Pokemon Variants

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Violet Solo Arboliva Part 5


Arboliva fought the Elite Four members so many times that I'll mainly write about the highlights.  She never made it past Hassel even at Lv 78.  Rika's Whiscash sounded like Growth bait until it started casting Blizzard.  Blizzard often missed, but one attempt it used Muddy Water instead and practically blinded Arboliva when she tried to aim Giga Drain.  Dugtrio's ability increased evasion in Sandstorm, which it set up manually on its first turn.  Several times I mistakenly clicked Earth Power against Clodsire, forgetting that it would Terastallize into a pure Ground type.  On the Lv 56 attempt, Clodsire stayed alive after a +1 Giga Drain, indicating that it was a Special Defense tank compared to its Johto cousin Quagsire.  Clodsire tried the Toxic + Protect combo during one run.


Poppy was one of the most formidable obstacles in the entire playthrough.  Her Copperajah threw its weight around with Heavy Slam, and it survived a +1 Earth Power during the Lv 57 attempt.  Corviknight was usually second, and Arboliva had no answer for a Steel/Flying bird.  Corviknight also knew the Fighting attack Body Press to capitalize on Arboliva's Normal type.  


After failing often enough at the Pokemon League, Arboliva managed to defeat Arven on the first try.  She certainly had to earn it.  Greedent paralyzed Arboliva with Body Slam before falling to Giga Drain.  Hyper Voice harvested Scovillain's peppers after it scorched Arboliva with Fire Blast.  Garganacl may have learned Body Press from Poppy's Corviknight, though Arboliva Giga Drained her HP back.  Toedscruel attacked with Power Whip yet its half Ground type made it neutral to Giga Drain.  Cloyster lowered Arboliva's Defense with Liquidation and succumbed to Giga Drain.  Mabosstiff was also dangerous because of its Terastallized Crunches, though Arboliva roared with Hyper Voice for the victory.


Arboliva failed another Team Star auto-battle challenge when a Flamigo kicked her in Eri's base.  At Lv 62, Arboliva barely survived the auto-battles yet was pounded by Eri's Passimian's Close Combat.


Poppy's Corviknight died for the first time when Arboliva was Lv 63, thanks to it having too low Special Defense to take Hyper Voice's decibels.  Bronzong hit with feeble Zen Headbutts or Iron Heads, making it decent Giga Drain fodder.  Several attempts were bludgeoned by Tinkaton's Terastallized Gigaton Hammer, and Magnezone had always set up Light Screen to cut Earth Power's damage before then.  Victory was delayed until Lv 72, when Tinkaton perished after two Earth Power eruptions.


Larry's leading Tropius was unworthy of the Elite Four even with Sunny Day + Solarbeam.  However, both his Staraptor and his Flamigo knew Close Combat.  Arboliva snapped out of Oricorio's Teeter Dance confusion and cast Hyper Voice to win with only 80/230 HP at Lv 73.


Hassel's Noivern consistently pierced Arboliva with Super Fang to reduce her current HP by half.  If her HP was low enough, it would cut with Air Slashes instead.  +1 Earth Power could outrun and kill Dragalge, but without Growth it would survive.  Terastallizing too soon put Arboliva in peril of Leech Seed.  I reset after one fight where Dragalge poisoned Arboliva and Flapple planted seeds, since it was over at that point.  If Arboliva got as far as Baxcalibur, she would be impaled by Glaive Rush.


Arboliva ate candy until growing to Lv 81, then marched to Eri.  She was still hard!  Earth Power blasted under Toxicroak after its Poison Jab.  Both Passimian and Annihilape punched with Close Combat before Giga Drain dessicated them.  To show you the real risk of losing to unlucky criticals, Arboliva fell from 250/254 HP to only 128 after Annihilape's attack.  Lucario's Aura Sphere was weaker because it was a special attack with lower base power, and it died to Earth Power.  Eri's custom Lv 56 Revavroom had Combat Torque, which paralyzed Arboliva when it ran into her.  Only two Giga Drains were needed to win, but Revavroom had a chance of victory if Arboliva were fully paralyzed a few times.  Giga Drain restored all of Arboliva's health at the end.


Arboliva Lv 81 @ Leftovers


HP:  254
Attack:  137
Defense:  202
Special Attack:  240
Special Defense:  213
Speed:  99

Hyper Voice
Giga Drain
Earth Power
Growth


Arboliva is now one level higher than Flamigo was when it struck down the final Iron Valiant.  Will she perform worse than Jumpluff?  At least now she can fight Clavell and Penny. . .

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Violet Solo Arboliva FINALE


Arboliva's roots could walk faster than Poppy's Corviknight could run.  Speed was her worst stat, but she was not as sluggish as a Shuckle.  Larry's Flamigo bashed Arboliva from 226/259 HP down to 80, and a critical hit would certainly have resulted in a loss.  


Hyper Voice failed to kill Hassel's Noivern, so Arboliva had to use Growth and cast Giga Drain as the finisher while Super Fang and Air Slash split her HP.  Earth Power blazed under Dragalge before it could act, and Arboliva Giga Drained against Haxorus's mild Dragon Claws to recover.  Flapple whiffed a Dragon Rush instead of planting Leech Seeds.  Arboliva delayed Terastallization until Baxcalibur appeared, hoping to bait it into a weaker Ice attack instead of a Glaive Rush.  The plan worked, and better than I'd hoped as Icicle Crash missed!  Hyper Voice was too loud for Baxcalibur and Arboliva finally made it to the Top Champion at Lv 82.


Geeta's Espathra was a threat since its Lumina Crash automatically cut Special Defense by 2 stages, and Growth would trigger a corresponding Opportunist boost.  But Arboliva would probably not knock out her whole team safely without setting up.  Espathra wasted its second turn on Reflect against a pure Special Attack monster and succumbed to Hyper Voice.  Arboliva bounced on its branches before Avalugg and Kingambit and cast Hyper Voice and Earth Power on them respectively.  Gogoat thought it was safe to Bulk Up, but no amount of Defense could save it from Hyper Voice.  Glimmora's Sludge Wave drenched Arboliva down from 262 max HP to 150.  And that had no Terastallize enhancement or type advantage, as Arboliva had Terastallized.  Giga Drain healed Arboliva and dethroned Geeta.


Clavell was an anticlimax after the hardships of the Elite Four.  At Lv 83, one Terastallized Hyper Voice permanently damaged Oranguru's ears.  Abomasnow tapped Arboliva with a Wood Hammer as she set up Growth, and Hyper Voice felled the yeti.  Gyarados was durable enough to require two Giga Drains to kill, and it lashed with Aqua Tail.  Amoonguss, Polteageist, and Skeledirge were even slower than Arboliva, and died to Hyper Voice, Giga Drain, and Earth Power.  


Penny was about as easy as Clavell.  Umbreon uselessly looked at Arboliva with Baby-Doll Eyes as she used Growth, and then had to flee to its Poke Ball after Hyper Voice.  Flareon and Vaporeon lumbered in comparison to Arboliva's movements, and perished by Earth Power and Giga Drain.  Since Jolteon was faster than Flamigo, it was definitely faster than Arboliva, and struck her with Thunder before the fatal Hyper Voice.  Sylveon had such high Special Defense that it took two Hyper Voices to kill, and it aimed Moonblast at Arboliva.  She triumphed at Lv 83 with 168/263 HP.


Even Nemona's final battle was a breeze.  Lycanroc's Stone Edge missed, leading to a free Giga Drain.  Pawmot used Ice Punch instead of a Fighting move for some reason, and fell to Hyper Voice.  Earth Power would have been useless against Orthworm's ability, so Arboliva used Growth and then Hyper Voice to use Orthworm as bait.  Orthworm was able to fight back with a Body Press that reduced Arboliva's HP from 263 to 173.  Dudunsparce was another Hyper Voice victim, though Goodra was as tenacious as Penny's Sylveon and managed to cast Dragon Pulse.  I used Giga Drain, forgetting that Goodra had Sap Sipper immunity, but this did not make the battle much harder.  Quaquaval was a Water/Fighting type and karate chopped with a Brick Break from 206 to 102 HP before the final Giga Drain.


The Iron Hands that Arboliva and Penny's Umbreon had to fight in Area Zero was slower than my solo monster, which was a good omen for the final boss battle.  AI Turo failed to poison Arboliva with Sludge Wave, and Terastallizing immediately before casting Earth Power was an appropriate precaution for Iron Moth.  Arboliva set up Growth against Iron Hands because she was faster and had no good chance of a one-hit knockout.  Iron Hands Drain Punched Arboliva from 238 HP to 130, though a +1 Giga Drain in Grassy Terrain recovered her entire health bar.  Iron Thorns attacked with Brick Break, though it was a robo-Tyranitar and therefore susceptible to Giga Drain.  Iron Jugulis cast Dark Pulse for minor damage before dying to Hyper Voice.  Iron Bundle's Freeze-Dry was weak since Arboliva had Terastallized, making it more Giga Drain food.  The ordinarily slow Iron Valiant was actually the biggest danger in this battle due to Quark Drive increasing its Attack.  Its Brick Break knocked Arboliva down to 129 HP from a full 269.  Hyper Voice won the game at Lv 85, placing Arboliva just ahead of Jumpluff.


Slow Pokemon are more challenging than fast ones.  You're forced to take more damage and often fall victim to status ailments.  Arboliva adds to these problems with a horrible defensive typing of Grass/Normal.  Grass has many weaknesses in general, and Fighting attacks like Brick Break and Close Combat are everywhere in Paldea to deal with Normals.  Normal is not the best type to combine with Grass offensively either, since both are resisted by Steel.  


At least Arboliva can learn Earth Power to deal with some metal monsters, if not the ones that can fly or eat dirt to heal.  Seed Sower is a great ability, superior to even Tapu Bulu's auto-Grassy Terrain in the context of a solo challenge.  +30% Giga Drain damage combined with 1/16 HP healing makes the olive tree sturdier than it should be.  Arboliva has an easy time with battles that other solos hate, such as AI Turo, yet can fail to even get to the boss of a Team Star base at an appropriate level.  The Elite Four gives Arboliva headaches.  It's super effective against Rika, yet all three of the rest put her at a type disadvantage.        


Final Stats Lv 85

HP:  269
Attack:  152
Defense:  215
Special Attack:  258
Special Defense:  226
Speed:  107


Hyper Voice
Giga Drain
Earth Power
Growth


If I do another solo, it may involve my favorite item Eviolite. . .

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Violet Solo Mudbray Part 1


SHREK the trainer was disoriented after being cast out of the fairy tale lands, and now seemed to be a human boy with green Space Buns hair instead of an ogre.  It was probably the Fairy Godmother's fault.  He had been separated from his longtime companion DONKEY, and didn't find him again until cruising through West Province.  Appropriately for a magical talking donkey, he had a Quirky nature.  His base stats were decent for an unevolved Pokemon:


HP:  70
Attack:  100
Defense:  70
Special Attack:  45
Special Defense:  55
Speed:  45


With an Attack stat like Mew's, DONKEY was ready to fight as soon as he was caught.  His initial stats:

Lv 16

HP:  52
Attack:  39
Defense:  30
Special Attack:  22
Special Defense:  24
Speed:  20


Iron Defense
Double Kick
Bulldoze
Stomp


SHREK punched DONKEY in the face to make him forget Iron Defense.  DONKEY did not like the static electricity feeling of a TM downloading the move Rest to his brain, but he would have to deal with it until they could both go home.  


Gym Leader Katy defeated SHREK and his DONKEY on the first attempt because he just happened to be at a Speed tie with Teddiursa, who scored a critical hit after a Terastallized Fury Cutter combo.  DONKEY's ability was Stamina, which increased Defense by one stage after being hit by an attack, but critical hits ignored stat boosts.  He was also at a Speed tie with Katy's Nymble.  On Take 2, DONKEY grew to Lv 17 during the fight and outpaced Teddiursa.  Stomping on a teddy bear didn't make it flinch like SHREK had hoped, but DONKEY brayed in triumph with 13/54 HP.


Carcinization had become extreme when DONKEY had to face a Rock type Titan Klawf at Lv 17.  He had the weight of the world on his head, or at least one hemisphere of it when he Terastallized and started stamping his feet to Bulldoze.  He sent Klawf skittering down the hill at 31/54 HP for the second phase.  DONKEY had a special problem when it came to fighting Titans:  his Ground moves also hit his partner!  What was "collateral damage" among friends like Arven?  At least one of the Bulldozes was a critical against Klawf.  Rock Smash had the rare effect of raising a Pokemon's Defense when it hit DONKEY.  Klawf wasted a turn on Blocking DONKEY, as if he would retreat.  The long-suffering Shellder took credit for the victory by spraying Water Gun.


Strength was a rare move in the post-HM era, but Mudbray learned the 80 power Normal move naturally.  DONKEY confronted Bombirdier at Lv 22 after he badgered SHREK into giving him candy.  He resisted Rock Throw, and merely gained Defense after taking Wing Attack.  DONKEY was annoyed after Pluck ate his Chesto Berry.  DONKEY took a Spanish siesta during both phases of the fight to recover HP.  Arven's Lv 19 Nacli had to do most of the work with Rock Throw and Smack Down.  Smack Down sent Bombirdier crashing to the ground, so of course DONKEY killed his Nacli ally with a Terastallized Bulldoze after waking up from Rest.  To insult Bombirdier, DONKEY finished the fight with a Double Kick.


DONKEY the Mudbray Lv 22


HP:  67
Attack:  52
Defense:  40
Special Attack:  28
Special Defense:  32
Speed:  26


Rest
Double Kick
Bulldoze
Strength


Mudbray disappointed me a bit against Katy, but other than that, he's been doing well.  Certainly better than Smoliv and Dolliv.  I insisted on fighting Bombirdier early so SHREK could take the sea route to Asado Desert and fight the trainers there to teach DONKEY Earthquake.  He'll need to visit the southeastern region of Paldea as well to battle trainers to earn the Eviolite.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Violet Solo Mudbray Part 2


DONKEY didn't have his Eviolite yet, but one item in Porto Marinada took its place for a few battles:  Assault Vest.  SHREK struggled to slip it over DONKEY's hooves later in this session, but he gained +50% Special Defense at the cost of being unable to use non-attacking moves like Rest.  DONKEY defeated the Asado Desert trainers and replaced Bulldoze with Earthquake, the standard Ground attack for physical monsters.  While in the desert, DONKEY held Soft Sand to increase his Ground power.


South Province Area Five was SHREK's favorite region.  The small swamp reminded him so much of home!  A trainer named Sofia was difficult as she had a Surfing Azumarill, but DONKEY outlasted her on the second attempt with Assault Vest.  Other foes were much easier and DONKEY earned his Eviolite for +50% in both defenses.  


Artazon's Gym Test was unusual in this timeline because SHREK did not have to look in the hedge maze to find any of the Sunfloras.  Being at Lv 27 with an Eviolite equipped seemed like overkill for a Gym where the strongest Pokemon was ten levels lower.  But Pokemon challenges always turn out differently from what the player expects.  Terastallized Earthquake was DONKEY's strongest attack even at half power, so Petilil and Smolvi tumbled to the Ground.  Sudowoodo, however, had high Defense and resisted Earthquake as well when Terastallized.  DONKEY's Earthquake tickled its roots for perhaps 40% HP.  Sudowoodo's Trailblaze eventually caused even a fake tree to outpace a DONKEY.  By the end of the fight, he was only at 43/81 HP, and would have been in much worse shape if he had lacked Stamina.


Fire was one type that Ground had an advantage against, so Mela was the best opponent for DONKEY to fight next.  However, Ground did not resist Fire, and both of the Team Star boss's Pokemon worked together to make a difficult matchup.  Torkoal's shell was so hard it survived a Terastallized Earthquake and spun with Flame Wheel.  Its Drought enhanced Revavroom's Overheat by 50%, and DONKEY held on with only 5 HP before he Rested.  Revavroom kept casting Overheat and decreasing its Special Attack due to accounting for Stamina, while Blazing Torque was rare.  


Giacomo's Revavroom also had a trick for Mudbray:  cutting his Attack by 1 stage with Intimidate.  It intended to drop DONKEY's Special Defense with Metal Sound and then Snarl at him.  DONKEY's tremors caused the Starmobile to collapse after about 5 uses of Earthquake.  He won at Lv 28 with 44/93 HP.  One reward for clearing the Team Star bases was the chance at new TMs to craft, and Rock Tomb happened to be available now.  DONKEY replaced Strength with Rock Tomb because he needed something to deal with Flying or Levitating Ghosts.


There seem to be two types of Herman Gigglethorpe timelines in Pokemon Violet:  Easy Nemona and Hard Nemona.  DONKEY happened to live in a Hard Nemona world, as the starting Fuecoco had lost to her Terastallized Pawmi in the second match.  It was my mistake that caused the loss here, as I should have used Earthquake twice against Floragato instead of expecting it to be a Dark type and using the weak Double Kick.  Floragato's Terastallized Magical Leaf sliced DONKEY's neck.


The hardest opponent for a Ground type like Mudbray so far was. . .the Electric Gym Leader Iono.  It took three tries to beat her with a monster that was supposed to be immune to her type.  Luxio Intimidated DONKEY and sometimes caused flinches with a fast Bite.  Mismagius had Levitate (which I found out the hard way) and Terastallized into an Electric type with no weaknesses.  Its Hex dealt enough damage already, and it also happened to gain power while DONKEY was Resting.  Even with better tactics on the second try, DONKEY had to flip a coin to attack due to Confuse Ray.  DONKEY did win on the third attempt, though he had to be Lv 31, and even then, he only had 35/92 HP.  Two Rock Tombs slowed Mismagius enough for DONKEY to move first, and Double Kick was safer afterwards because of its higher accuracy.


Orthworm the Steel Titan was the last foe in this session.  Headbutt and Iron Tail were light taps against a high Stamina DONKEY holding Eviolite in his mouth.  Since its ability actually made it heal from its Ground "weakness", Double Kick was the best option in both phases.  Arven's Toedscool contributed to DONKEY's efforts with Screech to lower Orthworm's Defense and Supersonic to confuse the boss.  Orthworm wasted its last move on Sandstorm, which would have done nothing to Mudbray the Ground type.  Double Kick erased the last bit of red from Orthworm's HP bar after Toedscool tripped it with Grass Knot.  


DONKEY the Mudbray Lv 32 @ Eviolite


HP:  94
Attack:  75
Defense:  56
Special Attack:  40
Special Defense:  44
Speed:  36


Earthquake
Rock Tomb
Double Kick
Rest

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Violet Solo Mudbray Part 3


SHREK found a Rock Slide TM on the ground in the unusually rainy "desert" north of Levincia.  Rock Slide overwrote Rock Tomb in DONKEY's brain, and SHREK rode Miraidon the Poke-motorcycle to Atticus's base.  Abilities have no effect in auto-battles, as seen when DONKEY kicked Gastlys with his Ground element without having to deal with Levitate.  DONKEY had about 3/4 of his HP remaining once the auto-massacre was finished.


Atticus's Skuntank struck first with priority Sucker Punch, as if it needed that to outrun a Mudbray.  Earthquake toppled Skuntank, the regular Revavroom, and Muk, though all of them showed off their attacks before fainting.  Revavroom headbutted with Iron Head and Muk failed to poison with Sludge Wave.  Atticus's Starmobile Revavroom ineffectually Spun Out and kept decreasing its Speed.  After three Spin Outs, even DONKEY could go first and summon Earthquake for around 40-45% damage.  The Starmobile Flame Charged to regain its Speed, and eventually succeeded in turning a final Spin Out before breaking down while DONKEY was at 73/97 HP at Lv 33.  


Larry the Normal Gym Leader seemed like an easier opponent than the Water Gym Leader Kofu.  This wasn't the case in practice.  When DONKEY was at Lv 33, Komala survived Earthquake and Yawned.  Double Kick finished off Komala, and when DONKEY fell asleep, Dundunsparce turned on Hyper Drill.  Earthquake didn't even undermine half of Dudunsparce's HP.  Larry figured out a tactic that Stamina could never defeat:  roll for critical hits!  Dudunsparce also knew Drill Run, a Ground attack with a high critical chance.  One Drill Run ignored DONKEY's Defense boosts and left him helpless against Staraptor's Facade.


As SHREK was riding toward Alfornada Cavern to auto-battle wild Toxtricitys and Salandits, he saw the greatest synchronicity in a Pokemon playthrough since the time CEDRIC died to a "POIsonous Ekans" in Crystal.  He caught a Lv 16 yellow Mudbray with a Repeat Ball.  Shinys are more common in Violet, but the chances of this incident happening have to be expressed with scientific notation.  The first shiny I find in four playthroughs happens to be the same species as my solo monster.  Shrek roleplay tempts fate!  This Mudbray was named THE SHINNING and was promptly shoved into a PC Box.


DONKEY tried his luck against Larry again at Lv 36.  Earthquake shook Komala in one hit, and this time Dudunsparce gave the usual Glare to the solo Pokemon.  All was well when DONKEY Rested once Staraptor flew into the arena.  But Larry didn't need Drill Run to beat up a Mudbray.  Staraptor's critical Terastallized Facade knocked DONKEY down from 81/105 HP to a mere 9!  


At Lv 37, Kofu was counterintuitively the easier Gym Leader.  Veluza used Pluck for reasons only known to the programmers before falling to Earthquake.  Wugtrio cast Water Pulse instead of going for the typical Headbutt.  Since it had the same pitiful Defense and HP as its Ground equivalent Dugtrio, one Earthquake was enough.  Crabominable was durable enough to take one Earthquake, though the dice were not on Kofu's side and Crabhammer failed its critical roll.  Crabominable was also sluggish, so DONKEY struck with Earthquake once more for the victory at Lv 37 with 32/108 HP.


The one hit KO against Komala was a fluke.  When DONKEY returned to Larry at Lv 38, his usual Terastallized Earthquake left Komala with a tiny red bar of HP.  Komala whiffed with Slam instead of trying Yawn on the first turn, but corrected this error just before dying.  Earthquake now battered Dudunsparce for more than half HP, and none of its feeble attacks were criticals this time.  DONKEY's Stamina activated so many times that Staraptor's Facade only knocked him down from 87/111 HP to 75.  Since Staraptor was a pure Normal type after Terastallizing, Earthquake was an eligible move, and two uses sent it crashing to the ground.


A strange scene happened with Nemona in SHREK's timeline.  She talked to him as if he were still going for the 4th badge, and then immediately returned to challenge him to a rival battle.  Lycanroc Bit DONKEY, obviously trying to make him flinch, but Earthquake buried the Rock wolf.  Goomy was only a waste of PP and time.  Pawmo's Quick Attack did little more than increase DONKEY's Stamina.  However, Nemona had the perfect counter to a SHREK team:  Puss in Boots.  Or a Lv 37 Meowscarada in game terms.  It Slashed DONKEY on the first turn, perhaps as a nod to Puss in Boot's swordfighting.  After that?  A Terastallized Flower Trick which had a 100% critical chance!  SHREK definitely lived in a Hard Nemona world.


DONKEY performed better than the game's expectations when he felled Iron Treads at Lv 39.  Two Earthquakes shattered the first phase, but there was a real risk of losing to two Iron Heads.  Iron Treads's second move was thankfully Knock Off instead.  During the second phase, DONKEY abstained from Earthquake until the final turn.  Double Kick was the preferred move for minor damage and keeping Arven's Scovillain alive.  Iron Treads attacked DONKEY with Rapid Spin before focusing on Scovillain.  Scovillain's Fire Fang was helpful.  Iron Head caused Scovillain to faint just before the final Earthquake.


While climbing Glaseado Mountain, SHREK and DONKEY took the time to kill the entire pride of the Lion King in one auto-battle session.  They were Dreamworks characters, and were not going to let Disney Pyroars run free on their turf!  Gym Trainer Lani in Montenevera was much more difficult than the actual Gym Leader.  Her Misdreavus and Haunter both had Levitate, and yes, I tried Earthquake on one attempt.  


(Pokemon is inconsistent when it comes to Levitate.  A monster can float in midair without having this ability, so Ghosts such as Banette CAN be killed by Earthquake.  This series is going to collapse under its own complicated mechanics at some point.  If the board game Go is simplicity, then Pokemon is centrifugal bumblepuppy.)


Rock Slide's power was reduced to balance its ability to hit both targets.  After another failed run, the solution was to feed DONKEY an Adamant Mint that I'd found and teach him Heavy Slam.  I was planning on Careful for the Special Defense, but 100 Attack benefits from the 10% boost of Adamant, and does make the difference between two hit and one hit kills.  This was proven when the first Gym Trainer's Greavard died in one hit from Earthquake, when previously it had survived the first round.


Gym Trainer Lani did not attack the ceremonial Magikarp at all, another freak occurrence in an already bizarre playthrough.  Instead, they cast Night Shade and Hex at DONKEY as he Heavy Slammed their light ectoplasm.  MC Sledge made his Drifblim Self-Destruct as always, and I anticipated this to go for the Earthquake KO against his Sableye.


Gym Leader Ryme's Banette endured the first Earthquake, though Mimikyu only lived by throwing away its Disguise.  Mimikyu Shadow Sneaked up on Magikarp, and Banette did the same to DONKEY.  Terastallizing on the first turn gave DONKEY the Ancient Power all-stat boost, and killing both Pokemon with the next Earthquake resulted in another Attack boost.  Toxtricity and Houndstone had no chance against the third Earthquake, though the air guitar lizard was at least fast enough to scream with Hyper Voice first.  DONKEY won his 6th badge with 61/127 HP at Lv 44.


At this point, SHREK bought the 5 Bottle Caps in Cascarrafa, but I forgot about the Lv 50 requirement for Hyper Training.  Oh well, DONKEY might be able to beat Tulip without perfect IVs at least.


DONKEY the Lv 44 Mudbray @ Eviolite


HP:  127
Attack:  114
Defense:  76
Special Attack:  48
Special Defense:  59
Speed:  49


Earthquake
Rock Slide
Heavy Slam
Rest

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Violet Solo Mudbray Part 4


Nemona's next encounter went mostly the same as last time, except now she had a Sliggoo that was faster and aimed Dragon Pulse at DONKEY's low Special Defense.  Puss in Boots as Meowscarada Slashed to show off, then showed DONKEY a Flower Trick to make him beg for mercy.  DONKEY may have fared even worse than Arboliva in the Emotional Spectrum Practice exercises, where the frame rate went to die.  He shook his head when the instructor told him to look excited!


The "ESP" battles themselves were miserable for a slow Ground type.  Arboliva at least had to wait for Gym Trainer Rafael before having difficulty.  Gym Trainer Emily had a Kirlia who psychoanalyzed DONKEY with Psychic, which left him at low HP for Rafael.  He endured a Psyshock from his Grumpig at 1 HP and Rested to heal.  Psyshock was an unusual Special Attack that hit Defense, which DONKEY could counter with Stamina.  But in the end Rafael's Indeedee cast Psychic to send DONKEY back to the Pokemon Center.  Now I'll list the obligatory stat comparison for Hyper Training at Lv 50:


Before

HP:  144
Attack:  130
Defense:  86
Special Attack:  54
Special Defense:  68
Speed:  56


After

HP:  148
Attack:  140
Defense:  92
Special Attack:  54
Special Defense:  77
Speed:  68


With his new stats, DONKEY's Earthquake made Rafael's Grumpig into bacon before it could move.  Medicham tried Power Trick gimmicks which didn't work, while Indeedee's Psychic didn't reduce DONKEY's HP below half.


Tulip was still more difficult than her minions.  Farigiraf nudged DONKEY with Zen Headbutts but could survive an Earthquake.  Gardevoir sent Grass type Energy Balls at DONKEY.  Espathra's Opportunist was more relevant than in other solos, since it could copy DONKEY's automatic Stamina increases.  DONKEY fell to the peacock's Psychic on two occasions, once at Lv 51, and again at Lv 54.


Grusha had a type advantage against DONKEY, and his Frosmoth supported the team by speeding them up with Tailwind.  Beartic impaled DONKEY with two consecutive critical Icicle Crashes.


At Lv 60, DONKEY's Terastallized Earthquake finally went high enough on the Richter scale to topple Farigiraf in one move.  Gardevoir, Espathra, and Florges fell to Earthquake as well.  Tulip put up a solid resistance, and Florges's last Moonblast shined on DONKEY, leaving him with 36/176 HP..  


Lv 60 was fast enough to outpace Grusha's Frosmoth, and it was buried in a Rock Slide.  Terastallized Earthquake was better against the rest of the team.  Beartic didn't move at all, though Cetitan held on with red HP and whirled in an Ice Spinner.  Altaria was still faster than a Mudbray, and made DONKEY shiver with Terastallized Ice Beams.


DONKEY could defeat both forms of Titan Dondozo with Earthquake and Rock Slide, though Titan Tatsugiri was too much.  Its Muddy Water swamped both Arven's Greedent and DONKEY.


Ortega's Fairy tale freakdown was possible at Lv 62, but the fight itself was silly.  It was raining at the time, and Ortega led with Azumarill.  But it didn't go for the obvious Water move, and instead went for a much more devious tactic:  Charm.  At -2 Attack, this Team Star boss battle dragged on for many turns.  Wigglytuff and Dachsbun stirred up cartoon dust clouds with Play Rough, but this was a physical Fairy move that DONKEY shrugged off.  DONKEY Rested in front of the Fairy Revavroom in spite of Misty Terrain, since he knew the Starmobile would just run over the ground with Steel Roller.  DONKEY Rested again later in the battle, and hit himself multiple times for minor damage due to Confuse Ray.  Magical Torque only tapped DONKEY when he had such high Stamina.  DONKEY ran out of Earthquake PP and tried both Rock Slide and Heavy Slam against Ortega's Starmobile.  Rock Slide seemed better, and so DONKEY conquered his 4th Team Star base.


DONKEY has performed so badly in this playthrough that he actually lost in a Tera Raid, something I've never seen with the other three solos.  A 4* Bellibolt outlasted him with the help of Confuse Ray, and DONKEY died after a failed attempt to break the shield with Terastallized Earthquake.  Bellibolt's energy burst and sent all combatants out of the arena.


DONKEY managed to hold onl long enough to clear the final auto-battle section in Eri's base.  Her Fighting monsters such as Toxicroak, Passimian, and Annihilape were physical attackers but still hit hard with a critical Brick Break and Close Combat.  Lucario picked off DONKEY with an Aura Sphere cast.  Perhaps he could have Rested against Annihilape, but whatever the case, DONKEY will need more levels to win the next few challenges.


DONKEY the Mudbray Lv 63


HP:  185
Attack:  178
Defense:  115
Special Attack:  70
Special Defense:  97
Speed:  85


Earthquake
Rock Slide
Heavy Slam
Rest

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Violet Solo Mudbray Part 5


DONKEY's signature Ground move High Horsepower was inferior to Earthquake on most occasions, since it had 5 less base power and accuracy.  But Titan Dondozo + Tatsugiri was an abnormal circumstance.  High Horsepower had the advantage of not hitting Arven's Greedent.  Greedent took a Dragon Pulse for DONKEY, and wagged its bushy Tail Whip to reduce the Dragon fish's Defense.  Tatsugiri may have thrown the fight by casting Icy Wind against two slow Pokemon rather than drowning them in Muddy Water, and DONKEY survived with only 30/186 HP at Lv 63.


In the lighthouse lab, I finally learned how to take off that stupid uniform hat so SHREK could show off his Space Buns "horns"!  Had to look it up online.  Arven's threat was Toedscruel, who made up for its "low priority status moves" by surviving a hit to spread Spore sleep and then Power Whipped DONKEY like Balaam would have done.  I'd also forgotten to swap out High Horsepower for Earthquake, not that it would have made a difference.


Lv 70 was overkill for Grusha.  Heavy Slam crushed Frosmoth, and DONKEY outran the rest of his team and made them tremble with Earthquake.  However, Lv 70 wasn't enough for Eri of Team Star.  Toxicroak struck with a critical Brick Break, while Passimian preferred Close Combat.  DONKEY  
Rested when Annihilape was on the field.  Annihilape tried several ineffectual moves such as Fire Punch and Rage Fist, though it only managed to increase DONKEY's Stamina.  In the first attempt, I'd forgotten to recharge the Tera Orb after Grusha, and DONKEY came close to victory anyway.  But Eri's Starmobile also had Stamina, and could boost its Attack by +1 and Speed by +2 with Shift Gear.  DONKEY ran out of Earthquake PP, and had to try his other feeble attacks.  It came down to which side would roll a critical first to ignore Defense, and the Starmobile did it first.  The second attempt failed because of bad luck rather than lack of forethought, as Combat Torque scored two criticals.


At this time it seemed best to take on the Elite Four.  I was only paying half attention when Donphan was out, and used Heavy Slam once instead of a second Earthquake.  It failed to KO, and gave Donphan the chance at another Earthquake.  Dugtrio directly attacked with Earthquake instead of setting up Sandstorm evasion.  Clodsire used its usual Toxic + Protect combo, and the poisoned DONKEY defeated Rika with only 57/210 HP at Lv 71.

 
SHREK had a "clever" tactic to use against the members of Poppy's team that were insolent enough to fly or Levitate.  Rock Smash would lower their Defense, and in Corviknight's case, softened it up for Rock Slide.  One Rock Slide even made Corviknight flinch.  Repeated Rock Smashes broke Bronzong.  The rest of the team was Earthquake bait, and the final Tinkaton only dealt 22 damage.  Magnezone built a Light Screen instead of shooting Flash Cannon.  Poppy was an easier victory than I'd expected at Lv 72 with 156/213 HP.


DONKEY swapped out his third move again for Larry, this time selecting Rock Tomb.  Rock Tomb was backup in case Rock Slide ran out of PP, and its higher accuracy made it a good choice for weakened enemies.  Tropius of all Pokemon was a threat since it survived Rock Slide and shined Solarbeam at DONKEY.  Altaria was faster on the first attempt and shot a frigid Ice Beam.  Rock Slide missed it too.  Even at Lv 80, Tropius still endured Rock Slide, and Altaria still out-flew DONKEY.  Rock Tomb was necessary after all.  DONKEY Rested to recover against both Staraptor and Oricorio.  Oricorio cut with the special attack Air Slash and blew Icy Wind.  Flamigo bashed DONKEY with Terastallized Brave Birds, but Rock Slides conked it on the head.  The third Elite Four member surrendered when DONKEY was at Lv 80 with 36/235 HP.


Hassel was a. . .hassle.  Noivern infiltrated DONKEY's defenses with Super Fang.  DONKEY was lucky against Flapple and made it flinch with Rock Slide.  Haxorus attacked with Dragon Claw scratches.  But it was Baxcalibur who would take out DONKEY multiple times with Icicle Crash.  He didn't even get to measure his Earthquake damage on the first two attempts due to flinching.  Heavy Slam flattened Flapple in one attempt, but this was merely a high roll as Flapple survived in the next round.  Flapple threw Seed Bombs.  At Lv 83, DONKEY tried a new tactic of Resting against Haxorus to build up Stamina for Baxcalibur.  Even at +6 Defense, the battle was tense since DONKEY flinched twice to Icicle Crash!


If Geeta's Espathra lived for too long, it would drop DONKEY's Special Defense with Lumina Crash and gain Defense from his own Stamina via Opportunist.  But Terastallized Earthquake killed it in one hit after the starting Lumina Crash since DONKEY had to be at such a high level to conquer Hassel.  Earthquake sank Veluza, and Gogoat's Horn Leech was weak in spite of being super effective.  Two Earthquakes slaughtered the Grass goat.  Avalugg's Avalanche was also a physical move and therefore blunted by Stamina.  Two Earthquakes shattered the iceberg.  Resting against Kingambit was the best idea since it could only poke DONKEY with its signature move Kowtow Cleave.  This was a wise idea since Glimmora's Earth Power reduced DONKEY to 90/244 just before the last Earthquake made SHREK a Champion.


Being at Lv 84 made Eri into a modest opponent.  Annihilape and Lucario were still able to knock DONKEY down to 158/247 HP before Eri's Starmobile.  But all the modified Revavroom did was Shift Gear, and two Earthquakes disbanded the last Team Star squad.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Violet Solo Mudbray FINALE


DONKEY feared Nemona more than even the final boss.  Her Lycanroc only prodded him with a Drill Run before falling to Earthquake.  Goodra turned down the temperature with Ice Beam before succumbing to Terastallized Earthquake.  DONKEY Rested against Pawmot since it was an Electric type.  It tried both Close Combat and Ice Punch, but both built up DONKEY's Stamina.  Earthquake bisected Dudunsparce before it could act.  Eri's TM had a secret weapon for DONKEY in Close Combat, which dented Orthworm and was the main attack against the dreaded Meowscarada.  Puss in Boots shone the Flower Trick spotlight. . .and DONKEY lived with 15/247 HP!  On the next turn, Puss in Boots used Shadow Claw?!  He must have pitied DONKEY and wanted him to win without having to reach Lv 100.


Defeating Nemona sent SHREK to his dorm at Uva Academy, and exiting the building immediately threw him into a fight with Clavell.  How rude!  Rock Slide couldn't kill Abomasnow in a Snowscape, and Houndoom's Fire Blast burned DONKEY.  He had to Rest to get rid of the Attack decrease, only to have his Special Defense falter after Polteageist's Shadow Balls.  DONKEY was about to pass out already when Quaquaval Aqua Stepped on him.


The reason the forced Clavell fight annoyed me was that I wanted the Iron Head TM specifically for his Abomasnow.  The added base power and a timely critical hit made the difference and cut down the Christmas tree in one hit.  Houndoom didn't burn DONKEY this time, and he survived an Aqua Step to use Earthquake against Quaquaval for the victory with 97/247 HP.


Penny was another dreaded fight since several of her Eevee evolutions could use Baby-Doll Eyes to cut DONKEY's Attack.  But only Flareon did this, and that was when DONKEY was Resting to heal.  Vaporeon died in one hit, and Stamina could deal with Leafeon's Leaf Blade.  It took two Earthquakes to beat Sylveon, and DONKEY had 105/251 HP.


Arven was saved for last because I didn't have to fight him at night.  Toedscruel was still tough when it failed to flinch by Iron Head and tried its typical Spore + Power Whip combo.  Scovillain's secondary Fire type was a disadvantage this time because that made it neutral to a Terastallized Earthquake.  At Lv 85, Earthquake was so strong that even Cloyster's high Defense shell was shattered.  DONKEY Rested in front of Garganacl because there was nothing the salt golem could use against him other than a minor Earthquake.  Mabosstiff put up a fight with Intimidate and Terastallized Crunch, but two Earthquakes convinced the final Area Zero companion to join.


The mandatory Lv 62 Iron Bundle before one of the Great Crater of Paldea research stations was frightening because it survived an Earthquake.  If a robot bird 24 levels lower than DONKEY could take his strongest attack, what would happen when he fought AI Turo's stronger version?  DONKEY's Earthquake made him a terrible doubles partner, especially since it killed Penny's Umbreon and made her summon Jolteon.  SHREK knew Nemona wasn't a "pampered princess":  he had seen her at night, and she didn't turn into an ogre!


AI Turo's Iron Moth was faster and attacked with its ancestor Volcarona's Fiery Dance.  Iron Bundle was suspiciously pacifist since it set up Snowscape twice in a row.  Iron Thorns the robo-Tyranitar was slightly faster than DONKEY and attacked with a weak Earthquake.  The true threat on the robot professor's team was Iron Jugulis the robo-Hydreigon, since its Dark Pulse was a special attack with a flinch chance.  And if DONKEY could flinch in any battle, he did.  


AI Turo's team gave such high experience yields that DONKEY was at Lv 87 when he tried again.  Iron Bundle's tactics were the funniest part of the playthrough.  It set up Snowscape, cast Freeze-Dry to freeze DONKEY and then. . .did nothing but use Snowscape over and over until DONKEY thawed out to finish it off with a second Earthquake.  DONKEY Rested against Iron Thorns for safety's sake, and was now faster than future Tyranitar.  Rock Slide + Iron Head sent Iron Jugulis crashing to the ground, but Dark Pulses knocked DONKEY down to only 75/257 HP.  Resting was safe against Iron Hands after the Fake Out, and its Drain Punch was a light tap after the initial critical.  Iron Valiant's Spirit Break failed to live up to its name when DONKEY persevered and used the final Earthquake of the game at 138 HP.


Final Stats Lv 87


HP:  257
Attack:  255
Defense:  161
Special Attack:  101
Special Defense:  137
Speed:  119


Earthquake
Rock Slide
Iron Head
Rest


Mudbray somehow did worse than Jumpluff, and that was a blind playthrough!  100 Attack ain't what it used to be since Pokemon in general have gained higher stats after the early installments.  Being slow is one of the worst liabilities a solo could have, as seen in the Arboliva challenge.  You take more damage overall, and you have to deal with more status ailments and flinches.  Terastallized Earthquake works well much of the time, but when something is immune or resistant to Ground, you're in trouble.  Rock would be a reliable complement to Ground if it weren't based on weak and inaccurate moves like Rock Slide.  Mudbray has a shallow move selection in general, and wishes it had Body Press to take advantage of its Defense, or even Flame Charge to increase its Speed and hurt Grass types.  Eviolite isn't enough to stop the stronger special attacks, and Rest is the only method of HP recovery.  Stamina's automatic Defense boosts work great against physical attackers most of the time, but there's always a chance enemies could roll a critical.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Seaking Part 1


On Smogon, there was a thread that claimed Seaking was one of the least used Pokemon in the series.  Is Seaking maligned, or is it overlooked for good reason?  Of course the conventional wisdom is correct!  Seaking is a mediocre fish competing in the most crowded type.  Even if you choose the Fire or Grass starter, another Water will have superior stats or a secondary typing that makes it stand out.  Or at least it will be memorably bad like Magikarp.  In later generations, Lumineon forces Seaking to defend its title as "blandest Water Pokemon".  The most Seaking has going for it is being an HM hipster due to learning Waterfall in the original Kanto games.


In honor of the writer who has meditated on mediocrity more than anyone else on the Internet, the trainer was named RAO and the Pokemon VENKATESH.  VENKATESH was reeled into a Poke Ball in a Union Cave pond at Lv 10 with the following stats and moves:


HP:  29
Attack:  20
Defense:  17
Special Attack:  12
Special Defense:  15
Speed:  17


Peck
Supersonic
Tail Whip


Goldeen was so bad that it had to evolve to reach the median tier of Pokemon.  With 35 base Special Attack, its Water moves would be a trickle. . .if it learned any on its own.  Despite his type disadvantage, VENKATESH Pecked his way through Sprout Tower and defeated Sage Li at Lv 13 with 21/36 HP.  The first Berry was NOT used on the monk, however, but a trainer with a Lv 15 Magikarp that knew Tackle on the way back to Union Cave.  VENKATESH's Valley of Humiliation was Fisher Ralph.  His Goldeen was only Lv 10, yet managed to convince VENKATESH to kill himself by Supersonic confusion.


Goldeen's performance improved when he learned Horn Attack at Lv 15.  Union Cave was surprisingly easy for VENKATESH as he had a method of dealing with Rock types that fellow "Water type with no Water moves" Tentacool lacked:  Tail Whip!  This humble Defense lowering technique was the way to beat Geodudes and an Onix.


Team Rocket was easy to rout in Slowpoke Well, but Bugsy was not.  Kakuna injected its venom into Goldeen with Poison Sting, and Scyther's Fury Cutter hacked him to pieces.  On Take 2, Kakuna failed to poison VENKATESH, and Scyther opted for Quick Attack rather than Fury Cutter combos after Supersonic broke its concentration.  VENKATESH won at Lv 20 with only 12/51 HP.


The real Venkatesh Rao's "rival" was columnist David Brooks, so the red-haired thief was named DBROOKS in this timeline.  His Bayleef's Razor Leaf gutted Goldeen with a critical hit on the first attempt.  Another attempt had an inauspicious beginning with a 5 turn or so Hypnosis from Gastly.  The third try was a victory at Lv 21 with 18/53 HP, but that was probably because of a whiffed Poison Powder.  


(Goldeen at least has a method to hit Ghost types through Peck, unlike some other early Pokemon in Johto like Ledyba!)


Since Goldeen aspired to be as average as possible, he lost to Whitney's Miltank several times.  Usually this was because of Stomp rather than the dreaded Rollout combo.  No amount of Supersonic confusion luck could get past the enemy's high Defense and Attack.  To win, VENKATESH had to train with the people on the route north of Goldenrod and in National Park.  At Lv 27, Goldeen succeeded with 12/67 HP.  Return wasn't fully powered up by friendship yet, so VENKATESH switched to Horn Attack later in that battle.


(Clefairy's Metronomes on the failed attempts included Megahorn and Hydro Pump, if you're curious.)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Pokemon Crystal Solo Seaking Part 2


VENKATESH the Goldeen was so subpar that I thought the Kimono Girl with the Jolteon would be a threat.  She wasn't.  Jolteon was gored by a critical Horn Attack.  He had earlier surprised me by defeating Sudowoodo with some Supersonic confusion help after forgetting to heal before the fight.  Surf was not only the best Water attack in Crystal, but the first and last Goldeen would learn.  Goldeen's Surf tide was too low to even kill DBROOKS's Lv 18 Magnemite in Burned Tower with one cast.  Haunter sacrificed itself to Curse VENKATESH, which was fatal when combined with Bayleef's Razor Leaf.


Goldeen would have to evolve in order to even reach Morty, let alone beat him using only his Special Attack stat.  VENKATESH became a Seaking in the Olivine City lighthouse at Lv 33, improving his Special Attack from about 36 to 55.  When Seaking returned to DBROOKS at Lv 34 after clearing the lighthouse, his Surf was sufficient to swamp both Haunter and Magnemite.  Bayleef needed two Returns to kill, but the only damage VENKATESH took was from a Zubat Bite due to a prior Reflect preventing a one hit Return kill.  (It should tell you something that I wasn't confident in Surf even after its earlier success!)


Morty was a surprising flawless victory.  Gengar wasted its turn on a Hypnosis that VENKATESH cured with his Mint Berry.  All of his other Ghosts were buried at sea with Surf at Lv 36.  Catching HM mules Pidgey and Red Gyarados was much harder than the 4th Gym.  I must have offended the Pidgey spirits when the first candidate broke out of my small supply of Poke and Great Balls, and VENKATESH Surfed it to death out of spite.  The second Pidgey took multiple Poke Balls before submitting to Fly drudgery.  Red Gyarados killed VENKATESH three times before surrendering on the fourth attempt.


Team Rocket in Mahogany Town wasn't worth mentioning.  Pryce's Dewgong survived the first Return and Headbutted Seaking down to 121/133 HP at the time of the Lv 42 win.  By this time, Seaking had Mystic Water equipped to make Surf slightly stronger.  Both Chuck and Jasmine were perfect victories at Lv 44.  Chucik's Primeape collapsed after a critical Return, and VENKATESH ignored Poliwrath's belly spiral Hypnosis.  Jasmine's Magnemites and Steelix never had the chance to attack, and she was so easy that it wasn't necessary to restore PP at the Pokemon Center after Chuck's Gym.  Say what you will about a lackluster fish, but the hardest Gym Leader in Johto is trivial for him.