Nasty has to solo Viridian Gym with no items, and it's only Lv. 42! Needless to say, I decide to grind it up. Thankfully, I hadn't fought any of the Route 21 trainers yet, so I decided to have Nasty solo the entire Route. I also taught Nasty Mega Drain, because of how much trouble it had with Giovanni's Rhyhorn in Silph Co. I felt that 2 extra grinding intervals were necessary, and by the time I was done, Nasty was Lv. 47, hopefully enough to take on the gym.
I was worried about soloing Viridian Gym with no items from the moment I accepted Nasty. The reason for this is because:
1: The move I RNGed was Bide.
2: Nasty's only method of healing is Mega Drain, which has 40 BP and 10 PP
3: Nasty's most powerful attack is Wing Attack, which has a mere 35 BP.
4: While there are trainers that have Grass-weak Pokemon, I don't remember where they are.
5: Even if I make it to Giovanni, his Dugtrio happens to know Slash, which has a notorious CH rate in Gen I.
Despite all these worries, I chose not to overlevel Nasty, and went in anyway.
VS
ROUND ONE
Before I began, I decided on what my route would be. I knew that if I fought the Tamer in the lower left corner, I'd have to fight 2 trainers in a row, neither having any Ground-types; however, there was no way to get to either of them otherwise, so I decided to get them out of the way first.
The Tamer that I was talking about a minute ago led with Arbok. Because I was worried about Glare, I decided to have Nasty use Confuse Ray. Arbok then hurt itself. Wing Attack did approximately half of its max HP, and although it didn't hurt itself, it used Screech, which wasn't as bad as Glare wouldn't have been, but I knew his other Pokemon was a Tauros. Arbok somehow survived a second Wing Attack, and its Bite did far less than I expected it to, shaving off less than 30 HP off Nasty. Another Wing Attack finished the cobra. Then came Tauros, and I became worried. I chose to Confuse Ray it, and the Wild Bull hurt itself in confusion. Wing Attack definitely did less than it did to Arbok, and then Tauros's confusion wore off, Whipping its Tails at Nasty. I decided not to confuse it again, and just did Wing Attack again. Tauros's Stomp did approximately half of Nasty's remaining health, but another Wing Attack finished the Wild Bull.
The second trainer I fought was a Black Belt, who had a lone Machoke, who was capable of surviving one Wing Attack; however, it used its one turn of fame to Leer at Nasty, who just Wing(Attack)ed it for the KO.
After that, I decided to go for the CoolTrainer (male) that had a Nidorino and Nidoking. He used an X Attack on Nidorino as I Wing Attacked it. Another Wing Attack might have left it with a sliver of HP, but a crit ensured it went down before it could attack. His Nidoking took somewhere between a third and fourth by one Wing Attack, and Cooltrainer used an X Attack on 'King. Because of the X Attack, and Wing Attack's damage output, I believed that confusing it would be the best course of action. Nido then failed to hurt itself, but Horn Attack did a surprisingly small amount of damage. Nidoking then snapped out of confusion as I Wing Attacked it again, doing Horn Attack again, this time critting and sent Nasty into the red. I could tell that Wing Attack wouldn't've done enough damage to KO Nidoking, so I confused it again, hoping it would hurt itself. The outcome of that battle came down to that turn. Nidoking...
did hurt itself, alloWing Attack to finish him.
Because of the fact that Nasty has 6 HP left, I felt that it would be best to fight one of the Rhyhorn trainers, and I thankfully know where one of them is. His Rhyhorn proceeded to get OHKOed by Mega Drain, restoring 64 of Nasty's health.
After that, I decided to fight the self-proclaimed "Karate King", who had 2 Machoke and a Machop, all Lv. 38. His first Machoke got OHKOed by a crit, but Machop barely survived a Wing Attack, Leering at Nasty before going down. The second Machoke met the exact same fate as the first, getting OHKOed thanks to a crit.
3 trainers remained, and they were in the middle of the gym. The first one asks if Nasty's getting tired, and it probably is. He (the trainer) led with Sandslash, who survived a Mega Drain, and used
Sand Attack in retaliation. Confuse Ray then proceeded to miss, and Sandslash used Swift, making fun of the fact that I RNGed Bide, when Swift was another possibility. Thankfully, Confuse Ray hit next turn, but Sandslash fought through the confusion and used Slash, bane of all existence. Another Mega Drain finished the pangolin, unnecessarily critting. Then, he sent in Dugtrio, which dodged Mega Drain and proceeded to use
Sand Attack, like Sandslash did before it. Mega Drain missed again, and Growl somehow failed. The next Mega Drain hit, albeit not KOing, and Duggy growled again. Wing Attack missed, and Slash was the next move Duggy moved. Thankfully, the next Wing Attack hit, finishing the fight.
After that was another Black Belt. He led with Machop, which survived a Wing Attack, only for Black Belt to use an X Attack on it before another Wing Attack took it down. His Machoke, just like the "Karate King"'s, got OHKOed thanks to a crit.
The final non-leader trainer was a Tamer who had a lone Rhyhorn, which merely served to use up another Mega Drain and to heal Nasty's HP almost to full.
Finally, I get to Giovanni, and fight him for the (hopefully) last time. He lead with a Rhyhorn, who fell to a lone Mega Drain, like the others before it.
His next Pokemon was Dugtrio, the one I was dreading. While it was merely Lv. 42, I knew it knows Sand Attack, and the Cooltrainer's Dugtrio survived a Mega Drain. With this information in mind, I decided that confusing it was the best course of action, and it hurt itself. Mega Drain failed to finish it, and it used
Sand Attack. Thankfully, Wing Attack finished it off.
After that was Nidoqueen. She was weak to neither of Nasty's attacks, so I confused her, only for her to Body Slam, paralyzing Nasty, despite doing minimal damage. She then snapped out of confusion the next turn, Body Slamming again, and Wing Attack merely did a fourth. The next turn consisted of him using a Guard Spec. on Nidoqueen, and Confuse Ray doing nothing. She then Tail Whipped as Wing Attack critted. After that, she did Scratch three times, critting once, and Body Slammed, as Nasty finished her off with only 33 HP remaining.
Nidoking was sent in next, and its Horn Attack finished off Nasty, forcing me to restart
the entire Gym.
That's right. I never saved at all during the failed solo.
ROUND TWO
This time, Arbok paralyzed Nasty on turn 1. Nevertheless, I decided to try to pull off the solo regardless. The Cooltrainer's Nidoking got a crit Thrash, KOing Nasty in the process.
ROUND THREE
Nasty avoided the paralysis this time, and got to Giovanni at full health. I decided to save this time, because I felt the outcome of fighting the trainers couldn't've gone much better.
Rhyhorn once again was OHKOed by Mega Drain. I also confused Dugtrio, and it Growled. The next turn, Duggy hurt itself while it was Wing Attacked. A Mega Drain finished the 3-in-1 whack-a-mole.
Then came Nidoqueen. Nasty confused it, and Giovanni used a Guard Spec. Wing Attack critted, doing slightly more than a third, and Queeny hurt herself. Nidoqueen then used Scratch, Tail Whip, and Scratch again, doing minimal damage, as Nasty finished her off.
Nidoking was next, and I confuse it and Gio uses a Guard Spec. on it, creating a deja vu moment. Wing Attack did a surprisingly small amount of damage, and Nidoking Horn Attacks Nasty. Nasty then proceeded to
d'oh miss Wing Attack, despite the fact that Giovanni never used Sand Attack or Double Team. After that, Nidoking ended hurting himself twice, allowing Nasty to Wing Attack 2 more times, KOing the King.
After that was Rhydon, the same level as Nasty, but colossal Attack and Defense. It would've been an epic showdown if Rhydon wasn't x4 weak to Mega Drain.
And thus I got the Earthbadge, allowing me to finally get to Indigo Plateau! Or at least I could if it weren't for 2 obstacles, one miniscule, and the other one seemed likely to cause a restart. I breezed past the first obstacle, which was in Route 22.
As Sam III led with Pidgeot, I sent out Ystra. Ystra started off the fight with a Swords Dance, and Pidgeot Wing(Attack)ed it. Swift from Ystra did only a third damage, while Whirlwind did absolutely nothing. It turns out Flamethrower does approximately the same amount of damage as an SD-boosted Swift. Another Flamethrower and Pidgeot was roasted.
After that was Rhyhorn. I switched in Fossil, who OHKOed with Water Gun, of all things! Sam III then sent in Growlithe, who couldn't swim, as shown by the fact that it went down in one Surf.
Then came in Exeggcute, which is a Grass-type for Shrub to solo! Acid, while it didn't KO, left Eggy in the red, and the egg pile retaliated with Poisonpowder, which did nothing because Poison-types can't be poisoned. A Razor Leaf was all that was needed to serve the eggs sunny-side up.
Sam III's next Pokemon was Alakazam, and I switched to Sandwitch for experience. As it tried to Recover despite having full health, Sandwitch's Agility became much higher. High enough for it to successfully trap the PSI Pokemon for 12 turns, draining the life out of it.
Sam III's final Pokemon was his Blastoise, and I felt that Sandwitch wanted to exert some of its Rage. It did, and Blastoise used Skull Bash three times, sending Sandwitch's HP all the way down to 1. A Bite from the giant turtle, and my serpent was down. I decided to have Fossil come in and Surf it up as it Hydro Pumped the Ammonyte. As Fossil was going to Surf again, Hydro Pump critted, KOing it. Because it was low levelled, and also because of Blastoise's low health, I sent in Ystra, whose Swift (I misclicked) critted, doing around half of Blastoise's remaining HP. Needless to say, Hydro Pump KOed Ystra. I decide to have Nasty play scavenger, and play scavenger it did, finishing off the giant tortoise.
Anyway, with that over, time to solo Victory Road!
Before I went, there were some preparations I had to make. First of all, because it's impossible for Omastar to learn Strength, I had to teach it to another Pokemon, and proceed to let it get KOed to simulate the effect of Fossil going through Victory Road by itself. Also, since the only healing items (other than Revives, Ethers, and the like) I had were 2 Full Heals, I went to Cinnabar and bought 25 Hyper Potions and 8 Full Heals. Anyway...
VS
ROUND ONE
As I have my character go past the guards, showing off his badges, I pulled open a new tab and listened to Carmina Burana in its entirety as I went throught Victory Road.
I won't bother telling you how the wild encounters went, as they were mostly OHKOed and didn't do much else other than give Fossil exp. and wasting PP.
The first trainer had a Persian, which did pathetic damage with Pay Day while avoiding an outright OHKO from Surf. She then used a Hyper Potion on it, and Body Slam didn't do more than half. A 2-hit Fury Swipes later, the Classy Cat was all washed up. Then she sent out Ninetales. Needless to say, when Surf was up, the first trainer went down.
After that was another Cooltrainer, this one having the middle stages of the starters as well as a Charizard. Ivysaur was frozen alive thanks to Ice Beam. After that was Wartortle, who resists 3/4 of Fossil's moves and took 1/3 from Body Slam. Thankfully, he used an X Attack on it during the first Body Slam, and the second one caused full paralysis, allowing my "parasitic snail" to take out the turtle. Charmeleon and Charizard met the same fate as Ninetales, and the first floor was completed.
The second floor's first trainer was a Black Belt whose Machoke was washed away by Surf. His other 2 Pokemon never stood a chance...
The next trainer, like the very first, had a Persian. This one, however, was OHKOed by Surf. His next Pokemon, Golduck, put up more of a fight. Like Wartortle, Body Slam only 3HKOed, but unlike the turtle, it actually fought back... with Scratch. Twice. I'm serious. It actually avoided the 3HKO, actually, and managed to confuse with Confusion. Fossil then proceeded to hurt itself, and Golduck did Confusion again. Thankfully, Fossil actually attacked Golduck on the next turn, KOing it.
Then came a Juggler with one Pokemon (wait what?): a Mr. Mime. Its Doubleslap critted, but hit only 2 times. Mr. Mime managed to avoid the KO from Surf, and decided to Meditate on the anomaly, only to be finished off by a spiky ammonyte Body Slamming it.
The next trainer was a Cooltrainer in the top right corner of the third floor. He led with an Exeggutor, who took an Ice Beam to the knee, but still able to Stomp it. A Body Slam, and the walking coconut tree was harvested. Then came Cloyster, which I knew would take Body Slams all day. With this in mind, I opted for Surf, which was enough to 2HKO. Cloyster did manage to Clamp my ammonyte, and I used the opportunity to use an Ether on it, restoring some of Surf's PP. Clamp continued for 2 turns after I used that Ether. Thankfully, Surf washed up the clam, and its little dog (Arcanine) too.
After that fight, Fossil was running low on HP, so I used a Hyper Potion on it up against a wild Onix, which did spent the free turn missing with Rock Throw.
Anyway, the next trainer was back in the second floor, near Moltres, who I'll get to later. He was a Pokemaniac whose Charmeleon was reported "lost at sea" after the battle was over. His Lapras stuck around much longer, confusing Fossil and being 4HKOed by Body Slam. While it spammed Confuse Ray, the lack of damage was picked up by Fossil hurting itself twice. Thankfully, Fossil ear problem wore off the turn it finished the plesiosaur. The Pokemaniac's last Pokemon was a Lickitung, who was in the same boat as Charmeleon.
The next trainer had a Parasect. For some reason, I'm reminded of an Ivysaur on the first floor. I don't know why... [/sarcasm] Then came Dewgong, who got (fully) paralyzed first turn thanks to Body Slam. Another Body Slam, and I was forced to use another Ether. In the meantime, Dewgong spent its last moments doing Headbutt and Aurora Beam. Aurora Beam actually lowered Fossil's Attack enough for Body Slam to not KO, and she then used a Hyper Potion on it. Thankfully, the next Body Slam critted, doing more than half damage, while the dugong lowered Fossil's attack again, this time by means of Growl. 3 more Body Slams took care of Dewgong. Her final Pokemon is Chansey, of all things. The one Pokemon in the game who doesn't care a lick about special attacks, and it's going up against an Omastar who has -2 Attack. Thankfully, Body Slam crits again, OHKOing the giant pink blob.
The next 2 trainers were 2 spaces away from each other. I decide to fight the lower-left one first. He leads with a Kingler (which looks suspicially symmetrical in RB, by the way) that barely survived a Surf and missed with Crabhammer, best Water-type move in the game. A stray Water Gun KOed the symmetrical crab, and he sent in Tentacruel, who barely avoided the 2HKO from Body Slam, Water Gunning twice in the process. Blastoise was that Cooltrainer's last Pokemon, and I (once again) had only one more PP of Body Slam left. Thankfully, Surf did more than Body Slam, negating the need to use my one Elixer against him. I did, however, use a Hyper Potion before finishing off Blastoise. Nervous about the next trainer, I save before fighting her.
She had 3 Grass-type Pokemon, needless to say I was worried about fighting her, and she was the main reason why I used a Hyper Potion on Fossil during the previous fight. Thankfully, my fears were unfounded, as Fossil outsped and OHKOed her entire team (which was the Bellsprout line, by the way), leaving only one more trainer for Fossil to solo.
As I fight the last (generic) trainer of the game, the last song of Carmina Burana plays. Such a climactic song would've really set the tone if Fossil didn't just OHKO his first Pokemon. His second one managed to confuse me, making Fossil hurt itself, get Headbutted, and fail to get through Victory Road before the performance ended. Thankfully, Fossil only had to get through it without fainting, so it didn't matter. Fossil then proceeded to hurt itself in front of the trainer's third Pokemon, and he thankfully switched (yes, it was a Juggler) that turn. Next turn, Fossil snapped out of confusion and OHKOed the Juggler's last 2 Pokemon.
One uninteresting wild encounter later, and I finally get through Victory Road. See you next time as I'll be beating the League and Moltres! I'll be grinding between now and then, so the rest of my team will be caught up with Fossil.
Chapter Summary
Party: 6, but I mainly used Nasty and Fossil.
Time: 44:29
Restarts: 10
Ystra the Charmeleon
Level: 41
Restarts caused: 1
Moves:
Swift
Swords Dance
Ember
Flamethrower
Fossil the Omastar
Level: 56
Restarts caused: 2
Moves:
Water Gun
Ice Beam
Body Slam
Surf
I was honestly surprised that the Victory Road solo didn't cause any restarts whatsoever. Simply put, Fossil once again impressed. Also, I'm obviously not scared
at all about soloing Lance, but I will save before Bruno, just in case a bunch of deus ex machinae happen.
Nasty the Golbat
Level: 51
Restarts caused: 2
Moves:
Leech Life -> Mega Drain
Bide
Wing Attack
Confuse Ray
While there's not much to say about Nasty, I will say that soloing Viridian Gym was simple, albeit hard, so I probably didn't need all the planning I had in doing it.
Shopper the Clefable
Level: 47
Restarts caused: 0
Beauties humiliated: All
Moves:
Thunderbolt
Strength
Seismic Toss
Thunder Wave
Shrub the Victreebel
Level: 50
Restarts caused: 5
Moves:
Acid
Razor Leaf
Wrap
Poisonpowder -> Toxic
Sandwitch the Dragonair
Level: 42
Restarts caused: 0
Item: None
Moves:
Wrap
Surf
Rage
Agility