Pokemon Variants

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Sudowoodo Part 5:  Destroying Authentic Grass Type Culture With Irony


HIPSTER the Sudowoodo charged at Lt. Surge as soon as she disembarked from the SS Aqua.  Raichu was too fat to outrun Sudowoodo and was shaken by Earthquake.  Electrode #1 (2nd team slot) and Electrode #2 (4th team slot) both failed to dodge Earthquakes with Double Team.  Magneton was too slow to magnetically levitate out of Earthquake range, and Electabuzz set up a Light Screen to boost. . .Special Defense.  Even though Sudowoodo only uses physical moves and isn't immune to Electric attacks.  Lt. Surge deserved a dishonorable discharge with a perfect victory at Level 67.


Sabrina was the one Kanto Gym Leader who deserved her title.  Her Espeon learned from Karen's Umbreon and used Sand Attack before Sudowoodo killed it with Return.  The 1st Return missed Mr. Mime, who increased its Defense with Barrier.  Psychic types in general apart from Slowbro and Exeggutor tended to have awful Defense anyway, so one Return punched the mime.  Alakazam was at a high enough level to outlast a Return with a fast Reflect, however.  Sabrina fed it a Hyper Potion and Alakazam cast Psychic twice before the final Return, resulting in a 94/206 HP victory at Level 68.


Erika's Grass Gym was the perfect opportunity to mock Grass types, so HIPSTER wore the Miracle Seed instead of Pink Bow.  The lack of the small Normal type boost allowed Tangela to barely survive a Return and Bind Sudowoodo.  Rock Slide buried Victreebel, Bellossom, and Jumpluff, so HIPSTER was just shy of a perfect victory at 195/209 HP at Level 69.


Janine's team had such feeble levels that Sudowoodo outsped all of them, including Crobat, and destroyed them with Return and Earthquake for a flawless victory at Level 71.  Her Ariados was at Level 33.  That was lower than Jasmine's Steelix. . .or even Bug Catcher Doug's Ariados on Route 2!  Sudowoodo was still wearing Miracle Seed, so Return didn't even have the Pink Bow bonus.


HIPSTER confronted Misty at Level 75 while wearing Pink Bow.  Return pounded Golduck, Quagsire, and Starmie, and Rock Slide pummeled Lapras for a perfect victory at Level 76.  Snorlax required two Returns to defeat, and its Body Slam scratched Sudowoodo down to 222/234 HP at Level 76.


Return was useless for Brock, so Sudowoodo equipped Miracle Seed again to mock her true type.  Earthquake opened a fissure under his entire team for a flawless victory at Level 77.  HIPSTER still used Miracle Seed while perfectly eliminating Blaine's Fire types with Earthquake at Level 78.  She was faster than Level 50 Rapidash too.


The last trainer in this episode was Cal, the male player character clone in Viridian City.  Return knocked out the defensive Meganium with Pink Bow power, and a critical Return hunted Feraligatr.  Earthquake dealt excessive damage to Typhlosion, and Sudowoodo was intact at Level 78.


HIPSTER only has 3 bosses left:  Rival KAILENG in Mt. Moon, Blue in Viridian City Gym, and Red on Mt. Silver's summit.  Will Sudowoodo win without having to resort to Double Team?  As a "freegan", Sudowoodo would love Leftovers even if it were a useless item.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Sudowoodo FINALE:  Red Can't See a Fake Tree for the Forest


Blue as a former Kanto Champion deserved more respect than Miracle Seed or even Pink Bow, so Sudowoodo ate Leftovers throughout the battle.  Rock Slide knocked Pidgeot out of the sky on the first turn.  Rhydon had Defense worthy of a Rock type and survived the first Earthquake, but Leftovers nullified its Furry Attack.  Exeggutor endured the first Return, and planted Leech Seed as Blue healed it with a Full Restore.  Blue's healing was useless since HIPSTER picked that moment to strike critically with Return. 


Alakazam knew SHEPARD's solo was Attack based and set up Reflect, but was still too frail to survive Rock Slide.  Rock Slide with Reflect would have failed to angle Gyarados if HIPSTER didn't hit critically.  Arcanine held on after the first Rock Slide and breathed Flamethrower twice.  A second Rock Slide knocked out Arcanine, and HIPSTER won at Level 79 with 171/244 HP.


Unlike the Kanto Rival, KAILENG the Johto Rival was too weak for Leftovers no matter how much the Illusive Man helped him.  Pink Bow + Return = Dead Sneasel, Meganium, Alakazam, and Golbat.  Magneton and Gengar were in the 3rd and 4th team slots, and Sudowoodo caused an Earthquake to rupture them both.  It was a perfect victory at Level 80, and HIPSTER finally got her 100th point in Special Attack. 


Red's fiercest Pokemon against a slow physical solo like Sudowoodo was. . .Pikachu.  Yes, his starter that usually dies in one hit can render your Attack useless with Charm.  HIPSTER was too sluggish for either Pikachu or the Reflect wielding Espeon, who cast Psychic until she fainted.


DEATH COUNT:  16


HIPSTER ate all remaining Rare Candies to grow to Level 88 with 128 Speed, and was still too slow for Pikachu and Espeon! 


DEATH COUNT:  17


On another take with Quick Claw, Pikachu whiffed with Thunder instead of using Charm and fell into an Earthquake fissure.  Reflect got around Espeon's Reflect, but even Mud Slap couldn't cut Venusaur's accuracy enough to prevent a Solarbeam from frying Sudowoodo.  If she were a real Grass type, she would have resisted it.


FINAL DEATH COUNT:  18


HIPSTER entered the arena with Double Team and Leftovers, since there was no use in playing fair against a Level 81 Pokemon.  Charm missed due to the reduced accuracy for enemy moves, and I clicked Return because I was hoping that would interfere with the AI script.  Espeon's Reflect turn was perfect setup for the 1st Double Team.  HIPSTER reached +5 Evasion and buried it with Rock Slide after two failed Psychics.  Espeon used its other turns on the hopeless Normal move Swift.


Sudowoodo's stealth was insufficient to avoid a laser guided Solarbeam from Venusaur, but she hung on with just 5 HP!  Onix, Graveler, or other impure Rock types would have dropped dead.  Rock Slide + Return withered Venusaur.  Blastoise whiffed both its Surfs before two Rock Slides cracked its shell. 


It might have been better to waste turns with Double Team against Snorlax to heal to full with Leftovers, since HIPSTER resisted its otherwise threatening Normal attacks.  That is, when Snorlax wasn't trying to increase its irrelevant Special Defense with Amnesia.  But I wanted to get the battle over with, so Earthquake + Rock Slide after the final Double Team put Snorlax back to sleep.


Sudowoodo stared down Charizard with only 101 HP remaining, but she knew Rock was resistant to Fire.  Flamethrower rolled a Burn status, only for HIPSTER to unleash a critical Rock Slide and win the game at Level 88 with 51/271 HP!


This was an odd playthrough despite the generic move selection and physical stats comparable to evolved monsters.  The mid-Johto Gym Leaders are easy thanks to their low levels if you have adequate coverage for Steel and decent Speed.  Sudowoodo was stuck with Dig's 60 power, and I had to improvise with Mud Slap against Jasmine.  Don't know how much easier Steelix would have been if Sudowoodo kept its initial Low Kick.  High Defense can't save Sudowoodo from Chuck's Poliwrath's Dynamicpunch.


Sudowoodo demolishes most of the game.  It can do well against the Elite 4 and Champion if at a high enough level to outrun Will's team, which only took 1 Rare Candy in HIPSTER's case.  My final time according to the save was 10:00 even, and that includes some time while the game was running while I was interrupted.  Sudowoodo is horrible against Red since you can't outlevel to compensate for poor Speed.  Double Team is necessary for Sudowoodo to win, making it inferior in this battle to Poliwag's Hypnosis + Belly Drum and Tentacool's assortment of Special Attacks + Sludge Bomb.  


Final Stats and Moves

Level 88

HP:  271
Attack:  232
Defense:  254
Special Attack:  109
Special Defense:  171
Speed:  128


Rock Slide
Double Team
Return
Earthquake


I'll link to the parallel Smogon thread once I post there so you can see the final picture.  Realms Beyond doesn't like my pictures.


EDIT:  The picture is in this thread via a thumbnail.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Pearl Solo Drifblim Part 1:  Manipulating the Game Clock Isn't Just for Johto


AGATHA the Ghost trainer girl rushed through southwestern Sinnoh using her Piplup, or attempted to anyway.  It once got knocked out by a trainer's Kricketot with Bide because it had a Timid nature weakening its Attack.  Why did GameFreak give its Water starter Peck, Metal Claw, and Water Sport, but not a Water attack better than Bubble? 


Prinplup surprisingly beat Commander Mars's Purugly with little trouble thanks to Rock Smash.  Now AGATHA could acquire her solo challenger:  Drifloon!  Since Sinnoh is parallel to Johto in the timeline, some characteristics from Pokemon Crystal return such as day of the week events.  Drifloon appears onscreen at Valley Windworks as if it were a legendary each Friday, but this doesn't apply to the current Friday if you drive out Team Galactic on that day.  So what I did instead was set the DS timer to a Thursday last night, and then catch Drifloon today.  No need to reset for stats or a decent nature with this setup:


Level 22

Bold (+Speed, -Attack), Alert to Sounds
Ability:  Aftermath (deals damage to enemy when killed by a contact move)


HP:  72
Attack:  27
Defense:  27
Special Attack:  33
Special Defense:  28
Speed:  41


Gust
Focus Energy
Payback
Stockpile


BOOLOON the Drifloon was actually two levels higher than Prinplup when I first caught her.  However, Drifloon is in the slowest experience group of all, Fluctuating.  She shares this trait with Solo Breloom in Sapphire.  Aftermath activates on death, so BOOLOON might as well not have an ability at all.  The other ability Unburden doubles Speed when an item is consumed, but Drifloon isn't as slow as Sudowoodo to begin with.


Drifloon's rare Ghost/Flying type was a hindrance at first.  Even after Roark, Sinnoh route trainers were fascinated with Rock/Ground and Electric types.  Focus Energy's increased critical chance combined with Payback allowed BOOLOON to limp past the Rock types.  When Drifloon defeated Camper Zachary's Level 14 Geodude, she survived with only 8/72 HP.  Hiker Nicholas's Level 14 Onix decreased her Defense with Screech and then deflated her with Rock Throw.


DEATH COUNT:  1


AGATHA had to sneak past Hiker Nicholas while he was spinning around.  Who knew Pokemon was a stealth game?  Besides the Rock types, Shinx and Pachirisu could be annoying on Route 205 and Eterna Forest.  Fortunately Eterna Forest had Cheryl the mandatory Double Battle partner to take hits with her Chansey.  Gust blew away Bug types there.


Drifloon was at Level 27 when she confronted Gardenia, the Gym Leader of Eterna City.  Since I knew Roserade was coming, BOOLOON charged up her criticals with a Focus Energy.  Cherubi was cunning and planted Leech Seeds, turning BOOLOON's high base HP against her!  A second Gust uprooted Cherubi.  Turtwig only sent out a dull Razor Leaf, but its Special Defense gave it another turn of Leech Seed drain before dying to Gust.  Focus Energy finally paid off when a critical Gust whirled at Roserade.  Roserade healed with a berry and tried to trip BOOLOON with Grass Knot twice.  Two more Gusts ensued, the latter being critical.  Drifloon won with only 4/86 HP at Level 27 in a Gym where her type was supposed to have the advantage.


Commander Jupiter in Eterna City's Team Galactic building was worse than Gardenia.  BOOLOON tried to increase its Defense and Special Defense with a Stockpile, only for Zubat to strike with a critical Wing Attack and later a super effective Bite.  Two Gusts were needed to ground Zubat.  Drifloon had no chance at all against Level 20 Skuntank.  The Poison/Dark type had high HP + Special Defense, no weakness to anything except Ground, and Night Slash's critical chance to penetrate Stockpile.


DEATH COUNT:  2


I wanted to hold off evolution as long as possible for fun, but BOOLOON had no choice but to become Drifblim now to get past Commander Jupiter in any reasonable amount of time.  Even with the increased stats the battle was still difficult.  Zubat fell to one Gust, sure, but Skuntank needed four.  BOOLOON's victory was partially luck based as Skuntank wasted two turns on Poison Gas rather than popping her with repeated Night Slashes.  Drifblim flew out of the arena at Level 29 with 59/127 HP, and that was after Oran Berry's healing activated.


Hearthome City's engineers decided it was best to build houses with elevators but no stairs, the opposite of the situation in Hugh Howey's book Wool.  The second of these houses had a Shell Bell, but its post-attack healing was minor compared to Leftovers. 


At Level 32, Drifblim finally learned her first Ghost move Ominous Wind.  It had 60 power, 5 PP, and a low chance of increasing all stats other than HP, Accuracy, and Evasion by 1 stage.  This came just in time for the next rival fight with BARRY.  Starly's wings and Grotle's shell were vulnerable to Gust.  Buizel and Ponyta feared Ominous Wind.  Drifblim's first round with BARRY was a flawless victory at Level 32.


Stopping by Solaceon Ruins was worth it for the Rare Candy.  BOOLOON needed to clear out Lost Tower south of Solaceon Town anyway for the Strength HM, and made sure to beat up all the trainers for experience.  The Return TM was located there, but this was irrelevant to Drifblim.


BOOLOON the Driblim is currently in Veilstone City, home of the 3rd Gym.  Her first type is immune to Fighting and her second type is super effective, so this should be simple.  If I'm right, there's one TM that she'll want at the Game Corner.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Pearl Solo Drifblim Part 2:  Balloons Don't Have Footsteps!


Maylene in Veilstone City was yet another case of lackluster performance by BOOLOON.  For an evolved Ghost/Flying Pokemon at Level 37, it sure was having a hard time beating types it was supposed to be both super effective and resistant to!  Meditite blocked the first attack with Detect, since enemies loved to waste Drifblim's PP in Pearl.  Ominous Wind turned Meditite's secondary Psychic type against it.  One Gust blew away Machoke. 


At last Maylene's Level 30 Lucario appeared.  Since it was Fighting/Steel, BOOLOON's best option was the neutral Gust against an enemy with stats worthy of multiplayer matches.  Lucario shredded BOOLOON with 4 Metal Claws throughout the battle, and the second was critical.  BOOLOON's first two Gusts injured Lucario enough for it to eat its Sitrus Berry, and the third Gust triggered Hyper Potion healing.  Three more Gusts finally put down Lucario, and BOOLOON won with only 46/165 HP at Level 38 with the Shell Bell's help.


BOOLOON joined Lucas for a required Double Battle at the Veilstone Team Galactic warehouse to get the Fly HM.  Immediately after that, AGATHA forced BOOLOON to replace Payback with Shock Wave from a TM.  It was only 60 power, but its Electric type would be useful in the next city.


At Valor Lakefront, one woman explained why she preferred swimming pools to the ocean:  "The salty tang of the sea tastes like my tears after a hard day at work".


Dr. Footstep psychoanalyzed Drifblim:  "BOOLOON is starting to forget a little about being in the wild.  But BOOLOON isn't feeling sad.  It's never boring with Agatha. . ."  That sounds more like Stockholm Syndrome to me.  He was such a bad podiatrist that he forgot that Drifblim didn't have footprints!


Crasher Wake was BOOLOON's first flawless victory against a Gym Leader at Level 42.  Shock Wave jolted Gyarados and the Level 30 Floatzel.  Ominous Wind frightened Quagsire to death with two hits.  What move did Quagsire use on its free turn?  Mud Sport!  That weakened Electric attacks, but it was a Ground type!


After battling trainers around Backlot's mansion south of Hearthome City, BOOLOON ditched Ominous Wind for Shadow Ball.  One rich girl asked who the tutor for my Pokemon was, since apparently only vulgar commoners train their own monsters.  (This is probably the only reason evil teams are a political threat at all.)  The Soothe Bell in the mansion would have been useful if this were a friendship evolution solo like Roserade.


BARRY the Rival challenged AGATHA and her Level 44 Drifblim while she was pursuing a Team Galactic member in Pastoria City.  Shock Wave electrocuted Starly.  Buizel prevented a perfect victory with its Aqua Jet, but the Shell Bell recovered the minor damage by the end.  Shock Wave defibrillated Buizel and Shadow Ball shot down Level 28 Grotle and the final Ponyta.  


One man in the Celestic Town shop handed AGATHA a Choice Specs for free.  If equipped, Drifblim would have a 50% Special Attack boost, but could only use one move for the rest of the fight.  With advance knowledge of enemy teams, this would ensure victory for Special Attack monsters.  But Drifblim has to use it cautiously:  some foes are immune to Shadow Ball and Shock Wave, and Sinnoh Gym Leaders and Elite 4 have weird type diversity.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Pearl Solo Drifblim Part 3:  Prescription Choice Specs


Fantina wouldn't deign to challenge BOOLOON the Drifblim with only 2 badges, but now that she had 4, she was willing to fight on the top floor of her Gym.  The developers or translator must have anticipated me entering the wrong doors to challenge trainers for experience.  Wearing the Choice Specs caused Shadow Ball to knock out Fantina's Drifblim, Mismagius, and Gengar for a perfect victory at Level 48.


Defeating Fantina unlocked Surf.  The Thunderbolt TM was separated from Valley Windworks by only a small stretch of water, and so BOOLOON replaced Shock Wave.  Drifblim took detours to Fuego Ironworks and Iron Island to battle the trainers there, and none were worth mentioning.  Fuego Ironworks would be a great place for Fire Pokemon to evolve with a Fire Stone or learn Flamethower, but. . .Sinnoh only has the Chimchar and Ponyta families before the end of the story!


Buizel's Aqua Jet was the only blemish on an otherwise flawless battle at Level 50 with Rival BARRY in Canalave City. Thunderbolt zapped Staravia and Buizel, Gust knocked down Grotle and Heracross, and Shadow Ball blotted out Ponyta's flame.


BOOLOON fought Byron at Level 53, shooting Choice Specs Shadow Balls the whole time.  Bronzor fainted in one hit, but Level 39 Bastiodon needed three with the help of a lucky Special Defense decrease.  Bastiodon was hoping for a multi-stat boost with Ancient Power, but only dealt modest damage.  Steelix summoned a Sandstorm as BOOLOON released two Shadow Balls, and Drifblim won at Level 53 with 172/230 HP.


Drifblim equipped the Shell Bell because I couldn't be bothered to look up the next two Team Galactic Commanders' teams.  Saturn's Kadabra and Bronzor surrendered after one Shadow Ball each, but Level 37 Toxicroak barely held on and struck with Faint Attack (?) before dying to the second Shadow Ball.  BOOLOON won that round at Lake Valor with 199/235 HP at Level 54.


Mars at Lake Verity had a Golbat that fell to Thunderbolt and a Bronzor that perished after Shadow Ball.  But Level 39 Purugly took a Thunderbolt and retaliated with Hypnosis.  BOOLOON snoozed for 4 turns as Purugly whaled on her with Faint Attack.  By the time she cast the final Thunderbolt, Drifblim was only at 109/239 HP at Level 55.  With the Choice Specs, that would have been a perfect victory, but this battle was the most exciting I've had in a while.  Pearl starts off difficult, but enters the doldrums at this point.  Now if only I could think of a fun unevolved solo that could beat Jupiter's Skuntank. . .

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Pearl Solo Drifblim Part 4:  AI Trainer Tactics


Ace Trainer Laura on the snowy northern routes would have killed BOOLOON with a well-timed Mirror Coat from her Level 37 Lopunny after it survived Thunderbolt if not for Drifblim's high base HP.  BOOLOON survived the double power counterattack to her Thunderbolt with 86/243 health.


Candice had the most irritating ice sliding puzzle out of any Gym in Pokemon history.  To think they kept this kind of annoyance in Nexomon Extinction!  BOOLOON equipped the Choice Specs expecting victory. . .only for Sneasel to survive Shadow Ball and pile on a CRITICAL Avalanche.  The second Shadow Ball knocked out the cat, but Snover had issued a Snow Warning and the resulting Hail pelted BOOLOON until she perished.


DEATH COUNT:  3


AGATHA remembered that previous Sneasels in the Snowpoint region had barely endured Thunderbolts, so she made BOOLOON put on a Magnet for Candice.  Gust uprooted Snover with regular super effective damage, and also Candice's Level 42 Abomasnow with a CRITICAL!  I don't know whether to be more depressed about Gust being a viable move in the 7th Gym, or Drifblim's story mode move selection being so poor that she has to rely on an attack that low level Pidgeys have.  Medicham stalled for one turn with Detect, and then fell to Shadow Ball.  BOOLOON won at Level 59 with 193/256 HP, and all the damage came from Hail.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Pearl Solo Drifblim Part 5:  Choice Specs-tacular





Team Galactic Grunts in their Veilstone City HQ were as tiresome as any Team Rocket Grunt from Johto.  One of them even hoped to beat BOOLOON with a Level 32 Wurmple!  Can you picture any other evil team trying to take over the world with Caterpies?





Cyrus had a superior team to his Grunts, but BOOLOON still shocked them all with Thunderbolts for a perfect victory at Level 60.  Drifblim fried Murkrow and Golbat immediately, but Sneasel had a chance to attack that was wasted on Screech.  Drifblim equipped the Magnet, but all opponents could have dropped dead in one turn each with Choice Specs.





Shadow Ball sprayed Commander Saturn's Kadabra and Bronzor with ectoplasm, and a Gust was enough to topple Level 40 Toxicroak.  No, it wasn't a critical hit.





Now that Rock Climb was available after defeating Candice, Drifblim replaced Stockpile with Psychic from a TM to the west of Celestic Town.  Psychic was less overpowering than it would have been in Kanto or even Johto:  most dangerous enemies at this point were Dark types.





On Spear Pillar at the summit of Mt. Coronet, Commanders Mars and Jupiter challenged BARRY and AGATHA to a Double Battle.  To make it easier to follow, I'll type a battle log below:





Turn 1:  Enemies send out two Bronzors.  AGATHA summons Level 61 BOOLOON, BARRY summons Level 40 Munchlax.  BOOLOON attacks a Bronzor with Shadow Ball.  One Bronzor hits BOOLOON with Gyro Ball, and the other hits Munchlax with Extrasensory.  Munchlax uses Screech on one Bronzor.



Turn 2:  BOOLOON kills one Bronzor with Shadow Ball.  The other Bronzor hits BOOLOON with Gyro Ball.  Munchlax uses Screech on Bronzor.



Turn 3:  Level 46 Skuntank appears.  BOOLOON uses Thunderbolt on Skuntank, causing it to eat Sitrus Berry.  Skuntank uses Night Slash on BOOLOON.  Bronzor uses Gyro Ball on BOOLOON.  Munchlax paralyzes Skuntank with Body Slam.




Turn 4:  BOOLOON's Gust kills Skuntank.  Bronzor uses Confuse Ray on BOOLOON.  Munchlax uses Body Slam on Bronzor.




Turn 5:  Golbat appears.  BOOLOON's Thunderbolt knocks out Golbat.  Bronzor increases enemy team's Special Defense with Light Screen.  Munchlax's Screech fails.



Turn 6:  BOOLOON hits herself in confusion.  Bronzor hits BOOLOON with Gyro Ball.  Munchlax Body Slams Bronzor.



Turn 7:  BOOLOON's Gust kills Bronzor.



Turn 8:  Level 45 Purugly appears.  BOOLOON uses Thunderbolt on Purugly, making it eat Sitrus Berry.  Purugly uses Slash on Munchlax.  Munchlax uses Screech on Purugly.



Turn 9:  BOOLOON uses Thunderbolt on Purugly.  Purugly's Hypnosis misses.  Munchlax kills Purugly with Body Slam.



Turn 10:  BOOLOON's Psychic kills the last Golbat while at low yellow HP.





BARRY was considerate enough to heal Drifblim before Cyrus decided to fight AGATAHA.  Driblim sent Honchkrow crashing to the ground with Thunderbolt, but Weavile had high Special Defense and healed with a Sitrus Berry.  Cyrus must have specially bred his Weavile since it jabbed Drifblim with two Ice Punches even after the first Thunderbolt caused paralysis.  At least Drifblim took out Weavile with Aftermath while dying!





DEATH COUNT:  4





Reloading the save forced Drifblim to fight Jupiter and Mars again.  This time, I had a new tactic:  attack the Munchlax to make BARRY send out a better Doubles partner.  And none of the Team Galactic bosses had monsters that resisted Thunderbolt, so Choice Specs gave Drifblim the necessary tunnel vision.





Turn 1:  BOOLOON uses Thunderbolt on Munchlax.  Bronzor uses Confuse Ray on BOOLOON.  The other Bronzor uses Rock Slide on our team.  Munchlax uses Stockpile.



Turn 2:  BOOLOON hits herself in confusion.  One Bronzor hits BOOLOON with Gyro Ball, and the other Bronzor hits Munchlax with Extrasensory.



Turn 3:  BOOLOON's Thunderbolt knocks out Munchlax.  Both Bronzors attack BOOLOON with Gyro Ball and Rock Slide.



Turn 4:  BARRY sends out Ponyta.  BOOLOON attacks a Bronzor with Thunderbolt for KO (?).  Ponyta uses Fire Blast on a Bronzor.  Bronzor uses Rock Slide.



Turn 5:  BOOLOON's Thunderbolt knocks out Purugly.  Ponyta's Fire Blast misses Bronzor.  Bronzor uses Extrasensory on BOOLOON.



Turn 6:  BOOLOON zaps Golbat with Thunderbolt.  Ponyta uses Will o Wisp on Bronzor and defeats it with Burn damage.



Turn 7:  Skuntank appears.  BOOLOON attacks Skuntank with Thunderbolt and makes it eat Sitrus Berry.  Skuntank's Poison Jab knocks out Ponyta.  BARRY sends out Staraptor, who Intimidates Skuntank.



Turn 8:  Staraptor uses Quick Attack on Skuntank, and BOOLOON finishes it off with Thunderbolt.



Turn 9:  Golbat is killed by BOOLOON's Thunderbolt.  BOOLOON is at a little over half HP.





Round 2 with Cyrus started with an instant Thunderbolt kill to Honchkrow as expected.  Level 48 Weavile still withstood a Thunderbolt, and was paralyzed again.  It could only Ice Punch Drifblim once since Cyrus fed it a Super Potion on the next turn.  Two more Thunderbolts destroyed Driblim's most dangerous enemy, and one last Thunderbolt jolted Crobat for a Level 63 victory at 150/272 HP.





AGATHA was allowed to save before facing Level 47 Palkia, but this was just a precaution.  Two Choice Specs powered Shadow Balls sent the legendary of space back to its home world, and Drifblim was at 211/272 HP after a Dragon Claw scratch.





On the way to Sunyshore City, I noticed that many of the fishermen liked to switch out their leading Magikarp or Feebas.  This is such a rare occurrence in Pokemon that it was worth mentioning.





AGATHA relieved Volkner's boredom with Choice Specs.  Shadow Ball was out for the final Gym Leader since he had a Normal type Ambipom for some reason.  But all targets were neutral to Psychic!  Raichu withstood the first Psychic but suffered a Special Defense decrease.  Raichu cast Charge Beam to increase its Special Attack and drank a Hyper Potion, only to fall to the next Psychic. 





Level 49 Luxray also needed two Psychics to kill, and lost some of its Special Defense too.  Luxray opted for Crunch instead of an Electric move and subtracted one stage from Drifblim's Defense.  Octillery aimed a Charge Beam and increased its Special Attack, and the octopus that evolved from a remora fell to two Psychics.  Ambipom failed to attack at all and grew its Special Attack with Nasty Plot.  After the last two Psychics, Drifblim floated out of the arena with 111/281 HP.  If those Electric types had known Thunderbolt, Volkner could have added to the DEATH COUNT!





Drifblim is eligible for Charge Beam.  Since Calm Mind isn't available until after the game is over, this is the best stat boosting move she will have.  How many Rare Candies will it take to get past Cynthia?

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Pearl Solo Drifblim FINALE:  Deflating Toward the Finish Line


The swimming trainers north of Sunyshore City were so feeble, Drifblim could kill some of their monsters with Gust without super effective damage, such as Azurill and Wingull.  BOOLOON met her match in Victory Road when she encountered Ace Trainer Mariah and her Blissey.  Blissey was commonly used in multiplayer matches because almost all Special Attacks bounced off its fat.  This Blissey could Sing Drifblim to sleep, set up Light Screen to increase its Special Defense further, and eat Softboiled eggs to heal back any damage it did take.  To save time, I reset the game.  Perhaps Drifblim could have won with Struggle, but I wasn't going to spend that much time depleting PP with Pokemon Pearl's slow game engine.


RESET COUNT:  1


Drifblim finally ditched Gust in favor of Charge Beam for Round 2 with Ace Trainer Mariah.  At +6 Special Attack, Drifblim still needed 2 Psychics to KO, including the damage Blissey already took from the final Charge Beam!


BARRY became much more competent in his final battle at the Pokemon Center just before the Elite 4.  A Charge Beam critical zapped his Staraptor.  Charge Beam increased BOOLOON's Special Attack when used against Floatzel, who bit Drifblim iwith an Ice Fang.  Thunderbolt eliminated Floatzel, but +1 Special Attack wasn't enough to take out Level 53 Torterra with one Shadow Ball.  All Torterra could do was to cast Leaf Storm, a poor move coming from a monster designed for physical attacks.  Heracross was a Fighting type and therefore weak to Psychic. 


When BARRY sent out Snorlax, it was apparent he'd studied under Red.  A Thunderbolt, a critical Special Attack raising Charge Beam, and another Thunderbolt were necessary to electrocute the Snorlax.  Snorlax had a super effective Crunch and a high Attack stat to use it, and the second Crunch decreased BOOLOON's Defense.  Rapidash wasn't rapid enough for BOOLOON, who shot a Shadow Ball at it.  Drifblim won with 95/297 HP at Level 69 courtesy of Shell Bell healing.


Perhaps no other Pokemon in my solo challenges has choked so hard at the end of the game as Drifblim.  BOOLOON lost to all 5 Pokemon League trainers at least once.  This was probably due to the Fluctuating experience curse, which punished fast growth at low levels with slow growth at high levels.  BOOLOON could have benefited from a +Speed nature, or perhaps the Unburden ability combined with a consumable berry.


Aaron won against AGATHA with the help of the unlikeliest of Pokemon:  Dustox.  Normally, Dustox was used by anemic Team Galactic Grunts.  Aaron's version could survive one Psychic from a Level 69 Drifblim, set up Light Screen to defend against the rest of the team, inflict Toxic as if it were Ghetsis's Cofagrigus, and dodge attacks with Double Team.  Drapion delivered the final blow with Aerial Ace, but BOOLOON had lost when Toxic struck.  This wasn't Crystal where Poison damage was skipped when I knocked out a monster.


DEATH COUNT:  5


On Take 2, I recycled my Pokemon White tactics and equipped a Pecha Berry.  Charge Beam failed to increase Special Attack, but did soften Dustox for the final Psychic once the berry cured Toxic.  Out of the next three Charge Beams against Drapion, two raised Special Attacks.  It should have been an easy victory for Aaron if Drapion bothered to use Night Slash or something, but it attacked with Cross Poison, Aerial Ace, and X-Scissor.  Thunderbolt electrocuted Drapion, Beautifly, and Vespiquen, and Psychic outwitted Heracross.  BOOLOON won with 233/297 HP at Level 69.


Bertha was a Ground specialist and led with a Quagsire, so Charge Beam was not an option at the beginning.  Protect and Double Team stymied BOOLOON when she tried to shoot Shadow Balls, and Quagsire would sometimes summon a Sandstorm to cause gradual damage.  But Sandstorm had another benefit:  a hidden 50% boost to Rock types' Special Defense!  I remember when this was discovered online some time after Pearl's release, since nothing in the game told the player about it. 


Bertha had a Sudowoodo and a Golem which could outlast Shadow Ball with a Sandstorm active.  Sudowoodo also had Sucker Punch, an 80 power super effective priority move.  It wasn't easy to be a Ghost in Sinnoh when Drifblim was being slapped with a 160 power version of Quick Attack.  If Sucker Punch didn't knock out Drifblim, Golem's Gyro Ball did.


DEATH COUNT:  8


Drifblim only won after equipping Choice Specs for the last time and eating enough Rare Candies to reach Level 72.  Quagsire couldn't attack BOOLOON no matter how many turns it wasted with Protect and Double Team.  Sudowoodo Sucker Punched Drifblim and fell to two Shadow Balls.  Golem only required one Shadow Ball.  Two Shadow Balls defeated Whiscash, who only struck back with a weak Zen Headbutt.  Hippowdon called a Sandstorm with its passive ability, ate a Sitrus Berry after the first Shadow Ball, and Crunched into BOOLOON.  One more Shadow Ball killed the hippo, and BOOLOON won with 73/310 HP at Level 72.


It took some experimentation and luck to defeat Flint, the Fire specialist with only 2 Fire types.  Rapidash once paralyzed Drifblim with a Bounce.  Steelix was the worst to face since it resisted all of Drifblim's attacks.  Steelix also supported the rest of the team with Sunny Day and Rock Tomb.  As a Normal type, Lopunny was immune to Shadow Ball and would survive a Thunderbolt and repay with Mirror Coat.


DEATH COUNT:  10


Drifblim endured Flint's battle with the help of the Magnet and three Special Attack boosts with Charge Beam against Rapidash.  Rapidash and Drifblim perished by Thunderbolt (to conserve PP).  Two Shadow Balls brought down Steelix since the first decreased its Special Defense.  Steelix only attacked with Fire Fang, probably because Rapidash's Sunny Day was still active.  Infernape ran around BOOLOON and lunged with Flare Blitz before dying to Psychic.  Thunderbolt with the Magnet and +3 Special Attack shocked Lopunny before it could try Mirror Coat, and BOOLOON won at Level 73 with 104/314 HP.


Drifblim equipped Spell Tag for extra Ghost damage against Lucian the Psychic specialist.  Charge Beam rolled +1 Special Attack versus Mr. Mime, who thought of Psychic before Shadow Ball killed it.  Charge Beam was lucky again against Girafarig, who had to be attacked with Thunderbolt because it was part Normal.  Girafarig knew Shadow Ball as well, and dropped BOOLOON's Special Defense with it.  Medicham was slow and weak to Shadow Ball, but Alakazam was too fast for Drifblim and launched a Psychic assault.


DEATH COUNT:  11


Drifblim won on the next attempt because Thunderbolt's paralysis prevented Girafarig from attacking.  Without the prior damage and -1 Special Defense, BOOLOON survived an Alakazam Psychic.  Two Shadow Balls rang Bronzong's bell for a victory at Level 73 with 111/314 HP.


BOOLOON kept the Spell Tag when fighting Champion Cynthia.  She was infamous among Pearl players for having perfect stats and unusually strong monsters, particularly Garchomp.  When I used to level up against the Elite 4, Garchomp would sometimes kill my much higher leveled Palkia if Spacial Rend missed.  What chance would a Level 73 Drifblim have?


It looked like there was no chance once Charge Beam either failed to roll a +Special Attack, or missed outright against Spiritomb.  Spiritomb had some of the worst AI in the game because it knew Dark Pulse but often cast Psychic or a resisted Silver Wind (!) instead.  In spite of Spiritomb's incomptence, it finally cast Dark Pulse after using every other move, including Embargo.  Milotic flash-froze BOOLOON with an Ice Beam.


FINAL DEATH COUNT:  12


Drifblim avenged her loss with three Charge Beam Special Attack increases against Spiritomb as it used Psychic and Silver Wind.  A single Magnet powered Thunderbolt cooked Milotic, and Psychic made Roserade regret being a Poison type.  Gastrodon was hardy enough to take one Shadow Ball and pour Muddy Water on BOOLOON, but two more Shadow Balls deleted it after Cynthia fed it a Full Restore.  Lucario conducted a Thunderbolt. 


Cynthia's dreaded Garchomp whiffed a Dragon Rush as BOOLOON shot a Shadow Ball.  Garchomp wolfed down its Sitrus Berry and made Drifblim flinch when Dragon Rush connected.  But the final Dragon Rush missed, and a final Shadow Ball made BOOLOON the Champion at Level 73 with 42/314 HP!


Drifblim's performance is uneven throughout the game.  Its mediocre attacking stats and move selection let it down when confronting Rock, Normal, and Steel types.  Ghost/Flying is disadvantaged against many recurring types, particularly Rock in the beginning and near the end, Dark when fighting Team Galactic bosses and Sucker Punch Sudowoodo, and Ice in Snowpoint City's Gym and the final Cyrus battle. 


Drifblim sometimes even struggles to beat Gym Leaders that Ghost/Flying is supposed to be good against, such as Gardenia and Maylene, since it has to rely on the 40 power Gust rather than Air Slash.  But some Gym Leaders are free victories, such as Fantina and Crasher Wake. Fluctuating is the worst experience curve in the game, so be sure to try it if you want a "low level solo" in Pearl.  Wasn't expecting an evolved Pokemon to be this difficult!


I'll link to the Smogon thread once I post the victory picture there.


EDIT:  Click on the thumbnail in my last post in this Smogon topic.


EDIT 2:  Forgot to include the final Stats and Moves!


Level 73

HP:  314
Attack:  139
Defense:  115
Special Attack:  161
Special Defense:  102
Speed:  166

Charge Beam
Shadow Ball
Thunderbolt
Psychic


Drifblim happens to be the last Fluctuating Pokemon ever made.  All the others are from Hoenn.  The opposite experience group Erratic has been used as late as Sword and Shield with the Applin family.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Abra


The format for this writeup will be different since it's already been completed.  I was crazy enough yesterday to think that I could complete a Pokemon Crystal solo challenge in 2 days while battling most enemy trainers.  The original plan was to use Umbreon for its novelty as the only Dark type available before Kanto, but I messed up the timing and couldn't get the Return TM.  So why not buy an Abra at the Game Corner for 100 coins instead?


Game Corner Abra comes at Level 5 just before Whitney's Gym and is in the Medium Slow experience group like the usual Grass, Fire, and Water starters.  Its 105 base Special Attack and 90 base Speed are better than many evolved Pokemon, but comes at the cost of 25 base HP, 20 base Attack, and 15 base Defense.  You'll have to be in the mid 80s before you get triple digit Defense!  Save Sprout Tower for Abra since you can easily get it to Level 13.  Mine grew two levels in the first trainer fight there! 


Abra's only default move is Teleport, which would make this an Insanity Challenge if Abra were available at the beginning.  But the Goldenrod City department store sells Fire Punch, Ice Punch, and Thunder Punch TMs for a low cost.  These elemental punches have 75 power and offer wide type coverage.  Pick up the Charcoal in Azalea Town and Nevermeltice in the ice cave to power up the punches.  No Psychic type moves are available until you talk to Mr. Psychic in Saffron City, so Abra is only a Psychic type in defensive terms until then.


Gym Leaders and Major Battles


Whitney:  She's not a problem at Level 26 with 3 Ice Punches so long as Miltank doesn't attack with Stomp.  Clefairy's Metronome became Poison Sting, which poisoned my Abra.


Kimono Girls:  Umbreon can be threatening with Pursuits.


Burned Tower Rival:  Haunter can survive one punch and deal heavy damage with Lick.  Other than that, everything can be killed with 1 super effective punch, even Bayleef.


Morty:  My Abra won on the first try, but that was with 1 HP (!) at Level 35 after Gengar shot him with a Shadow Ball.  I had previously battled the trainers on the route west of Ecruteak City and in Olivine City's lighthouse.  Consider battling the trainers east of Ecruteak to gain another level or two if you try this challenge.


Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan in Chuck's Gym:  Both take 2 punches to kill and have to be fought back to back, so I'm counting this as a major battle.  My Abra lost more than half his health to Jump Kick from Hitmonlee and a Comet Punch from Hitmonchan.


Chuck:  Thunder Punch will barely fail to KO Poliwrath at Level 40.  In my case, Fire Punch inflicted Burn on the Primeape.  Dynamicpunch doesn't hit quite as hard as you think:  my Abra won the battle with 57/88 HP.  Contrast that with Sudowoodo's miserable performance in spite of its high Defense.  Resistances can sometimes make up for bad stats.


Jasmine:  At Level 41, Steelix can hold on after one Fire Punch.  My Abra killed it with the Burn side effect and survived an Iron Tail with 43/88 HP.  Abra would have died for sure if it weren't for the Burn Attack drop.


Pryce:  Don't follow my mid-Johto Gym order.  Fight Pryce first instead.  You get experience from the route north of town and the local Team Rocket Hideout beforehand, and even Pryce's star Piloswine is 4 levels lower than Jasmine's Steelix.  All of Pryce's monsters fall to Thunder Punch or Fire Punch, and Abra gets a Special Attack bonus from his badge.


Team Rocket in Goldenrod City:  Scientist Rich's Level 30 Porygon counts as a mini-boss.  It can endure one punch and strike back with a Tri Attack that can cause status ailments if you're unlucky.  This Rival fight is a flawless victory.  The nameless Team Rocket Executive with the Houndoom can subtract more than half of Abra's HP with a Faint Attack:  mine had 50/113 HP at Level 52 by the end.  Houndoom falls to two Thunder Punches.


Clair:  All three Dragonites become icicles when Abra punches them.  Kingdra needs two punches to knock out.  Don't know how strong it is since it whiffed against my Abra with a Hyper Beam, but it would probably deal a lot of damage.


Rival in Victory Road:  A pushover.


Will:  None of his Psychic Pokemon can take a Level 61 punch, and that includes Slowbro.


Koga:  Muk can defend against one punch and strike back with Sludge Bomb.  Other than that, everything dies instantly.


Bruno:  Ironically, this is one of the harder battles in the game for Abra.  Without Psychic, Abra has to punch each of the Hitmons and the Machamp twice.  Hitmontop usually Digs for minor damage, but Machamp can launch Rock Slide, and Hitmonchan can pick off a weakened Abra with a priority Mach Punch.  My Abra did it at Level 62, but only held on with 2 HP!


Karen:  The Dark master is the hardest boss in the game other than Red.  Don't even think about fighting her without using the 7 Johto Rare Candies, which give Abra enough Special Attack to defeat Umbreon and Houndoom with two punches each.  Umbreon doesn't always Faint Attack even if it's super effective, and likes to make you blind with Sand Attack.  Houndoom's Crunch gouged my Abra down to 44/151 HP.


Lance:  If you can beat Karen, you'll cackle as each of the Champion's Pokemon drops dead after one punch each.  He should have reconsidered recruiting only Flying types!


Kanto Gym Leaders:  All of them are mentioned collectively since they have no chance against Abra.  Blue and his Arcanine with Extremespeed may be an exception, but he failed to use that against me for some reason.  Cal in Viridian City and the Rival fight in Mt. Moon are no better.


Red:  Only playing Double Team roulette can save Abra at Level 86.  Even then, that doesn't always work.  Pikachu's Thunder hits more often than you'd like for an attack with 70% accuracy.  Expect paralysis too:  one failed attempt made my Abra lose 8 turns because of Pikachu's Thunder!  Abra can survive one Snorlax Body Slam if at high enough HP.  If you can get past Snorlax with repeated Psychics and you're not paralyzed, you should win.  But Charizard and Blastoise require two Thunder Punches to kill.  Venusaur is part Poison type and crumples after one Psychic.



DEATH COUNT


-Accidental encounter with Youngster Ian's Mankey while still at Level 5.  You have to walk in a specific path to avoid all the trainers south of Goldenrod.

-Officer Keith's Level 17 Growlithe.  Fire types like Growlithe and Flareon are neutral to Thunder Punch, and can Bite you for super effective damage.

-Thrash from Red Gyarados.  I usually catch it for convenience because it learns so many HMs, but sometimes it can kill you because it's Level 30.

-Scientist Rich's Porygon.  Its Tri Attack rolled both critical damage and a paralysis side effect.

-Mach Punch from Bruno's Hitmonchan.

-Hi Jump Kick from Bruno's Hitmonlee.

-Mach Punch from Bruno's Hitmonchan.

-Crunch from Karen's Houndoom.

-Pursuit from Karen's Houndoom.

-Crunch from Karen's Houndoom.

-Body Slam from Red's Snorlax.

-Body Slam from Red's Snorlax.

-Swift from Red's Espeon.  Pikachu had already injured Abra with Thunder.

-Surf from Red's Blastoise.  This was after many turns of paralysis.

-Thunder from Red's Pikachu.  Double Team's evasion failed here!


Final Time:  9:17.  Lower than Sudowoodo.


Final Stats for MARK TRAIL the Abra


Level 86

HP:  196
Attack:  108
Defense:  101
Special Attack:  237
Special Defense:  151
Speed:  221


Psychic
Ice Punch
Thunder Punch
Double Team


EDIT:  You should be able to find the victory picture at the bottom of this Smogon topic.


EDIT 2:  There's a blooper I forgot to mention last night.  The starting Croconaw managed to die 3 times to the Rival's Bayleef in Azalea Town.  Since it didn't involve Abra, it's not part of the official DEATH COUNT.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Pearl Solo Bibarel


Few regular Pokemon are associated so much with the Sinnoh games as the Bidoof line.  Bidoof's evolution Bibarel has a unique Normal/Water typing.  With same type attack bonus on both Return and Surf, it must wish it had debuted in Johto!  Normally unevolved Pokemon make for more interesting solos, but Bibarel has uninspiring base stats:


HP:  79
Attack:  85
Defense:  60
Special Attack:  55
Special Defense:  60
Speed:  71


71 Speed may be good enough for Crystal, but it's a genuine disadvantage in Pearl where enemies have proper level scaling by the end.  Bibarel has a wide selection of moves like many Normal types, though they often rely on its inferior Special Attack.


My computer crashed while typing the original stats when NORBERTA the Bidoof was caught, so I don't have those.  It had a neutral Serious nature and "somewhat vain" (Special Defense) as its individual value characteristic.  NORBERTA fought with the rare "Speed tie" against random monsters at the beginning.  Lass Sarah near Jubilife City had a Level 7 Bidoof which was evenly matched with my own, as shown by the DEATH COUNT.  NORBERTA only won the next attempt because Lass Sarah decided to Growl many times before attacking.


To offset Bidoof's awful Speed, I equipped the Quick Claw for a random chance to go first.  Rival BARRY east of Jubilife was a threatening opponent, but threw away the battle when his Turtwig kept Withdrawing to increase its Defense instead of striking.  NORBERTA limped to victory with 6/33 HP at Level 10.


Lass Madeline must have been lying when she said she beat Roark!  She only had a Level 5 Starly and Level 5 Bidoof.  My own Bidoof had to grow to Level 15 and evolve to stand a chance.  Once the supply of easy trainers was exhausted, NORBERTA had to beat up much of the local wildlife.  This wasn't like Pokemon White where Audino experience yield was better than the trainers either. 


Once Bidoof learned Rollout at Level 13, she could crush the minor Rock type trainers in Oreburgh Mine and Oreburgh City's Gym with the help of Defense Curl setup.  Bidoof became Bibarel after more wild Pokemon battles and learned Water Gun, the only Water move she would learn naturally.  At least it's better than Piplup's Bubble!


Bibarel's first Gym was a clean victory at Level 16.  Water Gun doused Geodude and Onix.  Cranidos probably would have survived if not for the critical hit, since it was pure Rock rather than Rock/Ground.


NORBERTA learned Headbutt by level up just in time for Commander Mars in Valley Windworks.  Was this turning into a Johto playthrough in disguise?  Zubat fell like a soccer player after one Headbutt, though Purugly needed 3.  Fortunately, Purugly only had a 60 power Faint Attack, and NORBERTA won with 28/60 HP at Level 18.


Floaroma Town had a Pluck TM available for Bibarel, and a physical Flying attack would be necessary for Gardenia.  It also had the side effect of eating enemy berries.  She was difficult even for Drifloon who allegedly had an advantage over her, let alone a Water type.  Pluck could uproot Cherubi, though Turtwig survived on one attempt and built a Reflect wall for its team.  Roserade was a competitively competent Grass type with Magical Leaf and Grass Knot, which overgrew on Bibarel.  NORBERTA only won on the 3rd try with 35/79 HP at Level 25 because Gardenia was stupid enough to try POISON STING!


I expected Commander Jupiter in Eterna City to be more difficult, so Bibarel tried to build up a Rollout combo but whiffed the first one.  Headbutt pounded the Skuntank twice before the Water Gun finisher, and neither Night Slash was a critical.  NORBERTA won at Level 27 with 436/85 HP.


Bibarel battled some extra trainers in Wayward Cave, which I hadn't bothered with in the Drifblim challenge.  Bibarel's level at the end was significantly higher, though this was due to being Medium Fast rather than Fluctuating.  Note for Pokemon with arms:  there's a Brick Break TM in Oreburgh Cave's basement.


BARRY's battle in Hearthome City was a formality at Level 32.  The only enemy Pokemon attack was the inevitable Buizel Quick Attack, and Bibarel triumphed with 97/102 HP.  NORBERTA found the Return TM in Lost Tower and marched to Veilstone City.


Gym Leader Maylene should have been more difficult even at Level 40, as she was a Fighting specialist with a Lucario.  Bibarel struck with Return since Pluck's low power was obsolete by now.  Lucario once made a wise move with Drain Punch to heal, but then missed with Bone Rush for some reason.  A third Return ended the battle at Level 40 with 79/123 HP.


NORBERTA insulted Dr. Footstep with "You're not thinking, are you?"  This was a common problem in Sinnoh, however, so it was unfair to single him out.  Bibarel had one new option for Crasher Wake:  the Shock Wave TM.  She zapped the Intimidating Gyarados with one move.  I clicked Pluck against Quagsire since I mistakenly believed it had a Sitrus Berry, and then finished it off with Return.  Floatzel was the true star of the team with the Sitrus Berry, but wasted its turn against Bibarel with. . .Ice Fang?  Another Shock Wave later, and NORBERTA was the victor at Level 45 with 135/138 HP.


Rival BARRY in Pastoria City was a full HP victory at Level 45 with the Shell Bell equipped, but not perfect as Buizel used Quick Attack again.


It was best for Bibarel to take a detour to Celestic Town before confronting Fantina.  Along the way was a Shadow Ball TM to use against Ghosts.  Celestic Town itself had Surf and the Choice Specs, though I had to manipulate the DS clock after receiving Blackglasses and Wise Glasses.  Didn't know Choice Specs was a timed event!


Even at Level 52, Fantina wasn't a flawless victory.  Her Mismagius absorbed one Choice Specs Shadow Ball and cast Psybeam before being exorcised with a second Shadow Ball.  Bibarel won with 141/161 HP. 


Bibarel put on Wise Glasses for a 10% Special Attack boost before fighting BARRY in Canalave City.  I had mistakenly believed that Grotle was Grass/Ground and clicked Surf, but the error became pointless when Surf was a critical hit!  Staravia had Intimidate but Return was irrelevant anyway.  Buizel swapped out Quick Attack for Aqua Jet, and after the last Shock Wave connected Bibarel won with 162/167 HP at Level 54.


With Choice Specs + Surf at Level 58, Byron had no chance even with a puny Special Attack stat.  Bronzor was unevolved and both Steelix and Bastiodon were weak to Water.  Commander Saturn at Lake Valor was another perfect battle since even the star Toxicroak crumpled after one Return.  Commander Mars at Lake Verity was another clean sweep with Choice Specs + Surf, even the Purugly.


RACHEL the player character purchased a Silk Scarf from the Game Corner for 1000 coins, a Normal enhancing item similar to the Pink Bow from Crystal.  Snowpoint City had "trendy sayings" like Dewford Town in Hoenn, and for this playthrough it was:  PH BALANCE.  Maybe they were unusually fond of pure water at the time? 


Gym Leader CandICE would have been a flawless victory at Level 64, if not for continuous Hail damage from Snover's Snow Warning ability.  Return knocked out Snover, Medicham, Abomasnow, and Sneasel with one hit each thanks to Silk Scarf.  NORBERTA conquered the 7th Gym with 160/196 HP.


RACHEL Rock Climbed up a cliff on the snowy Route 216 to gain a free Ice Beam TM, which would have been 10,000 coins at the Game Corner.  When Bibarel battled Cyrus in Veilstone City with Wise Glasses, her trainer had forgotten to heal some minor damage beforehand.  Murkrow and Golbat became popsicles after Ice Beam casts, though Sneasel lashed out with Quick Attack before falling to Return.  Commander Saturn a few rooms later was a flawless victory with Choice Specs + Surf, but Saturn probably isn't hard for any solo!


To save some time in the Commanders Mars and Jupiter Double Battle, Bibarel wore Choice Specs and flooded the arena with Surf.  This drowned Bronzors, Golbats, Purugly, and Skuntank, but also BARRY's Munchlax and Staraptor.  BARRY's Heracross at least had the dignity to die to Skuntank's Flamethrower.


That Choice Specs decision was a mistake when Cyrus came immediately after!  A critical Surf soaked Honchkrow.  Weavile outran Bibarel and struck with a super effective Brick Break.  Cyrus was too conservative to press the attack and fed Weavile a Super Potion, leaving an opening for Surf.  Three Surfs were needed to drown Gyarados, who retaliated with both Earthquake and Giga Impact.  Crobat chewed with Bite before Surf inundated the arena, and Bibarel saved Spear Pillar with only 17/210 HP at Level 69.  Palkia was easy to defeat with two Returns.


Unlike in the Drifblim challenge, the Fishermen near Sunyshore City did NOT switch out their Pokemon when fighting Bibarel.  Gym Leader Volkner in Sunyshore City should have been harder even at Level 72, but none of his monsters ever attacked.  Raichu had a chance when it survived a Surf, though it chose to set up Light Screen.  All of Volkner's monsters from Raichu to Octillery were vulnerable to Return, and Luxray didn't have Intimidate.


BARRY at the Pokemon League led with Staraptor and its Intimidate.  Ice Beam froze Staraptor, but two Surfs were needed to defeat Heracross.  Heracross attacked with the Flying type Aerial Ace instead of a Fighting move.  Torterra was Grass/Ground and therefore Ice Beam bait.  Floatzel had too low Defense to take a Return even at -1 Attack, and two were sufficient to take out Snorlax.  Snorlax's Crunch was the last enemy move since Rapidash was too slow to avoid a Surf extinguisher.  NORBERTA stood strong with 174/234 HP at Level 77.


The decision before Aaron was between Choice Specs + Surf or Silk Scarf + Return.  With Return, Bibarel swatted Dustox, but Heracross barely held on and attacked with Night Slash.  More Returns crushed Heracross and pressed Beautifly, though Ice Beam was better for the more durable Bug type Vespiquen when it inflicted Freeze.  If only that happened with Solo Abra's Ice Punches!  Drapion attacked with Aerial Ace as Bibarel was smacking it with Return.  NORBERTA grew to Level 78 with 175/236 HP.


Gardenia had surrendered a Grass Knot TM, and now was the time to use it.  All of Bertha's monsters were weak to Grass, creating a Choice Specs opportunity.  Quagsire didn't have a chance to set up Double Team, though Sudowoodo was pure Rock and lived long enough to summon Sandstorm.  Sandstorm's Special Attack increase for Rock types failed to save Golem, and Hippowdon was too heavy to take a Grass Knot trip.  Wiscash despite being Water/Ground survived one Grass Knot and Zen Headbutted NORBERTA.  Bibarel conquered at Level 78 with 107/236 HP.


Choice Specs + Surf was the obvious choice for Flint.  It was troubling when both Rapidash and Infernape activated Flare Blitz before Bibarel could act.  Lopunny used Charm instead of Mirror Coat, which would surely have killed Bibarel.  Steelix was as vulnerable to Surf as any other of its species, though Drifblim made a Double Team illusion before deflating after multiple Surfs.  Bibarel won at Level 79 with 144/239 HP.


Silk Scarf + Return came back for Lucian.  Mr Mime's invisible walls were no match for Normal attacks.  Continuing the theme of Fighting types not using Fighting attacks, Medicham clicked Ice Punch (?!) when the first Return failed to KO.  Alakazam quickly cast Psychic before facing its Return destiny.  Girafarig was the weakest of Lucian's team.  Bronzong was both a defensive and offensive threat when it shrugged off Surfs, increased its special stats with Calm Mind, and cast Psychic.  But Bronzong wasted a few turns with a resisted Gyro Ball, and NORBERTA held on with only 8/239 HP at Level 79.


Champion Cynthia's team was too diverse for Choice Specs and too Normal-resistant for Silk Scarf.  So Wise Glasses were the way to go.  Embargo's item disabling power may have been relevant for the first time ever in a Pokemon battle when Spiritomb used it against my Bibarel.  At Level 79, both Lucario and Garchomp outran Bibarel and attacked with Dragon Pulse, Psychic, and Brick Break.  No, it wasn't the Fighting type Lucario that used the Fighting move.  Bibarel was at 1 HP after Garchomp, and a Gastrodon Earthquake ended Take 1.


On Take 2, NORBERTA replaced Grass Knot with Charge Beam to imitate Drifblim's tactics, and grew to Level 82 with Rare Candies.  Bibarel's higher Speed stat was enough to beat Lucario, but not Garchomp, whose Earthquake dropped NORBERTA into a fissure.


Take 3 was the final battle.  This time Bibarel replaced Return with Charge Beam instead of Grass Knot.  Charge Beam's luck was still bad as NORBERTA only received one Special Attack boost.  Spiritomb cast Dark Pulse and two Psychics before. . .Cynthia switched to Roserade?  Roserade took a Surf on the switch as the Embargo ended, and Ice Beam chilled it to death.  Critical Surf poured on Lucario.  Garchomp used a high magnitude Earthquake before Ice Beam made it extinct.  A good damage roll on Grass Knot eliminated Gastrodon, and Surf exorcised Spiritomb. 


Cynthia could have won the battle with Milotic when Bibarel had only 15 HP and couldn't kill it with a non-critical attack.  But Milotic planned for long term healing with Aqua Ring (!) and two Grass Knots made NORBERTA the new Sinnoh Champion!


Bibarel is a far more capable solo Pokemon than Drifblim.  Bibarel's superior experience group and better move selection make up for its subpar stats.  My Bibarel was Unaware like Solo Swoobat, and a Simple Bibarel playthrough would have been different.  Simple would have made Intimidates twice as annoying with the reward of a +2 Special Attack Charge Beam after the 8th Gym.  Perhaps a +Special Attack nature or a +Speed nature would have helped with the final battles.


In future solo challenges, I may stick to the Slow and Fluctuating experience groups if they're available early on.


DEATH COUNT


-Lass Sarah's Level 7 Bidoof with Tackle.
-Gym Leader Roark's Geodude with Rock Throw.  Wanted to see if a Defense Curl + Rollout Bidoof could win.
-Gym Leader Gardenia's Roserade with Magical Leaf.
-Gym Leader Gardenia's Roserade with Grass Knot.
-Champion Cynthia's Gastrodon with Earthquake.
-Champion Cynthia's Garchomp with Earthquake.


Final Stats and Moves


Level 82

HP:  248
Attack:  169
Defense:  139
Special Attack:  132
Special Defense:  135
Speed:  151


Charge Beam
Ice Beam
Surf
Grass Knot


I'll add the Smogon picture link when it's uploaded.


EDIT:  And here's the link to the thumbnail picture!