#04 - Hurdles
So, this post was started while I'm in the middle of transit. This post was written and edited in sporadic bursts across two whole days, so please forgive if it's choppy or disjointed. The screencaps I grabbed weren't very good either.
But Pokemon waits for no man.
I mean, I guess it does, it's waiting for me (Modesty gender reveal).
Now, where were we?
Ah yes, we were hot off the heels of out first defeat because I underestimated our rival. So instead I'm going to pivot my approach. Last time I decided to test my mettle with just what I had up to that point, attempting a challenge without fully exploring my options leading into it. This isn't how my last run went, and I'm deciding now that it's not how this one will go either. My approach last time was to basically get as far as I possibly could before attempting major challenges (in the last run it was mostly gym leaders, and you'll see later how that's possible. So for this run I will also be taking that approach. That means we will not be facing our rival again quite yet, and instead exploring further into the game to gather as many resources as we can before attempting any major challenges.
Here's the thing: as I type this right now, I don't have internet access. I did attempt to prepare for this by downloading the spreadsheet, but it's so big that it's straining my laptop (skill issue). What that means is I'm flying blind a bit here. That said, I do remember enough about the early game that I can stumble my way through this. Editor Modesty will be sure to make fun of my mistakes later after I get done traveling.
Onward!
Here we are in Viridian Forest
There are a few mons we can catch here:
- Nincada is technically a Bug/Ground type, though I don't expect it to see much play. Neither of its evolutions are Ground types, and Shedinja is actually inaccessible by the player in hard mode RR. Still, I'm here to gather all the resources at my disposal. It's supposed to evolve at level 16 but I can cancel it to keep the Nincada. I dunno, I'm not exactly putting Nincada on my MVP watchlist.
- Burmy (Sand Cloak) is a mono Bug that becomes Bug/Ground after evolving, which we can do right away because it evolves at level 16 (hey wait- it just learned Sucker Punch? Alright Wormadam, I'm listening). 60 base HP isn't great, but at this stage base 105 defense and 85 special defense might not be terrible.
- Toedscool is going to be a great asset to us. It won't evolve until after level cap, but Toedscruel has fantastic stats including a weirdly high speed stat. In fact, now that I look at it- 70 is already a decent speed stat at this stage.
Aaaand...
That's actually it. See, I remember the early game. If we head further north into Viridian City, we encounter Brendan for the first time, and that's considered a major battle. Even if I did move further, there's another major battle (reminder I'm classifying 'major battle' as one whose details are listed on the documentation) before you can leave Viridian City and reach Pewter City. So these three new additions are what stand between us and victory against our rival. Will they be enough?
Well, remember what we learned from last time:
Shoal (Sandygast) answers his Slowpoke really well, so we won't have to spend as much resource answering that this time.
So right here is a break in the flow of this, my flight is delayed, but Pokemon waits for-
Wait no I've made this bit before
Anyhow, while I was forced to be away from the game for a moment, I had an epiphany!
I really have to hand it to Wormadam, I really didn't expect this little pizza slice to be so useful. But this right here is our Bulbasaur check.
Recall our enemy's team:
Slowpoke is answered by Shoal the Sandygast. Snubbull was a rough opponent, but able to be handled. That left Bulbasaur as our hardest matchup. But Wormadam actually has everything we need to completely counter Bulbasaur:
Bug/Ground typing is hit neutral by Grass, so Mega Drain won't heal that much. It'll still be something to worry about, but it won't be crippling. Bug isn't weak to poison, so Sludge is resisted and won't be an issue either. Base 85 special defense and 60 hp should be serviceable special bulk to take on a Bulbasaur, and that 79 base special attack is our ticket home. Bug Bite will consume Bulbasaur's oran berry, healing any damage we might've taken on switch-in and removing that healing option from Bulbasaur. Struggle Bug will lower Bulbasaur's special attack each use, which can counteract any Growth boosts it might try to get. And if it doesn't, it'll become weaker and weaker until completely useless. And for Sleep Powder? Wormadam has Overcoat, protecting it from power moves like Sleep Powder.
Moments like these are why I love Monotype runs. Finding the one pokemon in your arsenal that so perfectly answers a challenge is delightful.
This leaves only Snubbull, which I would normally say can be handled by the rest, but if I learned from last time I don't want to just make those assumptions.
Snubbull is a fierce physical attacker with great coverage. Thunder Wave isn't relevant here, but the rest could pose troubling if I don't find an answer, especially when it's hitting that hard. That said, I like Jimothy the Marshtomp as my choice here. I don't really have an option to hit Fairy types effectively yet, but Marshtomp did well enough last time.
Time for round 2!
The battle starts just like last time, Jimothy against Snubbull. I'm not worried about the Intimidate drop, since I'm using Brine here. Brine vs Power-Up Punch, just like last time. Now here's a tricky move I could try to pull: last time, the enemy switched here because it saw I could take the KO with Brine. So this time, I'm also going to try and switch to what I know they're about to pick: Slowpoke.
[Image Data Lost: My B - Editor Modesty]
This is what we in the business call, a hard read.
Last time I ever have that much confidence.
So here's the plan: switch to Clod for a resisted Covet, probably to sacrifice it. Then once it's down, Jimothy can safely re-enter.
I'm going to click Poison Tail on Clod, but I'm expecting Snubbull to switch out, probably to Slowpoke. This is fine because I have a mon that can switch into Slowpoke safely.
Just like I predicted. This is most definitely going to be a Psybeam, but I know Shoal can take that.
Rough shape, but this should be a confirmed KO.
Wow, well done Slowpoke for surviving that! That said, even if it does move first and take the KO, Erosion can swap in and priority Ice Shard.
(Editor Modesty here: why did you think that was going to work? Slowpoke resists Ice and has higher defense stat, I'm a bit of a clown sometimes.)
Imma be real with yall I'm not so good at this predicting thing. Still, that's not a bad chunk of damage on Bulbasaur. Now to deploy our secret weapon.
Sludge doesn't do much, but we are left poisoned, which isn't lucky. But everything is still going to plan. Step 1: Bug Bite.
Bingo. Now we launch Struggle Bug. Given my inability to predict enemy switching, I'm going to play this as if Bulbasaur stays in. That said, if there were to be a switch, I'm expecting it right now and for it to be to Snubbull, since Fairy resists Bug (because Bug types were too strong as we all know).
That Mega Drain did some good damage, more than I would've liked. But we've counteracted the Growth, which is good. Bulbasaur unfortunately outspeeds us, so simply clicking Struggle Bug again won't help. But Lady has Sucker Punch.
In the event of a Snubbull switch the move will fail, but Bulbasaur is on the ropes, so I'm willing to let that happen.
At the end of the day, don't overcomplicate things. Our #1 priority target is down, which bodes well for us.
Snubbull comes in, which was to be expected. I'm most definitely staring down the barrel of a Fire Fang, but that can actually be a bit to our advantage here. Since the enemy sees an easy KO, it will for sure go for it. And I can get some last minute damage in with Sucker Punch.
That was a confusing sequence of events. Sucker Punch lands, of course doing not a lot but it's still something, and then Snubbull goes Power-Up Punch. It doesn't get the KO, but it does grant Snubbull the attack boost. And then poison damage takes out Lady.
...ok?
I guess I can work with this.
We send in Clod for super effective Poison Tail and resisting Covet and Power-Up Punch. Honestly not sure if this is going to work, but Slowpoke is in the red and Snubbull is in the yellow, so I can press my advantage.
Fire Fang does some damage to Clod, but Poison Tail seals the deal.
Now Slowpoke is on the field. We're probably outsped and downed, but that will give us a safe switch-in.
But just in case, I'll click Mud Shot. On the off chance it hits, it'll reduce Slowpoke's speed, effectively guaranteeing my next mon will outspeed it.
Of course Psybeam nets the KO, but we've already accounted for this. And we actually have a tool to deal with this already: Toad the Toedscool.
And down goes Slowpoke. And with Slowpoke, my rival falls too.
Check, and mate.
This, friends, is why you always explore all your options before attempting a challenge. Sandy Wormadam ended up making a massive difference, and Toedscool was also very helpful.
So- to give some perspective, I've been writing this post across maybe 2 days? It's hard to keep track with changing timezones. I really want to get something out as soon as possible to let yall know I'm still around, so I hope you don't mind how choppy this post might be. It just happened to be the most inconvenient possible time for me to start a project that works best with long unbroken individual writing sessions.
That said, there is progress to be had, and (luckily for me) a nice moral came from it. That said, just that first battle took quite a bit of time... this playthrough as a whole might take me a long time.
If I may, I'd like to add one more thing here at the end: in the time since starting this blog I've come to discover that I am far from the only Monotype enjoyer. In fact, there are people who've done full runs with each type for a given game. And this experience of gameplay has also been a bit humbling, given how much I flubbed some of those decisions and forgot key details, and sometimes just didn't bother to check the numbers before sending my move. I really hope this doesn't disuade people from following my journey, I swear I've done some cool things before but I must admit I'm not quite the Monotype Gigachad I had envisioned myself on the onset. I do hope you'll continue to follow my journey, my website, and my growth as a player.
- Editor Modesty