Beaten the Champion already. HOF: 64 Salamence / 60 Starmie / 60 Alakazam / 59 Houndoom / 61 Electabuzz / 60 Tyranitar.
Final team:
64 Salamence: Fly / Dragonbreath / Brick Break / Crunch
61 Electabuzz: Ice Punch / Volt Tackle / Fire Punch / Psychic
60 Starmie: Ice Beam / Surf / Psychic / Recover
60 Alakazam: Fire Punch / Psychic / ThunderPunch / Calm Mind
60 Tyranitar: Rock Slide / Brick Break / Crunch / Earthquake
59 Houndoom: Strength / Rock Smash / Flamethrower / Crunch
Overall thoughts on the Pokemon used:
I don't really have comments on Tyranitar, tbh, other than that it contributes by having Sand Stream. It's the best way to beat Shedinja if you're seriously lazy, but eh whatever. It might be one of the best Pokemon against Agatha though, although I seriously got lazy and just grabbed this for my team. (It's catchable as a L50+ Larvitar/Pupitar in Sevault Canyon, which is also open pre-E4.)
VS. Steelix [Lead] / Armaldo / Machamp / Donphan / Hitmontop / Poliwrath
Like the original, Bruno is the easiest out of the E4s. Steelix is 2HKO'd by Electabuzz's Fire Punch while failing to OHKO back with EQ (or maybe it did and I lucked out with a low damage roll, whatever the case is, Electabuzz survived with 12 HP and hit back for the KO.
Armaldo is somewhat annoying as it doesn't really have much weaknesses to strike with other than Water (and the rare Steel, which sucks). Salamence however performed admirably against Armaldo, though I think hax was on my side (dodged 3 Rock Blasts lol)
Machamp is OHKO'd by Salamence's Fly. I'm not sure if it's because Machamp just flat out fails, or Salamence is just too overpowered. Whatever the case, I definitely appreciate replacing Dodrio with Salamence now: this guy is just plain amazing.
Donphan is OHKO'd by a Mysticwater-boosted Surf from Starmie that is 7 levels lower. :V Starmie lands 2HKOs on Poliwrath and Hitmontop with Psychic, but their AI is so fucking terrible that when they could /attack/ they used stuff like Agility and Mind Reader ._.
Like the original, Bruno is the easiest out of the E4s. Steelix is 2HKO'd by Electabuzz's Fire Punch while failing to OHKO back with EQ (or maybe it did and I lucked out with a low damage roll, whatever the case is, Electabuzz survived with 12 HP and hit back for the KO.
Armaldo is somewhat annoying as it doesn't really have much weaknesses to strike with other than Water (and the rare Steel, which sucks). Salamence however performed admirably against Armaldo, though I think hax was on my side (dodged 3 Rock Blasts lol)
Machamp is OHKO'd by Salamence's Fly. I'm not sure if it's because Machamp just flat out fails, or Salamence is just too overpowered. Whatever the case, I definitely appreciate replacing Dodrio with Salamence now: this guy is just plain amazing.
Donphan is OHKO'd by a Mysticwater-boosted Surf from Starmie that is 7 levels lower. :V Starmie lands 2HKOs on Poliwrath and Hitmontop with Psychic, but their AI is so fucking terrible that when they could /attack/ they used stuff like Agility and Mind Reader ._.
VS. Shedinja / Sableye / Crobat / Gengar / Misdreavus / Hypno
Shedinja may be crazy with Focus Band, 12 immunities, and a shot at pissing you off with what could be infinite lives, but there is one Pokemon in the entire game whose presence instantly gives the "fuck off" sign to Shedinja: Tyranitar. And that was basically what happened.
Theoretically, I could just X Special or something on a Tyranitar lead and murder everything with Rock Slide/Crunch, but that's not really very nice. Sableye is actually not a joke here: it's surprisingly bulky with Recover and you can take some time to kill it. Shouldn't be a massive problem though.
Crobat is OHKO'd by Electabuzz Volt Tackle. And outran too. ggwp
Don't really remember how everything else went down, except that Misdreavus is an annoying ass with Perish Song.
Shedinja may be crazy with Focus Band, 12 immunities, and a shot at pissing you off with what could be infinite lives, but there is one Pokemon in the entire game whose presence instantly gives the "fuck off" sign to Shedinja: Tyranitar. And that was basically what happened.
Theoretically, I could just X Special or something on a Tyranitar lead and murder everything with Rock Slide/Crunch, but that's not really very nice. Sableye is actually not a joke here: it's surprisingly bulky with Recover and you can take some time to kill it. Shouldn't be a massive problem though.
Crobat is OHKO'd by Electabuzz Volt Tackle. And outran too. ggwp
Don't really remember how everything else went down, except that Misdreavus is an annoying ass with Perish Song.
VS. Salamence / Aerodactyl / Gyarados / Charizard / Dragonite 2x
This lineup is the same as his GSC lineup, lol, only difference is that he replaced a Dragonite with Salamence. Salamence was actually pretty annoying because for some reason Starmie and Electabuzz couldn't OHKO with Ice Beam / Ice Punch, which was pretty much some sort of "WTF" moment. A couple of Rare Candies dumped onto Starmie fixed it, somewhat.
Aerodactyl is a joke due to CB: it's very easy to get it to lock itself into a move that you resist (i.e. Aerial Ace on Electabuzz). From there, you can just stall for time as you heal up your party.
Gyarados and Charizard can be both dealt with by using the appropriate attack, in this case Volt Tackle for Gyarados and Rock Slide for Charizard. Not much of an issue.
The twin Dragonites aren't exactly too big of a problem because Starmie can take them on one-on-one if needed, with Electabuzz as backup.
This lineup is the same as his GSC lineup, lol, only difference is that he replaced a Dragonite with Salamence. Salamence was actually pretty annoying because for some reason Starmie and Electabuzz couldn't OHKO with Ice Beam / Ice Punch, which was pretty much some sort of "WTF" moment. A couple of Rare Candies dumped onto Starmie fixed it, somewhat.
Aerodactyl is a joke due to CB: it's very easy to get it to lock itself into a move that you resist (i.e. Aerial Ace on Electabuzz). From there, you can just stall for time as you heal up your party.
Gyarados and Charizard can be both dealt with by using the appropriate attack, in this case Volt Tackle for Gyarados and Rock Slide for Charizard. Not much of an issue.
The twin Dragonites aren't exactly too big of a problem because Starmie can take them on one-on-one if needed, with Electabuzz as backup.
VS. Heracross / Jynx / Venusaur / Metagross / Ampharos / Houndoom
The rival differs from his previous matchups in the game: he has ditched his Crobat and Alakazam for a Heracross and a Metagross. Unfortunately, Heracross is a lead, meaning you can do something like dump Salamence in front and go for the OHKO with Fly.
Jynx is the same, fucked over by Houndoom, etc. There's actually a catch though: Jynx has Calm Mind now, and if Houndoom isn't strong enough Jynx can actually 2HKO back with Ice Beam and not get 2HKO'd by Flamethrower / Crunch. Lovely Kiss can also buy free turns for Jynx to Calm Mind in your face.
Metagross should be OHKO'd if you put Charcoal on Houndoom and Flamethrower him. Unfortunately, I forgot to change his held item from BlackGlasses to Charcoal -.-" Metagross hence survives the Flamethrower and KOs back with EQ. Starmie finishes with Surf.
Ampharos is the biggest threat on the Champion's team imo, next to Jynx. Ampharos has Tail Glow which instantly doubles his special attack, turning Thunderbolt into a lethal move of destruction. In fact, I only managed to win because Tyranitar tanked +2 Thunderbolt... at 1 HP. :X
Venusaur is OHKO'd by Salamence Fly, again. Houndoom should be OHKO'd by Brick Break, but just for good measure I let Houndoom take a few turns of damage from Sandstorm while healing up my party, then killing off Houndoom with Brick Break.
The rival differs from his previous matchups in the game: he has ditched his Crobat and Alakazam for a Heracross and a Metagross. Unfortunately, Heracross is a lead, meaning you can do something like dump Salamence in front and go for the OHKO with Fly.
Jynx is the same, fucked over by Houndoom, etc. There's actually a catch though: Jynx has Calm Mind now, and if Houndoom isn't strong enough Jynx can actually 2HKO back with Ice Beam and not get 2HKO'd by Flamethrower / Crunch. Lovely Kiss can also buy free turns for Jynx to Calm Mind in your face.
Metagross should be OHKO'd if you put Charcoal on Houndoom and Flamethrower him. Unfortunately, I forgot to change his held item from BlackGlasses to Charcoal -.-" Metagross hence survives the Flamethrower and KOs back with EQ. Starmie finishes with Surf.
Ampharos is the biggest threat on the Champion's team imo, next to Jynx. Ampharos has Tail Glow which instantly doubles his special attack, turning Thunderbolt into a lethal move of destruction. In fact, I only managed to win because Tyranitar tanked +2 Thunderbolt... at 1 HP. :X
Venusaur is OHKO'd by Salamence Fly, again. Houndoom should be OHKO'd by Brick Break, but just for good measure I let Houndoom take a few turns of damage from Sandstorm while healing up my party, then killing off Houndoom with Brick Break.
Final team:
64 Salamence: Fly / Dragonbreath / Brick Break / Crunch
61 Electabuzz: Ice Punch / Volt Tackle / Fire Punch / Psychic
60 Starmie: Ice Beam / Surf / Psychic / Recover
60 Alakazam: Fire Punch / Psychic / ThunderPunch / Calm Mind
60 Tyranitar: Rock Slide / Brick Break / Crunch / Earthquake
59 Houndoom: Strength / Rock Smash / Flamethrower / Crunch
Overall thoughts on the Pokemon used:
Shelgon [KOMONDO] - High Tier
Salamence comes from an in-game trade where you trade a Camerupt for a Shelgon at Cinnabar Island. There're actually two ways you can do this: either catch Numel early and evolve it, then trade it for Shelgon and use it, or another method which I did: catch Camerupt directly at Mt. Ember (the path that leads to Ruby is available on your first visit to Mt. Ember, and L55 Camerupts are available there), trade for Shelgon, Rare Candy, dump HM02 on it for instantaneous win. You can also teach the TM35 it comes with. Buyable TM31s at Celadon round off Salamence's coverage with Brick Break having good coverage with Fly and Dragonbreath.
Salamence's best asset is providing brute power in terms of STAB Fly. Amazingly strong, it's capable of securing quite the fair bit of KOs, and probably would've secured more if I could locate a Sharp Beak. Salamence is a great latecomer addition to any team, and I really recommend using it.
Salamence comes from an in-game trade where you trade a Camerupt for a Shelgon at Cinnabar Island. There're actually two ways you can do this: either catch Numel early and evolve it, then trade it for Shelgon and use it, or another method which I did: catch Camerupt directly at Mt. Ember (the path that leads to Ruby is available on your first visit to Mt. Ember, and L55 Camerupts are available there), trade for Shelgon, Rare Candy, dump HM02 on it for instantaneous win. You can also teach the TM35 it comes with. Buyable TM31s at Celadon round off Salamence's coverage with Brick Break having good coverage with Fly and Dragonbreath.
Salamence's best asset is providing brute power in terms of STAB Fly. Amazingly strong, it's capable of securing quite the fair bit of KOs, and probably would've secured more if I could locate a Sharp Beak. Salamence is a great latecomer addition to any team, and I really recommend using it.
Elekid - Top Tier
No question. Elekid's only mediocre period is at Brock: it's definitely capable of contributing almost everywhere else, through the sheer strength of STAB Thunderbolt, soaking hits with Volt Absorb, or using its ridiculous coverage to kill things. Even with Static, this guy is a beast. Volt Tackle, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Cross Chop and Psychic are all great options for Electabuzz, and the best thing is that it learns all of them by level. Electabuzz requires almost no other investment other than EXP to be effective, and using Electabuzz also gives you arguably the easiest starter to deal with (Smoochum is checkmated by Houndoom for most parts and if not you have Lunatone/Solrock to backup, while Magby has ThunderPunch/Sunny Day for water types and Elekid is likely a nightmare to face with that coverage).
No question. Elekid's only mediocre period is at Brock: it's definitely capable of contributing almost everywhere else, through the sheer strength of STAB Thunderbolt, soaking hits with Volt Absorb, or using its ridiculous coverage to kill things. Even with Static, this guy is a beast. Volt Tackle, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Cross Chop and Psychic are all great options for Electabuzz, and the best thing is that it learns all of them by level. Electabuzz requires almost no other investment other than EXP to be effective, and using Electabuzz also gives you arguably the easiest starter to deal with (Smoochum is checkmated by Houndoom for most parts and if not you have Lunatone/Solrock to backup, while Magby has ThunderPunch/Sunny Day for water types and Elekid is likely a nightmare to face with that coverage).
Staryu - High Tier
It's simply, that earlygame Pokemon that does stuff and is... there. It's as available as say Elekid, and is of some use to Brock's battle: you can also give it Thunderbolt by Misty. Starmie gets all the nice moves when it needs them, and can contribute fairly well to the team.
It's simply, that earlygame Pokemon that does stuff and is... there. It's as available as say Elekid, and is of some use to Brock's battle: you can also give it Thunderbolt by Misty. Starmie gets all the nice moves when it needs them, and can contribute fairly well to the team.
Abra - High Tier
Abra is probably one of the more controversial guys for High Tier: it sucks even for a while after evolution because you no longer learn Confusion immediately, so you still have to grind a bit more for Psybeam. Once Kadabra gets Psybeam though, its capable of holding its own very effectively, and evolution grants him access to Fire Punch and ThunderPunch for extra coverage. Golden rule of Abra is to watch out for physicals, but if you can play it right, Alakazam is a very effective asset of any team.
Abra is probably one of the more controversial guys for High Tier: it sucks even for a while after evolution because you no longer learn Confusion immediately, so you still have to grind a bit more for Psybeam. Once Kadabra gets Psybeam though, its capable of holding its own very effectively, and evolution grants him access to Fire Punch and ThunderPunch for extra coverage. Golden rule of Abra is to watch out for physicals, but if you can play it right, Alakazam is a very effective asset of any team.
I don't really have comments on Tyranitar, tbh, other than that it contributes by having Sand Stream. It's the best way to beat Shedinja if you're seriously lazy, but eh whatever. It might be one of the best Pokemon against Agatha though, although I seriously got lazy and just grabbed this for my team. (It's catchable as a L50+ Larvitar/Pupitar in Sevault Canyon, which is also open pre-E4.)
Doduo - High Tier
This is probably noteworthy given that I dumped Dodrio after acquiring Salamence, but Dodrio is arguably one of the best earlygame birds I've ever used, outside of DPP Starly. Doduo comes slightly underlevelled but between STAB Peck, 85 base Attack and Viridian Forest, Doduo can quickly make up for the level difference and is one of the more reliable killers of bugs early on. Definitely a worthwhile grab if you didn't pick Magby. Dodrio's utility with Tri Attack and Fly go a long way midgame, and in a game where you have a multitude of options with special attackers, physical attackers are surprisingly few and far in, and Dodrio is an excellent choice for one.
This is probably noteworthy given that I dumped Dodrio after acquiring Salamence, but Dodrio is arguably one of the best earlygame birds I've ever used, outside of DPP Starly. Doduo comes slightly underlevelled but between STAB Peck, 85 base Attack and Viridian Forest, Doduo can quickly make up for the level difference and is one of the more reliable killers of bugs early on. Definitely a worthwhile grab if you didn't pick Magby. Dodrio's utility with Tri Attack and Fly go a long way midgame, and in a game where you have a multitude of options with special attackers, physical attackers are surprisingly few and far in, and Dodrio is an excellent choice for one.
Houndour - High Tier
Houndour is imho a required addition to anyone who uses Elekid, as he wins Jynx very reliably. Lategame though, Houndoom loses steam rather rapidly and it's annoying to have to use Ember all the way to Flamethrower at 51. If anything though, Houndoom made a good HM slave, because it doesn't really need anything else other than its STABs.
Houndour is imho a required addition to anyone who uses Elekid, as he wins Jynx very reliably. Lategame though, Houndoom loses steam rather rapidly and it's annoying to have to use Ember all the way to Flamethrower at 51. If anything though, Houndoom made a good HM slave, because it doesn't really need anything else other than its STABs.