Luxray-line Solo Challenge - Pokemon Platinum

Rules:
1. Only my starter in battle
2. No items in battle, except held items
3. No glitches, exploits, save states, or RNG manipulation
4. No evasion moves before level 100*
Rule details:
-- *In gen1, evasion boosting is allowed if the Pokemon does it through means other than learning the move by level up or TM. For example, using Mimic or Mirror Move to boost evasion is allowed. (This exception is to keep ranking consistent with my legacy videos.)
-- I am allowed to manipulate my starter
-- I play the game at 4x game speed
-- For fair comparisons all my Pokemon have perfect (or near perfect) DVs / IVs
-- I am allowed to catch HM users - I can use all field moves
-- All in-battle glitches are allowed in generation 1
-- In generation 1, I'm allowed to skip Marowak with the Poke Doll
-- Surge's trash-can-puzzle is automatically solved
-- The bike is allowed in gen1, banned in gen2, and allowed for bypassing terrain in gen3
-- Saving between league members is allowed
-- If the solo Pokemon faints and I choose to blackout it counts towards my reset counter
-- I can pause the game and timer to take breaks
-- The footage is sped up / slowed down to match the pace of my narration
-- The ability Pickup can only be used if the starter has it
Patreon: / scottsthoughts
KZbin memberships:
/ @scottsthoughtspokemon
Twitter: / psychicflying
Twitch: / scottsthoughtspokemon
Illustrations by / sarinavail
Thumbnail art by / brianlsart
STAB: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
DVs / IVs: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
Damage Calculations: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
Gen1 Stat Calculator: pycosites.com/pkmn/stat_gen1.php
Gen2 Stat Calculator: pycosites.com/pkmn/stat_gen2.php
Gen1 Crit Rates: www.smogon.com/rb/articles/cr...
Learnsets: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
Base Stats: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...)

[@thedancingguy828]

You reminded of me?!?! Thank you Scott, that means so much to me and shows that you are a great guy, i watch your videos since you had like 2k or so views! I just don´t comment that often anymore, i am gonna change this, i am gonna start commenting again every video

[@raianlima4758]

He needs to pin this comment

[@shadowtitanx3962]

You are lowkey Dennis

[@JJ-qo7th]

Congratulations! That is all. Glad you finally got the video you wanted. :)

[@InTenZeGamingHD]

dancing you are the best!

[@thedancingguy828]

@@shadowtitanx3962 i am the Brazilian Denis lol

[@Soldaraku]

A handful of things I hope will be somewhat useful in future playthroughs. 1: Fake Out is a Priority Move, so it doesn't matter how fast your Pokemon is, it's getting hit unless it's a ghost or has it's own priority move and is faster than the Purugly. 2: In Veilstone Department Store you can buy TM83 Natural Gift. This move is basically Hidden Power but you can change the type on the fly. For example, Natural Gift with Cheri Berry is a Base 60 Power Fire Type Move. Switch to a Chesto Berry and its now a Base 60 Power Water Type Move. This should help so many Pokemon in the future.

[@apollobro91_2]

Scott mentioned the Purugly using Scratch in the 2nd turn, and he knows what Fake Out is as he mentioned its priority in a previous vid. Natural Gift is definitely a useful move to provide some coverage for Electric types like this onr.

[@cadencenavigator958]

I believe that Fake Out has +5 priority, one step lower than Protect or switching.

[@TheAuron32]

i have played since gen1 and never knew about how Natural Gift worked, thanks, i plan on playing older games over the next few months due to bank being closed so imma use this for sure.

[@SoupUpPop]

Actually in Gen 4, all direct damage dealing priority moves(except feint) have +1 priority.

[@Cortrakx3]

Fake Out has an exception and has +3!

[@lorddelibird]

For the future I highly recommend trying to grab natural gift from the veil stone department store. If you line up your berries it can help as a one time use move to get rid of particularly problematic pokemon like the steelix. I don’t think it’s broken like hidden power since it is one time use and has an item cost but I imagine it could save a lot of time.

[@dvillines26]

yeah Natural Gift is the Nuzlocker's cheese method for DPPt, it really shouldn't be underestimated.

[@lamiaprincess6371]

Sadly Natural Gift is Physical so its probably not great versus Steelix but I actually will second this, this could end up being an important move.

[@shadowtitanx3962]

@@lamiaprincess6371 There's something even better: Choice Specs with Hidden Power Water for not only Steelix, but also Bertha's team.

[@cryogyro3779]

Sitrus Berries are the key to tough fights in this game. With a bit more HP, you can power through Byron's Steelix without Swagger gambling, and they generally make the difference for fights that are just slightly out of reach. (E: other comments reminded me that Natural Gift Fire was my actual answer to Byron) While the move tutors are generally unnecessary, the Snowpoint one gives Electric-types an interesting new option in Magnet RIse. I used it with Luxray to beat Bertha more comfortably. I caution against using type matchup calculators. Offensive matchups are only one part of Pokemon's complexity; stats and movepool complete a threat. Magneton doesn't matter, because it doesn't have particularly good moves for Luxray. Byron's Steelix is the only threatening one, since Steelix doesn't get Earthquake (or any Ground attacks) by level. What you SHOULD worry about is any Ground-type with the physical bulk to handle Return, which a type calculator isn't going to show you since Normal and Dark 'hit' them. Don't evaluate in the abstract; go through the short list of major trainers and estimate if your Pokemon will fear them. Funnily enough, I think Pachirisu has a lot of potential. It has a proper coverage move in Grass Knot, which alone solves a lot of Luxray's problems. Its movepool is full of interesting tools that can finesse through other potential problems, and it gets Charge Beam for the endgame. Its only clear problem is a lack of raw stats. I have yet to play with it, but I'm excited to eventually.

[@fernandoguillen5996]

Luxray should've been a part dark type

[@shadowtitanx3962]

Except a Gen 8 Pikaclone stole its Dark typing.

[@DisasterLord]

Gaining weaknesses to bug, figthing in the gen that introduces close combat and fairy later on while having it's speed tier would make it worse, so much worse STAB crunch is not worth it, what physical electric types need is a better STAB than thunderfang and later wild charge or the new jump kick clone

[@mrfr33b0i2]

no you

[@johnapple6646]

Drayano changed it to a dark type in ren plat I think ​@@DisasterLord

[@slipperysnake3822]

​@@johnapple6646every romhack ever makes it a dark type lol

[@shimmianNS]

On the twenty-eighth day of December, Scott's Thoughts gave to me: An honorary starter Sparking A penguin mon Drill Pecking The burning 'Ape Swords Dancing A dramatic entry into Sinnoh The Birds as a perfect ending Mewtwo totally sending! The first Dragon line slowly growing A kaiju rhino stomping A metal crab whose stats stay even A pseudo legend walled by Steven The egg tree with a garbage move pool A 'Bro "destined for greatness" Giovanni's aces finally winning The tapirs using hypnosis The 'King of emerald loafing A lively mid stage slashing The Johto trio roaming Surge's 'Chu with a competent trainer Classy Cat v Pig Monkey! A moonstone evolution The "Rhydon of gen three" A Pure Power powerhouse Wattson's ace in Hoenn 'Phan v Ursaring! A tiny turtle's bubble The fire starter digging A garden lizard's leech seed And those three weirdo mons punching

[@Ludzig]

You could try harder to make it rhyme

[@antoniacorrales9148]

Bro he ain't a rapper leave him alone 😅

[@silver_was_found]

Keep it up, this is so good :)

[@OnceAic]

The moveset for this generation looks very good after Gen 1-3, I love the physical/special split

[@goldkobold6496]

Odd question but wouldn’t it be more beneficial to knock out Giratina in this situation since Luxray can realistically one shot and get some good exp gains from the legend? Also the wide lens may be useful in situations where you need to use low accuracy moves

[@dragonslayerz2220]

Giratina is stupid bulky, so I doubt it.

[@xxovampireoxx]

I've been waiting for this ever since I found your channel and you mentioned you were planning on doing a luxray run eventually! Worth the wait!

[@steeliodoesminecraft2645]

Something to keep in mind for later, stealth rock is amazing for Cyrus in case a pokemon struggles and doesn't get a better rock move. ~(1/4 damage on switch in for only 1 turn of setup) Shouldn't impact this run, but thought of it when I saw you selling it.

[@iantaakalla8180]

Another trick you can use is that if a Pokémon learns a weather-setting move and the Pokemon is weak to Ice-type or special moves, teaching it that weather-setting move is great because then Blizzard’s accuracy goes to 70% and then you can play around Blizzard missing instead of outspeeding Froslass or tanking its Blizzard. There are bonus points if the Pokémon knows Sunny Day because that powers up Fire moves to take out every Ice Pokémon quicker if ranges are bad.

[@eekajmoneybaby9309]

Loving the new series btw can't wait for more series to become available as new tech comes out

[@asierrv]

love your progress dude, each run you get so much better. pd: maybe you want to start implementing tutor moves in the movepool chart since in this game they are so much accesible, magnet rise will make a huge change in electric pokemon final times for sure!

[@Cjbball4]

It would be fun to see how Luxray would do if you gave it the egg move Ice Fang which I feel like could help it a lot.

[@pokepress]

That occurred to me as well. Some of it would depend on whether it would be able to justify keeping it the whole run.

[@ShiningJudgment666]

Also gets Fire Fang which could make Steelix a bit less annoying. But yeah, you'd have to keep it the whole run as once it's forgotten, you can't relearn it.

[@Felkastrasz]

I am so happy you finally decided to do Platinum. By far my most played games as a kid/teenager. Lookin forward to a "Munchlax only" :D

[@Pepperly]

First, loving these daily videos; i'm currently working on a pokemon-themed mural for my best friend's nursery and having your runs keep me company is perfect. Not distracting at all and I know the games well enough to not have to constantly watch like some other streamers. Your narration of all the interesting bits is also great for no-screen entertainment. Second, if you ever do a full Luxray run, starting from the beginning. you should give it a try with its egg moves. Spark, Ice Fang, Fire Fang, and Crunch are an amazing set of attacks, and even just doing Ice Fang as a starting move will be a huge difference.

[@Fangreius]

Always love your content always entertaining. Keep up the great work man

[@sircode2410]

Hey Scott, love your vids. I was full of anticipation to see that you were doing gen 4 runs. It would be nice if you do a buizel/Floatzel run. Since Floatzel is the unoffical second water starter. Keep it going 😊

[@marciellusr2419]

Scott your break will be long deserved, you have been carrying November and December for me and I appreciate that

[@DarkLaw-gs5ck]

i would like to suggest something for future runs, in the department store you can buy the move natural gift, which is a physical attack that changes in power and typing based on a held berry. it can only be used once per battle, but you can buy multiples and it can help if a pokemon when it is stuck because of an unfortunate match up. I love your videos. keep up the great work

[@TJF588]

That Gardenia introduction segment is so cuuute!

[@Tarkduckleduck]

Hey Scott! Nice video as always. For future runs I think you should keep the move Natural Gift in mind. It isn't particularly like... Well, it isn't particularly good haha. BUT, it changes type depending on the berry the user is holding. Pokemon with limited movepools like Luxray could benefit from this move a lot, it could've given you a much stronger move to use against the steelix and quite possibly allowed for a much easier time with the Rhyperior And as for your final question, Rotom will without doubt perform amazingly! In this gen it's always a ghost type, but it has the perk of gaining new coverage once you defeat the galactic team in Eterna City. Having to rely on hydro pump, blizzard, overheat, leaf storm, and air slash is not ideal, but you can fix up your coverage whenever you need outside the league. I have really high hopes in rotom Keep up the good work!

[@trevorparker6400]

Wouldn't he do a run for each form?

[@Tarkduckleduck]

@@trevorparker6400 Well, considering that you can manually change it ingame as long as you have the secret key? I don't think of a reason why. Afterall, Rotom was made with that intention, of being able to change forms to help you

[@ZerglingOne1]

Oh wow. I have over 1000 hours in gen 4 and had no idea about the poison! That means you can use it to your advantage, since there are a lot of skills in the game that function off of HP. Reversal and Flail come to mind. Loving the Gen 4 content, it's my favorite generation.

[@DJ-se5pl]

It's kind of funny in the newer games that you've decided to evolve the pokémon throughout the game. When I first started watching your channel I thought that's what you should do. But over the years of watching, I honestly almost prefer seeing individual pokémon runs because you've explained the properly the reasoning and it makes more sense

[@jamiekaslana5550]

Always been one of my favorites, and yeah it does feel like most players just had to pick up a Shinx at some point even if it didn’t evolve it’s sooo cute! I’ll eagerly await episodes after the break I think physical and special split despite the infamously slow games bring much more interesting strategies

[@Dictionary_Remix]

Im really excited for the new Platinum runs, hope the Roserade (my favorite mon) comes out soon!

[@dragonyyy]

salut to thedancingguy828 o7

[@treiz01]

Shinx was the first full odds shiny I ever caught, so I will forever have a special place in my heart for this cute lil guy.

[@maxspecs]

I look forward to Rotom’s playthrough! Electric types with Levitate are always fun, and there’s the aspect of swapping forms to handle different situations in Platinum…provided you can activate the secret key.

[@PlutoDarknight]

Charge is kind of the True Strike of Pokemon

[@HangryLuna]

Maybe take a look at natural gift its a pretty cool move its like Hidden power but you can change the damage typing of the move by the berry you are holding. Nice video i really enjoy the gen 4 videos so far 😊

[@jeffdeneum]

Yo scott, don't know if you'll see this, but I was calcing some options for the steelix fight, you can buy hyper beam at the veilstone department store, and at level 65 with your stats, it was over 50% chance to OHKO the steelix. I'm guessing your routing software will show you stuff like that in the future, but i figure it's good to know for future platinum runs, special hyper beam can have a niche application here, especially since the bastiodon that comes out afterwards is not scary at all! Edit: I wasn't even including silk scarf in the calc, so you could probably get through the fight way earlier, maybe even much earlier if you try for like a crunch flinch into hyperbeam, could save a lot of training!

[@xatornovasreviews7818]

Something that may be interesting to experiment with is the Natural Gift TM, which is buyable in the Veilstone Department Store and it allows you to use a Berry to attack once with a 60-70 BP physical move that depends on the Berry. For example, the Bluk Berry is 70 BP Fire-type, which could havehelped against Byron, or the Pinap Berry is 70 BP Grass-type, which could have helped against Bertha. Some berries with 60 BP are also buyable on the department store (Figy is Bug-type, Wiki is Rock-type, Mago is Ghost-type, Aguav is Dragon-type, Iapapa is Dark-type) I have yet to apply it in my own playthroughs but in theory it could be helpful

[@Shawnzy1]

That’s such a smart way to train , I never thought of that

[@Monkeydluffy-ug5zt]

Another great video Scott

[@garethleahy412]

Crazy how long this game takes to play when Weepinbell will probably complete yellow in sub 35. Appreciate the effort!

[@TheSteakJustice]

Hey I just wanted to point out something that I'm sure you've seen a number of times now but Natural Gift is probably your solution for Byron's Steelix, and maybe for consistency against Bertha. Bulbapedia has an entire chart on the move's page to show what berries do what, and Bluk, Nanab, Kelpsy and Hondew berries can all be found on the map without variance due to chance, and all turn it into a 70 power physical attack that deals super effective damage against Steelix.

[@fortello7219]

I can't believe they didn't give Luxray Firefang in gen4! That's like, one of its main utilities!

[@MrEnte3000]

@@kyhz04 No, it's an egg move.

[@thecriticalghost4626]

Almost every Pokémon gets them with heart scales (Like arbok or granbull) it's a shame Luxray doesn't get the elemental fangs they would have been handy

[@kyhz04]

@@MrEnte3000 I'mma delete my comment and make you look delusional

[@Pikatwig16]

It can get that move... via breeding.

[@dvillines26]

Luxray can only get Fire Fang by breeding until gen 8, where it's a TM. it's also a TM in SV, so Luxray finally has the coverage it needs in modern games. However Fire Fang is NOT a TM in BDSP, lol. The thing is that Steel no longer resists Dark from Gen VI onwards, so Luxray doesn't absolutely need Fire Fang from that point. but it's still nice, and the Fangs ought to be TMs in every mainline game going forward.

[@illusion9423]

My guy doesn't stop, he's grinding pokemon 24/7

[@zaptoid6212]

Good stuff, I don’t know if this could be useful but using Natural Gift might be a good option if you have a one Pokémon Wall like that Steelex or Wake’s Gyarados.

[@darakir]

When i was young i remember having a great time with luxray in the early/mid game, then falling off by the elite 4, this is pretty accurate to my experience with the guy, but i love his design❤ one of my favorite electric mon

[@MrCtheo]

Looking forward to THE Raptor challenge :)

[@krandomk]

Can't wait to see staraptor, I really think it's one of the best birds to this day

[@sashasscribbles]

Its kinda strange that they didnt give Luxray Grass Knot considering they gave it to both Infernape and Empoleon. With Luxray it would actually have had a change to be useful too Thank you for the wonderful videos this month scott!

[@nightfan1983]

Yay, Luxray, one of my favourite Electric pokemon. It would rank even higher in my 'favourites' list if it were an Electric/Dark type (Dark is my favourite type)

[@goldbanker2777]

When in Celestic Town you should check the shop if you are there in the morning you can pick up a choice specs. I think this can make certain mons very strong for particular fights. Also you could get the wise glasses at night to boost special moves useful on Empoleon for ice beam and surf.

[@Sternreign]

Cant wait for the eventual Palkia backport yellow. Might be able to do the entire run with just Dragonbreath

[@davidestabrooks211]

Love the Shinx line. Talk about just an incredible add as a early Route triple evolution. Also when Scott was talking about Shinx move type coverage I though for sure that Luxray got access to Fire and Ice fang. Sad how bad the electric pokemon move poll coverage is 4 gens into the game. That’s because Volkner’s Luxray has the elemental fangs and of course they are egg move exclusives for Luxray in this gen sigh.

[@marcadiusrose9412]

Scott, when you eventually have a Wormadam run. Will you run all 3 forms/types? Doing a single video comparison video would be interesting!

[@foxmountain8065]

staraptor line is gonna be epic to see.

[@shootingstardust97]

For quasire,not sure if anyone mentioned but natural gift is ur goto move there,with the rawst berry, u can have a BP 60 grass move for it, also since it is rebuyable, it is also a great counter to the rival torterra if u use a aspear berry

[@paulnewton2284]

Since you mentioned Electivire, how do you plan on handling trade evolutions in this series and in the Fire Red series? With Electivire and other trade evos that require items, I could see obtaining the item being the prerequisite, but what about mons like Alakazam and Machamp?

[@andrewhughes3982]

Love this new series

[@tblegacy606]

Also you should check out the move Nature gift it could be useful for a future mon that is walled idk if you talked-about that move

[@joeytoby1]

For electric types and steel types in Sinnoh, I think it's worth exploring if Magnet Rise is a viable option. There is a move tutor in Snowpoint city that can teach Magnet Rise for 2 Blue, 4 Yellow, and 2 Green Shards. Its going to take a while to get all those, but you shouldn't have to go to the underground for them, as several shards and hidden around the region, and if there aren't enough of the shards specifically, you can exchange a star piece with the owner of the Fuego Ironworks to get 1 of each kind of shard, especially helpful for moves like Magnet Rise that have a widely varied shard cost. On the topic of Electric types, Manectric might be a really interesting Pokemon to compare to Luxray in Platinum. It does not get Bite til 30, so that alongside its lower base Attack but reliance on physical moves early on might make Roark harder, but it does get early Howl. Manectric also learns Flamethrower by TM, making Byron and the non-rock types of Bertha's team easier, but then that just makes Golem and Rhyperior even harder cause your Iron Tails are much weaker than Luxrays, and Flamethrower probably wouldn't be the way to go because Hippowdon's sand boosts Golem and Rhyperior's special defense. I'd guess Luxray might be a smidge better than Manectric, but I see them being pretty close to eachother.

[@Smileyrat]

One of my favorite pokemon from a gen I've never played.

[@Pikatwig16]

Ah, the Shinx line. While my username may be "PIKAtwig", the Shinx line is my overall favorite Electric-type in the franchise. I used one on my team in Pokémon Diamond when I was younger (ended up with one that was Adamant, not that I knew that as a kid) and it was on the team that made it to the Hall of Fame. Since then, it's basically kind of an "ol reliable" mon that I know that I can count on. It's on my team in Brilliant Diamond, Legends Arceus, and Scarlet. Will admit that, until MahDryBread's video on Shinx in Platinum, I never knew the line was a physical attacker. I always saw it as a mixed attacker.

[@sulemonhd2890]

Hey Scott, I dont know if this is useful info or if you already looked it up yourself. But there is a Move Tutor at route 212 were you can learn the elemental Punches if you give them the Plates he wants, might be an alternative to leveling up to grind these or pick them up if you play a Pokemon who can use these attacks.

[@N12015]

Is there any chesto berry before Crasher wake? Because I feel it would have been useful in the game. Also, when I think of Platinum playthroughs I think of Staraptor. It'll suffer against Roark for obvious reasons, but outside that it should be quite easy.

[@SmashMath151]

Guess I'm one of the few people that didn't really use Shinx in Gen 4, but it does have a cool design! Limited coverage really held it back, HP Ice or Fighting would've helped it a lot if allowed. My guess about Bertha's Rhyperior is that it knew it was slower, but didn't sense a KO with Earthquake, so it tried to use Avalanche for the bonus damage for moving 2nd. I don't know why though, since even a neutral EQ would've done more. I'm also interested in an in depth breakdown of Gen 4 AI, but haven't been able to find anything online.

[@BedRoll-jy4xj]

Can't wait for the Bidoof playthrough

[@iskander0725]

Coverage! That is the lesson of the Electric type! Usually, I guess GF just expects you to have a team built over a solo challenge because damn.... Electric types got no coverage in the early years. I wonder how a pokemon like Toxitricity or Thunderous would do when back logged into like Crystal or something. Heck... I want you to get to Gen. 5 solely because I am so curious how Emolga would do in a solo challenge.

[@maennahon69]

You should do a togekiss run. This should be pretty fast because of his movepool and growth rate.

[@Exponaut_R-01]

Oh hey I did this challenge as a kid. Fell in love with the Luxray line instantly. Hated the existence of egg moves because of what I did. Just gimme Ice Fang-

[@daggerofstyxx1387]

It was my first shiny and Pokémon I found in my first run of platinum and it was amazing to use it and one of my most cherished pokemon

[@pokeplayerHQ]

Shinx has been my go to Electric-Type since it's introduction in Gen 4. If it's in the game, there's a good chance I'm using it. Also of note, when I played through Legends: Arceus, I actually got a full odds Shiny Luxio. My Yellow Girl I used through the majority of the game and she was one of my best members. Shinx line never lets me down.

[@Arehexes]

Watching all these makes me wanna go for a Skitty solo run.

[@ktvx.94]

Charge could've been useful against Gardenia boosting Sp. Defense. Also helps stall out Reflect.

[@Zelgius1]

Now i want to see a Platimum run with the Roserade-line. It will be even more challenging, than with the Luxray-line because Poison and Grass attacks are generally resisted in Platinum and evolving Roselia to Roserade after the 5th gym will be a much needed upgrade at that point.

[@michaelmills8205]

This may sound like a weird suggestion, but I think that Chinchou line will have a decent chance in gen 4 for a couple of reasons. 1) It can have a great ability: Volt Absorb. 2) It has STAB water type moves to deal with ground types. 3) It learns Signal Beam for coverage against grass types. 4) It's TM learnset is quiet good overall. The only major problem it has is low stats.

[@ShiningJudgment666]

HP is good but yeah, its other stats are pretty abysmal. STAB Water and Electric plus it gets Ice Beam. Signal Beam can be useful for Abomasnow.

[@Schluggo]

For another non-legendary electric type which would have a good run - Rotom specifically with the Secret key hacked in to allow it to access its other forms, would do really well

[@f.dud4]

@Scott's Thoughts Well, if you're going to do a native Sinnoh Pokémon 2nd evolutionary lines (not referring to any cross-generational evolutionary lines) 1. Torterra-line 2. Infernape-line 3. Empoleon-line 4. Luxray-line 5. Staraptor-line (pending) Why not the Garchomp-line after Staraptor? There aren't any other Sinnoh 2nd evolutionary Pokémon except those six that I mentioned.

[@pommyadam]

struggling against a Steelix and then doing a bunch of enemy-team stuff? is this Gen2, or Gen4 also the dual type Rotom (only Electric Ghost in Gen4) *could* do well, and ditto the Chinchou line (basically water coverage)

[@breadpope0358]

Really excited for the 3 way race of Wormadams (4 with Mothin) in 2029

[@eycphatp]

Fun fact in gen 4 and below all priority moves only have +1 priority so if you used Quick attack and the enemy used e-speed and your faster you'll still move first

[@Awstrev9595]

I could see Jolteon being an OK electric type. It gets shadowball for neutral special coverage against rock and ground types. Plus, it gets double kick for Byron. Manetric can grab flamethrower from fuego before Byron and hp ice from the game corner.

[@KeithTheGeek]

I think you should be using Hidden Power or Natural Gift in these runs. Both can be gotten in Veilstone, though Hidden Power requires purchasing it from the Game Corner. Giving Luxray ice type coverage would have allowed you to break through Byron and Bertha a lot faster, and also makes Torterra more consistent later in the run.

[@ShiningJudgment666]

Hidden Power can sort of trivialise the runs. Sure, it's a Special move as of Gen 4, but unlike in Gen 2, Hidden Power doesn't have a big opportunity cost for some types. The only one is Hidden Powers that require you to have an even IV in Speed. Like Fighting, Fire or Rock. Ice would've given the neutral hit against Steelix but it probably needs something Super Effective that's also able to deal with Bertha. Like Water. Return appears to handle Grass types well enough and Thunderbolt does enough to Magneton (resisted Thunderbolt does more than neutral Hidden Power thanks to STAB). Torterra could be annoying but that's probably about it. Hidden Power Water could well be the best one here.

[@uli11]

Luxray is amazing, though its mediocre speed makes the midgame a little sticky, but otherwise, I adore how a solo playthrough feels with him.

[@BubbaJoeSwag]

I’m in here. Can’t miss it

[@unboundsoul3582]

Tldr hidden power would be cool to see as a fair strategic element going forward! Hey! Wanted to throw in a few cents as someone who doesn't QUITE know Platinum super well but touches on a move you've mentioned in the past: Hidden Power! Perhaps during later runs you might start using this move but considering Hidden Power is now special, I would love to see you incorporate as a strat to some runs. Yes, it does tend to favor Pokemon with high special attack stats, but my reasons for you to allow it would be the following. 1. Despite Game Freak's tendency towards better movesets as they go, some mons still have narrow move pools without a lot of diversity. Luxray is one such example, where a single move that was ground type would help an immense amount against Byron, for example, or using HP grass against Bertha. 2. Due to your own rules, you don't go changing Pokemon IVs willy nilly, so you're locked into a single HP type, and further, it takes up a precious move slot and requires routing for heart scales if you choose not to keep it. 3. While it DOES favor Special Attackers, it's still potentially a tool to really help a mon that struggles at one particular point of a run, and I think should at least be considered if your goal is to give a mon the best possible chance at beating the game quickly. Love the videos Scott!

[@Neo_Bones]

Avalanche is one of those “negative priority that does double damage if the user gets hit” moves, which the AI will always have a random chance to choose

[@deathby1808]

Electivire also has access to the elemental punches, so I think it will do really well

[@goldbanker2777]

Sadly he will have to farm plates which will eat up time

[@andrewgsell552]

Would rivalry be better in this situation to boost attack half the time instead of only lowering a single Pokémon’s attack per battle?

[@melodywhispersong9541]

I'd love to see a lopunny run? For added challenge you should have the klutz ability

[@Dullstar2XQT]

Out of curiosity, since you mentioned Elekid's line at the end, in these series where you're evolving during the run, have you thought about how you'll handle trade evolutions?

[@shadowtitanx3962]

Universal Pokemon Randomizer lets you set Pokemon to evolve at an assigned level for Trade Evos.

[@EmeralBookwise]

The one time I soloed Platinum it was with a Shinx, unevolved the whole way through, and I learned a few tricks that could have dramatically improved Luxray's performance. The first and most obvious is of course Hidden Power, specifically Hidden Power grass to not only deal with rock/ground types, but also water/ground types. Admittedly, I was not playing to get a fast time, so gambling for coins was a non-issue to me. The other key move ended up being Natural Gift. Using it does consume berries, so it can't be spammed, but it can still provide a flexible coverage option. Of significant note, with an ice type berry, it let me one-shot Bertha's Gliscor, the only member of her team not weak to my Hidden Power grass.

[@Sapphira_FennEva]

Given how common the use of Return is, I'd love to see a Lopunny run, its the only Pokemon that learns Return via level up, plus I love how it evolves via friendship, but starts with 0 friendship and if you haven't evolved it by level 13 it learns Frustration instead of Return (This only applys to Buneary, if you start with Lopunny it learns Return at level 13). Its also got some pretty good coverage as well with drain punch, dig, iron tail and the elemental punches via move tutor. I can see Roark being difficulty for it, but doable.

[@megariderfire1994]

Isn't Drain Punch not 75 base power in this Gen?

[@Sapphira_FennEva]

@@megariderfire1994 no its only 60 base power, but that still isn't terrible, and for additional fighting coverage you can also get low kick and sky uppercut from the move tutor, you also learn jump kick at level 23 which is 85 base power but the taking recoil if you miss isn't ideal, so I'd rather use drain punch or low kick especially for Byron

[@stephentoothman7852]

I had a lot of fun with Lanturn starting fully evolved, but i think having to beat Gardenia with a Chinchou would be absolute torture

[@tobarf2940]

Dennis would've love this video too:)

[@steeliodoesminecraft2645]

For bertha's rhyperior, my best guess is it's seeing better damage since avalanche doubles in power if it gets hit, otherwise it could be a fire fang wonder guard situation.

[@megariderfire1994]

Possibly and I guess the AI didn't take the STAB boost into account that Rhyperior gets out of Earthquake.

[@momom5429]

I'm curious how the Magnemite line would do in Platinum. Steel overall is an extremely powerful type for most of Platinum but then towards the end there's Bertha and other ground type pokemon/moves to worry about. Seeing the move Magnet Rise get some use as a result would be very cool. Rotom would also be interesting, even in only its base form (in gen iv all its forms are electric/ghost, they only change type from gen v onwards). At first the ghost typing seems like a boon but then you see a lot of early game opponents have dark moves (Cranidos has Pursuit, and Purugly has Faint Attack for instance). I could see it doing really well if you allow yourself to change its forms once you have access to the mansion.

[@jeziahfrancis2658]

Hey Scott! Natural Gift would've been a really good coverage move against both crasher wake and Byron, you might wanna give it a try!

[@skeetermania3202]

Granted, that would make Bertha even harder.

[@kotzer71]

scott when is it going to be time for the gligar redemption arc can't wait to see my boy gliscor and funfact gligar shiny and normal sprite are flipped this gen

[@michaelklos8089]

I think electric types struggle in solo runs because of one of the observations you made in the crystal baby series - moveset is key. Electric types not only get their stab weapons walled by ground obstacles, but also generally don't have a very varied moveset, having to rely on mostly electric, normal and in later gens, dark or fighting moves. Electivire won't have that issue, he will probably be a beast.

[@naurmael]

Ah, swagger. So begins the season of cheese strats lol

[@scoobiusmaximus9508]

Is a steel type boosting item available before Bertha? I feel like that could have cut some training

[@Witzwo1]

I can already see the vs. video of the Wormadam forms

[@KingSwagtheSwagGod]

My first playthrough of this gym I accidentally traded away my piplup on the gts. Shinx was my pseudo starter. And in typical fashion was pretty much the only pokemon I used. So it definitely feels like a starter pokemon to me

[@patonosequecosa]

Its earlier than i though also, Startaptor with return will be really good in the early game

[@ShadyScienceFeline]

For other electric-types, of course there’s Rotom with the major advantage of Levitate. If you allow switching its form, which unfortunately requires an event-exclusive key item in Platinum, you can get great coverage as well, though all the coverage moves except Air Slash are of the high power with disadvantage type. If you don’t allow switching its form, its base stats and movepool are not excellent, but I’m sure it could still finish the game. Note that in generation 4, all of Rotom’s forms are the same type as its base form; they only get their different secondary types from gen 5 on. I guess you could also run its forms separately, in which case I’d guess Wash Rotom does best.

[@wideright7567]

I take back my concern about rare candies - maybe balance is needed but I also see how this E4 can really pose threats to pokemon who can’t setup or are weak to a trainer’s team