Pokémon White Version Wedlocke Lite Part 3: Why I Hate Tympole

Gym preparation time! Taking my first steps into Pinwheel Forest I received a very convenient gift: the TM for Rock Smash. I quickly taught it to as many of my Pokémon as I could in hopes that the Fighting type attack would give me an edge against Lenora later.

Then I began to take on the trainers in the area. In no time at all Scampi reached lv 17 and evolved into a glorious Dewott! Since most of my team evolves at or around lv 20, I want to evolve as many of them as I can since overpowering Lenora is pretty much the only strategy I have at this point.

With all of the trainers defeated, but still needing to grind some levels, I figured I might as well head into the grass and get my encounter for this area so I could continue training here. And my encounter was...

...a Tympole. Meh. But a catch is a catch, and it couldn't hurt to have a backup Water type. I named the little guy "Tater Tot".

Meanwhile, I got Scampi to lv 20 and he was ready to learn Fury Cutter. This presented me with an interesting strategic possibility for the upcoming Gym battle. If I send Scampi out right away, and just spam Fury Cutter against Lenora's Herdier (in spite of Herdier's Intimidate), then by the time I defeated Herdier Fury Cutter's power should be enough to take out her Watchog in one hit, which, if I could out-speed it, would allow me to avoid being hit by a double-power Retaliate attack. However, this would be a dangerously risky move in a Nuzlocke because:

1. Herdier's Intimidate would cut Scampi's attack right at the start. This means it would probably take a few extra turns to take it out.
2. This strategy depends on Scampi's ability to take a hit. Scampi's nature makes Defense his lowest stat. Add that to Herdier's solid Attack and the fact that it can lower his Defense further with Leer, and the fact that Scampi probably needs a good 4 or 5 turns to build up Fury Cutter's power  to the point where it will do serious damage.
3. Even if Scampi can take a few hits, if I break to use healing items on him Fury Cutter's power will be reset, which will prolong the battle even further.
4. Assuming I could get through the fight with Herdier, Scampi would still have to out-speed Watchog. Statistically Watchog has a higher base speed than Dewott, so unless I level Scampi significantly the odds are not in my favor. I do have an X Speed I could use early on, but that would use up another turn, and I wouldn't be able to afford to waste a single one.

So while the Fury Cutter strategy would be interesting to try on a regular run, it looks like a much too risky strategy to try in a Nuzlocke. But I figured I'd replace Rock Smash with it and give it some more thought later since I can always teach him Rock Smash again.

With Scampi sufficiently stronger than the rest of my team, I put Hot Wings and Guava to the front of my party and proceeded to search the area for whatever items were lying around. This search brought me to the very tall grass. I knew that I had to be careful here because the Pokémon were at higher levels, and I might run into a double battle. But the wild Pokémon in the regular grass were around lv 12 to 14, so I expected that most of the Pokémon I'd find would be around lv 15.

I was in for a surprise when I was dragged into a double battle with two Tympole at lv 15 and lv 17. Considering Hot Wings and Guava were both lv 15, and Hot Wings would probably fall to a Bubblebeam from either Tympole, I decided the best course of action was to run. Couldn't get away! ...My heart sank.

The first Tympole used Round on Guava, taking a little more than 1/3 of her HP. At first I was relieved that it didn't go for Bubblebeam on Hot Wings, but then the second Tympole also used Round on Guava! Round is an attack that, when used by multiple Pokémon in the same turn, doubles in power with each use. Guava never stood a chance.

I was still in shock by how quickly everything had happened, but I knew I couldn't risk having Hot Wings out anymore. So I replaced Guava with Scampi and switched Hot Wings with Gingersnap. Not wanting to lose a turn trying to flee, I decided to have Scampi attack. Razor Shell did decent damage, and Scampi absorbed one hit from Round with little damage. Then I had another heart attack when the other Tympole scored a critical hit on Gingersnap! By some divine providence she survived with just 2 HP remaining! I would have been absolutely distraught to lose my precious Gingersnap so soon. As they say in Nuzlocke challenges, Gingersnap really earned her bro badge. But I knew that I couldn't stick around in this fight any longer, so I had to try to run away. Fortunately I was successful this time.

I immediately put Scampi to the front of my party and used a Repel to avoid any more mishaps on my way back to the Nacrene Pokémon Center. Granted, the Repel wouldn't have protected Hot Wings and Guava since they were both at a lower level than that one Tympole. But still, I should have switched out right away when that battle started. Of course I probably would have only thought to switch Hot Wings. I wouldn't have predicted they'd gang up on Guava with Round. Besides, I don't know if any of my team could have withstood a double Round attack. I hate to say it, because all of my team is important to me, but Guava was probably the most expendable member of my team. I'm sad to lose her, especially so early in the game, but I'm grateful I didn't lose Gingersnap or Hot Wings, which could have easily happened.

When I reached the Pokémon Center, I said farewell to Guava and placed her in the Memorial PC Box. Goodbye, Guava. I'm sorry you didn't even have the chance to evolve...

When I was going through the PC I caught a glimpse of Tater Tot. He reminded me of those awful, evil Tympole I just fought... It's not fair to Tater Tot, but I really hate Tympole right now.

Anyway, now I am facing a bit of difficulty. Because Guava was female, I can only replace her with another female Pokémon. But the only other Pokémon I've captured so far is Tater Tot, a male. Also, I can't reach any new areas until after I defeat Lenora, so I'm pretty much stuck without a full party for now. I guess it's back to my strategy of grinding levels for now. I'm going to stay away from Pinwheel Forest for a while though.

If you have any suggestions for an alternative strategy to use against Lenora, please let me know. In the meantime, I'll be grinding those levels. See you next time!

(credit for party sidebar format goes to Marriland)