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An unhealthy Battle Bond: The Ash-Greninja case The other thread has quickly gone downhill and I am late to the party, so I decided to make a new thread instead, in hopes of getting more of you to notice this post and maybe read it. From what I have read, I can tell that some people are really underselling Ash-Greninja’s capabilities due to the presence of a few so-called counters and the fact that it does not activate Battle Bond without getting a kill. A Pokémon can still be ban-worthy even if it has checks and counters. Ash-Greninja was still extremely potent in SM/USUM OU. It was even ranked in S-tier for a while, until the final update before the end of USUM OU caused it to drop to A+. Keep in mind that this was in a metagame that was overprepared for it. A quick look at the SM OU Viability Ranking Thread, the USUM OU ULTRA Viability Ranking Thread, and the most recent USUM OU Viability Rankings can show us the impact that Ash-Greninja has had on the metagame while simultaneously maintaining an A+ (or higher) ranking throughout Gen 7 OU. Some of the most viable Pokémon in SM/USUM OU are able to put in work against it. For example, Toxapex stops it and can at least put down Toxic Spikes to punish it for using Spikes. Magearna can check it and either retaliate with a powerful hit or gain momentum with Volt Switch, although it cannot endlessly switch into it due to the lack of reliable recovery. Ferrothorn can also check it relatively well and trade Spikes with it, but it does not have reliable recovery, either. Faster threats, like Tapu Koko, can force it out before it activates Battle Bond. There are other countermeasures, like Tapu Lele’s Psychic Surge, which summons Psychic Terrain and effectively suspends Ash-Greninja’s Water Shuriken. While this might seem minor at first glance, it can be game-changing, potentially preventing Ash-Greninja from using its powerful priority move against a naturally faster threat or Choice Scarf user. I am not going to go through the entire viability list because it pertains to Smogon; however, it is important to understand the level of centralization caused by Ash-Greninja in Gen 7 OU. If you check some of the analyses from that metagame, you will find that many Pokémon were specifically EV’d to take on Ash-Greninja. Ferrothorn ran a heavily specially defensive spread with 252 HP EVs and 232 Special Defense EVs to ensure not getting 3HKO’d by Choice Specs Greninja’s Dark Pulse at full HP. Amoonguss also ran specially defensive sets, carrying either Black Sludge or even Assault Vest, with sufficient HP and Special Defense to check Ash-Greninja. A Calm nature was used in conjunction with 248 HP EVs and 204 Special Defense EVs to avoid the 2HKO from Choice Specs Ash-Greninja’s Dark Pulse. The Assault Vest set was able to check Ash-Greninja better, but the loss of Spore is suboptimal. Mantine maintained an OU niche by being able to survive the 2HKO from Choice Specs Ash-Greninja’s Dark Pulse if Stealth Rock is on the field. Granted, it was a good check to other threats, such as Volcarona, but it would have even less of a niche/purpose in OU if it did not check Ash-Greninja. Mega Venusaur exclusively ran 68 Special Defense EVs to survive two Dark Pulses from Choice Specs Greninja after Stealth Rock and prevent it from activating Battle Bond. Ash-Greninja forced some Pokémon to run more specially defensive spreads to remain viable; it made a few others viable in OU because they could check it; it hurt the viability of many Pokémon that proved unable to adapt to its presence. This is not surprising, as this is what a top-tier threat does. It was manageable, but it was still one of the best Pokémon throughout all of Gen 7 OU and the level of centralization that it generated clearly shows. There were definitely some gatekeepers, like Magearna and Toxapex, that kept several top-tier threats in check. Without those Pokémon, who knows what USUM OU would look like today? Having said that, PRO is not Showdown. We do not have to ban something for the sole reason that it is/was banned on Pokémon Showdown. Conversely, we do not have to keep something just because it is/was not banned there. Hopefully, PRO can have its own PvP Council and Suspect Test Process at some point. You can read this article to learn more about the former and this one to see how Suspect Tests started. So, why should Ash-Greninja be banned in PRO? 1. We lack sufficient offensive counterplay to Ash-Greninja. Ash-Greninja sports an incredible 399 speed tier, which outpaces the entire (viable) metagame. Even pre-Battle Bond transformation, it is still really fast, boasting 377 speed. While it is slower than Weavile, pre-Battle Bond Greninja does not get Pursuit-trapped as easily as its Protean counterpart, thanks to maintaining its Dark typing, thus effectively removing one of the few ways of limiting it on an offensive level. Either way, you cannot just let Battle Bond Greninja get a kill to revenge kill it with Weavile, since Ash-Greninja outspeeds it. Even if we had everything that Gen 7 OU had, not many (viable) Pokémon would be naturally faster, but we would, at the very least, have more Megas: Mega Lopunny, Mega Manectric, Mega Alakazam, Mega Aerodactyl, etc. You can take a look at the USM OU Speed Tiers and the newer version of that list. Offensively speaking, we would also be able to take advantage of Terrain boosts (e.g., Psychic Terrain to block Water Shuriken, Grassy Terrain for passive recovery…) and Pokémon that benefit from Terrains in general (e.g., Unburden Hawlucha with Electric/Grassy/Psychic Seed). Even small things like Tapu Koko outspeeding Greninja before its Battle Bond transformation matter because they can add up. Moreover, we would have more options for Choice Scarf users, like Keldeo, Kartana, and whatnot, as well as more Pokémon with strong priority moves, such as Mega Pinsir. As of right now, many of the viable Choice Scarf users, most notably Landorus-T, get destroyed by a Choice Specs-boosted Water Shuriken. Ash-Greninja does resist common priority moves, too, namely Sucker Punch, Bullet Punch, and Aqua Jet. I would also like to add something about the Mach Punch myth, that is, the assumption that Ash-Greninja will merrily let itself die to Mach Punch. If the priority users that are able to KO it take some chip, they run the risk of dying to a Choice Specs-boosted Water Shuriken. If you happen to let Battle Bond Greninja get a kill, you are potentially looking at something as absurd as this in rain: 252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja-Ash Water Shuriken (20 BP) (3 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Conkeldurr in Rain: 354-423 (100.8 - 120.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO. That is a guaranteed OHKO on Conkeldurr with a neutral priority move. Finally, the Pokémon that would be able to offensively check Battle Bond Greninja by switching into it and threatening to KO it are always scarce, but this is further exacerbated in PRO, since there are still a few missing pieces (e.g., Magearna, Keldeo, Tapu Bulu, Primarina…). Running a specially defensive Breloom that can get obliterated on the switch by a rain-boosted, Choice Specs-boosted Hydro Pump is not acceptable. The same goes for Assault Vest Azumarill, Black Sludge Toxicroak, Roost Hydreigon, specially defensive Kommo-o, any bulky Mega Gyarados, etc. This hurts the offensive efficiency of these Pokémon and does not even help them against unusual coverage moves or Protean Greninja. Chansey offense is also not the answer, because offensive teams optimally need to keep up momentum and pressure. Overall, even in an ideal setup, we would need as many offensive countermeasures as possible. We simply do not have sufficient offensive counterplay to Ash-Greninja, that is, a satisfactory amount of naturally faster Pokémon, Choice Scarf users, Priority users, and offensive Pokémon able to switch into it at least once. 2. Ash-Greninja can easily take advantage of its defensive switch-ins or just wear them down over time. Some of Ash-Greninja’s defensive checks cannot survive if Dark Pulse flinches them once (e.g., Gastrodon, Mantine…), while those with no reliable recovery cannot outheal the damage (e.g., Leech Seed Protect Ferrothorn) or heal up forever (e.g., Synthesis Mega Venusaur). Prior to activating Battle Bond, Greninja sometimes only needs minimal chip or support (in the form of Stealth Rock and Spikes) to achieve 2HKOs on would-be defensive checks. In fact, Greninja can set up hazards on the defensive switch-ins that it forces, due to them being Spikes bait most of the time. Many of Ash-Greninja’s most reliable defensive checks are forced to recover whenever they switch into one of its attacks, to ensure that they can check it throughout the match, thus being forced into a passive loophole that can easily be taken advantage of. In the end, Ash-Greninja can still make progress against these defensive countermeasures, either by setting up Spikes and wearing down the opposition or by softening up said Pokémon and allowing one of its teammates to take advantage of them. We still lack some key defensive checks that are able to reset Ash-Greninja’s progress (e.g., Tapu Fini can semi-reliably switch into Ash-Greninja and use Defog to remove Spikes). Furthermore, running a passive Pokémon like Chansey on offensive builds – or builds that suffer from momentum loss – is something that Ash-Greninja and its teammates always appreciate and effectively capitalize on. Aside from its standard STAB moves, Ash-Greninja can run viable coverage options. For example, pre-Battle Bond Ice Beam has a chance to 2HKO Assault Vest Tangrowth. The same applies to Amoonguss unless it carries an Assault Vest. Hazards turn these rolls into guaranteed KOs. Overall, while we do have some defensive countermeasures to Ash-Greninja, they are not satisfactory enough, because they do not prevent it from making steady progress throughout the match. 3. As a result, Ash-Greninja can slowly but steadily make consistent progress throughout the match, either until it is able to activate Battle Bond and sweep on its own or until it has sufficiently softened up the opposing team for one of its teammates. It is also hard to undo Ash-Greninja’s progress in PRO due to the nature of the (limited) aforementioned offensive and defensive counterplay. The combination of Ash-Greninja’s speed, its access to Water Shuriken, and its sheer power makes it an extremely punishing Pokémon if it ever manages to activate Battle Bond. In fact, if Ash-Greninja gets ahead, it makes comebacks exceedingly difficult for many teams. It is both good at gaining an advantage and keeping it or furthering it, due to the nature of its toolkit and the progress-making advantages that naturally come with it. 4. Ash-Greninja promotes passive (counter)play. It is true that the best way to handle Ash-Greninja is preventing it from activating Battle Bond in the first place. However, this goes both ways, as it heavily pressures the opponent into never allowing it to get a kill. This effectively means that its checks – some of which lack reliable recovery – are under extreme pressure to stay alive. The opponent can also be forced to keep an otherwise useless Pokémon alive even if it is at low HP, just for the sake of preventing Ash-Greninja from activating its Battle Bond, thus allowing it to dent the whole team instead. Given the lack of offensive countermeasures in PRO, Ash-Greninja can effectively force passivity due to the constant threat of a Battle Bond transformation and that of a subsequent sweep. This shows both throughout a match and in the teambuilder, where its strain, in conjunction with the limited counterplay, can force you to run Chansey, Protect Ferrothorn, and even some otherwise unenviable – not necessarily unviable – Pokémon, such as Mantine, or some unviable Pokémon, like Poliwrath. In a way, the mere presence of Ash-Greninja dictates a specific risk/reward scenario that forces the opponent to think twice about making risky plays. As a result, Ash-Greninja becomes really good at forcing passive patterns that can be capitalized on or taken advantage of with low-risk double switches. For example, you can gauge your opponent’s reaction once or twice to accustom them to a specific behavior before unexpectedly breaking the pattern (e.g., using Dark Pulse on the Chansey switch-in, switching out, using Dark Pulse on another Chansey switch-in, switching out again, then switching to something that can beat Chansey or take advantage of it instead of using Dark Pulse a third time). This is, of course, not exclusive to Ash-Greninja; however, it is further enhanced by the favorable risk/reward situation that it creates, the limited counterplay currently available in PRO, the necessity to run more than 1 answer for it, and the fact that it requires little to no team support to break through its so-called checks. 5. After activating Battle Bond, Ash-Greninja gets access to one of the most powerful priority moves in the game in Water Shuriken. Being only resisted by 3 types in Water, Grass, and Dragon (which are all hit by Dark Pulse), Water Shuriken is a devastating priority move, further boosted by Ash-Greninja’s incredible 153 base Special Attack. It is even more powerful in rain (cf. the earlier calculation against Conkeldurr at full HP) but does not need it to deal an obscene amount of damage to neutral targets. No one wants to read a wall of calculations, so let me just put things into perspective to give you a good representation of how powerful Ash-Greninja’s Choice Specs-boosted Water Shuriken is. After Stealth Rock, Ash-Greninja has a chance to OHKO Bisharp (252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja-Ash Water Shuriken (20 BP) (3 hits) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Bisharp: 225-264 (83 - 97.4%) -- approx. 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock) and Gengar (252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja-Ash Water Shuriken (20 BP) (3 hits) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Gengar: 210-252 (80.1 - 96.1%) -- approx. 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock) with a neutral priority Water move outside of rain. Offensive teams are most pressured into making sure that they are always out of range of a Water Shuriken sweep, because they have the hardest time preventing Greninja from activating Battle Bond. Ash-Greninja can use its strong priority move to either revenge kill somewhat healthy Pokémon with relative ease or clean up late game, as if having 399 speed in conjunction with those offensive stats in PRO’s current meta was not already enough! 6. Ash-Greninja forms unhealthy cores with other Pokémon and enables them by softening up their common switch-ins. These include (but are not limited to) Pokémon that appreciate hazards (e.g., Aegislash), Pokémon that can deter their removal (e.g., Defiant users like Bisharp and Thundurus), Pokémon that can beat Ash-Greninja’s usual checks (e.g., Mega Gallade, Breloom…), Pokémon that share checks with it and can overwhelm them with its help (e.g., Heatran, Gengar, Tornadus-T…), and even Pokémon that can bait in Ash-Greninja’s checks and cripple them (e.g., Knock Off Thundurus, Solar Beam Heatran…). 7. Ash-Greninja has access to Spikes, a move with limited distribution, which can immensely help it (and its teammates) in achieving important KOs. Spikes also allow Ash-Greninja to capitalize on the many switches that it forces to punish passive plays. In general, setting up even 1 layer of Spikes can go a long way. 8. The presence of Ash-Greninja makes Protean Greninja even better. Protean Greninja is actually able to beat many of the Pokémon commonly run to check Ash-Greninja. For example, it can surprise Ferrothorn with HP Fire, Gastrodon with HP Grass or Grass Knot, Mega Venusaur and Amoonguss with Extrasensory, Assault Vest Azumarill and Assault Vest Tangrowth with Gunk Shot, etc. More concretely, if you are running something like specially defensive Ferrothorn to better your match-up against Ash-Greninja, you are suboptimally equipped to handle Low Kick Protean Greninja. If you overprepare for Ash-Greninja, you leave yourself more vulnerable to Protean Greninja. 9. Ash-Greninja does not have to exclusively run a single set to be as efficient as possible in PRO’s metagame. Even in Gen 7 OU, some people used Waterium Z as a one-time nuke to a would-be Ash-Greninja check like Magearna, while also retaining the ability to switch moves. The Choice Specs set is the best because Ash-Greninja does not really need anything other than 2 STAB moves, a priority move, and either Spikes or extra coverage (e.g., Ice Beam), depending on the rest of the team. No matter what, the Choice Specs set is always effective at what it does, but expecting the same moves every single time can occasionally be a costly mistake. However, in PRO, we do not have the luxury to scout for uncommon or unusual options anyway. 10. Unlike what many people claim, Greninja is not extremely weak before activating Battle Bond. With Stealth Rock and just 1 layer on Spikes, it has a chance to 2HKO Blissey in rain: 252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey in Rain: 264-312 (36.9 - 43.6%) -- 41% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock, 1 layer of Spikes, and Leftovers recovery. Granted, Blissey will almost always be inferior to Chansey, at least until Heavy-Duty Boots become a thing (if they ever do). To put things into perspective, pre-Battle Bond Greninja has 103 base Special Attack and Kingdra has 95 base Special Attack. Both Pokémon typically run Choice Specs. 11. While Ash-Greninja is, by no means, a bulky Pokémon, we cannot pretend that it is frail to the point of dying to any attack in existence. Most of the time, you will need to attack it twice to kill it. It can survive +2 Sucker Punch from Adamant Life Orb Bisharp (+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Greninja: 218-257 (76.4 - 90.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO), Extreme Speed from Choice Band Dragonite (252+ Atk Choice Band Dragonite Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Greninja: 203-239 (71.2 - 83.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO), +6 Aqua Jet from Belly Drum Azumarill (+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Greninja: 219-258 (76.8 - 90.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO), U-turn from Choice Scarf Landorus-T (252 Atk Landorus-Therian U-turn vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Greninja: 228-270 (80 - 94.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO), Hydro Pump from Choice Specs Kingdra in the rain (252+ SpA Choice Specs Kingdra Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Greninja in Rain: 237-279 (83.1 - 97.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO), and the list goes on. 12. Ash-Greninja is overcentralizing to an unhealthy extent. It forces you to run a very limited pool of Pokémon that are able to check it. This point will prove truer if Ash-Greninja ends up not being banned, thus inevitably causing an unhealthy amount of overcentralization around Pokémon that it does not even necessarily lose to (cf. points 1 and 2). 13. The existence of Ash-Greninja hurts the viability of multiple playstyles. This is another point that would prove truer in the long term. Ash-Greninja, similarly to Protean Greninja, dismantles offensive builds. Over time, the metagame was able to (healthily or unhealthily) adapt to the latter; however, it is currently unable to deal with the former. Ash-Greninja is weak to fewer priority moves than Protean Greninja, since its typing always remains the same. Unlike its Protean counterpart, Ash-Greninja has 399 speed, which allows it to outpace Weavile. Moreover, as a Dark type, it is less prone to Pursuit trap. Unlike Protean Greninja, Ash-Greninja can make good use of Water Shuriken to circumvent some of its would-be revenge killers with minimal chip. It also forces offensive teams to modify their builds accordingly. For example, after a Dragon Dance, Dragonite can only outspeed Ash-Greninja with a Jolly nature while being unable to OHKO it with +1 Extreme Speed with an Adamant nature. A Jolly nature effectively entails a noticeable drop in power, which offensive teams require a lot. While Ash-Greninja can fit on balanced and bulky offensive builds, those still have a hard time dealing with it in general due to its ability to wear down or muscle through standard defensive backbones, while not caring about their offensive cores as much. Stall is able to handle most Ash-Greninja sets by somewhat reliably preventing it from activating Battle Bond thanks to being able to afford the momentum drain that comes from running Pokémon like Chansey and Alomomola, although it must be said that Ash-Greninja can still find a way to put down Spikes and make progress against those kinds of teams. Due to the overwhelming arguments against it, Ash-Greninja should be banned from PvP. This one is not even a close call. In my opinion, Battle Bond Greninja should be banned until we have almost everything else from Gen 7 OU. I truly believe that the sole addition of Toxapex would not be enough to make it less problematic, as this would result in heavy overcentralization. Being forced to pick one or two Pokémon from a very limited pool of options is unhealthy. We need as much offensive and defensive counterplay to Ash-Greninja as possible.

There are 13 pages of useless back and forth. Bottom line is: Ash-Greninja is broken. Either we ban it, or everyone starts abusing it on the ladder, causing mayhem. Easy-to-understand example: As soon as you start using UNVIABLE mons that would otherwise be useless to wall a powerful poke, you know it is busted. Exhibition A: DISCLAIMER I AM NOT TAKING AN STANCE ON THE SMOGON TIERING SYSTEM AND IF IT SHOULD BE FOLLOWED, IT IS ONLY AN EXAMPLE One huge reason why dracovish was banned from gen8ou is cause it made unviable pokemon and sets like Seismitoad (Water absorb and Stormdrain) good, simply cause it walled it. IMO If you have to dedicate an entire unviable pokemon to specifically beating a broken mon that has little counterplay, then it is broken. tl;dr As soon as people say, "Oh Ash Gren isn't good cause calm azu walls it" you know that these sets are hot garbage, and the only reason that you would even consider running it is to have a check dedicated to beating Ash gren. If ash gren never existed, you would have no friken reason to run these sets. (Or pokemon) ALSO, WHAT DO THE MODS THINK? I'd like to have some input by some competent mods who understand the importance of a balanced pvp meta. O YEAH, +1 to everything that aggs said, he beat me to it. Sincerely, -Teabag

@stavd I see you quoting the whole of his post, including the part where he "+1's" the original post. The reason this is relevant, is because if you had actually read the original post, you'd know that you're pouring your energy in the wrong direction. I direct you to point 13 of the original post. Last time I checked, Conkeldurr would've been more of a problem if it reached close to 400 speed. Let me remind you that the base stat of Ash-Greninjas spatk is higher than Conkeldurrs attack base stat. I understand that we're not disagreeing on whether it should be banned or not, but you thinking the relatively small community of PRO that do play stall are the ones most afraid of this and trying to cover it up behind some other things... When I thought about what I wanted to climb with (if at all with Ash-Greninja on the loose) this month, the only reasonable thing to move towards was stall. I'd be putting myself unnecessarily much at a disadvantage by choosing any other archetype. Why is it you think stall players are distorting reality? Hazard teams would've been a problem prior to this, if they were built poorly. The truth is, the perfect stall team doesn't exist, just like the perfect team doesn't exist. There'll always be a weakness that can be exploited, but I disagree heavily with agenda you're trying to push.

I'm interested to know which of Jorogumos points made you come to this conclusion. My bet is none of them, cause I doubt you've even read it at all. Do feel free to take the wheel and explain how the players of the archetype that is damaged the least are the ones promoting this the most, though. I'm very interested in the line of thought, but I haven't been able to figure out where it originated. From where I stand, the fact that HO relies on momentum colliding with the fact that Ash-Gren exudes a ridiculous amount of it is a little odd, to put it mildly. I don't know how you play the game, but I'll go out on a limb and say stall players are less likely to have to sacrifice a Pokémon to Ash-Gren than any other playstyle.

C.O: 5m from Deathmanjack Min Bid:500k Insta :10.5m Auction Time: 48h from starting bid

Train him and evolve him :3 Also, don't use "godly" term for a 06hp one, it's fake advertisement. If that's protean greninja, i start

Uff. Nice that you figured it out.

Also @Hawluchaahttps://pokemonrevolution.net/forum/topic/161944-trade-issue/

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I suggest implementing an auto-repel section somewhere in the settings that you can toggle on and off. This auto-repel feature will be extremely useful to everyone who is or plans on repel hunting because it removes the constant necessity to click yes when a repel finishes. Not only is it much more efficient than the current repel system, since people with hundreds and even thousands of repels won't have to constantly press yes to every single repel, but it also prevents annoying, unwanted encounters. In the small gap where your repel finishes and the next repel icon appears, your player tends to walk a couple extra steps and you encounter random pokes in the area, which is extremely annoying when you find shinies or event pokes in that same small gap. Not only does it basically ruin your luck, but it wastes it on probably a trash poke you don't even want, when it could have been the exact same poke you were repel hunting for if this auto-repel suggestion was implemented. Personally, I have encountered two shinies in these exact same small gaps, one where i was repel hunting gible and a shiny krabby appeared during the small gap, and another when I was repel hunting ralts and a shiny zigzagoon during the small gap. I'm sure this has also happened to plenty others and there really aren't any downsides to this suggestion; it is quick and practical and only benefits the community.

Normally I'd say give time for the meta to settle as Ash-Greninja has only just been released but it is quite clear this mon never should have been released without the Gen 7 mons, it is too much to handle without the usual checks/counters it is supposed to have. However, I don't see a reason not to un-ban it once the Gen 7 dex is fully released, including Magearna and the Tapus.

Sold for insta.

@WhiteHockey Please read the trade rules when you create a forum auction. You can not decline any offers once your auction has started, you failed to provide any proof of the sale. Please post the screenshot of the sale when you read this. Have a nice day, Sincerely Hawluchaa

I wont bring up the same arguments again, as many people already made very good posts already. I just want to say that the fact people bought/hunted one should never be an argument for not banning it. The decision has to be independent of facts like that. People should look at the topic more open-minded, ignoring the fact they used money/time to get a BB Greninja.

I dont think you understand where I'm coming from. Bottom line, I will abuse this Mon until it's banned, and I'll adapt alright. I guess i tried giving an explanaton on why, but you still don't understand. I can't force you to learn, and if you don't want to learn, be my guest. I gave you a whole book to read, and you read the first line, congrats. Come back when you have something constructive to say.

You cannot be serious, right? 1 line, okay, I couldnt answer more to that. But heres the question. You guys want to ban it, beacuse you cant deal with it? You should adopt to it than. Many "kind" people asked me on discord, why do I want to ban pokes like Chansey, Skarmory, Alomomola and so on. They asked, I cant deal with them, or what? I asked them the same question, and their only answer was "lol". Many players have atleast 1 or 2 counter in their team, and the so called "ladder players" are afraid of that mon. Thought they are there, beacuse they have many checks and answers and not beacuse they are afraid of a pokemon. Pokes like Goodra laughs at Ash-Greninja, while there were many calculations, how ridiculous is to stay in with Ash-Greninja against many poke. Dragonite, which is one, if not the most common dragon type in pvp, banded or dd set, easily deals with Ash-Greninja. So, heres the question. You cant adopt to meta? Or I should play rain or stall, and literally make people angry at pvp? Beacuse these 2 teams are the worst among all of them, I dont say they dont need skill, but I dont think using recovery/status moves with regenerator abilities, or putting up rain and use Kingdra or any other Swift Swim poke need so much thinking. Fun fact, when they will add tapus and magearna, we will have the same topic, beacuse they are broken. The million amount of set that they can have will change the whole meta, and we will say the same, they should be banned beacuse not everyone have checks for them.

I have caught darkrai and when I go to speak to the NPC to get the IV reroll ticket, she says ' I have done all I can do for you.' I have darkrai in my party when I try to claim the ticket. Please look into the matter. Thank you

Hi @baoquynh3723 Sorry for the inconvenience. Not being able to enter the Castle is only possible if you fail or retreat from the Dark Realm. If this happens, you will need to defeat Horon at Dark Valley, North from Necropolis, without having a single Pokemon faint in order to gain access to the castle again. Do note that Horon has a 3-day cooldown. I hope that helped you. Since the issue has been solved, i'll be locking this thread now. Please make a new one if you are still not able to enter the castle or Dark Realm. Have a nice day!

hello..i need help to restore my halloween charmander that i buy from "anduyhaka" or similar name..its OT i buy from him..i dont remember when i delete or even release it the nature was impish and have 01 attack thats only what i remember..please help