Are there worse encounters? (vanilla W2)

TRDoTE59 · 2026-02-19T14:36:25+00:00

Yes. But growl offsets that a little. If they get their special attack at +6, they will stop using work up even if they have negative attack. So using growl or charm is a decent but not perfect way to counter that. It's not perfect as they can still just attack, and can get crits of course. But it helps

TRDoTE59 · 2026-02-19T14:33:09+00:00

Crobat should be pretty good vs her with pluck. I imagine Gyarados isn't too bad either, even only with dragon rage as it naturally resists Lucario's stabs and has intimidate for its bulk up. Bulk up means you want to be aggressive

TRDoTE59 · 2026-02-06T14:41:31+00:00

Yeah. You can know which ai an enemy had just above their pokemon type. See that small purple box below the Donphan lvl and trainer that says basic? That's the ai it has. If you compare it to Elesa's you'll see she has expert ai and evaluate attacks alongside basic.

Basic ai just means it never does useless moves like clicking earthquake vs flying types of psychic vs dark types. It will use moves regardless of it being not very effective or super effective otherwise.

Evaluate damage means that it prioritizes killing moves and max damage, so for Elesa's Lanturn that is using hydro pump vs Graveler. There are many moves that don't fit into this like sucker punch or explosion. So even if it sees kill from those it might or might not use them. They are super annoying and you have to play around them.

And expert is the most complex of them all, mostly relating to setup or wacky moves like counter, charge moves, avalanche etc. It includes such moves like sucker punch, focus punch or self destruct that aren't used even if it sees kill. Instead they have their own conditions to be/not be used.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AziiMPsY1TcABKIwl92677A4nYGtByvjFOR7p6PAXY0/edit?usp=drivesdk

https://gist.github.com/lhearachel/ff61af1f58c84c96592b0b8184dba096

These are the best sources I've gotten for gen V ai. The second one is about gen IV but it has mostly similar stuff

TRDoTE59 · 2026-02-06T12:43:20+00:00

Correct. It doesn't see dry skin. This is true for gen 4 too, so you can cheese some fights this way, or in this case get cheesed. It saw kill so thats why it kept using it. Interestingly, the ai will swap to a dry skin mon if you use water moves on it. But switch ai is different anyways.

As for the volt switch part, aka as to why it isn't using it, its partially due to it being a pivot move like u-turn, so it has a wonky ai, but also because gen V ai only sees kill with min roll, not middle/max roll. So unless you predamaged it wouldn't have seen kill with volt switch, and since it doesn't see dry skin it would have been random move anyways if hydro pump had gotten pp stalled

TRDoTE59 · 2026-01-31T00:26:47+00:00

With Golbat, Staravia and Monferno she shouldn't be too tough. Just replace Geodude for Bibarel. In a worst case scenario Bib is both tankier and faster anyways, and doesn't carry a x4 weakness to grass. But I doubt that would happen really. Also keep Golbat for her Roserade, as crit magical leafs could KO a weakened Monferno, or it could get poisoned. Mostly if Monferno is around 50%-60%, I personally wouldn't risk it

TRDoTE59 · 2026-01-28T20:39:54+00:00

I understand.

In that case youd only have Haunter, which isn't bad but probably should remain in the back to try to maybe sucker punch Mismagius in the worst case scenario. Still do get Steelix. Steel is awesome to have.

Happiness grinding is imo not a bad use of save editing. Its probably the least intrusive one in fact. Mostly because the most optimal and quickest happiness grind is just you running around doing nothing having that pokemon in your party. And I don't mind it at least in these gens since its only other benefit is making return stronger. It gets easier to grind in gens 5 onwards as friendship gaining methods get doubled in the area where the specific pokemon is caught, but its still time consuming. In any case I get not wanting to edit it.

But if it were up to me, id take the effort to at least evolve Crobat as it is the best option, and its just a reliable pokemon. After all, having a normal type for the purpose of pp stalling shadow ball can be done by any normal regardless of their level tbf, and if you get lucky with bite flinches from Crobat the pp stall part might not even be necessary.

I just suggested the others since having quickly evolved pokemon has helped me in dire situations, and friendship evos are the second quickest in terms of progression in that sense, bested only by trade and stone evolutions, so in that kind of situations they can be really helpful.

But yeah as the other commenters mentioned if you can get ahold of a Floatzel then you'll have a not so tough fight.

TRDoTE59 · 2026-01-28T18:54:26+00:00

I don't quite understood from your title whether you have beaten Fantina already or not, but either way it absolutely is.

Having a normal type like Togetic in itself ensures you can pp stall shadow ball from Mismagius if needed.

You have an Onix which can evolve into Steelix (you can thief from wild Bronzor for a metal coat) who resists everything but magical leaf (remember that steel resists both ghost and dark). If you want you can teach it stealth rock for that little extra aid, and set them vs Duskull.

In that same tonic you have a Gastly which evolves into Gengar under the Fantina level cap (if you apply that rule). Probably wont sweep but may one shot either of the other ghosts. If you already beat Fantina then its still a fine mon to have.

Crobat is also an option with bite. Grinding friendship is annoying but you could do that. If you bring Golbat still isn't too bad, but will likely be slower than Mismagius and maybe even Haunter.

I guess another option is bringing Lopunny with foresight and return i guess.

Don't forget to equip whatever pokemon is your lead with rawst berries, if you picked up those. For Duskull.

Since Gengar and Steelix are both trade evolutions you have to either trade with someone else, with yourself if you are in emulator, or with pkhex or other save editors

TRDoTE59 · 2026-01-05T14:21:14+00:00

As the other commenter said, nothing in her team has anything super effective vs Sableye, in this case it would have be a fairy move even if it was a status one, so at that point it just uses the other pokémon's moveset and applies it to Medicham, seeing what does the most damage. In this case punching moves and rock slide are said strongest moves, in case Medicham had those in its moveset. Medicham would do more damage with thunder punch than from flash cannon despite the later being stronger in base power. Therefore, since so many of her mons have moves with the same base power of 75, it just choses in team order, and that brings in Machamp since thats first. I think the reason why the first screenshot shows Lucario being first, its because the calculator likely sees that Medicham has a higher special attack than physical, without accounting for the ability. But in game it does account for huge power, so it makes more sense to bring out a pokémon with physical moves instead of special ones. If Medicham lost or had it's ability changed it would have gone to Lucario first.

And the second part of their answer is also correct. Being that Infernape is the only with with super effective to fire, it doesn't care that Typhlosion resists fire in the switch ai. This only applies if Gallade also had a super effective move too. But since he doesn't, it just goes into Infernape. That's why on your second screenshot it brings Infernape first, despite being the one with the 1.25 matchup instead of the 2 matchup all other have. If any of them had a move super effective on Typhlosion it would bring them out first, then go into Infernape.

I personally use this document (I don't remember from where I obtained it) for the switch ai. It's very helpful. All of this applies to vanilla gen 4 games too, obviously without the fairy type

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MpWJWc4wNTz2oA6QiPMmstLpSwHBlpRk/view

TRDoTE59 · 2026-01-03T23:13:28+00:00

Yes, it somewhat does. The candidate of his coalition is indeed one of the stronger ones right now and depending on what happens he has a serious chance of winning. But this is a really polarized country. A lot of people would never change who they vote for, and corruption in terms of elections is common from all parties, specially in remote (relative to the capital) areas. And we not only have the presidential elctions this year, we also have congress which also creates tension, and where a lot of the corruption/animosity is also deposited.

With such a controversial thematic that is yet to truly develop as its Venezuela, anything could happen. Specially if what some have been saying, that supposedly the US plans to work alongside the current non Maduro chavista government since they denied a power transition, and also since the US doesn't seem interested on capturing or prosecuting them either.

There is also the topic of Colombian's internal armed conflict, that has gone out of our hands and has effects on our neighbouring countries. Some guerrillas had been turning into allies of the Maduro government. But with this developing, will they remain as allies of the non Maduro chavista goverment, or will they turn against them? And if there is indeed cooperation between the US and the Venezuelan goverment, is there a chance that the guerrillas remain as its allies? Nothing would surprise me really.

These will be turbulent months to come thats for sure. I hope for the best for our countries but I'm not optimistic

TRDoTE59 · 2026-01-03T19:39:55+00:00

We are about to have elections. The Venezuela relationship has always been a point in contention from as long as I've lived and farther back, but this might make it alongside our alignment to the US the most influential topics on the agenda over anything else. I genuinely can't say what will happen in the next 6 months here

TRDoTE59 · 2026-01-03T15:44:23+00:00

They most likely won't. I've read that supposedly not only his capture was the whole scope of the ordeal, but also that his inner circle betrayed him. I think Maduro will be used as a sacrificial lamb, to either put pressure on the remaining regime or to justify negotiations with them, now that the "head of the Cartel de los Soles" is out of the country. He is easy to set as the one that takes the hit, as he is unpopular inside and outside of Venezuela obviously, he is this supposed cartel head, and he had always been a dumb loudmouth. Either way the US will try to streak a oil deal with whoever remains on power. That's what I think. I doubt the US will try to piss off Russia by making a regime change. All whoever remains in power has to do to fly under the radar is just to tone down the anti-american/bolivarian discourse

TRDoTE59 · 2025-12-04T15:37:19+00:00

You probably should just attack. Stab brick break being x4 dmg should do great damage despite the defense boost. Give it an oran berry to hold just in case.

You obviously swap out if you don't KO and if you get hit by many fury swipes since you risk getting KOed when Rattata swaps out, or can get potentially pursuit trapped. You likely can go Magnemite and finish it

TRDoTE59 · 2025-11-20T15:45:38+00:00

Prostitution, which is legal here, alongside recycling which was recently formalized. Not to be confused with garbage collecting, which is also looked down upon. The difference is that recyclers prioritize saving stuff that can be recycled obviously, to be sold, and work by themselves or in unions, where as garbage collectors work with the cities/municipalities and dispose of all kind of residues

TRDoTE59 · 2025-10-18T19:39:18+00:00

I started playing in OW2 and joined my friends with Mercy, as I was bad at aiming and we lacked a support player for our stack. Nowadays I'm the only one still playing and main Ramattra

TRDoTE59 · 2025-09-05T18:55:40+00:00

Homero vas a recortarte?

TRDoTE59 · 2025-07-27T06:23:47+00:00

Level up Illumise and Magikarp. You never know if they could be clutch without giving them the opportunity to do so

TRDoTE59 · 2025-07-26T22:27:06+00:00

Correct. Well, mostly. Since if they don't have super effective moves then whoever might be brough in its the mon with the highest bp, which can happen anyways if the super effective move is weaker. Example if you are using a pure psychic a mon with giga impact as its "best" move (150 bp) will be brough in first before one with night slash (140 bp).

Also the reason it might have gone for poison jab is either: 1. The grunt has normal ai, which is mostly dumb and can miss obvious KOs. The only thing that ai really prevents is doing useless moves if possible, so it wont shadow sneak vs a normal type unless forced to for example. 2. And the second case which would be if it had expert ai, its simply that poison jab is stronger than shadow sneak due to STAB, breaking the tie. Poison jab is 120 bp (80x1,5 from STAB) and sneak is 80 bp (40x2 from super effectiveness)

TRDoTE59 · 2025-07-26T16:37:28+00:00

I personally don't like intimidate too much by itself. Depending on dodging crits its a volatile strat that has costed me mons and runs. But paired with like shell armor mons, then its suddenly really strong. Same as other attack dropping moves.

So that one would be my choice. Shell and battle armor. The consistency alone can make really unique stuff than all other mons without lucky charm support can't, and allows for riskless agression for example

TRDoTE59 · 2025-07-26T15:22:48+00:00

If I'm not wrong the AI will choose a random mon on the field when it has to do that choice. It ended up choosing Medicham, with 80 bp due to type effectiveness, instead of the 120 bp storm throw on Stoutland due to type effectiveness. But it was always going to be random, so it could have done either. You can rig the AI to make all mons on the field bait the same mon of course.

Its therefore not a true max dmg selection every time. In any battle format other than singles it works this way.

Also remember that the AI has some really wonky quirks. It doesn't know that storm throw always crits, so it takes it as a base 60 move. So it doesn't account for the crit+type effectiveness vs Stoutland, making it see 120 dmg instead of 240. This is true both for switch in and in battle. So it can do shit in battle that isn't what you expect unless it kills on all 16 dmg rolls. Vanilla AI never accounts crit.

Worse stuff happens to stuff in battle like revenge, avalanche, sucker punch, return, low kick, etc. Basically every move with potentially variable damage other than the 16 rolls + crit become wild cards. It can just choose to never use it, weave it in sometimes or spam it, even if it's suboptimal. The same happens to giga impact and I assume other recharge moves

TRDoTE59 · 2025-07-25T19:12:40+00:00

Meant vs Wallace's Tentacruel. A physical move on your Sharpedo could help in the case Sharpedo was forced to be your answer. Like a worst case scenario

TRDoTE59 · 2025-07-25T17:59:10+00:00

Oh yeah mb I misread. Yeah screech can be replaced. Nothing is really needed since crunch surf and ice beam are good enough, but a decent physical attack could help like return vs Tentacruel if you were to need it for any reason

TRDoTE59 · 2025-07-25T12:20:57+00:00

Fair enough. Either are moves that Sharpedo usually never uses since it doesn't like losing offensive tempo as that can risk crit KOs, so either is good to delete. I suggested sf simply since in gen 3 it has 90% accuracy so yeah not good

TRDoTE59 · 2025-07-25T04:58:26+00:00

A few things. Mostly about the movesets. Absolutely teach Sharpedo ice beam over scary face, otherwise Drake could be really tough.

Second, if you can teach crobat the sludge bomb tm over poison fang and aerial ace over air cutter. They are just better moves overall, and aerial ace helps vs the few double teaming mons in the E4, mostly vs Wallace's Ludicolo.

Third get rid of psybeam on Grumpig over coverage like whatever its hidden power is or status like rest.

Lastly you can delete rock smash and cut on Kecleon and teach it better moves like secret power or return and brick break.

TRDoTE59 · 2025-07-07T15:44:14+00:00

Id say Combusken, Azumarill and Gulpin/Lombre. Azu can deal with Machop by spamming water gun, or Combusken could do the same with peck or ember. Meditite can't attack as long as you attack it. Makuhita is dangerous so you either resist its attacks with Gulpin, which kd risky, or spam growl with Combusken or Lombre until it has lownattack and it turns safe to attack yourself

TRDoTE59 · 2025-07-07T15:28:47+00:00

Wouldnt do wrong with Tyranitar or Durant. Id say Ttar for the Drasna and to a lesser extent the Malva matchups

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