Can I Beat Pokemon Soul Silver with ONLY Cyndaquil? 🔴 Pokemon Challenges ► NO ITEMS IN BATTLE

[@MahDryBread]

I mean, the Diamond run WAS cool but I meant to bring up the Regigigas run at the start

[@EVPointMaster]

We can read the other comments, you know? 😄

[@regiliok]

im suprised you didnt get the hard rock that boosts rock type moves that might have let you beat blue though im not certain

[@liberalistbat6352]

Have you never heard of the leftovers or metronome items? When you're just button mashing rollout and not using a fire move, why have the charcoal?

[@blazechaos212]

​@@regiliokAlso the Defense Curl will surely help

[@MahDryBread]

@@liberalistbat6352 Leftovers are post-game

[@TheClhWarrior]

There's something legit charming about having your solo challenge pokemon follow you outside of battle. Wish every challenge could be like this.

[@insanityworks4ussu4skrowyt34]

7:46 Gotta love having sprite glitches on your definitely-real DS

[@izme1000]

Talks about his patreon over his definitely-real DS glitching out. Distraction 100

[@riemaennchen]

Gonna guess the Dragon Gym is gonna be biggest problem in this. That Kingdra is pretty much THE anti Fire Pokémon.

[@SirAuron777]

Rollout might be the best option to beat it with a cyndaquil

[@hrr2b239]

It definitely was, but I suspect that it would have been a lot more reasonable if Defense Curl was kept around. Gyarados just using Dragon Rage gives enough time to set it up so I’m curious if something like a Hard Stone Defense Curl Rollout 3 could have one shot Kingdra earlier

[@llSuperSnivyll]

@@hrr2b239 Yeah, I agree. There's a Heart Scale on Route 32 and the Move Reminder is precisely in Blackthorn City. Replacing Quick Attack with Defense Curl could have greatly increased odds.

[@mimiquoi7380]

My suggestion : Pokemon White2 and Black 2 with only one Maractus ! 🌵 Cood week-end ! 😊

[@tomjcurry]

🌵

[@ominousshadows1417]

Bros persistent

[@mimiquoi7380]

@@ominousshadows1417 always 🌵

[@matthewgallaway3675]

🌵

[@acehardware2823]

🌵

[@AquibMohammedAyman]

Please play with Archen/Archeops. The defeatist ability would be extra tough!

[@seanwilliams823]

That will be in combination with Tirtuga/Carracosta when he does the Gen 5 fossil run.

[@Jianichie]

Dang. I didn't think you'd beat Red, but was shocked Blue was able to wall you.

[@TomatoKing513]

Heart Gold and Soul Silver were awesome for what they were. I always loved the idea of having those pokemon sprites follow you around, ever since they introduced the concept with Pokemon Yellow and the Pikachu. Sure, you can get something like it in the more modern settings.. but it always felt special with the Gen 2 remasters.

[@modelomegatyler]

yeah, because it has more personality then 3d models that can barely follow you right and only scream if you try to talk to them

[@megumi2531]

MDB, I love your vids, they are always so much fun to watch… but seeing you not learn lava plume physically hurt me LMAO

[@faerylnhiikira1053]

I think he preferred the higher strength of flamethrower vs the higher burn chance of lava plume.

[@DarthChratis]

I feel like for the lance fight specifically, a berry to heal the paralysis might have helped a lot.

[@DarkEinherjar]

I wonder how much of a difference a Hard Stone would've made in that champion battle... or, Arceus forbid, using Defense Curl to double Rollout's power (almost no one remembers this). Still wouldn't have been enough against Blue and Red, though.

[@Caleb_XIII]

thought so too. I also thought of Attract with a female Cyn, because most late game mons are male. Cheesy, but it can give you some time.

[@appelster11]

How about a Cheri berry against the late battle paralysis hax? Somehow, MDB really seems to hate status heal berries 😅

[@toallcameone3325]

​@appelster11 this is exactly what i was thinking. He wasn't utilizing charcoal on the champ, just rollout, so why not run Cheri and avoid the paralysis

[@liberalistbat6352]

Either the leftovers, shoal bell, or metronome items would have helped way more than charcoal.

[@incredibleturnip5875]

Defense curl would also have helped survive the Stone Edges and Waterfalls

[@jackdiddles4304]

just something small: the actual punch of focus punch has negative priority, meaning it always goes last, like counter. even if cyndaquil was somehow slower than chuck's poliwrath, focus punch would've kept being interrupted regardless

[@dmcmahondm]

Mew only run in gen 5! it wouldn't be a hard one but i figure it would be really fun to use a mon that can learn any TM in a gen where you can reuse TMs over and over. it could make for some really fun strategies!

[@littlenep5180]

love that you did this with my favourite pokemon. I love Cyndaquil a ton, so seeing you do just this is fun. hope you have a good rest of the year, MDB

[@hyrumkohler]

It's funny how intimidating Blue's Rhydon is when he teaches it more than just normal-type moves 😂

[@TheXehanorto]

So with your Rollout strategy, I’m curious as to why you didn’t relearn Defense Curl with the Move Relearned in place of Quick Attack unless that’s not available in the early game. That would’ve boosted the power of Rollout and could’ve enabled wins at a lower level. Still a very fun run.

[@SawedOffLaser]

The issue is it requires an extra turn of set up with no damage going out. That gives the enemy team another damage opportunity. It definitely makes the power insane but with a frail pokemon it's a bit more questionable.

[@AndresLionheart]

@@SawedOffLaser sure it takes a turn, but then on the following turn you do double damage. So in 2 turns without Defense Curl you do 30 + 60, so 90 total power; while with Defense Curl you do 60 with the 1st hit. In other words, by the 2nd turn you have done 30 less in power, but by the 3rd turn you are up from 210 total dealt in power to 420. If something didn't die by the 2nd non-Defense Curl Rollout hit then you haven't lost any time, and are now up with a massive ball of power and +1 defense to boot.

[@TheXehanorto]

@@SawedOffLaser See, I would agree with you on that. if everytime it came up during the run, it was a special water move being used and not a physical one. Defense Curl would reduce the damage dealt by Waterfall from Water Onyx, so strategy might've shifted to something like Quick Claw to ensure you got that defense curl off first then follow up with the rollout.

[@insulttothehumanrace3807]

The move relearner is in Blackthorn, but there's also Heart Scales. I forget if there's any to be found as regular items, they're mostly a random drop from Rock Smash rocks. He might not have thought it was worth it, or just might not have known.

[@mysticdigital5936]

Love seeing some Cyndaquil love! I havent commented much, but watching these challenges is always a joy. You're very dedicated to these runs and it's always a ride finding out how they go. Cyndaquil really did it's best. I know the newer games are a lot slower and you dont do post-gen 4 much, but would love an X/Y run someday especially with them being over 10 years old now.

[@midas2166]

I'm at the dragon gym point of the video and this gave me an idea. How about a challenge with only rollout or similar type move? Love the videos, wish you the best!

[@SeafooSPL]

I haven't watched your videos in what feels like a year, and I randomly saw this in my recommended. Glad to see the series still going, I'll probably binge the ones you've posted since I stopped.

[@thpolar3887]

Welcome back into the family.

[@angterrastriker]

I still cant believe you finally used a starter. Excluding pikachu, i think the only other times youve ever used one is at the very start of pokemon X and red rescue team.

[@adventureoflinkmk2]

Well... if it weren't for the fact that it's hard or impossible to change starters in gen6 and higher... I'm sure MDB and others could be running those higher gens

[@Fangren]

Oof, this run. Not deleting Flame Wheel for the much stronger Lava Plume, not getting Return (though I expect that's more due to your recording schedule), and especially not getting berries? Maybe it's not as commonly known about as I thought, but like... Okay, so, in Heart Gold and Soul Silver, there's a guy in Violet City (the first Gym) that will trade you a variety of berries for colored shards - one shard gets you three predetermined berries, and the shards can be gotten pretty easily by using Rock Smash on the rocks in the Ruins of Alph just to the south. Green shards get you Lum berries; Red shards get you Cheri berries; and you can do this as many times as you have shards. It would have saved you a LOT of time against Lance, if nothing else. Oh, also, the free Charcoal you mentioned is also very much in the original Gold/Silver/Crystal, obtained in the exact same way.

[@dackmanj4728]

Youre really putting in the hustle with these runs, MDB! Thanks for the entertainment!

[@Pepeutra]

Yes, your EVs were probably maxed out by level 60, but vitamins aren't a good gauge for that because they can't increase a stat's EV past 100 out of 255

[@tiananatsumi6775]

this is an amazing run. I'm amazed that you can beat Lance because his Pokemon are extremely tough to beat with just Cyndaquil, especially opened with Gyarados who have Intimidate and a water type too. kudos for you to keep trying until beat him, even though have to max leveling your Cyndaquil. anyway, I'm sure nobody would care if you caught those legendaries.......

[@owalover]

Gen 2 is my fav, I was excited for this one! Hope you get some Oblivion runs into the mix soon, I miss those! Love your content :D

[@IchigoKurosaki-iq6ox]

you really had me at the this insane part the winning attempt with Clair but how you started it I was mislead to think you would loose but your right that was insane wow that Blue fight was brutal but really impressed you beat Lance

[@jayhuff1776]

This was a good one! Thanks for all the hard work you do with your challenges and videos in general, love the content! Side note, have you heard of a game called Songs of Syx? It has become one of my favorites and I would love to see you play it sometime.

[@jonathoncampbell6813]

The patience and fortitude it takes to just barely beat the Pokemon Champion at level 100 then turn around, put another few hours of work in and try Blue knowing full well that it was going to be next to impossible is legendary.

[@DarkEinherjar]

In HeartGold and SoulSilver, Raikou, Entei and Latias/Latios behave differently. They only teleport randomly if you use Fly/Dig/Teleport/Escape Rope. Otherwise, they will move betwen adjacent routes and will only move if you change places on the overworld - if you enter or leave a building (checkpoints included), for example, they will not move at all.

[@ToastbackWhale]

This feels wrong based on my own playtime burning Raikou, but it’s possible that I’m just stupid and never noticed the pattern.

[@JackitK]

10:30 Clearly must have been training with Blane.

[@BetterthanNoobs-v7j]

Ok I knew red would be impossible due to blastoise and lapras but I didn’t expect Blue to also be impossible. Guess I really underestimated him

[@jenshast1488]

He did assemble a team that could beat any Pokémon type after all.

[@LMK-Gaming]

You're lucky MDB, starters only have a 12% chance of being female and definitely helped you in the Witney fight without even realising it.

[@ryman8294]

First time making it to a premier! Have been watching for 5 years!

[@monstermayhem4367]

An interesting strategy I thought about for when your using rollout, ice ball, etc when you're trying not to faint the first (few) pokemon too early Level up to the point where when the pokemon you want to not one shot, isn't a one shot, but your experience is enough for when you do defeat that Pokemon, you level up. You get that increased stat gain for rest of battle, but you don't faint the first Pokemon too early and lose the needed power one rollout

[@Marbles991]

I basically did solo Pokémon runs the first few times I played through the games when I was a kid. Started with Thyplosion in Gold, Blastoise in Red then Sceptile in Ruby. It wasn't until I started replaying the games when I was older that I started building balanced teams rather than relying on the starter.

[@feline_luv]

Now you should do a Chikorita only run for a Johto game. ^-^

[@Raziel_HHL]

6:12 so we are just going to ignore the sprites completely glitching there huh

[@shiruotakuno28]

That happens sometimes on DeSmuME. You have to make a manual save, hit reset, then load save to unglitch it. I've only seen this happen in HGSS.

[@asherdevin]

HGSS have a lot of anti-piracy measures built into them if I understand correctly. Like way more than any other pokemon game.

[@saikomonvexo4864]

MDBAMA: In black and white play throughs, why don’t you take on Cynthia or Alder? You take on Red in silver and gold play throughs and Steven in Emerald. I’m gonna keep asking till I get on MDBAMA.

[@YarakaOfficial]

This question gets asked a lot but he never answers it unfortunately

[@Cyniv0]

As an addendum, round 2 w/ Blue in FRLG would also be interesting because he drops his Pidgeot lead for a Heracross and drops Rhydon for Tyranitar. And it's not even bad as E4 rematches go because only the rival is at or above level 70 on the whole party, and Lance only has a level 70 and 72.

[@cherrytree3400]

i started playing pokerogue because of you. only done 2 runs so far, neither of which made it that far (lost them somewhere in the 40s from a trainer's bitey krokorok, and then the 10s from a fire tauros), but i've been enjoying it quite a bit so far

[@unclevac]

I think from now on whenever a gym leader or elite 4 member or rival make really stupid decisions we call it pulling a Blaine.

[@LCDigital92]

Cyndaquil!!! My favorite starter! I think my first solo run was HeartGold with only Cyndaquil, but I let him evolve so he made it to Typhlosion.

[@seanwilliams823]

How about a couple runs of the Starter trio in their regions? So Kanto with Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasuar, Johto with Cyndaquil, Totodile, and Chikorita, you get the idea. Also, use the Champions team but in the first form? So Ruby with Beldum, Aron, Lileep, Anorith, Baltoy, and Skarmory? Also, you did the Magikarp run. How about the Feebass run?

[@TheBestestKitty]

Raikou and Entei change routes each time you enter a new area, and only in areas you've already entered meaning your encounter rate goes down with each new route explored. Oh and if they're in the route, you have a 100% encounter rate.

[@thenikropolis]

I’m not sure if this was made yet, but 8y/o me knows for certain that Piplup can solo Diamond

[@zidarose]

Cats hopping up on a desk while writing/recording is one of the best problems.

[@minikoekiesgamingchannel]

Might be a fun idea for a challenge: Just heard that Ledian is one of the worst pokemon stat/lore/type wise (Bug/Flying). Could be something in a Heartgold/Soulsilver run. (Post research comment: Any other gen is also enjoyable cuz i just saw the Ledyba vid from last year😅) Keep up the great vids and i hope you are doing well🫶🏼

[@jand1993]

Hey funny and great video! But it's easy to see Heartgold and Soulsilver are way harder than the original. How about one of the following ideas: An Eevelution run in Platinum, should be easy An Vulpix only run, for your sanity, do it in gen 4 Platinum Can you beat Pokemon Crystal as elite 4 Bruno. Should be doable i think

[@dremuyt]

The cyndaquil line is my favorite starter line, typhlosion is tied with Donphan as my favorite pokemon

[@Gibletboy-j5b]

Typhlosion is diddy now what do you think of that?

[@taproot0619]

I think if you changed out quick attack for defense curl, you would have been able to beat blue, or at least get past water Onix. Tho I don't see his other 3 pokemon being huge walls for a fire type. It really is just Rhydon and Water Onix you'd need to worry about. Use DC on turn 1 with executor, flamethrower to KO, then take out Rhydon like normal. Finally use rollout on water Onix. DC doubles Rollout's power so instead of starting at 30 then going to 60, it starts at 60 then goes to 120. And the 1 stage defense buff along with leftovers would help you survive Rhydon's EQ and Water Onix's first waterfall.

[@yoyojoost]

Lance didn’t use full restores because you were faster already so the waterfall comes after your rollout, just a small oversight

[@rajup9222]

Just wanna add that disable evolution while editing the rom. Hurts to see you press the B button every time when your Pokemon evolves

[@Sharjo29]

Gotta do a Maractus challenge some time; one of the Gen 5 pokemon everyone forgets exists. Would be good to see a solo run with it ^^

[@virtualcolt]

This video is pretty nostalgic because my first playthrough of Soulsilver was me sweeping the game with just my Typhlosion... i needed level 100 to beat Lance as well as all of my hm slaves to spam revives and win but hey, that's what I get.

[@348joey]

16:00 did you consider relearning defense curl for a stronger rollout?

[@justinthibodeaux8601]

With how much you relied on rollout I think this cyndaquill could have been named "limp bizkit"

[@kyrion3772]

20:00 MDB is so used to Blaine cheating with his potions that he expected Lance to use a full restore instead of his regular move

[@PraefMace]

The first thing that came to mind when I saw the mistake in the intro was 'Wow, MDB got so into the Regigigas run now has Slow Start too, he is gonna need 5 turns before mentioning the actual Regigigas run instead of the Diamond run.' Jokes aside, it happens. Especially when you had been...you know, doing this stuff for years, and the fact you didn't edit it out/change even after noticing it makes it all the more endearing.

[@airreaper1]

You should air fry the salmon! Airfryers are great for fish

[@RobKni76]

Solidarity with Maractus guy 🌵🌵🌵

[@danielnabet8714]

I was really hoping to see eruption in play in this one :( Still a great video. thanks!

[@pokemoncha123]

could've put a cheri berry on cyndaquil in the champion battle to avoid paralysis! since you werent using flamethrower anyway, haha. Could've made the whole thing less painful I think!

[@Corcky54]

I thought of a interesting run. Dunno if it would be easy normal or hard but... You start with six pokemon of your choice (preferably starter forms from the gen you are playing), but the whole group has to have at least one different status effect on them permanently. They all have to have different effects. Like...One HAS to always have sleep... So hey lets give em sleep talk! One as perma-burn? Get a Guts boosted 'mon. Work around the perma-status and see what combos you can create.

[@zacharysnyder2520]

Cyndiquil is the eepyest little guy and one of my favorites thanks for giving the little guy a spotlight.

[@GoodGuyNickPT]

Soul silver with only a lickitung ❤

[@knate44]

I did something very close to this with a Quilava since that one was one of my favorite pokemon growing up. I'm really excited for this run.

[@python1972]

Oh my god I never thought this would happen! I've wanted this run for a year!

[@MooGiGon666]

My favorite lil starter friend!

[@danielbutler8103]

I have an idea for a fun challenge, One that means you could even use Drowzee. Can you beat Pokemon Black (Or any game from gen's 5 ,6 or 7) with only the move Assist? Purrloin learns Assist at level 6 so it'd be the starter, Then if you get a male Purrloin you can breed it with other's to get more Pokemon. I think this would be a great wacky challenge since the more Pokemon on your team the more random the move is. For any that don't know Assist uses a random move known by any of the user's party Pokémon, With some exceptions. So even Pokemon that can't use Assist would still be useful if they have good moves that Assist can use. Drowzee is in the Human-Like Egg Group so If you want one with Assist you'd need a Spinda since they're in the Field and Human-Like Egg Groups so can breed with Purrloin and Drowzee. You could also use a Chimchar as a starter if you give it Assist as an Egg Move, They're also in the Field and Human-Like Egg Groups so a male one can breed the move into any Pokemon with Assist.

[@YourHeroSam]

Any Gen using Pokemon only starting with M D or B, excluding legendary, pseudo and mythical, and using Pokemon who don't have that letter then evolve into one who does. Or, any Gen using moves starting with M D or B. Or, for solo runs, Pidove. Surskit.

[@cobbil]

Somewhat unrelated, but, I stand on my hill that the gen 2 starters should of been upgraded to: Typhlosion: Fire/Ground Meganium: Grass/Fairy Feraligatr: Water/Dark

[@davidwhidden9337]

Focus Punch isn't a speed based thing. It's "do you get hit?" Y -No attack. N - Attack.

[@tori_girlonline800]

Idk about G&S, but in Crystal the Cut guy will give you a free charcoal as well 🌈

[@hrr2b239]

Referring to the emulator bug that happened during the patreon read, if you use melonDS as the emulator this bug is fixed there! I’m mildly surprised it didn’t lead to a lock when you went into another loading zone, that’s usually what happened to me

[@IWatchYoutubeSometimes]

19:05 you out speed also at 20:00 he doesn’t use full restore because his AI doesn’t cheat like they do in red/blue. You got them to red after they already select an attacking move (you outsped here as well)

[@Submissive-Soul]

that flamethrower ko on Dragonair 2 from Claire was the highest possible roll

[@peteypiranalover]

Clair's Kingdra seems like it will be rough. Lance

[@GhoullyXX]

The gyms in Kanto in HG/SS are actually at a higher level compared to the elite 4, except for Janine.

[@LMK-Gaming]

MDB - If you were having issues with paralysis, why didn't you equip it with a berry that cures paralysis or the item that boost rock type moves?

[@Giga-lemesh]

It would be cool to see you redo runs that failed but letting the pokemon evolve. It might not be the most challenging, but it would be cool to see how much of a difference it makes

[@lmnisop5516]

23:24 am I crazy or did he say Bogeymon?

[@Solipher]

Hgss gym leaders don't rely much on their signature moves, Whitney wont use rollout as often, Bugsy wont fury cutter a lot, however Morty is different, he uses shadow ball more.

[@johntsag9025]

That is amazing to see. The ten year old me had rhe same idea back with pokemon silver and totadille. It didn't went well😅 but it was a hell of a run

[@Harambemojo]

I always name mine Cyndayquil because it’s always helpful but doesn’t put anyone to sleep

[@adamkozicki2005]

I would just like to point out that in both Johto versions, you can get a charcoal after returning to the cut master's apprentice after the story part in the forest. Hope that helps for future gen 2 runs

[@AdamGD100]

Why stick with rollout and not use Return like you normally do? With an attack nature and max friendship, it would have to be at least as effective against water onix and Dragonite as the first 3 turns of rollout, but way more reliable. And why not use dig on rhydon? Avoid a turn of damage and it is super effective. I have to assume you tried that, but I can't imagine it was that much less effective than flamethrower. Love the videos MDB

[@Harambemojo]

I’m sure you have said it before and love the nostalgic older games but why is your favorite Pokemon game? Mine is Heartgold it’s so beautiful and I played it the most as a kid

[@sapphiredraggytheflygon8521]

Why did he not learn Lava Plume during this?

[@zidarose]

Always worth showing those legendary dog encounters

[@seankuchenbecker5436]

At start of challenge as I comment: if you want a true challenge, do this with chikorita. Cubdaquil and totodile are probably most likely to succeed. I don't know if chikorita could even if evolving was allowed

[@spiv]

remoraid! im excited for it! so many beams!

[@RandomPokefan]

I haven’t asked in a while, but you should do a Pokémon X run with only the rivals team. I don’t mean Serena/Calem though, I mean one of the other three. Shauna, Tierno, or Trevor. All three would be really interesting to see how they fair against the gyms and E4. Thanks if you take the suggestion. I love your videos!

[@Nightmare-kn6ee]

I don't know if it would of changed anything but i feel like you should of switched Substitute out for either Double Team or Natural gift of course if you switched out for Natural gift you would of needed to hold a pecha berry to help attack Gyradose since it would made the move electric, or used a pomeg berry. Of course having him know Double Team would probably be better to help make cyndaquil harder to attack while you use other moves.

[@ericmelstone]

Not sure what item you had equipped vs. Lance but if it wasn’t a Leftovers/Shell or a berry to cure the paralysis I’m not sure what else it could’ve been

[@seanwilliams823]

Whenever will the Gen 5 fossil run be? Also, I'm calling it. The Christmas episode will be the first challenge of Gen 6.

[@1breadyboi]

Hey MDB, I was wondering what your opinion on Caribbean and Electro Swing Music? They are the favorite genres of me and my partner, wanted your opinion. MDBAMA

[@thequestingbunny]

Hey, MDB. Have you ever done a run with just a single Bunnelby yet? I don't like Diggersby as it is ugly, so I tend to pretend it doesn't exist and not evolve my Bunnelby. That's my one request. :D

[@piratebear3126]

Run Spoilers I can’t remember a run that didn’t even get to Red. Kanto is way tougher in HGSS, but damn. I’m curious if a perfect Cyndaquil could do better (good IVs, Speed and Sp Atk EV, and Hidden Power Electric), but not curious enough to try myself.

[@marche2738]

would picking the choice specs at the lake of rage not be more efficient than charcoal? I know you wanted to use all your moves but special attack is really what goes for cyndaquil anyway right?

[@pokenerdivan]

Since you didn't need the charcoal at all in the Lance fight, why not hold a lum berry to get rid of the status effect to have the waist a turn trying for it again?

[@BioniclesaurKing4t2]

So I'm not the only one the rival's Croconaw keeps Scary Facing for no reason! I was wondering if it was a problem in the coding of my (*cough*) real (*cough*) game copy.