Pokemon Brilliant Diamond - 0 Exp Part 7: Maylene

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MoogleBoss

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Published on May 1, 2022 2:00:08 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE8waPWeCzc

Game:

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl (2021)

Duration: 4:28

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Challenge playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbSv8zSDR9c0_GdXH4uD7y8l7LHuCDr2E

The third gym battle in this challenge, though Maylene and Crasher can be done in any order, sharing the same Pokemon levels. Since I got to her city first, with all the right counters and checks on my team, I decided to do Maylene first.

Maylene's team has been enhanced since the original Diamond/Pearl, their held items being fitting to the roles they play in-battle, such as Meditite extending Light Screen's duration with its Light Clay, Machoke hitting weakness harder with Expert Belt, and Lucario restoring 30% more health with Big Root.

Lead Meditite has no ways of hurting Spiritomb, the highest-levelled Pokemon I have before I start venturing into the Great Marsh at least (the catch rates there have been very unkind to me so far). It will set up its screen first, protecting the team from special attacks for the subsequent 8 turns. It can then try using Bulk Up in vain, before ultimately switching out to the more able Machoke who covers all sorts of types fighting-type moves have no business targeting.

With the Light Screen up and Spiritomb relying on special moves to KO, its access to Nasty Plot enables it to deal significant damage to the first two opponents despite the barrier, Hex targeting Meditite's weakness and Psychic Machoke's. For no apparent reason, if Machoke switches in to replace Meditite, Meditite will be brought back in, not having any ways to attack Spiritomb.

Packing Drain Punch instead of the Force Palm it had in vanilla, Lucario is a much more menacing opponent than before, Big Root letting it absorb more damage than ever. Losing the speed battle and with Luke still protected from special moves, I don't bring my counter out immediately, instead opting to slow Lucario down with Golem's Bulldoze. Normally 2HKO'd by Drain Punch, Golem has always been able to use Bulldoze twice due to Lucario's insistence to use Bulk Up first. When Golem falls and Light Screen has worn off, Ponyta (not the shiny one, sadly) can come in to finish Lucario off with Flamethrower. Yet another instance of the cheap Veilstone Department Store TMs coming in useful.

Being finally able to use Fly after the gym battle is a breath of fresh air, but I'm not sure how I feel about the finite Drain Punch TMs. It has always been difficult to find somebody who can use the move on my runs in virtually every generation.

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