Welcome back, fellow duders and Pokefans, to another installment of my quest to become the very best. In all honesty, I don’t even know if I should be writing this post as part of this series, because the main focus is supposed to be on catching all 718 available types. This will not be about that, because honestly I haven’t done very much of that since my last post. With the launch of the Bank, my Pokemon time shifted back towards researching and training Pokemon for competitive battles, so that will be the focus of this installment. I also kind of hope that writing this will inspire me to get back to my original quest, and finally catch ‘em all.

The Bank, and My Mass Exodus

At the end of my last post I had finally captured all the legendary Pokemon of the world, and thus had completed pretty much all the reason I would have to make use of all the previous generations of Pokemon games. I had been storing everything in White while working towards the full Pokedex, and was basically waiting for the Bank to come out to move on to the next stage. My boxes were disorganized, filling up quickly, and frankly just a mess, so I took the release of the Bank as my opportunity for a final round of organization before moving forward.

The Bank, for any who don’t know, is a means to transfer Pokemon from your generation 5 DS game (Black/White/Black 2/White 2) to your generation 6 3DS game (X/Y). Its a better method than any previous cross-generation transfer, because you transfer whole boxes at a time, but the fine folks at Game Freak still somehow managed to make it nearly insufferable. You can actually only transfer whatever is in Box 1 in your DS game, and then manually moving that Box into your generation 6 game. This means that you are constantly switching between the 2 carts, because each time you move a box you have to load up gen 5 again to move things into Box 1. Ugh.

Regardless, after way too much time and effort, I got everything moved into Y. Not just moved in either, I renamed and organized all of my boxes in Y. I now have 24 boxes labeled and set aside for my “Pokemon Archive”, for lack of a better term. Each box holds 30 Pokemon, so I have them numbered for 1-30, 31-60, and so on and so forth, set up to hold up to 720 Pokemon. When all of those boxes are full, up to 718 (or more when more event legendaries come out), my quest will be done. I also have a box for Dittos, 2 for random fodder I don’t need, and 2 for trained guys and things I want to keep separate. Setting this all up pretty much ate a whole weekend, but when I’m finally done it will be pretty sweet I think.

To Battle!

Competitive Pokemon battles are awesome. Building a team and trying to come up with interesting and effective ways to train each Pokemon is kind of like building a small deck in a CCG like Magic: The Gathering. The battles themselves are full of mind games and crazy comebacks, unlikely heroes who bring you a victory you didn’t really expect, and also those heart breaking misses at just the wrong time. Sure it only reaches a modest level of balance by the sheer number of options and community made tier lists and extra rules. And yes, it takes way too much time to actually put together a viable team, but the sort of ramshackle nature of competitive Pokemon with a whole community trying to hold it together is kind of amazing in its own right.

I’m not going to get into the specifics of training competitive Pokemon here, but its pretty interesting/messed up, and I’d say look into it if it sounds at all interesting to you. There is a lot of information out there about this, and I would recommend Serebii, Smogon, and Veekun as sites that have vast amounts of Pokemon knowledge (although they probably won’t readily tell you how to get started). Suffice to say for now, a “competitively trained” Pokemon has the following attributes:

- Ability: Each Pokemon has 1 or more options for a special ability. These are randomized when they are encountered or bred, so there’s no changing it. Gen 5 and 6 also have “Hidden Abilities” for many Pokemon that are much harder to obtain. Abilities can range from totally worthless to immensely powerful modifiers.

- Nature: There are 25 possible Natures, each of which affect 2 of the main stats (minus HP) of a Pokemon. One will be increased by 10%, and one will be decreased by 10%. 5 of the Natures raise and lower the same stat, so they are actually non-modifying natures. Like Abilities, these can’t be changed once you have the Pokemon.

- EVs: Effort Values are bonus points your Pokemon can get added to its stats by training. Generally this will happen without you knowing, as they fight other Pokemon, but in X/Y these numbers are much more surfaced. Super Training is a new mode that allows you to target specific stats to gain EVs in, and makes training competitive Pokemon a little less obtuse.

- IVs: Individual Values are similar to EVs, but your Pokemon gets much fewer of these and they are randomly assigned when encountered/hatched. They give a bonus value to each stat up to 31.

- Moves: This is where a lot of your choices will come into play in building a competitive Pokemon. Each ‘mon can have 4 moves, which can be learned by levelling, TMs/HMs, and even breeding. Selecting the best 4 moves to fit your team is crucial.

- Item: This is the most readily changeable part of a Pokemon team, but still important. Each Pokemon can hold an item during battle, and their effects can make a big difference. A common competitive rule to keep in mind is that you can’t have multiple Pokemon holding the same type of item - so no doubling up on Leftovers!

These of course don’t take into account all the intrinsic qualities of a Pokemon, such as its type and base stats, but the above attributes are the decisions you’ll likely have to make once you’ve selected a particular species for training. All of the above are reasons why no 2 Pokemon are likely to be exactly identical.

My New Team

I had done a fair amount of competitive training back in the 4th generation Pokemon games Diamond and Platinum, but I knew I wanted to make a new team using new species from Gen 5 and 6. I’ll go over what I ended up deciding on, and some of my thoughts on them each.

Accelgor (Nickname: Shadow)

Accelgor is a bug type introduced in Black/White, who sports a completely ridiculous base speed, along with a decent special attack stat and a good list of support and attack moves. He was an early pick for my team who I wanted to serve as a strong lead in and harasser. His role is basically to always go first, and either hit pretty hard with Bug Buzz/Energy Ball attacks, set up Spikes as a hazard, or catch someone trying something sneaky with Encore.

Ability - Sticky Hold

Nature - Timid (+Speed, -Attack)

EVs: Speed and Special Attack

Moves: Bug Buzz

Encore

Spikes

Energy Ball

Item: Focus Sash

Greninja (Nickname: Frolick)

Greninja is the Water starter in X/Y, who gains the secondary type of Dark. The reason he’s so popular, and the reason I picked him, is because of his Hidden Ability - Protean. It changes his type to the type of whatever move he last used, and this causes some pretty extreme mind games. His special attack and speed stats, as well as his move pool are all around good, so this combination makes him a deadly all out assault weapon.

Ability - Protean

Nature - Timid (+Speed, -Attack)

EVs: Speed and Special Attack

Moves: Ice Beam

Scald

Dark Pulse

Extrasensory

Item: Expert Belt

Hawlucha (Nickname: Mucho Halcon)

Hawlucha is the hilarious Fighting/Flying type hawk Pokemon wearing a luchador mask introduced in X/Y. As if that weren’t a good enough reason to pick him, the build I went with has some pretty interesting combo work to it. Sky Attack is a massively powerful flying move that normally takes a turn to charge up, but the Power Herb is a consumable item that lets it charge instantly once. His ability Unburden also activates when he uses a consumable item, and its effect doubles his speed. As an added bonus, Acrobatics becomes more powerful when he isn’t holding an item. He’s a pretty well oiled, extremely fast, flying damage output machine.

Ability - Unburden

Nature - Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)

EVs: Speed and Attack

Moves: Acrobatics

Hi Jump Kick

Swords Dance

Sky Attack

Item: Power Herb

Durant (Nickname: Exosteel)

Durant is a baller, sporting a great Bug/Steel typing that is only really afraid of Fire. He is a solid physical attacker who has enough physical defense to stand toe to toe with some pretty fierce opponents, and he is also surprisingly fast. This build is made to hit hard, with both his ability and item increasing his damage significantly, albeit with the drawbacks of lower accuracy and dealing some damage to himself at the same time.

Ability - Hustle

Nature - Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack)

EVs - Speed and Attack

Moves: X-Scissor

Iron Head

Superpower

Hone Claws

Item: Life Orb

Avalugg (Nickname: The Lugg)

I just couldn’t pass up using Avalugg as a physical tank, despite his Ice typing being a really terrible defensive type. He’s fat, he’s slow, and he falls over the in face of any special attacks, but his physical defense is so massive that in the right situation he can be a major force. His ability to learn Recover is what makes him rock solid (ice solid?), and his attack is more than enough to make Avalanche a very punishing move if the enemy isn’t able to finish him off.

Ability - Own Tempo

Nature - Impish (+Defense, -Special Attack)

EVs - HP and Defense

Moves: Avalanche

Earthquake

Recover

Rapid Spin

Item: Leftovers

Goodra (Nickname: Egootistic)

Goodra is an ooey-gooey dragon type Pokemon from X/Y, and has so many potential builds that it's kind of crazy. I opted to use him as a special defense tank of sorts for my team, and I’m pretty happy with the result. His very high special defense stat coupled with the Assault Vest item mean he can switch in against some really formidable special attackers, and he can occasionally trap an opponent with Infestation, and use his great offensive move pool to bring them down.

Ability - Sap Sipper

Nature - Calm (+Special Defense, -Attack)

EVs - HP and Special Defense

Moves: Dragon Pulse

Thunderbolt

Focus Blast

Infestation

I’ve had a lot of fun training these guys and doing some battling. However, I think it’s high time I get back to my catch ‘em all quest. The end is in sight, the stage is set, but the only thing that’s going to get me there is the willpower to keep moving through the process. Here’s hoping I have a lot to update you all on soon.

Another great entry in what's proving to be a really fun series to follow. I agree with you completely about Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter being incredibly user-unfriendly - the switching between two different cartridges and two different apps was frustrating in the extreme, as was having to move everything you wanted to migrate from the Gen 5 game into Box 1. That being said, I guess it's still a step forward from the six-at-a-time limitations of Pal Park and Poké Transfer. I'm just glad it's all done now, and hopefully the promised forwards-compatibility of the Bank will remove those frustrations from future generations altogether.

I've also been working on a competitive team of my own. I haven't finished the breeding and training yet, but I've taken early drafts of the team online and I've been really happy with how it's performed so far. This is how the team will look when I'm finished (I haven't settled on any nicknames yet, but I would like to nickname them all eventually):

Galvantula

Galvantula is pretty much always my lead. The Focus Sash guarantees setting up a Sticky Web on the first turn of battle, and the little guy is fast enough to out-speed most things and Volt Switch to safety on its second turn (or wreck house, if the opponent leaves in something vulnerable). Compound Eyes and Thunder is a great combination, boosting its pretty unreliable 70% accuracy to a much more respectable 91%, and Bug Buzz rounds out its offensive coverage with another powerful STAB move.

Ability: Compound Eyes

Nature: Timid (+Speed, -Attack)

EVs: Special Attack and Speed

Held Item: Focus Sash

Moves: Sticky Web, Bug Buzz, Thunder, Volt Switch

Tyrantrum

Tyrantrum serves as my physical wall and carrier of Stealth Rock, which in combination with Sticky Web is an important part of my long-term set-up strategy. It's got an impressive amount of physical bulk and will happily eat up physical hits (I've even had it swallow two super-effective Earthquakes, although I suspect I may not have been up against an EV-trained opponent on that occasion). It's a lot of fun switching it into expected physical hits and watching the opponent take damage back from the Rocky Helmet, then managing to get up essentially free Stealth Rocks when they switch out on the next turn. Crunch takes advantage of its Strong Jaw ability, Dragon Tail is great for shuffling the opponent's deck and forcing them out into Stealth Rock damage, and Stone Edge is a great powerful STAB move, if a little inaccurate.

Ability: Strong Jaw

Nature: Impish (+Defence, -Special Attack)

EVs: HP and Defence

Held Item: Rocky Helmet

Moves: Stealth Rock, Dragon Tail, Crunch, Stone Edge

Excadrill

Excadrill is my Rapid Spinner, intended to keep Stealth Rocks off my side of the field lest they screw over my ace. Because I don't run Sandstorm on my team, Mold Breaker is the best fit for his ability, letting me Earthquake levitating Pokémon and break through other annoying abilities. The Air Balloon lets me safely switch into three of the four existing entry hazards without suffering their effects, as well as any potential Earthquakes from the other side, which may not sound like a big deal, but is incredibly useful for such a fragile Pokémon. As for its moveset, Earthquake is a powerful STAB move, Rock Slide hits Flying-types hard, and I've found Poison Jab to be a nice thorn in the side of opposing Fairy-types (I've managed to 2HKO a Cotton Guarded Whimsicott with it more than once).

Ability: Mold Breaker

Nature: Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)

EVs: Attack and Speed

Held Item: Air Balloon

Moves: Rapid Spin, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Poison Jab

Politoed

Politoed is my special wall and something of a 'red herring' in the context of my whole team. Its Drizzle ability can overturn the Drought ability of my ace, turning harsh sunlight into rain in the blink of an eye and royally screwing over any opposing Pokémon that tries to switch in to take advantage of the sun (not to mention giving Galvantula a never-miss Thunder should the opportunity arise). Scald gets boosts from STAB and the rain, plus carries a chance to Burn. Ice Beam is pretty handy for dealing with Dragon- and Grass-types. Substitute is a great way to get set up against a non-threatening Special Attacker, and gives you a temporary wall from which you can safely Scald physical attackers when they switch in. Protect is great for scouting, stalling Burn damage and aiding Leftovers recovery.

Ability: Drizzle

Nature: Calm (+Special Defence, -Attack)

EVs: HP and Special Defence

Held Item: Leftovers

Moves: Scald, Ice Beam, Substitute, Protect

Scrafty

Scrafty got his slot on the team because I noticed I was lacking physical power and Fighting-type coverage, both of which were leaving me really struggling against special walls like Goodra and Blissey. I've gone for the Shed Skin ability over Moxie because it's useful for shaking off annoying status effects typically used by stalling Pokémon, and my Scrafty isn't really intended to be used as a sweeper. Scrafty's got amazing defensive stats which make him great at shrugging off both physical and special damage, and when coupled with the Drain Punch/Big Root combo, he's wonderfully resilient. Bulk Up boosts both Attack and Defence to make Scrafty both stronger and more resistant to physical damage, Payback is the best STAB option considering its low Speed means it almost always moves last, and Dragon Claw makes wonderfully short work of bulky Dragon types.

Ability: Shed Skin

Nature: Adamant (+Attack, -Special Attack)

EVs: Full Attack, rest split between Defence and Special Defence

Held Item: Big Root

Moves: Bulk Up, Drain Punch, Payback, Dragon Claw

Charizard

This is my ace, a Pokémon I loved using so much that I endeavoured to build this whole team around it. Pretty much everything listed above serves to create optimum conditions for my Charizard to Mega Evolve and wreck house with its amazing sweeping abilities - there's not much it can't outspeed with a Sticky Web in play, and there's not much it can't take out in one hit with Stealth Rocks on the other side of the field. Drought cuts damage from Water-type attacks, boosts Flamethrower, and turns Solar Beam into a one-turn move that devastates unsuspecting Water-types. Air Slash is a great move that takes advantage of STAB and also carries a chance to flinch the opponent, and Roost ensures its longevity by giving it a means of HP recovery.

Ability: Blaze (Drought when Mega Evolved)

Nature: Modest (+Special Attack, -Attack)

EVs: Special Attack and Speed

Held Item: Charizardite Y

Moves: Flamethrower, Solar Beam, Air Slash, Roost

@dankempster: Thanks for the comments, and I have to say I really like your team.

Galvantula was a serious consideration for me when making my new team, as he combines two of my favorite types and has some really cool combo effects, which you are using really well in this build. I really like Tyrantrum's design, and that build sounds pretty fun - I love switching in tanky 'mons into a predicted hit, that's one of the reasons I really like my Goodra.

Excadrill has always been a beast, and I like that the introduction of Fairy has made an attack like Poison Jab worth using. I've never seen or used a Politoed or Scrafty in a competitive scene, but I like the idea of combining Scrafty's defenses with Drain Punch/Big Root - that's not something I would have expected if I met one in battle.

All I can say about Charizard Y is that you picked the superior Mega Evolution, so kudos. Also Charizard Y is terrifying, especially to my new team which has a kind of bad fire weakness.

Glad you're enjoying the series - I hope to have some more meaningful updates sooner rather than later!

Man, I love reading competitive pokemon talk.

This is my first time reading one of these and enjoyed it so much, that I went back and read the past ones.

Looking forward to the next one!

@deadpancakes: Thanks! If people are interested, maybe I'll do a spin off post (or maybe a couple) talking about my other trained 'mons or something, when this series is all done. Something to think about for me.

Oh man, I've been trying to get into competitive Pokemon-ing since X/Y came out, and it's way over my head, I think. I've successfully bred a few 5IV/good nature/good ability Pokemon, but the mind games in the battling itself are hard for me to wrap my head around.

Right now the only guys I'm using consistently are a Magic Guard Alakazam (I go back and forth as to whether it should carry a Life Orb or a Focus Sash, the orb gives the huge damage boost while Magic Guard gets rid of its drawback, but the Focus Sash makes it a great revenge-killer) a Tyranitar, and a Greninja. Mega Lucario is pretty awesome, too, so he is in there a lot, but I haven't bred a perfect one, yet.

@generic_username: Honestly, I don't worry about breeding perfect IVs. I'm sure the very competitive community would shame me for saying such things, but the change in each stat (31 points max) is pretty small compared to EVs and Nature, which are pretty easy to control compared to IVs. I tend to breed the type I want until I get 10 or so with the correct ability and nature, and then check their IVs and take the best one. Usually that's plenty to get IVs in the 20s or above in the 2-3 stats that really matter for the build I'm going for.

That said, higher stats are certainly better, so if you're up for breeding perfect IVs, by all means.

I have been trying to catch them all as well and have been playing through all the old Pokemon games to do as you are doing and transfer them all over to the Pokebank. Was having flash backs to the nightmare that was naming all the boxes 1-30, 31-60 etc. and then sorting all the guys in there.

I just beat Heartgold and got all 16 badges a little while ago. Trying to catch Moltress at the moment but that SOB won't stay in the damn Pokeball. Gotta start on Ruby next, but I'm not looking forward to needing to go back to using a DS instead of my 3DSXL and needing a magnifying glass to see on it. My goal is to just beat each one and then go back and collect the guys as I need them. I already got half of them on Pokemon X by just wonder trading and catching naturally.

It's a lot of work, but it's been a childhood dream to say that I caught them all. Now that I'm an adult and have means to trade with people that have the other half of the games I can make that dream come true. Which I'm hoping will bring me as much joy as it would have as a kid because I'm tired of depression kicking my ass day in and day out.