Ebbing and flowing at the Battle Rally (Water Upgrade, 9,550 points) [Pokemon Masters EX]

0:00 - Free upgrade + pattern
Water may be the most common type in the game, but it doesn't have any Sprint or Field units, which is not what you want to see for a Sprint-heavy pattern. Even if multiple rivals got Sprint EX roles this year, it's still not an easy role to account for.
0:12 - Sprint + Support vs. Electric-weak Caitlin: EX Elio / EX Iono / EX SS Brendan
I already knew the pattern from Area 1, and this combo repeats later, so I'm saving my two Sprint + Support units for that. Iono does ridiculous damage for a support so she seemed like a natural pick here, with Elio providing the upgrade boost and SS Brendan providing Sp Def debuffs.
1:32 - Sprint + Field vs. Flying-weak Marshal: EX Volo / Rei / EX Riley
Can't believe it took me until last week to realize that running these three in Sprint + Field stages should be a go-to for me, especially in early ones. That'll probably change if ever I decide to invest more in Rei (or give either Volo or Riley a cake) but for now I'll have this team to fall back on.
4:04 - Sprint + Strike vs. Steel-weak Bertha: EX-R SS Gladion / EX Eusine / EX-R Penny
This stage actually prefers physical moves for the sides, but Gladion's damage is just that good. Eusine provided the upgrade boost (and the banger theme) but in hindsight, I should've probably run a less gauge-hungry partner.
6:10 - Support + Tech vs. Poke War Games Battle Challenge: EX-R SS Silver / EX-R Tierno / EX-R NC Calem
This stage was made for SC Diantha and SC Hilda, and for some reason there are a lot of status-inducing moves thrown around, so I had to tank with Calem for Status Immunity. There are technically two Water-types in this team so where is my upgrade bonus???
9:10 - Sprint + Support vs. Fighting-weak Hala: EX-R Paulo / EX-R NC Rosa / EX SS Blue
NC Rosa gaming, part 1.
12:10 - Sprint + Field vs. Dragon-weak Drake: EX-R SS Morty / EX-R NC Rosa / EX-R Mix Blue
NC Rosa gaming, part 2. She's the queen of Battle Rally for a reason.
15:30 - Field + Strike vs. Who's the Best Singer Battle Challenge: EX-R Mix Blue / EX-R Geeta / EX SS Grimsley
This stage was made for SS Roxie and SS Piers. Had to replace Akari with SS Grimsley since this stage is so incredibly annoying without the upgrade bonus, and even with it I needed a lot of flinch luck to see the clear through. Really a perfect storm of a difficult stage in a difficult pattern with an uncooperative upgrade.
18:52 - Sprint + Tech vs. Fairy-weak Drasna: EX-R SS Wally / EX-R Classic Elesa / EX SS Misty
Thankfully, the game decided to give me a break with this one, as this stage was meant for best boy, and this just so happens to be the area I was saving him for. SS Misty removes the Attack buffs turn 1 so that the team doesn't have to deal with boosted moves.
21:31 - Sprint + Strike vs. Steel-weak Diantha: EX-R NC Silver / EX Kris / EX-R NC Blue
Flinch gaming. I mistakenly forgot to reset for TM MPR on NC Silver in case I needed him for the next fight. I hope it doesn't need his sand...
24:15 - Sprint + Tech vs. Argenta: EX-R NC Serena / EX SS Erika / EX-R NC Cheren (+ Guard Chocolat purchase)
...yeah. I was dreading this area regardless of which stage I got since the role combo wouldn't give me any proper tanks to work with. Thankfully, the game decided to carry a Guard Chocolat in the shop, which makes pretty much any unit a good tank thanks to the constant Damage Guard applications. It made this clear turn from impossible to a cakewalk for sure.
#PokemonMasters #PokemonMastersEX #BattleRally