URPG Times, July 2013

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URPG Times July 2013


1. A word from your Editor(s).
2. Announcements and News.
3. Trading Section.
4. Meme of the Moment
5. Interview (with WTP).
6. Story of the Month.
7. Roleplayer of the Month
8. Featured Art
9. Flavour of the Month
10. Closing comment(s).

1. Opening Word

Well Hello there!

A lot of you will remember that every now and again there was an issue of URPG times that would come out and it was a tad like our very own Ezine. Sadly, it’s fallen by the wayside and I am endeavouring to bring it back. Hopefully this proves popular and we see some interest. Feedback is greatly appreciated, so long as it’s presented in a constructive fashion.

2. URPG News

SWC - the Summer Writing Competition is in full swing, this time hosted by Smiles! There isn’t long left to get involved, so hurry up and submit your entries!

Risk - Pokémon Risk is in full swing with many battles happening and the battlefield is shaping up, so good luck to all those involved! This tournament is shaping up to be an interesting one

Pokémafia - Another event in full swing, the format looks very interesting and seems very fun. This event is a regular one we have here in the URPG so again, good luck to those participating!

Summer Auction and Raffle - Summer Auction is here so hopefully everyone’s been saving up for it. The auction will take place on Friday, July 19th (in the Western Hemisphere). It begins at 6:00 PM UTC-7 (Mountain Time), which translates to 5:00 PM UTC-8 (PST), 8:00 PM UTC-5 (EST), and 1:00 AM UTC-0

Petalburg Woods Network Birthday Extravaganza - If you didn’t know about it, PWN used to be known as The Pokémon World and a year ago they had a face-lift and name change, and became Petalburg Woods Network. Our very own Felly and Smiles pretty much run the place, so please go support them and URPG’s second home!

3. Trading Section

Airik is looking for the Following

Maractus
Carnivine
Tropius

Axion is looking for

Riolu

Blue Towel is looking for

Aerodactyl

4. Meme of the Moment

Here I bring you my favourite meme, straight from Pokememes.com



It’s sad but this happens every Gen.

5. Interview with - WTP

WTP has been a long standing member of the URPG community even being head ref for a while before stepping aside to focus on real life, so please join us as we catch up with one of the most well respected members of our community.

So WTP, you've been a very long standing member of the URPG do you remember how you first found the URPG and your initial involvement?

Well, I first found it due to my older brother, who had joined about a week prior to myself. As for my initial invovlement, I was 11 and kind of an *******. Thats the internet for you. I was the youngest ref in URPG by age 12 though and I succeeded in making the staff ban OHKO's and garnering about 100k of my ref wages. Good times...

So was you immediately drawn to Reffing as a URPG career? and what do you feel was the biggest advantage in taking up this particular URPG job?

Money, no question. Being a ref = money. Always has and always will. Granted, you can learn a lot about battling from reffing a lot, but it was all about the money for me.

As I mentioned earlier you used to be Head Ref before stepping down how did you work up to that position?

I don't know really, I'd been a ref for several years. I gained a reputation. I was made Senior ref no more than a year to a year and a half before I was promoted. Personally, I just think I was at the right place at the right time. Not that I would say I didn't deserve it or that there were more qualified people for the job, I just never thought it'd happen to me.

More recently you've stepped down from that position, what was the reasoning behind that decision and what are you doing within the community now?

Well, when I stepped down, I was descending into, what I assumed, would be my last days with URPG for good. At the time, I was both Head Ref and URPG's Second in Command. I was leaving to go to college soon and I figured I would be too busy for URPG. I stepped down from both positions and was finally de-modded a few months later. Of course, I was correct about being too busy during the school semesters, but I eventually crawled back to URPG this summer. I couldn't help it. For now, I'm just a Moderator again. I'm still a Senior Ref too. I'm not really doing anything in particular in the community though.

Do you have a fondest memory of your time here in the URPG?

Eh, its really hard to say. I guess winning my first E4 battle against Marth. As, most of my early URPG days most people, if any, couldn't stand up to Marth in a battle.

As one of the most well respected battlers, refs and a member of the URPG's Elite 4 do you have any advice for our newer members?

Well, personally, what battling all boils down to is the moves both your pokemon and your opponents pokemon are capable of using. If you're fully aware of what both pokemon are capable of, you certainly won't be taken by surprise and its a lot easier to make educated decisions in battle.

Thank you for your time WTP, good luck for your future endeavours and for you and your team in URPG Risk (not that i am biassed or anything).



6.Story of the Month


Unknowing Escape by ATLiam

hthttp://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/f396/unkowing-escape-ready-grading-152269/

This story is a nice easy read and the ability of the author to set the scene is demonstrated perfectly in the opening paragraph. I really enjoyed reading this, and I strongly encourage all of you to read it too.

Well done, ATLiam! You can post to claim $2,000. Keep up the writing!

7. Roleplay of the Month

Beldum’s Great Lakes Individual RP

http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/f403/individual-rp-beldum-153053/


New to URPG and following in my own footsteps by taking an early dive into the pool of Pokémon that is the National Park, he seems to have taken to it like a duck to water!
Congratulations Beldum, and good luck with your endeavours in the National Park!

Post to claim $2,000! Keep it up!

8. Featured Art

This first image is one I really love. The use of colour! It’s so bright and amusing, the sort of thing you might see in a cartoon. The scene is certainly reminiscent of cartoons too.



This second image is trying something new, and I admire this artists bravery and creativity to enter something a little unconventional in our art gallery. I encourage this artist to continue innovating!



Protobabe and Sky Lark, post to claim your $2,000! Well done on being selected!

9. Flavour of the Month

In this section we discuss a pokemon and its merits and potential within URPG.
With the announcement of Fairy type I decided we would take a look at some low hanging fruit in the form of Azumarill. This pokemon is available in the URPG Pokémart. Obviously with its typing change coming with Pokémon XY, everything here is subject to change



Overview of Azumarill

Spoiler

Not a Pokémon that sees much use in URPG at present. With the announced typing change of Marill to Water/Fairy, Azumarill is likely to become Water/Fairy as well. Fairy-type is officially announced to be super effective against Dragon types, and rumoured to be immune to them in return. This gives Azumarill an excellent type match-up against a popular and powerful Pokémon, Kingdra, the aquatic Dragon Pokémon!

So let’s take a look at Azumarill’s stats

STATS
HP
: 404
Attack
: 199
Defense
: 259
SpAtk
: 199
SpDef
: 259
Speed
: 199

At first glance Azumarill’s stats look very unimpressive. Mediocre defenses paired with low Attack, Special Attack and Speed stats make this pokemon incredibly unappealing.
Its one saving grace is its high base health, which allows it to create very bulky Substitutes. However, these stats can be very misleading as the reason Azumarill is worth a look is its Abilities.

ABILITIES
Thick Fat
: Halves Ice- and Fire-type damage.
Huge Power
: Doubles Attack stat.
DREAM WORLD ABILITY
Sap Sipper
: Grants immunity and Attack is increased 1.5x when hit by a Grass-type move.


As you can see, it has two Abilities that boost its stats.
First and most popular is Huge Power. This Ability doubles the Attack stat of the pokemon with it, taking Azumarill’s Attack stat up to an impressive 398!
Combine that with Same-Type-Attack-Bonus and priority on Aqua Jet and you have a formidable revenge killer.

The second Ability that raises its Attack is Sap Sipper. This Ability makes it immune to one of its current weaknesses, Grass type, leaving it with only a single, if common, weakness: Electric type.
When hit by a Grass type attack its Attack stat is boosted by one stage, taking its attack to an average if not respectable 298. For those who are running a team with an obvious Grass type weakness, this could provide you with a counter.

Azumarill’s third Ability is much more defensive in nature, halving Ice and Fire type damage. Azumarill already resists both of these types, so this Ability is generally not worth using over the other two Abilities.

Moves

Spoiler

Azumarill learns the following moves via level up, and so has access to them in URPG straight off the bat!

MOVES
Aqua Ring, Aqua Tail, Bounce, Bubble, BubbleBeam, Charm, Defense Curl, Double-Edge, Helping Hand, Hydro Pump, Rain Dance, Rollout, Slam, Splash, Superpower, Tackle, Tail Whip, Water Gun, Water Sport

It also learns a variety of moves via other methods. The ones I feel are important I have listed below.

HIDDEN MACHINES
Strength, Surf, Waterfall,

Most people in URPG have access to these HMs.
Strength gives it a strong physical Normal type attack, while Waterfall gives it a solid attacking move with STAB and the ability to flinch, though the instances in which Azumarill will strike first are few and far between due to its low speed stat. Surf provides it with a strong special attack to fall back on should it need it, though with its low SpAtk stat it may not be as powerful as other options.

TECHNICAL MACHINES
Gen I
-
Gen II
Curse, Toxic, Protect, Ice Punch,
Gen III
Brick Break,
Gen IV
Grass Knot, Substitute
Gen V
Work Up

This selection of moves adds a bit more coverage to our little water mouse, as well as the ability to set up. If Sap Sipper Azumarill can force a switch you could use Curse or Work Up to stat up or even set up a Substitute. Ice Punch allows you a way to hit Grass types for super effective damage, as well as the many Dragons with a double weakness to Ice. Brick Break adds a powerful fighting move to Azumarill’s repertoire that doesn’t have a drawback, unlike Superpower which lowers your Attack and Defense with each use. Protect is thrown in for those times when you need to stall, or defend against multi-turn moves.

BREEDING MOVES
Body Slam, Encore, Sing,
Marill/Azumarill only: Amnesia, Aqua Jet, Belly Drum, Perish Song

Body Slam gives Huge Power Azumarill a strong Normal type attack with a 30% chance to inflict paralysis, which can help make up for Azumarill’s low Speed. Sing, although low accuracy, is handy to have in case an offensive non-attack is needed. Finally, Encore takes advantage of Azumarill’s low Speed by allowing you to lock a Pokémon into a weak, ineffective or non-damaging move, allowing you time to set up. Amnesia and Belly Drum are excellent boosting moves. An Attack+6 Huge Power Aqua Jet can do a lot of damage. As mentioned, Aqua Jet gives you STAB and Priority, letting you take advantage of your powerful attacking stats while bypassing your poor Speed. Perish Song lets you force switches on unfavourable opponents, as well as help ensure victory against an opponent’s final Pokémon.

SPECIAL MOVES
Marill/Azumarill only: Scary Face

Scary Face lowers an attacking Pokémon’s Speed stat two stages. This can make most faster Pokémon slower than Azumarill in one turn, for example a 315 speed Galvantula is reduced to 157, slower than your 199 Azumarill! How about that for useful?

Strategy

Spoiler

So there really are two strategies when it comes to this aquatic mouse.
The first is to use Huge Power and Aqua Jet for a powerful revenge killer. If you can switch in on something you can threaten out and get a Belly Drum boost, you can severely damage or KO anything not immune to Water.

The second, and my favourite, is Sap Sipper Azumarill, as it almost certainly guarantees a switch from most Grass type Pokémon and allows you time to set up. Abomasnow in particular will find this Pokémon a hard prospect to deal with since it’s immune and resistant to its Grass and Ice type STAB attacks respectively, and you can threaten it out with powerful Fighting type moves such as Superpower and Brick Break. However, be wary of Sawsbuck, Rotom - Mow, Breloom, Ludicolo and Sceptile as they all carry Electric type attacks, meaning they have a way to hit back Super Effectively and all of them are faster than Azumarill.

Obtaining

Spoiler

As mentioned before, this Pokémon is fairly low hanging fruit. Its unevolved form Azurill can be picked up from URPG’s PokéMart for $6,500 and evolved with a $3,000 Soothe Bell and a total of 10 battles. The total cost is $9,500, so if you manage to win all 10 of your evolution battles you can end up with an additional $500 to put towards those all important EM’s.

In conclusion, Azumarill has a lot of potential if used correctly, and its change to a Water/Fairy type should open up interesting new strategies, so hopefully this underused Pokémon can see a resurgence in URPG.

Check out the Ultra Dex for more info
http://rustyrefbotataro.zxq.net/dex/azumarill

If you own an Azumarill or any of its earlier stages give yourself a well earned pat on the back and post to claim $2,000 just for having this amazing Pokémon!

10. Final Thoughts

So there we have the first of the new URPG Times.
With any luck this is met with everybody's approval and we can see a welcome and long return for this once awesome part of URPG that has since been forgotten.
So fingers crossed from me and you can read this again sometime towards the end of August.

Feel free to PM me on BMG or PWN if you have a pokemon you either want to trade or are looking for to be included in next months edition of the URPG Times

 

Hey, that's cool. Thanks for featuring me, Airik. Also yaaaaay fairy types!

 

Nice to see someone trying to revive this xD Hopefully it doesn't die too soon...

Also, claiming 2K for owning an Azumarill ^_^

 

Claiming that Azumarill monies

 

Four months before this dies. Any takers?​

 

i personally give it 3

 

D'aww, thanks! I hope I make the list again with a better story though : x

Claiming my 2k!

 

Oh hey, thanks Airik! You rock!

Claiming my 2k.

 

claiming for the azumarill

 

Really glad to see this back. Thanks for the feature. Claiming that and money for having an Azurill

 

I also got thoughts on reviving this. But meh, got too busy.

Good job, Airik! Keep this running!