Part 4: Technikachu

Science Club



What up nerds, it's time to go to loser central and swirly some peeps.



LAD: another rare card. I wish I could trade cards like Ishihara.



I'm thinking about trading my Flying Pikachu for one. Do you have a Ditto? Oh wonderful! Then without delay...





Alright, the last Pikachu promo card. Uh, kinda. Also marks the first appearance of Flying Pikachu, being an insert of the Nov 1997 CoroCoro magazine and available in the west through official TCG leagues in Aug 2001. Like the other Pikachu promos it's pretty bad, doesn't even have the consistency of Surfing Pikachu, but hey, maybe we'll find a way to make it work.



Science Pokemon cards! Science Pokemon are exceedingly strong. Would you like to duel against my Science Pokemon deck? We'll play with 4 prizes. Let's begin.



Another club, another new deck. Since there's more clubs than types, they improvised a couple, since there's no Colourless Club. The Science Club uses Colourless and Grass that tend to be Poison types.



For our deck, as you can see, we're using Wigglytuff, because Do the Wave is insane, as well as Clefable, since it's also very interesting. The GB Jigglypuff is very useful to start off with, as Friendship Song, when the coin flip is successful, picks a random Basic from your deck to put on the bench. You'll notice a lot of GB cards have these random effects, which definitely isn't something you could do in an actual irl match. Anyway, this deck was first suggested by PMush Perfect, called Clap! Your! Hands! because there's no emoji for it in the game.



And since we haven't used Psychic energy yet, might as well, Colourless Pokemon are free to use whatever, we could only use DCEs for our energy if we were fucking insane.



Arbok is what Erik has the most of, even though it's a pretty bad card, it also has Poison Fang that does 20 for 3 energy and also poisons. Ew. He also has Beedrill and Nidoking, as well as Weezing, but with very little draw support, the chance of him getting two evolutions is rare. He even has 2 Imposter Professor Oak, which only helps us! It makes us shuffle our hand into our deck and draw 7 new cards, it's pretty funny.





It keeps swapping us around, so we get to show off Clefable for a moment. This card is actually insane under the right circumstances, for 1 energy it can use any move in the game without any penalty. But that's the main problem, it is wholly dependent on the opponent. If you're fighting a Charizard, you can hit it for 100 damage for 1 energy AND don't have to discard anything, it's nuts. That's why it's pretty garbage in this game, since you should be knocking out your opponent's Basics before they can do anything, and they usually have terrible moves. We'll see this later. Also it can never proc weakness damage, but still, very quick to set up and kinda tanky, so it's fun to experiment with!



Easy enough since once Wigglytuff gets going, it fucking destroys the opponent. I love it.



For some clubs you need to beat every member, like the Water Club, whereas for some you only need to fight whoever's in the way, like this one, but we'll still fight everyone at least once.



Huh? Oh, this? This is a machine that makes decks. It's much better than Dr. Mason's. Hmm... let me see here... do you want to duel against me? Shall we begin the match? It will be a single match for 4 prizes.



Interesting David's deck is named as such, he has 2 Nidoqueen... and 1 Nidoking, which doesn't feel very optimal.



Ah, DCEs are always wonderful, don't have too much on the bench, but we'll fix that.



YESSSSSSSS!!! Farfetch'd is a joke in this game too, but you never know, it could work out.



But uh, yeah, Do the Wave, what a surprise. David had a few Basic Colourless mons but focused on Poison types, with a Pinsir just for the heck of it.



If we only used Wigglytuff that'd be boring, which is why I always want to focus on at least 2 Pokemon per deck, so let's give Clefable a go, I'm sure our next opponent will be just fine!



Alright, onto the actual path.



Joseph's gimmick is Flying types, his entire deck has them, as well as 2 Flying Pikachu! He's pretty balanced between Grass and Lightning energy since most of his deck is fine with either.



Best to set up two of the same Pokemon, since he loves shifting your mons.



Two can play at this game! Not that it's very helpful, we'll be here a while if this is all we can do.



Uh, okay. This game has a lot of different trainers, but I haven't really talked about them since a lot of them are pretty meh and you don't have too much room after Bill, Professor Oak, Computer Search, etc. Like this just means both players get bricked and can't draw support, which seems a little pointless, but I suppose it's useful if you've gotten everything you need and don't want your opponent to get a better hand.



Ain't this just great. It's even worse using it on Pidgey, since it only deals 10 damage!



Begun, the Peck wars have.



Alright this was a terrible battle to use Clefable, Wigglytuff it is!



Alright, one more try, though we could both use Leech Life on each other until the heat death of the universe. It also has Wing Attack for 30 damage.




Clefable got a kill, which is all I care about. Let's get the fuck outta here.



And... take this. Rick's in the middle of an experiment, so don't bother him too much.



Science rules nature! That is why it is so strong. Do you wish to test the strengths of science by playing against me? Alright, 6 prizes! Let us begin!

Club Master Duel





It's me, Dr. Mason. How are you doing, Marco? I have some information for you about Rick's Deck - he's the master of the Science Club. His deck uses Muk's Toxic Gas to prevent your Pokemon from using Pokemon Power! Avoid using a deck that relies on Pokemon Power to attack. His deck's weakness is Psychic Pokemon! Collect Psychic Pokemon to duel his deck! I suggest you study the deck from the Psychic Medal Deck Machine. Hopefully, it will be of some assistance... Win all 8 Master Medals, Marco! Mason Laboratory Doctor Mason



Grimer's paralysis is annoying, but I can reflect is right back at- oh who am I kidding.



After getting paralyzed enough and doing mediocre damage in return, best just fill out the bench and do something useful with our lives.





And there we go, just blow through every Basic he has. Rick can be tough depending on your deck since he can lock down Poke Powers, and he even has a few Mewtwo to surprise someone bringing their own Psychic deck. His other main gimmick is bringing a bunch of Trainers, such as Pokedex and Maintenance, which is why he wasn't drawing into his various Basics and let me take them all out. Sucks, but you can see how effective one half of my deck was compared to the other half due to how the AI works.




Legendary Cards are but a legend! Science is the only truth! I must continue my research of Science Pokemon!

Lightning Club



Now to fight Lightning with Lightning, with a twist. Of course we had to use Pikachu eventually, but we're bringing along Meowth so the two can work together for once. This deck was suggested by dungeon cousin and called Best Frenemies.



More promo cards? Hell yeah, this is- hey, wait, this is a lower level!!!





Holy shit this card is bad, goddamn. But hey, it can be a good shield that does nothing in return, as it's the only Pokemon aside from Charizard and Chansey that can take a Fire Spin! I can't think of anything else it can do. It was available in Japan via the Official Card File in June 1997, whatever that means, and was one of four cards you could get for buying a ticket to the first Pokemon movie. Gotta say, I'd feel pretty ripped off getting this instead of a Mewtwo.



I see those cute little eyes! Hey, do you want to duel my Pikachu deck? OK then! Let's play with 4 prizes!



Well let's have some Meowth action so we're not overloaded with Pikachu like every single game in the franchise.



Ugh, fucking Pokeball. This Meowth is a GB one that does 20 damage to a random opponent, so that's neat I guess.





We've fought this before, but I'll always highlight the two Pokemon we're using, no matter what. Nothing too crazy, but it's dependable damage that also keeps you alive and well and that's nice. Might as well always use Pounce, unless you know the enemy won't attack next turn.



But yeah, Pikachu is the name of the Jennifer game, with a few Raichu to evolve her non-Promo ones. Or more specifically, you can evolve Promos, so long as it has the same name as the regular card. Raichu evolves from Pikachu, but that's not what the Surfing and Flying Pikachu cards are called. Also having her lead with Surfing Pikachu is great since she has less Water energy, making her stuck for a bit, though she does have 4 Bill. Maybe the first trainer to do such a crazy thing.



Ugh, she does have a lot of Potions, also, including Super Potions! Discard an energy from a Pokemon to heal it by 50, which is pretty damn good, but I prefer saving deck space.





Lightning mons love doing bench damage, as we see with our first Raichu, as I'll split the card designs if the chosen Pokemon has more than one in the game. This one isn't as useful, but what a happy little bench destroyer this is, even if it's very slow for not much payoff. You'd rather big upfront damage than multiple turns plinking the bench.



Awww! My Pikachu lost! You have to take care of your Pokemon cards!



What? A Pokemon Trading Card Duel? I'll be glad to duel any time! OK, 4 prizes! Ready? Let's do it!



Ah dammit, I hate coinflips. The other Meowth we're using has Pay Day, 20 damage for 2 energy is cool, and the chance to draw an extra is also cool.



Let's get these outta here, the regular Pikachu can do some damage with Thunder Jolt while Voltorb only has Tackle for 10 damage lol



I have 2 Water energy specifically to use Surfing Pikachu, easy enough to find them with Energy Search.



There we go, Surfing Pikachu is pretty consistent. Brandon uses a lot of different Lighting mons and uses both varieties of the mon, with the exception of GB Jolteon. So long as you don't let Magneton explode or Electrode charge up the bench you should be good.



And since I haven't mentioned it, the Club Master won't battle you until you beat everyone else in the club.



Lightning Pokemon are the toughest Pokemon! How about it? You want to duel me? OK! Let's start! 1 match with 4 prizes!



Oh hey, remember when I said watch out for Selfdestruct?



Brandon is exactly what you think, he uses Weezing, Magneton and Golem, all Selfdestruct users, but it also makes his deck a bit unfocused and stocked up with THIRTY energy. He also uses Defender so his Pokemon aren't knocked out by their own Selfdestruct, the prick.



Graveler is a nasty card since Rock Throw does 40 damage for 3 energy, which is very nice, but we just happen to having a Fighting resist here.



And it only takes about 4 turns to knock it out! Woo!



Oh hey this Magnemite is GB exclusive and also weirdly terrible. He could've used Tackle, but I guess the AI looked at Magnetic Storm and thought better of it. It removes all energy cards attached to your Pokemon and then randomly reattaches them. I don't know why they thought that was a good idea.





It's too easy to set this Raichu up in the back and endgame sweep. It deals a lot of damage, but you'll need to keep it healthy if you want to keep using it. Still, while it's pretty damn slow, Agility can help you with setting something else up if Thunder's recoil would KO you.



My Lightning Deck lost... I can't believe it... I won't lose next time! I'm gonna zap you!



Got to keep it looking smart! I'm the Lightning Club Master! Sure! I'll duel you! The sparks will fly with 6 prizes! I'll show you what my Lightning Pokemon Deck can do!

Club Master Duel





How it's going, Marco? It's me, Doctor Mason. I have some information for you about Isaac's Deck - he's the Master of the Lightning Club. His deck is a Selfdestruct Deck! He uses Selfdestruct for maximum damage! Watch the number of Energy cards on his Pokemon and look out for Selfdestruct. I would suggest using Fighting Pokemon such as Cubone and Rhyhorn to counter Isaac's Deck. The Cubone & Marowak Deck from the Rock Medal Deck Machine is probably your best bet. I hope you find many Fighting Pokemon in this booster pack! Did you find the Pokemon you were looking for in the booster pack? Mason Laboratory Doctor Mason



Oof, you hate to see it, but I've gotta get a better hand.





Let's look at a better Electabuzz than the earlier one. Due to its high HP and ease of getting 40 damage for 2 energy, this fits right into a Haymaker deck, especially since you only need the one Electric energy, so the rest can go to Zapdos. Definitely a dangerous customer, and you can see as we're meeting all the different pieces how they all fit into place.





Well, rip. A dangerous move that nukes most things that aren't Chansey or Charizard. I'm highlighting this different Magneton due to how quickly they stopped the Defender Selfdestruct cheat by making it do more damage than you could stop, but it's still funny to think about.



That put Isaac back to square one since the AI can only focus on one thing at a time, we've been building something in the back. Aside from exploding with Magneton, he also has Electabuzz as his main attacker, as well as some Colourless mons like Kangaskhan and Tauros. Add in Potions and Defenders, he then becomes pretty tricky to take down with all those big HP basics.



Two of us can play at bench damage, we just select the 3 we want to damage and it's good he has 3 on the bench so we get max use out of it!



I got a bit lucky, so we're able to slowly but surely snipe the bench and finish up the match!




And here, take this Booster Pack, too. I'm going to polish my card skills, so come duel again.

Rival Encounter



I already won the sixth Medal! I'll see how much better you've gotten! If you win, I'll give you another rare card! Come on!!! Let's duel! We'll play with 6 prizes!





Yes it's another Ronald ambush after the fifth medal. He's getting too Haymaker for my liking, with his only evolution being Dodrio, but he has all kinds of Basics, which makes him very unfocused, especially since he has NO DRAW SUPPORT!!!

Anyway, this Mewtwo can be pretty dangerous if you've got a big attacks, but it'll only do 50 damage if you've got the usual 4 energy, and you can fudge that with DCEs. It'll slay Exeggutor but doesn't really have the oomph to take out the big evolutions. You still want to use it, since it'll OHKO a 2 energy Hitmonchan with Pluspower, which is very important.



Well this isn't good, of course the Haymaker comes out when you have a Fighting weak deck.



Still, he keeps retreating and losing energy, and this Raichu can do a lot of damage.



It can take a lot of damage, but hey, if we don't one shot, might as well try Agility, you still do the damage even if you don't get the coinflip.



Ugh, Mr. Mime, that's a pain in the arse that we'll deal with later.



Thankfully we don't need to think about it!




The Legendary Pokemon Cards belong to me!!!





Now this is what I'm talking about! Two cards for 4 discarded energy? Fuck yeah! This was first available in Japan in Apr 1997 as an insert with the Pocket Monster Fan Book, I imagine a lot more copies sold because of it. It only came to the west as part of the Neo Genesis expansion, the first Gen 2 set, so this game was the first English print of the card! It's a shame we can only get one until postgame, I need it!!!

Anyway, that's two more clubs down, we're getting through this game. Next time, more decks, more medals and maybe even something else!