[ROM Hack] Beyond the End of Time: EoT's GT2023 Blaze Black 2 Redux Challenge

Explorer of Time

Explorer of Time

Advocate of Ideals
  • Beast Ball Zekrom Pokémon General General
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    Rules:

    Legendary and Mythical Pokémon are banned from this challenge.
    Slower than Usual (S1-S9 Personal): Your Pokémon cannot evolve by any other method other than level up / friendship. In that case, they can only evolve once their level is equal to their normal evolution level (or the level at which they obtained max friendship) + 5.
    The Prehistoric Age (S1 Global): You can only use Grass and Normal-types for Segment 1.
    The Medieval Age (S2 Global): You can only use Fighting and Fairy-types for Segment 2, or in alternative, only Normal-types.
    Genwunners (S2-S9 Personal): You can only use Pokémon introduced in generations 1, 2, 3, and 4.
    Time Flows Like Water (S3 Personal): You can only use Pokémon caught during Segment 3 for Segment 3.
    Questionable Discovery (S4-S9 Personal): You may not use any Dark-type Pokemon. You may not use any Fairy-type other than the Gardevoir you picked for Towards the New Future. You may only use a single Steel-type Pokemon in Segment 8, and may not use Steel-type Pokemon in any other segment. (Post-Challenge Note: Probopass is Rock/Electric in this romhack and could have been used in S8 and S9, but wasn't.)
    Time Debt (S4-S9 Global): You may not use the Shiny Kricketune, Shiny Ampharos, Medicham, or Jumpluff from Segment 4. You may catch replacement Kricketune, Ampharos, Medicham, or Jumpluff during segments where your personal rules allow them. (Post-Challenge Note: A replacement Jumpluff was used in the challenge in S5, S7, and S8, but none of the other three were used again.)
    Towards the New Future Pt. 1 (S4-S9 Global): You have to keep your Gardevoir on your team until the end of the game. He's not affected by any other rule.
    Towards the New Future Pt. 2 (S4-S8 Global): Your Gardevoir has to use has to use the strongest attack he currently knows in each Gym Battle.(Post-Challenge Note: His strongest available moves were Psyshock vs. Elesa, Future Sight vs. Clay/Skyla, and Hyper Beam vs. Drayden/Marlon)
    Item Consequences (S5 Personal): You have to drop half of your healing items at the beginning of Segment 5.
    Noir (S6 Personal): You can only use White or Black Pokemon during Segment 6. Qualified fully-evolved Pokemon available in this segment included: Abomasnow, Banette, Butterfree, Chatot, Claydol, Dewgong, Gardevoir, Seviper, Smeargle, Unown, and Zangoose.
    Let The Past Burn (S7 Personal): You have to beat Segment 7 with a team made only out of Grass-type Pokémon, with the exception of your Towards the New Future Gardevoir.
    The Terminator (S8 Personal): You must put one Steel-type Pokémon in your team for Segment 8.
    Time Doesn't Fly (S9 Personal):You may not use any Flying or Normal-types. You may not use any Psychic-types aside from your Gardevoir. (Post-Challenge Note: Charizard is changed to Fire/Dragon in this romhack and was usable. Masquerain was also usable because of a type change to Bug/Water, but I didn't use it.)

    Segment 1:

    Spoiler:

    Segment 2:

    Spoiler:

    Segment 3:

    Spoiler:

    Segment 4:

    Spoiler:
     
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    Blaze Black 2 Redux
    GT 2023 - Ruin Maniac Horatio
    Segment 5 (Route 16 -> Driftveil Gym)

    I had permaboxed four of my team members to get Team Gears some points, so I had to spend a lot of time training up replacements. I kept the Gardevoir I have to keep along anyway, and the Charmeleon I couldn't easily replace. For the other four, I picked up another Jumpluff with Prankster because it was by far the best member of my team, got a Mudkip from the guy who gives you a Hoenn starter and trained it up to a Swampert to help me beat Clay, and, since I was accidentally given knowledge of my next segment's rule, a Claydol and Butterfree to minimize training time for the next segment. I would've picked Claydol even without this rule, since this romhack makes it AMAZING by giving it Psyshield Bash. I probably would've skipped Butterfree without this foreknowledge, though.

    Most of the battles along the way to Clay weren't too hard, with the exception of Charles both on the way to Driftveil and the rematch in Driftveil itself, since I'm not used to Triple Battles and lost three times while I got the hang of things. Rood was a little tougher than expected but I still beat him my first try.

    To start off the battle against Clay, I led with Gardevoir, had him use Psyshock a couple times against Nidoqueen, and fainted it before it could set up Stealth Rock.

    Clay switched to Nidoking, and I quickly used my strongest move, Future Sight, once to fulfill Towards the New Future before Gardevoir fainted. I switched to Butterfree, put Nidoking to sleep, and it fainted from Future Sight.

    Clay responded by bringing out Krookodile, which outsped Butterfree and 1HKOed him with a Rock Slide. I brought out Swampert and 1HKOed it after he lost nearly half his health to an Earthquake.

    Clay then sent out a Seismitoad, and I switched to Jumpluff while he wasted an Earthquake, and took it down with two Mega Drains.

    I missed with Sleep Powder against Clay's Claydol and it hit back with an Ice Beam, taking Jumpluff down. I switched back to Swampert, barely survived a critical Psychic, and 1HKOed Claydol with Aqua Tail.

    Clay's Excadrill fainted Swampert, then I returned with my own Claydol, which damaged it with Scorching Sands, then it 1HKOed Claydol with a Swords Dance X-Scissor. I sent out my last Pokemon, Charizard, which outsped it and won the battle with a Blaze Kick. (The Fire Lash in its team entry replaced Blaze Kick as a level up move right after the battle).

    I then deposited my Charizard, Swampert, and Jumpluff in the PC. I hope I get Charizard and Jumpluff back in Segment 7, but Swampert's probably staying boxed this time.

    Team

    Spoiler:
     
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    Blaze Black 2 Redux
    GT 2023 - Ruin Maniac Horatio
    Segment 6 (Pokemon World Tournament -> Mistralton Gym)

    I had to box only half my team this time, leaving behind Charizard, Jumpluff, and Swampert, but I was able to keep Gardevoir, Butterfree, and most importantly Claydol. I caught a Snover and evolved it into an Abomasnow right after my victory, and then, after the Plasma Frigate, went back and got a Dewgong for my fifth Pokemon. I waited until Celestial Tower for my sixth Pokemon, Banette, and had to face my rival in a 5v5 battle without her, which was kinda difficult and I lost it my first two tries. Aside from that, my only losses were against the first two of the back-to-back three trainers in the Castelia back alley that have really good teams in this romhack, but thankfully I don't have to refight the ones I beat and could just come back for rematches with a healed party. Aside from my Rival and these three, I've suffered no losses.

    I do plan on saving Guitarist Tina for later, since she has a great Triple Battle team of all the Kanto and Johto starters, and I am not good at Triple Battles, so I'm planning to wait until sometime next segment, or possibly the segment after if I get a difficult restriction.

    I started off the battle against Skyla with my Dewgong, and he fainted her Skarmory after it set Stealth Rock.

    She sent out an Archeops, fainted my Dewgong, and I switched to Claydol, and maxed out its defenses by Psyshield Bashing it six times to KO it, then took down Swanna and Drifblim with a few Rock Slides. I had to use a few healing items, mostly status-restoring but also two Moomoo Milk, because Skyla got really lucky with status RNG and burned and froze Claydol multiple times.

    I had to switch out, 'cause Towards the New Future, and tried having Gardevoir use Future Sight, but it fainted first on the first try. I switched to Butterfree and used a Revival Herb in Gardevoir, letting Butterfree faint in the process, but it got confused by Hurricane and fainted, so I tried AGAIN, sacrificing Abomasnow this time, and successfully Future Sighted it, and fainted it the next turn. Future sight technically didn't DO anything, but I did USE his highest-power move, which is all I needed to do to validate this victory.

    Team

    Spoiler:
     
    Blaze Black 2 Redux
    GT 2023 - Ruin Maniac Horatio
    Segment 7 (Lentimas Town -> Opelucid Gym)

    Of my previous team, I was only able to keep my Gardevoir and Abomasnow, but luckily I was able to bring back several of my former Pokemon from previous segments. My second Prankster Jumpluff, probably the most useful Pokemon in this challenge, came back from its short absence, my S1 Shroomish that came back after a very long absence, and a Lileep that I got from a fossil in S4 but never actually used. I finished rounding out my team by catching a Treecko from the Hidden Grotto in Lostlorn Forest, then trained them all up to the level of the two Pokemon I kept from the previous segment. (I also caught a Lombre for HMs, and it did see battle in one or two Triple Battles, but it never got a chance to attack so I'm not going to bother writing down its stats or moveset.)

    Nothing here was too hard, and I think I won everything on my first try. I beat Drayden by having Gardevoir start off with Hyper Beam and faint to Druddigon, then brought out Jumpluff, put Druddigon to sleep, and revived Gardevoir. I then had Gardevoir sweep through Drayden's entire team with Choice Specs Draining Kiss, 1HKOing everything but Altaria, which was 2HKOed after wasting its turn buffing its Defense. Haxorus, Flygon, and Charizard also outsped it, but Haxorus missed its Iron Tail, Charizard used Belly Drum which was the absolute worst thing it could've done, and Flygon actually hit with an Earthquake, but Gardevoir healed all his damage with the retaliatory Draining Kiss.

    Team

    Spoiler:
     
    Blaze Black 2 Redux
    GT 2023 - Ruin Maniac Horatio
    Segment 8 (Frozen Opelucid City -> Humilau Gym)

    That was a very short segment, but I caught a Piplup at the Hidden Grotto on Route 13 and trained it up into an Empoleon, dropping Cradily. I went straight to Humilau Gym right after beating Team Plasma in Opelucid, and the gym battle was closer than expected.

    Marlon led with a Politoed, and I started off by having my Gardevoir hyper beam it, then, after it missed with a Hypnosis and hit with a Scald, KOed Politoed with a Thunderbolt.

    Marlon sent out a Tentacruel next, and Sludge Wave KOed Gardevoir, then I sent out Jumpluff to Priority Sleep Powder it and try to take it down with Energy Ball, but Marlon used a Full Restore just when it was close to fainting. I sent out Empoleon next to try and slowly whittle down its HP, but it took her down with Mirror Coat. Finally, I had Sceptile use Choice Band-boosted Leaf Blade to KO it.

    Marlon brought out his Ludicolo, which barely survived a Leaf Blade and then nearly KOed Sceptile with an Ice Beam. Sceptile KOed it the next turn, then she brought Marlon's Sturdy Carracosta down to 1HP before fainting. Abomasnow then KOed it while it wasted its last turn on Shell Smash.

    Abomasnow also 2HKOed Marlon's Jellicent with Wood Hammer, being brought down to 1/4th HP by recoil damage and a Shadow Ball, then fainted to Marlon's Bibarel. I sent out my last Pokemon, Breloom, which survived a Strength and put it to sleep with Spore, then 1HKOed it with Bullet Seed.

    Once I receive my final rule via PM, I'll begin the final segment.

    Team

    Spoiler:
     
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    Just a quick mid-Segment update, but I've beaten Ghetsis and Black Kyurem. I brought back my Charizard and Swampert to replace the Empoleon and Jumpluff I had to box for the last segment. Gardevoir has Calm Mind in place of Hyper Beam, and Breloom has Mach Punch instead of Focus Punch, but the four Pokemon I kept all otherwise have the same movesets. Swampert runs Surf/Earthquake/Ice Punch/Amnesia, and Charizard runs Fire Lash/Dragon Claw/Shadow Claw/Dragon Dance.

    In both battles, I led with Breloom. She took down Black Kyurem without taking any damage, by putting it to sleep with Spore and 2HKOing it with Mach Punch.

    Breloom also defeated Ghetsis's Cofagrigus without damage, barely survived a Cross Poison from his Machamp, then put it to sleep and 2HKOed it with Zen Headbutt. Ghetsis sent out a Genesect, which outsped and fainted it.

    I sent out Charizard, and he would've 1HKOed Genesect if it didn't have a Focus Sash, and he lost half his HP to an Ice Beam. The second turn, he KOed Genesect with another Fire Lash. Ghetsis sent out a Gyarados, which Charizard brought down to 2/3rds HP with a Dragon Claw before being KOed by Earthquake.

    I sent out Gardevoir next turn, outsped Gyarados, and he KOed it with Thunderbolt. Then Ghetsis sent out a Hydreigon, wasted its turn on Nasty Plot, and Gardevoir 1HKOed it with Draining Kiss. Finally, he sent out an Eelektross, which used Coil and then Wild Charge and nearly KOed Gardevoir, but he consistently outsped it and 3HKOed Eelektross with Draining Kiss.
     
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    Blaze Black 2 Redux
    GT 2023 - Ruin Maniac Horatio
    Segment 9 (Seaside Cave -> Pokemon League)

    Alright, only moveset change since Ghetsis for my full update was putting Ice Beam on Gardevoir right before the League. Still no lost battles this segment. I should note, before I get into the League recap, that my Charizard changed his held item mid-League. Against Marshal, Grimsley, and Shauntal, he had a Muscle Band, and he had a Choice Band against Caitlin and Iris.

    I started off the League by beating Marshal. Gardevoir 1HKOed or 2HKOed just about everything on his team with Choice Specs-boosted Draining Kiss, and I really should've mentioned earlier that it was boosted to 70 Base Power by this romhack's balance changes. Oh well. Anyway, Gardevoir 2HKOed his Throh and Sawk, 1HKOed his Mianshao and Conkeldurr, and 2HKOed his Lucario, though Lucario nearly KOed him with a critical Extremespeed. Marshal's last Pokemon, Medicham, outsped and KOed Gardevoir, but I just had Charizard 2HKO it with Shadow Claw soon after.

    Like Marshal, I had Gardevoir spam Choice Specs-boosted Draining Kiss to win Grimsley's battle, which I did second. Gardevoir beat Liepard in one hit, but Bisharp got sent out next and 1HKOed him with Iron Head after it survived a Draining Kiss. I sent out Abomasnow, used a turn to revive Gardevoir with a Max Revive, and Abomasnow actually survived an Iron Head, so I had her Earthquake to KO Bisharp next turn. Grimsley sent out a Houndoom, I wounded it with an Earthquake, then it KOed Abomasnow. I sent Gardevoir back out, KOed Houndoom with Draining Kiss, then 1HKOed his Honchkrow, Krookodile, and Scrafty.

    I fought Shauntal third, and led with Charizard, using Dragon Dance twice, then 1HKOing Jellicent and Golurk with Shadow Claw. Shauntal sent out a Sableye that I couldn't quite 1HKO, and it used Trick to swap Charizard's Muscle Band with a Lagging Tail. Charizard KOed it the next turn, but the damage was done and he nearly fainted next turn as he 1HKOed Drifblim, then was KOed by Chandelure the turn after that.

    I sent out Sceptile, which survived an Overheat from Chandelure, and used Earthquake twice to KO it. Shauntal sent out her last Pokemon, Cofagrigus, and Sceptile did around 40% damage to it before being KOed. I sent out Abomasnow next, used a Wood Hammer to nearly faint it, but it used Disable on her, which forced her to use Struggle the next turn because of the Choice Scarf. Thankfully, it went down to only a single Struggle, and I moved on to the last member of the Elite Four.

    Before fighting Caitlin, I swapped out Charizard's Muscle Band for a Choice Band, since I didn't plan to set up Dragon Dance in the last two battles. Caitlin runs a Trick Room team, and Iris doesn't have a good opportunity to set up because five of her six team members can hit Charizard for super-effective damage and the one that doesn't also knows Dragon Dance.

    I led with Charizard against Caitlin, and had it use Shadow Claw for its Choice Band move. It triggered Beheeyem's Focus Sash, and it missed Charizard with a Psycho Boost in retaliation. Caitlin wasted her Full Restore here and Charizard just 1HKOed right after, then 1HKOed Metagross too. Charizard didn't 1HKO Reuniclus though, and lost 2/3rds of its HP to a Psychic, but he did KO it on the second turn. Then, he did around 45% damage to Gothitelle, and then finally fainted.

    I brought Sceptile out, had her KO Gothitelle with a pair of Leaf Blades as she got wounded with Psychic. Caitlin sent out a Slowbro, for some reason used Trick Room a second time to undo her first Trick Room, and Sceptile nearly KOed it, but triggered its Red Card held item and got switched for Abomasnow, which KOed Slowbro with a Wood Hammer. Caitlin brought out a Musharna as her last Pokemon, and Abomasnow brought it down to 1/3rd HP while it set up Trick Room again, but got KOed herself. I sent out Sceptile, survived a Psyshock, and KOed Musharna with Leaf Blade to win the match.

    I started off the final battle with Abomasnow, which wounded Dragonite with a Frost Breath, but she got 1HKOed by a Fire Punch and I sent out Gardevoir. He used Choice Specs-boosted Draining Kiss to KO Dragonite as it wasted its last turn on Dragon Dance, then he nearly KOed Iris's Serperior with a Draining Kiss as well. Iris used a Full Restore, but Gardevoir used another Draining Kiss that actually 1HKOed this time, and then he 1HKOed Hydreigon with yet another Draining Kiss.

    Iris sent out an Archeops, which got a Critical Stone Edge on Gardevoir, taking him down. I sent out Swampert, and Archeops used U-Turn on him, but Haxorus got brought out directly into an Ice Punch and lost almost half its HP. Haxorus used Outrage, nearly KOing Swampert, but his next Ice Punch froze it and then he KOed it next turn. Iris sent out Archeops again, which KOed Swampert then nearly KOed Charizard with Earthquake, and Charizard 2HKOed it with Dragon Claw.

    Finally, Iris sent out a Feraligatr, which Charizard wounded with a Dragon Claw, then fainted to from a Crunch. I sent out Sceptile, outsped, and KOed it with a Leaf Blade to win the GT2023 challenge.


    Team

    Spoiler:
     

    Attachments

    • [PokeCommunity.com] Beyond the End of Time: EoT's GT2023 Blaze Black 2 Redux Challenge
      Blaze Black 2 Redux GT2023 HoF .png
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    What. A. Challenge. Eighty-eight and a half hours, twenty-nine team members from twenty-seven evolutionary lines, covering literally every single type in the series at one segment or another. While this challenge took considerably longer than I expected, I enjoyed every minute of it, even if it got a little exhausting to train up new team members so frequently while the get-together was still going on.

    Blaze Black 2 Redux was a perfect choice for this challenge, with a huge selection of available Pokemon, extremely good documentation, faster grinding up new team members, and tons of challenging battles. Ordinary trainer battles here were comparable to gym leaders in most official Nintendo games, which hit a perfect sweet spot for difficulty. I lost eleven battles this run (nine if you don't count the two in Castelia that I intentionally lost so I could re-challenge with healed teams), which is way more than I usually lose in challenge runs.

    Thank you so much for letting me continue, Eleanor and JanP!
     
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