Let's Play! Herman Gigglethorpe's Pokemon Solo Playthroughs

[adman2]

Pokemon X Solo Volbeat Finale: Supreme Victory


Bug Buzz had run its course by the Elite 4. Many of the Pokemon from here on out would resist Bug, as I learned in the BEETRICE the Vespiquen playthrough. So JITTERBUG replaced his primary attack with Shadow Ball.


Malva the Fire master started with a level 63 Pyroar that tried to debuff Volbeat's Attack and Special Attack with its signature move Noble Roar. But that couldn't keep up with Tail Glow's +3 boost. A second Tail Glow was free because JITTERBUG used his Affection to dodge a Flamethrower. Thunderbolt and Shadow Ball made Pyroar, Talonflame, Torkoal, and Chandelure faint without any fuss.


Siebold the Water master suffered a similar fate. His level 63 Clawitzer must have cursed my time spent with Pokemon Amie as its Water Pulse missed. +3 Thunderbolts electrocuted Clawitzer, Barbaracle, Starmie, and Gyarados and prevented JITTERBUG from taking any damage.


Wikstrom the Steel master was a little trickier because his level 63 Probopass was one of the dreaded Sturdy Rock types. Sometimes it could cast Power Gem for some super effective damage too. This was the time to set up a second Tail Glow. Thunderbolt and Shadow Ball struck down Klefki, Scizor, and Aegislash, though I had to play around Torment's "no consecutive uses of the same move" restriction. JITTERBUG survived with 239/276 HP.


Drasna the Dragon master started with her best Pokemon, a level 63 Dragalge. I had replaced Thunderbolt with the Fairy attack Dazzling Gleam specifically for this fight. But it would only deal neutral damage because of Dragalge's secondary Poison type, and the seahorse was an outlier in terms of Special Defense. Dragalge's Sludge Bombs poisoned JITTERBUG, though fortunately not with the Toxic variety. A second Tail Glow and an Affection critical Dazzling Gleam ensured a one hit KO after Drasna stuffed Dragalge with Full Restores. Noivern, Altaria, and Druddigon were too slow to deal with their new 6th generation elemental weakness. JITTERBUG slew the Dragons with 231/276 HP.


Half of Champion Diantha's lineup happened to be weak to Fairy, and two were vulnerable to Ghost. That meant Shadow Ball and Dazzling Gleam made the perfect combination needed to take the throne. Her level 64 Hawlucha gave me a free turn to set up Tail Glow when it buffed with Swords Dance, and JITTERBUG thanked it for its patience with Dazzling Gleam. Out of Hawlucha, Tyrantrum, Goodra, Aurorus, Gourgeist, and Mega Gardevoir, only Aurorus the Ice/Rock type survived the first attack. Aurorus was smart enough to set up Light Screen, but that was just an excuse for a second Tail Glow. The already-inaccurate Blizzard had an even lower chance to hit with JITTERBUG's Affection. JITTERBUG became the Champion with full health.


The ending battle with the AZ Trainer featured another enemy Affection miss on the first turn, making me wonder if I had glitched the game somehow by rolling all these 6s. A single Tail Glow powered up Shadow Ball and killed Torkoal, Sigilyph, and Golurk.


Final Moveset


Shadow Ball
Dazzling Gleam
Tail Glow
Roost

 

[adman2]

Pokemon X Solo Volbeat Postscript


You'd think an early game Bug type that can never evolve and has base 47 in its primary offensive stat would make for a challenging no Battle Item solo run. But you might be surprised when you try it for yourself.


As soon as you get Volbeat, you have reasonable defenses, the recovery move Moonlight, and Confuse Ray to take out unfavorable matchups. Confuse Ray is somewhat unreliable, though, and can result in deaths if enemies can pass their 50% roll to attack. You'll also have the Thief and Return TMs to take advantage of Volbeat's passable Attack stat. These advantages make up for the Erratic experience group's slow leveling in the early game.


You'll need to learn Tail Glow at level 21, though it'll waste a spot in your moveset until you get Signal Beam at 25. This is around the time of the 2nd Gym if you fight the trainers near Geosenge Town. Tail Glow is one of the best buffs in Pokemon history, and boosting your Special Attack by +3 stages in a single turn can make even lousy stats look good. No wonder so few monsters learn it!


Volbeat doesn't learn non-Bug special moves until after the 5th Gym when you start getting compatible TMs. Before then, you'll want Zen Headbutt to deal with Poison and Fighting types that resist your primary move, and Power Up Punch for Clemont's Magneton and Heliolisk.


The late game is easy as long as you aren't unlucky with critical enemy Stone Edges. Erratic's experience curve will take you to the level cap before the final rival battle, let alone the Elite 4. Unlike some other Bug types, Volbeat can use Ghost, Electric, and Fairy coverage with TMs.


I sometimes thought about how easy a time JITTERBUG the Volbeat had to BEETRICE the Vespiquen, to the point of clearing some of the final battles without taking any damage. There are several reasons for this. Any form of attack buff combined with decent Speed will give you an easy time in most situations. Vespiquen makes the mistake of trying to be a slow defensive Pokemon, forgetting that Bug/Flying gives you some critical weaknesses. Vespiquen also lacks type coverage other than Bug and Flying for the most part. To beat the Elite 4, BEETRICE had to use Hidden Power Water and Flash of all things.


It's doubtful that I'll use another Erratic Pokemon in the future because it eliminates most challenge in the late game. (Although Moon might be an exception due to how stingy that game is with experience points. . .)

 

[adman2]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Noctowl Part 1: Thank You For Playing King's Quest 5!


You may have noticed that I haven't done a Normal/Flying solo yet, and it's time to correct that. Johto's signature bird is the Hoothoot/Noctowl line. Its final form's base stats are uninspiring:

HP: 100
Attack: 50
Defense: 50
Special Attack: 76
Special Defense: 96
Speed: 70


Noctowl's movepool is also questionable. It gets no Attack or Special Attack boosting moves like JITTERBUG the Volbeat did. For a Normal/Flying type, it gets few attacks of either type by leveling. On the Normal side, it has Tackle and the recoil move Take Down. For Flying, there's. . .Peck. Noctowl is reliant on the Return TM from Goldenrod and the Fly HM from Cianwood if it wants to use its main typing. Steel Wing would be nice to counter Rock and Ice types, but that isn't until Rock Tunnel in Kanto!


What differentiates Noctowl from other Normal/Flying birds is that you can get the occasional Psychic move. Hoothoot learns the sleep move Hypnosis at level 16, which will probably be useful if the 60% accuracy doesn't fail me. Confusion is gained at 41, and Dream Eater is available at level 57 or by a late Kanto TM. Dream Eater has base 100 power, but only works on sleeping enemies. Psychic is more reliable, but is locked behind yet another Kanto TM.

EDIT: Noctowl doesn't learn Psychic in Crystal. If I were playing the Heart Gold/Soul Silver remake, Noctowl could use moves like Air Slash, Extrasensory, Psychic, Shadow Ball, and Roost.


To start the playthrough, I picked the male trainer and named him GRAHAM after the main character of several King's Quest games. Totodile leveled up enough at the beginning to learn Rage, which enabled me to easily win the first battle with the rival and his Chikorita. Our red-haired antagonist was named MORDACK after the evil wizard from King's Quest 5.


Once I caught a male Hoothoot, there was only one name to give him: CEDRIC. Anyone who's played or watched King's Quest 5 will consider Cedric the falsetto owl one of the most annoying characters in video games. He warns King Graham of danger, but only does so when it's too late. "Watch out for the hole in the boat!", he says after you're already far out at sea. Then the boat capsizes immediately, and all Graham can do is watch as Cedric flies away and abandons him to drown. The only use the original Cedric has in the game is to accidentally take a hit from Mordack's curse in your place. Let's hope he can redeem himself in Pokemon Crystal!


It wasn't easy for him to do so. He often whiffed his Tackles and had to run away from enemy Hoothoots. GRAHAM didn't feel comfortable fighting Youngster Joey until his owl companion reached level 6. The trainer battles after that were mostly easy despite CEDRIC's bad stats, because the enemy level curve in Crystal was worse. CEDRIC didn't get Peck until well into Sprout Tower after fighting various monks with Bellsprouts.


CEDRIC was at level 12 by the time he reached the Flying specialist Gym Leader Falkner, so GRAHAM forced him to train a little bit more to reach 13. Falkner led with a level 7 Pidgey, the diurnal bird of Kanto/Johto. CEDRIC Pecked it to death in 3 turns, while his rival rushed at him with Tackle. The level 9 Pidgeotto couldn't use the accuracy reducing move Mud Slap due to CEDRIC's Flying type, so it instead used the more powerful Gust. 4 Pecks and an auto-healing Berry were needed for CEDRIC to claim his 1st badge with 20/40 HP and prove himself the true Flying champion.


CEDRIC the Hoothoot Stats

Level 13 @ Nothing


HP: 40
Attack: 18
Defense: 17
Special Attack: 16
Special Defense: 22
Speed: 22


Moves

Tackle
Peck
Mud Slap
Foresight

 

[adman2]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Noctowl Part 2: A POIsonous Snake!


CEDRIC the Hoothoot's journey through the routes south of Violet City and Union Cave were easier than a Normal/Flying type should have expected. Several enemy trainers had Geodudes and Onixes that resisted both Tackle and Peck. But Mud Slap could get past them. A weak Ground move is an odd choice for a TM for a Flying Gym, but perhaps countering the type's Rock weakness was the developer's intention.


The Slowpoke Well featured one of the funniest (to me) moments of any solo run. One Team Rocket Grunt had a level 9 Zubat that confused CEDRIC with Supersonic and made him hit himself multiple times. So far, this seemed like a normal if difficult battle. Then, the Team Rocket Grunt sent out a level 11 Ekans that poked CEDRIC with Poison Sting.

Death Count: 1


The first Game Over fit Cedric's dialogue in King's Quest 5 perfectly. For those who aren't familiar with that game, Cedric warns Graham about a "POIsonous snake", with emphasis on the first syllable. Walking towards the snake is the first possible death in King's Quest 5 if I'm not mistaken. It was the ultimate irony to see CEDRIC the Hoothoot lose to the Pokemon equivalent.


Azalea Town's Bug type Gym was free food for CEDRIC, and he evolved into Noctowl by defeating the subordinate trainers. Bugsy the Gym Leader was a pushover. He began with a level 14 Metapod that was cracked open with a single Peck. The level 14 Kakuna was either slightly tougher, or CEDRIC had a bad damage roll with the first Peck. Bugsy had Kakuna buff its Defense with Harden instead of using Poison Sting, so a second Peck defeated it. CEDRIC must have had a Speed tie with Bugsy's level 16 Scyther. Peck went before the first Fury Cutter, but the final blow happened after the second Fury Cutter. CEDRIC won his 2nd badge with 66/73 HP.


MORDACK the rival must have learned his battling techniques from Calem in the JITTERBUG the Volbeat solo. His level 12 Gastly failed to mesmerize CEDRIC with Hypnosis, and two Pecks exorcised it. A critical Peck pierced the level 14 Zubat. Another Peck critical hit dealt major damage to MORDACK's level 16 Bayleef. MORDACK's Grass starter tried to save itself with a Reflect Defense buff instead of attacking, so CEDRIC won a flawless victory with a second Peck.


Ilex Forest, the route south of Goldenrod, and Goldenrod City's Underground weren't particularly notable, with one exception. Officer Keith's level 17 Growlithe forced me to violate the solo rules for a turn. Cut was needed to get through Ilex Forest's trees, and that meant lugging around HM MULE the Totodile. Growlithe Roared every turn I switched in CEDRIC after the first Peck failed to KO. The only way to get around it was to have Totodile waste a turn using Leer in hopes that Growlithe would switch in CEDRIC again. It worked.


The next update probably won't happen tomorrow. This is because an NPC in Goldenrod's department store hands out the Return TM, but only on Sunday. CEDRIC has such limited options that he needs this 102 maximum base power attack. You can't go wrong with the same type attack bonus from CEDRIC's Normal element either.


CEDRIC the Noctowl Stats

Level 23 @ Berry


HP: 83
Attack: 38
Defense: 38
Special Attack: 45
Special Defense: 54
Speed: 47


Moves

Tackle
Peck
Mud Slap
Hypnosis

 

[adman2]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Noctowl Part 3: Gym Rush


Now that it was Sunday, CEDRIC picked up the Return TM from a lady in the Goldenrod department store. This attack wasn't flashy, but its high base power combined with my solo's Normal type made it effective. When in doubt, consider Return for your solo runs unless you're using a pure special attacker.


CEDRIC mauled Whitney's level 18 Clefairy in one hit with Return, but the level 20 Miltank took finesse to beat. Whitney's Miltank is infamous among Johto game fans as being unusually difficult for an early Gym Leader. It can make male Pokemon be "immobilized by love" 50% of the time with Attract, heal itself for 50% with Milk Drink, and unleash a runaway Rock type Rollout combo if its accuracy rolls succeed.


To get around Miltank, CEDRIC put it to sleep with Hypnosis, then started debuffing its accuracy with Mud Slap. After it was at -2, Miltank woke up and started Stomping on my owl. Hypnosis missed twice in a row, but so did two of the Stomps. The 3rd Hypnosis was the charm, and CEDRIC Mud Slapped Miltank 4 more times until its accuracy was as low as it could go. CEDRIC's low base Attack let me down when its Return failed to slaughter the cow. Once it started Milk Drinking, I knew the only way to win was to put it to sleep again. One Hypnosis and 2 Returns later, and Whitney burst into tears. CEDRIC was at level 28 with 82/100 HP after the fight.


Sudowoodo dealt more damage to CEDRIC than both of Whitney's Pokemon. While CEDRIC was Mud Slapping the Rock type, Sudowoodo retaliated with Flail and Low Kick. A Rock Throw missed once its accuracy was shot. CEDRIC cleared the path to Ecruteak City with 74/100 HP.


The Kimono Girls guarding the Surf HM in Ecruteak were so easy that their Eevee evolutions could be killed with 1 or 2 Returns. Even Jolteon wasn't fast enough to outspeed CEDRIC.


CEDRIC's victory against MORDACK in the Burned Tower depended on some odd coding decisions. The rival's Haunter killed itself with the Ghost type Curse after CEDRIC Pecked it once. This put CEDRIC on a strict time limit to win the battle as 1/4 of his max HP was drained per turn. But poison and Curse works differently in Crystal than in later Pokemon games. Their damage activates after the afflicted Pokemon takes its turn. . .but not if it knocks out an enemy that turn. Mud Slap scrapped MORDACK's level 18 Magnemite, and Return clipped the level 20 Zubat's wings. Bayleef was level 22 and had higher Defense, so it took 2 Returns to kill. CEDRIC hooted his victory taunts with 85/111 HP at level 31.



Morty the Ghost Gym Leader was nearly a loss. His level 21 Gastly tried the same trick as MORDACK's Haunter and Cursed CEDRIC. The level 21 Haunter and level 25 Gengar both tried Hypnosis, and both died to 2 Pecks. (A critical hit against Gengar helped a lot!) Morty's final level 23 Haunter reduced Peck's PP with Spite, but that was fine because CEDRIC had plenty to spare. CEDRIC's Berry recovery mitigated the Curse damage a bit. CEDRIC celebrated his 4th Gym victory with 42/117 HP at level 33.


Route trainers in the ocean near Cianwood City and the Olivine lighthouse were so easy that their Pokemon could all be defeated with 1 Return, or occasionally a Peck if they were weak enough and I wanted to conserve PP.


CEDRIC may have been a Flying type, but he might as well have not had a type at all in Chuck's Fighting Gym. Unlike most Normal types, his secondary type prevented super effective damage from the enemies. Unlike some other Flying types, he didn't have a move better than Peck (base 35 power) at the time, so CEDRIC was better off clicking Return.


Chuck's level 27 Primeape was fragile enough to fall to 1 Return. The Gym Leader's level 30 Poliwrath could have given CEDRIC a difficult time if its coin flip accuracy Dynamicpunch had landed. Fighting moves in general weren't that great in Crystal. The best ones were Submission (recoil damage and mediocre power), High Jump Kick (extreme recoil damage if it misses), and Cross Chop (80% accuracy). Ingame Fighting types from Sapphire onwards should be grateful that they have the reliable Brick Break if all else fails! 2 Returns smacked the frog, and CEDRIC won a flawless victory.


Now that he had conquered Cianwood City, CEDRIC could finally get rid of Peck. Sometimes, Pokemon gives you the HM combat move before you can use its field effect, but that wasn't the case with Fly in Crystal. Chuck's wife only gave me the HM when I defeated her husband.


CEDRIC stood no chance against Jasmine the Steel Gym Leader in Olivine City. Her opening level 30 Magnemite paralyzed him with Thunder Wave, confused him with Supersonic, and jolted him with Thunderbolt. By the time CEDRIC demagnetized it with 2 Mud Slaps, failure was inevitable against the 2nd Magnemite.


Death Count: 2


Crystal's partially nonlinear structure allowed CEDRIC to skip Jasmine temporarily and train in Mahogany Town and the Lake of Rage. The Red Gyarados almost defeated him with fixed 40 damage Dragon Rages while I was trying to catch it to use as an HM FISH.


It was a good time to take a break before taking on the Team Rocket gauntlet in Mahogany Town and Pryce the Ice Gym Leader.


Noctowl feels like another "identity crisis" Pokemon. Its stat distribution and odd moves like Confusion, Hypnosis, and Dream Eater make me think that it wants to be Psychic/Flying instead of a Normal/Flying. But its typing combined with the lack of the physical/special split forces it to use its weaker Attack stat. Unfezant in White is perhaps the reverse scenario where a Normal/Flying Pokemon has good Attack, but learns more special moves.



CEDRIC the Noctowl Stats

Level 42 @ Nothing


HP: 149
Attack: 71
Defense: 70
Special Attack: 84
Special Defense: 101
Speed: 87


Moves

Return
Fly
Confusion
Hypnosis

 

[adman2]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Noctowl Part 4: Fluke Gym Battles

Team Rocket's hideout in Mahogany Town wasn't bad at all. There was nothing that CEDRIC couldn't defeat with Return, Fly, or Confusion. The latter move came in handy for conserving PP when low level Poison types appeared. Only 2 trips were needed, and that was because I had to go back to the Pokemon Center to restore PP after beating all the Grunts summoned by alarms.


It was harder to get past the ice sliding puzzle in the local Gym than to beat Pryce himself. His level 27 Seel and level 29 Dewgong went belly up after one Return each, and the level 31 Piloswine decided to prevent debuffs with Mist rather than attack CEDRIC. What should have been a disadvantageous type matchup for CEDRIC became a flawless victory.


Unfortunately, CEDRIC couldn't relearn Mud Slap to avenge his loss to Jasmine the Steel master. The 2 level 30 Magnemites sometimes paralyzed him with Thunder Wave and then started casting Thunderbolt, with the occasional Supersonic confusion to rub it in. 2 Returns were needed for each Magnemite instead of 1 because CEDRIC's Attack was so low compared to other Normal types.


If CEDRIC survived the Magnemites by Hypnotizing them, Jasmine's level 35 Steelix lashed him with Iron Tail and laughed at his meager Confusion damage. Steelix has base 200 Defense, so there was no way Return or Fly were going to work. The casualty rate looked like this:


Death Count: 6


Bizarrely, the successful attempt ended with CEDRIC at full HP. I couldn't believe it either when it happened! Both Magnemites were smothered in their sleep with Return. CEDRIC vs. Steelix was a farce involving long sleep counts and one turn of self-inflicted confusion damage. There may have been an Iron Tail miss too. (Anyone who followed my solo Breloom playthrough will know how accurate that move is.)


Now it was time for the dreaded tedious enemy team gauntlet at the Goldenrod Radio Tower.


CEDRIC the Noctowl Stats

Level 47 @ Nothing


HP: 167
Attack: 81
Defense: 80
Special Attack: 95
Special Defense: 114
Speed: 99


Moves

Return
Fly
Confusion
Hypnosis

 

[adman2]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Noctowl Part 5: Team Rocket Goes Out With a Whimper

Team Rocket in Goldenrod City was a pale imitation of its former self in the Kanto games, and its leaders didn't even have names. All of CEDRIC's opponents succumbed to Return, Fly, or Confusion. Since this wasn't a Psychic solo like CHEIBRIADS the Slowbro, I didn't even have to worry about the final enemy's Houndoom.


The only notable fight here was another MORDACK appearance in the department store basement. I tried using Confusion instead of Return on the level 30 Golbat to save PP, but this was a mistake. A weak Psychic move without same type attack bonus left Golbat with just enough HP to use Confuse Ray. CEDRIC wasted a turn hitting himself and being slashed by Wing Attack. One Return succeeded on the attack roll and finished off the bloated bat.


CEDRIC snapped out of confusion just in time for a one Return KO against the level 28 Magnemite. Fly was needed for the level 30 Haunter because of its Normal immunity. Sneasel hit with a token Quick Attack before CEDRIC swooped down for the KO again. MORDACK's level 32 Meganium had no chance against Fly, though it tried Poisonpowder while CEDRIC was in the sky. CEDRIC won this rival battle with 134/178 HP at level 50.


Along the way to Blackthorn City, I made sure to collect the Sleep Talk from the Goldenrod department store basement and Rest from the Ice Cave. If CEDRIC has trouble with the final Red battle, he could use the same tactic CHEIBRIADS the Slowbro did.




CEDRIC the Noctowl Stats

Level 54 @ Amulet Coin


HP: 193
Attack: 95
Defense: 94
Special Attack: 111
Special Defense: 132
Speed: 115


Moves

Return
Fly
Confusion
Hypnosis

 

[adman2]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Noctowl Part 6: CEDRIC the Owl Eats Your Dreams


CEDRIC cleared Blackthorn's Dragon Gym with level advantage and possibly badge buffs, not tactics. His same type attack bonus trashed the various Horsea and Dratini family Pokemon, including Clair's. Her three level 37 Dragonairs were free experience when CEDRIC killed them all with 1 Return each. Clair's dreaded level 40 Kingdra used. . .the accuracy debuff Smokescreen. One Return put Kingdra within enemy Hyper Potion range, but 2 more slew the sea horse. It was another flawless victory for CEDRIC.


None of the trainers on the first Kanto routes near Victory Road were much trouble either, since they tended to be in the 30s level range. It's sad when a Pokemon that doesn't get a 3 digit Attack stat until the high 50s can beat so many enemies with one hit.


MORDACK challenged GRAHAM and CEDRIC again in the short Victory Road cave. His level 34 Sneasel lead crumpled to the ground with one Return. The level 35 Magneton wasn't as bad as I feared, since CEDRIC Hypnotized it and broke it with 2 Returns. The level 36 Golbat and level 35 Kadabra were prey for Return, and swooping down with Fly sent the level 35 Haunter to heaven. MORDACK's level 38 Meganium, which I had picked specifically to give CEDRIC an easy time, proved the most vicious enemy. When CEDRIC ascended with Fly, Meganium buffed its Defense with a 5 turn Reflect. Body Slam paralyzed CEDRIC with its side effect, which once caused my solo to lose a turn. Return eventually finished off the Grass dinosaur. CEDRIC won with 156/211 HP and reached the Pokemon League at level 59.


Will the Psychic Elite 4 member began with a level 40 Xatu, which died to Return along with a level 41 Jynx. Will's level 41 Slowbro had high base Defense, so CEDRIC made sure to send it to dreamland with Hypnosis first. It didn't work long, and Slowbro buffed its Attack and Defense with Curse. But it still wasn't enough to avoid a 2 Return KO. Will's level 42 Xatu was a second verse same as the first. Fly plucked the level 41 Exeggutor out of the ground. CEDRIC scored yet another flawless victory.


Koga the Poison master was a little trickier. His level 40 Ariados dodged a Fly strike with Double Team's evasion buff, but that didn't stop a Return. Trying Fly on the level 43 Bug/Steel Forretress didn't work well either. It may have been the only neutral coverage I had, but Forretress could block it reliably with Protect because Fly was a 2 turn move. The bug tank mostly used Swift and Spikes after that, because its move selection in Crystal was rather poor. Dream Eater, which CEDRIC had learned at level 57 on the first Kanto routes, was the way to go. It only dealt half damage and only worked when the enemy was asleep, but Forretress had much lower Special Defense than Defense.

Muk barely survived the first Dream Eater due to a bad damage roll, but a second attack corrected that. The level 44 Crobat hung on after CEDRIC hit with Return, and started Double Teaming to try to avoid more hits. All that accomplished was stalling for a few turns. CEDRIC grabbed Koga's level 41 Venomoth with his talons after a Fly. My solo owl won with full HP thanks to Dream Eater's recovery.


Bruno the Fighting master opened with a level 42 Hitmontop that eventually died in its sleep when CEDRIC could land a critical Dream Eater. The first Hypnosis failed, and Hitmontop loved Quick Attack priority. Bruno's Onix was more suggestible with Hypnosis, and CEDRIC penetrated its weak Special Defense with a Dream Eater. Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, and Machamp's martial arts only worked on the ground, not against Flying opponents. CEDRIC was mildly injured with 201/219 HP because of a Hitmonchan Mach Punch.


Karen the Dark master made up for the weaknesses of the rest of the Elite 4. Her tactics against CEDRIC depended on the first two Pokemon: a level 42 Umbreon, and a level 45 Gengar. Umbreon could debuff CEDRIC's accuracy with Sand Attack, or bamboozle him with Confuse Ray. Eevee's Dark evolution was guaranteed to use one of the two because it had high Defense and HP and could survive a non-critical Return. If CEDRIC outlasted Umbreon, Gengar would use the Ghost type Curse to drain 1/4 of CEDRIC's HP every time he failed to KO an opponent that turn. Trying Fly against Gengar once resulted in the Ghost taking CEDRIC down with the revenge move Destiny Bond.


Death Count: 8


Karen was the first enemy that had killed CEDRIC since Jasmine, and like that battle, the winning attempt was a supreme victory against the odds. Umbreon's Sand Attack failed to make CEDRIC miss a single attack. 2 Returns struck down Umbreon. Hypnosis and Dream Eater drained Gengar dry. Murkrow and Houndoom's dirty tricks couldn't stand up to Return brute force. Fly uprooted Vileplume, and CEDRIC won with full HP.



Lance the Champion's battle went well at first. CEDRIC fished up a Gyarados with 2 Returns, and defeated the first Dragonite with a combination of Dream Eater and Return. But the second Dragonite woke up early and paralyzed CEDRIC with Thunder Wave, leaving him vulnerable to Aerodactyl's super effective Rock Slide and its flinch side effect.


Death Count: 9


On the second try, Gyarados used Rain Dance for some reason instead of Return. The first Dragonite was slaughtered in its sleep with 2 Returns, but the second woke up early and cast Blizzard. Aerodactyl hung on with a sliver of HP after the first Dream Eater, but the next one got a better damage roll. Lance's Charizard opted for Hyper Beam, leaving it exposed for one free turn afterwards. Lance woke up his final level 50 Dragonite with a Full Restore after the first Hypnosis. I was surprised by this AI behavior because enemy trainers have a limited supply of healing items, unlike players who can buy as many as they want. The second Hypnosis missed, and Dragonite set up Safeguard to prevent status ailments for 5 turns. 2 Returns took CEDRIC to victory, though he had to take a critical hit from Outrage first. GRAHAM and his owl companion entered the Hall of Fame at level 63 with 99/226 HP.


Further updates will be on Kanto, since I don't consider a Crystal playthrough to be complete until Red is defeated.



CEDRIC the Noctowl Stats

Level 63 @ Amulet Coin


HP: 226
Attack: 113
Defense: 112
Special Attack: 132
Special Defense: 157
Speed: 137


Moves

Return
Fly
Dream Eater
Hypnosis

 

[adman2]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Noctowl Part 7: Anemic Gym Leader Battles


Kanto trainers in general were such pushovers that I'm only going to cover the Gym Leaders in this part. And if it weren't for their social status, I might not have mentioned them either.


Lt. Surge would have been the first Gym Leader available because the ship docked in Vermilion City, but he was Electric type. It was a good idea to give CEDRIC a few more levels from the other Gyms first.


Sabrina's Espeon, Mr. Mime, and Alakazam had willing spirits but weak flesh, so one Return destroyed each. Misty had a Golduck, Lapras, Starmie, and Quagsire, but they still fell one by one to Return. (The critical hit against Lapras may have helped.)


Erika's Grass team was weak to Fly, so CEDRIC swooped down on Tangela, Victreebel, and Vileplume. Jumpluff wasn't known for its great Defense, so CEDRIC beat it down with Return to avoid the chance of a Fly miss. Janine's team of Crobat, 2 Weezings, a Venomoth, and an Ariados were as weak to Return as Misty's and Sabrina's squads.


Now that there were no other Gym Leaders GRAHAM could reach in central and eastern Kanto, it was time for CEDRIC to face his Electric weakness at last. Lt. Surge's Raichu, Electabuzz, and 2 Electrodes were more one hit Return victims. The only exception was Magneton, but CEDRIC managed to Hypnotize it on the first try and maul it with 2 Returns.


Kanto was so much of an anticlimax that CEDRIC defeated 5 of its Gym Leaders without losing a single Hit Point.



CEDRIC the Noctowl Stats

Level 72 @ Leftovers (acquired from the Celedon restaurant trash can)


HP: 261
Attack: 132
Defense: 131
Special Attack: 154
Special Defense: 182
Speed: 159


Moves

Return
Fly
Dream Eater
Hypnosis

 

[adman2]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Noctowl Finale: Rival's Revenge


Brock's Gym was Rock type, and it probably wasn't a good idea to rely on Hypnosis's 60% accuracy to kill his Pokemon with Dream Eater. If only Noctowl could learn Psychic! Instead, CEDRIC learned Steel Wing from a TM in the Rock Tunnel. This is a standard move for bird Pokemon across the series, and for some reason you can get it before the second Gym in Sapphire.


Steel Wing pulverized Brock's Graveler, Onix, and Rhyhorn, but Omastar and Kabutops were Rock/Water and therefore neutral to the Steel attack. It took 2 hits to beat each of them, and they ended the flawless victory streak with Spike Cannon and Surf. With Leftovers recovery, CEDRIC only suffered a scratch with 258/261 HP.


Blaine the Fire Gym Leader began with a Fire/Rock Magcargo that buffed with Curse on the first turn instead of attacking, allowing CEDRIC to gash it twice with Steel Wing. Magmar and Rapidash were vulnerable to Return. Yet another supreme victory for CEDRIC.


Blue, unlike all the other Kanto Gym Leaders, actually had a team with decent levels. His weakest member was a level 54 Alakazam, compared to Blaine's strongest monster, a level 50 Rapidash. (Janine's team was in the 30s, or lower than Clair in Johto!) Pidgeot survived a Return and counterattacked with a Mirror Move version. Friendship must be set at the minimum for enemy AI Pokemon, because all the damage was healed with Leftovers at the end of the turn.


Rhydon set up a Sandstorm and then rained a Rock Slide down on CEDRIC. It took 3 Steel Wings to get past the Rock rhino's Defense. Sandstorm may have harmed Blue more than GRAHAM in the long run, since it meant CEDRIC didn't need maximum damage rolls to finish off Alakazam and Gyarados. Arcanine was bulky enough to require 2 Returns to kill, and its Flamethrower singed Noctowl. Exeggutor was another unexpectedly sturdy Pokemon, as it took 2 Fly attacks. The first one barely left the tree alive, but the second was a critical which knocked it out after Blue healed with a Full Restore. CEDRIC won his final badge with 99/269 HP at level 74.


The next opponent was optional, but it would have been dishonorable if CEDRIC didn't defeat MORDACK for the last time. He had a Sneasel, Magneton, Golbat, Gengar, Alakazam, and Meganium in the 40s range, but their status ailment abilities made up for their lower levels. Magneton paralyzed CEDRIC with Thunder Wave, Golbat befuddled him with Confuse Ray, and Gengar cast an HP draining Curse. My owl collapsed after a war of attrition.


Final Death Count: 10


Like some other battles in this solo challenge, the second take was a perfect victory. The trick to beating MORDACK was to pick up a berry to auto-cure paralysis on a route west of Lavender Town. This made Magneton waste a turn when it used Thunder Wave. Sneasel, Golbat, and Alakazam were smacked by Return. Steel Wing exorcised Gengar. Meganium failed to save itself with Reflect and instead missed with Body Slam right after CEDRIC Flew into the sky.



Before going to Silver Cave to fight the final battle, CEDRIC fought a few random route trainers to level to 76 and avoid wasting experience. GRAHAM stuffed 5 Rare Candies into CEDRIC's gizzard to bring him up to 81, the same as Red's highest level Pokemon. Hypnosis and Steel Wing were replaced by Rest and Sleep Talk in case things went badly and CEDRIC needed to heal or cure status ailments. This was the same tactic I used for CHEIBRIADS the Slowbro at the endgame.


Despite being a weaker species than Slowbro, Noctowl seemed to have less trouble with parts of the Red battle. One Return maimed Pikachu before it could cast any Electric spells. Blastoise missed with 2 Blizzards and set up a Rain Dance. Return, Fly, and then Return cracked open Blastoise's shell. Espeon survived a Return and buffed the team with Reflect. Fly finished off the Psychic Eevee evolution to waste turns.


The first hit against Snorlax was a Fly critical, but Return follow ups weren't enough to beat it before it Rested and restored its HP. However, the 2 turns of Snoring gave CEDRIC just enough time to make it flatline with Return. Fly was used to soften up Charizard and restore HP with extra Leftovers turns, but its Flamethrower still dealt significant damage to CEDRIC before the final Return. Two more hits with Fly and Return made Venusaur wilt. Red's final action in the battle was to shoot a half damage Solarbeam. CEDRIC passed the final test with 126/294 HP.




CEDRIC the Noctowl Final Stats

Level 81 @ Leftovers


HP: 294
Attack: 150
Defense: 149
Special Attack: 175
Special Defense: 207
Speed: 180


Moves

Return
Fly
Rest
Sleep Talk

 

[adman2]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Noctowl Postscript


Noctowl's performance in a solo challenge will show you how strong Normal types are in Crystal. Return can destroy enemy Pokemon that aren't Rock, Steel, or Ghost, and the latter 2 types are rare after the midgame. Since CEDRIC often barely missed out on one hit KOs, imagine what a Normal type with a base Attack over 50 can do!


Noctowl isn't much of a Flying type despite its "Johto regional bird" status. Its only Flying type move via level up is Peck, and you don't even get that until you're almost finished with Sprout Tower where it would have been useful. The Fly HM comes right after Chuck's Fighting type Gym in another missed opportunity. Fly is only 70 power with 95% accuracy in Crystal too, so most of the time you'll click Return instead. Flying doesn't combine well with Normal either, because both Steel and Rock resist it.


Other moves in Noctowl's movepool are random Psychic type junk. Confusion comes at level 41, well after real Psychic types would want to move on to Psybeam or something. It would have been great for Morty, but even in a solo run you're not going to be at 41 before the 4th badge. The best that can be said for Confusion is that it saves PP for Return and Fly in the Team Rocket gauntlets.


Hypnosis's sleep ailment is a unique advantage for a bird in tough battles, but suffers from 60% accuracy. Dream Eater is more powerful than Psychic (which Noctowl can't learn) and restores some HP, though it requires setting up with Hypnosis first.


As for TMs, the only notable late game one is Steel Wing, which you'll want to use against Brock and possibly Blue and the Mt. Moon rival match. Rest and Sleep Talk are options for Red, but most Pokemon can use those.


Noctowl has several notable bad matchups. Jasmine's Steel team in Olivine City is the worst of all, because you have nothing that deals even neutral damage to Steel, and her Magnemites can paralyze and cast super effective Thunderbolts. Most bird Pokemon probably have the same issue against her, though stronger ones like Fearow (90 Attack) and Pidgeot (80 Attack) could probably muscle through the Magnemites with Return. They don't have Hypnosis for Steelix, however.


Other bad fights for Noctowl are Karen and Lance. Karen's Umbreon and Gengar can destroy the bird with various debuffs and gradual damage moves like Confuse Ray, Sand Attack, and the Ghost type Curse. Lance has an Aerodactyl with Rock Slide that will deal heavy damage if you can't put it to sleep quickly enough, and at least one Dragonite can paralyze with Thunder Wave.


In Kanto, most enemies can't touch you because they're so underleveled, with the possible exceptions of Lt. Surge and the Mt. Moon rival with their Magnetons if you're unlucky. Kanto in many solo runs is just bonus experience meant to prepare you for the final battle with Red.


Red himself will struggle to defeat a Noctowl in the low 80s. With enough effort values, Return will stop his Electric threat Pikachu cold. Rest and Sleep Talk can heal off the damage if necessary.


Supposedly, Noctowl distinguishes itself more in the Heart Gold and Soul Silver remakes with a wider selection of special attacks. In Crystal, it's just the weakest out of the common Normal/Flying birds.



EDIT: I probably should have mentioned that turning off the animations and ignoring some optional trainers made a big difference. My total playtime for CEDRIC the Noctowl was less than the time it took for CHEIBRIADS the Slowbro to clear Johto.

 

[adman2]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Meganium Part 1: The Most Disadvantaged Starter of All


Normally, I don't pick starters for my solo runs, but Chikorita is an exception. Johto is infamous for its hostility to Grass types. Falkner, Bugsy, Morty, Jasmine, Pryce, Clair, Koga, and Lance all specialize in types that either resist Grass attacks or deal super effective damage to Pokemon of that type. And Will has his Xatus, Jynx, and Exeggutor.

The Pokemon government isn't the only faction that hates plants. Team Rocket members often use Poison and Flying types. What is a Chikorita to do to fight against this bias? Overlevel and learn various coverage moves, of course!


To start the game, I picked the female trainer with the giant blue pigtails and named her JUANA. (One of the default choices. It's nice that the English version threw in a Spanish name!) Chikorita was on the far right side of the starter Pokemon table in Professor Elm's lab, as if even he wanted to know if I was sure about doing this. I named her COFFEEWEED after an alternate name for the chicory plant. Yes, JUANA got a female Chikorita without even trying. This might come in handy later, since Whitney's Miltank can't use Attract against a female Pokemon.


COFFEEWEED leveled up to 7 on wild Pokemon before fighting the redhead rival for the first time. His level 5 Cyndaquil once used Leer, but other than that it was an exchange of Tackles. Chikorita left the sparring match with 12/24 HP, just a few experience points shy of level 8.


Sprout Tower made COFFEEWEED feel like Audrey II among a bunch of normal Venus flytraps. She resisted all the Bellsprouts' Vine Whips, and hit back with normal damage Tackles. When the occasional Hoothoot appeared, Chikorita shot out Razor Leaves since even at half damage it was better than Tackle.


By the time she reached Falkner, COFFEEWEED was at level 15, one level short of evolving into Bayleef. Chikorita set up a Defense boosting Reflect on the first turn, then started slashing Falkner's level 7 Pidgey with Razor Leaves. Pidgey hit with Tackle twice before Razor Leaf's high critical rate kicked in. Poisonpowder ensured the level 9 Pidgeotto would lose 1/8 HP per turn. Reflect wore off during the Pidgeotto phase, but a lucky Razor Leaf critical prevented Pidgeotto from releasing a third Gust. COFFEEWEED humiliated Falkner and his type advantage with 24/42 HP, without even having to use the held Berry to heal.


Now is probably a good time to compare Chikorita's line to other Grass types in southeastern Johto. Chikorita certainly has a moveset advantage. It learns Razor Leaf, the best single turn Grass attack, at level 8. Weepinbell doesn't get that until level 42! Hoppip's line doesn't learn Tackle until 10, and its one native Grass attack is the base 40 Mega Drain, acquired at level 44.


Meganium has the option of Iron Tail and Earthquake if it wants more type coverage, and Mud Slap will do in desperate situations. Synthesis is a healing move it shares with Hoppip, though Hoppip learns it first. Bellsprout's line differentiates itself with the Growth Special Attack buff and a same type attack bonus Sludge Bomb. Hoppip's line specializes in indirect damage and status ailments with moves like Sleep Powder and Leech Seed.


So I'll continue with Chikorita for now. Maybe if I have the patience, a Jumpluff run may be possible in the future.




COFFEEWEED the Chikorita Stats

Level 15 @ Berry


HP: 42
Attack: 21
Defense: 27
Special Attack: 21
Special Defense: 26
Speed: 23


Moves

Tackle
Poisonpowder
Razor Leaf
Reflect

 

[adman2]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Meganium Part 2: Scyther in the 2nd Gym is Fair, Right?

The routes south of Violet City along with Union Cave were easy, and COFFEEWEED even got a 10% Grass attack boosting item called the Miracle Seed.


Getting rid of Poisonpowder might have been a mistake for the next Gym Leader. But I needed Mud Slap at some point to deal with the Ghost/Poison Gastly family in the future, along with the Magnemites in Jasmine's Gym. One level 12 Beedrill used by one of Bugsy's minons reduced Bayleef to around half HP with Fury Attacks. When COFFEEWEED reached the boss, she was at level 22 and had a poison curing berry in case of unlucky Poison Sting rolls against the Kakuna.


Bugsy's Metapod and Kakuna went well for Bayleef, as they were weak even with a type advantage. But then he sent out a level 16 Scyther, a Pokemon with 70 base HP, 110 base Attack, 80 base Defense, and 105 base Speed. As you'd expect, the base 35 Tackle dealt little more than scratch the praying mantis. Scyther's Fury Cutter dealt double damage with consecutive hits, and it was also super effective.


Death Count: 1


I then wondered if it was possible to get the Headbutt TM in Ilex Forest before fighting Bugsy. Unfortunately, you need to be able to use Cut in the field to find it, and guess whose badge you need? The 2nd rival battle did activate, however. FIRBURN's whole team resisted Grass, but COFFEEWEED's level advantage could deal with that. Mud Slaps banished Gastly, and Tackle broke Zubat's bones. Mud Slap's accuracy debuff made all of Quilava's Embers miss.


The Cut HM was now available in Ilex Forest after clearing the Farfetch'd minigame. Now there was a dilemma. Should JUANA teach Cut to Bayleef now and have an easier time with Bugsy, at the cost of not being able to replace it with a better Normal move until the 8th Gym? Or stick with Tackle and grind a few levels, hoping to get lucky?


I went with the latter. More attempts against Bugsy's Scyther were no more successful than the first. COFFEEWEED only managed to win when she reached level 25, and even then she limped out of the arena with 6/73 HP.


Death Count: 6



COFFEEWEED the Bayleef Stats

Level 25 @ Berry


HP: 73
Attack: 41
Defense: 52
Special Attack: 41
Special Defense: 50
Speed: 46


Moves

Tackle
Mud Slap
Razor Leaf
Synthesis

 

[adman2]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Meganium Part 3: Always Start Your Solos on SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!


I didn't think far enough ahead to set the ingame day to Saturday or Sunday at the start, so chances are COFFEEWEED won't get the Return TM. This will make the game harder, but probably not by much. Meganium's default Normal move will be the base 85 Body Slam instead. Perhaps its paralysis side effect chance will come in handy one day?


Bayleef battled the trainers in the Goldenrod City Underground and the local Gym to level up. One highlight was that COFFEEWEED failed to defeat a level 12 Lickitung with one Razor Leaf despite being level 27. That's how awful being a Grass type is in Crystal. Even its starter using the best move available can't defeat an enemy 15 levels lower in one shot.


Whitney's level 18 Clefairy had severe paper cuts from 2 Razor Leaves, and all it accomplished was missing with Doubleslap. The level 20 Miltank tried a Rollout combo after the first Razor Leaf, but COFFEEWEED reduced the likelihood for consecutive hits with Mud Slap's debuff. Another Razor Leaf followed by a Headbutt sent the cow back to Whitney's Poke Ball, but COFFEEWEED had a footprint on her face due to Stomp. Bayleef won at level 29 with 66/84 HP holding the Miracle Seed.



COFFEEWEED evolved into her final form Meganium upon defeating Twins Ann and Anne northwest of Sudowoodo. This was timely, as the higher stats allowed Meganium to Body Slam or Razor Leaf all the Kimono Girls' Eevee evolutions to death without any trouble. The most damage COFFEEWEED took was about 5 from Umbreon's Pursuit!


Next came the FIRBURN rival battle in the Burned Tower. His level 20 Haunter had terrible aim with its Lick after a single Mud Slap, and a second exorcised the Ghost type. Body Slam crushed the level 20 Zubat, and a critical Mud Slap grounded Magnemite at the end of the fight. FIRBURN's level 22 Quilava dealt minor super effective damage with Ember, but 2 Body Slams overcame the alleged type advantage. COFFEEWEED triumphed again with 91/108 HP at level 33.


Morty's subordinates used easily defeated Gastlys and Haunters. One "stupid AI" moment occurred when Medium Grace's last Haunter killed itself with Curse.


COFFEEWEED was level 35 and held a Berry when she first reached Morty, but it wasn't enough. His level 21 Gastly was so weak it could be killed with one Mud Slap (base 40 when super effective). But the level 21 Haunter Cursed COFFEEWEED before it died. Then Morty's star level 25 Gengar Hypnotized COFFEEWEED and started Eating her Dreams.


Death Count: 7


There was no way I was going to win this fight at level 35 without some better luck. So I decided to fight the trainers to the west and east of Ecruteak City, along with the NPCs in the Olivine City lighthouse. I needed to clear the latter area anyway.


COFFEEWEED's second Morty attempt occurred when she was level 39. The Gastly and first Haunter played out the same way as in the first try. Gengar repeatedly missed with Hypnosis this time, and 4 Mud Slaps busted it. The final level 23 Haunter faded away after attempting to lower Mud Slap's PP with Spite. COFFEEWEED held on with 44/127 HP.



COFFEEWEED the Meganium Stats

Level 39 @ Nothing


HP: 127
Attack: 80
Defense: 97
Special Attack: 81
Special Defense: 94
Speed: 89


Moves

Body Slam
Mud Slap
Razor Leaf
Synthesis

 

[adman2]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Meganium Part 4: Midgame Massacre


COFFEEWEED the Meganium plowed through the halfway point of the game with little trouble apart from perhaps the Olivine Gym.


Chuck's level 27 Primeape started by debuffing Meganium's Defense with Leer instead of attacking. The first Razor Leaf missed, but the second made up for it with a critical hit. I was quite disappointed with COFFEEWEED when her Razor Leaf left the level 30 Poliwrath with critical HP, when she was 12 levels higher and had the Miracle Seed equipped! This was the Johto Gym you were supposed to be good at, Grass starter! But it didn't matter. Poliwrath whiffed its inaccurate Dynamicpunch, and a Body Slam pinned it to the ground. COFFEEWEED won with full HP.


COFFEEWEED had a far easier time against Jasmine than CEDRIC the Noctowl did, and she even won on the first try. The first level 30 Magnemite failed its Thunder Wave accuracy check when Meganium Slapped Mud in its eye. Jasmine sent out the level 35 Steelix second instead of saving the metal snake for last. COFFEEWEED's first Razor Leaf scored a critical hit and forced Jasmine to feed Steelix a Hyper Potion on the next turn. Steelix's first and last attacks were Iron Tails, and the second activated the Defense debuff side effect. Three Razor Leaves were needed to slay the snake after the Hyper Potion. One final Mud Slap destroyed the second Magnemite, probably due to COFFEEWEED leveling up during the battle. Meganium won with 78/140 HP at level 43.



Any solo that has trouble with Team Rocket's Mahogany Town lair is unfit for the rest of the game. The enemies' levels are pathetic at this point, even the Executives. This is probably a consequence of being in a nonlinear part of the game. The developers were probably afraid of making any one Gym Leader or Team Rocket member too high level because they anticipated players might go somewhere first. OG PUFF the Jigglypuff exploited a level curve like this in the Fire Red playthrough.


Pryce the Ice Gym Leader began with a level 27 Seel which was disposed of with Body Slam. The level 29 Dewgong and level 31 Piloswine were slashed with one Razor Leaf each, resulting in a flawless victory at level 47. The real problem in a solo Grass playthrough of Crystal is more that enemies may resist your moves (Bugsy, Morty). Enemy super effective attacks like Ice aren't a problem if you can knock them out with neutral or your own super effective attacks.


COFFEEWEED the Meganium Stats

Level 47 @ Miracle Seed


HP: 153
Attack: 98
Defense: 119
Special Attack: 99
Special Defense: 115
Speed: 108


Moves

Body Slam
Mud Slap
Razor Leaf
Synthesis

 

[adman2]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Meganium Part 5: Let's Play as a Weaker Normal Type!


Team Rocket in Goldenrod's Radio Tower and the Underground was filled with Poison and the occasional Flying type. This meant Body Slam was the go-to move most of the time, with Razor Leaf being reserved for the odd Rattata or so. My lack of Return caused COFFEEWEED to miss out on several one hit KOs that she could otherwise have made, and probably made the Clair battle in Blackthorn City more difficult too.


The rival FIRBURN in the Underground was the only battle worth mentioning here. His level 30 Golbat took 2 Body Slams to crush, allowing it to Wing Attack once. Base 85 power is quite a step down from 102. Body Slam was still strong enough to bring down the level 32 Quilava in one move. The level 28 Magnemite was as weak to Mud Slap as ever. FIRBURN's level 30 Haunter killed itself casting Curse after an initial Mud Slap. Body Slam maimed the level 32 Sneasel, and COFFEEWEED won again with 142/164 HP.



Clair's 3 level 37 Dragonairs had paralyzing moves, so I gave Meganium the appropriate curing berry. It still wasn't enough. Sure, COFFEEWEED got past the first Thunder Wave and Body Slammed the Dragonair twice. The 2nd Dragonair had Thunder Wave too, along with a weak Ice Beam. COFFEEWEED may have had her flaws, but she had strong defenses. The 3rd Dragonair had Clair's signature move Dragonbreath, a base 60 Dragon attack with a chance to paralyze. It was nothing more than a mild annoyance since Meganium was already paralyzed, and 2 more Body Slams did the trick. Kingdra's only action was a Hyper Beam that left it unable to act on the following turn. Not much damage to show for it, either: COFFEEWEED won the final Johto Gym Leader battle with 97/180 HP.


Shortly before the session ended, I had COFFEEWEED go down the mountain routes in eastern Johto, which I didn't do for CEDRIC the Noctowl. The obligatory Rare Candy collection happened too. JUANA the player character flew to Goldenrod, awaiting Sunday so her solo Pokemon can finally learn Return.



COFFEEWEED the Meganium Stats

Level 57 @ Miracle Seed


HP: 187
Attack: 121
Defense: 146
Special Attack: 122
Special Defense: 142
Speed: 134


Moves

Body Slam
Mud Slap
Razor Leaf
Synthesis

 

[adman2]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Meganium Part 6: Completing the Moveset


The true Victory Road in Crystal consists of Routes 27 and 26, not the small cave with that name. COFFEEWEED smashed her way through the low level trainers with her new Return and her old standby Razor Leaf. In the Victory Road cave, a short detour near the end lead to the Earthquake TM. This was a great complement to COFFEEWEED's type coverage, as FIRBURN the rival found out the hard way. His Magneton, Haunter, and Typhlosion all happened to be weak to this 100 base power move, and were buried in one hit. Sneasel, Golbat, and Kadabra were as frail as ever and fell to Return, resulting in a flawless victory for Meganium.


Will the Psychic member of the Elite 4 was no more of a threat than FIRBURN. His 2 Xatus, a Jynx, and an Exeggutor were victims to Return, including a critical on the latter. Razor Leaf's increased critical chance activated when the final Slowbro appeared.



Koga the Poison member had only 1 Pokemon weak to Earthquake despite that type normally being weak to Ground. Ariados and Venomoth were weak Bugs that took a Return to the thorax. Muk was pure Poison and one Earthquake could kill it. Crobat was a high enough level to require 2 Returns, and its one Double Team evasion buff failed to save it. Forretress's extremely high Defense and Bug/Steel type gave it more opportunities to cause trouble before Meganium opened fissures with Earthquake. But Forretress's movepool was shallow in Crystal. One turn, it used Spikes, though that only hurts Pokemon when they switch and therefore is harmless to a solo. One Swift dealt minor damage, resulting in a victory with 189/200 HP.


Bruno the Fighting master began with a Hitmontop that had the priority Quick Attack. It loved to poke at COFFEEWEED with this weak move. 2 Returns made the Capoeira fighter stop dancing. His fellow Tyrogue evolutions Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan were too frail to survive a single Return. Machamp was level 46 and had the best HP and Defense of all. Its Cross Chop was the strongest Fighting move available in Crystal, but fortunately its high critical rate didn't kick in. Bruno healed it with an item, so COFFEEWEED struck with a Razor Leaf and then a Return finisher. Meganium survived with 140/204 HP.



Karen the Dark specialist was as much of a Poison master as Koga, given that only 6 Dark types existed at the time. COFFEEWEED needed 2 Returns to kill Umbreon, making me concerned that Karen would have this sturdy Dark type use Confuse Ray or Sand Attack to mess up the rest of the fight. When it was defeated, Vileplume appeared, which also had good defenses. Its Stun Spore paralyzed COFFEEWEED, leaving her easy prey for a critical hit Flamethrower from Houndoom now that she had a massive Speed debuff.


Death Count: 8 (First since Morty!)


Vileplume whiffed the Stun Spore on the second try, which made the rest of the battle easy. There's a reason Pokemon players tell you that Speed is the most important stat! Earthquake crushed both Houndoom and the Gengar that caused so many problems for CEDRIC the Noctowl. COFFEEWEED clipped Murkrow's wings with a Return and won the battle with 189/204 HP. The only damage she took was from a base 60 Faint Attack from Umbreon.


Lance the Champion began with a Gyarados that set up Rain Dance, then ignored its weather effect by using the Normal type Flail. 3 Razor Leaves sent the Flying fish to Davy Jones's Locker. The first Dragonite somehow missed with Thunder Wave, allowing COFFEEWEED to slay it with 2 Returns. Aerodactyl was Rock/Flying, so only Razor Leaf would deal neutral damage. Even with the super effective bonus, its Wing Attack wasn't that dangerous. Charizard's Flamethrower was much more threatening, though it only got to use that move once because of Return's high damage output.


COFFEEWEED instead had to fear the level 50 Dragonite. I didn't know it had Fire Blast because Lance never picked it in the CEDRIC the Noctowl playthrough. But Synthesis came through and healed off the damage. Outrage gave me a breather to defeat it with Returns. The last Dragonite whiffed with Thunder Wave like the first one did. This move had 100 accuracy in the 2nd generation, so was I experiencing a weird glitch? One Thunder Wave eventually landed. Dragonite fired a Hyper Beam and COFFEEWEED defeated the cheater Champion with a Return. She won the Johto Pokemon League with 166/207 HP.



COFFEEWEED the Meganium Stats

Level 63 @ Miracle Seed


HP: 207
Attack: 136
Defense: 163
Special Attack: 137
Special Defense: 158
Speed: 149


Moves

Return
Earthquake
Razor Leaf
Synthesis

 

[adman2]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Meganium Finale: Choking at the Last Second


As you would expect for a solo Crystal playthrough, much of Kanto was a joke for COFFEEWEED the Meganium. Lt. Surge, Sabrina, Janine, Brock, Misty, Blaine, and the final rival battle with FIRBURN at Mt. Moon were all defeated without taking a single point of damage. Sabrina's Espeon barely survived a Return, but wasted its only opportunity to act with a failed Sand Attack. Earthquake ensured COFFEEWEED would never have to worry about some Grass and Normal-resistant Pokemon like Magneton or Gengar again.


Erika was my 3rd Gym Leader battle this time, and some of her Grass types had Defense and HP high enough to survive the initial Return. Her Tangela put COFFEEWEED for 4 turns and then started lightly tapping my starter with resisted Giga Drains and Vine Whips. Erika healed her Victreebel with a Hyper Potion, so I used Earthquake to save some PP for Return. Bellossom cast Sunny Day and then died the following round. With the help of Leftovers in the Celadon restaurant trash can, COFFEEWEED won with full HP.


Blue had a team with decent levels unlike the rest of his region. Pidgeot struck with a Wing Attack before falling to a second Return. Exeggutor attempted to launch Leech Seed, but failed. A Solarbeam charging turn gave Meganium an opening for another Return KO. Arcanine's stats were good enough to barely survive an Earthquake, resulting in a Flamethrower reprisal. Blue healed his Fire dog with a Full Restore, though it turned out that it fell within a "damage range" one hit Earthquake KO later on.


Alakazam's brains were no match for Return's brawn. Gyarados set up Rain Dance to increase its Water attack power, though 2 Razor Leaf criticals prevented it from taking advantage of the weather. A final Razor Leaf eroded Rhydon and won COFFEEWEED her final badge with 246/247 HP.


But this rampage across Kanto didn't prepare COFFEEWEED for what happened next. I saved before talking to Red, then stuffed Meganium with 5 Rare Candies, boosting her level to 79. Meganium was in the Medium Slow experience group like all "starter trio" Pokemon, so she was at a disadvantage compared to CEDRIC the Noctowl.


Red's Pikachu was easy enough to kill with Return or Earthquake. Venusaur often set up Sunny Day in order to use 1 turn Solarbeams or heal itself with a boosted Synthesis. The best way to deal with Venusaur was to wait out the weather, unless Red's AI was stupid and decided to make it charge up a Solarbeam right away instead of summoning weather first. The hurdle for this fight was Charizard. If I was lucky, Flamethrower would be a 2 hit KO. When the game was being cruel, Flamethrower would debuff COFFEEWEED's Attack with a burn chance, or score a critical hit and destroy her outright.


Death Count: 17


COFFEEWEED choked so dramatically in the last battle that she perished more times in Silver Cave than the rest of the playthrough combined! One moment for a solo run blooper reel was that I forgot to use the Rare Candies on Take 2 and fought Red at level 74. Before Take 3, COFFEEWEED cruised around Kanto and beat up route trainers and Cal's Johto starters in the Viridian City Trainer House. This took her to level 82 with the Rare Candies. When that still wasn't enough, I picked up the hidden Rare Candies from Route 34 and the Whirl Islands, which I had never done for any earlier Crystal solo.


Being level 84 made the difference. COFFEEWEED now had a chance to make Charizard faint with 2 Returns, if the damage rolls went my way. Replacing Earthquake and Synthesis with Rest and Sleep Talk allowed Meganium to heal HP and cure status ailments if needed. The first level 84 attempt failed, but Charizard went down on the next try. Espeon set up Reflect to buff the team's Defense before dying. Snorlax tried to ward off Razor Leaf with Amnesia's +2 to Special Defense, but this didn't account for a high critical hit chance. Body Slam paralyzed COFFEEWEED, and it was time for her to Rest. Sleep Talk's random actions were both great for me: a critical hit Razor Leaf that ignored Amnesia, and a Return that put Snorlax to sleep forever. Blastoise summoned weather with Rain Dance, leaving the Kanto Water starter open to 2 Razor Leaves. COFFEEWEED won the game with 275/281 HP at level 81.


Stay tuned for a postscript where I explain why Meganium is one of the worst starters in Pokemon history!



COFFEEWEED the Meganium Final Stats

Level 84 @ Leftovers


HP: 281
Attack: 188
Defense: 225
Special Attack: 189
Special Defense: 218
Speed: 205


Moves

Return
Razor Leaf
Rest
Sleep Talk

 

[adman2]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Meganium Postscript


Players often joke about kids playing Pokemon as a "starter solo", and there's good reason for that. Starter Pokemon don't have to be caught in the wild, and often come with good stats and moves. Meganium is an exception if you're not using artificial healing or buffing items in combat.


GameFreak intended for Meganium to be a defensive support monster. Its natural moveset includes the team buffs Reflect, Light Screen, and Safeguard, and the self-healing Synthesis. Meganium has 100 base Defense and Special Defense, but only 82 in Attack and 83 in Special Attack. The problem with this setup is that Meganium is a pure Grass type that has weaknesses to Fire, Ice, Flying, Bug, and Poison. Bad matchups against enemies Lance's Fire Blasting Dragonite and Red's Charizard prove that a good typing makes for a better defense than raw stats. Pokemon games in general tend not to have drawn out battles like some other RPGs, so it's more efficient to pick a fast monster and kill everything in one hit.


Grass is not just a bad defensive type, but a terrible offensive one as well. Many types resist it: Fire, Grass, Poison, Flying, Bug, Dragon, Steel, and effectively Ghost given the Gastly line's dual typing. Meganium has the misfortune to fight some of these in Johto before the solo level advantage kicks in and masks disadvantages. Grass's best move in Crystal is Razor Leaf, which has an underwhelming 55 base power and a 5% chance to miss. The only compensation Razor Leaf offers to Meganium is its 1/4 critical hit chance. Compare that to Feraligatr's Surf or Typhlosion's Flamethrower, both base 95!


Meganium also has inferior type coverage to the other Johto starters. Feraligatr and Typhlosion can buy elemental punch TMs in Goldenrod to deal with Pokemon that resist their main attacks. Meganium gets Return. Return is a good move, sure, but it can never be super effective, and coming off base 82 Attack without a same type attack bonus means that it'll often fail to KO enemies in one shot. Earthquake is useful, but comes right before the Pokemon League. To defeat Morty and Jasmine in the midgame, Meganium has to resort to the base 20 Mud Slap.


So solo Crystal Meganium spends much of the game pretending to be a Normal type, without solo Sapphire Breloom's base 130 Attack. If Meganium makes it past all the obstacles Johto has to throw at it, then Red will mow its lawn unless it's in the mid 80s, and even then you're not guaranteed to win. The level advantage you've had for much of the game disappears for the final boss.


And that's why you shouldn't pick the Grass starter when you play Crystal, kids!

 

[adman2]

Pokemon White Solo Audino Overview


Writing these playthroughs has gotten a bit repetitive once I've done the same game multiple times. So I'm experimenting with a shorter format. The 1st post of this solo Audino challenge will be like the Postscripts, while the 2nd and final posts will concern my experiences during the major battles.


Unova Pokemon are often compared to species from older games. This is understandable, since the goal of White was to have only new Pokemon until the postgame, and various concepts were going to be recycled. Audino fills the role of "Normal type with high HP and mediocre offenses that can learn many moves via TM". Wigglytuff and Clefable are the closest equivalents to Audino, at least before they were retconned into being Fairy types. I didn't give Audino a nickname during the playthrough proper, but you can call him DIET PUFF.


Audino has an impressive list of machine-learned moves when you look up its information in a guide. But Pokemon White's linearity and odd TM placement work against Audino as a solo character. Potentially useful moves like Psyshock, Psychic, Calm Mind, Ice Beam, and Flamethrower are not available at all until you beat the main story.


In practice, the main TMs and HMs Audino will use are Dig, Return, Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt, Surf, and Work Up. You can play around with gimmick Rain Dance or Sunny Day tactics if you want once you reach Mistralton City, home of the 6th Gym.


You can catch your Audino in the Dreamyard east of Striaton City immediately after getting the 1st badge. Neither passive Ability will help you, so you don't have to worry about it. Healer cures status ailments, but only for other teammates in Double or Triple Battles. Regenerator restores HP upon switching, and guess what you won't be doing in a solo run.


Audino is stuck with subpar Normal attacks like Pound and Doubleslap until it reaches level 20 and learns the base 70 physical attack Secret Power. Make sure to get that move before taking on Lenora in the 2nd Gym. Secret Power's side effect chance in Gym terrain is paralysis, making it an inferior Body Slam.


Dig can be acquired in the Route 4 desert after defeating Burgh and getting the 3rd badge. This 2 turn Ground move will be your only type coverage for a while, unless you count Grass Knot, which I never bothered using. Your main move Return is sold in the Nimbasa City shop right before the Ferris Wheel N battle and the 4th Gym. Same type attack bonus with Return combined with the Fast experience group usually makes up for Audino's base 60 Attack.


Not much changes until you defeat Cheren near Twist Mountain after the 6th badge. Then, you get Surf, which Audino can learn for some bizarre reason. It's even more odd when you realize Audino gets no other HM. Backtracking to the sea routes near the starting town is worth it for the Thunderbolt TM. Once the Team Plasma gauntlet starts in Relic Castle after the 7th Gym, be sure to pick up Shadow Ball to deal with those pesky Ghosts that are immune to Return.


Work Up is one of the most valuable TMs for White solos, and you get it as a prize from the 1st Gym. It's a +1 buff to both Attack and Special Attack, which is great for a Pokemon with lackluster offenses that use both physical and special moves.


Solo Audino has an easier time with the Elite 4 than you may think. Be sure to equip the Rocky Helmet from the outside area of Cold Storage when you fight Marshal. This is the way you get around Sawk surviving at 1 HP with Sturdy. Sawk will Karate Chop or something and kill itself with the contact damage.


You'll have to eat one loss when you fight N in his castle, because the game forces the legendary dragon into your party for the 1st attempt. Ghetsis will likely defeat you once too unless you have a Pecha Berry to cure Cofagrigus's Toxic poison. Your Audino stats may vary a bit from mine due to IVs and Nature, but outspeeding Hydreigon and its Focus Blast forced me to use my Rare Candies.

 

[adman2]

Pokemon White Solo Audino Highlights Part 1


DIET PUFF the Audino Final Stats


Audino Final Stats



Level 82 @ Nothing

Lax Nature (+10% Defense, -10% Special Defense), Often Dozes Off
Ability: Healer


HP: 294
Attack: 154
Defense: 185
Special Attack: 127
Special Defense: 135
Speed: 141


Moves

Return
Surf
Shadow Ball
Work Up



Striaton Gym: I picked Tepig to ensure the rivals wouldn't get a Fire/Fighting Emboar. This may have been a mistake. I had to clear the 1st Gym before getting Audino, so the solo rules didn't count until then. Even with both Tepig and Pansage, the Lillipup and Panpour were weirdly hard compared to other playthroughs. The Death Count would increase by about 3 if I bothered including the Striaton Trio battle in it.



Cheren Route 3: This was a close victory for DIET PUFF. His level 14 Oshawott got a critical hit with Water Gun, and Audino's Doubleslap missed once. Purrloin wasn't too much of a problem. Audino won with 6/53 HP at level 13.


N Nacrene City: I leveled up on wild Audinos to learn Secret Power. This may have been overkill for the 2nd N battle. Work Up's Attack buff was removed when his level 13 Pidove used a Growl debuff. Secret Power's brute strength defeated Pidove, Timburr, and Tympole. Audino triumphed with 61/81 HP at level 21.


Lenora: With the level 18 Herdier's automatic Intimidate debuff, several Work Ups were needed to increase Secret Power's strength. Audino's unusually high HP and Defense for this point in the game allowed it to survive a double power Retaliate from Watchog, but DIET PUFF fell to a Crunch on the following turn.


Secret Power paralyzed Herdier on the 2nd attempt, and it opted to use the recoil move Take Down instead of decreasing Audino's Defense with Leer. Watchog squandered its chance for a max power Retaliate and whiffed with Hypnosis instead.


Death Count: 1


Burgh: This was one of the worst moments in the playthrough because this loss was purely my fault. Audino can cure some status ailments with the move Refresh, and I forgot I had it when Burgh's level 21 Whirlipede used Poison Tail. With the help of Burgh's items, Whirlipede stalled DIET PUFF to death.


On Take 2, I equipped a Pecha Berry to automatically cure poison if Audino was unlucky with Poison Tail. Several Work Ups strengthened Secret Power. 2 attacks were needed for Dwebble because it was Bug/Rock and resisted Normal. A critical hit Razor Leaf from Leavanny almost resulted in another defeat after the 1st Secret Power failed to KO due to a bad damage roll. DIET PUFF won with 38/118 HP at level 32.



Death Count: 2


Bianca Route 4 Gate: 2 Work Ups combined with Secret Power destroyed Herdier, Munna, Servine, and Panpour.


Cheren Route 4 Desert: The only damage Audino took in this battle was from Pidove's Air Cutter on the Work Up setup turn. One Secret Power defeated Pidove, Dewott, Pansear, and Liepard.


N Nimbasa City: Audino got a free Work Up turn when N's Sandile decided to use Embargo to disable my held item instead of attacking. One Return each slaughtered Sandile, Scraggy, Darumaka, and Sigilyph, giving Audino a flawless victory at level 38.


Elesa: No Work Up was needed here, as the 4th Gym Leader used fragile Electric types. It wasn't a flawless victory because one level 25 Emolga passively paralyzed Audino with Static. Return unfortunately is a contact move, activating enemy Abilities like Static and Poison Point. Both Emolgas and Zebstrika collapsed after one Return each hit them. Audino won with 88/142 HP at level 39.

 

[adman2]

Pokemon White Solo Audino Highlights Part 2


Cheren West of Nimbasa: Cheren was clever enough to have his Liepard cast Torment when Audino buffed with Work Up. Torment prevents Pokemon from using the same move consecutively, so I had to alternate between Dig and Return. But Liepard, Dewott, Pansear, and Tranquill weren't difficult, and DIET PUFF won with 115/146 HP at level 40.


Clay: The 5th Gym Leader's level 29 Krokorok confused Audino with Swagger. Combined with Work Up, my solo was at +3 Attack. Bulldoze reduced DIET PUFF's Speed by 1 stage too. DIET PUFF failed several confusions at the worst possible time when Clay's strongest monster Excadrill appeared. But the AI was stupid and kept buffing Attack and accuracy with Hone Claws instead of going for the kill. With +3 Attack and the Ground held item Soft Sand, a single Dig was enough to bury the mole. DIET PUFF won with 91/157 HP at level 43.


Bianca in Driftveil: 2 Work Ups counteracted Herdier's Intimidate. 1 Return defeated Herdier, Panpour, Servine, and Musharna. The only damage Audino took was from a Take Down at the beginning.


N Chargestone Cave: This fight was harder than I expected. Boldore took 3 Digs to defeat because it kept increasing its Defense with Iron Defense. Joltik only took 1 Return, but Ferroseed's Iron Barbs passive Ability caused significant recoil damage to DIET PUFF when he Dug. Ferroseed also had Iron Defense and Metal Claw to cause trouble. Klink at the end required just one Dig to exploit its pure Steel typing. Audino won at level 48 with 100/174 HP.


Skyla: The 6th Gym Leader was a flawless victory! Her Swoobat, Unfezant, and Swanna tipped over like dominoes when Audino hit them with Return.


Cheren at Twist Mountain: The only damage Audino took here was from an unavoidable Liepard Fake Out.


Brycen: Vanillish at the beginning and Cryogonal at the end were as weak to Return as most other monsters. But Beartic could use Swagger after it survived one strike, and DIET PUFF hit himself in confusion once. Audino won with 185/221 HP at level 61.



Bianca Final Battle: Stoutland refused to attack, preferring to Work Up. This led to the odd situation of seeing both sides use the exact same buff for 2 turns in a row. Return and Shadow Ball sent Stoutland, Serperior, Simipour, and Musharna back to their Poke Balls for a flawless victory at level 65.



Iris: The final Gym Leader was yet another perfect victory, this time at level 68. Her Fraxure increased its Attack and Speed on the 1st turn with Dragon Dance, but my Audino's level advantage was so great he outsped his opponent anyway. One Return each demolished Fraxure, Druddigon, and Haxorus.


Cheren Final Battle: Unfezant managed to sneak in an Air Slash because it finally had enough HP and Defense to survive a Return. Its Taunt came too late, as DIET PUFF had already Worked Up on the previous turn. Return smacked Unfezant, Samurott, Liepard, and Simisear, resulting in a 221/249 HP victory at level 69.



Shauntal: By the time DIET PUFF reached the Pokemon League, he was at level 73 without any Rare Candy assistance. The 1st Elite 4 member's Ghost types couldn't damage a Normal monster at all with their primary type, but Audino could deal super effective damage with his coverage TMs. Cofagrigus's Will O Wisp missed on the Work Up turn. A +1 Shadow Ball failed to KO the defensive coffin, but it got a lucky Special Defense debuff, ensuring the next would finish it off no matter how many Full Restores Shauntal fed it. Golurk and Chandelure were weak to Surf, which had a higher base power than Shadow Ball. Jellicent must have used one of its Water attacks before 2 Shadow Balls exorcised it. DIET PUFF won with 189/263 HP at level 73.



Caitlin: Although the Psychic Elite 4 member would seem like an obvious candidate for Shadow Ball, I went with Return because Psychics tended to have less Defense than Special Defense. It was a full HP victory because Reuniclus failed to cast Focus Blast on the Work Up turn. One Return proved to Reuniclus, Sigilyph, Gothitelle, and Musharna that brawns were better than brains.


Grimsley: Scrafty almost cost me the match with the Dark Elite 4 member, but not because of its Brick Break attack. Instead, it had Sand Attack to lower my accuracy like Karen's Umbreon in Pokemon Crystal. Scrafty had decent enough Defenses that 2 Returns were needed for the KO. Krookodile was drowned in a Surf. Bisharp's Night Slashes, including 1 critical hit, took a toll on DIET PUFF. Surfs provided neutral coverage against this Steel type. The last enemy attack was a Liepard's Fake Out. Audino survived with 62/270 HP at level 75.


Marshal: DIET PUFF wore the Rocky Helmet to battle against his one elemental weakness: Fighting. Throh decreased Audino's Speed with a Bulldoze attack before it fell to a +1 Return. Conkeldurr fainted without attacking at all. Mienshao was fast and Jump Kicked DIET PUFF for major damage, but had a low tolerance for Return pain. Sawk's Karate Chop triggered the Rocky Helmet recoil trap, and Return finished the fight with 98/270 HP at level 75.



N Final Battle: Reshiram's repeated Fusion Flares dealt too much damage to Audino when he had to switch in on the 1st turn and buff with Work Up. By the time Zoroark disguised as "Klinklang" appeared, DIET PUFF didn't stand a chance.


On Try #2, I used a Rare Candy to offset the Friendship loss caused by fainting. A +1 Return critical slew Reshiram the white Dragon. I suspected N would try the Klinklang disguise for Zoroark again, so Audino used Return instead of Surf. I was right, and knocked out the Dark type gimmick fox in one hit. The real Klinklang seemed like decent setup bait, so DIET PUFF used Work Up again. The most the Steel type enemy did was debuff Special Defense with Metal Sound. Surf made Klinklang rust, and Return shattered Vanilluxe. Carracosta survived Surf with Sturdy, and got around Rocky Helmet recoil by using the non-contact move Stone Edge. Carracosta was at low enough HP that it went into a Full Restore death spiral, so more Surfs fossilized the turtle once more. Archeops was buried in sedimentary rock with a final Surf.


Death Count: 3


Ghetsis: Should have equipped the Pecha Berry and used all my Rare Candies before facing the final boss! It would have saved me some trouble. Some Pokemon can probably pull off lower level solo challenges, but Audino isn't one of them. Cofagrigus's Toxic and Protect stalling did DIET PUFF in on the 1st attempt, and Hydreigon outsped and cast super effective Focus Blasts on the 2nd.


Increasing Audino to level 82 with Rare Candies was the way to go. If all else fails in a "No Battle Item" solo, overlevel. Work Up was free thanks to the Pecha Berry auto-curing Toxic from Cofagrigus. Shadow Ball forced Ghetsis to inter his coffin Pokemon in another coffin. DIET PUFF outsped Hydreigon this time and beat all 3 heads with Return. Bouffalant's skull and Seismitoad's skin weren't thick enough to blunt Return. Ghetsis's Bisharp needed multiple Surfs to get past a Full Restore, but wasn't quite as dangerous as Grimsley's version. A Night Slash from Bisharp was the only damage dealt to DIET PUFF in the whole battle. The final Eelektross went belly up after Audino bludgeoned it with Return. DIET PUFF won the game with 225/294 HP at level 82!


Final Death Count: 5

 

[adman2]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Rattata Part 1: Unevolved Normal Types are Still Too Strong for Johto


While considering which RPG to replay after the Chrono Cross, it occurred to me to try a Rattata solo in Pokemon Crystal. Early Pokemon games don't require players to sit through cutscenes for a nonsensical plot, and have a high replay value due to the selection of monsters and moves.


Rattata is mostly a joke among Pokemon fans. It's infamous for beating bad players using a level 100 Pokemon with the Focus Sash, Endeavor, and Quick Attack strategy since the Diamond/Pearl days. When it comes to Gold/Silver/Crystal, Youngster Joey tends to call the player bragging about how his Rattata is in the "top percentage", thinking they'll be impressed by murdering level 2 Caterpies.


So of course I picked the male trainer and named him JOEY after the meme. The starter Cyndaquil was so pathetic that it lost to Rival ???'s Totodile, even with a Berry and a Potion. Totodile didn't even know any Water attacks! This won't go in the DEATH COUNT because that's for the chosen one.


Rattata came immediately in the route west of New Bark Town after JOEY received Poke Balls for the first time. I had set the ingame time to midnight before starting to increase Rattata's random encounter spawn rate to make things quicker. Being a female Rattata was especially welcome for reasons any Johto player should already know. For those who don't, I'll explain during the relevant part of the game. Rattata received the name TOPPERCENT.


Starting at only Level 2 made level grinding a little trickier than it would have been for many solo Pokemon. TOPPERCENT had to consume a Berry to survive a fight with a Level 3 Hoothoot, and she might not have managed to do it at all if Hoothoot tried Tackle more often than the ATTACK debuff Growl. To ensure TOPPERCENT would be in top form for the early trainer battles, she grinded up to Level 6.


Youngster Joey's boasts about his Rattata were bravado. The true TOPPERCENT outsped her rival and Tackled 3 times to victory. She lost 10 out of her 20 HP from enemy Tackles. Fighting wild Poliwags and Hoothoots on that route raised TOPPERCENT to Level 7 and gave her the turn order priority move Quick Attack. Having 5 more base power than Tackle and 100 accuracy instead of 95 made Quick Attack strictly superior even without the priority.


Sprout Tower's plants were prey for Rattata, though she almost lost to Sage Troy's Level 7 Bellsprout and Hoothoot when I was too overconfident to use a Potion before the battle to be at full HP. Sage Li's 1st Bellsprout Vine Whipped TOPPERCENT down to 18/30 HP, though the 2nd wasted its turn enhancing its SPCL. ATK with Growth instead of attacking. Li's Level 10 Hoothoot spent its 1st turn casting Foresight, even though Rattata wasn't a Ghost type or had any Evasion modifiers. Hoothoot realized it had to act on the 2nd turn and Tackled Rattata, but it was too late to avoid a Quick Attack KO. TOPPERCENT conquered Sprout Tower at Level 12 with 13/31 HP.


Rattata chewed through Violet City Gym's underlings' Pidgey and Spearow, then gnawed a wild Poliwag to reach Level 13 and gain Hyper Fang, a Normal move with 80 power, 90 accuracy, and a 10% chance to make the enemy flinch and lose its turn. The chance of missing was worrisome, but it would still be TOPPERCENT's main attack for a while.


TOPPERCENT equipped a BERRY in case she needed to automatically restore 10 HP during the first Gym battle. Falkner led with a Level 7 Pidgey. Rattata found it delicious when she tasted it with a Hyper Fang. Next came a Level 9 Pidgeotto, who was at least sturdy enough to survive one Hyper Fang bite. Pidgeotto flapped its wings and sent a Gust at Rattata, but another Hyper Fang chomped Falkner's star Pokemon and won the battle at Level 13 with 25/33 HP.


Falkner yielded two prizes after JOEY won: the Mud-Slap TM, and the Zephyr Badge that boosted Rattata's ATTACK by 12.5%. If a guide on Reddit on the subject is correct, "badge boosts" act as a stat modifier in battle even though they aren't reflected on the stats screen. Another quirk of the 2nd generation games' badge system is that each badge also increases the power of its corresponding type's moves by 12.5%. Physical attackers have a considerable advantage in Johto due to getting ATTACK early on, while special attackers have to hold out until defeating Pryce.


Rattata forgot Tackle and learned Mud-Slap from the TM. Although it only had base 20 power, its Ground type provided necessary coverage against certain opponents. Rattata wouldn't have the chance to learn a non-Normal attack by level until 27, and Pursuit would run off her inferior SPCL. ATK. Mud-Slap came in handy against the Rock types like Geodude and Onix in Union Cave that resisted Hyper Fang.


Just to the east of Azalea Town, TOPPERCENT fell victim to the spinning Hiker Anthony who was difficult to avoid. After his Geodude conked Rattata on the head with a Rock Throw, his Level 11 Machop Low Kicked to take advantage of the solo hero's one weakness: Fighting type moves. Hiker Anthony has trolled my other solo challenges too, if you care to read them.


DEATH COUNT: 1


Team Rocket in the Slowpoke Well shouldn't have been a threat to Azalea Town's residents at all. If a single Rattata could clear out the criminals at Levels 17-18, it makes their Gym Leader Bugsy look bad! (At least the Unova Gym Leaders fought back against Team Plasma. . .)


And Bugsy really was weak if two of his Pokemon were the Level 14 Metapod and Level 14 Kakuna pupas. TOPPERCENT had a PSNCUREBERRY ready in case Poison Sting injected venom, but it wasn't necessary. A misclick at the beginning of the battle made Rattata Quick Attack instead of increasing her critical hit rate with Focus Energy, resulting in a String Shot debuff to Speed. That was corrected on the next round.


A critical Hyper Fang broke Metapod's shell, though Kakuna could take one hit. The 2nd Hyper Fang missed, so a Quick Attack subtracted the rest of Kakuna's HP. Bugsy's star was a Level 16 Scyther, who had higher stats than a 2nd Gym Pokemon should. Scyther's Fury Cutter doubled its power each time it hit, and TOPPERCENT whiffed one Hyper Fang. She limped out of the arena victorious with 2/47 HP (!) at Level 20.


If Mud-Slap was helpful in Union Cave, it was vital against Rival ???'s 2nd battle in Azalea Town. His lead Level 12 Gastly was immune to Normal attacks, though its Ghost type attack Lick was harmless to Rattata too. The first attempt failed in a way unlike what most Pokemon players could expect to see. Hypnosis made Rattata doze off even after a Mud-Slap accuracy debuff, and Gastly proceeded to Spite away all of Mud-Slap's PP. With no viable attacks, the only options were to try to hold out long enough to drain every other move's PP and use the untyped last resort move Struggle, or reset. Guess what I chose!


RAN OUT OF PP AND HAD TO RESET COUNT: 1


On Take 2, Gastly still put Rattata to sleep, but Spite drained few PP from Mud-Slap, and she woke up early. Rattata mauled ???'s Level 14 Zubat with a Hyper Fang. ???'s Level 16 Croconaw had hide too tough to chew with one Hyper Fang, and managed to get in two Water Guns before succumbing to a 2nd Hyper Fang and a Quick Attack finisher. Rattata defeated the "might makes right" rival with 26/49 HP at Level 21. The BITTER BERRY meant to counter Zubat's Supersonic confusion move went unused.


Besides setting the game to midnight, I also made sure to make it Sunday. This was because the woman who handed out the Return TM in Goldenrod City's department store only appeared on then. TOPPERCENT was happy to dump Hyper Fang for a better Normal move with 102 power at maximum friendship, 100 accuracy, and more PP.


Instead of confronting the 3rd Gym Leader right away, Rattata jumped the trainers in and around Goldenrod City for levels, and acquired the Dig TM by walking through an invisible gap in a fence in the National Park. Dig may have been weaker in the 2nd generation games than other entries, with only 60 base power instead of 100 or 80. But Rattata needed all the type coverage she could get, and it was still 3 times better than Mud-Slap.


(Depending on how this playthrough works out, Rattata might need to burrow underground to dodge some attacks too. . .)


By the time TOPPERCENT reached Whitney the Gym Leader, she was at Level 28 and had a BERRY equipped. The Normal type representative started with a Level 18 Clefairy whose random Metronome move drew the weak Bug attack Twinneedle. Rattata took advantage of this to buff her critical hit rate with Focus Energy before Returning Clefairy to its Poke Ball.


The reason for solo Rattata being female was for Whitney's infamous Level 20 Miltank. Miltank had good stats for the early game, the ability to heal 50% max HP with Milk Drink, and the combo Rock move Rollout. Her most annoying trick, however, was Attract, which would render any male Pokemon "immobilized by love" for half of his turns. (Miltank is always female.) Remember what solo Jigglypuff did to early game opponents when they activated her equivalent Cute Charm passive ability?


TOPPERCENT didn't have to be concerned about Attract, and Dig could dodge runaway Rollouts if necessary. After the first Return, Miltank Stomped Rattata, causing her to consume her BERRY. That was perhaps the last part of the game where a 10 HP auto-heal could be useful. Miltank's first Rollout missed, and 2 more Returns made Whitney cry and refuse to give her badge until after a brief conversation. Her behavior was more understandable when you realize she lost to a Level 28 Rattata with 38/63 HP. lol


Whitney surrendered the Attract TM and the Plain Badge, which raised both Speed and the power of Normal moves. It was a good time to take a break.


TOPPERCENT the Rattata Stats and Moves


Level 28 @ Nothing

HP: 63
ATTACK: 43
DEFENSE: 33
SPCL. ATK: 26
SPCL. DEF: 32
SPEED: 53

Quick Attack
Focus Energy
Dig
Return


According to Serebii, Rattata has the following base stats:


HP: 30
ATTACK: 56
DEFENSE: 35
SPCL. ATK: 25
SPCL. DEF: 35
SPEED: 72


Rattata's main disadvantage is her frailty. 56 ATTACK sounds bad until you realize that CEDRIC the solo Noctowl was forced to work with 50 and still beat Red. Defensive tactics like Rest + Sleep Talk may not work for TOPPERCENT in the final battle like for the other Crystal solos.

 

[adman2]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Rattata Part 2: HM MULES are Tougher Than Gym Leaders


TOPPERCENT slew the only Sudowoodo in Pokemon Crystal by Digging under it 3 times. Its only remotely successful attempt at self-defense was a Flail that reduced Rattata's HP to 50/63. Served Sudowoodo right for blocking paths to Violet City and Ecruteak City until the correct badge was won!


??? challenged our hero JOEY once more in the Burned Tower in Ecruteak City. Dig burrowed under the Level 20 Haunter, since Crystal was before the 3rd generation retcon that gave its line Levitate immunity to Ground. ???'s Level 18 Magnemite died the same way. His Level 20 Zubat's DEFENSE was too weak to take a Return. A Level 22 Croconaw was at least sturdy enough to survive one Return, then react with a Bite. Rattata conquered at Level 29 with 51/65 HP.


TOPPERCENT defeated all the Kimono Girls' Eevee evolutions in one trip. The only dangers were Vaporeon's Water Gun and Umbreon's Pursuit, since their stat loadout had better DEFENSE than Espeon, Jolteon, and Flareon.


None of the Ecruteak City Gym trainers had a pure Ghost type Misdreavus, so all the Gastly line opponents were weak to Dig. Before fighting the 4th Gym Leader Morty, Rattata equipped the Quick Claw in case his star was faster in order to have a random chance of going first. Morty's Level 21 Gastly and Haunter devolved into ectoplasm with one Dig.


The Level 25 Gengar was a top tier fully evolved Pokemon, and acted accordingly. When Rattata rose to the surface after the first Dig, Gengar put her to sleep with Hypnosis and started Eating her Dreams. Dream Eater stole 44 HP and restored a portion of Gengar's health too. TOPPERCENT lived up to her name on the following turn and woke up early to tunnel under Gengar a 2nd time for the KO. Morty's final Level 23 Haunter was only a formality, and TOPPERCENT got her 4th badge at Level 33 with 30/74 HP. Her prizes were the Ghost element badge and a Shadow Ball TM which she could potentially use later.


(For reasons known only to GameFreak, Ghost moves are physical in the first 3 generations, and Dark moves are special attacks. Shadow Ball therefore runs on Rattata's ATTACK if used.)


Quick Attack was replaced with the "half damage to current HP" Super Fang, since there was no move relearner in Crystal and it was now or never. While traveling west of Ecruteak near the ranch, JOEY plucked a MINT BERRY from the tree in case Rattata would have to automatically wake up from sleep later. (If only I had used that in the Morty battle!)


With the help of a Krabby caught with Olivine City's Good Rod, JOEY Surfed across the ocean to Cianwood and picked up the SECRET POTION to cure Ampharos in the lighthouse and return Jasmine to her Gym. Rattata was not prepared for a Steel Gym with a Level 35 Pokemon with 200 base DEFENSE and a same type attack bonus 100 power move. shakehead


TOPPERCENT was still brave enough to try at Level 40 holding a PRZCUREBERRY. The 1st Level 30 Magnemite tried to paralyze her with Thunder Wave, but the held item warded against it. Rattata used this turn to buff her critical rate with Focus Energy, then started Digging. Rattata's burrows demagnetized both Magnemites, but Steelix whipped her with Iron Tail after Super Fang and 2 Digs failed to KO him. A rematch failed in the same way. It was clear more level grinding with random trainers was in order.


DEATH COUNT: 3


When trying to unequip the PRZCUREBERRY to save it for later, I received the message "Item storage space full". Isn't item management in old RPGs wonderful? At least it isn't Earthbound where the key items and equipment fill up half your storage space.


A surprising source of Game Overs was the Red Gyarados in the Lake of Rage, normally a good Pokemon to manage the Strength, Waterfall, Whirlpool, and Surf HMs outside of combat. On the first try, an Ultra Ball and 3 Great Balls failed to catch it even after Super Fang reduced it to half HP, and a Thrash exterminated the rat after a few Leer debuffs.


DEATH COUNT: 4


On Take 2, Red Gyarados breathed Dragon Rage, a move always fixed at 40 damage. This made me realize how terrible Rattata's defenses were, since she only had 91 HP at the time! Dragon Rage is normally the terror of Pokemon Stadium Pika Cup monsters in the Level 15-20 range, but even into the 40s, Rattata had to fear it. 2 Super Fangs and an Ultra Ball were in vain, and a Bite put TOPPERCENT out of her misery.


DEATH COUNT: 5


Take 3 ended after Dragon Rage, Bite, and Dragon Rage.


DEATH COUNT: 6


Red Gyarados lashed out with Bite and Dragon Rage on Take 4, though the wild Pokemon failed to go for the jugular and instead tried Leer. This gave Rattata just enough time to crunch with 2 Super Fangs, fail with an Ultra Ball, and succeed with a Great Ball at 34/91 HP. It's sad when you lose 3 times to your designated HM MULE! In honor of its valor, I named Red Gyarados DEATHCOUNT.


JOEY took a detour to a part of the Slowpoke Well accessible with Surf and Strength, and received the KING'S ROCK. This hold item had a small chance of making an enemy flinch when attacking. With that and Level 41, Rattata decided to try a slightly different tactic. Remember when I referred to Steelix as "him"? Well, Rattata could learn Attract, and decided to replace Super Fang with that as a test. (Saving BEFORE using the TM, of course.)


Steelix gave Rattata a free turn after he became infatuated with her, but Focus Energy powered Digs were still not enough to keep this relationship from breaking up via Iron Tail.


DEATH COUNT: 7


I reloaded my save and decided against using Attract because Rattata couldn't afford defensive tactics like that. Instead, the best idea was to return to Mahogany Town and mug the Team Rocket gangsters in their own hideout. Unfortunately they were weak even by "Pokemon crime syndicate" standards, and tended to have Pokemon in the low 20s at best, or sometimes even high teens. And in a town that hosted the official 7th Gym!


One funny moment occurred when Scientist's Ross's Koffing Selfdestructed after Rattata used Dig. Then TOPPERCENT rose and destroyed the 2nd Koffing. It's not easy to kill 2 enemy Pokemon with one action in a game before Double Battles. JOEY found a PROTEIN in the hideout and used it on Rattata to boost her ATTACK "stat experience". (Note: Pokemon games made before Ruby/Sapphire don't have a 510 "effort value limit", so "stat experience" can max out all stats instead of 2.)


TOPPERCENT confronted Pryce the Ice type Gym Leader at Level 44 with a KING'S ROCK. She clubbed the Level 27 Seel with a Return, though it took 2 to beat down the Level 29 Dewgong, who zapped her with Aurora Beam once. Pryce's star Level 31 Piloswine cast Blizzard, but even with 120 power and same type attack bonus, a base 60 SPCL. ATK wasn't going to take out an overleveled Rattata. An enemy Hyper Potion only delayed a Return victory by a turn. The final blow got an unnecessary critical, and TOPPERCENT won the Ice type badge, the Icy Wind TM, and a SPCL. ATK and SPCL. DEF badge boost at Level 45 with 35/100 HP.


Although Rattata was weak to Fighting moves, Cianwood's Gym did not resist Return and therefore made for the only convenient leveling method before Jasmine. TOPPERCENT entered Chuck's ring at Level 46 wielding the KING'S ROCK. A Level 27 Primeape was too slow to act before Return, and the star Level 30 Poliwrath wasted its turn setting up with Mind Reader's accuracy buff instead of taking a chance with the 50% accuracy Dynamicpunch. An unevolved early route Pokemon somehow took out the Gym Leader she was supposed to be weak to without taking a single hit.


Chuck surrendered the Fighting type badge and the useless Dynamicpunch TM. The only place left to go was Jasmine's Gym, since the RAGECANDYBAR guy was blocking the east exit of Mahogany Town. Curse you, painfully obvious roadblocks! He must have been an ex-cop from Onett.


At Level 46, Rattata finally stood a chance against the Steel Gym Leader. Though the first post-Chuck attempt failed after unlucky Iron Tails.


DEATH COUNT: 8


I considered more exotic options like Rock Smash DEFENSE debuffs and even Icy Wind, but it seemed better to stick with the current moveset. Although the Pokemon games are similar, seemingly minor differences like the presence or absence of move relearners, single use vs. infinite TMs, and hold item and TM locations can affect solo variants.


The 2nd attempt was doomed when the 1st Magnemite cast Thunderbolt after my Focus Energy, shocking Rattata for a 43 HP loss. Or so it seemed. The PRZCUREBERRY prevented the paralysis side effect from succeeding. Steelix whiffed his 1st 70% accuracy Iron Tail, and the 2nd got a damage roll low enough for Rattata to endure with 2 HP. (!) This gave TOPPERCENT enough time to Super Fang twice to get her opponent to 1/4 HP, then Dig to victory. She won her Steel type badge, Iron Tail TM, and DEFENSE badge boost at Level 47 with 4/105 HP at last.


The Team Rocket takeover of Goldenrod City's Radio Tower will be a relief in comparison, and free experience too!



TOPPERCENT the Rattata’s Stats and Moves:


Level 47 @ Nothing

HP: 105
ATTACK: 76
DEFENSE: 57
SPCL. ATK: 47
SPCL. DEF: 56
SPEED: 91

Return
Dig
Focus Energy
Super Fang

 

[adman2]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Rattata Part 3: Loose Ends Before Elite 4


Tuscany on Route 29 handed out the PINK BOW as a reward for visiting her on Tuesday. This item boosted Rattata's Normal attacks by 10%, which was essential in a game where one hit KOs against enemies were the best defense.


The remnants of Team Rocket in the Goldenrod City Radio Tower were so weak, their Executives didn't have names until the Heart Gold/Soul Silver remake. The only notable opponent was the rival ??? in the department store basement, and his Level 28-32 Golbat, Magnemite, Haunter, and Sneasel fell to one Return or Dig. ???, unlike some later rivals in the Pokemon series, had the decency to fully evolve his starter into a Level 32 Feraligatr. This reptile reduced Rattata's HP to 95/112 at Level 50 before 2 Returns forced it to retreat to its Poke Ball.


An IRON in the Ice Path between Mahogany and Blackthorn gave DEFENSE stat experience, but TOPPERCENT had already maxed out her ATTACK equivalent when she failed to eat a PROTEIN.


In Blackthorn's Gym, a PINK BOW powered Return failed to KO Cooltrainer Fran's Seadra in one shot. After clearing out the rest of the Dragon and Water type subordinates, it was best to mug the southern mountain route trainers for experience points before returning to fight Gym Leader Clair. This extra leveling paid off. All 3 of Clair's Level 37 Dragonairs collapsed instantly when TOPPERCENT smacked them with PINK BOW Returns at Level 56. The only danger was the Level 40 Kingdra who swamped TOPPERCENT with one Surf before Clair attempted to heal it with a Hyper Potion. TOPPERCENT collected her final Johto badge with 66/127 HP.


Before advancing into the Kanto routes east of New Bark Town, there were a few errands. JOEY collected every RARE CANDY he could in Johto to mitigate the pre-Red grind at the end of the playthrough. And just for fun, there was the Hidden Power type test. TOPPERCENT's version seemed to be Water because it dealt neutral damage to Sentret (i.e. not Fighting/Ghost), was "not very effective" on a Gyarados (Fire, Water, Bug, or Steel), and was "super effective" (Water) on a Donphan. I reset afterwards without saving to avoid having to lose one of Rattata's established moves.


Rattata's first foray into Kanto was too easy to waste time writing about. Even ???'s battle in Victory Road was a flawless victory when the Level 38 Feraligatr had the misfortune to be the target of a critical Return. At Level 60, TOPPERCENT was ready to gnaw on the Four Heavenly Kings Elite 4 and Johto's Champion. . .



TOPPERCENT the Rattata Stats and Moves

Level 60 @ PINK BOW

HP: 137
ATTACK: 101
DEFENSE: 78
SPCL. ATK: 63
SPCL. DEF: 75
SPEED: 120

Return
Dig
Focus Energy
Super Fang