Instant Crush (Day 97)

I think I might be more or less done with Pokemon Y now, unless I get a wild hair to try to complete the Pokedex. That's not even possible until the Pokebank comes out in December--it allows you to upload Pokemon from previous games and download them to X and Y. I assume you can also upload Pokemon from this newest game as well. I was actually curious if I could upload all of my important Pokemon, delete my save file, and start a new game. I wouldn't mind doing that at all, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see what features the service offers.

I'm not done with Pokemon in general though. I've been browsing Smogon for advice on strategies, movesets, and EV spreads on different Pokemon for years now, but only last night did I investigate the online simulator the site endorses. It's called Pokemon Showdown and is entirely browser-based. Despite this, it is animated and even includes music from the games! I was taken aback at how high quality the program was--and how easy it is to set up your own team that adheres to their rules. 

The most popular tier of competitive play (according to Smogon) is called OU, which stands for Overused. The name almost has a negative connotation for me, but it is the most diverse and widely-played format on the website. All Pokemon that fall into tiers below it are legal for play as well. These tiers are, in descending order, Underused (UU), Rarely Used (RU, and Neverused (NU). These Pokemon are generally outclassed by other similar Pokemon or rely on very niche strategies that are extremely reliant on proper support. Each tier allows the use of Pokemon in any tier below it.

OU essentially alllows you to use whatever Pokemon you want--although you'll have a much easier time against skilled players if you stick to using Pokemon from the OU tier. The only Pokemon that you cannot use are relegated to the Ubers tier, which is primarily populated with Legendary Pokemon--obtainable generally only from special events in the game. In Gen V, the Ubers tier was entirely populated with Legendaries with only 2-3 non-Legendary Pokemon. Like the OU, it allows the use of any and all Pokemon in tiers below it. Some lower-tier Pokemon have unique strengths that allow them to combat the extremely powerful Pokemon in the tier.

I've only played a few matches on the website so far, but I can see myself spending a lot of time on it, experimenting with different team comps. I've always been a bit of a hipster (or Johnny in MTG terminology) when it comes to competitive games. I always try to get odd, off the wall strategies to work. It pains me to use strategies that are considered universally strong and popular. I'm trying to not fall into that habit as much these days, but the tendency still remains.