**NOTABLE FIGHTS**
Roark: Surprisingly easier than expected, though Cranidos did come close to wiping us. We luckily rolled Milk Tea as our starter, and with Beautifly as our Wurmple evo we were fine. Shoutout's to Kricketune for taking a hefty headbutt.

Jupiter: I kid you not, a Combee bested a Skuntank. Not a hard fight, but it was funny.

Fantina: The early game was brutal here, with most battles requiring me to carefully plan out each move and to split the damage taken carefully. Beatrix the Vespiquen was our only dark move user so she was pivotal here.

Cyrus: In my Emerald update, I mentioned that Cyrus was going to be a royal pain to deal with... And I was not wrong. Even his only bug-weak mon hits hard! But in the Distortion World he brings along our worst nightmare: a Gyarados who can actually use its attack stat. So I had to bring along EEPY the Mothim to deal with it (as he had Hidden Power Electric). Honchkrow's Drill Peck and surprising speed also proved to be a pain here. Our only saving graces were Houndoom wiffing a Will-o-Wisp and our access to Rock Slide.

The Entire Elite 4: So I thought that only Flint (and maybe Bertha) would be a tricky fight, but no. All four of them were. Each of them had ways to deal with my Bug squad, with the difficulty ranging from Lucian = Aaron > Bertha >> Flint. Lucian only appeared hard as I was down to 5 members, and Aaron's Yanmega loved spamming Double Team.
For our bestie Aaron, Gumball and Beatrix handled his bugs. For Bertha, It was meant to be Treacle, but the moths swept instead. Flint's Flareon nuked Beatrix before she could set up rain, so Gumball had to sweep him before he swept us (with Focus Sash Kinoko helping). And Lucian got swept by Treacle's X-Scissor.

Cynthia: As someone who has never completed Platinum, I can understand why folk say that she's the hardest champion. Every member has their own way of shutting down my team so each turn had to be played to perfection. With careful pivoting, I had to make sure that Milotic came early and Lucario came out last; and when Garchomp showed her face, that I had a way to get Milk Tea in safely. Although we lost our third og here, I regret nothing.
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**OUR CHAMPIONS**
Treacle IV the Parasect: Our final remaining OG. Poor thing. Treacle once again appeared last, just in time for Wake where he immediately pulled through. He also solo'd Byron and Lucian, which is crazy to me since he's always played a more supportive role in the past.

Kinoko III the Forretress:
Our most reliable tank who has now become golden, like she was born to be! Nothing much to say here, she's a cornerstone that I'm glad is coming to Unova with us.

Milk Tea III the Masquerain:
Our new starter moth, who takes great pleasure in saving my run time and time again. Bubble against Roark, Ice Beam against Cynthia's Garchomp and Togekiss. Training her in Sp.Def might've been the smartest move I've made in this run.

Gumball Jr. the Armaldo:
The MVP of Sinnoh- after evolving. Early access to Earthquake and solid TMs popping up when needed ensured that our fossil always had the tools to contribute to any fight. With the Shell Bell on hand, he also had the bulk to struggle through when others could not.

**OUR FALLEN COMRADES**
EEPY the Mothim: The name may be uninspired, but this moth is not. A solid 6th party member when I struggled for choice, who assisted greatly against Wake, Jupiter and Cyrus. After KOing Cyrus's Gyarados, Honchkrow came in packing a Heat Wave- and with no other safe option, I had to let our zappy bug go.

Beatrix the Vespiquen: A different bee to the one that killed Jupiter's Skuntank, but a reliable bee nonetheless. Amazing bulk, solid coverage and access to healing made her my choice for the E4. Mainly because I planned to use Damp Rock Rain Dance to handle Flint. It didn't work, Flareon nukes with Overheat and my lack of preparation killed my queen bee. oof.

Cranachan IV the Venomoth: This one hurt a lot, but was also a necessary sacrifice to save the run. After besting Cynthia's Spiritomb with Bug Buzz, Togekiss swooped in seeing a kill- this wasn't ideal, but better than the other options. Cranachan's pocket sand had no effect and she fell to an Air Slash. But her legacy shall live on as she'd want it to!

**SPECIAL SHOUTOUT TO**
Froyo the Kricketune: Who assisted greatly in the early game and came in to solo the double Mars and Jupiter battle. What a champ.

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It's been a wee while haha. But Sinnoh has never been my strongest region, so I really wanted to take my time to ensure that the run didn't end at any moment. I was right to be terrified about Platinum, but somehow we got through some of the hardest fights in the series in one piece. So that gives me hope for our next leg, Black, which was actually my first ever pokemon game and the region which truly buffed our beloved bug types!

MonoBug Genlocke: Bugsickles vs Sinnoh