sirsystemerror (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sirsystemerror) wrote2015-11-14 04:25 pm
sirsystemerror) wrote2015-11-14 04:25 pm
Pokemon OR: BST<300 Challenge Part I
Obliterating the Early Game
Alternate title: Half my team is poisoned and I'm feelin' fine
Alternate title 2: Complaining about getting shinies
Of all the things the Pokemon series is known for, difficulty is rarely one of them. This is especially on-display with the latest Generation as of writing, where the Exp. Share item allows you to level your entire party to massive heights without incident, and even worse in these much speculated remakes where they did not adjust the game balance to account for this. But even just turning that off wasn't enough to satiate it, so I sought another challenge that was not named Nuzlocke because those are stupid.
What I came up with? No Pokemon BST 300 or above. I was originally going to do BST 400, but you get the likes of Graveler and Kadabra there, which would make the game a snap. Less than 300 excludes the likes of Sandshrew, Geodude, Baltoy, Snorunt, and Bagon who are sitting right there. This was sure to make for an interesting way to play!!
The introductory sequences were naturally nothing to talk about. I set my settings: battle mode SET. For REAL MEN.
As this is a challenge where I must use Pokemon with less than 300 BST, it did not start when I was able to pick up the event Beldum, which sits on 300 exactly. Per the variant rule, I caught a Pokemon ASAP, which happened to be a Zigzagoon, and immediately switched to it. I used it to catch a tutorial Poochyena, which came with Fire Fang learned. It used Howl three times in a row, and I threw a ball after that to capture it.
I happened to get another Zigzagoon when trying out the search function, and it fetched a Nugget!
I make captures, but go through Route 102 using the Poochyena - the only one of the group I've caught I can see myself using long-term. On Route 104, the game serves me up something awesome: a Level 13 Adamant Taillow with Guts! Brilliant Pokemon, brilliant nature. I could've gotten destroyed catching it, but poison it with my Wurmple in the process, activating its Ability for my own use.
Also, Wurmple almost fainted to a Ralts because of Synchronize. Speaking of, I get one with Synchronoise. Catching the Level 13 ones is too much of a pain to yet bother with, however.
Heading into the Petalburg Woods, I pick up a Shroomish in here. Eventually, and after a really annoying battle of just chucking balls until it gets inside, I get this one, which is pretty great. Shame about the nature, though. Drain Punch would arguably be a better choice, but for team synergy's sake, Fake Tears is the better option overall. I proceed to take it out, get it poisoned...then get healed by the researcher. Bleh. I get the Exp Share and immediately turn it off. Like a real man.
Luckily, I don't need to waste time getting it poisoned again, as my own Wurmple does the job when facing down the twins. I also leave some trainers wandering around, so that when I go to Rustboro, I can pick up Makit from the kid and level it on them. Another Guts abuser, yay!! Albeit one that has to wait for a bit to be well and truly unleashed. ORAS reverts the change that XY did, and traded Pokemon over level 10 will disobey you.
With those two, plus a Surskit I had, Roxanne didn't stand a chance. Even the little bug could one-shot Geodude if not for Sturdy, though it would get one-shot in return by Rock Tomb. For that same reason, the underlings were obnoxious to deal with, since I couldn't Mold Breaker Sturdy or anything - although the Schoolkid's has Rock Head instead. But simply obnoxious and not threatening. Nosepass has pretty ridiculous defenses, so even Guts Force Palm wasn't a one-hit kill from Makit. More amusingly, if it weren't for that silly nature, it would not be able to outdamage Shroomish's healing between Leech Seed and Poison Heal. And even with it, it amounted to 3 damage overall.
Nothing really big so far. You are, after all, half-expected to use these Pokemon against her - none so far are disallowed. So really, I'm putting out overkill performance at this point. Those +10 Level Pokes really help cut back on the grind, and come with some silly moves. I may not use it moving forward, since it's just that silly.
Moving on. The next route had me a bit stumped on what to level, before I settled on Makit. It made quick work of just about everything here, including the Magma Grunt obviously. Setting sail for Dewford and doing the gym first because the remake is silly and made an arbitrary change like that...it probably proved to be the gym's undoing, as Guts boosted Wing Attack from Taillow one-shot everything in the gym, including Brawly's Pokemon.
The now extremely short Granite Cave has nothing to talk about, aside from getting Steel Wing from Taillow, and the first appearance of Pokemon off the table for our variant. Geodude (300), Abra (310), and Aron (330) are 300 or above, and can't be used within these constraints. Zubat was an option, but nothing too-badly missed from not using it.
And the same goes for Route 110. Voltorb, Plusle, Minun, Magnemite, Oddish, and Gulpin are all over the usable BST - though the last two let me repoison my Pokemon. Electrike, however, is not. Since I would appreciate a potential long-term Pokemon that doesn't rely on poison to be effectual, I pick one up. I even chance into a Dexnaved one with Flame Burst. Disappointing Nature which makes me reconsider if I really want to keep it. Long-term, Flame Burst isn't all that because of Flamethrower. A Fang might be cool, but I decide to try one with Uproar due to decent-looking-ish-stats. It's kind of a pain, really. But I do get Taillow to Level 22, giving it bonus exp and making it annoy me to evolve whenever it levels up.
I also get this important pickup in Slateport. You get an Amulet Coin normally over the course of the game, but getting the boost early pays off. Still, I decide to watch my funds for a while.
I do a contest for fun, and for it get a free Pikachu. Sadly no use to us, since its BST is 320. If I were to do a playthrough with 300-400 BST Pokemon, I'd definitely use it. We're stuck with Electrike, though.
Don't do this to me game...please. I was just trying to fill up my Dexnav, while grinding Surskit some levels just in case (Sweet Scent and Bubble), then this thing reared its head when Plusle was still refusing to show up. Nothing to do with the challenge, but still worth mentioning. No Pokerus this time. But still, scumbag video game. I caught it without incident, then it still took a lot more to get a Plusle.
May 2. She led with Slugma, so I swapped in Surskit from Shroomish. Wailmer is next after a Bubblebeam ends it. Real men play set, so I switch back and have to eat a Water Gun that deals no net damage. Two Mega Drains and Headbutt takes it down. I take a Quick Attack on switching in Taillow on Grovyle, and Aerial Ace massacres it. I get a double evolution attempt after the fight, from Shroomish and Surskit. I cancel both, of course.
And Mauville, where I can purchase Facade, I guess. With Taillow and Makit both being regularly poisoned, this is an amazing move to have on both of them.
I fight through most of Mauville Gym with Shroomish, whose Poison Heal and resistance makes their moves a complete nonthreat. The same goes for Wattson, though that's a bit slow. So I come up with a fun strategy: lead with a Zigzagoon. Magnemite Volt Switches and KOs it, I switch in Makit. Hope it uses Charge, and Facade it. Magnemite comes back in. It Volt Switches again, out comes Magneton, who gets one-shot by Guts Expert Belt Force Palm. Switch to Shroomish and Leech Seed, and it cannot outdamage Shroomish's regeneration. Laugh at his feeble attempt to stay in the fight with a Super Potion, and polish him off.
So far, this isn't much of a challenge. But we're reaching the point of the game where most of the following Pokemon will have been expected to evolve, so it'll get harder sooner!!
_________
- Taillow Lv.24: Facade/Steel Wing/Aerial Ace/Quick Attack
This mainstay of the Pokemon Ruby TAS is here in unevolved form. Guts Facade is simply great, nothing more needs to be said. High speed for those moments when I need it.
- Makit Lv.23: Facade/Knock Off/Fake Out/Force Palm
See above, minus the high speed and with naturally boosted experience.
- Shroomish Lv.24: Fake Tears/Leech Seed/Mega Drain/Headbutt
With Poison Heal, this thing is tough to take down. Its big problem at this point, besides being Grass type, is not having a lot of moves to take down Pokemon itself.
- Electrike Lv.23: Uproar/Spark/Thunder Wave/Thunder Fang
Another speedster and contender for long-term Pokemon. Electricity is good to have around, and it's more than likely the best Pokemon for that job.
- Surskit Lv.22: Bubble/Quick Attack/Sweet Scent/Bubblebeam
Placeholder Pokemon who's just hanging around for the time being.
Next | Index
Alternate title: Half my team is poisoned and I'm feelin' fine
Alternate title 2: Complaining about getting shinies
Of all the things the Pokemon series is known for, difficulty is rarely one of them. This is especially on-display with the latest Generation as of writing, where the Exp. Share item allows you to level your entire party to massive heights without incident, and even worse in these much speculated remakes where they did not adjust the game balance to account for this. But even just turning that off wasn't enough to satiate it, so I sought another challenge that was not named Nuzlocke because those are stupid.
What I came up with? No Pokemon BST 300 or above. I was originally going to do BST 400, but you get the likes of Graveler and Kadabra there, which would make the game a snap. Less than 300 excludes the likes of Sandshrew, Geodude, Baltoy, Snorunt, and Bagon who are sitting right there. This was sure to make for an interesting way to play!!
The introductory sequences were naturally nothing to talk about. I set my settings: battle mode SET. For REAL MEN.
As this is a challenge where I must use Pokemon with less than 300 BST, it did not start when I was able to pick up the event Beldum, which sits on 300 exactly. Per the variant rule, I caught a Pokemon ASAP, which happened to be a Zigzagoon, and immediately switched to it. I used it to catch a tutorial Poochyena, which came with Fire Fang learned. It used Howl three times in a row, and I threw a ball after that to capture it.
I happened to get another Zigzagoon when trying out the search function, and it fetched a Nugget!
I make captures, but go through Route 102 using the Poochyena - the only one of the group I've caught I can see myself using long-term. On Route 104, the game serves me up something awesome: a Level 13 Adamant Taillow with Guts! Brilliant Pokemon, brilliant nature. I could've gotten destroyed catching it, but poison it with my Wurmple in the process, activating its Ability for my own use.
Also, Wurmple almost fainted to a Ralts because of Synchronize. Speaking of, I get one with Synchronoise. Catching the Level 13 ones is too much of a pain to yet bother with, however.
Heading into the Petalburg Woods, I pick up a Shroomish in here. Eventually, and after a really annoying battle of just chucking balls until it gets inside, I get this one, which is pretty great. Shame about the nature, though. Drain Punch would arguably be a better choice, but for team synergy's sake, Fake Tears is the better option overall. I proceed to take it out, get it poisoned...then get healed by the researcher. Bleh. I get the Exp Share and immediately turn it off. Like a real man.
Luckily, I don't need to waste time getting it poisoned again, as my own Wurmple does the job when facing down the twins. I also leave some trainers wandering around, so that when I go to Rustboro, I can pick up Makit from the kid and level it on them. Another Guts abuser, yay!! Albeit one that has to wait for a bit to be well and truly unleashed. ORAS reverts the change that XY did, and traded Pokemon over level 10 will disobey you.
With those two, plus a Surskit I had, Roxanne didn't stand a chance. Even the little bug could one-shot Geodude if not for Sturdy, though it would get one-shot in return by Rock Tomb. For that same reason, the underlings were obnoxious to deal with, since I couldn't Mold Breaker Sturdy or anything - although the Schoolkid's has Rock Head instead. But simply obnoxious and not threatening. Nosepass has pretty ridiculous defenses, so even Guts Force Palm wasn't a one-hit kill from Makit. More amusingly, if it weren't for that silly nature, it would not be able to outdamage Shroomish's healing between Leech Seed and Poison Heal. And even with it, it amounted to 3 damage overall.
Nothing really big so far. You are, after all, half-expected to use these Pokemon against her - none so far are disallowed. So really, I'm putting out overkill performance at this point. Those +10 Level Pokes really help cut back on the grind, and come with some silly moves. I may not use it moving forward, since it's just that silly.
Moving on. The next route had me a bit stumped on what to level, before I settled on Makit. It made quick work of just about everything here, including the Magma Grunt obviously. Setting sail for Dewford and doing the gym first because the remake is silly and made an arbitrary change like that...it probably proved to be the gym's undoing, as Guts boosted Wing Attack from Taillow one-shot everything in the gym, including Brawly's Pokemon.
The now extremely short Granite Cave has nothing to talk about, aside from getting Steel Wing from Taillow, and the first appearance of Pokemon off the table for our variant. Geodude (300), Abra (310), and Aron (330) are 300 or above, and can't be used within these constraints. Zubat was an option, but nothing too-badly missed from not using it.
And the same goes for Route 110. Voltorb, Plusle, Minun, Magnemite, Oddish, and Gulpin are all over the usable BST - though the last two let me repoison my Pokemon. Electrike, however, is not. Since I would appreciate a potential long-term Pokemon that doesn't rely on poison to be effectual, I pick one up. I even chance into a Dexnaved one with Flame Burst. Disappointing Nature which makes me reconsider if I really want to keep it. Long-term, Flame Burst isn't all that because of Flamethrower. A Fang might be cool, but I decide to try one with Uproar due to decent-looking-ish-stats. It's kind of a pain, really. But I do get Taillow to Level 22, giving it bonus exp and making it annoy me to evolve whenever it levels up.
I also get this important pickup in Slateport. You get an Amulet Coin normally over the course of the game, but getting the boost early pays off. Still, I decide to watch my funds for a while.
I do a contest for fun, and for it get a free Pikachu. Sadly no use to us, since its BST is 320. If I were to do a playthrough with 300-400 BST Pokemon, I'd definitely use it. We're stuck with Electrike, though.
Don't do this to me game...please. I was just trying to fill up my Dexnav, while grinding Surskit some levels just in case (Sweet Scent and Bubble), then this thing reared its head when Plusle was still refusing to show up. Nothing to do with the challenge, but still worth mentioning. No Pokerus this time. But still, scumbag video game. I caught it without incident, then it still took a lot more to get a Plusle.
May 2. She led with Slugma, so I swapped in Surskit from Shroomish. Wailmer is next after a Bubblebeam ends it. Real men play set, so I switch back and have to eat a Water Gun that deals no net damage. Two Mega Drains and Headbutt takes it down. I take a Quick Attack on switching in Taillow on Grovyle, and Aerial Ace massacres it. I get a double evolution attempt after the fight, from Shroomish and Surskit. I cancel both, of course.
And Mauville, where I can purchase Facade, I guess. With Taillow and Makit both being regularly poisoned, this is an amazing move to have on both of them.
I fight through most of Mauville Gym with Shroomish, whose Poison Heal and resistance makes their moves a complete nonthreat. The same goes for Wattson, though that's a bit slow. So I come up with a fun strategy: lead with a Zigzagoon. Magnemite Volt Switches and KOs it, I switch in Makit. Hope it uses Charge, and Facade it. Magnemite comes back in. It Volt Switches again, out comes Magneton, who gets one-shot by Guts Expert Belt Force Palm. Switch to Shroomish and Leech Seed, and it cannot outdamage Shroomish's regeneration. Laugh at his feeble attempt to stay in the fight with a Super Potion, and polish him off.
So far, this isn't much of a challenge. But we're reaching the point of the game where most of the following Pokemon will have been expected to evolve, so it'll get harder sooner!!
_________
- Taillow Lv.24: Facade/Steel Wing/Aerial Ace/Quick Attack
This mainstay of the Pokemon Ruby TAS is here in unevolved form. Guts Facade is simply great, nothing more needs to be said. High speed for those moments when I need it.
- Makit Lv.23: Facade/Knock Off/Fake Out/Force Palm
See above, minus the high speed and with naturally boosted experience.
- Shroomish Lv.24: Fake Tears/Leech Seed/Mega Drain/Headbutt
With Poison Heal, this thing is tough to take down. Its big problem at this point, besides being Grass type, is not having a lot of moves to take down Pokemon itself.
- Electrike Lv.23: Uproar/Spark/Thunder Wave/Thunder Fang
Another speedster and contender for long-term Pokemon. Electricity is good to have around, and it's more than likely the best Pokemon for that job.
- Surskit Lv.22: Bubble/Quick Attack/Sweet Scent/Bubblebeam
Placeholder Pokemon who's just hanging around for the time being.
Next | Index