The Stuck In the Middle Challenge

[phonastik]

Awright.

As its name suggests, this is a challenge where you can only use middle stage Pokemon, that is, Pokemon which have evolved once and have the possibility to evolve again.

THE RULES:

• Only middle-stage Pokemon are allowed
• Pokemon which are not a middle stage in the generation you are playing are NOT allowed. So Magmar would be allowed after Gen IV, but not before.
• If none of your Pokemon are available before the first gym, then you may hack them in or trade an egg.
• Feel free to use HM Slaves. They don't have to be middle stages.
• Using more than 2 Pokemon is recommended, otherwise this is pretty much a solo/duo challenge, but is not compulsory.
• No hacking Everstones. However, any you find are allowed. Let the Geodude hunting begin!
• Pokemon which evolve by trading or using a stone are allowed.
• The challenge ends in RBY when you defeat the champion, in GSC when you defeat Red, in RSE when you defeat the champion (Wallace in Emerald, not Steven), in FRLG when you defeat the Elite Four round 2, in DPPt when you defeat the champion and in BW when you defeat Alder.

My signup:
Name: Phon
Game: FireRed
Team:Gloom, Graveler, Poliwhirl, Machoke, Charmeleon, Pidgeotto
Ultimate: No

Challengers

Spoiler:

Phonastik- FireRed
Colorful- FireRed

Champions

Spoiler:

viccuh- Ruby

 

[Colourful]

Hey, looks like a great challenge! :D
I have one question however: if I play on FireRed, can I use Pikachu? I know that Pichu was not there yet in the first generation, but still it is obtainable in FireRed. Or is that what you are saying in Rule 3...?
Also I think you might want to check your team there if you don't plan on trading, since you can't catch Weepinbell in FireRed ;-)

 

[The Doctor]

Hey, looks like a great challenge! :D
I have one question however: if I play on FireRed, can I use Pikachu? I know that Pichu was not there yet in the first generation, but still it is obtainable in FireRed. Or is that what you are saying in Rule 3...?

I think he means you have to start off with Pichu then evolve it, not just get a Pikachu

 

[Colourful]

I think he means you have to start off with Pichu then evolve it, not just get a Pikachu

Hm, I don't know. That doesn't work with phonastik completely forbidding pokemon like Jigglypuff or Clefairy, does it?

 

[phonastik]

I've been doing some thinking and I've decided to get rid of that rule. Pikachu is fine. And thanks for telling me about Weepinbell lol. Must have slipped my mind :).

 

[Colourful]

I've been doing some thinking and I've decided to get rid of that rule. Pikachu is fine.

Okey dokey! :D

And thanks for telling me about Weepinbell lol. Must have slipped my mind :).

You are so freaking stupid most welcome mate! ;)

Allright then, now that I've understood the rules, here's my signup:

Name: Church (You know, referring to how mad the Church was at Darwin when he first published his theory on Evolution. And in this challenge we're all gonna be like 'EVOLVING YA AINT!' to our Pokèmon :bandit:)
Game: FireRed
Team: Ivysaur, Haunter, Pikachu, Nidorino, Dragonair (With this team I'll only need one Everstone for Ivysaur until my Dragonair reaches Lvl. 55, which will probably take some time :D)
Ultimate: We'll see...

 

[phonastik]

You are so freaking stupid most welcome mate! ;)

Lol thanks. Welcome to the challenge!

 

[Colourful]

Update #1

Ok, let's get updates going in this thread :D

Update #1

Spoiler:

1. Badge
- took Bulbasaur as my starter and did all of that beginning-stuff
- caught my awesome Pikachu in Viridian Forest and quickly breezed through it
- trained my team in front of Pewter City and faced Brock
- got the Boulder Badge

2. Badge
- journeyed forward and caught a male Nidoran
- trained it in front of Mt. Moon
- went through Mt. Moon and swiftly disposed of all that Team Rocket trash there xP
- entered Cerulean City and faced my rival Kaz
- finally got the ticket for the Ms. Anne from Bill before I challenged Misty
- I beat Misty

My Team:

LVL. 20
- Thundershock
- Quick Attack
- Double Team
- Mega Punch

LVL. 23
- Leech Seed
- Razor Leaf
- Poison Powder
- Tackle

LVL. 21
- Double Kick
- Poison Sting
- Peck
- Focus Energy

Ok that's it for now

 

[phonastik]

Update #1

Spoiler:

Started my adventure, named rival the classic BLUE.
Picked Charmander, kicked BLUE's butt.
Strode bravely forward into the wilds of Route 1.
Caught myself a Pidgey.
GRINDING IN VIRIDIAN FOREST. Charmander evolved.
Beat Brock:

Pidgey was level 16 at this point.
Wandered into Mt Moon. Pidgey evolved.
Caught a Geodude.
Currently fighting Rockets in Mt Moon.

The Team:
:t005: Level 18
-Scratch
-Growl
-Ember
-Metal Claw

:t017: Level 18
-Tackle
-Sand Attack
-Gust
-Quick Attack

:t074: Level 17
-Tackle
-Defense Curl
-Magnitude
-Rock Throw

 

[viccuh]

Name: Victor
Game: Ruby
Team: Grovyle, Vigoroth, Kadabra, Seadra, Vibrava
Ultimate: No, probably not

Looking forward to start this challenge!
Always had a soft spot for middle evulotions :)

 

[phonastik]

Welcome to the challenge, viccuh!

Update #2

Spoiler:

Finished off Mt Moon.
Beat BLUE easily in Cerulean City.
Beat Nugget Bridge, "decided" not to join Team Rocket.
Caught an Oddish on Route 25, beat all the trainers there.
Saved Bill, got the SS Ticket.
Beat Misty. Gloom evolved.
Swept the SS Anne, beat BLUE again, got Cut.
Caught a Meowth to use Cut for me.
Geodude evolved at some point.
Graveler OHKOd all Lt Surge's Pokemon.
Caught Machop in Rock Tunnel.
Currently fumbling around in Rock Tunnel because I couldn't be bothered to catch 10 Pokemon to get Flash.

The team:
:t066: Level 19
:t017: Level 26
:t075: Level 27
:t044: Level 28
:t005: Level 27
HM Slave:
:t052: Level 12

 

[viccuh]

Update #1

Spoiler:

-Chose Treecko (named it Grin)
-Grinded Treecko while searching for a Slakoth (damn hard to find)
-Treecko evolved into Grovyle before I eventually caught Slakoth (Shula)
-Grinded Slakoth
-Destroyed the first gym with Grovyle
-Caught an Abra (Rajiv) in Granite cave
-Evolved Abra into Kadabra and Slakoth into Vigoroth
-Destroyed the second gym with Kadabra
-Beat the third gym with psybeam, those magnemite/magneton were a pain in the ass...
-Beat the fourth gym with mostly strenghts from Vigoroth
-Caught a Trapinch named Pippa

Currently grinding my team for the next gym, but that can't be to hard.

My team:

Spoiler:

Grin the Grovyle lvl. 30
-Pound
-Pursuit
-Leaf blade
-Fury cutter

Shula the Vigoroth lvl. 31
-Strength
-Yawn
-Slash
-Slack off

Rajiv the Kadabra lvl. 31
-Shock wave
-Confusion
-Recover
-Psybeam

Pippa the Trapinch lvl. 26
-Bite
-Sand attack
-Faint attack
-Sand tomb

 

[viccuh]

Final update

Finally finished the challenge

The gyms didn't pose much of a challenge, mainly because they didn't had evolved forms themselves and the type matchups were always in my favor at the end (Grovyle against the water gym, Seadra's surf against Solrock/Lunatone).

It became a lot more difficult in the elite four and I failed a couple of times before I realised I had to do a LOT of grinding. This resulted in my pokemon being around lvl. 60 before I could finally beat them.

The Dark type member was defeated mainly by a combination of pokemon.
Pure darks were defeated by Focus punch, grass types by Fly and Ice beam and Sharpedo by Leaf blade.
The Ghost type member was quite easily defeated by Seadra using Surf.
The Ice type member was really hard, but by learning Vigoroth Thunderbolt and Focus punch destroyed her eventually.
The Dragon type member was the easiest by far, all OHKO'd by Seadra's Ice beam.
Steven was really hard... Skarmory was defeated by Shock wave, Cradily by psychic (eventually...), Aggron, Armaldo and Claydol were easy because of Seadra. Metagross was defeated by a combination of Surf attacks and Earthquakes.

This challenge took a lot more time than I had expected, mainly because I had underrated the power of evolved pokemon...

My team:

Spoiler:

Grin the Grovyle lvl. 54
- Arial ace
- Leaf blade
- Pursuit
- Brick break

Shula the Vigoroth lvl. 58
- Strength
- Focus punch
- Slash
- Thunderbolt

Rajiv the Kadabra lvl. 60
- Shock wave
- Psychic
- Shadow ball
- Psybeam

Pippa the Vibrava lvl. 53
- Giga drain
- Fly
- Earthquake
- Steel wing

Siff the Seadra lvl. 63
- Surf
- Ice beam
- Toxic
- Waterfall

The proof:

Spoiler:

 

[phonastik]

Awesome, congrats!! I'm being so slack with this because I've just gone back to uni... Bad excuse is bad.