As said earlier, I never tried the battle Factory that much in the past. Since it is one of my least favorite facilities, and since I find it so annoyingly difficult, I mostly spent my time at the other facilities instead. Or I just did other things in the game, like breeding and EV-training.
Regarding the 17 attempts I made during the past year, I have written logs with various levels of detail. They can be found
here. In this post, I’ll only talk about my winning attempt. Though I won’t go over every single detail for those battles either, so if you want that, check out the logs.
I don’t remember a lot about the early rounds, didn’t write anything down. Wish I had done that. I think I had a lead Charmeleon1 for Round 1, which was amazing and swept through a lot. Might have had Swellow1 and Graveler1 in round 2. I almost lost against a Scyther2 in round 3, but it focused on setting up instead of attacking, so I beat it (and swapped for it after the battle). For round 4, I’m pretty sure my team consisted Flygon1, Scizor1 and Alakazam1.
I made it to round 5 for the third time in a row! Now if I could just make it
through round 5 once more as well. And then through round 6 too. But we’ll get there eventually, one thing at a time.
Round 5:
Time to turn the tides! Have some great and suitable music from one of my favorite games:
Not sure how many swaps I had here, didn’t write it down. At least none of the three Pokémon I picked was an elevation.
The draft consisted of the following:
I picked Starmie/Donphan/Blaziken, all set 2. Starmie is pretty good, while the backups give me decent offensive and defensive synergy. Starmie also has Natural Cure, which is great.
The first opponent has no type specialty.
Umbreon with Double Team is annoying. I eventually beat it with Starmie, but the Hariyama gets a QC activation and KO’s with Cross Chop. Blaziken 2HKO’s Hariyama with Brick Break, Alakazam then comes out and KO’s Blaziken with Psychic. Donphan survives a Psychic with 2 HP left and OHKO’s with Earthquake. That was a close start.
The second opponent specializes in Normal-types.
I considered swapping for Alakazam, but decided not to.
Tauros is another annoying Double Teamer, but it can also hit hard with Double-Edge. Thankfully, Thunder in the Rain has perfect accuracy. I use Rain Dance and start attacking, Starmie eventually lands a Crit with Thunder and beats the bull. Altaria comes out next. Starmie 3HKO’s with Thunder, featuring another Crit. Last out is Clefable. Since the Altaria had used Perish Song, I switch to Blaziken. The Clefable uses Cosmic Power, I hit with Brick Break which does over half. Blaziken gets infatuated due to Cute Charm. I switch back to Starmie and use Recover followed by Rain Dance as the Clefable uses Follow Me for some dumb reason. Starmie then 2HKO’s with Thunder.
The third opponent has no type specialty.
I swap Donphan for Tauros, hoping it will turn out to be the correct decision.
Milotic has Mirror Coat, so I switch to Tauros. I set up 4 Double Teams as the Milotic first uses Mirror Coat several times to no success, it then uses Surf and hits. I let Tauros use ChestoRest, Milotic misses with Ice Beam. I use Double-Edge, get a Crit and an OHKO! Gardevoir comes out, Double-Edge 2HKOs. Porygon2 is last out, I 2HKO with Earthquake.
Fourth opponent has no type specialty.
I considered swapping for Gardevoir, but a Psychic mono-attacker will be walled by any Dark-type and that’s not good.
Starmie beat everything on its own, though not without issues. Rain Dance and then Thunder on Fearow, Thunder Crit on Feraligatr, Hydro Pump + Thunder on Metagross.
Fifth opponent has no type specialty.
I swap Blaziken for Metagross, which actually gives me worse defensive synergy but I think I should be all right.
Another Umbreon. But Metagross has Psych Up, which is great. I switch to it, the Umbreon sets up a lot with Curse and Double Team, but I copy all of its boosts! Metagross eventually KO’s with Meteor Mash. Typhlosion comes out. It might be bad if it hits me with Flamethrower, but it uses Aerial Ace, which deals 2 HP of damage! I KO it with Earthquake. Metagross then beats Wailord with a few Earthquakes.
Sixth opponent has no type specialty.
No swap.
I switch to Metagross against Glalie. It uses Explosion on the next turn, Metagross lives with 65 HP. Ursaring comes out, I switch to Tauros. I start with setting up two Double Teams, then I go for a Double-Edge, but the Ursaring uses Counter for a clean KO. I send out Starmie. Rain Dance, Starmie tanks a Double-Edge, then uses Thunder for a KO. Victreebel comes out. A Rain-boosted Hydro Pump deals a ton of damage, Starmie is then KO’d by Giga Drain. Metagross seals the battle with Meteor Mash. That was close.
Seventh opponent specializes in Fire-types.
No swap, I hope Metagross won’t be a burden.
Typhlosion uses Thunderpunch which does over half to Starmie. I KO with Hydro Pump. Rapidash uses Bounce which hits and Paralyzes Starmie. I eventually get a hit and KO with Hydro Pump. Last out is Mr. Mime. I switch to Tauros. Mime tanks a Double-Edge and lives with 1 HP left, it 2HKO’s with Psychic. Metagross comes out and KO’s with Earthquake.
I made it through round 5 and to round 6 for the second time in my life! This feels great.
Round 6:
It’s comeback time! Have some more suitable music from another of my favorite games:
Once again, I’m not sure how many swaps I have but none of my choices were an elevation at least.
Draft consisted of:
Honestly, this doesn’t look too bad. Skarmory and Snorlax are obvious choices, it isn’t SkarmBliss but SkarmLax, which should be great as well! Skarmory does sadly not have Sturdy, but Snorlax has Thick Fat. I go with Venusaur as the third member, no Grass STAB but it seems all right. I lead with it as I might swap it for something else later on, SkarmLax also feel better as backups. My team is Venusaur/Skarmory/Snorlax, all set 3. I have two weaknesses to Fire, which Snorlax sort of covers with Thick Fat. Otherwise solid defensive synergy.
First opponent has no type speciality.
Vaporeon has Ice Beam, so I switch to Snorlax. Vaporeon sets up two Acid Armors before Baton Passing to Manectric. I switch to Venusaur which gets Paralyzed by Thunder Wave. I get a Crit with EQ, which is enough for an OHKO. Vaporeon comes out again, I switch back to Snorlax. Vaporeon uses Acid Armor twice again, I copy the boosts with Psych Up. Vaporeon Baton Passes to Ninetales. The fox annoys me to no end with Confuse Ray, Attract and finally a Fire Blast Burn, Mega Kick is only a 3HKO due to the Defense Boosts. Snorlax eventually faints, but the Ninetales is out of PP for Fire Blast, so I beat it with Skarmory. Finally, just Vaporeon left… again. I misplay and let Skarmory take an unnecessary Surf, then I switch to Venusaur and put Vaporeon to Sleep, back to Skarmory and ChestoRest. Toxic once Vaporeon has awoken (and once before because I was dumb), it eventually falls from Poison damage and Fly. Just like for round 5, that was a very tough start.
Second opponent has no type specialty.
No swap.
Tauros is a mixed set with Double-Edge and Flamethrower, which is annoying. I run a damage calc and Double-Edge will do the most damage to Venusaur, so I hope it goes for that and switch to Skarmory. The Tauros uses Double-Edge as expected. It then uses Flamethrower which leaves Skarmory at 80/167 HP, I use Toxic. Flamethrower again, I survive and ChestoRest. Then switch to Snorlax to tank a Flamethrower, then back to Skarmory to tank a Double-Edge. Another Flamethrower leaves Skarmory at 84/167 HP. I use Fly and hit, the Tauros faints. Nidoking comes out. Another mixed set, this one has Horn Drill which isn’t fun. I switch to Snorlax and tank a Fire Blast. The first Horn Drill misses and I land a Mega Kick, the second Horn Drill hits. Out with Venusaur, which is faster and KO’s with Earthquake. Last opponent is Xatu. Venusaur is 2HKO’d by Psychic but manages to use Sludge Bomb for a ton of damage. Just Skarmory left. Psychic only does around 20 HP, I use Fly and KO. Another close battle!
Third opponent specializes in Psychic-types.
I swap Venusaur for Tauros. This gives me worse defensive synergy as I now have two Pokémon weak to Fighting, but I hope it should work anyway. I have Intimidate and good bulk.
Tauros takes down Shiftry with Flamethrower, but Shiftry’s Focus Band activates, allowing it to land a hit with Solarbeam before going down. Tauros has 4 HP left afterwards. Gardevoir comes out. I switch to Snorlax which tanks an Ice Punch and a Psychic before OHKOing with Shadow Ball. Last out is Slowbro, I 3HKO with Shadow Ball. Compared to the first two battles, this was quite easy.
Fourth opponent specializes in Grass-types.
I swap Tauros for Gardevoir, giving me near-perfect defensive synergy. I only have an unresisted weakness to Electric, which Snorlax “resists” thanks to having high Sp.def. Having a special attacker can also be great. But it is an odd choice since Gardevoir is my least favorite Pokémon. Still, it feels like the better option here. This Gardevoir also has Trace, which ended up mattering later on.
Meganium is a weird EndFlail set which can’t touch Skarmory, so I switch to it and auto-win, the Meganium hilariously tries to hit me with Earthquake! Next up is Gyarados. It is a special set, so I switch to Snorlax. I score a 2HKO with Mega Kick + Shadow Ball. Last out is Exeggutor. Shadow Ball does around 50%, but it uses Leech Seed. I switch to Gardevoir which tanks a Giga Drain and KO’s with a Crit Ice Punch.
Fifth opponent specializes in Fire-types.
I consider swapping Gardevoir for Gyarados, but I decide not to.
Gardevoir beats Cradily, but it sets up Sunny Day before falling. Ninetales comes out. Not again! This thing annoyed me so much last time. It uses Fire Blast which leaves Gardevoir at 17 HP, I use Psychic and miss due to Brightpowder! I switch to Snorlax and another annoying stall battle follows, Ninetales manages to beat Snorlax this time as well, but manage to hit it with one Mega Kick. Unfortunately, it still has PP left for Fire Blast. I send out Skarmory which tanks a Fire Blast and lives with 38 HP left, then KOs with Fly. Last opponent is Blaziken. It KO’s Skarmory with Overheat, Gardevoir then takes it down with Psychic. A close and scary battle.
Sixth opponent specializes in Water-types. Somehow, I just got to face FWG in a disadvantageous order.
No swap.
Gyarados again… I switch to Snorlax and 2HKO with Mega Kick + Shadow Ball, Snorlax lives with exactly 50% HP left. Golduck is next, it KO’s with a Crit Cross Chop. I send out Gardevoir which 2HKO’s with Psychic. Forretress is the last one, but a Fire Punch takes it down.
I made it to Noland! The Factory attendant does not tell me if he has any type specialty.
I once again consider swapping Gardevoir for Gyarados, but once again, I decide not to.
Now, for the Noland battle. First, here’s the battle video:
Here’s a full battle summary:
Noland leads with Slowbro. I expect it to use Shadow Ball, so I switch to Snorlax which shrugs off the Shadow Ball, just as planned. Worth noting is that both Snorlax and Slowbro are holding a Quick Claw. On top of that, a 21IV Adamant Snorlax and a 31IV Quiet Slowbro both have a Speed stat of 45! How ironic. Anyway, Slowbro is faster on the next turn and uses Surf, Snorlax is at 164/230 HP. I use Shadow Ball which does a little less than half, I also get a useless Sp.def drop. I am faster on the next turn and Shadow Ball leaves the Slowbro at low HP, it uses Surf to take Snorlax down to 104 HP. I am faster on the next turn as well, Shadow Ball is a KO.
Ninetales comes out! Argh, why did it have to be you again! Oh well. It uses Iron Tail which brings Snorlax to 67 HP, I use Mega Kick for a Megamiss. Ninetales uses Attract, Snorlax is infatuated and immobilized. Ninetales uses Iron Tail again, Snorlax is at 33 HP and immobilized again. Another Iron Tail, but it misses this time, while I use Mega Kick and hit for a ton of damage. I then get a QC activation, only for Shadow Ball to miss. Ninetales KO’s with Iron Tail. Ninetales3 has really been my unlucky opponent this round. But I have beaten it twice before, I can do it again!
I send out Gardevoir, which Traces Flash Fire. Yes! The fox can’t use Fire Blast now. Instead, it uses Confuse Ray. Oh no. But Gardevoir uses its Lum Berry to cure itself. Oh yes! Psychic hits and I KO the annoying fox. Yes! Noland’s last Pokémon is Salamence. It is an EndSalac set with Double-Edge/Earthquake/Crunch, it is pretty hard-walled by Skarmory, which is great. But there’s no need to switch. Salamence is faster than Gardevoir, it uses Double-Edge, Gardevoir lives with 10 HP! The Salamence takes recoil. Gardevoir uses Ice Punch and wins the Gold Symbol.
This was a quite simple victory. The Ninetales caused some trouble just like the previous two times I faced it, but apart from that, it was easy. Snorlax walled Slowbro, and Skarmory would have walled Salamence, but it didn’t even come down to that. Instead, Gardevoir was the MVP of this battle.
It is ironic how I got my last Gold symbol with my least favorite Pokémon. But I suppose it was also suitable in a way.
Jumpman taught me that you must get rid of any favoritism if you want to beat the Factory. I’m glad I listened to him, because he was right.
I had obtained the Gold Symbol, but I still wanted to continue on my streak just to see how far I could get…
Round 7:
Since I’ve won the Gold Symbol, we can take it easy from here on. Let’s go with some chill la chill but still amazing battle music:
Here, I had 19 swaps before entering.
Draft was:
Before this, I thought I needed 21 swaps to get an elevation, but it turns out I only needed 15. This was the first time when it became really notable. I got two Xatu sets, which were set 3 and 4. Everything else was set 4.
I skipped the birds, went with Kangaskhan/Metagross/Ludicolo instead. All set 4. They have good enough defensive synergy. Kangaskhan and Metagross are quite powerful, while Ludicolo can potentially stall with Toxic/Leech Seed/Double Team, it also has Rain Dance and Rain Dish.
First opponent has no type specialty.
I gamble with Kangaskhan against Golduck which was a bad idea as I miss twice with Mega Kick, while the duck 2HKO’s with Cross Chop. I continue with Metagross and use Earthquake, but my opponent switches to Gengar. I try to beat it with Ludicolo and Metagross, but it beats Ludicolo and manages to damage Metagross quite a bit. I then get a lucky QC activation with Metagross and KO with Shadow Ball. Next is Golem, Metagross OHKO’s with Meteor Mash. Finally Golduck again. Metagross tanks a Surf and KO’s with Earthquake. A very close and scary battle, just like the first battle in the previous two rounds.
Second opponent has no type specialty.
I swap Ludicolo for Gengar, hoping it will be better.
Kangaskhan OHKO’s Jynx with Shadow Ball. I switch to Gengar against Tauros, it uses Rock Tomb followed by Thunderbolt, I do not KO with Psychic. I switch to Metagross, but miss with the first Meteor Mash, the second hits and KO’s. Against Steelix, I switch to Gengar to dodge an Earthquake. Fire Punch does not KO and Steelix takes Gengar down with Iron Tail. I send out Kangaskhan which KO’s with Earthquake.
Third opponent has no type specialty.
No swap.
Ninetales again! At least it isn’t the annoying set 3 this time around. Even better, I OHKO with a Crit Earthquake. Vaporeon takes around 95% from Mega Kick and uses Acid Armor. Earthquake KO on the next turn. Espeon uses Attract but misses (Kangaskhan was holding a Brightpowder), Shadow Ball for an OHKO. Nice with a quick and easy battle.
Fourth opponent has no type specialty.
No swap.
Blastoise throws the fight by using Mirror Coat as I 3HKO with Earthquake, don’t want to risk more misses with Mega Kick. Muk is OHKO’d by a Crit Earthquake. Armaldo is a CB set, it takes around 40% from Earthquake and locks itself into Rock Slide, guess it was the best move it could pick. The first one misses. It tanks another Earthquake before hitting with Rock Slide on the next turn. I send out Metagross which uses Earthquake to grab the victory.
Fifth opponent has no type specialty.
No swap.
I switch to Gengar against Donphan, it fails to hit me with Fissure. Ice Punch doesn’t quite KO and the Donphan misses with Iron Tail. It then uses a QC Rock Slide, Gengar flinches but KO’s with Ice Punch on the next turn. Houndoom comes out. I decide to sacrifice Gengar, so I use Destiny Bond for a double KO. I send out Kangaskhan, last opposing Pokémon is Gyarados. It is a DD set, not good at all. I should have gone for Metagross instead because of Clear Body. The Gyarados beats Kangaskhan, but I manage to beat it with Metagross, I get a lucky QC activation on the last turn and KO with Psychic.
Sixth opponent has no type specialty.
I considered swapping for Gyarados, but I decided not to.
Rapidash is OHKO’d by Earthquake. I switch to Gengar against Marowak, dodge an Earthquake and OHKO with Ice Punch. Aggron is 2HKO’d by Fire Punch. Quick and simple.
I then lost in the 7th battle.
Before the battle, I am told that my opponent specializes in Fire-types.
I swap Metagross for Marowak.
Here’s a video of the battle:
And a summary:
Lead Sceptile (nice Fire-type!). It is faster and uses Leaf Blade which does less than half to Kangaskhan. I use Aerial Ace since I don’t want to risk a miss with Mega Kick. On the next turn, the Sceptile gets a Crit with Leaf Blade, Kangaskhan faints. Out with Gengar. Sceptile is faster and OHKO’s with Crunch. It is then faster than Marowak as well and OHKO’s with Leaf Blade.
That was a very simple and straightforward loss. I might have been able to win if it hadn’t gotten a Crit on Kangaskhan, or maybe if I hadn’t swapped out Metagross. The Sceptile had no move that is super effective against Metagross. I could also have used Mega Kick instead, it would have been a sure KO if it had hit. No idea about the backups, I think Kangaskhan and Marowak should have been able to beat most Fire-types, Gengar might have been able to contribute as well.
But I got the Gold Symbol so I’m still happy about the streak.
I hope you’re not too angry at me for missing out on all the fun.
because why not? (It has a BST of 567 and is #567 in the National Dex).
@ Lum Berry (Own Tempo)
