[Challenge] The Monotype Challenge Re:Returns

So after arriving in Lavender Town I immediately left down to Route 12, picking up the TM for Return to use later. We then took on Pokemon Tower and swiftly beat down Blue again, really no effort required and then what felt like 19,000 Bites later the whole tower was clear (bar mrs spooky ghost mon). Next up we continued our journey to the next gym, taking on the next routes trainers where Sarah learned Wing Attack and I taught her the Return TM for some actually good STAB normal damage. One tunnel and a whole lot of easy battles later we had arrived.

After some basic inventory management and collecting of things like an Eevee I can't use, some nice hot tea and the HM for Fly to teach to Kira, I headed for the Game Corner because it was time to gamble baby! (and by gamble I mean abuse the power of save states and speed up because I've only got so many years to live not wasting it there xD). After a long and boring coin grind we had enough to buy two helpful additions: Shadow Ball TM which I taught to Rhaidan and obtaining a brand new Pokemon to add to the potentials list of Precious the Dratini. But now was the time to do what we came for: Erika. So we swapped out Tornado for CH'DING so we can use Cut, and headed for the Gym.

The trainers themselves were a complete push over and Erika was surely going to be no different.... right? Oh and also Rhaidan began to evolve! But since I don't have the national dex yet we cannot get a Crobat yet, so we'll have to cancel animations every time he levels up now.

Gym 4: Erika

Starting with Victreebel, we lead with Jules and once again combo'd Sleep Powder and Dream Eater (a tactic I have now dubbed Dream Powder) and successfully 2HKO'd the leading Pokemon. Next up was Tangela, who I opted for Sarah to take it on which she swiftly ripped to shreds, 2HKOing with Wing Attack. Finally Vileplume came out, I swapped back into Jules for our trust Dream Powder combo and while she did use a Full Heal it was also 2HKO'd and our battle was over!

Rainbow Badge obtained! (4/8)

Next on the agenda was a whooooole lot of story and a whooooole lot of grindy trainer battles. We went back to the Game Corner and found the 'secret' Team Rocket hideout, which was a pretty easy cake walk until we met with Giovanni. Oh wait never mind Tornado decided to send his team to the Twister Zone using Water Pulse and we get the Silph Scope, there we fought the Marowak, clapped up some more Rocket Grunts and got the Pokeflute from Mr Fuji and flew our way back to Celadon. After giving the guard some tea I had arrived in Saffron City but couldn't do anything thanks to all the Team Rocket stuff, but I wasn't ready for the Rival Battle or the Giovanni fight so I decided to go on a training tangent.

After defeating the Snorlax and the Bikers of Cycling Road, we were very quickly in Fuchsia City where we had access to the great Safari Zone for a.... very annoying journey. I did the usual things you'd do, first visiting the Move Deleter so I could replace Flash with Giga Drain on Jules, obtained the HMs for Surf and Strength both of which went onto Tornado. Next up it was time for a catching spree! First off was Olsen the Doduo which was a very nice easy catch, followed by yet another easy catch or well that's what I would have said but after 15 rencounters of a low percentage appearance we had Binyot the Scyther!

Now it was team management time, Olsen joined the team in replacement for Sarah who is quickly evolved into Dodrio. She also gets an overhaul of moves, learning the Aerial Ace, Double Team and Hyper Beam TMs alongside Tri Attack as well as Kira being taught the Steel Wing TM. After some more battling of the nearby Routes we rounded off the development with Icarus learning Flamethrower and finally evolving into Charizard!

We made it back to Saffron City after clearing the lower Kanto routes, now we're ready to take on the Team Rocket invasion of the Silph Co building. This is where I realised just how slow the Dream Powder combo makes the regular fights really slow, but anyway we powered on and fought through the building. This is the part of the game where I remember just how much of a drag the journey between Gyms 4 and 5 is, but we ended up at the next Blue fight, where we once again pretty easily wiped the floor with his team. Finally we faced Giovanni, perhaps this time we will truely be up against it with his.... aaaaaaaand Tornado has swept his team again. We're rewarded with the Master Ball (which I do have plans for how I'm using it) and Team Rocket is no more, for now anyway so its back to the Gyms!

Beating the Fighting Dojo was literally the easiest thing in the game so far, so there was nothing else to do except fight Sabrina! I didn't fight most of the Gym Trainers mainly because I accidentally stumbled across Sabrina very easily and didn't want to spend years trying to find my way back so let the fight begin!

Gym 5: Sabrina

Despite being weak to Psychic, I opted to lead with Rhaidan with Shadow Ball due to it being Physical in this game. It worked out well as he out sped and then OHKO'd both Kadabra and Mr. Mime. Next up was Venomoth, which again was OHKO'd as Icarus burnt it to a crisp with Flamethrower.

Finally it was time for Alakazam, and oh boy this was quite the hassle, I swapped out into Jules to get it Poisoned, which after some messing around with Synchronise let to Jules going down but Alakazam being whittled down. I sent out Olsen in response with Hyper Beam to take it out but she missed and Alakazam 2HKO'd with Psychic, so old reliable Tornado is sent it and finishes the job with Strength.

Marsh Badge obtained! (5/8)

Next up we had lots of progress to do for the next Gym, wait no never mind time for Koga!

Gym 6: Koga

There no reason to beat around the bush here, literally all that happened was that Jules spammed the Dream Powder combo and OHKO'd everything except the Muk. Damn some of these fights are just too easy sometimes.

Soul Badge obtained! (6/8)

Finally the end the session off I took the newly acquired Toxic TM and taught it to Jules, literally just better Poisonpowder. This post was written over small burst sessions because idk I had some motivation issues/was busy with other shizzle so (its also 2am rn so tired me is writing this lol).

Jules - Level 38 Butterfree - Sleep Powder, Dream Eater, Giga Drain, Toxic
Kira - Level 37 Fearow - Secret Powder, Aerial Ace, Fly, Steel Wing
Rhaidan - Level 39 Golbat - Wing Attack, Shadow Ball, Confuse Ray, Bite
Icarus - Level 38 Charizard - Flamethrower, Rock Slide, Dig, Brick Break
Olsen - Level 38 Dodrio - Tri Attack, Aerial Ace, Hyper Beam, Double Team
Tornado - Level 39 Gyarados - Surf, Strength, Bite, Thunder Wave

The Box
Precious - Level 18 Dratini - Wrap, Leer, Thunder Wave, Twister
CH'DING - Level 12 Farfetch'd - Peck, Sand-Attack, Leer, Cut
Sarah - Level 30 Pidgeotto - Wing Attack, Return, Quick Attack, Sand-Attack
Binyot - Level 23 Scyther - Focus Energy, Pursuit, False Swipe, Agility

After our walkover fight with Koga, its time to up the ante as we approach the end game. My first stop was making use of our new badge by surfing down to the Power Plant and taking on the first of the Legendary Birds, Tornado was ironically the best member in the fight because Zapdos doesn't actually have an attacking electric moves, only Drill Peck so I could spam swap Intimidate and it was easy catching from there. Due to it being level 50 however, its home for now would be the box but still welcome Skrrt the Zapdos (I couldn't think of a nickname so I bullied one of my friends for one).

Next up after taking on some trainers south of Pallet Town on my way to Cinnabar Island, I briefly made it to the island but there was more work to be done so the team easily swept through all of Route 20, 21 and the Seafoam Islands. During this, Kira learned Drill Peck and we also caught the second of the Legendary Birds, Snowgull the Articuno and while I will be trying to catch all of the Legendary Birds but I will only actually be using one on my final team for the sake of balancing. Following this I headed back to Cinnabar, managed to revive my Old Amber into Preston the Aerodactyl and then breezed passed the Pokemon Mansion and Cinnabar Gym Trainers, where Blaine then awaited me for our next fight.

Gym 7: Blaine
We opened with an annoying start, choosing to lead with Icarus to Rock Slide the Growlithe, but it lives thanks to its Intimidate where it responds with a pitiful Take Down. One heal from Blaine and two more Rock Slides later we had our first knockout. From there it was smooth sailing as everything was either taken out in one or two Surfs from Tornado and yet another Gym Leader goes down without a fight.

Volcano Badge obtained! (7/8)

Following our victory against Blaine we were greeted by an old friend, Bill was asking for our help in the Sevii Islands so I gladly obliged. It was pretty eventful journey with a lot done, starting on One Island where we were assigned the task of bringing a meteorite to someone on Two Island. We then picked up the HM for Rock Smash and made our way to Two Island, we spoke to the man who asked for our help finding Lostelle on Three Island. After arriving there I kicked the asses of a couple of clueless bikers and beat up a rather.... suspicious Hypno to save Lostelle and bring her back. After giving the meteorite and returning to Bill we ended up back on Cinnabar Island, but I still had some stuff to do on One Island. After arriving back, I brought Preston into the party for Kira so I could use Rock Smash, letting me make my way up Mt Ember so I could catch the easiest bird for me, so I could save the Master Ball for Mewtw- aaaaaaaand I accidentally used it on a Ponyta.... oh well at least I can still catch Moltr- aaaaaaaand I knocked it out....

Anyway after that calamity I flew back to Celadon City to gamble some more for a Thunderbolt TM, this was because now was finally the time to bring Skrrt onto the squad, meaning that Kira would have to sit in the box for the rest of the adventure. With that addition its time for the next and final gym battle, the big bad boss of Team Rocket Giovanni!

Gym 8: Giovanni
Tornado did was Tornado does best, OHKOing everything with Surf except the Nidoking which took two. Yup. Very hard fight there. Tornado is just too OP.

Earth Badge obtained! (8/8)

With our badge case completed it was time to head off to the Indigo Plateau for the Pokemon League! First Tornado got even stronger thanks to Giovanni's Earthquake TM, which was perfect for our next rival fight! Blue this time was actually pretty scary for once, but we still came out on top with most of their team pulling their weight. Next time we progress through Victory Road and hopefully finish off the game! (with the post game to come too).

Skrrt - Level 50 Zapdos - Thunderbolt, Drill Peck, Thunder Wave, Fly
Jules - Level 45 Butterfree - Sleep Powder, Dream Eater, Giga Drain, Toxic
Rhaidan - Level 43 Golbat - Wing Attack, Shadow Ball, Confuse Ray, Bite
Olsen - Level 44 Dodrio - Tri Attack, Aerial Ace, Hyper Beam, Double Team
Icarus - Level 44 Charizard - Flamethrower, Rock Slide, Dig, Brick Break
Tornado - Level 46 Gyarados - Surf, Strength, Earthquake, Thunder Wave

The Box
Precious - Level 18 Dratini - Wrap, Leer, Thunder Wave, Twister
CH'DING - Level 12 Farfetch'd - Peck, Sand-Attack, Leer, Cut
Sarah - Level 30 Pidgeotto - Wing Attack, Return, Quick Attack, Sand-Attack
Binyot - Level 23 Scyther - Focus Energy, Pursuit, False Swipe, Agility
Kira - Level 42 Fearow - Secret Powder, Drill Peck, Fly, Steel Wing
Preston - Level 5 Aerodactyl - Wing Attack, Rock Smash, Fly
Snowgull - Level 50 Articuno - Mist, Agility, Mind Reader, Ice Beam

-So I picked Tepig as my starter and named him Augustus. For this monotype run I'll be having the Pokemon be named after Roman Emperors because why not.
-At one point I needed to give Hugh his townmap. At first I thought he was somewhere on Route 20. I was about to go downstairs but the hiker dude was like, "You need to get your first badge first before passing through this point." I went to Floccesy Ranch and I didn't find Hugh. I went back to my hometown to see the school is still not opened yet.
-I went back to Floccesy Ranch and oh, actually I didn't go further that spot and there's Hugh. Augustus was like half-health at the point and I was like dang it. Had to use a potion incase Hugh's Oshawott lands a crit, but luckily I won the match
-I grinded Augustus until he evolved into Pignite so that I can have him get Arm Thrust. Fire/Fighting best starter typing, am I right? I went against Cheren and easily won.
-Went to Virbank City and caught my second Pokemon, Tiberius the Growlithe. I already used Growlithe in my first Black 2 run, but I felt he would be better than Magby/Magmar. Grinded Tiberius hard, but it was slow going because of freaking Patrat with Bide urgh.
-Eventually went against Roxy and she was also slightly easy. Oh my gosh so I forgot that her and her band have voice clips. She's voiced and Piers isn't...
-Hugh and I go to Castelia City and toured around the city for a bit. Got both Exp Share and Amulet Coin to make things easier! I was about to check out Burgh's gym but then Iris comes to tell me that he's probably in the sewers to deal with Team Plasma and that's where I'll stop my update for now.

Augustus, Pignite, Lv 23, Careful nature
Tiberius, Growlithe, Lv 22, Naive nature

So at the end of the last update we had defeated both the 8th Gym Leader and our Rival, ready to start heading up to Victory Road. We passed through the badge gates, walked and surfed through the route and made it to the toughest challenge. Victory Road. For the most part it was actually pretty easy to make my way through, aside from the repels but I wasn't entirely confident considering some wild Pokemon were appearing even with the repels on. I did find the TM for Dragon Claw and taught it to Icarus, as Dragon is Special in this game so it'll be very useful for taking on Lance with.

I eventually found the exit and the team had arrived at the final frontier, the Pokemon League! I knew my team were very much under levelled for the fights but I decided to have one attempt at it first, just to see how much preparation I'd actually need to do to win without much cheesing required (even if that meant having my first whiteout of the challenge). So with Icarus, Jules, Olsen, Tornado, Rhaidan and Skrrt it was time for our first crack at the League!

Elite Four 1: Lorelei

While I knew her Ice Types could cause quite the problem, I was feeling pretty confident we could at least stand a chance at beating her on the first attempt. I decided to lead with Skrrt for her Dewgong as most of her Pokemon are also water types. Skrrt delivered and one shot it with Thunderbolt, giving us a good lead already.

Next up was Slowbro, while yet another water type, I didn't want this to be Zapdos sweeps everything because that's not fun so Rhaidan came in instead. This had.... mixed results, I used Shadow Ball for some super effective damage but I did pretty weak damage, to which Slowbro decided to become even more bulky with Amnesia. I swapped out to Jules to try and stall it out with Toxic, which while I managed to get it off, Jules was taken out pretty quickly with Ice Beam to which my astral sized brain decided to bring Olsen in to try and finish it off and was met with a OHKO from Ice Beam. The whole thing proved meaningless as Lorelei Full Restored and undid all my work, leaving it to Tornado to finally knock it out with a few Strengths.

The rest of the fight was a complete walk over, deciding to take no prisoners, OHKOing her Cloyster and 2HKOing her Lapras with Thunderbolt. Finishing off the fight with Icarus by taking the Jynx out with a couple of Flamethrowers, after a brief scare from Attract.

Elite Four 2: Bruno

Bruno was certainly going to be the biggest walk over of the Elite Four, Fighting being completely dominated by my team and the ever present threat of Tornado for washing away the Rock Types. I started off by leading with Jules, where Onix got the Sleep Powder treatment and took it out with Giga Drain.

The next two were slightly more awkward, as Hitmonchan came out I swapped into Rhaidan and while Wing Attack did do over half, thanks to the speed drop from Rock Tomb Rhaidan was taken out. Olsen came in and finished it off with Aerial Ace, where Bruno responded with Machamp that while Olsen did some damage with Aerial Ace she wasn't strong enough to take a Cross Chop and so Skrrt had to come in an Drill Peck to finish it off.

It was smooth sailing from here, with Hitmonlee coming in and after missing a Mega Kick was Dream Powdered to death by Jules. Finally it was yet another Onix but this team the honour went to Tornado who OHKO once again with Surf.

Elite Four 3: Agatha

I didn't know what to expect going into Agatha, I felt like I had more weaknesses than I actually did so I was certain this was where I'd go out. Anyway she led with her first Gengar and I opened with Rhaidan to Shadow Ball it, she used Confuse Ray and while first turn Rhaidan hit himself in confusion, he quickly snapped out and 2HKO the Gengar, surviving the hits on very low HP.

Next up was Haunter, I sent out Jules to take it out with Dream Powder as I felt Haunter would be the weakest and easiest to kill on her team. Aside from it waking up and missing Hypnosis it really put up no fight and was swiftly defeated. Next up was Golbat, where I swapped into Icarus to take it out with Rock Slide, she spammed Poison Fang and managed to get a Crit and take him out before I could take it out. Skrrt came out and put the Golbat in its place.

Out came Arbok next, Tornado had to get into the action somewhere so he came out and we exchanged intimidates. From there Earthquake was an easy 2HKO, though Sludge Bomb did managed to poison and do a good amount of damage. Finally it was the stronger Gengar to round out her team and I went back to Jules for it, the Gengar tried to get its own sleep off but missed the Hypnosis and allowed for Dream Powder to work its magic and end the fight.

After the match I figured it was smart to teach someone the Blizzard TM strictly because of Lance's Dragonite, so Tornado gets it over Thunder Wave (which I don't ever think I actually used apart from the Legendary Bird).

Elite Four 4: Lance

As the Elite Four progressed it became more and more clear just how under levelled I was for the battles at the end, this was no exception and I was absolutely certain this would be the end of the line for me.

Lance opened with his own Gyarados, a Pokemon I knew can do huge damage. This wouldn't be the case however as Skrrt quickly sent it to the grave with Thunderbolt. Next up was Aerodactyl and while Ancient Power did a lot of damage, Thunderbolt was still too much for his prehistoric bones.

Dragonair came out next and it was time to put that Dragon Claw TM to use, Icarus came out and did about half before it responded with Outrage. I thought that'd be the end but he tanked it pretty well and finished it off with a second. With the second Dragonair coming out I went for the same tactic, dealing half with Dragon Claw until it blasted me away with a Hyper Beam but that left Olsen all the time she needed to finish it off with her own Hyper Beam.

Now it was the big boi, Dragonite. I was terrified of this thing running riot so I went into Tornado, lowering its attack and also because I had Blizzard. I landed my first Blizzard and my second would have killed if not for the Sitrus Berry and so it could attack back with Hyper Beam which didn't do enough to kill. One Full Restore and a couple more lucky Blizzard hits later and we had done it. We were the league champion! Well we would be if Blue hadn't of made it there first.

This was the point where I realised this run is actually pretty serious and even though I'd probably be too under levelled for the fight, I decided to go for it and uses all the Rare Candies I had stored up, with this Olsen picked up Drill Peck and Jules learned Silver Wind. Anyway CHAMPION TIME BABY!

Champion Blue

Once again leading out with Skrrt to deal with his Pidgeot, it managed to out speed me but doing pitiful damage allowing Skrrt to clap back with Thunderbolt which only just about didn't kill, this worked in my favour however as Blue wasted a Full Restore early and Skrrt finished it off with another two Thunderbolts (out speeding this time thanks to a Paralysis) and we were 1-0 against the final fight!

Next up was Rhydon and from our history with Giovanni there is only one member for the job, Tornado completely washing away his Rhydon and further increasing my lead to 2-0!

Here's the turning point in the match, where it suddenly became a lot harder. Alakazam was by far the scariest Pokemon on his team for me, if Rhaidan could get a Shadow Ball off he'd be able to take it out but Alakazam is rapid and also at least 10 levels higher. I opted to try and exploit its weak defences, swapping into Jules to put it to sleep, with her surviving on incredibly low HP and putting it to sleep. From there I swapped into Olsen planning on Hyper Beaming it out of existence, however I was once again cursed with the one turn sleep and Olsen was one shot from full. I knew that I needed to try and put it back to sleep so I swapped into Rhaidan to heal back Butterfree but on my way to use a hyper potion I miss clicked and accidentally used an X Attack. For some reason the RNG gods were shinning on me and Alakazam used Future Sight, which it continued to do allowing me to blow it back with a Shadow Ball. 3-1 the score.

Exeggutor was next, which I was actually quite confident I could take out with Rhaidan. Shadow Ball however only managed to do about 40% of its health, where then the Future Sight struck, which Exeggutor followed up by with an Egg Bomb that luckily missed. One 40% Wing Attack later and he actually landed an Egg Bomb and that was the end of Rhaidan. Icarus was my next alternative, where Blue healed Exeggutor back with another Full Restore but that didn't matter to Icarus who almost killed and the burned, where Blue used another Full Restore, and finally Exeggutor had gone down. 4-2 the score approaching the end.

Just like the start of our journey, he tried to send Blastoise in against Icarus. Of course I swapped out into Jules instead but still, anyway yeah Jules out speeds and I Toxic him to whittle it down. Blastoise opts to set up the rain, then next turn blowing Jules away with Hydro Pump. Skrrt comes in to hopefully try and pick up an easy kill, but I'm not confident in killing it so I use Fly instead with my plan being to waste the PP of Hydro Pump, get more Toxic damage out and try and get rid of the rain. All of this worked and the fly didn't do a whole lot, but then Blastoise comes out with a lucky Crit and takes out Skrrt. I sent Icarus back out so I can Max Revive Skrrt and finish this big turtle off, where at first I was confused why he went for Bite but realised that Hydro Pump had run out of PP. The Toxic damage taken can't finish Blastoise off and when I go to finish it off he used another Full Restore (seriously how many of these things does he have?!), but I did do 25% thanks to a Crit Dragon Claw. Skrrt finally comes back out and I can safely take it out with a Thunderbolt. The score is 5-2 and all that stood in my way was his Arcanine, which I'm sure would be easy.

I swap into Tornado and exchange intimidates, since the rain was still up from the Blastoise I was absolutely certain Tornado would one shot and clench us the title of Champion. Unfortunately it got lucky and managed to flinch with Bite, the rain also disappearing at the end of the turn but I was still confident I could kill it. The Arcanine did out speed but surely it couldn't do much damage to me- aaaaaaaand Crit Flamethrower... the score at 5-3. I swapped back into Skrrt, figuring its high power could be enough to take it out all I had to do was survive a Flamethro- aaaaaaaand it got another Crit (the RNG on this Arcanine is actually scary). With the score at 5-4, thing were looking very scary for me, so I used my final Max Revive to bring back Tornado as the Arcanine finished off Icarus with Extreme Speed. From there thankfully there was no more bad luck and Tornado finished Arcanine in two hits. 6-4 the final score and after a tense final few turns, we had successfully clinched victory!

I'm genuinely amazed I managed to beat the E4 the first time round, I thought I'd have to grind till at least 55 all round to even make a dent in the later battles. The team pulled through it was incredible, though I will admit most of the heavy lifting was done by Skrrt and Tornado. So just like that Skrrt, Tornado, Icarus, Rhaidan, Jules and Olsen were registered into the Hall of Fame. Now this is where the session ended but I've still got the Post Game/E4 Rematches to take on still, so I won't be rounding off my opinions in this post.

Skrrt - Level 53 Zapdos - Thunderbolt, Drill Peck, Thunder Wave, Fly
Olsen - Level 48 Dodrio - Tri Attack, Drill Peck, Hyper Beam, Double Team
Rhaidan - Level 48 Golbat - Wing Attack, Shadow Ball, Confuse Ray, Bite
Jules - Level 48 Butterfree - Sleep Powder, Dream Eater, Silver Wind, Toxic
Tornado - Level 48 Gyarados - Surf, Strength, Earthquake, Blizzard
Icarus - Level 46 Charizard - Flamethrower, Rock Slide, Dragon Claw, Brick Break

The Box
Precious - Level 18 Dratini - Wrap, Leer, Thunder Wave, Twister
CH'DING - Level 12 Farfetch'd - Peck, Sand-Attack, Leer, Cut
Sarah - Level 30 Pidgeotto - Wing Attack, Return, Quick Attack, Sand-Attack
Binyot - Level 23 Scyther - Focus Energy, Pursuit, False Swipe, Agility
Kira - Level 42 Fearow - Secret Power, Drill Peck, Fly, Steel Wing
Preston - Level 5 Aerodactyl - Wing Attack, Rock Smash, Fly
Snowgull - Level 50 Articuno - Mist, Agility, Mind Reader, Ice Beam

-Okay, so Hugh and I went to the Castelia Sewers to go against Team Rocket and won. After that, I trained Tiberius a little bit before attempting Burgh's gym.
-Burgh's gym in Black 2 you have to go through the silk coccons to get to Burgh. It's been almost 10 years since I last played the game so it a bit until I found Burgh. Tiberius went against Swadloon and then Dwebble who managed to do a Smack Down critical hit on oof. I then switched to Augustus to have him go against Levanny and he immeditely KO it. Third badge get.
-Before leaving Castelia City, I went back to the sewers and go to the little park so I can get an Eevee. I think it took almost half an hour or so until I found one. Named him Caligula. After that, I trained Caligula until Lv 20 so that I can evolve him into Flareon once I get a Fire Stone.
-I have my first battle against Colress on Route 4 and he wasn't that tough. After going against several trainers I walked around the sands and found a Darumaka! Named her Claudius. Yes she's given a male name.
-Because I want to find the Fire Stone for Caligula, I went to the Desert Resort and used the DOW MACHINE to find it. While trying to find it, I had to deal with trainers and random encounters which was somewhat annoying. Oh, and the sandstorms bleh. It tok a while but I evnetually found it like at the very end of the left side of the desert. I then evolved Caligula into Flareon
-Went to Nimbasa City. Team tagged with Nate against the Subway Bosses. They both have Pokemon that are super effective against my Fire-types but tahnk goodness for Nate having a Servine lmao.
-At one point I battled against an NPC trainer in a business suit and he asked me to join in on the Ferris Wheel. It turns out he actually hates the Ferris Wheel but his company owns it. This is so disappointing compare to N when he invited you to join him lol
-After training my Pokemon for a bit, I went against Elesa. Oh my gosh I forgot how annoying Volt Switch was. I had Augustus defeated Emolga and Flaffy while Caligula defeated Elsa's ace, Zebstirka. Fourth badge get.
-Before leaving the city Hugh and I went up against Team Plasma and that's when he has his "I'm full of rage!" line. Well, next off to Driftveil City

Augustus Pignite, Lv 33, Careful nature
Tiberius, Growlithe, Lv 32, Naive nature
Caligula, Flareon, Lv 31, Timid nature
Claudius, Darumaka, Lv 33, Hasty nature

-After taking a bit of a break to take care real life stuff, got back to playing more of my fire monotype run. Right, so Hugh and I made it to Drifveil City and we met up with one of the former Team Plasma sages. The Old Plasma and New Plasma stuff has so much potential, wished there was more of that.
-After training for a bit I went ahead and go against Clay. Man oh man he was tougher than I thought because of FREAKING BULLDOZE lmao. I used up several revives and hyper potions but I managed to beat him. Now I'm worried for Marlon's gym...
-After defeating Clay, he wants me and Hugh to participate in the Pokemon World Tournament. Hugh's Dewott was a bit tricky as it managed to defeat Augustus, but then after using Caligula I managed. Cheren and Colress were then easy and I won the Driftveil tour of the tournament.
-Soooo I forgot how long Route 6 to Mistralton City was. After going against one of the trainers, Augustus evolved into Emboar!
-There is Chargestone Cave that I have to go through first, and at one point there was a trainer that wanted to do a Triple Battle and he had some Pokemon that are good against fire types. I also managed to find Tynamo and dang I was so tempted to try it out but I can't because fire monotype run.
-Once I reached Mistralton I healed my Pokemon and went back to Driftveil City so that I can go to the Relic Passage and get myself a Volcarona. Er, going through the Relic Passage was a bit rough due to half the trainers having Rock-type Pokemon. Once I reached the Relic Castle I went to the room where Volcarona was and battled him. I had Augustus used Assurance on Volcarona a couple of times before catching it with a Net Ball. Named him Nero.
-Next I went to Celestial Tower to get myself my final Pokemon, Litwick. Found one on the second floor but accidentally let it faint. Snagged the second one I saw and named her Otho.
-I wanted to train Otho a bit, so I went back to Nimbasa City to rewatch the athletes. I thought the Pokemon would be late 20s but I forgot their levels were raised after you defeat more gyms. Poor Litwick got hit bad by a tennis player's Zestrikra.
-After a bit of a grinding session, I went to challenge Skyla's gym. I forgot how annoying her gym puzzle in B2W2 was. After going through that, I went against Skyla. Saved for her Swanna her battle wasn't that tough. Heck, I thought she would have an Unfezant when her final Pokemon was a Skarmory instead and I was like "Heyyyy." Got sixth badge!
-So I reach Lentimas Town thanks to Skyla flying me, Professor Juniper, and Bianca there. I first went to the Strange House and ummm I got confused and took me a bit to figure out I have to keep finding the open rooms once the furniture moved. My Pokemon got a bit of a training session though and Otho evolved into Lampert.
-After playing around The Strange House I went to Reversal Mountain. Wow, so in Black 2 the volcano isn't active anymore while White 2 it's still active. I have Bianca tagged along but oh geez so many trainers. Eventually we made it to the exit and I said goodbye to Bianca. I made it to Undella Town and this update has gone long enough I'll stop here for now.


Augustus, Emboar, Lv 41, Careful nature
Tiberius, Growlithe, Lv 42, Naive nature
Caligula, Flareon, Lv 41, Timid nature
Claudius, Darumanitan, Lv 41, Hasty nature
Nero, Volcarona, Lv 41, Naive nature
Otho, Lampert, Lv 41, Quiet nature

-Last update I made it to Undella Town. There I have another battle with Hugh and oh geez his Samurott and Aqua Jet. Claudius's Hammer Arm is the only move to do a significant damage to him. But yeah, eventually defeat him.
-So next I had to go through Route 13 and I totally forgot you can meet Cobalion early there. I have Otho go against it and haha two of Cobalion's attacks, Sarced Sword and one other, aren't affected against Otho due to her being part-ghost. Cobalion got burned due to Otho's Flame Body and at first I was like yesss but then I forgot being burned chips away your health, leading to Cobalion to faint. I attempted like 3 more tries to catch it, but Otho's Flame Body keeps activating and decided to not catch it since I probably have a couple of those legendaries.
-Made it to Lacunosa Town and met with Hugh there. After we went against Team Plasma, I thought the Fire Stone is in the town but no it's at Lentimas Town and I forgot to grab it on my first visit there. Had to use a Tranquil that I had learned Fly to go back to Lentimas Town and grab it.
-I next visit Village Bridge and ahhhh it's actually one of my favorite locations in the gen 5 games. I don't know, I just like the aesthetic of it and the music so calming. I battled some trainers and after Tiberius reached lv 45 and learned Flare Blitz I used the Fire Stone to evolve him into Arcanine!
-Next up is Route 11 and that's where I meet Virizion. Like with Cobalion I battled Virizion once and that's it. I realized that both Cobalion and Virizion are weak to Fire sooooo if I want to catch them post-game that'll make things tricky haha.
-After I reached Opeluid City, I grinded for a bit and then challenge Drayden's gym. Oh my gosh so one of the trainers in the gym had a Druddegion with Rocky Helmet and Rough Skin. Tiberius has a tiny bit of health left, so when Druddegions health was also low I was like use Outrage and be done with it. Cue both Rocky Helmet and Rough Skin causing Tiberius to faint oops. When I get to battle Drayden I had Tiberius use Outrage on Drayden's first two Pokemon before he got confused. I switched out Tiberius for Claudius on Drayden's Haxrous. Haxtrous's Dragon Tail managed to KO Claudius, but then I brought Tiberius back and his Outrage finished the job.
-Yeah, so I kinda forgot how long this particular Team Plasma segment was, you know the one where they blasted half of Unova into ice. After dealing with Team Plasma and one of the Shadow Triad it's time to go to Humilau City.
-Did some grinding because I don't want to experience Clay 2.0 with Marlon. I went to rematch the athletes at Nimbasa City and after one of the battles Lmapert learned Shadow Ball and that's when I used the Dusk Stone to evolve her into Chandelure!
-I went and challenge Marlon's gym and he actually wasn't as hard as I thought. His Carracosta had Scald and while Tiberius fainted, I had Claudius take out Carracosta and Wailmer. I then had Otho take down his Jellicent. Final badge get!
-Okay so now it's time for the big final Team Plasma showdown. I had to switch Caligula for Marill who can use Surf and go to Seaside Cave where Team Plasma's ship was. I thought I would struggle a bit due to having 5 strong Pokemon but it wasn't actually bad. Augustus was able to take care the majority of the grunts's Pokemon due to them weak either by fighting.
-After Team Plasma showdown part 1 is done, it's time to go to Giant Chasm and that's where I'll stop. Next update should be Ghetsis and maybe Victory Road and the Elite 4!

Augustus, Emboar, Lv 55, Careful nature
Tiberius, Arcanine, Lv 54, Naive nature
Caligula, Flareon, Lv 53, Timid nature
Claudius, Darumanitan, Lv 55, Hasty nature
Nero, Volcarona, Lv 55, Naive nature
Otho, Chandelure, Lv 53, Quiet nature

-So last update I made it to Giant Chasm. I had to go inside their ship once more and this time find hints to their password. There was one doctor inside the ship and man he's a godsend so that I can heal my Pokemon when needed.
-After defeating the grunts and getting the password I went against Colress. He's pretty easy thanks to the majority of his Pokemon weak to fire. Sturdy is an annoying ability though lol. Right after I went against the Shadow Triad.
-Next up is to meet up with Ghetsis and Kyruem. Heyyy N nice to see you back. So, Black Kyruem was actually very easy to defeat thanks to Claudius having Hammer Arm. After defeating Kyruem Ghetsis challenged me to a battle. His battle I had to switch around my Pokemon on ocassion but otherwise not too bad. And there, Team Plasma mostly gone (until postgame)
-Explored Route 23 for a while. Oh geez so that route has several obstocles and puzzles which needed Surf, Strength, and Cut. I had to put away a couple Pokemon and bring out Marill and Sweddle that has those HMs, so it took a bit until I got that boulder puzzle done.
-Before attempting Victory Road I researched a bit on what HMs I needed and yup it's Surf, Strenght, Cut, Surf, and Waterfall. I didn't want to store 2 Pokemon, so I checked which Pokemon can learn Cut, Surf, and Waterfall. There is one, Basculin and what do you know I can get one right at Route 23. And so I did that.
-One other thing I researched was which TMs I can teach Nero because yeah Gust isn't going to cut it. Oh, he can learned Psychic which would be perfect for Marshal. It's at Route 13 and it needed Surf. I did a quick detour and grabbed the TM.
-I stored Claigula and switched off for Basculin so that I can get through Victory Road. The majority of the trainers weren't hard as most of my Pokemon have some moves that can be supereffective towards certain types of Pokemon. There were a few hurdles, like that one double battle with a couple Veteran trainers and one of them has a Braivary that can use Rock Slide. Yup, very annoying haha.
-Before making to the Pokemon League, Hugh wants to battle one last time. He wasn't so tough, mainly his Samurott took a few turns. Replaying the game yeah I'm kinda mixed on Hugh as a rival.
-I think I'll stop this update here and have the Elite 4 be the next one. This is gonna be fun.

Augustus, Emboar, Lv 60, Careful nature
Tiberius, Arcanine, Lv 60, Naive nature
Caligula, Flareon, Lv 60, Timid nature
Claudius, Darumanitan, Lv 60, Hasty nature
Nero, Volcarona, Lv 60, Naive nature
Otho, Chandelure, Lv 60, Quiet nature

-The first Elite 4 I went against was Shauntal. Her Cofagrius and Driftblim were easy when I had Tiberius use Crunch, but then Golruk came with Earthquake. I had Agustus go against Shauntal's Chandelure and ack it has Psyhic. I then let Caligula take care of Chadelure.
-Next I went against Grimsley. So Grimsley's Krookodile has Earthquake too which yeah is bad, though Augustus took care of it. There's then his Bisharp which has Aerial Ace and is super effective against Augustus ahhhh. Luckily though not enough to faint it and I eventually defeated him.
-I had Otho go against Caitlin's Pokemon and lol she was the most smooth sailing as Otho's Shadow Ball pretty much KOed her team.
-For Marshal I first used Volcarona, who has Psyhic. It was going smoothly at first until his Sawk used Rock Slide. I think I had Tiberius finish off his ohter Pokmeon in the end

-Champion Iris battle time! Yeah so the biggest mistake I did was having Augustus used Heat Crash on her Aggron because I forgot Aggron is a very big guy and he's part steel/rock. If I had used Arm Thrust first I probably would've gotten rid of him already but nope.

The biggest hurdle though was her Haxorus. So I first had Arcanine use Outrage and when Haxorus was so close to fainting Iris used a Full Resore. Outrage again and once more Haxorus didn't faint and Arcanine got confused. Cue Haxorus using Earthquake. I first tried Caligula and then Otho to see if I can outspped Haxorus but lol nope. I revived Arcanine and used another Outrage to finish finish him off. When Iris had sent out her final Pokemon Archeops I was down with only Nero and Tiberius. I choose Nero and at first I was nervous because Archeops used Rock Slide and thought Nero wouldn't survive. Nero did survive and clutched the win with Psychic.

So yeah, I completed the main story portion of my fire monotype Black 2 run! I'm thinking of doing the post-game and probably attempt the Elite 4 again but not for a little while. I think I might do some updates on that, so I guess look forward to that!

Augustus, Emboar, Lv 62, Careful nature
Tiberius, Arcanine, Lv 61, Naive nature
Caligula, Flareon, Lv 60, Timid nature
Claudius, Darumanitan, Lv 60, Hasty nature
Nero, Volcarona, Lv 61, Naive nature
Otho, Chandelure, Lv 61, Quiet nature