Part 18: Final Filler

Receptionist: Since you have collected both coins, the doors have opened at last.

Ronald Encounter



Oh, Minto. Gosh, the players in here are indescribably strong! I couldn't do a thing, even after all of my work to get here! But Minto, you... your deck might do the trick. This is the end, show everyone your power! If you can't defeat me, though, you won't stand a chance in there. C'mon, we'll play with our usual 6 prize cards rules. If you win, I'll give you a rare Super Energy Retrieval Card!



We've gone one last obstacle to face before the Castle, shouldn't be any trouble with our deck, though we will change to a proper deck befitting of the finale.



Ah come on let me flip a hundred coins at your face.



This Gengar isn't too scary and we've been building up a Venu in the back. While Dark Venusaur is terrifying, regular still hits really damn hard.




Complete Recovery: Discard all Energy cards attached to this Pokémon. Then, remove all damage counters and markers from this Pokémon and this Pokémon is no longer Poisoned or Confused.

Psycho Blast: Flip a coin. If heads, discard 1 Energy card attached to the Defending Pokémon.

He got a bit stuck so we've won. Regardless, here's the SEVENTH Mewtwo card we've gone over in this LP, eventually we'll run out of Mewtwo cards to go over. This was in the third Vending set and is illustrated by Kazuhiko Nishihara, who was the winner of the Mewtwo's Counterattack Commemoration Illust Artist Contest run by CoroCoro. As a card it's alright, there have been plenty of other, better, Mewtwo cards, but it means you can have some variety and choose a kinda tankier stall one? Well gotta do something with your life.

As for Ronald's deck it's something we only see once, so whatever, has the devolution Mew as well as Dark Dragonite. Only 2 Bills so he'll definitely get stuck trying to evolve everything, so it's not a difficult lategame deck. So long as you don't get screwed early maybe.



Anyway, here's your new Super Energy Retrieval Card. I'm sure you can beat these guys!! You just gotta do your best! Anyway, fight on, Minto!!

GR Castle



You'll have to collect the Legendary cards before I recognize you! Prove yourself by collecting those cards and putting them in your deck. I know you believe you know what direction is best for Team GR... but I'll never agree with you! My ideals are immaculate! I'll fight you myself if I have to! Executive Clay!

Ha!!

Executive Allison!

Yes, King Villicci!

Minto! You must fight my two Executives first! Only with victories against both will I confront you in combat! If, that is, you can win...

I'm your first opponent. They call me Executive Clay! But let us not fight here. Head over to the Duel Table.



But I have special requirements for our duel that you must uphold! I've heard so much praise about the Pokemon cards of legend... you've undoubtedly heard about them. They are the following four cards: Moltres Lv40!! Articuno Lv37!! Zapdos Lv68!! Dragonite Lv41!! Put all four of these cards of legend into a single deck. If you do that, I would be more than happy to have a duel with you.



Well as you could tell by the title of the update, we won't be storming the castle just yet, we need to beat up the strongest nerds on this island. And then beat everyone else up cause I have to pad out this LP somehow!

Pokemon Dome



Thanks, Portly Man.



That's the only way to make Team GR change their terrible ways. You'll need the Pokemon cards of legend to have a duel with Villicci. So, let's start the Final Cup! Well, assuming you're prepared. Very well! Let's enter the Finals Hall.



We are the Grand Masters, keepers of the Pokemon cards of legend! Without defeating all four of us, you can't earn the cards of legend! Let's begin. First you'll duel Courtney!



Take a seat, Minto. Oh ho ho... but don't get comfy. Let's start this 6-prize card duel!

Grand Master Duel



What was once the final battles is now the training arc to the final battle!



While this is absolutely miserable, we're not in much threat at the moment.



Give 'im a swift kick m8, oh yeah since I've covered most submitted decks I wanted we've got a good backlog to crack open and have fun with it.



By sweeping around with Surprise Thunder we can mill most of her bench and have an easy time of it. We didn't see the legendary Moltres, thankfully, which is why she got a bit stuck not being able to draw Fire energy. Otherwise she has Nightly Garbage Run to keep them in her deck to draw from and Switches and Scoop Ups for her big stuff.




Your next battle is against Steve, Minto!



I'll show you why they call me Thundering Steve!

Minto, would you like to change your deck? Okay, then. You may start the battle against Steve.

6 prize cards sounds good to me! Ready? Let's gooo!



Here's the Dark Weezing and Dark Arbok team again, might as well. Up against Speedball Pluspower Voltorb but we should be fine maybe.



Ah shit, oh well.



Adding in Thunderpunch Electabuzz is also not okay! Damn we're getting owned a bit.



Least we can do is keep dragging in the stuck Zapdos while we build up in the back.



Yo Poison Claws actually worked? Who knew Persian could be so, srnk, good.



Alright, we can't ignore this any longer, so hopefully we can Poison it down.



Okay, we have prize card lead, let's keep it!




Alright he got stuck and that's a win, phew that was kinda scary! The only mon we didn't see was evolution shutdown Aerodactyl, but it's easy to snipe the fossils to ensure that doesn't happen, cause our deck is kinda lame without evolutions. Otherwise 4 Electabuzz is pretty scary as well as a bunch of single trainers like Computer Search, Super Potion and Gambler, as well as 2 Pluspowers and 2 Fossil Excavations. This is a pretty okay deck, but can get stuck without much energy draw.



Impressive, Minto. Your next duel is with Jack!

I won't lose this time... not with the full power of my gorgeous deck. What would you like? I suggest 6 prize cards.



Well at least it's not the Scrunch Chansey...



Oh please what is this gonna do?



Exactly bitch, gimme all that energy.



Yo remember this is weak to Grass lol



And we're back where we started, with Arbok not able to paralyze it.



It's alright, Persian is here to save the day!



And another one out of steam, it's just that easy! Kingler is scary if you let it get set up, but you can usually kill it afterwards and get him stuck on energy. Otherwise Sing Chansey is annoying but not overly so and while paralysis from Articuno is annoying, it's the mildest legendary effect, well aside from Dragonite. Otherwise there's a cheap Sleep and Paralysis Jynx, a fair few Switches and Bills and Energy Removal, just to keep you locked down.




Your power is just as impressive as I expected it to be.

Minto, as usual, you played wonderfully! It's time for you to face off against me! This is the last battle of the Final Cup! I won't let the Pokemon cards of legend go so easily. Set aside your 6 prize cards.



Hmm this isn't a great start.



Still, Dark Raichu really snipes evolution heavy decks, we might get lucky.



Close, but with no bench and no energy, he's outta luck. Of course the last Grand Master gets chumped. He only has regular Dragonite, but an early Dark Dragonair can get him rolling, even if Charizard is the only other recipient. He can use 3 Kangaskhan as well as 3 Bills to keep the cards flowing, as well as 2 Breeders and 2 Master Balls. He has a pretty quick deck, so I dunno what happened, just how the Krabby crumbles.




You're the only suitable player to have the Pokemon cards of legend. Here. I proudly confer the Pokemon cards of legend to you...




With those, Minto, fearlessly enter GR Castle. Once there, meet with Team GR's leader, King Villicci. I fear that's the only way to make Team GR change their terrible ways. The other Grand Masters and I are looking forward to that change. We'll all finally be able to play cards with Team GR peacefully. Do your best, Minto...



Now that sounds fun and all, but what if we spent the rest of the update fighting the last few TCG Island denizens we haven't gotten around to yet.

Normal TCG



After clearing the Fighting Fort we can fight Aaron with a regular deck. Now we'll be fighting all the leftover peeps, but I won't be going into too much detail, cause there's still a few and let's be honest, neither of us really care to go into much detail.



When in doubt, bring out the Dark Hypno and Alakazam deck.



It was a close battle. I assume, I don't remember all the specifics. His first deck is a mishmash of Fossil and Vending that does lots of damage to the bench through Gigashock Raichu, Stretch Kick Hitmonlee and Mach Punch Hitmonchan. Little tricky fighting it with fragile Abra, but we managed. With Energy Removal, Potion and Defender, it is absolutely miserable to survive.

His other deck is a combination Grass and Water that fills the bench for Wigglytuff with a lot of draw support for it, as well as a hard hitting Hydro Pump Vending Poliwrath. Vending Pinsir is fragile but good fodder while he evolves his Jungle Victreebel.



Just as I suspected: you're tough! I'll give you this as a prize. Come back again.



I said that once I got my real deck back, we could have a true duel. Well, I was given my deck back! I also have some new booster packs! It's the start of a new era of electrifying battles! The terms haven't changed: we'll still use 6 prize cards! You'll know the strength of my deck after this fight!

Club Leader Duel



I've got my list of who to fight and I'm checking it twice, only Isaac in this club remains!



Full heal? Don't mind if I do.



And that was basically a solo, though Doduo not resisting Psychic helped a lot! His deck has things that explode, Magneton and Electrode, as well as the dastardly Thunderpunch Electabuzz and Fossil Zapdos. Also the Vending Dodrio is here, but requires coinflips to deal max damage with Tri Attack, yikes! Only Electrode and Zapdos require full Lightning energy, so he has Full Heal and Potion Energy to be fancy, as well as 4 Defenders to survive going boom and 3 Bill! Wow!!!



I guess I gotta recharge the power of my deck after this loss. I'll admit my loss. I have some ideas to polish up my deck, though!



...want to know why? S-i-m-p-l-e! I can play now! I've got plenty of cards to play with now! C'mon, already. Let's battle! How's this? We'll use 4 prize cards! I'd enjoy that!



I'll give this Shellder something to wink about!




And wasn't that one crazy fight??? Anyway she was supposed to show off Fossil Cloyster, which can have both attacks do 0 damage if you get unlucky, as well as Fossil Tentacruel and Base Starmie, something we haven't really seen since the tutorial! Only Vending Kingler does any real damage, so there's nothing much to worry about, especially since she has a wide variety of Trainers, but no draw support!



Well, it was fun! I'll gladly take you on again... but more importantly, thanks so much for getting my cards back!



You've been showing everyone on GR Island how strong you are. The cards that have been returned allowed me to make a decent deck. How about it? Would you like to see it in action? Do 6 prize cards sound good to you?



Oh goody, as if we need the rain blessed here. Let's snipe the Squirtle before they can be too annoying.



Imagine being 2x weak to hitting yourself.



We're taking down her Wartortle, but she's blocking another one with a Lapras!



Running a little thin, but I'd rather sacrifice some Drowzee so Dark Alakazam can keep teleporting out.



Okay, hopefully she doesn't have the resources to make another one, cause I would really like to not fight that.




Rest: Remove all damage counters from this Pokémon. This Pokémon is no longer Confused, Paralyzed, or Poisoned. This Pokémon is now Asleep.

Aurora Wave: Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Confused.

Always nice to end it with a Clefairy Doll. Been a little bit since I highlighted a standard card, but the Vending expansion is pretty unfamiliar to most of us, so here's a neat looking card from it! It's not particularly good, but when have I really cared about that?




We saw everything Amy's deck had to offer and that's all it needed, goddamn what a terrifying deck. Sure, Dewgong doesn't do too much, but Lapras is a bulky wall that slowly gets stronger and Blastoise is, well, Base Blastoise. With Computer Search, Breeder, 4 Bill, 2 Oaks and 25 Water energy, she can actually be a real menace! Don't feel bad losing to this deck, Blastoise is so goddamn busted!



I know your fights against Team GR are all deadly serious. Just remember to have a little bit of fun along the way, too, okay?



Battles against me are always to a full 6 prize cards. Let's begin this Psychic battle!



Ugh, Murray, didn't really want to fight him again, but Club Masters are the exception to forced story battle. Didn't really intend to reuse the Dark Raticate and Fearow deck for this fight, but it didn't get much spotlight in the Colorless Altar. Still, I'm just sick of fighting annoying Psychic decks.



Hey get back here, last thing I need is some Alakazam running around, cause you can guess what deck this motherfucker is running again.




Poke Power: Neutral Damage: As long as this Pokémon is on your Bench, each Active Pokémon has no Weakness or Resistance.

Juggling: Flip 4 coins. This attack does 10 damage times the number of heads.

Now of course new game means new tricks, he thankfully only has 1 of the Jungle Mr. Mime, even if 1 is all he needs, but this Vending Mr. Mime ensures you can't wall Murray with a Colorless deck. That's why I didn't mind, I can still beat him on an even playing field!



Ah fuck! Of course I'll be using as many Hyper Fangs as possible because I'm an idiot who loves flipping coins to do all the damage or none of the damage.



At least it can work both ways.



This, uh, could be going better.



Alright bro, that's it.




Since I was diligent in sniping his Abra, he didn't get the fucking Damage Swap Alakazam up and running to make my life hell. Also surprised he didn't use any Scoop Ups, cause yeah he has all those tools still. With 4 Bills, 2 Nightly Garbage Runs and 2 Traders, his deck is even worse than the original, if that was even possible. I hope I never fight this guy again, good lord.



It seems you've got a secret power that trumps my psychic abilities. I'm going to focus my mind and power up so I won't lose to you next time!



C'mon, let's battle! I wanna begin right away!! Let's make it a quickie. 4 prize cards should do the trick!



Tired: using a Psychic deck for the Fighting club; Wired: using a Colorless deck for the Fighting club.



But I guess it didn't really matter? Goddamn Raticate you're on a rampage. Pretty simple deck, Jungle Primeape, Base Machamp, only weird card is Vending Hitmonchan, she even has 1 Moon Stone to get Jungle Dodrio out earlier. Otherwise 4 Potions, 2 Pluspowers and 2 Defenders make it impossible for her to draw anything useful, hence the very fast battle




A booster pack reward is given to the victor, as always. Training is hard, but battling is quite fun.



But in the heat of battle, there's no room for kindness or manners! Would you like to fight me to get that adrenaline pumping? Real battles are fought using 6 prize cards! Now! Begin! Come on, Minto!!



Ow. But also, uh, did he just...




Yup, dunno why he decided to do any of that, but we take those. He has 3 Mr. Mime for some reason, works a lot better in a Psychic deck, but I guess it has its uses. He bulks out with Lickitung and Promo Kangaskhan to build up the Evolution Promo Machamp which can hurt you before forcing you out. Otherwise with a smattering of Rainbow Energy and DCE, he has 2 Gust of Winds are something non-standard. Should've been a longer battle, but whatever.



Only 2 clubs left to go!



Let's have us a hot, blazing duel! Battles are more fiery with 4 prize cards!!



Man am I sick of this Magmar.



Least we can get it outta here, sure it would've been a waste if I'd gotten either coin flips wrong, but that's just how I roll!





I see 80 health disappearing next turn. This is a bit of weird card, do you want to do 40 damage for 4 energy or 40 damage for 3 energy? Decisions, decisions... At least John also has the Vending Rapidash which does up to 50 damage for 3 energy, as well as Promo Arcanine and GB Ninetales. Oh and a Meowth to draw cards, since aside from 26 Fire energy and 3 Bills, not much else to his deck.




Please use the cards you got from those boosters to make a fiery deck!



I've got some boosters with your name on 'em -- if you can beat me. Take 'em if you can, Minto! Let's have a heated battle! Better gather 6 prize cards as fuel for this blazing bout!



I swear I've faced this Vending Hitmonchan like 5 times today.



We don't have to Fly High every time we want to Drill Dive, but being out for a turn is a little annoying.



Please free me from this smokescreen hell.



I lived bitch



Okay we're back on track, phew, little dicey when you need to flip 2 coins to attack! Ken has a weird deck, Base Dewgong is cool, since it does FIFTY damage for 3 energy, which is actually kinda nuts, as well as Base Arcanine and Jungle Dodrio, letting him retreat easier. However only having 12 Fire energy limits him somewhat even with 4 Bills and 2 Traders, so it can be a puzzle for his AI to actually get the right combination to attack.




That was indeed a fiery match, Minto! Well played! Battles with you are always hot! You never fail to satisfy.



If you can defeat me in a card duel, I'll award some to you as a prize! Shall we set aside 6 prize cards as we have done in the past? Let's make this duel a fun one!



Now we lost to this guy before, but it had been a long day, I left the washing on, there was dust in my eye and I think my refrigerator is running!



Still, sniping some Basics helps get an early lead.



And then we take down some more Basics. Uh, okay, this is quite the lead we've now gotten.



Alright, well, if I land a Hyper Fang next turn I win since he decided not to evolve anything...




Cool. Well his deck did have Basic issues, since Zubat and Grimer and plentiful and also can't evolve. He has Base Chansey to stall while he sets up Vending Arbok and Weezing, but that didn't really work out for him. He had 2 Master Balls but only 2 Bills and had not many useful options like 25 Grass energy, Gambler and The Rocket's Trap, which only shuffles up to 3 cards from your opponent's hand, if you're lucky. In reality, you just snipe the Zubat and get an easy win, man how did I lose to this guy? I'm really bad at this game...



You've got some really strong cards and amazing strategies at work. Because of those traits, I always have fun when I battle against you.



Well wasn't that fun? Don't answer that. Next time is when we finally storm the castle, this pawn's gonna sink your battleship, Yahtzee!