Squirtle Line Solo Challenge - Pokémon FireRed

[@w1q2e3r4t5]

I called the hidden power type at the Silph tower in the first run! Normally I'm not great at guessing which one would be used, but. Got it for this one!

[@Eggsceptional]

Very nice!! This one could have gone a few ways but I feel like Electric made the most sense :)

[@jf662]

My wife LOVES when you make egg puns lol

[@Eggsceptional]

Thank you :) I can't help myself!

[@PostwarTester10]

Squirtle is going to be an interesting runner. Bulbasaur and Charmander had access to solid setup; (With Growth and Belly Drum Respectively if i'm not mistaken); but Squirtle has none of that. My guess is Surf + Rain Dance is going to be the bread and butter, because that's the only way Blastoise can increase it's damage output as far as I can see.

[@Eggsceptional]

You are correct! Growth and eventually Swords Dance for Bulba, with the Drummin' Char. Squirtle lacks set up like that, but was still definitely my favourite to play. Blastoise doesn't need set up :D

[@thomaswest2583]

Maybe rain dance hydro pump wouldn't be a bad combo

[@draykenly8418]

I’m looking thru breeding moves and wow yawn is only the useful move in is solorun damn. Then again that’s all it needs

[@Eggsceptional]

@@thomaswest2583 I'm always so dissuaded from Hydro Pump because of the lower accuracy.. Maybe I shouldn't be so stubborn all of the time.

[@Eggsceptional]

@@draykenly8418 It barely needed Yawn! Squirtle was such a solid solo runner :)

[@adamrojas9235]

this was a really fun run to watch! i love this evolution line so much so seeing how they did was so cool! Can't wait for the next video!

[@Eggsceptional]

Thank you! Squirtle has always been my starter of choice since day 1 :)

[@lumineinfinitussilverkagat8094]

Wow I'm surprised Charizard did the best out of all 3 but it seems like Blastoise was more enjoyable to go through outside of dealing with Gyarados and Lorelei's team (already I can feel my brother and sister being smug that their starters did better than Venusaur) great run and vid, looking forward to seeing how the Hoenn starters do with egg moves and how well Pikachu/Raichu(?) do next week. Also with how much it gives you trouble in these runs I'm curious to see how Bird Brains would do in its own solo run haha

[@Eggsceptional]

That Belly Drum was just too good. Blastoise was the most solid for sure, and also the one I feel more comfortable with. It's been my starter of choice for many years :) You'll have to wait and see next week! And hey, what's a little friendly competition between siblings? Oh boy.. the bird brains solo run. It's been on my mind for a while. I'll get there.. I will. So many runs that I want to do!!

[@lumineinfinitussilverkagat8094]

Yeah Belly Drum Zard is a beast and I hear ya, I feel like I would feel the same way if I did the Venusaur run since it's my first and most used starter in Kanto (and Kalos when I'm in the mood to replay X) Given how much Bird Brains has caused you trouble I wouldn't blame you if you took a while to do that one, it would be kool to see it compared to the other Normal/Flying types of Kanto or against Noctowl and Swellow, Swellow I can see having the best time of the three but I'm curious how Noctowl will do since you do have access to a sleep move and Psychic coverage...I feel like at least Koga and maybe Giovanni would be easier but otherwise I feel like Brock, Surge, Bruno's Onix and later Steelix, and especially Lorelei would give all our feathered friends a run for their money if the Farfetch'd vid is anything to go by@@Eggsceptional

[@Eggsceptional]

@@lumineinfinitussilverkagat8094 Fair enough! There's something about going back to your roots and playing a run that you may have done 100 times before in your life, but still enjoy every time :) The early birds/any birds really have been on my radar for quite a while. It's always that question of time. I have so many runs that I want to do, but there's only so much time in a week. I feel the same with Swellow, but I'm not sure about Noctowl. Steelix scares me with all of them, I foresee maybe Steel Wing stall strats with a sub hoping for Def boosts? Oh boy...

[@lumineinfinitussilverkagat8094]

You're so right, I never get tired of replaying FireRed, HG, or Platinum no matter how many times I've gone through them. It's a great way to wind down and have some fun in between the things life throws at us when you get to the birds I wish you the best of luck of getting through Steelix (so far the only thing I can think of is using a HP type for the 2nd run, 1st run I have no clue what to do but fishing for def boosts behind a sub is an option, not the most reliable but its there)@@Eggsceptional

[@chiquita_dave]

Blastoise was my very first pokemon! This takes me back to my first Blue playthrough where I effectively did a solo run of my own, without meaning to. I had no idea how to build a team and Squirtle was competent enough to take on everything up to the elite 4. My blastoise got to level 81 and I got to the champion fight maaaaybe once before giving up. Pokemon is such a different game when you're 8 years old!

[@Eggsceptional]

Squirtle has always been my starter of choice :) When I was a kid I tried my best to have a few other Pokémon but it was usually all about my starter. With it being level 60 when everything else was in their 30s. Oh how differently we played back then compared to these days, eh?

[@KageElsker]

I was wondering I wasn't on the channel membership in the end of the video. I was easy to spot, since I was the 3rd member to join the club all the way back... Turns out YT had denied my card at some point, but I'm back at it! Keep the production going!

[@Eggsceptional]

Ahh, weird! I really appreciate it :) I make sure to update the credits weekly, but if you aren't showing up for whatever reason let me know! I'll be sure to check out why

[@kylenewey9278]

Soooo glad Charmander kept the best time out of the starters ❤❤❤

[@Eggsceptional]

Belly Drum was just so good as an egg move!! It may be faster but Squirtle remains my favourite :)

[@ericsegura4977]

Every battle you spent fishing for a heracross rock tomb miss could have been started with ice beam since you didn’t have the OHKO range anyway. Sure the freeze chance is small but you would have been rolling the dice on two effects guaranteeing victory instead of one

[@Eggsceptional]

Ahh that's a very good point! A missed opportunity for freeze for sure. I'll have to keep an eye out for things like this in the future. Thank you!

[@shaynecarter-murray3127]

You sound more like a sports announcer than a typical poketuber. This is nuetral observation, not an insult 😊

[@Eggsceptional]

I'll take it! It is very "sports commentator"-ish isn't it? It's a shame they hold so little interest for me 😅

[@shaynecarter-murray3127]

@@Eggsceptional same, id rather play/watch others play pokemon than any sport

[@Eggsceptional]

@@shaynecarter-murray3127 Gotta stay true to what you enjoy right? :)

[@loulou3676]

new video is always a treat!

[@Eggsceptional]

Thank you! I appreciate it :)

[@Silvitewolf]

So my dnd was canceled , which means my brain forgot it was a Friday (I work non standard weeks so it doesn't mean much to me) so seeing this was a good surprise :D

[@Eggsceptional]

Oh no! It's always a shame to hear about cancelled D&D but I'm glad that I could at least improve the bad news a little bit :) Thanks!

[@thebasedjarrod]

Me when Eggsceptional winks at me: c:

[@Eggsceptional]

Well shucks :)

[@bateltheassistant]

Being a slow defensive Pokémon, can make these damage reneges really bad in some fights, that's why you need to cover that with extra grinding which costs real time,and that's what made the Blastoise line to miss on these broken gen 1 tm set and kind of needing that badge boost.😊 Hp electric was a smart choice because Gyarados is really annoying with intimidate and you got nothing good against it other than physical damage , which Gyarados is reducing your damage of anyways. Hp electric, unlike hp rock is not affected by intimidate. But in the end Blastoise was easier to route with some luck involved. That 90's song of I'm blue reminds me of my childhood memories,and how I used to dance to that song like crazy back in the day. 😊 So thanks for having that reference. Like always it was fun watching your video, keep it up!

[@Eggsceptional]

Ahh the badge boosts of Gen 1.. I wonder if there's some way of making them work in Gen 3 just so that I can eggsperience the joys of everything with Withdraw being mighty :P HP Electric just felt like the best one. The Beambolt never let anyone down after all. There's been some debate in the comments with my luck strats on Heracross. There may have been some folly in my ways... but I was hoping for a 1-2 try win instead of 8 :P That's what happens when you go with RNG! I can't help but reference all of the things I grew up with while playing the games that I grew up with. It just fits!

[@bateltheassistant]

@@Eggsceptional Maybe with some janky coding that could happen in gen 3 again,or just try it out yourself in gen 1. If you'd like experience true madness with giltchs you should try out Pokémon green. Try to not use the menu right and game is going haywire.🤣 In some fights you'll have to rely on luck, because over leveling is too excessive,and that can blot out the run for no good reason. In order to achieve fast time, playing riskier is the way to go,it better to have 8 fast resets then one long reset. I'm trying to get rid of that habit myself of playing safe to be able to get better times.😄 I'm glad that I can experience these nostalgia vibes with other people ,who had a similar experience to what I had,while growing up.😁

[@Eggsceptional]

@@bateltheassistant It's true but I don't know.... I don't think I'd be able to survive in Gen 1 without my run button. Gotta go fast :D It's true. I usually tend towards the more consistent strategies, but having the option of "grind for 10 mins for consistency" or "fish for an early lucky outcome" I'll probably go for the latter. Eggsactly! I've learned so much about these games from the community, and hopefully have been able to teach a few things along the way. I can hope anyway!

[@bateltheassistant]

@@Eggsceptional Running in gen 1 is a feature that you implement into the game,but trust me you won't need it. Because moving in the overworld in 4 times speed can be tricky, especially on bikes. And besides luck is a factor that we can play around with,and it produces great content too.🙂 Yup the community is awesome,you can learn from everyone some kind of habit that can make your runs better overall. I learned a lot about gen 3 from you, from Razador ,and from pokemon challenges. And besides even if I don't learn something new, I'm always having fun with your commentary.😊

[@Eggsceptional]

@@bateltheassistant Oh I can imagine. I suffer enough pain with the bike in Gen 3 at 4x speed. I actually have a button set on my controller for a speed toggle when I'm trying to get in doorways/pick Fly locations :P I appreciate that :D I really try to be as educational as possible, while trying to remember that I'm no eggspert. I mostly just want to spread positivity and good vibes :)

[@Shawnzy1]

Hell ya brother , my first ever starter . I got so excited that I mostly just leveled it up only lol

[@Eggsceptional]

I can't blame you! Evolutions in this game have always been my favourite part :D Squirtle has been my boy since day 1 in this game.

[@harshvyas4442]

Awesome and entertaining video, I want to see snorlex only run.

[@Eggsceptional]

Thank you! I've got Snorlax on the list :)

[@shootingstardust97]

Nice run as usual, though I think the 2nd playthrough with substitute may go a bit smoother n less rng dependant especially for the champion battle, a rash nature (+sp.a -sp.d) may be a better choice since imo physical attacks are harder to tank in general, would help quite a bit against that heracross as well. Sub strats best strats :) Regarding the super vs max repel, it really depends on personal routing. When i go though my own FRLG runs, i am used to the fact where i have 10 repels before the rock tunnel portion such that i can always have ample repels to pass by at least pkmn tower, my usual routing will be rocket hideout, safron fly point, pkmn tower, silph co item collection before a big shopping spree (vitamins and repels), the bad thing i see from this routing is if u need even more money items from the safari zone this routing does not ensure enough repels for that section. Nevertheless 20 super repels should be enough for the whole game unless u need the extra grind in seven island.

[@Eggsceptional]

It's true the Sub would have given a lot more consistency, but at a the cost of a little speed. With 8 resets against Heracross though I can definitely see the argument for it. I was so worried about a -SpD nature in the earlier badges, especially Surge. I guess I could have skipped/tried Dig one shotting Raichu instead. Ahh always another path that could have been taken :P Fair enough with the Repels. I usually use 10 Maxes after buying them in Saffron, then I buy another 6 in the League for Round 2. The only time I ever run out is if I'm grinding around Cinnabar so it's easy enough to grab a few there if I need. They just feel so easy, and the routing does line up nicely.

[@adventureoflinkmk2]

35:29 calling it now -- HP Electric (37:22 pretty much hinted at it anyway, for all those damned Gyaradoseseseses... as you should say lol... oh yeah and loralie too) 41:56 ding ding ding i was right -- HP Electric!!!🎉

[@Eggsceptional]

HP Electric all the way for this one :) No more Gyaradoseseses

[@jackruby6696]

You are the master of tongue twisters

[@Eggsceptional]

I don't know about master.. but I certainly have fun doing them. Over.. and over.. and over...

[@135forte]

HP Electric was more than predictable considering how notorious BoltBeam is. And dare I hope for an Eevee run?

[@travisalexander6440]

True, but still satisfying. Gyarados? The fights against other (especially bulky) Waters? Yeah, HP Electric was so clearly the choice that this is one of those runs where I have said in previous comments that if Egg knows a specific HP is going to make that much of a difference, than go ahead and put it in the first run, as well.

[@Eggsceptional]

The Eeveelutions have been on my mind for quite a while now. I can't speak to them being next week I'm afraid :) I've been up to something else.

[@Eggsceptional]

That's an interesting point with putting in the obvious choice in the first run. I suppose I'm stubbornly holding on to the idea of making the first run as "vanilla" as possible. It forces me to think about things more deeply (....I think?)

[@travisalexander6440]

@Eggsceptional I would argue it is more about where do you want to do your thinking: in prep or between runs. What might be of more interest is finding out that the obvious choice is not necessarily the best after your first run (like if Electric is better against Water and Flying, or if something wants Grass for Water and Ground/Rock instead, for example).

[@135forte]

@Eggsceptional Eevee is just the most forgotten starter, do I had hopes. Not much, but some.

[@realperson69]

You might have been able to manipulate your HP against R2 Lance to go into the R2 Champion with Torrent active, giving you a possible OHKO on Heracross.

[@Eggsceptional]

Hmm I didn't look into the ranges for that but that's a very good point! I've been better with my Overgrow/Blaze/Torrent ideas lately but I still miss them sometimes :P

[@Krispizz]

Only the best of the original 3!

[@Eggsceptional]

Agreed :D I love this little turtle.

[@garfieldsmoistbones7810]

That’s a really nice looking graphic for the elite four.

[@Eggsceptional]

Thank you! I had a lot of fun making them :)

[@Aaron.Seabolt]

My favorite generation one starter. My daughter Lillian might have the advantage picking the Bulbasuar line, but you can bet I'm packing that ice beam. Eggsceptional nickname, hopefully this turtle hermit doesn't get nosebleeds frequently.

[@Eggsceptional]

The nosebleeds weren't too bad thankfully :) Squirtle has always been my fave as well. Lillian might have the advantage early, but Ice Beam has something to say later.

[@harbour08]

Belly drum is OP in games since the AI is not designed to know "hey, he keeps using this strategy, let me counter it", even in hard rom hacks

[@Eggsceptional]

Belly Drum was just so strong. I was skeptical about losing half my HP at first but wowza. If you're faster the AI has nothing :)

[@brianreyes5141]

To tell everyone who plays Pokémon I always gotta level 20 crowbat because every carbos protein u buy max out their friendship level after u max him out from golbat give him one rare candy and golbat will evolve without battles and steps ❤️ also when u get return it will do close too max damage also 👌🏾 crowbat is also the best flymon in my opinion fast beefy cheesy nd since crobat evolves under friendship whether u spent the money or evolved crobat naturally he’s such a great staple like your gonna go into a cave and guess what u gnna see a zubat crobat is the gyarados of caves

[@Eggsceptional]

Way back among some of my original videos I did a run with the Zubat line, evolving into Crobat. Crobat was so darn strong :) I need to re-run it for sure because I know it can do much better with an egg move.

[@kayoh9364]

Gotta be HP electric. Boltbeam coverage, dealing with Lorelei + Gyarados... Nothing else really challenged you.

[@Eggsceptional]

Oh it's so good. That special coverage is just the chef's kiss. Blastoise is a monster :)

[@petervanvliet6747]

My favorite choice but then I basicly run a mono water team aside from the flyer

[@Eggsceptional]

Fair enough :P I'm with you on the Water brigade. I love my blue Pokémon.

[@SquallLionhart409]

Not only do Roshi and... Roshi wear a shell, but both also aren't quite complete without some shades. I blame the lack of complementary blackglasses for anything that goes wrong in this run.

[@Eggsceptional]

I should have dropped a sick pair of shades on Squirtle's sprite on the overlay! Missed opportunity. I could have at least worn the Blackglasses in game for more time :P

[@jamesgrenier8856]

Best starter is the best starter, the finish time doesn't matter

[@Eggsceptional]

Agreed :) Charizard may have beaten the game faster, but Squirtle was just so darn solid. It'll always be my starter of choice.

[@chefgrizz6284]

Blastoise should’ve gotten a steel typing. Have you ever had a Before and After sandwich??

[@Eggsceptional]

Steel would have been interesting on it. In a fan game its mega was turned part Dark which was cool I suppose. As long as the Water remains :)

[@jackruby6696]

Squirtle was the one I picked when I was 12

[@Eggsceptional]

Always Squirtle. Since day 1.

[@jdsnerdverse]

Good run egg dude

[@Eggsceptional]

Thank you :) This one was a ton of fun to route. Squirtle has always been my fave after all :)

[@banditrests]

Small optimization but since held items are pretty few and far between in FRLG anyway, the speed run ironically with blastoise grabs the black glasses from the rocket hideout for better damage ranges on rival 4

[@Eggsceptional]

I believe it! It's been a long time since I last saw a R2 speedrun in this game. Or a speedrun in general of this game. If only they could get HP Electric :)

[@banditrests]

@@Eggsceptional if you don’t want to watch a whole speed run of it, pulse effects has a really good R2 speed run overview video. Black glasses are a pretty good addition to any Pokémon with a decent special attack and a dark move considering how many problematic ghost and psychic types there are in the run and so few decent held items.

[@Eggsceptional]

@@banditrests It's so true. It's a shame that Bite is Blastoise's most powerful Dark move though. 60 base power is passable but I'd like to see it higher. I need to check out the speedruns again if nothing else from a routing perspective to see if I can pick some things up.

[@GenixgoldZ]

My furthest time for a solo starter was on my gba in 2007 when I never knew how to catch Pokèmon 😂😂 it was up to SS Anne lv 35 Wartortle

[@Eggsceptional]

That's amazing! One more level and you would have been having the best time with the cannon turtle ;)

[@adventureoflinkmk2]

19:59 for the brunononono 20:27 you didn't say it so I'll do it for you: ooooo lvl69 -- nice 21:06 ooooo 69 nice (guess I was inpatient... ope) 25:42 for the onixiseseseses and steelixeseseses 38:38 he said carboseseses 😂🎉

[@Eggsceptional]

I'm doing something a little different next week and I may be struggling with finding a few of these :P

[@PabloNeves26]

Blue Bowser for the win!

[@Eggsceptional]

Blue Bowser! I can totally see it.

[@DoctorKamino]

that feeling when after 25 years you find out that not only ultra balls, but max repels, are BOTH a ripoff.......

[@Eggsceptional]

Ultra Balls I don't buy often enough to notice :P Max Repels I find work way better for my route. Supers are more cash efficient but I'm very rarely cash strapped in these runs. Thanks for the tip :)

[@CasualVideoGamer]

"You think Master Roshi is my real name!?" Never was a huge fan of the Squirtle line. Nothing wrong with it, I just liked other water derps a little more in gen 1.

[@Eggsceptional]

Heh.. gotta love Roshi. That's fair enough! Squirtle has always been my boy, but there are way too many cool Water types in Gen 1.

[@CasualVideoGamer]

@@Eggsceptional Yeah, if it weren't for Vaporeon, Starmie, Kingler, or Poliwrath, I'd enjoy the Squirtle line a bit more.

[@Eggsceptional]

@@CasualVideoGamer Don't forget about Lapras and Gyarados :) They're up there for me.

[@harbour08]

Not that water is my favorite type but ... could you hack shell smash in, only way to make the charizard/belly drum comparison fair 😂

[@Eggsceptional]

I wish! I know that it's possible, it's just outside of my current skillset. Shell Smash on Blastoise would have been SO much fun!

[@Joonesyy]

❤

[@Eggsceptional]

[@teriddax3692]

38:55 I would say Pidgeot is the more forgettable Pokemon. Fearow has an edgier design, more focused stats, and can learn Drill Peck. It's my go-to flying type in these games if not Dodrio.

[@Eggsceptional]

If only Pidgeot's Sand Attack didn't ruin so many of my days, but I would agree that Fearow is way cooler. Poor bird brains. It gets no love :(

[@mattprice302]

Eggs what’s gooooooooodddd

[@Eggsceptional]

So many things :) Hope you're doing awesome!

[@ItBeJT]

Where did Wartortles ear hair go 😭

[@Eggsceptional]

The same place as all of us as we grow older! Further and further down his back.

[@fredsnorgaming]

An other tip i wana give you for using special atk mons is how i train slecial ev points is on route 11 the magnemite trainer with vs seaker also good monney with amulet coin u get over 2k per battle and with brickbreak u delete magnemite also after 4 badges he got 1 magneton u get 4 ev' per battle after 6 badges he got 3 magneton lv 28 witch give over 2k xp per mon so 6 ev's and 6k xp

[@fredsnorgaming]

I always use special attk over phisical attk if i got a dubble attk mon like swampert, charizard or rayquaza for exemple.

[@Eggsceptional]

That's fair enough! I've debated going for VS Seeker training in the past but it always feels so incredibly slow to me. Given that I'm pursuing the fastest real time, I struggle with VS Seeker training. I tend towards damage I can boost :)

[@Maliktheslowking]

Perfect it was perfect

[@Eggsceptional]

Perfect might have to be a relative term here :P

[@jasonschneider810]

Hey egg the DD Gyarados didn't crit you the damage it did was 142 so you would have died from a crit if it is a 1.5 multiplier the damage would be 213 and you had 207 hp that the time

[@Eggsceptional]

Hmm interesting. The crit multiplier in Gen 3 is 2x, but there's a very good chance that I mispoke here. I wasn't at my best when I created these videos I'm afraid. Good looking out! Thanks for the correction :)

[@PabloNeves26]

Ever worked as a radio host?

[@Eggsceptional]

Nope! Mostly in trades.

[@Mr.Pokemanluck]

Blastoise blasted its way through the game with torrents of 💦💦💦

[@Eggsceptional]

Absolute torrents I tells ya!

[@jptheflipper3825]

eggcellent sir, quite eggcellent, you run blasty-boi very well and very much as I eggpected. even after all we talked of for the run, it ran very much the way I thought you would run it. I did think you would lean more in the mixed set though, the pure special set for the 2nd run was something of a surprise but given what you needed and had access to, I shouldn't of been surprised. the 1st run was interesting, your luck with accuracy was very strange for your runs, the mega kicks not missing and the Lapris' thunders missing that much and as far as I saw only one bad bit of luck with poison at the very end was most unusual for you. saying that, the reset on Brock was shock but given how bad bubble is even with STAB and you not healing, I am not that shocked and noyt waiting for bite for misty was a strange choice, a special move that is super effective for misty is never a bad thing. I was disappointing you couldn't beat Charizard as I had predicted, but without a broken boosting move like belly drum I guess it makes sense, I think if you run Charizard a 2nd time without an egg move it would be beaten by Blasty-boi, the eggs make the difference it seems. I am tempted to run blastoise as a solo to see what is possible with it, I have a feeling I'd end up running it mostly physical with STAB surf. but I also think I will run it more like your 2nd run with a few tweeks of course

[@Eggsceptional]

Thank you, thank you. Blastoise I wasn't too worried about, even without the boosting moves. He's been my starter of choice for a LOT of years so I'm fairly confident with him. I was tempted towards the mixed set, but with the incoming Intimidates throughout HP Electric and full SpA seemed the way. When I was testing HP Electric / Brick Break were doing roughly the same amount of damage to Lorelei's team. The luck in the first run was wild! I honestly wasn't expecting Bite to do as much damage as it did against Starmie. I really thought that Mega Kick would be doing much more. Chalk it up as one more time I've been wrong :P Belly Drum was just too strong on Zard. If Blasty-boy got Shell Smash things might have gone differently, but the boost make such a difference. I almost want to make a sub-category of runs: boosting move VS no boosting move because they change everything SO much. I feel the second run was about as solid as Blastoise can feel, including the HP Electric. As you saw in the first though it wasn't THAT bad to navigate the game without it. That's a fair point with the grass patch. There are only what.. 16 tiles I'd be crossing? At most? I guess it's that ever burning question of time to buy the extra repel/use it, VS time lost to potential encounter(s). I'll try it out, see how much of an impact it makes. Honestly in my runs it'll probably be ok.. things are eggsactly dialed in 100% :P Metronome RNG is just so fun. I don't think it's fun enough that I want to pursue doing an entire run using only Metronome.. but sometimes the outcomes are so ridiculous. I still feel that Clef is the better spec/phys VS runner, and I like the idea of Medicham VS Azumarill. A Huge Power showdown if you will. Maybe it was just the fact that in my doubles run Medi was so frail compared to Slaking, but I'm just a touch scared of that thing. I wasn't familiar with Gen 2 like I am with FR concerning routing, item locations, etc, but I am at least familiar with the plot. Jumping straight into the remake felt like the right call honestly, simply because of that battle frontier. With how much the difficulty increased over FR runs having that massive area of moveset options is going to make the content a lot more interesting for me. I'm leaning more towards having the SS runs be aimed towards strategic interest than vanilla gameplay.. As long as the ruleset is consistent right? I've been purposely choosing runs that aren't going to break my brain lately as I get ahead. I've also needed to divert my attention slightly from Pokémon. I love it, but after a year straight I think I'm going a little loopy staring at FR editing timelines. It's true Nidoqueen has a lot of options heading into the leagues. I tend to avoid Double Edge most of the time (I think we've discussed this before) because of the recoil. That 20 extra power over Return though.. might just be worth it in some runs. Especially because Queen has the bulk to support some recoil. In theory :P That's fair enough I'd say that SpD EVs are the rarest in the region, at least along the "main" path. Not to randomly start complaining about Paras.. but I don't think all of the Zinc in the world would have helped against that Zard.

[@jptheflipper3825]

​@@Eggsceptional I could tell you enjoyed Blastoise immensely and that you have a great love of it. I always ran Venasaur, but I never underestimated Blastoise for a single moment, moves like ice beam and earthquake are powerful when you do not eggpect them after all. you were quite right to go for the full special set, it made sense considering what you were facing. as for the damage ranges you got with brick break vs HP electrics, the 5 difference in the power of the 2 isn't much but when you factor in your attack and special stats aided by your choice of nature, it makes sense HP was better, its the same with bite vs mega kick, bite is super effective and thus raised from 60 to 120 power, the same as mega kick, plus it can flinch and doesn't miss as much or at all. I think you are right, the 2nd run was about as good as you could get it, especially within 2 runs, if you played over and over you may shave off a minute or 2 and maybe a reset or 2 as well, but that is massive time sink and frustration. I'm inclined to agree with a sub category of non-boosting move runs would be good to see, I can think of a few top contenders for that one already, Blastoise of course, the Nidos, maybe electabuzz and Magmar and if you can resist dragon dance as an egg move, dragonite would do very well (I'm making a team of all of them right now). Belly drum is a little too OP, I think as you run more of them, you'll see that, Snorlax will be particularly good, if you can forgive its speed of course. I've been finding more and more patches like that in my current run, odd ones. on island 6 for example, there is a leppa berry behind the Pokemon Center. and another sitrus berry on the far east of island 5 where all the optional bird catchers are. I am hoping to see you make use of some of these in your upcoming run, I have feeling I know what you are going to run and I think you will need it. Clefable will make a good special vs physical, although if it is a VS, it does beg the question will you run it like a normal VS with it fully evolved or will you evolve through the runs. starting evolved might be better as you will have a little bulk for Brock and this will balanced by Clefables lack of moveset opposed to the options of Cleffa and Clefairy. the TM's, egg moves and move tutors are equally good so either could work out. the huge power face off will be interesting, Medicham is not all bad, one of Scotts best runs in Emerald was Medicham, its move pool is good although a little too special to make full use of huge power but the same can be said of azumarill. I think the big difference is the movepools with them, Azumarill has a better one for physical and water STAB of course. there is a certain amount of dialing in and troubleshooting to be done for SS, but thats true of every run with a newer game, simply bringing over the rules from a previous game is not always going to work. in SS for example you won't need a pickup army for HP as it is much more available, but it could be used still for berries, unless I am mistaken of course. I'm inclined to say add in a rule about the move tutor moves, as they are repeatable as long as you have the funds to make use of them. perhaps, no cheating battle points to make use of the battle frontier move tutors in the post game until you've got over 100 resets or level 100 on Red. something like that. turns out you were quite right about the bulk of queen getting you through the league. my Queen stomped the R1 and R2, I had no resets until Lance in the R1 and only had a 1 reset to Bruno and one to Lance in the R2. the bulk was very helpful as its increased special defense was a great help against Lorelei's surfs and ice beams and the various attacks of Lance. the defense and HP was plenty as well to deal with the many earthquake from Bruno and the champ. moveset was simple for both, for both leagues I had shadow ball, aerial ace, rock slide and earthquake, the only change I made was the R2 champ and for him I replaced rock slide for sludge bomb as I was convinced exeggutor would survive a shadow ball and for style points of course.overall this set was perfect with the adamant nature for the attack and the bulk I had by the end. I will say now, you will not out speed aerodactyl so you will have to tank an earthquake and rock slide might not KO. this was the smoothest of my runs with the nidos and I think the one you'll stomp with most, but I know you'll want crunch and that makes it hard, but oh so much fun. shadow ball will do in its places though I assure you of that and it has another use, along with body slam, you have great neutral coverage for most of the run. double edge did not come into play neither did superpower (a rare fighting move in Gen 3). I considered move and used neither though. I have decided to do a few others runs for leaf green and fire red before I move to ruby and sapphire. I want to try the starters as solos and I have a few team runs to do yet, the 1st will be the one I mentioned above and then I wish to use the rival teams or more specifically a red/blue version rival team vs yellow version rival team. its going to be good.

[@Eggsceptional]

@@jptheflipper3825 I can't deny when I'm having fun, it shows in the videos. When I'm not having so much fun, that shows too. I agree, though it took me a minute to get there. I was really thinking that Brick Break would do more for Blastoise, kind of like the Polis, but nah. All in SpA set seemed to work best (I hope). Oh I am SO excited to jump into a run like Snorlax/a Belly Drumming Normal type. I can see some serious pain going to the other side of the field, especially if I can work in some Guts/Facade or something insanity with one of the runners. I wonder how much you could theoretically hit for? Honestly the Islands are quite unexplored by me. If it's off the beaten progress path then I'm probably not super familiar with it. Another berry or two that are quick to grab from Six Island for instance would be nice. Especially a Leppa, depending on the runner. Ah man. So many things to keep track of! I think when I'm doing the phys/spec VS starting fully evolved makes the most sense. It takes away a lot of randomness from the early game, especially Brock. It should allow the Metronome Spec Clef with luck and the Belly Drum Clef runs to hopefully align, at least enough that RNG is less of a factor, and it's more a question of playstyle than "is this Pokémon good?". Off the hop I gotta give the odds to Azumarill over Medi. Water is too good. I've been playing with the ideas of how to run SS. As I complete runs and practice in the game I'm finding more and more that my current "first/second" run rules probably won't work in that game. Not without driving myself insane with grinding of course. Right now anyway, I'm hoping that with practice that becomes less of the case, but right now every run I've done has had to resort to grinding. That's going to grind on my brain over time. That awesome! Way to go Nidoqueen :D That's a fair point, as much as I want to save for Crunch on Queen simply getting Shadow Ball and going with the phys set might be the answer. For the fastest completion time anyway, she obviously makes a potent mixed or SpAttacker. At first I actually didn't believe that Superpower was in Gen 3. For a second I was confusing it with Close Combat, but that -Atk stage on Superpower is a little nasty. I may or may not have been having some fun with Close Combat lately :D I can't ever say something bad about playing some more FRLG. I hope you have fun with those runs! It's all more information right?

[@jptheflipper3825]

​@@Eggsceptional brick break is a good move if you need it and haven't got much else, but unless you have STAB on it or a better special attack, its not the most useful. I talked of how it wasn't needed for Queen because STAB earthquake did the same damage most of the time, its the same principle. I'd say the special set works best for it overall with how you run it, when I run it I might go physical and have STAB hydro cannon if I need it. testing is needed I think. speaking of the Polis, I can't recall from how long it was, but doesn't Poliwhirl get belly drum on its level up, might worth looking into for a redo, let them move evolve into the final forms so drum is an option. I just looked into the damage ranges for belly drum Snorlax. you'll like the numbers. a STAB boosted max power 6+ attack Snorlax with an adamant nature and maxed EV's and IV's at level 60 can 2 shot Bruno's Steelix with return or double edge, add in a brick break and shadow ball for coverage and you got a very powerful sleepy bear (nickname it that please). also in Gen 4 Snorlax gets crunch so you can belly drum crunch your way through SS. I do hope what I just told you is good incentive for a run in either gen. I think there are other berries on the various islands that you can get along the way without going too far off the well trodden track. the forest on Island 3 where you have to go to save the little girl from the Hypno has plenty of berries along the way, as does the island 6 route to the Sapphire. nothing particularly useful, but for the 1st runs without the meowth army, it could be useful to have access to a few extras for the leagues. I thinks thats a fair assessment of how to run the Clefable VS and how to touch how well either one of them goes. Metronomes randomness might end up being a factor, but it might just amount to reset against Brock until you get easy KO's on Onix. I am still an advocate of a full Metronome run of Clefable. imagine if you will, a set of metronome, belly drum, calm mind and rest, lots of defensive EV's through the run and just trust it to luck for the whole run. I'd test it myself, but I have no early access to egg moves or calm mind. I think the overall brutal nature of SS, grinding is a must, taking more and more optional battles is a must. I'm inclined to look into crystal content more to prepare, stuff like, fighting more gym trainers and saving rare candies for the very end of the run for Red will be a must. because of the sharp level jump from the gym challenge to the league to the Kanto gyms and Blue to Red is massive. I thinks easy to get a solo runner to say Level 50 without much trouble for the league, but getting it to 80 for Red is not. think to the end game, in FR its all about getting your solo ready for the R2, in SS its Red and maybe Blue depending on what you are running of course. the special attacking set is attractive to make use of, especially since you don't have to worry about intimidates for the whole run, but getting to it with crunch is a big ask and requires a lot of work, with the way I run it, I got it before Erika and Sabrina, the way you run, you'll be luck to have it for Blaine, unless you fight blaine early and have it for Sabrina after Sevi islands of course, but thats rarely a good path. crunch is awesome and is good coverage but shadow ball is kinda awesome as well and great for many runs. my Golbat and crobats love having it. I think you want to go the route for Queen, do your 1st run with it going for crunch just to see how hard it is to get and use for a special or mixed Queen and only go the full physical route for the 2nd run if you think it will work better. egg move will not matter as it hasn't the best options unlike King which gets confusion. HP is tricky as well given how good the Nidos coverage is depending on how early you can get a TM10, ground might be good as it will give you good STAB until you have earthquake or HP fire for special Queen as it won't have access to flamethrower until it is Queen. I am actually preparing for my next FR run now, I have been breeding Drowzess with my special Hitmonchan and a Hypno so they will have all the elemental punches, once the best one gets meditate I'll use it to breed with Magmar and Electabuzz I'll have one of each for my mixed team alongside the Nidos, Blastoise and Dragonite. electabuzz gets the better options as it gets all the punches as well as meditate as egg moves, just need to choose which. you'll love magmar and electabuzz runs. in gen 4 they are great mixed or physical attackers as all the punches are physical, they move evolve further via trade, Electavire will have meditate and Magmortar can have belly drum. you'll love them, I'll let you know how it turns out, might take a while to set up of course

[@Eggsceptional]

@@jptheflipper3825 Combining threads!

[@veghesther3204]

Its easily doable but of the 3 starters Charmander is still crap in the Gen 1 remake ie this game and Bulbasaur is still the best one.

[@Eggsceptional]

Bulbasaur felt so nice to play after the Gen 2 and 3 starters. But I can't deny my eternal love of Squirtle :)

[@aryana1879]

Hi :)

[@Eggsceptional]

Bonjour :)