Pokemon Variants

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon White Solo Gurdurr Run Postscript


This wasn't quite as much fun as the Vespiquen solo because Gurdurr is a fairly generic Pokemon to play.  Its moveset is the generic physical attacker combo of Rock, Ground, and Fighting attacks, but that tends to get the job done.  Vespiquen had pronounced weaknesses in its type matchups and movepool, and finding weird desperate ways of getting around them like Flash and Hidden Power Water made it a unique playthrough.
 

Eviolite with its 50% Defense and Special Defense buff is the go-to hold item for any unevolved Pokemon in White.  Lucky Egg is mandatory for any solo run once you get it in Chargestone Cave.  Without it, you'll be underleveled because the Unova diminishing returns experience system hates you.  Pecha Berry is a gimmick for Ghetsis who loves to use Toxic, a fatal move for any solo that's not immune to it.


The closest comparison to a White solo would be Moon, which has a similar leveling issue without the Lucky Egg to help you.  The Affection system derived from Pokemon X returns in Moon, however, so you can get lucky dodges, 1 HP survivals, and extra criticals to make up for the low experience gain.


One problem for Gurdurr was the complete lack of a reusable HP recovery move like Recover, Milk Drink, Vespiquen's Heal Order, or even the more weather-dependent Moonlight, Morning Sun, and Synthesis.  Gurdurr has Vespiquen's base Speed stat without the sustainability in favorable matchups.  (Fighting is a much better defensive typing than Bug/Flying, though.)  Solo Gurdurr barely survived the endgame, so it's probably incapable of handling postgame boss fights such as the Elite Four rematches.


Guts didn't activate as much as I expected.  Poison, burn, and paralysis are less common in White's main story than you might think.  It proved useful against horrible matchups like Caitlin's Psychic team and Shauntal's Golurk.  Without a recovery move, Guts places Gurdurr on a strict timer that decreases with enemy attacks that will hit due to low Speed.   


If I do another solo run any time soon, it'll be one with a more interesting moveset.  (Not necessarily an expansive one, but something other than the stuff you'd see for a generic offensive Pokemon.)


EDIT:  I think I forgot to mention that Gurdurr is in the Medium Slow experience group, along with Vespiquen and Sableye.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Sapphire Solo Breloom Part 1: GameFreak Gimmicks


It took some time to settle on my next solo challenge. I wanted to play a Hoenn game again, but didn't know which Pokemon I wanted. In Petalburg Woods, I caught several monsters including a Cascoon and a Slakoth.


Both are gimmick Pokemon. Wurmple evolves into either Silcoon, which leads to a Bug/Flying Beautifly, or Cascoon, which becomes the Bug/Poison Dustox. How do you know which cocoon your Wurmple will become? You don't. Wurmple is the one and only Pokemon that evolves based on the front half of its "personality value" a hidden "unsigned 32 bit integer" stat. If you want to ensure that you have a Beautifly or Dustox, you're better off catching one of the two cocoons.


As for Slakoth, it's an allegedly "Normal" type with a special passive Ability. Most Abilities are beneficial, even if they're extremely situational ones like Big Pecks (immunity to Defense debuffs). Slakoth and its fully evolved form Slaking have Truant, which causes them to "loaf around" instead of using a move every other turn. To make up for this, Slaking has base stats comparable to the strongest legendaries. There's also a middle form called Vigoroth that's a generic Normal type attacker with the Vital Spirit Ability (cannot sleep even with Rest).


But neither of those were the one I picked. A wild female Shroomish managed to knock out my starter Mudkip while I was wearing it down for capture. With a beginning like that, it was destiny. Shroomish and its evolved form Breloom are more odd Pokemon from Hoenn. Breloom is a Grass/Fighting type, a unique combination until the legendary Virizion arrived two generations later. Shroomish is one of very few Pokemon that can learn the 100 accuracy sleep move Spore, and only by holding off evolution until level 54. I'm not going to do that in this playthrough, but it's worth mentioning.


Shroomish and Breloom also fall into the Fluctuating experience group. This category is the slowest of all to reach level 100, requiring 1,640,000 experience points to do so. However, they arrive at level 10 faster than any other group. The only other Pokemon families in this odd position are Corphish, Gulpin, Illumise, Makuhita, Seviper, Wailmer (all 3rd generation), and Drifloon (4th generation).


One example Bulbapedia provides showing how the experience groups work is a scenario where a level 1 internationally traded Pokemon holding a Lucky Egg in White kills a level 100 Blissey, along with some other experience booster powers. An Erratic Pokemon would ascend to 87, a Fast one to 83, a Medium Fast to 77, a Medium Slow to 76, a Slow to 71, and a Fluctuating to only 69. Some accuse Sapphire of being a stagnant entry in the series. This may be true in terms of basic gameplay, but if you look into the game mechanics, you'll find some heavy experimentation that was dropped in later entries.


With her Fluctuating experience system, TOADETTE the Brave Nature Shroomish got into shape quickly for the first Gym. The combination of Stun Spore and Leech Seed gave TOADETTE more staying power than she should have had with those stats. Having to rely on the base 20 Absorb and the base 35 Tackle meant she struggled to do damage early on. Lass Haley's Shroomish on Route 104 caused a stall war of sorts when my Tackle activated a random paralysis from the contact Ability Effect Spore. Many turns were wasted being "fully paralyzed", while Haley's Shroomish used Absorb to slowly regain health. The only option was to use Stun Spore and even the odds.


Some time during the Route 104 trek, TOADETTE replaced Absorb with the TM move Bullet Seed, a base 10 Grass move with 100 accuracy that randomly hits 2-5 times. Even a 2 hit Bullet Seed was as strong as Absorb, and the chance for a critical for each hit was nice.


Roxanne's Rock type Gym in Rustboro City was predictable. The subordinate trainers used nothing but Geodudes ranging from 6-14. And I made fun of Unova for low variety in Gyms! TOADETTE began the Gym Leader battle at level 15.


Roxanne led with a level 14 Geodude that was peppered by a 3 hit Bullet Seed. A level 15 pure Rock Nosepass was much sturdier. It was also faster than TOADETTE, so the Brave Nature Speed penalty didn't help. It spent most of the fight buffing its Defense with Harden like a Metapod and only attacked once with Rock Tomb. A combination of Leech Seed, Stun Spore, and Bullet Seed made TOADETTE conquer the Gym with full HP. She also replaced Bullet Seed with Mega Drain, an HP draining Grass attack that was twice as strong as Absorb.


The Team Aqua Grunt in Rusturf Tunnel only had a weak Poochyena that TOADETTE obliterated with Mega Drain. I could now go to Dewford Town's island. The "trendy saying" for this playthrough turned out to be HAS BOARD. Brawly's Fighting type Gym had trainers with Machops and Meditites in the 12-14 range. These were neutral matchups for TOADETTE, who won with the usual tactics. She wasn't ready for Brawly. His level 17 Machop buffed its Attack and Defense with Bulk Up, much like I-BEAM the solo Gurdurr. It then hit with fierce Karate Chops. Leech Seed, Stun Spore, and Mega Drain let TOADETTE endure for about 7 turns, but it wasn't enough to deal with enemy Super Potion healing. A final Karate Chop forced TOADETTE to throw in the towel.


Death Count: 1 (It wouldn't be a solo challenge without this!)


But there was one trick I could use. Hoenn was perhaps the final region that allowed sequence breaking. Brawly's HM was Flash. Flash wasn't necessary to talk to Steven in Granite Cave if I was willing to fumble around in the darkness. The captain could then take me to the beach south of Slateport City, which had a few trainer battles. These leveled TOADETTE to 22, giving her the superior Normal attack Headbutt. Wingulls with their Supersonic confusion were very annoying, though.


TOADETTE returned to Brawly with a new tactic. She may not have had Serene Grace like HUBRIS the Dunsparce, but a combination of Stun Spore paralysis and Headbutt flinching gave Shroomish a few free turns, along with some Leech Seed healing. An equipped Oran Berry healed damage from one of Machop's Karate Chops during an unlucky turn. After 12 turns of slow damage and enemy Super Potions, a final Mega Drain forced Machop to tap out.


Next came a level 18 pure Fighting Makuhita. Since it had high base HP, TOADETTE launched Leech Seeds first. A 4 hit Arm Thrust pummeled Shroomish, but she was still alive. A lucky critical Mega Drain on the next round restored much of her HP. The next Arm Thrust only hit twice, and one more Mega Drain forced Brawly to hand over his badge and a Bulk Up TM.


TOADETTE the Shroomish Stats

Level 22 @ Nothing


HP: 60
Attack: 25 (10% buff)
Defense: 33
Special Attack: 23
Special Defense: 36
Speed: 23 (10% penalty)


Moves

Mega Drain
Headbutt
Stun Spore
Leech Seed

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Sapphire Solo Breloom Part 2: Third Generation Breloom is a Fake Grass Type


TOADETTE's last battles as a Shroomish were against a couple of weak Team Aqua Grunts in Slateport City. Once she reached level 23, she evolved into Breloom with these stats:


HP: 68
Attack: 72
Defense: 43
Special Attack: 33
Special Defense: 38
Speed: 38


Remember that Sapphire came before the "physical/special split" of the 4th generation, so Breloom is in an odd position relative to later entries. All Grass attacks use Special Attack in this game, and Breloom's base Special Attack is less than half of its Attack. Shroomish played like a typical Grass type that was dependent on status ailments and gradual damage rather than brute force. Breloom is a Fighting type who mugged a Grass type for its moveset. To emphasize how weird Breloom's stats are for a fully-evolved Grass type, a super effective Mega Drain from level 39 TOADETTE failed to defeat a level 24 Sandslash in one hit. Mach Punch and Headbutt were the go-to moves for now.


May challenged me to a battle on the grassy part of Route 110. Her level 18 pure Water Wailmer, her level 18 Fire/Ground Numel, and her level 20 pure Grass starter Grovyle were all Headbutted like a soccer ball. At least Grovyle dashed with a Quick Attack to deal 5 damage!


Wally in Mauville City had a level 16 Ralts who died to a single Headbutt. This was supposed to indicate that he was weak. I like Wally as a character, because he's the only friendly rival who seems to have character development throughout the game.


Mauville Gym was officially Electric, but it had some nonconformists including a level 19 pure Normal Zigzagoon and a level 19 Fighting/Psychic Meditite. By the time TOADETTE was done fighting all the weaklings, she was at level 28. Wattson led with a level 28 Magnemite that was Mach Punched in the eye. I should have used Mach Punch against the level 20 Voltorb too, because it outsped Breloom and Selfdestructed.


Wattson's star Pokemon was a level 23 Magneton. Grass types usually have major trouble with an Electric/Steel type, and this is true even for the starter. But Breloom had Mach Punch to hit for super effective damage. Magneton had enough Defense and HP to survive TOADETTE's fists and paralyzed her with Thunder Wave. Wattson gave Magneton a Super Potion, but this infuriated Breloom and caused her to send it flying with a critical Mach Punch. TOADETTE left the ring with 43/74 HP.


While fighting the trainer battles around Meteor Falls, TOADETTE leveled to the point where she learned Sky Uppercut. This was a nice upgrade over Mach Punch, but had the pitfall of 90 accuracy.


Team Aqua was threatening to make Mt. Chimney an extinct volcano with the power of the Meteorite. The Grunts were so weak that they weren't worth mentioning, but the leader Archie at least qualified as a boss. Archie began with a level 24 pure Dark Mightyena that had Intimidate. Although she had a -1 Attack debuff, TOADETTE broke Mightyena's glass jaw with a super effective Sky Uppercut. Next came a level 24 Poison/Flying Golbat. Archie's AI decided to whiff with Supersonic instead of going for the kill with Wing Attack. Two Headbutts sent the awkward bat back to its Poke Ball. Archie's last Pokemon was a level 25 Water/Dark Sharpedo, whom Breloom punched in the nose with Sky Uppercut. TOADETTE saved Mt. Chimney with 91/97 HP. The only damage she took in the whole battle was from Sharpedo's passive Rough Skin recoil.


A situation like this is one of the notable differences between Ruby and Sapphire. In Ruby, you instead fight Team Magma who prefers the Fire/Ground Numel and Camerupt to Carvanha and Sharpedo. For this reason, Sapphire is easier than Ruby for Grass, Bug, Electric, and Fighting types. Fire, Rock, Psychic, Ghost, and Ground types may have a worse time in Sapphire.


I backtracked to Fallarbor Town to give the Meteorite to Professor Cozmo, who handed me a Return TM as a reward. This was the replacement for Headbutt, and it'll likely be on Breloom's list of moves for the rest of the game. When in doubt, use Return if you're playing a physical solo, especially if your chosen Pokemon is a Normal type.


Flannery's Fire Gym in Lavaridge Town had more odd trainers who didn't go along with the theme. One opponent had a level 24 pure Normal Kecleon, and another trainer had a level 24 Meditite. When TOADETTE fumbled through the teleporter maze and reached Flannery, she was at level 38. Breloom switched from the Normal attack-boosting Silk Scarf to a Rawst Berry in case she got burned from the passive Flame Body Ability or something.


Flannery had two level 26 pure Fire Slugmas who each collapsed after a Return. The level 28 pure Fire Torkoal was different. Its base 70 HP and 140 Defense let the smoking turtle endure a Sky Uppercut. It blew its top with Overheat, sending Breloom into single digit HP (!). One fortunate side effect of Torkoal's Defense was that Sky Uppercut failed to do enough damage to convince the AI to start healing with Potions. One final Return cracked open Torkoal's shell and won the battle with 6/102 HP. And you probably thought solos were always overleveled!


But the Fluctuating experience curve was starting to catch up to TOADETTE. When NOWEAKNESS the Sableye (Medium Slow) cleared out the trainer battles on Mt. Chimney before Flannery's Gym, he was at level 41. Breloom didn't reach level 41 until she beat up the level 27 Linoones and Zangeese in Norman's Normal type Gym in Petalburg City.


Norman opened with a level 28 Slaking. TOADETTE was fortunate enough to have the only super effective type against Normal and pummeled the first Slaking with a Sky Uppercut. A level 30 Vigoroth burst out of its Poke Ball and Slashed TOADETTE after she failed to kill it with Return. Base 130 Attack with a favorable Nature can't do everything, I guess. Norman healed Vigoroth with a Hyper Potion, but that couldn't save the ground sloth from a Sky Uppercut. The final level 31 Slaking charged up a base 150 power Focus Punch, but Breloom's Sky Uppercut was faster and knocked it to the ground. TOADETTE emerged victorious with 88/107 HP.


So far, my HM Mules include Zigzagoon and the starter Mudkip, in case you're wondering. The hardest opponents will probably be the Flying Gym Leader Winona and Phoebe of the Elite Four. Phoebe will be a special case because Normal and Fighting moves don't affect her team at all. Breloom would kill to have Foresight and Odor Sleuth, which negate Ghost type immunities. Grass is neutral, but the best move available is Giga Drain with limited PP. (Unless you count Solarbeam which requires a charge up turn.) If I'm feeling especially desperate, I may go for Iron Tail.


TOADETTE the Breloom Stats

Level 41 @ Silk Scarf

HP: 107
Attack: 128
Defense: 77
Special Attack: 59
Special Defense: 66
Speed: 69



Moves

Mega Drain
Return
Sky Uppercut
Leech Seed

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Sapphire Solo Breloom Part 3: Land's End


After getting the 5th badge from Norman, the only place left to go on land was the northeast. But now that I could use Surf, Breloom sailed across the seas near Dewford and Slateport and beat up all the local trainers. As expected, they mostly carried Water types like Tentacool, Carvanha, Wailmer, Wingull, and Goldeen in the mid to high 20s. Breloom couldn't take advantage of the Ice Beam TM in the Abandoned Ship. Water types may not become overpowered in Sapphire quite as early as in Crystal, but after the 5th Gym they have all their useful moves.


Trainers on Route 119 near Fortree City loved Bug types like the Nincada, Wurmple, Volbeat, and Illumise families in the mid to high 20s. These weren't a problem with Return. A few others were Bird Keepers that used the Normal/Flying Taillow family.


Team Aqua had invaded the Weather Institute, and only TOADETTE could save the scientists from the weakest villain team in the Pokemon series. Even Admin Shelly didn't have Pokemon above level 28. Carvanha and Mightyena died to a Mega Drain and Sky Uppercut respectively.


May took a hint from Cheren and launched a surprise attack on TOADETTE outside the Weather Institute. She was much weaker than either Unova rival, though. The level 29 Numel, level 29 Wailmer, and level 31 Grovyle all bit the dust after a single Return. TOADETTE didn't lose any HP at all.


Winona the Flying Gym Leader was one of the most dreaded opponents in the playthrough, but the fight wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. TOADETTE was at level 48 by this time. (Compare to NOWEAKNESS the Sableye, who was at 50 by the end of the Weather Institute.) Winona began with a level 31 Swellow, whose base 125 Speed allowed it to buff its evasion once with Double Team before Breloom could act. TOADETTE saw through the illusions and struck down Swellow with one Return. The level 30 Water/Flying Pelipper was even easier to kill with Return because it was much slower.


The level 32 Steel/Flying Skarmory was the biggest problem. It had base 65 HP and base 140 Defense along with a great defensive typing. TOADETTE had earlier swapped out Leech Seed for Bulk Up to prepare for this. One Bulk Up buff gave it the power to snap Skarmory's metal wings with a Sky Uppercut, but not before suffering an accuracy loss with Sand Attack. Winona's last hope was a level 33 Altaria. Return missed the first time, and Breloom had to take a quadruple damage Aerial Ace. A second Return was more successful and gave Breloom the 6th badge with 83/140 HP. Although she had the slowest experience category in Pokemon history, Breloom still managed to be overleveled relative to the NPCs.


Before taking on Team Aqua Grunts at Mt. Pyre, Breloom took a detour to Lilycove City to fight May one last time. When I say May and Brendan are the weakest Pokemon rivals, I mean it. None of her Pokemon were fully evolved except for a level 31 Swellow. Neither her first Pokemon nor her level 32 Numel, level 32 Wailmer, and level 34 Grovyle could take a single Return.


The random trainers around Mt. Pyre were more interesting than the Team Aqua minions. Several Hex Maniacs had Ghost types like Shuppet and Duskull that had to be killed with Mega Drain. But even those were rare.


Cooltrainer Clyde was a case of the worst possible luck in a Pokemon playthrough. Sky Uppercut missed his Magneton and it retaliated with Thunder Wave paralysis. Then Shiftry used Swagger and inflicted confusion. A +2 Attack Breloom was highly susceptible to confusion damage, and knocked herself out while fighting a Digging Ground type Trapinch.


Death Count: 2


That's what can happen in solo runs. You can breeze through Gym Leaders, only to die in freak accidents during random trainer fights. TOADETTE won on the second try against Cooltrainer Clyde with full HP.


TOADETTE tried to catch Archie in Team Aqua's hideout in Lilycove City before he could escape in a stolen submarine, but she was too late. Aqua Admin Matt stalled for time with his level 32 Carvanha, level 32 Mightyena, and level 32 Sharpedo. But Breloom outsped and killed all of them in one hit with Mega Drain and Sky Uppercut. The only HP loss was because of Sharpedo's Rough Skin passive recoil.


East of Lilycove was a wide ocean with a few small islands and underwater caves, along with the final two Gyms.



TOADETTE the Breloom Stats

Level 54 @ Silk Scarf


HP: 143
Attack: 177
Defense: 104
Special Attack: 80
Special Defense: 89
Speed: 97



Moves

Mega Drain
Return
Sky Uppercut
Bulk Up

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Sapphire Solo Breloom Part 4: 7.8/10 Too Much Water


The title for this update comes from the infamous IGN review of the 3DS remake version of Ruby and Sapphire. To be fair, eastern and southern Hoenn is mostly water, and most of the trainers in the GBA version have Water Pokemon in the mid 30s range such as Staryu, Carvanha, Gyarados, Wingull, Tentacool, and Spheal.


Mossdeep City's Psychic Gym was mostly standard up until the final battle, and TOADETTE was at level 55. Liza and Tate were the only Double Battle Gym Leaders in the entire series, so I had to bring HM MULE the Zigzagoon as a sacrifice. They sent out level 42 Rock/Psychic Solrock and Lunatone. TOADETTE's Sky Uppercut landed on the moon, knocking it out in one move. Solrock cast Flamethrower and singed Zigzagoon. A second Sky Uppercut failed to blot out the sun. Solrock used Sunny Day in an attempt to buff its Flamethrowers. Liza and Tate fed Solrock a Hyper Potion, and Breloom Mega Drained it to soften it up for the final blow. TOADETTE Mega Drained Solrock dry with one more attack.


TOADETTE's cruise around Hoenn's oceans was more varied than you might expect from a Surfing segment. Rapid currents, underwater caves, and a town on a coral reef were some of the highlights. In Sootopolis City, a martial artist gave me a Brick Break TM. This was a reliable move in the solo Gurdurr playthrough, and it was still good here. Sky Uppercut was too risky at 90 accuracy, and that even resulted in a death in a previous update. Return was still the standard move, because sometimes Mega Drain failed to KO Water types despite Breloom's level advantage.


Team Aqua's final battles were in the Seafloor Cavern. Admin Shelly's level 38 Sharpedo and level 38 Mightyena both crumpled when hit with a Mega Drain and Brick Break. Archie was the only challenging Team Aqua encounter in the whole game. TOADETTE Bulked Up to counter the level 41 Mightyena's Intimidate, while it responded with the -2 Speed debuff Scary Face. A Take Down dealt minor damage to Breloom, and a Brick Break put down the Dark type dog. The level 41 Crobat struck with a quadruple effective Wing Attack, but the Bulk Up from earlier probably paid off when Breloom sent it crashing to the ground with one Return. The level 43 Sharpedo Slashed Breloom with its fangs, and received a Brick Break for its trouble. TOADETTE hung on with 57/156 HP.


The level 45 legendary Water type Kyogre in the Cave of Origin was easy to beat. Return followed by Mega Drain was sufficient to calm the rains for good. The only action it took was a failed Hydro Pump.


Wallace's Gym may have been Water type, but it looked like it should have had an Ice theme instead. The puzzle was easy, but I deliberately failed so TOADETTE could gain more experience from the trainers below. By the time Breloom beat up low 40s Azumarills, Seakings, and Wailmers, she was at level 60.


Wallace led with one of the worst Water types in Pokemon, a level 40 Luvdisc. Luvdisc is almost as much a joke among Pokemon fans as Magikarp. Its heart was Brick Broken. A level 40 Water/Ice Sealeo at least had the excuse of being weak to Fighting when it too died to Brick Break. The level 43 Milotic was durable enough to barely survive a Brick Break. It counterattacked with a painful Ice Beam. Wallace healed the maximum Beauty Pokemon with a Hyper Potion, and TOADETTE continued to Brick Break until she punched through the fish's scales. TOADETTE fully restored her HP by Mega Draining a level 42 Water/Ground Whiscash in one gulp. Wallace's final chance at victory was a level 42 Seaking which turned belly up after Breloom hit with Return. Wallace's TM was rather wimpy at this point in the game: Water Pulse. Who teaches their Pokemon Water Pulse when they have Surf, Dive, and Waterfall available at this point?


Victory Road and the Pokemon League are the last challenges remaining for Breloom. I should be finished tomorrow. This will likely be the last Pokemon solo for some time, since I'll soon receive a different RPG that I'm looking forward to play.


TOADETTE the Breloom Stats

Level 61 @ Silk Scarf


HP: 161
Attack: 199
Defense: 117
Special Attack: 89
Special Defense: 100
Speed: 109



Moves


Mega Drain
Return
Brick Break
Bulk Up

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Sapphire Solo Breloom Finale: Some Tactics Required


Victory Road was typical for the series, though it required heavy HM use. Flash, Surf, Waterfall, Rock Smash, and Strength were all needed to get through. Whatever flaws Moon may have, at least it got rid of the need for HM MULEs.


A battle against Cooltrainer Vito was somewhat annoying because all of Breloom's physical moves were contact damage, and this activated Static paralysis after knocking out his Manectric. TOADETTE couldn't move for several turns in a row.


Cooltrainer Julie's level 43 Sandslash survived a Brick Break from level 61 TOADETTE, proving that high base Attack can only carry you so far without super effective type coverage.


Wally on Victory Road was as easy as the time TOADETTE fought him in Mauville. His level 44 Altaria, level 45 Gardevoir, level 44 Roselia, level 43 Delcatty, and level 41 Magneton all fainted after one Return or Brick Break before they could respond.


TOADETTE was at only level 63 when she reached the Pokemon League. To show you how bad the Fluctuating experience group is, check out the Pokemon White solos. SeeNoEvil the Simipour was at level 72 at the equivalent part, and I-BEAM the Gurdurr was at 71. And that was with the Unova diminishing returns experience formula. (Granted, those two had the Lucky Egg to make up for it a bit, but still. . .) With Rare Candies, Breloom leveled to 70. This was necessary to stand a chance against several of the final battles.


Sidney the Dark type master was a joke in a Fighting type solo. His level 46 Mightyena, level 49 Absol, level 48 Shiftry, level 48 Sharpedo, and level 46 Cacturne all fell down after one Brick Break. Mightyena's Intimidate debuff did nothing to stop TOADETTE from winning without taking a hit. Once again, the only damage came from Sharpedo's Rough Skin.


Phoebe the Ghost master was my greatest fear during this playthrough. Before now, only rare Hex Maniac trainers bothered with Ghost types at all, and they were at such a low level that even the weak Mega Drain was viable. Breloom's type coverage against properly leveled Ghost types was abysmal. I taught TOADETTE Giga Drain, but even that was practically worthless with her low Special Attack. The only choice was Iron Tail, a 100 power Steel attack with a miserable 75 accuracy.


Phoebe's leading level 48 Dusclops was one of the worst opponents TOADETTE could face. It had an incurable Curse that sapped 1/4 of Breloom's HP per round. If it didn't Curse, it cast Confuse Ray. Its Future Sight could deal minor damage on a later turn. The chance for failure was high with gradual Curse damage, Future Sight attacks, and self-inflicted confusion damage, as you can see here:


Death Count: 6


I thought it would take more tries to win, but TOADETTE got lucky. It didn't look that way at first. She Bulked Up on the first turn, and Dusclops predicted a Future Sight attack. Breloom whiffed the first Iron Tail, got confused, and hit herself once. One fortunate confusion roll on an Iron Tail sent the mummy back to its tomb. I tried using Giga Drain against a level 49 Banette to restore some HP, but it wasn't even good for that. Perhaps this was for the best, as Banette drained Giga Drain's PP with Spite instead of Iron Tail. The first Iron Tail missed and Banette shot a Shadow Ball, but the second connected and banished the doll. A critical Iron Tail smashed the level 50 Sableye in one move before it could try Psychic. Another level 49 Banette and a level 51 Dusclops were Iron Tail whipped to death before they could act. TOADETTE survived with 129/183 HP.


Glacia the Ice master was a relief after Phoebe. TOADETTE slapped her level 50 and 52 Glalies, level 50 and 52 Sealeos, and level 53 Walrein with one Brick Break each.


Before fighting Drake the Dragon master, I replaced Iron Tail with the second Return TM from Pacifidlog Town. The Silk Scarf probably came in handy too. But Drake was worse than I expected. Trying to Bulk Up against the level 52 Shelgon tended to result in a Rock Tomb Speed debuff. The first level 53 Flygon liked to summon a Sandstorm, though the 1/16 HP damage per round may have helped me more than Drake. A second level 53 Flygon debuffed TOADETTE's accuracy with Sand Attack. But the hardest member of the team was the level 55 Salamence. This Dragon/Flying type had a 600 base stat total and Intimidate, and knew the moves Fly and Flamethrower. At least one of the Flygons also happened to know Flamethrower. Without a Speed advantage, the battles tended to look like this:


Death Count: 9


TOADETTE won when Shelgon whiffed a Rock Tomb during the first Bulk Up round. The first Flygon always seemed to use Sandstorm, so that gave Breloom the opportunity for a second Bulk Up. Brick Break broke the backs of the first three Pokemon. Salamence's Intimidate couldn't prevent a +1 Attack Return from one-shotting it. The final level 54 Altaria suffered the same fate. TOADETTE survived the sandstorm with 142/186 HP.


Steven the Hoenn Champion must have learned tactics from Ghetsis in the Gurdurr solo, because his level 57 Skarmory used Toxic while TOADETTE was Bulking Up. With +2 Attack, TOADETTE rampaged through Skarmory, a level 56 Cradily, a level 56 Armaldo, and a level 58 Metagross with Brick Break. Toxic damage was increasing rapidly, so the only hope was to heal against the level 55 Claydol with Giga Drain. It didn't work, and Claydol set up Reflect right before TOADETTE died from poison.


Final Death Count: 10


Much like in the I-BEAM the Gurdurr playthrough, I equipped TOADETTE with a Pecha Berry to cure Toxic. This did the trick. Toxic allowed a free Bulk Up turn, in addition to the one Breloom got when the AI picked Spikes. (Spikes against a solo Pokemon has to be one of the worst moves the AI could make). Brick Break slaughtered Skarmory, Cradily, and Armaldo, but an awful damage roll let Metagross survive at +2 Attack. It cast Psychic, and Steven fed his star Pokemon a Full Restore. The second Brick Break succeeded. Breloom smashed Claydol with a critical Return. The final level 56 Aggron was Rock/Steel and took quadruple damage from Brick Break. TOADETTE became the only member of the Hall of Fame with 61/188 HP.



TOADETTE the Breloom Final Stats


Level 72 @ Nothing (Pecha Berry consumed in final battle)


HP: 188
Attack: 234
Defense: 138
Special Attack: 108
Special Defense: 117
Speed: 128


Moves

Giga Drain
Brick Break
Return (Iron Tail used for Phoebe)
Bulk Up

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Sapphire Solo Breloom Postscript


Breloom is an odd Pokemon to use, and has changed much over several Pokemon generations. In the time of Pearl, it gained the physical Grass move Seed Bomb to work with its base 130 Attack, in addition to a passive Ability that restores 1/8 HP per turn while poisoned. In White, a Hidden Ability gave it the option of Technician, allowing its Mach Punch and Bullet Seed to have 1.5 times its normal base power.


But this solo was in the 3rd generation, where the older game mechanics hurt TOADETTE quite a bit. All Grass attacks in Sapphire use Breloom's weak 60 base Special Attacks. The best Grass attack available to Breloom is Giga Drain, which has a crappy 60 base power. Leaf Blade is reserved for the starter Treecko family in old Hoenn. Better Grass moves like Seed Bomb, Energy Ball, and Grass Knot didn't exist until Pearl, so Grass types in general tended to suffer in older Pokemon entries.


Shroomish is one of the Pokemon that changes the most after evolving in Sapphire, aside from extreme cases like Magikarp/Gyarados and Feebas/Milotic. Shroomish is a weak Grass type that specializes in status ailments like Leech Seed and Stun Spore, with just enough Special Attack to get by. It also grows quickly at low levels thanks to the Fluctuating experience curve.


Once it ascends to level 23, Shroomish becomes Breloom and any Grass traits become vestigial. TOADETTE had more in common with the average Fighting type like Gurdurr than a Grass Pokemon, and most often used Return and Mach Punch/Sky Uppercut/Brick Break. Grass attacks often failed to KO Pokemon at significantly lower levels even with super effective damage. The Fluctuating level curve works against Breloom now, condemning it to be in the low 60s without Rare Candies at the end. If you want something close to a "low level solo" while still fighting most of the trainers, use a Fluctuating Pokemon. Base 70 Speed with a Nature penalty was less than a problem than you might think, since not many trainer Pokemon outran TOADETTE without a Speed debuff like Rock Tomb or a priority attack.


In the Elite 4, Breloom has a clean sweep against Sidney and Glacia, but relies on luck to get past Phoebe due to its abysmal type coverage against Ghosts. When your best move against Dusclops and Banette is Iron Tail, you have problems. Drake is also a questionable matchup for Breloom due to various Flying and Fire moves on his Dragons. Steven is good if you make sure to bring a Poison-curing berry to get past Skarmory.


This will be the last solo for a while, and I enjoyed it. I hope you did too.


EDIT:  There may be a post coming with online battle logs from Firestorm the solo Butterfree.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Firestorm the Pokemon Moon Solo Butterfree Online Tour Part 1


Pokemon Moon Solo Butterfree: Online Tour 2




Vs. Brandon
Battle Video: SYDG-WWWW-WWX4-WASZ



Round 1


I sent out Butterfree. Brandon sent out Buzzwole.

Buzzwole used Poison Jab. Butterfree used Sleep Powder.



Round 2

Brandon switched out Buzzwole to Raikou.  Butterfree used Quiver Dance.



Round 3

Butterfree used Sleep Powder and missed.  Raikou used Reflect.



Round 4

Buterfree used Sleep Powder. Raikou slept like a log.



Round 5

Butterfree used Quiver Dance. Raikou slept like a log.



Round 6

Butterfree used Bug Buzz and Raikou’s Special Defense dropped 1 stage. Raikou slept like a log.



Round 7

Brandon switched Raikou to Buzzwole. Butterfree used Bug Buzz and Buzzwole’s Special Defense dropped one stage.



Round 8

Butterfree used Air Slash. Buzzwole fainted.



Round 9

Brandon switched in Incineroar. Butterfree used Sleep Powder. Incineroar slept like a log.



Round 10

Butterfree used Air Slash. Incineroar slept like a log.



Round 11

Butterfree used Air Slash. Incineroar fainted.



Round 12

Brandon switched in Raikou. Butterfree used Bug Buzz. Raikou fainted. (Victory)




Solo Butterfree vs. a Japanese Player (username seems to be “Mikiki” according to a hiragana chart)
Battle Video:  W3MG-WWWW-WWX4-WAS7



Round 1

Japanese Player sent out Zekrom. I sent out Butterfree.

Zekrom used Fusion Bolt and Butterfree hung on with Focus Sash. Butterfree used Sleep Powder.



Round 2

Zekrom slept like a log. Butterfree used Quiver Dance.



Round 3

Butterfree used Quiver Dance. Zekrom slept like a log.



Round 4

Butterfree used Bug Buzz. Zekrom slept like a log.



Round 5

Butterfree used Bug Buzz. Zekrom fainted.



Round 6

Japanese Player sent out Mega Rayquaza. Butterfree used Sleep Powder. Mega Rayquaza slept like a log.



Round 7

Butterfree used Air Slash. Mega Rayquaza slept like a log.



Round 8

Butterfree used Air Slash. Mega Rayquaza fainted.



Round 9

Japanese Player sent out White Kyurem. Butterfree used Sleep Powder. White Kyurem slept like a log.



Round 10

Butterfree used Air Slash. White Kyurem slept like a log.



Round 11

Butterfree used Air Slash. White Kyurem fainted.


So there you have it. Sometimes you can win even with bottom-tier solo Pokemon if you get lucky enough. (An Alolan Rattata and a Caterpie were the two token members needed to fulfill the 3 Pokemon requirement. If Butterfree died, I forfeited the match.)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Firestorm the Pokemon Moon Solo Butterfree Online Tour Part 2


Vs. Sophie
Battle Video:  UKEG-WWWW-WWX4-3FMP



Round 1


I sent out Butterfree, Sophie sent out Marshadow. Marshadow used Never-Ending Nightmare and activated Butterfree’s Focus Sash.  Butterfree used Sleep Powder.


Round 2

Marshadow slept like a log. Butterfree used Quiver Dance.


Round 3

Marshadow slept like a log. Butterfree used Air Slash. Marshadow fainted.


Round 4

Sophie sent out Celesteela. Butterfree used Sleep Powder. Celesteela slept like a log.


Round 5

Butterfree used Quiver Dance. Celesteela slept like a log.


Round 6

Butterfree used Air Slash. Celesteela slept like a log.


Round 7

Butterfree used Air Slash. Celesteela woke up and flinched.


Round 8

Butterfree used Sleep Powder. Celesteela slept like a log.


Round 9

Butterfree used Air Slash. Celesteela slept like a log.


Round 10

Butterfree used Air Slash. Celesteela fainted.


Round 11

Sophie sent out Xurkitree. Butterfree used Sleep Powder. Xurkitree slept like a log.


Round 12

Sophie forfeited.



Vs. cody (This one took forever to take his turns!)
Battle Video:  LKDG-WWWW-WWX4-3FNX


Round 1

I sent out Butterfree. cody sent out Entei. Entei used Lava Plume. Butterfree used Sleep Powder.


Round 2

Entei slept like a log. Butterfree used Quiver Dance.


Round 3

Butterfree used Quiver Dance. Entei slept like a log.


Round 4

Entei woke up and used Protect to block Butterfree’s Air Slash.


Round 5

Butterfree used Sleep Powder. Entei slept like a log.


Round 6

Butterfree used Air Slash. Entei slept like a log.


Round 7

Entei used Protect and blocked Butterfree’s Air Slash.


Round 8

Butterfree used Air Slash. Entei fainted.


Round 9

cody sent out Rayquaza. Butterfree used Sleep Powder. Rayquaza slept like a log.


Round 10

Butterfree used Air Slash. Rayquaza slept like a log.


Round 11

Butterfree used Air Slash. Rayquaza woke up and flinched.


Round 12

Butterfree used Air Slash. Rayquaza fainted.


Round 13

cody sent out Mewtwo. Butterfree used Bug Buzz. Mewtwo fainted.



Vs. Another Japanese Player (hiragana chart suggests “Rai”)
Battle Video UG9W-WWWW-WWX4-3FN8


Round 1

I sent out Butterfree. Japanese Player sent out Incineroar. Butterfree used Sleep Powder. Incineroar slept like a log.


Round 2

Butterfree used Quiver Dance. Incineroar slept like a log.


Round 3

Butterfree used Quiver Dance. Incineroar woke up and missed with Fire Blast.


Round 4

Butterfree used Sleep Powder. Incineroar slept like a log.


Round 5

Butterfree used Air Slash. Incineroar slept like a log.


Round 6

Butterfree used Air Slash. Incineroar fainted.


Round 7

Japanese Player sent out Sigilyph. Butterfree used Sleep Powder. Sigilyph slept like a log.


Round 8

Butterfree used critical Air Slash. Sigilyph fainted.


Round 9

Japanese Player sent out Zygarde. Butterfree used Sleep Powder. Zygarde slept like a log.


Round 10

Butterfree used Air Slash. Zygarde woke up and flinched.


Round 11

Butterfree used Air Slash. Zygarde fainted.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Remember when I said there wasn't going to be a solo Pokemon playthrough for a while?  I was wrong.  This challenge was originally posted on Smogon's Orange Islands forum, like the other runs.


Pokemon Pearl Solo Roserade Part 1: Insert Platitude About Roses and Thorns Here



It took some time for me to find an appropriate Pokemon for a "no Battle Item" Pearl solo challenge. Champion Cynthia and her 60s level range team would require either an overpowered Pokemon, or one with adequate buffing or recover moves. Drifblim was the first candidate, and then I realized Calm Mind is a postgame TM in Pearl. (Compare to Sapphire, where it's a reward for beating the 7th Gym.)


Roserade was the answer. I had never done a Poison type solo before, and Roserade the Grass/Poison Pokemon has a variety of interesting moves to make up for its lackluster attacking types.


Piplup was the starter because it could make a decent HM Mule for a while. I caught a level 4 Budew on Route 204 north of Jubilife City with a Rash Nature (+10% Special Attack, -10% Special Defense) and a "Hates to lose" characteristic.


The problem was that Budew's only attacking move was the base 20 Absorb, placing it in a similar predicament to Shroomish in Sapphire. And the way to evolve Budew into Roselia was to level up with a high Friendship stat in the daytime. For those unfamiliar with the mechanics, Friendship is annoying to deal with at low levels. It's slowly increased by leveling up, using items like Potions, and walking around. Friendship is part of the damage formula for Return, a move frequently used in solo runs, but by the point you get that TM, it'll usually be high enough to be at a high base power.


The result was a lot of "sandbagging". The first fight was a lucky win. Lass Sarah had a level 7 Bidoof that could hit hard with its same type attack bonus Tackles. Since Tackle was a contact move, one of them activated Budew's Poison Point passive Ability and gave it a status ailment. (Poison Point works like Jigglypuff's Cute Charm, but isn't dependent on gender.) A critical Absorb finished off the Bidoof, and Budew gained 2 levels.


After that, Budew went to the grass on Route 202 and started beating up lower level Bidoofs and Shinxes. This took a while, but it was a safe way to gain experience. Budew learned Stun Spore at level 10, another trick TOADETTE the Breloom had early in the game. In case you think this grinding is excessive, Budew once failed to defeat School Kid Harrison's level 6 Abra and its neutral Hidden Power. By level 10, Budew could finally defeat the two Abras in Jubilife's Trainer School.


Death Count: 1


To the east of Jublife, Barry the rival (named "Tommy" in this file) attacked when my solo character was at level 11. Budew's Poison Point pricked the level 7 Normal/Flying Starly and dealt gradual damage. Budew buffed her Special Attack with Growth a couple of times while Starly Quick Attacked. Absorbs partially restored Budew's HP shortly before the bird fainted. Next came a level 9 pure Grass Turtwig. Stun Spore paralyzed the turtle, and then Budew buffed her Special Attack to +6 with Growth. Turtwig frequently wasted its turns increasing its Defense with Withdraw, even though Budew had no physical moves. Budew was victorious with 27/30 HP.


Some matchups east of Jubilife seemed bad for Budew, but she could get around Zubats and other Budews with a combination of Growth and Stun Spore. Once Lass Kaitlin was defeated, Budew had upgraded to Mega Drain. This move had questionable value on Breloom, but Budew played like a more conventional Grass type, and base 40 power wasn't too bad in the early game.


Oreburgh Mine had Geodudes and Onixes that were fatally allergic to Grass attacks, as did Oreburgh's Rock type Gym. Before fighting Roark the Gym Leader, I gave Budew the Quick Claw obtained from an NPC in Jubilife. Chances are she didn't need it, but it was nice to have an extra chance to go first if Cranidos outsped me or something.


Roark's level 12 Geodude and Onix were sucked dry with Mega Drain as soon as they entered the battlefield. The level 14 Cranidos was pure Rock type, allowing it to barely survive one attack. But Cranidos's Pursuit was a contact move and activated Poison Point, finishing off the fossil at the end of the round. Budew won the first badge with 31/42 HP.


Hopefully, Budew will evolve soon. This species stops learning new moves at level 16, so she might miss out on some of Roselia's attacks if she doesn't bloom quickly.



Budew Stats

Level 17 @ Quick Claw



HP: 42
Attack: 18
Defense: 19
Special Attack: 27
Special Defense: 27
Speed: 25



Moves

Mega Drain
Growth
Water Sport (A Fire debuff might be useful against the. . .two Fire type families in all of Sinnoh.)
Stun Spore