So I heard you like hardcore challenges? Have you ever imagine what is it like to fuse together Nuzlocke and Solo runs? No? That good, because Dr. Janpenstein is here to show this madness to you!

Rules

• The whole game must be solo'd with Rattata. That's right, not a Raticate. Only top percentage Rattata. Everyone and their grandma can solo the game with Raticate.
• If my Rattata faints, it's consider "Game Over" and I have to start the whole thing again.
• I can and will have to use HM slaves. I'll also catch enough Pokémon to get Flash.

And that's it. I mean, there really isn't anything else to say. Actually... I'll be playing Fire Red. Now, that's all. See you soon.

Attempt 1

I started right away. Got Bulbasaur as my starter HM slave and caught first Rattata I found on Route 1... On level 2! That's my Joey! My plan was to EV train Speed and Attack, so I kept beating other Rattata, Pidgey, Spearow and Mankey. I didn't even finish it and I was at level 18... I can't continue at this rate.
So I made quick journey through the Viridian Forest and to Pewter City.


My beloved Joey right before challenging Brock.


Did anyone said I'm overleveled?


At that point I realize I didn't buy any Potions... But I found these lying in the Viridian Forest.


Don't tell me kids need Grass or Water-Type to beat Brock, Gamefreak.


Nope!


😄


"I hate rivals in newer games. Blue was really challenging." -Enpat some random genwunner


That was ONE Water Pulse with a crit! From a full HP!


I'm not gonna lie, this was scary.

And finally, here's the champ:

Zemanahrad said:

Attempt 1

I started right away. Got Bulbasaur as my starter HM slave and caught first Rattata I found on Route 1... On level 2! That's my Joey! My plan was to EV train Speed and Attack, so I kept beating other Rattata, Pidgey, Spearow and Mankey. I didn't even finish it and I was at level 18... I can't continue at this rate.
So I made quick journey through the Viridian Forest and to Pewter City.

My beloved Joey right before challenging Brock.

Did anyone said I'm overleveled?

At that point I realize I didn't buy any Potions... But I found these lying in the Viridian Forest.

Don't tell me kids need Grass or Water-Type to beat Brock, Gamefreak.

Nope!

😄

"I hate rivals in newer games. Blue was really challenging." -Enpat some random genwunner

That was ONE Water Pulse with a crit! From a full HP!

I'm not gonna lie, this was scary.

And finally, here's the champ:

Joey, Serious Male Rattata
lvl 29, Run Away
- Hyper Fang
- Focus Energy
- Quick Attack
- Pursuit​

Click to expand...

Now you know why Misty has the title as the luckiest Gym Leader in Kanto(and most annoying to boot).

CodeHelmet said:

Now you know why Misty has the title as the luckiest Gym Leader in Kanto(and most annoying to boot).

Click to expand...

Yeah, this is 2nd time in a row. First time with Pikachu with maxxed evasion and now this. I'm really looking to my next encounter with her in next runs.

Oh you again...


What is this fat Rattata?


Exactly my words.


No, that was expected.


This new LPGE demo is great!


This is bad!


AND IT GETS WORSE!!!


Finally! My ultimate move!


Ehm... How did it come to this?


Oh thank god for potions.


Speaking fo potions, I'm getting ready to face Erika.


I wonder if a word about my Rattata gets to other Gym Leader so they wouldn't want to battle me.


Not a single hit.


Skipping the boring part to this... boring part.


I'm over the obedience level limit now and still have this whole building to clear before facing Sabrina.

I'm slowly getting to like this little guy:

I think you're well on your way at these levels.

75 is enough to destroy the whole game, even unevolved.

Enpatsu Shakugan said:

I think you're well on your way at these levels.

75 is enough to destroy the whole game, even unevolved.

Click to expand...

My biggest fears are Giovanni and Bruno, as I still can't OHKO most of the Ground-Types with Return or Pursuit (but I plan on getting Ice-Beam/Blizzard). Team of Geodudes and Gravelers actually gave me pretty hard time. I'm also not sure if I will be able to take Bruno's Fighting-Types. But I plan on using battle items on E4.

But so far, it is going great. I expected to die ages ago.

Zemanahrad said:

My biggest fears are Giovanni and Bruno, as I still can't OHKO most of the Ground-Types with Return or Pursuit (but I plan on getting Ice-Beam/Blizzard). Team of Geodudes and Gravelers actually gave me pretty hard time. I'm also not sure if I will be able to take Bruno's Fighting-Types. But I plan on using battle items on E4.

But so far, it is going great. I expected to die ages ago.

Click to expand...

Remember Ground owns Rock(hence teach it Dig) and the only Ground Type that may pose a problem is Dugtrio due to its speed but Rattata is fast and Dugtrio is weak to Ice(which can double against Lance's Dragons). Tack on Thunderbolt(for Lorelei) and Shadow Ball and your good to go. Good luck ;)

Well, that's just great!

Attempt 2

Let's start this all over. This time with Charmander.


Yeah, Science!


After some EV training, Science is ready for Brock.


Not this **** again...


Oh wait! I won!


This trainer gave me more trouble that Brock.


I have bad feeling about this run...


On the other side, I kinda like it.


This time I'm making smart moves (Thanks CodeHelmet, forget about Rock weakness to Ground)


Yeah, it's easier now.


With my plan of being smart comes a lot of gambling. But I'll get that Ice-Beam!

And here's some science for you all

How's it going to change this time, if it happened already?

Dig will serve you well against Lt.Surge, Koga, Blaine and Bruno's Onix. Ground types cover so many Pokemon in Kanto it's insane. It's why Earthquake is so popular, although Rattata can't learn it(neither can Raticate). Be wary against opponents who know the EQ move though. If you're underground when they use it...

Enpatsu Shakugan said:

How's it going to change this time, if it happened already?

Click to expand...

I'll invest time into making my moveset now that I can get pretty much everything I wanted to learn. And I won't skip WHOLE Silp Co before going straight to the Rival - which was big mistake in the last run.

CodeHelmet said:

Dig will serve you well against Lt.Surge, Koga, Blaine and Bruno's Onix. Ground types cover so many Pokemon in Kanto it's insane. It's why Earthquake is so popular, although Rattata can't learn it(neither can Raticate). Be wary against opponents who know the EQ move though. If you're underground when they use it...

Click to expand...

Yeah, I should have learn it immediately in the last run too.

I got bored gambling, so I decided to beat Erika.


You saw nothing!


That reminds me to get this move too.


Ice-Beam is working fine.


And now it's time to train, instead of raiding Silp Co.


And look where I ended!


Well, do you think I'm ready?


YAY!


Double YAY!


Should I?


Of course I should!


TL;DR This part was easy.


I want to be ready for anything.


But I wasn't ready for getting paralyzed and then beaten with Superpower...

Attempt 3

I won't waste your time with pictures you already saw. This was the worst run. I beat both Brock and Misty without any problem, but then... I ran into Hiker with Geodude. That sounds easy, right? I went for Dig and Geodude used Magnitude. Killing my Mikey. Fast run...

Attempt 4

After failing quickly last run, I decided to pick Squirtle again.


And our next challenger - Science 2!


This looks good. Really good.


Here we are!


YES!


You can see me winning. What you can't see is Stein's Venusaur almost killing Science 2 with Solarbeam and being freezed on 1 HP before finally fainting.


This reminds me that I wanted to store my HM slaves in the PC...


And here's the CHAMP!

Anyway, this was really interesting challenge. I think using this underwhelming Pokémon really showed what it can do and pushed me to think about my strategy, because even with almost 20 level higher that other Pokémon, it could still die. Grinding coins over and over again was getting a little bit boring and I think if I would die after doing that again, I would probably switch to Blizzard and Pursuit (over Ice-Beam and Shadow Ball). Also I think I'll remember that Rock is weak to Ground from this day forever.
I'm thinking about continuing with Sentret and Johto, but I don't really see myself grinding to level 100 to beat Red's Snorlax and Lapras (those would be worst in my opinion). But for now, I'll go with something more casual.

Could always try Buneary or Bunnelby if you want to sift through XY's cutscenes and what not. Bunnelby would be interesting seeing as its evolution is part Ground Type and hence learns Ground Type moves(which would prove useful against Grant).

Here's a movepool for Bunnelby:

Earthquake(late game, can go with Mud-Shot until it learns Dig at 33 or EQ at level 49)
Brick Break(need something for Ice Types and for Clemont's Magneton. Emolga will still be a pain)
Bounce(your only move against Korrina's Fighting Types and can help against Ramos)
Either Sludge Bomb(which helps against Valerie and Diantha's Gardevoir) or a Dark Type move like Payback.

I was thinking about Bunnelby too, but I've used Diggersby recently. But I don't remember using Buneary line ever, so that could be interesting. I was also thinking about using Gulpin in Hoenn or Wobbuffet anywhere as they could also be challenging and still enjoyable.

Zemanahrad said:

I was thinking about Bunnelby too, but I've used Diggersby recently. But I don't remember using Buneary line ever, so that could be interesting. I was also thinking about using Gulpin in Hoenn or Wobbuffet anywhere as they could also be challenging and still enjoyable.

Click to expand...

If you did Buneary, Roark will be a pain unless you train to level 23 for Jump Kick. As for a moveset:

Dig(covers Fire, Poison, Electric, Rock and Steel)
Shadow Ball(covers Psychic and Ghost)
Ice Beam(covers Grass, Bug, Ground, Dragon and Flying)
Jump Kick(covers Normal, Dark, Ice, Rock and Steel)

Crasher Wake will be hard(no Water counter) but otherwise every other Gym Leader and Elite Four you have a move that counters them.

I found out that Return (or other STAB move) was sometimes much better that SE moves, so I think Crasher Wake wouldn't be a problem, but Roark could be. If I would do EV training just like I did with Rattata, I could probably get to level 23 without any problems. Roark's Pokémon don't even have good movepool. So I think it's manageable.

Congrats on beating the challenge! I did a solorun in LeafGreen with Raticate once, and I can remember that even getting tough at some points. Nice job! :D

Zemanahrad said:

I found out that Return (or other STAB move) was sometimes much better that SE moves, so I think Crasher Wake wouldn't be a problem, but Roark could be. If I would do EV training just like I did with Rattata, I could probably get to level 23 without any problems. Roark's Pokémon don't even have good movepool. So I think it's manageable.

Click to expand...

I'll admit that the merits of STAB, particularly if the move has a high base power, are worth noting but having coverage over a variety of types wins out in the end when you're doing a NFE Solo run.