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Decided to skip my Route 11 encounter (Ariados - as i think it woudn't be that good for the late game).
Decided to skip my Route 10 encounter (Fearow - as i already have a flying type).
Caught Skarmory (Spiker) from Mount Hokulani.
I decided to release Misdreavus as i had reached the 10 Pokemon limit.
Completed the fifth trial (Mudsdale was able to easily gather defense boosts and wall Vikavolt and Charjabug).
Rolled numbers from 1-16. Got 12 so no release.
Decided to skip my Route 12 encounter (Torkoal - as i already have a fire type and it didn't have Drought).
Decided to skip my Route 13 encounter (Magikarp - as i already have 2 water types).
Decided to skip my Tapu Village encounter (Alolan-Raticate - as i already have a dark type).
Decided to skip my Route 14 encounter (Tentacool - as i already have 2 water types).
Decided to skip my Route 15 encounter (Alolan-Raticate - as i already have a dark type).
Completed the sixth trial (I used Alolan-Grimer to Thief the Lum Berry off Totem Mimikyu and then poison it. The stolen Lum Berry even helped me by curing Haunter's Hypnosis once :nice: . I stalled out Totem Mimiyu with Protect Pelipper and Stamina Mudsdale. Unfortunatley, to ensure that none of my Pokemons are risked to crits, i had to sack Petilil).
Rolled numbers from 1-16. Got 1 so decided to release Makuhita.
Rolled numbers from 1-12 for Alolan-Grimer's evolution. Got 2 so Alolan-Grimer evolved into Alolan-Muk.
Decided to skip my Thrifty Megamart encounter (Golbat - as i already have 2 flying types).
Decided to skip my Route 16 encounter (Alolan-Raticate - as i already have a dark type).
Decided to skip my Ula'ula Meadow encounter (Ariados - as i think it woudn't be good for the late game).
Decided to skip my Route 17 encounter (Ariados - as i think it woudn't be good for the late game).
Defeated Guzma at Po Town easily with the help of Pelipper.
Defeated Kahuna Nanu (Alolan-Muk forced Sableye into Krokorok. I went into Skarmory and set up max spikes, then swapped into Mudsdale for the kill. Alolan-Muk dealt with the chipped Sableye and Alolan-Persian).
Easily defeated Lusamine (not much here, Muk and Pelipper put in the most work).
Traveled to Seafolk Village for my next island.
I caught Exeggute (Eggs) as my Poni Wilds encounter.
Rolled numbers 1-12 for Exeggute's evolution. Got 7 so Exeggute cannot evolve.
Hatched the Eevee egg at Royal Avenue. Named the Eevee (Eve).
Rolled numbers 1-12 for Eevee's evolution. Got 5 so Eevee evolved into Jolteon. Changed the nickname of the Jolteon (Jolt).
Decided to skip my Ancient Poni Path encounter (Raticate-Alola - as i already have a dark type).
Defeated Kahuna Hapu (Skarmory set up max Spikes while shuffling with Steel wing and Roost on Dugtrio-Alola. Pelipper cleaned up from there).
Rolled numbers from 1-16. Got 3 so decided to release Salandit.
Completed the seventh and final trial (Pelipper Hurricane + Scald + Roost go brrrrrr).
Went to Ultra Space to take on Lusamine.
Defeated Lusamine (albeit Alolan Muk had to land 2 Gunk Shots otheriwse it woud've been dead to a crit 😅 . Pelipper + Slowbro were able to clean up the rest).
Went to Mount Lanakila for the Pokemon League.
Defeated E4 Hala (Skarmory + Pelipper + Slowbro cleaned up this fight pretty easily).
Defeated E4 Olivia (Skamory + Slowbro + Mudsdale easily won this fight).
Defeated E4 Acerola (This one was kinda not easy, I had to risk my Muk-Alola once to confusion, but overall not that tough).
Defeated E4 Kahili (Jolteon in Pelipper's rain was able to spam Discharge + Volt Switch + Thunder all over the place).
Defeated Professor Kukui (Had to risk Muk-Alola once for a crit AND had to hit 2 Gunk Shots, but it did that nicely. Skarmory walled Braviary and Snorlax. Mudsdale walled Magnezone and Lycanroc. Yawn Slowbro + Jolteon volt switch into Muk-Alola handled Primarina).
And just like that I had completed the game and the challenge!!!
Final team:-
Thank you all so much for being here with me throughout this journey. And yes, this challenge was really enjoyable. Am really proud to be the first one to complete it.
No for the consecutive move rule. Would be a pain to do.
Yes on no held items (besides experience/EV/money stuff). Sees none on Leon's team. Adds Everstones to the list too.
Set mode.
Soft level caps. (Try your best, basically.)
Milo: 20
Nessa: 24
Kabu: 27
Bea: 36
Opal: 38
Gordie: 42
Piers: 46
Raihan: 48
Leon: 65
Cannot Dynamax anyone outside of Max Raids except Sneasel.
Cannot make curry with anyone except Sneasel or a Pokemon that requires friendship to evolve.
Picks a random Pokemon in the gym leader fight for departures.
Counts TRs as a TM for the purposes of the rule.
Rolled the male trainer. Named them "Harrison", as a Pokemon trainer with a Sneasel in the anime.
Chose Scorbunny as the starter. Plans to catch Sneasel through a Max Raid. Wins the easiest. Results in a relatively Special-heavy team for Leon, which is kind of interesting alongside Physical-heavy gym leaders.
Rushed to the Wild Area. Realized how difficult this might be. Cannot access the easy Watts from Isle of Armor. (Requires you to catch the Galarian Slowpoke.) Gated the bicycle for Rotom Rally behind the first gym. Leaves running from den to den, brilliant aura Pokemon, 4-5% chance from NPCs (at 100 watts per), or 3% from the Digging Duo (at 500 watts per).
Scrounged up the watts for a few 100 watt trades and 1 Wishing Piece. Tossed a Wishing Piece into a 20% chance den and...no.
Back-up plan: Grabbed a (foreign) Ditto and a Weavile (Encke, from an Ice monotype) from another file. Headed to the Wild Area breeding area. Transferred over a Flame Body Chandelure because of needing a fourth Pokemon to breed at all (and also faster hatching). Hatched it on the steps of Motostoke, conveniently.
Names everything after characters from anime. Ideally picks characters from all different animes. Searched a lot of these up without watching the actual anime. May not reflect the character's gender either.
Why Sneasel?
Always liked Sneasel. Prefers it over Weavile. Can be difficult to get AND be useful. Benefitted from the Physical/Special split a lot.
Decent base stat total (430). Not amazing, but better than being useless at 330ish.
Will not evolve by accident.
Does not feel like cheating. Could likely catch a fully evolved powerhouse or strong single-stage Pokemon...somewhere. (Locked off Isle of Armor, so not necessarily. Technically sees super high level Pokemon around, but good luck on that.)
Expects it to be dead weight, unfortunately. Suffers in terms of moves. Learns no physical Ice moves by level-up and only Beat Up (at 42) for physical Dark. Locked Ice Shard and Fake Out behind egg moves. Actually could kind of salvage this, though. Forgot about the move tutor existing. Grabs Triple Axel or Lash Out from there. Picks up Hone Claws by level-up. Fixes the nature with a mint. Benefits from Dynamaxing, affection, and probably good IVs as well.
Leveled Luna to 13 via EXP candies. Boxed Scorbunny.
Down to business. Returned to Route 1. Beat up some Rookidees to get a better Brilliant Aura chance. Receives better IVs and an egg move with a Brilliant Aura. Hunted for Roost, namely. Found it after 6ish Brilliant Aura Rookidees.
Name: Fumikage (after the character in My Hero Academia)
Ability: Keen Eye
Nature: Lax (+Defense / -Special Defense)
Could be a lot of farming for nothing. May not evolve. Might leave after a gym. Strongly considered making a rule about random Pokemon from routes to avoid this.
Tried for any Brilliant Aura Yamper on Route 2. Abandoned that after over 30 minutes of nothing. Headed over to Rolling Fields for a solid find in a Max Raid: Axew.
Name: Shenron (a dragon in Dragon Ball Super)
Ability: Mold Breaker
Nature: Quirky (neutral)
Headed to East Lake Axewell next. Reports an utter disaster here. Spent probably an hour and a half trying to find a Brilliant Aura Stufful with Fluffy (1 in 2) and Force Palm (1 in 4). Had a 50% overworld encounter rate for most of that. (Changed weather and knocked it down to 35% towards the last bit.) Eventually gave up and settled for the first Fluffy Stufful, except...
Come on. Actually had Force Palm. (Caught it before it used it.) Never saw a Stufful use Force Palm in an hour and a half. Could have caught multiple shinies in Scarlet first. Suffers less from Klutz under these rules, at least.
New rule for sanity: No more farming for Brilliant Aura Pokemon. May scout for an ability, but not the aura. Is not worth it to spend so long, especially with the very real chance of not evolving or departing.
Headed over to North Lake Miloch next. Dove into the grass for a Pidove. Found the right Pokemon and the right ability on the first try.
Name: Inko (a bird from Toradora)
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Hasty (-Defense / +Speed)
Specifically wanted Super Luck for Lucky Egg farming. Boosts the wild held item chance from 5% to 20%. Helps by keeping Pokemon up with Luna, as well as boosting those on the bench. (Waits for the bicycle before that grind, however.) Learns Feather Dance down the line too.
"Detoured" back to the main plot to unlock flying. Chose #215 for the uniform number (Sneasel's National Pokedex number). Returned back to Route 2 for Yamper. Chucked a ball at the first one.
Acts as iffy support. Grabs Nuzzle and Charm by level-up and Eerie Impulse as a very late TM. Cannot say many positive things about its defenses as Boltund, thus "iffy".
Picks up one more Pokemon: the Galarian Slowpoke blocking the way to the Isle of Armor. Forces you to catch it. Might as well do so now to keep it okay on levels (as well as sponge experience instead of some higher levels on the team).
Name: Shikamaru (from Naruto)
Ability: Own Tempo
Nature: Adamant (+Attack / -Special Attack)
Also hit level 18 on Fumikage, which is an evolution check. Used random.org. Evolves on 1-5 (out of 12). Number: 10. Nope. Will never be a Corviknight. Knows who to bring for the first gym. Tries for Corvisquire next level.
Held off on more Wild Area encounters. Finds leveled stuff in Max Raids later or in the overworld. Back to plot once more...kind of. Seemed silly to wait on encounters along the way. Searched for the right Mudbray for a while. Took the fourth one.
Name: Power (from Chainsaw Man)
Ability: Stamina
Nature: Docile (Neutral)
Wandered through Galar Mine next. Was an easy Drilbur pick here.
Beat Bede. Gave Luna some actual battling time, despite not having a Dark move yet. Entered Route 4 from there. Did not feel like going for the 1% Eevee or 1% Ferroseed. Considered Pikachu as another support (and Nasty Plot option). Settled on Budew. Needed a good Special Attacker and Grass type.
Reached Turffield. Wants Triple Axel for the gym, so off to the Isle of Armor first. Leveled Fumikage once. Called for another evolution check. Number: 6. Nope. Will still be going to the gym. Handed it an Everstone, just in case.
Forgot about the free starter at the dojo. Picked Bulbasaur. Grabs a Gyarados at any point for a Water type. Cannot count on Palmon becoming Roserade (or this becoming Venusaur).
Name: Mimosa (after the plant in Black Clover)
Ability: Overgrow
Nature: Bold (+Defense / -Attack)
What website said the move tutor was later? Opened up after the first trial (catching Slowpokes). Taught Triple Axel to Luna. Becomes pretty good after one Hone Claws (at level 36).
Finally headed to the gym. Avoided as many trainers as possible. (Was already at level 22 and 20 on Luna and Fugikage.)
Strategy: Go in with Luna. Dynamax. Demolish.
The battle: One-shot Gossifleur and Eldegoss. Hits for 140 power with Max Hailstorm (from Triple Axel).
Current play time: 8:15, for anyone curious.
Almost forgot the departure chance. Departs on a 1-3 (out of 16). Number: 11. Nope.
Hit level 16 on Mimosa. Rolls for an evolution. Number: 5. Goes through, just barely. Went ahead and evolved Palmon into Roselia too (no roll). Built up some friendship with Luna in the process.
Went for a Pokemon in the grass on Route 5. Felt like 30 encounters for a 5% chance.
Name: Katara (from Avatar: The Last Airbender)
Ability: Water Bubble
Nature: Quiet (+Special Attack / -Speed)
Played sporadically for a while here. Strived to reach this point for a reason: fog. Appears on the Isle of Armor, way before it happens on mainland Galar. Brings Blisseys with it. Never appeared in the right spot, though, so another day.
Spoke with the Digging Duo for some digging. Took maybe ten jobs for the prize: a Shiny Stone for Palmon. Could be for naught with a bad roll. Evolves on 1-5 out of 12. Roll: 9. Nope. Knows who to bring for the gym, then.
Wandered around the Isle of Armor for a bit, doing raids. Picked up a Throat Chop TR. Nice. Tried to buy one on the mainland to no avail. Goes to Luna as their one TM/TR.
Gym time. Brought Ein, Palmon, and Luna. Managed level 24 for Ein + Palmon. Went a little above on Luna at 26, but what can you do when you cannot take Luna out of the party?
Strategy: Magical Leaf with Palmon. Nothing fancy.
The battle: One-shot Goldeen and Arrokuda. Was not expecting both of them to outspeed Palmon. (How? Is it a -Speed nature? ...Yes. The perils of a long break.) Led to being at half health for Drednaw, which was no good. Fainted to a Max Darkness, unsurprisingly. Set up Luna for an easier time by tossing in Ein for a Nuzzle. Survived thanks to a paralyze before the hand-off. Hoped for Luna to take a Bite on the switch, but no. (Used Max Darkness on all the Dynamax turns.) Dropped pretty low from the Razor Shell. Dealt a lot of damage on a Max Darkness'd Throat Chop, but not enough to faint Drednaw. Could not take the Razor Shell, even Dynamaxed. Secured the win with Ein.
Ended up way closer than expected. Should have led with Ein and saved Palmon for Drednaw. Went way more wrong because of a simple -Speed nature (and not letting Ein faint to give Luna the full Dynamax health, but shh).
Hit level 25 on Ein. Evolves on 1-5 out of 12. Roll: 11. Sheesh. Checks for a departure now too. Leaves on a 1-3 out of 16. Roll: 8. Nope.
Made the next catching decision easier. Caught the fifth one. (Why is the ability luck so terrible this playthrough?)
Name: Zatch (from Zatch Bell)
Ability: Volt Absorb.
Nature: Modest
Name: Lapis (from Steven Universe)
Ability: Storm Drain
Nature: Sassy
Reached the evolution level for Katara. Evolves on 1-5 out of 12. Roll: 1. Successfully becomes Araquanid.
Leveled up some Pokemon before the gym. Reached a few evolution levels.
Inko's roll: 1. Evolves into Tranquill. Not a big deal, but nice, nevertheless.
Zatch's roll: 3. Evolves into Lanturn. Good. Hopefully sticks around until Leon.
Monokuma's roll: 11. No Bewear. Kind of fine with that. Means not having to find an Ability Capsule.
Oh, right. The Marnie fight before the gym. Cannot take it lightly. Says that, despite picking a slightly underleveled team (levels 21-24, mainly) versus 24-26.
Led with Shikamaru (Slowpoke). Baited two Sucker Punches with Yawn. Failed to one-shot with Confusion. Got unlucky on the sleep roll and took one Sucker Punch to half health. Tossed in Anya (Hatenna) against Scrafty. Fired off a very disappointing Disarming Voice (like, 40%). Sent in Power, thinking it could handle it and build up Stamina. Nope. Took a ridiculous amount of damage from Low Kick. Solved the problem with Inko's Air Cutter. Growled Morpeko once before switching out to Shenron (Axew). Managed to not flinch and score the win.
Gym time. Brought Zatch, Katara, and Luna. Expects Dynamax (and +4 levels) to be worthwhile, despite being an Ice type in a Fire gym.
Catches an encounter here. Wanted Sizzlipede over Vulpix (way too common in challenge runs) and Litwick (a very late evolution, if it even evolves).
Forces you to catch the other Pokemon too. Cannot use them (or Escanor) in the gym.
Strategy: Lead with Katara (Araquanid). Set up an Aqua Ring. Spam Bubble Beam. Will probably faint to Centiskorch. Has Zatch on standby for Thunder Wave and Bubble Beam. Worst case scenario: Shreds it with Luna. Wishes for a more reliable set-up strategy, but eh.
The fight: Walled Ninetales pretty hard. Dropped to 51/82 from Arcanine's Bites (which included one flinch). Lopped off a surprising 40% of Centiskorch's health with one Bubble Beam. Fainted on a critical G-Max Centiferno. (Might have lived without the critical.) Suffered a big Max Flutterby on Zatch (33/106). Successfully paralyzed Centiskorch, however. Could not quite finish the job as it left Centiskorch in the red. Throat Chopped it for the last hit.
Eh. Had some bad luck. Could have probably beaten Centiskorch by spamming Bubble Beam over a Thunder Wave, even with one fully paralyzed.
Calls for one departure roll. Leaves on a 1-3 out of 16. Roll: 2. Aw. Targets a Pokemon in the current party that is not Luna. 1 for Katara and 2 for Zatch. Roll: 2. Bids Zatch (Lanturn) farewell. Is not allowed Eerie Impulse on this team. Kind of hoped to keep Katara, however. Used Lanturn "recently" in Crystal. Never used Araquanid before.
Rolled over to a new day. Brought fog to the Isle of Armor, specifically the Fields of Honor. Counts Mimosa (Bulbasaur) as the encounter for that location, so no Blissey today. Suffices for the other reason, however.
Taught Thief to Fumikage. Procured 10 Lucky Eggs in 50 Blisseys. Hit the exact wild hold rate chance with Super Luck (20%). Looked bad for a while. Was at around 6 eggs after 40 Blisseys.
Felt kind of weak up to this point, team-wise. Interrupted this playthrough way more than normal. Lost the thread, so to speak. Led to a lot of support and all-around Pokemon, but very little setup. Argues some iffy team composition too, in terms of weaknesses. Looked around for some good Pokemon. Identified some good Pokemon who are mostly latecomers. Picks up one good one now at Challenge Road.
Paid a visit to the Crown Tundra as well. Grabbed a couple mints. Fed an Adamant Mint to Luna. Fixes up that trash +Special Attack / -Speed nature.
Reached multiple evolutions about the same time, thanks to Poke Jobs. (Hit three in one battle, for example.) Evolves on 1-5 out of 12.
Power. Roll: 1. Evolves into Mudsdale. Celebrated the occasion with a Body Press TR.
Boota. Roll: 11. No Excadrill today.
Escanor. Roll: 6. Just missed being a Centiskorch.
Lapis. Roll: 1. Progresses on to Gastrodon.
Anya. Roll: 10. No to Hattrem for now.
Inko. Roll: 3. Made it to Unfezant, all the way from Pidove. Nice. Largely wanted it for Super Luck and Lucky Egg farming. Knows Feather Dance, though. (Chose Pidove over Joltik because of it.) Prevents it from being useless.
Wants to complain to the manager. Fought the Metronome trainer on Route 6. Switched Sesshomaru (Salandit) in for more experience. Metronomed into Earth Power. Next two on Lapis (Gastrodon): Power Trick and Leaf Blade. What?
Looked at the Route 6 encounters. Finds Hawlucha here. Would be the objectively correct pick. Already starred in a different playthrough. Boooooring. (Is kind of glad Fumikage never became Corviknight for similar reasons.) Catches something else good here, though.
Immediately checks for an evolution with a Sun Stone in hand. Roll: 7. No Eerie Impulse, not allowed. Who else learns this by level-up? Toxtricity. Sees Toxel available on Route 7 with no other amazing competition (ignoring Corviknight). Means another roll, but what can you do?
Second roll for Anya. Roll: 8. Hardlocked at Hatenna. Welcome to the bench.
A roll for Mimosa. Roll: 11. No Venusaur.
Sidenote: Has had really trash luck on Route 6. Noticed three criticals in a row between trainers and wild Pokemon (double Sucker Punch criticals from a wild Maractus and a Revenge critical from a Throh).
Beat up some Pokemon for experience to get Sesshomaru ready for the gym. (Started at level 19.) Time for an evolution roll. Roll: 8. Sighs. Could have been great with Encore and Nasty Plot. Does it come to the gym anyways? ...Yes? Ought to outspeed Bea's team still, barring bad IVs or something.
Went on a detour. Dug up 92500 watts for just 7 Armorite Ore. Paid a visit to the Cram-o-matic. Dumped in 4 Wishing Pieces for a Sludge Bomb TR for Sesshomoru. Converted some ore, wishing pieces, and other stuff into 8 Macho Braces too. Unlocks the EV Poke Jobs after Bea.
Souped up Inko with the convenient Fly TM in Stow-in-Side. Desperately needed a physical Flying move.
Gym time. Brought Inko, Sesshomaru, Power, and Luna. Weighs in at levels 36 and 37.
Strategy: Debuff Hitmontop with Inko's Feather Dance. Send in Sesshomaru. Nasty Plot x3. Hopes for no criticals from Hitmontop. Ideally outspeeds and one-shots everything. Wanted to grab a few Carbos for speed insurance, but no such luck. The back-up plan: Iron Defense + Body Press with Power. Brought Luna for a good Dynamax hit (likely against Machamp).
The fight: Brought Hitmontop to -6 Attack. Sent in Sesshomaru. Built up three Nasty Plots...and got criticaled on the turn before attacking. Siiiiiiighs. Figured it would survive the critical. (Took the weakened Revenges pretty well.)
Stuck Power in the team for a reason. Set up three Iron Defenses. Flattened Hitmontop, Pangoro, and Sirfetch'd. Only nailed Gigantamax Machamp for about 60% of its health with one Body Press. Easily weathered the attacks, however. +1 badge.
Rolls for a departure. Departs on a 1-3 out of 16. Roll: 11. Not today.
Returned to the Wild Area for an encounter. Foolishly ran from the wandering level 40 Ferrothorn while leveling Sesshoraru earlier. Cannot catch that without waiting a day or two now. Targets a solid level 36 instead. Caught it in Hail on the last possible turn.
Outsped a trainer's Shiinotic with Toriko. Never expects a Snorlax to outspeed anything.
Gym time already. (Barely leveled.) Picks Sesshomaru, Power, Luna, and Toriko. Hoped to have Blissey by now, but no luck. (Sees fog on one of the surf-locked islands in Isle of Armor. Cannot press for it, though, without getting 4-star Max Raids.)
Level 38 for Toricko, 39 for Sesshomaru + Power, and 41 for Luna. (Shot for level 38.)
Strategy: No Feather Dances this time. Nasty Plot x3 and hope for the best. May be outsped by Togekiss, but what can you do? Could get bailed out by the free boosts. Back-up plan: Heavy Slams with Toriko and Power.
...Hold on. Realized just after entering the fight. Burned a lot of Sludge Waves on the trainers beforehand. Left 3 Sludge Waves for Bea. Whoops.
The fight: +2 Speed on the first question. Opted to only do two Nasty Plots in anticipation of boosts (and being in critical range from a third Sludge). One-shot Galarian Weezing with Incinerate. Buried Togekiss with Sludge Wave. Roasted Mawile.
Did not get the Special Attack boost for Alcremie. Doubts a one-shot now. Double-resists Alcremie's only move, however. Surely lives at +2 Special Defense, right? Never found out. Blew up the cake at just +4. No bag items, effectively no held items, one level above (two levels above midway through), and solo? Nice job for a little Salandit, even if it is the easy gym.
Departure check. Leaves on 1-3 out of 16. Roll: 3. Neh. Would be fine with one of them. 1 for Sesshomaru, 2 for Toriko, 3 for Power. Roll: 2. Aw. Spent maybe 20 minutes with it. Gained 3 levels. Really needs Blissey now.
Finally comes time for Shenron's evolution roll. Evolves on 1-5 out of 12. Roll: 4. Becomes Fraxure.
Pulled Palmon out of pseudo-retirement to find a Rattled Toxel via Worry Seed. Was a real pain with Perrserkers and Liepards constantly chasing you down. Three Static Toxels later...
Rolls for two evolutions. Evolves on 1-5 out of 12.
Bocchi: 4. Okay. Becomes Toxtricity. Needs to stick around until the end. Faces very few big special threats from here on out. Should be okay.
Emilia: 5. Immediately turns into Galarian Darmanitan. Packs a hefty punch. Loses some lustre from relying on TRs for coverage.
Cuts it off here. Unfortunately deals with yet another interruption with this playthrough. Prepared Macho Braces for this, however. Beefs up the team in the downtime. Figures out new Pokemon and maybe TRs next time.
Current main team: Luna (Sneasel, BFL), Inko (Unfezant), Shenron (Fraxure), Shikamaru (Galarian Slowpoke), Power (Mudsdale), Katara (Araquanid), Lapis (Gastrodon), Chrono (Morgrem), Bocchi (Toxtricity), and Emilia (Galarian Darmanitan).
Bench:
Strolled over to Bridge Field for that Ferrothorn. Proved problematic between Self-Destruct and the main team (minus Luna) away on EV training. Eventually prevailed with Caiman paralyzing and Sesshomaru Incinerating.
Name: Edward (from Fullmetal Alchemist)
Ability: Iron Barbs
Nature: Naughty (+Attack / -Special Defense)
Turned sunny at Challenge Beach. Caught an amazing level 42 there.
Name: Ohmu (from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind)
Ability: Flame Body
Nature: Timid (+Speed / -Attack)
Tried forcing a rare Blissey Max Raid. No luck. Found fog in Potbottom Desert the next day, however.
Maxed out the EVs for most Pokemon in the break. Wanted Speed for almost no one, which is kind of questionable. Made no sense to give Speed to Pokemon getting Quiver Dance or Dragon Dance.
Reports no TR usage yet. Never picked up more Body Press TRs. Misremembered Blissey's moveset. (Thought it needed Stored Power.) Lacks Calm Mind TRs too. Costs a bunch to produce at the
Gym time. Brings Luna, Power, Edward, and Lapis. Level 42 for everyone except Luna at 45.
Strategy: Left the typical support types behind for this one. Faces Shell Smash, Power Split, and Body Slam outside of Coalossal. Likes none of those. Relies on good old-fashioned type match-ups.
The fight: Smashed Barbaracle in one Power Whip. Crushed Shuckle in two Iron Heads (solid). Surprisingly bonked Stonjourner out with one Iron Head. Swapped in Lapis for Coalossal. Laughed off the first Max Flare (36 damage). Started adding up with G-Max Volcalith. Brought down Coalossal in two Earth Powers with Lapis in the red. Good match.
Departure check: Leaves on a 1-3 out of 16. Roll: 2. Is Edward going to leave after using it for 15 minutes too? 1 for Edward, 2 for Power, and 3 for Lapis. Roll: 3. Unfortunate. (Would be sad about losing any of them, to be fair.) Must have been unhappy about taking on Coalossal. Loses a pretty good typing.
Pulled off a nice solo with Ohmu versus Hop, even in Hail, despite zero Fiery Dance boosts. Ended on 10 hitpoints. Owes it to those Hitpoint EVs.
Went on a long detour for a Galarica Wreath for Shikamaru. Potentially wasted time for nothing. Evolves on a 1-5 out of 12. Roll: 5. Thank goodness. Evolves into Galarian Slowking.
Remembered the Cram-o-matic being capable of producing TRs (kind of expensively). Decided a few TMs/TRs.
Inko: U-turn (TM move 2 of 3 because of evolving twice).
Joy: Calm Mind
Shikamaru: Stored Power
Edward: Body Press
Calls for an evolution check before Spikemuth. Roll: 2. Becomes a Grimmsnarl. Would not call this a particularly evolution. Caught it out of a sense of "why not?" and leveling it alongside everything else.
Skipped the Route 9 encounter. Might catch up to three more Pokemon (Aegislash, Escavalier, and Gigalith). Deems none of them particularly vital at present (and locked behind weather randomness in some cases).
Gym #7 time. Selects Luna, Power, Katara, and Chrono. Held off on using Ohmu for fear of departing. Entered the battle at 46 on Chrono, 47 on Power and Katara, and 49 for Luna.
Strategy: Try to set up on Malamar with Luna? Kind of wants to give Luna some face time for a change. Learned all its tools (Agility, Hone Claws) to pack a punch. If not, Body Press with Power.
The fight: Body Pressed Scrafty. Switched to Luna for Malamar. Took a massive Foul Play critical down to 48/129. So much for fun. Swapped to Katara, who also took a lot of Foul Play damage. Beat Malamar with one Lunge. Switched to Power to face Obstagoon and Obstruct. Crushed Obstagoon and Skuntank with Body Press.
Departure check: Leaves on a 1-3 out of 16. Roll: 12. Nope.
Battled a single trainer en route to Gym #8. Decided on Luna, Power, Edward, and Katara. Feels like a job for physical tanks. Added Luna to the team more out of obligation than anything. Waffled on the last spot. Went with Katara. Will not do much damage. Has Lunge to suppress Duraludon. Takes a Fire Fang from Sandaconda well. Could have used Lapis here, but oh well.
Level 48 for Edward, 49 for Katara, 50 for Power, and 51 for Luna. Aimed for level 48. Shrugs. Tried to keep them down. Gained a lot between Piers and the gym trainers.
Strategy: Double Body Press to victory. Plans to stay in, even for Sandaconda's Fire Fang.
The fight: Easily handed Gigalith's Body Press. Returned the favor with Power's Body Press. Unfortunately Suffered a critical Fire Fang from Sandaconda onto Edward the next turn. (Has seen so many criticals from the AI.) Survived it at 26 hitpoints, with a Burn on top of it. Faced Gigantamax Duraludon 2v1. Targeted Edward for the Max Knuckle, of course. Only hit for 12 damage. One-shot with a Body Press.
Good fight. Definitely credits the EVs for Edward hanging on.
The final departure check: Leaves on a 1-3 out of 16. 6. Nope.
Deals with no further unforeseen team changes. Locks into one team from here on out. Focuses entirely on dealing with Leon.
Luna (Sneasel): BFL. Duh. Should never enter the field.
Bocchi (Toxtricity): Debuffer with Eerie Impulse and Nuzzle. Leads against Aegislash.
Inko (Unfezant): Feather Dance. Not as useful anymore, given Leon's Special-heavy team. Lowers Sacred Sword damage from Aegislash and potentially Haxorus's damage.
Ohmu (Volcarona): The set up Pokemon. Handles Aegislash's attacks pretty well. Should be able to demolish everything after six Quiver Dances.
Joy (Blissey): The backup plan. Gobbles up any Special Attack without support. Also stays healthy with Softboiled. Will be a slow sweep with Echoed Voice and Disarming Voice, even at +6, but oh well.
Power (Mudsdale): The backup plan for Aegislash or Haxorus.
Dumped some resources into them too.
Ohmu: Psychic TR
Inko: Impish Mint (+Defense / -Special Attack)
Power: Relaxed Mint (+Defense / -Speed)
Bocchi: Sassy Mint (+Special Defense / -Speed)
Joy: 2 PP Ups for Echoed Voice
Finally beat Clara in the Isle of Armor. Wanted to unlock vitamins for Luna, of all things. Costs waaaay too many watts (200,000 - 400,000) for something that may not help much. Pass.
Battled all the trainers en route to Wyndon, unlike most playthroughs. Usually comes through at level 48+ after the gym. Still had Pokemon as low as 44 this time.
Oh. Vitamins at Wyndon. Well, question: Is Luna at max EVs? No, despite being in the party the whole game. Fed them 7 Hondew Berries to drop Special Attack. Sunk 10 Carbos in to cap on EVs. Must not have been too far off capping, then.
Runs down the Champion Cup battles quickly.
Marnie: Power-ed through Torment and confusion for the easy solo (partially thanks to the 6 level advantage)
Hop: Power again, but with no confusion or Torment this time. Avoided Body Slam paralysis too. Did not one-shot Rillaboom with a +6 Body Press, of note.
Battled Oleana next, after a dozen or so Fiery Dances through Macro Cosmos grunts. Spammed Quiver Dance six times in the face of Froslass's Icy Winds (including two criticals). Meant being slower than Salazzle and getting poisoned. Made no real difference. One-shot everything.
Back to the Champion Cup.
Bede: Weakened Mawile with Inko. Paved the way for Ohmu to max out on Quiver Dances and roast everything.
Nessa: A trickier one, due to the bad matchup for Power and not bringing Edward (Ferrothorn). Led with Bocchi. Zapped Golisopod down with Overdrive. Flipped to Inko for the incoming Drill Run from Barraskewda, then to Power (which may not have been the best play, in thinking about it). Took a critical Liquidation in there, severely limiting how much more it could do. Defeated Barraskewda and Seaking with 13 hitpoints left before handing it back to Bocchi to face Pelipper. Debuffed Pelipper to allow Ohmu to come in for Quiver Dances. Basically ended the match.
Bea: Feather Danced Hawlucha, perhaps unnecessarily. Won with Power using the usual strategy. Mentions Falinks and Gigantamax Machamp living a Body Press. Survived a critical G-Max Chi Strike just fine.
Raihan: Another unclear one. Chose Bocchi. Debuffed Torkoal. Sent in Ohmu. Handled the Body Presses pretty well (~30 damage). Sat in a full sleep from Yawn. Never saw Torkoal fully paralyzed either. Settled for four Quiver Dances as Ohmu's health hit the red. Sufficed to blast everything in one hit.
Handed out a Lucky Egg to Luna midway through the second batch of Champion Cup battles. Started being about equal on experience. Still needed way more for Leon.
Next up: Rose. Entered at a higher level than usual (61-62). Usually matches Rose's level (57 ace). Held onto those Lucky Eggs rather than normal hold items. Enlisted Inko's help to drop Escavalier's Attack. Used only three Quiver Dances as Escavalier brought its Attack back out of the toilet with three straight Swords Dances. Toasted everything, just like the rest of Macro Cosmos.
Tagged in Luna for Eternatus. Acknowledges Power probably being a better choice. Has not gotten many good matchups for Luna, though. Almost melted to Eternatus's Flamethrower (down to 23 hitpoints). Smashed it with Hone Claws into a Triple Axel. Fared relatively well against Eternamax Eternatus. Survived a Max Flare and hit about as hard as Zacian and Zamazenta with a Triple Axel.
Champion time. Requires jumping everyone up to level 65. Needed less experience than normal. Started from 60 on Inko, 62 on Luna + Bocchi, and 63 on the rest. Snatched all their Lucky Eggs away too.
The team, once again: Bocchi (Toxtricity), Inko (Unfezant), Ohmu (Volcarona), Joy (Blissey), Power (Mudsdale), and Luna (Sneasel)
Strategy: Lead with Bocchi. Paralyze and bring Aegislash down to -6 Special Attack. Send in Inko. Toss some Feather Dances on the pile. Swap in Ohmu. Quiver Dance x6. Win. Has Joy and Power on standby as backups in case of bad criticals. Doubts Luna will do anything.
The fight: Went swimmingly for Bocchi. Accomplished its job at 190/232. Tagged Inko in. Also met little resistance. Left at 194/220 to put Ohmu in. Climbed up to six Quiver Dances. Finished at something like 201/243. Lost a Special Defense stage in the process, but nothing terrible. Knocked down everything in one attack each until Gigantamax Charizard. Left Charizard on a sliver of health. Meant dealing with a Max Rockfall. Hurt pretty bad (going down to half health?). Kicked up a Sandstorm, which was enough to faint Charizard.
Play time: 30:48. Spent so much of that wandering around, looking for Brilliant Aura Pokemon, a few mints, Lucky Egg farming, Galarica Twigs, and Max Raids.
Team Thoughts
Luna (Sneasel): Not great. Ended up being dead weight, as expected. Probably only knocked out two Pokemon from the fifth gym to the end of the game: a Claydol and Eternatus. Typically always had a substantial level lead on everyone. Hated to extend that. Never saw a single affection event in battle, outside maybe extra experience. (Did not press that very hard, though.)
Inko (Unfezant): Not that necessary. Disliked a lot of the gym leader leads for setup (a good thing). Meant less of a place for Feather Dance. Probably defeated almost no Pokemon the entire playthrough. Was still nice to have for the occasional set up and the Lucky Eggs.
Bocchi (Toxtricity): Very similar to Inko above. Used an attacking move maybe four times all game (probably three in a single double battle), not counting Nuzzle. Never expected it to be super useful, given Sword's heavy physical lean. Helps for Aegislash, though.
Power (Mudsdale): The true BFL. Caught it early (maybe level 12?). Became a reliable Pokemon ever since evolving. Tends to happen with Body Press Pokemon.
Ohmu (Volcarona): Excellent, as expected. Came in late. Probably ended up second on kills (behind Power).
Joy (Blissey): Probably battled one trainer (a Pelipper + Noctowl trainer going to Wyndon). Existed on the team.
Katara (Araquanid): Eh. Always felt just a little low. Hit a little less than expected and took more damage than expected. Admittedly hated to waste TRs on moves it would learn anyways. Could have been okay with Leech Life + Iron Defense. Already had better, however.
Sesshomaru (Salandit): Managed pretty well for just being Salandit. Got robbed on Bea. Happens sometimes.
Edward (Ferrothorn): Solid. Could have been the primary Body Presser. Preferred to stick by Power.
Lapis (Gastrodon): Alright? Sent too little time with it as Gastrodon.
Monokuma (Stufful): Decent as just Stufful and getting burdened with Klutz. Could have fixed that if it did become Bewear. Oh well.
Everything else: Barely used them, if at all.
Challenge Thoughts
Felt too restrictive and not restrictive enough, at the same time. Forces a weak Pokemon on you. Deprives you of held and bag items. May deal with Pokemon not evolving or leaving. Limits TMs/TRs to stop the unevolved Pokemon from being better. Plays with several of those rules normally, as well as adding some minor ones. Amounts to a lot of things you are denied, nevertheless.
Allowed really strong Pokemon, however. Accesses several quite early. Why not use tried and true Pokemon? Catches some fully evolved too, avoiding the evolution roll. Feels kind of boring to use a Pokemon you already have before, and in this very region, at that. Doubted the other, weaker Pokemon could handle all the restrictions (especially not fully evolved). Followed the familar strategies. Became kind of similar to other playthroughs, in a way.
Adds Sword to be a poor game to choose here. Why? Experience. Skipped a lot of grinding with Poke Jobs, the Experience Share + DLC boost, and EXP Candy. Never had to deal with leveling up some Pokemon from low levels like an older game might. Cuts both ways, though. Barely spent any time with most Pokemon. Guesses maybe a combined 10 kills between Inko, Luna, Bocchi, and Joy in the second update (not counting any Max Raids). Zips between some gyms super quickly. Mainly fights gym trainers, gym leaders, and rival battles. Really needs a stable team in Sword.
Admittedly might have bypassed some of the intended challenge by continuing to catch Pokemon. Ended up with 22 Pokemon, not counting the three departures. (Still had a good dozen left between the mainland and Isle of Armor, not including all of Crown Tundra.) Circles back to the "too restricted" part. Why waste time with a Rookidee when you could get a fully evolved Pokemon? Felt justified as Luna struggled more and more.
Might have reversed the TM limitation. Ought to gain a TM use for every failed evolution roll. Gives that Pokemon some edge over Pokemon with more stats. Compensates for the stat loss a little. Rewards you for sticking with a Pokemon.
Spoiler: Team
BFL
Name: Luna
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Quiet (+Special Attack / -Speed) (Minted to +Attack / -Special Attack)
Moves: Triple Axel, Throat Chop, Agility, and Hone Claws
Name: Inko
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Hasty (+Speed / -Defense) (Minted to +Defense / -Special Attack)
Moves: Feather Dance, Fly, Roost, and U-turn
Name: Bocchi
Ability: Punk Rock
Nature: Brave (+Attack / -Speed)
Moves: Nuzzle, Eerie Impulse, Discharge, and Venoshock
Name: Power
Ability: Stamina
Nature: Docile (Neutral)
Moves: Body Press, Heavy Slam, Earthquake, and Iron Defense
Name: Edward
Ability: Iron Barbs
Nature: Naughty (+Attack / -Special Defense)
Moves: Power Whip, Iron Head, Body Press, and Iron Defense
Name: Katara
Ability: Water Bubble
Nature: Quiet (+Special Attack / -Speed)
Moves: Leech Life, Crunch, Liquidation, and Aqua Ring
Name: Chrono
Ability: Prankster
Nature: Quiet (+Special Attack / -Speed)
Moves: Play Rough, Sucker Punch, Bulk Up, and Spirit Break
Name: Shikamaru
Ability: Own Tempo
Nature: Adamant (+Attack / -Special Attack)
Moves: Amnesia, Nasty Plot, Surf, and Stored Power
Rolling Fields: Shenron (Axew)
East Lake Axewell: Monokuma (Stufful)
North Lake Miloch: Inko (Pidove)
Motostoke Riverbank: Toriko (Snorlax)
Bridge Field: Edward (Ferrothorn)
Fields of Honor: Mimosa (Bulbasaur)
Challenge Road: Sesshomaru (Salandit)
Challenge Beach: Ohmu (Volcarona)
Potbottom Desert: Joy (Blissey)
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