Pokémon Challenge – 2

the Pokémon World team — Sat, 01 May 2010 09:03:12 +0000

A Little Bit Of Heart And Soul!

We’ve been pretty excited since HeartGold and SoulSilver rocked up in the office. Perhaps a little too excited, seeing as how we saw fit to take on this month’s challenger using only Pokémon we’d just captured and started raising in the new games. Had we put enough time in to come out victorious with such a fresh squad, or would our newcomers be trampled? If you think you have what it takes to beat us, email us at pokemonworld@imagine-publishing.co.uk with your Friend Code!

Team Lukémon

Feraligatr
Water

Ampharos
Electric

Dragonite
Dragon/Flying

Decent Pokémon but all still with untapped potential.

Team Adam

Hitmonchan
Fighting

Gengar
Ghost/Poison

Garchomp
Dragon/Ground

A beastly team that doesn’t pull any punches.

FIGHT!

We’d simply grown too attached to our new HeartGold/SoulSilver team to go back to Platinum for this issue’s challenge, so fearing the worst we decided to brave it with the new guys. They’d done pretty well against the Trainers of Johto and Kanto, but it didn’t take long for us to be reminded that competitive battling was a whole different ball game!
We decide to open with Dragonite, which the opponent answers with Hitmonchan. Knowing how unprepared we are, we’re in two minds whether to flee, fearing the off-chance that Hitmonchan had learned Ice Punch, but we decide to risk it. This turns out to be the first of several poor decisions on our part and as our Dragon Rush attack goes soaring wide of the mark, the frosty punch comes as an immediate response and lays out the dragon in a single blow. Not a good start. Not wanting Feraligatr to suffer the same fate, should Chan know Thunder Punch, we opt for the comparatively safe option and put Ampharos up. An early Thunder Wave gets us off to a good start and despite the lack of super effective attacks, we manage to Discharge a fair few times before Hitmonchan can even break his paralysis. But by then, it’s too late for him – he’s hurt Ampharos a fair bit, but a final Discharge and the punchy Poké goes down for one a piece! Out comes (the annoyingly resistant) Garchomp, forcing a switch on our part since that Earthquake is all but inevitable. It does indeed come, and Feraligatr switches into it for a fair chunk of ineffective damage. He next tries to power up with Sword’s Dance, but it’ll be his undoing – Feraligatr’s Ice Fang lands hard for quad damage and down goes the big hammerhead. We could win this yet!
Gengar arrives last and we’re ready with Crunch, but disaster strikes as a critical (and presumably Choice Specs-boosted) Shadow Ball tears through Feraligatr for a shock KO! Begrudgingly, we put out our already weakened Ampharos, but he too suffers the same fate – we’ve forgotten how quick and deadly Gengar can be and paid the ultimate price! A win for Team Adam as the reigning champs go down! Congratulations!

THE FINAL WORD

Our first loss of the year! Heartbreaking as it is to see our new friends shot down in flames so easily, we do have to wonder if even some of our better squads could have stood up to this relentless onslaught. The opposing team was obviously well trained and there was no way for our relatively untrained Pokémon to pull through. Next time we’ll be ready…

Pokémon Challenge – 1

the Pokémon World team — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:56:49 +0000

Rumble in the jungle!

This was a cautious battle against a cautious and thoughtful player. Has Pokémon World finally met its match? If you think you have what it takes to beat us, email us at pokemon-world@imagine-publishing.co.uk with your Friend Code!

Team Henrie

Jirachi
Steel/Psychic

Charizard
Fire/Flying

Regirock
Rock

We had a good spread of types. It’s just a pity our Charizard didn’t last longer. Jirachi was difficult to come by, though; we’re proud of him.

Team Alex

Drapion
Poison/Dark

Marowak
Ground

Gengar
Ghost/Poison

There were no crazy Pokémon in either line‑up, making the battle more about skill.

FIGHT!

For some odd reason the whole house smells like old feet. There is only one thing for it: we grab a clothes peg from the washing line and stick it on our nose. This is the only way we’re going to get through this battle without feeling sick! The battle begins with our little-used Jirachi. His odd-shaped head seems to take up most of the screen. Our opponent Alex, chooses the bone-headed Marowak. We decide to play it cautious and use Protect and wait to see what happens. Before Marowak can send out his first Earthquake attack, we send out the old Red/Blue favourite, Charizard. The Earthquake attack has no effect on him. Our Flamethrower attack almost KOs Marowak but not quite. Unfortunately his reply, Rock Slide, manages to floor Charizard. Oh dear. We switch in Regirock and he’s hit with an Earthquake attack. It’s strong but doesn’t kill him – we’re left with around 90HP or so.
Our own Earthquake attack thankfully takes down the Marowak’s last breath of health. At this point Regirock begins to rebuild his lost health with Leftovers. This is surprisingly effective. Next up from the enemy is Gengar. His stupid grin and purple face doesn’t scare us! Well maybe a little, because we used Protect and before he can attack we switch back in Jirachi and use Night Shade. Gengar Curses our triangular-headed friend, but our Psychic attack is Super Effective and gets rid of Gengar in one hit. We both switch for the final battle, so it’s back to Regirock for us and Drapion for Alex. Now it’s all about the attack spamming: we use Earthquake while Alex repeats Crunch. Luckily for us, Earthquake does more damage. And before we know it, Drapion is down and we are victorious!

THE FINAL WORD

It seems that Regirock’s powerful Earthquake attack coupled with his Leftovers saved us. Each time we were hit, the Leftovers scraped back enough health for him to survive two of our foe’s Crunch attacks, whereas his Drapion had no way of healing. It was a slow and measured match, making a change. Thankfully our switching tactics paid off. It doesn’t always work out that way, though!

Pokémon World » Challenge

Pokémon Challenge – 2

A Little Bit Of Heart And Soul!

Team Lukémon

Team Adam

FIGHT!

THE FINAL WORD

Pokémon Challenge – 1

Rumble in the jungle!

This was a cautious battle against a cautious and thoughtful player. Has Pokémon World finally met its match? If you think you have what it takes to beat us, email us at pokemon-world@imagine-publishing.co.uk with your Friend Code!

Team Henrie

Team Alex

FIGHT!

THE FINAL WORD