[Meta thread] Iron's PokeRole Adventure: The Skull Ruins

[Lord Windos]

Here's a list of various goals I think we need to be looking at achieving:

Potential Goals

• We need to KO, catch, or incapacitate Rhyhorn so it can't start another charge if we stop its current one
  
• If it continues moving forward for a little bit even after being KOed during this initial charge, then we need to stop it from impacting the Gogoat pulling the carriage (or the carriage itself, even).
  
• Ideally, we don't want any of the people in the carriage or the pokemon on and around it getting seriously hurt
  

And here's a list of things that I think are rather notable about the situation:

Notable Stuff

• Rhyhorn are not known for being smart.  They're big, strong rhino pokemon that focus on one thing at a time, and once they start charging, they don't stop.  If we don't stop it before it gets to act, then it'll likely attempt to charge straight into those Gogoat by brute forcing its way through our party of pokemon.
  

• Rhyhorn are also not known for being able to turn very quickly.  If something gets in its way and stays there, it either needs to barrel through at full speed or slow down and go around if it can't (which will probably change what Rhyhorn is focusing on doing)
  

• Given that Spirit has the biggest and strongest pokemon on the field, they have the best chance of outright stopping Rhyhorn in its tracks.  Particularly since Gargryph is a big, heavy, stone Gargoyle that rarely moves and Viktor can literally root himself into the ground to better his ability to resist being pushed.  Calam has the highest potential Strength stat of everyone on the field, but he's not as immovable as Spirit's two pokemon by a long shot
  

• A normal Rhyhorn has a potential maximum Strength stat of 5.  Gargryph would have a 5 Str maximum as well.  Calam has 7, Starmie has 5 (but primarily relies on Special rather than Physical traits), Nightshade has 4 (but can buff everyone with Sunny Day and Flower Gift, including Starmie), Vaporeon has 4, and Viktor has 6.  This is a big Rhyhorn with a lot more mass behind it, though, so it might be stronger than the average Rhyhorn.
  

• Rhydon weigh 115 kg/253 lbs normally, and that's when they're 3 feet tall on average.  Viktor weighs around 156 pounds, Gargyph weighs a whopping 507 lbs, and Calam weighs around 103 lbs.  I don't think Calam would be able to physically stand in Rhyhorn's way without getting crushed since he'd be relying on raw strength at best to succeed in such a fashion.  Gargryph's probably the most immovable pokemon if we disregard Ingrain (and even if we do include Ingrain, Viktor might just be uprooted by Rhyhorn if push comes to shove)
  

• The 'snake oil' salesman's wagon has been overturned by Rhyhorn's entrance, so that's out of the equation for the time being.  Emboar and Dewott are busy with fighting Terra atm, so they're not a concern right now either.  Stoutland...isn't on the initiative list for the Rhyhorn thing, so that makes me wonder what it's going to do since it was left alone...
  

• Rhyhorn has 2 Dex, so Paralyzing it should forcibly slow it down significantly since it will have 0* Dex after Paralysis.  Inflicting Pain also technically slows stuff down significantly (half speed at -2 Pain), but Rhyhorn are also known to be able to ignore the physical pain to an extent and just keep on trucking according to in-game pokedex entries
  

• Since it can't turn very easily, we can also try to forcibly redirect Rhyhorn's charge with incredibly powerful moves with a lot of force behind them.  i.e. ROCK SMASH.  That way, it'll miss the initial charge against the Gogoat/carriage completely.  If we're not careful, though, it might hit something else.
  

Anything to add?

Hmm.....this is much tricker than I first thought, but let's see if there's anyway to neuter it....

- One way to get it to stop is if its Knocked Down, then have Viktor/Gargrieph move forward to 'restrain' it and keep the beast from building up the momentum necessary for another Charge. Viktor and them can then use Ingrain and Glare to to further fortify their positions/keep the beast from budging an inch.

- Making the ground around it have high friction or a slog would also prevent it from moving around as much, so having Starmie and Vaporeon turn the ground in front of the beast into mud could also work.

- Third option of halting it entirely is just to throw a Pokeball at it to temporarily Capture it, as all Pokemon are dematerialized from local space whenever that happens. Doubtful that will work in ACTUALLY capturing it, but if everyone throw a ball at it when it breaks out, then its not going to gain much ground going forward.

- If Rhydon can Dig, that has to be accounted for as well if it IS stopped but not Fainted, as it could just dive down and resurface right under the Gogoats/Wagon. Not sure how, but thought I point out that issue out.

- I would advise AGAINST using ROCK SMASH, as revealing the as of 'now' Lost HM to the world will most likely have long term ramifications if either Dr. M or the Smeargle Caravan Crowd gets talky about what went down. Forcibly changing its course will not likely work so well unless you target specific parts of the beast and/or have REALLY high BP Moves, as either a precise or LARGE amount of force is going to be necessary to overcome the inertia Rhydon* has built up.

- A last ditch option could be to instead try to force the Caravan out of the way of the Rhydon*'s path, since its a lot less heavy and unwieldy to change its course. Sure, it would jostle the occupants and Gogoats, but I'd say control Damage is better than letting the Rock Beast get them all under its great big stony feet and stamp stamp stamp.

- Deliberately Taunting or pissing it off into changing Target could work too, but then the Taunter/Pisstaker is going to get focused down hard.

That's all the decent ideas I have right now. What you think of them?