>>58471697 (OP)
So fun little story from me about Nidoking. I was playing Stadium recently with a monotype team, doing the Gym Leader Tower. I had just entered the Elite Four, and I was quite nervous that I would not survive the first test, Lorelei. Given that a lot of her Pokemon were part Water, I figured the odds were best to lead with my Nidoking, who carried T-bolt and had a decent special stat. Kangaskhan's T-bolt was much weaker and I knew it would struggle with all the bulky waters. I couldn't rely on Hyper Beam either because Cloyster and Lapras could easily take that on the chin. Plus I could not afford it being worn down against lesser threats when I needed it to be able to tank Ice attacks against top tier threats. The last mon I brought was Dugtrio, which was to deal with Articuno and Jynx with a fast Rock Slide or otherwise clean up once Kang and Nido went down. It was way too risky to lead with.
Lorelei tossed out her first Pokemon and it was... Articuno. Literally the worst contingency with my choice of lead. Nidoking could hit it with T-Bolt or Fire Blast. But with a middling Special and no STAB I doubted either would take it out. I could expect an Ice Beam or Blizzard which would either 1HKO or 2HKO my Nidoking. Switching to Kang was basically sacrificing it at the alter in order to bring out Dugtrio safely and preserve Nido. In other words, I was pretty sure I had very little hope of winning. In my head I had already resigned to a loss and figured I would lead with Nidoking next match and get a luckier roll.
But there was another option. Nido had Horn Drill. Faced with no good options, if there was ever a moment for a Hail Mary move, this was it. I clicked.
AND HORN DRILL CONNECTED!
Holy fuck. Articuno fell. Next up, Dewgong. Nidoking tanked an Aurora Beam to take it out in two T-bolts. Finally, Cloyster. I think my Nidoking hit it with T-Bolt before being taken down, upon which Kang finished it off.
Nidoking almost swept Lorelei. What an upset!
