Can you beat Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire with the LEAST BATTLES possible?

It's been a long time since we did a Minimum Battles Challenge. Surely this one will also be extremely consistent and not at all a super difficult challenge that no one should attempt.... right?
Edited by: SimplyAJ ( / simplyaj )

[@Thetenthdoctor24]

Watching Jrose allow a Pokémon to evolve was such a rush

[@bigchunk1]

Oh, i'm not the only one.

[@frankieinjapan]

I love the contrast between solo runs and minimum battles. Solos are the absolute most consistent strategy with as little luck as possible, and minimum battles is straight up "8 Crits in a row fucking please" 🤣

[@kevincarrigan2798]

Lmao too true

[@SimplyAJ]

The fact that you had basically JUST ENOUGH EXP to learn Destiny Bond was incredible.

[@raikaria3090]

Here's the kicker. If Wynaut didn't get EXP from Tate+Liza's Solrock, an event JRose totally did not plan [And he even would have preferred Marshtomp get all the xp] Wynaut would never have hit lv15 in time! JRose managed to get exactly the amount of EXP he needed *by complete accident*

[@uygarcelik7]

@@raikaria3090 he could potentially have used 2 rare candies for wynaut no?

[@benikujaku4567]

The easiest way would just be to lead with Wynaut then switch to swampert. Wynaut would gain XP from both XPshare and actually participating‚ and it would have been enough

[@HeWhoHungers]

All I did was imagine Wynaut would only learn those four moves AFTER evolving into Wobuffet instead of before. Would've been no way to reach it for Glacia at that point.

[@danielcarrilho5217]

@@uygarcelik7 but then Swampert would be weaker for the champ

[@TruBluLew23]

Not sure if anyone mentioned it but...how coincidental is it that Wynaut got experience during Tate and Liza? Without it, it may not have hit 15 with the Glacia experience. So clutch!

[@jacobellis2313]

Had more then enough rare candies to make up for it.

[@petelee2477]

It was destiny

[@TruBluLew23]

@@jacobellis2313 that's why I said it may not. I didn't watch the stream so I wasn't sure if he had the candies or not. Good to know tho, thanks Jacob!

[@cassiolins1203]

I mean... Wy not?

[@barrycopa9179]

This is what makes these vids unique doesn't it? 😄

[@olivergro7105]

"we need to get it to nosepass with full HP because otherwise nosepass one shots as it is so strong" is a sentence I thought I'd never hear

[@erizoh]

I recommend trying a monotype hardcore nuzlocke. Besides it being pretty fun to strategize through all the obstacles, that Nosepass has been the bane of my existence for both ground (Nincada) and dark (Poochyena)

[@petelee2477]

For me those level one fear sets are what scares me the most about nosepass though gen 5 sturdy mechanics is what makes it possible. Have a level one sturdy nosepass with the sturdy ability and the move pain split, protect, toxic, and either stealth rock or magic coat

[@erizoh]

@@petelee2477 It's not really super optimal although it can work, it's usually more effective to run Endeavor + Shell Bell under Sandstorm

[@Jjeinntae]

I love how Norman is just in disbelief at losing to his daughter, like, it just feels particularly fitting for this challenge.

[@TheForgottenTainted]

He’s like “you have barely fought anyone and are weak- HOW DID YOU BEAT ME?!”

[@ApolloSniperman]

“Skill issue” 🤷‍♂️

[@thohillesland]

There is actually a method you could have used to keep both ice beam and earthquake for the elite four. One of the mandatory trainers in the victory road has a sandslash with Poison Sting, and Wally has a Roselia with toxic. So if you: - get at least one Pokemon poisoned in victory road. - enter into the Pokemon league center - go all the way back to the move deleter and delete waterfall - put all your Pokemon into the box, besides the poisoned one - run around untill it faints and you white out to the Pokemon league - SUCCESS you can now teach swampert ice beam without getting rid of earthquake before the elite four!

[@Red-yt2dk]

Why is poison required for this? Surely you can just faint to the league in any way

[@thohillesland]

@@Red-yt2dk 1. fainting to a trainer battle would count as an extra battle which is something we don't want 2. The reason why we would want to do this is because you need 4 HMs to get trough victory road in gen 3. Surf, Rock Smash, Waterfall and Strength. Rock Smash you are able to put on Anorith, this means that Swampert needs to carry Surf, Waterfall and Strength Just to be able to get trough victory road. This leaves only 1 open move slot against the Elite Four, but both earthquake and ice beam are moves that would be really nice to have against the elite four. We also don't have a pokemon with fly or teleport, so there isn't really any way to easily to get to the move deleter and get rid of these HMs. So the only way for us to get back to the pokemon league after deleting these HMs is to White Out with the pokemon league as our visited Pokemon Center. As said in point 1. we can't really faint in a battle, since this is a minimum battles run. So the only way to White Out without being in a battle is to have your last pokemon faint from poison.

[@Red-yt2dk]

@@thohillesland Somehow I forgot that this was minimum battles. I don't know how I did that, the inner machinations of my mind are an enigma.

[@dynastystar5515]

I feel like jrose would be opposed to that amount of shenanigans in a run of his

[@theshankpain2228]

@@dynastystar5515no he wouldn’t lol in his kanto solo runs when his Pokémon is poisoned and close to fainting, he will save and reset every 3 steps to avoid fainting, just to avoid having to return from the pokecenter .

[@jbyrne4531]

Great video man! Also, just something funny you said was that Brawly "maybe went to the Bruno school of fighting gyms", which in the canon of Pokémon is actually true - Brawly trained under Bruno of the E4, and Chuck from the Cianwood Gym in Johto haha!

[@raikaria3090]

Unfortunetly; Brawly got lost and wanted to be a Water-type Gym leader with his surfer vibes. Meanwhile; Crasher Wake went to the Water gym instead of the fighting gym; which would have suited his Wrestleing passion.

[@matissimoj1190]

Students exchange program

[@jordanthejq12]

@@raikaria3090 Man, Brawly would LOVE Poliwrath.

[@emeraldfinder5]

All of Jrose11’s videos feel genuine in a way that you rarely see on youtube anymore. You can tell he’s having fun making them, and that makes them really fun to watch

[@xKamiiii]

word

[@zerokid2007]

Sadly not entirely true. He's expressed frustration and boredom with the solo challenges on Twitch, but they bring in the views. I think the new editor is helping out a lot with that though.

[@aureate]

@@zerokid2007 That's true, but when it comes to his KZbin narration, it's an entertaining watch.

[@SEMIA123]

@@zerokid2007 But that proves the point, doesn't it? If this was fake enthusiasm, he'd never have expressed those feelings and that boredom/frustration is probably what lead to this video and hopefully will help motivate him in coming up with new and unique ideas in the future. Its an entirely expected, normal and genuine reaction to playing the same game over and over again.

[@Deadbymidnight97]

I agree his commentary feels genuine and not forced enthusiasm that you see with I a lot of people, really refreshing

[@maxwelllittle5291]

In universe explanation: Jrose was going to use the Master Ball on Kyogre, but it was eaten by Wallace's Wishcash.

[@DJEevee257]

Wiscash: "Yum, Kyogre!"

[@justanotherrandomguyinthec1835]

Aka the Masterball's only appearance in the anime lol

[@RossSpeirs]

Man, just imagine if there had been a mandatory battle where you catch zigzagoon and this run changes entirely.

[@ZorotheGallade]

Now I'm wondering how a minimum battle, minimum exploration (don't gain exp from Pokémon breaking rocks/harvesting berries) run of Legends Arceus would be. I think there aren't any Trainer battles besides a couple with Volo, your rival, and perhaps the brigands, and all the Noble Pokémon can be fought with Balms alone.

[@gelato101]

15:49 There are a couple npcs between Ruby, Sapphire, FireRed, and LeafGreen that do confirm that Brawly trained under Bruno

[@wobbles3217]

Honestly doing this in platinum might be interesting. Unlimited money and fossils from the underground. Also cranidos+vaporeon would cover your HMs so you could use Infernape instead of piplup.

[@xEmpress95]

Question then becomes whether you can get to level 14 before Roark for neutral rock damage and super effective priority one mach punch. I also think it would be doable in X & Y as you get the Kanto starters, Lapras and Lucario as well as Tyrantrum iirc and you'd have the constant advantage of Mega Evolution from gym 5 to gym 8. Also in ORAS you'd get Latios/Latias. B2W2 feel like they'd be impossible. But maybe there's some strategy in BW with the elemental monkies and fossil pokes could be doable. Plus at that point EXP becomes freely available to your whole party, not just your participating pokemon. SM and USUM also have unlimited fossils (theoreitcally, technically its tied to your money so there'd be some resource management and choices there) as well as an Eevee and USUM has totem pokemon. And in general gamse got easier from XY onward so I do think there's a way to do minimum battles in Platinum, BW, XY, SM/USUM and then probably Sword and Shield with all the DLC in mind.

[@endeav0r_49]

@@CyberchaoX while all three can be good vs Roark, chimchar is only good if you can get a monferno before battling it, and considering that most miners are skippable, all the junior trainers in the gym are skippable, i don't see it leveling up to 14 before the gym. Chimchar might be impossible.

[@dysr]

@@xEmpress95 Gen 5 and 7+ all have the advantage of a scaling experience system as well, so being too underlevelled isn't as big of a problem as the other games.

[@marx252]

@@CyberchaoX Small correction, but in Platinum you get a Togepi egg instead of Happiny. And Togekiss could be really useful thanks to easy evolution, Serene Grace, Extreme Speed, and access to fly. Not enough to replace Infernape/Empoleon, but its a flier who provides some utility. Also there is a gift Porygon in Veilstone. Not great stat-wise, but access to TMs like Thunderwave and Ice Beam could prove invaluable at certain points.

[@slashb7836]

@@xEmpress95 the SwSh DLCs require battles to get in, unfortunately. The slowpoke, Avery/Klara, Peony. So getting the gift Pokemon from things like the diglett dude would be out.

[@blue_manatee3895]

This was such a fun challenge to watch live, even with pokéchat Side note: Waterfall doesn't actually flinch opponents until gen 4. It really is pretty much just a worse Surf for the first three gens until the physical/special split

[@mskain4896]

2nd and 3rd. Waterfall isn't even in 1st Gen.

[@landshark3509]

@@mskain4896 Waterfall is in gen I. It's the signature move of the Goldeen line

[@mskain4896]

@@landshark3509 Huh. I stand corrected. Shows how much attention I paid to the Goldeen line in Gen 1

[@dynastystar5515]

you mean for gen 2 and 3? Waterfall as I recall doesn't exist in gen 1.

[@psynque]

@@dynastystar5515 you recall wrong.

[@chaosryans]

This reminds me of "groundhog day" where he does all the rediculously impossible things in one day after trial and error over and over again.

[@CrazyLeviathan62]

5:01 In fact, on Ruby/Sapphire, you need to talk to the twins to trigger the battle when you have 2 pokemon. They only come to you on Emerald.

[@Kurumisama]

also on emerald iirc if you only have one and talk to one of them you fight in a solo battle

[@Mar_Marine]

@@Kurumisama I have only ever played Emerald, and they have never solo battled me.

[@Sub-rj2xb]

@@Kurumisama they do not solo battle, they say they won’t fight someone with only one pokemon (iirc)

[@Drumpro31]

@@Mar_Marine yea idk why he said that and people are randomly agreeing lmao

[@anobodyperson6468]

Yeah, that's what I thought bc as someone who has really only played Ruby I was like "but I've always had to talk to them??"

[@meganbarhorst5272]

Man, this one is BRUTAL. Even the hard start of Yellow doesn't come close. There are so few mandatory trainers between the most difficult battles in this game, so you're always horrendously underleveled.

[@IamGrimalkin]

Yellow had an extra battle though so it's not a fair comparison. If he could have one more battle to catch an extra pokemon like in yellow this would have been way easier. Without the extra battle, yellow is impossible.

[@meganbarhorst5272]

@@IamGrimalkin You're right that Yellow is technically impossible without a capture, but I'd still say this one is the harder game due to the lack of gift Pokémon and tiny amount of mandatory trainers. Once JRose got past Brock, there was plenty of mandatory EXP to keep one Pokémon competitive, and that would've been just as true with Pikachu as with Pidgeotto and gotten you through to getting a better gift Pokémon from the Game Corner. Even if JRose had given up on Mudkip getting past Roxan and allowed a capture, whatever he got would still have to contend with being horrendously underleveled.

[@farnan92]

The most difficult battle is NOT Roxanne, but Rival II. The only reason Rival II is even possible is because of Mud-Slap... Also, Rival II is the battle that made Minimum battles in Crystal beat impossible. There's two alternatives: -Use Cyndaquil as your starter (Falkner is awful) -Spam MUD-Slap and hope It hits only once (and has a 25% CH rate) -Starting counting steps...

[@IamGrimalkin]

@@farnan92 I was assuming the hardest was the elite four (hence the extra capture that would let you get Kyogre or allow you to offload HMs). I'd still say an extra battle would still have made it much easier if rival II was the bottleneck though. I'd guess your best bet would be to catch a second Pokémon with an accuracy-lowering move, so you can lower Grovyle's accuracy before Marshtomp comes out. If not that, an extra level from another trainer battle would have helped. But yeah, probably this would still be harder than yellow even with the extra battle. I'd have to see it to know though.

[@MK_ULTRA420]

​@@farnan92 Whitney, Clair and Lance make sure that a Minimum battles in Crystal Run is only possible by picking Totodile. Rival II is still only possible to beat because of Mud-Slap. Catching Raikou will definitely improve your chances of beating the Elite 4 if you find it after Prof. Elm gives you the Master Ball. After the E4 the rest of the game is just grinding Feraligatr to take on Red.

[@MyShadow19]

This should be part of the "impossible challenges" series. The proof: he saves between elite four.

[@Ignacio_Moral]

From one of the highest count for minimum battles to probably the lowest minimum battles count. This was truly a journey. This has inspired me to try minimum battles for pokemon white, which luckily only has ONE instance of hm usage (the tree you need to cut in the dreamyard). Thank you Jrose for always bringing fun content! EDIT: No, you don't get the monkey without at least one battle. It has to be a Snivy or an Oshawott.

[@Ignacio_Moral]

New info that i didn't know. You need to have at least ONE optional battle. Be it catching a pokemon, or beating the trainer in dreamyard that stops you from getting a monkey. This is because the two young girls in route 3 don't let you pass through route 3 UNLESS YOU HAVE TWO POKEMON. So maybe you can use Tepig (unless you catch a pokemon, since the trainer that stops you from the elemental monkey has three pokemon). As for now though, 13 minimum battles between the beginning of the game and this roadblock, including the optional battle.

[@heartsy2838]

@@weavilelover play white. Trust me

[@Ignacio_Moral]

Finally completed it, after some breaks. It's pretty much exactly 100 battles. Might be 101, since I might've misclicked once, but it's 100 or 101. Beautiful. Also, game's somewhat easy until the elite four. Shauntal was the trickiest.

[@Pyxis10]

​@@Ignacio_Moral Wow, not sure I'd have the pateince to do that myself. Well done.

[@SonicEndouRed]

​@@Ignacio_Moralwould youbcare to give a detailed comment about run? I'm really interested what were the milestones

[@garrettjohnstone7229]

Great run! 57:41 you said you lost to Phoebe because you didnt get a PPUp, you had one but sold it before you started the E4. Probably a misclick on 4x speed 😋 great video can't wait for more

[@Jnadeau]

During the fight against Wallace Milotic, the chance to be frozen were actually 0% since you can't get frozen in the sunlight. It was one of the other thing sunny day helped with Edit: changed the gym leader name. Sorry about the mistake, haven't played a gen 3 game in over 3 year. Sorry about that one, I was stupid not double checking that

[@BlazingKhioneus]

I'll keep this in mind next time I face Winona's Milotic(I always thought there was a different reason. I never got frozen when facing it)

[@iss2075]

@@BlazingKhioneus Winona's Milotic is one of the most iconic Pokemon you fight in the Gen III games. It spams Recover like there's no tomorrow.

[@SomeGuy712x]

Since when did Winona have a Milotic? Did you all mean Wallace?

[@BlazingKhioneus]

@@SomeGuy712x We know what we typed.

[@foxbird123]

I'm just getting around to finishing this video, and I was wondering if anyone else would mention not getting frozen in sunlight.

[@radishpineapple74]

The creativity and out-of-the-box thinking that went into this video were incredible. I think that this truly is one of your best videos of all time. The only thing I can think is that maybe you could add a map graphic to show where you're thinking about going when you're thinking about routing considerations, and maybe a graphic to explain the confusing mechanic parts.

[@Zeturic]

I was thinking earlier today about how in later generations (Gen VI onwards), doing a "minimum battles" run would incentivize you to have a full team and to switch out so as many of them as possible have been on the field before knocking out a Pokémon, because gaining XP only through the EXP Share gives half of what you would receive if you actually participated, so having all your Pokémon directly participate only increases the total amount of experience your team gets. Very different from these, which are practically solo runs since you can't afford to split experience between multiple Pokémon.

[@sagacious03]

That does sound like it'd be interesting. I hope someone tries it!

[@velvetbutterfly]

Though Affection would make the run a joke

[@Zeturic]

@@velvetbutterfly In Let's Go and BDSP, maybe, but otherwise, no, it wouldn't. Aside from LGPE and BDSP, it's incredibly easy to avoid Affection bonuses, and basically just involves "don't go out of your way to do side modes that increase Affection". In Gen VI you only gain Affection via Pokémon Amie. Ignore that feature and you'll never gain any, and thus you will never have any of Affection's in-battle effects (surviving at 1HP, etc) activate. Gen VII is the same way, just with Pokémon Refresh instead of Pokémon Amie. Even in SwSh, all you have to do is avoid Pokémon Camp and walking with your Pokémon outside of its Poké Ball in the DLC Wild Areas. Friendship and Affection are merged into a single stat, yes, but there's a soft cap that prevents it from getting high enough to trigger any of the in-battle effects through normal gameplay (e.g. leveling up).

[@GrayLanternPPA]

My favorite sub-series! Really hope this isn't the end. I know for a fact Platinum can be done. I'd think gen 5 would be good too since it really downplayed the need for HM's.

[@bakes1324]

Gen 7 doesn’t have hms

[@HarveyMeadowlark]

Really cool to see some more stuff from other generations. The gen 1 solo challenges will always be well loved by the fans but it’s a nice breath of fresh air to see something else. Also, the rate of uploads is insane, really happy that I get new JRose videos so frequently now

[@mrman8442]

Your content is the best, the absolute gold standard. Never am i more excited than when a new jrose video comes out

[@williampaabreeves]

i wish to like the comment, but the counter is currently 69 so instead I leave a comment

[@Gwabd64]

Great video as always! Was somewhat amusing to hear you say you didn't pick up a PP Up during the E4 when you sold one while shopping just before it lol Also since you mentioned how rare it would be to fight Tate and Liza before Winona, fun fact: In RSE, the badge check before the E4 only actually checks if you have Winona's badge, because it's the only completely optional badge in the game. So if you're using hacks or glitches, or playing a map randomizer, you can get into the E4 as soon as you beat Winona!

[@petelee2477]

You can also skip brawley since flash isn't mandatory either

[@Gwabd64]

IIRC you do eventually need to beat Brawly because you can't fight Norman without four gym badges, but yeah you can skip him for a good while

[@sashasscribbles]

This was a super cool run! I have actually given Emerald minimum battles a few attempts after being inspired by the red/blue series and yuuup, Rival 2 under cycling road really is a wall. Maybe jumping forward a ton of generations to Alola or BDSP could be good. Neither require you to have HM pokemon and BDSP has the EXP share which makes using more than one pokemon easier c:

[@stephenveerasammy3074]

Jrose! You've been killing it for content recently. Don't forget to rest, I can only imagine your going full force

[@rasmusn.e.m1064]

Yay. Caught this immediately and am happy. Like it or not, these videos are directly correlated with me being way more excited than usual that day :)

[@guitarfreak80ftw]

So true

[@rajkanishu]

why would we not like such a thing tho

[@vrzrea795]

Yes, it is not like you need this videos to be happy. Im pretty happy in my life. But having this videos is very welcome plus

[@rasmusn.e.m1064]

@@rajkanishu Well, I just don't want jrose11 to feel personally responsible for other people's mental health.

[@Draezeth]

Imagine saving the world by walking up to a legendary Pokémon, then just running away. I actually never knew it just... let you run like that!

[@Ismy64]

I was wondering if somehow you could start the Elite 4 with no HMs on the swampert in a run like this, and I might have found a way to do so: • Go to Wally and get your swampert poisoned by his roselia (somehow, or get to Wally already poisoned from somewhere else). • Faint all other pokémon in the party. • Defeat Wally while poisoned and enter the Pokémon League. • Backtrack to Lilycove City and remove all HMs while keeping swampert alive with potions for the trip. • Blackout by poison to teleport back to the Pokémon League. • Teach any TMs you want. This should work without adding any battles, and it would be fun to see if it's actually possible!

[@icarusmarioFAN]

Wait, wouldn't you need to heal in order to make it teleport you to the Pokémon League after blacking out, which invalidates the entire strat?

[@Ismy64]

you might be right, and that's why i was somewhat unsure about it. i don't remember if you just need to visit a center or you actually have to use the machine

[@Ismy64]

@@icarusmarioFAN I confirm you just need to enter a Pokémon Center and not use the machine, so my plan will work!

[@icarusmarioFAN]

@@Ismy64 Cool, the strat is valid

[@DemonVermin]

iirc thats what the guy who did a can you do R/S/E with only your starter (no evolution) did to get to the E4 with 4 empty moves. Was quite ingenious

[@AndrooTheNerd]

These are so much fun to watch. I'm trying to imagine the route I would even take and I'm drawing a blank. Super excited to see what you do here!

[@shepskydad]

Awesome run. You’re great for taking care in the minor details like Sapphire’s higher difficulty for these runs. So dialed in and entertaining from start to finish.

[@wozda55]

50:00 "a 'Nice' amount of HP." that was so smooth i almost missed it

[@patbilek692]

I really love how there's a ton of challenge videos out there, but jrose's are the only ones I've seen that feel like they're coming at it scientifically. It's usually not can you beat, it's how easily can you beat. Love it.

[@SvviftDeath]

This idea is mental. I had no idea what a run like this would be like but you are an absolute madman for doing it. Congrats on reaching your goal and that was an amazing string of planned luck to pull you through to the end. Also the fact that you don't use save states and can't go back if you find out you locked yourself from being able to complete the challenge in some way is damn impressive that you didn't have to reset from the beginning. Excited for the next video, they are all so good.

[@acumenium8157]

Incredible run. I love how the Twitch stream actually came in handy for the Destiny Bond idea. It actually helped. A lot!

[@YukeWeiss]

I adore the Minimum Battles series. It's mind boggling just how few you got for this run and how much weaving around you had to do just to get to the end. I remember being in stream for almost the whole thing (saw myself in chat) and this was a terrific video. I really hope you give Emerald a crack.

[@jubdroid2590]

I don’t know how I’m not burned out from watching your videos. Normally I get tired of youtubers but I’ve been watching you consistently since I’ve found your channel and I love your format and commentary. Definitely my favourite poketuber, which is a pretty high bar… this is an amazing community of talented people, and you’re the pinnacle of this. Keep up the good work. P.S. never let the count impression die, puts mahdrybread’s fossil gag to shame (no offence to him his videos bop too)

[@skeetermania3202]

0:10 I’ve sifted through every challenge video you’ve made thanks to two extremely helpful playlists, and I only saw one for Emerald and another for Ruby/Sapphire. 4:49 Even if you had a second Pokémon, that would change nothing (aside from one extra battle to catch a wild Pokémon). In Ruby/Sapphire, twin NPCs won’t battle you unless you directly talk to them, while in pretty much every other game (including Emerald), they will battle you if you pass by them in their sight. 53:44 My brain just hatched a galaxy brain tier idea! See what you think of this. On a mandatory Trainer where it’s possible to get poisoned (Wally among them), have several potions on hand and walk into the Ever Grande centre, then walk out to be the designated area you will be teleported to if you white out. For this to be possible, Swampert will have to be the only still active Pokémon and be poisoned. You can then go back to Lilycove, delete the HMs, and relearn new moves. After that, intentionally have Swampert faint to poison, and you’ll get teleported back to Ever Grande. That way, you don’t have to waste an extra unnecessary battle on whiting out to a wild Pokémon. 57:23 Waterfall can’t flinch in Gen 3. Just thought I’d let you know of that.

[@bongodavid123]

That solution to getting rid of HMs is probably one of the most galaxybrain sugfestions ever :)

[@pokemaniac333]

Side-Nye This was a blast to watch! I wonder how close to minimum you could get with Treecko or Torchic. I'm assuming there are not enough gift Pokemon for your HMs, so an additional battle against a Zigzagoon would probably be necessary.

[@bongodavid123]

Personally I think you can absolutely finish a minimum battles run in every gen. Though some "optional" battles might be necessary. Like catching a pokemon for hms.

[@jbz4788]

The Victory road in Diamond/Pearl would probably mean it was required to catch something as you need Strength, Surf, Waterfall, Rock climb & Rock smash to get through and I don’t think the gift pokemon not behind battles can learn Rock climb in particular.

[@Nick_Slavik]

Oh man!!!! This one was such a nail biter! I love the energy and enthusiasm you put into your voiceovers! It feels like it is usually just one continous play by play. I always feel myself get so tense during multiple attempted battles lol then relief when you finally win! Love the work JRose! Can't wait for more!

[@lillithplays6514]

What if you got poisoned off the first guy in victory road, entered the Pokemon League, immediately left, backtracked to delete Waterfall and Strength, then blacked out from poison to respawn after victory road?

[@marcmardini6873]

That’s so big brained it might actually work

[@emilydonegan3208]

My thoughts too lol

[@cherry9787]

Good thinking, but that would require an additional battle to make swampert faint from the poison, which would be an optional battle

[@cherry9787]

Nvm forgot poison deals damage outside of battle in R/S/E lol

[@Corundrom]

Pretty sure you have to heal at the pokemon league in order to come back there after fainting, not just enter it

[@Zutentu]

I love that all teammates were able pull their weight at some point of the run! Great video!

[@nathanielmathews2617]

Thank you for these videos so much. I got extreme PTSD and sleeping can be so stressful, but this is such light hearted content and relaxing, I just fall asleep so well to it. Things aren't perfect, I still experience disturbing thoughts and sleep disturbances, but these vids make the process so much better. You and Scott's Thoughts I appreciate so much. Thanks again!

[@RoyArkon]

What's even more amazing is that you managed to get some of the things to complete this challenge on the fly like the Destiny Bond thing, this is truly fantastic dude.

[@CartoonKarma]

Commenting before watching the video this time, because oh boy! Having done a video of this challenge myself ages ago, I know all the difficulties; 3 barely usable gift Pokémon on top of Swampert, only 50 battles (my Swampert was barely Lv. 44 after beating Sidney), Mud Slap or Double Team being the only winnable strategy in nearly ten of those battles (a little less in Ruby, Maxie’s Camerupt is much easier then Archie’s Sharpedo). Knowing how much JRose despises Double Team, and rightly so, I predict much frustration. This is objectively the most difficult Minimum Battles run by a country mile; that 1/1200 odds in the thumbnail is not an exaggeration! Even Emerald is notably easier due to only half as many battles needing Double Team, with the numerous extra mandatory wild trainers giving some much-needed extra experience. Will he spy alternate strategies somewhere that I missed? I mean, probably, I didn’t cop on to using the rented Fearow in Gold/Silver, though that was ultimately equally easy to Feraligatr once Rare Candies were used to close the level gap. I look much forward to watching this one later! EDIT: Okay, so JRose managed to avoid using Double Team even once, though the strategies he used for some of those battles (Archie 1, Norman, Archie 2, Wallace and Sidney; Rival 3 also, but as you can safely set up on Numel that isn’t luck-dependant at all) sometimes had just as low odds and thus needed just as many attempts. But they were far more fun to watch, helped by him having a video almost twice as long that could really get into the nitty-gritty. And otherwise, he often dealt damage faster due to trying more unorthodox moves. On the other hand, I never had to grind coins for another Ice Beam, and saving the Rare Candies until after Sidney gave me an easy run for the rest of the Elite Four (beat Phoebe, Glacia and Drake 1st try) and Steven (took three tries), finishing the run at Lv. 60 - I even had similar “stall reflect out” shenanigans by Metagross. So easier and harder in different places. Were I doing this again, I would take a lot from his run, but keep some elements of mine. And getting Destiny Bond onto Wynaut earlier, if possible, could really help, especially with Wallace. And equipping Shell Bell as soon as one reaches Mossdeep - disadvantage of doing a run in lengthy block sessions is you have to wait on time-based features sometimes, like the tides of that cave!

[@therepublic21]

Long time fan, and still adore your stuff Jrose! I hope we get to see more gen 3 runs!

[@Mr.Not.Perfect]

Your minimum battle videos are always a joy to watch and rewatch. This one was no exception. Would love to see the series move forward!

[@michaeljbuckley]

Savage going. I'm loving the crazy luck of late. The amount of time you spend on planning and working out these runs must be insane. Great stuff!!

[@GymLeaderMatt1987]

These are helpful. I know a lot of people, like myself enjoy doing solo runs as well and I'll admit that R/B/S are a little foreign to me. It's just good knowledge to build off of if you want to get more serious in runs. I've done a Spheal run but you aren't doing that at minimum battles, lol.

[@amberhernandez]

Ahh yes, Ruby/Sappire/Bemerald lmao

[@WayneMercy]

@@amberhernandez I think he meant Red/Blue/Sellow

[@roberteospeedwagon8178]

Same but Poochyena

[@GymLeaderMatt1987]

@@amberhernandez What can I say, I play the gen 1 games like 300 times a year, lol.

[@nautgamingnautgaming9949]

@@GymLeaderMatt1987 Tombstoner brother Gotta watch em all pokemon

[@flarithen]

minimum battles in XY is very possible. i completed it recently, would love to see you do it. you are required to have Fly, so you take the charmander from sycamore, though you'll probably want cut and strength to avoid some battles. my personal notes below (hidden if u dont wanna read) start with chespin for coverage, rollout carries the 1st gym. take tyrunt over amaura in my testing, it's stronger and you don't need the ice coverage. the lucario is obviously a boon. gift lapras spots your water HMs and ice moves, rendering froakie and amaura non-mandatory. the 2nd gym is the hardest and very much requires luck, but it IS possible. i preferred Y version because oblivion wing is OP, not sure how xerneas would fair. my first run was actually fennekin and bulbasaur which dominated the game outside of the 2nd and 3rd gyms. however, i didnt realise fly was necessary to enter geosenge town, so i had to catch a random flyer :( i got the lowest lvl one possible so i gained as little xp as i could, but still. what was even more annoying was how yveltal was GOING to be my flier and it was literally like 1 or 2 battles away.

[@lemeres2478]

other than the anorith, every member of this team provided their own unique and vital roles.

[@darkfiredragon3410]

Anorith was kinda important too, he lifted Swampert from Rock Smash duty.

[@kmytpmv314]

One of your best! I absolutely LOVE these "odyssey" runs, and there was so much entertaining strategy and game mechanics to take advantage of. Honestly Jrose, you are a pioneer of Pokemon, taking it to uncharted horizons! I sure would be happy if you decided to make more minimum battles, the concept is so intrguing to me and many others.

[@taggerung890]

Sapphire and emerald were some of my most favorite Pokemon games. I remember soloing emerald with a blazekin and Rayquaza. I've always thought there were ways to skip battles and speed up the game. This video proves it and I had a blast watching your journey ! You should work with Pokemon challenges and small ant to do some Pokemon challenge runs!

[@BraindeadArchives]

always a treat to see you post something new every once in a while jrose. keep it up

[@blaze9327]

Just wanna say that I’m in vet school and your videos are a great way for me to take a mental break, especially with them being so long. Love that you’ve been posting a lot of videos lately. Thank you!

[@jasonblack4208]

"Should I switch out?" "Sure, Wynaut?"

[@airtempest8945]

Looking at this, at least the EXP Share that has to be done to evolve an egg mon isn't as hilariously degenerate as doing the silly "You gotta evolve Togepi for Fly to skip a trainer on the way back to Canalave" thing.

[@ClaraFinn]

Yes I’ve been waiting for this one! Can’t wait to watch it. After the last brutal challenge I was expecting something simpler as well. You’re on fire recently man Edit- just finished it, absolutely incredible turn of events. That’s twice now Glacia has been a nightmare in your Gen 3 vids. Which is kinda funny since she was always an easy trainer in casual playthroughs imo

[@mjdxp5688]

I like your pfp :)

[@ClaraFinn]

@@mjdxp5688 thank you! Like yours too 🤗

[@Lokiip]

We love to see it! Jrose keeping fresh content and still being able to go in detail so we'll. That's what I love is how detailed your videos are. Even when I use them to sleep, I can imagine every detail. The best of your kind of KZbinr imo. Makes my mentally hardest days so much easier to "detox" my brain from. Much love brother.

[@Bonezones]

Very thorough video man! Gen 3 is really special to me. I really look forward to any gold/silver challenges you do.

[@tylerhollingsworth9152]

Sit down on toilet…gets notification on phone….new jrose upload….this is gonna be good ;)

[@plhbuschannel]

I would think doing a damageless sword and shield run might be a good idea! oh btw this run definitely brutal when you see that the thumbnail being 1 out of 2000 chance and it took 1 hour and 10 minutes to the end of challenge, which is effectively longer than gsc wobuffet solo run! update: it is Soooo entertaining to watch bro!

[@cubedmelons876]

I imagine a damageless run in any post-gen4 game would be a nightmare, if not impossible, because of Sturdy. There are some pokemon you just can't oneshot anymore, so you'd have to take hits.

[@joshuajennings4070]

@CubedMelons multi-hit moves exist

[@plhbuschannel]

Joshua Jennings it would be even a step further in difficulty (honestly the hardest one probably would be raihan with sand + double battle)

[@xEmpress95]

@@cubedmelons876 There's been a few done mostly relying on a whole lot of luck, Shedinja, Quick Claw, Staraptor, Priority Moves and overlevelling, as well as exploiting the Daycare for 9 hours to grind pokemon.

[@uygarcelik7]

@@xEmpress95 it isnt a challenge with daycare

[@mojosjojo2951]

I really enjoyed this episode! Seeing every mon on your team actually be useful was really interesting.

[@leodavinci9682]

Thank you so much! Those are my favorite videos, I can't imagine how much work they are but I am already looking forward to Gen4.

[@LQVaughn]

So pumped for another minimum battles challenge!!!

[@djembejambi]

Swampert is my fav, it’s nice to see pretty much a solo run done with it

[@huntereddy4014]

This is one of the most satisfying runs I've seen. The sheer strategies that Jrose11 has to come up with for these runs are amazing! And I love that this is really just a "regular" playthrough, no modified game or complicated rule set. Just no items in battle, and avoid every fight you can. I especially loved how you can't get pokemon from the game corner in this game. Feels like it really limits you in a fair way and makes you use the few pokemon you can get in creative ways. I'd love to see minimum Battles Fire Red/Leaf Green with the same rules + no game corner pokemon.

[@juniemarin]

It's amazing seeing all the imaginative strategies you have to use to get thorough these challenges! Love it! ❤

[@SemiHypercube]

Always nice seeing a Jrose video in my notifications, especially since it's been a while since a minimum battles playthrough. Also what's with the colors in the game? They look a bit weird. Is it because of whatever device/emulator you use to play these on? That Glacia battle sure was something

[@SparklingTheWay]

he usually plays on physical copies so it might be the capture device?

[@darkfiredragon3410]

It's definitely a problem with the Retron 5.

[@TangerineTux]

It looks as though it might be recording a full-range (0-255) signal but tagging it as limited or “TV range” (16-235).

[@Tigerman4545]

That whole sequence at 20:52 is just my life in a nutshell

[@truewhissan]

That was an amazing run. I am amazed at how you overcame seemingly impossible odds. Keep up the good work Jrose!

[@gaiusjuliuscaesar7561]

The strategies you come up with are really astonishing. I liked the video very much. Great work!

[@mr.orange9481]

Great video as always! I'm excited to see a potential Emerald run. The strategy would probably be different, since the Mudkip line can learn Rollout via a move tutor in Mauville City.

[@OdellisaurusRex]

I can’t explain it very well, but I’ve never seen this game look this vibrant. It’s like the contrast is higher than regular, is that intentional or is perhaps just from the retron (or however you’re playing this)?

[@luca.richard2813]

I appreciate you posting more often, Jrose!! I hope you're doing well and enjoying it the grind. We love you Jose mater what

[@billdewall6152]

That Wynaut stuff at the end is brilliant. The little moments like that show that you're more than just the guy who has the patience to take on these challenges. You've also got the creativity and knowledge necessary to actually pull them off.

[@petelee2477]

46:07 I remember playing both sapphire and ruby with the constant being the game becomes easy once the overpowered legendary is captured. Didn't even matter which one. This challenge would be impossible if the destiny bond need happened here.

[@alexsabini7702]

Great video. With regards to minimum battles on later generations. If you need a pokemon for HMs to progress the game that you can't get anywhere else. There must be a minimum way of doing it still. If you have to catch 1 pokemon to be able to progress then that is just the new minimum in my mind so don't stop it from you doing it.

[@afroduckaka4pf593]

Man you are amazing at everything pokemon! I hope you keep this passion for these runs. If you do, I will be watch ever step of the way cuz this is the highest quality pokemon content on all of KZbin! Thanks for all the amazing, entertaining, and informative content you’ve produced thus far!

[@TailsFWC]

My favourite gen ! I'm hella hyped, your videos are always a treat

[@tevindublin7620]

Finally, we’re getting Gen 3 content. Can’t wait for Emerald !!

[@Laszlo5897]

Best gen

[@pikapuffin368]

I played through Emerald with a full party, but Mudkip was simultaneously my HM slave and my most-used Pokémon. Also never evolved him. I had no idea how bad I was at Pokémon as a kid. I genuinely don’t know how I beat the game, but I did!

[@Laszlo5897]

As a kid I had Charizard as my HM slave (gen 1) 😂

[@bradenkirkey458]

Proud of you for this run, man. Very creative!

[@Pivot-Shorts]

39:20 "Castform decides to go for rain dance". Considering it has a mind of its own, that's convenient! Great video btw

[@R.B.90]

I know you used rare candies but getting Swampert to level 56 in that few battles (won't spoil it) is pretty remarkable.

[@dynastystar5515]

I got extremely excited when I saw this in my subbox on my break at work, happy I'm home so I can watch the rest! Edit: Just a small bit of feedback, I REALLY like the edit of your team on the left. It would also be nice if you showed how many badges you currently have. You don't have to take the feedback, there's a chance that this is the last minimum battles run due to issues you expressed.

[@MatthewJemilo]

Well done, love to see these kind of challenges!

[@katycat5852]

one of the best channels on youtube. wanted to wait to watch this before bed but I'm too excited to wait!

[@CarliVala]

This video was great. Swampert is one of my favorites and is a solid starter, so it's very interesting to see it in action. Just out of curiosity, what was your final Swampert's nature? Rash?

[@smolgobbo3826]

It’s brave

[@CarliVala]

@@smolgobbo3826 Thanks!

[@forgerofsouls9126]

Just realized if a "least battles possible" video was made for Sword/Shield, you'd have to catch Eternatus, as you CANNOT run from it, even during the "catch" part. And, if you have certain save data, you can get a free Mew and Jirachi for a Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl "Least Battles Possible" run. And Mew, would basically break the run, by being able to learn all TMs.

[@darkfiredragon3410]

Mew being the ultimate HM slave doesn't matter in BDSP since the Poketch summons wild pokemon to use the HMs; it would still probably break the run, but by being able to learn every TM instead.

[@forgerofsouls9126]

@@darkfiredragon3410 Did I say HMs? I was actually meaning TMs...I'll edit that part.

[@troyb5362]

That was a rollercoaster! Awesome vid Jrose

[@DakZouglas]

Such incredible content at high speed. Insane stuff. Very well done

[@paulthompson382]

Ever since I first saw your first minimum battles video, I've tried to do Gen 3 Hoenn minimum battles challenges and...Y I K E S, I've struggled so much, never been able to get itemless past the route 110 rival battle. I knew you'd find a way through the roadblocks though!! Edit now I've got to that part of the video: gosh darn it, I always thought Bide would be the way to do it and I was looking forward to you having to use it 😅

[@an-ei]

When I played Pokemon when I was about five years old, I would skip pretty much every battle I could and would quickly get stuck behind a trainer that had twenty levels on me.

[@clairemarriott3988]

I hope we do, at the very least, get to see a Platinum minimum battles, especially because that game covers the HMs so perfectly. All three starters can learn Cut, Strength, Rock Smash, and Rock Climb in their final form - Grotle and Monferno can even do it before then - while Vaporeon is available to cover water HMs and Strength/Rock Smash, and Togetic - which evolves from Togepi via happiness, no battling necessary - can learn Fly. That just leaves a focus on battling in one of the most battle-y Pokemon games. But if this is the last run, what a great note to go out. Fantastic job!

[@chinchou012]

Wow this video was amazing 👏 u deserve alot of credit I can't imagine how difficult it must have been with the going back and forth and just everything in general you definitely deserve a lot of credit this was a really good video all your videos are amazing you're a true gem