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.

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Pokemon OR: BST<300 Challenge Part II

Overpreparedness
Alternate title: Screw Forced Heals
Alternate title 2: What is with the shiny luck?

I decided to catch another Shroomish before moving on, without a destructive nature. I ended up giving up before getting a good one with Drain Punch or Wake-Up Slap, though - especially after I get one with IV>20 in all stats except Defense. This wasn't too bad otherwise, considering I could level it with trainer rematches while building up money. I also went through Granite Cave and the next two areas of the Trick House.


Was it worth it? Yep!! Only reason Special Defense is lower is because of nature, and only reason why Speed is lower is because of EVs - they both seem to have 31 IVs given their characteristic.

And then...oh my god. Well, next up carried a particular Pokemon on my shopping list. To prepare though, I caught a bunch of Ralts so fighting with the Nature wouldn't be too hard. And then...then...well, before that, May was stupid and healed me, but a Camper's Gulpin got me back in the game. But then, I got to have fun learning how stupid it is to catch Pokemon in caves.

This was the stupidest thing ever, especially highlighted when I saw the god Slugma and it almost immediately ran away. Not for anything I did, it just "ran away". Slugma? Yes, Slugma! 70 Special Attack, actually tied for the highest I can have along with Horsea, and a good selection of moves. I got it done without too much effort thankfully, getting a Quiet one as desired, with nice stats although nothing world-shaking in the special move department. I also found they can get Earth Power, which is really strange and not listed as an egg move.

Speaking of Dexnav trolling, when moving back and forth, I got a random field Skitty spawn, but instead of a Poke Ball, there was an exclamation mark. Don't know what that means. Probably a shiny, but whatever it was, I instantly despawned it.

Anyway, the Slugma was Level 25, so no grinding required.


Oh FUCK. YOU. There's a free heal spot in the house nearby, why did they put an autoheal there? Such a goddamn pain. I swear, by the end of this run, May is going to be my new least favorite game character, and Gulpin is going to be in my top Pokemon. It's based and will not hestitate to poison me.

Nothing to say about the ash route. Instead of helping stupid May, I fudged off and did another contest with Taillow.

I tried to be sadistic and kill off May's Pokemon in the multi battle, but after the goon detonated her Koffing, I was only able to take down her Slugma before she took down Tabitha. Bleh. I refused the walk back since I wanted to explore Meteor Falls and beyond (AND THANKS FOR TAKING ME OUT OF IT).

Maxie was a weird fight. I led with Slugma, but it was low on HP, so I made a swap to Shroomish. Zigzagoon was Roared out, and stuff got weird. It wasn't dangerous, but it kept Roaring out the wrong Pokemon. beat it in the end after Shroomish pulled out a +4 Attack Facade. For Camerupt, I first switched from Shroomish to Electrike. It Amnesiaed the first turn, but then responded with Earth Power when I switched in Taillow. A Guts Facade one-shot the big camel. Golbat was zero threat, but I switched in Electrike anyway for more experience.

The excessive forced healing got me before I set down Jagged Pass. On the way down Jagged Pass, I had a Machop random that had an exclamation point on the touchscreen. Another shiny? I had no way to tell, because Bulbapedia has no info on what that means, and I couldn't get near it because I didn't have the Acro Bike. A contact tells me that that exclamation point means that it might be shiny, but not always.


Not that it mattered if it does mean that, as I ran into a shiny Machop a short time after anyway. What is with the shiny luck on this run? I alertly swapped from Slugma to Shroomish, in case it refused to get in Poke Balls and burned itself off its Flame Body. A single Repeat Ball got the job done.

Wynaut is usable!! I picked up the egg, though am not sure if I'll use it. Except...it says that the egg needs a lot more time to hatch? Since when is that a message that ever appears? I guess since this generation. Also, since when does Wynaut take forever to hatch.

For fun, I didn't reobtain my poison and simply fought the gym with properly healed Pokemon. The gym itself wasn't too bad, aside from a few random hilarious crits. Flannery herself I fought once with a combination of Slugma and Taillow. Torkoal could survive a GutsFacade, surprisingly, but Slugma finished it off. Then I noticed I forgot a trainer (damn ninjas), so I hit the reset button and tried again after beating him.

This was funnier. My Slugma could one-shot her Slugma with Ancientpower, and Numel wouldn't always use Earth Power to kill me. It did the second try, but on the third, it used Sunny Day instead, and I even got an Ancientpower boost. It went down to another Ancientpower followed by a Flame Burst, and Torkoal was dropped by two more attacks: only using Curse. Fighting fire with fire, woohoo!!


NO!! I'd much rather explore the desert and pick up my next Pokemon!!

THE BEAST CALLED TRAPINCH. What a Pokemon. Especially for this variant. 100 base attack, god damn. I believe that could be effectively more than what Makuhita would have with GutsBoost.

A lot of leveling up later, since I get a low-leveled one for once, it's time to beat up pops. Except that on this episode of messing-around-with-new-things, I extracted my savefile, and found out that I had the God Trapnich, except I wasn't raising it. I quickly made the decision not to switch, however. The only thing it really brings to the table is extra HP.

Still, a decision I did make here, since I found that the going was getting tougher, was to pump up on some EVs. Trapinch, Makit, and Slugma all got the treatment, the first two massacring Machops and the latter Spindas. Poor Taillow has no multi-hit moves for hordekilling, though. I had to Super Train it.

Also, I get a THIRD Shroomish, this one without trash for defense (it actually has pretty fantastic stats!!), and Super Train it as well. Figure I may as well set up for the endgame...and postgame if I decide to tackle that too. Still, only level 5, so that'll be fun...

...luckily, such an opportunity was right in front of me. The trainers in the next gym take a turn to set up with attack items. Which are amazing!! But gave me a turn to switch in Trapinch safely. The exception was the Recovery Room. Since Trapinch couldn't quite OHKO a Linoone even with Sheer Force Soft Sanded Bulldoze from 100 Attack, I countered with an X-Attack of my own. Humorously, it used Covet, followed by Bestow. Not sure if that doomed it or not.

Evne more amusing was the OHKO room. I swapped in Slugma instead, tied for highest Defense with Shroomish itself. The theory was to hope it gets burned. tt didn't matter, because it was using Revenge, and was instantly toasted by Lava Plume. The same thing happened to the one in the Strength Room, only with Trapinch's Bulldoze which this time was enough. This took Shroomish number three to a more manageable Level 20.


Norman was a fun fight that I'd built up Makit for a while for. Not for the pure power, no. But for Endure! Any Pokemon that has a protective move such as this can cheese the Slakings. It's not as easy to access in this version, but you can do it.

The first one proved a bit problematic due to Yawn - though I could've avoided this by entering with lower HP - but it was just as easy to cheese even without. I used Shroomish three (!) on it. Leech Seed couldn't recover enough HP, but I could do that, survive, and alternate healing and attacking until it ran out of Retaliates and tried Yawn. If I really wanted, I could just outlast it, buff to the moon with X-Items, then murder everything else present. Didn't feel like it, though. Instead I just finished it off. I switched in Slugma after, who couldn't take a Retaliate from Vigoroth on the switch-in. I believe Makuhita could've, but no use sweating it since I'm not playing any stupid variant. The last Slaking, I alternated as planned. Easy stuff.

The going is getting harder from here, but hopefully, all this added power should be enough to carry me through to the end and beyond.

__________

Taillow Lv.36: Facade/Steel Wing/Aerial Ace/Thief
Still an absolute beast with Guts Facade, and still has high speed.

- Makit Lv.39: Bulldoze/Wake-Up Slap/Knock Off/Endure
I swapped out Facade temporarily, but it'll be back. Guaranteed.

- Electrike Lv.33: Uproar/Bite/Discharge/Charge Beam
Its movepool is a bit more narrow that I'd like at the moment. Still, it's a competent special attacker all the same, with 61 at the moment and is still pretty fast.

- Slugma Lv.37: Lava Plume/Flame Burst/Clear Smog/Ancient Power
But not as competent as this and its 100! With Lava Plume by its side to boot, this thing of all things is a monster.

- Trapinch Lv.32: Bulldoze/Sand Tomb/Rock Slide/Crunch
Man this thing gets some good moves fast. Rock Slide (97) and Crunch (104) both abuse Sheer Force, as does Bulldoze (78) - although it's one away from Earthquake which is effectively stronger at 100. Did I mention it has 108 attack?

- Shroomish Lv.22: Leech Seed/Mega Drain/Drain Punch/Facade
Still building up #3. Considering going with Seed Bomb over Mega/Giga Drain in the end, as it has slightly more power and more PP and Drain Punch is still around, although Energy Ball is also an option - it'll depend on its attack stats. I was using a Toxicseed strategy on the other, who was Lv.33 at the time it got dropped.

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