Pokemon Variants

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Meganium Part 4: Midgame Massacre


COFFEEWEED the Meganium plowed through the halfway point of the game with little trouble apart from perhaps the Olivine Gym.


Chuck's level 27 Primeape started by debuffing Meganium's Defense with Leer instead of attacking. The first Razor Leaf missed, but the second made up for it with a critical hit. I was quite disappointed with COFFEEWEED when her Razor Leaf left the level 30 Poliwrath with critical HP, when she was 12 levels higher and had the Miracle Seed equipped! This was the Johto Gym you were supposed to be good at, Grass starter! But it didn't matter. Poliwrath whiffed its inaccurate Dynamicpunch, and a Body Slam pinned it to the ground. COFFEEWEED won with full HP.


COFFEEWEED had a far easier time against Jasmine than CEDRIC the Noctowl did, and she even won on the first try. The first level 30 Magnemite failed its Thunder Wave accuracy check when Meganium Slapped Mud in its eye. Jasmine sent out the level 35 Steelix second instead of saving the metal snake for last. COFFEEWEED's first Razor Leaf scored a critical hit and forced Jasmine to feed Steelix a Hyper Potion on the next turn. Steelix's first and last attacks were Iron Tails, and the second activated the Defense debuff side effect. Three Razor Leaves were needed to slay the snake after the Hyper Potion. One final Mud Slap destroyed the second Magnemite, probably due to COFFEEWEED leveling up during the battle. Meganium won with 78/140 HP at level 43.



Any solo that has trouble with Team Rocket's Mahogany Town lair is unfit for the rest of the game. The enemies' levels are pathetic at this point, even the Executives. This is probably a consequence of being in a nonlinear part of the game. The developers were probably afraid of making any one Gym Leader or Team Rocket member too high level because they anticipated players might go somewhere first. OG PUFF the Jigglypuff exploited a level curve like this in the Fire Red playthrough.


Pryce the Ice Gym Leader began with a level 27 Seel which was disposed of with Body Slam. The level 29 Dewgong and level 31 Piloswine were slashed with one Razor Leaf each, resulting in a flawless victory at level 47. The real problem in a solo Grass playthrough of Crystal is more that enemies may resist your moves (Bugsy, Morty). Enemy super effective attacks like Ice aren't a problem if you can knock them out with neutral or your own super effective attacks.


COFFEEWEED the Meganium Stats

Level 47 @ Miracle Seed


HP: 153
Attack: 98
Defense: 119
Special Attack: 99
Special Defense: 115
Speed: 108


Moves

Body Slam
Mud Slap
Razor Leaf
Synthesis

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Meganium Part 5: Let's Play as a Weaker Normal Type!


Team Rocket in Goldenrod's Radio Tower and the Underground was filled with Poison and the occasional Flying type. This meant Body Slam was the go-to move most of the time, with Razor Leaf being reserved for the odd Rattata or so. My lack of Return caused COFFEEWEED to miss out on several one hit KOs that she could otherwise have made, and probably made the Clair battle in Blackthorn City more difficult too.


The rival FIRBURN in the Underground was the only battle worth mentioning here. His level 30 Golbat took 2 Body Slams to crush, allowing it to Wing Attack once. Base 85 power is quite a step down from 102. Body Slam was still strong enough to bring down the level 32 Quilava in one move. The level 28 Magnemite was as weak to Mud Slap as ever. FIRBURN's level 30 Haunter killed itself casting Curse after an initial Mud Slap. Body Slam maimed the level 32 Sneasel, and COFFEEWEED won again with 142/164 HP.



Clair's 3 level 37 Dragonairs had paralyzing moves, so I gave Meganium the appropriate curing berry. It still wasn't enough. Sure, COFFEEWEED got past the first Thunder Wave and Body Slammed the Dragonair twice. The 2nd Dragonair had Thunder Wave too, along with a weak Ice Beam. COFFEEWEED may have had her flaws, but she had strong defenses. The 3rd Dragonair had Clair's signature move Dragonbreath, a base 60 Dragon attack with a chance to paralyze. It was nothing more than a mild annoyance since Meganium was already paralyzed, and 2 more Body Slams did the trick. Kingdra's only action was a Hyper Beam that left it unable to act on the following turn. Not much damage to show for it, either: COFFEEWEED won the final Johto Gym Leader battle with 97/180 HP.


Shortly before the session ended, I had COFFEEWEED go down the mountain routes in eastern Johto, which I didn't do for CEDRIC the Noctowl. The obligatory Rare Candy collection happened too. JUANA the player character flew to Goldenrod, awaiting Sunday so her solo Pokemon can finally learn Return.



COFFEEWEED the Meganium Stats

Level 57 @ Miracle Seed


HP: 187
Attack: 121
Defense: 146
Special Attack: 122
Special Defense: 142
Speed: 134


Moves

Body Slam
Mud Slap
Razor Leaf
Synthesis

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Meganium Part 6: Completing the Moveset


The true Victory Road in Crystal consists of Routes 27 and 26, not the small cave with that name. COFFEEWEED smashed her way through the low level trainers with her new Return and her old standby Razor Leaf. In the Victory Road cave, a short detour near the end lead to the Earthquake TM. This was a great complement to COFFEEWEED's type coverage, as FIRBURN the rival found out the hard way. His Magneton, Haunter, and Typhlosion all happened to be weak to this 100 base power move, and were buried in one hit. Sneasel, Golbat, and Kadabra were as frail as ever and fell to Return, resulting in a flawless victory for Meganium.


Will the Psychic member of the Elite 4 was no more of a threat than FIRBURN. His 2 Xatus, a Jynx, and an Exeggutor were victims to Return, including a critical on the latter. Razor Leaf's increased critical chance activated when the final Slowbro appeared.



Koga the Poison member had only 1 Pokemon weak to Earthquake despite that type normally being weak to Ground. Ariados and Venomoth were weak Bugs that took a Return to the thorax. Muk was pure Poison and one Earthquake could kill it. Crobat was a high enough level to require 2 Returns, and its one Double Team evasion buff failed to save it. Forretress's extremely high Defense and Bug/Steel type gave it more opportunities to cause trouble before Meganium opened fissures with Earthquake. But Forretress's movepool was shallow in Crystal. One turn, it used Spikes, though that only hurts Pokemon when they switch and therefore is harmless to a solo. One Swift dealt minor damage, resulting in a victory with 189/200 HP.


Bruno the Fighting master began with a Hitmontop that had the priority Quick Attack. It loved to poke at COFFEEWEED with this weak move. 2 Returns made the Capoeira fighter stop dancing. His fellow Tyrogue evolutions Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan were too frail to survive a single Return. Machamp was level 46 and had the best HP and Defense of all. Its Cross Chop was the strongest Fighting move available in Crystal, but fortunately its high critical rate didn't kick in. Bruno healed it with an item, so COFFEEWEED struck with a Razor Leaf and then a Return finisher. Meganium survived with 140/204 HP.



Karen the Dark specialist was as much of a Poison master as Koga, given that only 6 Dark types existed at the time. COFFEEWEED needed 2 Returns to kill Umbreon, making me concerned that Karen would have this sturdy Dark type use Confuse Ray or Sand Attack to mess up the rest of the fight. When it was defeated, Vileplume appeared, which also had good defenses. Its Stun Spore paralyzed COFFEEWEED, leaving her easy prey for a critical hit Flamethrower from Houndoom now that she had a massive Speed debuff.


Death Count: 8 (First since Morty!)


Vileplume whiffed the Stun Spore on the second try, which made the rest of the battle easy. There's a reason Pokemon players tell you that Speed is the most important stat! Earthquake crushed both Houndoom and the Gengar that caused so many problems for CEDRIC the Noctowl. COFFEEWEED clipped Murkrow's wings with a Return and won the battle with 189/204 HP. The only damage she took was from a base 60 Faint Attack from Umbreon.


Lance the Champion began with a Gyarados that set up Rain Dance, then ignored its weather effect by using the Normal type Flail. 3 Razor Leaves sent the Flying fish to Davy Jones's Locker. The first Dragonite somehow missed with Thunder Wave, allowing COFFEEWEED to slay it with 2 Returns. Aerodactyl was Rock/Flying, so only Razor Leaf would deal neutral damage. Even with the super effective bonus, its Wing Attack wasn't that dangerous. Charizard's Flamethrower was much more threatening, though it only got to use that move once because of Return's high damage output.


COFFEEWEED instead had to fear the level 50 Dragonite. I didn't know it had Fire Blast because Lance never picked it in the CEDRIC the Noctowl playthrough. But Synthesis came through and healed off the damage. Outrage gave me a breather to defeat it with Returns. The last Dragonite whiffed with Thunder Wave like the first one did. This move had 100 accuracy in the 2nd generation, so was I experiencing a weird glitch? One Thunder Wave eventually landed. Dragonite fired a Hyper Beam and COFFEEWEED defeated the cheater Champion with a Return. She won the Johto Pokemon League with 166/207 HP.



COFFEEWEED the Meganium Stats

Level 63 @ Miracle Seed


HP: 207
Attack: 136
Defense: 163
Special Attack: 137
Special Defense: 158
Speed: 149


Moves

Return
Earthquake
Razor Leaf
Synthesis

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Meganium Finale: Choking at the Last Second


As you would expect for a solo Crystal playthrough, much of Kanto was a joke for COFFEEWEED the Meganium. Lt. Surge, Sabrina, Janine, Brock, Misty, Blaine, and the final rival battle with FIRBURN at Mt. Moon were all defeated without taking a single point of damage. Sabrina's Espeon barely survived a Return, but wasted its only opportunity to act with a failed Sand Attack. Earthquake ensured COFFEEWEED would never have to worry about some Grass and Normal-resistant Pokemon like Magneton or Gengar again.


Erika was my 3rd Gym Leader battle this time, and some of her Grass types had Defense and HP high enough to survive the initial Return. Her Tangela put COFFEEWEED for 4 turns and then started lightly tapping my starter with resisted Giga Drains and Vine Whips. Erika healed her Victreebel with a Hyper Potion, so I used Earthquake to save some PP for Return. Bellossom cast Sunny Day and then died the following round. With the help of Leftovers in the Celadon restaurant trash can, COFFEEWEED won with full HP.


Blue had a team with decent levels unlike the rest of his region. Pidgeot struck with a Wing Attack before falling to a second Return. Exeggutor attempted to launch Leech Seed, but failed. A Solarbeam charging turn gave Meganium an opening for another Return KO. Arcanine's stats were good enough to barely survive an Earthquake, resulting in a Flamethrower reprisal. Blue healed his Fire dog with a Full Restore, though it turned out that it fell within a "damage range" one hit Earthquake KO later on.


Alakazam's brains were no match for Return's brawn. Gyarados set up Rain Dance to increase its Water attack power, though 2 Razor Leaf criticals prevented it from taking advantage of the weather. A final Razor Leaf eroded Rhydon and won COFFEEWEED her final badge with 246/247 HP.


But this rampage across Kanto didn't prepare COFFEEWEED for what happened next. I saved before talking to Red, then stuffed Meganium with 5 Rare Candies, boosting her level to 79. Meganium was in the Medium Slow experience group like all "starter trio" Pokemon, so she was at a disadvantage compared to CEDRIC the Noctowl.


Red's Pikachu was easy enough to kill with Return or Earthquake. Venusaur often set up Sunny Day in order to use 1 turn Solarbeams or heal itself with a boosted Synthesis. The best way to deal with Venusaur was to wait out the weather, unless Red's AI was stupid and decided to make it charge up a Solarbeam right away instead of summoning weather first. The hurdle for this fight was Charizard. If I was lucky, Flamethrower would be a 2 hit KO. When the game was being cruel, Flamethrower would debuff COFFEEWEED's Attack with a burn chance, or score a critical hit and destroy her outright.


Death Count: 17


COFFEEWEED choked so dramatically in the last battle that she perished more times in Silver Cave than the rest of the playthrough combined! One moment for a solo run blooper reel was that I forgot to use the Rare Candies on Take 2 and fought Red at level 74. Before Take 3, COFFEEWEED cruised around Kanto and beat up route trainers and Cal's Johto starters in the Viridian City Trainer House. This took her to level 82 with the Rare Candies. When that still wasn't enough, I picked up the hidden Rare Candies from Route 34 and the Whirl Islands, which I had never done for any earlier Crystal solo.


Being level 84 made the difference. COFFEEWEED now had a chance to make Charizard faint with 2 Returns, if the damage rolls went my way. Replacing Earthquake and Synthesis with Rest and Sleep Talk allowed Meganium to heal HP and cure status ailments if needed. The first level 84 attempt failed, but Charizard went down on the next try. Espeon set up Reflect to buff the team's Defense before dying. Snorlax tried to ward off Razor Leaf with Amnesia's +2 to Special Defense, but this didn't account for a high critical hit chance. Body Slam paralyzed COFFEEWEED, and it was time for her to Rest. Sleep Talk's random actions were both great for me: a critical hit Razor Leaf that ignored Amnesia, and a Return that put Snorlax to sleep forever. Blastoise summoned weather with Rain Dance, leaving the Kanto Water starter open to 2 Razor Leaves. COFFEEWEED won the game with 275/281 HP at level 81.


Stay tuned for a postscript where I explain why Meganium is one of the worst starters in Pokemon history!



COFFEEWEED the Meganium Final Stats

Level 84 @ Leftovers


HP: 281
Attack: 188
Defense: 225
Special Attack: 189
Special Defense: 218
Speed: 205


Moves

Return
Razor Leaf
Rest
Sleep Talk

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Meganium Postscript


Players often joke about kids playing Pokemon as a "starter solo", and there's good reason for that. Starter Pokemon don't have to be caught in the wild, and often come with good stats and moves. Meganium is an exception if you're not using artificial healing or buffing items in combat.


GameFreak intended for Meganium to be a defensive support monster. Its natural moveset includes the team buffs Reflect, Light Screen, and Safeguard, and the self-healing Synthesis. Meganium has 100 base Defense and Special Defense, but only 82 in Attack and 83 in Special Attack. The problem with this setup is that Meganium is a pure Grass type that has weaknesses to Fire, Ice, Flying, Bug, and Poison. Bad matchups against enemies Lance's Fire Blasting Dragonite and Red's Charizard prove that a good typing makes for a better defense than raw stats. Pokemon games in general tend not to have drawn out battles like some other RPGs, so it's more efficient to pick a fast monster and kill everything in one hit.


Grass is not just a bad defensive type, but a terrible offensive one as well. Many types resist it: Fire, Grass, Poison, Flying, Bug, Dragon, Steel, and effectively Ghost given the Gastly line's dual typing. Meganium has the misfortune to fight some of these in Johto before the solo level advantage kicks in and masks disadvantages. Grass's best move in Crystal is Razor Leaf, which has an underwhelming 55 base power and a 5% chance to miss. The only compensation Razor Leaf offers to Meganium is its 1/4 critical hit chance. Compare that to Feraligatr's Surf or Typhlosion's Flamethrower, both base 95!


Meganium also has inferior type coverage to the other Johto starters. Feraligatr and Typhlosion can buy elemental punch TMs in Goldenrod to deal with Pokemon that resist their main attacks. Meganium gets Return. Return is a good move, sure, but it can never be super effective, and coming off base 82 Attack without a same type attack bonus means that it'll often fail to KO enemies in one shot. Earthquake is useful, but comes right before the Pokemon League. To defeat Morty and Jasmine in the midgame, Meganium has to resort to the base 20 Mud Slap.


So solo Crystal Meganium spends much of the game pretending to be a Normal type, without solo Sapphire Breloom's base 130 Attack. If Meganium makes it past all the obstacles Johto has to throw at it, then Red will mow its lawn unless it's in the mid 80s, and even then you're not guaranteed to win. The level advantage you've had for much of the game disappears for the final boss.


And that's why you shouldn't pick the Grass starter when you play Crystal, kids!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon White Solo Audino Overview


Writing these playthroughs has gotten a bit repetitive once I've done the same game multiple times. So I'm experimenting with a shorter format. The 1st post of this solo Audino challenge will be like the Postscripts, while the 2nd and final posts will concern my experiences during the major battles.


Unova Pokemon are often compared to species from older games. This is understandable, since the goal of White was to have only new Pokemon until the postgame, and various concepts were going to be recycled. Audino fills the role of "Normal type with high HP and mediocre offenses that can learn many moves via TM". Wigglytuff and Clefable are the closest equivalents to Audino, at least before they were retconned into being Fairy types. I didn't give Audino a nickname during the playthrough proper, but you can call him DIET PUFF.


Audino has an impressive list of machine-learned moves when you look up its information in a guide. But Pokemon White's linearity and odd TM placement work against Audino as a solo character. Potentially useful moves like Psyshock, Psychic, Calm Mind, Ice Beam, and Flamethrower are not available at all until you beat the main story.


In practice, the main TMs and HMs Audino will use are Dig, Return, Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt, Surf, and Work Up. You can play around with gimmick Rain Dance or Sunny Day tactics if you want once you reach Mistralton City, home of the 6th Gym.


You can catch your Audino in the Dreamyard east of Striaton City immediately after getting the 1st badge. Neither passive Ability will help you, so you don't have to worry about it. Healer cures status ailments, but only for other teammates in Double or Triple Battles. Regenerator restores HP upon switching, and guess what you won't be doing in a solo run.


Audino is stuck with subpar Normal attacks like Pound and Doubleslap until it reaches level 20 and learns the base 70 physical attack Secret Power. Make sure to get that move before taking on Lenora in the 2nd Gym. Secret Power's side effect chance in Gym terrain is paralysis, making it an inferior Body Slam.


Dig can be acquired in the Route 4 desert after defeating Burgh and getting the 3rd badge. This 2 turn Ground move will be your only type coverage for a while, unless you count Grass Knot, which I never bothered using. Your main move Return is sold in the Nimbasa City shop right before the Ferris Wheel N battle and the 4th Gym. Same type attack bonus with Return combined with the Fast experience group usually makes up for Audino's base 60 Attack.


Not much changes until you defeat Cheren near Twist Mountain after the 6th badge. Then, you get Surf, which Audino can learn for some bizarre reason. It's even more odd when you realize Audino gets no other HM. Backtracking to the sea routes near the starting town is worth it for the Thunderbolt TM. Once the Team Plasma gauntlet starts in Relic Castle after the 7th Gym, be sure to pick up Shadow Ball to deal with those pesky Ghosts that are immune to Return.


Work Up is one of the most valuable TMs for White solos, and you get it as a prize from the 1st Gym. It's a +1 buff to both Attack and Special Attack, which is great for a Pokemon with lackluster offenses that use both physical and special moves.


Solo Audino has an easier time with the Elite 4 than you may think. Be sure to equip the Rocky Helmet from the outside area of Cold Storage when you fight Marshal. This is the way you get around Sawk surviving at 1 HP with Sturdy. Sawk will Karate Chop or something and kill itself with the contact damage.


You'll have to eat one loss when you fight N in his castle, because the game forces the legendary dragon into your party for the 1st attempt. Ghetsis will likely defeat you once too unless you have a Pecha Berry to cure Cofagrigus's Toxic poison. Your Audino stats may vary a bit from mine due to IVs and Nature, but outspeeding Hydreigon and its Focus Blast forced me to use my Rare Candies.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon White Solo Audino Highlights Part 1


DIET PUFF the Audino Final Stats


Audino Final Stats



Level 82 @ Nothing

Lax Nature (+10% Defense, -10% Special Defense), Often Dozes Off
Ability: Healer


HP: 294
Attack: 154
Defense: 185
Special Attack: 127
Special Defense: 135
Speed: 141


Moves

Return
Surf
Shadow Ball
Work Up




Striaton Gym: I picked Tepig to ensure the rivals wouldn't get a Fire/Fighting Emboar. This may have been a mistake. I had to clear the 1st Gym before getting Audino, so the solo rules didn't count until then. Even with both Tepig and Pansage, the Lillipup and Panpour were weirdly hard compared to other playthroughs. The Death Count would increase by about 3 if I bothered including the Striaton Trio battle in it.



Cheren Route 3: This was a close victory for DIET PUFF. His level 14 Oshawott got a critical hit with Water Gun, and Audino's Doubleslap missed once. Purrloin wasn't too much of a problem. Audino won with 6/53 HP at level 13.



N Nacrene City: I leveled up on wild Audinos to learn Secret Power. This may have been overkill for the 2nd N battle. Work Up's Attack buff was removed when his level 13 Pidove used a Growl debuff. Secret Power's brute strength defeated Pidove, Timburr, and Tympole. Audino triumphed with 61/81 HP at level 21.



Lenora: With the level 18 Herdier's automatic Intimidate debuff, several Work Ups were needed to increase Secret Power's strength. Audino's unusually high HP and Defense for this point in the game allowed it to survive a double power Retaliate from Watchog, but DIET PUFF fell to a Crunch on the following turn.


Secret Power paralyzed Herdier on the 2nd attempt, and it opted to use the recoil move Take Down instead of decreasing Audino's Defense with Leer. Watchog squandered its chance for a max power Retaliate and whiffed with Hypnosis instead.


Death Count: 1



Burgh: This was one of the worst moments in the playthrough because this loss was purely my fault. Audino can cure some status ailments with the move Refresh, and I forgot I had it when Burgh's level 21 Whirlipede used Poison Tail. With the help of Burgh's items, Whirlipede stalled DIET PUFF to death.


On Take 2, I equipped a Pecha Berry to automatically cure poison if Audino was unlucky with Poison Tail. Several Work Ups strengthened Secret Power. 2 attacks were needed for Dwebble because it was Bug/Rock and resisted Normal. A critical hit Razor Leaf from Leavanny almost resulted in another defeat after the 1st Secret Power failed to KO due to a bad damage roll. DIET PUFF won with 38/118 HP at level 32.



Death Count: 2



Bianca Route 4 Gate: 2 Work Ups combined with Secret Power destroyed Herdier, Munna, Servine, and Panpour.



Cheren Route 4 Desert: The only damage Audino took in this battle was from Pidove's Air Cutter on the Work Up setup turn. One Secret Power defeated Pidove, Dewott, Pansear, and Liepard.



N Nimbasa City: Audino got a free Work Up turn when N's Sandile decided to use Embargo to disable my held item instead of attacking. One Return each slaughtered Sandile, Scraggy, Darumaka, and Sigilyph, giving Audino a flawless victory at level 38.



Elesa: No Work Up was needed here, as the 4th Gym Leader used fragile Electric types. It wasn't a flawless victory because one level 25 Emolga passively paralyzed Audino with Static. Return unfortunately is a contact move, activating enemy Abilities like Static and Poison Point. Both Emolgas and Zebstrika collapsed after one Return each hit them. Audino won with 88/142 HP at level 39.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon White Solo Audino Highlights Part 2


Cheren West of Nimbasa: Cheren was clever enough to have his Liepard cast Torment when Audino buffed with Work Up. Torment prevents Pokemon from using the same move consecutively, so I had to alternate between Dig and Return. But Liepard, Dewott, Pansear, and Tranquill weren't difficult, and DIET PUFF won with 115/146 HP at level 40.



Clay: The 5th Gym Leader's level 29 Krokorok confused Audino with Swagger. Combined with Work Up, my solo was at +3 Attack. Bulldoze reduced DIET PUFF's Speed by 1 stage too. DIET PUFF failed several confusions at the worst possible time when Clay's strongest monster Excadrill appeared. But the AI was stupid and kept buffing Attack and accuracy with Hone Claws instead of going for the kill. With +3 Attack and the Ground held item Soft Sand, a single Dig was enough to bury the mole. DIET PUFF won with 91/157 HP at level 43.



Bianca in Driftveil: 2 Work Ups counteracted Herdier's Intimidate. 1 Return defeated Herdier, Panpour, Servine, and Musharna. The only damage Audino took was from a Take Down at the beginning.


N Chargestone Cave: This fight was harder than I expected. Boldore took 3 Digs to defeat because it kept increasing its Defense with Iron Defense. Joltik only took 1 Return, but Ferroseed's Iron Barbs passive Ability caused significant recoil damage to DIET PUFF when he Dug. Ferroseed also had Iron Defense and Metal Claw to cause trouble. Klink at the end required just one Dig to exploit its pure Steel typing. Audino won at level 48 with 100/174 HP.


Skyla: The 6th Gym Leader was a flawless victory! Her Swoobat, Unfezant, and Swanna tipped over like dominoes when Audino hit them with Return.


Cheren at Twist Mountain: The only damage Audino took here was from an unavoidable Liepard Fake Out.


Brycen: Vanillish at the beginning and Cryogonal at the end were as weak to Return as most other monsters. But Beartic could use Swagger after it survived one strike, and DIET PUFF hit himself in confusion once. Audino won with 185/221 HP at level 61.



Bianca Final Battle: Stoutland refused to attack, preferring to Work Up. This led to the odd situation of seeing both sides use the exact same buff for 2 turns in a row. Return and Shadow Ball sent Stoutland, Serperior, Simipour, and Musharna back to their Poke Balls for a flawless victory at level 65.



Iris: The final Gym Leader was yet another perfect victory, this time at level 68. Her Fraxure increased its Attack and Speed on the 1st turn with Dragon Dance, but my Audino's level advantage was so great he outsped his opponent anyway. One Return each demolished Fraxure, Druddigon, and Haxorus.


Cheren Final Battle: Unfezant managed to sneak in an Air Slash because it finally had enough HP and Defense to survive a Return. Its Taunt came too late, as DIET PUFF had already Worked Up on the previous turn. Return smacked Unfezant, Samurott, Liepard, and Simisear, resulting in a 221/249 HP victory at level 69.



Shauntal: By the time DIET PUFF reached the Pokemon League, he was at level 73 without any Rare Candy assistance. The 1st Elite 4 member's Ghost types couldn't damage a Normal monster at all with their primary type, but Audino could deal super effective damage with his coverage TMs. Cofagrigus's Will O Wisp missed on the Work Up turn. A +1 Shadow Ball failed to KO the defensive coffin, but it got a lucky Special Defense debuff, ensuring the next would finish it off no matter how many Full Restores Shauntal fed it.


Golurk and Chandelure were weak to Surf, which had a higher base power than Shadow Ball. Jellicent must have used one of its Water attacks before 2 Shadow Balls exorcised it. DIET PUFF won with 189/263 HP at level 73.



Caitlin: Although the Psychic Elite 4 member would seem like an obvious candidate for Shadow Ball, I went with Return because Psychics tended to have less Defense than Special Defense. It was a full HP victory because Reuniclus failed to cast Focus Blast on the Work Up turn. One Return proved to Reuniclus, Sigilyph, Gothitelle, and Musharna that brawns were better than brains.



Grimsley: Scrafty almost cost me the match with the Dark Elite 4 member, but not because of its Brick Break attack. Instead, it had Sand Attack to lower my accuracy like Karen's Umbreon in Pokemon Crystal. Scrafty had decent enough Defenses that 2 Returns were needed for the KO. Krookodile was drowned in a Surf. Bisharp's Night Slashes, including 1 critical hit, took a toll on DIET PUFF. Surfs provided neutral coverage against this Steel type. The last enemy attack was a Liepard's Fake Out. Audino survived with 62/270 HP at level 75.



Marshal: DIET PUFF wore the Rocky Helmet to battle against his one elemental weakness: Fighting. Throh decreased Audino's Speed with a Bulldoze attack before it fell to a +1 Return. Conkeldurr fainted without attacking at all. Mienshao was fast and Jump Kicked DIET PUFF for major damage, but had a low tolerance for Return pain. Sawk's Karate Chop triggered the Rocky Helmet recoil trap, and Return finished the fight with 98/270 HP at level 75.



N Final Battle: Reshiram's repeated Fusion Flares dealt too much damage to Audino when he had to switch in on the 1st turn and buff with Work Up. By the time Zoroark disguised as "Klinklang" appeared, DIET PUFF didn't stand a chance.


On Try #2, I used a Rare Candy to offset the Friendship loss caused by fainting. A +1 Return critical slew Reshiram the white Dragon. I suspected N would try the Klinklang disguise for Zoroark again, so Audino used Return instead of Surf. I was right, and knocked out the Dark type gimmick fox in one hit. The real Klinklang seemed like decent setup bait, so DIET PUFF used Work Up again. The most the Steel type enemy did was debuff Special Defense with Metal Sound.


Surf made Klinklang rust, and Return shattered Vanilluxe. Carracosta survived Surf with Sturdy, and got around Rocky Helmet recoil by using the non-contact move Stone Edge. Carracosta was at low enough HP that it went into a Full Restore death spiral, so more Surfs fossilized the turtle once more. Archeops was buried in sedimentary rock with a final Surf.


Death Count: 3



Ghetsis: Should have equipped the Pecha Berry and used all my Rare Candies before facing the final boss! It would have saved me some trouble. Some Pokemon can probably pull off lower level solo challenges, but Audino isn't one of them. Cofagrigus's Toxic and Protect stalling did DIET PUFF in on the 1st attempt, and Hydreigon outsped and cast super effective Focus Blasts on the 2nd.


Increasing Audino to level 82 with Rare Candies was the way to go. If all else fails in a "No Battle Item" solo, overlevel. Work Up was free thanks to the Pecha Berry auto-curing Toxic from Cofagrigus. Shadow Ball forced Ghetsis to inter his coffin Pokemon in another coffin. DIET PUFF outsped Hydreigon this time and beat all 3 heads with Return. Bouffalant's skull and Seismitoad's skin weren't thick enough to blunt Return. Ghetsis's Bisharp needed multiple Surfs to get past a Full Restore, but wasn't quite as dangerous as Grimsley's version. A Night Slash from Bisharp was the only damage dealt to DIET PUFF in the whole battle. The final Eelektross went belly up after Audino bludgeoned it with Return. DIET PUFF won the game with 225/294 HP at level 82!


Final Death Count: 5

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Rattata Part 1:  Unevolved Normal Types are Still Too Strong for Johto


While considering which RPG to replay after the Chrono Cross, it occurred to me to try a Rattata solo in Pokemon Crystal.  Early Pokemon games don't require players to sit through cutscenes for a nonsensical plot, and have a high replay value due to the selection of monsters and moves.


Rattata is mostly a joke among Pokemon fans.  It's infamous for beating bad players using a level 100 Pokemon with the Focus Sash, Endeavor, and Quick Attack strategy since the Diamond/Pearl days.  When it comes to Gold/Silver/Crystal, Youngster Joey tends to call the player bragging about how his Rattata is in the "top percentage", thinking they'll be impressed by murdering level 2 Caterpies.


So of course I picked the male trainer and named him JOEY after the meme.  The starter Cyndaquil was so pathetic that it lost to Rival ???'s Totodile, even with a Berry and a Potion.  Totodile didn't even know any Water attacks!  This won't go in the DEATH COUNT because that's for the chosen one.


Rattata came immediately in the route west of New Bark Town after JOEY received Poke Balls for the first time.  I had set the ingame time to midnight before starting to increase Rattata's random encounter spawn rate to make things quicker.  Being a female Rattata was especially welcome for reasons any Johto player should already know.  For those who don't, I'll explain during the relevant part of the game.  Rattata received the name TOPPERCENT.


Starting at only Level 2 made level grinding a little trickier than it would have been for many solo Pokemon.  TOPPERCENT had to consume a Berry to survive a fight with a Level 3 Hoothoot, and she might not have managed to do it at all if Hoothoot tried Tackle more often than the ATTACK debuff Growl.  To ensure TOPPERCENT would be in top form for the early trainer battles, she grinded up to Level 6.


Youngster Joey's boasts about his Rattata were bravado.  The true TOPPERCENT outsped her rival and Tackled 3 times to victory.  She lost 10 out of her 20 HP from enemy Tackles.  Fighting wild Poliwags and Hoothoots on that route raised TOPPERCENT to Level 7 and gave her the turn order priority move Quick Attack.  Having 5 more base power than Tackle and 100 accuracy instead of 95 made Quick Attack strictly superior even without the priority.


Sprout Tower's plants were prey for Rattata, though she almost lost to Sage Troy's Level 7 Bellsprout and Hoothoot when I was too overconfident to use a Potion before the battle to be at full HP.  Sage Li's 1st Bellsprout Vine Whipped TOPPERCENT down to 18/30 HP, though the 2nd wasted its turn enhancing its SPCL. ATK with Growth instead of attacking.  Li's Level 10 Hoothoot spent its 1st turn casting Foresight, even though Rattata wasn't a Ghost type or had any Evasion modifiers.  Hoothoot realized it had to act on the 2nd turn and Tackled Rattata, but it was too late to avoid a Quick Attack KO.  TOPPERCENT conquered Sprout Tower at Level 12 with 13/31 HP.


Rattata chewed through Violet City Gym's underlings' Pidgey and Spearow, then gnawed a wild Poliwag to reach Level 13 and gain Hyper Fang, a Normal move with 80 power, 90 accuracy, and a 10% chance to make the enemy flinch and lose its turn.  The chance of missing was worrisome, but it would still be TOPPERCENT's main attack for a while.


TOPPERCENT equipped a BERRY in case she needed to automatically restore 10 HP during the first Gym battle.  Falkner led with a Level 7 Pidgey.  Rattata found it delicious when she tasted it with a Hyper Fang.  Next came a Level 9 Pidgeotto, who was at least sturdy enough to survive one Hyper Fang bite.  Pidgeotto flapped its wings and sent a Gust at Rattata, but another Hyper Fang chomped Falkner's star Pokemon and won the battle at Level 13 with 25/33 HP.


Falkner yielded two prizes after JOEY won:  the Mud-Slap TM, and the Zephyr Badge that boosted Rattata's ATTACK by 12.5%.  If a guide on Reddit on the subject is correct, "badge boosts" act as a stat modifier in battle even though they aren't reflected on the stats screen.  Another quirk of the 2nd generation games' badge system is that each badge also increases the power of its corresponding type's moves by 12.5%.  Physical attackers have a considerable advantage in Johto due to getting ATTACK early on, while special attackers have to hold out until defeating Pryce.


Rattata forgot Tackle and learned Mud-Slap from the TM.  Although it only had base 20 power, its Ground type provided necessary coverage against certain opponents.  Rattata wouldn't have the chance to learn a non-Normal attack by level until 27, and Pursuit would run off her inferior SPCL. ATK.  Mud-Slap came in handy against the Rock types like Geodude and Onix in Union Cave that resisted Hyper Fang.


Just to the east of Azalea Town, TOPPERCENT fell victim to the spinning Hiker Anthony who was difficult to avoid.  After his Geodude conked Rattata on the head with a Rock Throw, his Level 11 Machop Low Kicked to take advantage of the solo hero's one weakness:  Fighting type moves.  Hiker Anthony has trolled my other solo challenges too, if you care to read them.


DEATH COUNT:  1


Team Rocket in the Slowpoke Well shouldn't have been a threat to Azalea Town's residents at all.  If a single Rattata could clear out the criminals at Levels 17-18, it makes their Gym Leader Bugsy look bad!  (At least the Unova Gym Leaders fought back against Team Plasma. . .)


And Bugsy really was weak if two of his Pokemon were the Level 14 Metapod and Level 14 Kakuna pupas.  TOPPERCENT had a PSNCUREBERRY ready in case Poison Sting injected venom, but it wasn't necessary.  A misclick at the beginning of the battle made Rattata Quick Attack instead of increasing her critical hit rate with Focus Energy, resulting in a String Shot debuff to Speed.  That was corrected on the next round. 


A critical Hyper Fang broke Metapod's shell, though Kakuna could take one hit.  The 2nd Hyper Fang missed, so a Quick Attack subtracted the rest of Kakuna's HP.  Bugsy's star was a Level 16 Scyther, who had higher stats than a 2nd Gym Pokemon should.  Scyther's Fury Cutter doubled its power each time it hit, and TOPPERCENT whiffed one Hyper Fang.  She limped out of the arena victorious with 2/47 HP (!) at Level 20.


If Mud-Slap was helpful in Union Cave, it was vital against Rival ???'s 2nd battle in Azalea Town.  His lead Level 12 Gastly was immune to Normal attacks, though its Ghost type attack Lick was harmless to Rattata too.  The first attempt failed in a way unlike what most Pokemon players could expect to see.  Hypnosis made Rattata doze off even after a Mud-Slap accuracy debuff, and Gastly proceeded to Spite away all of Mud-Slap's PP.  With no viable attacks, the only options were to try to hold out long enough to drain every other move's PP and use the untyped last resort move Struggle, or reset.  Guess what I chose!


RAN OUT OF PP AND HAD TO RESET COUNT:  1


On Take 2, Gastly still put Rattata to sleep, but Spite drained few PP from Mud-Slap, and she woke up early.  Rattata mauled ???'s Level 14 Zubat with a Hyper Fang.  ???'s Level 16 Croconaw had hide too tough to chew with one Hyper Fang, and managed to get in two Water Guns before succumbing to a 2nd Hyper Fang and a Quick Attack finisher.  Rattata defeated the "might makes right" rival with 26/49 HP at Level 21.  The BITTER BERRY meant to counter Zubat's Supersonic confusion move went unused.


Besides setting the game to midnight, I also made sure to make it Sunday.  This was because the woman who handed out the Return TM in Goldenrod City's department store only appeared on then.  TOPPERCENT was happy to dump Hyper Fang for a better Normal move with 102 power at maximum friendship, 100 accuracy, and more PP.      


Instead of confronting the 3rd Gym Leader right away, Rattata jumped the trainers in and around Goldenrod City for levels, and acquired the Dig TM by walking through an invisible gap in a fence in the National Park.  Dig may have been weaker in the 2nd generation games than other entries, with only 60 base power instead of 100 or 80.  But Rattata needed all the type coverage she could get, and it was still 3 times better than Mud-Slap.


(Depending on how this playthrough works out, Rattata might need to burrow underground to dodge some attacks too. . .)


By the time TOPPERCENT reached Whitney the Gym Leader, she was at Level 28 and had a BERRY equipped.  The Normal type representative started with a Level 18 Clefairy whose random Metronome move drew the weak Bug attack Twinneedle.  Rattata took advantage of this to buff her critical hit rate with Focus Energy before Returning Clefairy to its Poke Ball.


The reason for solo Rattata being female was for Whitney's infamous Level 20 Miltank.  Miltank had good stats for the early game, the ability to heal 50% max HP with Milk Drink, and the combo Rock move Rollout.  Her most annoying trick, however, was Attract, which would render any male Pokemon "immobilized by love" for half of his turns.  (Miltank is always female.)  Remember what solo Jigglypuff did to early game opponents when they activated her equivalent Cute Charm passive ability?


TOPPERCENT didn't have to be concerned about Attract, and Dig could dodge runaway Rollouts if necessary.  After the first Return, Miltank Stomped Rattata, causing her to consume her BERRY.  That was perhaps the last part of the game where a 10 HP auto-heal could be useful.  Miltank's first Rollout missed, and 2 more Returns made Whitney cry and refuse to give her badge until after a brief conversation.  Her behavior was more understandable when you realize she lost to a Level 28 Rattata with 38/63 HP.    


Whitney surrendered the Attract TM and the Plain Badge, which raised both Speed and the power of Normal moves.  It was a good time to take a break.


TOPPERCENT the Rattata Stats and Moves
 

Level 28 @ Nothing

HP:  63
ATTACK:  43
DEFENSE:  33
SPCL. ATK:  26
SPCL. DEF:  32
SPEED:  53
 
Quick Attack
Focus Energy
Dig
Return


According to Serebii, Rattata has the following base stats:


HP:  30
ATTACK:  56
DEFENSE:  35
SPCL. ATK:  25
SPCL. DEF:  35
SPEED:  72


Rattata's main disadvantage is her frailty.  56 ATTACK sounds bad until you realize that CEDRIC the solo Noctowl was forced to work with 50 and still beat Red.  Defensive tactics like Rest + Sleep Talk may not work for TOPPERCENT in the final battle like for the other Crystal solos.

[superdeath]

Do you do your variants on a handheld, or do you use emulators?