 Hello friends, before we get into today's episode, if you do enjoy this sort of content please remember to leave a like, hit that subscribe button if you're new to the channel and let's try and hit a target of 150 likes on today's episode. So Garry Oak is one of the most loved favourite characters from the Pokemon anime series. He's probably one of the best rivals that we've had in the Pokemon universe and he's just generally a character we want to always see a little bit more from. But where does that take us in today's episode? So we're going to take Garry Oak, this legend right here, we're going to create a theme team and we're going to try and get to Masterbolt here in the Victory Station online ranked battle ladders. So first things first, we need to try and get to legendary status of Garry Oak but we need to discover what Pokemon we've got available to us. So we head over to our trusty source at Serabee, have a look at the Pokemon that Garry's used in the anime series and cross reference those with the Galar region Pokédex and the Isle of Armour to see what we've got available to us to use within this challenge. So we've got nine Pokemon all together and then we ask ourselves what would Garry Oak do? Well, you'd probably do this. We create a team with G-Max Blastoise, throw an Umbry and one of Garry's favourite Pokemon, add in Arcanine, one of the classics there, throw on a Choice Band. We add in Cizer for a little bit of priority there and give us a bit more options and a Steel type. Malakazam gives us the speed that we need and then round the team off with Kingra that gives us a little bit more a dynamic feel to the team outside of just running the Blastoise and honestly I feel that it's a team that Garry Oak himself would be super proud of. So that was a brief overview of the team and as always the rental code for this team will be available at the end of the episode if any of you want to try it out for yourself. So we get started and jump on to the ladder with a fresh account, lock into our Garry Oak theme team and we begin our journey to the Master Bowl tier on the ranked ladder. So our first opponent straight away comes in with a super tricky team consisting of a strategy based around Anger Point Ability Taurus and Frostbreath Froslass. The premise of the strategy lies within attacking their own Taurus with Froslass to activate its Anger Point Ability with the guaranteed critical hit move Frostbreath to give it a plus six attack boost and from there you're probably potentially going to see a crazy and unstoppable winning sweep. So knowing this strategy it's super important that I try to prevent my opponent from setting this up. If they do will be 100% lead to a really bad start for us in this episode. So I feel like a best option in this matchup and for stopping this strategy is to lead with our Alakazam and our Kingdra. So getting into this first match we see my opponent lead off with that infamous lead that we just talked about the Froslass and the Taurus and I instantly go for a turn one choice scarf, rain dance with Alakazam, activating Kingdra's Swift Swim Ability and boosting its speed allowing us to move before both opposing Pokemon and Max Geisering into the Taurus before they are able to set up. So we end up actually pulling this off and being so close to taking down the Taurus even with the rain boosting and Max move it surprisingly hangs on with the tiniest amount of HP. Now the funny thing here is by us attacking the Taurus before the Froslass can use its Frost Breath we actually proc a speed boost and bury the Taurus is holding meaning it now attacks before my opponent can activate their Anger Point Ability so we end up only taking a non-boosted Max Strike for our Troubles and then we see our opponent actually knock out their own Taurus with the Frost Breath critical hit and then obviously we proceed to see them Rage Quit and DC. Adding Salt. So with an already interesting start to this adventure we swiftly move on to our next opponent this one's pretty straightforward for the team to deal with and it takes us to a current record which is two wins and zero losses. Our third opponent definitely was a lot trickier than the last and through a huge unexpected curveball at me during this one they lead with Grimmsnall and Chinchino and we go with Umbrian and Scissor so I tried to set up the sword stance for an early sweep but Chinchino pulls out an unexpected Attract. For the next two turns and more Scissor is not able to attack because of the affection it now apparently has for this very little white mouse after a number of turns trying to play around the Attract tech we finally managed to get rid of the Chinchino and from that point the team starts to show it a tenacity by eking out a very close victory so after so many turns early on where we weren't able to attack current record 3-0 so far so good we are making great progress but we soon run into a little bit of trouble and next opponent using primarily the Venusaur and Max Dynamax Hydragan ends up taking us to the game time and we eventually lose this one due to the number of Pokemon left on the field me with Umbrian and my opponent with the Hydragan and the Venusaur now who's a little salty with no timer we would have definitely won that one and there's no way we're talking there's no way there's no way they should we should have lost that one three days later there's no way they're taking down the Umbrian so trying to recover from our first loss we move swiftly on to our next opponent running a team of Galarian Ponyta I didn't quite know what to expect but either way we get back to winning ways super quick and pick up a win taking our current record 2-4 wins and 1 so things going super well so far thinking that we had recovered from that time I lost two games earlier we quickly run into another tricky opponent who throws a G max Urshifu team at us which unexpectedly we couldn't handle quickly overwhelms us which means at this early stage we were handed a second loss in our run taking our record 2-4 wins and 2 losses. Feeling already a little less confident we can actually achieve our master ball tier goal we cautiously move on to our next opponent and start what turns out to be a totally unexpected 6th game win streak we quickly move from Pokeball rank all the way up to great ball tier among these matches we encounter another salty player DCing on us after we showcase all these team skills and again I'm quickly reminded how strong this team can be in another match against a very solid sand standard Sun team where we lead Kingdra and Alakazam again and make such quick work of one of the strongest team archetype builds in the current VGC format but the choice scarf on Alakazam we always outspeed max speed chlorophyll Venusaur and the Sun meaning we are always able to get up our rain before they can tackle and Kingdra always make quick work and easy work of these Sun based squads so now that takes us to our current record where we stand 10 wins and 2 losses after that 6th game win streak now with the team progressing pretty well we go into our next match and whether or not we start to become a little bit overconfident in this point or a little bit complacent we end up getting completely caught off guard with this next one against a super strong match and bill which hands us an unfortunate third loss in this run so our 6th game win streak comes to a quick end taking our current record to 10 wins and 3 losses but the team shows once again how strong it can be by bouncing back against our next five opponents taking us on another incredible win streak this time beating teams with Dynamax Alchemy Volcarona and Mimikyu build a solid rain core and a Psy Spam squad taking our record to 15 wins and 3 losses and moving us up to the up echelons of the great ball tier now feeling like we're finally making some progress again and we are another opponent pops up and just catches us totally off guard playing a Sun team which hands us our fourth loss so now taking our record to 15 wins and 4 losses but unfortunately the losses don't stop there as we dive down on a four game losing streak kind of dismissing the fact that we've had two good win streaks already our next opponent and the bunch of them are definitely getting tougher as we start to kind of climb the ladder a little bit as we start to tilt as well losing to a nasty Porygon Z team and Arcanine Silvian build and finally getting shut down by a really solid Snorlax and Bellydrum Azumaril squad we just don't have answers for some things in this format and we're kind of finding out as we're going along we were falling down the ladder quicker than the sales of toilet paper at the start of lockdown honestly taking a minute to reevaluate our current situation and trying to refocus on our end goal we go into our next match versus a Porygon Z team it's definitely not the easiest of matchups but we need to try and clinch a win if we can so we lead off with Arcanine and Alakazam and this one we see our opponent lead off with the Gyarados and their own Arcanine and we actually go all guns blazing with our own Arcanine here going for the wild charge straight into the Gyarados even though we are minus one from the Intimidate from that opposing Arcanine we've got the choice band we can outspeed the Gyarados we guarantee the knockout if we can get this attack into it after losing Alakazam it does give us the opportunity to bring in our blast toys and make sure that we can utilize that G-Max ability for one of the first times in this run we are pressured from the Exkidrill coming on to the field so we need to make sure we are switching out our Arcanine here but we have the perfect opportunity right now to max our blast toys and go for a G-Max cannonade and start stacking up that residual damage every turn and as you can see we make quick work of the Arcanine and the Exkidrill with our blast toys and that gives us a crucial win at a really important point in this run taking our win record to 16 wins with now seven losses now feeling a little more confident again we jump straight into the next one and it's another Sun Squads this time we go into it with a little bit of a different strategy from the last Sun team that we faced we go with our trusty Alakazam Kingdra lead here we get the rain up and although we don't see my opponent leading out with their Sun mod we get enough momentum early on in the game with Kingdra and pick up some crucial knockouts that it does end in a victory for us taking our current record to 17 wins and seven losses now moving us up our current tier list as well before getting into the next one against a colossal team now Dragonball colossal very threatening pair and something you have to respect a lot again in this one we lead off with our Alakazam in Kingdra and because of the choice scarf on our Alakazam we had speed everything on the field and are able to get our rain dance up activating that swift swim on the Kingdra and making quick work of that G max colossal from that point it's pretty easy sailing for us we can deal with pretty much everything else on my opponent's team they don't have their Giganta max Pokemon anymore to make use of and we pick up another victory which takes us up to the next stage in our great bolt here so as ever we do we move on to our next opponent we're gonna grind it out and keep going until we get through this so for this next match we continue to pick up another win against our next opponent with another Sun team where Kingdra Alakazam do their thing once again and after we play an interesting Alolan Raichu and Pinchurchin squad where Arcanine shines single-handedly taking down all four of my opponent's Mons we do take another victory and move our record up to 20 wins and seven losses which finally puts us in that ultra ball tier and we are in reach of that master ball tier with a few more wins we can actually do this so we move on swiftly to our next opponent in this quest. Our next opponent though brings a very awkward meows stick toga kiss kind of base team and unfortunately this one is where we get handed another one of our losses taking our record to 20 wins and eight losses and setting us a little bit further back in our quest to get to that master ball tier but as always the team does us a solid and bounces back putting in some great work to pull out a win versus a super strong Sun team which is another one of the big standard teams in this VGC format we follow this one up with another victory over our next opponent who is running a Golisapod team thankfully in this one Gmax Blastoise really shone through and helped us edge out the match in the end taking our rank up to an even closer step to that master ball rank and at this point we are at least two wins away from reaching that goal so with the finish line literally in a few wins away we are now in touching distance we once again lock in go into our next match but we end up hitting a disastrous roadblock we go on another full game losing streak and literally I couldn't feel at the time like this could get any worse a first loss coming from a horrible status condition from a melodic cinderace team which led to an inevitable defeat then we get beat down pretty hard by an alternative dragapult and Gmax colossal build face another Porygon Z team which hands it to us and one more melodic team with a token Zorak that proves a little too much for us to be able to handle this now takes a current record to 22 wins and 12 losses and leaves us just barely hanging in the ultra ball tier and at this point I really am starting to think a chances of achieving this master ball rank are fading away very quickly as the higher we climb the stronger the teams than the opponent seem to naturally be have we already plateaued things aren't looking great and my confidence at this point is really starting to win but we have to keep going that in mind we dust ourselves down move on to our next opponent so we playing a Gmax Lapras team where we lead off with our scissor and alakazam we're trying a different tact from previous Gmax Lapras teams that we've played interestingly enough they don't lead with the Gmax Lapras they go with the Dynamax Bravery here so we have to kind of stall out these bravery turns we have to be careful not to proc the defined ability and utilize that Pokemon to the best that we can we do manage to eek it down to a point where we've got Rillaboom and Lapras on my opponent side of the field and we are left with Umbrian and things are not looking great but lo and behold Umbrian is an incredible Pokemon and one of Gary's favorite Pokemon for very good reason and it actually eeks out the wind for us here with its sheer determination and tanky ability being able to take down these two giant Pokemon in the VGC format two on one so we actually pick up a victory and that is such a relief because at a point where we felt like nothing was going right we needed something to go right and Umbrian pulled through for us we get that win but unfortunately that victory was very short-lived as we run into a nasty Drake assault Sun team in our next opponent that totally overwhelms us and takes our ranking back down the ladder to the bottom of the ultra ball tier and our current record sitting in 23 wins and 13 losses moving on we managed to get two consecutive wins against a scary Taranatar team where Sizzar puts in a bunch of work against this core with the only threat on my opponent's team to the Sizzar really being that Cinderace and we could keep that in check if it did make an appearance with Arcanine and it worked out pretty well then a G-Max Blastoise mirror match was in the next one and again we've got little Umbrian to thank for a win here as it pulls through in a super clutch one-on-one endgame situation with the setup G-Max Blastoise on my opponent's side of the field now making a little more progress we can start to see the finish line and site again so our current record now is 25 wins 13 losses and we are still in that ultra ball tier with a few more wins we can get to that master ball rank and complete this goal our next opponent throws a huge spanner in the works though and again halts our progress taken by surprised by an all-pay right you pin church and team hand us another loss taking our record to 25 wins 14 losses and now I'm thinking all we're doing at this point is you're going up and down this ultra ball tier is it ever going to end so as we edge on to the cliff of tilting again we call upon the team one last time to make a final push with this goal in sight I managed to pick up a victory against the next opponent playing another Dragopult G-Max Colossal build as always we call upon Alakazam and Kingdra to do the job for us here and they do it in fine fashions the trusty scarf a rain dance from Alakazam was enough to set Kingdra up and get a turn one knockout on G-Max Colossal and from there my opponent had very little to do and make short work of current record now sitting 26 wins 14 losses and now you are only two consecutive wins away from that master ball rank with our next opponent after so many ups and downs the doubts start to creep in we face a Duraludon and melodic squad and this one's going to be a really tough one but we actually do the unthinkable here and G-Max blast toys once again with support from our little Umbrian pull us through and pick up another huge victory partners on a current record of 27 wins and 14 losses and now we are literally one win away from the master ball tier so hype it up can we do it now moving on we have finally paired up with our next opponent playing a sand team with Dracazalt this is a similar build that we lost to earlier on in our journey so I know this is going to be not the easiest battle and with one win away from master ball tier we have to try our best to pull out of victory for one more time so my opponent leads with the Dracazalt and Incinero as we lead off with Arcanine and blast toys now the intimidate here from our Arcanine is super important into that Dracazalt but blast toys on our side of the field is not in a great position at all I tried to consolidate a little bit of this point and pull a double switch bringing scissor and Umbrian onto the field to kind of soak up potential max move from the Dracazalt and allows us to cycle and intimidate again and soak up the fake out pressure from the Incinero this works out great because we do soak that fake out up pretty nicely and take a pretty comfortable max lightning with the minus one Dracazalt into our Umbrian now we've got the ability to switch Arcanine back in and get this Dracazalt down to minus two and really slowed down from being able to do the threatening physical damage that we know it's capable of we switch in Arcanine once again get the Intimidate onto the Incinero and to the Dracazalt and we protect our little Umbrian here so after successfully stalling through two turns of my opponent's Dracazalt's max turns they are actually to the point where they want to switch their Dracazalt off the field and reset these Intimidate drops so we see the Dynamaxed Dracazalt switch out off the field which is great news for me going forward in this match as we switch out our Arcanine anyway to preserve that Intimidate we switch scissor back on to the field as Gyarados takes the place of the Dracazalt for my opponent after a few turns of switching around and trying to stall and get a good board position out we finally get Blastoise on the field in a position where we can get a Shell Smash off and we do go for it we boost our attack special attack and speed by two stages and that sets us up perfectly to go for the Gigantamax next turn that's exactly what we do we get the Gigantamax up with the Blastoise and we go for these max moves here you can see we get rid of the Gyarados we start the residual damage from the Vortex and we are going to be able to go for the Dracazalt the next turn we do manage to get rid of the Togokis but we at the same time lose our Blastoise to the Dracazalt's Boltbeak so things pretty tight at the moment we do have the residual damage but the G-Max cannonade water residual damage that we are getting every turn is helping us deal with this Dracazalt that otherwise would be a huge issue for us so Blastoise has done its job and it comes down to an endgame where we've got the Dracazalt and Incinero versus our three Pokemon in Arcanine Umbrian and Scissor and as you can see my opponent in such an awkward position right now they're going to lose the Dracazalt to the hail residual damage the next turn they actually forfeit and that means one thing we have actually done it we've got that win and can this take us to the master rank so what we need to do is just connect over here and update our ranking so we are just waiting on the ranking coming in Ultra Ball to Max Ultra Master Ball we get it so Ultra Ball to Master Ball tier we've actually done it with this Gary Oak theme team it's taken a lot longer than what I thought it would but I'm just so chuffed this is one of the hardest things that I've had to do playing Pokemon 42 games seems insane 28 wins 14 losses but with a team where we've only got a restricted bunch of Pokemon and granted some of them are very strong Pokemon it is an extremely satisfying result especially for me so I hope you guys have enjoyed it and a lot of fun doing this and I hope you guys at home have enjoyed the journey with a Gary Oak theme team remember if you haven't already and you enjoyed this video please remember to leave a like to show your support for this content and hit that subscribe button if you're new to the channel here is the rental code for this team if any of you would like to try this team out for yourselves and have a go at this Gary Oak theme team challenge so if you do make sure to drop me a comment down below and let me know if you tried it and how you got on with it try and beat my record of 28 wins and 14 losses I'm sure you guys I'll have a good crack at it and if you do beat it I'd love to see some pictures of you guys rocking this team on the BattleSpot ladder so if you have enjoyed this content as well make sure to let me know down in the comment section if you'd like to see more of these theme team challenges and if so what characters from the Pokemon world you would like to see me tackle these challenges with next have a great day friends thank you again for tuning in and take care of yourselves be kind to each other and until the next one like Gary Oak says smell you later