East 2014 Team Showcase

[Aurethious]

It's the post-PAX tradition of revealing your hard-working, completely exhausted, and awesome Pokémon! Gym Leaders and Challengers, post your partners from this past weekend! I'll start...

[bgbh]Alexander, the Emerald Knight's Green Grass Guys[/bgbh]
(Hmm... I should have teamed with Oceanus at some point this weekend to be Team Green Grass and High Tides...)

Otherwise known as... "What? Triple Battle?" or "Ugh! Sticky Web!" or "So many hazards..." or, in the case of Brutus, "So tanky..."

[spoilergbh][imggbh]http://serebii.net/Shiny/XY/003-m.png[/imggbh]

Brutus w/Venusaurite

-Giga Drain
-Sludge Bomb
-Sleep Powder
-Synthesis

[imggbh]http://serebii.net/xy/pokemon/254.png[/imggbh]

Impulse w/Life Orb

-Giga Drain
-Focus Blast
-Dragon Pulse
-Leech Seed

[imggbh]http://serebii.net/Shiny/XY/389.png[/imggbh]

Mogo w/Red Card

-Wood Hammer
-Earthquake
-Stealth Rock
-Synthesis

[imggbh]http://serebii.net/Shiny/XY/407.png[/imggbh]

Ion w/White Herb

-Leaf Storm
-Sludge Bomb
-Sleep Powder
-Toxic Spikes

[imggbh]http://serebii.net/xy/pokemon/542.png[/imggbh]

Ivy w/Focus Sash

-X-Scissor
-Leaf Blade
-Sticky Web
-Swords Dance

[imggbh]http://serebii.net/Shiny/XY/652.png[/imggbh]

Quill w/Leftovers

-Hammer Arm
-Leech Seed
-Spikes
-Spiky Shield[/spoilergbh]

With all of my battles being Triple Battles, I always led with Ivy, Mogo, and Ion. Focus Sash would almost ensure that Sticky Web went out. Mogo would do Stealth Rock. And Ion would be the only variable. If nothing seemed overly threatening to decimate my world (i.e. Talonflame or Mega Charizard Y), it would use Toxic Spikes to ensure complete hazard wackiness would ensue. Otherwise, it would put stuff to sleep or attack. Impulse was faster than most people expected and was my surprise Dragon slayer. Most people anticipated Quill's Spiky Shield rather well, but it did catch a few people off guard. And Brutus was a gigantic pain in the rear to take down and actually excelled at vanquishing opposing Charizards. Overall, I'm very happy with how they performed and I hope I gave all of you Challengers a good run for your money.

[AssumptionPrime]

My Team
[spoilerz6w][imgz6w]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/596.png[/imgz6w]
Surge II (Electric Bugaloo) w/Focus Sash

-Thunder
-Volt Switch
-Bug Buzz
-Sticky Web

[imgz6w]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/009-m.png[/imgz6w]
Tank w/Blastoisinite

-Rapid Spin
-Water Pulse
-Dark Pulse
-Aura Sphere

[imgz6w]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/658.png[/imgz6w]
Dart w/Life Orb

-U-Turn
-Shadow Sneak
-Waterfall
-Night Slash

[imgz6w]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/668.png[/imgz6w]
Mufasa w/Flame Plate

-Flamethrower
-Overheat
-Hyper Voice
-Dark Pulse

[imgz6w]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/697.png[/imgz6w]
Grunt w/Assault Vest

-Crunch
-Dragon Claw
-Fire Fang
-Earthquake

[imgz6w]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/094.png[/imgz6w]
Terenas w/Black Sludge

-Hypnosis
-Dream Eater
-Shadow Ball
-Sludge Bomb[/spoilerz6w]

Half of this team was remakes/updates to members of my team from last year's PPL, and the other half was Pokemon I liked from Gen 6. For all Greninja's apparently popularity, it was really Gengar that pulled it out for me the most.

The Reserves: (Some of the original Pokemon from my B/W team that I brought in to cover type weaknesses on occasion)
[spoilerz6w][imgz6w]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/149.png[/imgz6w]
Valoo w/Wide Lens

-Dragon Rush
-Dragon Dance
-Earthquake
-Brick Break

[imgz6w]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/143.png[/imgz6w]
Skull w/Rocky Helmet

Rest
Sleep Talk
Return
Fire Punch[/spoilerz6w]

Now, off to finish remaking the rest of my East '13 team!

[Volaro]

Hah, I completely forgot about this. My Pokemon certainly got their work cut out for them this year. So many hard fought and well earned badges to be handed out, but without further adue:

[b1ch]Roberto, the Iron Gentleman's Armored Gentlemons[/b1ch]
[spoiler1ch][img1ch]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/303.png[/img1ch][img1ch]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/303-m.png[/img1ch]
Mia the Mawile
w/ Hyper Cutter (Pure Power) and Mawilite

Sucker Punch
Play Rough
Iron Head
Fire Fang

[img1ch]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/681.png[/img1ch][img1ch]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/681-b.png[/img1ch]
Ray-Pierre the Aegislash
w/ Stance Change and Air Balloon

Sacred Sword
King's Shield
Swords Dance
Shadow Claw / Shadow Sneak

[img1ch]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/395.png[/img1ch]
Tux the Empoleon
w/ Torrent and Life Orb

Stealth Rock
Grass Knot
Blizzard
Scald

[img1ch]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/411.png[/img1ch]
Greyskull the Bastiodon
w/ Sturdy and Leftovers

Toxic
Protect
Roar
Metal Burst

[img1ch]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/589.png[/img1ch]
Sully the Escavalier
w/ Swarm and Assault Vest

Drill Run
Iron Head
Pursuit
Megahorn

[img1ch]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/638.png[/img1ch]
Rathos the Cobalion
w/ Justified and Red Card

Volt Switch
Calm Mind
Flash Cannon
Focus Blast[/spoiler1ch]

When first building the team, Rathos was always considered to be one of the weaker links of the party, but with the addition of Volt Switch and Red Card, if he managed to survive a hit he could turn the match very tricky very quickly, especially with Stealth Rocks up (provided by Tux). Tux and Greyskull's support definitely helped when dealing with the many Volcaronas, Charizards and Talonflames out there. It was always great to see people react to Greyskull taking the full force of an Earthquake or Close Combat and deal the damage right back with Metal Burst. Or even have him force switches into stealth rock damage with Roar. Greyskull almost always had a moment to shine, which was important to me anyway.

For the first day of the con, I ran Ray-Pierre with Shadow Claw as I was fearing Shadow Sneak may be too much to handle. But as the day went on, and speedy fire types swept my team without opposition, I needed some way to wear them down and Tux was not always able to get the stealth rocks up. So I swapped out for Shadow Sneak on Saturday and while I still had problems with fire heavy teams, I could definitely put up more of a fight.

Overall, I'm incredibly happy with my team's performance. They were tough customers, but they still managed to be taken out quite handily by even some of the more casual players often enough. They took a bit more effort to take out over last year's team with Roselia and Kecleon, but I never felt as if I was completely destroying anyone. They were all very close matches and it was a lot of fun seeing them in action.

[Erkenhelm]

Can anyone tell me how to put the pictures in? I'd love to post my team but I'm not sure how.

[Volaro]

[AssumptionPrime]

[Erkenhelm]

[Raeef]

Here is my team (Volcanus)



[spoilerlta][imglta]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/006-my.png[/imglta]
Mega Charizard Y w/ Blaze and CharizarditeY (Drought)
Timid 252 spA/252 speed
Fire Blast
Solarbeam
Focus Blast
Dragon Pulse

[imglta]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/219.png[/imglta]
Magcargo w/ Flame Body and Focus Sash
Timid 252spA/ 252 speed
Shell Smash
Flamethrower
Ancient Power
Earth Power

[imglta]http://www.serebii.net/Shiny/XY/323.png[/imglta]
Camerupt w/ Solid Rock and Leftovers
Relaxed 252 HP/252 SpD
Stealth Rocks
Earthquake
Rock Slide
Lava Plume

[imglta]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/485.png[/imglta] (Fri/Sat)
Heatran w/ Flash fire and Air Balloon
Timid 252 spA/252 speed
Flame Charge
Fire Blast
Earth Power
Dragon Pulse

[blta]or [/blta]

[imglta]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/467.png[/imglta](Sat/Sun)
Magmortar w/ Vital spirit and Choice scarf
TImid 252spA/252 speed
Fire Blast
Focus Blast
Solarbeam
Thunderbolt

[imglta]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/637.png[/imglta]
Volcarona w/ Flame Body and Lum Berry
Modest 252 spA/252 speed
Quiver Dance
Fire Blast
Bug Buzz
Giga Drain

[imglta]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/663.png[/imglta]
Talonflame w/ Gale Wings and Choice Band
Adamant 252 Attack/252 speed
Brave Bird
Fire Blitz
U-turn
Roost[/spoilerlta]


I had one pokemon from each generation. I tried to chose pokemon that best fit my theme (many were my favorites). This team performed better than I expected so I switched out Heatran with Magmortar halfway through the weekend. I led with Magcargo most of the time and with focus sash it usually took down one or two of their guys. My team surprisingly resilient to water types (thanks to Charizard Y) but had a huge weakness to rock type attacks and stealth rocks. Challengers who were able to exploit this weakness took down my team relatively easily and those who didn't had a lot more trouble. Most of my matches were relatively close and resulted in me winning or losing 1-0 or 2-0.

[SandstormS]

The Toxin side of Neuro and Toxin in order of use frequency

[spoileroqr][imgoqr]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/545.png[/imgoqr]

Scolipendra the Scolipede

Ability: Speed Boost
Item: Focus Sash
Jolly 252 attack 252 speed

Baton Pass
Protect
Mega Horn
Toxic Spikes

[imgoqr]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/034.png[/imgoqr]

Tetrodox the Nidoking

Ability:Sheer Force
Item:Life Orb
Modest 252 Sp. Attack 252 Speed

Ice Beam
Flamethrower
Earth Power
Sludge Bomb

[imgoqr]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/110.png[/imgoqr]

Haber the Weezing

Ability: Levitate
Item: Leftovers
Modest 252 HP 126 Sp. Attack 126 Defense

Sludge Bomb
Shadow Ball
Flamethrower
Pain Split

[imgoqr]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/042.png[/imgoqr]

Batrox the Golbat

Ability:Inner Focus
Item:Evolite
Adamant 252 HP 252 Defense

Roost
Taunt
Brave Bird
Super Fang

[imgoqr]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/089.png[/imgoqr]

Dioxin the Muk

Ability:Stench
Item:Red card
Relaxed 252 HP 252 Attack

Fire Punch
Brick Break
Rock Slide
Shadow Sneak

[imgoqr]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/691.png[/imgoqr]

Dimethylhg the Dragalgea

Ability:Poison Point
Item:Black Sludge
Modest 252 HP 126 Sp. Attack 126 Defense

Sludge Bomb
Thunderbolt
Scald
Toxic Spikes[/spoileroqr]

[Lyrai]

Blaire's half of the Justin and Blaire duo

[spoiler3dv][img3dv]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/031.png[/img3dv]
Charolette
Sheer Force + Black Sludge
Ice Beam
Earth Power
Sludge Bomb
Hidden Power (Dark)


[img3dv]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/241.png[/img3dv]
Bessie
Scrappy + Life Orb
Rollout (cause having a Whitney wasn't bad enough)
Zen Headbutt
Milk Drink
Return

[img3dv]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/673.png[/img3dv]
Clover
Sap Sipper + Leftovers
Bulk Up
Milk Drink
Horn Leech
Rock Slide

[img3dv]http://www.serebii.net/Shiny/XY/181.png[/img3dv] [img3dv]http://www.serebii.net/Shiny/XY/181-m.png[/img3dv]
Fifi
Static + Amphrosite
Light Screen
Safeguard
Thunderbolt
Echoed Voice

[img3dv]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/078.png[/img3dv]
Epona
Flame Body + Shell Bell
Flame Charge
Wild Charge
Bounce
Return

[img3dv]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/416.png[/img3dv]
Cher
Pressure + Silver Powder
Attack Order
Heal Order
Venoshock
Power Gem[/spoiler3dv]

Being in a rancher duo, we tried to keep our team mostly in line with farm pokemon. We had cows (Miltank/Tauros), horses (Rapidash/Zebstrika), dogs (Herdier & Stoutland) to herd our sheep ([Mega]Ampharos) and goats (Gogoat). We also had Venusaur and Vespiquen to represent a bee farm and the pollination of our crops, and Nidoking/Nidoqueen are the helping hands of our ranch.

I think our team did rather well. We were able to scale ourselves up to give Intermediate/Veteran challengers more of a fight despite being Casual leaders. We had quite a bit of trouble with steel types ([Mega]Lucarios & Aegislash), but you can't be expected to cover everything when you can only bring in 3 Pokémon each.

Never was so grateful for Safeguard with all the Toxic Spikes I saw flying around...