Pokémon Scarlet & Violet - Slippery When Wet - Jun 1 24 B

So as of when this video goes up, the Nintendo Direct for June 2024 will have come and gone. I don’t have anything to say about it in this description because I wrote it in advance. To be precise, this was written on the evening of Monday, June 17th, 2024, about two days prior to this video actually going up. Whether or not there will be a Pokémon Presents with it, I have no idea. Such is, of course, the nature of doing all of my recording, editing (including deciding on the thumbnail), and description-writing at least one day in advance. But that’s how I prefer it anyway. I don’t like the pressure of spontaneity. Besides, I’m at work on most weekdays when the videos go up anyway.

Type: Double Battle
Opponent: Miles
Battle Court: Cabo Poco
Music: Legends of Unova
My Pokémon: Webber (Spidops), Dulcinea (Dipplin), Wendy (Toxtricity) (Amped), Tad (Poliwrath)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Bahama (Pelipper), Rika (Raichu) (Kantonian), Gamera (Blastoise), Dee jay (Ludicolo)

Kantonian Raichu soon gained a lot of use last generation in rain-based teams for being a Pokémon with access to both Fake Out and Nuzzle with the Ability Lightning Rod, allowing Raichu to seize control of a match and redirect what would otherwise be lethal Electric-type attacks aimed at Pelipper and other Water-types towards itself. No doubt Miles saw Toxtricity on my team and went with this, figuring to see her at the start. Instead, I knew Pelipper specializes in setting Tailwinds, so I brought out Webber (Spidops) to negate that, and I expected Wellspring Ogerpon to be Pelipper’s opening partner, hence Dulcinea (Dipplin).

The battle had a slow-paced start, with Miles switching their Pokémon in and out. The one counter to this, besides predicting a switch and catching them in it, is to switch in and out myself, which is exactly what I did. That led to the match kind of stalling until one Pokémon gets knocked out.

The later phases of this battle, however, continues to baffle me. My opponent had clear openings to knock out my Pokémon, but they settled for low-damage attacks and not-very-effective moves that gave me the chance to regain my lost momentum, including a botched use of Pollen Puff to heal Wendy (Toxtricity). I don’t get it.

All of my opponent’s Pokémon are nicknamed. Pelipper is most likely named after the Bahamas, an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. Blastoise is named after Gamera, a Godzilla villain resemblig a giant tortoise. Ludicolo is named after Dee Jay, a character in Street Fighter who specializes in dance-battling. I’m not sure who Raichu might be named after, but it’s likely not Rika of Paldea’s Elite Four.