To be fair as speedrunner myself... it's not like you'd find such things "fun", all speedrun do is overbuff a single poke with X-items and roll over the game, OR if you use DLCs, rush toward Dynamax Den, grab a level 65 pokemon... and stomp the game from there.
That said, good luck in your playthrough, have fun with the cuddly bear :3
I read that you automatically continue with the Crown Tundra even if you lose against Peony, allowing you to catch strong Pokémon at the Max Lair. I can see such a strategy being great for serious speedruns, but it feels a bit cheap for me so I won't do it. As for overbuffing a single Pokémon... I won't be doing exactly that as I am going to use several, we'll see how it turns out in the end though.
And thank you! Not sure how much I will actually use Kubfu before evolving it, we'll see.
This sounds fun, nice idea! Will be watching with interest.
Thank you! I hope you will like this, I will try to make it entertaining and interesting.
And now, it is time for the challenge to begin.
I mostly wrote the gameplay parts in first person, and the story parts in third person. Let me know if you think this works or if it is confusing (in that case, I’ll won’t do it in future posts).
I also ended up focusing more on the story than I had planned. Maybe I’ll just have a sort of even focus between gameplay and story in the end. The game also feels more story-heavy than I remembered it.
Part 1: Romance Dawn
I boot up my Switch and create a new profile. Never done this before and I wasn’t sure which icon and color to choose (why are there no Pokémon icons?) but I eventually settle for some that seem nice. I start Sword with my new profile.
I choose language (English, obviously), then I get to select gender and name for my character. I am going to play as the girl since I played as the boy in my main playthrough. But what should her name be? Hmm… How about a name that it really cute and adorable, yet also potentially disturbing and disgusting?
Kiss me kill me but I love this name!
After that, we get to the introduction. Rose introduces us to the world of Pokémon! This is one of the scenes in the game which would really benefit from voice acting… He sends out a Cufant and it is so adorable! I want one! I guess I’ll catch one later, or maybe I’ll just catch a Copperajah directly… We’ll see. Rose also talks about the exhibition match between Leon and Raihan, but we don’t get to see that.
But Leon is still as cool as always.
When the introduction is over, Elsanna finds herself in her room and Hop comes to visit. Second best rival in the game, by the way. I like this guy a lot. Hop reveals that Leon is coming home and that he will be giving Elsanna a present! And one for Hop too. He runs away and I can start playing.
First of all, time to change some settings to make things go faster.
Text Speed:
Fast
This is what I usually go with when playing the games, so it won’t be different from what I am used to.
Battle Effects:
Off
I usually keep battle effects on when playing through the main story, but then I turn them off at some point during the post-game, always before I start battling in Battle Facilities. But now they will be off during the entire game. Not that I care, the important thing for me in Pokémon is the results of the battle, not how the battles look.
Battle Style:
Set
This on the other hand will be very different as I usually play on Shift. It might make some battles harder but it will make things go by faster so that will be great.
Autosave:
Off
Because I want to save when I want to (as opposed to when the game wants to) and I really want to avoid that glitch tied to autosave where the game can ruin your SD card.
Skip Movies:
On
From what I have understood, the way skipping cutscenes work in the game is a bit weird. The game basically auto-skips all major cutscenes instead of letting you choose which ones you want to skip. But that’s okay for this run.
One setting which I don’t change is whether to give nicknames or not. I choose to keep the option to give nicknames since I will not catch a lot of Pokémon, and I want to nickname the few I actually catch and use. They will get short nicknames, 5 characters at most.
With that done, it is about time to get started for real. Elsanna grabs her hat and bag and heads out!
But first, let me take a selfie.
She also decides to record the start of her journey. Actually, there’s no time for that! Clock is ticking!
And now, the adventure begins! Here’s some really adventurous music to kick it off.
Elsanna checks her bag and finds out that she already has the Armor and Tundra Passes, nice! No Poké Balls yet, but that’s okay. Outside, a Wooloo is trying to break the gate to the Slumbering Weald… why in the world would it want to do that? But we don’t have time to stop it. Elsanna heads over to Hop’s house but Leon isn’t there! The two friends go to the station in Wedgehurst to get him. Leon is there and the three head back to Hop’s house. As promised, Leon has a present for the young trainers. They will get to pick a Pokémon! The game skips the starter showcase cutscene and Elsanna gets to pick first.
The starter we’re going with is Sobble. The reasons being that it is my second favorite Galar starter, I had always planned to pick it if I were to play through Sword again. It also seems to be the main choice for Speedruns (at least the ones I have glanced at), so that’s another reason. Though I will admit that I haven’t really looked into
why it is picked for Speedruns. I later check the stats for Sobble and see that it has a Relaxed Nature, which isn’t very good. But it will have to do! I nickname it 007 since it will evolve into James Bond later on, and Sobble is #007 in the Galar Dex. Sobble will be the main member of the team and likely the one I use the most, but it will not be the only one I use.
Hop decides to pick Scorbunny, which is a good choice as it is my favorite Galar starter… and the fact that he has it will make it easier to win against him! Which is just what happens next. It is time for the first battle between Hop and Elsanna!
007 manages to 3HKO his Wooloo with Tackle, grows to level 6 and learns Water Gun, which it then uses to 2HKO his Scorbunny. An easy battle. Leon says we have to go to the Professor to get Pokédexes for ourselves, but it seems to be a good idea for Elsanna to go home and say goodbye to her dear mother before continuing on the journey.
Upon arriving at her house, it appears that the Wooloo which previously tried to break the gate to the Slumbering Weald has succeeded in doing so. Hop is worried about the Wooloo, so he heads into the Weald and Elsanna follows him. She gets to battle some wild Pokémon (I guess they can’t be avoided, it didn’t feel so at least). But that’s great since it means we get some extra Exp.
The fog gets deeper further into the woods, and at the end, Elsanna and Hop encounter a mysterious wolf-like creature which looks like it has been damaged in battle.
I, the messenger of loss, have traveled at a cost…
It challenges Elsanna to a battle but 007 is unable to damage it and the fog keeps getting deeper and deeper… eventually, Elsanna and Hop pass out. They wake up, wondering what in the world just happened. Leon arrives to rescue them and the Wooloo, thankfully.
The gang leaves the Weald, and the gate gets fixed. Hopefully no more Wooloo will try to break it. Now, where were we headed? To get Pokédexes from the professor, that’s it! Hop and Elsanna head out to Route 1. The main path is now blocked by some Wooloo, so Elsanna has to go through the grass. She somehow magically has some Poké Balls in her bag, so she catches a Rookidee, which will be the second member of the team. I nickname it Free, which is a reference to… something. It has a Quiet Nature which isn’t very good. It is funny how both of the Pokémon I have caught so far have Natures which lower their Speed, I guess it is somehow suitable for a slow speedrun.
Elsanna arrives at Wedgehurst again, heading to the Lab together with Hop. They meet Leon again, and Professor Sonia! Or rather future Professor Sonia.
A pleasure to meet you too. When shall we get married?
Sonia gives them Pokédexes, which is neat. She tells them to go visit the Professor in her house. Before going any further, Elsanna picks up a Rare Candy next to the lab. My natural instincts tell me to explore every corner and detail of the city (that’s what I usually do in Pokémon games), but I do my best to suppress them and I actually succeed! The Pokémon Center can’t be skipped, though. Hop informs about it and offers to show how it works, but Elsanna declines in order to save time. She buys some Potions and Revives before leaving. Unexpected that you can buy Revives this early, but that’s just fine. We leave the Pokémon Center and head out to Route 2.
Here, Leon appears again and gives Elsanna a ton of Poké Balls. He thinks we should catch lots of Pokémon to complete our Pokédexes… but he will be very disappointed since that won’t happen for at least one of us. Elsanna travels down through Route 2, battling the three trainers here, including a Lass which could probably have been skipped. Since Elsanna was in such a hurry, she forgot to heal at the Pokémon Center before going out here, leaving her team in a pretty bad shape! Thankfully, she has Potions to heal them with.
The duo arrives at the Professor’s House and meet Professor Magnolia. Hop wants an endorsement for the Champion’s Cup, Leon promises to give one to him and Elsanna if they can show him a great battle! So it is fight time again.
Elsanna manages to beat Hop again, all of his Pokémon are easily 2HKO’d by 007. After that, two Wishing Stars fall from the sky, Professor Magnolia makes Dynamax bands out of them and gives to the two young trainers.
Next up, it is back to Wedgehurst for the third time! You have to go back and forth to it quite a few times during the game. Upon arriving, Elsanna decides to waste some time and money at the clothing store since she has a massive interest in fashion. With her new clothes and a big hole in her wallet, it is off to the station!
I forgot to take a picture directly afterwards, so this is from a somewhat later point. I like the default design for the girl in S/S, but I think customization can make her look even better. I will change her outfit many times during the game, will probably not post all of them though.
Elsanna and Hop travels to the Wild Area… but Elsanna has other plans. Before going any further with the main story, there’s one thing that I really want to do on the Isle of Armor. Elsanna immediately goes back to Wedgehurst and meets an unnamed cute young woman with pink hair. A Slowpoke appears from the Isle of Armor, and it seems like it must be caught in order to proceed.
Hey guys. Is it still 2021 or did I oversleep?
Elsanna does her best to catch the beast, but it turns out to be harder than expected! On the first attempt, the Slowpoke just won’t stay in the ball and it manages to defeat 007, so Elsanna runs from it to heal at the Pokémon Center. This Slowpoke is also quite strong as it is at level 12, higher than both 007 and Free at this point.
Elsanna then tries again and it goes a bit better even if it is still hard. After being damaged to the point that it is at exactly 1 HP, the Slowpoke eventually stays in the Poké Ball. I nickname it Quick since that is a contradiction just like this whole challenge. It has a Relaxed Nature which is suitable for Slowpoke… and it continues the trend of the team members having Natures which lower their Speed!
Now, to the Isle of Armor!
…except it is not possible yet because it seems you need to actually enter the main Wild Area first. Guess I should have done that while I was still there. Elsanna heads back to the Wild Area, talks to Hop a little and Sonia appears again, giving out the Box Link which is cool but it won’t be used much for this challenge.
Then it is back to Wedgehurst, and we can finally go to the Isle of Armor.
This place is really great. I am a big fan of the DLC areas of S/S, and the DLC on the whole for that matter.
Upon arriving, a scientist gives me the Pokédex for the Isle of Armor. Neat. Elsanna encounters the pink-haired woman again, who introduces herself as Klara! She also happens to be the best rival in the game and one of the best rivals in the entire series if you ask me. Here’s a video which explains why she is so great:
Klara challenges Elsanna to a battle, and there’s no other way to proceed.
007 manages to 3HKO her Venipede with Water Pulse, but takes heavy damage along the way. However, it grows to level 12 afterwards and learns Water Pulse, so that’s great. I consider switching out to Free or Quick against Klara’s Slowpoke, but I decide to let 007 stay in. The result was definitely not what I had expected. Water Pulse does around 40%, Slowpoke gets confused and hits itself. Water Pulse for another 40%, Slowpoke hits itself in confusion again and faints!
This is a Speedrun after all, so you better keep up the pace!
After such a humiliating defeat, Klara orders Elsanna to ignore the Master Dojo, she then runs away. But we’re not going to obey her. Elsanna proceeds to the Master Dojo, picking up Watts from 2 active Dens along the way. Going through the Wild Areas in the game without the Bike is a bit of a chore, but there’s no other choice right now. Thankfully the Dojo is quite close to the station.
At the Dojo, we are introduced to the boss of the Dojo boss: Honey, who allows us to enter. Inside, all the others at the Dojo meet us and Hyde gives Elsanna the Exp. Charm. This was the one thing I wanted from the Isle of Armor at this point. It will allow the team to get more Exp. and thus grow faster. Mustard wants to battle Elsanna to see if she is worthy, but that won’t happen right now. I know he has a Shinx which is going to be a bad matchup for me now as I have two team members weak to Electric. Since the game does not force you to do the battle (unlike with Klara), we leave the Dojo for now.
Elsanna picks up the Expert Belt west of the Dojo and gives it to 007 for the time being. On the way back to the Station, she spots a Chansey in the tall grass! This can’t just be ignored. I battle it with Free and the team gets a lot of Exp! I also let 007 defeat a wild Rockruff for some more Exp. Then it is back to the station and the main Wild Area.
Once more, going through a Wild Area without a Bike isn’t very fun. Thankfully this is the last time I will have to do that. Elsanna picks up watts from two nearby dens along the way, then arrives at Motostoke! Sonia meets up, invites her to the Pokémon Center where she talks about League Cards and the Opening Ceremony.
…
And that’s where I decided to stop for today. I could have gone further, but I don’t want this to go by
too quickly. It is a Slow Speedrun, after all. I also think I spent more time writing on this post than playing the game. But that’s fine since writing this turned out to be a lot of fun! Maybe I included too many pictures today, might try to cut down on them from here on… but it is hard since there is a lot I want to show!
Team:
Time:
1:06
I think my progress today was pretty good. I made it quite far in just a little over one hour! I failed against Slowpoke and when trying to go to the Isle of Armor, those two things cost a bit of unnecessary time. Other than that, things have been going as planned so far.