#skill link

[heyitsrink]

I knew him in his entirety, complete and magical

[elderling-magic]

About joining in the Skill

This is how Fitz describes joining with the Fool in the Skill in “Assassin’s Quest”:

“I was the Fool and the Fool was me. He was the Catalyst and so was I. We were two halves of a whole, sundered and come together again. For an instant I knew him in his entirety, complete and magical, and then he was pulling apart from me, laughing, a bubble inside me, separate and unknowable, yet joined of me. You do love me! I was incredulous, He had never truly believed it before. Before, it was words. I always feared it was born of pity. But you are truly my friend. This is knowing. This is feeling what you feel for me. So this is the Skill. For a moment he revelled in simple recognition.”

This is how he describes it in “Fool’s Fate”:

“His touch was gentle, but the sensation was an arrow in my heart. I physically spasmed, a speared fish, and then froze. The Fool ran through my veins, hot as liquor, cold as ice. For a flashing instant, we shared physical awareness. The intensity of it went beyond any joining I’d ever experienced, It was more intimate than a kiss and deeper than a knife thrust, beyond a Skill-link and beyond sexual coupling, even beyond my Wit-bond with Nighteyes. It was not a sharing, it was a becoming. Neither pain nor pleasure could encompass it. Worse, I felt felt myself turning and opening to it, as if it were my lover’s mouth upon mine, yet I did not know if I would devour or be devoured.”

See the difference?

In “Assassin’s Quest” Fitz feels the Fool’s essence and even though they are joined in a way they still separate and have a conversation like Fitz is able to have with any other person that has the Skill ability. The joining Fitz feels at first is just because the Fool has no Skill ability of his own so he needs to connect with Fitz using the Skill on his fingers and touching Fitz’s skin. After that moment, they separate and it works like any other interaction between Skill users.

In “Fool’s Fate” is something very different and it stays that way ever since that book. When they join again is always that experience of pleasure and oneness that didn’t happen the first time.

In the first trilogy Fitz and the Fool were friends. The Fool had a crush on Fitz, but it was not reciprocated.  Fitz’s feelings start to change very slowly ever since the second half of the third book in the series though. So, when they join again in the Skill in “Fool’s Fate” what they both feel for each other is not just a friendship anymore.

The joining that they have ever since “Fool’s Fate” is mentioned before in the series by Kettle. She says: “Strong, handsome Stanchion. Making love to him, body and Skill, an experience of oneness like no other.”

She mentions being joined in the Skill and that it is an experience of oneness. Exactly what happens between Fitz and the Fool. This leads me to believe that to have that kind of joining both people involved need:

1. to have the Skill 2. to be sexually or romantically attracted to each other 3. to want it for it to happen

When Fitz gets scared in Verity’s tower he easily breaks the connection. The Fool is the only one Fitz has that connection with. That was the scene that made me sure that the Fool’s feelings for Fitz weren’t unrequited anymore, but Fitz was scared of admitting it.

[magpiejay1234]

On Speculative Skill Link obtainers

Skill Link is probably one of the more oddest ability concepts , as it is the closest thing that comes to an Ability that only exists for Game Mechanic purposes. It’s logical reasoning is so nonexistent that none of its owners have any common biological or moveset based theme.

Skill Link is also interesting in that it is one of the few Abilities that exist to solve the problem of “intentionally terrible early game moves”, that is, moves that are created to be as weak as possible for the early-game.

This list yet another one that is going to improve, not just due to Bullet Seed’s former TM status, but also due to the fact that multi-hit moves are so terrible that Game Freak basically had to spend the entire franchise history to make them somewhat relevant.

Arm Thrust, Bullet Seed, Fury Attack, Pin Missile, Rock Blast learners: Heracross, Mega Heracross,

Bullet Seed, (Double Slap, )Rock Blast, Tail Slap learners: Cinccino, 

Double Slap, Tail Slap learners: Minccino, 

Double Slap, Fury Swipes learners: Aipom, Ambipom, 

Icicle Spear, Rock Blast, Spike Cannon learners: Cloyster,

Icicle Spear, Rock Blast learners: Shellder, 

Bullet Seed, Rock Blast learners: Remoraid, Octillery, 

Arm Thrust, Comet Punch learners: Pangoro, Pancham,

Rock Blast, Spike Cannon learners: Omastar,

Icicle Spear, Rock Blast, Spike Cannon learners: Corsola, 

Pin Missile, Bullet Seed learners: Roselia, Roserade, Maractus, Ferroseed, Ferrothorn,

Double Slap, Fury Swipes, Tail Slap learners: Buizel, Floatzel, 

Double Slap, Rock Blast learners: Trubbish, Garbodor, 

Fury Attack, Rock Blast learners: Rhyhorn, Rhydon, Rhyperior, 

Fury Attack, Pin Missile learners: Beedrill, 

Fury Attack, Icicle Spear learners: Piloswine, (Mamoswine,)

Fury Swipes, Pin Missile learners: Spinarak, Ariados, 

Bullet Seed, Fury Swipes learners: Pansage, Simisage,

Obviously, the increase in the Water Shuriken users, Rock Blast users, and improvements on the moves themselves will increase the ownership count, but as things look right now, Skill Link seems to be just as much of a failure as Contrary when it comes to being an universal ability.

[cosmicfledglingkip]

Finding a jolly skill link shellder in OR is proving to be tougher than I thought. Anyone happen to have a spare one?

[pkmncast]

Mega Monday: Heracross

It’s Mega Monday!

Hey Trainers!  I’m here with the first entry of Mega Monday, a new weekly article where we examine a specific Mega Evolution in detail.  Our first Pokémon originated in the Johto region and has been popular ever since.  It has appeared in four Pokémon movies and Ash actually caught one in the anime.  Please welcome Heracross and Mega Heracross, the Single Horn Pokémon!

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

Heracross has a lot of neat tools at its disposal, even before Mega Evolving.  Bug/Fighting is a useful and unique typing and with a base stat total of 500, Heracross has never been a joke competitively.  Now, however, an extra 100 points are awarded to the fighting beetle as a result of Mega Evolution which raised that base stat total to an impressive 600 (the same as pseudo-legendaries like Garchomp and Tyranitar).

Mega Stats

·       Ability:  from Swarm, Guts, or Moxie to Skill Link

·       HP – 80

·       Attack – from 125 to 185

·       Defense – from 75 to 115

·       Special Attack – 40

·       Special Defense – from 95 to 105

·       Speed – from 85 to 75

As you can see, Heracross’ physical attack and defense skyrocket, its special defense gets a slight but appreciated boost, and his speed falls by ten.  Although Heracross’ speed is important and the ten point drop could lead to him being outsped by other common, bulky attackers such as Gyarados, Gardevoir, or Mega Venusaur, this is not that much of a disappointment as it wasn’t going to outspeed any of its real threats anyway.

More important than these new stats, however, is the ability Skill Link.  Skill Link grants moves that hit anywhere between two and five times (Pin Missile and Bullet Seed to name a couple) always hit the full five times.  With 25 base power per hit and a base Attack of 185, that is a lot of damage.

Heracross’ movepool is perfect for these changes.  Not only can it hit hard with STAB moves like Megahorn, Revenge, and Close Combat, it also has a few fantastic coverage moves like Night Slash, Earthquake, Stone Edge, and Aerial Ace; good utility moves like Pursuit and Chip Away; and, most importantly, plenty of moves that can be boosted by Skill Link.

Of the 14 moves that can be boosted by Skill Link, Heracross has 5, more than any other Skill Link user.  These five are:

·       Arm Thrust

·       Bullet Seed

·       Fury Attack

·       Pin Missile

·       Rock Blast

Of all of these moves, the only one I wouldn’t ever use is Fury Attack.  Bullet Seed and Rock Blast are both 125 base power (when adjusted for Skill Link) spread moves that common threats like Rotom-Wash and Charizard absolutely hate and Arm Thrust and Pin Missile become insanely powerful after stab (Pin Missile reaches an effective 250 base power, that’s just bonkers).

It isn’t all sunshine and rainbows for our favorite blue bug, however:  let’s talk about Mega Heracross’ interaction with Talonflame.  Thanks to its new ability, Skill Link, and its ridiculously high attack, Mega Heracross can one-shot any Talonflame with Rock Blast or Stone Edge, but that is only if it ever gets to attack.  With a dual Bug/Fighting typing, Heracross has a double weakness to flying type moves.  This is not good when Talonflame, an abuser of the ability Gale Wings which allows it to get priority on all Flying type moves like Brave Bird and Acrobatics, is on almost every team ever.  Before Heracross has a chance to do anything, Brave Bird to the face for the OHKO.

STRATAGY AND MOVESETS

For every set below, Heracross’ ability should be Moxie, IVs should all be 31, EVs should maximize Attack while pouring the rest into either HP or Speed (HP for general utility, only max Speed if you are trying to outspeed a specific threat), it should have an Adamant (+Att, -Sp.A) nature, and its held item should be Herocronite unless otherwise noted:

"EVs should maximize Attack while pouring the rest into either HP or Speed"

Pure Skill

·       Bullet Seed

·       Rock Blast

·       Pin Missile

·       Arm Thrust

The strategy here is very direct and easy to use.  Mega Evolve on the first turn and immediately spam the move that would wreck your opponent the most.  While not taking weaknesses and resistances into account, Pin Missile is the winner here with both 25 base power and STAB.  Rock Blast is also quite handy for Charizard (but not Talonflame, as I addressed earlier), Volcarona, Mega Pinsir, and Salamence.  The downside of this set is that it can’t get off the ground without Mega Evolving first turn and ruining the surprise.

This Kid’s Got Moxie

·       Earthquake/Stone Edge/Megahorn/Vaccum Wave

·       Earthquake/Stone Edge/Megahorn/Vaccum Wave

·       Two multi-hit moves

This set might require more Speed investment than the first one.  Here, we will utilize both Moxie and Skill Link.  While Heracross can usually do just fine without any boosts, getting an Attack boost shoots its potential through the roof.  Don’t Mega Evolve first turn and see if you can use your non-Skill Link move to take a Pokémon down and get a Moxie boost.  Megahorn gets an amazing stab,  Earthquake and Stone Edge get great coverage, and Vacuum Wave isn’t nearly as powerful, but it gets STAB and a nice priority.  The choice is yours and is mostly up to taste.  Once you get the Moxie boost, you are good to go.  Mega Evolve and take down anything that doesn’t take you down first.

Other Potential Strategies

If you are into keeping the opponent on his toes, Mega Heracross is the perfect Pokémon for you.  In addition to the two fairly standard move sets listed above, the Single Horn Pokémon also has many usable moves.  Although it would be best to utilize multi-hit moves, there are tons of great choices to use.  Dragon Tail gives you control over your opponent’s active Pokémon while Volt Switch lets you get out of a tight jam.  If you prefer the element of surprise to a more explored, stable move set, Heracross has you covered.

OTHER OPTIONS

A rock is only a good hammer until given access to an actual hammer; there is no reason at all to use the rock at all when you have the choice.  Unfortunately, Mega Heracross is the rock to Cloyster’s hammer.  Cloyster may be a less versatile Skill Link user with only three multi-hit moves (Icicle Spear, Rock Blast, and Spike Cannon), but that doesn’t matter much when you have Shell Smash.  Shell Smash, a status move that doubles Cloyster’s speed and both special attack stats at the expense of both defenses, might just be the best boosting move in the game.  Although Mega Heracross’ base Attack is 90 points higher than that of Cloyster, after just one Shell Smash Cloyster hits harder and can do something Mega Heracross will always want to do:  outspeed most of everything worth using.

In addition to simple differences between the actual Pokémon, Cloyster also has two additional advantages over Mega Heracross.  The first of which is that it is not weak to either of Talonflame’s STAB types.  The second is that it can use an item thanks to its lack of a Mega Evolution stone.  Many items greatly benefit Cloyster, but nothing augments Skill Link more positively than King’s Rock.  King’s Rock makes it so every time Cloyster hits an opponent there is a chance to flinch.  The chance multiplies by five with multi-hit moves under Skill Link which can completely stunt a Pokémon’s momentum if Cloyster moves first (which it almost always will after Shell Smash).

DESIGN

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of the design direction GameFreak went for with Mega Heracross.  While I admit the shape of the horn is rather neat and intimidating, the orange coloring kind of ruined it for me.  Heracross has always been a cool blue beetle and now he looks like he flexed too hard and exposed his orange skin under his armor.  His exoskeleton has become chunky, exaggerated, and poofy at the hands and abdomen.  All things being said, I might have liked it if I didn’t know what it looked like before Mega Evolution.

Both Heracross and Mega Heracross have hot pink shiny coloration.  I suppose that’s neat if you’re into that.

TCG USAGE

Mega Heracross does not yet have a card in circulation.  When it does however, its usage will probably depend on whether it is a Grass-Type card or a Fighting-Type card.

ANIME

Mega Heracross has not yet appeared in the anime.

CLOSING REMARKS

While Mega Heracross has its downfalls, being hard-countered by Aegislash and Talonflame and being outclassed by Cloyster, for example, it is still a fantastic pick for a team for both VGC and normal Battle Spot matches.  Besides its competitive use, however, it isn’t too special.  It is one of the few Mega Evolutions that simply doesn’t get talked about and to be honest, I still kind of prefer the design and looks of normal Heracross.  If you want to use a neat ‘mon that you can almost guarantee that your friends won’t use, however, Mega Heracross is for you.

[xthedance]

Hey im looking for someone who has Minccino in their friend safari/has a skill link one so please if you have one add me! My fc is 3110 - 5115 - 5155

[pipchirisu]

Skill link Minccino up for trade

I have like 14 (an egg too but who knows if itll get skill link) all adamant nature with at least 2 perfect ivs some with 4 and most with 3. Each is still lv1 with 0 evs

If you want one send me an ask!(also mention if you want me to change the name their all hayley,grace,or poise)

[synthonies]

Technician vs. Skill Link?

My Cinccino in Pokemon Black 2 carries the ability Skill Link.  I love skill link because every multi-turn attacking move will play out the full five turns.  In short, I can basically demolish a team with a STAB Tail Slap and/or a Bullet Seed.   I kept Sing and Wake-Up slap on hand just in case I found myself stranded against some Steel-types.

The best thing about this, though, is the item.  I equipped my Mink (Cinccino) with Scope Lens.  I've seen a relatively weak attack, like Tail Slap, take down entire teams.  Sure, the critical hits are a hit and a miss, but when they pull through, it's amazing.  Especially when it's in succession.

I've only used a Technician Minccino once... Can't say I was thoroughly impressed.  Thoughts?