History Roleplay / CreateAPokemonAnimeStyleBattling

[[quoteright:165:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Smogon_CoatOfArms_2020.png]]

->''Welcome trainers to Smogon's CAP ASB League! Here we strive to make a welcoming, fun, and challenging game for you to enjoy as a spectator or, hopefully, a participant.''
-->The ultimate goal of CAP ASB, when still in its beta stages.

This forum roleplay was created in February 2011 on the Website/{{Smogon}} forums by Deck Knight to keep the CAP forum active during the downtime caused during the [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Generation IV]] to [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Generation V]] transition. [[SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer The spinoff game eventually became VERY popular]] and eventually became active enough to be moved to the resident game forum where it lives to this day. Deck Knight maintained the game until his retirement in early 2015, where the game is now maintained by the several moderators who moderate the forum.

A typical CAP ASB match involves players sending out at first before making orders. Orders consist of two to three actions (depending on format) which are generally using a move or command and [[CrazyPrepared substitutions that allow for alteration of orders]] [[XanatosGambit in the case of a specific order or outcome happening]]. Because of the forum nature, players take turns to order so those who order first are inherently at a disadvantage when the second order player can take full advantage of whatever the first order player does. After orders are made, the referee of the match will interpret both player's orders and then calculate the results of the round before posting it. [[RulesLawyer Then the battlers point out errors the referee made generally for their benefit]]. This repeats until a winner is found.

CAP ASB is a lot different to other Pokémon ASB's in that it is far less flavor-driven and more mechanics-driven and dictated by numbers and objectivity.

This page is a work in progress, and needs more WikiMagic. Smogonites are contributing, as of this edit.

There is now a [[Characters/CreateAPokemonAnimeStyleBattling Character Page]] for the individual users of CAP ASB, and a [[YMMV/CreateAPokemonAnimeStyleBattling YMMV Page]] for subjective tropes. Both are also under construction.
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[[foldercontrol]]

!!Tropes pertaining to the ASB Game System
[[folder: Gameplay Tropes]]
Tropes relating to the gameplay itself.

* AwesomeButImpractical: The combination system in ASB, according to some users. See CombinationAttack below for more details.
* CombinationAttack: The combination system in ASB. Instead of two Pokémon using different attacks to make a more powerful single attack, it is one Pokémon combining two moves to make a new move, either a more powerful version of a single move (same move combinations) or combining two different moves for a different effect. However, this usually lowers the move's priority and leaves the Pokémon a sitting duck the next action, not to mention it usually eats up a LOT of energy.
* CrazyPrepared: Substitutions in general which allow you to react to specific conditions...
** OhCrap: ... when that substitution is instead used to your ''opponent's'' advantage.
* DamnYouMuscleMemory: A policy change meant most Toggle Abilities which were off by default became on by default. Cue the rage from users toggling their abilities only to realize they are turning the abilities off when they meant on.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Look at today's battles and then look at the battles back in 2011. The rules were far more looser back then and there were lots of different mechanics to today. Even [[CrazyPrepared infinite substitutions that were all legal no matter what]] for the first couple of months.
* ExtrinsicGoFirstRule: Generally either through a coinflip or some preset criteria. However, no one generally wants to order first because the second order in a round is generally more advantageous...
** Or in the case of PM orders matches, this trope is completely averted as there is ''no'' turn order.
* LimitBreak: The combination system in ASB. See CombinationAttack above.
* LoopholeAbuse: Substitutions allow this.
* MonsterArena: The Battle Hall.
* {{Nerf}}: Anything (usually a move, ability, or item) that becomes too good in ASB is usually subjected to this through ASB's Policy System. A couple of examples are listed:
** Endeavor used to be able to combine with itself to deal massive damage to the opponent and even KO an opponent for a miniscule required energy cost relative to the final energy cost ([[SuicideAttack which was usually enough to KO the user]]). The move was nerfed by adding a must have enough energy clause which outright destroyed the viability of the combination. The move was then later nerfed again after more complaints arose to have the damage dealt reduced, the energy cost bumped up, and the ability to use it in combinations banned.
** Pain Split at first was a very powerful move that easily equalized any HP Gap no matter how large it was. Pain Split has been largely nerfed over time with a cap in the amount of HP siphoned introduced, a must have enough energy clause to stop last ditch attacks and an increased Energy Cost.
* OneHitKill: Averted, for the most part. It is very hard to perform a move that one-shots a Pokémon in one hit in ASB. Furthermore, the One-Hit Kill moves in the games have been converted to simply high-powered attacks with shakier accuracy than Zap Cannon and friends, and No Guard does not work with such moves. However, if you are facing a Pokémon with a 4x weakness to Ground or Ice and manage to guarantee the hit, this trope could be played straight. For example, a Sheer Cold and Blizzard Combination under Hail will likely one-shot anything 4× weak to Ice, especially if Helping Hand is involved.
** The only other time this trope will usually play straight is when a player takes advantage of their opponent's AttackAttackAttack strategy to use a move such as Bide, turning their offensive into a powerful retaliation that one-shots them.
* ScratchDamage: The lowest amount of damage one can inflict with a damaging attack is 1. Anything less than that, assuming the target is not immune, automatically rounds to 1.
* UselessUsefulSpell: Stat Manipulation (excluding damaging boosters), because they generally do not make up for the lost action using them most of the time. Add to that a mechanic that makes boosts/drops decay and there is even less worth using them. Swords Dance for example is +4 DMG for Physical Attacks. [[DownplayedTrope There are however, some Pokémon that can take advantage of stat manipulation]]:
** Swoobat can take advantage of Simple Calm Mind to have access to a 26 BAP Stored Power after three actions, allowing it to nuke anything in sight. Anything with Stored Power and a move like Calm Mind or Work Up can also do this with a Macho Brace on.
** Volbeat can equip a Power Lens and then use Tail Glow to have access to a priority +6 Sp. Attack boosting move. It can then use the boost to either wreak havoc on the opponent or even pass it to a team mate... Anything with Tail Glow can do this as well.
** Speed boosting moves are not bad either, albeit niche. An Agility allowing you to outspeed your opponent when combined with moves like Bounce and Dig can really play havoc with the opponent when they least expect it.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Pokémon Tropes]]
Tropes relating to Pokémon in ASB.

* AdaptationalBadass: Several Pokémon that suffer in competitive battles are found to be very powerful with CAP ASB's mechanics. [[MightyGlacier Aggron]] is a prime example: held back in normal competitive battles because its slowness tends to let it get One-Hit [=KOed=] before pulling off a Rock Head Head Smash, in ASB, Aggron gains the benefit of Sturdy along with Head Smash and it is much harder to One-Hit KO any Pokémon.
* DumpStat: Most Pokémon will have one of these (typically an offensive stat or speed) which can make giving them a nature easy.
* JokeCharacter: Wobbuffet who unlike in-game, is terrible in ASB. Taunt makes its supportive moves go away, reducing it to Counter, Mirror Coat, Bide, and Struggle, all of which can be dealt with through the use of Substitutions, being a physically-based Ghost-type, a specially-based Dark-type, or being Sableye / Spiritomb. Not even its signature Lax Incense saves it from being one of the worst fully-evolved Pokémon in ASB.
* LethalJokeCharacter: Delibird, given its status as a JokeCharacter in-game. Due to the Vital Spirit/Insomnia interaction, Delibird had an innate +1 Accuracy and Evasion. This turned hitting Delibird into a LuckBasedMission while the plucky bird could pepper its opposition with Blizzards and Hustle-boosted attacks without any worries. With an Everstone, Delibird became an even deadlier threat and was even used to beat a gym once! Delibird was since nerfed to have a +1 Attack, Defense and Sp. Defense rank instead of a +1 Evasion boost and it is still a legitimate threat.
** Smeargle also counts as well. While it has terrible base stats, its ability to learn ''every move in the game'' makes it an [[MagikarpPower absolute nightmare to play against when properly trained]]. Have fun ordering against something with well over 600 moves at its disposal.
* MagikarpPower: More Pokémon start out playing this trope straight. Some Pokémon start out with very small movepools, and must build up to become more powerful. The Trope Namer is still this, but compared to the main games, it is far better off, gaining access to Bubble, Hydro Pump, and Reversal.
* OneStatToRuleThemAll: HP, simply because it helps the Pokémon win more damage races by virtue of being able to take more hits. At least most of the Pokémon with high HP are balanced out with generally mediocre stats elsewhere.
** Movepool is also this because more moves equates to more options equates to more ways to screw the opponent over. It is also why a [[MagikarpPower Smeargle]] is a legitimate threat when properly trained and why [[JokeCharacter Wobbuffet]] is largely considered one of the worst fully evolved Pokémon in ASB.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Userbase Tropes]]
Tropes that apply to the userbase overall, instead of specific users.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Played straight. Take into account those currently playing and those who are not playing, and the number is well over 200.
* NonHumanSidekick: Quite a few of them, actually. The Wanderer's Rico the Lucario is a prime example.
* RulesLawyer: Everyone is one. Even more so than other ASB's gives its competitive nature.
* RunningGag: Various gags over time. At one point, many members of ASB talk about sacrificing goats for luck, Athenodoros in particular. One user, Eternal Drifter, even went so far as to obtain a Mareep to be called "Goat" to, you guessed it, sacrifice in battle.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: akela really hates [[TheScrappy Zekrom2525]] to the point where every claim of his that he checks over ends up in him [[LargeHam going ham]] before giving the Not Approved. [[http://www.smogon.com/forums/posts/5840246/ This example]] he delivered is all over poor Zekrom making several errors while trying to evolve his Charmander.
[[/folder]]

!!Tropes pertaining to ASB's Roleplays
[[folder: ASB Raid Zone Tropes]]
The ASB Raid Zone is one of ASB's many roleplays that provides an endgame source for using Pokémon. Created by user zarator, the idea of the roleplay is for two players to enter a raid and beat several bosses that are controlled by a manual AI system used by the referee. Victory gives standard counters and a bunch of items designed exclusively for use within the roleplay. The roleplay itself comes with an accompanying story [[SarcasmMode that many people pay attention to and follow, being emotive at every twist and turn the story has]]. This folder has tropes related to the ASB Raid Zone. More to be added.

* BeefGate: If you are new or do not have strong enough gear, then do not go waltzing into Shrine of the Old Gods or anything from the Hour of Twilight and beyond and expect to win...
** Well, if you are going to go into those raids, do hope you have a partner that has strong enough gear, hopefully more than enough to make up for you using generally basic items.
** Even a duo who had beaten the final boss of the Isle of Lost Relics were not immune to this when they attempted to take on Flower Paradise on Hard without having done a single Hour of Twilight raid. It took them all of two rounds to figure out they were going to lose badly.
* BossBanter: Any boss with "quotes" will do this.
* BossRush: [[BossOnlyLevel All raids in the ASB Raid Zone are essentially one of these]].
* {{Brainwashed}}: MindControl has crept into a lot of encounters, with Heart of Madness, Flower Paradise (Hard), and Nightmare Prison all featuring mind control.
* ContractualBossImmunity: All bosses in the ASB Raid Zone are immune to a metric ton of moves, the list of moves too large to list here.
* CombinationAttack: Sadly banned despite not being very practical with normal moves being favored. Done because zarator did not want to deal with how they interfere with Glyphs.
* DifficultyLevels: Each raid can be done in two separate difficulties: Normal Mode and Hard Mode.
** Normal Mode has the two players bring two Pokémon each which makes it harder to build a team for but the fights are generally easier.
** Hard Mode has the two players bring [[HardModePerks four Pokémon]] each which makes it easier to build a team for but the fights are a lot harder due to a few new tricks the bosses get.
* DualBoss: Weavile + Froslass in Frozen Vault, Ho-Oh + Lugia in Eye of the Storm, and Valaun + Revenankh in Shrine of the Old Gods are examples of this.
* FlunkyBoss: Lots of bosses in the ASB Raid Zone will summon Add's or other lackeys to help them in their quest to make you and your partner lose.
* KillOneOthersGetStronger: Best way to describe the Regirock/Regice/Registeel fight in the Shrine of the old Gods.
* LightIsNotGood: Played with, given that the Raid Zone has the ASB-exclusive Light-type. Valaun is a straight example but there are a few [[LightIsGood inverted examples]] with a Syclar who knows a couple of Light-type moves from Raging Shore [[spoiler: and then later the first Light-type ally with a special Dragonair as a reward for beating Flower Paradise on hard]].
* MindRape: The battle against Regigigas involves a specific Sanity stat that can be lowered by several abilities of Regigigas or its tentacles. If a Pokémon's Sanity reaches zero, they go insane and begin attacking their former allies.
* NonIndicativeDifficulty: Many people claimed that it was easier to do a raid in Hard Mode than Normal Mode because it was much easier to teambuild with [[HardModePerks eight Pokémon instead of four]] (mainly, a dedicated cleric or two can be run and not be deadweight) and the fights being not that hard relative to normal. Of course zarator was not exactly happy and this has been [[AvertedTrope averted]] as a result from Hour of Twilight onwards.
* OlympusMons: The majority of battles in the Raid Zone involve fighting at least of these.
* ShieldedCoreBoss: Zapdos, Raikou, Kyogre, and Shaymin all have shields that are active at the start or thrown up mid-battle.
** Zapdos and Shaymin constantly [[FlunkyBoss summon lackeys]] while their shields are up but when gone, start using more dangerous attacks.
** Kyogre's Shield constantly regenerates its health until broken with one of the many Icicle Spines given to you. While this does a lot of damage, it triggers a powerful attack that drains loads of energy which may result in a TotalPartyKill if the raid is reckless with their energy. [[BossArenaRecovery At least the surviving members get their energy back eventually]].
** Raikou when throwing up its shield forces you to disperse it AND attack it in a round to avoid it [[TotalPartyKill blowing the raid to bits in a single blow]]. At least you have a ball that while has been damaging you, can be thrown to almost decapitate the shield in one hit.
* ShoutOut: zarator admitted that he drew heavy inspiration from ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' when he made the ASB Raid Zone.
* TacticalSuicideBoss: Some bosses in the ASB Raid Zone rely on you taking advantage of certain effects induced by the boss in order to defeat them. A couple of examples are below:
** The Suicune encounter periodically drains life from all Pokémon to heal itself. However, if the Pokémon have the Liquid Ooze ability or are tainted with a debuff used by one of the Add's summoned by the boss, the massive amounts of recovery that Suicune would get [[OhCrap ends up turning into Suicune losing a massive amount of health in one attack]].
** The Pyroak encounter sees a Slugma spawn every now and then. When these Pokémon find themselves on low enough health, [[SuicideAttack they blow up]], damaging all Pokémon and causing them to take increased damage for a short time. Even Pyroak itself is not immune, giving players a chance to hurt it significantly while it is weakened by the explosion.
* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: Invoked and Enforced in some cases, as the ASB Raid Zone encourages players to buy Pokémon just to win them.
** Some Pokémon (such as Dedenne and Ariados) that are otherwise useless in ASB are given massive buffs through signature artifacts that make them viable in select encounters and generally useful.
* TimeLimitBoss: Many bosses since the first expansion have a time limit to win before they either [[TurnsRed go beserk]], [[OhCrap wiping your party in a matter of actions]], or something happens and you lose.
** Central Processing is the only raid so far with a true time limit with the team required to win in fifteen rounds before the place blows up. While this isn't much of an issue if you just want to win the raid, this will come into play if the players go for the "battery run", requiring them to beat more enemies in order to win.
* TurnsRed: There are so many bosses in the ASB Raid Zone that do this in one way or another that it is easier to list those that do not do this.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: The Legend Run Tropes]]
The Legend Run is one of ASB's endgame roleplays where the aim of the game is to enter a dungeon and capture the [[OlympusMons Legendary Pokémon]]. Created by Deck Knight, the roleplay is now maintained by Dogfish44 and Its_A_Random. The Legend Run is notorious for [[NintendoHard being difficult]] and also utilises in-game items such as Poké Balls and Potions which are not utilized elsewhere in ASB. Not all Legendary Pokémon are released as of yet. Oddly enough, dungeons themselves are commonly referred to as TLR's by the playerbase. The Legend Run has examples of the following tropes:

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: After complaints of difficulty, these were added. Combination timers preventing the usage of [[LimitBreak combinations]], the introduction of [[SavePoint one-time save points]] for challenges that go awry, and a HP-based capture system are examples of these.
* BoringButPractical: Heal Pulse stall strategies. Very safe and multiple Heal Pulse users can help a team go through a long TLR without too much difficulties, but it is also slow and do not be surprised if you bore the unfortunate soul who agreed to referee your TLR to death.
* BrokenBridge: Played Straight for Timeless Tower's Heaven's Ascent dungeon and Ruined Eden's Tower of Ash dungeon. In both cases the player must reach the bosses of the other three dungeons in that TLR to be able to enter.
** [[spoiler: Somewhat appropriate though as they host the master of the appropriate legendary trio.]]
** There is a policy discussion going on at the moment that may result in a way to bypass these.
* DifficultyLevels: The Legend Run has three difficulty levels depending on the dungeon:
** Training: These dungeons have the smallest bag but are the shortest dungeons—forgoing the Lackeys—and generally easy. Only AZ's Floette and Phione are currently attainable through these.
** Legendary: The most common and standard difficulty level. These are of "standard" length and have intermediate-sized bags.
** Uber: These have the [[HardModePerks largest bags and allow a fourth Pokémon to be brought]] but these house the major legendaries and are generally either [[MarathonLevel very long]] or very hard. Only the best win on this difficulty.
** Almaz Mine has DifficultyLevels for the ''whole'' dungeon which allows the player to take on the dungeon in Normal Mode or Hard Mode. Hard Mode offers more rewards but is a lot harder than Normal Mode with different encounters and traps calling for reinforcements. Fun.
** The Planet's Fury does something similar to the above but only for the boss battle. [[spoiler: Justified because the boss fight on hard offers a Soul Dew.]]
* DifficultySpike: In any given TLR, the Guardian encounter will generally be this, generally because it is the first time that the player orders first Round One. This paves the way for the Guardians to then smack the player into the next century with a powerful CombinationAttack. Such was this a bad thing that combination timers were introduced to stop this from happening in higher difficulty TLR's.
* DynamicDifficulty: The Legendary difficulty Ruined Eden TLR's have this with the fourth RP trap deciding whether to make you face one or two Pokémon depending on how much HP your team has at the time.
* FlunkyBoss: The Legendary Pokémon of each dungeon always has at least one lackey accompanying it.
* HardModePerks: As hinted above, the higher the difficulty, the bigger the backpack you get to bring. You even get to bring a ''fourth'' Pokémon with you on the highest difficulty.
* LuckBasedMission: Winning in the Legend Run was formerly this due to captures being based on referee-controlled RNG. This capture system was replaced in the new generation with a HP-based capture system where capture occurs when the player reduces a Pokémon's Capture HP to zero.
* {{Nerf}}: Several dungeons underwent this after the dungeon data was made public.
** Also happened to Heal Ball soon after the roleplay was launched to the masses because it had five times the normal capture rate on Pokémon with half or less HP and fully healed the Pokémon on capture, a big deal in The Legend Run.
* NintendoHard: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]], according to [[WordOfGod Word of God]]. Later played with: it was noticed that only a half-dozen people, at best, had obtained available Legendary Pokémon, and they were all of Phione, Regirock, Registeel, or Regice. A change in the capture system, combined with simplifying several of the Legend Runs, has made it easier for trainers to get the legends, though it is still no means a pushover.
* OlympusMons: The whole point of The Legend Run is a way to get these outside of things like [[TournamentArc tournaments]] and other exceptional activities.
* VideoGameSettings:
** AbandonedMine: Almaz Mine.
** HubLevel: Four Swords Quest (currently closed), Ruined Eden, Timeless Tower are all this to the four different dungeons they host.
** LethalLavaLand: Black Sulfur Caldera and Molten Lake.
** SlippySlideyIceWorld: Glacial Cave and Ice Spire.
** StarScraper: Heaven's Ascent.
** UndergroundLevel: Almaz Mine and Glacial Cave.
[[/folder]]

* DamnYouMuscleMemory: A recent policy change meant most Toggle Abilities which were off by default became on by default. Cue the rage from users toggling their abilities only to realize they are turning the abilities off when they meant on.

* {{Brainwashed}}: MindControl has crept into a lot of the recent encounters, with Heart of Madness, Flower Paradise (Hard), and Nightmare Prison all featuring mind control.

* OneHitKill: Averted, for the most part. It is very hard to perform a move that [=KOes=] a Pokémon in one hit in ASB. Furthermore, the One-Hit Kill moves in the games have been converted to simply high-powered attacks with shakier accuracy than Zap Cannon and friends, and No Guard does not work with such moves. However, if you are facing a Pokémon with a 4x weakness to Ground or Ice and manage to guarantee the hit... this trope could be played straight. In example, a Sheer Cold and Blizzard Combination under Hail will likely KO anything 4x weak to ice.

!!Tropes pertaining to the ASB Game System:

!!Tropes pertaining to ASB's Roleplays:

[[folder: ASB Raid Zone Tropes]]
The ASB Raid Zone is one of ASB's many roleplays that provides an endgame source for using Pokémon. Created by user zarator, the idea of the roleplay is for two players to enter a raid and beat several bosses that are controlled by a manual AI system used by the referee. Victory gives standard counters and a bunch of items designed exclusively for use within the roleplay. The roleplay itself comes with an accompanying story [[SarcasmMode that many people pay attention to and follow, being emotive at every twist and turn the story has]]. This folder has tropes related to the ASB Raid Zone. More to be added.

* BeefGate: If you are new or do not have strong enough gear, then do not go waltzing into Shrine of the Old Gods or anything from the Hour of Twilight and beyond and expect to win...
** Well, if you are going to go into those raids, do hope you have a partner that has strong enough gear, hopefully more than enough to make up for you using generally basic items.
** Even a duo who had beaten the final boss of the Isle of Lost Relics were not immune to this when they attempted to take on Flower Paradise on Hard without having done a single Hour of Twilight raid. It took them all of two rounds to figure out they were going to lose badly.
* BossBanter: Any boss with "quotes" will do this.
* BossRush: [[BossOnlyLevel All raids in the ASB Raid Zone are essentially one of these]].
* {{Brainwashed}}: MindControl has crept into a lot of the recent encounters, with Heart of Madness, Flower Paradise (Hard), and Nightmare Prison all featuring mind control.
* ContractualBossImmunity: All bosses in the ASB Raid Zone are immune to a metric ton of moves, the list of moves too large to list here.
* CombinationAttack: Sadly banned despite not being very practical with normal moves being favored. Done because zarator did not want to deal with how they interfere with Glyphs.
* DifficultyLevels: Each raid can be done in two separate difficulties: Normal Mode and Hard Mode.
** Normal Mode has the two players bring two Pokémon each which makes it harder to build a team for but the fights are generally easier.
** Hard Mode has the two players bring [[HardModePerks four Pokémon]] each which makes it easier to build a team for but the fights are a lot harder due to a few new tricks the bosses get.
* DualBoss: Weavile + Froslass in Frozen Vault, Ho-Oh + Lugia in Eye of the Storm, and Valaun + Revenankh in Shrine of the Old Gods are examples of this.
* FlunkyBoss: Lots of bosses in the ASB Raid Zone will summon Add's or other lackeys to help them in their quest to make you and your partner lose.
* KillOneOthersGetStronger: Best way to describe the Regirock/Regice/Registeel fight in the Shrine of the old Gods.
* LightIsNotGood: Played with, given that the Raid Zone has the ASB-exclusive Light-type. Valaun is a straight example but there are a few [[LightIsGood inverted examples]] with a Syclar who knows a couple of Light-type moves from Raging Shore [[spoiler: and then later the first Light-type ally with a special Dragonair as a reward for beating Flower Paradise on hard]].
* MindRape: The battle against Regigigas involves a specific Sanity stat that can be lowered by several abilities of Regigigas or its tentacles. If a Pokémon's Sanity reaches zero, they go insane and begin attacking their former allies.
* NonIndicativeDifficulty: Many people claimed that it was easier to do a raid in Hard Mode than Normal Mode because it was much easier to teambuild with [[HardModePerks eight Pokémon instead of four]] (mainly, a dedicated cleric or two can be run and not be deadweight) and the fights being not that hard relative to normal. Of course zarator was not exactly happy and this has been [[AvertedTrope averted]] as a result from Hour of Twilight onwards.
* OlympusMons: The majority of battles in the Raid Zone involve fighting at least of these.
* ShieldedCoreBoss: Zapdos, Raikou, Kyogre, and Shaymin all have shields that are active at the start or thrown up mid-battle.
** Zapdos and Shaymin constantly [[FlunkyBoss summon lackeys]] while their shields are up but when gone, start using more dangerous attacks.
** Kyogre's Shield constantly regenerates its health until broken with one of the many Icicle Spines given to you. While this does a lot of damage, it triggers a powerful attack that drains loads of energy which may result in a TotalPartyKill if the raid is reckless with their energy. [[BossArenaRecovery At least the surviving members get their energy back eventually]].
** Raikou when throwing up its shield forces you to disperse it AND attack it in a round to avoid it [[TotalPartyKill blowing the raid to bits in a single blow]]. At least you have a ball that while has been damaging you, can be thrown to almost decapitate the shield in one hit.
* ShoutOut: zarator admitted that he drew heavy inspiration from ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' when he made the ASB Raid Zone.
* TacticalSuicideBoss: Some bosses in the ASB Raid Zone rely on you taking advantage of certain effects induced by the boss in order to defeat them. A couple of examples are below:
** The Suicune encounter periodically drains life from all Pokémon to heal itself. However, if the Pokémon have the Liquid Ooze ability or are tainted with a debuff used by one of the Add's summoned by the boss, the massive amounts of recovery that Suicune would get [[OhCrap ends up turning into Suicune losing a massive amount of health in one attack]].
** The Pyroak encounter sees a Slugma spawn every now and then. When these Pokémon find themselves on low enough health, [[SuicideAttack they blow up]], damaging all Pokémon and causing them to take increased damage for a short time. Even Pyroak itself is not immune, giving players a chance to hurt it significantly while it is weakened by the explosion.
* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: Invoked and Enforced in some cases, as the ASB Raid Zone encourages players to buy Pokémon just to win them.
** Some Pokémon (such as Dedenne and Ariados) that are otherwise useless in ASB are given massive buffs through signature artifacts that make them viable in select encounters and generally useful.
* TimeLimitBoss: Many bosses since the first expansion have a time limit to win before they either [[TurnsRed go beserk]], [[OhCrap wiping your party in a matter of actions]], or something happens and you lose.
** Central Processing is the only raid so far with a true time limit with the team required to win in fifteen rounds before the place blows up. While this isn't much of an issue if you just want to win the raid, this will come into play if the players go for the "battery run", requiring them to beat more enemies in order to win.
* TurnsRed: There are so many bosses in the ASB Raid Zone that do this in one way or another that it is easier to list those that do not do this.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Legend Run Tropes]]
The Legend Run is one of ASB's endgame roleplays where the aim of the game is to enter a dungeon and capture the [[OlympusMons Legendary Pokémon]]. Created by Deck Knight, the roleplay is now maintained by Dogfish44 and Its_A_Random. The Legend Run is notorious for [[NintendoHard being difficult]] and also utilises in-game items such as Poké Balls and Potions which are not utilized elsewhere in ASB. Not all Legendary Pokémon are released as of yet. Oddly enough, dungeons themselves are commonly referred to as TLR's by the playerbase. The Legend Run has examples of the following tropes:

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: After complaints of difficulty, these were added. Combination timers preventing the usage of [[LimitBreak combinations]], the introduction of [[SavePoint one-time save points]] for challenges that go awry, and a HP-based capture system are examples of these.
* BoringButPractical: Heal Pulse stall strategies. Very safe and multiple Heal Pulse users can help a team go through a long TLR without too much difficulties, but it is also slow and do not be surprised if you bore the unfortunate soul who agreed to referee your TLR to death.
* BrokenBridge: Played Straight for Timeless Tower's Heaven's Ascent dungeon and Ruined Eden's Tower of Ash dungeon. In both cases the player must reach the bosses of the other three dungeons in that TLR to be able to enter.
** [[spoiler: Somewhat appropriate though as they host the master of the appropriate legendary trio.]]
** There is a policy discussion going on at the moment that may result in a way to bypass these.
* DifficultyLevels: The Legend Run has three difficulty levels depending on the dungeon:
** Training: These dungeons have the smallest bag but are the shortest dungeons—forgoing the Lackeys—and generally easy. Only AZ's Floette and Phione are currently attainable through these.
** Legendary: The most common and standard difficulty level. These are of "standard" length and have intermediate-sized bags.
** Uber: These have the [[HardModePerks largest bags and allow a fourth Pokémon to be brought]] but these house the major legendaries and are generally either [[MarathonLevel very long]] or very hard. Only the best win on this difficulty.
** Almaz Mine has DifficultyLevels for the ''whole'' dungeon which allows the player to take on the dungeon in Normal Mode or Hard Mode. Hard Mode offers more rewards but is a lot harder than Normal Mode with different encounters and traps calling for reinforcements. Fun.
** The Planet's Fury does something similar to the above but only for the boss battle. [[spoiler: Justified because the boss fight on hard offers a Soul Dew.]]
* DifficultySpike: In any given TLR, the Guardian encounter will generally be this, generally because it is the first time that the player orders first Round One. This paves the way for the Guardians to then smack the player into the next century with a powerful CombinationAttack. Such was this a bad thing that combination timers were introduced to stop this from happening in higher difficulty TLR's.
* DynamicDifficulty: The Legendary difficulty Ruined Eden TLR's have this with the fourth RP trap deciding whether to make you face one or two Pokémon depending on how much HP your team has at the time.
* FlunkyBoss: The Legendary Pokémon of each dungeon always has at least one lackey accompanying it.
* HardModePerks: As hinted above, the higher the difficulty, the bigger the backpack you get to bring. You even get to bring a ''fourth'' Pokémon with you on the highest difficulty.
* LuckBasedMission: Winning in the Legend Run was formerly this due to captures being based on referee-controlled RNG. This capture system was replaced in the new generation with a HP-based capture system where capture occurs when the player reduces a Pokémon's Capture HP to zero.
* {{Nerf}}: Several dungeons underwent this after the dungeon data was made public.
** Also happened to Heal Ball soon after the roleplay was launched to the masses because it had five times the normal capture rate on Pokémon with half or less HP and fully healed the Pokémon on capture, a big deal in The Legend Run.
* NintendoHard: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]], according to [[WordOfGod Word of God]]. Later played with: it was noticed that only a half-dozen people, at best, had obtained available Legendary Pokémon, and they were all of Phione, Regirock, Registeel, or Regice. A change in the capture system, combined with simplifying several of the Legend Runs, has made it easier for trainers to get the legends, though it is still no means a pushover.
* OlympusMons: The whole point of The Legend Run is a way to get these outside of things like [[TournamentArc tournaments]] and other exceptional activities.
* VideoGameSettings:
** AbandonedMine: Almaz Mine.
** HubLevel: Four Swords Quest (currently closed), Ruined Eden, Timeless Tower are all this to the four different dungeons they host.
** LethalLavaLand: Black Sulfur Caldera and Molten Lake.
** SlippySlideyIceWorld: Glacial Cave and Ice Spire.
** StarScraper: Heaven's Ascent.
** UndergroundLevel: Almaz Mine and Glacial Cave.
[[/folder]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Smogon_CoatOfArms_2020.png

** Raikou when throwing up its shield forces you to disperse it AND attack it in a round to avoid it [[TotalPartyKill blowing the raid to bits in a single blow]]. At least you have a ball that while has been damaging you, [[ForMassiveDamage can be thrown to almost decapitate the shield in one hit]].

* ShoutOut: zarator admitted that he drew heavy inspiration from WorldOfWarcraft when he made the ASB Raid Zone.

* {{Brainwashed}}: MindControl has crept into a lot of the recent encounters, with Heart of Madness, Flower Paradise (Hard), and the currently undefeated Nightmare Prison all featuring mind control.

This forum roleplay was created in February 2011 on the {{Smogon}} forums by Deck Knight to keep the CAP forum active during the downtime caused during the [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Generation IV]] to [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Generation V]] transition. [[SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer The spinoff game eventually became VERY popular]] and eventually became active enough to be moved to the resident game forum where it lives to this day. Deck Knight maintained the game until his retirement in early 2015, where the game is now maintained by the several moderators who moderate the forum.

A typical CAP ASB match involves players sending out at first before making orders. Orders consist of two to three actions (depending on format) which are generally using a move or command and [[CrazyPrepared substitutions that allow for alteration of orders]] [[XanatosGambit in the case of a specific order or outcome happening]]. Because of the forum nature, players take turns to order so those who order first are inherently at a disadvantage when the second order player can take full advantage of whatever the first order player does. After orders are made, the referee of the match will interpret both player's orders and then calculate the results of the round before posting it. This repeats until a winner is found.

A typical CAP ASB match involves players sending out at first before making orders. Orders consist of two to three actions (depending on format) which are generally using a move or command and substitutions that allow for alteration of orders in the case of a specific order or outcome happening. Because of the forum nature, players take turns to order so those who order first are inherently at a disadvantage when the second order player can take full advantage of whatever the first order player does. After orders are made, the referee of the match will interpret both player's orders and then calculate the results of the round before posting it. This repeats until a winner is found.

This forum roleplay was created in February 2011 on the {{Smogon}} forums by Deck Knight, who maintained the roleplay until his retirement in early 2015. The roleplay is now maintained by the several moderators who moderate the forum.

The ASB Raid Zone is one of ASB's many roleplays that provides an endgame source for using Pokémon. Created by user zarator, the idea of the roleplay is for two players to enter a raid and beat several bosses that are controlled by a manual AI system used by the referee. Victory gives standard counters and a bunch of items designed exclusively for use within the roleplay. The roleplay itself comes with an accompanying story. This folder has tropes related to the ASB Raid Zone. More to be added.

* BeefGate: If you are new or do not have strong enough gear, then don't go waltzing into Shrine of the Old Gods or anything from the Hour of Twilight and beyond and expect to win...

* LightIsNotGood: Played straight and [[LightIsGood inverted]], as the Light-type is introduced as a new typing in the ASB Raid Zone. So far Valaun is the only Light-type and that is a boss. [[spoiler: There is also a Syclar (Syclant's pre-evolution) given out for winning Raging Shore that knows two Light-type moves.]]

** The Suicune encounter periodically drains life from all Pokémon to heal itself. However, if the Pokémon have the Liquid Ooze ability or are tainted with a debuff used by one of the Add's summoned by the boss, the massive amounts of recovery that Suicune would get ends up turning into Suicune losing a massive amount of health in one attack.

* TurnsRed: There are so many bosses in the ASB Raid Zone that do this in one way or another that it is easier to list those that don't do this.

** Movepool is also this because more moves equates to more options equates to more ways to screw the opponent over. It is also why a MagikarpPower Smeargle is a legitimate threat when properly trained and why Wobbuffet is largely considered one of the worst fully evolved Pokémon in ASB.

* NonIndicativeDifficulty: Many people claimed that it was easier to do a raid in Hard Mode than Normal Mode because it was much easier to teambuild with [[HardModePerks eight Pokémon instead of four]] (mainly, a dedicated cleric or two can be run and not be deadweight). Of course zarator was not exactly happy and this has been [[AvertedTrope averted]] as a result from Hour of Twilight onwards.

** Hard Mode has the two players bring four Pokémon each which makes it easier to build a team for but the fights are a lot harder due to a few new tricks the bosses get.

The Legend Run is one of ASB's endgame roleplays where the aim of the game is to enter a dungeon and capture the [[OlympusMons Legendary Pokémon]]. Created by Deck Knight, the roleplay is now maintained by Dogfish44 and Its_A_Random. The Legend Run is notorious for [[NintendoHard being difficult]] and also utilises in-game items such as Poké Balls and Potions which are not utilized elsewhere in ASB. Not all Legendary Pokémon are released as of yet. The Legend Run has examples of the following tropes:

** Uber: These have the largest bags and allow a fourth Pokémon to be brought but these house the major legendaries and are generally either [[MarathonLevel very long]] or very hard. Only the best win on this difficulty.

* AntiClimaxBoss: Imagine this: You reach the boss of a TLR and then you suddenly throw a Master Ball at the Legend. What was meant to be a tough battle suddenly becomes a case of take out or capture the remaining mook(s) and then run away with the legend you got!

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: akela really hates [[TheScrappy Zekrom2525]] to the point where every claim of his that he checks over ends up in him [[LargeHam going ham]] before giving the Not Approved. [[http://www.smogon.com/forums/posts/5840246/ This one is the hammiest of the many examples]], all over poor Zekrom making several errors while trying to evolve his Charmander.

* AdaptationalBadass: Several Pokémon that suffer in competitive battles are found to be very powerful with CAP ASB's mechanics. Aggron is a prime example: held back in normal competitive battles because its slowness tends to let it get One-Hit [=KOed=] before pulling off a Rock Head Head Smash, in ASB, Aggron gains the benefit of Sturdy along with Head Smash and it is much harder to One-Hit KO any Pokémon.

** Smeargle also counts as well. While it has terrible base stats, its ability to learn ''every move in the game'' makes it an absolute nightmare to play against when properly trained. Have fun ordering against something with well over 600 moves at its disposal.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: [[http://www.smogon.com/forums/posts/5840246/ This post]] by akela directed at the user Zekrom2525, who made several errors in his prize claim evolving his Charmander.

* MindRape: The battle against Regigigas involves a specific Sanity stat that can be lowered by several abilities of Regigigas or its tentacles. If a Pokemon's Sanity reaches zero, they go insane and begin attacking their former allies.

* OneHitKill: Averted, for the most part. It is very hard to perform a move that [=KOes=] a Pokémon in one hit in ASB. Furthermore, the One-Hit Kill moves in the games have been converted to simply high-powered attacks with shakier accuracy than Zap Cannon and friends, and No Guard doesn't work with such moves. However, if you are facing a Pokémon with a 4x weakness to Ground or Ice and manage to guarentee the hit... this trope could be played straight. In example, a Sheer Cold and Blizzard Combination under Hail will likely KO anything 4x weak to ice.

* UselessUsefulSpell: Played with. Status has been given a boost in ASB, making them not be affected by this trope as much. Mainly, they can be stacked. On the other hand, stat boosters have gotten a nerf, since stats mostly decay with time, making stat manipulation the new Useless Useful Spell.

* OneStatToRuleThemAll: Averted. ASB has no one dominant stat. For example, [[StoneWall Shuckle]] has the lowest possible HP stat of 80 but has the highest possible defenses to make it up and is actually bulkier than the majority of Pokémon in ASB. Meanwhile Blissey has the highest possible HP with 145 but her terrible physical Defense stat makes her physical bulk worse than Shuckle's.
** While Speed is not as useful as ingame, it still has relevance as faster Pokémon can reliably take on Pokémon with moves such as Dig without having to resort to [[CombinationAttack combinations]].

* AbandonedMine: Almaz Mine. [[spoiler: The TLR for Diancie.]]

* StarScraper: Heaven's Ascent. [[spoiler: The TLR for Regigigas.]]