Damon begins by explaining some of the basics. "To create a strategy we need to identify the advantage we want to have. We will use that to find out how we want to battle."
"In other words we are deciding things like using our speed or using our defense to get an advantage." Ben says.
"That's the idea. To use your example, using our speed could help us overwhelm our opponents and achieve a quick victory. Relying on our defense could help us to react better to opponents' mistakes and find openings.
As for playing the short game or the long game it's really up to the team. Our strategy doesn't have to be complicated, we can work with something simple to start off with." Damon states.
With Booth's experience he is very familiar with finding strategies for pokemon teams. Booth's issue now is that he hasn't experienced enough battles with Tiered Trainers to make any solid judgement on what is the best battle style for each team.
Booth gives his opinion, "I don't have much experience in tiered trainer battles, but I would recommend focusing on a more fast paced game. I think the long game gives an advantage to trainers who are more familiar with team battles. By playing a fast game we can avoid showing too many flaws."
"That's not bad logic. Experienced trainers would probably be able to sense any anxious behavior if we played the long game. I think it's not a bad idea, anyone else?" Damon says.
"Yeah that sounds good." Ben agrees.
Tyler nods in agreement. Seeing no one disagree Damon moves onto the next part. "Right, from here we can get to work on our pairs. We want to find what pokemon are the best fit for our strategy."
The team experiments with different pairs and finds the advantages of each.
Booth makes his own simple assessment of the team. 'Ben and Buizel have a very fast battlestyle. He keeps his distance to gain information on what his opponent wants to do. After gaining information, he will rush the opponent with multiple attacks. Following this sequence he retreats to catch his breath and plans his next attack.
Damon has a patient battlestyle and he does well against opponents who get impatient. Morgem is the perfect pokemon for Damon's battlestyle. It has moves to stuff out opponents, and moves to punish them for blocking. He even mentioned he has the move Assurance! Assurance uses the residual power left on an opponent from a teammate's attack to deal even more damage. In a two on one situation this move is amazing.
Tyler has a very direct battlestyle. He's great at recognizing situations from a glance and acts quickly. I can't help but admire his decisiveness. Sometimes a careful plan is not as good as a direct one, and he understands this well.
I figure the best battlestyle for me and Pansear is fighting in a sort of mid-range. Pansear would probably fight better up close, but I don't have the experience for that. I'll lose a lot of opportunities fighting at mid-range instead of up close, but I'll be able to react a lot better.'
Booth shares his thoughts with Damon and they make up some different scenarios. They share their strategy with the rest of their team to get their opinion. The team designs two different strategies that stay true to their objective.
In the first strategy Ben and Booth are in the lead. Out of the members on the team they have the best ability to create fast paced games. Booth and Ben's job is to knock out the trainers with weaker defenses first. Damon and Tyler's job is dealing with any opponents with strong defenses. Both of them have moves that are excellent for getting past an opponents' guard.
In the second strategy Damon and Ben are leading. If the first lead was to gain momentum the second lead is to stop it quickly. In many battles, opponents' gaining momentum is inevitable.
Because of this, having a plan to fight in this situation is absolutely necessary.
In this strategy Ben and Damon will try to hold their ground. Ben's job is to prevent the opponents from getting too much of a lead. Damon's job is to open up an opponent's defenses and try to take back momentum. Tyler serves to further reduce any of the team's momentum with his Sandshrew's defenses. Booth comes in later to deal heavy damage and finish off the opponents with his fire.
"It sounds like a plan. I'll contact the other team to tell them we're ready when they are." Damon announces.
The team continues to work on their teamwork and polishes some of their moves for the battle. After an hour they take a break.
"Hey, Booth, you've modified a couple moves. Do you think you could give me some pointers?" Ben asks.
"Sure, no problem."
"Is it alright if I listen in too?" Tyler asks Booth.
"Of course." Booth starts to explain, "In simple terms, you have to learn to follow a pokemon's power. I'm not exactly sure where to find it, but there is this thing I call the power organ. It directs a pokemon's power where it needs to go, and tells it what it needs to do."
"So it's like a brain for pokemon power?"
"That's right. Finding out how to use the power organ is the tricky part. If you just give commands nothing will happen. You have to learn to control it."
"It seems like it's part of the requirements for becoming a Tier 2 trainer." Tyler states.
Ben agrees with Tyler, "Yeah I thought that too. It should be worthwhile to learn anyway."
Booth has a confused look, "What are the requirements for becoming a Tier 2 trainer?"
"As far as I know it's gaining control of your pokemon without needing any commands." Ben says.
Tyler adds his thoughts, "It's not as simple as it sounds. Finding out how to move part of a pokemon is easy. After that, things become a mess. You have to do loads of multitasking to get any kind of complex movement like walking."
Ben seems happy to vent his problems, "The greatest task is distinguishing your senses from your pokemon's. You either manage both of your senses or partially block one out. With just a minor slip up you'll find yourself walking instead of your pokemon."
Booth laughs at the explanation. The information about advancing in Tiers isn't hard to find. The only requirement to be a Tier 2 trainer is to have complete physical control of your pokemon. Since everyone has their own way of figuring things out, there is a lot of information which only suits certain people. Because of this many tiered trainers choose to find a way on their own.
"I can see how many answers might be lacking, but is the information online really that bad?" Booth asks.
"There's a lot of good information too, but it's like this. When you first throw a ball you don't ask how to do it, you just do it. After you see your throw sucks, you might ask for help, but I figure you have to try it for yourself first."
"Alright, I think I'll do the same then."
"I'm sure you'll be able to do it too!"
Damon got a message from the other team that said they are ready. Booth and the others walk out to the battle courts after getting the news. They find a court with plenty of space for the team battle.
The size of the court is ultimately up to the trainer. A normal court is about 20x20 meters, but can be larger or smaller depending on who made it. The court for team battles is generally a little bigger being anywhere from 25x25 meter courts to the large 30x30 meter battle domes.
Both teams agree to fight on a mid-sized 25x25 court. The two teams bring out their pokemon and plan amongst themselves.
The opposing team has a Taillow, Crabrawler, Dwebble, and Seel. Booth looks at his opponents' pokemon and predicts their strengths.
The Taillow is the fastest and mobile pokemon on their team. It seems it would serve as a good lead or a pokemon to clean up in the end. Seel is able to slow opponents down quite a lot with its Ice moves. This makes Seel a great support pokemon. Crabrawler is the physical powerhouse of the team. It has a high attack and is sure to be one of the biggest threats. The Dwebble is a good pokemon all around. It has decent attack and speed, and its defenses are great.
Booth tells the team what he's feeling, "I think they'll lead with Seel and either Crabrawler or Dwebble. They probably want to gain a speed advantage with Seel's ice moves. Taillow will probably stay in the back and come in when it has the absolute speed advantage."
"I think so too, let's start with our first lead to press our advantage early on. Ben and Booth will start with Buizel and Pansear. If Seel uses Icy Wind we can have Pansear use Yawn and make it uncomfortable for them. That way we can trade status conditions for speed." Damon suggests. "Each team member only gets one switch in a team battle, so they shouldn't try to use the same tactic twice."
"Let me add that as long as Crabrawler is taken care of, my Sandshrew should have an easy time against most of their team." Tyler says.
What Tyler fears is Crabrawler's ability to fracture an opponent's defenses, not it's type effectiveness.
A move's type effectiveness isn't as strong in this world. That's not to say a pokemon's natural resistances aren't important to taking attacks. A pokemon's defense in this world is largely decided by its constitution or body type.
Super effective damage is determined by how a pokemon takes an attack. Pokemon with strong bodies like steel or dragon types will naturally take hits much easier, while some pokemon like grass or flying types have to protect themselves more.
With the general gameplan ready. Booth goes to the side of the court with his group as they get ready for their first team battle!