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Pokemon 8-A tournament; Round 1: Misdreavus vs. Swablu

My lord, that’s a lot of stuff Misdreavus has on her lol. Any chance someone has an idea on what they start with?
Iirc Ghost Types like Misdreavus usually lead off using moves like Shadow Ball in a fighting scenario.
 
My lord, that’s a lot of stuff Misdreavus has on her lol. Any chance someone has an idea on what they start with?
Iirc Ghost Types like Misdreavus usually lead off using moves like Shadow Ball in a fighting scenario.
Misdreavus actually is a Pokemon with a surprising amount of behaviour-related information.

It likes playing mischievous tricks such as screaming and wailing to startle people at night.
It loves to bite and yank people’s hair from behind without warning, just to see their shocked reactions.
It loves to watch people it’s scared. It frightens them by screaming loudly or appearing suddenly.
MISDREAVUS frightens people with a creepy, sobbing cry. The POKéMON apparently uses its red spheres to absorb the fearful feelings of foes and turn them into nutrition.
It will use any means necessary to frighten people and absorb their life energy. It practices constantly to hone its skill in causing fear.
If you hear a sobbing sound emanating from a vacant room, it’s undoubtedly a bit of mischief from Misdreavus.
What gives meaning to its life is surprising others. If you set your ear against the red orbs around its neck, you can hear shrieking.
What makes it happy is imitating the voices of weeping people and scaring everyone. It doesn’t deal well with folks who aren’t easily frightened.

So Misdreavus is almost certainly going to be predisposed towards Fear & maybe Sound manipulation; Surprising others is apparently what gives its life meaning, & it turns fearful feelings of foes into nutrition.

In terms of moves, this pretty much guarantees Misdreavus starts with Astonish, as it's practically always been described as shouting in a startling fashion, & making noise & scaring others is what Misdreavus loves.
Unfortunately, Astonish is a Ghost-type move, so Swablu is immune, but Misdreavus probably won't know that before trying it.

What other moves are likely? Well, in no particular order for its Level-up Moves:

1. Confuse Ray MIGHT be likely, since it's described as a "sinister ray"
2. Mean Look is "a dark, arresting look", so Misdreavus might go for these if it's trying to scare.
3. Psybeam is described as "A peculiar ray", so maybe, but seems unlikely.
4. Shadow Ball doesn't seem THAT likely, being described as "A shadowy blob is hurled at the foe.", even though a floating shadow is kinda scary. But it's also utterly ineffective against Swablu.
5. Psywave has been described as "a psychic wave of varying intensity.", "an odd, hot energy wave.", & "an odd psychic wave", so maybe, but probably not?
6. Growl? "The user growls in an endearing way, making the foe less wary.". Misdreavus likes making creepy sounds, not cute sounds, & it wants them scared, not friendlier, so almost certainly not.
7. Perish Song might sound or seem creepy, but if Misdreavus has an idea of what it's doing, it shouldn't want to use this, since it'll eventually make Misdreavus faint; At best, you hope your opponent screws up under pressure AND that screw-up is critical enough to let you win much sooner. & If Swablu doesn't know what Perish Song does, it doesn't have much reason to battle differently. Not to mention, you're investing significant time into what is likely playing for a draw instead of trying to win. (Though, Swablu likely does know the effect since it learns the move by Level-up, too.)

What about Egg Moves?
1. Nasty Plot "The user stimulates its brain by thinking bad thoughts." Misdreauvs thinks about doing mean things all the time, Nasty Plot is probably in-character.
2. Ominous Wind "The user creates a gust of repulsive wind."/"The user blasts the target with a gust of repulsive wind."
3. Screech "An ear-splitting screech is emitted to sharply reduce the foe’s DEFENSE.". Screaming to scare others is something Misdreavus explicitly likes doing, so this is IC.
4. Shadow Sneak "The user extends its shadow and attacks the foe from behind.". Kinda creepy, might surprise.... But Swablu is immune, which Misdreavus may not know.
5. Sucker Punch's Japanese name translates to "Surprise Attack", & it's generally moving rapidly to hit suddenly. I think Misdreavus might try it.
6. Wonder Room "The user creates a bizarre area in which Pokémon’s Defense and Sp. Def stats are swapped for five turns.". Creating a bizarre area might scare the opponent, so I could see Misdreavus doing this. Looking purely at base stats, Swablu's offenses are equal, but its Sp. Def is a little better than its DEF, so it might help Misdreavus slightly? But Misdreavus's physical stats are all worse than its Special stats, more than Swablu's DEF is worse than its Sp. Def, so it could also backfire.

So Misdreavus very likely starts with Astonish, & depending on Egg Moves, might try to follow up with Nasty Plot, Screech or Sucker Punch. Or it could go for Perish Song, which, considering it's limiting its own time too, while Swablu is still battling it as it sings, probably means Perish Song is a draw or worse.
It might try Psywave or Psybeam, because they're "peculiar" or "odd", & so might scare.... & though it learns Power Gem, which is SE on Swablu, making pretty light that sparkles like gemstones doesn't seem In-Character for the scares, yelling & surprise-loving Misdreavus.


Considering Night Shade is described as "The user makes the target see a frightening mirage.", & is a Ghost-type move, I'm surprised Misdreavus's line seemingly can't learn it at all.
 
Now what about what's in-character for Swablu?

SWABLU has light and fluffy wings that are like cottony clouds. This POKéMON is not frightened of people. It lands on the heads of people and sits there like a cotton-fluff hat.
SWABLU loves to make things clean. If it spots something dirty, it will wipe and polish it with its cottony wings. If its wings become dirty, this POKéMON finds a stream and showers itself.
It constantly grooms its cotton-like wings. It takes a shower to clean itself if it becomes dirty.
A POKéMON that has wings like cottony clouds. After enduring winter, in which little food is available, SWABLU flocks move closer to towns in the spring.
It can’t relax if it or its surroundings are not clean. It wipes off dirt with its wings.
Its wings bring cottony clouds to mind. It grooms with springwater and loves to sit on heads.
For some reason, it likes to land on people’s heads softly and act like it’s a hat.
Its cottony wings are full of air, making them light and fluffy to the touch. Swablu takes diligent care of its wings.
Since Swablu looks like a cumulus cloud, foes can have a hard time finding it. Apparently its wings turned white over many generations.

So Swablu is a birb with air-filled, light, fluffy wings that look like cotton/clouds. It isn't scared of people, & in fact, likes to land on their heads & pretend its a hat. Also, it constantly grooms said wings, & can't stand itself nor its surroundings being dirty. It wipes off dirt with its wings (Wouldn't this get them dirty?) &, to clean itself, it showers in streams or uses springwater. Also, it moves to towns in Spring. Lastly, foes can apparently have a hard time finding it because it looks like a cumulous cloud.

In a battlefield like Central Park, New York, I dunno if Swablu would be able to relax or not; How clean does Swablu need the park to be? It's also unclear how readily Misdreavus could scare it, Ghost-type immunity aside; Consider a scenario like below:

Misdreavus hides & makes a creepy, sobbing sound or a scream or a wail. Swablu... well, being not scared of humans, it might actually seek a human-like sound out, because it likes landing on their heads so that it can pretend it's a hat. If it saw Misdreavus, mistook it for a person's head, & tried to land on it....

....Well, given that, I think the start of this battle might be very silly to watch. Lol.


Unfortunately, it's not very clear which moves Swablu would prefer, although, funnily enough, another move it has in common with Misdreavus is Astonish. Considering that's Misdreavus's opening move, but Swablu is immune to it, while Misdreavus is weak to it.... Well, Misdreavus should hope Swablu doesn't try making a startling shout back when Misdreavus tries it, lol.
....Swablu might actually do that, considering it learns Mirror Move by level-up, & Astonish is not only a level-up move for it, but an Egg Move, too. (Albeit, in a different gen after being removed as a Level-up move.)
Why does it seem like this match would start with Misdreavus trying & failing to scare Swablu, & then running in terror from a very loud Swablu? (Lol.)


Anyway, in-character moves?
Cotton Guard, maybe? "The user protects itself by wrapping its body in soft cotton, which drastically raises the user’s Defense stat." It wouldn't do much against anything but Sucker Punch, but it seems probable for Swablu to try.
Safeguard or Mist, since it doesn't want to get dirty? Maybe Feather Dance (Egg Move)?
It might try Roost (Egg Move), but this may fail the first time if it tries to land on Misdreavus's head, since Misdreavus will likely dodge or make itself intangible (If it can.) to let Swablu make a fool of itself.

In terms of actual attacking moves.... Well, for one, Swablu learns Natural Gift, but it never has any held items in the wild, let alone berries, so this is useless.
Astonish & Mirror Move situation aside....
Swablu's Level-Up moves include Peck, Fury Attack & Take Down, as well as Disarming Voice, Dragon Breath, Round, Dragon Pulse, & Moonblast.
Its Egg Moves include Dragon Rush, Hyper Voice, Play Rough, Pursuit, Rage, & Steel Wing. Notably, its Egg Moves also include Agility, so Swablu getting the speed advantage MIGHT happen.

So, in the absence of behavioural info telling us what Swablu does, statistical info might tell us. Seemingly, it might try to Peck Misdreavus, may try to ram it, or it might sing at it or blast it.
Of all those, ramming has the most moves & the most that will actually work: Misdreavus is immune to Take Down & Rage, but weak to Pursuit, & neutral to Dragon Rush, Play Rough, & Steel Wing.
 
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ANYWAY, all that said....

I guess the battle starts with Misdreavus trying to Astonish, to probably no effect. Swablu maybe tries Astonishing back, or does so anyway after using Mirror Move.
Or Swablu, being that its cottony wings are one of its most distinct traits, leads with Cotton Guard, boosting its DEF by 2 stages.
Swablu might also lead with Mist or Safeguard, in the hopes of keeping itself/its surroundings/its wings clean.
IMHO, Swablu's IC moves aren't very clear, unlike Misdreavus's.

After Astonish, Misdreavus probably Screeches because it likes making sounds to scare people. If this hits, it drops Swablu's DEF by 2 stages.... But if Cotton Guard is up, it effectively means nothing happend across those moves except a bit of Stamina use.
Otherwise, Misdreavus MIGHT try Nasty Plot, since it's just thinking bad thoughts. Screech or Nasty Plot aren't very relevant, though; Even if Mist doesn't block the former, Sucker Punch is Misdreavus's most likely physical attack, which may not always work, & several of Misdreavus's Attacks either don't work or won't be used; Its most likely attacks that do work seem like Psybeam & Psywave.

Misdreavus is also more likely to ruin itself by using Perish Song, since it likes making noises & scaring people; The problem is this either causes a draw or tilts things in Swablu's favor, since Misdreavus is singing while Swablu is battling, & though Swablu can use PS, too, we don't know of much that inclines it towards doing so.


I'm gonna vote Swablu here:
Too many of Misdreavus's likely in-characters options are stuff Swablu is immune to, & Swablu is more likely to use a SE move (Using Astonish itself, Mirror Moving Misdreavus's own opening move of Astonish, using Pursuit which it gets as an Egg Move....), whereas Misdreavus's only SE move, Power Gem, is something where there's like, 15 other moves that Misdreavus is more likely to use before it tries that.
Not to mention Misdreavus more likely to skew things against itself by using Perish Song.
(& also Swablu gets Roost, albeit, as an Egg Move, so it may be better at healing itself, even if it might not get to pretend to be Misdreavus's hat.)
 
I just got concerned, because at times, I feel like people don't take well to my verbose manner of debate. & this thread not having many replies for the better part of a week....
But yeah, sorry for any bother with my silly self-consciousness, all.
 
Do we add tournament battles?

anyways either grace/victory in the tournament for birb
 
One of the rare times a ghost type loses in a Pokémon Vs match.
Is that so? Hunh. I can sorta see why.

Anyway, next match in the brackets, @Arceus0x? Or do we gotta wait for Grace to finish?

In theory, could just start the other matches of the tournament, because who won this match won't influence the tourney until those other matches finish anyway.
 
Yeah, tournament matches are valid to add so long as you aren't stomps and whatnot.
 
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