[Challenge] The Monotype Challenge v8, Tera Edition

[StenirRPG]

Ultimate Flying Run
Ruby / Only Entry / Victory Slow-d

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

Spoiler:

-- Gyms 1 and 2
-- Gyms 3 and 4
-- Gyms 5 and 6
-- Gyms 7 and 8
-- Endgame

The full read:

Spoiler:

-- Gyms 1 and 2
Didn't take too long to get the run started, but jeez it took a while to get Surskit to pop. Hooray 1% on Route 102. I decided to stick to a certain team for this, though I keep flip-flopping on how best to go about that. Picked up a Taillow on the way to Petalburg, and then picked up Nincada. Bubble on Surskit got me through the gym to Roxanne, but I purposely saved it for the final 'mon - the others, Wing Attack on Taillow (really nice at level 14 to have something in the 50-60 for base power) and Leech Life from Nincada. I did spam Harden to help out. Anything to get through to Nosepass, I guess. Then Bubble away.

Gym 2 is pretty straightforward - Wing Attack everything.

-- Gyms 3 and 4
Okay, Gym 3 needed some setup, but I figured out a way around it. The saving grace I found with this battle is to get a Magikarp, evolve it to Gyarados, then build up enough coins to get Flamethrower (or spend a lot of money like I did on coins). That's where I spent most of the time in this split. Flamethrower allows me to get through the Steel types, even though Gyarados is a physical attacker. It took a few attempts to figure it out, but it worked. Giving Gyarados Double Team would have helped, because I could use the Voltorb to give me time to set it up...if only I remember Magneton had Shock Wave. After that, I just spammed Flamethrower.

In the fourth gym, I've now got Skarmory...who of course will stay out of the rotation. Most of the gym here was spamming Wing Attack and Double Team from Swellow, or Dragon Rage/Double Team from Gyarados. As with the rest of the run, I do much more resetting than I originally planned to. Even using Gyarados - Overheat is powerful.

-- Gyms 5 and 6
Petalburg Gym is the exercise in "how to effectively do an attack one turn, use a healing item the next turn". That's like, the only real way to get through this. For the first few attempts, I tried using Flamethrower, thinking that would lower the damage...only to remember that all of the team has Facade. Can't use Double Team because Faint Attack. Best option is just back and forth healing and attacking.

I always blow past Fortree and go straight for everything else - you can basically progress quite a ways through the Team Aqua/Magma story and make it all the way to the Lilycove Department Store, and then circle back (albeit without the use of Fly, so a bit of backtracking). That allows me to get Blizzard, which will be helpful in the Fortree Gym. Swablu, Tropius, and Altaria get met with Blizzard, Skarmory with Flamethrower, and Pelipper just with whatever.

-- Gyms 7 and 8
Tate and Liza weren't actually that big of a problem. Spam Surf, and cheese it by using the other team member to keep Gyarados alive. So happy I wasn't doing Emerald - would have been a royal pain.

Wallace is fairly easy to push through. Strongest attacks, nothing big. Just make sure to get all the way to the top, then fail on purpose so you fight all of the trainers for that delicious experience.

But with that done...you know what we all hate - Hoenn's Victory Road...which is painful. If I did the math right, 55% of the Pokemon have a move that can knock you out of the battle. And they like to do it when you are one hit away from getting the experience. It takes FOREVER to work on levels here. But I keep at it, repeatedly trying and trying to stay in there for a while. I eventually decide around level 45 to attempt the Elite Four run...

--- Endgame

Okay, welcome to endgame. I cheesed this way too hard.

For Sidney, I settled on starting with Ninjask, spamming Double Team 2x, and then spamming Swords Dance 1x. Mightyena seems to see "oh, you boosted a stat three times, let me Roar", so I kept it there, then I start spamming Fury Cutter. If it doesn't miss, it'll take a few turns to take down Mightyena, then started one shotting everything. However, my winning attempt got throug Mightyena but then missed, so I used another Sword Dance and went back to spamming it. Everything is either weak or double-weak to it, so why not?

Phoebe, I think, is the toss-up - while it's try that I do have Shadow Ball, it's on Masquerain which isn't ridiculously special attack based (though it is a special attacker). This one is basically a lot of Steel Wing, Wing Attack, Aerial Ace, and sometimes Shadow Ball. Takes a few attempts to get through, and when I do, I'm happy for it. For giggles, I use Night Shade a few times, can't go wrong with a nice 45ish damage.

I try various things for Glacia, but after a handful of attempts, the end result is that I did exactly what I did with Sidney - though this time I can setup fully with Ninjask's Double Team / Swords Dance / Fury Cutter...and then just plow through everything. Does it always work? No. Do I still get damaged by Hail? Sure. But it works. Wasn't certain how high of a level I'd need to get through this - and Flamethrower doesn't do anywhere near enough damage.

Drake is an easier one to deal with. Altaria and Salamance go down to Blizzard (when it actually bothers to hit), while Flygon go down to multiple Surf usages. Shelgon...meh, just hit it a few times and good to go.

Stephen's Skarmory goes down to Flamethrower, thankfully (it does use up a Full Restores). Took a few turns before it actually uses Spikes, but it does get them down. Whatever. Aggron goes down to Surf. Claydol goes down to Surf. Cradily and Armaldo go down to Blizzard, which thankfully on my winning run actually hits both times without complaint. So, with Metagross left, you'd think this would be easy - but I end up going in a cycle of keeping my team alive. My cheese way of doing it here was use Shadow Ball as much as possible - while it doesn't affect Shadow Ball's damage (silly "drops Special Defense but it's a physical attack" of Gen 3), I do get three drops from all my Shadow Ball usages. That allows me to then start spamming Flamethrower...which slowly whittles down health...and then boom, I win. Phew.

Lots of cheese in the E4, but whatever works, right? On to Sinnoh!

Team Stats:

Spoiler:

Hoenn by Type:

Spoiler:

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

[Darkseid tugs on Superman's cape] Stenir, buddy, I don't think that's a Poison Monotype run. Check the title again.

Health update: My mental health is better, but my physical health was worse the last several days. I think I'm gonna be well by the end of Monday (or at least I hope I am). I don't know when I'm going to continue with updates. I could get really into it and do a lot this upcoming week, or I might end up playing a different game like Gex: Enter the Gecko (PS1) on my newly-bought refurbished PlayStation 2 and then another game and then another. I don't know; it could go either way.

 

[StenirRPG]

[Darkseid tugs on Superman's cape] Stenir, buddy, I don't think that's a Poison Monotype run. Check the title again.

Health update: My mental health is better, but my physical health was worse the last several days. I think I'm gonna be well by the end of Monday (or at least I hope I am). I don't know when I'm going to continue with updates. I could get really into it and do a lot this upcoming week, or I might end up playing a different game like Gex: Enter the Gecko (PS1) on my newly-bought refurbished PlayStation 2 and then another game and then another. I don't know; it could go either way.

Thanks for the catch - what I get for not paying attention!

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

Pokémon Sapphire Dragon Monotype Update #2

This update covers everything from "Mission! Beat up the 1st Team Aqua Grunt's Poochyena (Again)!" to "Mission! Gym Leader Wattson Is a Run Killer!" (I was gonna update after the 2nd gym, but it felt like no progress at all had been made between Badge 1 and 2.

Spoiler: Recap and Team

I caught some Pokémon in Granite Cave just for kicks, except Abra whom I needed for the Teleport field move. I eventually challenged Gym Leader Brawly with Garlic, Jr. at Level 18 (the level cap). I think I got really lucky with critical hits here; it was crazy!

Garlic, Jr. started one-shotting people pretty quickly after I delivered the letter to Steven and the Devon Goods to Captain Stern. Though there was this really annoying battle against a Plusle & Minun owned by a PokéFan woman. Even Route 110 May's Marshtomp went down with relative. (Looking up the levels of Rival May's team for Route 110 was when I started realizing how badly I was gonna be over the level cap for Wattson.) I battled Wally, and I traveled west of Mauville to visit him.

I ended up challenging all the gym trainers in Mauville City Gym before healing at the Pokémon Center and then challenging Gym Leader Wattson. His Magnemite immediately made Bagon use its Cheri Berry, but the foe did go down pretty easily even though all I had was Ember. Then Voltorb survived Garlic, Jr.'s 1st strike and ended up successfully getting off a Self-Destruct. I ended up using a lot of Super Potions and Full Heals during the battle with Wattson. (Thank goodness for "Pickup" ability.) After doing this dance of only occassionally being able to break through paralysis and confusion for quite a while, I finally got annoyed and used the Full Restore I got one of the Zigzagoon before scoring the knock-out with one last Ember! I was really annoyed with how that went honestly, but at least I didn't have to do it itemless.

I'm not going to make a separate spoiler for this, but Garlic, Jr. the Bagon has the moves "Headbutt / Bite / Ember / Rage." I immediately regretted getting rid of Leer for Ember instead of letting go of Rage. Like, Bagon hadn't even forgotten the move yet. I think this experience of going "Oh, no" has been called the Onosecond.

Also, I named the three Zigzagoon "Nikki" and "Ginger" and "Sansho" after Garlic, Jr.'s henchmen in the movie Dragon Ball Z Dead Zone. Then I named the Flash-using Lotad "Android 15" because of Android 15's hat in the Android 13 movie. I'm going to hold onto the nicknames for Spheal and Tropius for now, but I really like the selection of DBZ movie villain names I chose.

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

Pokémon Sapphire Dragon Monotype Update #3

This update covers from the previous update (the 3rd Gym Badge) up to the 4th Gym Badge from Flannery.

Spoiler: Recap

All right, as per the Monotype Discussion Thread (not this one), I realized I kind of had to stop "Garlic Jr." the Bagon from evolving into Shelgon in order for it to learn Crunch for the League. I went down Cycling Road and finished the Trick House (twice) and had to stop Garlic Jr. from evolving (the second time). I proceeded north of Mauville to take on the Winstrate family, and then I moved beyond the rocks towards Route 113.

Once I got to Fallarbor Town, I started on the assignment of catching multiple Swablu on Route 114 for the purpose of having two Swablu/Altaria on the team: a special attacker but also a physical attacker with a good Hidden Power Ground or preferably Hidden Power Fighting. I settled on one Swablu ("Cooler") with 4 HP / 25 Atk / 31 Def / 31 Sp Atk / 23 Sp Def / 18 Spe IVs and Hidden Power Psychic 68 for the physical attacker and another Swablu ("Broly") with 20 HP / 17 Atk / 31 Def / 10 Sp Atk / 30 Sp Def / 13 Spe IVs and Hidden Power Ground 63. Unfortunately the latter Pokémon has a Bold nature which raises Defense and lowers Attack. This made it so that the special attacker Swablu was just overall superior (at least until the vitamins are in order).

I taught Cooler (special attacker) Hidden Power right away, and then I taught Broly (physical attacker) Secret Power but also Steel Wing.

I headed to Meteor Falls and took the west exit, and then I took on Team Aqua at Mt. Chimney. Aqua Leader Archie's Sharpedo ended up being a pain to deal with even with Bagon being pretty over-leveled. All three of my usable Pokémon ended up going down, and as the 2nd Swablu made it to the field, I was forced to use a Revive on Bagon. Thankfully, when Bagon made it back to the field, I was able to K.O. the Sharpedo.

After this, I traveled to Lavaridge, and then I did some training with the two Swablu. I started on Jagged Pass and then decided that was too tough, so I moved to northern Route 112. I got both Swablu up to Level 23, and then because I'd gotten like 7 Rare Candies from the three Zigzagoon while I was grinding, I went ahead and fed them both two Rare Candies a peice to get them to Level 25.

The gym trainers weren't a big deal, but I did have trouble against Flannery. Bagon used two Headbutt against her first Slugma (whose attack missed), and then Bagon used two Dragonbreath against the second one which unfortunately got a Light Screen on its side of the field. Flannery used Torkoal and was super annoying as per usual. Now I did switch into Broly right away, but Torkoal used Overheat which put Broly down to 4 HP right away, so I switched to Bagon which resisted the 2nd Overheat. Then Torkoal healed twice at one point using a Flail that was probably at its peak base power. At one point, Bagon was immobilized with love at least SIX TIMES plus all those turns where I used a Soda Pop. (This is also how I found out Full Heal doesn't cure infatuation. It did cure the paralysis but not infatuation.) After exhausting the last of the 7 Soda Pop from the Seashore House (6 free and 1 purchased), I finally used the Red Flute again and dealt the finishing Dragonbreath. I earned the Heat Badge. Well, "earned" is a strong word considering all the healing items I used, but I got it.

I'm actually not sure I'll be doing the next section right away. I know I'm about to catch the Trapinch for the team, but I think I'm probably going to play other games. It depends on how I feel during the weekend.

 

[jespoke]

I was actually going to start the gen 6 section of my Ultimate Bug challenge, but ended up deciding I wanted to try a run where I get to use a pre-credits Mega Evolution for once. So I went for a Fire type run instead.

User: Jespoke
Type: Fire
Game(s): X
Challenge Type: Single
Standard Mode / Free Mode: Standard

Personal rules

• Endpoint at Hall of Fame
• Battle mode Set
• No revives in battle
• Max 1 non-held item pr battle
• No multiple of the same Pokemon for major battles.
• Exp Share must be turned off.

Spoiler: Liveblog

• I start the game as Fletchinder, picking my starter and first party member, Mozzarella the Fenekin.
• On route 2 I catch a Fletchling that I name Arrowspate
• I make my way through Santalune to route 22, where I start grinding encounters for a Litleo. I prefer the male design, so I decided that I would catch a lot of them, and stop once I get either a male with a decent ability+nature, or a female with a great ability+nature. After quite a while I end up with a male Litleo with Unburden and a neutral nature, that I name Dog.
• This team effortlessly shreds through the Bug-type gym of course, netting me my first badge.
• I obtain the Exp Share and turn it off, because I don't believe XY is balanced around its existence.

The Team:

Mozzarella the lv 11 Fenekin
Ember, Scratch, Tail Whip, Howl --- Blaze, +Sp Atk -Atk
"He got a Modest nature without resets.
His future looks bright."

Arrowspate the lv 14 Fletchling
Tackle, Peck, Quick Attack, Growl --- Big Pecks, +Sp Def -Sp Atk
"One of the reasons I picked Fire in particular is because of how much I like this evolution line. I will have to see how his role on the team changes over time; for quite a while his thing will be the Ground immunity."

Dog the lv 12 Litleo
Headbutt, Ember, Work Up, Leer --- Unburden, +-
"This is the member of the team I want to see how he does long term. At least here in the very early game, his stat total and STAB Headbutt clearly outpace the other party members."


The backup:
Yams the lv 4 Pansear - "The team will have no shortage of decently fast Special Attackers."

 

[StenirRPG]

Hey there, finished Sinnoh BD for Flying tonight, so will start work on the write up tomorrow.

Looking ahead to Unova, I wouldn't be able to get Pidove until just after the first gym. This means I can hack in a starter. Normally, I pick the first one accessible (or, if multiple are on the first route, whatever has the highest spawn rate). However, the rule suggests I can pick any, and given the selection, I'd love to get Vullaby early. Has a chance of actually getting leveled up before extreme endgame...and maybe getting to Mandibuzz. I set up my file to start with Pidove, but now I'm wondering.

 

[Explorer of Time]

Looking ahead to Unova, I wouldn't be able to get Pidove until just after the first gym. This means I can hack in a starter. Normally, I pick the first one accessible (or, if multiple are on the first route, whatever has the highest spawn rate). However, the rule suggests I can pick any, and given the selection, I'd love to get Vullaby early. Has a chance of actually getting leveled up before extreme endgame...and maybe getting to Mandibuzz. I set up my file to start with Pidove, but now I'm wondering.

That is correct; you may pick either Pidove or Vullaby as your traded/hacked starter. You can also pick Archen, Rufflet, or Woobat.

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

Happy holidays, everyone!

Pokémon Sapphire Dragon Monotype Update #4

This update covers everything between the Heat Badge and the Balance Badge, which isn't really a lot, but it was difficult.

Spoiler: Recap

I added a Modest-nature Trapinch named Janemba to my team, and then I did a lot of grinding to get Trapinch and both the Swablu to Level 27... unfortunately this was of no help during the gym battle. Trapinch was actually struggling just to defeat Norman's Gym Trainers.

I start the gym battle with "Garlic Jr." the Bagon (with a Chesto Berry to heal sleep just in case). My strategy was to spam Dragonbreath because of Slaking's special defense stat being significantly lower than its phyiscal defense, but "Garlic Jr." immediately paralyzes it, so Slaking starts hitting like a truck using double-damage Facade. I had to break out a ton of Full Restores for this battle. (Some Super Potions were used also, but mostly just when Slaking used Faint Attack). Slaking went down (but not before Norman used a Hyper Potion at the last possible moment), and I tried giving Janemba the Trapinch some exercise, but he was nearly one-shot by Vigoroth's REGULAR Facade, and Vigoroth took basically no damage from Trapinch's "Secret Power" move, so I had to use a Full Restore on Bagon while sacrificing my poor little Trapinch. Bagon did defeat Vigoroth after Norman used a second Hyper Potion. Then I had to fight a Level 31 Slaking ... with Focus Punch! At one point, I actually healed on the Focus Punch turn, and Bagon went into the red, but he did tank it. I had to brute force this Slaking with Headbutt. It was kind of intense.

I made sure to grab HM03 right away but also the Amulet Coin from Shenron's mother in Littleroot. I think I need to grind for some "Game Corner TM" cash!

 

[StenirRPG]

Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays! Here's your Christmas Day present...another run completion.

Ultimate Flying Run
Brilliant Diamond / Only Entry / Faster than Planned

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

Spoiler:

-- Gyms 1 and 2
-- Gyms 3 and 4
-- Gyms 5 and 6
-- Gyms 7 and 8
-- Endgame

The full read:

Spoiler:

--- Gyms 1 and 2
Grabbed myself like five or six Starly; the goal was to determine who had the best attack IV out of the group to ensure I'd be able to take on the first gym with any semblance of success. I did grab a Zubat...kinda getting burned out using it, but only a few more games left, right? It does have Absorb, which will be somewhat helpful in the first gym. I wish it had a Flying type move, cause then I could train up on the Machop just north of Oreburgh. The gym wasn't too much of a challenge - just start with Zubat, use Asborb until you go down, then switch in and start using Wing Attack.

It's a good thing that I started the game on Thursday, so I could get the Drifloon on Friday. Pick up a Murkrow in the Forest, a Combee in the Grand Underground, and a Magikarp with a fishing rod (which I had to backtrack for cause I always forget it running through Jubilife). And, just like you'd think, Murkrow and Staravia spamming Wing Attack makes the second gym super easy.

--- Gyms 3 and 4
And, just like you'd think, Murkrow and Staravia spamming Wing Attack makes the third gym super easy.

It's true...I think I spent more time copying and pasting that sentence than I did in the gym. Well, sorta. While I feel like the second and third gyms are just freebies, I know the final two gyms (Ice and Electric) might be horrible.

Always make sure to pick up the Dusk Stone to evolve Honchkrow on time.

Fourth gym isn't much to write home about. I'm getting into the pattern of "anything tanky, using Poison Fang on it in the hopes of the bad poison". Mix in some Shadow Ball and Bug Bite for fun, and another gym down.

I noticed around this point that I'm just pushing through super fast. Not even trying to, just am.

--- Gyms 5 and 6
Ahead ofGym 5, lots of good trainers heading up to give the charm to Cynthia's grandmother. I did remember to pick up Defog as soon as I got into Pastoria this time, so no backtracking for me or bumping into things!

Gym 5 is where I just grind up with Crunch from Gyarados and Assurance from Honchkrow. Lots of nice experience, although it feels slow having to go out of the way to get answers wrong.

Much of Gym 6 in Canalave was "how many times can I use Aqua Tail or Waterfall to bypass the Steel resistance"...and the answer was "all of the times". Staraptor does have Close Combat if I absolutely needed it.

--- Gyms 7 and 8
So...gym 7 and gym 8...I would have thought gym 7 would have been worse than gym 8, just from my experience with how Ice and Electric moves have been in my own runs. Ice feels like it's more powerful (better offense, worse defense), and Electric just...I don't know. Nothing against the gym order being accurate, but it also is an interesting example of my team having alternative options (Close Combat for Ice, Poison Fang and Cross Poison for Grass) other than just Flying. I was a little worried, and I did lose half of my team, but I think honestly skipping turns with Phantom Force in both is what got me through these. There's not really much to mention as a difference between the two, other than that I ended up dealing with the Raichu by Poison Fang to give it bad poison, and then Venoshock. I sacrificed a few of my team to ensure that I could heal up Crobat to withstand another attack.

As for the Victory Road...nothing really to report. Just some good leveling, and a much better balance it feels like compared to Hoenn's version.

--- Endgame
The only one in the final League run that took more than one attempt was Cynthia...and that's only because I tried to brute-force it. The Elite Four here was insanely straightforward.

Aaron - Any Flying move
Bertha - Aqua Tail/Waterfall
Flint - Aqua Tail/Waterfall, also Flying moves for Infernape
Lucian - Poison stuff for Mr. Mime, then switch to Dark moves

So, Cynthia. The winning run starts with two uses of Minimize, then I go on the offensive with Phantom Force. Hard to KO my team if they have Evasion+4 and every other turn I'm not there. Slowly take out Spiritomb and Gastrodon, but then I have to change tactics for Milotic. This is 100% a stall battle with Bad Poison. Once it gets down to under 1/4 health, or as close as I'm willing to risk Cynthia's Full Restores, I spam Venoshock for the damage boost due to poison. Thankfully, I don't have to deal with a Full Restore, and instead it's Roserade time. In the middle of the battle, I learn Final Gambit for Staraptor, and figure this might be funny to end with...

Roserade goes down to some Wing Attack from Honchkrow. Lucario is out, and I swap to Vespiquen to Pressure out some of the PP, which lets me have a much easier time for Staraptor to just spam Final Gambit. And by spam, I mean use it once, burn through a bunch of Lucario's HP, revive, max poition, use it again to KO. And no, I wouldn't dream of doing that a second time on Garchomp...other than that I did. Mwa ha ha. I probably wouldn't have had much of an issue using Aqua Tail or something to whittle down HP, but Final Gambit is fun when you just want the run done.

And yea, run done. On to Unova.

Team Stats:

Spoiler:

Sinnoh by Type:

Spoiler:

 

[jespoke]

Kalos Fire Monotype Challenge (X), update 2 (2nd-4th gym)

Spoiler: Liveblog

• I make my way to Lumiose, where i get a Charmander that i name Xenia. I also get the Charizardite X that will eventually make him into my ultimate answer against water types.
• I win the fights against the friends and make my way through the Rhyhorn section.
• Somewhere around this time the party suddenly becomes far stronger: Xenia learns Dragon Rage, Xenia evolves into Charmelion, Mozzarella evolves into Braixen, Arrowspate evolves into Fletchinder
• I also backtrack to Lumiose to buy the Bulldoze TM, which gives Dog another solid niche on the team.
• Now it is time for one of the major roadblocks for this run: Grant. With the levels of my first attempt, only Dog could really survive a Rock Tomb; Xenia was a range. Dragon Rage does a bit over half, Bulldoze 4-shots, and everything else seems pitifull.
• I train Xenia up to lv 24 to escape the range, and then approach Grant with a gameplan:
• Dog with a Berry Juice should be able to take Amaura into the yellow even if he gets paralysed.
• To avoid triggering the Hyper Potion, i then switch to one of the 3 benchwarmers to get a clean entry for Xenia with the finishing Dragon Rage.
• Xenia can now hit Tyrunt with Dragon Rage and survive one Rock Tomb back. But this lowers his speed, so i have to switch out to another benchwarmer to reset Xenia's speed so he can finish with another Dragon Rage.
• With roughly that plan executed, i get my second badge.
• I thank the stars that i actually remembered to get the Strength-locked items, because one of them is the Aerial Ace TM, which finally gives Arrowspate a proper STAB move.
• I make my way through Geosenge and Reflection Cave, finally starting to feel the pressure from not being overleveled by the Exp Share.
• I beat Calem thanks to Arrowspate getting Swords Dance and Roost.
• I beat Corrina thanks to Arrowspate getting Swords Dance and Roost.
• I obviously beat Corrina in the Lucario-off.
• I try to fight Calem without just setting up Swords Dance on the Meowstic. The first try fails, but seems possible with Light Screen. But the second try Calem just throws the match by using Quick Attack over Water Pulse with his Frogadier...
• The team is in a really weird spot right now because both Xenia and Dog have special attacking stats but entirely physical movesets because they simply haven't learned anything but Ember to use.
• It is very likely that Arrowspate could have soloed Ramos even without Swords Dance, but i used some of the others too.

The Team:

Arrowspate the lv 30 Fletchinder
Swords Dance, Fly, Roost, Thief, (honorable mention: Aerial Ace) --- Flame Body, +Sp Def -Sp Atk
"He is fast, he can set Swords Dance, he can Roost, he can survive quite well with Eviolite or Leftovers, and he can roll burns with Flame Body while doing so. It really is just Rock Tomb from a lead that he feared in this segment, and the Fighting types with Rock Tomb i saw were not leads."

Xenia the lv 32 Charmelion
Dragon Rage, Shadow Claw, Fire Fang, Aerial Ace --- Blaze, +-
"Dragon Rage is a ridiculous move. He has basically never had reason to click other moves since he learned it, and was a huge contributor doing just that, especially in the Rock gym."

Dog the lv 34 Litleo
Bulldoze, Strength, Fire Fang, Echoed Voice --- Unburden, +-
"Hampered by having the stats of a special attacker but the movepoll of a physical attacker. But Bulldoze access was a useful niche, and his stats are fine enough that STAB Strength was good."

Mozzarella the lv 30 Braixen
Psybeam, Ember, Light Screen, Thief --- Blaze, +Sp Atk -Atk
"He is in a really awkward spot here. His high Sp Atk is being offset by being stuck using Ember and non-STAB Psybeam, while bringing the same mediocre bulk as the rest. Light Screen is a niche, but not one that has been as relevant as what the others have."

The backup:
Yams the lv 6 Pansear

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

I'll be updating again after Badge #7 (or after the Aqua Hideout) this time because I already did a lot of stuff after acquiring the Feather Badge.

 

[Explorer of Time]

Pokemon Sapphire Cross (Standard Mode)
Mono-Water - Fisher Marina
Update 5 (Route 118 -> Fortree Gym)

It's been a very long time since I've written an update here. To make a long story short, it involves health issues both mental and physical, and a busier year than usual. Autumn in particular involved a complete OS changeover from Windows 10 to Linux Mint because of the end-of-life date, and it took a lot of time to relearn how to set up my emulators and other programs. I also over-committed to non-Pokemon games and didn't leave enough time for my challenge runs. That ends today.

For my long-neglected water monotype in Hoenn, I immediately went and caught a Carvanha from Route 118 after getting Surf, then evolved him into a Sharpedo. I taught Surf to my whole team, then swam down to the Abandoned Ship and Dewford Town to get the Ice Beam and Sludge Bomb TMs. Sludge Bomb is a much needed better Poison STAB for Tentacruel, and Ice Beam is amazing on all of my team members. Sapphire Cross is a QoL romhack that adds reusable TMs, so I didn't have to grind out money at the Game Corner for this, though I could've gotten it on a team member or two with a lot of patience earlier if I wanted.

This was also around the time that Pelipper stopped pulling her weight. She was instrumental in getting me through the early game, but she has little potential for use in the E4 right now, and I can get access to my final two Pokemon as soon as I reach Mossdeep. I'm not boxing her yet, but I'm not actively leveling her, leaving her behind my other four Pokemon. With that extra experience, I was able to evolve Marshtomp into Swampert, making my starter much stronger.

From there, I went and explored the eastern Hoenn routes leading up to Fortree, with my new Sharpedo easily sweeping both Shelly and Brendan on Route 119. The Fortree Gym didn't give me too much trouble, since Winona can't get a type advantage against anything but Lombre and Tentacruel, neither of which I had to send out in the battle. I led with Sharpedo and 1HKOed her Swellow with Ice Beam, though I was outsped and took around half my HP in damage from an Aerial Ace. Winona sent out her Pelipper next, and confused Sharpedo with Supersonic after being wounded by a Crunch. After a round of Protect-stalling in which nothing happened, Sharpedo hurt himself and then fainted to an Aerial Ace.

I switched to Swampert, who I had forgotten to heal pre-gym-battle, but who was still at 80% of his HP. Swampert KOed Pelipper with Ice Beam, then 2HKOed Skarmory with Surf, and finally 2HKOed Altaria with Ice Beam. Swampert survived two Aerial Aces from Skarmory, and an Aerial Ace and Earthquake from Altaria, and managed to end the match with 22 HP even having started the match with 95 out of 129.

Team

Spoiler:

Swampert (♂) | Water/Ground | Level 36
Moves: Surf, Ice Beam, Mud Shot, Secret Power
Stats: 129 HP / 102 Atk / 77 Def / 68 SpA / 85 SpD / 47 Spe
Ability: Torrent | Nature: Sassy | Item: Soft Sand

Pelipper (♀) | Water/Flying | Level 29
Moves: Surf, Ice Beam, Wing Attack, Steel Wing
Stats: 75 HP / 38 Atk / 79 Def / 59 SpA / 54 SpD / 48 Spe
Ability: Keen Eye | Nature: Bold | Item: Quick Claw

Lombre (♀) | Water/Grass | Level 34
Moves: Surf, Ice Beam, Bullet Seed, Secret Power
Stats: 98 HP / 47 Atk / 52 Def / 58 SpA / 58 SpD / 45 Spe
Ability: Rain Dish | Nature: Quiet | Item: Miracle Seed

Tentacruel (♀) | Water/Poison | Level 34
Moves: Surf, Sludge Bomb, Ice Beam, Secret Power
Stats: 111 HP / 60 Atk / 60 Def / 59 SpA / 97 SpD / 87 Spe
Ability: Clear Body | Nature: Adamant | Item: Silk Scarf

Sharpedo (♂) | Water/Dark | Level 34
Moves: Crunch, Surf, Ice Beam, Secret Power
Stats: 95 HP / 96 Atk / 34 Def / 71 SpA / 45 SpD / 78 Spe
Ability: Rough Skin | Nature: Careful | Item: Blackglasses

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

Pokémon Sapphire Dragon Monotype Update #5

This update covers everything from after the Balance Badge + HM03 Surf + Amulet Coin all the way up to the Mind Badge + the final party member. I kind of regret not doing an update for the Feather Badge because now I'm having trouble remembering all the stuff that happened.

Spoiler: Recap

I went around the western part of Hoenn to explore areas that require Surf. After that, I did the "New Mauville" side quest, then I did the 4th Trick House. I don't think much challenged me there, but I might be remembering wrong.

Next on the agenda: I used the rematch function to grind for money from Lady Cindy and Rich Boy Winston, so I could have enough coins for a TM13 Ice Beam. I know it wasn't too long a trip to get the TM13 from the Abandoned Ship, but I figured I needed two of them in this playthrough anyway. Maybe I should've held out a while before doing this or perhaps bought a TM35 Flamethrower for Bagon instead, but it's whatever. In any case, Cooler the Swablu learned TM13 Ice Beam.

I headed east towards Fortree, but I think it was around this time that I realized I'd exhausted all my money for Super Potions and Super Repels, so I rematched Cindy or Winston one or two more times (based on the footage I have). I think this was also around the time "Garlic Jr." the Bagon reached Level 41 and learned Crunch, so I finally let it evolve into Shelgon. Soon enough, I caught up to Team Aqua at the Weather Institute, and I beat them no problem. Then I battled Rival May, which was a little tougher than I thought, but it was nothing too difficult, especially since I had a Level 41 Shelgon.

I arrived in Fortree, but the gym is closed of course, so I went south to find Steven Stone who gave me a Devon Scope. Then I did a little bit of grinding with the other party members. I beat all the gym trainers in the Fortree City Gym, and after a quick rest at the Pokémon Center, it was time to fight Gym Leader Winona who totally cheated to get herself an illegal Level 33 Altaria. So, at this point, Cooler the special attacker Swablu was at level 33, and Broly the phyiscal attacker Swablu was at Level 31 (and Janemba the Trapinch was level 31 also). Shelgon was still at Level 41 of course because I didn't want to let it get too much more over-leveled.

Battle Start! Winona's Swellow used Double Team, so Cooler the Swablu's Ice Beam missed. Swellow used another Double Team, and Cooler landed an Ice Beam. Swellow used Endeavor to lower Cooler's HP to 28, and Cooler knocked out foe Swellow with another Ice Beam. Foe Pelipper is next, so for some reason, I sent out Janemba the Trapinch. Pelipper confused Janemba, and then Janemba hit back with Secret Power which did paralyze the foe but only dealt about 20% damage, maybe less. I used the Yellow Flute, and then Pelipper hit Trapinch with Water Gun. 17 of 75 HP remaining. Trapinch got a critical hit with Secret Power, but then Pelipper broke through paralysis and K.O.ed poor little Janemba. Broly used a STAB-boosted full power Return, but it didn't K.O., and Pelipper used another Water Gun. Winona healed Pelipper with Hyper Potion. Broly used Secret Power because I forgot Winona doesn't use Full Restores (only Hyper Potions), so it was unnecessary to try and paralyze again. Broly used Return while Pelipper was paralyzed, and then it scored a critical hit on the next Return. Pelipper used Supersonic again. Thankfully, Broly broke through Confusion and dealt the last sliver of damage with Return. I sent out Garlic Jr. against Skarmory because this foe is really tanky. I used Dragonbreath for STAB, and Skarmory went for Sand Attack. Next, I tried Ember, and it did much more damage. Skarmory started using Steel Wing while Garlic Jr. missed a couple attacks. Shelgon used Ember, but it didn't kill (possibly "in range"), and after another Steel Wing, Winona used her 2nd and last Hyper Potion. With 42 HP remaining, Garlic Jr. used Ember and dealt a burn to Skarmory, then Skarmory used ... another Sand Attack... Shelgon kept attacking with Ember, and by the end of this situation, I said "Screw it!" and used a Headbutt to finish off Skarmory instead of Ember. Skarmory went down. All right, Foe Altaria. I sent Cooler out before healing her, and then Altaria used Dragonbreath, and it dealt about 35-40% damage, so I was worried. Fortunately, as I started selecting Ice Beam, Winona began spamming Dragon Dance. After two Dragon Dances and two Ice Beams, foe Atlaria was down, and I had earned the Feather Badge. Finally, I can use Fly outside of battle!

After healing, I flew over to Dewford and headed east towards the Abandoned Ship for experience points on Trapinch and the two Swablu. Eventually, Janemba the Trapinch evolved into Vibrava on the surfing routes. I did some grinding and challenged some trainers before both Swablu evolved in front of Gabby & Ty (which I felt was a fitting way to evolve two Pokémon of the same species).

This stupid Milotic with Recover on Route 120 was a pain in the neck as usual (even with Shelgon)! I made it to Lilycove to heal, and then I backtracked to Mt. Pyre. I fought the trainers on the way up Mt. Pyre before traveling up the outdoor "Summit" portion to fight Team Aqua.

I defeated Rival May with her not fully evolved Marshtomp at Lilycove. I went through Route 123. Then I returned to Mauville to buy a TM35 Flamethrower for Janemba once it evolves into Flygon. I cleaned out Team Aqua in their hideout, and then it was time to beat the Mossdeep City Gym.

After clearing out all the gym trainers, I challenged Tate & Liza. I sent out Garlic Jr. (with Crunch) and Broly, and then on Turn 1, I remembered Hidden Power Ground won't help against two Pokémon with Levitate. Tate & Liza set up Sunny Day. Lunatone used Hypnosis on Shelgon in a hurry, so I didn't do any damage with Crunch on Turn 1. I selected Crunch again, and then I used Broly's turn to use the Blue Flute. Lunatone put Altaria to sleep, and Solrock used Psychic on Shelgon. Shelgon finally did significant damage against Solrock with Crunch. I selected Garlic Jr.'s Crunch and Altaria's Sing (instead of just healing Broly with the Blue Flute). Broly stayed asleep, and Lunatone used Calm Mind, and Solrock used Psychic on Altaria. Then Garlic Jr. knocked down Solrock with Crunch. Broly woke up with the Blue Flute, and Lunatone used Psychic on Broly nearly knocking Broly out. Garlic Jr. used Crunch, but it didn't do as much damage due to Calm Mind. I selected Crunch with Garlic Jr., and then I switch from Broly to Janemba. Lunatone's Hypnosis missed. Garlic Jr.'s Crunch knocked Lunatone to yellow health. On the next turn, I selected Crunch for both Pokémon, but Lunatone one-shot Vibrava with Psychic, so I sent Cooler out. Garlic Jr.'s Crunch knocked Lunatone down to healing range. On the foe's Hyper Potion turn, Cooler successfully used Sing, and Garlic Jr. used Crunch. After that, I started spamming Crunch and Altaria's Dragonbreath. After two turns of spamming, Lunatone faints, and I earned the Mind Badge.

We're not done with this update yet. I caught a Spheal (which was a b---- to catch because it used Ice Ball) for HMs Surf, Rock Smash, Dive, and (eventually) Waterfall. I boxed my last Zigzagoon here. Then I renamed Tropius "Telluce." Spheal's nickname is "Lord Slug"

After that, I surfed on down to Pacifidlog (trying to avoid as many trainers as possible), and I did some fishing on Route 132. I caught a Sharpedo and a Wailmer, and then I caught a Horsea with really good IVs. I named the Horsea "Android 13" in honor of all the ice bergs in the Super Android 13 movie of DBZ. I gave it an EXP Share to hold pretty quickly.

All right, I'll go ahead and add info on the team here since I used a lot of TMs:

Spoiler: Team

Garlic Jr. the Shelgon: Level 44, Blackglasses, Rock Head, Relaxed Nature, met in Pokéball: Headbutt, Crunch, Flamethrower, Dragonbreath

Cooler the Altaria: Level 39, Pecha Berry, Natural Cure, Lax Nature, caught in Great Ball: Dragonbreath, Ice Beam, Hidden Power Psychic 68, Sing

Broly the Altaria: Level 38, Silk Scarf, Natural Cure, Bold Nature, caught in Great Ball: Return, Aerial Ace, Hidden Power Ground 63, Sing

Janemba the Vibrava: Level 43, Amulet Coin, Levitate, Modest Nature, caught in Premier Ball: Secret Power, Faint Attack, Crunch, Dragonbreath

Android 13 the Horsea: Level 30, EXP Share, Swift Swim, Timid Nature, caught in Ultra Ball: Smokescreen, Leer, Water Gun, Twister

Also, not to self promote, but I might start streaming Pokémon Sapphire this Saturday evening, and it's gonna be a casual run, so hopefully I don't get the rules confused. That's all for now. Thank you.

 

[StenirRPG]

Ultimate Flying Run
Black / Only Entry / The Audino Run...sorta

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

Spoiler:

Lots of rambling

The full read:

Spoiler:

The TL;DR cuts right to the heart of it. Trying to complete a run over the holiday break in the midst of family things kinda makes me forget a bit of what happened. So, this'll be a little more freeform. But I will say one thing...I spent WAY too much time grinding on Audino for the boost in XP. It's a very nice amount you get, but once they start throwing in Emolga, it kinda slows me down on how quickly I can farm. At the beginning, there was just sporadic farming, but when I knew I was going up against the final gym leader with all the fun Dragon types, I spent some more time grinding...then I had to spend MORE time grinding to defeat N...and even MORE time grinding to defeat Ghetsis.

When I first started doing these runs like six or seven years ago (waggles hands up and down), I just went into the game completely blind. Sure, I knew which ones were the type I was choosing from having played since RB came out, but I didn't pick them ahead of time. At some point, I decided I didn't want to ever plan movesets, but I allowed myself to start picking the team ahead of time. The reason for that was experience. If you aren't going to use a specific 'mon, giving it experience kinda is a bit of a waste. Unless you have a good reason for it, of course - but then get it out of the party as soon as possible so you aren't training something you won't use anymore.

Thus, welcome to Gen 5 when I picked my team ahead of time: Mandibuzz (my starter as Vullaby), Unfezant, Sigilyph, Emolga, Archeops, and Swanna. All in all, a nicely rounded team. Got some Dark, Rock, Psychic, and Water moves to help out. And I fought everything I could. Every trainer along the way, and still I had to grind. Wish Gen 5 had been the start of the party-wide-exp-share mechanic, but nope, only get the new experience formula here. Sure, I'm coming off BDSP where both are in play, but it's really noticable how slow the grind can be sometimes.

-- Game Start
Picking Vullaby was going to hopefully be smart. I'd obviously get enough experience to evolve it to Mandibuzz before the E4...right? Not really. At least it was enough of a "tanky boi" that I could keep using it throughout the run. Sometimes they just drop off in usefulness after a point and you are just playing the waiting game on evolving them (stares at Ducklett).

There's not much to say about the first two gyms other than that it is always smart to completely clear out all trainers before taking on the first gym. Having the extra levels are nice. Second gym felt safer having Tranquil on my team, though the gym was fine without it. One thing I can say about Gen 5 is that the trainers in a gym make you feel like you'll have a decent chance, and then the gym leader is like 10-20% stronger than you'd be expecting. As it should be, but, hey, round that out with a trip through the Forest and then onto Castelia to take down a bug gym leader. It was <insert the obvious word here>.

Before taking on Elesa, I pick up the fossil for Archen and get it revived, as well as picking up Sigilyph. Thankfully, I can quickly sneak over to the west of Nimbasa and grab an Emolga. Elesa's gym, being Electric, is definitely one I had to go out and reheal a few times for. In the end, it's down to Vullaby's Dark moves, Archen spamming Ancient Power until he goes down, and Sigilyph using Psybeam that get me through the battle. There's always a brute force battle in the gyms, it seems.

Driftveil's gym isn't super hard, and I get a nice amount of levels on Swanna, but the thing takes until 35 to evolve and it's still a few levels away with no easy way to get experience other than Audino. I go ahead and just mess around on the one attempt I made at the gym, thinking Dragon Breath, Psybeam, and Feint Attack are probably not going to do much, but hilariously, it comes down to Clay's last mon and my Ducklett...and I just use Bubble Beam once (full HP might have needed more, but it was rather low anyways so one hit was all it took). I about died laughing from that (though, because you are reading this, it's obivous I didn't).

Skyla's flying types are no match for Emolga using a mixture of Shock Wave, Electro Ball, and Double Team. Even Brycen, who you'd think would give me a hard time with Ice types...just wasn't a pain. I blew through the gym with relative ease. At this point, I figured I was in the home stretch, with maybe a little bit of grinding before the final gym...BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

You can see the jump in average levels on my chart below - 36/37ish for gym 7, 45/46ish for gym 8. I wanted to ensure Vullaby evolved...which of course meant I did way too much focusing on it. There's a bit of a level gap, so my thought was Mandibuzz would sit in the back, and I would just let the rest get to mid-40s and go from there. Wasn't too bad - just have to keep remembering Rough Skin can hurt over time and keep a close eye on HP. Oh and Dragon Breath on Archeops? Not really much of a power move.

Okay, honestly, E4 was stupid easy this time. Flying types trounce Marshall, Mandibuzz blows through the battles with Caitlin and Shauntal...and Grimsley is just do whatever I feel like. Not much to say here. One attempt on each and I was through. But N and Ghetsis...I was mid-late 40s when I first tried N (other than Mandibuzz). I finished the E4 around 19h30m on the clock, but I wouldn't beat N until 22h53m. Picking Black to play was the "worst" choice (i.e., the best one to challenge me) because of Zekrom. Late 40s was not enough to get through it even once. What I had to do was teach Archeops Dragon Tail, and ever time Zekrom would come out, smack it away to work on something else. N would keep pulling Zekrom back out after I'd knock another one down, and I'd have to knock it away again...then spending a few turns healing up. It wasn't pretty, and I could tell Ghetsis was gonna wipe the floor with me...so while I tried Ghetsis, I failed. So, I went back and got my levels rebalanced out (to where Mandibuzz wasn't so far over-leveled compared to the others). Another attempt and it was easy. Granted, I think 55 might have been an okay level to stop grinding at, because I grind-ed for another 5 hours or so between beating N and beating Ghetsis. I went to 58 before trying again, and the experience was just slowing down. But I had lots of Super Repels, so it wasn't too bad.

I'm already nearing the 7th gym in Kalos, so I'd better post this so I can finish that up soon!

Team Stats:

Spoiler:

Unova by Type:

Spoiler:

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

Pokémon Sapphire Dragon Monotype Update #6

This post covers from the part where I caught Horsea (which was right after the Mind Badge) through Victory Road.

Spoiler: Recap

I did some switch training for "Android 13" the Horsea by surfing around the east side of Hoenn (including many trainers I skipped after Tate & Liza for the purpose of leveling up Horsea), and then "Android 13" evolved into Seadra (kind of unexpectedly), so as per the rules of this forum, I immediately made it evolve again into a Kingdra. (Yes, I had to hack in the Dragon Scale.)

I explored around and did some diving for treasures, and I did the 6th Trick House. I also fought a bunch of trainers on Routes 132 through 134 and getting the Scanner in the Abandoned Ship just for the fun of it. Nothing major happened until I got ready to take on Team Aqua in the Seafloor Cavern.

I entered the Seafloor Cavern without Kindra because I needed both Teluce the Tropius and Lord Slug the Spheal for the HM moves.

I probably should mention that shortly after obtaining Horsea, I taught Garlic Jr. the Shelgon "Brick Break." This came in handy against Team Aqua Admin Shelly's Sharpedo. I kept Shelgon in battle, which was a mistake because Mightyena's intimidate cut Shelgon's attack, and then I couldn't one shot it, so Mightyena used Scary Face (to harshly lower Garlic Jr.'s speed) and then Swagger which caused Shelgon to hit itself in confusion. On the next turn, Mightyena used Take Down (which it got a critical hit with), but then Shelgon broke through confusion with Brick Break to score the K.O. anyway.

As soon as I got TM26, I taught Flygon Earthquake (replacing Secret Power) and Flamethrower (replacing Faint Attack). Then it was time to face Aqua Leader Archie. Archie led with Mightyena which lowered Shelgon's defense again. Shelgon dealt a little more than half of Mightyena's HP as damage, and Mightyena used Scary Face. I start using Brick Break, but Archie used a Super Potion right before that. On the next turn, Mightyena used Swagger again, and Shelgon... broke through confusion immediately to knock down Mightyena. Wow! Crobat was next, so I sent out Cooler the (special attacker) Altaria. Crobat immediately used Confuse Ray, and Cooler hit itself in the face three times and ate two Wing Attacks, so I used a Hyper Potion. Cooler had to eat two more Wing Attacks, but she finally hit with Ice Beam to deal slightly more than 50% HP damage. Then Archie used his other Super Potion. (This guy must be poor!) On this turn, Cooler snapped out of confusion and landed Ice Beam. One more Wing Attack from the foe, and Cooler finished off Crobat with Ice Beam. Janemba the Level 46 Flygon knocked Sharpedo out with a single Earthquake, which was pretty boss, and Archie had lost!

Kyogre was unleashed, so I had to catch it. The first attempt went a little screwy, and then something came up IRL, and I had to quickly turn off the emulator. The second attempt, I just kept putting Kyogre to sleep with Cooler until it finally got in the Ultra Ball. That took up all my Revives.

I did all of Wallace's gym trainers for the experience before challenging him. First, he sent out his Luvdisc, and I sent out Janemba the Flygon with Amulet Coin and one-shot the Luvdisc with Earthquake before it could do anything. Next up, I sent out Garlic Jr. the Shelgon to beat Sealeo. Garlic Jr.'s "Brick Break" quickly knocked Sealeo well into the yellow, and Sealeo did almost half damage with super effective Aurora Beam. Shelgon knocked Sealeo down with another Brick Break. Wallace got nervous and sent his ace Milotic out early. Janemba used Earthquake and dealt half damage, but Milotic then used 4x effective Ice Beam. Janemba tanked it with 5/147 HP like a boss, so I used Earthquake again to finish off Milotic. Janemba grew to Level 48. I sent Garlic Jr. back out to deal with Whiscash. Shelgon used Dragonbreath. Whicash used Amnesia, so I started spamming Brick Break, and Whiscash used Rain Dance. Whiscash started Earthquake. After Wallace used a Hyper Potion, I healed Garlic Jr., and went back to spamming Brick Break. Wallace used his second Hyper Potion on Whiscash before it eventually fainted. Wallace sent out his last Pokémon Seaking, and I sent out Broly the phyiscal attacker. Broly used Return, which didn't do as much as I'd hoped, so after Seaking used Rain Dance, I had Broly use two Dragon Dance, and then Return... knocked the Seaking down to low health? Then Seaking used Horn Drill? Wallace's Seaking has Horn Drill?! Anyway, Broly the Altaria finished off Seaking, and I won the Rain Badge.

After that, I used Waterfall to explore Meteor Falls for the experience but also the TM02 Dragon Claw on Shelgon. I traversed Victory Road with both HM Pokémon Teluce the Tropius and Lord Slug the Spheal (with Kingdra in the PC once again), which wasn't too hard this time. Then I fought Wally. Poor Wally! I soloed him with my freshly evolved Level 50 Salamence. The only attack he got off was his Gardevoir's "Double Team" to raise evasion (though this did allow him to use a 2nd Super Potion since Salamence missed the 2nd Crunch).

I had like 20 Rare Candies saved up in the PC, so I don't really have to grind for levels this time. I'll deal with the Elite Four in time.