[Challenge] The Monotype Challenge v8, Tera Edition

[StenirRPG]

Ultimate Ice Run
Sun / FINAL / The Rest of the Game

In this post (i.e., TL;DR)

Spoiler:

1.) Rest of Akala
2.) Ula'ula Island
3.) Poni Island
4.) Elite Four and Champion

The full read:

Spoiler:

1.) Rest of Akala
- The Mallow Trial was relatively easily. I start with Crabrawler, using Power-Up Punch. After surviving Solar Blade, I hit back with Brick Break, but get knocked out. The helper is Trumbeak, but I go ahead and use Drill Peck (Delibird) for the KO on Lurantis.

- There's a lot of last minute Shellder leveling in Diglett's Tunnel to reach L28 to swap Withdraw and Ice Shard. Then I buy a Water Stone and evolve Shellder. Supersonic and Spikes get swapped.

- For the Grand Trial, Cloyster uses Clamp to take out Nosepass, but goes down to Continental Crush. A double use of Power-Up Punch takes out Lycanroc, then a combo of Power-Up Punch and Brick Break takes out Boldore.

2.) Ula'ula Island
- Steel and Electric fights take two attempts cause I wasn't paying attention.

- I catch Alolan Vulpix and two Snorunt (one Male and one Female). I go back to Route 1 and catch a lot of low level Pokemon so I can use Isle Aphun. I get an Ice Stone after my first 12 hours and evolved Alolan Vulpix.

- Ghost trial sucked. Was going to use Pursuit from Crabrawler, but it knows a Fairy move that takes me out. Crabrawler, at this point, needs to evolve to stay worthwhile. But after a couple of attempts, I manage to take out Mimikyu, and then it's easy enough to deal with the helper.

- Po Town is a mad dash to Guzma and an easy battle.

- Nanu...urgh. Power Gem is horrible on the first time, then I realize that A. Ninetales is rather tanky on the special side, so I do some swap/healing to keep it alive.

- For the interlude at Aether Paradise, I didn't bring enough revives, but there are a few free heals along the way. Still waiting on the Dawn Stone.

3.) Poni Island
- Hapu's Grand Trial is one I fail at once but not twice. The second time, I start off with Crabrawler using Dynamic Punch to OHKO Dugtrio, and Crabhammer to deal some initial damage to Mudsdale. Cloyster then uses Clamp to get some of the back-up damage going, and then Icicle Spear. Flygon takes that out, and out comes Glalie (hooray leveling), using Frost Breath to crit and OHKO. Gastrodon proves to be the pain point, needing Freeze-Dry to eventually take it down. It was also about this time that I finally noticed my Cloyster had Skill Link. I thought it was weird that Icicle Spear was just going nuts with 5 hits all over the place. More on that later.

- Dragon fight very much sucked because it's Dragon/Fighting, and I lose quite a lot. I made it through because one of my Blizzard uses froze it and that was more than enough to get through the battle. I wonder how many levels I would have needed. Good thing I'll never have to deal with Fighting type trainers again...

- Nothing to mention on the story battles up to Rival Final.

- Rival Final: Hau. Glalie uses Crunch on Alolan Raichu. Cloyster uses Clamp on Flareon. Crabominable uses Close Combat on Komala. Then just throw everything at Primarina and clean up, if needed, using Freeze-Dry from Glalie for a win.

4.) Elite Four and Champion
- Urgh, do I have to...The short version is they all suck. Turns out Rock and Fighting are just as much of a pain as you might think, with Carbink (Power Gem) and Lycanroc (Stone Edge) being the pain for Rock, and almost everything in Fighting being a pain point. Oricorio is the biggest pain with Revelation Dance when it comes to Flying, while Palossand is just a little tanky for my tastes on the Ghost. It takes me a few passes, but I finally make them through going this order: Ghost -> Rock -> Fighting -> Flying. Flying is actually just a little too powerful even for my team. Just more evidence that Ice really is the Glass Cannon type.

- Kukui...oh jeez, this run was not going to end with anything but hilarity. Coming off of winning the Flying match with 1 HP on my Ninetales and all others KO'd, I end up winning with fight with some randomocity. Sure, we'll go with that. I end with no Revives left, no Full Restores, no Potions of any kind, but I eek out the victory. I used just way too many items to push through this.

- Lycanroc goes down to double use of Clamp from Cloyster. A couple of uses of Clamp on Incineroar nearly takes it out, but Cloyster goes down and Crabominable is up. A single Crabhammer takes out Incineroar. I get off an Ice Punch, but Glalie needs to use Freeze-Dry to get rid of Braviary. I brought Crabominable back to use Close Combat to take out Magnezone. Then I do a Ninetales vs. Ninetales fight, and it takes a lot of Extrasensory to take it down, but I do. Then, slowly, my team whittles down to just Cloyster for Snorlax. And I use my last X Atk to boost Icicle Spear...and just cross my fingers. Seven uses later (grr Full Restores) and I'm out of healing items, so I have to just go for it. I could only hope that I was doing enough damage. Body Slam was Snorlax's choice of move, so I was also worried about being paralyzed. But at 30 HP (yes, only 30), I Icicle Spear for the win.

Thus completes the Gen 7 of Ice. One more generation left on Ice, and I'm working on getting my Amaura breeding going for Pokemon Y.

Still waiting on that Dawn Stone, though.

Team Stats:

Spoiler:

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

Update on Pokémon Sapphire Ice Monotype Challenge:

I did it! It's like an elephant's off my back!

Spoiler:

I ended up saving right before Steven this time, and I'm glad I did because I lost to him three more times tonight before I defeated him.

In regards to re-challenging the Elite Four members beforehand: Glacia gave me a bit of trouble, but everyone else in the Elite Four was pretty simple tonight.

In my fifth, final, and successful attempt, Steven's Skarmory set up spikes instead of going for Steel Wing or even its usual strategy of using Toxic, so I ended up practically soloing his whole team with Ginyu the Walrein (aside from the part where his Cradilly survived Ice Beam with just a sliver of heatlh, and then I had to send in Jeice the Glalie before Jeice fainted). Yeah, Ginyu scored the KO against Skarmory, Claydol, Cradilly, Armaldo, Aggron, and even Metagross (in that order). I beat his Metagross unexpectedly with Ginyu's Surf this time. Metagross just missed Meteor Mash twice, and before I knew what was happening, Steven was admitting defeat.

Yes, Freeza has conquered the Hoenn League.

I don't feel like doing a full spreadsheet of stats, but here's the movesets:

Spoiler:

Ginyu the Walrein: Ice Beam, Body Slam, Surf, Blizzard

Recoome the Walrein: Return, Iron Tail, Rock Slide, Earthquake

Jeice the Glalie: Crunch, Shadow Ball, Light Screen, Ice Beam

Well, that concludes my fourth run for Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire. I'll continue the Water monotype run over time, and I'll probably continue the "game mastery" challenge with a Fighting-type run of Ruby in a few months.

 

[Explorer of Time]

Pokemon Sapphire Cross (Standard Mode)
Mono-Water - Fisher Marina
Update 1 (Route 101 -> Rustboro Gym)

I've had enough time on my phone playthrough of Sapphire to make it to the first gym. Like I said when I started it, this is going to be a lot slower than my standard playthroughs since I only play it when I'm away from home and I'm waiting for something. I caught a Mudkip early on, and then a Wingull and Lotad to give myself a party of three. Lotad was a little hard to level up because its starting moves are really weak, but it got a little easier once I got the Bullet Seed TM. Roxanne was quite easy given my type advantage, though.

Team

Spoiler:

Mudkip (♂) | Water | Level 12
Moves: Water Gun, Mud-Slap, Rock Tomb, Tackle
36 HP / 25 Atk / 18 Def / 17 SpA / 20 SpD / 13 Spe
Ability: Torrent | Nature: Sassy | Item: Quick Claw

Wingull (♀) | Water/Flying | Level 12
Moves: Water Gun, Growl, Supersonic, (Empty Slot)
31 HP / 13 Atk / 16 Def / 20 SpA / 15 SpD / 27 Spe
Ability: Keen Eye | Nature: Bold | Item: (None)

Lotad (♀) | Water/Grass | Level 11
Moves: Bullet Seed, Astonish, Growl, Absorb
33 HP / 13 Atk / 14 Def / 16 SpA / 16 SpD / 12 Spe
Ability: Rain Dish | Nature: Quiet | Item: (None)

 

[StenirRPG]

Ultimate Ice Run
Y / #1 / Six Badges and a Snag

In this post (i.e., TL;DR)

Spoiler:

1.) To The First Badge
2.) To The Second Badge
3.) The Snag and the Third Badge
4.) To The Fourth Badge
5.) To The Fifth Badge
6.) To The Sixth Badge

The full read:

Spoiler:

1.) To The First Badge
Starting with Amaura was an interesting choice. I start with an Ice move, Powder Snow, which serves to be helpful through the starting birds that come after me. But, it's also beneficial because as I make my way through the first Gym, I learn Rock Throw right before Viola. Makes that battle SUPER easy. Nothing like a STAB Rock move right from the first leader battle.

2.) To The Second Badge
As I don't have access to any other Pokemon at this point, I have to basically push through with just Amaura, so I ensure that I fight everything I can fight. There is a double battle, maybe two, that I skip because I can't fight them, but other than that, all that cash is mine (even more cash after Amulet Coin, like where does the double cash come from anyways). I do, however, pick up a Water Stone so when I can finally get Shellder, I am able to immediately evolve it.

As expected, Grant proves to be a little bit of a challenge on the first go around, but I've leveled up to 27 by this point, so I have both Aurora Beam and Ancient Power (benefits of a single mon run to this point). I also taught Return, because Amaura has Refrigerate; this at least gives me a decent physical move even though I'm not a physical attacker by any means.

The second attempts goes way better than the first, netting me the second badge.

3.) The Snag and the Third Badge
On the way into Geosenge town, I pick up my first teammate, Eevee. Can't do much with it right now, other than get it some levels.

I. Hate. Lucario. Welcome to the 3 hour nightmare. Fighting two Lucario is an utter pain. The solution? Fight at 30. Nope. 33? Nope. 35? Nope. 38? Nope. Evolved and level 41? Yes. I tried at ever one of the DARTs (what I like to call the DA-mage R-ounding T-hresholds). Ever since I've learned about those, I've been focused on retrying things when I get stuck at the next -0, -3, -5, or -8 level. It helps, because instead of trying after every level, which I could theoretically do, it gives me a goal to aim for and focus on so I don't get frustrated. Just...that battle sucks. (A Fighting/Steel combo against a Ice/Rock combo? Just loads of pain thinking about it.)

Whether it's hilarious or not, I have 0 trouble with the actual Fighting gym. 'Nuff said and moving on.

4.) To The Fourth Gym
I pick up the Lapras, as I'm sure we all did, teach it Surf, and welcome it to the party. Then I make my way into Coumarine City, pick up the Good Rod, and backtrack all the way to Route 8. There, I fish for a Shellder, gnab one, and immediately evolve it. Welcome to the team. This team (Aurorus, Eevee, Lapras, and Cloyster) will be my team until I make it to the Frost Cavern.

As you can expect, Lapras basically solo'd the fourth gym, given that it's Grass. Fun time and lots of lovely levels.

5.) To The Fifth Gym
The Power Plant wasn't much of a challenge. Sure, sometimes Cloyster or Lapras would faint, but I have almost too much disposable income so I'm able to splurge a little on Super/Hyper Potions and Revives. This is similar to how I approach the fifth gym, where I fight every trainer I can, even though I feel like they all must have been like "either he's an idiot to not know these answers, or he's just after monies". Well, I may be an idiot, but there's one thing that I'm not, sir, and that, sir, is an idiot.

6.) To The Sixth Gym
This is such a quick hop over to Laverre City and the sixth gym. Lots of Lapras action here, punctuated every so often with Cloyster. Still loving that Icicle Spear/Skill Link fun. No problems here, even though I can tell I need to do some simple grinding (c'mon game, give me more Trainers). My levels on my team are passable, but still, need more.

I believe next up is making my way towards Frost Cavern, so I'll be picking up more team members and getting Glaceon. Sweet.

Team Stats:

Spoiler:

 

[StenirRPG]

Ultimate Ice Run
Y / Final / The End of Glass

In this post (i.e., TL;DR)

Spoiler:

1.) The Seventh and Eighth Badges
2.) The Elite Four
3.) The Champion

The full read:

Spoiler:

1.) The Seventh and Eighth Badges
Well, got Eevee to Glaceon, caught a bunch of Pokemon (Bergmite, Pilowsine, Beartic, Jynx, and Vanillite) in Frost Cavern, evolved Bergmite to Avalugg, traded a Heart Scale to learn Ancient Power on Pilowsine, then a rare candy to evolve that to Mamoswine. I picked up a Snover also on my way to Anistar...when then evolves in the middle of the gym. Nice. At the end of the day, Mamoswine's the OP one with Earthquake.

As for the eighth gym, I got enough Rock moves where I can just smash my way through. In and out in under 15 minutes.

2.) The Elite Four
First, I head for Drasna given she's Dragon. The pain point here was a minute spent dealing with Druddigon. I assumed Lapras would be good, but it went down. Beartic took over and won against the rest.

Second was water. Clawitzer down toe Lapras using Thunderbolt. Barbarcle down to Earthquake. Starmie does a back and forth with Abomasnow's Wood Hammer and Full Restores, but Hail eventually gets the job done. Gyarados takes a few hits from Beartic before it goes down. I try Aurorus to Hyper Beam (using the ability Refrigerate), but it's too slow. Max Revive on Lapras in the hopes of using Thunderbolt after tanking an Earthquake. And boom.

Now it's a toss up between Fire and Steel. Fire turned out to be easier - Surf on Pyroar = OHKO. Torkoal same. Talonflame same. Chandelure is last and tries Confuse Ray, which causes Lapras to knock itself out when combined with Flamethrower. Beartic is too slow. Aurorus uses a few Ancient Powers for making a winner is me. Not too bad.

Finally, Steel. Double Hydro Pump on Klefki. Take this opportunity to switch to Mamoswine for Earthquake, but Iron Head starts to tik me off. Switch to Aurorus. Hyper Beam for the KO. Back to Beartic for Scizor. More Iron Head stupidity. Lapras for Hydro Pump for KO. Then Probopass is last and goes down to Hydro Pump/Surf.

3.) The Champion
Here's the quick run down, because this was fast:
- Hawlucha goes down to one Lapras Ice Beam
- Turantrum goes down to one Lapras Ice Beam
- Goodra tries to Focus Blast but misses half of them while Ice Beam nearly takes it out. Beartic has to come in to Icicle Crash.
- Aurorus down to Earthquake
- Gourgeist down to Ice Fang
- Gardevoir down to whatever I can throw at it until Aurorus, my starter, gets the KO with Refrigerated Hyper Beam.

Thus, I have completed the Ice Ultimate. That makes four. Wow, that was actually more fun than I anticipated. Time for the next one! I'm sort of even looking forward to going back and getting the five reruns I'll have to make to get in alignment to complete both Ultimates and Game Masteries. Though, 126 runs in total is...phew.

Team Stats:

Spoiler:

SIGN UP FOR NEXT ULTIMATE:
User: StenirRPG
Type: Electric
Game(s): Red, Gold, Sapphire, Brilliant Diamond, Black, Y, Sun
Challenge Type: Ultimate
Standard Mode / Free Mode: Standard

 

[Explorer of Time]

Pokemon FireRed+ (Standard Mode)
Mono-Normal - Lass Nora
Update 9 (Postgame)

I took a break from grinding levels in my event challenge to finally finish the postgame of my mono-Normal FireRed run. Apart from changing two Returns to Body Slams at the move tutor, the only Pokemon on my team that I changed the moveset of is Clefable, and even then only before facing Bruno in the League Rematches, though I changed a few held items. Paradoxically, even with a bigger level disadvantage, I had a much easier time here than in my original challenge, though this is by no means the biggest level disparity I've overcome, not by a long shot.

Lorelei Rematch: Like last time, Clefable swept through Lorelei's whole team after setting up a bunch of Cosmic Powers.

Bruno Rematch: First off, I used my TMs to switch out my Clefable's Thunderbolt and Ice Beam for Psychic and Reflect. Then, after setting up 6x Cosmic Power and Reflect, she took down his first Steelix with a critical Flamethrower and then easily beat the rest of his team. Bruno's worse movesets made this rematch way easier than last time, even with the increased level gap.

Agatha Rematch: I had Snorlax use Belly Drum and 1HKO her whole team, healing when necessary.

Lance Rematch: Before the battle, I re-taught Thunderbolt and Ice Beam to Clefable, getting rid of Psychic and Flamethrower. I had Clefable get into a Cosmic Power vs. Dragon Dance buff race, which she won, and Thunderbolted Lance's first Gyarados. He sent out Kingdra, which got a critical and fainted Clefable with Surf. I sent out Snorlax, used Belly Drum, and then 1HKOed the rest of Lance's team, healing as necessary.

Blue Rematch: I started by setting up Reflect against Heracross, but it got a critical Megahorn and fainted Clefable early, so I sent out Raticate, paralyzed it, used a Max Revive on Clefable, and used two Super Fangs to weaken it while I waited for it to faint Raticate. Then I tried setting up again, got critted, but on the third time I successfully maxed out Clefable's defenses, and dumped a bunch of X Specials and X Speeds onto her for good measure. I then 1HKOed or 2HKOed Blue's whole team.

Final Team Review:

Raticate was an excellent Pokemon in the early game, and Super Fang and Thunder Wave gave him a great gimmick to stay relevant in the late-game. If Raticate couldn't KO something, it very well would make my next Pokemon easily take it down on the next turn.

Wigglytuff really shone in the midgame, with excellent coverage moves and decent special attack. Her lack of decent self-buff moves hurt her later on, though, but she was still relevant up until right before the League Rematches, where her only role was to stand still while I revived Clefable.

Clefable was easily the team's MVP, with much-needed decent Special Attack and Cosmic Power to boost defenses to nigh-invincible levels if given time to set up. She pretty much soloed most of the League Rematches, and was excellent pretty much from the moment she first evolved.

Snorlax was amazingly bulky at the start of the battle, though not as bulky as Clefable once she set up Cosmic Power, and his bulk actually made Belly Drum not only usable, but practical. There were many battles where he was able to use Belly Drum, then 1HKO whole teams, and I often didn't even need to heal him right after because of his high HP and his Leftovers. A shame it took me until after the seventh gym to get it, though.

Kangaskhan was a pretty good physical sweeper, but my team didn't particularly need more physical sweepers. Still, she had a good niche as my only female physical sweeper, since many of the harder battles in this game used all-male teams and Attract could hit any of them.

Finally, Tauros was... not that great. Intimidate was a wonderful ability, but I didn't need yet another physical sweeper, especially one with this bad a movepool. Still, his high speed was useful, and I could put Toxic on him without wasting a moveslot because he really had nothing else useful available.

Team

Spoiler:

Raticate (♂) | Normal | Level 57
Moves: Return, Shadow Ball, Super Fang, Thunder Wave
152 HP / 117 Atk / 108 Def / 87 SpA / 80 SpD / 137 Spe
Ability: Run Away | Nature: Lax | Item: Lax Incense

Wigglytuff (♀) | Normal | Level 57
Moves: Body Slam, Brick Break, Ice Beam, Psychic
239 HP / 99 Atk / 76 Def / 113 SpA / 74 SpD / 83 Spe
Ability: Cute Charm | Nature: Docile | Item: Quick Claw

Clefable (♀) | Normal | Level 61
Moves: Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Reflect, Cosmic Power
200 HP / 106 Atk / 112 Def / 136 SpA / 122 SpD / 103 Spe
Ability: Cute Charm | Nature: Hardy | Item: Leftovers

Snorlax (♂) | Normal | Level 58
Moves: Body Slam, Shadow Ball, Earthquake, Belly Drum
274 HP / 150 Atk / 110 Def / 92 SpA / 150 SpD / 54 Spe
Ability: Immunity| Nature: Relaxed | Item: Leftovers

Kangaskhan (♀) | Normal | Level 56
Moves: Body Slam, Brick Break, Shadow Ball, Attract
187 HP / 134 Atk / 110 Def / 63 SpA / 105 SpD / 124 Spe
Ability: Early Bird| Nature: Naughty | Item: King's Rock

Tauros (♂) | Normal | Level 57
Moves: Body Slam, Earthquake, Iron Tail, Toxic
162 HP / 151 Atk / 134 Def / 72 SpA / 99 SpD / 149 Spe
Ability: Intimidate| Nature: Serious | Item: Silk Scarf

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

Well, apparently I have a job interview lined up. If I get the job I won't be able to start the YouTube channel any time soon, and I've officially made the decision not to start the channel in September as planned. "Reg, what the [[GIRATINA]] are you talking about? What does this mean for this thread?" I will probably work on scripts now, so I can start the YouTube channel in about a year. Maybe I'll start scripting the fifth monotype challenge in my series as I'm doing it. That said, I don't know when I'll continue my Game Mastery Run of Ruby/Sapphire. There's a lot of moving parts to this, so I don't know. I guess I'll see how busy I am at the job first.

 

[StenirRPG]

Ultimate Electric Run
Red / First and Final / Shocking, Isn't It

In this post (i.e., TL;DR)

Spoiler:

1.) Pokemon Listing
2.) First Half
3.) Second Half

The full read:

Spoiler:

1.) Pokemon Listing
Since Gen 1 is what Gen 1 is, and it's very straightforward, I'm simplifying this. I mean, I am putting the entire game in one posting. This time, I only get five Pokemon: Pikachu->Raichu, Eevee->Jolteon, Voltorb->Electrode, Magnemite->Magneton, and Electabuzz. I start with Pikachu since it's the earliest one you can get. I can pick up Voltorb just before Rock Tunnel, the Eevee in Celadon, and then the remaining two require Surf, so that's five gyms in (theoretically if playing it right; I mean, it could really be three gyms in, but I digress).

2.) First Half
- Pikachu going up against Brock is lots of Quick Attack
- Pikachu spamming Thundershock on Misty
- Pikachu spamming Thundershock on the Rival
- Catch Spearow and trade for Farfetch'd for Fly/Cut HM Buddy
- Lt. Surge losing due to Swift
- Get Voltorb, use Thunderbolt on it otherwise it won't get a STAB move
- Get Eevee, immediately evolve it
- Train Voltorb and Eevee so they get some levels (Eevee needs Thundershock for STAB)
- Switch train a little in Eirika's gym, but Swift is still the best move
- Rocket Hideout is just letting Jolteon go a bit wild

3.) Second Half
- Took east path down to Fuschia since I forgot the bike.
- Thunderbolt and Thunder for the win against Koga
- Get Surf/Strength.
- Fish up a Krabby using Super Rod and teach Surf/Strength for other HM Buddy
- Go to Power Plant and get Magnemite and Electabuzz
- Train everybody up to L40, or just above
- Go to Cinnabar Island and defeat Blaine with lots of Electric move spamming
- Do Silph Co run, using it to get some easy levels
- Do Psychic gym and cry because it's still a bit of a challenge
- Head to Vermillion and do final gym...which is easy trainers other than when they use a Dugtrio...at which point I cry against
- Easy final Rival style fight
- Easy Victory Road when you run from everything
- Lorelei - spam Electric moves
- Bruno - lots of Double Kick from Jolteon
- Agatha - more Electric spam
- Lance - lots of Screech to lessen Defense and then spam normal moves
- Champion - Wasn't too hard - Venusaur was a bit of a tank...makes me think about doing a Grass run relatively soon
- Start looking up locations for Gold lol

Team Stats:

Spoiler:

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

I'm trying to get back into the swing of things with the FRLG Water monotype challenge. I continued on from defeating Misty, and I beat everyone east of Vermillion, but ... Oh, dear, the game crashed right after Magikarp reached Level 20. I'm not redoing that grinding any time soon; that was brutal. I don't know what to do.

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

Pokemon Leaf Green: Water Monotype update:

"Too Long? Didn't read?" version:

Spoiler:

I now have a Level 26 Gyarados named Lakitu, and my Level 32 Wartortle knows Water Pulse, Dig, and Bite. I have the first three gym badges.

Full Version:

Spoiler:

*I Traversed Mt. Moon with just my starter Wartortle "Bowser" and the 500 Yen Magikarp "Lakitu".

*I've been catching some Pokemon I can't actually use for the Pokedex (eg, the Exp Share for a PokeDex of 50 caught) throughout this adventure.

*I went north of Cerulean to fight Rival Sonic. At this point, Bowser is really over-leveled.

*I did some switch training on the way to see Bill.

*I caught an Abra (for Teleport) with some trial and error.

*I beat Misty's Staryu and Starmie with Bowser's BIte.

*I taught Bowser TM moves Water Pulse and Dig (keeping Bite in his arsenal).

*I traveled south of Cerulean and caught a Meowth for Pickup (even though the ability is not bonkers like it is in Ruby/Sapphire).

*I left a Bellsprout in the Day Care, so it can evolve into Weepinbell for another Pokedex entry. I wish I could leave another one in his care, but oh well.

*I did a bunch of switch training east of Vermillion to get Magikarp up some levels.

*I did some more switch training with the VS Seeker on Route 25.

*Lakitu finally evolves into Gyarados which (of course) learned Bite but unfortunately not Thrash (for some reason).

*Went to a party on the S.S. Anne, turned into the Disco Duck, no big deal...

*Killed the Rival's Raticate with Wartortle.

*Turned back into the Disco Duck and got the HM for Cut, which I taught to Meowth

*I went through Diglett Cave to collect the HM for Flash and the Old Amber

*I defeated Lt. Surge's Vpltorb with Lakitu's Bite and his Pikachu with Wartortle's Water Pulse and Raichu with Wartortle's Dig

That's where I am now. I really wish I could catch a Water Pokemon with Fly in this Water Monotype challenge.

 

[StenirRPG]

Ultimate Electric Run
Gold / FIRST AND FINAL / Johto OHKO

In this post (i.e., TL;DR)

Spoiler:

1.) The Reign of Sheep
2.) The Rest of the Party
3.) The Last Push
4.) Elite Four and Champion

The full read:

Spoiler:

1.) The Reign of Sheep
Let's be honest - we all are here for the Sheep Mareep. It doesn't require much to get it off the ground. Thundershock is at level 9, so by the time I actually make it to Violet City, I'm ready to fry some birds. A relatively quick battle later, and I'm one gym down. I was worried about Union Cave, but if I just run from wild encounters and fight what I can, I can either use Thundershock to knock stuff out or have to stick to Tackle strats. By the time I make it to Bugsy, I'm already at Flaaffy (benefits of a L15 evolvution). Bugsy isn't a pain point either - two of his team just sit there and the last one goes down to a couple Thundershock. Whitney, however, requires me to be smart and use Thunder Wave to get more consistency. Then just spam Thundershock even more.

2.) The Rest of the Party
At this point, the game opens up a little. But only just a little. I get to pick up the last three members of my party. I get Magnemite just west of Ecruteak. Then, once I get to Olivine, I pick up the Good Rod and fish for both a Krabby and a Chinchou. Chinchou gets Surf, and Krabby gets traded for my final member, Voltorb. I train everyone up to 25 and then take on Morty, then go ahead and level up to 30 for Chuck. The only reason I spent so much time getting ready for Chuck was because my team is fast, but not super-bulky. Chuck's team can take them out faster than I could take them out, so I mix in Thunder Wave and Surf to make things faster. Jasmine wasn't a hard follow-up, but I went ahead to 33 before taking her on. Gotta stick to that Damage Rounding Threshold levels to make life more fun.

3.) The Last Push
The Rocket Storyline is Happy Happy Experience Fun. Lots of experience and leveling my team as evenly as possible. Other than Voltorb, that is. It's getting the experience boost from being a traded Pokemon, so it's me trying to keep up with that one. Unfortunately, as you'll see with the final stats, I don't keep up. After the Rocket Storyline is done, I go after all the trainers (as usual) with Pryce, and then go after Clair. Clair...well, is really the only hard spot in the run. I needed to get up to 40 on average to make it through. Did require some luck and Thunder Wave. But it was a funny battle because I kept experiencing these turns of both me and Clair missing. It reminds me of those turns we know exist in Wheel of Fortune where everyone gets Bankrupt and, upon broadcast, they skip all of that.

4.) Elite Four and Champion
Tried this a few times and didn't make it through, but then finally had a good run at L43...only to end at Lance. So, up another Threshold, to level 45, and we get a very good run going. A bunch of Spark and Thunder Punch get us through Will. Koga is also Thunder Punch, but in hindsight I think Fire Punch could have been learned by now-Ampharos and could have made life even easier. But I make it through Koga with little problem, then it's on to Bruno...which is just Surf-spam. Karen is one of those trainers that I like to call "middle of the road for me" - it's not a battle that has a lot of challenge to it, but it's also not one where I need to focus on a certain strategy to get through. It's just "use most powerful attack and get through". Other than the Houndoom - where Surf is nice. Lance, at the end of the run, gives now-Lanturn a chance to shine. It can easily make it to Aerodactyl, at which point it was on its last legs so I hope for Surf to go off. I know Aerodactyl is fast, but Hyper Beam misses so I get Surf off and take it out. Charizard is down to Surf as well, and the last Dragonite takes a few turns, but it goes down in the end.

Not bad. Felt better than Kanto. I'm starting to track with a chart three statistics for each run (how much fun I had, how much strategy I needed, and how hard it felt to get through), and then averaging them across the entire Ultimate. I went back and had a long think about each of them while rereading all of my posts. I'm going to start adding those ratings here after each run is complete. Each is out of 5.

- Fun: 4/5. This was fun, but having to deal with the challenge jumping from Pryce to Clair was a bit of a pain. That, and the last minute grind for the Elite Four were the only reasons I'm not giving it 5/5. It was, basically, only just starting to not get fun.
- Ease: 4/5. For the same reason as fun - it was easy, but I don't like having to brute force sections. Still an early gen though, so I'm a little forgiving.
- Thought: 2/5. I didn't really have to think for most of it, but I did have to think about whether I wanted to use this TM on that Pokemon. Or if I wanted to use it at all. There were a few points that I thought for ten or fifteen seconds when learning new moves, but fairly simple thoughts.

For Gen 1, in case you were wondering, I gave 3/4/2 for the scores. Higher is better on Fun and Ease, while lower is better on Thought. The chart I'm building has Fun and Ease on X/Y Axis, and bubble size being based on average thought score.

Well, next time, Electrike gets me started in Sapphire.

Team Stats:

Spoiler:

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

Pokémon Leaf Green: Water Monotype Challenge Update!

This update's pretty short, so there won't be a TLDR version.

Spoiler:

I traversed Rock Tunnel and ended up in Lavender Town. I took on my rival mourning his Raticate I killed and made him watch my Wartortle evolve right in front of his eyes. I took on the Rocket Hideout in Celadon and then defeated Gym Leader Erika. Since Gyarados was paralyzed, I had to send in Blastoise for her Vileplume, so I ended up stalling out until it ran out of "Giga Drain" PP (Yes, I cheesed it).

I went back to Lavender Town to rescue Dr. Fuj--Err, I mean, Mr. Fuji. I woke up the Route 12 Snorlax and caught it for the PokéDex.

Also, I taught my Gyarados Thunderbolt after cashing in an exorbitant amount of money at the Rocket Game Corner prize center. Quite frankly, life in exile is too good for Boss Rocket.

I finally caught a second team member: a Poliwhirl named Wart (the villain of Super Mario Bros. 2 USA).

EDIT: I forgot to mention that when I got to Celadon, I kind of stole an Eevee and evolved it into a Vaporeon, which I only really used to whittle down HP of Pokemon I wanted to catch (like Poliwhirl and PokéDex fodder).

EDIT: I forgot to mention something.

 

[StenirRPG]

Ultimate Electric Run
Sapphire / #1 / Water, Water Everywhere

In this post (i.e., TL;DR)

Spoiler:

1.) Gyms 1 and 2
2.) Gyms 3 and 4
3.) Gyms 5 and 6
4.) Gym 7

The full read:

Spoiler:

1.) Gyms 1 and 2
Starting out with Electrike this time, since it's more likely to be found than either Plusle or Minun. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean much. I feel like I'm going to have five of the same Pokemon when you think about learnsets...but with vastly different base stats. My full team will be Manectric, Plusle, Minun, Electrode, and Magneton. Oh boy. I don't learn any Electric move until level 20, when I learn Spark.

Unfortunately, this means that the battle with Roxanne is nothing more than using a bunch of X Defense and hoping for no crits, and then using Leer and then Quick Attack to deal damage. I didn't make it through until level 19, but I guess that's enough.

Going to deliver the Letter to Steven allows me to get to level 20 and learn Spark, which turned out to be helpful in the second gym. Should call this the Spark run. Everything learns Spark.

2.) Gyms 3 and 4
I pick up Plusle and Minun, but can't get the rest of the team until I get Surf. I don't know which is sadder - that I get to use Plusle and Minun or that I had to give up two Zigzagoons to let them join. Pickup is so nice because it's got me a bunch of Nuggets and Rare Candies, which I decide to just go ahead and use to get my team up to 25. Wattson isn't that much of a problem, but I remembered Flannery sucking because of her Numel...only to remember that she only has two Slugma and one Torkoal in Sapphire. So, a bunch of Sparks later, and I've got four badges.

3.) Gyms 5 and 6
Okay, let's be honest, Gym 5 wasn't a pain in the butt. Another round of Sparking. Gym 6's trainers weren't either, but by this time I have my full team. Had to Surf to get here anyways, might as well get the remaining two from the underground of Mauville. The real kicker is that I had to level my team up to 33 to beat Winona. Why, you may ask? I'm Electric this run and she's Flying, so I should have no trouble, right? Her Altaria knows Earthquake. It's the hardest thing to work around. I had to get lucky with Thunder Wave to pull it off. Obviously, I tried my best to keep Magneton out of the battle until after Altaria was down. This was the hardest battle to win - took about ten attempts to get the luck necessary. If I had something better than Spark, I might have been able to take it down faster, but Spark was going to be a 3HKO on Altaria, while Earthquake is either a OHKO or a close enough that it was a certain 2HKO.

4.) Gym 7
This is where I'm calling it for this entry, because I'm going to be out of town for a bit and away from my computer. I'll keep playing so the next entry will probably be the final entry for Sapphire, and I'll have already started on BD. Let's talk about Tate and Liza for about three sentences: "They suck. They suck. They suck." The level jump from Gym 6 (30-33) to Gym 7 (42) when you only have a very small portion of game is just ridiculous. I was level 36 when I attempted it, and although I won, it took seven attempts. I got very lucky with them not hitting Electrode so it could run off Rollout and do some damage. Thunder Wave helped, but Spark just doesn't do enough. I plan on just replacing every entry of Spark with Thunder from the Dept Store. It's not a fun fight. I don't want to have to grind to their levels in the future, but Psychic just hits way too hard. Not a fun battle.

Onto the rest of the Aqua line. And then Gym 8 and endgame...

Team Stats:

Spoiler:

 

[StenirRPG]

Ultimate Electric Run
Sapphire / FINAL / Struggles

In this post (i.e., TL;DR)

Spoiler:

1.) Eighth Gym
2.) Having to Grind
3.) Pokemon League Summation

The full read:

Spoiler:

1.) Eighth Gym
Water wasn't much of a problem, except the Wishcash tends to throw me for a loop everytime I fight it. I got a little sneaky by setting up with Manectric's Strength being boosted with Howl. I did purposely mess up the final puzzle so I could fight all the trainers. Get that sweet sweet XP.

2.) Having to Grind
I quickly got through Victory Road, but my team was at level 38. This felt way too low for the Elite Four, so I tried at 40. Nope. 43. Nope. 45. Nope. The worst part? It added almost the same number of hours as it took just getting here just to focus on grinding safely. There were points where I was getting burned out. But I kept pushing forward...

3.) Pokemon League Summation
Okay, so I totally forgot about getting Lanturn, so I had to go back and do that. Which is helpful, because the attempts I made had problems at the Cacturne on the first of the Elite Four. I was now able to learn Blizzard, so that helps both for this, but also when I get to the Dragons. The main problem here is that I don't really have much to talk about. Take a look at my team - right now, there's not much variety. I was hoping someone could learn something different that a combination of <Electric damaging move> / Thunder Wave / <Sonic Boom or other normal-type attack> / <other random meh move>. I felt like I had six of the same Pokemon base, but with a little variation here and there. One had Water moves, one was physical strong enough to use physical attacks, one was /Steel, one was fast...but that was about it. They had their own strength they could call their own, but it didn't really help their movesets much. I did do some training while having my Pickup team in the party, so I got some extra PP Ups and Rare Candies to help speed things up, but it was very rough to get through.

I will say I was slightly worried about the Dragon Elite Four member, but I had all my Blizzards hit. Which was very nice to have happen.

As for Steven, the first time I got to him, I lost very easily. This time, it was a little more helpful to have Lanturn - Water moves are nice. Mountains're nice, too. It went way smoother having options of Water and Ice this time. Also, while Plusle and Minun are interesting, they are just two of the same Pokemon, really. I'm not as much of a fan as I thought I might be, and I, having been through enough runs (this makes #31) of games to know that I can easily be surprised, thought that they might do something to catch my interest. They did not.

I am very much looking forward to starting off Sinnoh in the hopes that they are much more varied.

Team Stats:

Spoiler:

 

[StenirRPG]

Ultimate Electric Run
Brilliant Diamond / FINAL / Nothing Like Being Grounded

In this post (i.e., TL;DR)

Spoiler:

1.) Shinx and the First Gym
2.) The Second Gym and Grand Underground
3.) One More For the Team and Third and Fourth Gyms
4.) Gyms 5 and 6
5.) Gyms 7 and 8
6.) Elite Four and Champion

The full read:

Spoiler:

1.) Shinx and the First Gym
Starting with Shinx is nice - it's a rather nice physical attacker to use. It has a nice set of moves to start with, because the combination of Bite and Spark is amazing for early game. True, Spark is at level 16, but by the time I've fought everything and show up to battle Roark, I'm at level 16. So, what do I do? Bite on everything with a Ground type, and then Spark on the Cranidos to take it out. Good thing I remembered that Rock isn't strong against Electric this time.

2.) The Second Gym and Grand Underground
At this point, I can get my next two out of the five mons I'll have. I pick up a Pachirisu right outside of the Valley Windworks, and then once I get to Eterna City, I hop right underground. There, I can pick up an Elekid...and it came with an Electirizer. Very useful.

It takes a little bit to actually get through Gardenia given that all I really have are Electric and Dark moves. Elekid has Hammer Arm, but the first one I tried to catch had Fire Punch. That would have been better but I never managed to gnab that one. Oh well - it turns out Hammer Arm helps me with later game Rock and Steel types.

3.) One More For the Team and Third and Fourth Gyms
I rush over and pick up a Pikachu from the Trophy Garden...and then cry because I can't seem to get a Thunderstone. I know I'll want to get one asap for Raichu, so I spend some time in the Grand Underground. The game, however, decides to be silly and gives me a Dawn Stone. Yeah, where was that LAST run with Ice? And then another Dawn Stone...and then finally I get a hold of a Thunderstone and can evolve Pikachu to make a Raichu. At this point, I now have a team of Raichu, Luxio, Pachirisu, and Electabuzz. I go ahead and evolve Electabuzz, so I'm sort of going in a little overpowered for Gyms 3 and 4. Which both are very easily dispatched with.

4.) Gyms 5 and 6
Before Gym 5, I make it to Celestic and drop down one last time to the Grand Underground, and head to the top left area to get my Magnemite. At level 33. So I hop back out and level if to 34 to make Magneton, then fly back to Oreburg and enter Mount Coronet and pop a Rare Candy to get Magnezone. Well, that was easy. Now, other than my Pachirisu, I'm really strong...too bad it doesn't last long.

Gym 5 is just a lot of Bite and Thunder Punches. Gym 6 is basically where I get through by giving Raichu Grass Knot and letting it tear things to shreds. First tries on both.

5.) Gyms 7 and 8
I'm not really certain what to say here, other than that I learn quickly how nice Magnet Rise is for my Sturdy Magnezone. It becomes an oft used set to get through the Elite Four, and it serves well here. No real issues, honestly.

6.) Elite Four and Champion
Well, I started in the late 50s, but ended up winning in the early 60s. I got to Cynthia three times, but couldn't pull through until the final attempt (well, obviously, right?).

Aaron is just use strongest Electric moves. Bertha is a mix of Hammer Arm and Grass Knot to get through. Flint is a Double Team set up from Raichu and then whatever I can take out, I do. And finally, Lucian is just hit hard and hit quick.

Cynthia...is an exercise in how to use a load of items to stay alive and have it basically be a good example of trying to outlast her. The only real problem points are Garchomp and Lucario. The first thing I do is try to do Double Team strats, which gets me up to Lucario and through more than half his health. When Raichu does get hit, it's a OHKO and I bring out Electivire. Turns out I was already past all the Aura Sphere uses, so I'm able to take it out with Hammer Arm. After Lucario is taken out, I stall a bit to bring my team back to as full health as possible, and then go after the rest of the team. Before I knock out Milotic and am faced with Garchomp, I go ahead and use Magnet Rise. Definitely helps. From there, it's a matter of spamming moves and hoping I can outdamage any healing she does. This final attempt does give me the win, although it was decently close. Had two down, one mostly down, and two waiting in the wings. It was a lot better balanced as far as how often I got monsters, so I think my levels were way better.

Well...time to start Unova with a Blitzle...

Team Stats:

Spoiler:

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

Pokémon Leaf Green Water Monotype Challenge Update

It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, I started playing this little game called Earthbound, and I wasn't diggin' it. Then I got past the Peaceful Rest Valley, and it got really good! I played it quite a bit. Other stuff happened since then, including a family emergency, which I don't want to talk about. (Nobody died, but it was a scary deal.) I've been whittling away at Gym No. 5 lately, and I finished that today.

Spoiler:

I walked through the swarm of Bird Catchers and Beauties to Fuchsia City. I went through the Safari Zone multiple times to finally have complete data on 50 species of Pokémon for the Exp. Share (not to be confused with the one in Gens 6 & 7, which has caused immense grief in the fandom). I also got an Amulet Coin, which is nice. I caught a Slowpoke and named it--Oh, whoops, I totally forgot to nickname it. I'll have to go to Lavender Town with Doduo's "Fly" the next time I play the game.

I got the HMs for Surf and Strength, and I taught Surf to Bowser the Blastoise, Slowpoke, and Wart the Poliwhirl. I also taught Strength to Poliwhirl, which ended up being a mistake because almost immediately after, "Body Slam" had to replace Hypnosis, which would be helpful for catching party members. Whoops.

Site Note: I'm glad I didn't evolve Poliwhirl with a water stone too early. Those dang birds, you know...?

So before I battled Koga, Blastoise was level 45, and Gyarados was level 41, and Slowpoke and Poliwhirl were around level 35. Koga sent out Koffing, and I sent out Slowpoke. Slowpoke was poisoned by Toxic, and I used Confusion, but then Koffing used Self-Destruct, knocking Slowpoke out. I sent out Poliwhirl while Koga sent out Muk, but Poliwhirl couldn't cut it, so I sent in Blastoise, which soon suffered from Toxic poisoning. Dang, Muk is a tank in these games! I knocked out another Koffing with Gyarados (even though Hydro Pump isn't as useful as I thought it would be), then I tried switching training with Poliwhirl into Gyarados, but Gyarados got down to 40 HP (due to the accuracy loss from Smokescreen). Blastoise finally took down Weezing. Soul Badge won! (Koga's kind of a jerk with this Toxic stall strategy.)

Well, I guess I'll see you guys in another eight years. Talk to you then.

 

[Explorer of Time]

Pokemon Emerald Cross (Standard Mode)
Mono-Grass - Cool Trainer Leif
Update 1 (Route 101 -> Rustboro Gym)

Now that I'm finally done with the GT2023 challenge, I have time for my next monotype, a mono-Grass run of Emerald. The QOL hack I'm playing this time is Emerald Cross, but I have most of the settings as vanilla as possible, meaning that the only relevant differences are that I don't need to teach HM moves to Pokemon, that I can delete HM moves without the Move Deleter, and that I can reuse TMs. I also have Badge Boosts turned off, which will make the late-game slightly harder. (I can also theoretically get a Roselia somewhere, I think, but I don't want to use it.) The hack has an option to add the Physical-Special Split, but I specifically set that option to "off" because I want to experience the Gen 3 battle mechanics exactly how they were balanced in the original games.

I started out with Treecko, caught a Lotad in Route 102 before fighting any trainers, then spent around an hour trying to catch a Seedot with Chlorophyll. The 1% encounter rate is really annoying, and the first three all had Early Bird, but the Chlorophyll Shiftry from my mono-Dark run of XD was so useful that I want to use it again in this run.

Afterwards, I went to Petalburg Woods, caught a Shroomish, trained it up, then went to the Gym Leader. Shroomish single-handedly defeated Roxanne. Bullet Seed 1HKOed both her Geodude. Against Nosepass, I had him use Stun Spore and Leech Seed on the first and second turns, then just spammed Bullet Seed until I won the battle. It wasn't close, Leech Seed made it so that Shroomish had only a single point of damage at the end of the battle, mainly because Roxanne wasted most of her turns on Harden, which was completely useless since my team all hits her with Special attacks.

EDIT: Fixed Seedot's gender. She was incorrectly listed as male when I posted this.

Team

Spoiler:

Treecko (♀) | Grass | Level 13
Moves: Bullet Seed, Quick Attack, Absorb, Leer
37 HP / 20 Atk / 12 Def / 24 SpA / 19 SpD / 25 Spe
Ability: Overgrow| Nature: Hasty | Item: (None)

Lotad (♀) | Water/Grass | Level 12
Moves: Bullet Seed, Astonish, Absorb, Growl
34 HP / 13 Atk / 14 Def / 16 SpA / 17 SpD / 12 Spe
Ability: Swift Swim | Nature: Quirky | Item: (None)

Seedot (♀) | Grass | Level 12
Moves: Bullet Seed, Harden, Growth, Bide
34 HP / 16 Atk / 19 Def / 11 SpA / 14 SpD / 14 Spe
Ability: Chlorophyll | Nature: Adamant | Item: (None)

Shroomish (♂) | Grass | Level 14
Moves: Bullet Seed, Tackle, Stun Spore, Leech Seed
42 HP / 20 Atk / 24 Def / 17 SpA / 25 SpD / 18 Spe
Ability: Effect Spore | Nature: Careful | Item: Quick Claw

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

Oh, hey, the boss man is active again!

Do I get the bronze "Hall of Fame" badge after I complete the water monotype challenge of FRLG? I know the Flying-, Psychic-, and Ice-type challenges were part of the game mastery challenge, but I would like to know when I'll get that badge. I tried asking some moderators in the "challenges discussion" thread, but I didn't get an answer.

 

[Explorer of Time]

Oh, hey, the boss man is active again!

Do I get the bronze "Hall of Fame" badge after I complete the water monotype challenge of FRLG? I know the Flying-, Psychic-, and Ice-type challenges were part of the game mastery challenge, but I would like to know when I'll get that badge. I tried asking some moderators in the "challenges discussion" thread, but I didn't get an answer.

Ask them again. The badges for this subforum are only handed out by Eleanor and JanP, and I don't have the power to do it. They're both Europeans, so if you asked today they may have not seen it yet because of time zone stuff. Also, if you haven't, you should probably post your completed challenges here, too, so the mods can keep track easier. Especially if you've completed any challenges other than Monotypes.

 

[StenirRPG]

Ultimate Electric Run
Black / FINAL / All New Mons - And I Gotta Stop Single Entries At Some Point

In this post (i.e., TL;DR)

Spoiler:

1.) Through the Third Gym
2.) Gyms 4 and 5
3.) Gym 6
4.) Gym 7 and 8
5.) Elite Four
6.) N and Ghetsis

The full read:

Spoiler:

1.) Through the Third Gym
Starting off with Blitzle, I don't really that much of a problem. I'd rather not have Shock Wave since it's Special, but we're still early game so it's not much of a bother. Fighting Cilan, however, is a little bit of a pain. I eek out a victory over Pansage at level 13. Hooray DRTs. It was close, though.

Second gym is also a bit of a pain, because I still only have Blitzle, albeit now at level 22. I end up using Thunder Wave, healing up, and then spamming Flame Charge to speed up and then Shock Wave to deal damage. Works in the end, I guess. I mean, sometimes you don't really get to think strategically in early game and it's just "give them paralysis and then spam attacks". Electric, interestingly, feels like a fun run for once. It honestly was feeling kinda boring after Gen 1 and the start of 2.

Third Gym, I'm now holding a Zebstrika, and Flame Charge is basically all I've had to do. It's not particularly strong, but definitely better than trying to force my way through with Spark, since I do have to butt heads some times with Grass types as well. I definitely use Spark at this point going forward...and unfortunately I don't really get anything better by end of game.

2.) Gyms 4 and 5
Gyms 4 and 5 are the point at which I have Emolga on my team and nothing else - I can't get into Chargestone Cave until after I defeat Clay. Having Zebstrika with Lightning Rod is cool, because either Electric attacks do nothing or they avoid using them outright. Means I have a bit of a fun run in Elesa's gym, but I have to be careful with Emolga as Electric is now 1x instead of 0.5x. Clay felt easier with Emolga, due to /Flying. Having Double Team is nice, also. Three uses of that, and I can push my way through Clay with relatively ease. Acrobatics for the win, because I can't use Electro Ball or Shock Wave on any of the team.

3.) Gym 6
I've now picked up Galvantula and Eelektross, and wasted over 5 hours leveling them up because. At least I picked up the Exp Share to get them started, but by the time I go in to face Skyla, my team are sitting at about 38-40. I had finished Gym 5 just about 7 1/2 hours in, and finished Gym 6 just under 13 hours. Such fun.

4.) Gym 7 and 8
My final Pokemon has joined my team, Stunfisk. I think this one I would have found a lot more use for if I understood what types Camouflage turns me into at various points. However, it gives me the ability to use Ground as a backup type, which is nice. This was a quick enough jump from Gym 6 that the only reason I had extra time was because I was focused on leveling up Stunfisk. I got it to level 35 before just beating Brycen.

Gym 8 was the stinky one. Good thing I brought a bunch of Revives and Hyper Potions into the gym with me. My best move was honestly Signal Beam. That's all I can really say. If I can use Signal Beam, I can do damage, but compared to Dragon, my defenses don't prevent much. I am luck to get one, maybe two, hits before one of my team goes down. But I eek out the victory and am okay.

5.) Elite Four
I haven't mentioned Cheren or Bianca or N. They are all relatively easy to deal with. I felt better doing them this time around than any of the other runs I've done. I think it's a mixture of Electric having a better balance between available secondary types and physical/special moves in this Gen. At least, that's how it feels. Yes, Electric feels more like a Special type, but I feel like my Physical attackers are just as strong as my Special ones.

Anyways...Elite Four are doable at level 50, but you aren't here to hear from me how I grinded from early 40s to early 50s to take them down? Oh, you are? Well, spamming moves. That's basically it. Marshal goes down to Acrobatics, Caitlin to a mixture of Signal Beam/Crunch. Shantal is also down to Crunch tactics. The only one who took offensive spamming was Grimsley, but I didn't really have anything good against Dark except Signal Beam (which doesn't really help if you end up having your only Bug user knocked out).

6.) N and Ghetsis
I had more trouble with N than Ghetsis. After letting Reshiram get knocked out because I insisted on repeatedly firing off Timer Balls to give it free attacks, I take down Zekrom with Double Team/Acrobatics and then Signal Beam. After that, Klinklang came out and I swapped to Stunfisk. I brought the part of my team knocked out back to full strength, and then a couple uses of Mud Bomb took out Klinklang. Then came Vanilluxe, and I did what damage I could before being knocked out, then I used Crunch to knock it out. From there, it was Electric spam to win the battle.

Ghetsis, hilariously, made me forget how many Pokemon he had. Cofragrigus takes down half my team, then our comes Bisharp. As a result, I spent like twenty turns bringing my team back up to full while Ghetsis decided spamming Night Slash was for the best. Eventually, I break through with Mud Bomb, and do the same on Bouffalant. At this point, here comes Hydreigon, so some Signal Beam to knock it out, then Seismitoad...same but I need one Crunch to KO. With only Eelektross left, I just spam my best attacks that won't get resisted and...then I go "wait, doesn't he have six?" The battle felt like 5 with how easy it was. So...yeah, that was a weird way to end it.

I still feel bad for N - Ghetsis was a jerk, but at least N put up a fight.

Oh well, time to move to Kalos.

Team Stats:

Spoiler: