Pokemon Variants

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

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.

It's possible to get Onix before the 2nd Gym in Union Cave if you want to try that solo.  Onix has much lower ATTACK than Graveler or even Geodude, its best Rock move is Rock Throw (no Rollout!), and Earthquake has to be learned through the Victory Road TM.  Though it does learn 2nd generation Rage as a combo buildup move, and Onix's better SPEED can let it play around with Double Team in Kanto more easily.  Maybe Headbutt flinching could be funny if you're lucky enough.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Shield Solo Wooloo Part 1


Now that it's Christmas, it's time for another Pokemon solo challenge!  Pokemon Shield opened with a cutscene of Champion Leon using a technique to grow his Charizard to impress the audience.  One of the programmers must at GameFreak must be obsessed with the Kanto Fire type starter.  It gets into Super Smash Bros, receives 2 Mega Evolutions in X and Y, and now it's the Champion's star Pokemon.


My trainer SOLEDAD was watching the event on her phone.  She soon met Hop, Leon's younger brother and her future rival.  Leon offered the choice of starters, and it didn't matter that much because it was going to spend the rest of its life in a PC Box.  A nice cutscene played displaying how type advantages worked when the starters frightened each other.  SOLEDAD picked Grookey the Grass type, leaving Hop with Sobble the Water Pokemon.


Hop led with a Level 3 Wooloo, a Normal type sheep that was typical early game fodder.  Grookey's Scratch took it out, and it learned Branch Poke just in time for Level 5 Sobble.  Branch Poke was a 40 power physical Grass move that easily defeated Sobble. 


SOLEDAD and Hop's next mission was to rescue a Wooloo that had broken through the fence to the west of the player character's house.  It had wandered into Slumbering Weald, a foggy forest considered too dangerous to enter. 


Some wild encounters here showed that GameFreak tried to prevent early Pokemon from being generic.  Skwovet's base stats skewed towards HP, Attack, and Defense, at the cost of abysmal Speed.  Rookidee was pure Flying, an unusual type in Pokemon.  The only other pure Flying Pokemon that comes to mind is Tornadus the legendary monster from Unova.  Though according to Serebii, Rookidee evolves into a Steel/Flying type.  


??? the wolf appeared at the end of this area.  SOLEDAD couldn't flee, and moves were completely ineffective.  The wolf generated some fog and then the battle ended.  Leon arrived to rescue Hop and SOLEDAD and praised their bravery.  Charizard rescued the missing Wooloo.  Hop wondered how his brother found us, considering he was "pants with directions".  Pokemon Shield takes place in the region of Galar, and so people talk like it's cartoon England.  They even remembered to say "Mum" instead of "Mom".


It took some time for me to decide on a solo Pokemon.  I liked Wooloo's design, but wanted to catch a few more monsters to see what Galar had to offer.  One Mystery Gift provided a Gigantamax Kanto Meowth, but I didn't want to use it.  A flock of Wooloos blocked the path on Route 1 and forced SOLEDAD to run through the grass.  (Probably would be pronounced "grahss" if this game had voice acting.)


Blipbug is a Bug type that adds Psychic when it evolves, but its move selection is abysmal until its final form according to Serebii.  Nickit the fox seems to be the typical early game Dark type like Poochyena or Purrloin.  And Purrloin itself appears in Shield.


But Wooloo was the one that impressed me.  When I fought her, it seemed to have absurd Defense.  Even Branch Poke did low damage, and it was possible Grookey would lose while trying to catch the sheep.  One Poke Ball later, and I found out why it was so much sturdier than Hop's Wooloo.  My Wooloo had the Fluffy passive ability which halved the power of "contact" moves (e.g. Tackle) with the drawback of a Fire weakness.


Still, I checked out the Route 2 Pokemon.  Hoothoot was there in the daytime for some reason.  Not even a regional Hoothoot, but the same kind as CEDRIC from a Crystal solo run.  One fight with a Yamper told me that it started with Nuzzle, a weak Electric move that was more valuable for its guaranteed paralysis if it connected.  Galar had a Normal/Dark variety of Zigzagoon.  Chewtle seemed to be a physical Water type.  Fishing was possible here without having to find a rod, and Arrokuda filled the high Speed Water type niche.


Wooloo leveled up by fighting and catching wild Pokemon, though of course those were stuffed in the PC to adhere to the rules.  Perhaps she didn't need to considering Youngster Jake's Level 6 Skwovet was a pushover.  Lass Lauren's Level 6 Chewtle wasn't any stronger.  Tackles bounced off of Wooloo's wool.  


Youngster Benjamin at least brought 2 Pokemon:  a Level 5 Blipbug and a Level 7 Nickit.  Blipbug's Struggle Bug was a special move that targeted Wooloo's weaker defensive stat, though all Nickit could do was to Quick Attack for pity damage.


Old Professor Magnolia and Leon asked Hop and SOLEDAD to battle to prove their worthiness for a Gym challenge endorsement.  Hop opened with a Level 6 Wooloo.  This was a Tackle exchange with the exception of a Growl.  Growl would have been a free turn in a team playthrough, but there was no way for Wooloo to regain the Attack lost from this debuff during the fight. 


Hop's Level 8 Sobble proved that the AI trainers in Galar were as stupid as in every previous region.  All Sobble had to do was to cast Water Gun repeatedly.  If it did that, Hop had a decent chance of starting the DEATH COUNT.  But no, the Water starter wasted most of its turns Pounding for weak "contact" damage.  One Growl was annoying, though.  Level 5 Rookidee ineffectually Pecked until Wooloo's rolling Tackles took it down.  She won the battle at around half health at Level 11 while holding an Oran Berry.



Some time after the battle, I looked up Wooloo's level up moveset and realized it had nothing to deal with Ghost types at all.  Having to waste PP and rely on Struggle sounded like a horrible variant playthrough, so in desperation I looked at the TM list.  Sure enough, Wooloo could learn the Dark move Payback, and the TM for that happened to be in a well-hidden area behind Professor Magnolia's house.  That saved the playthrough.


Wooloo may evolve later in the playthrough if necessary, similar to SUPERDEATH the Geodude/Graveler in Crystal.  But I want to know how long she can last in her base form without excessive leveling.  The Move Relearner and Name Rater are combined into one NPC in Pokemon Centers now, so it may be easier to play with Wooloo's moveset.  No Heart Scales needed either.  Certainly different from the long-term moveset planning in Crystal solos!


EWE the Wooloo Stats and Moves
 

Level 11 @ Oran Berry
Ability:  Fluffy
Nature:  Relaxed (+10% Defense, -10% Speed)
Characteristic:  Alert to Sounds (highest IV is Speed)
 

HP:  31
Attack:  14
Defense:  20
Sp. Atk:  15
Sp. Def:  16
Speed:  17
 
Tackle
Payback
Defense Curl
Copycat


Imagine SOLEDAD shouting "Wooloo, I choose EWE!" in every battle, and you can see why I picked the name.


EDIT:  Some significant moves like Return, Magnitude, and Hidden Power do not exist in Pokemon Shield.  Looks like I'll have to get more creative with attacks, especially for Normal types like Wooloo.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Shield Solo Wooloo Part 2


Hop and SOLEDAD's next stop was the first Wild Area in front of the city of Motostoke.  This was "open world" in comparison to the linear Routes, and focused on older Pokemon.  Some "out of depth" monsters were roaming outside the grassy areas, including a Level 26 Onix that EWE managed to flee from when it set up Curse instead of attacking.


The weather in this area was Hail, causing 1/16 max HP damage to all non-Ice Pokemon at the end of every round.  I wonder if this game has seasons based on real time, at least in relation to the Northern Hemisphere.  Ice monsters such as Snover, Delibird, and Vanillite enjoyed the Hail in the grass, though other creatures like Metapod, Tyrogue, and Pancham also made appearances.


Pokemon Breeder Chloe promised that she had a lot of cash, so of course EWE challenged her.  This was a mistake.  Her Pokemon were all Galar starters at Level 13, and Fluffy was detrimental to Wooloo once Embers started flying.


DEATH COUNT:  1


After that loss, Chloe disappeared.  A Level 15 Roselia of all Pokemon gave EWE a Magical Leaf cut after wasting its first few turns changing Fluffy to Insomnia with Worry Seed.


DEATH COUNT:  2


EWE should never have accepted Presents from a wild Delibird.  Combined with Hail, they were gifts in the German sense of the word.


DEATH COUNT:  3


A Xatu fortunately Teleported away before it could murder Wooloo as well.  One NPC at the Motostoke entrance offered to trade TMs for Watts from various Dynamax spots around the Wild Area:  Low Kick, Iron Tail, Calm Mind, Iron Head, and Hydro Pump.  Useful for Steel solos at least.  


Motostoke was a steampunk and clockwork city filled with smokestacks.  One place of interest was a cafe where Dwight challenged EWE to a battle against a Level 10 Combee.  Its Struggle Bugs and Sweet Scents failed to prevent victory.  


Single use TMs returned in Shield with a twist.  These were now called TRs, or Technical Records.  They were meant to be balanced by teaching rare and powerful moves, though I doubted that when the first was Focus Energy.  Hop and SOLEDAD stayed at a fancy hotel, only to run into Team Yell.  These Grunts must have been based on "football supporters".  They fought EWE with Galar Zigzagoon and Nickit, since every villain team since Johto had to use Dark types.  It was mostly an exchange of Tackles until the final Double Battle when Hop joined SOLEDAD.  Zigzagoon now used Snarl, a special Dark move that hit both Pokemon and debuffed Sp. Atk.  Hop led with his Wooloo.  It was funny to see us send out matching Pokemon.


The opening ceremony for the Gym Challenge showed off most of the Gym Leaders, though one was absent.  One thing I'll say in Shield's favor is that the Pokemon League actually feels like a sporting event this time.  SOLEDAD received the Flying Taxi, continuing the Alola tradition of banishing HM MULE inconveniences.


Hop fought against EWE once again on the west side of Motostoke.  His Level 11 Wooloo was just another Tackle exchange, with the exception of an enemy Potion.  When I discovered that Level 14 Sobble had higher Speed, EWE used Payback to take advantage of its damage doubling properties when she took prior damage from Pound or a rare Water Gun.  Two Growls made EWE weaker.  


During the final phase of the battle, Hop's AI had the most shameful performance of any enemy trainer I've seen in a long time.  His Level 12 Rookidee had EWE at 1 HP after a Peck, and what did it do?  Cast the Defense debuff Leer until it died to Paybacks!      EWE won at Level 14.


Route 3's Pokemon were Stunky, Growlithe, Rookidee, Mudbray, and newcomers Gossifleur and Rolycoly.


Gossifleur is a pure Grass type with Rapid Spin, which now has a Speed buffing bonus.  Its Cotton Down ability lowers the Speed of all other Pokemon if hit with an attack.  Rolycoly is a Rock type that evolves into Coalossal, which has the gimmick Steam Engine ability that buffs Speed to +6 if hit by Water or Fire.


Lass Rei sent out a Level 12 Kanto Vulpix that only used Quick Attack, Tackle, and Tail Whip.  Not as much of a threat as a Fire type should have been.  At least a wild Growlithe cast Ember and forced EWE to run away!  Schoolgirl Hannah's Level 13 Pancham, however, required both Fluffy and an Oran Berry to survive its super effective Circle Throws.


Schoolboy Marvin's Level 12 Budew and Gossilfleur were pathetic and could be Tackled to death.  EWE learned Double Kick just in time to exploit Schoolgirl Kayleigh's Level 12-13 Purrloin and Skwovet's Fighting weaknesses.  Postman Tad brought a Level 14 Delibird appropriate for his theme.  One of its Presents healed EWE by mistake, though another was a critical hit.  


One random trainer was the most fearsome obstacle in this playthrough so far:  Schoolboy Peter.  His Level 13 Bug/Fire Sizzlipede singed EWE's wool with Embers and sent her back to the Pokemon Center.


DEATH COUNT:  4


It was apparent that Pokemon Shield used an experience formula similar to the Alola games that punished solo characters.  EWE the Wooloo was only a few levels higher than her enemies at best.  I then decided to return to the Wild Area and attempt to catch a high level Pokemon.  It was risky in terms of the DEATH COUNT, but even getting one in the 20s level range would give EWE a substantial amount of experience points.  But the developers must have had this potential exploit in mind.  SOLEDAD couldn't even throw a Poke Ball at Level 28 Liepard, even after a weak Double Kick from EWE.  Hail damage struck again.


DEATH COUNT:  5


One NPC warned me that the Pokemon across the bridge should only be caught if I had a few badges already, but of course I didn't listen.  (Encounter tables based on bridges is Dragon Quest plagiarism.)  One Vanillite's Powder Snow was sufficient to knock EWE out cold.


DEATH COUNT:  6


Even attempting a Chloe rematch was useless when Scorbunny's Ember scorched Wooloo.


DEATH COUNT:  7


The final humiliation was having to flee from a lower level Snover because its Powder Snow froze EWE.  It was clear that Affection bonuses would be necessary to even reach the first Gym in a reasonable amount of time, let alone beat the game.  Having Tackle as your best same type attack until Level 21 is atrocious.  In the next update, I'll play with the camping system.



EWE the Wooloo Stats and Moves
 


Level 17 @ Nothing
Ability:  Fluffy
Nature:  Relaxed (+10% Defense, -10% Speed)
Characteristic:  Alert to Sounds (highest IV is Speed)
 

HP:  42
Attack:  19
Defense:  28
Sp. Atk:  23
Sp. Def:  22
Speed:  24
 
Tackle
Payback
Defense Curl
Double Kick


EDIT:  There must also be more Fire types in the first 3 routes of Galar than in the entire Sinnoh region.  Imagine someone trying to minmax their tabletop RPG character by taking a "critical weakness to flame" disadvantage to get the "half damage from melee" advantage, only for the vindictive DM to throw them into a volcano dungeon.

[superdeath]

Not a fan of the newer generations of pokemon, hasnt been "good" since like black/white era. But following with some interest!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Not a fan of the newer generations of pokemon, hasnt been "good" since like black/white era. But following with some interest!

Why don't you like the later games?  They still play mostly similarly to each other, so perhaps it's because of increasing linearity, or the Pokemon designs.    I think X is good for solos due to its wide Pokemon selection in the early game.  Anyway, here's


Pokemon Shield Solo Wooloo Part 3


I never managed to get any noticeable Affection bonuses like boosted experience, passive evasion, or more criticals, but feeding Wooloo some curries in the camp minigame did provide a couple of extra levels, enough to defeat Schoolboy Peter and his pesky Sizzlipede.  He had a Dottler too, an evolved form of Blipbug that was weak to Payback.  EWE survived with 28/46 HP at Level 19.


Galar Mine at the end of Route 3 was the first cave in the game.  All wild encounters were on the map, instead of the horde of Zubats that awaited previous Pokemon trainers.  Galar Mine must have been cut from Unova and pasted in Galar, since most of the Pokemon were from Generation 5:  Roggenrola, Timburr, Drilbur, and Woobat.  Rolycoly was the only new monster here. 


EWE did surprisingly well against the trainers for a Normal type, considering she was confronting Rock and Fighting monsters.  Worker Keith used a Level 14 Roggenrola with the passive Weak Armor ability that decreased its Defense after being attacked in exchange for a Speed boost.  This only made it easier for Double Kick to kill.  Worker Georgia sent out 3 Level 14 Timburrs, whose Low Kicks were less threatening than their Rock Throws that got around Fluffy.  Worker Sandra relied on Level 14 Kanto Diglett and a Level 15 Rapid Spinning Drilbur.  Worker Russel only had a Level 15 Rolycoly.


The miniboss of Galar Mine was Bede, who had been presented as an aloof antagonist in earlier cutscenes.  Her Level 13 Solosis retreated to its Poke Ball after a single Payback.  Level 15 Gothita's Tickle decreased both Attack and Defense, EWE's most important stats.  It managed to cast a Psybeam before fainting.  Finally, there was a new Pokemon, a Level 16 pure Psychic Hatenna.  Three Paybacks killed the final opponent, though an Oran Berry autohealing saved EWE after a Confusion put her at low health.  EWE endured at Level 20 with 18/48 HP.


Route 4 was another grassy area with different encounters.  Electrike, Eevee, Kanto Diglett, Budew, Pumpkaboo, Yamper, and Galar's local Steel type Meowth were here. 


Pokemon Breeder Jaime had a decent team for an early trainer.  I didn't know the Level 14 Galar Meowth's type at the time, but a couple of Double Kicks were sufficient.  Unfortunately, it Growled before croaking.  EWE then had to fight my favorite Pokemon Butterfree, which was at Level 15.  Tackle was better than Payback here.  Butterfree mostly cast Confusion, but only confused EWE with a Supersonic after some failed attempts.  An enemy Potion dragged out the fight for a few more turns.  You know your Pokemon is weak when you take many rounds to kill a Kanto Bug type. 


Slaughtering Jaime's Butterfree leveled EWE to 21, so she could finally replace Tackle with Headbutt.  Level 14 Seedot was only a formality once the star of the team was gone.  Other trainers on the route dressed as Pikachu or Eevee, probably as a Let's Go reference.  They weren't notable enough to discuss, except that one of them had a new Pokemon named Milcery.  It turned out to be Fairy type, though I only learned that when I looked it up on Serebii while typing this post.


SOLEDAD's next stop will be Turffield, where Milo the Grass Gym Leader awaits.




EWE the Wooloo Stats and Moves
 


Level 21 @ Oran Berry
Ability:  Fluffy
Nature:  Relaxed (+10% Defense, -10% Speed)
Characteristic:  Alert to Sounds (highest IV is Speed)
 

HP:  50
Attack:  23
Defense:  35
Sp. Atk:  28
Sp. Def:  26
Speed:  28
 
Headbutt
Payback
Defense Curl
Double Kick

[superdeath]

Pokemon designs mostly. Also, im a diehard red/blue, Gold/silver, Ruby/sapphire/emerald player. That was the height of pokemon, to me.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Shield Solo Wooloo Part 4


Turffield's Gym stadium displayed several features added to Sword and Shield.  First was the minigame of shepherding a flock of Wooloos to the next area, where they would roll and break the bales of hay.  This was easier than it sounds.  Anyone with bad memories of Beaver Bother from Donkey Kong 64 can relax.


Subordinate trainers were easy to defeat with Headbutt.  They preferred Gossifleur, Oddish, Budew, and Bounsweet in the 16-17 level range.  The only annoyance was Gym Trainer Mark's Oddish and its Stun Spore paralysis.  Although the game suggested the challenge would reset completely if SOLEDAD left the stadium to heal before fighting Milo, but this wasn't entirely true.  Sure, she had to play the minigame again, but the trainers did not demand rematches.  If they did, this solo run would have been much more difficult, especially with PP management.


Gym Leader Milo was the first battle where the new Dynamax mechanic appeared.  It's a sort of combination of Mega Evolutions from Kalos and Z Moves from Alola.  Dynamaxed Pokemon gain max HP, immunities to some specific moves, and have their moves changed to more powerful versions.  For EWE, this turned Headbutt into a Speed debuffing 120 power Max Strike, Payback into Sp. Def lowering 100 power Max Darkness, Double Kick into the 80 power Attack buff Max Knuckle, and Defense Curl into the Protect clone Max Guard.


My mistake on the first attempt was using Dynamax too early.  Its drawbacks are that it only lasts 3 turns, and can only be used in specific areas like Gyms.  I believed that Wooloo would gain Attack similar to an old Mega Evolution, and only learned the mechanics by looking them up on Bulbapedia after the battle.  The Level 19 Gossifleur went down to 2 Max Strikes, while it used the special Normal move Round. 


Then the Level 20 evolved form Eldegoss appeared, and Milo tried out his own Dynamaxing powers.  Max Overgrowth created Grassy Terrain to buff its future Grass attacks and to heal all grounded combatants for a small amount at the end of each round.  Dynamax expired and EWE returned to her normal form, only holding out for one more Headbutt before a final Max Overgrowth planted her into the ground.


DEATH COUNT:  8


On a 2nd attempt, I conserved Dynamax until the Eldegoss appeared.  EWE Headbutted Gossifleur like a soccer ball for a few rounds, and one of them even got a lucky flinch.  At around this point I got the idea to try to hold out until both Pokemon were no longer Dynamaxed, and prepare with a Max Knuckle Attack bonus.  Max Overgrowth was far stronger on the 2nd use this time, making me suspect Eldegoss had a special Grass attack to ignore Fluffy in addition to its physical move.  Sure enough, Serebii said it had both Leafage and Magical Leaf.


DEATH COUNT:  9


I doubted EWE could win this at Level 22, but I gave it one more attempt.  Gossifleur was as irrelevant as always.  On the 2 turns of the Dynamax showdown, EWE buffed its Attack with weak Max Knuckles while Eldegoss had the stupid AI kick in and use Leafage's Max Overgrowth instead of the Magical Leaf version.  Max Guard on Round 3 blocked a Max Strike from Round and healed EWE from Grassy Terrain.  EWE struck back on the next turn with a critical flinching Headbutt!  Two more Headbutts won EWE the first badge at critical HP.



So it seems Dynamaxing was invented to prevent players from relying on Mega Evolutions and Z Moves to get past normal battles, yet provide a tactical option and new threat in boss fights.


Milo's TM was Magical Leaf.  It looked like most of the good attack swere restricted to single use TRs, reviving the "TM stinginess"  of Pokemon White.  (That game placed most of its TMs in the postgame, instead of selling them for a special currency like in Shield.)  Another reward for clearing the 1st Gym was allowing capture of Pokemon up to Level 25.  This was of course meant to prevent players from exploiting the Wild Areas by throwing Poke Balls at an overleveled monster until they got lucky.
 


EWE the Wooloo Stats and Moves
 


Level 22 @ Cheri Berry

Ability:  Fluffy
Nature:  Relaxed (+10% Defense, -10% Speed)
Characteristic:  Alert to Sounds (highest IV is Speed)
 

HP:  52
Attack:  23
Defense:  36
Sp. Atk:  29
Sp. Def:  27
Speed:  30
 
Headbutt
Payback
Defense Curl
Double Kick

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Shield Solo Wooloo Part 5


SOLEDAD's next step was not Route 5 to progress the story, but the Wild Area.  This was an attempt to find a Watt shop that sold a Swords Dance TR, a +2 Attack buff that would make EWE's life much easier if she evolved.  The problem was that the shops were random, and none of them had it at the time.


One guaranteed source of TRs was Raids.  Various spots throughout the Wild Area could start a Dynamax enabled battle against massive wild Pokemon with enhanced stats.  Even without online players, the game was generous enough to provide 3 AI teammates.  Battles against Bunnelby, 2 Delibirds, Oddish, Ralts, Rookidee, and Pidove provided massive amounts of experience point candies even if SOLEDAD failed to capture them when the battle ended.  Skorupi was much more difficult because it was a 2 star Raid activated by a Wishing Star.  Winning that round required some caution with Max Guard.  


If I were using a Pokemon better than Wooloo, this would probably have made the rest of the game easy.  Some TRs found in random drops were endgame moves like Ice Beam, Blizzard, Tri Attack, Zen Headbutt, and Poison Jab.  For now, EWE had to settle for a source of easy level grinding.  Using all candies as a test before raised Wooloo from 22 to 32, but I reset to avoid being overleveled.


Route 5 had mostly Pokemon from older generations like Stufful, Wobbuffet, Spritzee, Minccino, and Magikarp.  The exception was Applin, a gimmick Grass/Dragon type that had branching evolution paths based on giving it fruit.  Cook Stuart challenged EWE with one.  This was obnoxious because all it did was Withdraw to buff its Defense.  Wooloo had to bump it with 8 Headbutts and 1 Payback to win.     Pokemon Breeders on this route weren't noteworthy.


Team Yell Grunts tried to intimidate a man into giving them a bike on the eastern bridge, but SOLEDAD and EWE were there to stop them.  The 1st Grunt had a Galar Zigzagoon that was so weak to Fighting that it fell to one Double Kick.  Not one use of the move.  One kick.  A Level 18 Thievul made up for it by Snarling for significant damage.  Two uses of Double Kick hunted the evolved Nickit.  


Team Yell Grunt #2 was one of the silliest battles I've had in a Pokemon game.  His only monster was a Level 18 Sableye who could only be hit with Payback.  The problem was that it knew Disable, and cast it often.  EWE had to waste about 16 turns throughout the combat with Defense Curl while Sableye was scratching the sheep for 1 damage.  It made me briefly regret canceling evolution at Level 24, but stories like this don't happen often.  The Y-COMM falsely claimed after the battle "My Wooloo evolved and now it looks entirely different!" 


Another rival battle with Hop was the last major battle before arriving in the town with the Water Gym.  His Level 18 Wooloo was vulnerable to Double Kick, and it was obvious he hadn't replaced it with a Fluffy one.  Level 19 Corvisquire was still a pure Flying type, and attacked accordingly with Pluck and Peck.  These were contact moves that EWE's wool absorbed for minimal damage.


But Level 21 Drizzile was equipped with both Round and Water Pulse to soak EWE.  This ended one battle, and a 2nd attempt at Level 26 after using some candies.


DEATH COUNT:  11


I decided I had enough of Hop and raised EWE to 30 with even more candies.  She increased to 31 during the battle.  Drizzile seemed easy enough when it started attacking with the weak Bind instead of casting Water Pulse, though an enemy Super Potion prolonged the fight.  A final Round at the end of the battle reduced EWE to 5/69 HP.  Wooloo was a sad case if she had a real chance of losing to an opponent 10 levels lower making poor decisions!


All remaining trainers before the end of the route were trivial in comparison.  What I think I'll do is to see how far I can advance with Wooloo, then stuff her full of candies if she isn't up to the task.  If the raids respawn frequently, evolution can be saved as a last resort.


EWE the Wooloo Stats and Moves
 


Level 31 @ Cheri Berry

Ability:  Fluffy
Nature:  Relaxed (+10% Defense, -10% Speed)
Characteristic:  Alert to Sounds (highest IV is Speed)
 

HP:  69
Attack:  31
Defense:  49
Sp. Atk:  39
Sp. Def:  37
Speed:  41
 
Headbutt
Payback
Defense Curl
Double Kick

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Shield Solo Wooloo Part 6


Hulbury the seaside town had more than just a Gym to attract EWE the Wooloo.  She found a Shell Bell near some anchored boats, an item familiar to anyone who's read previous solo playthroughs.  For those who haven't, the Shell Bell heals its wielder for a small amount of HP after attacking an opponent.  It may not seem like much, but for a low Attack Pokemon like Wooloo, the Shell Bell can make the difference between barely surviving a battle and losing.


According to one NPC, Gym Leaders who were too weak were sent to the "minor division".  This hinted that all NPC challengers in Galar's Pokemon League fought each leader in the same order as the player, instead of Unova's version where Gym Leaders changed their teams based on how many badges the challenger had.  (In story text, not in the linear gameplay.)



Nessa's Gym was Water type, and had a puzzle based on turning on and off pipes to get through a maze of waterfalls.  All 3 subordinate trainers were easy to defeat with Headbutts, though EWE still took damage due to being too weak to kill most of them in one hit.  Their teams were in the 20-21 level range and featured Tympole, Krabby, Corphish, Remoraid, and Chewtle.


With the help of 7 Dynamax candies acquired from Raids, EWE now had higher max HP when transformed.  This bonus was permanent.  This sounds overpowered until you read what happened next.  Nessa opened with a Level 22 Goldeen that increased its Speed with Agility, then confused EWE with Water Pulse attacks.  Wooloo grew to Dynamax size in an attempt to buff its Attack with Max Knuckle, though it took all 2 of those and a Headbutt after returning to normal to beat even a Goldeen at Level 31.  EWE Headbutted a Level 23 Arrowcuda into the goal with one move. 


Nessa's final Pokemon and Dynamax user was Drednaw, an evolved Chewtle with Water/Rock typing.  I didn't know it was a Rock type at the time, so a Headbutt dealt only half damage.  Its Max Geyser had the side effect of making it Rain on the field.  A Max Strike mortally wounded the puny Wooloo.


DEATH COUNT:  12


On Take 2, EWE conserved her Dynamax until Drednaw arrived.  She Headbutted Goldeen 3 times while dealing with Water Pulse confusion again.  Arrokuda was irrelevant after the first Headbutt made it flinch.  Wooloo's Max Knuckles didn't smash Drednaw's shell, and a combination of Max Darkness, Max Geyser, and a final Water Gun insult caused another loss.


DEATH COUNT:  13


Wooloo's only chance of winning the 2nd badge was to level up with more candies.  Sugar and empty calories were becoming essential to EWE's diet.  She rose to Level 34 and temporarily replaced Double Kick with Reversal to increase Max Knuckle's power from 80 to 100.  Goldeen flinched on the 1st Headbutt and died after the 2nd.  Arrokuda drained some HP with a Whirlpool.  When Dynamax Drednaw showed itself, I learned that the main benefit of Level 34 was having enough Speed to attack before it.  This advantage didn't last long when a Max Strike debuffed EWE.  Drednaw's last 2 attacks were Max Darkness, and 3 Max Knuckles were sufficient to make turtle soup with Wooloo at about 1/3 max HP to spare.


Nessa's TM was. . .Whirlpool.  TRs were the way to go, since they at least taught powerful moves in spite of the dated technology making them disappear after 1 use.  EWE returned to the Wild Area and participated in more Raids for more suspiciously healthful candies. 


I'll just mention the highlights here instead of every individual Raid.  An AI Magikarp cast Hydro Pump against a Bonsly, making me wonder if GameFreak had expanded its pitiful moveset when I wasn't looking.  Sure enough, while I was writing this post, I looked at Serebii and found out Magikarp could get it through a TR.  And trolls seem to use Magikarp in online Raids just to sabotage the team.  Except in my case, the AI controlling Magikarp actually helped!  A giant Caterpie made for a good laugh, but was no stronger than a regular Caterpie.  For the sake of petty revenge, EWE Headbutted all 3 of Chloe's Galar starters to death in one move to avenge the DEATH COUNT.


EWE had to roll to Galar Mine No. 2 east of Hulbury to advance the story.  Bede awaited her at the entrance with a Level 21 Solosis, Level 22 Gothita, Level 23 Hatenna, and Level 22 Galar Ponyta.  All were Psychic types that cast Psybeam or Confusion, which could still deal significant damage even when overleveled.  Headbutt was the solution for the first 3 Pokemon, though EWE capitalized on Galar Ponyta's higher Speed and struck with a double power Payback after being hit with Confusion.  It was a close battle at Level 35, and EWE held on with 28/77 HP.


All my readers will laugh at EWE when they learn she had to flee from a wild Level 25 Galar Stunfisk and narrowly avoided fainting.  This Ground/Steel bear trap variant of a Unova Pokemon hit hard with the Fighting type Revenge and Mud Shot.


Workers and Rail Staff inside the mine sent out Carkol, Roggenrola, Timburr, Drilbur, and Onix in the 21-23 range.  Double Kick proved useful here, and keeping Reversal would have been impractical outside of Dynamax battles because it only had high base power if HP was in critical range. 


Team Yell Grunts blocked the path to the south with Thievul, Galar Linoone, Pancham, and Liepard to fit the "generic Dark type" theme.  Hop led with Wooloo because his ambition was synchronized battles, which were not a Pokemon League event yet.  Linoone Night Slashed only to fall to a Double Kick immediately afterwards.  That Normal secondary type hurt the regional variant more than it helped.  Thievul used decent tactics for an AI trainer and cast Torment after an initial Snarl to prevent EWE from Double Kicking consecutively.  Pancham's Low Sweep decreased EWE's Speed after she tripped.  Hop's Wooloo was a decent teammate for a joke Pokemon and finished the battle by Tackling Pancham.


Kabu the Fire Gym Leader said he preferred to train against Water types.  He must not have known how the type chart worked, or that candy was the key to power in this game.


Motostoke Outskirts featured Koffing, Noctowl, and Sudowoodo in the grass.  Only 2 trainers challenged EWE on this short route.  Madame Caroline's Level 22 Yamper flinched after a Headbutt, and a Payback exploited Level 24 Swoobat's weakness to Dark after it cast Air Cutter.  Police Officer Raymond sent out a Level 23 Growlithe as was typical of his trainer class.  Its Attack decreasing Intimidate ability was mildly annoying, though 2 Headbutts were still enough to make it faint.


I think it was at this point that EWE replaced Defense Curl with the superior Defense buff Cotton Guard.


Fighting through these routes made me realize the subtle difference between battling trainers in earlier Pokemon installments vs. Shield.  Crystal solos feel like a desperate attempt to gain every last experience point from underleveled opponents and endgame Rare Candy hoards to prepare for Red.  Enemy trainers in Shield are more of an obstacle than a major source of levels, and weaker solo Pokemon depend on catch experience at the beginning and Wild Area candies later on.  The way I handle it is to try to use only enough candies to give Wooloo a chance to win, not to make the game as easy as solo Feraligatr in Johto.


That said, EWE will probably have a sugar rush in a Gym where Fluffy is detrimental. . .


EWE the Wooloo Stats and Moves
 


Level 36 @ Shell Bell

Ability:  Fluffy
Nature:  Relaxed (+10% Defense, -10% Speed)
Characteristic:  Alert to Sounds (highest IV is Speed)
 

HP:  79
Attack:  37
Defense:  57
Sp. Atk:  45
Sp. Def:  43
Speed:  48
 
Headbutt
Payback
Cotton Guard
Double Kick

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Shield Solo Wooloo Part 7


Most of this session was played last night, though it was too late for me to type up a satisfactory post until today. 


Before entering the Motostoke stadium again, Marnie challenged EWE to a battle in the Budew Drop Inn.  Team Yell was essentially her hooligan fan club, though Marnie herself was pleasant to the player character.  She opened with a Level 24 Croagunk that was free experience thanks to a Headbutt flinch.  Level 24 Scraggy was Dark/Fighting and weak to Double Kick, though it took 2 hits to KO and EWE had to absorb a minor Low Kick.  Low Kick was based on weight, and Wooloo had the advantages of both being light and Fluffy.


Level 26 Morpeko was Galar's designated Pikachu clone.  Unlike others of its ilk, Morpeko was Electric/Dark and changed from a "happy" to an "angry" model every round.  I didn't know its typing or gimmick at the time, so I tried alternating between Double Kick and Headbutt.  Morpeko was durable for an Electric type, so EWE had to endure Thundershocks and a paralysis side effect.  EWE triumphed at Level 36.


EWE maxed out her Dynamax level with more candies before taking on the Fire Gym.  This time, Motostoke's stadium had an unusual challenge instead of enemy trainers in the conventional sense.  It was a contest to either catch or defeat enough Pokemon in a Double Battle where the AI "ally" was trying to sabotage me.  A pesky Salandit was irritating when it attacked Wooloo with Fake Out and Will o Wisp burn status.  Catching Pokemon was worth more points than defeating them, so I decided to capture some and then reset the Gym Leader battle if EWE fainted in order to maintain the solo run.


The first try against Kabu was such a disaster that EWE didn't get to see his 2nd or 3rd Pokemon.  His weakest monster was a Level 25 Kanto Ninetales that outsped Wooloo and cast Will o Wisp, Fire Spin, and Ember.  With half Attack from Burn status, there was no way EWE could win.


(Before anyone asks, this is a no Battle Item solo, so EWE couldn't eat X items or Burn Heal.)


DEATH COUNT:  14


Wooloo's final move from level ups was Double Edge, a 120 power physical Normal move with recoil damage to the user.  It was still the best the sheep had in a region without Return.  Protect from a TM replaced Cotton Guard.  Even at Level 40, Ninetales still outfoxed EWE with a fast Will o Wisp, and an Ember finished her off.


DEATH COUNT:  15


For the next attempt, a status curing Lum Berry hold item replaced the Shell Bell.  This negated Ninetales's Will o Wisp, allowing EWE to KO it with 2 Double Edges.  Kabu's next Pokemon was a cruel twist:  a Level 25 Arcanine with passive Intimidate.  To raise EWE's Attack back to normal, I clicked Dynamax then Max Knuckle.  That combined with 2 Max Strikes wasn't enough, and an Agility buff combined with Flame Wheels torched Wooloo again.


DEATH COUNT:  16


On Take 4, EWE somehow dodged a Will o Wisp for a change.  It wasn't because of Affection bonuses, because the only things Wooloo got out of brief experiments with camping was a few experience points and some occasional text in combat about being sleepy or something.  Max Strike's Speed decrease let EWE act first and finish off Ninetales on the 2nd turn with a Max Knuckle.  Arcanine also happened to know Will o Wisp, which was blocked by the Lum Berry.  Max Strike followed by Double Edge after Dynamax wore off defeated the dog. 


Kabu's last Pokemon was a Level 27 Centiskorch.  But not just any Centiskorch.  This one had Gigantamax powers.  Gigantamax was a slightly enhanced version of Dynamax that came with a special move.  In this case it was G-Max Centiferno, which roasted EWE after 2 rounds of the Bug type Max Flutterby and its irrelevant Sp. Atk debuff.  To my dismay, Protect failed to nullify Dynamax attacks, much like how Z Moves could deal reduced damage to Protect in Alola.  It seemed only Max Guard could block those.


DEATH COUNT:  17


EWE wolfed down some more candies to grow to Level 45 before trying again.  I Protected on the first turn against Ninetales to try to manipulate its AI into not hitting with Will o Wisp, though it only cast Ember this time.  Double Edge and a Double Kick knocked out the kitsune.  Arcanine's Will o Wisp was cured, and EWE won that round with Max Knuckle and Max Strike after taking a Flame Wheel.  EWE managed to KO herself with Double Edge recoil after surviving a Max Flutterby from Centiskorch.


DEATH COUNT:  18


The last couple ofattempts were made at Level 50.  EWE finally outran Ninetales, though a regular Double Edge still failed to clobber it.  Max Strikes were needed for a clean victory.  Max Knuckles counteracted Intimidate, though Arcanine was hardy and could take a few hits.  Two Double Edges could not break through Centiskorch's Gigantamax HP.


DEATH COUNT:  20


This must have been my hardest Pokemon variant ever.  Halfway to the level cap, and Wooloo still could not beat the 3rd Gym with no enemy above 27.  Without easy experience candies, you would be reading a solo Dubwool playthrough long before this point.  There were only 2 solutions I could think of at this point:  become even more obscenely overleveled, or track down a Substitute TR.  Substitute would block Will o Wisp and Intimidate at the cost of 1/4 max HP, allowing EWE to buff her Attack to +3 with Max Knuckle.


At this point, I fought Raids for a long time in the Wild Area and begged each Watt trader to sell the TR.  SOLEDAD the trainer had enough Watts to buy several, but no one was willing to sell one to her until this morning.  I can't emphasize enough how much of a relief this was to finally get Substitute.  None of the Normal Raid monsters bothered to drop it and yielded endless Tri Attacks instead of something for Wooloo's meager move selection.


EWE the Wooloo Stats and Moves
 


Level 50 @ Nothing

Ability:  Fluffy
Nature:  Relaxed (+10% Defense, -10% Speed)
Characteristic:  Alert to Sounds (highest IV is Speed)
 

HP:  106
Attack:  50
Defense:  78
Sp. Atk:  61
Sp. Def:  58
Speed:  66
 
Double Edge
Payback
Protect
Double Kick