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I bet you all forgot I was also, very slowly, playing another monotype on my phone. I went down to Dewford Town, got the old rod, and caught a Tentacool. Then, since he had the wrong ability, I went back and caught a different Tentacool. Then, he didn't have Clear Body either so I went and caught a third Tentacool, and she ended up as the one I'm actually using in my party. The other two are staying around since they're already level 10 and I don't exactly have anything else using the slots, but apart from that I'm not using them except as a last resort.
Lotad evolved into Lombre and learned Nature Power. Wingull also learned Wing Attack.
Brawly was easier than expected. I had Wingull Wing Attack to 3HKO both Machop and Makuhita, criticalling against the latter before Brawly could heal it. Machop used a critical Karate Chop, a Bulk Up, and a Seismic Toss that would've KOed Wingull had she not eaten her Oran Berry first. Makuhita just used Bulk Up twice before it got critted.
Team
Spoiler:
Mudkip (♂) | Water | Level 14
Moves: Water Gun, Mud-Slap, Rock Tomb, Tackle
41 HP / 28 Atk / 21 Def / 19 SpA / 24 SpD / 14 Spe
Ability: Torrent | Nature: Sassy | Item: Quick Claw
Pokemon Diamond (Standard Mode)
Mono-Fighting - Black Belt Brutus
Update 7 (Lake Valor -> Snowpoint Gym)
A short update, today. I beat Saturn and Jupiter at Lake Valor, then went up to Snowpoint and beat Candice. The only moveset changes were Machamp learning Cross Chop and Earthquake, Lucario learning Flash Cannon via TM right after the Canalave Gym, and Medicham getting an Expert Belt as a held item. (EDIT: Infernape also learned Flamethrower via the Fuego Ironworks TM that I should've gotten earlier but missed until right before Candice)
Saturn was very easy to beat; Kadabra led with Embargo, negating Lucario's Choice Specs, and Lucario 1HKOed it with Dark Pulse, 1HKOed Toxicroak with Psychic, and 2HKOed Bronzor with Aura Sphere.
Mars was a bit trickier than Saturn or Candice. Medicham got hit by Toxic and Supersonic (plus a Bite), hurt herself in her confusion once, and 2HKOed Golbat. She also nearly fainted Bronzor with a Fire Punch, but went down to Toxic damage after a Extrasensory. Heracross finished off Bronzor with a Brick Break, and got put to sleep by Purugly. I switched to Lucario, got hit by a negligible Faint Attack, and she 1HKOed Purugly with Aura Sphere.
I led with Heracross against Candice, starting off with three Swords Dance moves to maximize his attack, while Snover used Ingrain and two Leers. Heracross 1HKOed her whole team, first Snover with Brick Break, then Medicham with Aerial Ace, and Sneasel and then Abomasnow with Brick Break again. The only one to outspeed Heracross was Sneasel, which used Slash once, which combined with the hail damage, brought Heracross down to a quarter of his HP at the end of the battle.
Spoiler: Team
Infernape (♂) | Fire/Fighting | Level 40
Moves: Flamethrower, Close Combat, U-turn, Stealth Rock
115 HP / 96 Atk / 70 Def / 91 SpA / 75 SpD / 97 Spe
Ability: Blaze | Nature: Bashful | Item: Quick Claw
Ultimate Fairy Run
Omega Ruby / FIRST AND FINAL / Fast but Furious
In this post (i.e., TL;DR)
Spoiler:
- Get Ralts.
- Gym 1 and 2.
- Get Marill.
- Get Mawile.
- Gyms 3-5.
- Get Jigglpuff.
- Rest of Gyms.
- Elite Four.
- Profit?!
The full read:
Spoiler:
This was kind of a fun run. It was quick, only lasting about 19 hours, but I think that has a lot to do with having the Exp Share so I don't have to do as much individual leveling. It does mean that I kind of fell into the trap of using one Pokemon to level up the others in gyms. So, what do I get to use this time?
- Before Gym 1, I pick up Ralts.
- Before Gym 3, I pick up both Marill and Mawile.
- Right after Gym 5, I pick up Jigglypuff.
Having Ralts for just the first two Gyms might sound bad, but it's really not that big of a pain. I do need to level a bit more to get through Roxanne, but that means by the time I get to Brawly, I'm all set. It helps that I have both Psychic and Fairy moves, which are strong against Fighting.
I pick up Marill and work on leveling it up a little, then get a bicycle and head back to Granite Cave to B2F to pick up Mawile. The benefit with Mawile is that it's single stage so I have a stronger Pokemon right out of the gate, but Wattson being an Electric type means I basically just spam high powered moves anyways. Since I don't look up movesets of trainers, I do get a little worried that he might have Steel moves which hurt, but Mawile has Bite at this point so I use it to get a couple of flinches.
Gym 4 is one I end up leveling up to have an Azumarill. Of course, I replaced Bubble Beam with Aqua Tail. True, Aqua Tail is 90 base power compared to Bubble Beam's 65, but Azumarill is a special attacker so I probably should have kept Bubble Beam. I rectify this after gym 5 with Surf, but for now, Aqua Tail is my main damage output for Flannery's gym.
Norman's gym is just one of those where I go through it row by row. What I mean is that I usually do the first two rooms, go out and heal, do the next set that has three rooms, go out and heal, final two rooms, heal, and then time for the battle. My team is powerful enough at this point to just blast through.
At this point, I now have access to Surf, so I head north of Rustboro, surf around the rock, and head to the very northern edge where there's a patch of grass with Jigglypuff. I pick one up, and in order to help it catch up, I throw the Macho Brace on it. Over time, that'll help it gets more EVs as it gets caught up in levels. Jigglypuff won't evolve until quite a while from now (just after gym 7) so I can be sure I won't miss any moves I want.
Gym 6 isn't hard since two of my team have Rollout, and Gym 7 isn't much of a pain either. It helps that Liza and Tate are weak to Surf, so that's helpful. Very straightforward, and it also helps that there's a good dungeon with a bunch of trainers in the Magma Hideout.
After just knocking out Groudon (I don't need it so nighty night), I take on all the trainers, as usual, in the final gym, and quickly take down Wallace. It was simple because I thought ahead, with the Ralts line getting Magical Leaf. I kept it all this time just for that.
The Elite Four weren't hard at all. Sidney's simple to deal with because he's Dark and that's nicely weak to Fairy. A nice change from the last time I played Hoenn with Rock and Fire. Phoebe is just a bunch of spamming either Psychic when I can or a Fairy attack against the Sableye. Glacia would be simple with Rollout, but it likes to miss so back to spamming Fairy moves. Drake is also Fairy-spam.
Steven sucks. Steel is such a pain to deal with. But, honestly, it was just his Mega Metagross that I had to deal with. The others I found a way through while still having my entire team. Most of his team don't do a lot of damage, so I can sort of stop when needed and heal up. I had to attempt Steven three times in order to win, but I let myself blackout so I would keep the experience. The problem with his Mega Metagross is that it's fast, so only Gardevoir is really able to keep up, but Meteor Mash is just too powerful. On the third attempt, I stop on the Armaldo and use three Double Teams on Gardevoir, hoping that gives me enough room to take it down. I don't like Double Team strats, but I don't really hate it, either. Like, something like this is really the only time I feel like using it. Interestingly, while Meteor Mash does miss a bunch of times, when it does hit, it doesn't OHKO and I just have to use a bunch of Hyper Potions until it misses again, and then use Moonblast to deal damage. Finally, I beat Steven, and I'm the champion.
Compared to Steven, the mid-credits battle against May was a piece of cake. Spam spam spam attacks and oh look "The End".
I think the remaining ones I'm going to do in the order of Sun, BD, and Y. Reason being that Sun has a Fairy available right from the start, and the others I have to get some set up done to have a Fairy available from the get go.
Hoenn Fairy was a fun run. I definitely am liking Fairy at this point.
Pokemon Diamond (Standard Mode)
Mono-Fighting - Black Belt Brutus
Update 8 (Lake Acuity -> Sunyshore Gym)
This wasn't an eventful update on the moveset front, but it was very eventful otherwise, with all the battles against Team Galactic. The only moveset changes were Rock Slide on Infernape, replacing Stealth Rock, and Sludge Bomb on Toxicroak, replacing Mud Bomb.
Cyrus was a pushover in his first battle, with Infernape easily sweeping through his team. Saturn was slightly harder, in that his Bronzor managed to confuse Heracross before he swept through his team. Against Mars and Jupiter, my Machamp swept through Jupiter's side of the field, also KOing my rival's useless Munchlax so he could send in something better, and then fainted to Mars's Bronzor. I switched in to Infernape and KOed Mars's three Pokemon too.
For Cyrus's rematch at Spear Pillar, I led with Machamp, and he 2HKOed Honchcrow with Cross Chop, getting hit by a Steel Wing. Machamp also 3HKOed Crobat with Rock Tomb, taking a Bite and Confuse Ray, but not hurting himself. I switched to Medicham after Cyrus sent out Gyarados, switching into a Giga Impact but surviving it, and 1HKOing Gyarados with ThunderPunch. Finally, Medicham survived a Brick Break from Cyrus's Weavile with 1 HP and 1HKOed it with Drain Punch.
Machamp 2HKOed Dialga with Cross Chop, surviving an AncientPower and Dragon Claw. I decided to go fight the Lake Guardians too, and Heracross 3HKOed Uxie with Shadow Claw, Lucario 2HKOed Azelf with Dark Pulse, and Infernape 2HKOed Mesprit with U-Turn, which criticaled the second time.
Volkner was quite easy, Machamp 1HKOed or 2HKOed his whole team. Raichu went down first, to a single Earthquake after setting up Light Screen. Ambipom was taken down by a Cross Chop after setting up Agility. Luxray managed to paralyze Machamp with Thunder Wave and hit him with a Crunch, but got 2HKOed by Earthquake. Finally, Octillery used Octazooka and Charge Beam, but got 2HKOed by Cross Chop.
I've already explored Route 223, so after a couple quick stops to go up some waterfalls and collect items, I'm immediately heading to Victory Road.
Spoiler: Team
Infernape (♂) | Fire/Fighting | Level 45
Moves: Flamethrower, Close Combat, U-turn, Rock Slide
130 HP / 108 Atk / 79 Def / 103 SpA / 85 SpD / 111 Spe
Ability: Blaze | Nature: Bashful | Item: Quick Claw
Alrighty, time for an update to our brand new Bug run of Violet.
We start with giving Nemona Fuecoco as her starter, as that will be more difficult throughout the game. Then, we went through Poco Path and South 1 to get Scatterbug, Surskit, Combed and Tarountula. Whipping Nemona and fast mashing through the dialogue, we end up in South 2, where we grab a Nymble and Kricketot. We were able to evolve our Scatterbug to a Vivillon, and easily sweep with the cute butterfly.
Now... Titan Klawf, Brassius, and Bombirdier were all just.... a pain in the ass. Our little bugs may evolve fast, but they are actually not all that great, especially with move coverage. We didnt wipe on any of them, but man... they were just such a pain to beat, they were all close battles.
Even when we move on to Giacomo and the Dark Base, he kept hitting the 10% sleep multiple times, and would just ruin my day. But still managed to beat him with one Pokemon left.
As we are at Iono, we went and grabbed a bunch of other buddies to join the party. We also have a Scyther from South 4, Venonat and Pineco from East 1, evolved our Surskit, Kricketot, Combed, Tarountula, and Mymble to their final forms, and attempted the Iono battle. Once again, a struggle. With only the Vivillon left, everything is just turning into a death match. And Mela was no different.
Before going to the Fire Base, we went to Asado Desert and caught a Larvesta and a Rellor. Rellor was too high after evolving, so we didn't bother using for the fight, but Larvesta ended up being the last mon alive against Mela. Even after doing -6 accuracy, -6 sp att and -6 Def, it was just a matter of who killed who first. Luckily, I won?
And lastly, we went to East 3 to fight Orthworm. It wasn't as bad as the previous fights, but due to the bugs having not so great defense, Orthworm could just hit us as hard as he wants and cause trouble. But in the end, we got it done, and rest our heads for Kofu...
Oh yeah. Also found a full odds shiny Mareanie. It wasn't a bug, so we showed it no mercy.
Spoiler: Our journey
Spoiler: Current Team
Frothy the Larvesta Lv27
Flame Body / Hasty
String Shot/Flame Charge/Struggle Bug/Flame Wheel
Sneaky the Lokix Lv27
Swarm / Lonely
Lunge/Protect/Double Kick/Screech
It's that time! With not having work means binging Pokemon all weekend! We last come back to our adventurers tired and weary from fighting a large worm, and take respite with old man Kofu...
After traveling to Porto Marianda to get his wallet to him, and enter an auction against adults with 9-5 jobs, we pass the gym challenge and gain the right to fight Kofu. Overall, he was easier than expected. Not exactly coverage moves, but had a lot of status moves that were used to stall our the fight. Badge #9!
We then make a beeline for Atticus in the Poison Base. With our newly evolved Venemoth and Forretress, this was one of the better Atticus fights I've ever had doing speedruns and nuzlockes. Chalk it up as an easy win.
We go and beat Larry to a pulp, outrhyme Ryme, make Tulip smell some flowers, show that rolling Titan who's boss, and shred past Grusha with Forretress. This is the easiest part of the game for this team, honestly.
Then we go to Ortega. I wouldn't say this was difficult, but more.... annoying. With everything having Charm or Baby Doll Eyes, it's hard to setup and constantly having to change just to beat him down. But we got it done.
Eri on the other hand, she was nearly a run killer. All of her mons have coverage to my weak bugs, with both flying, fire, ice and rock moves. Struggled a lot to where I had to just stall as much as possible with Protect and Toxic, along with using evasion moves just to try to get another turn. In the end, we beat her, but it cost nearly everything.
Oh, and we beat Tatsugiri too. Wasn't too hard. It's just a fish.
Now to let my body rest, as I prepare to get my last encounter and fight the endgame...
Spoiler: Our Journey
Spoiler: Current Team
Snarky the Vespiquen Lv58
Serious / Pressure
Acrobatics/Protect/Attack Order/Toxic
We entered the endgame... and we won! Had to do a lot of preparing for this one, especially the Turo fight. But let's talk about that in a sec.
Spoiler: Clavell Fight
This wasnt too bad of a fight. We were able to take advantage of the Oranguru who was supposed to make us sleepy with our Spidops, and we did a lot of switching to beat the type advantage. Only major issue was the Gyarados, but by using Forretress and spamming Iron Defense + Rollout, we cleared with ease and lost no one.
Spoiler: Elite Four
(sorry in advance, I kept getting distracted, so I couldnt take the proper picture with the team in the fight)
Elite Four was, once again, a hit or miss. Rika was the one I was most worried about, because I really didn't have an answer for ground other than Giga Drain Kricketune and Water Pulse Masquerain. But we somehow made it work, with Spidops laying Silky Web at the start, and tried to just Rain Dance/Water Pulse everything. And we just smacked the Clodsire with some good 'ol fashion ice.
Poppy wasn't too much an issue, with having Heracross (who I forget to nickname) and was a cakewalk. The Larry fight involved me just setting up with Volcarona and spamming Fiery Dance when the lead Tropius uses Sunny Day. That ended up beating all of his mons.
Hassal, on the other hand, was an issue again. A lot of my bugs are flying, so I had to bench them. And with only one real weakness, Frosmoth, I was kind of limited as to who will be useful. So I started with Frosmoth and Tailwinded so she gets the upper hand, and just use Aurora Beam. I thought it would do more damage to the Baxcalibur, but I was wrong, and it died to the Glaive Rush. I sent in Heracross to try and finish it off, but it also tanked him, which was a surprise. I had to just get my fastest mon, Scyther, and go for the kill.
Geeta was, once again, easy. In fact, Volcarona almost solo'd her. Even without setting up, Volcarona was able to sweep all but the Glimmora, who handed me my ass with the Rock Tera Blast. Heracross just finished the fight with a Close Combat. Overall, the struggle was about the same as the Electric run.
Spoiler: Arven/Penny/Nemona
Arven and Penny were kind of the same as last time. Just switching in for the strongest move, and OHKO. The only surprise from these fights were Penny's Flareon, who OHKO 2 of my mons with Flare Blitz, all because it was faster.
Nemona was kind of meh this time around, as i had decent coverage for her team. In the end, the Skeledirge did give me problems like I thought it wiuld, knocking out 3 of my mons, but Scyther with his speed ended up saving yhe day.
Spoiler: Professor Turo
Turo was such a pain. Like, seriously. His Iron Moth outsped all of my mons except for my Volcarona, and even then, it had super effective Air Slash. So after attempting a few times, i finally ended eith just slapping Leftovers on Volcarona, spam Amnesia to get the spdef, and then Quiver Dance to get the spa and speed. In the end Turo was solo'd solely by Volcarona, who is the MVP of this run, and this was also the first time I had to Terastalize in either of my runs (electric and bug)
Spoiler: Final Team
Overall, Mono Bug was really irritating. So many mons had these off typing moves that were super effective, and they are not bulky enough to withstand them, especially early game. But I still had fun with it, and hopefully I can do a HC Nuzlocke of it in the future.
User: Pluckles
Type: Fairy
Game(s): Violet
Challenge Type: Game Mastery
Standard Mode / Free Mode: Standard
I beat the League first try! It's late at night here though, and the update will be long since most of the battles were complicated, especially Flint's and Lucian's, so I'm going to wait until tomorrow to write it up.
The TL;DR is that my Rival, Aaron, and Bertha were all easy, Flint and Lucian were both hard, and Cynthia's Garchomp and Gastrodon were difficult but Heracross managed to set up three Swords Dances against Spiritomb and KO her other four Pokemon easily.
Pokemon Diamond (Standard Mode)
Mono-Fighting - Black Belt Brutus
Update 9 (Victory Road -> Pokemon League)
This update is pretty much just Victory Road and the League, not many moveset changes but a lot of boss battles. I did also get the Stone Plate from Mt. Coronet and rearranged my held items a little, too. Lucario learned Dragon Pulse via level up in Victory Road, and I fed Machamp all my remaining Rare Candies to learn DynamicPunch, and taught him Stone Edge via the TM in Victory Road. (I also used three of my PP Ups on DynamicPunch, and they mattered, a lot.) As it turns out, Machamp ended up being my MVP for the league thanks to both of these moves.
I'm going to do one more update to wrap up Diamond's postgame, then move on to the next challenge.
Rival:
I led this battle with my Lucario, 2HKOing Staraptor with Dragon Pulse, and taking a little damage from Steel Wing. My rivals sent out Rapidash next, which missed with Will-O-Wisp, and hit Lucario with Bounce, paralyzing her. Lucario still 2HKOed Rapidash after being paralyzed, but she was KOed the next turn by a Close Combat from my Rival's Heracross.
I switched to Infernape and 1HKOed his Heracross with Flamethrower, then 1HKOed his Empoleon with Close Combat, then nearly 1HKOed his Snorlax with Close Combat again, but it used Rest to heal up. Infernape 2HKOed Snorlax with Close Combat while it was asleep. Unfortunately, Infernape failed to 1HKO Roserade with Flamethrower, and his defenses were quite poor from all the Close Combats he used, so he got 1HKOed by Roserade's Poison Jab. Thankfully, this was his last Pokemon so I just sent Medicham out to finish the battle with a Fire Punch.
Aaron:
I led this battle with Infernape, who hit Dustox with Flamethrower and got hit by a not-very-effective Bug Buzz. Aaron used his Full Restore on Dustox but Infernape just 2HKOed it with Flamethrower before it could move again. Infernape then followed up by 1HKOing Beautifly with a critical Rock Slide. Unfortunately, Aaron's Drapion then managed to flinch Infernape with Ice Fang and KO it with a critical Cross Poison, 2HKOing it.
I sent out Machamp next, which 3HKOed Drapion with Earthquake, but got hit by an X-Scissor, Ice Fang, and Cross Poison in the process. Aaron sent out his Heracross, and since Machamp was almost fainted, I switched into my own Heracross, which got hit by Stone Edge. My Heracross's Quick Claw activated and he 1HKOed Aaron's Heracross with a critical Aerial Ace.
Aaron sent out his last Pokemon, Vespiquen, and I initially hit it with Aerial Ace but it didn't take much damage, and used Defend Order to boost its defensive stats. I healed up Machamp with a Hyper Potion, surviving an Attack Order, switched into it, easily surviving another Attack Order, and had Machamp 1HKO Vespiquen with Stone Edge to win the match.
Bertha:
This was the easiest matchup I had in the Pokemon League, and Machamp managed to nearly solo the match single-handedly. He started off by 2HKOing Quagsire with DynamicPunch, while it wasted its only move on Double Team, then did the same to Whiscash, though he took 45% damage from a Zen Headbutt, then 1HKOed Sudowoodo and nearly 1HKOed Golem with DynamicPunch too. Golem used Sandstorm as its only move, and Bertha healed it back up for the next, while Machamp 2HKOed it with another DynamicPunch and an Earthquake.
Bertha sent out Hippowdon, her last Pokemon, and Machamp used his last DynamicPunch on it, bringing it down to 55% HP, and it used Curse. Then Machamp used Earthquake twice to hurt it more, while Hippowdown hurt itself after the first Earthquake and KOed Machamp with an Earthquake of its own after that. I sent out Lucario and finished it off with an Aura Sphere to win my second E4 match.
Flint:
I led with Infernape this time, using Rock Slide against Rapidash while it used Flare Blitz. Rapidash ended up KOing with Bounce, since I mixed up which move would've hit it mid-bounce (it was actually Machamp's Stone Edge because of No Guard.) I switched to Lucario and KOed Rapidash with an Aura Sphere as it set Sunny Day.
Flint sent out his own Infernape, which 1HKOed both Lucario and Machamp with Flare Blitz, and took a lot of recoil damage in the process. I switched to Heracross, used three Max Revives on my team members, expecting Heracross to go down to a Flare Blitz, but the AI inexplicably uses ThunderPunch and two not-very-effective Earthquakes against him, possibly because it wanted to avoid more recoil? I healed Heracross and set up a Swords Dance, then it used Earthquake twice again. It used ThunderPunch next and then I nearly KOed it with an Aerial ace. Both of us healed again, and then I did half of Infernape's health in damage with another Aerial Ace and it retaliated with Mach Punch. Then it finally used Flare Blitz against Heracross, easily KOing him but putting Infernape into the red. I sent out Lucario and Infernape dual-KOed both Pokemon with another Flare Blitz.
I sent out my own Infernape, and had it use Close Combat against Steelix twice, getting hit by a Fire Fang and Rock Tomb. Infernape then finished off Steelix with a Flamethrower. Flint sent out Lopunny, which I nearly KOed with Close Combat after it set Sunny Day, then hit with a U-turn as it healed to switch to Machamp. Lopunny used Charm, but Machamp nearly KOed it with DynamicPunch. I switched back to Infernape, and Lopunny used Charm twice but went down to Flamethrower.
I U-turned back to Machamp to take down Drifblim, and he got burned by a Will-o-Wisp before he could attack, and hit by an Ominous Wind, but he still 3HKOed Drifblim with Stone Edge. Drifblim wasted its other moves on Double Team, which were useless against a Pokemon with No Guard.
Lucian:
I led with Lucario, and 2HKOed Mr. Mime with Dark Pulse after it used Reflect and Thunderbolt. Lucian sent out his Medicham, which froze Lucario with Ice Punch and KOed her with Fire Punch. I switched to Toxicroak and tried setting up Nasty Plot, but Medicham did more than half damage with a Fire Punch so I just used a Max Revive on Lucario. Medicham predictably fainted him next turn and I switched to Machamp. Medicham used an Ice Punch, and Machamp retaliated with an Earthquake, both doing 30% damage. Machamp tried using Earthquake again but Lucian switched to Bronzong and dodged it.
Bronzong used Calm Mind, but Machamp hit it with a DynamicPunch. Machamp repeated this twice more, while Bronzong hurt itself once and used Gyro Ball. Lucian healed it since it was very close to fainting, then used Earthquake on its next turn, but Machamp was a little luckier and 3HKOed it this time. Lucian switched to Alakazam, and since Machamp was low on health, I used a Max Revive on Toxicroak while Machamp fainted to a Focus Blast.
I switched back to Lucario, and she was nearly KOed by Psychic, but she 2HKOed Alakazam with Dark Pulse thanks to it missing with Focus Blast on the next turn. Lucian sent out his Medicham, so I let it faint my Lucario and used a Revival Herb on Machamp, then switched to it the next turn. Machamp got hit by an Ice Punch but hit back with an Earthquake, then Lucian healed it but Machamp retaliated with a critical Earthquake, and Medicham hit with yet another Ice Punch and got KOed by another Earthquake.
Lucian sent out his Girafarig, and KOed Machamp with Psychic. Girafarig then hit Infernape with Double Hit, but he used U-turn to switch to my own Medicham and put it in the yellow. Medicham survived a Double Hit, used Drain Punch to heal enough to survive a Crunch, then KOed Girafarig with a Drain Punch.
Cynthia:
I led this match with Heracross, hoping to be able to set Swords Dance against Spiritomb, but I got luckier than my wildest dreams as Cynthia's AI made repeated stupid decisions that gave me an opportunity to completely maximize his attack and wipe out half her team with no resistance.
Heracross started out by setting a Swords Dance, and Spiritomb used Psychic, which brought him down to a quarter of his health. Expecting Cynthia to use Psychic again to KO Heracross, I used Shadow Claw to take out a quarter of Spiritomb's HM, but it unexpectedly used Silver Wind, of all things. I took the opportunity to heal Heracross with a Hyper Potion and used Swords Dance twice more, while Spiritomb used Silver Wind, Embargo, then Silver Wind again. I nearly KOed Spiritomb with Shadow Claw and it used a fourth Silver Wind against Heracross, then Cynthia healed it up and I 2HKOed it with Shadow Claw.
Heracross then went on to 2HKO Milotic, while it wasted its move on Mirror Coat. Then, his Quick Claw activated and he 1HKOed Roserade with Aerial Ace. Then his Quick Claw activated again and he 1HKOed Cynthia's Lucario with Brick Break. Then Cynthia sent out Garchomp, which outsped Heracross and KOed him with Dragon Rush.
I sent out Lucario, who took half damage from Dragon Rush and did 45% damage to Garchomp with a Choice Specs-boosted Dragon Pulse. Then Garchomp used Earthquake and KOed her. I switched to Infernape, now my most expendible Pokemon as both of Cynthia's remaining team members were her Garchomp and Gastrodon, and used Revival Herbs on Lucario and Heracross while Garchomp 2HKOed him with Dragon Rush.
I sent out Machamp against Garchomp next, and he got hit by a Giga Impact, but survived it and brought it down to 40% HP post-Sitrus Berry with a DynamicPunch. Machamp then nearly KOed Garchomp with another DynamicPunch, but Cynthia healed up the turn after that, though I just confused it again with another DynamicPunch. Garchomp hurt itself in its confusion and Machamp hit it with yet another DynamicPunch, but it got KOed by Earthquake the next turn. I switched to Medicham, and Garchomp hurt itself and gave an opening for an Ice Punch to KO it.
Medicham used Drain Punch on Gastrodon twice, but got 2HKOed by Earthquake. I switched to Toxicroak, used Focus Blast to bring it down to 25% HP, and he got 1HKOed by Earthquake. Finally, I switched back to my revived Heracross and won the match with a Brick Break to finish off Gastrodon.
Spoiler: Team
Infernape (♂) | Fire/Fighting | Level 51
Moves: Flamethrower, Close Combat, U-turn, Rock Slide
146 HP / 124 Atk / 92 Def / 117 SpA / 96 SpD / 128 Spe
Ability: Blaze | Nature: Bashful | Item: Stone Plate
Machamp (♂) | Fighting | Level 54
Moves: DynamicPunch, Earthquake, Stone Edge, Payback
168 HP / 165 Atk / 121 Def / 84 SpA / 108 SpD / 86 Spe
Ability: No Guard | Nature: Impish | Item: Fist Plate
I'm not the thread admin, but I can answer the first two.
1) You are not locked into a team. If one of your Pokemon isn't suiting you, you can replace it with another Pokemon of your type. When I did my Mono Ground-type in Sapphire, I abandoned Rhydon in favor of Whiscash.
2) No, it doesn't matter if the type is primary or secondary. It's fair game to use both a Water/Ground-type and a Ground/Rock-type in the same Ground monotype run.
I'm not the thread admin, but I can answer the first two.
1) You are not locked into a team. If one of your Pokemon isn't suiting you, you can replace it with another Pokemon of your type. When I did my Mono Ground-type in Sapphire, I abandoned Rhydon in favor of Whiscash.
2) No, it doesn't matter if the type is primary or secondary. It's fair game to use both a Water/Ground-type and a Ground/Rock-type in the same Ground monotype run.
As Reginald Cosmic stated before me, replacing team members is completely fine and the chosen type can be either the primary or secondary type.
As for Kitakami and the Terrarium, I haven't personally played SV, but going to Kitakami before the base game is complete seems completely fine. However, the information I found online about The Indigo Disk shows that the Terrarium is impossible to access before completing the base game in the first place, so forbidding it would be redundant.
Not related to the new challenger, but I've expanded the rules regarding trading/hacking starters to allow the player to trade/hack one in if their first available Pokemon is available before the first gym, but isn't one of the game's starter Pokemon. However, in this case, the traded/hacked starter still needs to be catchable before the first gym (e.g. only Pikachu for mono-Electric FRLG). It should help for those challenges that have a difficult-to-catch first Pokemon (e.g. Abra in mono-Psychic DPPt) or one that's very close to the first gym and would require a lot of grinding for the first gym leader if not made a starter (e.g. Gastly in mono-Ghost HGSS).
Challenge runs where the first available Pokemon is after the first gym are unaffected by this rule and their starter trade/hack rules are still the same.
I'm a bit confused, but I think you're just giving us more options in case we want to change the starter Pokemon with an eligible one.
Regarding my current Game Mastery Challenge of Ruby/Sapphire, can I still hack in an Aron for the steel-type challenge, a Lanturn for the electric-type challenge, and a Bagon for the Dragon-type challenge? (I think we've discussed the rock-type challenge recently.
For the Pokémon Ruby or Sapphire Poison monotype challenge specifically, how should I go about catching Whurmple? You said the starter needs to be random, and I have a tool that lets me change the starter (eg, random stats when I select it), but ... Whurmple's personality value determines whether it ends up as Dustox (eligible) or Beautifly (ineligible). Normally I would prefer to hack in the starter (which I'd like to do in the Rock monotype challenge for the Game Mastery Challenge), but in this case, I think it'd be easier to catch multiple Whurmple and check it in PKHex (not modifying the values, just checking to see if it will evolve into Cascoon or Silcoon). At least, I think you can check the personality value in PKHex...? I'm not sure how this works, but I was pretty sure there weren't any other poison-types in Ruby/Sapphire until after Roxanne (Zubat, specifically). I realize this is a super specific problem for Ruby and Sapphire (and maybe Emerald, but the rule for third versions means I stick with Ruby & Sapphire)... I don't know.
Pretty much, yes. It's basically just there to fix a couple cases where the first available Pokemon was before the first gym, but still difficult to catch, like Abra in mono-Psychic Sinnoh runs.
Regarding my current Game Mastery Challenge of Ruby/Sapphire, can I still hack in an Aron for the steel-type challenge, a Lanturn for the electric-type challenge, and a Bagon for the Dragon-type challenge? (I think we've discussed the rock-type challenge recently.
For the Pokémon Ruby or Sapphire Poison monotype challenge specifically, how should I go about catching Whurmple? You said the starter needs to be random, and I have a tool that lets me change the starter (eg, random stats when I select it), but ... Whurmple's personality value determines whether it ends up as Dustox (eligible) or Beautifly (ineligible). Normally I would prefer to hack in the starter (which I'd like to do in the Rock monotype challenge for the Game Mastery Challenge), but in this case, I think it'd be easier to catch multiple Whurmple and check it in PKHex (not modifying the values, just checking to see if it will evolve into Cascoon or Silcoon). At least, I think you can check the personality value in PKHex...? I'm not sure how this works, but I was pretty sure there weren't any other poison-types in Ruby/Sapphire until after Roxanne (Zubat, specifically). I realize this is a super specific problem for Ruby and Sapphire (and maybe Emerald, but the rule for third versions means I stick with Ruby & Sapphire)... I don't know.
You can modify the personality value for Wurmple if you want, or catch a few and check them in PKHeX, or even do it the hard way and evolve multiple Wurmple until you get one with the right evolution. All are fine and it's completely up to you. (Also, you're misspelling Wurmple. There's no "h" in the name.)
Actually... I'll go ahead and make Cascoon an exception to the "only unevolved starters" rule, in Hoenn's game-specific rules. I would still prefer you start with Wurmple if you can get the personality value right, though.
And yes, you are correct that there are no other poison-types in RSE before Dewford Town (where you can get Zubat in Granite Cave and Tentacool with the Old Rod.)
What's that? I added an h to Wurmple's name? Someone should've stopped me! /In Jest
I will probably try to catch one with reasonably good IVs and nature and then change the personality value if it's going to evolve into the wrong thing. This doesn't involve too much math. I was kind of worried when I saw the word "mod" on Bulbapedia, but it's short for modulus which is the proper way to discuss remainders after division. (For the uninitiated, 11 modulus 5 is 1 because you have a remainder of 1 after dividing 11 by 5.)
Editing it shouldn't be too hard since I can convert the value to decimal with a calculator online. [This part of the message was edited because I realized I was wrong, and I'm embarrassed. Wurmple's evolution only cares about the first 16 bits of the personality value, which is in binary in the game and hexadecimal in PKHex.]
Also, apparently, I've been saying "modulus" wrong for years. I thought the percent sign in Python was called the "module" operator. I feel like I've been calling Bart Simpson's teacher "Crandal" for ten years.
Final Edit: I think I finally figured out the easiest way to change the personality value. Assuming the Wurmple is going to evolve into Silcoon, would I just add 65,536 (which is 2 to the 16th power) to the personality value 25 times? Maybe there's a simpler way, but I think this would keep the nature the same while changing the first 16 bits to be 25 higher.
(4 + 25) modulus 10 = 9
Also, I'm aware PKHex stores the value as a hexadecimal value, but I already found a calculator for that online.
Here is my first update for my mono Ground-type run of Violet, and I think I made a decent amount of headway.
I started my first day as Uva Academy's newest student by choosing Fuecoco as my starter and quickly defeating Nemona in battle. After receiving money and a sandwich from mom, I headed up Poco Path and set out toward the lighthouse up ahead. I met with Nemona on the way there, but a loud cry from a Pokemon lead me to investigate a nearby cliffside for the source.
I spotted an unknown, robotic-looking Pokemon on the beach below. It was being hassled by a pair of Houndour, who were scared away by a loud roar from the metallic creature. The roar sent me sliding off the cliff, though my Rotom phone broke my fall before I hit the ground. I offered the Pokemon the sandwich I was carrying, and he gratefully led me through a cave leading back up the cliff. During the trip, I caught a Diglett and followed the Pokemon until we were approached by a menacing Houndoom. The Pokemon saved me after I was surrounded by Houndour, and after carrying me to the cave exit collapsed in brief exhaustion.
I boxed my Fuecoco and trained my Diglett a bit, then approached the lighthouse, where another student named Arven revealed the Pokemon was named Miraidon. He challenged me to a battle, and after defeating his Skwovet he gave me Miraidon's pokeball with no explanation of how or why he had it.
I traveled through Los Platos, catching a Paldean Wooper along the way, and defeated Nemona again outside the gate to Mesagoza. After defending a girl named Penny from the delinquent group known as Team Star, receiving a Tera Orb from Nemona in the process, I was introduced to my fellow students by Professor Jacq, then encountered Arven again in the cafeteria. He asked me to help him find some plants called Herba Mystica that supposedly had special healing properties, but said I could think about it before giving my answer. As I was leaving the cafeteria, I received a call from someone going by the name Casseiopeia. I was asked to help with a plan to bring down Team Star, but was again given time to think about it. I was also encouraged by Nemona to take the region's gym challenge and become a champion.
Soon the school began its annual Treasure Hunt, but before I could embark I was offered the chance by Professor Jacq to participate in a school trip to a land called Kitakami, and I accepted. Upon arrival, I was sent by the group's chaperone, Professor Briar, to fetch the caretaker of the nearby Mossui Town's community center. Upon reaching reaching town, I met a girl named Carmine and her younger brother Kieran. After beating Carmine in battle, and Kieran also the next day, I was partnered with Kieran on an assignment to take photos at three signposts. I decided that task could wait, but before returning to Paldea I decided to hatch an egg Professor Jacq gave me. Hoping for a Ground-type to add to my team, I instead found a Piplup hatching from it and promptly boxed it.
In Paldea, I caught a Mudbray and Phanpy, then challenged the Titan Klawf which, despite a few hairy moments, went down fairly quickly. With the first Herba Mystica found, I decided to start training my team a bit; Wooper evolved into Clodsire shortly afterward.
After traveling to the Cortondo gym and winning my first gym badge from Katy, I made my way to the Asado Desert and caught a Sandile. I next went to Artazon and won my second badge from Brassius, then I traveled to Area Two in the West Province and caught a Gabite. I used my newly captured Pokemon to defeat the Titan Bombirdier, and after obtaining the Herba Mystica Arven revealed that he was seeking them to heal his Mabostiff, which was ill from something that conventional healing couldn't help with.
I took some time to train my team some more, during which time I evolved Phanpy into Donphan, Diglett into Dugtrio, Sandile into Krokorok, and Mudbray into Mudsdale. Next, I defeated the Titan Orthworm and, after arriving in Levincia and defeating Nemona again, I triumphed against Iono and earned my third badge. This was first gym battle to be a bit tricky due to Iono's Mismagius, but my Donphan was able to resist the effects of its Confuse Ray and take it down with two well-placed Rollouts.
After leaving Levincia, I decided it was time to begin my battles with Team Star. I took down Giacomo and Mela one after the other, then headed to Cascarrafa to challenge Kofu. Before doing so, I made a detour to Los Platos to catch another Wooper, then traded it to a girl who was offering its Johtonian cousin.
At the request of the town's gym staffer, I followed Kofu to Porto Marinada to return the wallet he left behind, and ended up helping him win an auction for some edible seaweed. He acceptd my challenge for a battle once I returned to Cascarrafa and I won after a bit of a challenge. With badge #4 in hand, I went to the Team Star base in Tagtree Thicket and defeated its boss, Atticus. After my victory I took another break to train my team. During the training, Krokorok evolved into Krookodile.
After a bit more training, I went to Medali and battled Larry for badge #5, winning after a fairly quick battle. Nemona asked me for a battle immediately afterward, and I managed to win, despite some difficulty from her Meowscarada. I then started riding around to decide what to do next and ran into a Chansey outbreak. I battled the Chansey for a while, training my team by 9 to 11 levels each and evolving Gabite into Garchomp in the process.
After making my team stronger, I defeated the Titan Iron Treads without too much trouble, then travelled to Montenevera to battle Ryme for badge #6. After a tense battle I came out victorious, then underwent another training session to prepare for what was still ahead.
Pokemon Diamond (Standard Mode)
Mono-Fighting - Black Belt Brutus
Update 10 (Postgame)
I finished up Diamond's Postgame, explored Route 224, the whole Battle Zone, and fought a bunch of Legendaries, including the event legendaries via hacked-in event items. Darkrai, Heatran, and Shaymin were all 1HKOed by super-effective moves, Giratina got KOed by Lucario spamming a bunch of Dragon Pulses, and Arceus managed to 1HKO two of my Pokemon with Hyper Beam before being taken down by repeated STAB fighting-type moves.
The only moveset changes this time were Heracross finally learning a STAB Bug-type move, Megahorn, and Infernape learning Overheat via TM in Stark Mountain near the very end of the postgame. I also got a Leftovers and Life Orb, and shifted my Expert Belt over to Infernape since Medicham was the best Pokemon for the Life Orb because of Drain Punch.
I also managed to get to Palmer in the Battle Tower, using Heracross/Machamp/Lucario as my team, though they barely lost to him. If his Milotic had missed with that last Hydro Pump or Heracross's Quick Claw had activated on his last turn, I'd have beaten my first Frontier Brain. Other than Palmer, I haven't had any losses this playthrough.
My rival's rematch in the Fight Area went well. I led with Toxicroak against Staraptor, but he was 1HKOed by a critical Aerial Ace. I switched to Machamp, used Stone Edge, intending it against Staraptor but it used U-Turn and brought in Rapidash, which was nearly KOed by it. Rapidash burned Machamp with Will-O-Wisp but he still KOed it with another Stone Edge.
Staraptor came out again and Intimidated Machamp, then U-Turned again into Snorlax, which got hit by two DynamicPunches before using Rest. Machamp then 2HKOed it with DynamicPunch, the first of which was a critical that nearly 1HKOed it. Then, Staraptor came back and used Close Combat on Machamp, but got hit back and confused by a DynamicPunch. It then got hit by a Stone Edge and hurt itself twice in a row, the latter time KOing itself in its confusion.
My rival sent out Empoleon which finished off Machamp with Drill Peck, and I sent out Lucario and 1HKOed it with Aura Sphere. My rival sent out his Heracross, and used Night Slash while Lucario was forced into Aura Sphere by the Choice Specs, and neither did much damage. Heracross then KOed Lucario with Close Combat and lowered its own defenses, and I switched to Infernape and KOed it with Overheat. Infernape then did 75% damage to Roserade, got hit by two Giga Drains while missing its next Overheat, then hit hit with another Overheat to bring Roserade into the red and KOed it with Close Combat.
Time to move on to the next game now. I'll be playing the spotlighted Date of Birth challenge before moving back to the monotypes, since I need a short break from Sinnoh before I return for my mono-Steel challenge.
Spoiler: Team
Infernape (♂) | Fire/Fighting | Level 59
Moves: Overheat, Close Combat, U-turn, Rock Slide
169 HP / 150 Atk / 108 Def / 136 SpA / 112 SpD / 149 Spe
Ability: Blaze | Nature: Bashful | Item: Expert Belt
Machamp (♂) | Fighting | Level 59
Moves: DynamicPunch, Earthquake, Stone Edge, Payback
183 HP / 181 Atk / 136 Def / 91 SpA / 118 SpD / 95 Spe
Ability: No Guard | Nature: Impish | Item: Leftovers
As Reginald Cosmic stated before me, replacing team members is completely fine and the chosen type can be either the primary or secondary type.
As for Kitakami and the Terrarium, I haven't personally played SV, but going to Kitakami before the base game is complete seems completely fine. However, the information I found online about The Indigo Disk shows that the Terrarium is impossible to access before completing the base game in the first place, so forbidding it would be redundant.
Just adding a bit of clarification for thos who may not be aware. You *can* enter the Terrarium before finishing the main stories for the base game and the Teal Mask, but it's not going to be easy. You get the invitation to study at Blueberry Academy shortly after arriving in Kitakami, but the Pokemon and trainer levels don't scale based on main game completion like the Teal Mask does, so the initial trainer battle you have to win to gain entry to the Terrarium requires you to beat Pokemon in the low 70s. You also can't complete much of the story until the main game and Teal Mask stories are finished, but you can still explore the Terrarium, catch Pokemon, and complete Blueberry Quests. I wouldn't recommend trying to enter the Terrarium until your team is a fairly high level, but it can be accessed.
