Gustav

Put me down as tentatively interested. It all depends on what I've got going on but if I have the time and the personal space for it I'm in!

Because I'm stupid, I'll make an editor's note for full disclosure: I accidentally clicked Rhyhorn instead of Rhydon in the spreadsheet for the above battle. Outcome doesn't change because Gyarados comes in and one-shots Rhydon right away either way, but @Berocka does at least get to keep the berry.

In Round 2 of Round 3, so to speak, I present to you... BROCK @Berocka Golem lv 43 Rhydon lv 61 Raichu lv 42 BILL @OrbitingDeath Raichu lv 45 Exeggutor lv 43 Gyarados lv 52 Raichu gets the edge in levels by 2 over Golem, so BILL gets the first move. Before he does, though, BROCK switches Golem to a Dark-type. Raichu will use Megahorn to kick things off... ...who will use Body Slam... ...this quickly becomes two knockouts...

Time to kick off ROUND 3! Leading off today, we've got... SABRINA @Doomsday Espeon lv 43 Exeggutor lv 45 Alakazam lv 45 GARY OAK @Lemorse7 Jolteon lv 47 Umbreon lv 29 Charizard lv 40 GARY starts with Jolteon, giving him the first move over SABRINA and her Espeon. It's a battle of the Eevees! Jolteon, who was so effective last round for Gary, leads off with Thunder, but Espeon is able to counter with Psychic... Taking advantage of Jolteon's weakened status, Exeggutor scores a KO and gets the match back to even. GARY will follow up with Umbreon, who will use Dark Pulse... ...who immediately scores a knockout...

Admittedly, I'm not sure how the matchmaking is supposed to work for Round 3...so I'll leave that up to @Ptyrell. I look forward to seeing what goes down then!

Time for the final battle of Round 2! Here, we'll watch... JAMES @Ricer13 Charizard lv 40 Raichu lv 38 Alakazam lv 40 GARY OAK @Lemorse7 Jolteon lv 47 Umbreon lv 29 Wartortle lv 28 In a shocking move, GARY elects to keep his own Level 40 Charizard on the bench! Could this throw off the tactics of JAMES, who's been a pain in the side of many players this game? It's possible, as Jolteon will receive the first opportunity to make a move. It's a Thunder attack! Alakazam uses Psychic, and Jolteon is knocked out! GARY has lost his strongest fighter, but will it be enough? Gary will choose Umbreon, who will use Dark Pulse...

That's right folks, don't touch that dial! I am the slime from your video, and it's time for another matchup. (this is the only Bill picture I could find that would embed for some reason? There are also zero GIFs) BILL @OrbitingDeath Exeggutor lv 43 Gyarados lv 52 Raichu lv 45 PROFESSOR OAK @JardyB10 Rapidash lv 51 Machamp lv 43 Gyarados lv 43 BILL leads with Exeggutor, while PROFESSOR OAK starts out with Rapidash. The Professor gets the first move! Rapidash will use Megahorn to lead off the fight... The first attack from BILL will have to come from his second Pokemon, Gyarados, who is given an Oran Berry and hits back with Hurricane... Gyarados--read the above to find out whose--is subjected to one hit of Thunder... ...who uses Thunder... Just like that, we're down to one-on-one. PROFESSOR OAK puts Gyarados in the game, who's going to be quite susceptible to an attack from Raichu should BILL manage to get one off...

With another matchup on the way, we have... RED @omgitshim Poliwrath lv 52 Gyarados lv 54 Venusaur lv 54 BROCK @Berocka Golem lv 43 Raichu lv 42 Rhydon lv 61 RED leads with Poliwrath, while BROCK will send out Golem first. It's no ordinary Golem, though...Brock has used his Shape Shifter to turn it into a Ghost-type! Poliwrath, being the higher-level fighter, will attack first with Hydro Pump. Ordinarily a 4x multiplier against Ground and Rock Pokemon, the Shape Shifter pulls through and cancels out the multiplier! It's officially done something meaningful, as Golem stays in the game. Golem hits back with Earthquake... Looking to redeem himself, BROCK brings in Raichu and asks for a healthy dose of Thunder... RED isn't a fan of this and brings in Gyarados. Pulling out all the stops, he switches Gyarados to a Ground-type and orders up a Hyper Beam... Up to this point, the discrepancy in levels has clearly favored RED. That is, until the Level 61 Rhydon he's about to face, who is the most-upgraded Pokemon of the match...

For the final action of the week, Alakazam finishes off all three. You gain $398. The week is over! I'm admittedly not sure what exactly I'm supposed to do at this point, but be prepared for whatever may follow.

When I was a GM, my spreadsheet had (and I'd consider more or less in the following order): -My overall impression/general feeling (usually based on interviews) -Average capped earn rate -TPE -Build type I didn't care about VHLM stats at all because a good earner is a good earner. I also personally didn't try to ONLY go for one specific build or anything--maybe that was the way to win, but I've always been against making people fit my ideal version of a player. I also hate it when teams ask if you're willing to stick with them for your entire career, but I did ask for general thoughts on potentially re-signing and never drafted anyone who told me they were going to walk as soon as they could (as a few did). A huge factor for me, particularly in the later rounds or with members I wasn't all too familiar with, was HOW my questions were answered more than what they said. If my reply was along the lines of: ...that player would immediately go down my list even though none of the answers were "bad answers" per se. Anyone giving me complete sentences and well-developed thoughts on my questions, even if there were one or two things in there that weren't 100% ideal, would move up. Showing that you care enough to give me good answers to my questions shows me that you care about the future of your player, that you will value communication with your GM in the future (thus building a stronger relationship), and that you don't mind writing a little (which, coincidentally, is quite a helpful thing to have when you're trying to earn). Also, from a player's perspective--if a GM welcomes you to the league or sends you a list of questions that should have obvious answers to anyone who pays attention or that are obviously geared towards new people ("what type of player are you building?", "are you a good earner?", "are you on Discord?", "how are you enjoying the VHL so far?"), you've just been sent a MAJOR red flag that tells you that the GM has no idea who you are, is completely unfamiliar with your history in the league, and has gone down the entire draft board one-by-one and sent everyone the same exact copy-paste. A good GM will realize that you've been around the block and should be sending you more of an informal message asking for your thoughts on your player in general and recognizing that you already know what's important, so there's no need for a question list. I'm sure you already know just about all of the above, but that's what happens when I start writing about something...sometimes I never stop. Good luck in the draft!

You find: Meowth lv 23 Koffing lv 17 Pikcahu lv 26

You do indeed catch all three--in four attempts!

You catch Geodude on the first try! Sadly, Machop escapes. Venusaur and Gyarados gain 1 level each, and you gain $252.

Jynx gains 2 levels. Gastly wins the battle by 0.5 HP! Gastly will gain 2 levels and evolve into Haunter! "Sabrina Haunter GIF" gave me a "SAFESEARCH IS OFF" warning when googled but there we go. You gain $337.

Charizard disposes of Umbreon in two moves, and Arbok comes out and hits it with Crunch. Charizard is still in it, and the Sitrus Berry you gave it in your last battle takes effect for a heal. Charizard knocks out Arbok, and it's briefly 3 against 1 before Agatha sends out Gengar and takes out Charizard with Shadow Ball. You bring out Venusaur, with an all-new move...

You spend $2500 on a Shape Shifter and $5000 on 10 Rare Candies.

I proceed to severely dislike myself for missing this again. You gain $357

Charizard takes down Glaceon in one shot, and Jynx comes in and hits it with Psychic. Charizard survives and Fire Blasts Jynx into your second KO, even keeping the berry! You send out Venusaur against Lapras, who uses Body Slam...

You earn $714 and Gyarados gains 6 levels.

Squirtle gains 1 level and evolves into Wartortle. Dratini gains 2 levels and evolves into Dragonair. Poliwag gains 2 levels and evolves into Poliwhirl.

Honestly I think I forgot about the tadpole murder. You gain $86. On Cinnabon Island you find: Machop lv 16 Gastly lv 25 Saul Goodman Charmander lv 21

I make you explore Route 1 four times and you earn $1,233. Gyarados gains 12 levels. Pikachu evolves into Raichu!

You catch Squirtle with your Ultra Ball, and Poliwag with your first Great Ball! Dratini gains 5 levels.

You earn $828.