USPE 7: Trials and Triumphs

[xaq_the_aereon]

As you can probably tell from moving on past Entry 6.#, the title, and the happier tone, Kahuna Mala has finally been bested.

I attribute part of it to AI blundering. He never used his Super Potion this go-round, even when his Makuhita was right on death's doorstep; I had Serana Roost after a Gust just failed to finish it, figuring he'd heal up, but he used Arm Thrust instead (and missed entirely), so I went ahead and had Echoed Voice finish it off.

Prior to that, he led with Machop, who took 2 Echoed Voices to come down to about 40% HP and was then Gusted out of contention.

When it was finally time for Crabrawler coming out, I had Serana duck out and brought out Serenity. I figured he'd open with his Fighting-type Z-Move to hit as hard as he could, but he followed up my opening Disarming Voice with...Leer.

This made me cackle with glee, for not only was Serenity perfectly fine, but he had made a fatal mistake. Why? Simple: Serenity knows Encore.

If he'd been planning to use his Z-Move next turn, it was no longer happening. All Crabrawler could do for the next 2 turns was Leer at me as Serenity put him down for the 10-count.

Oh my GOD but this victory feels good. So good I can't see straight, even!

...Actually, that's probably because I've got my spare glasses on ATM (one of the lenses of my normal pair popped out earlier today due to the wire holding it in place coming loose. I'm getting this taken care of tomorrow; folks have agreed to pay for new glasses as my Christmas present this year. :D)


Anwyay, with that I add the likely-never-to-be-used Fightinium Z to my Z-Crystal collection, and have "Kick! Punch! It's all in the mind!" stuck in my head. So much for me not hating you anymore, Hala. More importantly, however, I get my first Ride Pokemon, Tauros!

For those not familiar, Ride Pokemon take the place of the Hidden Machines and Bikes of old. Rather than saddling one of your team with a useless move just to be able to do stuff on the map, you summon forth a specialized Pokemon to handle it for you and provide transportation! Tauros, for example, is a rocket-propelled Rock Smash....which means now I can go bust open all the rocks that were blocking me from getting various items, such as the TM I saw back in Verdant Caverns and along the shoreline by the entrance to Melemele Meadows (which turned out to be Thief and Infestation, respectively).

Speaking of TMs, Prof. Kakui just handed me one of the most useful ones imagineable, False Swipe. Awesome, now I can start catching 'mons without fear of accidentally flattening them! ... ...Eeeexcept that nobody on my team can actually use it. Huh, oh well.

...Oh, and Hau's taking on Hala now. Normally I'd wish my energetic buddy good luck, but in this instance I'm simply going to ask him to kick the old fart's ass.

Yeah, I'm still a smidge salty. Shut it. :p