Borne of Caution

Seated in his cozy office, Nigel Birch sighs and leans back in his chair, enjoying one of the rare afternoons where everything seems to be caught up. No meetings, no aides or researchers absent, and no pin-headed prodding from the League Academic Board over what he's up to.

Just earlier he submitted an approval request to the Pokemon Rangers to run a research expedition in a protected area outside Verdanturf, one where a wild Sitrus grove supposedly exists. If Lee's theories on long-term consumption of the berries are correct, then the pokemon living in the area should make for an interesting study. With any luck, the Rangers will get back to him before the week is out.

'It's been so long since I've had time to myself.' Nigel realizes. 'If I wasn't working, I was showing the ropes to Brendan, and if I wasn't with him, I was jumping through hoops for the Academic Board.' The man sighs wistfully. 'It seems like only yesterday Brendan was a knee-high hellion demanding daddy teach him about pokemon. Now, look at him! Out in the world and making a name for himself.'

The thought of his son makes Nigel smile. 'I didn't start my journey until fifteen, and my first Gym battle was a solid defeat. Brendan, though?' He allows his smile to take on a smug air, though it only holds for a few scant seconds before something melancholic takes its place. 'My son is growing up…' Nigel shakes his head gently, dispelling the thought.

After a brief phone call to order some delivery for lunch, Nigel jiggles the mouse of his computer and checks his email once more. Finding nothing urgent, he smiles and allows himself to goof off for a bit. Naturally, the first site he visits is BattleNet.

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The first newest topics are nothing special. Gossip about Elites, bogus Legendary sightings, popularity contests between teen girl trainers, conspiracy theories about world leaders being lizard pokemon, nothing unusual. One post pinned to the front page does jump out at Nigel, however.

Topic: Paldea re-opens borders

In: Boards ► International ► World News & Events

AllBite_NoBark (Original Poster)

Posted On June Xth 20XX:

After two decades of silence, Paldea is apparently going to throw open their borders after their civil government underwent a regime change following the illness and death of Marco "El Presidente" Juno. The geezers online might remember how they Clamperl'd up but here is a history lesson for the kiddies.

Back in the day, Paldea was considered to be one of the strongest regions in the world owing to the fact that all of their trainers stomped in any tournament hosted in Paldea. Seriously, a non-native has never won a single Paldean League tournament, and that's something no their region can boast. A few weaker regions formed lopsided trade agreements with them in return for defense pacts, including some non-League regions, and Paldea raked in the cash for it. This usually kept the other fighty non-League localities in line and reluctant to eat their weaker neighbors. As you probably know, Johto and Kanto got into a dispute over the ownership of Mt Silver and the surrounding areas around this time, and it got violent. It was a huge shock when the civil government of Paldea refused to honor the mutual defense agreement between Paldea and Johto during the Kanto-Johto skirmishes.

Marco Juno, who entered the office of President that same year after a landslide victory, immediately dissolved the agreement, more or less telling Johto "You're f*cked. Have fun." Some people think this was a move to protect Paldea from Kanto, and thus from Interim Champion Samuel Oak, while others think Marco Juno had an alternate reason. Reportedly, the Paldea Pokemon League and the civ gov butted heads over the issue and hit political gridlock. The Paldea PL said Marco had no authority to annul military agreements, and the civ gov said the agreement was entirely defensive, then accused Johto of being the aggressor which annuls the agreement anyway. No one was really sure what the wording of the agreement was since it was drafted behind closed doors. Considering the funny dragon honor Clan Blackthorn has and how loudly they decried Paldea's declaration, I think we all know Kanto threw the first punch.

Paldea was already very prickly over international travelers, and using fear over the possibility of Samuel Oak burning the region to the ground, Marco Juno convinced the Paldea Senate to grant him emergency powers using a supermajority vote. Normally a Pokemon League could overturn even a supermajority, but the worldwide unrest convinced a number of League officials to side with Marco, and the countervote fell short. With his emergency powers, Marco suspended his term limits, deported every foreigner in Paldea, recalled all his trainers, revoked every passport and travel visa, then closed the borders and enforced an information blackout.

But there is probably a bigger reason why Marco wanted to close off Paldea. Get this: according to the source article there is some sort of geological phenomenon in Paldea that allows a pokemon to change their Type. It's been known to a few native Paldean ethnic groups (one of which Marco Juno belonged to) since before modern days, and globalization was making the secret harder and harder to keep. The problem with this is that the type-change thing only works on Paldean soil, which explains why native Paldean trainers and pokemon were such incredible sh!tkickers but never liked leaving home. So while Paldea would 110% suck to invade, they never had any real force projection. Rather than help Johto and risk the ruse, Marco Juno took his ball, went home, and locked the door.

Following Marco's death, the civil gov is supposedly in disarray and the Paldea PL is cleaning up the mess. You can already see some of the ripples hitting the market as Paldean pokemon breeders ballsy dip their toes in the international market this early are making bank selling pokemon not ever seen outside of their region. Former Paldea PL Official and now Regional Professor Sada, a rallying figure for younger native Paldeans, says they hope to officially re-open the borders in the coming months, and that they'll be burying the shame Marco brought upon the region along with his body.

Wack.

Source: PNN (link).

After re-reading the post and opening the article to read the official source, Nigel blinks and scratches his chin. "Full-on type changes?" He wonders aloud, pondering how such a thing could happen as a result of something geological. Dispersed TE concentrations in the soil? Maybe… "Well then," he grins, not hiding his excitement for such an interesting study being dangled before him. "I guess Lee and I are taking a research expedition to Paldea once this League year is out. That'll be right up his alley."

The comments in the thread aren't really anything constructive, so Nigel skips them to keep flitting between posts that catch his fancy. Out of curiosity, he searches his son's name and pulls up the profile on Brendan the site maintains.

TRAINER TRACKER: BIRCH, BRENDAN

Currently participating in: Ever Grande Conference Challenge

Badges: 3/8 (R Stone, R Knuckle, R Dynamo)

Last seen in: Lavaridge

TRAINER INFO

Username: B_Birch

Age: 12

Years Active: 0.2

Home Region: Hoenn

Official Trainer: Yes

Trainer Class: Lab Trainer (Hoenn)

Trainer ID: [Hidden]

STATISTICS

Winrate (W/L/D): 71/7/0

Average Match Time Per Pokemon: 2.1 minutes

Total Badges Collected: 3

Tournaments Entered: 0

Tournaments Won: 0

Pokemon Owned (Past Evos Included): 6

Most used pokemon: Marshtomp

POKEMON

Ace Pokemon: Marshtomp

Known Team: Marshtomp (m), Breloom (m), Mawile (f), Elecktrike (m)

Known Reserves: N/A

POKEMON NOTES

Marshtomp

Ability: Torrent

Typical Held Item: N/A

Known Moves: Bide, Watergun, Take Down, Mud Shot, Seismic Toss, Rock Throw, Foresight, Growl, Mega Punch

Notes: Birch's first pokemon. Evolved from Mudkip. Superior physical strength and resilience. Deceptively fast. Boasts impressive tolerance to Grass attacks. Torrent was observed activating in several battles. Obedient and quick to execute orders, even when visibly upset.

Unofficial BattleNet Power Rankings™ for Brendan's Marshtomp

Physical Atk: S-

Ranged Atk: A-

Status Atk: E

Phys Resist: A+

Energy Resist: A

Status Resist: B+

Agility: B+

Reactions: A

Stamina: S

Pain Tolerance: S

Overall Species Ranking:(A+ Tier)See analyst feat and performance breakdown here (link)

Breloom

Ability: Effect Spore

Typical Held Item: N/A

Known Moves: Tackle, Stun Spore, Poison Powder, Leech Seed, Mega Drain, Headbutt, Mach Punch, Counter.

Notes: Acquired via capture. Evolved from Shroomish. Evasive. Skilled with hit-and-run tactics but capable of sustaining and winning slug outs due to Effect Spore. Above-average abilities are magnified under Birch's command. Obedient and quick to execute orders.

Unofficial BattleNet Power Rankings™ for Brendan's Breloom

Physical Atk: B

Ranged Atk: B

Status Atk: A

Phys Resist: C

Energy Resist: C-

Status Resist: C

Agility: B+

Reactions: B+

Stamina: C

Pain Tolerance: B+

Overall Species ranking: (B+ Tier)See analyst feat and performance breakdown here (link)

Mawile

Ability: Intimidate

Typical Held Item: N/A

Known Moves: Crunch, Attract, False Tears, Fairy Wind, Iron Defense, Baton Pass, Sucker Punch

Notes: Acquired via capture. Dirty fighter and a skilled actor. An unusually high amount of teeth in her second mouth offer high-powered bite attacks. Obedient and quickly executes orders.

Unofficial BattleNet Power Rankings™ for Brendan's Mawile

Physical Atk: A+

Ranged Atk: D

Status Atk: B

Phys Resist: C+

Energy Resist: C-

Status Resist: B

Agility: C

Reactions: C

Stamina: C+

Pain Tolerance: B

Overall Species Ranking: (B- Tier) See analyst feat and performance breakdown here (link)

Electrike

Ability: ?

Typical Held Item:

Known Moves: N/A

Notes: Unnaturally large. Might be Giant or Alpha variation. Not yet seen used in battle.

Species ranking: (N/A)

STRATAGEMS, STYLES, & BATTLENET ESTIMATIONS

Birch takes battles slow and steady, pacing the fight to keep his pokemon fresh. Fond of baiting and punishing overextension, though tactics shift between different pokemon. Pokemon seem to execute pre-planned movements and maneuvers mid-battle with non-verbal signals (hand movements, head movements, etc) and situational cues. Site helpers and analysts have proposed that Birch also uses voice tone and vocabulary changes to relay info to pokemon. Birch has superior battlefield awareness and will direct pokemon to opportunistically capitalize on prime positioning. In the absence of prime positioning, Birch may direct pokemon to alter the terrain to better suit his plans. Birch has presumably been tutored by his father, Prof Nigel Birch, and may bring additional tactics to the field if pushed.

Birch is currently projected to collect 8 Hoenn badges and likely participate in the Ever Grande Conference with a team of 6 pokemon.

MISC

Known Sponsors & Affiliates: Hoenn Regional Pokemon Lab

Recent Activity: See (link) for full video archive.

Page last updated by P_Jeimai (BattleNet Analyst) 3 days ago.

Nigel smiles with pride as he reads the pages and pages of worried comments from other trainers on his son's dossier. His boy is making waves and the competition is rightfully nervous. Even the finicky and egotistical staff on BattleNet think highly of him.

Naturally, Nigel types in the name of his other trainer and scans through what he finds.

TRAINER TRACKER: HENSON, LEE

Currently participating in: Ever Grande Conference Challenge

Badges: 3/8 (R Stone, R Knuckle, R Dynamo)

Last seen in: Lavaridge

TRAINER INFO

Username: L_Henson

Age: 24

Years Active: 0.2

Home Region: Hoenn

Official Trainer: Yes

Trainer Class: Lab Trainer (Hoenn)

Trainer ID: [Hidden]

STATISTICS

Winrate (W/L/D): 65/3/1

Average Match Time Per Pokemon: 2.5 minutes

Total Badges Collected: 3

Tournaments Entered: 1

Tournaments Won: 1

Pokemon Owned (Past Evos Included): 7

Most used Pokemon: Ninetales

POKEMON

Ace Pokemon: Ninetales

Current Team: Ninetales (f), Grovyle (m), Corvisquire (m), Shinx (f), Octillery (?)

Known Reserves: N/A

POKEMON NOTES *

Ninetales

Special Ability: ?

Typical Held Item: N/A

Known Moves: Confuse Ray, Quick Attack, Payback, Baby-Doll Eyes, Hex, Feint Attack, Flamethrower(?), Ember(?), Fire Spin(?), Will-o-Wisp(?), Unknown Fire Move #1, Unknown Fire Move #2, Unknown Fire Move #3, Others (?)

Notes: Henson's first pokemon(?). Evolved from Vulpix using G1P1 Fire Stone (citation needed). Capabilities are unknown. Observed using undocumented moves as a Vulpix on multiple occasions. Capabilities as a Vulpix noted to be in excess of previously known upper limits of species. Total number of moves is unknown. Type spread of moves is unknown.

Unofficial BattleNet Power Rankings™ for Lee's Ninetales

Physical Atk: ?

Ranged Atk: ?

Status Atk: ?

Phys Resist: ?

Energy Resist: ?

Status Resist: ?

Agility: ?

Reactions: ?

Stamina: ?

Pain Tolerance: ?

Overall Species Ranking: (? Tier) Pokemon cannot be accurately categorized at this time. See legacy feat and performance breakdown here (link)

Grovyle

Special Ability: Overgrow

Typical Held Item: Miracle Seed

Known Moves: Pound, Absorb, Leaf Blade, Detect, Quick Attack, Bullet Seed, X-Scissor, Feint Attack(?), Unknown Grass Move #1, Unknown Grass Move #2, Others (?)

Notes: Acquired via capture. Evolved from Treecko.Superior combat abilities across the board. Highly mobile and strikes opportunistically even when not ordered. Leaf Blade attack presents a serious danger of OHKO to any pokemon with a Grass weakness. Total number of moves is unknown. Type spread of moves is unknown.

Unofficial BattleNet Power Rankings™ for Lee's Grovyle

Physical Atk: ?

Ranged Atk: ?

Status Atk: ?

Physical Resist: C-

Energy Resist: C

Status Resist: ?

Agility: S

Reactions: SS-

Stamina: B

Pain Tolerance: A

Overall Species Ranking: (? Tier) Pokemon cannot be accurately categorized at this time. See legacy feat and performance breakdown here (link)

Corvisquire

Ability: ?

Typical Held Item: N/A

Known Moves: Pluck, Drill Peck, Scary Face, Taunt, Swift, Steel Wing, Extremespeed(?), Hone Claws, Power Trip, Unknown Dark Move, Others (?)

Notes: Acquired via capture.Superior combat abilities across the board. Extremely quick, violently aggressive, and willing to battle even with debilitating injuries. Total number of moves is unknown. Type spread of moves is unknown. Not seen in use recently.

Unofficial BattleNet Power Rankings™ for Lee's Corvisquire

Physical Atk: ?

Ranged Atk: ?

Status Atk: ?

Physical Resist: B

Energy Resist: B

Status Resist: ?

Agility: A

Reactions: B+

Stamina: S

Pain Tolerance: S+

Overall Species ranking: (? Tier) Pokemon cannot be accurately categorized at this time. See legacy feat and performance breakdown here (link)

Octillery

Typical Held Item: N/A

Known Moves: N/A

Notes: Not yet seen used in battle.

Species ranking: (N/A)

Shinx

Typical Held Item: N/A

Known Moves: N/A

Notes: Not yet seen used in battle.

Species ranking: (N/A)

STRATAGEMS, STYLES, & BATTLENET ESTIMATIONS *

Analysis of Henson's preferred tactics are inconclusive. Henson's pokemon possess unnaturally varied skill sets, with some of his pokemon knowing techniques previously thought impossible to use for their lines. Henson's Ninetales sometimes carries out complex attacks or maneuvers without visible instructions. Analysts cannot pinpoint the cue for these attacks. Henson is collaborating with Silph Co to bring TMs of entirely new pokemon moves to market. For this reason, it can be assumed that all of Henson's pokemon are in possession of other undocumented attacks.

Henson is currently projected to collect 8 Hoenn badges and participate in the Ever Grande Conference with a team of 6 pokemon as a Top 8 finalist.

* NOTICE: BattleNet Administration acknowledges that the listed information in these sections might be unreliable due to unusual circumstances.

MISC

Known Sponsors & Affiliates: Hoenn Regional Pokemon Lab, Rustboro Trainer School, Silph Co, Lavaridge Gym.

Recent Activity: See (link) for full video archive.

Page last updated by SITE_ADMIN#4 58 minutes ago.

Nigel blinks. "Huh. They're really not playing around with Lee. He's really kicked the Beedrill's nest with…" The professor pauses, several of the lines he just read suddenly jumping out at him as the realization hits home like a runaway bus. Slowly, his eyes grow wide.

Unknown Fire Move #1, Unknown Fire Move #2, Unknown Fire Move #3, Others (?)

Unknown Grass Move #1, Unknown Grass Move #2.

Unknown Dark Move.

G1P1 Fire Stone

Ninetales.

"Wha…? What the actual hell?" Nigel re-reads the page, realizing he didn't read it wrong.

Lee's efforts to create new moves have apparently been moving along much faster than expected. Nigel knew Lee planned on selling some move variations to Silph, but the professor was expecting that to be something months down the line, not weeks after Lee just got done creating Convergence.

Even more shockingly, Vulpix evolved – and she evolved with the highest grade stone possible. The evolution anxiety that plagues stone-evolvers is well documented, and the Vulpix line is the best example of that anxiety. When the doubts and fears pass, however…

There are plenty of good reasons why Ninetales is still worshiped in some parts of Kanto.

'I knew Lee's Vulpix was made of sterner stuff than most and might evolve, but I wasn't expecting this for years…' Nigel gulps and silently ponders the implications of one of his trainers owning a pokemon considered to be mythical by some. 'I know the Academic Board is going to want a meeting over this. Those old coots are going to be clamoring to study the youngest Ninetales in the world,' he groans aloud at the thought. 'The only way this could have made a bigger splash is if he caught an actual legendary pokemon.'

Scrolling the page back up, Nigel looks over all the question marks and uncertain info littering the dossier on Lee and his team. The information age has changed pokemon battling as a sport in just a few years, and accurate information on foes to form countermeasures from is the new great equalizer. 'Knowing is half the battle' has never been more accurate.

For that reason, each and every question mark sprinkled on Lee's dossier is another black bell toll for the trainers who are going to flock to the page in the coming days.

Wondering if the fox has been used in battle yet, Nigel opens Lee's Recent Activity link and takes a look at the newest video with his trainer tagged in it.

#OnceInALifetime Vulpix Evolution.

'Nevermind, this is even better than a battle,' Nigel smiles and clicks 'play'.

The video starts out shaky and unfocused from the perspective of a cell phone being withdrawn from a pocket. After a moment the camera focuses, and right in the center is Lee kneeling down with a positively radiant Fire Stone in hand.

In front of Lee, Vulpix slowly walks forward, as if second-guessing herself. She stops just short and raises a paw, once more hesitating.

It happens almost too quickly to notice. In fact, if Nigel wasn't personally acquainted with Vulpix, he might have missed it. Her ears flick back, her tails frazzle, and she pulls her lips back into a grimace for a split second. Then all at once, the fox's nerves vanish and her brown eyes quite literally glow with resolve.

Her paw falls on the stone, and in a great flash of light, she transforms into a Ninetales so golden that her fur shimmers like liquid metal in the sun. The video captures everything in stunning detail for just being a phone cam.

Everyone in the video waits with bated breath. The other trainers around the cameraman, Gym Leader Moore, Nigel's son, the Draconid, the disguised terrorist, all of them are struck dumb by what they witnessed.

The inert Fire Stone drops from Lee's hand with a 'thud,' and with that hand, he takes Ninetales' still-raised paw. "Vulpix?" He whispers as if he doesn't believe his eyes. His voice is almost lost in the wind.

Ninetales smiles, her ruby-like eyes shining.

With a choked, joyful laugh, Lee abandons any decorum and pulls the gold fox into a tight hug, one she returns with all nine of her tails. Each long tail wraps around Lee's back without any overlap, covering him in a protective mantle of shiny fur. Ninetales then sets her head on Lee's shoulder, curling her neck around the back of his with a content smile.

The video cuts to black and ends.

Birch blows out a slow breath and looks at the stats of the video. "Lee, why do you do this to me?"

Uploaded: 4 hours ago

Views: 532,029

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Topic: Official Lee Henson Megathread

In: Boards ► Hoenn ► Indiv Trainers ► Lee Henson

PequsuaCustoms (Original Poster)

Posted On June 6th 20XX:

Congrats to L_Henson for taking spot #4 in the unofficial "fastest time to get a megathread" competition and thanks RunThatBack (Mod) for perms to make a mega. I'll add edits as info comes in.

Lee Henson is a trainer in his 20s serving as a lab trainer to Prof Birch in Hoenn. Other than his recorded Gym battles, a brief media appearance during the Brawl on the Beach in Dewford, and some crusty cellphone videos of his battles, not a whole lot is known about him. He hasn't published his research yet, his social media straight-up doesn't exist, and his one post on BattleNet was about a lost pokemon and that thread is dead. We do know that he's a scary-looking mfer and carrying around pokemon way stronger than they should be.

A few guys thinking he was some kind of League hitman or ringer went digging and pulled some public records to find that Lee actually is new to the pokemon battling scene. (links below). His license is less than a year old with no renewals on record. It's not that weird for a grown man to change careers and become a trainer, but it is weird just how successful he is without any formal education on record. At the time of his post, his win rate has never fallen below 90%. We went in deeper.

This is where things get bad for people competing in Hoenn this year.

Earlier today his Ace, Vulpix, evolved. (link)

That's big. That's REALLY big. Ninetales is a monster of a pokemon and loonies all over the world still call them spirits and gods and whatnot. Of the 191 (now 192) Ninetales registered to trainers, only 30 or so are actually active competitively, and most of those 30 belong to Elites, Gym Leaders, Master Breeders, Top Coordinators, etc you get the idea. If you have a Ninetales, the logic says you're a badass.

But it gets worse!

The scaling on stone evolutions is all kinds of fucky. You can think of Vulpix (and Growlithe too) as pokemon that should have three stages, but they don't have a middle one, so when they evolve, they go from 0 to 100 real hard. Henson's Vulpix was already strong enough to fuck-up Gym Leader personal 'mons, so that evolution has probably turned her into a death sentence for anything that isn't fire retardant.

But it gets even worse!

That Fire Stone? That was most likely a G1P1 dug out of Mt Chimney. We did a bit of looking around, and we saw the Lavaridge Gym put up a new batch of Fire Stones for auction. A G1P1 was put up by mistake and withdrawn. It was only up for four minutes, but we found a cached version of the auction house page. Now, who would benefit a lot from an entire volcano's worth of stored power? An Ace Vulpix already strong enough to down Gym Leaders, that's who.

It doesn't end there!

Me and some boys have been reviewing Lee Henson's battles, and we saw a few moves that we've never seen before. One of the other helpers recalled seeing an email with Lee's name on it for some reason and dug through his spam folder. He found some promo from Silph about two brand-spanking new Grass TMs, and Henson was credited as the creator of both. That very suddenly explained why Lee's Corvisquire knows Extremespeed and has these dark ball things he can whip around (link). His Grovyle also doubles as a shotgun and knows Feint Attack (link). Finally, his Vulpix seems to have a new homing technique to pull out of her ass every other battle. (link)(link)(link)

Lee Henson knows how to make new pokemon moves, and he can make them fast.

Something else we noticed was how Vulpix would just do things without being told. She would react, attack, defend, dodge, and generally fight pretty well without Lee's mouth so much as opening. Other times he's saying just one or two words, and she'd pull some insane stunt out of nowhere. We looked hard at the videos over and over, and we could not find any meaningful non-verbal signals. The only answer we could come up with? Telepathy. Either Henson or his Vulpix can use telepathy and they're good enough at it to use it mid-battle. Telepathy is rare, but we're already talking about a Vulpix that's now a Ninetales, so really can we discount anything? We entertained the idea that there was some 1000 IQ 5D chess planning going on, but that seems even more unbelievable considering some of the issues they've run into mid-battle.

His other pokemon aren't slouches either. His Grovyle often takes wins with zero damage unless it's a battle against the likes of a Gym Leader, then he busts out wild shit like the new moves and hyper-speed (link). Corvisquire is a cruise missile made out of hate, and only tricks like Destiny Bond or dropping a mountain on him will slow him down (link). We still have no idea what Lee's Shinx or his Octillery (that he didn't have until he got out of the Valley of Steel) do. I have no idea what Henson is doing to his pokemon, but it's working.

So to reiterate, Henson has a Ninetales who is in the running for strongest of her already broken species, a quadruple action machine gun/shotgun/sniper/sword Grovyle, an unbreakable Corvisquire, a pair of pokemon that no one knows anything about, and they all have deep movepools with zero documentation. Oh, and it's a coin flip if you get a verbal cue for an attack.

I'm not trying to sound like a fanboy or a hypebeast or anything, but good luck to everyone else. When the bookies open up for the Ever Grande Conference, I'm putting money on Henson taking the gold.

(Showing page 1 of 22)

►V_Marlo (Verified Trainer)

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

You know what? I'm done. I give up. I'm going to Unova. I f*cking hate Hoenn.

►UNDERMAN!

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

There is no universe where you convince me that this guy is anything but a league plant. Katie Huffman is going to win the EGC regardless.

►KazuoKandy

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

...Holy shit that's scuffed. How are you supposed to fight back?

►L_Orvert (Verified Trainer)

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

UNDERMAN! Bro what. Katie is good but not 'fight a super ninetales and win' kind of good.

►F_Aulmais

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

Welp. Looks like someone is gonna give Ash Ketchum a run for his money, even with that overpowered Pikachu of his.

►Glasses_Man

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

I'm looking forward to seeing how well Ninetails fights now that it naturally has some psychic abilities: If we suspected telepathy as a Vulpix, they might outright be able to talk now.

►Pokéname_Bot

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

Glasses_Man Ninetails is spelled Ninetales. It's a play on words, as the nine-tailed Pokémon is the subject of many fairy tales.

►Glasses_Man

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

And that's what I get for not looking over with spellcheck. Lovely.

►I3Wynaut

Replied on June 6th 20XX:

I don't care how strong Lee's team is! My super team of Wobuffet will take everything they can dish out and return it twice as hard! We're gonna win the Hoenn League this year, just you wait!

►LoPwny99

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

I call Tauroshit on that Grovyle. Damn lizard is probably coked out of its mind on something illegal. No way it moves that fast naturally.

(Showing page 2 of 22)

►Banh Bao

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

TOUCH FLUFFFY TAILLLL SO MUCH FLUFF I WANT A HUG LIKE THAT

►LilyDancer

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

Banh Bao I know right! I heard that Ninetale's fur is soft as a cloud!

Totally gonna be at Evergrande to see if Lee would let me pet her. 3

►UhNOPika!

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

YEahhh I think the Unova is really looking good this time of year. Though I can't wait to see what the Ninetales does from a distance. A FAAAR away distance

►DragonExpert1985

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

Whelp, there is clearly only one thing left to do for the rest of us 'normals' hoping to compete. PANIC!

►T_Hytinnen

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

God, OP (And commenters) really just come across as shills for Lee. If he makes it to the Ever Grande Conference, I doubt he'll make it past preliminaries.

He's just one man (and a new trainer at that). He's not some god figure or ace trainer.

I'd bet my money on Ketchum. At least he has experience under his belt.

►I3Wynaut

Replied on June 6th 20XX:

Ketchum, that talentless hack. He just gets lucky each season. My all-star Wobbuffet team will wreck his face!

►Not_Sus

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

UNDERMAN! I3Wynaut Talking about experience, what did Henson DO before ? If he's a league plant, he should appear somewhere to lessen suspicion. He might be a plant, but not from the league. At least Ketchum has a clear league track record.

►T_Hytinnen

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

Talentless hack? I'd like to see you try to get to the league with your team.(Oh wait, you haven't made it to the league conference before now have you?)

Wobbuffet isn't even that great of a Pokemon anyways as a single member of a team, let alone an entire team. Its whole shtick requires opponents to hit it first, which isn't exactly a competitive strategy. The best purpose for Wobbuffet is a dedicated Destiny Bond user, and even then, other users can at least use other valuable moves.

Besides, your point doesn't even stand with Ketchum. Kid's made it to the league twice. Top 16 and Top 8. If that doesn't show improvement, I don't know what will.

►S_Melody

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

Ash is the best! My family and I are rooting for him! His Pikachu will beat Henson's Ninetales no problem!

►I3Wynaut

Replied on June 6th 20XX:

Ha! My team has just been taking our time to grow and learn. We'll be in the conference this year, you'll see. That's because we have the determination to win! We can take any move and send it right back at twice the power, it's the ultimate strategy. It can't be beat. You'll see that when were named league champion. You'll all see how great Wobbuffet is! Just you wait!

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►J3ackson

Replied on June 6th 20XX:

l3Wynaut I got roped into cleaning up after Ash's Pikachu when he had a battle on the Dewford beach. Getting all that glass out of the sand was a right pain. Your Wobbuffet's gonna get torched.

►T_Hytinnen

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

[deleted]

►Leafeon_L0ver

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

Dang that team is looking better and better! Stevens a steel specialist, right? If what you guys are saying about ninetales and firestones are right, that type advantage could be a massive help to him. If he makes it that far, of course.

►Miasmate

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

Devilishly good investment on Prof. Birches' part here. Two months is completely insane.

►Kabu (Verified Trainer) (Galar Gym Leader)

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

L_Henson Look at your PMs.

►SomeAnon

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

He's running on luck, it'll run out eventually.

►platinumGuy009

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

Interesting, with Henson's Corvisquire having not been seen recently and his post about said pokemon being missing implies something happened there. Did it run away, get lost, have a scandalous affair with a local Noctowl? This Henson fellow seems to be a fairly talented trainer, maybe that bird proved too much to handle? Who knows.

BTW that Ninetales is so darn plush and majestic, I'm even more envious now that I know he has a baby shinx too! THEYRE SOO CUUTEEE! aaaaahAAAAAHHHHH *dies of cute*

►Leafeon_L0ver

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

platinumGuy009 Maybe the training just got too rough for his corvisquire? Or maybe the stupidly OP vulpix (now Ninetales) scared it off? Maybe having that much firepower got to the steel type? Who knows? Plus that lost and found thread is dead, he might have found the bird and put it in timeout for running away for a bit. Arceus knows I'm not a top tier trainer, I don't know the proper dicipline for a runaway powerhouse.

►Lopunny_Pancakes

Replied On June 6th 20XX:

OH! MY! ARCEUS! That was THE MOST AMAZING Evo-vid I have EVER SEEN! Seriously, I think I'm actually tearing up a bit over here!

I know I've asked this before but I think it got buried last time over the other crazy stuff Henson and his team were pulling at the time, but did we ever get an answer on what kind of care routine he is doing with his pokemon? Because I swear to all I hold dear, I don't think I've ever seen coats/scales/plumages THAT gorgeous on pokemon outside of the Pro-Contest circuit, and they are on a dedicated BATTLE TEAM of all things! ESPECIALLY on his Vulpix-Turned-Ninetales! If I could pet that fluff for just a minute, I would die happy even if I keeled over right then and there!

Nigel stands with a mighty stretch. His spine pops once, twice, three times, drawing a pleased sigh from the professor. Looking to the side, he sees the sun beginning to set through his office window and grumbles to himself.

Four hours were spent keeping his eyes glued to his computer monitor so he could run damage control if things got out of hand online. Thankfully, nothing untoward popped up that required him to step in, either by posting himself or by swinging his weight as Regional Professor around and forcing the hand of the site admins. His wife isn't going to be happy about him returning home late, though…

"You better be grateful, Lee…" He mumbles, throwing his lab coat over his shoulders. Before shutting his lab PC off for the night and leaving, Nigel pauses and opens the video of Vulpix's evolution once more.

#OnceInALifetime Vulpix Evolution.

Uploaded: 8 hours ago

Views: 1,070,921

With a sigh, Nigel rubs his forehead. "Celeb life is going to be a shocker for him…"