my weakest link, which I try to remedy. I will keep to my original thoughts of replacing Drifblim and Ninetales with Chandelure and Gliscor, as it seems to be beneficial against this evil metagame. Unfortunately, from what I see, Ninetales HELPS me the most in my team, even though I am at loss about what to do with her, so this keeps me from replacing her.like a 'Toss!

Edited March 21, 2011 by wraith89

[Pkmn 337]

This is a really nice team (I'm talking about the theme and all, but the builds are awesome too :wink:)

There are two pokémon that come to my mind that are being used a lot that could be a possible threat: Cloyster and Ditto. I think you've read enough on Smogon and other sites to know about them, after all, been a week since last reply...anyway, I'm gonna talk about cloyster so this post will have some meaning.

So, people use the new move it has, Shell Smash, with it's "old" ability, Skill Link, to win games usually without even the need of the rest of the team (happened with me sometimes on PO, dunno if my building is faulty or it's really an insane attacking force). It gets +2 on both offensive stats and on speed, and loses 2 levels on the defenses. Then, it's Icicle Spear and Rock Blast to the end. The only pokémon I think that could survive is Empoleon, just to be aware of that, you may want to include some priority move on Empoleon or Dragonite, just to be a little safe.

I'm gonna have to go for a while now, sorry if I didn't help much.

[wraith89]

It's fine... in fact I somewhat forgot about Cloyster. I'm well aware of Shell Smash Cloyster... I've been using those myself. It's a monster, and yeah, I guess Empoleon is my only answer to it. Grass Knot will obliterate Cloyster for sure unless it runs Focus Sash. That's not so reassuring though... as Ferrothorn is another adequate answer to Cloyster as well.

Ditto is just cheap... it needs to be BANNED. At least I'm running a few tanks, so if I know there is a Ditto, there will be more chance to transform into a wall instead, which isn't too big of a threat.

[Immabeast]

lmao love the caption under Dragonite i could see one saying that lol.

Good teams and fun facts

[Umbrellacorp495]

Really sweet team dude, It's like bulky sweeper stall. And the history lessons aren't bad either. Just one or two things on the team

1.With your Dragonite, you really want to get rid of Outrage in place of Dragon Claw. Save the lum berry for Burn/Para baiting instead of wasting it on confusion. also with the DD you won't need the extra power boost.

2. With Gliscor you might want to take a more Defensive approach to save Blissey ICC lol (In Case of Conkeldurr) because Forretress will be dead way before you know it without healing and it's only made to setup and spin like a top to get rocks away etc.

3. With Blissey you need to (not "I think you should") switch flamethrower with toxic. The toxic protect combo is devastating especially with the Bliss-Bliss HP and SpDef, and flamethrower is pretty useless even if you put EV's into it's SpAtk, even more redundant when paired with the fact that you have Chandelure on you team.

In conclusion I think you should try these ideas and see how well they do, I really like the theme and how you put the synergey together, rally well done. I'll try this out with my suggestions and see how I like it, have fun battling!

[wraith89]

1) I've done both... one time with Dragon Claw, another time with Outrage. In fact, I originally started with Dragon Claw, but I found Dragon Claw pretty underwhelming sometimes and usually I reserve Dragonite for late game, so Outrage is normally not a problem, as I am sweeping late game where everybody is weakened. In general, the Lum Berry is mostly for the burn/para actually, and it rarely activates for confusion as by that time I swept the team. Prankster Will-o-Wisps and stuff like that are REALLY annoying, so that's where Lum Berry comes in.

2) I think you are right with Gliscor. But I have to experiment with the EVs a lot more. The reason I am using Gliscor is because I got rid of my Excadrill check Ninetales, and I absolutely MUST run two attacks and Roost. I guess Swords Dance is just there so it can hit a lot harder. I just stuck Gliscor in there to provide a check for the many threats in this metagame. And yeah, Gliscor is my switch in for Conkeldurr that I was also thinking of Fling + Acrobatics, but I didn't really think that would be practical as people would know when I would use Fling, and Conkeldurr carries Guts...

3) Ha. This Blissey was a Scizor bait in Gen IV, so I just brought her along for Gen V to see how it went. But Scizor is NOWHERE near as popular as I can see. Sometimes I even contemplate for Ice Beam because of all the dragons running amok. The SpA was enough to OHKO Scizor with SR on the fields or something, I don't even recall anymore. The 144 speed EVs make Blissey unusually fast, just enough to outpace most Scizor and Skarmory and that ugly 180-181 speed tier. Regardless, I might just revert back to Toxic like I used to, because I rarely see the time to use Flamethrower, though every time I DO switch back to Toxic I WISH I had Flamethrower. Yeah Blissey is a hard case, and Chandelure does not switch in to things very well, but I'll have to take a look.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[Umbrellacorp495]

1. Yeah good point, late game outrage is pretty scary. But for me still using "The Claw" works since it's meant to be bulky and the confusion is pretty bad, lol.

2. Yeah actually even with the poison it still doesn't do all that much to Gliscor and Drain Punch does less than nothing so I would surely give it a chance.

3. The Speed I might agree with, there is a lot in that range that can change a stall war in ones favor, but I still think you should go to toxic just to beat stuff out when it comes down to it cause otherwise stalling is a real pain in the ass for you and the opponent And also Chandelure can switch in pretty well to a fighting or fire type, then out speeding it's just gonna kill whatever in one hit so yeah lol.

Thanks for the consideration, hope you try these out.

[wraith89]

1. I alternate between them every now and then, so whatevs.

2. It's not the problem that Conkeldurr won't hurt Gliscor much, but he can switch out after taking the Fling, activating Guts, and can shred the other things into pieces once Gliscor is down. I tried this set, but I found it extremely lacking or Acrobatics is glitched on PO that it won't double damage (it won't even OHKO Machamp after Fling)... so it makes me wonder... I'm just going to stick with what's conventional.

3. I'm liking Flamethrower more than ever now. Ferrothorns always switch in, thinking I have something lame like Ice Beam or try to Leech Seed... too bad Flamethrower hurts them too much to be of any use later. Toxic is better overall, however, especially vs Chandelure. So I think I'd have to switch to that later on. But that means I'm changing the EVs, making Blissey more bulkier, which is exactly what I need.

Overall, I am finding the first rendition of the team better than the second rendition. Second looks good on paper, but it isn't working out as well as I thought it would. I suppose it is the whole unexpectedness of Drifblim or something. Ninetales more often than not saves me... meh. Time to try some new things out.

Thanks for more input. Every bit counts!