• Our software update is now concluded. You will need to reset your password to log in. In order to do this, you will have to click "Log in" in the top right corner and then "Forgot your password?".
  • Forum moderator applications are now open! Click here for details.
  • Welcome to PokéCommunity! Register now and join one of the best fan communities on the 'net to talk Pokémon and more! We are not affiliated with The Pokémon Company or Nintendo.

The Lampent Challenge - don't get too attached!

Eleanor

Princess Era 🎀
6,558
Posts
7
Years
So, I guess I'm thinking of doing a run right now of Let's Go Pikachu - the only reason I haven't signed up proper is because of some doubts regarding the mechanics in LGP/E which makes you catch Pokémon to grind, and you need to get chain captures to find rare encounters.

I was planning on treating Pokemon caught for those purposes as just filler and not count towards the quota if I don't use them in battles and box them immediately, since I'd be able to just train / find them normally in other games. Would that be allowed?

For these games that's ok! Could be interesting to see how it will work in practice ♡
 

Duck

🦆 quack quack
5,750
Posts
3
Years
  • Age 33
  • Seen Feb 23, 2023

Let's go!

🕯️ Forum name: Pikaboo
🕯️ Game of choice: Let's Go Pikachu
🕯️ Easy Mode or Normal mode: Easy for now, since it's my first time playing and there are some big mechanical differences from normal Pokémon
🕯️ Optional Rules, if any: I'll only use Legends and Dragonite as the last possible resort.

Session 1: Let's Go, Pikachu Oddish!


Let's Go Pikachu - Lampent Challenge - Session #1

This is my first time playing the Let's Go games so I'll also throw in some game opinions in there. The graphics are cute, and I can't say I love the way that the game is doing the alternative to motion controls but I can kinda vibe with the game in general.

I'm playing in French because my French is rusty and seems like an interesting way to get back in the game, and boy I'm having a blast imagining the snootiest possible French person saying the silly stuff Pokemon characters say.

After an intro with a blatant illusion of choice - just do the way the original yellow did, smh - we get Bubonique the Pikachu. Considering I can't just release it after the level cap, I'll probably have to carry it along, but I'll be treating it as the equivalent of an HM slave in other games after that happens.

I'll also be considering that catching Pokemon for grinding / getting catch combos to get other Pokémon is OK, assuming I never use them in battle, given the way that Let's Go mechanics work.

I like that Pikachu will just find stuff in the overworld for you, that's cute. After doing the basic encounters we return the Parcel to the professor, beat our rival, start to go back to Viridian and encounter a trainer in Route 1! Oh my, how spicy.

I eventually make my way to Viridian Forest - which looks great, but makes the emulator lag like hell. Although I guess that's good to avoid being sniped by Pokemon. And there I get Marie Jeanne, the Oddish at Level 4, which I know is needed to get in Brock's gym.

I am also genuinely surprised because I walked in the circles for the first time in forever in Viridian Forest. The sense of immersion in the map is something I didn't really expect, but in a good way? The art direction in this game seems great in general.

I'm not sure I like how helpful everybody is being? I don't know, it feels weird to get this much stuff early on, even if I know I'm probably going to need it later on, given this challenge, lol.

Brock mean mugging and giving the Wakanda salute's gonna live rent free in my head forever now, especially since he lost in 4 turns. "I was too sure of myself, that's why I lost." No, Brock. You lost because you forced me to get a Pokemon that's quad strong to your entire team, and your team has the special defense of a wet carrot.

Blue just gave me Great Balls and I'm not sure how to handle it. I feel like it was a nice touch to mention the original games though.

And since I have a Pokemon a day to draw, here's an artistic depiction of the session highlight:
6yVMPP2.png


Either way:
Gym 1 beaten, 7 gyms to go!

Team

- Bubonique the Level 7 Pikachu (obtained at Level 5)
- Marie Jeanne the Level 8 Oddish (obtained at Level 4)

Caught Families

- Pikachu (x1)
- Oddish (x1)

Session 2 - Screw you Gym Guy

I'm feeling like Solid Snake here, not gonna lie. Just dodging trainers and Pokémon all around. I also just noticed that the trainer Pokémon is perpetually frowning in that challenge-y sort of way. Talk about resting Gyarados face.

I'm not entirely sure how to feel about Jessie and James here, to be honest, especially since Meowth doesn't quip, it's just a Meowth.

And apparently they changed the maps / trainers, that's not good for me, lol.

During Mt. Moon, I got Champingnon the Paras at level 5, since maybe he'll come in handy for Misty, the rival and Surge given the spores.

And after that I faced the hardest grunt I've ever battled. My Pikachu and Oddish matched levels with its Drowzee but it had sleep hax so getting to beat it was a hard proposal. I needed to use items to get through it!

And then the nerd dropped and I hate Magnemite because I don't have anything to hit it ... or so I thought, because I forgot Pikachu knows Double Kick in this game.

And apparently the game lets you waste items without telling you that it won't have any effect, making me lose my battle. Gross. So I did a little bit of training to get Champignon up to speed.

It still was a hard battle since they could throw poison and I didn't really have any proper response to them ... I managed to get Ekans to sleep, get Oddish to set up and then kill them one at a time.

I decided not to get the busted Pikachu move for now, because it's busted ... And apparently Misty needs you to have a Pokemon with level 15 or higher ... oops, guess I'll have to find something in the wild - probably Spearows since they might come in handy for Erika later - grind it up and then box it, I guess.

I got Lanceur the Level 11 Spearow right by Cerulean and grinding is gonna take a while. Eventually I got bored and decided to do the rival. Apparently, Bill traumatized the rival and I find that hilarious for some reason.

After a while of capturing Spearows and then sending them to the Professor - what does he do with so many Spearow, I don't know - we finally can face the gym. I made a point of boxing Lanceur out of pure spite.

The gym trainers were mostly a question of Champignon getting a Poison Powder and then just weakening with Absorb until it died and Marie Jeanne came in and cleaned up.

And then Misty was ... problematic. Instead of Staryu, she had Psyduck which let her use Confusion to stop Oddishes in their tracks, Paras wasn't super effective but still took a chunk of damage due to the level difference.

After trying a bunch of different strategies, I eventually had to bite the bullet and get the OP Pikachu move. It was still more strategic than just spamming the move, but I needed the move if I didn't want to grind.

Basically, I let Pikachu deal with Psyduck, used Paras to poison the Starmie (it can reliably take at least one hit), stall a bit with Oddish and then just Zippy Zappy Starmie while the timer ticked down. I could have done without Zappy Zap (Pika-Sprint in French) but then I'd need to use items and that feels cheaper somehow.

Still, I beat Misty using 3 Pokémon that were barely in the double digits, all of them at least 6 levels below her ace and none of them level 15 or higher. Suck it Gym Guy.

Team

- Bubonique the Level 13 Pikachu (obtained at Level 5)
- Marie Jeanne the Level 13 Oddish (obtained at Level 4)
- Champignon the Level 10 Paras (obtained at level 5)
- Lanceur the Level 15 Spearow (obtained at level 13)

Caught Families

- Pikachu (x1)
- Oddish (x1)
- Paras (x1)
- Spearow (x1)
 
Last edited:

Eleanor

Princess Era 🎀
6,558
Posts
7
Years
Eleanor's Unova Adventure, log #3

Ok, so. Clay was incredibly easy. The problem was getting there, I guess, with the trainers on Route 5 proving to be quite difficult to beat! Of all people...
Cheren was rather fine to handle, but the two kids with Herdier right after, the ones that Alder calls up to fight you, those were surprisingly complicated! I really could win with sheer power and, especially, quantity of Pokémon. But hey, it still worked!

Cold Storage net me one new Pokémon that I needed to replace Throh with, and yes - even if he wasn't at the level limit, I decided to proceed with the swap anyways. Said Pokémon was a Timburr, which I evolved into Gurdurr and all only to discover it had a Modest nature. Oh well, no Dupes, so... we do what we can.

As I said, Clay was easy. The Gym Trainers perhaps not so much, but we still made it through with a few journeys back and forth to the Pokémon Center. Against the Leader though, all I had to do was lead with Maractus, swiftly defeat Krokorok, and do some damage on Excadrill before swapping in Gurdurr. The fighting type would finish Excadrill off, then I went back to Maractus on Palpitoad's Muddy Water (healing with Water Absorb) before finishing off Clay's last Pokémon with Giga Drain.

I can't help but notice that I'm kind of underleveled, and yet still managing most of the battles in one way or another. Let's hope it stays that way, especially at the League... and let's see what we've unlocked now with our fifth badge! Although I kind of blame it on the BW evolution-less Pokémon like Maractus and Sigilyph.

Team vs Clay: Audino, lv. 21→28, Gurdurr, lv. 26→29, Whirlipede, lv. 21→26, Maractus, lv. 20→28, Sigilyph, lv. 20→27, Darumaka, lv. 18→22

In the box: Petilil, lv. 22→22, Swadloon, lv. 16→24, Liepard, lv. 25→25, Throh, lv. 17→25
 

Duck

🦆 quack quack
5,750
Posts
3
Years
  • Age 33
  • Seen Feb 23, 2023

Session 3 - Riding Away


Did anybody notice that the grunt after the Nugget Bridge became visibly lighter and gained very accentuated cheekbones? Was he doing blackface or something? How much make-up was he wearing to change his whole facial structure?

In preparation for Surge, I got Sable the Sandshrew at Rt. 4 at Level 11.

Bill has no business looking as good as he does there, and I have absolute, 100% certainty that if he marketed his machine to furries he'd be the richest man in Kanto. I also appreciate the way they cover some small plotholes with how the rival got on the S.S. Anne and how the cop goes away.

How do you get a revive stuck in your hair? I mean, it's a cute way to give the item but like, who doesn't notice a whole rock in your hair?

I got Diglett at Diglett's Cave (not Tunnel) and with that I have more or less the proper team for Vermillion. I also got and dumped 5 Growlithes because this game doesn't have a bicycle and 5 Growlithes is effectively the price for the Persian bike - like catching a number of Pokemon is the price for HM Flash or the Itemfinder in FR/LG. If you want, you can think of it as I got a Meowth and trained the Meowth, or think of the Persian as a gift Pokemon.

I eventually beat the rival with a combination of Pikachu, Spearow and Persian - Sleep Hax can be annoying to deal with - I'm not looking forward to deal with Erika. And to deal with Surge I pretty much got all the Pokemon I had that could learn Dig, lol.

Sandshrew managed to severely dent Voltorb and then die. Persian cleaned up and did a chunk of damage on Magnemite before also dying, then Diglett came in and cleaned up. Pikachu take point and managed to dig twice before dying and Diglett cleaned up. That's how I beat Lt. Surge when my strongest Pokemon was 8 levels weaker than his ace.

Gym 3 beaten

Also, did you know that Surge is "Major Bob" in French? So American.

And I did the whole Solid Snake down Rock Tunnel until I found one of the last few unavoidable trainers and it's just stacked. It's a Vulpix and a Kadabra and that's hard to beat when you're severely underlevelled. She was actually harder than Brock or Surge.

After getting past the horror that was Rock Tunnel, I captured Chien, the Growlithe at Level 26 and an Abra at Level 27 (both of which I promptly evolved) in Rt. 8 - it took me a while to get the trick to capturing Abra. After reaching Celadon, I got to Saffron and got Psychic.

Between Arcanine and Alakazam, Erika didn't really have a chance. I didn't even need Alakazam, really. Just using an Arcanine that was like 10 levels under her ace.

I'm kinda surprised that it's been 4 gyms and I still haven't hit the cap in any Pokémon.

Team

- Lanceur the Level 17 Spearow (obtained at level 13)
- Chat the Level 18 Persian (obtained at Level 16)
- Chien the Level 26 Arcanine (obtained at Level 26)
- Magicien the Level 28 Alakazam (obtained at Level 27)

Boxed

- Tunnel the Level 19 Diglett (obtained at Level 18)
- Sable the Level 14 Sandshrew (obtained at Level 11)
- Marie Jeanne the Level 16 Oddish (obtained at Level 4)
- Champignon the Level 11 Paras (obtained at level 5)
- Bubonique the Level 19 Pikachu (obtained at Level 5)

Caught Families

- Pikachu (x1)
- Oddish (x1)
- Paras (x1)
- Spearow (x1)
- Sandshrew (x1)
- Diglett (x1)
- Meowth / Persian (x1)
- Growlithe / Arcanine (x1)
- Abra / Kadabra / Alakazam (x1)
 
5,640
Posts
10
Years
I had this update in my Scrapbox for quite some time, so it's finally time to give it some final touches and release it:

The Lampent Challenge in Pokémon Sapphire

sableye.png
taillow.png
plusle.png

PART 1

It has been a while since I started this run, so my memory can be a little bit hazy about details.

The biggest challenge so far was to choose an original naming scheme. I browsed other people's nuzlockes and challenge threads for inspiration and even found a whole thread with various naming patterns. There, I found the one. Using Wikipedia's random article titles as nicknames. That's brilliant idea.

With this pattern in hands, I started the game and chose Mudkip as my starter (level 5). One quick roll on Wikipedia later, Cinderella, the Mudkip joins the team. No, not this Cinderella:
cinderella-disney.gif


This Cinderella:
WRDuGKE.jpg


Apparently, there is an Indonesian soap opera named Cinderella. Now I hope the screen is really of Cinderella and not some other character. I've watched about 3 minutes of episode 175 and I can't honestly tell who is who.

Anyway, Cinderella had no problem dealing with May or Team Magma Grunt or anyone else. Now, Cinderella fighting Team Magma would be a great episode.

By the time I got to Roxanne, Cinderella was on level 14 and almost on level 15, so I decided to catch Shroomish in Petalburg Forest. And another roll on Wikipedia landed on this british gentleman:
330px-Lord_of_Liverpool.jpg

Arthur Foljambe, 2nd Earl of Liverpool. Based on his Wikipedia page, he was pretty cool guy. And so Foljambe, the Shroomish (level 6) joined the team. I knew Foljambe wouldn't be on my team for long, so I beat Roxanne with just Cinderella. Which also meant Cinderella hit level 15 and I had to box him.

With only underleveled Foljambe on my team, that probably won't even make it to Brawly, I had to find more Pokémon. I caught Taillow (level 7) on my way to Dewford Town. I rolled on Wikipedia again and got an album called Anavitória. I listened to few songs, but it's not really my style. Sorry Anavitória, you won't have a fan in me. I algo got Sableye (level 11) while looking for Steven. Her name comes from an article about Clean language. And no, not the programming language Clean. Clean language is about supporting people in discovering and developing their own symbols and metaphors. Don't ask me, I'm here to play Pokémon.

Now, this was decent team. I trained just a little bit. I didn't want accidentally go over Anavitoria's limit. And because of that, I faced Brawly underleveled. And it was close. His Machop was easy to beat, but Makuhita is bulky. And Anavitoria just wasn't strong enough. I managed to switch him out before Makuhita could finish him and sent out Foljambe to paralyze Makuhita and then Language to finish the fight.

Because of that, Foljambe hit the level limit and had to be put in the box. I continued the story until Route 110, where I caught Plusle (level 13) and named it after a song sMidnight, the Stars and You, which was played at the end of The Shining. And Midnight, the Plusle was shining on our way to Mauville Gym.

And it was there, when the run got complicated. I had a hard time getting through a Magnemite of a random trainer inside. And my team is underleveled. So I don't think I would be able to beat Wattson with my current team. I could maybe get to Magneton, but its SonicBoom and Thunder Wave would probably decimate my team. I saved there and started brainstorming optimal strategy for Wattson.

Team

sableye.png

Language, Hasty Female Sableye
lvl 20, Keen Eye
- Astonish
- Fury Swipes
- Foresight
- Leer

taillow.png

Anavitoria, Adamant Female Taillow
lvl 16, Guts
- Qing Attack
- Growl
- Focus Energy
- Quick Attack

plusle.png

Midnight, Bashful Male Plusle
lvl 20, Plus
- Spark
- Thunder Wave
- Quick Attack
- Helping Hand​
 
5,640
Posts
10
Years

The Lampent Challenge in Pokémon Sapphire

machamp.png
lombre.png
numel.png

PART 2

I'm stupid. When I was browsing all possible Pokémon I could catch, I noticed Makuhita. That's the one Pokémon that could be helpful against Wattson. So I backtracked to the Granite Cave and while looking for Makuhita, I also caught Abra (level 10), because I can evolve it all the way to Alakazam before it hits the level wall. The Wikipedia article I rolled was about year 1990 in Danish television. Apparently, almost nothing happened in that year in Danish television. At least I now have 1990, the Abra. It takes me some time to find level 11 Makuhita, but I was lucky enough to catch it in my one and only Poké Ball. Yeah, I went on a catching spree with only 2 Poké Balls. I've used one on 1990 and second on Hammer2, the Makuhita. Hammer2 is fairly new UNIX filesystem.

Now, I leveled up Hammer2 all the way to level 20 and 1990 just a little bit to level 16, because I wanted to evolve it to Alakazam. I even taught Hammer2 Bulk Up to boosts his attack. And it was all for nothing. I did manage to get +6 in Hammer2's attack, but I also wasted almost 20 Super Potions doing so. All it took was one Shock Wave from Magneton to end this plan. At least Hammer2 beat Magnemite and Voltorb. I sent out Midnight to take on Magneton. Midnight was lucky enough not to trigger paralyzation, but it still took me some healing and crits to beat Magneton.

So, after this nightmare of a battle, Hammer2 hit his level limit and had to be put in the box. And only after one battle on Route 111, Anavitoria hit her level limit and I had to box her too. And the boxing didn't stop there. By the time I got to Route 113, my whole team except for Midnight hit their wall. So out of desperation, I caught first Spinda (level 16) I found. I rolled for nickname and end up on a page for Swedish writer and teacher Karin Ek. Karin is my favourite name and both writing and teaching are my hobbies, so I hope this Spinda will honor the name. I also caught Sandshrew (level 16), just to make sure I have something on me in case Karin hits level wall. One roll later and Sandshrew is named after May, an ancient Egyptian official of the New Kingdom who was in office under king Thutmosis III. Apparently, we know about him because of 2 statues of him were discovered.

I lost Midnight to level limit before I even got to Meteor Falls, so I decided to catch Lombre. Before I could even encounter one, I found this golden beauty:
pUkZB31.png


I originally wanted to catch Swablu on Route 115, but I'm not passing one of Challenge's symbol. Funnily enough, I was just thinking that I haven't found a shiny Pokémon in a while. I named him Moore after Colin Moore, a Guyanese Olympic boxer.

And right after Moore, I finally encountered level 18 Lombre. I named her Brondeli, after Sthenoprocris brondeli, a moth from Madagascar.

Also Karin fainted once, which makes her level limit goes down by 1. But in the end, it didn't even matter. I made my way to Archie and fought him completely unprepared. May beat his Mightyena with poison and bunch of Super Potions, Golbat with few Slashes, but then Sharpedo comes in and beat May and Karin with critical Crunches. I sent out Brondeli and hoped for the best. Brondeli survived with 1 HP and was able to deliver the final blow.

But now, Karin hit her level limit and May and Moore are 1 level from it. So I had to catch new Pokémon on Jagged Pass. I caught Numel (level 22) and Machop (level 22). Numel was named Electron after a suburb of Johannesburg in South Africa. And Machop was named after this guy:
330px-%C4%90uro_Basaricek.jpg


A politician named Đuro Basariček. Basaricek, what a fitting name for a Machop.

I got all the way to Lavaridge Gym. And right away, May hit level wall. Which wasn't that big of a deal, since May had really a poor moveset anyway and I didn't want to invest much into it. But I had one less Pokémon to face Flannery with. I started with Electron and easily beat both Slugma, even with low rolls on Magnitude. These were problem when Torkoal entered the fight. Electron was low on HP and kept getting low Magnitudes, so I panicked and sent out Moore, who fainted instantly. This meant Moore hit his level wall. Another bad decision later, and Basaricek's level limit was also lowered. But it was enough for Electron to return to full health and beat Torkoal.

I quickly got to next Gym. While clearing all trainers in there, Basaricek evolved in Machoke. One trade later and he's now Machamp. Because of that, Norman fight was easy. With that done, I made my way to Mauville, where I plan on catching some Electric-type next time.

Team

machamp.png

Basaricek, Hardy Female Machamp
lvl 30, Guts
- Karate Chop
- Focus Energy
- Foresight
- Seismic Toss

lombre.png

Brondeli, Docile Female Lombre
lvl 24, Rain Dish
- Surf
- Fake Out
- Absorb
- Nature Power

numel.png

Electron, Calm Female Numel
lvl 28, Oblivious @Rawst Berry
- Magnitude
- Tackle
- Ember
- Focus Energy​
 

Eleanor

Princess Era 🎀
6,558
Posts
7
Years
I lost Midnight to level limit before I even got to Meteor Falls, so I decided to catch Lombre. Before I could even encounter one, I found this golden beauty:
pUkZB31.png

omg it's sydian's blessing!! Congrats on that shiny!

I... wanted to complete this challenge sometime before Valentine's day but I haven't done that much progress. I've mostly been clearing through Chargestone Cave and now I still have to deal with Route 7 but... we'll get there~ I'm just kinda swamped with exams at the moment, let's hope this ends soon...
 

Eleanor

Princess Era 🎀
6,558
Posts
7
Years
Eleanor's Unova Adventure, log #4

Phew, going through Chargestone cave and then most of Route 7 / Celestial tower took a while and lots of fighting. The levels of my team were also getting on the low side, and Whirlipede was still a Whirlipede for most of the time, which didn't quite help. I eventually got through thanks to brute force (Darumaka, for being a first stage, hits just way too hard) and some type advantages (Gurdurr mostly), then finally caught a Zebstrika on Route 7 and... that really made the rest of this segment easier. Well yeah, Scolipede also evolved, but I could only use it for one level before boxing it, so that's not optimal. Zebstrika on the other hand single-handedly took down the entire Mistralton gym, which should hopefully give me access to Surf, Twist Mountain, and many more interesting Pokémon!

Really there's not much to say: three hits is all it took! There's no Gligar in this generation so... yeah ^^; sorry Janp!

Team vs Skyla: Liepard, lv. 25→30, Gurdurr, lv. 26→31, Watchog, lv. 32→32, Sawsbuck, lv. 28 →34, Sigilyph, lv. 20→28, Zebstrika, lv. 33→37

In the box: Audino, lv. 21→28 (listing just this Pokémon because it's the only one I plan on getting some use out of in the future, via Surf! I'll probs update a better list of everyone I've used in the final post!)
 

Eleanor

Princess Era 🎀
6,558
Posts
7
Years
Eleanor's Unova Adventure, log #5

Two new badges today! This has been quite the long segment, with lots of fights and lots of new Pokémon, but it was still manageable.
It all started with a quick trek to Route 18, where I realized way too far into it that I was on a Pokéball shortage! I nearly ragequit, but eventually luck turned on my side, and so I caught two new Pokémon: Scraggy and Crustle. I made it through Twist Mountain, not without stress, with Gurdurr and Scraggy helping out, as well as my newly evolved Sawsbuck getting a few levels, and once I arrived near Icirrus City, I got myself a Palpitoad! With not much else to do, I trained up just enough to let Scraggy evolve into Scrafty and let her plow through Brycen's team, despite her Calm nature.

Team vs Brycen: Scrafty, lv. 34→39, Palpitoad, lv. 33→35, Ducklett (Fly Pokémon), lv. 22→25, Sawsbuck, lv. 28 →36, Crustle, lv. 34→35, Zebstrika, lv. 33→38

The new areas that open up let me catch a Tranquill (finally I get to use the regional bird and mascot of the challenge, uh?), and then - this time in the Relic Castle, where there's more Team Plasma stuff - a Cofagrigus and a Krokorok, which should come in useful against Iris. Eventually, after getting the... Zekrom Stone, beating Bianca with the help of Scrafty, and reaching Opelucid City, I grab myself a fake item Amoonguss on Route 10, then deal with Iris.

Unlike the previous two gyms, this one was hard and a lot of revives were used. But Unfezant was surprisingly useful with Super Luck + Scope Lens (and some decent defenses), as well as Scrafty and my newly evolved Krookodile (both with Moxie). I brought in Amoonguss with Toxic and Cofagrigus with Will-o-wisp because Dragon Dance can be very scary, but as it turns out, Krookodile just Moxie-swept Iris... :senpai:

Team vs Iris: Krookodile, lv. 36→41, Unfezant, lv. 36→41, Crustle, lv. 34→38, Scrafty, lv. 34 →41, Amoonguss, lv. 40→40, Cofagrigus, lv. 37→40
 
5,640
Posts
10
Years

The Lampent Challenge in Pokémon Sapphire

wobbuffet.png
medicham.png
crobat.png
exploud.png

FINAL UPDATE

Calm down, I can explain why I wasn't updating my run. And I can do it using a single image, because a picture is worth a thousand words:

dENEWTB.png


Yeah, I decided to trigger Mirage Island to get Pokémon with the highest possible level - level 50 Wynaut. It took me some time, but I still managed to do so while also following all the rules. I caught up some Pokémon I didn't catch before and swapped them until Mirage Island appeared.

But let's take this from the beginning. Or from when I left off last time. Which was around the time I was about to catch 2 Electric-type Pokémon for my team. Zool, the Voltorb, named after the main character of Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension - a platformer for the Amiga and Seralago, the Magnemite, named after some hotel or something. I have no idea why it has a wikipedia page.

I'll be completely honest. Most of the run happened in February, so I might not recall all the details, but I remember Winona's Altaria beat both Seralago and Zool and I had to cheese my way through using Brondeli's Fake Out and switching to Electron to tank few hits. Oh and I caught Castform on my way to Fortree.

Not much happened after that. My team didn't change at all until I had to box both Seralago and Zool, since they helped me with beating Team Aqua a lot. Only new teammembers were Mirik, the Sharpedo, named after Mirik Lake and Gold, the Spheal, named after a horror novel from Vampire Chronicles series. Can't say if it's any good, because I've never read it. But evolved Gold helped me against Tate and Liza. They had no chance against my new Water duo.

Now, my team haven't changed until Victory Road. Yeah, I still had level 26 Brondeli on my team at this point. So, let's skip all the way to Mirage Island. I came up with this idea about the time I got to Wallace. I was searching for Pokémon with the highest level to use it and realized it's Wynaut. I decided to go with it and after about 2 months, I really found Mirage Island and level 50 Wynaut.

Sadly, I couldn't solo E4 with it, because Dark-type moves are considered special and Mirror Coat doesn't work on Dark-type Pokémon. And I think there was also problem with Phoebe's Pokémon. So I had to get more Pokémon. To beat Phoebe and Sidney. I caught Jens, the Medicham, named after Jens Klok, a Danish architect, Rollo, the Crobat, named after Rollo & King, a Danish band and Nishimura, the Exploud, named after Japanese football player. They all helped Noen, the Wobbuffet to beat E4. What is Noen? Who knows. Not Jensen Noen for sure.

Anyway, Elite Four was pretty straightforward. I got rid of Sidney and Phoebe using Jens, Rollo and Nishimura and then swept the rest of E4 and Steven with Noen. It wasn't really that hard, but I had to keep a table with what types are special and which ones are physical in Gen III, because I can't remember it.

Here's Hall of Fame:
WaT7tA1.png


Overall, it was a fun challenge. Especially keeping underleveled Pokémon on my team for majority of lategame made the whole thing a lot more challenging than usual. I didn't want to catch new Pokémon because I wasn't sure if I'll need them later in the game. I also spend lot of time researching and paying attention to what is max level Pokémon can appear on a Route and if I should catch it early or wait to catch it later. And I also swapped my Pokémon more often, trying to distribute EXP in somewhat balanced way and not just sweep half the game with one Pokémon. I had fun and will probably return to it later.

Team

wobbuffet.png

Noen, Quiet Male Wobbuffet
lvl 54, Shadow Tag
- Counter
- Mirror Coat
- Safeguard
- Destiny Bond

medicham.png

Jens, Mild Male Medicham
lvl 51, Pure Power
- Hi Jump Kick
- Calm Mind
- Mind Reader
- Psych Up

crobat.png

Rollo, Timid Male Crobat
lvl 50, Inner Focus
- Wing Attack
- Confuse Ray
- Poison Fang
- Mean Look

exploud.png

Nishimura, Carful Male Exploud
lvl 46, Soundproof
- Stomp
- Supersonic
- Howl
- Screech​
 
Last edited:
10
Posts
2
Years
  • Age 21
  • Seen Aug 26, 2023
🕯️ Forum name: Mire
🕯️ Game of choice: Ultra Moon
🕯️ Difficulty: Normal
🕯️ Optional Rules: Will be playing on Set mode, and otherwise I'll try to limit X-items and the like but won't keep that as a hard rule.

I've been looking for an excuse to finally finish this game - I made it to early Ula'ula and never continued from there. Moon is my favorite Pokémon game, though, so I'm really excited to give this another shot!

This'll be my first challenge run I've posted here and the first one I've done that wasn't a straight Nuzlocke/Monotype; hopefully it'll be a good way to get involved a little. From what I recall, UM is also a really tough game compared to other Pokémon games, so this should be interesting. Let's give it a shot : )
 
10
Posts
2
Years
  • Age 21
  • Seen Aug 26, 2023
Your first night in your new bed is filled with dreams of the Unova region you left. The rumbling of plane engines over the city you called home, the scurrying of Emolga about the trees before they take flight into the wind, the light-hearted teasing of friends daring eachother to take one more step towards the ominous tower. All of it a terrible contradiction of sights from just days ago and memories of a faraway land, their outlines blurring just a little bit as far off dreams often do.

The one constant that binds these dreams together is not the nostalgia of home, however. It's the chilling sense of being watched. You know something's there - there's a particular pinprick in your back that could only be gouged by wandering eyes, and yet the source is always waiting just in the corners of your eyes. There is no escaping it.

And then your eyes are open again. You lurch forwards at the feeling, but your breathing steadies when you notice your bed filled with a tiny Meowth.

"Jeez, you scared me!" Meowth seems unconcerned and snuggles further into the blankets, its eye contact never wavering. "That must have just been you this whole time, huh?"

Yes, this has just been an unfortunate concoction of nerves and a mischievous Meowth. You can't keep doing this, making up problems when nothing's really there.

Everything is fine.

You puff out your chest and don your new hat, hoping to feel at least a little bit like you can take on the world. Meowth licks her paws, which is close enough to silent approval. Things will be better, you're sure of it. That's your mantra as you march out the door for the first time.

Your lamp sways in the corner, unnoticed.



🕯️ An Ultra Moon Lampent Challenge 🕯️
Part 1

(This isn't gonna be a hardcore story run or anything, I just thought it might be fun to put something brief here for atmosphere and whatnot)

It's time to start this run in earnest! Alola's easily my favorite region, so it'll be fun to see this new spin on it. A few cutscenes after starting up the game, and I'm knee-deep in some tall grass with Lisa the Popplio. I usually go with Rowlet in Alola, but I just couldn't bear to throw one away without even letting it evolve, and I end up ditching Lisa for some higher level encounters soon enough anyways. For the most part, the early game is pretty inconsequential. Here's some things of note about doing this challenge in Ultra Moon in particular.

- There's soooo much variety in encounters. The first segment of Route 1 is pretty bland, but almost every other area has a lot to offer.
- In addition, the wild encounters are usually at a pretty decent level. Route 2 already had things up to level 10, and the totem Raticate that comes after that route is only a few levels higher. That should help mitigate the grind whenever I inevitably have to toss teammates to the wayside. In addition...
- Exp Share! In gen 8 it's always on, and in gen 6 the difficulty level is low enough that you can afford to turn it off whenever you feel like, but gen 7 hits a sweet spot of making me ask whether it's worthwhile to leave the Exp Share on when it means I'll likely have to get rid of teammates sooner. I expect to mostly keep it enabled, but it's an interesting choice to make.

I end up nabbing Turnip the Inkay by the professor's lab and Elton the Magnemite at the trainer's school, both at level 7. Hau'oli City has Furfrou in its grass patches that seem like they could tear apart a lot of the early game - I pick up Maurice the Furfrou at level 8 and give it a Heart-shave at the barber shop (I've never actually had a Furfrou to shave before, so I guess that means the challenge is working!)

I try some unorthodox options in Route 2. Drowzee is a Psychic type that learns the Brick Break TM that comes just before the trial, meaning it should in theory do well against Totem Raticate and Hala. There's also Ekans here, which has access to a bevy of support options in Intimidate, Glare, and Leer that eventually becomes Screech. With this in mind, I grab Tappa the Drowzee at level 8 and Snoop the Ekans at level 10, as well as Chara the level 10 Murkrow from the cemetery nearby.

Meta.PNG

The first major battle is the aforementioned Totem Raticate. Snoop really surprised me here - its Intimidate and Leer spam with Glare really came in handy. It even got in some residual damage with Wrap. Even with Raticate at -1 defense, though, Tappa didn't really come close to OHKOing with a 4x Brick Break, which gave me some worries. It didn't matter in the end, since Maurice had just learned Headbutt and finished the job, getting me my very first Z-crystal on my island trial.

From here there's a bit to explore before fighting Hala. I had a fun idea in mind when I caught a Spearow - I could level it to level 20 and then trade it away to an NPC for a Hawlucha of the same level to tear up much of Akala island. In earlier gens, the in-game trade Pokémon would be the same level as whatever you traded them, but that seems to have changed at some point since this Hawlucha always comes at level 9. I decided Spearow wouldn't be worth dragging around, and instead picked up...

...a Delibird?!?

Seaward Cave does have Delibird as an encounter, and looking closer it actually has a lot going for it. There are move tutors available at the Mantine Surf areas as soon as you leave Melemele island, and at this point Delibird's stats are fine. The real winner is its ability Hustle, though, which sacrifices accuracy for power. This would be a pain, but Z-moves never miss, and the Flyinium-Z crystal comes really soon, so in an ideal world Delibird could actually wreck shop for a little while. Unfortunately, this isn't an ideal world, and the Lampent following me was a real thorn in Delibird's side. It can't learn the Bounce move tutor like I thought it could, and the Aerial Ace TM doesn't come until late Akala island. It learns Drill Peck at level 25, but that's just a few levels too late for Delibird to stick around with it. Sorry little guy, I thought you could have some spotlight this time.

Once the Hala battle comes around, my only team change is swapping out Turnip for Santos the Delibird, who immediately faints in battle and never fights again. Tappa does okay in this fight with Confusion, but it still only gets through his Machop after we somehow trade 4 crits in a row. Snoop does really well once again. Intimidate helps Chara live Crabrawler's All-Out Pummeling with 1 HP left, and Snoop soloes his remaining Makuhita by spamming Wrap.

At this point I unlock Tauros to ride and Melemele island is free for me to fully explore. On the flipside, most of my team is pushing close to their level boundaries, so most of them will have to cycle out soon. Maurice is the first to go, and swaps out for Flutter the Metapod-almost-Butterfree. While jamming to the Ten Carat Hill music, I catch Lucio the Mawile and Wyst the Sableye to take the place of Elton and Santos. After a bit more backtracking, I end things off on Tutorial Island by going Mantine surfing, which is such a great addition for the Ultra games. Looking at my score, I think I did pretty well for myself.

Mantine.PNG

Arriving at Akala island on the back of a Mantine, my team is

Lucio the Mawile - Level 16
Flutter the Butterfree - Level 14
Tappa the Drowzee - Level 17
Snoop the Ekans - Level 17
Wyst the Sableye - Level 14
Chara the Murkrow - Level 19​

And that's it for this update! In all I've been really enjoying this challenge. Just at a glance you can tell I've used some unorthodox picks that I wouldn't give much thought to otherwise. Again, Snoop really surprised me with how useful its support options were, and though Tappa was pretty disappointing, it was still fun to theorycraft what would be useful when, which I'm sure will become more important as the game picks up. Until then ~ ~ ~
 
10
Posts
2
Years
  • Age 21
  • Seen Aug 26, 2023
🕯️ An Ultra Moon Lampent Challenge 🕯️
Part 2​

We've finally finished the tutorial island, so Akala Island is our Cloyster now! Well, sort of. Only about half of Heahea City is available right now, but there's still a lot to do. Case in point:

cutout.PNG

squad goals.PNG

Jokes aside, the first non-story related thing I did is hunt for Totem Stickers. I haven't mentioned these yet, but there are 100 stickers spread out throughout Alola, and every 20 found will get me a special Totem Pokémon to use. I haven't been using a guide for these or anything, but I've generally gone out of my way to look for these and other optional things, and here is where I finally hit 20. This is part of why I never caught a Ratata on Melemele Island - the Totem Raticate I get here should be stronger. I believe it gets 3 perfect IVs and it also comes at level 20, which is perfect for where I'm at now. It's also really big. Say hello to Nubbs the Raticate.

Onward to Route 4 and Paniola Ranch, where I pick up a Mareep (which is a good enough name that I didn't nickname it) and Sophie the Miltank. These are level 14 and 15, so Mareep is just about to evolve, but these levels are pretty low compared to what I dropped on arrival here. At this point Lampent has siphoned away my whole starting team, and wild levels haven't quite grown to adapt. I got really excited when Wyst, my Sableye, stole a Leftovers from a trainer, but then I remembered that you don't get to keep items from trainers : (

Hau and Gladion are super easy fights at this point anyways, so I push onward. Totem Araquanid is coming up, and I've noticed that there aren't too many wild encounters around that are all that great against it. Flaaffy at least gets a super effective Thundershock but doesn't resist any of Araquanid's attacks. In fact, I don't have any resists to Araquanid's Bubble at all. It is just Bubble, but rain + Water Bubble + STAB makes even Bubble hit hard. As I approach Brooklet Hill for the trial, here's how my team looks.


Sophie the Miltank - Level 19 - Quick Claw
Wyst the Sableye - Level 22
Flaaffy the... Flaaffy - Level 21 - Magnet
Flutter the Butterfree - Level 21 - Flyinium-Z
Lucio the Mawile - Level 22
Nubbs the Raticate - Level 22

My game plan is to lead with Flaaffy to set up Thunder Wave and Light Screen, then let Lucio use Intimidate and Confide, and at last send in Sophie to go for the kill with the Defense Curl + Rollout combo it just got at 19. Things immediately divert from the plan though when I accidentally lead with Sophie, though... I swap out to Wyst, figuring it was the mon I was most willing to sack off to Araquanid. Wyst actually did manage to Thief a Wacan Berry from Araquanid, though, which let Flaaffy get a good hit in when it finally came in and finished its setup. Thanks to a few lucky full paralysis turns, Sophie was able to obliterate Araquanid after a couple Rollouts, securing me a win. This could've been much trickier if I hadn't gotten so lucky with paralysis, but I also didn't even need to bring in Lucio, so ultimately this went great.

At this point Lampent is almost finished with Wyst and Lucio, but with Lapras and the fishing rod we have lots of options for replacements. I start off with some fishing on Brooklet Hill, where this happens.

oh yea.PNG

I've never used a Milotic in-game, mostly due to its horrid capture methods in gens 3 and 4, but this should be a great chance for us. The Prism Scale used to evolve it is actually available right now, albeit with a lot of Lapras backtracking in Melemele. I was planning to do this anyways, so I'm all for this. Welcome to the team, Mona.

Before setting off, I make a brief detour to Wela Volcano Park where I abuse SOS mechanics to catch Marley the Magmar: mostly for a side quest but it should be a fun team member too, even if I am too lazy to Thief hunt for a Magmarizer to evolve it. Diglett Tunnel is also accessible at this point, albeit mostly blocked off, so I catch Greg the Diglett at an awesome level 23.

Most of my Lapras backtracking is pretty uneventful, mostly just a couple nice items or okay TMs, but the big winner is Seaward Cave and the Kala'e bay that it pours into. In addition to a Prism Scale, I get a TM for Frost Breath, a Nevermelt Ice, and Arnold the Shellder at a cool level 21. I might even be able to get a Water Stone before I lose it, but these aren't easily renewable so I'll have to decide whether it's worthwhile. Also:

oh sweet manmade horrors beyond my comprehension.PNG

It seems emulator compatibility with gen 7 games is pretty shoddy, to say the least. I don't have access to my 3DS at the moment, though, and fast forward is a godsend in a game with as many unskippable cutscenes as this. Freezes and graphical glitches happen somewhat often - as a PSA, the best way I've found to fix them is to make save state, close the emulator, load that state, and then save in-game ASAP. Reloading this save usually fixes things for a while.

With all that out of the way, I'm finally ready to ascend Wela Volcano and fight Totem Marowak. Here's my team at this point:


Marley the Magmar - Level 21
Nubbs the Raticate - Level 25
Arnold the Shellder - Level 21 - Nevermelt Ice
Mona the Milotic - Level 21 - Waterium Z
Greg the Diglett - Level 24 - Soft Sand
Sophie the Miltank - Level 24 - Quick Claw

On paper this should be way easier than Araquanid, since I actually have strong resists and super-effective hits. I lead with Marley so that I can attempt to steal its Thick Club with Thief and then Clear Smog away its speed boost. Marowak starts with a cheeky Detect to stall for time until it can bring in its partner Salazzle. Thankfully, Marley just manages to live through that onslaught to steal the Thick Club, though it dies before Clear Smog. That's okay - this should be easy now. I bring in Mona to Hydro Vortex Marowak into oblivion... and it blocks it perfectly with Detect!!! Fortunately, Mona is super tanky and neither Marowak nor Salazzle can do much to it, so I just spam Water Pulse until they faint. Despite the minor hiccups, this was definitely the easiest Totem so far. With how much water stuff is available between Brooklet Hill and this, it'd be hard not to have a good counter to Marowak.

This post is already pretty long, so I think I'll be saving the next trial for next time. I'm still having a blast with this, especially since it gives me a shot at using Milotic. Til next time ~ ~ ~
 
Last edited:
10
Posts
2
Years
  • Age 21
  • Seen Aug 26, 2023
🕯️ An Ultra Moon Lampent Challenge 🕯️
Part 3​

It's been quite a while since my last update... Almost a month even. I've been swamped by work, which hasn't really changed, but hopefully I'll be able to update somewhat more consistently than this, anyways.

I last left off at the very top of Wela Volcano. With Totem Marowak defeated, I now have access to Charizard to fly around, which is a godsend. Travelling between islands required a Mantine surf until now, which, while fun, takes a while. Charizard also gives me access to Poké Pelago. I've never used it past the tutorial, but I figured I'd give it a shot this time.

For those of you unfamiliar (which I'm sure is, like, everyone), Poké Pelago is an island in Somewhere, Alola that your boxed Pokémon can inhabit and manage. You can gather Poké Beans and use them to develop your isles, assuming you have enough Pokémon in your PC to run the place. On these isles, you can do all kinds of things, such as finding Pokémon, growing berries, and searching for treasure, which can all be sped up by using Poké Beans. The biggest benefit for the purposes of this playthrough seem to be the berries - friendship can be hard to get up when I can only hang on to a Pokémon for 10 levels, so growing the friendship berries is a potential (if expensive) alternative. I found a Corsola there, too, but it was only level 17. Not sure how the levels scale, but I doubt I'll be using this for much aside from occasional bonuses. It is kinda fun, though.

one watermelon, straight from the manurefields, your spookiness.PNG

Next up is Route 8, which comes sooner than I thought. The first water stone is available here, so Arnold the Shellder should be able to become Arnold the Cloyster in good time. My heart almost falls as I see the item ball blocked off by rocks (which I would need Sharpedo to break), but it turns out that's just a shortcut. Cloyster time. I also pick up Aris the Fletchling - It won't evolve to a Talonflame, but a Fletchinder should be good for the upcoming trial. Which is pretty much already here. At the end of Route 8 is Lush Jungle, where the fourth trial begins. My team here looks like this:


Nubbs the Raticate - Level 27
Aris the Fletchinder - Level 23
Arnold the Cloyster - Level 24
Mona the Milotic - Level 24
Greg the Dugtrio - Level 26
Marley the Magmar - Level 25

There's also this in the Pokémon center right before the trial:

big snoop.PNG

This would actually be great for Lurantis, but I've already used up my Ekans line in Melemele. I should still be fine, but I'll take any excuse to talk about ✧*̥˚ Snoop My Beloved *̥˚✧.

I don't really go in here with a game plan like I did the previous Totems. Lurantis just doesn't seem too worrying. She summons a Comfey, though, which can be terrifying support. Floral Healing heals Lurantis a ton, and Flower Shield raises her defense when healing isn't needed. Clear Smog is great to have on Marley since my team is pretty physically-biased. Just when I think I've got things under control, though... Comfey uses Sunny Day. Solar Blade doesn't need to charge anymore and hits like a truck, knocking Marley to the ground despite the type matchup. This is the first time I actually targeted a Totem's ally first, since fighting Lurantis with Comfey around seemed like a losing battle. It goes down, and a Kecleon takes its place. I'm sure Kecleon has Sunny Day, too, but anything is better than that Comfey. I bring in Arnold to try to put a dent in Lurantis with Icicle Spear, and that it does. To my surprise, it even lives a super-effective Solar Blade! Cloyster's defense is really something else. Lurantis is speared to death, and Kecleon soon after (though it does get an ancient power boost before it goes down lol). We're through, though this Totem was definitely the hardest so far.

That's all the trials for Akala island, which means we can finally take Diglett's tunnel to Konikoni city. I first backtrack through the now-explorable Lush Jungle, and pick up Wanda the Steenee and Jeda the Oranguru. I also spend about 20 minutes searching for a Goomy for a side quest (10% SOS partner in rain, and you have to summon the rain yourself) which only nets me 5,000 poké dollars... Some of the sidequests in this game are worth it or just plain funny, but this one is not one of them.

Speaking of side quests, the Konikoni police department gives great money for searching for Dittos around town. This one is great, and you'll get almost 100k after finishing all of them. I even catch Gwen the Ditto at level 29, which basically outlevels my whole team. Will I use it? Almost certainly not, but it could be a fun option somewhere. Konikoni also has the jewelry store where I can buy the basic evolution stones. This way I don't have to feel too bad about stone-evolving a Pokémon early. With my ditto detective-ing money I buy out the whole stock of TMs in Konikoni, too.

All that's left now is a couple of areas on the way to the trial grounds. I catch Minatchi the Gastly, Willy the Wishiwashi, and Tuna the Natu along the way, all of which will probably make it on my team after my fight with Olivia. The team I have now is pretty strong, but the whole gang is reaching its level caps. I even turn off my EXP Share at Memorial Hill. The team for Olivia is as follows:


Minatchi the Gastly - Level 23
Greg the Dugtrio - Level 30
Wanda the Tsareena - Level 29
Mona the Milotic - Level 29
Arnold the Cloyster - Level 28
Jeda the Oranguru - Level 26

Wanda pretty much just evolved and is already at her level cap, but I pretty much knew that when I added her to the team. This would be her best battle, anyways. My team is pretty great against Olivia, so this shouldn't be bad at all. Mona beats Anorith, although surprisingly a Rain-boosted Hydro Vortex doesn't even come close to OHKOing Lileep, while Lileep KOs back with Giga Drain. It's okay - you did great Mona. I try to abuse the rain Mona set with Arnold, but a Water Pulse STILL doesn't KO, and Lileep just heals right back on a Giga Drain kill. It's fine, though. Wanda comes in and sweeps the rest of the team with Trop Kick, despite her modest nature. Lycanroc doesn't even get the chance to use a Z-move.

That's pretty much where this update ends. There's a bit more here in the Hano Beach and the Aether Paradise, but not much of note happens. Except maybe this.

c.PNG

See y'all with the next update, hopefully in better time than this one ~ ~
 
10
Posts
2
Years
  • Age 21
  • Seen Aug 26, 2023
🕯️ An Ultra Moon Lampent Challenge 🕯️
Part 4​

We're back, and this time only after a few days! We just arrived at Ula'ula island, which is where the game really starts to pick up in difficulty. Exhibit A - the Hau fight that kicks off our excursion in Malie City. He's got 5 Pokémon, most of which are pretty strong (Torracat, Noibat, Leafeon, Tauros, Alolan Raichu... Yikes). Leafeon was the big problem. I had things that were good against them in Natu and Gastly, but they're unevolved and really underleveled since I just got a hold of them at the end of Akala, so they faint before they can do much. I do manage to defeat Leafeon and even get all the way to Tauros, but I actually lose this fight. I don't think I've whited out in a Pokémon game for at least a couple years... Granted, I'm trying to make a point to not use any items in battle, but this is probably indicative of things to come. As a side note, the battle background changed from day to evening in the middle of this battle, which I didn't know could happen. Neat.

bicth.PNG

I guess if the game is gonna pretend I won then so can I. I don't think there's any change in dialogue here at all.

).PNG

After a delightful date with Nurse Joy, I'm back in fighting shape. I run away to Akala for a bit to pick up Lena the totem Araquanid from Oak before at last entering a new area. Now, I remember having to fight Guzma at around this point in Moon, which seems like a really scary fight with my team considering most of it has either just been swapped out or is about at level cap. As I come to find out, you don't have to fight Guzma until after Sophocles' trial, so I'm really worried about nothing. Am I just misremembering, or did they for some reason change this between Moon and Ultra Moon?

I'll save most of the details of the next few areas - nothing much of note happens. Here's a list of notable Pokémon I caught, for context.

- Tobias the Poliwhirl, Level 27, Malie Garden
- Quinn the Gyarados, Level 31, Malie Garden
- Kali the Skarmory, Level 29, Route 10
- Camelia the Komala, Level 26, Route 11
- Melon the Beldum, Level 28, Mount Hokulani

I already have Lena as a water type, so I really don't need both Tobias and Quinn. I'm sure Quinn would be better, but I've used Gyarados to death in other playthroughs, so let's try out Tobias instead. I instantly evolve it to Poliwrath. Kali is meant to be my counter to Guzma whom I still think is five seconds away from obliterating me at any given turn. Camelia is one of many on the list of "cool gen 7 mons I never got to try out in a first playthrough." Melon is maybe the most interesting choice, though, considering Metagross is way too far off at level 45. I recently picked up an Eviolite in Konikoni City, though, and with that a Metang is pretty dang tanky. My hope is that it'll be able to tank hits from totem Togedemaru, and if you take a look at my team as I approach that trial,


Camelia the Komala - Level 30
Kali the Skarmory - Level 32
Melon the Metang - Level 30
Lena the Araquanid - Level 31
Minatchi the Gengar - Level 32
Tobias the Poliwrath - Level 32

you'll probably notice that I can't stomach strong electric attacks very well. I think Melon was the right call - it doesn't do anything crazy, but it takes hits and makes hits. The issue is that Totem Togedemaru gets a +2 defense boost right away, so Bulldoze doesn't do as much as I'd like. Togedemaru summons Skarmory as its partner, which isn't too annoying, although Torment stops me from spamming Bulldoze much and just having another partner splits Bulldoze's damage even further. Melon goes down with the totem at about 3/5 HP. Then I remember Minatchi has Curse, and at that the fight is already won. Too bad Minatchi's close to level cap, since she could trivialize the next totem too.

no no, you're thinking of beep bop, beep beep boop boop bop.PNG

With that thought, I actually box Minatchi now so that maybe I can use it for Mimikyuu. I just got enough stickers for Li the Totem Salazzle, which should pick up the slack of "fast strong special attacker" that Minatchi filled.

Nooooow is the Guzma fight. At this point it's not bad - Skarmory does its job and half my team is packing Rock Tomb anyways. I checked out his team afterwards and saw that Golisopod's Swords Dance was dropped in exchange for Sucker Punch, which was pretty much the whole reason that fight was so scary in Moon.

On Route 12 I pick up a Manectric, which can make use of the recently-acquired Volt Switch TM really well. While I was trying to catch one, it called in another Manectric for backup, and then attacked its own partner with Spark to trigger Lightning Rod. That's pretty metal, so I catch the new one instead. Mins the Manectric is the coolest.


(.PNG

(((((((((.PNG

: (

As I make my way to Tapu Village, I encounter a veteran outside the Pokemon center who challenges me to an optional battle. I foolishly accept without healing, and though I do end up winning, it was reaaaaally close. This probably marks the first time I've actually set up Spikes in an in-game battle, if that means anything. My reward was a Choice Specs, which is just wonderful. In fact, lately battles have seemed harder than they should be. The trainer levels and even wild levels have scaled much quicker than I have even though I haven't really been skipping much, I wonder what could be... My EXP Share's been off, hasn't it? Sure enough, I switch it back on. Though not in time to save me from the next veteran trainer I fight, which counts ANOTHER loss. I would've won, but his Honchkrow scored a crit on Mins. A refight should go better... Except it crits Mins again! And Camelia, all in a row! I know Honchkrow gets Super Luck and Night Slash has high crit rate, but does he have a Scope Lens too? I've seen trainers around with held items, so it's a possibility. I still manage to win, and the Shadow Ball TM is my reward. I catch a few other Pokémon around, and then it's off to Acerola's trial. Here's the team.


Mins the Manectric - Level 32
Kali the Skarmory - Level 34
Camelia the Komala - Level 32
Melon the Metang - Level 35
Li the Salazzle - Level 32
Tickle the Tentacruel - Level 33

It's a shame I had to drop Tobias before he reached level cap, but he would've done very little against Mimikyu, so I swapped him for Tickle to take advantage of Poison's Fairy resistance. This wouldn't have been too tough a fight were it not for the combination of me being underleveled and me forgetting I had Minatchi in the PC specifically for this fight.

Camelia has a pretty decent showing, getting off two Shadow Claws and a Sucker Punch before going down, though one of them was blocked by Mimikyu's disguise. I send in Li (who has pretty much been just a Toxic-bot), though something tells me Mimikyu has a Lum berry. In fact it does, and Li goes down without another word. Idk if I just remembered that from Moon or if I was just made a lucky guess, but that's fun I guess. I should mention that Mimikyu summons a Banette for help, which doesn't do much aside from spamming Will O' Wisp and... Curse... at me. Just makes things way worse. I try to set up paralysis with Mins now that the Lum Berry is gone, but a crit Play Rough stops that plan. Thankfully, Kali and Melon are strong enough with their Steel attacks to finish the job, but only barely. Victory is our's again.

That seems like a good place to leave this update for now. The restrictions of the challenge combined with enemy teams getting stronger is becoming a tough but really fun combination, and I'm sure that feeling will only grow as the run continues. Until next time!
 

Eleanor

Princess Era 🎀
6,558
Posts
7
Years
Eleanor's Platinum Lampent Challenge

So! Technically I never even finished this challenge that I myself have created years ago... since I kinda broke the rules the first time I tried it on Pokémon Sword and I never got to the hall of fame in my second attempt on Pokémon White (I think the save file is still there in Victory Road, grinding forever). Apparently it's spooky season now so here we go again, another run of the lampent challenge :)

This is going to be Normal Mode on Platinum~

I started off with Turtwig. It's the first Pokèmon I have ever used ever, so it's always nice to pick one again even if I have to box her (yes, I got a female starter) so soon. She's also better for Roark than Piplup, who is stuck with Bubble while she already gets Razor Leaf. I pair her up with a Wurmple, that eventually turns into a Silcoon and single-handedly beats my rival - named Oliver for the occasion, while my character is named Chrissy... wonder what this is about - with some luck.

There's not much else to say: Roark was obviously very easy with Turtwig, but she grew to level 15 after the battle. Since I obtained her at level 5, that's ten levels, so she has to go in the box. I catch a lv. 9 Geodude in the Oreburgh mines to replace her.

Team vs Roark: Turtwig (lv. 5 → 15), Beautifly (lv. 4 → 13)

Beautifly is also nearly 'dead' but I manage to get to the upper part of Route 204 and then Floaroma with her still in the team. I'm able to catch a lv. 10 Bidoof, as well as a lv. 11 Pachirisu in Valley Windworks, who help me with splitting experience for a bit before I inevitably have to box Beautifly. Here, I'm left with three Pokémon that still need some levels to learn some decent moves of their own type - luckily, Geodude (Geodudette?) quickly steps up to learn Rock Throw and Rock Smash (via HM), which lets me deal with all the Galactic Grunts with Zubats, as well as Mars. I have to be careful about preserving Geodude's health - which in this case means retrying the battle whenever she misses Rock Throw on Zubat, who can then poison or confuse her - but eventually, I can progress. I also catch the Drifloon, who is already at lv. 15, and get a very lucky Honey tree encounter in a lv. 10 Heracross.

I just speedrun to Gardenia after this, making sure my Pokémon are somewhat strong and have STAB moves - or in Heracross's case, Aerial Ace. Ultimately, that's what lets me defeat Gardenia: Drifloon can do some good damage into Turtwig with Gust, but it's Heracross who I really need to win. In fact, in order to heal him after he deals with Cherrim, I essentially sacrifice my whole team to Roserade... this luckily pays off because Roserade goes down with Heracross, my only alive Pokémon, in the red.

Team vs Gardenia: Geodude (lv. 9 → 16), Bibarel (lv. 10 → 15), Pachirisu (lv. 11 → 14), Drifloon (lv. 15 → 18), Heracross (lv. 10 → 18)
 
Last edited:

Eleanor

Princess Era 🎀
6,558
Posts
7
Years
Eleanor's Platinum Lampent Challenge

I got kinda frustrated here with some of my encounters (or lack thereof) and took a break from the game for a bit. Until I just decided to just speedrun to Fantina and try to continue the run from there. Not much happened during this stretch of the game, since I skipped most of the optional areas like Wayward Cave and only focused on story points. But I did get a few encounters, mostly for convenience, those being Roselia and Zubat (both at lv. 19) from Route 208. They were, in fact, the only Pokémon involved in the fight against Fantina, with Golbat being barely able to survive against Mismagius - getting a critical hit Bite after hitting herself in confusion. Ok, I got a Ponyta too, but she was mostly around for regular trainer battles.
Jupiter was defeated thanks to Geodude instead, right before she had to get boxed. I had to retry the fight a few times, until Magnitude's power rolls were on my side and allowed Geodude to finish off Skuntank before she would take too much damage.

Team vs Fantina: Heracross (lv. 10→19), Drifloon (lv. 15 → 20), Ponyta (lv. 16→21), Roselia (lv. 19 → 23), Golbat (lv. 19 → 27), Pachirisu (lv. 10 → 16)
 
24,410
Posts
3
Years
  • Age 35
  • Seen today
🕯️ Forum name: Devalue
🕯️ Game of choice: Scarlet
🕯️ Easy Mode or Normal mode: Normal
🕯️ Optional Rules, if any: 5 level range. (Allows Pokemon to level over that during a fight, but not before, for the record.) No in-battle items (besides Pokeballs). Will try to keep it Set.

Shrank the level range. Accesses pretty high level Pokemon and a large cast, relative to many other games.

Plays with Teal Mask active too. Completes this before Indigo Disk releases, ideally.

Edit: Crossed out the "level over" part. Reread the challenge rules. Leaves as soon as it hits level met + 5.
 
Last edited:
24,410
Posts
3
Years
  • Age 35
  • Seen today
Rules
  • 5 level limit for every Pokemon, from the level met. Boxes them as soon as possible upon hitting that.
  • No in-battle items
  • Avoid affection benefits (unless going for an evolution). (Exception: Allows sandwiches for Encounter power, but only with boxed Pokemon who cannot benefit from the friendship.)
  • Set mode (as well as possible).

Picked up a save file created a while back for Mew. Skipped some introduction this way. Resumed at Los Platos. Team at this point:
  • Clyde the Fuecoco. Level 7. (Met: Level 5.)
  • LeChuck the Lechonk. Level 3. (Met: Level 3.)

Named them after ghosts (Pacman ghost and Monkey Island ghost, respectively).

Boxed LeChuck, just in case. Remembered a rough Nemona fight ahead, based on seeing other people with underleveled Pokemon. Battled a trainer to reach level 8 on Clyde. Challenged Nemona and lost badly. Progresses the plot anyways, though, so who cares. (Hit level 9 too.)

Went into Mesagoza. Completed story stuff. Reached Clyde's limit (10) on the Team Star grunts, however. Pulled out LeChuck the level 3 Lechonk. Still fine, just...less ideal.

Gained the freedom to roam. Sprung the plan into action. Headed out the west gate, then south. Found a Scyther (not the Tera one). Conveniently found a single Ultra Ball along the way. Caught it in one ball. Leveled LeChuck from 3 to 10 in that one fight, so off to the box with it.

Nazgul the Scyther
Level met: 19
Nature: +Defense / -Special Defense
Ability: Technician
Tera: Flying
Moves: Wing Attack, Fury Cutter, False Swipe, and Double Team
IVs: 20/4/27/14/30/24

500 base stats and good against the early gyms? Sure. Even got Technician. Knew about some Scythers later. Figured it best to take advantage of the stats now.

Rolled up to Katy. No need for a log. One-shot everything with Wing Attack, unsurprisingly. Did not even need to Terastallize. (Decided to allow that this run for fun.)

Eyed the next Pokemon. Headed over to Kitakami. Crushed Karmine and Kieran. Located a Leavanny nestled between some rocks in the Wistful Fields.

Padurii the Leavanny
Level met: 25
Nature: Timid (+Speed / -Attack)
Ability: Chlorophyll
Tera: Grass
Moves: Razor Leaf, Slash, Bug Bite, and False Swipe
IVs: 7/29/9/17/5/25

Wanted to use Leavanny for fun. Works well for the upcoming gyms. Would not catch a higher level one than this. Lined up well.

Hung around in Kitakami for a little longer. Farmed a few Rare Bones. Scrounged up some interesting TMs, such as Ice Punch, Stone Edge, and Surf. Hoped for more good berries (only one Sitrus), but oh well.

Brought in Padurii for Titan Klawf. Won no problem. Swapped back to Nazgul for Brassius to keep Padurii's experience down. Terastallized Flying to take Sudowoodo's Rock Throw. (Would have survived anyways.) One-shot everything otherwise.

Tried taking on Titan Bombirdier with Nazgul. Nope. Fainted to a single Rock Throw. (Distrusted Terastallization to stick around for the second fight.)

Completed Iono's and Kofu's Gym Tests before tackling the real thing. Thought about Scope Lens and Miracle Seed for Iono. Decided on an Assault Vest (from Porto Marinda, on the ground).

Only brought Padurii at level 27. Lost twice to Iono. (Took a critical and paralysis from Bellibolt both times. Also deals with Intimidate.) Tried the Scope Lens on attempt 2. Nope. So...Kofu instead (with a Miracle Seed).

Spoiler: Kofu battle log
(Tera: Grass for Padurii. Sandstorm active.)
Turn 1: Padurii: Razor Leaf (80%) / Veluza: Pluck (41/79)
(Sandstorm damage to 37/79)
Turn 2: Padurii: Bug Bite (the rest)
(Sandstorm damage to 33/79)
Turn 3: Wugtrio: Headbutt (9/79) / Padurii: Razor Leaf (100%)
(Level up. Sandstorm damage to 6/81. Tera: Water for Crabominable.)
Turn 4: Padurii: Razor Leaf (75%) / Crabominable: Slam (miss)
(Sandstorm damage to 1/81)
Turn 5: Padurii: Razor Leaf (miss) / Crabominable: Slam (0/81)


Dot dot dot. Seriously? Thought about Slash there. Worried it was not enough. What are the odds of missing Razor Leaf? (5%.) Sighs. Demanded an immediate rematch...and missed Razor Leaf again. Fainted on Veluza. (Restarted once again too.)

Fine. Will catch a second Pokemon. Planned later Pokemon in case of things like this. Knows what to not catch.

Pricolici the Pincurchin
Level met: 29
Nature: Impish (+Defense / -Special Attack)
Ability: Lightning Rod
IVs: 31/24/5/19/28/30

Was going to turn it in for a Gengar. Comes in a decent level and match-up, though. Good enough for Kofu, at minimum. Could trade it near the end of its life still. Handed it a Quick Claw.

Spoiler: Another Kofu battle log
Turn 1: Veluza: Aqua Cutter (47/75) / Pricolici: Spark (80%)
Turn 2: Veluza: Aqua Cutter (22/75) / Pricolici: Spark (the rest)
Turn 3: Wugtrio: Headbutt (4/75) / Pricolici: Flinched
Turn 4: Wugtrio: Headbutt (0/75) / Pricolici: Fainted
(Tera: Grass for Padurii)
Turn 5: Wugtrio: Headbutt (critical, 46/79) / Padurii: Flinched
Turn 6: Wugtrio: Headbutt (24/79) / Padurii: Razor Leaf (100%)
(Level up. Tera: Water for Crabominable.)
Turn 7: Padurii: Razor Leaf (60%) / Crabominable: Slam (0/81)


Two flinches, criticaled once, and no Quick Claws. No Razor Leaf misses, for a change.

Challenged Kofu for a fourth time. Did not bother with the log. Won that time, of course. Still got flinched twice by Headbutt and criticaled by Aqua Cutter. Basically came down to not missing a 95% accurate move. Never criticaled with Razor Leaf either.

Back to Iono.
Spoiler: Iono battle log

Turn 1: Wattrel: Quick Attack (71/75) / Procolici: Fury Attack (miss)
Turn 2: Wattrel: Quick Attack (67/75) / Procolici: Fury Attack (3 hits, 60%)
Turn 3: Wattrel: Quick Attack (63/75) / Procolici: Fury Attack (3 hits, the rest)
(Luxio's Intimidate)
Turn 4: Procolici: Switch to Padurii / Luxio: Bite (68/81)
(Tera: Grass for Procolici)
Turn 5: Padurii: Razor Leaf (95%) / Luxio: Bite (55/81)
Turn 6: Padurii: Bug Bite (the rest)
(Level up. Learned Fell Stinger.)
Turn 7: Padurii: Razor Leaf (55%) / Bellibolt: Spark (44/84)
Turn 8: Padurii: Razor Leaf (the rest)
Turn 9: Padurii: Razor Leaf (70%) / Mismagius: Hex (19/84)
Turn 10: Padurii: Razor Leaf (the rest)


There. Just needed a little push, not being Intimidated, and average luck to cross the finish line.

Owns a capable Electric type now, come to think of it. Returned to Titan Bombirdier. Zapped it with no issues.

Nearly reached the end of Padurii's tenure (a quarter-level shy of 30). Grabs the next planned pair now. Catches as high as level 40 while still obeying.

Bell the Weavile
Level met: 40
Nature: Jolly (+Speed / -Special Attack)
Tera: Dark
Moves: Assurance, Ice Punch, Slash, and Hone Claws.
IVs: 6/16/28/25/21/18 (roughly)

Caught this fixed encounter Weavile east of Grusha's gym. Expended the Ice Punch TM from earlier. Boosts its power by a ton over the next strongest physical Ice level-up move (Ice Shard).

Killed time waiting for night to fall for the next one. Mentions a Play Rough TM from Kitakami. Filled in the Ghost gym flight path too.

Boo the Banette
Level met: 40
Ability: Frisk
Nature: Brave (+Attack / -Speed)
Tera: Ghost
Moves: Curse, Shadow Ball, Shadow Sneak, Sucker Punch.
IVs: 5/1/26/5/2/21 (roughly)

Hm. Does it learn Phantom Force? Yes, by TM. Where is that? Timeless Woods. Got it and taught it.

Ordered the secret menu item for Larry on the second try without looking it up. (Remembered well enough from watching others.)

Spoiler: Larry battle log

Turn 1: Bell: Ice Punch (85%) / Komala: Yawn
Turn 2: Bell: Switch to Boo / Komala: Yawn
Turn 3: Boo: Switch to Bell / Komala: Sucker Punch (failed)
Turn 4: Bell: Ice Punch (the rest)
Turn 5: Bell: Ice Punch (45%) / Dudunsparce: Glare
Turn 6: Bell: Paralyzed / Dudunsparce: Hyper Drill (54/108)
Turn 7: Bell: Ice Punch (45%) / Dudunsparce: Hyper Drill (2/108)
Turn 8: Bell: Ice Punch (the rest)
(Staraptor's Intimidate. Tera: Normal for Staraptor)
Turn 9: Staraptor: Facade (0/108)
Turn 10: Boo: Sucker Punch (30%) / Staraptor: Aerial Ace (61/103)
Turn 11: Boo: Sucker Punch (30%) / Staraptor: Aerial Ace (24/103)
Turn 12: Boo: Sucker Punch (30%) / Staraptor: Aerial Ace (0/103)


Would have won by equipping the Muscle Band (or getting BlackGlasses). Handed it a Quick Claw instead, not expecting Sucker Punch to be the play with Glare and Yawn on the table. Probably could win a rematch. Had average-ish luck on paralysis and no King's Rock flinches or freezes.

Opted to gain some power through Effort Values. Farmed cash earlier with this in mind. Bought two Power Bracers. Ate an Encounter Power: Fairy sandwich with LeChuck (to avoid friendship benefits, per the rules). Beat up enough Azurills to max out Attack for Bell and Boo. Ought to suffice. Equipped a Cheri Berry on Bell and Black Glasses on Boo.

Spoiler: Larry battle log round 2

Turn 1: Bell: Ice Punch (critical, 100%) / Komala: Fainted
Turn 2: Bell: Ice Punch (60%) / Dudunsparce: Glare (Bell's Cheri Berry)
Turn 3: Bell: Ice Punch (the rest)
(Level up. Staraptor's Intimidate. Tera: Normal for Staraptor.)
Turn 4: Bell: Ice Punch (45%) / Staraptor: Facade (54/114)
Turn 5: Bell: Ice Punch (45%) / Staraptor: Facade (0/114)
Turn 6: Boo: Sucker Punch (the rest)
(Level up.)


There. So much simpler. Clearly underestimated the power of random Effort Values. Well, that and teamwork. Completely ignored buff and debuff moves thus far.

Fought Nemona right after. Heals your Pokemon, fortunately. Won that 2 on 4 battle (+4 levels over Meowscarada, for reference). Thanks Tera: Dark for dulling Lycanroc's Accelrock (not to mention critting with Assurance).

Wandered over to Montenevera. Committed to the duo for this (double) gym battle. Cleared the trainers beforehand easy-peasy. Ryme time for a 2 on 4 battle.

Spoiler: Ryme battle log

(Tera: Dark for Bell.)
Turn 1: Enemy Banette: Sucker Punch (36/112 for Boo) / Bell: Assurance (100% on enemy Banette) / Mimikyu: Slash (critical, 74/119 on Bell) / Boo: Phantom Force
(+1 to offenses for Bell and Boo.)
Turn 2: Mimikyu: Shadow Sneak (miss on Boo) / Bell: Assurance (100% on Houndstone) / Boo: Phantom Force (on Mimikyu, Mimikyu's Disguise) / Houndstone: Fainted
(+1 to offenses for Bell and Boo. Tera: Ghost for Toxtricity)
Turn 3: Boo: Shadow Sneak (on Mimikyu, the rest) / Bell: Assurance (100% on Toxtricity)


Feels nice to win on the first attempt for a change. Fully expected Mimikyu to Shadow Sneak into Boo and faint it. Thanks?

Off to Alfornada for the next--oh, Nemona first. Might be optimal to lose this battle for less experience, honestly. Is not about that life, though. Won the battle. Unfortunately hit level 45 exactly on Bell from that. Throws a wrench into the plan of a Hone Claws sweep.

Plan B: Find a level 50 Dark type. Flew up north for a Lokix. (Considered the nearby Bisharp too.) Caught it in one ball with Pricolici (Pincurchin).

Napstablook the Lokix
Tera: Bug
Ability: Swarm
Nature: Bashful (neutral)
Moves: Throat Chop, Sucker Punch, First Impression, and Lunge
IVs: 18/20/23/18/22/16

Thought about grabbing Swords Dance, using an Adamant Mint, or EV training. Remembered picking up a Leech Life TM. Good enough. Dropped off Boo before making a mockery of the gym test.

Psychic Gym time. Plan: Hit Leech Life four times. Send in Boo to clean up, if necessary.
Spoiler: Tulip battle log

(Tera: Bug for Napstablook)
Turn 1: Napstablook: Leech Life (100%) / Farigaraf: Fainted
Turn 2: Napstablook: Leech Life (98%) / Gardevoir: Psychic (56/140)
Turn 3: Napstablook: Leech Life (the rest) (heal to 58/140)
(Level up.)
Turn 4: Napstablook: Leech Life (100%) (heal to 134/142) / Espathra: Fainted
(Tera: Psychic for Florges)
Turn 5: Napstablook: Leech Life (100%) (heal to full) / Florges: Fainted


Not too bad. Ends Boo's time at the team as a level 45. Now, question of the day: Can Lokix handle Grusha solo? ...Maybe with Swords Dance. Where is that? Casseroya Lake near Watchtower 3. Snagged it. Bought an Adamant Mint and Silver Powder for good measure.

Plan for Grusha: Wait for the snowstorm to subside. Stack two Swords Dances minimum before Altaria. Hope for the best. Does not want to take a Hurricane. Either EV trains or catches the planned Arcanine, in the event of failing.

Spoiler: Grusha battle log

(Tera: Bug for Napstablook)
Turn 1: Napstablook: Swords Dance / Frosmoth: Tailwind
Turn 2: Frosmoth: Blizzard (miss) / Napstablook: Swords Dance
Turn 3: Napstablook: Sucker Punch (100%)
Turn 4: Beartic: Icicle Crash (70/142) / Napstablook: Flinched
(Enemy Tailwind down.)
Turn 5: Napstablook: Leech Life (100%) (heal to full)
Turn 6: Napstablook: Swords Dance / Cetitan: Ice Spinner (85/142)
Turn 7: Napstablook: Leech Life (100%) (heal to full)
(Level up. Tera: Ice for Altaria.)
Turn 8: Napstablook: Leech Life (100%) / Altaria: Fainted


Thank goodness for Sucker Punch. Was not prepared for Tailwind.

Obtained all 8 badges. Could run out and catch a level 75 Tera: Ice Lucario now. Is that optimal for reducing the number of used Pokemon? Yes. Is that fun? Not really. Acknowledges its presence. Same for the level 75 Dragonite. (May be tough to catch anyways.)

Holds no such qualms about some strong, lower level Pokemon, however. Added in all the modifications (Mints, Bottle Caps, TMs).

Myrtle the Tsareena
Level met: 65
Ability: Queenly Majesty
Tera: Psychic
Nature: Impish (+Defense / -Special Attack)
Moves: Zen Headbutt, Trop Kick, High Jump Kick, and Charm
IVs: 10/31/31/11/31/15
EVs: ~32 Hitpoints, 252 Attack

Casper the Mimikyu
Level met: 65
Ability: Disguise
Tera: Fairy
Nature: Jolly (+Speed / -Special Attack)
Moves: Play Rough, Shadow Claw, Leech Life, and Hone Claws
IVs: 31/31/31H/31/26/31
EVs: ~32 Hitpoints, 252 Attack

Ray the Raichu
Level met: 60
Ability: Static
Tera: Fighting
Nature: Calm (+Special Defense / -Attack)
Moves: Thunderbolt, Nuzzle, Eerie Impulse, and Nasty Plot
IVs: 31/31/31H/31/20/31H (roughly)
EVs: ~32 Hitpoints, 252 Special Attack

Slimer the Garchomp
Level met: 65
Ability: Sand Veil
Tera: Water
Nature: Jolly (+Speed / -Special Attack)
Moves: Liquidation, Earthquake, Outrage, and Swords Dance
IVs: 29/20/31/31/31/31H (roughly)
EVs: ~32 Hitpoints, 252 Attack

Overkill? Most likely. Plans partially for Nemona (the real fight with level 65-66s). Also forgot about the level 65 Garchomp being a thing. Was going to get a level ~58 one.

Defeated all the titans (with Napstablook), also. Whines a little about Serebii at this point. Displays all the location squares for wild Pokemon. Gives the level range for all areas, not just the one you clicked. Also claims really high levels which do not seem to appear. (Where are there level 65 Orthworms? Kitakami after the level jump? Should not mention that when on Paldea.)

...Bothered with all the legwork of getting TMs, EVs, and so on. Spaced on buying Leftovers. Remembers hovering over it before. Must not have bought it.

Declined to write the logs for these fights. Already prattled on for a long time. Pared it down to the main points.

  • Rika: Led with Myrtle. Smashed Whiscash. Sent in Slimer versus Camerupt. Took a Yawn while setting up. Defeated Camerupt, but with way too much damage for the incoming (Sturdy) Donphan. Switched back to Myrtle. Weakened it with Charm. Swapped to Casper for the sweep on the rest.
  • Poppy: Charm x3 from Myrtle. Swords Dance x3 with Slimer. One-shot everything except the Sturdy Magnezone.
  • Larry: Eerie Impulse x2 and Nuzzle with Ray. Followed it up with Nasty Plot x3. Ate its Sitrus Berry along the way. Fried everything with a single Thunderbolt each.
  • Hassel: Nuzzle + Eerie Impulse x3 with Ray. Gobbled down another Sitrus Berry. Set up six Hone Claws with Casper. Swept it from there.
  • Geeta: Nuzzle + Eerie Impulse with Ray. Swapped out because of damage to Casper. Only set up 3 Hone Claws on Espathra because of Lumina Crash damage getting scary. Failed to one-shot Kingambit by a sliver of health (not sure if Reflect was still up). Took an Iron Head from full to 7/177. Fainted to the following Avalugg.

    Sent in Ray. Cleaned up Avalugg. Debuffed Geeta's Gogoat with Myrtle. Dodged two straight Play Roughs (compensation for Padurii's Razor Leafs). Set the stage for Slimer's three Swords Dances. (Dodged a third Play Rough, but also took a critical on the one that hit.)

Turned out to not be overkill (at least for Geeta).

Stands at level 67 for everyone except Ray at 63. Feels confident in Slimer's ability to win this solo. Also managed to play without Leftovers for this long. Might as well not for the final fight. What kind of playthrough would it be without trying to do silly things?

Strategy for Nemona: Swords Dance x3 and sweep. Gave Slimer a Sitrus Berry too. Simple. Falls back on the standard debuff and buff strategy if that fails.
Spoiler: Nemona battle log

Turn 1: Slimer: Swords Dance / Lycanroc: Stealth Rock
Turn 2: Slimer: Swords Dance / Lycanroc: Drill Run (199/248)
Turn 3: Slimer: Swords Dance / Lycanroc: Drill Run (150/248)
Turn 4: Slimer: Earthquake (100%)
Turn 5: Slimer: Dragon Claw (100%) / Goodra: Fainted
Turn 6: Slimer: Earthquake (100%) / Pawmot: Fainted
Turn 7: Slimer: Earthquake (100%) / Dudunsparce: Fainted
Turn 8: Slimer: Liquidation (100%) / Orthworm: Fainted
Turn 9: Meowscarada: Play Rough (52/248) (Slimer's Sitrus Berry) / Slimer: Dragon Claw (100%)


Concludes this challenge. Spent too little time with these Pokemon, partially because of the more extreme (self-imposed) cap, but also not needing to. Fought a wild Dugtrio (with Arena Trap), Arven at the lighthouse, the trainer before the academy, the two Team Star grunts in the academy, Nemona several times, Kieran, Karmine, all five Titans, gym test trainers, gym leaders, the Elite Four, and Geeta. Oh, and like 64 Azurills for EV training. What is the most trainers any Pokemon fought? Six?

Describes this as an iffy challenge for this game in particular. Offered higher level Pokemon than your current gym at every turn. Never made sense to level. Enjoyed some of the planning, though, which is part of what the challenge is about.

Checked the game time in Pokemon Home. Clocked in at 12:45. More than expected. Includes the introduction, EV training, TM hunting, and money farming, in fairness.

Respects random EVs and the gym leaders a little more, if nothing else. Paid too little attention to their movesets. Hurt Padurii (Leavanny) in particular. Caught onto the pitfall of Dragonite for the Elite Four, at least. Leads with a Dragon, Ice, or Fairy move on all four trainers. Never planned much of a role there for Slimer (Garchomp) on similar grounds.

One other interesting note: Did not trigger the level jump in Kitakami yet. Probably requires either beating all three main paths or finishing the fourth path.

Spoiler: All Team Members

12 total Pokemon. Gained a total of 42 levels.
  • Clyde the Fuecoco: Level 5 -> 10
  • LeChuck the Lechonk: Level 3 -> 10. (All from capturing Nazgul.)
  • Nazgul the Scyther: Level 19 -> 21
  • Padurii the Leavanny: Level 25 -> 29
  • Pricolici the Pincurchin: Level 29 -> 31
  • Bell the Weavile: Level 40 -> 45
  • Boo the Banette: Level 40 -> 45
  • Napstablook the Lokix: Level 50 -> 53
  • Ray the Raichu: Level 60 -> 63
  • Slimer the Garchomp: Level 65 -> 67
  • Myrtle the Tsareena: Level 65 -> 67
  • Casper the Mimikyu: Level 65 -> 67
 
Last edited:
Back
Top