[Challenge] The Monotype Challenge Returns

[limeemil]

Pokémon Fire Red Dragon Monotype Challenge Finale

My progress:

Spoiler:

Beat round 2 of the Elite Four today, which means that the Kanto part of the run is officially complete. Next up I will tackle Platinum.

- Headed to One Island to start the second part of the Sevii Islands side quest.
- Got the Ruby from Mt. Ember.
- Gave the Ruby to Celio and got the Rainbow Pass in return.
- Headed to Four Island and beat the Team Rocket grunts.
- Traveled to Six Island and made my way to Ruin Valley.
- Entered the Dotted Hole and reached the Sapphire, only to have it be stolen by a scientist.
- Went to Five Island to confront Team Rocket in their warehouse.
- Beat Team Rocket and reclaimed the Sapphire.
- Gave the Sapphire to Celio.
- Went to the Indigo Plateau and entered the Pokémon League.
- Lorelei was significantly tougher this time, since instead of Ice Beam being a 2HKO on my team it's now a 1HKO. However, a lucky crit on Dewgong saved the day.
- Bruno wasn't a problem at all. Steelix went down easily to Surf and the rest didn't like Outrage very much.
- In a way, Agatha was actually less annoying this time around due to the fact that Gengar no longer had Double Team.
- Lance didn't really pose much of a threat. Sure his team could do some serious damage, but so could mine.
- The rival fight went pretty smoothly overall. The only part that was kinda annoying was his Alakazam. Not because he posed much of a threat towards me, but because a Return from Tiki just BARELY failed to OHKO it. Since Alakazam was his second to last pokémon this resulted in him spamming all his remaining Full Restores on it. Thankfully he eventually ran out and I could finish the fight since his last pokémon, Exeggutor, couldn't really do much.

Final team:

Spoiler:

Tiki the Hardy Dragonite Lv. 75
Inner Focus
- Return
- Fly
- Brick Break
- Earthquake

Nowi the Mild Dragonite Lv. 76
Inner Focus
- Outrage
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Thunderbolt

 

[FactoriesFarAway]

Platinum Bug Monotype – Part 8 - Cyrus and Badge 8

Spoiler:

After lots of grinding, I can gladly say I'm almost done. Grinding was kind of awkward though, as I used the daily respawning trainers to grind (Pokemon Center and Café ones). I was away from home without my Platinum cart from Saturday-Wednesday meaning I couldn't grind during that time, was busy all day on Thursday, and I fixed my 2DS' clock on Friday which meant I couldn't do any in-game events until the clock rolled over to Saturday. So I hadn't actually played in over a week.

After grinding out my Vespiquen to level 57, I gave it the two Rare Candies I had to get it to 59 before Cyrus. Cyrus was still annoying, as I couldn't X item boost Vespiquen as, if Houndoom crit me, in most cases I was dead. Luckily, Pressure does help with PP Stalling, which is something I admittedly didn't consider. I did instead just yolo it, and got two luckily crits. All of Cyrus' Pokemon are weak to Rock, so I spammed Power Gem except for on his Weavile where I used Attack Order.

By comparison, the Volkner fight was much more forgiving and I didn't struggle with it due to how overleveled Vespiquen was. I'm very thankful to say I only have the Elite Four to do now, but I know for a fact they're going to give me a hard time. Either way, once they're done, my bug monotype is complete. Before I fully put it down, I'm going to revisit Black and HeartGold as there's things I feel I need to finish off before I'm content with fully moving on. To be specific, Alder and Red, respectively.

TEAM SO FAR

Yanmega (Yanmega) ♂ Lv 44 | Hardy | Compoundeyes
Moves: Psychic, Pursuit, Ancient Power, Silver Wind

Beeyonce (Vespiquen) ♀ Lv 60 | Hardy | Pressure @ SilverPowder
Moves: Sludge Bomb, Gust, Attack Order, Power Gem

Wam (Wormadam-T) ♀ Lv 45 | Mild |Anticipation
Moves: Psychic, Flash Cannon, Bug Bite, Metal Sound

Hunee (Mothim) ♂ Lv 44 | Sassy | Swarm
Moves: Psychic, Air Slash, Silver Wind, Poison Powder

Bam (Wormadam-S) ♀ Lv 44 | Mild | Anticipation
Moves: Psychic, Rock Blast, Bug Bite, Captivate

Slam (Wormadam-P) ♀ Lv 44 | Mild | Anticipation
Moves: Psychic, Razor Leaf, Bug Bite, Captivate

Platinum Bug Monotype – Part 9 - Elite Four (finale)

Spoiler:

I'm going to admit it - this took absolutely hours of grinding to get to a point where I could reasonably beat Cynthia WITH battle items. It kind of turned into a solo Vespiquen run though, as my Vespi was level 70 and my other team members were in the 50s. Being above level 50 though, they'd all be considered "Elite Four Viable", I just concentrated on the one member who I feel could actually DO something of worth.

I grinded to a point where I could fairly easily beat Aaron and Bertha without using any healing items in battle, and it was that point where I felt like I could continue. After all, I needed items for Flint and Cynthia.

Flint, I just had to stack X items against. He would've utterly owned me otherwise. I spammed X Sp Defs, X Speeds and X Sp Atks on me Vespiquen, to clarify, and each of his Pokemon went down in one hit. It took a couple of attempts to get this strat down perfectly, but I did it in the end.

Lucian was not that bad as I had the advantage. Vespiquen didn't really struggle against him.

Cynthia, once again, I stacked Battle Items on my Vespiquen, as Spiritomb is really easy to set up against, and one shot all of her Pokemon. It was anti-climatic, but without them, she would've taken an unbelievable amount of grinding to beat.

I can say with certainty that I never want to play through Platinum with just bug types again, and I never plan to use Wormadam on a team again again. It was fun to try out at first, but they're just such bad Pokemon and became a clear experience hog. Vespiquen did surprise me in how capable it is, even if it's monstrously slow. I'm write down moves etc of my mons when my 2DS is done charging, but for now, I can say I've officially beat the Ultimate Bug Monotype Challenge!

Final Team:

Yanmega (Yanmega) ♂ Lv 51 | Hardy | Compoundeyes
Moves: Psychic, Shadow Ball, Ancient Power, Silver Wind

Beeyonce (Vespiquen) ♀ Lv 71 | Hardy | Pressure @ SilverPowder
Moves: Sludge Bomb, Aerial Ace, Attack Order, Power Gem

Wam (Wormadam-T) ♀ Lv 51 | Mild |Anticipation
Moves: Psychic, Flash Cannon, Iron Head, Metal Sound

Hunee (Mothim) ♂ Lv 51 | Sassy | Swarm
Moves: Psychic, Air Slash, Bug Buzz, Return

Bam (Wormadam-S) ♀ Lv 50 | Mild | Anticipation
Moves: Psychic, Rock Blast, Bug Bite, Earthquake

Slam (Wormadam-P) ♀ Lv 50 | Mild | Anticipation
Moves: Psychic, Razor Leaf, Leaf Storm, Return

Overall opinions and thoughts on the Bug Monotype Challenge

Spoiler:

Overall, the ultimate bug monotype challenge was a fun, unique and at times infuriating experience, but what I really loved about it was getting to use Pokemon I've never used before or had any intention to use, for better or for worse, as I'm the kind of player to get very attached to the Pokemon I use. Once I've done with the few things I feel I need to clear up in HG and Black before I can fully put down this challenge, I'll likely be uploading these mons to Pokemon Bank as a momento. Hopefully they can join me on my adventures in Sword & Shield! As for Monarch, Emperor, and the rest of the mons I used in Ruby and Leaf Green, they can't be transferred due to being on emulator, but I don't want them to be lost to the sands of time, so I've been trying to figure out a solution with getting a GB Flash Cart seeming to be the easiest and cheapest solution unless I can figure out a way to hack Pokemon that are essentially identical to them into one of my games, but it's not really the same.

To end this off, I'm going to say what I believed to be the top 5 most useful in-game, top 5 I've most warmed up to during the course of this challenge, top 5 underrated bug Pokemon and lastly, the 5 that I believe performed the worst. I'm only going to count fully evolved Pokemon, or Pokemon that at least have stats in-line with fully evolved mons such as Scyther.

Top 5 Most Useful Bugs:
1. Crustle - Gotten early, has a really good offensive and defensive typing, and is just generally a beast despite how slow it is.
2. Scizor - Again, its defensive typing is what makes it so good, along with its great offensive stats and ability. Just a shame you have to trade to get it.
3. Heracross - Usually quite awkward to get, but its offensive power and fighting STAB makes it worth it
4. Escavalier - See Scizor, except slower but bulkier and hits harder.
5. Scyther - Is this cheating? It's just a really good Pokemon in the games where you can get it early, and is a good Pokemon in its own right without the need for Scizor.

Top 5 I've most warmed up to
1. Shedinja - Before this, I saw Shedinja as a totally useless gimmick Pokemon, but it beat Steven for me and it straight up walls things that can't do anything against it. Ghost/Bug is such an interesting type, it's a shame Shedinja is so niche
2. Vivillon - It may be a Butterfree clone, but it's not bad for an early Pokemon. Both of its abilities are great, it learns some good moves and it's super cute. It may not hold up late, but it's strong enough to carry you through the first few gyms.
3. Forretress - Again, it's a niche and situational Pokemon, but exploding can be really useful to get rid of things that completely wall you. In fact, if you really wanted to, I guess you could keep reviving it and have it continually explode against the entire team.
4. Volbeat (in gen 3, at least) - Volbeat might actually be one of the best Bug Pokemon before the physical and special split happened, and I slept on him this entire time.
5. Shuckle - No, he's not particularly good, especially not in game. But he's here because he absolutely owned Archer when that fight would've been otherwise unwinnable at that point.

Top 5 Underrated Bug Mons
1. Durant - I don't see many people talking about this mon, but he's an absolute beast, you just get him way super late in every game he's in.
2. Volbeat (prior to gen 4) - See what I said in why I warmed up to it,
3. Venomoth - This Pokemon is stronger than people would like to admit, honestly. It's far better than both Beedrill and Butterfree (and most early game bug mons, for that matter), but would be seen as a much more viable option to people if you just got it earlier in most of the games it appears.
4. Scolipede - Godly speed and great attack, and gets really great as of gen 6.
5. Ribombee - It's a fairly fast fairy type. That's all it needs, really.

Top 5 Least Useful Bugs
1. Ledian - Everything about it is downright awful
2. Wormadam - Just don't bother.
3. Shuckle - I know what I said about him growing on me, but he's still not worth picking up.
4. Beedrill - There's better Pokemon that fulfill his role.
5. Volbeat/Illumise (after gen 3) - Horrible level up movepools and mediocre stats

The only bug Pokemon, not including Legendaries and Ultra Beasts, that I didn't get to use during this challenge were Dustox and Volcarona. I'll try to fit them into another challenge eventually.

Ultimate Bug Monotype Challenge Fin! (but to be continued in a bonus post)​

 

[ddrox13]

I don't have FR LG, but with Steel, I'm exempt, right? Doesn't Dragon have to do it with only one mon? Anyway, there's no way to "lose" right? Even if my team composition is garbage and bad moves I can just grind grind grind? Sorry, I've got oodles of questions, other than (mostly failed) nuzlockes challenges are new to me.

As Factories said, Steel and Dark monotypes are exempt from Kanto. You can grind as often as you like but that's like boooring.

And OP says Steel is exempt from a necessary Kanto game, but I feel that's an odd choice personally, as Kanto is necessary for Dragon type Ultimate even though there's only one Dragon type Pokemon in the game (you just have to use at least 2 of the Dragonite line on your team). OP has been inactive for a long time, so I feel it's something posters in this thread should probably come to a conclusion together somehow about what should be done with regards to that rule. Because to me at least, it makes no sense.

The Dark and Steel being exempt from Kanto thing is a rule carried from the original Monotype Challenge thread. The logic is less that there is only one eligible fully evolved Steel-type in Kanto and more that in the first games to feature the Kanto Region, the Steel-type did not exist. While point exist for and against that rule, I see no reason to remove it to allow players that choice.

But now onto the Important Part Of This Post

INTRODUCING: THE MONOTYPE CHALLENGE HALL OF FAME Spreadsheet Edition

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RD5_qSnZ_L2SxKUwFH9dFi2tysv1EFVBPnc_oYgTulI/edit?usp=sharing

This spreadsheet will eventually contain record of every Monotype Challenge, completed or ongoing, from every rendition of The Monotype Challenge thread. It is sortable and filterable and a lot of other good things that you just can't do with the bottom of a forum post.

It is currently up-to-date as of this posting with this thread's champions and challengers (plus my ult monograss because I'm special), and I intend to update it regularly. Feel free to take a look! Actually please do. It makes me feel better about this whole endeavor.

If I missed anything, or you have some legacy challenges you'd like me to include sooner rather than the next time I get around to copying Necrum/Volga's lists, feel free to send me a PM.

 

[Newfi Cheese]

This spreadsheet will eventually contain record of every Monotype Challenge, completed or ongoing, from every rendition of The Monotype Challenge thread.

Holy guacamole the dedication of some of you guys astounds me! As for the Steel type thing, I'll go for Kanto if I've got it in me, sorta like end game content. I mean 7 games has to take it's toll right? That's a lot!

 

[limeemil]

This spreadsheet will eventually contain record of every Monotype Challenge, completed or ongoing, from every rendition of The Monotype Challenge thread.

Whoa, nice! Took a look at it and it looks great!

 

[silphalion]

Newbie here. Have observed for a while, and just joined the forum. I've been looking for something more interesting to do while completing my living dex, so I've decided to join in on the fun. Decided to pick one of my four (ground, steel, ghost, dragon) favorite types Ground for the challenge, as it is the only one where I can get a complete team in all generations.

Forum Name: Silphalion
Games: Blue, Heart Gold, Omega Ruby, Platinum, White 2, Y, Moon
Pokemon Type: Ground
Single/Ultimate/Free Mode?: Ultimate

 

[silphalion]

Pokemon Blue Ground Monotype - Badge 1 and an attempt at 2​

So I started this challenge last night and quickly realized some things that I'll get to later.

Decided to start with Bulbasaur, because I can't remember ever picking him as my starter in previous playthroughs. Named him Leaf for no real reason. I quickly slogged my way to Rt. 22 and managed to get myself a Nidoran ♀ on my first encounter. Named her Girl. Then it took me forever to find a Nidoran ♂. In perspective, I got Girl at lvl 4 and fought all the wilds I encountered, and she was lvl 8 by the time I caught Boy.

Once I had both my Nidoran, I made my way through the forest to Brock, grinding my way lvl 11/12. This is where I made my first discovery. I should have chosen Pokemon Yellow, as Nidoran ♂ would have gotten Double Kick and made the Gym battle much easier. The fight was a little challenging, but I ended up using Leer twice whenever Brock's Onix used Bide to take no damage and weaken his defenses. I won, but it was a close thing.

After getting the Boulder Badge, I trekked through Mt Moon, evolving Boy into Nidorino, and then Nidoking, and Girl in Nidorina and Nidoqueen. I also caught a Geodude named Boulder, a Jigglypuff for future HM slavery and a Spearow for a future trade for another HM slave. Outside Mt. Moon I added a Sandshrew named Sandy to the team.

Then I had my second realization. By needing to evolve my team ASAP, Girl and Boy gained the ground typing already, making the second badge a challenge. I went through Nugget Bridge to Bill, and then decided to test myself against Misty. It...wasn't good.

I then decided I needed more training. Decided to head South and into Diglett Cave to train. Also added a Diglett named Whack-A (mole) to the team. I tried to grab a Dugtrio, but they were too high lvl and kept escaping. Ended the night there wit the 5 member team hovering around lvl 20-ish.

some pics: https://imgur.com/a/WB2jPMy

 

[limeemil]

Started my mono-dragon run of Platinum today. As far as I know, there are only two dragon evolution-lines available before the Elite Four, Garchomp and Altaria. Since neither of them can be obtained before the second gym (Gible is just out of reach since I need Cut) I hacked in a Gible, which I named Diablos. I have just defeated Roark the first gym leader.

Current team:

Spoiler:

Diablos the Jolly Gible Lv. 14
Sand Veil
- Dragon Rage
- Return
- Sandstorm
- Sand-Attack

 

[Aleimon Thimble]

I've also started with a Mono Dragon challenge on Sun. And I can tell you that Gen 7 is a lot harder than I remembered it to be.

It took me forever to find a Bagon with its 1% encounter rate (although 106 encounters - I counted them - is only slightly above the expected value), but training Bagon might be even harder. It levels painfully slowly and its stats are not exactly great, and it's a long way off from reaching level 30 (currently level 19). I keep on losing to random trainers and getting teleported back to the previous PC, which in one case meant the previous island. I needed a couple of X items and some grinding against wild Oricorio to stand a chance against the Fighting trial guy (whatever his name is).

I can't wait to finally get a second team member - Goomy might also be on the weak side, but at least I have some backup so I won't lose as many battles.

 

[limeemil]

Pokémon Platinum Dragon Monotype Challenge Update

My progress:

Spoiler:

- Backtracked to Jubilife City.
- Had my first run-in with Team Galactic.
- Picked up TM39 Rock Tomb, which I used on Diablos.
- Reached Floaroma Town.
- Defeated Team Galactic in Valley Windworks.
- Helped Cheryl get through Eterna Forest and got the Soothe Bell as a reward.
- Entered Eterna City.
- Headed straight for the gym, where Diablos evolved into Gabite.
- Challenged Gardenia. Turtwig and Cherrim didn't put up much of a fight. Roserade was a bit tougher since it two-shots Diablos with Grass Knot and managed to paralyze her. In the end I managed to pull of a victory thanks to Sandstorm + Sand Veil.
- Got the Forest Badge and TM86 Grass Knot.
- Headed for the Team Galactic building where I got HM01 Cut from Cynthia.
- Entered the building, and made my way to the top floor.
- Faced off against Jupiter. This fight was pretty easy. I used Sandstorm after she sent out Skuntank, which made the accuracy of her Poison Gas abysmal.
- Got an egg from Cynthia.
- Acquired the Bicycle.

My next goal will be to reach Hearthome City and challenge the gym there.

Current Team:

Spoiler:

Diablos the Jolly Gabite Lv. 27 @Soothe Bell
Sand Veil
- Dragon Rage
- Return
- Rock Tomb
- Sandstorm

HM slave:

Bidoof

 

[BlueWyvern4]

Starting up a playthrough! Was hard to decide between Ghost and Water, but decided on Ghost.
Forum User Name: blyvern
Game(s): Pokemon Platinum
Pokémon Type: Ghost
Single/Ultimate/Free Mode?: Free (hacking in Misdreavus since it's only in Pearl in gen 4 and I don't wanna wait till after gen 1 to get my first pokemon in the typing; will hack it in right after sandgem)

 

[silphalion]

Pokemon Blue Ground Monotype Day 2- Badges 2-5​

Today I really picked up speed. After a little grinding to get everyone around lvl 20ish, I took on Misty. This was another tough fight, but I pulled through, just barely. Boy had just 5 HP left. I think that's how much he had after Brock too...

After Misty was taken care of, I headed back to Vermillion City. I traded my spearow for a Farfetch'd, my Cut/Fly slave. By this point, clearing through the SS Anne was easy times. Sandy also evolved into Sandslash. Lt. Surge was more of a joke, as I expected. Whack-A (mole) solo'd everything with Dig.

A quick trek through Rock Tunnel evolved Boulder and WHack-A (mole) as well. Then I was off to Celadon. I made my way through Rocket's Game Corner, sweeping everyone, including Giovanni, easily. Since, I was on a roll at this point, I made my way to Erika. Whack-A (mole) almost 1 shot Victreebell, but was knocked out right after. The rest was easily dealt with by Girl and her Ice Beam.

Once I had my fourth badge, I grabbed Fly, then was off to the Pokemon Tower, where I picked up Bonesaw the Cubone. After clearing the Tower, I decided to make my way to Fuchsia City, battling everyone I encountered on the way. Bonesaw evolved into Marrowak during the journey.

Once in Fuchsia, I decided to take a stab at Koga first, not expecting to win yet, but gauge how I was doing. I was shocked when I solo'd his team with lvl 32 (up to 34 at the end) Bonesaw. He 1 shot'd both Koffing, 2 shot Muk, and was underground using Dig when Weezing decided to Self-destruct himself... In the end, he barely took any damage and I got my fifth badge.

I decided to head into the Safari Zone to get two more HMs and my last team member, Stonehorse the Rhyhorn. I replaced Boulder the Graveler with Stonehorse as I don't have any way of trade evolving Boulder. I decided to teach Boy Surf, Sandy Cut (there are a lack of good moves in Gen 1) and Stonehorse Strength. That means I'll only need Farfetch'd for Fly when I need to. I decided to end the night there.

Some pics: https://imgur.com/a/PpLzbHn

 

[Kimborelli]

Kimbo's Mega Monotype Challenge
Type 1: Bug Game 1: Part 3: Team Rocket and Team Completion ​

Spoiler:

Started going through the Rocket Game Corner. Steamrolled Giovanni with Admiral. Got the Silph Scope, healed, got Fly, went to Lavender Town.
Got to Pokemon Tower, beat Gary with Admiral, cleared out Pokemon Tower, went back to Celadon, brought Brimstone The Scyther from the Game Corner. Started training and heading down to Fuschia. On my way down, caught my final team member, Peacock The Venonat. Flew back to Saffron, took on the fighting Dojo. Breezed through with Brimstone . Then went to Silph Co. Whilst beating Rocket Grunts, Peacock evolved into Venomoth. Got to Gary and got destroyed by Charizard… Decided to knock out Cycling Road and Fuschia City.
Took on Fuschia Gym, defeated Koga using a combination of Peacock, Cabbage and Admiral.

TEAM

Duke the Beedrill @N/A
Level 37/Impish/Male/Swarm
Twineedle /Aerial Ace /Secret Power /Brick Break

Cabbage the Butterfree @N/A
Level 36/Quirky/Female/Compound Eyes
Psychic /Thief /Poison Powder /Gust

Monarch the Paras @N/A
Level 36/Quirky/Female/Effect Spore
Bullet Seed/ Slash/ Dig/ Spore

Admiral the Pinsir @N/A
Level 36/Calm/Male/Hyper Cutter
Vicegrip/Seismic Toss/Brick Break/Rock Slide

Brimstone The Scyther @N/A
Level 36/Relaxed/Male/Swarm
Twineedle /Aerial Ace /Secret Power /Brick Break

Peacock The Venomoth. @N/A
Level 36/Bold/Male/Shield Dust
Psybeam/Gust /Giga Drain /Stun Spore
​

 

[Newfi Cheese]

Moon Monosteel part 4

This has been eventful as hell! 2 more totems down, Vikavolt and Mimikyu, along with 4 new members, Boris the Bastiodon, Axel the Skarmory, Wall-E the Metang and Jingles the Klefki. I haven't fully decided on if I'll use Klefki or Sandslash, but theyll both be used for at least a short period. Vikavolt was surprisingly difficult, not like Lurantis, but definitely posed a challenge. Mimikyu was absolutely crushed, no comment there. So far, my team is feeling pretty good! Next totem will be ez clap thanks to Klefki, and we'll take it from there!

 

[mamoswineftw]

Back on the PC forums after a brief (6 year) hiatus. Haven't seen any posts on here for Pokemon Let's Go, and since that's currently the only game I've got while travelling (though if this bug catches again, going to have to remedy that) it's what I'm using.

Username: mamoswineftw
Game: Pokemon Let's Go - Eevee
Challenge Type: Single
Type: Poison

Current status: Boulder Badge ✔️ Cascade Badge ✔️
Thoughts:
- playing without abilities takes some getting used to
- Kanto with physical/special split is great
- second playthrough of PLGE, still surprised at how underlevelled the trainer battles are compared to original games, yet would class it as refreshing overall

Current team:
Rex the Nidorino, L20. Horn Attack/Dig/Poison Sting/Double Kick
Main battler, will be upgrading to Nidoking as soon as he gets Toxic at L23.

Manuka the Beedrill, L18. Twineedle/Headbutt/Rage/Poison Sting
Want to keep the nostalgia factor, actually has a surprisingly decent movepool and will be secondary physical attacker.

Venonat L16. Confusion/Disable/Headbutt/Poison Powder
Fresh addition, never used Venomoth before so excited. Special sweeper (ideally).

Whilst I'm not using them, I've caught every Pokemon available to now and am rotating then through my active party to take advantage of Exp Share. The game forces you to have a certain number of mons in the Dex to progress at certain parts so it's just easier this way.

Anyway, that's me. Good to be back.

 

[silphalion]

Pokemon Blue Ground Monotype Day 3- Badges 6-End. Challenge Complete!​

After getting my fifth badge and last team member, I went off to the Power Plant for some grinding and cleared the place easily, as expected. Then I made my way to Saffron and challenged the Fighting Dojo. I decided to be friendly and left without taking my prize pokemon. I quickly liberated Silph Co., nobody putting up much of a fight at this point.

Saffron Gym was my next target. I was worried, thinking Sabrina was going to be a challenge. The fight was a little difficult, but I made it through without any casualties.

With my sixth badge, I decided to skip Seafoam Island all together and flew to Pallet Town instead. I surfed down to Cinnabar Island and wasted no time in getting access to the Gym and challenging Blaine. His fire was no match for my ground element. This was probably the second easiest gym after Surge.

With the seventh badge in hand, I flew straight for Viridian and my final showdown with Giovanni. While going through his gym, Stonehorse evolved into Rhydon, the final evolution for my team. Giovanni put up more of a challenge than past interactions, but I prevailed in the end.

I decided to try and finish off the challenge that same day. Making my way through Victory Road, I reached the Pokemon League pretty fast. I was under-leveled, but decided to see how much of a fight I could put up.

Lorelai was the first and hardest member, expectedly with her water typing. I was able to pull through with only a few KOs. After healing up, I took on Bruno, who was a lot easier. Took him down with Surf and Dig. Agatha was even easier, Dig making easy work of everything but Golbat, who I Ice Beamed to death.

I figured Lance would be the real test. I was disappointed. Thunderbolt crit 1 hit Gyrados. One Dragonair froze with the first Ice Beam, so he went down easy. The second Only used Agility, so Ice Beam won again. Stonehorse surfed Aerodactyl down while resisting most of his attacks. Then came the mighty Dragonite. Who...only used Agility? the whole time while I ice Beamed him to death in three hits...

Then it was time for the final battle, my rival A! Thunderbolt took care of Pidgeot and Gyarados. Surf took down Rhydon and Ice Beam for Exeguttor. Surf made quick work of Charizard. I was most worried about Alakazam as I had no type advantage. All I'll say is Dig is a great move, especially when it crits.

After the final battle, the team was:

"Boy" Nidoking lvl. 52
"Girl" Nidoqueen lvl. 48
"Whack-A" Dugtrio lvl. 45
"Bonesaw" Marrowak lvl. 43
"Sandy" Sandslash lvl. 45
"Stonehorse" Rhydon lvl. 44

Overall, I didn't realize how fast Dugtrio was, that SLash always crits, that Ground/Rock typing is awesome, and that I would barely use Marrowak.

On to the next challenge! I was planning to do Heart Gold next, but can't find my cart, so will start Platinum instead.

Pics: https://imgur.com/a/50WIAM0

 

[limeemil]

Pokémon Platinum Dragon Monotype Ultimate Challenge

My progress:

Spoiler:

- Entered Wayward Cave in order to get TM26 Earthquake, which was taught to Diablos.
- Headed westward from Oreburgh City towards Hearthome City.
- Entered the Super Contest Hall where I talked with mother.
- Challenged the gym.
- Beat Fantina and got the Relic Badge.
- Faced of against my rival.
- Headed to Solaceon Town.
- Trekked through Solaceon Ruins and found HM05 Defog.
- Continued on towards Veilstone City.
- Entered the gym.
- Faced of against Maylene. The fight was pretty easy since none of her pokémon liked Earthquake very much.
- Beat Maylene and got the Cobble Badge.
- Faced off against Team Galactic and got HM02 Fly.

Next I'll be heading towards Pastoria City for my fifth badge. After that I'll finally be able to get my second party member.

Current team:

Spoiler:

Diablos the Jolly Gabite Lv. 41 @Amulet Coin
Sand Veil
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Return
- Rock Tomb

HM slaves:

Turtwig

Starly

 

[mamoswineftw]

PLG-E Poison Monotype

Had an impromptu catching session get up to 39 Diglett before calling it quits. Was struggling a bit with opponents (having to heal after nearly every battle), so got my main battlers up to scratch.

Cleared the St Anne, defeated Surge (evolved Rex into Nidoking and taught him Dig - easy as anything). Then had my catching session, which also helped to evolve some of the other Pokemon sitting in my box - Pokedex up to a nice, even 50. Saved just before Rock tunnel after Venonat evolved into Venomoth. Still gotta nickname that. Also, the game designers definitely accidentally switched Butterfree and Venomoth's designs way back. Makes way more sense for it to go Caterpie > Metapod > Venomoth and Venonat > Butterfree purely on artwork. Never used Venomoth before, but it's just so obvious!

Rex the Nidoking, L30
Dig/Double Kick/Toxic/Thrash

Manuka the Beedrill, L30
Pin Missile/Poison Jab/Rage/Headbutt

Venomoth L31
Psybeam/Leech Life/Gust/Sleep Powder

Keeping Persian in my party to ride around very fast. NOTE - only the above Pokemon are used in battles!

 

[Dadkota]

Forum User Name: Dadkota
Game(s): Ruby
Pokémon Type: Fighting
Single/Ultimate/Free Mode?: Single

 

[mishy.]

Water Monotype Challenge - Third Update

Black | Marko

Oof it's been a little while huh. Honestly between the fifth and seventh badges is my least favorite part of the game (other than Skyla) because I don't like the caves you have to go through during this part haha. But anyways I managed to make my way through Chargestone Cave, beat N, and then make it to Mistralton City. But of course I can't face Skyla yet because I have to go and fetch her from the top of that tower first. So up we go to do just that and then down we go so we can go and face here. Really, nothing of interest happened here. Also can't remember anything spectacular happening during the gym battle either. I think Cereal took mostly everything down with AncientPower with possible help from another Pokemon.

So Skyla is beaten and Jet Badge get! Things little slightly more interesting from here on because we started to head towards Twist Mountain and there was Cheren waiting for us to battle? Once we defeated Cheren Alder came out of nowhere and gave us the HM I have been waiting for: Surf. With Surf I was able to go back and fetch the last member of my team. But not before catching a fly slave because I didn't want to teach Oatmeal fly. Oh also around this time was when I finally decide to evolve Poptart into Simipour!

Said Fly slave was caught and we went to the Route 17 in order to catch our final member Waffles the Frillish! With our team complete I stuck the Lucky Egg on Waffles and battles all the trainers I could to level him and then flew back to Twist Mountain to make our way through. Waffles was in the lead for most of the Mountain too, and thanks to the luck egg by the time we got to the other side Waffles had evolved into a Jellicent!

The moment we got to Icirrus City we went to go and fight Brycen. Honestly this was the easiest battle so far as all it took was a Shell Smash and Cereal swept his whole team with AncientPower. Cereal is quickly becoming my MVP if not the very least my favorite but we'll see by the end of this run! After a quick heal we're going to be on our way to Dragonspiral Tower as we've been summoned there by Team Plasma. So see you guys next time!

Pancake (Samurott) ♂
Relaxed | Torrent | Level 41 @ Mystic Water
Revenge, Razor Shell, X-Scissor, Slash

Donut (Seismitoad) ♀
Serious | Poison Touch | Level 41 @ Amulet Coin
Grass Knot, Mud Shot, Acid, Surf

Poptart (Simipour) ♀
Hasty | Gluttony | Level 41
Acrobatics, Shadow Claw, Scald, Work Up

Cereal (Carracosta) ♀
Hardy | Solid Rock | Level 42
Shell Smash, AncientPower, Crunch, Waterfall

Oatmeal (Swanna) ♀
Hardy | Big Pecks | Level 40
Air Slash, Rain Dance, Surf, Roost

Waffles (Jellicent) ♂
Serious | Water Absorb | Level 40
Toxic, Recover, Surf, Ominous Wind

HM Slaves