[Challenge] The Monotype Challenge Re:Returns

Status
Not open for further replies.
Gen 4 begins...for hopefully the final time. There are a few things that I'm doing for this attempt, and it's going to be Diamond...BRILLIANT DIAMOND! So, perhaps I should say "Sinnoh run begins" instead?

For this run, I'm now playing it on the Switch, and I'm only doing one attempt at each Honey Tree. It took way to long to get more from them, so I'm hoping I don't have to luck out for any given Pokemon. This does limit me for normally found Pokemon to Kricketune, Dustox, and Beautifly. As of the end of this post, that's where I'm at.

Going into this with a Gen 4 mentality is mostly okay, but the nicest thing with upgrading to the remake is that Kricketot now gets some good moves. I decided from the start that I was going to hold off until it learned Bug Bite at level 16 to evolve to Kricketune, and this turned out to be the right move. I was quite worried going into the battle with Roark, but it wasn't as much of a problem as I thought it would be. Bug Bite does a lot of damage, such that the first use takes the first Geodude down to about 40% before it does a Defense Curl. Okay, not bad. Another use, however, doesn't do a lot, putting it in Red and another Defense Curl. Roark uses a Potion, and I use Bug Bite again just to crit and finish off the Geodude. The Onix comes out, and I continue the onslaught. Bug Bite down to about 55%, but I get Rock Throw my way but it misses. We both do the same moves again, but Rock Throw hits this time and only deals 14 HP. A third Bug Bite knocks out the Onix. Time for the final Pokemon of Roark's: Cranidos. Bug Bite drops it even further than the Geodude went after the first hit, and I get Headbutt in return. Kricketune sits at 21/53, but I'm not worried. One final Bug Bite, and I've won. I started that battle at level 16, right after learning Bug Bite and evolving. Super nice. Badge #1 complete.

From here, it's a quick push back up to Floaroma Town and the Valley Windworks stuff to free the little girl's dad. Going up against Commander Mars, I'm now level 18. Zubat is a two-shot with Pound (Bug moves won't do much to it), and the Purugly was also a quick knock out, though it did fire off a Fake Out to delay Kricketune's onslaught.

Going through Eterna Forest, I caught 4 Wurmples, and managed to get the right set to now have a Beautifly and Dustox. I also did the first three Honey Trees, and none of them gave me what I needed. One was even an Aipom. Urgh. I trained the Beautifly and Dustox while going through the Forest, getting them to about level 17ish before exiting. I went straight after the gym (following a pit-stop at the PokeCenter). After getting through all of the trainers in the gym, it's time for Gardenia. Dustox is L18, Beautifly is L19, and Kricketune is L23.

My Dustox is first up, going up against Cherubi. I use Gust, and Cherubi uses Safeguard. Another Gust, and I get a Dazzling Gleam. One more Gust, and Cherubi is down. Turtwig next, and it responds with a Razor Leaf to my Gust. Next turn, same thing. I decide to Moonlight, so that heals me up a little, and the Razor Leaf crits for like 3 damage. Another Gust, and Turtwig is down. Roserade is out, and I go for Gust again, but Stun Spore hits me first. Gust does maybe 1/6 damage. Before Dustox goes down, I get off a few more uses of Gust, but nothing I can really do. So, I swap in Beautifly, which Gust is STAB for. One use of Gust causes Gardenia to use a Super Potion. However, two more Gusts knocks it out and earns me badge #2. I let it learn Air Cutter at L20 as a result of the battle.

Feels good to push through this.
 
Pokemon Gold: Mono-Ground
Veteran George, Update 3 (Azalea Town -> Goldenrod City):

Immediately after beating Bugsy, I tried fighting my rival. His Bayleef utterly stomped my party by spamming Razor Leaf and I lost. Then I tried again, this time spamming Mud Slap with my Phanpy and Screech with my Onix to weaken his Bayleef's accuracy and defense stats. I lost several more times before eventually getting lucky and beating it. Neither of my rival's other Pokemon gave me much trouble. Afterwards, I made my way up through Goldenrod, did a lot of Game Corner slot machine stuff to get a Blizzard and Thunder TM, and got a bunch of TMs from the department store. I also went and caught a male Nidoran from Route 35, and quickly evolved it into a Nidorino. I don't have a Moon Stone as of yet, but I should be able to get the one in Tohjo Falls as soon as I can get Surf, since I think it's before the big waterfall. After beating the trainers north of Goldenrod, and getting the Dig TM from National Park, I went down to the gym and fought Whitney. Rollout ended up being very, very deadly, and my Phanpy utterly crushed both her Pokemon with it before she even did much of anything.

One more thing. I did a bit of very basic hacking to make some TMs re-purchasable from Pokemarts, after frustration that several of my ground types were not learning any STAB moves at all. I am not purchasing any TM before it can be found in vanilla Gold/Silver, but my team as a whole does have a couple duplicate TM moves that can't be obtained without trading in the original games.

Current Team:

Spoiler:
 
Last edited:
Ultimate Bug
2nd Entry / Brilliant Diamond

I'm now four gyms in, but it feels different. I was reminded that I might be able to get some additional Bug-type Pokemon in the Underground, so I looked, and right now I can find Scyther and Combee...so, that's what I went after. The problem with catching them was their levels. I was early 20s, but they were late 20s. I had to find a way to stay alive long enough to just chuck endless Poke Balls at them. Whole ordeal probably took about 30 minutes, but I ended up with a female level 25 Combee and a level 25 Scyther. They were three levels above my Pokemon, so I made the decision that I wasn't going to use them until all of the ones that I caught on the overworld were level 25. As it turns out, that wouldn't take long - since I got there before the next gym leader. I also evolved Combee to Vespiquen, and we were ready for the next gym.

The third gym is fighting type, but I had a couple of tricks up my sleeve: Flying and Psychic type moves. Vespiquen knows Air Slash by the time I get to the gym, and Dustox has Psybeam and Beautifly has Psychic. Between these moves, it wasn't too bad to knock out the gym. However, I will say that I had to attempt the gym leader twice, because the first time I Beautifly didn't have Psychic, and I was trying to get through with PoisonPowder/Venoshock as a combo from Dustox, which is rather powerful.

The fourth gym was...lame. Beautifly had Mega Drain, and I was alternating between that and Psychic (since Mega Drain wouldn't do much on a Wingull). However, along the way, I picked up Giga Drain, and replaced Leech Life with it. I decided to replace Leech Life because I'll get Bug Buzz soon, and wanted to ensure I had the power to get through Crusher Wake. I did get through it. It was easier than the fighting gym.

My Pokemon are now in the low-30s, and are a team comprised of Scyther, Vespiquen, Beautifly, Dustox, and Kricktune. I'm honestly sort of hesitant to try and mess with the Honey trees anymore. I could pick up a Skorupi, but it wouldn't be allowed to evolve. That's honestly the only new thing I could get from Grand Underground before getting the National 'dex. I'm likely going to end up just moving on with what I currently have, and only go after a Burmy or so if the situation arises where it might help.
 
Ultimate Bug
Brilliant Diamond Post #3

Since I got a lot done today, I went ahead and decided to just sum it up all in one post.

First, the fifth gym only took me one shot. Relatively easy even though Ghost type Pokemon aren't hurt much by Bug. However, Fantina's Pokemon aren't too hard. Drifblim is weak to Vespiquen's Power Gem, Gengar is weak to Psychic/Psybeam of Beautifly/Dustox, and Mismagius is just a matter of just whittling down the HP.

The sixth gym, however, was a different story. I got through all of the trainers in the gym with relative ease, but I spent two hours on Byron. Usually, with Steel, I can use special category moves to take them out easier. It also does help that Bug is 1x against Steel. However, the Bastiodon just was a pain point due to Stone Edge hitting OHKO on everything. I was still running with a Scyther, though, so I realized that if I evolved it to Scizor, Stone Edge would be 1x effective instead of 4x effective on it. In order to do so, I replaced Scyther's Reversal with Thief, and went after the Bronzor in Wayward Cave in order to get a Metal Coat. After the twelfth Bronzor, I got it.

The next attempt on Byron was Scizor just using Bullet Punch...after Bullet Punch...after Bullet Punch. I got pretty far, but then I didn't make it. I decided to use a couple uses of Double Team, and that let me go the entire way. A couple of Super Potions helped out, also. It's nice that Sandstorm wasn't doing anything to Scizor, and that they would waste turns getting Sandstorm going. Free turns for damage for me.

Jumping up to the Snowpoint Gym, it also wasn't that bad. Everything but her Medicham is weak to Bug-type moves, and her Medicham is weak to Flying, so I do as much damage as I can with Scizor before it goes down and then switch to Vespiquen to take out the rest. I had replaced my main Bug attack on Vespiquen with Attack Order, so it was nice to get some use out of that.

The Galatic Hideout wasn't hard. A bunch of 2HKO battles later, and I'm up against Cyrus, and he's quite the pushover. Even his subordinates are. So, yeah, it's time to head up Mount Coronet...which is a long haul up. Took me about 40 minutes to get up to where Cyrus is, but I'm ready to go. Yeah, I really need to start stocking up on Repels, because the "move 5 blocks and get a battle" kinda gets painful and slows things down. Anyways, I made it to the top and now I'm writing this up to catch us all up on where I am. Other than Vespiquen (L47), my entire party is level 48 (Scizor, Kricketune, Dustox, and Beautifly). This is probably the team I'm going to try to complete the rest of the run with...even though I'm probably not going to enjoy the idea of gym refights.
 
Ultimate Bug
Brilliant Diamond Post #4

Urgh. My clock currently says 31h, but I made it to the Elite Four just after 20h. In short, I am now the champion.

But...let's at least go everything. First, the battles against the best of the best of Galatic at the top of Mt. Coronet are...relatively easy...though Cyrus can suck. Three of his Pokemon are part-Flying, so it's just a matter of pushing through repeatedly until I finally got lucky enough to make it through. Even the next gym is relatively simple. Was a nice break after the run up Mt. Coronet. The entire gym was relatively easy enough.

However, after the rush through Victory Road, I get to the Elite Four in the high-50s. This turns out to be the pain point. Why? My successful run that got through Cynthia ended with my team being about 73. So...what happened in between the first run and the last run?

The simplest way to break this down is what are the painful Pokemon in each of the Elite Four's team?

Aaron: Heracross
Bertha: Hippowdon
Flint: Infernape
Lucian: Bronzong

I did some grinding in the Grand Underground via Celestic Town, where I can fight a bunch of Dark/Psychic type Pokemon. It's always nice to see Girafarig and, every so often, an Absol or two. In the meantime, I was attempting to get some Heart Scales, because my end goal was to teach Scizor Wing Attack and Beautifly Air Cutter. I was going to use one to swap Bullet Punch for Metal Claw when it came to Scizor, but after getting the Heart Scale, I tried to turn it in and went "oh, that might be good for Heracross". Also, while I was trying to get Heart Scales, I got myself a nice bonus: a Claw Fossil, which gives me an Anorith. I get the Lucky Egg from the Grand Underground and buy a bunch of vitamins to boost some Attack and Defense, but then it's all about grinding.

So, by the time I am ready for another attempt (after some money grinding from the duo east of Celestic that grant me 26k with the Amulet coin so I can restock Revives and Max Potions), my team is in the low 70s. After each battle, I use Revives and Max Potions as needed.

For Aaron, it's a matter of plopping Scizor out there and spamming Wing Attack. Drapion is the only one not weak to it, so I use Bullet Punch once to offset in the hopes of avoiding a Full Restore, and then a couple of X-Scissors end the battle.

For Bertha, plopping Beautifly out there with Giga Drain is key. It rips through the first four, other than Golem, on which I take a risk and use Air Cutter to try to break the Sturdy issue, and survive with just a few HP from Stone Edge. Next turn is a massive Giga Drain to get me a lot of HP back. I had thought of starting with Giga Drain, but I had made it here before and knew it had Sturdy so this setup gets me more HP out of the battle. Hippowdon does take down Beautifly due to Ice Fang, but it took a lot of damage from Giga Drain. I opt to bring in Dustox, as it's my fastest. A quick Psychic and Hippowdon is gone.

For Flint, this is the worst to try and get through. I start with Vespiquen and begin spamming Power Gem (and I have a Hard Stone to help boost it). Two hits takes out Ponyta, though the two Flame Charges don't do much. I'm barely above half HP, only for Lopunny to come out. I have lost multiple attempts to this Fire Punching Lopunny. This time, however, Attack Order hits once normally and then crits on the second attempt, knocking out Lopunny. Sweet. I take the next turn to Max Potion since it's Steelix. I spend a few turns using Air Slash, but Vespiquen does go down. I swap in Dustox, and start using Bug Buzz, and two turns later, I'm at 1 HP (due to the affection system, I think, since it didn't want me to be sad)...and Steelix is down. Infernape comes out, and I'm like "oh great, here we go". I get outsped and down goes Dustox. I bring out Beautifly and get off one Psychic to do some decent damage before it also goes down. I bring out Scizor and use Double Team - which sounds weird but it was a shot in the dark. I survive again with 1 HP so I'm not sad and I use a Max Potion. The next turn, I do another Double Team, and I manage to evade Fire Punch and get my evasion to +2, which is insane. At this point, I use Wing Attack, dealing a lot of damage and knocking out Infernape (after getting another Fire Punch to the face and surviving with 4 HP). Finally, here comes Drifblim. I Max Potion and it's just a matter of using Wing Attack until I win.

(You might ask why I didn't use my now Armaldo...I would have, since it does have Brine, but it's only high-50s right now so I'm planning on using it as more of a backup plan. Won't be that way in the endgame during the refights.)

For Lucian...it's just a matter of Kricketune using X-Scissor...then X-Scissor...then X-Scissor...then maybe a Max Potion or two. Bronzong is one of those Pokemon I caught a lucky break on, because the Pokemon before, Girafarig, was near death so I used Fell Stinger to knock my attack up to +3. From there, I decide to go ahead and use Fury Cutter and a couple of turns later, I'm through Lucian. Lucian can hit hard so I kept Dustox out of the line of fire...well, the line of Psychic.

Okay, Cynthia is up next. I've lost this battle multiple times due to two Pokemon: Milotic because of stupid Recover, and Lucario because it's Lucario. I saved before and tried multiple ways to get through this, but even though I'm at 72ish for my team (other than Armaldo), my best bet is to power through and break through Lucario as fast as possible. If it can get off enough Nasty Plot, I can't win. So, I use Spiritomb to set up six Double Team on Scizor, and then start using X-Scissor. That takes it down. Gastrodon comes out and it's a few hits to knock it out with X-Scissor, and I'm running low so take the opportunity to use an Ether. Next is Roserade, which is a OHKO with Wing Attack. And, finally, Milotic comes out. This turns into a twenty-some turn back and forth until it runs out of Recover after repeatedly hitting me with Scald (I think it hit three times, but that still seems insane with +6 evasion). Finally, I take it out. Out comes Lucario, and...one, two, three Wing Attacks takes it out. I do get hit with Aura Sphere twice. No avoiding that, but a Max Potion later, Garchomp tried to Earthquake but missed. At this point, I tried to use X-Scissor only to realize I'm out again. I have one Elixir, and I decide it's now or never, so I use it on Scizor. I keep firing off X-Scissor, and after Cynthia uses the last Full Restore, I bring Garchomp down to less than a quarter HP. So, what do I do? I end the run in some level of style using Bullet Punch to take it out.

And that's where I'm at. I need a break. That was painful. However, I have one more thing to do before the Ultimate Bug run is done - the refights against all gym leaders and the Elite Four. I'm hoping I won't have to get up to 100, but who knows at this point. I know they are at about the level I'm at now. Prayers are welcome for this last leg.
 
Pokemon Gold: Mono-Ground
Veteran George, Update 4 (Route 37 -> Ecruteak City + a lot of Surfable areas):

After defeating Whitney and getting the SquirtBottle, I went up and caught Sudowoodo, though I can't actually use it because it's not a ground type. When I arrived in Ecruteak City, I immediately challenged the Kimono Girls to get the Surf HM, evolving my Wooper into a Quagsire and teaching it Surf. Then I challenged Morty, expecting him to be a cakewalk because of the type advantage, even with the level difference. Big mistake. I didn't stock enough healing items or Awakenings/Full Heals, and Morty kept outspeeding and hypnotizing my Pokemon. I only barely pulled through with a single Pokemon left. Afterwards, I immediately went all the way back to New Bark Town, then went to Tohjo Falls to get the Moon Stone and evolve my Nidorino into a Nidoking. Then, I went and explored every new surfable area I could, most notably the new floors of Union Cave, where I evolved my Geodude into a Graveler (and then traded it back and forth to make it a Golem), and my Sandshrew into a Sandslash. Some of the trainers here were very difficult since everyone but Quagsire was weak to water. Then, to evolve my Onix, I caught way too many Magnemite on Route 38 until I got a Metal Coat, then evolved Onix into Steelix. Then, finally, I evolved my Phanpy into Donphan once I no longer needed it to have the perfect stats to easily catch Magnemite. This team is almost what I'm planning on keeping for the rest of the game, though Sandslash is planned to be swapped out for a Piloswine once I get to Ice Path.

I also swept my rival's Burned Tower team with my Nidoking. Razor leaf isn't anywhere near the threat it used to be back in Azalea, now that I have all my weaknesses covered.

Current Team:

Spoiler:
 
Last edited:
Ultimate Bug
Brilliant Diamond Post #5 - Final Post of Ultimate Bug! YAY

Here's the easy way to beat the rematches: Buy LOTS of X Items. The list of Gym Leaders I could manage to pull it off without the X Items: Roark, Gardenia, and Crusher Wake. Everyone else turned into a fest of spamming X Def and X Sp Def items and then every so often using Max Potions as needed. I only needed one Pokemon per gym to do this: Beautifly for Maylene (higher Special Attack for Air Slash), Armaldo with Metal Claw for Fantina (because, honestly, at +6 Attack why not), Armaldo for Byron, Armaldo for...well, the rest of them. The one thing I don't like about these gyms is that you have to do the puzzles again.

I tried to do everyone without items, and I even went and farmed until my team was in the early 80s...other than Scizor, who was 93 when I started all of this. I went over the to one trainer that has Ambipom, Rapidash, and Chansey...and farmed XP for a few hours.

But in the end, I let Armaldo shine through rematching Aaron and Flint. For Bertha, I used Beautifly. For Lucian, it was Vespiquen, and then Scizor when a nasty crit broke through. Oh wells. To end the run, and to celebrate the end, I actually rolled a six-sided die to figure out what Pokemon to use. Whatever number it landed on was who I was going to defeat Cynthia with (or at least start, cause who knows how this will end).

Armaldo was the start. Armaldo has been a powerhouse once trained up. Thanks for being available in this version!

Since Cynthia's Spiritomb was up first, I spammed 3 X Sp Def. Two of them were met with Sucker Punch fails. I then fired off 3 X Def and 3 X Attacks. Then, a nice Max Potion and the onslaught begins. X-Scissor for Spiritomb. Bulldoze for Lucario. X-Scissor for Milotic. X-Scissor for Roserade. Smack Down for Togekiss...and X-Scissor, one of the nicest Bug moves ever, for the final hit on Garchomp.

With that, the Bug Ultimate is complete! However, I will say that I have a big appreciation for Bug types that I didn't have before. Some Gens were rougher than others, but dang, they can deal more of a hit than they can take at times.

For my next one, I wanna do Rock! Hopefully, now that I know the goal is not Generations but Regions, this works:

User: StenirRPG
Type: Rock
Game(s): FireRed (Kanto), HeartGold (Johto), Omega Ruby (Hoenn), Brilliant Diamond (Sinnoh), White 2 (Unova), Y (Kalos), Ultra Sun (Alola)
Single / Ultimate: Ultimate (you know it!)
 
Last edited:
Ultimate Rock
Kanto/FireRed #1

Straight in from the Bug Ultimate, I start a Rock one...and I have to give myself a Geodude instead of the Charmander in the first selection. I wanted Adamant, but I got Brave. I'll run with that.

My name in these runs will be Rocky, and my rival will be Apollo. No clue why I did that. Per request, I am using car insurance companies as the naming convention, so my Geodude named Geico helps me trounce Apollo's Squirtle. I looked ahead so I know the remaining Pokemon options are an Onix (from Rock Tunnel), Rhyhorn (Safari Zone), Kabuto/Omanyte and Aerodactyl (via Fossils). My first challenge is going to be Brock...since I start with Tackle and Defense Curl. I get Rock Throw @ 11, but won't get another move until 16 when I get Magnitude. That might be nice to have for Brock, but we'll see where I'm at when I get there, eh?

And after getting through the forest and making it to Pewter, I'm already level 14. For Mr. Light Years, the trainer, it's just Rock Throw like crazy to do more damage from stab. I can already tell that I'm going to be heading back to the Pokemon Center before taking on Brock. That battle gets me to 15, so I decide to just farm a little to reach 16 and get Magnitude. When fighting Brock, I'm looking pretty ready, and it's just as easy with Magnitude as we all probably think it is. His Geodude goes down to a Magnitude 9. Onix tanks a Magnitude 6, but retaliates with only a light Tackle. Next turn, Geico the Geodude knocks out Onix with a Magnitude 7, and that signals the first gym leader battle over.

Not bad so far. But I know I'm coming up on Misty next.

Fought every trainer on Route 3. Fought every trainer and picked up every item in Mt. Moon. Grabbed the Dome Fossil for later. Exited at level 24. Got to Cerulean and fought the trainers in the gym. Barely didn't get enough to level, so fought a few fodder Pokemon in Route 4 to level me up to 25 and get the evolution. I knew there was no way I'd be able to take on Misty right now.

Now that I have a Graveler, I tried the Misty fight once. Staryu one shot me with Water Pulse. Time to go after the Nugget Bridge, I guess! One of two things will have to happen - either I'm going to need to be faster than the Staryu or be able to take a hit. The problem here is that Staryu is fast, and will probably be around 40 speed...which is quite a bit away for me. Starmie is even faster, probably around 60, if I'm doing the math right. This ain't looking good, but I asked for it!

Geico (Geodude->Graveler)
--Level 16 (after Brock) to Level 25 (arriving at Cerulean)
--Item: N/A
--Nature: Brave
--Ability: Rock Head
--43HP/38ATK/39DEF/16SATK/15SDEF/12SPD -> 70HP/66ATK/67DEF/29SATK/28SDEF/26SPD
--Tackle / Defense Curl / Magnitude / Rock Throw
 
Ultimate Rock
Kanto/FireRed #2

I went through the entirety of Nugget Bridge and the route out to Bill's house. Got that stuff done, then came back and picked up the TM for Dig. Decided to go ahead to Vermillion, and when there, I trained for a few levels (if by few, I mean going from 25 to 32) on Drowzee to get some SpDef EVs. I came back and decided to go ahead and try Misty again, with Rollout. In order to make it work, Staryu has to not hit me - I can outspeed it and hit the first of Rollout, but I need that first turn to be Staryu using anything by Water Pulse. I can tank the hit from Staryu, but if Starmie uses Water Pulse as well, I lose. I finally get one battle where I use Rollout, Staryu does Harden, then Rollout 2nd Turn, and then Starmie is out. It does use Water Pulse, but from full HP I drop to 12. That's a range, I know, because the previous run I got this far and got OHKO from Water Pulse. However, this is enough to net me the win.

From there, I go after every trainer in the S.S. Anne, defeat Rival Apollo, and then get Cut. I grab the Farfetch'd to be able to use Cut (and later Fly), and then I take on every trainer in the gym before Lt. Surge. Surge, of course, goes down easy to Magnitude. I held off on teaching Dig, because I knew Onix was coming up...and, in hindsight, it didn't matter because I completely forgot you can buy Dig at Celadon.

I know I'm getting high up in levels, and I'm going to want to spend some time leveling Onix, so I head as straight as possible to Rock Tunnel, and it takes me a LOT of attempts to finally catch Onix. It doesn't help that my Graveler is sitting at 38 and the Onix are around 13. I finally get one, and naming it W-Allstate (y'know, because it's a massive rock wall of a Pokemon), I start the grind. I get up to level 25 with Onix, and then decide to head to Celadon. There, I pick up a second Dig (which is okay, since I might want the other copy for Rhyhorn) and let Onix learn it. It's at this point that I realize Onix is defensive, not offensive. You'll see in my stats at the end.

I give the grass gym a single attempt. Most trainers aren't that bad, and I learn very quickly that Rock Throw is outpowering Dig. It takes two trips back to the PC before I'm ready for Erika. The one trainer I did not like was the one with the Psychic Eggs From Non-Heaven. Confusion is very painful against my Onix, knocking it out. I was able to crit Rock Throw from Graveler to knock it out.

The battle against Erika. I decided to swap and not start with Onix, but rather Graveler. First, I'm up against Victreebel, and my first hit is a Magnitude 6...which comes close but does not get the knock out. I get a Giga Drain for my trouble. Okay, so I need something higher than Mag6. Next try, Mag8 hits and knocks it out. So, that's good to know. However, on Vileplume, another Mag6 and it's just barely not enough. The Mag6 are just killing me. From there, fun things start happening:

- The fourth attempt, I get a crit Mag5, which knocks out Victreebel. Then I get a Mag4 on Vileplume.
- The fifth attempt, Mag10 on Vileplume. Crit Mag6 on Vileplume. Mag9 on Tangela. WIN.

Basically, what I learned is, at my level, I needed at least Mag7 to knock out everything. For all three, that kinda sucks since it means I only have about a 30% chance of making it through. But, I did. It wasn't too rough, compared to some things I've been through, at least.

Up next for Trainer Rocky is the Rocket Hideout, getting the ability to have the PokeFlute, and heading down to the Safari Zone to get myself a Rhyhorn. My plan for the four remaining gym leaders is to do them in the order of Koga, Blaine (after getting Aerodactyl and Kabuto/Kabutops), Sabrina, and then Giovanni.

Geico (Graveler)
--Level 43 / Brave / Rock Head
--115 HP / 113 ATK / 115 DEF / 50 SATK / 48 SDEF / 47 SPD
--Tackle / Rollout / Magnitude / Rock Throw

W-Allstate (Onix)
--Level 27 / Hasty / Sturdy
--60 HP / 34 ATK / 89 DEF / 21 SATK / 36 SDEF / 56 SPD
--Rage / Dig / Bind / Rock Throw
 
User: Poke Fan Number 489.
Type: Fire
Game: Radical Red Single
Fun Fact: I am writing this while playing this game. I am scared.
I name myself Pyro and my rival Mix-up. I turn on minimal grinding mode and easy mode, because come on I'm still going to have a worse time than most. I now have a hell of a option, what region do I pick from. The real question is quite odd if I'm honest as the question isn't which fire type, but do I a flying, dark, fighting, psychic. Then I noticed something funny Kanto isn't on the list and only blaziken has a mega.
:Milestone 1 reached "It's dangerous to go alone, take this":
Fight One: Mix-Up Oak's Lab. This fight isn't really interesting. However we now have to say hello to KFC, The Kicking Fire Chicken, and beat Mix's little lizard into the tiles or I would say that, but turns out he has a turtle. Lmao. Fight start now, so let's go. Nothing much to say, but squirtle has false swipe some reason, and got a crit with it. Still won cause KFC is a chad and doesn't get beaten by turtles.
:Milestone 2 reached "I hate turtles":
Nothing much to say until the milestone, but KFC learned quick attack. Then I went in a pokemon center and unlocked following mons.
:Milestone 3 reached "Follow Me":
I unlock the old rod, bet that's gonna be super useful. I also get the parcel and become an errand boy. I then get the pokedex.
:Milestone 4 reached "Incomplete useless feat":
Map time
:Milestone 5 reached "I'm the map":
I talk to the old man, but he doesn't bother teaching me to catch, because this is a difficulty hack. Grind time. I come across a panpour, but I don't do NFTs, so I kill it. I also find a applin. I love apple sauce, so I smash it. I can't tell jokes about all the thing I killed, but I did run from like fifty roggenrolas. I don't fight the optional rival battle. i get the dexnav, and the national dex. plus a bunch of oran berries.
I replace ember with incinerate. ayo what the :Redacted:. It's secondary rival time. Brenden. I am already overleveled. nice. I gain exp share, and a stat scanner. I then smash the dreams of a bug catcher.
:Milestone 6 reached "Bug Catcher meet Dream Smasher":
I repeat this many times. even a surskit falls to the chicken invader, and the forest falls to the might of incinerate. I find a pikachu, and in a unrelated note I have beaten a pikachu. I then learn peck, because this isn't enough of a sweep. I come across a none bug trainer, in fact they hate bugs she had a togepi, with a stupid high defense. Pain. and a audino. pain 2. I hate this game, I just got confusion hacked into oblivion. In viridian forest. I decide to fight my optional rival fight. I win. I have a plan to murder the lass. Find an ally and switch away my confusion. I find many cool mons, none fire. UNTIL I FIND A HOUNDOUR. I catch it and name them Blaze.
But I need to end here. It's late, and I'm tired. good night this is poke fan. Signing off.
 
Pokemon Gold: Mono-Ground
Veteran George, Update 5 (Route 38 -> Cianwood City):

Two gyms in one update! I went all the way to Cianwood City, and fought Chuck. His Primeape was a pushover, going down to my Sandslash. His Poliwrath, on the other hand, OHKOed both my Sandslash and my Steelix. Then it inexplicably wasted most of its turns on Mind Reader and the occasional failed Hypnosis, allowing my Donphan to get off five Mud Slaps and then Headbutt it to win me my fifth gym badge. Jasmine's Magnemite were both pushovers, but her Steelix managed to OHKO my Golem with Iron Tail. My Quagsire KOed it with Surf though. Not too exciting, but I'm expecting Pryce to be an interesting boss fight for the next update.


Current Team:

Spoiler:
 
Last edited:
Pokemon Gold: Mono-Ground
Veteran George, Update 6 (Route 42 -> Ice Path):

Another short update. I went up through Route 42 through Mahogany, then went to fight the Red Gyarados. Since I have no use for a non-ground type, I fainted it with my Nidoking's ThunderPunch. It was tough enough to survive the first ThunderPunch despite the 4x electric weakness, but it went down to the second. The Team Rocket HQ was mostly a pushover as well. Pryce ended up being easier than I expected. His Seel went down to my Nidoking, but his Dewgong fainted my Nidoking. I tried using my Quagsire against his Dewgong, but the combination of my +6 Special Defense boost from Amnesia and his Rest made this matchup a total stalemate. I switched to Steelix, and Iron Tail managed to take down Dewgong and Piloswine.

Speaking of Piloswine, I immediately rushed to Ice Path to catch a Swinub, replacing Donphan (which has really underperformed compared to the rest of my team). Now I have my full team for the rest of the game!


Current Team:

Spoiler:
 
Last edited:
Quick update, since I'm just waiting for some work stuff to process, but wanted to catch up.

Short version: I now have all eight badges, and a full team of Golem, Onix, Rhydon, Kabutops, and Aerodactyl.

Now for the slightly longer version:
- Rocket Hideout = meh. Just a bunch of free experience, really.
- Pokemon Tower = meh. Same as above. Rival is kinda lame right now.
- Avoided a lot of trainers on the way down the east side from Lavender to Fuschia...because I'm dumb and didn't get the bike.
- Got the Rhyhorn and Surf from the Safari Zone.
- Attempted to get the Exp Share to plop on Rhyhorn...only to remember it's 50 caught, not seen. Spend a few hours catching enough to reach 50, and get the Exp Share. I give myself an hour of farming Mankey on Route 22 to get as many Attack EVs as possible on Rhyhorn.
- Fuschia Gym: Sucks until Koga...because it's mostly a Psychic gym pretending to be a Poison gym. Psychic hurts. Poison doesn't. Koga was, obviously, fairly easy. If I could hit it with Ground moves, I did. Otherwise, Graveler goes for Rollout.
- Ensure I have a Vaporeon for Surf. Fly to Pallet Town and surf down to Cinnabar.
- Get Aerodactyl and Kabuto. Yay.
- Fly BACK to Viridian. Each of the two newbies get an hour to grind Mankey. Sweet sweet Attack EVs.
- Fly BACK to Cinnabar, and do the Mansion to get the Secret Key to do the gym.
- Do the gym. It was super easy, though Fire tends to do quite some damage compared to everything else.
- Fly to Saffron. Fight every single trainer in Silph Co. Graveler wipes the floor with Rival Fival. Giovanni is Gio-GONE-ee, though this won't last (see below).
- Grind in the Pokemon Mansion for a day. Rhyhorn becomes Rhydon. Kabuto becomes Kabutops. Aerodactly becomes sad.
- Saffron City Gym. If something is faster than the Pokemon there, I can usually OHKO. The only ones that really ticked me off happened to be all the Mr. Mime. They all took two hits and would usually frustrate me with whatever they choose to do in the one turn they survived. Sabrina was basically Kabutops showing how much of a boss he can be. Slash/Mud Bomb/Surf just wipes everything.
- Back to Viridian. All the trainers were easy in the gym, but I had to attempt Giovanni twice. I got close but lost Kabutops early the first time around due to a couple of crits. Second time, I started with Graveler. If it dropped, that's fine, I guess. Can switch into Kabutops to perform cleanup duties. But Giovanni did stink a little here, because 80% of my team is weak to Ground. Made it through on the second attempt, though. As payment for his long service, Graveler is rewarded with a surprise evolution ceremony that the whole team attends.
- The final pre-E4 Rival is trivial, other than Blastoise. Yay. Pidgeot drops to a Rock move (Rock Blast or Rollout). Rhyhorn to Ground. Exeggcute to whatever. Gyarados to a couple of Slash. Alakazam to one Slash. Blastoise to two Earthquakes.

Next up: Victory Road and the Endgame. And levels on Aerodactyl. Lots of them.

Geico (Golem)
--Level 52 / Brave / Rock Head
--166 HP / 158 ATK / 160 DEF / 72 SATK / 80 SDEF / 70 SPD
--Earthquake / Rollout / Magnitude / Rock Throw

W-Allstate (Onix)
--Level 38 / Hasty / Sturdy
--81 HP / 60 ATK / 125 DEF / 29 SATK / 49 SDEF / 82 SPD
--Sandstorm / Dig / Dragonbreath / Rock Throw

State Farm (Rhydown)
--Level 43 / Hardy / Rock Head
--157 HP / 146 ATK / 112 DEF / 54 SATK / 49 SDEF / 50 SPD
--Dig / Stomp / Take Down / Rock Blast

Nationwide (Aerodactyl)
--Level 27 (yeah, I know) / Hasty / Pressure
--87 HP / 84 ATK / 37 DEF / 42 SATK / 49 SDEF / 88 SPD
--Wing Attack / Agility / Bite / Supersonic

Liberty (Kabutops)
--Level 45 / Gentle / Swift Swim
--Slash / Mud Shot / Surf / Absorb
 
Ultimate Rock
Kanto/FireRed Final

Elite Four is a pain. I ended up fighting Lorelei and Bruno a bunch of times to build up resources, both in level and in items.

Lorelei is generally weak to Rock, except her Slowbro. In order to get past that, I give Kabutops the TM for Giga Drain, which actually does a bit of damage, despite my low Special Attack. Big issue is that if Slowbro gets off two or more Amnesia, that's basically useless...unless I use a bunch of X Special at the start.

Bruno is another chance for Kabutops to shine. I take out the Onix with Surf. When Kabutop is knocked out, in comes Aerodactyl to finish the job, using Fly. It takes two uses of Fly to knock out Machamp, but I got lucky and Cross Chop missed. A little bit more of a challenge than usual for me.

Agatha took some doing. I tried to get off Rollout, and barely was able to take out Gengar, Golbat, and Arbok. For the last two, that other Haunter and Gengar, it was just whatever I could do to knock them out. I got so tired of retrying this fight (4 attempts in all), because these two like to have 100% accurate Hypnosis followed by Dream Eater or Nightmare. Neither of which I like, for obvious reasons.

Lance was actually easier than Agatha. One attempt, though I was expecting more. I set up Golem with +6 Defense and +6 Attack while Gyarados was out. Which I thought was interesting, because that Gyarados knows no Water moves. Best place I could think of to setup. Then it was a matter of Rollout. It took two turns to knock out the Gyarados (because Golem decided to miss the first turn). From there, any leftover Pokemon I had (i.e., the Dragonite because final hit on Rollout missed)...Rock Throw to knock them out.

And then it was time to heal up for the Final Battle. I'd think that after 7 regional runs with Bug, the Final Battle wouldn't make me feel so anxious, but it always does. Well...one final save, and here we go.

Because I took "Charmander" at the start, Apollo here is going to have Blastoise/Arcanine, but first up is Pidgeot. Pidgeot hits Golem with two Sand-Attacks, but I manage to get two Rock Throws in to KO it. Rhydown is next, and I manage to eek out one Earthquake before Golem goes down to the same. I send out Kabutops to use Surf, which knocks it out. Of course, Exeggutor is next, so I just do as much Mud Shot damage as I can, knowing I'm going to go down. When I do, Aerodactyl is out to finish it out with Fly.

Blastoise then comes out, uses Rain Dance, then proceeds to miss two Hydro Pumps. It finally hits one, taking Aerodactyl out. I bring out Onix, and use Sandstorm, to which it responds with a missed Hydro Pump. Then I revive Kabutops while Blastoise uses Rain Dance. I use Sandstorm again, to which is tries one final time to use Hydro Pump...and it knocks out Onix. From there, I swap to Rhydon. I use the turn to Max Potion on Kabutops, while Blastoise uses Rain Dance again...for some reason. I end up doing a bit of damage with Rock Blast (not a lot, it was only a 3x hit), but finally am taken down. (Yeah, both my Rhydon and Onix seem to be rather low IV in Defense and Attack respectively.)

Out comes Kabutops, who uses a single Surf during Rain Dance to take the last sliver of HP off Blatoise...as a crit. Alakazam comes out, and two Mud Shots take it out. Arcanine is last, and I hit Surf hoping it doesn't miss or do some stupid range...and it knocks out Arcanine.

That...was a bit of a ride. I've definitely learned the bigger thing I need to be worried about is IV ranges and ensuring I keep a healthy stock of revive, potions, and X items. But I made it.

Kanto done - time to get ready for Johto!
 
Pokemon Gold: Mono-Ground
Veteran George, Update 7 (Radio Tower -> Dragon's Den):

First off, I evolved my Swinub into a Piloswine along Route 45. (I also caught a Gligar, not that I really want to use it given its abysmal movepool in this generation.) Then, since I couldn't challenge the gym, I flew to Goldenrod City and fought Team Rocket. My rival, again, was swept by my Nidoking, and all of the Team Rocket executives put up even less of a fight due to my type advantage over them.

Clair though... Clair was the second trainer to actually KO my entire team. I tried leading with Piloswine first, fainted a Dragonair, and then she sent out Kingdra and swept my whole team with Surf. Quagsire put up some resistance, but not enough to do any serious damage, and the other Pokemon were all 1HKOed or 2HKOed.

Then, I immediately reset and rechallenged her, swapping my Quagsire to the front of the party. This match went, way, way differently. Quagsire fainted the first Dragonair with two Ice Punches, then the second Dragonair was frozen, allowing me to set up Amnesia and max out my Special Defense, and heal with a Hyper Potion and Full Heal. Fainting this Dragonair leveled Quagsire up one level and taught it Earthquake. The third Dragonair, again, went down to a pair of Ice Punches, and Kingdra went down to three STAB Earthquakes, with it unable to bypass my ultra-high special defense.


Current Team:

Spoiler:
 
User: Panda280
Type: Electric
Game(s): Shield
Single / Ultimate: Single

First and Last Post

Hour beat: 14:47

Day 1
Spoiler:
.

Day 2
Spoiler:


Day 3
Spoiler:


Final team
Spoiler:

Day 4
Spoiler:
 
Last edited:
Pokemon Gold: Mono-Ground
Veteran George, Update 8 (Tohjo Falls -> Pokemon League):

After defeating Clair, the very first thing I did was go through Mt. Mortar and fight the one trainer there, collect any items I couldn't get without Waterfall, et cetera. Then I went to Tin Tower, again collecting items. I can't use Ho-oh, and since I'm not interested in completing the Pokedex, I just decided to faint it. My Sandslash pulled through with Rollout because of Ho-oh's 4x Rock weakness. Then, finally, I made my way to Victory Road. My rival was swept by my Nidoking yet again.

Will was the hardest of the Pokemon League for me to beat, and the only one who actually beat me. The first two times, he fainted all my Pokemon with Psychic. The third time, I was lucky enough to avoid criticals early on and was able to set up 3x Amnesia with Quagsire, allowing it to tank Will's Psychic and other Special attacks and solo him.

I expected Koga to be the easiest of the Elite 4, due to my type advantage, but he ended up being moderately difficult. Ariados went down to Nidoking's Fire Punch, but Venomoth fainted Nidoking with Psychic. Steelix beat Venomoth, but went down to a critical Swift from Forretress because I got too cocky and didn't heal it. Then Golem soloed the rest of his team. Forretress with Fire Punch, Muk with Earthquake, and Crobat with Rock Throw.

Bruno was unexpectedly the easiest of the Elite 4, though I was expecting him to be the hardest because I forgot that I had a Pokemon (Nidoking) that resisted Fighting. My Sandslash beat both his Hitmontop and Hitmonchan, and then my Nidoking beat his other three Pokemon. Nidoking got Swaggered early on, which boosted my Shadow Ball a lot and didn't hurt me very much.

Karen switched out her Umbreon into Houndoom immediately, and it was 1HKOed by a critical Earthquake by my Steelix. Probably the dumbest thing I've seen the AI do this playthrough. Steelix fainted her Umbreon, but was fainted by her Vileplume. Nidoking fainted her Vileplume with Fire Punch, but got Whirlwinded out by Murkrow. Golem ended up being brought in by Whirlwind, which was fine, and it fainted both Murkrow and Gengar, neither of which did much of anything to it. (Gengar even used Curse as Karen's last Pokemon, weakening it right before it got Earthquaked.)

Lance was almost as difficult as Will, but he never KOed me. I started off by Amnesia'ing my Quagsire again, but he got a critical Hyper Beam and fainted it. A Max Revive and three more Amnesias later, I Ice Punched it some more with Quagsire, fainting it. A Dragonite then got another critical Hyper Beam and KOed my Quagsire. I sent out my Nidoking to stall while I healed Quagsire, then slowly whittled his Dragonite down with Shadow Ball, and ended up unexpectedly fainting it after it missed three consecutive Hyper Beams. I switched out my Nidoking for a Piloswine and Blizzarded his second Dragonite. Then, I switched to Quagsire, which KOed his Charizard with Surf and his last Dragonite with Ice Punch. His Aerodactyl fainted my Quagsire, so I switched to Sandslash, confused it with DynamicPunch, then switched to Steelix and finished it off with Iron Tail.

Even though I've now beaten this challenge, I'm still going to continue onwards to Kanto and get the other Gym Badges. I'm probably going to try to beat Red as well, but I'm not certain if I'll go for it because the level curve is so steep.


Current Team:

Spoiler:
 
Pokemon Gold: Mono-Ground
Veteran George, Update 9 (S.S. Aqua -> Fuchsia City):

Four gym badges in one update, today! I went for Vermilion Gym first because I arrived there first and had a major type advantage. Lt. Surge was easily the easiest boss fight I've ever faced in a Pokemon game, and that's saying something. None of his Pokemon knew a single damaging move that wasn't electric or normal type, and my Steelix 1HKOed his entire team with Earthquake.

I had planned to go to Fuchsia City next, but due to the Snorlax in the way I had to go through Saffron and Celadon first, and I decided to hit their gyms along the way even though they're some of the harder gyms, given my monotype.

Sabrina was more of a challenge, but sadly only had three Pokemon. I sent out my Quagsire to faint her Espeon, setting up a single Amnesia and then Earthquaking it. Sabrina sent out her Mr. Mime, which got a critical and fainted Quagsire, then, when I sent out Steelix, it Baton Passed a Barrier to Alakazam, which was fainted by my Steelix. Mr. Mime came back and fainted my Steelix, then I sent out Nidoking and used a Shadow Ball to finish it off.

For Erika, I led with Steelix again (picking Quagsire as my Pokemon to leave in the PC so I can use Cut to enter the gym), which may not have been the best strategy, but it did faint Erika's Tangela. Her Victreebel fainted my Steelix, and I sent out my Piloswine. Victreebel used Sunny Day instead of an attacking move, allowing me to Blizzard it, then I used another Blizzard against Jumpluff. Her Bellossom SunnyBeamed my Piloswine away, then I switched to Nidoking and Fire Punched it. She healed her Bellossom and Sunny Day wore off, then I did two more Fire Punches while she charged another SolarBeam, and fainted it right before it would've hit and fainted Nidoking.

Janine was a pushover, but not quite as much as Lt. Surge. I, again, led with Steelix, and her Crobat did manage to do some damage to it by confusing it and then using Screech. However, her two bugs ended up being 2HKOed by Steelix, and then the AI had the brilliant idea to have both her Weezing use Explosion on my Steelix, losing her the battle. She did faint my Steelix with the second Explosion, but I still had all five of my other Pokemon and she had none left, so I have no clue why the AI did that.

I also tried to see if I could go to Pewter through Cerulean, but sadly it's blocked off as well, as is going through the ocean south of Fuchsia. Misty isn't in her gym, so I suppose I have to go fix the power plant to progress further.

Current Team:

Spoiler:
 
Update 7

Gyms Completed:
Brock
Misty
Lt. Surge
Erika
Koga
Sabrina
Blaine
Giovanni

Current Team:
Magnus - Charizard
Rusty - Flareon
Suki - Ninetales

After training up my Pokemon enough, I fought and beat my rival on Route 22, then made my way to and through Route 23 and Victory Road. I struggled through Lorelei, but eventually was able to beat her. I breezed through Bruno and Agatha thanks to Magnus and Rusty, but struggled to get past Lance's Gyrados and Aerodactyl. Once I got past those two, however, I was able to sweep through the rest of his team pretty easily thanks to Magnus knowing Dragon Claw. Finally, I faced my rival, and defeated him on the first try after a grueling battle through his Blastoise. I went into the Hall of Fame, and let the credits roll.

My adventure is far from over, though. Stay tuned for my adventure through the Sevii Islands and rematch of the Elite Four.
 
Time for the tldr post. I played for a couple days but was away from my computer, so here's where I'm at with HeartGold.

Ultimate Rock
Johto/HeartGold #1

Started out with Geodude, since it's the first you can catch. When I got to Violet City, I picked up the egg for Slugma, since that'll evolve to Magcargo. Trained up a little, then took on Faulkner, who of course was easy.

Picked up Onix on my way through the cave to Azalea Town. Bugsy, of course, was also easy. I used Slugma more than Geodude or Onix, and that'll come back to bite me shortly.

The first real challenge in the game was the battle with Silver, but only because of Croconaw. Neither my Slugma nor my Geodude had evolved at this point (Slugma won't be the end of the post, but Geodude at least would). Water Gun is horrible. For me, this battle ended up being luck, with Geodude having learned Magnitude at 15. I had to get lucky with what Magnitude I rolled. I believe it took about five attempts before I got a roll that let me get past Croconaw.

Next real stop is the gym with Whitney, and being Rock type...it was fairly easy. Contrary to my Bug runs when I tried to just rush it, I took my time and battled everything I could before the gym, so I was pretty well off. Magnitude and a couple Rock Throws, and I'm through.

Finally, I pick up my next Pokemon, Sudowoodo. This thing is going to be amazing when we get to Chuck, let me tell ya (well, I'll tell ya then).

I get to Ecruteak, and when I can challenge the gym, Morty wipes the floor with me. Then does so again. My team is 22-23 at this point, and I'm not making it past that Gengar. So, I grind until my Geodude evolves, and then come back. This time, I try alternating Rock Blast / Rollout, and FINALLY am able to win. The biggest concern here was Gengar, but really only because it has a much better Special Attack than my Special Defense could ever hope to survive.

I make it over to Olivine, do the stuff for the lighthouse, and then head down to Cianwood. I want Fly asap, so I attempt the gym. The first issue here is that the Primeape likes to use Double Team. So, I bring out Sudowoodo to take care of it. Faint Attack is perfect for these opportunities. But, Poliwrath is another matter. It knowing Surf sucks.

So, I remind myself I have one other Pokemon I can pick up, so I go back to Olivine and get the Good Rod, and head all the way back (on foot, unfortunately) to just south of Goldenrod, and pick up a Corsola by fishing. Good thing I went when I did - it doesn't come out at night, and it was about ten minutes away from then. Trained it up a little, and now I'm going after the Poliwrath with something that'll better withstand Water. True, it's back to a 1x, but that's better than 2x or 4x on the others. With Corsola, I finally manage to make it past Chuck and can fly back to Olivine...but not before I pick up the Shuckle (loving nicknamed Shuckie) and train it for a while so it has high friendship, meaning the guy who owned it lets me keep it.

However, this is where I am now stuck - Jasmine's Magnemite are both level 30, and her Steelix is 35. I'm barely level 27 on average, so I am nowhere near ready for this. I decide to push on. I know the next gym is Ice type, which I'm strong against, so perhaps after going through that, I can come back and be a better match against Jasmine's team. I did make it to Mahogany Town, but that's it. I know there's the whole Team Rocket thing (gasp, I know) before I can do the gym, so even better, given the circumstances.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top