Pokemon Variants

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Shield Solo Wooloo "Victory"


Champion Leon led with an effective counter to Wooloo, a Level 62 Aegislash.  Games called Pokemon Sword and Shield would not be complete without a Ghost/Steel Pokemon that is literally a haunted sword and shield.  Its extreme base Defense in its Shield form was already bad enough, but its King's Shield move could either completely block Payback and reduce Attack to -1, or reduce the damage of Max Darkness.  On the first try, EWE didn't even make it past this monster and its Flash Cannon special attacks.


DEATH COUNT:  52


On Take 2, Wooloo made it much farther.  When Aegislash died, Seismitoad the Water/Ground amphibian took its place.  This one knew Toxic, increasing Facade's power but forcing EWE to Rest later in the battle.  Haxorus took advantage of the downtime to shake the ground with Earthquake.  Since I had picked Grookey at the beginning of the game without knowing who the Chosen One was going to be, I was punished with the fully evolved form of the Fire starter.  Cinderace the rabbit kicked Pyro Balls, which happened to miss on this attempt.  Dragapult succeeded where Cinderace failed.  It was a Ghost/Dragon like its earlier form Dreepy, and liked to cast Flamethrower.


DEATH COUNT:  53


The last chance to win without Battle Items was to max out Friendship by playing with EWE in the camp minigame and feeding it curry.  Friendship and Affection from Kalos and Alola had been combined into one stat, though the upper 3 "heart levels" acted more like Affection, while the bottom 2 satisfied for the old Friendship.


Affection bonuses didn't seem to activate as often as they did for the X and Moon solos.  The only notable event on Take 3 was a critical hit Facade against Cinderace that still failed to KO.  A Quick Attack poked EWE for what little HP she had left.  Another try had more hope when EWE cured itself of Seismitoad's Toxic, though that was for nothing when a Pyro Ball slammed EWE into the goal.


FINAL DEATH COUNT:  54


Is it possible to beat Pokemon Shield with only a Wooloo, without using Battle Items?  Maybe, if qualified with the word "theoretically".  You'd need optimized "effort values" and innate stats, and a more favorable nature than Relaxed.


Just to get some closure for this playthrough, EWE tried foul means when fair means failed.  While Aegislash was alive, EWE consumed 2 X Attacks and 1 Speed.  These "steroids" buffed her stats to the point where she was outspeeding all the enemies and killing them with one Payback or Facade.  The only damage she took was from an Aegislash Flash Cannon, and that's after she dodged the first with Affection.  When Level 65 Charizard grew to Gigantamax size, EWE activated her own Dynamax and slew it with a Max Strike.


It was disappointing to rely on Battle Items to win, hence the "victory" in finger quotes.  Even getting this far with Wooloo's natural abilities was the toughest Pokemon challenge I've ever tried.  This is a Pokemon that wishes it were as good as Rattata.  Normal types in general suffer in Sword and Shield due to the removal of their staple move Return.


Wooloo in particular has such a shallow move selection that it's forced to use Payback and Double Kick until the end of the game.  That's what makes Wooloo bad, more so than its subpar stats.  If Wooloo had Swords Dance, Bulk Up, or Dragon Dance, this playthrough might have been a breeze in comparison.  Remember JITTERBUG the Volbeat and its Tail Glow?  Even general use TMs that were the last refuge of weak Pokemon in older games are absent here.  No Double Team, no Toxic, no Hidden Power.


No Battle Item solos can be viable in Shield even accounting for Wooloo's failure.  TRs from the Wild Area and experience point candies are powerful tools for monsters that actually have decent stats.  My next solo will be in Sword since I received the Double Pack.  When I get around to it, that is.  I hope you enjoyed reading about SOLEDAD the shepherd and her EWE.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Sword Solo Galvantula Part 1


My Christmas present was the Sword and Shield Double Pack, so this next playthrough will be in Sword.  Spanish was chosen as the language because I wanted some practice.  So far, it hasn't been like Pokemon X with its "bored like an oyster" and "My saint is leaving me for heaven" expressions.  Mostly just standard Spain Spanish.  They must not have figured out a way to do a Harry Potter English dialect, but in Spanish.  "Mum" is "Mamá" here.


The playthrough didn't really begin until the first trip to the Wild Area, so I'll skip everything before that.  The weather in the Rolling Fields was a Thunderstorm.  I was originally planning on making this a Claydol solo, but the daily weather made that impossible without messing with the Switch's clock.


Joltik, however, was available.  Joltik is a Unova Pokemon, but it is only obtainable after the 5th badge in White, making it impossible to use it as a solo without trading or cheating.  It's a Bug/Electric type mostly designed for special attacks.  The first Joltik that didn't have a terrible nature was "Tímida", or Bashful in the English version.  The nature called "Timid" in English is "Miedosa" (Fearful) in Spanish.


The Spanish translators included a Pokemon Let's Go pun by naming a minor NPC Aquiles Gómez.  The bold print is from the game, and isn't my addition.  Cara Liss the fossil combiner is named Carmen Babia after the expression "estar en Babia" used to refer to someone who is daydreaming or distracted.  


Joltik's first real battle was against Hop in Motostoke, who was now called Paul for some reason.  The first action against Wooloo was a String Shot misclick because I picked up the Switch in a way that automatically selected the first move.  Wooloo was even weaker than EWE from the Shield playthrough, so it didn't matter much. 


Joltik's Electroweb had moderate power that was still usable this early in the game, and could decrease enemy Speed if it didn't KO.  Sobble Pounded Joltik before an Electroweb critical made it feel like someone dropped a toaster in the bathtub.  Hop's Rookidee wasn't allowed to act before it was caught in an Electoweb.  Joltik easily won at Level 14.


Fighting some early Raids got Joltik some Dynamax Candies, the X-Scissor TR, and enough Watts to buy a Thunderbolt TR.  If you're not manipulating the Switch clock, solo playthroughs can vary even with the same species based on what TRs are available at the time.


Even with these endgame moves, Joltik still almost lost to a Galar Mine 1 trainer with 3 Timburrs.  Two of them used Rock Throw, crushing Joltik for super effective damage.  The Bug only survived thanks to the AI being stupid and using Low Kick with the final Timburr, which Joltik resisted. 


Bede, now named Berto, challenged Joltik at the end of Galar Mine 1.  His Psychic types Solosis, Gothita, and Hatenna were all weak to X-Scissor, but only Solosis died in one hit.  Gothita survived what must have been a low damage roll and Tickled Joltik to reduce Attack and Speed.  A Thunderbolt shocked the tiny goth girl.  Hatenna cast Confusion before falling to 2 X-Scissors.  Joltik won the battle at Level 18 with 31/46 HP.


Gym Leader Milo was called Percy in Spanish for reasons unknown.  Joltik prepared for the Grass master by equipping the Silver Powder to enhance her Bug attack power by 20%.  Gossifleur cast the Normal type Round before two X-Scissors trimmed it.  Joltik saved her Dynamax powers until Eldegoss appeared.  Even with Max Flutterby, Joltik failed to reduce Eldegoss's high max HP to 0 in one move.  Eldegoss debuffed Joltik's Speed with Max Strike, then used Max Overgrowth on Round 2 just before a 2nd Max Flutterby plucked the plant.  Joltik leveled to 21 after killing Eldegoss and winning her 1st badge.


On Route 5, Hop's Wooloo did not have insulating wool, which let Joltik shock it with one Thunderbolt.  Corvisquire and Drizzile died the same way, though at least Drizzile was faster and Growled first.  A no damage victory in a Galar solo is rare indeed.


Joltik found the Magnet in Hulbury to increase her Electric power by 20% just in time for the 2nd Gym.  Who knows why "magnet" and "imam" are the same word in Spanish (el imán).  Nessa the Water Gym Leader became Cathy in this translation.  A single Thunderbolt electrocuted her Goldeen, though Arrokuda took advantage of its priority Aqua Jet to deal some damage before a Dynamax powered Max Lightning jolted it.  Max Lightning also had the bonus of setting up Electric Terrain for a 50% damage boost when Nessa's Drednaw appeared.  Drednaw was faster than Joltik and attacked with Max Darkness before a Max Lightning defibrillated it.  Joltik won at Level 25 with about 2/3 of her HP, just one level higher than Drednaw.



Bede returned in Galar Mine 2 with his Psychic team, though Solosis was as weak as ever to X-Scissor.  Gothita cast a Psybeam after surviving an X-Scissor, though Joltik had a new trick for enduring longer battles:  Leech Life.  (Chupavidas or "Life Sucker" in Spanish)  Players accustomed to older games will laugh at this, because Leech Life was only 20 power then.  But the Alola games boosted it to 80 power, making it a viable physical Bug attack for the late game.  Bede healed Gothita with a Super Potion, letting Joltik restore its HP for free with its attacks.  X-Scissor hacked Hatenna apart, though Galar Ponyta was unusually tough and required 2 Leech Life turns to kill while it was casting Confusion.  Joltik conquered at Level 25 with 47/60 HP.



Where Gym Leaders and rivals failed, a random Galar Mine 2 trainer succeeded.  This person had a Rapid Spin Drilbur to soften up Joltik before an Onix with Rock Slide, Smack Down, and Curse buffs caused a cave in.


DEATH COUNT:  1


This seemed to be a mandatory trainer too, so Joltik couldn't sneak around him.  Take 2 only succeeded because Onix had unlucky damage rolls with its Rock attacks, leaving Joltik at single digit HP.  Joltik held out with Leech Life.  If Joltik died again, there was a backup plan involving relearning Absorb to hit Onix for 4X damage.
 

Marnie in the Motostoke hotel became Roxy in the Spanish translation.  I wonder what they call the Poison type Gym Leader from Black/White 2 who's called Roxie in English.  Her Croagunk was too slow to attack and too frail to survive a Thunderbolt.  Scraggy was bulkier and required 2 hits to kill no matter what Joltik did.  This time it was an X-Scissor and a Thunderbolt.  Scraggy attacked Joltik with Wooloo's signature Headbutt.  Morpeko was swift and Bit Joltik so hard that she flinched.  Leech Life was super effective, but still not enough to outlast enemy Super Potion healing.  Morpeko took one more Bite out of Joltik, causing the 2nd defeat of the playthrough.


DEATH COUNT:  2


Morpeko still managed to make Joltik flinch during Take 2, but perhaps some low enemy damage rolls saved her this time, and she survived with 18/66 HP.  (The character level somehow didn't make it into my notes.)


In one of the strangest translation choices in the Spanish version, Kabu the Fire Gym Leader became Naboru.  Were they playing too much Zelda 2 or Ocarina of Time while working on Sword and Shield?  During the Fire Pokemon catching challenge, a wild Sizzlipede scorched Joltik, probably with Flame Wheel.


DEATH COUNT:  3


At Level 28, Joltik had no chance against Kabu.  She couldn't even survive Ninetales, whose Fire Spin and Ember baked the Bug.


DEATH COUNT:  4


Joltik leveled to 35 with candies just to see if she could win in her unevolved form.  The beginning of the rematch went well when Ninetales used its irrelevant Will o Wisp, giving Joltik enough time to cast Thunderbolt twice for the KO.  What attacks would be weakened under Burn status, Kabu?  X-Scissor, which was already ineffective against Fire types?  Arcanine Intimidated Joltik, but since there was no Special Attack variant of this ability, Joltik Dynamaxed and killed Arcanine with 2 Max Lightnings.  Arcanine was still faster, making me wonder what was the point of using Agility.  Arcanine still dealt significant Flame Wheel damage on the 2nd turn.  Gigantamax Centiskorch survived a Max Lightning and retaliated with a G-Max Centiferno as hot as a star.


DEATH COUNT:  5


The only option to win at a reasonable point was to evolve into Galvantula at Level 36.  The increase in power was dramatic when the giant spider zapped Ninetales with a single Thunderbolt in spite of its high Special Defense.  Galvantula skittered around Arcanine and shocked it with Max Lightning before it could move.  Centiskorch at Gigantamax size still had enough HP to survive an Electric Terrain dynamo for Max Lightning, though it made the baffling choice of attacking with Max Flutterby instead of G-Max Centiferno.  A 2nd Max Lightning secured victory.  Winning at Level 36 may have been mildly disappointing, but it sure beat having to wait until 50 like EWE the Wooloo did.  Kabu is cruel to physical attackers in general, to be fair.


Galvantula beat most of Route 6 with ease, except for the wild-eyed artist trainer.  His Sudowoodo came close to adding to the DEATH COUNT, and would have succeeded if its Rock Slide got a critical hit.  The sessions from yesterday ended when I saved in Stow-on-Side just before the 4th Gym.  Galvantula didn't have a nickname until this morning, when I thought of the giant spider from Lord of the Rings.



SHELOB the Galvantula Stats


Level 38 @ Magnet


Ability: Compound Eyes
Nature: Bashful
Characteristic: Se caracteriza por su cuerpo resistente (English "Sturdy Body"?)


HP:  102
Attack:  69
Defense:  63
Sp. Atk:  91
Sp. Def:  52
Speed:  99


Rain Dance
X-Scissor
Thunderbolt
Leech Life

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Sword Solo Galvantula Part 2


Much of this session was spent gathering Watts in the Wild Area because the merchants sold several TRs that SHELOB wanted.  The player character accomplished this by going to Raid spots and replaying the Rotom Rally bike minigame repeatedly.  He must have been the sort of nearsighted person who was too proud to wear glasses or contacts, because wild Pokemon often popped up in front of him and made his bike spin out!  How can you not see a Steelix or Garbodor 2 inches from your face, trainer?!


Fortunately, one of the Raids was against an Applin that dropped an Energy Ball TM.  Now Galvantula could kill pesky Ground types quickly if the special attack Bug Buzz wasn't enough.  Thunder wouldn't ordinarily be used for a solo, but SHELOB's passive ability gave it more accuracy than usual.


After gathering all the necessary moves, SHELOB took a Corviknight taxi to Stow-on-Side to challenge the Gym.  EWE the Wooloo fought Allister the Ghost specialist because she lived in Shield.  But SHELOB was in the Sword dimension, so her next opponent was Bea the Fighting specialist.  The joystick rotating pinball game was effectively the same, just with the haunted house graphics being replaced by a boxing theme. 


SHELOB the Galvantula nearly lost a battle with Nicolás when she flubbed Thunder 2 times in a row against a Hitmonlee that used Revenge.  I didn't know what its Spanish name "Desquite" meant, so I had to look it up.  It turned out to be a faithful translation:  "revenge, payback".  Compound Eyes may have made Thunder viable, but not reliable.  Two Thunderbolts KOd Hitmonlee after Thunder failed, though the stronger Electric move succeeded against Hitmonchan and killed the boxer in one hit.  SHELOB emerged from the battle with 12/104 HP.


Bea was named Judith here, following the trend of merely using another unrelated name spelled in English rather than something in Spanish.  Her lead was a Level 34 Hitmontop, which surprisingly did not have Intimidate.  Its method of dealing with would-be physical attackers was Counter instead.  Thunder failed to knock out the capoeira dancer in one hit, but did manage to paralyze it.  It struck with a Revenge that only dealt half damage thanks to SHELOB's Bug type.  A Thunderbolt struck down Hitmontop and leveled SHELOB to 40.


Level 34 Pangoro was the next opponent.  The panda had enough endurance to survive a Thunder, requiring a Thunderbolt finisher on the 2nd round.  Pangoro opted to increase its Attack and Special Attack with Work Up instead of attacking, so it was a free kill.


Level 35 Sirfetch'd was Bea's 3rd Pokemon.  This was a Sword exclusive monster, and an evolution of the pure Fighting local variant of Farfetch'd.  This bird blocked some Max Lightning damage with Detect and its shield when SHELOB Dynamaxed, but it took the full force of the attack on the 2nd round. 


Last came a Level 36 Gigantamax Machamp that survived an Electric Terrain powered Max Lightning on the first turn.  Its best effort was a fairly weak Max Darkness, and a Thunderbolt from a regular sized Galvantula was enough to pin Machamp.  SHELOB won with 49/107 HP at Level 40.  Bea surrendered the Revenge TM, which would be available in Ballonlea in Shield.



SHELOB the Galvantula Stats


Level 40 @ Magnet


Ability: Compound Eyes
Nature: Bashful
Characteristic: Se caracteriza por su cuerpo resistente (English "Sturdy Body"?)


HP:  107
Attack:  74
Defense:  66
Sp. Atk:  96
Sp. Def:  56
Speed:  104


Rain Dance
Bug Buzz
Thunderbolt
Thunder

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Sword Solo Galvantula Part 3


Bede's battle in Stow-on-Side was barely worth writing down.  His Duosion, Gothorita, Hattrem, and Galar Ponyta were all weak to Bug Buzz and died in one hit.  SHELOB's Silver Powder probably helped, and the spider won at Level 41.


Opal was renamed Sally in the Spanish version, though the questions in her Gym were about the same.  One trainer's favorite food "Omelet" was altered to "Scrambled Eggs" (huevos revueltos).  SHELOB had some difficulty with the short trainer gauntlet because Fairy types had high Special Defense.  Aromatisse messed with her mind by means of Psychic, and when combined with Gardevoir's Dazzling Gleam, Galvantula's HP was down to 31/112.


Opal's Galar Weezing may have been well-dressed, but that didn't give it enough HP and Special Defense to survive Thunder with the Magnet equipped.  When Togekiss appeared, I finally found a funny line in the Spanish dialogue.  Opal asked me if her nickname was La Hechicera (Sorceress), or the incorrect answer La Bruja Maruja, which means something like Housewife Witch in Spain.  Or Homemaker Hag, if you prefer alliteration. 


As much as I joke about Opal, she's my favorite Gym Leader in the game because she has an interesting personality.  One Thunder zapped the retconned Fairy/Flying type, and fellow retcon Mawile didn't last any longer when SHELOB Dynamaxed and increased the voltage with Max Lightning. 


Alcremie in its Gigantamax wedding cake form was high on calories and could therefore survive one Electric Terrain Max Lightning.  It attacked once with G-Max Finale.  Given how the life bar worked after the first one, it was possible a 2 hit knockout would have failed if not for both the Magnet and previous Electric Terrain.  Opal had enough time to ask me her favorite color (El Violeta), but not her age.  SHELOB claimed her 5th badge at Level 43, at around 2/3 of max HP or so.


Hop on Route 7 opened with a Trevenant, a Ghost/Grass tree that wasn't weak to any of SHELOB's moves.  So she cast Bug Buzz twice for neutral damage instead.  It gashed the spider with Shadow Claw once before returning to the afterlife.  Heatmor fell to Thunder, but Snorlax's fat provided excellent Special Defense and prevented a KO. 


It took 3 Thunders and 2 Thunderbolts to get through Snorlax's Stockpile buffs and an enemy Hyper Potion.  Boltund had sensitive ears and SHELOB overwhelmed them with Bug Buzz.  One Thunderbolt zapped Inteleon.  SHELOB beat her rival again with 84/117 HP at Level 44.


The Togedemaru guy on Route 7 was still annoying even when I was using a far superior Pokemon.  Mostly because Thunder missed more than once, letting the Electric/Steel type Zing Zap for free.


Helping an incompetent detective in Circhester's hotel gave SHELOB a Wide Lens as a reward.  This could increase Thunder's accuracy, but I decided that she needed extra damage from the Magnet more.  Gordie's Rock type Gym in Sword had the same puzzle as Melony's Ice Gym from Shield, but with the ice and blizzards palette swapped to rocks and sandstorms.


Gordie was called Morris in Spanish.  He began with a Level 40 Barbaracle that was Rock/Water and easy prey for Energy Ball.  Level 40 Shuckle required 2 Thunders to kill thanks to its lopsided base 230 Special Defense.  It used Power Split, a gimmick move that averaged SHELOB's attacking stats with Shuckle's much lower ones.


Power Split seemed to have no effect when the pure Rock Stonehenge lookalike Level 41 Stonjourner appeared.  One Max Lightning made it inert.  Last was the Level 42 Rock/Fire Coalossal, a Gigantamax furnace.  Two Electric Max Lightnings were a more efficient power source, though a G-Max Volcalith crushed SHELOB for more than half her HP.  SHELOB got her 6th badge at Level 47.


Hop in Circhester was a surprisingly competent opponent.  SHELOB may have been a reliable special attacker, but her defenses were subpar, and taking Hail damage after every turn made matters worse.  Dubwool endured one Thunder only to kill itself with Take Down recoil.  Thunder missed multiple times against Snorlax, leading to an eventual loss to Body Slam.


DEATH COUNT:  6


On Take 2, Galvantula defeated Dubwool, Snorlax, and Inteleon, but she had taken so much damage that Corviknight Drill Pecked a hole inside her.  Rain Dance helped mitigate Hail damage by changing the weather, but was not enough for victory.


DEATH COUNT:  7


For the next round, I had an unusual plan.  SHELOB equipped the Big Root, a hold item that increased the healing she received from HP draining attacks.  This was more successful than I expected.  Snorlax's Defense was lower than its Special Defense, and Leech Life healing kept up with Body Slam damage.  Inteleon and Corviknight didn't dodge Thunder this time.  A Leech Life critical bit Pincurchin with the force of vampire fangs, and all it could do was to Curse SHELOB's success.  Galvantula rose to Level 49 with 120/130 HP, to show you how good Leech Life with Big Root could be.



SHELOB the Galvantula Stats


Level 49 @ Big Root


Ability: Compound Eyes
Nature: Bashful
Characteristic: Se caracteriza por su cuerpo resistente (English "Sturdy Body"?)


HP:  130
Attack:  91
Defense:  83
Sp. Atk:  119
Sp. Def:  68
Speed:  128


Rain Dance
Leech Life
Energy Ball
Thunder

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Sword Solo Galvantula Part 4


Route 9's Fighting and Water trainers did not stand a chance against Galvantula and were not worth recording here.  Or Piers's underlings in the Spikemuth Gym.


Piers was called Nerio in this translation.  I failed to remember the exact area that triggered the fight, so Galvantula entered the battle poisoned in an attempt to watch the cutscene, then leave to go to the Pokemon Center. 


Scrafty used a move it hadn't tried in the EWE the Wooloo playthrough:  Sand Attack.  Maybe it took pity on EWE for being a weak Pokemon, and didn't want to subject her to accuracy debuffs.  Soon, SHELOB's attacks started missing, but a Thunder and Bug Buzz managed to kill Pier's true best Pokemon.  Leech Life drained Malamar dry even with -1 Attack from Intimidate because it was Psychic/Dark.  Obstagoon's Obstruct delayed SHELOB for a turn so she would take more poison damage, and two Throat Chops choked her when a Bug Buzz missed.


DEATH COUNT:  8


SHELOB didn't have to re-enter the arena with a status ailment after being healed at the Pokemon Center.  This time, I actually bothered to prepare.  It was embarrassing to lose to a Gym Leader that was weak to Bug!  SHELOB equipped the Wide Lens in case of Sand Attack.


Scrafty attacked with Payback after the first Thunder, and was at low enough HP that I falsely believed a Leech Life could finish it off and heal SHELOB a bit.  It didn't work, allowing Scrafty to Sand Attack before SHELOB shattered its eardrums with Bug Buzz.  Malamar was as susceptible to Leech Life as it was in Take 1.  Obstagoon blocked once with Obstruct, though one Bug Buzz destroyed the regional variant. 


Piers's Skuntank was part Poison meaning Bug Buzz was only neutral damage, and it had the clever strategy of reducing Defense with Screech, then hitting hard with priority Sucker Punch.  SHELOB staggered out of the improvised stadium with less than half HP at Level 53, but it was still a victory.


Some tactics were required to defeat the subordinates of Raihan, or Roy as he was called in Spanish.  Rain Dance canceled out Ninetales's automatic Sun and gave Thunder perfect accuracy.  One critical Thunder struck down Ninetales while Turtonator was trying to bait SHELOB with Shell Trap.  The ceremonial Double Battle Magikarp took a Rock Tomb for SHELOB, giving the spider enough turns to wear the Fire/Dragon with half damage Thunders.  Abomasnow on the Hail trainer's team was the 1st target because it could set up Aurora Veil to boost the team's defenses.  Hakamo-O was paralyzed by the 1stThunder and killed by the 2nd.



Raihan was the toughest opponent in the game so far, mostly because he was attacking SHELOB with 2 Pokemon at a time.  "No Battle Items" Solos can't get through Pokemon Sword and Shield with force and Speed alone, and require some defensive stats to win fights like this.  Attempts usually began with immediate Dynamaxing and sending Max Overgrowth at Gigalith.  One try without Dynamaxing on Turn 1 resulted in Gigalith surviving Energy Ball due to the hidden Sandstorm Special Defense boost for Rock types.  What happened next was Gigalith bruising SHELOB's mandibles with Rock Blast.


Gigalith's partner was a Flygon who almost always attacked Magikarp with a Thunder Punch on Turn 1.  Afterwards, it liked to use Breaking Swipe to decrease SHELOB's irrelevant Attack.  When Sandaconda appeared, it either tried to stall for a turn with Protect or chomp SHELOB with Fire Fang.  If Burn from Fire Fang's side effect occurred, it stacked with Sandstorm damage to make the "survival clock" tick faster. 


But Sandaconda was weak compared to Gigantamax Duraludon, who crushed Galvantula with super effective Max Rockfalls.  SHELOB had only 1 Dynamax turn left when the skyscraper showed up, so she lost her extra HP and perished quickly.


DEATH COUNT:  12


SHELOB's grew stronger with candies after various attempts until she hit the magic level of 65.  She equipped the Miracle Seed for extra Max Overgrowth damage if necessary, though the Magnet might have been a better option.  Max Overgrowth eroded Gigalith, and a Max Flutterby on Turn 2 made Flygon crash to the ground. 


Galvantula spent her final Dynamax turn on a Max Lightning to deal damage to Duraludon and set up Electric Terrain.  One boosted Thunder on the next round must have had a good damage roll, and toppled the skyscraper even though its Dragon type resisted Electric.  One final Energy Ball broke Siliconda's back and ended the battle at Level 66 with low HP.


SHELOB will probably still have to be at a noticeably higher level than Champion Leon's team in order to win, though not at 100, I hope!




SHELOB the Galvantula Stats


Level 66 @ Miracle Seed


Ability: Compound Eyes
Nature: Bashful
Characteristic: Se caracteriza por su cuerpo resistente (English "Sturdy Body"?)


HP:  173
Attack:  127
Defense:  115
Sp. Atk:  160
Sp. Def:  93
Speed:  175


Bug Buzz
Energy Ball
Rain Dance
Thunder

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Sword Solo Galvantula Finale


Once Galvantula arrived in Wyndon, she consumed Calciums to increase her Special Attack "effort values".  Sword and Shield have much fewer route trainers and Gym underlings compared to previous games, so not many effort values are acquired naturally.  The focus in Galar is on fighting difficult bosses, rather than hordes of weaker opponents.


With the Magnet equipped, Marnie was so easy that SHELOB didn't take any damage at all.  Liepard, Scrafty, Toxicroak, Morpeko, and Grimsnarl all died to Bug Buzz, Thunder, or Max Lightning at Level 67.  This may seem to be overpowered until you remember how much trouble SHELOB had with Raihan.


SHELOB confronted Hop while wearing the Magnet as well.  His Dubwool, Corviknight, Pincurchin, and Inteleon were weak, and all retreated to their Poke Balls when hit by Thunder, Max Lightning, or Bug Buzz.  Snorlax was the 2nd monster to appear, however, and it was too tough to faint to one Max Lightning.  Its only attack before Hop healed it with a Full Restore was the Ground attack High Horsepower.  SHELOB beat her rival for the last time with 163/178 HP at Level 68.


Oleana became Olivia in the Spanish version.  SHELOB tried the Wide Lens instead of the Magnet to sacrifice power in favor of accuracy.  Thunder without the Magnet still shocked Froslass, Salazzle, and Milotic in one hit each.  Tsareena was a pure Grass type and therefore susceptible to Bug Buzz.  SHELOB saved Dynamax for Gigantamax Garbodor, who endured one Max Lightning and retaliated with Max Rockfall.  A 2nd Max Lightning took the trash to the dump, and SHELOB survived with about 2/3 of her HP at Level 69.


Bede was no better a rival than Marnie in the Champion's Cup.  Mawile, Rapidash, and Hatterene did not resist Electric attacks and succumbed to Thunder or Max Lightning.  Gardevoir had just enough Special Defense to take one Thunder, but ended up with Paralysis.  It was nice to see its Synchronize ability fail when that happened, because Electric types have been immune to Paralysis since Generation 6.  SHELOB won the battle unscathed at Level 69.


The only reason SHELOB took any damage at all in the Nessa rematch was because Golisopod had the unavoidable priority attack First Impression, called Escaramuza or "Skirmish" in Spanish.  But SHELOB threw Thunder and Max Lightning into the bathtub and electrocuted Golisopod, Seaking, Barraskewda, Pelipper, and Drednaw in one hit.  You'd think she would have brought a Water/Ground type to the Champion's Cup, but no!  Gastrodon, Whiscash, Seismitoad, and Quagsire are available in Galar, so she had no excuse.  


Bea returned for another Sword exclusive battle.  SHELOB made sure to wear the Magnet in case 20% more Electric power was needed.  Thunder jolted Hawlucha, Falinx, and Grapploct in one hit.  Electric Terrain was activated at Sirfetch'd's expense.  The 1st Max Lightning against Gigantamax Machamp must have rolled low, because the 2nd killed it in one hit after Bea healed her monster with a Full Restore.  As punishment, SHELOB took a direct hit from Max Flare and ended the battle at Level 70 with a little above half HP.


Raihan did not force SHELOB into a Double Battle for his rematch, though he was still the most difficult of the finals Gym Leaders.  Rain Dance nullified Torkoal's automatic Sun, though SHELOB was forced to take it out with Max Lightning early in order for Electric Terrain to keep her awake.  The turtle had Yawned on the first turn, and there was no way SHELOB could survive a few turns sleeping.  Turtonator's Dragon type resistance did not save it from an Electric Terrain Magnet Max Lightning. 



One last turn of Dynamax was used to send Max Flutterby at Flygon.  But Goodra had impressive Special Defense and could survive Thunders.  It turned SHELOB's Rain against her with a Surf.  SHELOB limped into a one-on-one fight with Duraludon, though she was crushed under a Max Rockfall.  Sandstorm passive damage stung SHELOB into unconsciousness.


DEATH COUNT:  13


On Take 2, SHELOB picked Max Lightning as her first action.  Thunder would have been too inaccurate because of the Sun.  Turtonator and Flygon died as they did on Take 1.  For Goodra, SHELOB revived her old Leech Life trick.  70 base Defense was far lower than 150 base Special Defense, so even with her lower Attack stat Leech Life was a 2 hit KO.  SHELOB survived one Max Rockfall and zapped Duraludon with 2 Thunders, winning the battle at Level 71 with less than half HP.



Rose the unofficial Steel Gym Leader had the same name in the Spanish version.  Escavalier and Perrserker were good conductors for Magnet powered Thunder.  Ferrothorn, being a standard defensive Pokemon in competitive play, required 2 Leech Lifes and Max Lightning.  (Bug Buzz was not equipped then.)  Two more Max Lightnings struck down Klinklang and dealt heavy damage to Gigantamax Copperajah.  A Max Quake may have enhanced the elephant's Special Defense, but it was not enough to save it from a Thunder when Dynamax expired.  SHELOB defeated the game's unnecessary villain at Level 71 with high HP.


I forgot to heal Galvantula after Rose, because it was one of those major battles that didn't heal the player's team afterwards.  Eternatus charred SHELOB with a Flamethrower after an initial Dragon Pulse.


DEATH COUNT:  14


Three Thunders with the Magnet were enough to end the first phase of the Eternatus fight, but two Max Flares targeted at SHELOB in the Gigantamax phase sent her back to the Pokemon Center.  Sword and Shield are much more difficult for Pokemon that are weak to Fire. . .


DEATH COUNT:  15


Fortunately, returning to Eternatus began the Gigantamax battle rather than forcing me to start over with the 1st form.  SHELOB had a plan for surviving without having to level up:  Protect like a coward and force Zacian and Zamazenta to do most of the work!  To be fair, SHELOB summoned Rain to weaken Max Flare for the whole team, and she did have the honor of the final blow with Thunder. 


Leon, or Lionel in Spanish, deserved his Champion title more than perhaps any other AI trainer in the series.  Yes, that includes Red.  Aegislash was difficult to predict.  Once, it wasted 2 of SHELOB's Dynamax turns by guarding itself with King's Shield.  The haunted sword and shield could also fire slow moving Shadow Balls that drained more than half of Galvantula's HP.  Eventually I discovered that the way around it was to Protect on the first turn to bait it into switching into its offensive sword form, then cast Thunder on the next round to take it out on one hit.


Leon's Pokemon order was different for SHELOB than for EWE.  Cinderace appeared 2nd instead of being reserved for later.  The Fire rabbit starter was not a notable factor in any attempt, because SHELOB always outsped it and killed it in one hit with either Max Lightning or Thunder.  Then came Dragapult, a Ghost/Dragon Pokemon that resisted all of SHELOB's moves and had an exceptional base 142 Speed.  On the first try, Dragapult outran SHELOB and roasted her with Flamethrower.


If Dragapult failed to stop SHELOB, then Haxorus succeeded.  It had just enough Special Defense to survive either Bug Buzz or a resisted Electric Terrain Thunder, then rip SHELOB to pieces with Outrage.  Galvantula could not achieve the goal of winning the game at less than 10 levels than Leon's team.  SHELOB ate Kelpsy Berries to get rid of her now useless Attack "effort values" and replaced them with Speed from Carbos to go first against Dragapult.  SHELOB gradually increased in levels throughout failed attempts and candy meals.


FINAL DEATH COUNT:  23


 

At Level 82, the battle was strangely anticlimactic.  Before then, Dragapult and Haxorus would always survive at least one attack, but now they collapsed after one Max Lightning or Max Flutterby.  Maybe it was because SHELOB was vindictive enough to critically hit Dragapult after so many defeats.  Energy Ball was on the move list specifically to eliminate Seismitoad, and one last Thunder toppled the Gigantamax Charizard.  SHELOB won the final battle without taking a single hit.


Playing with Galvantula was fun and a relief after Wooloo, but was still more difficult than I thought it would be.  This is partially because Galvantula has disappointing defensive stats in a game where you can't expect to outspeed and kill everything in one move.  Galvantula has no moves like Calm Mind or Nasty Plot to enhance its moderate 97 Special Attack. The closest thing it has to that is Electric Terrain, and even that can only be done through Dynamax because Galvantula can't use the Electric Terrain TM. 


The Fire and Rock weaknesses from the Bug type are a major liability in Sword/Shield, especially in Sword where Gordie is a Gym Leader.  Galvantula also wishes it could have had moves to deal with Dragon or Ghost types, like Dark Pulse, Shadow Ball, Ice Beam, or even Dragon Pulse.


But Galvantula has just enough tricks to beat the game.  Compound Eyes makes Thunder a viable move, though it still fails on occasion.  Thunder is often necessary when Thunderbolt isn't enough to knock out an opponent in one move.  Bug Buzz kills Grass types that would otherwise give an Electric type a hard time.  Leech Life provides healing in some longer battles, or a physical option for high Special Defense opponents.  Energy Ball is insurance for Rock or Ground monsters.  And Protect and Rain Dance can help an otherwise vulnerable Pokemon survive Eternatus's Max Flares.



SHELOB the Galvantula Final Stats
 

Level 82 @ Magnet
 
Ability:  Compound Eyes
Characteristic:  Se caracteriza por su cuerpo resistente (Sturdy Body?)
 


HP:  213
Attack:  146
Defense:  144
Special Attack:  214
Special Defense:  114
Speed:  232
 


Energy Ball
Bug Buzz
Protect
Thunder

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Sword Solo Sinistea Part 1


This solo playthrough could have gone in a much different direction.  It was snowing in the Dappled Grove in the Wild Area today, which meant that most of its encounters were Ice types like Snover, Vanillish, Delibird, and Snorunt.  Galar is one of very few regions where an Ice type solo is possible without trading.  Previous regions tended to restrict them to late game areas, with the notable section of Amaura's fossil in Kalos.


So I caught a Snorunt, evolved her into Froslass with a guaranteed Dawn Stone, and started fighting Raids for TRs since the Watt Traders sold nothing compatible.  One of them turned out to be Sinistea, a pure Ghost teacup that looked like it belonged in a Disney cartoon.  I knew I had to have it when I saw how ridiculous it looked when it was blown up to Dynamax size, and a Poke Ball caught it at the end of the battle.  As if I needed any more justification, Sinistea is otherwise only available in the Glimwood Tangle right before the 5th Gym.



Sinistea came at a respectable Level 20, with the "somewhat vain" characteristic giving it the maximum bonus of 31 to Special Defense if it rose to Level 100.  A convenient Shadow Ball TR that came from the same Raid provided its staple attack move for the rest of the game.  Sinistea had Mega Drain naturally in case Normal types appeared, or HP was necessary.  Sinistea was genderless, but I named it CHIP after the Beauty and the Beast teacup.


Sinistea's base stats look like this:


HP:  40
Attack:  45
Defense:  45
Special Attack:  74
Special Defense:  54
Speed:  50


It seems like a weak Pokemon, at first.  Then you realize it learns buffs like Nasty Plot (+2 Special Attack) and Shell Smash (+2 Attack, Special Attack, Speed, and -1 to Defense and Special Defense).  Sinistea's passive ability Weak Armor decreases Defense by 1 stage, and increases Speed by 2 when hit by a physical attack, which makes up for its low Speed sometimes.  Since Sinistea can evolve into Polteageist, it can equip the Eviolite, giving it +50% to both defenses.  Mega Drain can be upgraded to Giga Drain through leveling, and Psychic and Psyshock provide more type coverage if necessary.  Aromatherapy cures status ailments without an item.


At Level 20, nobody up to the 1st Gym stood a chance against CHIP except for Pokemon Breeder Jaime and his confusion-inducing Butterfree.  CHIP took no damage at all in the Galar Mine Bede battle when it cast Shadow Ball on all his Psychic types without taking a hit.  Chairman Rose should have given him a pity Normal/Psychic Oranguru.  Hop in Motostoke wasn't much stronger, and the only "danger" in that fight was his faster Scorbunny that cast Ember for 6 damage.


Gym Leader Milo's Gossifleur survived one Shadow Ball and shot a Magical Leaf in return.  Dynamax Eldegoss was the 1st difficult opponent CHIP faced apart from Jaime's Butterfree.  Three Max Phantasms threw poltergeist furniture at Eldegoss and decreased its. . .Defense.  Even though Ghost Pokemon are more often special attackers, making the debuff often useless.  Why did GameFreak have to remind us that Ghost and Dark were "backwards" in the older games, and make the Dynamax moves change stats accordingly? 


Eldegoss responded with Max Overgrowths.  I could tell the 1st was based on the physical move Leafage when it activated Weak Armor.  With Grassy Terrain increasing Eldegoss's Grass power by 50% and the potential for more Weak Armor Defense decreases, Sinistea had to win fast.  CHIP barely survived with 16/106 HP in Dynamax form at Level 23.


Nessa's Gym should be fine for CHIP thanks to Mega Drain being super effective, and by extension Max Overgrowth and its Grassy Terrain for Drednaw.



CHIP the Sinistea Stats
 

Level 23 @ Lum Berry


Nature:  Quiet (+10% Special Attack, -10% Speed)
Characteristic:  It’s somewhat vain (Special Defense is highest IV)
Ability:  Weak Armor (-1 Defense, +2 Speed  when hit with physical attack)
 

HP:  53
Attack:  28
Defense:  27
Special Attack:  48
Special Defense:  37
Speed:  30
 

Moves
 
Mega Drain
Shadow Ball
Protect
Aromatic Mist

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Sword Solo Sinistea Part 2


Most of this playing session was spent unsuccessfully trying to find a Nasty Plot TR in the Wild Area.  Watt Traders refused to sell it today, and not even the Dark type monsters like Nickit, Scraggy, and Stunky would drop it.  They decided I wanted more Throat Chop TRs instead.  At least I'll have more candies than I'll ever need if CHIP the Sinistea wants to level quickly. 


Hop on Route 5 was more difficult than expected.  His Wooloo was easy to defeat because it did nothing but Growl and Defense Curl, mistaking CHIP for a physical attacker.  It still took 5 Mega Drains to slaughter the sheep because Hop insisted on healing it with a Super Potion.  Corvisquire's Peck was beneficial when it activated Weak Armor, and since this was a pure Flying type rather than the usual Normal/Flying Route 1 bird, it could die to Shadow Ball. 


Hop's final Pokemon was Raboot, the middle form of the Scorbunny/Cinderace line that I hadn't seen before.  Weak Armor ensured that CHIP was faster, though it endured one Shadow Ball that got the Special Defense decrease side effect.  Its Flame Charge hit harder than normal because Weak Armor could be harmful as well.  CHIP floated out of the arena with 16/57 HP at Level 25.


No Miracle Seed was available to boost Mega Drain because I picked Sobble at the beginning for variety's sake.  So CHIP equipped the Shell Bell in Hulbury instead.  Gym Leader Nessa's Goldeen was unusually competent for a Super Smash Bros. joke monster, and managed to confuse CHIP with Water Pulse.  CHIP hit itself once in its fugue and was forced to take more Water Pulses.  Weak Armor was useless if the enemy opened with a pure special attacker.


Once a Shadow Ball and Mega Drain combo finally made Goldeen go belly up, Arrokuda obliged CHIP with a Bite, activating Weak Armor.  This was the perfect opening to Dynamax and use Max Overgrowth to prepare Grassy Terrain before Dynamax Drednaw appeared.  Sinistea's next Max Overgrowth was 50% stronger with the help of the local vegetation, and mauled the Water/Rock type immediately.  CHIP won its 2nd badge with 61/116 HP at Level 26 while in Dynamax.


Bede in Galar Mine 2 still had an all-Psychic team, and no answer to Shadow Ball.  Solosis, Gothita, and Hatenna fell before they could act.  Galar Ponyta's superior Speed let it cast one Confusion before Shadow Ball sent it to the Pokemon Center too.  With the Shell Bell, CHIP won at Level 27 with 55/60 HP.


The Team Yell Double Battle in Galar Mine 2 was worth mentioning for a change.  Sinistea couldn't fight 2 Dark types at once with its type disadvantage, even with Mega Drain and Shell Bell healing.  CHIP spent much of the fight Protecting itself while Hop's Raboot did much of the work with Flame Charge .  This tactic worked against Thievul, Galar Linoone, Pancham, and Liepard.  Weak Armor's Defense debuff will be a liability in the mostly physical Raihan Double Battle. . .


It seemed best to wait until tomorrow before fighting Marnie and her team of Dark monsters in the Budew Drop Inn.  Maybe CHIP will finally find its Nasty Plot TR?


CHIP the Sinistea Stats
 

Level 29 @ Shell Bell

Nature:  Quiet (+10% Special Attack, -10% Speed)
Characteristic:  It’s somewhat vain (Special Defense is highest IV)
Ability:  Weak Armor (-1 Defense, +2 Speed  when hit with physical attack)
 

HP:  64
Attack:  35
Defense:  33
Special Attack:  59
Special Defense:  46
Speed:  38
 
Moves
 
Mega Drain
Shadow Ball
Protect
Sucker Punch


Sucker Punch is only on the move list so CHIP can use Max Darkness in Raids if necessary.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Sword Solo Sinistea Part 3


Sometimes waiting a day can make a playthrough easier.  The Watt Traders in the Wild Area showed mercy to CHIP the Sinistea and sold Psychic, Psyshock, and Nasty Plot.  Psychic was coverage for the majority of Poison and Fighting types, Psyshock was a rare special move that targeted enemy Defense, and I've already mentioned the importance of Nasty Plot.


CHIP still had few answers to Dark type specialists, such as Marnie in the Budew Drop Hotel.  Sucker Punch was probably the teacup's most hated move.  It was a base 80 physical Dark move with priority, and the only hope CHIP had when Croagunk used it was that Sucker Punch failed unless its target used an attack.  This meant free Nasty Plots, but major damage when CHIP needed to act.  Croagunk was Poison/Fighting and had a fatal allergy to Psyshock.


Scraggy the Dark/Fighting type left Shadow Ball as the best attacking option, since even at half power it was still better than Mega Drain.  Not that it stopped me from trying to heal with Mega Drain.  CHIP lasted until Morpeko, who survived a Shadow Ball and somehow Bit a Ghost.


DEATH COUNT:  1


On Take 2, Sinistea set up 3 Nasty Plots to max out its Special Attack, only to still take heavy damage from Sucker Punch.  Scraggy endured a +6 Mega Drain and scored a critical hit with Beat Up, a rarely seen physical Dark move that increased in power based on the number of surviving teammates.


DEATH COUNT:  2


On Take 3, CHIP once again set up 3 Nasty Plots as Croagunk failed to use Sucker Punch.  I wasted no time with Mega Drain healing and instead tried to go for the higher base power Shadow Ball.  CHIP avenged its previous losses by shooting a critical Shadow Ball at Morpeko.  CHIP made its enemies sip its tea at Level 29 with 50/64 HP while wielding the Shell Bell.


CHIP was the 3rd Galar solo to fail to defeat Kabu on the first try.  Ninetales inflicted Burn with Will O Wisp and whiffed a Fire Spin.  Two Embers, one of them critical, dealt major damage.  A +4 Psyshock left Ninetales alive even though I expected it to deal more damage thanks to its lower Defense relative to Special Defense.  A Shadow Ball finished off the kitsune, only for Arcanine to move first and Bite a piece off of the teacup.


DEATH COUNT:  3


Sinistea equipped a Rawst Berry on the 2nd try to autocure Burn if Ninetales aimed true with Will o Wisp.  Which it never managed to do.  Two Will o Wisps flew off to the side of the arena as CHIP fortified its Special Attack with 2 Nasty Plots.  Ninetales at least singed CHIP with an Ember, so the fox wasn't completely useless.  Arcanine's Bite activated Weak Armor, ensuring CHIP would go first on all turns after that.  Max Phantasm scared Arcanine to death, and another shrank Gigantamax Centiskorch back to normal.  CHIP won with about half of its maximum HP at Level 31.


The most dangerous part of the game for Sinistea was not a Gym Leader, or even a rival.  Instead, the obstacle was 2 anonymous Team Yell Grunts.  No, I'm not kidding.  All of their Pokemon were Dark types with several threatening moves.  The 1st Grunt opened with a Stunky that shot Poison Gas from its tail and inflicted an ailment. 


Galar Linoone was immune to all of CHIP's moves except for the base 40 Mega Drain, though once I clicked Shadow Ball when I briefly forgot it was part Normal.     Linoone rarely attacked and preferred Baby Doll Eyes and Hone Claws, but Night Slash was trouble.  If Sinistea survived the 1st Grunt, the 2nd Grunt finished the job with a Liepard that struck with a fast Assurance.


DEATH COUNT:  8


Imagine losing 5 times to Team Rocket Grunts and their Raticates and Golbats, and you'll get an idea of how absurd the situation was to witness.  CHIP had to eat enough candies to reach Level 37, both to replace Mega Drain with the base 75 power Giga Drain, and to take a hit from Assurance and gain higher Speed from Weak Armor.     


The wild-eyed Artist on Route 6 exorcised CHIP twice with Sudowoodo Sucker Punches.  One of them was even a critical hit, killing Sinistea before it could act once.


DEATH COUNT:  9


It was then that I figured out what every reader has already thought of by now.  CHIP Nasty Plotted 5 times in a row to exhaust Sucker Punch's PP before Giga Draining the life out of Sudowoodo.  This seems obvious, given how questionable the AI is in Pokemon games, but consider that Aegislash in Leon's battle can't reliably be baited into King's Shield.  How do the algorithms work?


Hop in Stow-on-Side showed off his Cramorant's unique ability for a change.  It was faster than CHIP on the 1st turn and Dove into the water while the teacup Nasty Plotted.  Dive activated Weak Armor when Cramorant surfaced.  The Water/Flying cormorant spat out a fish that dealt additional damage because it used Dive.  Giga Drain failed to KO when the bird rose above the water even at +2 Special Attack, but a 2nd one got a critical hit and increased CHIP's level to 39.


Hop's Silicobra was pure Ground and vulnerable to Giga Drain.  The speedy Raboot wasn't faster than a Weak Armored Sinistea and its Shadow Ball.  Toxel had the same cause of death.  With the help of the Shell Bell, CHIP emerged with full HP.     


Bea's Fighting Gym was not as simple as you'd expect for a Ghost type.  Sure, it was easy when Hitmontop used no moves that affected Sinistea at all.  At the time, I wasn't looking at the move lists, so I assumed it at least had a Dark attack and abstained from Nasty Plotting 3 times in a row.  But no, it tried Revenge. 


Pangoro was 2nd, and CHIP had no better way to deal with a Dark monster in a boss fight than to Dynamax and cast Max Overgrowth.  This defeated the panda in one hit, but Sirfetch'd spoiled Sinistea's plans when it blocked a Max Mindstorm with Protect.  The bird's Brutal Swing activated Weak Armor and inflicted noticeable damage.  Another Max Mindstorm butchered the duck, but Sirfetch'd did its job.  Even with Psychic Terrain from the Max Mindstorms, a Psychic without Dynamax wasn't enough to conquer Gigantamax Machamp.  Its Max Darkness probably would have shattered Sinistea even without the earlier Weak Armor Defense penalty.


DEATH COUNT:  10


For the comeback, CHIP equipped the Wise Glasses to slightly increase Special Attack power.  One Nasty Plot and a Psychic damaged Hitmontop's brain.  Max Overgrowth crept over Pangoro and yielded enough experience for CHIP to gain a level.  Sirfetch'd attacked with Brutal Swing right away instead of Detecting a Max Mindstorm, allowing CHIP to remain in Dynamax form while confronting Machamp.  Max Mindstorm pinned the wrestler, and Sinistea won its 4th badge at Level 41 with 86/174 Dynamax enhanced HP.


Bede in Stow-on-Side was as pathetic as always despite his boasting.  Duosion, Hattrem, and Gothorita all crumpled after CHIP pelted them with Shadow Balls, and Galar Ponyta was no tougher.  Ponyta at least prevented a perfect victory at Level 42 when it cast Psybeam.  CHIP won with 67/89 HP.


Ballonlea had the Eviolite, always a useful item for unevolved solos in games starting with Black/White 1.  I'm debating on whether to evolve CHIP into Polteageist or not, which may happen if CHIP requires an embarrassingly high level to defeat Leon.  Whatever may happen, I learned that the necessary Cracked Pot was in Stow-on-Side, restricting evolution to just before the 4th badge at earliest.  
 

(Yes, that means CHIP the Sinistea is not the "authentic" form and prefers forged teacups, but that's purely cosmetic.)


For now, CHIP continued the playthrough in its base form.  Opal's Weezing was decent Nasty Plot bait, since its best attack was a Fairy Wind breeze.  Opal's quiz question increased CHIP's Speed by 2 stages and avoided the need to take a Weak Armor hit.  One +2 cast of Shadow Ball sent Mawile back to its Poke Ball, though Togekiss was tough and could survive one.  Togekiss cut with an Air Slash, only to die to a Max Phantasm from Dynamax.  Opal's 2nd quiz question about her favorite color increased CHIP's defensive stats by 2 stages. 


CHIP needed 2 Max Phantasms to eat "Wedding Cake" Alcremie, though the Fairy type's G-Max Finale dealt minor damage thanks to telling Opal what she wanted to hear.  Sinistea acquired the 5th badge at Level 44 with 76/188 Dynamax HP.


CHIP the Sinistea Stats
 

Level 44 @ Eviolite

Nature:  Quiet (+10% Special Attack, -10% Speed)
Characteristic:  It’s somewhat vain (Special Defense is highest IV)
Ability:  Weak Armor (-1 Defense, +2 Speed  when hit with physical attack)
 

HP:  94
Attack:  54
Defense:  50
Special Attack:  90
Special Defense:  70
Speed:  58
 


Moves
 
Giga Drain
Shadow Ball
Psyshock
Nasty Plot

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Sword Solo Sinistea Part 4


Hop challenged CHIP the Sinistea on Route 7, and his new team seemed to be designed to counter Ghosts.  CHIP Nasty Plotted on the 1st turn when Trevenant the haunted tree appeared, partially in hopes of getting a Weak Armor activation.  Trevenant did not take the bait and instead shone a Confuse Ray on the teacup.  CHIP was focused enough not to hit itself and turned Trevenant into ectoplasm with a Shadow Ball.


Boltund was faster than Sinistea and came with a Crunch, which bit off 50% more of CHIP's life bar than normal because of the Strong Jaw ability.  Boltund wasn't swift enough to outrun a +2 Speed Sinistea after Weak Armor, making it easy prey for Shadow Ball.  Cinderace and Heatmor were no more resilient.  Psyshock was on CHIP's movelist specifically for opponents like Snorlax with lower Defense than Special Defense, but even at +2 Special Attack, it failed to KO.  Snorlax pounced on CHIP with a Heavy Slam, a physical Steel attack that becomes stronger based on how much the attacker outweighs the defender.  Guess what the lightest Ghost Pokemon species is?


DEATH COUNT:  11


A freak critical hit from Boltund's Crunch cut the 2nd attempt short.  If any of you try to convince me to do a permadeath solo, this evidence should show you that's a bad idea for all but the strongest monsters.


DEATH COUNT:  12


On Take 3, CHIP didn't bother to Nasty Plot against Trevenant and killed it with one Shadow Ball.  The buffing turn was saved for Boltund since Sinistea would have to take a hit anyway.  Boltund's low base Special Defense gave me the idea to cast Giga Drain to see if it could safely heal CHIP.  It worked, and after Cinderace and Heatmor surrendered, CHIP confronted Snorlax with high HP.  One Giga Drain softened up Snorlax just before CHIP had to crawl out from under its Heavy Slam.  One final Psyshock defeated the main rival with "yellow" HP range.  I failed to record what level CHIP was at in my notes.


Togedemaru Guy on Route 8 made CHIP flinch with the 1st Zing Zap, then finished the teacup off with the 2nd thanks to Weak Armor's drawback.  He's troublesome for these solo runs. . .


DEATH COUNT:  13


CHIP's luck improved in the Togedemaru Guy rematch.  It didn't look that way at first because Zing Zap scored another flinch.  Two Shadow Balls sent Togedemaru to its grave, and CHIP barely held on with 1 HP!


Giga Drain did not mean an easy win against Gordie the Rock Gym Leader in Circhester.  It was necessary for a Barbaracle that Shell Smashed on the 1st turn.  CHIP did not take any chances against an opponent with +2 Attack and +2 Speed.  Shuckle was the Nasty Plot bait, though it was more threatening than usual because its pathetic Rock moves still activated Weak Armor's Defense drop.  It was funny to actually gain Speed from Rock Tomb!  Two Nasty Plots later, and a Shadow Ball and Giga Drain combo defeated the Bug/Rock type.


Stonjourner's only purpose in the Gordie battle was free HP courtesy of Giga Drain.  Gigantamax Coalossal took a Max Phantasm as well as its size suggested it should, and CHIP was put in mortal danger when a Max Flare erupted from the boiler.  A 2nd Max Phantasm shut down the blast furnace, leaving CHIP at Level 48 and about 31/202 Dynamax HP.


Hop at the Circhester baths opened with Dubwool, who could only watch in horror as CHIP buffed itself to +6 Special Attack.  Growls and Defense Curls were useless against a pure special attacker.  One Psyshock put Snorlax back to sleep.  Due to the lack of Weak Armor, Cinderace was faster than CHIP this time, but it failed to make the cut for the soccer team when its Pyro Ball flew into the audience.  One Shadow Ball each murdered Cinderace, Corviknight, and Pincurchin.  CHIP the Sinistea triumphed at Level 49 at 80/104 HP.  Hail dealt more damage than Hop could.  


Next up is the dreaded Dark type Gym.  Will Sinistea conquer it, or will CHIP have to evolve into Polteageist?



CHIP the Sinistea Stats
 

Level 49 @ Eviolite

Nature:  Quiet (+10% Special Attack, -10% Speed)
Characteristic:  It’s somewhat vain (Special Defense is highest IV)
Ability:  Weak Armor (-1 Defense, +2 Speed  when hit with physical attack)
 

HP:  104
Attack:  62
Defense:  57
Special Attack:  101
Special Defense:  78
Speed:  67
 

Moves
 
Giga Drain
Shadow Ball
Psyshock
Nasty Plot