Back in April, I did a run through Yellow version without using Pokemon Centers or Marts. The idea was to make healing items a limited resource by limiting them purely to what could be found on the land. This worked well for a while, but as the game went on my stockpile got bigger and bigger, to the point where healing became plentiful. I still enjoyed it all the way through, but it did lose some of the point later on. So I wanted to do a run that maintained that tense spirit where every hit I took mattered, where every PP had to be carefully considered. How to properly restrict healing, then? Hell if I know, let’s just take a sledgehammer to the issue and ban it outright!
I picked Sapphire to do this in because it and Ruby are the only other games besides Gen 1 that have no forced heals after the obligatory post-first battle one. Note the lack of Emerald – it sneakily added 2 forced heals that the game doesn’t even mention. Sucks to not get to play the enhanced version, but oh well. It’s not like it’s a Diamond->Platinum transition.
To be clear about what “no healing” entails:
The first choice is which starter to pick. Like any serious run through RS, the best option is clearly Mudkip. It has several good gym match-ups, and its sole weakness is almost non-existent outside of the rival fights. Its IVs are not very evident at Level 5, but I can at least tell when some of its stats are over 20, so I reset for one with 20+ attack. I easily dispatch the Poochyena chasing Professor Birch, and afterwards am healed for the first and last time in this run.
May (Route 103)
Now I have the option to go fight May or grind up on wild Pokemon. Neither is very nice, as Mudkip isn’t overleveled yet and has no type advantage to work with. I end up going straight to May, as grinding here doesn’t really help that much for May and I think will deplete more HP/PP than it ends up saving. As the first trainer fight in the game May is of course trivial to beat, but is actually very annoying in this case because there’s nothing I can do to avoid taking lots of damage. I start with Growl to essentially neutralize the worst thing May can do, Leer->Poundx3. She never seems to use Leer multiple times, so after this I take 4 Pounds as I 4HKO back with Tackle, and get to Level 6, learning Mud-Slap. I’m left with 8/20 HP, and while the yellow HP bar looks very daunting after only the first battle of the game, it’s more relevant to look at how much HP was lost, as that’s what actually stays constant as Mudkip levels up. 12 HP lost becomes a smaller and smaller percentage as Mudkip gets more HP, so it’s not as bad as it looks.
With that out of the way, Poke Balls are obtainable and Mudkip can receive some much-needed help. That being said, Mudkip still wants to get as much EXP as possible to evolve into Marshtomp before Roxanne, where the Rock resist and Mud Shot are both invaluable. As such, Pokemon that assist Mudkip will ideally faint before finishing the opposing Pokemon so Mudkip can snipe the KO for full exp.
The first trainer I need to fight is Youngster Calvin with his mighty Level 5 Zigzagoon, which is too draining on HP for Mudkip to fight alone. I catch a Zigzagoon of my own at Level 3, which repeatedly Tackles Calvin’s. His uses Tail Whip and Growl a lot so it takes longer than expected to KO mine, which is good as it gets weakened enough for Mudkip to come in after my Zigzagoon faints and get the KO. Zigzagoon is faster, annoyingly, but it just uses Tail Whip as Mudkip finishes it with Tackle to get to Level 7. With 2/3 odds of not using Tackle, Mudkip is favorable to escape this fight unscathed.
The next mandatory trainer is the Aqua Grunt in the Petalburg Woods, but at Level 9 it’s a bit daunting. I take the opportunity to grind a Mudkip a few levels on the wild Ralts on Route 102, who are incapable of hurting Mudkip and also have very low defense in spite of only using Growl. As a rare encounter it’s a bit annoying to grind against, but it only takes 7 of them (and 16 Tackle PP) to get to Level 10 and learn Water Gun.
Now it’s time for that Aqua Grunt. Mudkip matches up with it fairly well, but I still decide it’s safer to get a helper. I catch another Zigzagoon, this one Level 5, to assist. It ends up being Naïve which despite the level gap actually makes it faster, which is pretty helpful. I soften up Poochyena with 2 Tail Whips, then begin Tackling. It wastes an absurd number of turns using Howl and Sand Attack, so much so that Zigzagoon actually needs to hold back to not steal the exp for itself. Once Zigzagoon is down, Mudkip comes back in and finishes with a Tackle (stronger than Water Gun due to Tail Whip).
The Road to Evolution
Now armed with a STAB move that can hit things super-effectively, Mudkip is now much more independent as it can seek out favorable match-ups to grind up on. I start with the Bug Catcher with a Nincada soon after the Aqua Grunt, which is an easy KO that brings Mudkip to Level 11. The double battle is completely avoidable on the bridge (they always are in RS), so I go ahead to Roxanne’s gym and beat the two trainers. Their 4 combined Geodudes naturally go down to 4 Water Guns, and get Mudkip up to Level 13. I then go up to Route 116 and fight the 3 Geodude Hiker, bumping me up to Level 14. At this point I’ve exhausted all the trivial trainers, but the Bug Catcher on this route isn’t too bad. His Wurmple is 2HKOd by Tackle and uses String Shot and Poison Sting for 2 damage in return, his Nincada is OHKOd by Water Gun, and his Silcoon goes down to Water Gun+Tackle. This gets me up to Level 15 and 352 exp away from the coveted evolution.
Unfortunately, no good trainers remain to fight, so I need to set my sights back on wild Pokemon. Nincada is the best option, going down to a Water Gun and giving either 55 or 65 exp per KO. It takes 6 of them to get to Level 16 and evolve into Marshtomp and learn Mud Shot. Now it’s time to take on the gym.
Roxanne
So, I played this on an emulator, and figured I may as well record the boss fights. Would people rather I embed these or use hyperlinks?
Roxanne’s Geodude is no different than any other and goes down to Water Gun, but Nosepass is fairly annoying. I need to be very conservative with my Mud Shot PP, because it has a weirdly low total (15). Furthermore, Roxanne is very Potion-happy and seems to use Potions if Nosepass gets even under half HP, not just red. So a Mud Shot 2HKO turns into 4 PP depleted as she uses 2 Potions. X Attacks are buyable, but +1 Mud Shot is just out of OHKO range and +2 takes more damage on Marshtomp than I’d like. The optimal strategy ends up being Water Gun into Mud Shot, which does a very convenient ~45 to ~55 one-two punch to get a 2HKO without triggering Potions. Unfortunately since I need to use Mud Shot second, Nosepass outspeeds on the second turn since I couldn’t match the speed drop from Rock Tomb. It uses Tackle, which combined with the previous Rock Tomb does 8 damage, so it’s not a big deal.
With that, Marshtomp defeats its first Gym Leader and gets the Stone Badge, which gives an Attack boost. Unlike Gen 1 there aren’t any glitches associated with these, so it’s just a straightforward 10% boost, which is very handy.
That’s it for now. Next time, we’ll fight the next Gym Leader, and have a rematch against a certain someone’s Treecko…
Status:
Marshtomp Level 17: 31/51 HP
14/15 Mud Shot
7/25 Water Gun
10/10 Mud-Slap
10/35 Tackle
I picked Sapphire to do this in because it and Ruby are the only other games besides Gen 1 that have no forced heals after the obligatory post-first battle one. Note the lack of Emerald – it sneakily added 2 forced heals that the game doesn’t even mention. Sucks to not get to play the enhanced version, but oh well. It’s not like it’s a Diamond->Platinum transition.
To be clear about what “no healing” entails:
- Gaining HP in any fashion except for a level-up.
- Gaining PP for a move in any fashion.
- Removing status conditions. This is minor and truthfully doesn’t make this run any more interesting, but it’s here anyways.
- No re-teaching (either by move relearner or buyable TM) a move that has had its PP used at some point. This prevents me from essentially restoring PP of certain moves.
- Set mode. Not too relevant for the most part as soloing is the way to go, but it matters occasionally.
The first choice is which starter to pick. Like any serious run through RS, the best option is clearly Mudkip. It has several good gym match-ups, and its sole weakness is almost non-existent outside of the rival fights. Its IVs are not very evident at Level 5, but I can at least tell when some of its stats are over 20, so I reset for one with 20+ attack. I easily dispatch the Poochyena chasing Professor Birch, and afterwards am healed for the first and last time in this run.
May (Route 103)
Now I have the option to go fight May or grind up on wild Pokemon. Neither is very nice, as Mudkip isn’t overleveled yet and has no type advantage to work with. I end up going straight to May, as grinding here doesn’t really help that much for May and I think will deplete more HP/PP than it ends up saving. As the first trainer fight in the game May is of course trivial to beat, but is actually very annoying in this case because there’s nothing I can do to avoid taking lots of damage. I start with Growl to essentially neutralize the worst thing May can do, Leer->Poundx3. She never seems to use Leer multiple times, so after this I take 4 Pounds as I 4HKO back with Tackle, and get to Level 6, learning Mud-Slap. I’m left with 8/20 HP, and while the yellow HP bar looks very daunting after only the first battle of the game, it’s more relevant to look at how much HP was lost, as that’s what actually stays constant as Mudkip levels up. 12 HP lost becomes a smaller and smaller percentage as Mudkip gets more HP, so it’s not as bad as it looks.
With that out of the way, Poke Balls are obtainable and Mudkip can receive some much-needed help. That being said, Mudkip still wants to get as much EXP as possible to evolve into Marshtomp before Roxanne, where the Rock resist and Mud Shot are both invaluable. As such, Pokemon that assist Mudkip will ideally faint before finishing the opposing Pokemon so Mudkip can snipe the KO for full exp.
The first trainer I need to fight is Youngster Calvin with his mighty Level 5 Zigzagoon, which is too draining on HP for Mudkip to fight alone. I catch a Zigzagoon of my own at Level 3, which repeatedly Tackles Calvin’s. His uses Tail Whip and Growl a lot so it takes longer than expected to KO mine, which is good as it gets weakened enough for Mudkip to come in after my Zigzagoon faints and get the KO. Zigzagoon is faster, annoyingly, but it just uses Tail Whip as Mudkip finishes it with Tackle to get to Level 7. With 2/3 odds of not using Tackle, Mudkip is favorable to escape this fight unscathed.
The next mandatory trainer is the Aqua Grunt in the Petalburg Woods, but at Level 9 it’s a bit daunting. I take the opportunity to grind a Mudkip a few levels on the wild Ralts on Route 102, who are incapable of hurting Mudkip and also have very low defense in spite of only using Growl. As a rare encounter it’s a bit annoying to grind against, but it only takes 7 of them (and 16 Tackle PP) to get to Level 10 and learn Water Gun.
Now it’s time for that Aqua Grunt. Mudkip matches up with it fairly well, but I still decide it’s safer to get a helper. I catch another Zigzagoon, this one Level 5, to assist. It ends up being Naïve which despite the level gap actually makes it faster, which is pretty helpful. I soften up Poochyena with 2 Tail Whips, then begin Tackling. It wastes an absurd number of turns using Howl and Sand Attack, so much so that Zigzagoon actually needs to hold back to not steal the exp for itself. Once Zigzagoon is down, Mudkip comes back in and finishes with a Tackle (stronger than Water Gun due to Tail Whip).
The Road to Evolution
Now armed with a STAB move that can hit things super-effectively, Mudkip is now much more independent as it can seek out favorable match-ups to grind up on. I start with the Bug Catcher with a Nincada soon after the Aqua Grunt, which is an easy KO that brings Mudkip to Level 11. The double battle is completely avoidable on the bridge (they always are in RS), so I go ahead to Roxanne’s gym and beat the two trainers. Their 4 combined Geodudes naturally go down to 4 Water Guns, and get Mudkip up to Level 13. I then go up to Route 116 and fight the 3 Geodude Hiker, bumping me up to Level 14. At this point I’ve exhausted all the trivial trainers, but the Bug Catcher on this route isn’t too bad. His Wurmple is 2HKOd by Tackle and uses String Shot and Poison Sting for 2 damage in return, his Nincada is OHKOd by Water Gun, and his Silcoon goes down to Water Gun+Tackle. This gets me up to Level 15 and 352 exp away from the coveted evolution.
Unfortunately, no good trainers remain to fight, so I need to set my sights back on wild Pokemon. Nincada is the best option, going down to a Water Gun and giving either 55 or 65 exp per KO. It takes 6 of them to get to Level 16 and evolve into Marshtomp and learn Mud Shot. Now it’s time to take on the gym.
Roxanne
So, I played this on an emulator, and figured I may as well record the boss fights. Would people rather I embed these or use hyperlinks?
Roxanne’s Geodude is no different than any other and goes down to Water Gun, but Nosepass is fairly annoying. I need to be very conservative with my Mud Shot PP, because it has a weirdly low total (15). Furthermore, Roxanne is very Potion-happy and seems to use Potions if Nosepass gets even under half HP, not just red. So a Mud Shot 2HKO turns into 4 PP depleted as she uses 2 Potions. X Attacks are buyable, but +1 Mud Shot is just out of OHKO range and +2 takes more damage on Marshtomp than I’d like. The optimal strategy ends up being Water Gun into Mud Shot, which does a very convenient ~45 to ~55 one-two punch to get a 2HKO without triggering Potions. Unfortunately since I need to use Mud Shot second, Nosepass outspeeds on the second turn since I couldn’t match the speed drop from Rock Tomb. It uses Tackle, which combined with the previous Rock Tomb does 8 damage, so it’s not a big deal.
With that, Marshtomp defeats its first Gym Leader and gets the Stone Badge, which gives an Attack boost. Unlike Gen 1 there aren’t any glitches associated with these, so it’s just a straightforward 10% boost, which is very handy.
That’s it for now. Next time, we’ll fight the next Gym Leader, and have a rematch against a certain someone’s Treecko…
Status:
Marshtomp Level 17: 31/51 HP
14/15 Mud Shot
7/25 Water Gun
10/10 Mud-Slap
10/35 Tackle