Pokemon Variants

[Dantski]

I did it mom!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

I did it mom!

Congratulations!  You are commemorated in a dull solo challenge for the most forgettable Pokemon installment.  Another Realms Beyond user will be featured in a hopefully more interesting playthrough. . .


Pokemon Crystal Solo Geodude Part 1:  English Translators Didn't Anticipate Gender When Naming Pokemon


Geodude is a staple of the Pokemon series, frequently appearing in caves starting with Mt. Moon in the original Red/Blue/Yellow.  The developers must have thought Rock/Ground was a great defensive type, but those crippling 4X weaknesses to Water and Grass say otherwise, along with 2X weaknesses to Fighting, Ice, Ground, and Steel.  Electric immunity and resistances to Normal, Fire, Poison, Flying, and Rock have their uses.


Geodude's base stats:


HP:  40
ATTACK:  80
DEFENSE:  100
SPCL. ATK:  30
SPCL. DEF:  30
SPEED:  20


Spectacular ATTACK and DEFENSE by the standards of an unevolved Pokemon in a 3 form evolution line, but abysmal in everything else.  SPEED is the worst "dump stat" to have when you risk going last in a round against an enemy that can one-shot you with Surf or Giga Drain.


In this alternate Pokemon Crystal timeline, our heroine was named PETRA.  She selected Chikorita as her starter purely to manipulate ??? the red-haired rival and keep him from having Feraligatr or Meganium.  On the bottom of the mountain route north of New Bark Town, PETRA captured 2 female Level 3 Geodudes to compare their starting stats.  The 2nd looked better, so PETRA stuffed Chikorita and the other Geodude in the PC. 


(All individual Pokemon have random bonuses added to their base stats.  The variance is weaker in Crystal than in later games, but it was still worth a try.  As for the "Geodude" name, the only Pokemon that weren't genderless in the 1st generation games were the gimmick Nidoran lines.  This explains why there are female "Mr. Mimes" too.)


Geodude grinded for a bit against the Rattatas and Hoothoots for a while before marching north of Cherrygrove City.  Trainers such as Youngster Joey didn't stand a chance against Geodude resisting their Normal attacks like Tackle.  Geodude panicked whenever a wild Poliwag or Bellsprout jumped her and threatened to blow Bubbles or graze her with Vine Whip.  It was obvious that Geodude had to shun Sprout Tower for now.


Geodude leveled to 11 and learned Rock Throw just in time for Gym Leader Falkner in Violet City.  She should have had the advantage against the Flying type specialist, but Pidgey and Pidgeotto outsped Geodude and decreased her accuracy with "super effective" Mud Slaps.  A single Rock Throw grounded Pidgey, though Pidgeotto barely survived a Rock Throw thanks to its better stats.  Even 3 Mud Slaps throughout the battle didn't prevent 2 Rock Throws and the final Tackle from securing victory at Level 12 and 19/34 HP.


Falkner's ATTACK badge bonus and Mud Slap TM were both useful for the purely physical Geodude.  She narrowly avoided a DEATH COUNT when Youngster Gordon's Level 10 Wooper sprayed a Water Gun and eroded her to 1 HP (!) on the way south of Violet City.  Geodude had to pick her battles more than other solos, because she never knew when one of them might have a Water or Grass type that couldn't be outsped and killed in one hit.


Mud Slap didn't last for long.  Geodude upgraded to Magnitude in Union Cave.  This is a Ground type gambler's favorite move because of its unique properties.  According to Serebii, Magnitude's "Richter Scale" is random for every use.  Base power for each level:


Magnitude 4:  10, 5% chance
Magnitude 5:  30, 10% chance
Magnitude 6:  50, 20% chance
Magnitude 7:  70, 30% chance
Magnitude 8:  90, 20% chance
Magnitude 9:  110, 10% chance
Magnitude 10:  150, 5% chance


This means that Magnitude can be weaker than even Mud Slap on a bad roll, or have a 15% chance of being better than Earthquake. 


Geodude avenged previous solo characters east of Azalea Town by shaking Hiker Anthony's Geodude and Machop with Magnitude without taking a single point of damage.  



Team Rocket in the Slowpoke Well was even more pathetic than always when Rock Throw and Magnitude bankrupted their Slowpoke tail business.  Twins Amy and May of the Bug type Gym made up for their incompetence.  Their Ledyba's Supersonic confused Geodude and made her punch herself in the face multiple times, reducing her HP to 24/49 by the end of the battle.  And Bug/Flying types were supposed to be an easy win. . .


Bugsy was easier than his subordinates due to the lack of status effect trickery.  One Rock Throw crushed Metapod's chrysalis, and another conked Scyther after a single Fury Cutter.  Kakuna dodged one Rock Throw and tried to Harden to ward off a one hit KO, though +1 DEFENSE wasn't enough when the 2nd connected.  Geodude's 2nd badge was won at Level 21 with 50/53 HP.


PETRA couldn't do much when ??? the rival Hypnotized Geodude with his Gastly.  Then again, all Gastly could do was Lick with its wimpy base power and lack of ATTACK muscle.  Geodude was furious when she woke up and retaliated with a Magnitude 10.  Gastly envied other members of its species in later generations that could block Ground moves with the Levitate ability.  Zubat's Supersonic confusion was another threat to Geodude, though a Rock Throw sent it crashing down.  Quilava singed Geodude with Ember before her Magnitude 6 opened a fissure.  Geodude defeated ??? at Level 22 with 43/55 HP.


In the National Park, PETRA made sure to talk to the woman who gave her the Quick Claw hold item.  With such low SPEED, even a small random chance to go first could save Geodude in the Elite 4.


Most trainers in and around Goldenrod City fell to the might of Magnitude, but School Kid Alan with his Level 16 Tangela was an exception.  Its tangle of vines had high enough DEFENSE to take a Rock Throw, and 2 Absorbs sucked the life out of Geodude.  She will have her revenge later!


DEATH COUNT:  1


When Petra teleported to town after that fiasco, Geodude was obviously ready to fight her 3rd Gym Leader.     Whitney's Clefairy was crushed under a Magnitude 8, but 2 lesser Magnitude 6 rolls against Miltank allowed the cow to build her Rollout combo twice.  A final Magnitude 10 toppled Miltank and won Geodude her 3rd badge at Level 30 with 68/74 HP.  The SPEED boost from Whitney's badge was welcome for a Pokemon who desperately needed it.


At some point in that session, Geodude was named SUPERDEATH after the Realms Beyond player who suggested that Pokemon.  (When "she" appears in the report, assume that's referring to the Geodude.)


Sudowoodo required 3 Magnitudes to kill because the rolls were 6, 6, and 4.  "Super effective" Low Kicks let Sudowoodo put up a surprisingly good fight for a wild Pokemon, and SUPERDEATH emerged with 45/74 HP.  When the fake tree was destroyed, SUPERDEATH backtracked to Violet City and conquered Sprout Tower at last.  The Flash HM wasn't necessary to win the game, but it would make navigating several caves much easier.


??? returned when PETRA explored the Burned Tower in Ecruteak City.  His Haunter cast the Ghost type Curse in an attempt to make SUPERDEATH lose 1/4 max HP, but ??? didn't realize that the percentage damage only occurred if Geodude failed to KO an enemy that round.  Magnitude 9 exorcised Haunter, Magnitude 7 snuffed out Quilava, Rock Throw grounded Zubat, and Magnitude 4 aftershocks demagnetized Magnemite.  SUPERDEATH defeated ??? for the 2nd time at Level 31 with 69/77 HP.


SUPERDEATH didn't look forward to the prospect of the Kimono Girls and their Vaporeon to win the Surf HM, so the best places to train would be the routes surrounding Ecruteak City.  But that will be for another update.



SUPERDEATH the Geodude Stats and Moves
 
Level 31 @ Quick Claw
 


HP:  77
ATTACK:  65
DEFENSE:  77
SPCL. ATK:  29
SPCL. DEF:  29
SPEED:  30
 

Rock Throw
Defense Curl
Rollout
Magnitude

[superdeath]

Woot! Go Geodude!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Geodude Part 2:  Binary Matchups


SUPERDEATH delayed her battle with the Ghost Gym Leader Morty as long as possible, training on the routes northeast towards the Lake of Rage, and west to the Olivine City coastline.  (Surfing out of combat is impossible in Crystal without the 4th badge.)  One trainer named Sailor Huey in Olivine City's lighthouse proved fatal when a Level 18 Poliwhirl outsped the Level 34 Geodude and eroded her with a Water Gun.


DEATH COUNT:  2


SUPERDEATH later returned at Level 39 and outsped and defeated Sailor Huey's team without a single point of damage taken.  Playing with solo Geodude is a mix of highs and lows:  either Geodude crushes opponents with Ground attacks and Rock Throws that actually hit, or you lose horribly to Rock/Ground's many weaknesses.  SPEED really is the most necessary stat in Pokemon.


Around the Lake of Rage, SUPERDEATH rose to Level 36 and replaced the chancy Magnitude with the reliable 100 power Earthquake.  Now it was time to return to Morty's Gym and banish the Ghost types.  Even then, some of the Gastly line enemies outsped SUPERDEATH and tried to Lick or cast a Curse.  Instead of the usual Quick Claw, SUPERDEATH equipped a Mint Berry to prepare for the Gym Leader. 


The Mint Berry wasn't necessary when Hypnosis attempts by Gengar and one of the Haunters missed.  Gastly's Curse was useless due to the 2nd generation mechanics where the percentage damage only took effect when SUPERDEATH failed to kill an enemy that turn.  The final Level 23 Haunter's Night Shade dealt damage equal to the Ghost's level, leaving SUPERDEATH at 70/93 HP at Level 38.


Postponing the Kimono Girls' Eevee evolution battles until after the 4th badge paid off when Level 38 SUPERDEATH dropped Level 17 Vaporeon into an Earthquake pit instead of drowning to some Water move.  The true terror of the deep came from the route trainers on the way to Cianwood City.  Swimmer Kara's Level 20 Starmie had more SPEED and a 65 power Bubblebeam that dropped a Geodude 21 levels higher to 14/101 HP.    


SUPERDEATH had no business trying to earn Chuck the Fighting Gym Leader's badge yet, but all 3 of Jasmine's Pokemon were relatively slow and weak to Earthquake, so she was chosen as the 5th badge.  A freak critical hit Iron Tail made SUPERDEATH rue being a Rock type.  Geodude won on the 2nd Jasmine attempt without a single HP lost at Level 43 after Steelix whiffed with Iron Tail.  Sometimes luck determines the outcome in Pokemon battles.


DEATH COUNT:  3


Red Gyarados the HM FISH was much easier to catch with Geodude than with Rattata, as weird as that sounds.  One Rock Throw took the shiny Pokemon down to critical HP, and a Great Ball succeeded eventually.  But this easy victory had ominous foreshadowing of future battles.  If SUPERDEATH couldn't one-shot a Level 30 Gyarados with Rock Throw while being 13 levels higher, how could she hope to fight Lance's Gyarados?


The female Rocket Executive in the Mahogany Town hideout was mildly annoying when Rock Throw and Rollout missed a Zubat, allowing Confuse Ray to take effect.  (Rock moves have questionable accuracy except for Power Gem, and that didn't exist in Crystal.)  The 3 wild Electrodes at the end dealt minimal damage even when one Selfdestructed. 


SUPERDEATH should have had an advantage against Pryce's Ice Gym by being a Rock type, but this time it was Geodude's Ground type that caused problems.  Earthquake barely failed to KO Boarder Douglas's Cloyster, and the bivalve replied with a "super effective" Aurora Beam.  Skier Roxanne's Jynx flirted with the DEATH COUNT when it outsped Geodude and Ice Punched her to 19/133 HP.  If Geodude fares this poorly by the Elite 4, I may have to consider evolving her into Graveler to avoid grinding sessions so long they would trivialize Kanto.  (Even Full Restores can't save you from 4X damage Surfs. . .)


Pryce himself was an anticlimax at Level 47 after his underlings almost killed Geodude twice.  Seel and Dewgong were clubbed with an Earthquake before they could move, and Piloswine wasted its only turn on Mist to prevent nonexistent debuffs.  Stupid AI saved a variant once again.


Waiting until after Jasmine and Pryce to battle Chuck was the correct decision, as suggested by the Cianwood Gym trainers.  Blackbelt Yoshi's Level 27 Hitmonlee still outran Geodude and Double Kicked to chip away some rocks.  Chuck's Primeape squandered its turn on a failed Leer, and Earthquake toppled both Primeape and Poliwrath without an issue.  SUPERDEATH's next stop would be the Team Rocket controlled Radio Tower in Goldenrod City.  (i.e. free experience points for any solo.)



SUPERDEATH the Geodude Stats and Moves
 
Level 48 @ Quick Claw
 
HP:  118
ATTACK:  105
DEFENSE:  122
SPCL. ATK:  49
SPCL. DEF:  49
SPEED:  50
 
Rock Throw
Rollout
Defense Curl
Earthquake


If Geodude can't beat an opponent, the only real solution is to gain more levels.  Aside from Rock, Ground, and Normal attacks, Geodude doesn't have any fancy options like status ailments or significant buffs,.  (Defense Curl is only there to power up Rollout.)  And Geodude's defensive typing, HP, and SPCL. DEF are too horrible to compensate for the near Slowpoke caliber SPEED.  That's why I'm considering Graveler for the endgame, but I'd like to go as far with Geodude without having to resort to hours of grinding that would make post-Elite 4 opponents too easy.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Geodude Part 3:  Rag Arm Rock Throw


Team Rocket's failed invasion of Goldenrod City provided about 5 levels to Geodude.  The only notable event of the ??? rival battle underground against Golbat, Haunter, Magnemite, Sneasel, and Quilava was being outsped and hit with a Faint Attack from Sneasel.  Then again, with 35 base SPCL. ATK, even same type attack bonus left SUPERDEATH at a healthy 109/126 HP at Level 51.


(In the early generations of Pokemon, all moves of a certain type were physical or special.  Sneasel was clearly meant to be a physical attacker, but was stuck with the then-special Dark/Ice type combination.  Physical Water types such as Gyarados and Kingler also had this problem to a lesser extent.  See also TOADETTE the solo Breloom, who played like a Fighting type pretending to be a Grass type too.)


An unlikely threat was the female Rocket Executive's Level 32 Murkrow, who was faster than SUPERDEATH and cast 32 damage Night Shades.  Geodude was down to 8/131 HP after Rock Throw missed its mark twice in a row.  Never bet your life on Rock type attacks.    


The final male Rocket Executive was much easier, and the only concern was his faster Houndoom with Faint Attack.  A single Earthquake sent the hellhound to the underworld, and Team Rocket was disbanded at 88/131 HP at Level 53.


Random trainer Pokemon at Levels 27-30 such as Tauros, Fearow, and Dugtrio all had higher SPEED than SUPERDEATH.  Most concerning were the Levels 36-37 Seadras in Clair's Dragon type Gym that were also faster.  If Geodude couldn't go first against a Seadra, how could she hope to defeat a Level 40 Kingdra that knew Surf?


It was time for Geodude to grow up.  SUPERDEATH traded her cool back sprite for an ugly one as a Graveler at Level 56 inside the 8th Gym.  Here are the stat comparisons:


Geodude


HP:  139
ATTACK:  125
DEFENSE:  146
SPCL. ATK:  59
SPCL. DEF:  59
SPEED:  61


Graveler


HP:  156
ATTACK:  142
DEFENSE:  162
SPCL. ATK:  76
SPCL. DEF:  76
SPEED:  77


A modest improvement for the most part, but the SPEED increase was just enough to allow SUPERDEATH to outrun her opponents.  A misclick on the first round against Clair's first Dragonair made SUPERDEATH Throw a Rock instead of using Earthquake, a nearly fatal mistake when Dragonair's Surf broke onto her.  Geodude would certainly not have survived that!  Aside from the botched beginning, SUPERDEATH's Earthquake shook all 3 Dragonairs and the Kingdras in one hit.  That Surf left Graveler at 48/156 HP at Level 57.


Attempting to conserve Earthquake PP by using Rock Throw against Cooltrainer Reena's Level 31 Starmie was a foul ball.  Starmie's critical Bubblebeam proved once again that Rock/Ground matchups were either clear victories or crushing defeats.


DEATH COUNT:  4


??? in Victory Road was another battle where any damage taken could be blamed on Rock Throw whiffing.  Sneasel, Kadabra, Typhlosion, Magneton, and Haunter fell one by one to Earthquake.  But Golbat flew out of the way of the 1st Rock Throw and broke its teeth trying to Bite Graveler.  A 2nd Rock Throw succeeded and left SUPERDEATH at Level 61 with 156/171 HP by the end of the battle.


SUPERDEATH's evolution may have made the variant viable, but the Pokemon League was still dangerous.  Will's 2 Xatus and Jynx died to one Rock Throw or Earthquake, but Slowbro and Exeggutor had enough HP and DEFENSE to take a hit.  Exeggutor fortunately cast Psychic instead of some Grass attack, and Slowbro tried to buff itself with Curse.  Graveler defeated the Psychic master at Level 62 with 114/174 HP.


The only action the Poison master Koga's team of Ariados, Forretress, Muk, Crobat, and Venomoth took was to set up useless Spikes when Earthquake failed to KO the armored bagworm in one shot.  Spikes deals damage to non-Flying Pokemon, but only when switching.  Guess what a solo Pokemon never does.  


Bruno the Fighting master probably would have snapped Geodude in half, but Graveler's Earthquakes pinned Hitmontop, Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, Machamp, and Onix at a full life bar.


Karen's Umbreon could have been troublesome if Sand Attack's accuracy debuff didn't miss.  Two Earthquakes destroyed the Dark Eevee evolution.  Vileplume, Gengar, and Houndoom were all too slow to prevent more Earthquake aftershocks, and for once Rock Throw hit when SUPERDEATH tossed a boulder at Murkrow.


Graveler managed to outspeed Lance's Gyarados and take it out with one Rock Throw.  However, all the Dragonites were too robust to die when being pounded with pebbles.  The Level 50 Dragonite took advantage of its neutral damage Outrage after a Rollout combo missed to break throw Graveler's weak SPCL. DEF for the KO.


DEATH COUNT:  5


The 1st Dragonite's "super effective"  Blizzard after a Rollout miss may have helped SUPERDEATH because it was a sign of a new RNG seed.  The 2nd Blizzard missed, allowing Rollout to double its base power each turn.  Graveler's Rollout gathered no moss when crushing all 3 Dragonites and Charizard thanks to a QUICK CLAW activation on the Fire type.  The best moves Aerodactyl had against Graveler were. . .half damage Hyper Beams that made it waste 2 turns recharging.  At least that way, SUPERDEATH could afford to miss 2 consecutive Rock Throws!  SUPERDEATH, you need to practice your pitching both on and off the baseball diamond.     Graveler conquered the Pokemon League with 43/180 HP.


SUPERDEATH the Graveler Stats and Moves


Level 64 @ QUICK CLAW
 


HP:  180
ATTACK:  165
DEFENSE:  188
SPCL. ATK:  89
SPCL. DEF:  89
SPEED:  90
 

Rock Throw
Rollout
Defense Curl
Earthquake

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Geodude Part 4:  Choking in the Final Battle


Lt. Surge was far more irritating than an Electric Gym Leader should have been for a Ground type.  His Electrodes often made Earthquake or Rock Slide miss and lose PP, but caused no damage directly.  Raichu's Quick Attack and Electabuzz's SPCL. DEF team buff Light Screen were useless against Graveler.


Janine only managed to buff Venomoth's critical hit rate with a DIRE HIT.  Her team was helpless against Rock Throw and Earthquake.  Sabrina's Espeon had high SPEED and reduced SUPERDEATH to 126/199 HP at Level 70, though her Alakazam couldn't survive an Earthquake even at double DEFENSE with its Reflect. 


???'s final challenge at Mt. Moon was nothing more than free experience points, as his Sneasel, Alakazam, Gengar, Golbat, Magneton, and Typhlosion all crumbled when hit with Rock Throw or Earthquake.  The same fate happened to Brock's fossil Rocks and Blaine's Fire team. 


Misty and Erika were saved for last to compensate for Graveler's crippling weakness to Water and Grass.  Misty's aquatic Pokemon weren't safe from an underwater Earthquake, though Rock Throw was required for Erika.  Rock Throw's accuracy was as unreliable as always when it missed Tangela and Bellossom.  Tangela failed to cast some move I couldn't record, probably a status ailment.  Bellossom had to charge up a Solarbeam for a turn to deal any damage, leaving it open to attack.  Both Gym Leaders surrendered when SUPERDEATH was at full HP.


Graveler's first attempt against Blue failed when Rock Throw sailed past Exeggutor.  SUPERDEATH was baked by a Solarbeam shortly afterwards.


DEATH COUNT:  6


Take 2 was aborted, but wasn't actually a death.  This was because Pidgeot insisted on using Whirlwind to force me to switch to one of the non-combat HM MULES.  It was annoying enough that I simply reset and deposited the Surfers and Fliers into the PC.


RESET COUNT:  1


Take 3 was almost a success, but Rock Throw was too weak to gut Gyarados.  Hydro Pump's water pressure split Graveler apart.


DEATH COUNT:  7


SUPERDEATH's trick to winning this battle was to Defense Curl + Rollout when Pidgeot appeared.  The combo flattened Pidgeot, Exeggutor, Alakazam, Rhydon, and Gyarados.  You've never experienced the power of Rollout until you've killed a Pokemon that has high DEFENSE, resists Rock, and is present while Reflect is active.     Arcanine fell down after a single Earthquake, and SUPERDEATH scored another lopsided victory at full HP.


With the help of 9 Rare Candies acquired throughout the adventure, Graveler rose to Level 86 just before Red.  This still wasn't enough.  SUPERDEATH was simply too slow to avoid Pikachu debuffs to ATTACK with Charm, Reflect team buffs and Psychics from Espeon, or Solarbeams from Venusaur barring lottery winning QUICK CLAW luck.


DEATH COUNT:  14


I was hoping Snorlax would appear after Espeon because it would have made perfect Defense Curl + Rollout bait, but apparently the order of Red's team changes based on what Pokemon you lead with.


At this point, the variant has stalled.  SUPERDEATH the Graveler may have some hope at higher levels, and the best way to do that is to fight the Elite 4 repeatedly.  If nothing else, this playthrough has shown Realms Beyond the importance of SPEED, even relative to other "high damage, low HP" battle systems like Fire Emblem.


Another post will probably come, but don't expect to see it for a while.  I just got my Nintendo Switch Lite in the mail yesterday, and I want to write a Let's Play for Breath of the Wild in this forum.  (No spoilers!  That will be nearly a "blind" playthrough.)  SUPERDEATH will level up gradually when I don't mind the grind as much.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Graveler Finale:  Double Team Saves Another Solo Challenge


Grinding Graveler to Level 89 wasn't all that difficult.  I had forgotten to battle some trainers in the southeastern region of Kanto.  The routes surrounding Vermilion City, Lavender Town, and Fuchsia City had many weak opponents, as well as the sea route to the east of Blaine's Seafoam Islands makeshift Gym.  Cal's Level 50 Johto starters squeezed out some more experience, and a few wild Golbats and Gravelers in Silver Cave put SUPERDEATH on par with TOPPERCENT the Rattata.  (Makes sense considering they're both Medium Slow.)


Unfortunately, Graveler was functionally no faster than before.  The Quick Claw failed to activate against Pikachu and Espeon, and their Charm and Reflect skills weakened SUPERDEATH's ATTACK to the point where she had no hope against Venusaur and its Solarbeam.


FINAL DEATH COUNT:  15


But PETRA had one final trick that could work without leveling into the 90s.  Double Team could be learned by practically any Pokemon that could learn moves from TMs, courtesy of the Celadon City Game Corner.  With enough evasion to dodge attacks, Leftovers would heal 1/16 of Graveler's HP per turn.


Pikachu Charmed SUPERDEATH once again at the start of the battle, reducing her attack to the -2 stage.  I predicted that Espeon might use its first turn to set up Reflect, and this AI exploit worked.  Graveler's Double Team illusions tricked Espeon into missing its first Psychic, though the 2nd still hit at +2 evasion.  After the 3rd Double Team, Espeon switched from Psychic to the perfect accuracy Swift.  The catch was that Swift had only 60 base power, SUPERDEATH resisted its Normal type, and Espeon's base ATTACK was a meager 65.


The first 3 Rollout hits were needed to flatten Espeon.  This buildup in base power ensured both Venusaur and Blastoise would be crushed in one hit too!  Snorlax couldn't do anything at all but buff its useless SPCL. DEF with Amnesia or Body Slam into a Double Team illusion as SUPERDEATH rose to +6 evasion.  4 Rollouts were needed to make Snorlax into a pancake at -2 ATTACK, and the 5th smothered Charizard's flame after a failed Fire Spin.  SUPERDEATH's Leftovers were so successful that she was at full HP by the end of the final battle, not an easy feat for such a slow Pokemon.


Solo Geodude/Graveler was fun to play.  Rock/Ground in theory make a perfect combo, and SUPERDEATH never had to fall back on Return like so many other physical solos.  In practice, Rock Throw and Rollout misses sometimes cost Graveler the battle, and few other attacking types would have this disadvantage.


Rock/Ground made for a valuable defensive type in the first few Johto Gyms, but quickly became a liability when SUPERDEATH had to fight some enemy she couldn't outrun, which happened often.  Even Water and Grass types that were 20 levels lower were a credible challenge.  And Red couldn't be defeated through sheer level advantage.  Some luck with Double Team and Rollout salvaged the variant at the last moment.


You probably won't see any more Pokemon solo challenges until Christmas or so, when I'll hopefully get Sword or Shield.  (No spoilers!)    



SUPERDEATH the Graveler Final Stats and Moves
 

Level 89 @ Leftovers
 

HP:  257
ATTACK:  238
DEFENSE:  270
SPCL. ATK:  133
SPCL. DEF:  133
SPEED:  134
 

Rock Throw
Rollout
Double Team
Earthquake


EDIT:  If you want to see your victory screenshot, "superdeath", visit this Smogon link and scroll to the bottom of the page.

[superdeath]

Thanks for the amazing run!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Thanks for the amazing run!

You're welcome!  Why did you want Geodude in particular?  Is it one of your favorite Pokemon?  Or maybe you wanted to see a Rock or Ground type solo, which hasn't been represented often in this thread?

[superdeath]

One of the most common pokemon other than magikarp, and magikarp requires too much grinding to be a fun read. Maybe Zubat? Plus all the other favorite rock/ground types i love ( Onix ) come alot later in games to have that true "solo" run to them.