Pokemon Crystal Solo Poliwag
This solo run took place in January, but I never bothered to post about it until now for some reason.
Unevolved Pokemon falter in no Battle Item Crystal solo playthroughs. This is due to the sparse move selection of the older games, but also because the enemy levels are so low that if you do have to grind, only the most patient players will see it through.
But there was one Water type who accepted the challenge: Poliwag! I named him MALLOW after another tadpole who would never become a frog, and sent him off to battle Hoothoots and Rattatas west of New Bark Town until he grew to Level 7 and learned the 60% accuracy sleep move Hypnosis. Now he was ready to blow Bubbles at enemy trainers until they surrendered their cash.
Except at Sprout Tower, that is. As pathetic as Grass types were in Johto, there was no way MALLOW was going to fight Bellsprouts with a base 20 move at half power.
So Poliwag hunted birds in Falkner's Gym in Violet City instead. When he reached the boss, MALLOW equipped a Berry for a one-time heal. The 1st Hypnosis failed against Falkner's Pidgey, and the Gym Leader retaliated with Tackle. When Pidgey started snoozing, Poliwag cast Bubble until it died. Pidgeotto woke up after 2 Bubbles, flapped its wings to send a Gust at Poliwag, then fell asleep again and took a Bubble bath. MALLOW won the battle with 20/32 HP at Level 11, then grew to Level 12 after beating Pidgeotto.
Youngster Albert was an annoying opponent because of self-inflicted confusion damage from his Zubat's Supersonic, but learning Water Gun by growing to Level 14 was worth the trouble.
Union Cave through the Team Rocket Slowpoke Well gauntlet was barely worth mentioning, though a Koffing once poisoned MALLOW with Smog. Amy and May in the Azalea Gym had a Supersonic Ledyba that nearly started the DEATH COUNT. Bugsy's Metapod decreased MALLOW's Speed with String Shot before being drenched by the final Water Gun. Hypnosis was used against Kakuna to avoid potential poisoning. After MALLOW was slowed down, Scyther was fast enough to outspeed him and start building up Fury Cutter power. Many Water Guns were needed to take down what was effectively a fully-evolved Pokemon, though Hypnosis helped near the end. Poliwag won at Level 20 with 32/52 HP and grew to 21.
Hypnosis proved its worth again during the Azalea Town rival fight. Gastly and Zubat couldn't try any status ailments while they were asleep, though Quilava was more annoying than it should have been when Smokescreen caused Poliwag to whiff a Water Gun. MALLOW triumphed at Level 21 and 48/54 HP, and rose to 22.
Headbutt from a TM replaced the unreliable Doubleslap in Ilex Forest. At 70 base power with Normal typing, Headbutt was the strongest move Poliwag had, and its 30% flinch chance could stun enemies it couldn't kill outright. MALLOW mugged the Goldenrod Underground trainers and rose to Level 25, replacing Bubble with the Water-themed weather Rain Dance.
Whitney's Clefairy dodged the 1st Hypnosis and Doubleslapped Poliwag, though the 2nd Hypnosis connected. Poliwag Headbutted Clefairy back into its Poke Ball, and out came Miltank. Fortunately, Hypnosis succeeded on the 1st try, rendering the cow harmless except for one critical Rollout late in the battle when it woke up. MALLOW collected his 3rd badge at 44/65 HP at Level 26. Sudowoodo had a fatal allergy to a critical Water Gun.
MALLOW gained the Surf HM by defeating all the Eevee evolutions the Kimono Girls had, and would use the base 95 power Water attack for the rest of the game. Water/Normal is perhaps the best attack type combination in the original Johto versions, since nothing resists both, and the strongest attacks like Return and Surf are available early in the game.
Burned Tower's rival battle was easy at Level 30 after setting up Rain Dance against Haunter. Its gradual Curse damage had no effect when +50% Surfs flooded the arena and killed everything in one hit, preventing the end-turn effect from occurring. (Poison has the same leniency towards the player in Crystal.) The same tactic applied to Morty, though his Gengar could take a Surf. Morty's own Hypnosis was foiled with a Mint Berry. The Ecruteak Gym Leader's final Haunter needed 2 Surfs to kill when the skies cleared. MALLOW won at Level 34 with 58/81 HP.
Once the 4th badge was available, MALLOW plundered Sprout Tower for the Flash HM and got the Water attack boost item Mystic Water in Cherrygrove. Older Pokemon games are noticeably less linear than the newer ones, which can be nice sometimes.
MALLOW had an accidental encounter with Raikou while I was looking for a Hoothoot to teach Fly to. Poliwag grew to Level 37 in the Olivine lighthouse and replaced Rain Dance with Belly Drum. Belly Drum combined with Hypnosis was the reason I chose Poliwag for an unevolved solo in the first place. 50 base Attack becomes much more impressive when you can multiply your stat by 4, and can risk the half max HP penalty when the opponents are slumbering.
Chuck in Cianwood Gym was easier than Yoshi's Story at Level 41 when MALLOW put Primeape to sleep, Belly Drummed, then returned both it and Poliwrath to death without taking a hit. Pryce didn't even require Hypnosis when MALLOW Belly Drummed in front of Seel and Return obliterated Dewgong and Piloswine too. Icy Wind's Speed drop was no match for a base 90 Speed stat, equivalent to Sonic the Hedgehog's in a game where most enemies were slow. Jasmine couldn't be killed with Return thanks to her high Defense Steel types, but Surf was more than Magnemites and Steelix could handle.
The rival struck again in the Goldenrod Underground during the Team Rocket Radio Tower sequence. His Golbat drifted off, and Return killed the rest of the team except for the Steel type Magnemite and the Ghost type Haunter. Surf dealt with those.
My first loss in this challenge came when I wasn't playing carefully. The Team Rocket members are pushovers much of the time, and the segment between the 7th and 8th badges is the most boring in the game. So the "Team Rocket Fortress" Executive and the Golbat companion caused a freak defeat when confusion damage took its toll. Didn't bother with Hypnosis because of its low accuracy, and thought Return would be enough to one-shot the enemy. I didn't make that mistake on Take 2!
DEATH COUNT: 1
Hypnosis + Belly Drum + Return = Team Rocket Disbands. As a reward for saving the Goldenrod Radio Tower, Mary gave MALLOW a Pink Bow to increase his Normal type attack power to +10%. Most hold items are underwhelming in Crystal compared to later games, but you take what's offered.
Unboosted Return was insufficient starting in the Radio Tower, and even random Seadra's in Clair's Gym in Blackthorn City could survive one occasionally. But MALLOW humiliated Clair herself at Level 55-56 by Belly Drumming against a sleeping Dragonair, then Returning everyone including Kingdra to their Poke Balls.
One odd note about the mechanics is that Calcium in Crystal increases "Special", instead of "Special Attack" or "Special Defense". This is a holdover from the original Kanto games before the Special stat was split. Later installments would add the Zinc vitamin for Special Defense.
The rival in Victory Road led with the most type-mismatched Pokemon before the physical/special split, Sneasel. Who thought it would be a good idea to make a Dark/Ice type, then give it base 95 Attack and base 35 Special Attack? You can see why no Hypnosis setup was necessary for Belly Drum. Surf swamped the Haunter, and Typlosion had enough dignity to strike with a Quick Attack before dying. Poliwag triumphed at Level 59 with 54/148 HP.
Will of the Elite 4 was a good example of the binary outcomes of any boss battle that Poliwag participated in. Either he boosted to +6 Attack and pulverized his enemies, or he whiffed the Hypnosis and was punished with Psychic mental torture from Exeggutor.
DEATH COUNT: 2
Poliwag succeeded on Will Take 2 after forgoing Hypnosis and going straight for the Belly Drum. The gamble worked when the first Xatu's Psychic failed to KO even at half HP. Poliwag destroyed the rest of the Psychic team at Level 60 with only 28/151 HP.
Rolling the dice against Koga failed. His Ariados Double Teamed to dodge Returns, then cast super effective Giga Drains. Forretress survived a Return and shot Swift stars for the final blow.
DEATH COUNT: 3
Hypnosis returned and put the spider to sleep on Take 2. Those who were wondering "Why did you click Return instead of Surf against Forretress?" will learn that the question is pointless anyway. Forretress needed 2 Surfs to kill, since Belly Drum had no effect on a base 40 Special Attack. No Hypnosis for Bruno when the weak Hitmontop Dug underground. All the Fighting types dropped dead when hit by Return, and Surf eroded the odd choice of the Rock/Ground Onix. MALLOW won at Level 61 with 59/153 HP.
Karen's dreaded Umbreon didn't live long enough to decrease MALLOW's accuracy with Sand Attack. A Hypnosis and critical Belly Drum powered Return was too much for even a defensive Eevee evolution. Gengar was the true threat since it couldn't be Returned to sender, but the stupid AI made it kill itself with Curse after one Surf. (No, the AI hasn't improved as of Sword/Shield. . .) Champion Lance's Dragonites and Flying types dropped out of the sky with the usual Hypnosis + Belly Drum + Return combo, except for Surf against Aerodactyl. MALLOW won Lance's belt at Level 63.
Being the Johto Champion alone wasn't enough. I don't consider a Crystal playthrough to be complete until Red is dead, and it always surprises me when people stop after Lance.
Hypnosis missed against Lt. Surge's Raichu. It's said that the Thunder used against MALLOW powered Vermilion City for an entire day.
DEATH COUNT: 4
Hypnosis failed again on Take 2, but somehow Raichu's Thunder Wave failed. Could someone please explain how Thunder Wave keeps missing in Crystal, when all sources say it has 100% accuracy? This is Generation 2, so the "Gen 1 miss" coding can't apply. A 2nd Hypnosis worked, and all the Electric types succumbed to Return at Level 65.
No Hypnosis needed for Sabrina when her Espeon failed to KO with Psychic. It was similar to the successful Will battle, except the Saffron City Gym Leader only had 3 Pokemon. MALLOW won at Level 66 with 19/167 HP. I was cautious against Erika and her Grass team, the last type disadvantage battle in the game. Hypnosis and Return weeded the garden. One random Gym trainer's Exeggutor was much more interesting when it put Poliwag to sleep for about 6 turns, then used Confusion, Stomp, or Egg Bomb instead of Giga Drain or any other Grass attacks. Enemy move lists in Crystal are weird.
Janine's Poison team had lower levels than Clair back in Johto, so I must have decided to punish her by killing her whole team with only Mystic Water powered Surfs. It worked, and the only action the Fuchsia City Gym Leader took in the whole battle was to increase Venomoth's critical hit rate with a Dire Hit item.
I was so bored by the time I got to Misty that I didn't Belly Drum. She and her Lapras in particular were better than most of Kanto at least. You can't say that many players will lose to a Perish Song countdown from an AI! The usual Hypnosis trick won the battle at Level 73.
DEATH COUNT: 5
Brock's Rock team was a flawless victory at Level 74 with Surf and Mystic Water, as was Blaine's Fire squad. Blue in Viridian City had the strangest incident in the playthrough when BOTH Hypnosis attacks missed on the 1st turn when Pidgeot copied it with Mirror Move. The 2nd Hypnosis stuck, and Belly Drum + Return meant the battle was effectively over. Except for the Rock/Ground Rhydon, which drowned in Surf, and a token priority Extremespeed from Arcanine. MALLOW acquired his final badge at Level 75 with 58/193 HP.
The final battle against Red began about as well as the Lt. Surge Gym Leader match did. Pikachu electrocuted Poliwag with the same move too when Hypnosis missed.
DEATH COUNT: 6
On Take 2, MALLOW got the free turn to set up Belly Drum, but not because Pikachu stayed asleep. No, Red fed his mascot Pokemon a Full Restore, which still wasted a round. The sheer power of +6 Return made Pikachu, Venusaur, Espeon, Snorlax, Blastoise, and Charizard faint like Gothic novel characters.
MALLOW the Poliwag Final Stats and Moves
Level 76 @ Pink Bow
HP: 196
Attack: 144
Defense: 122
Special Attack: 116
Special Defense: 116
Speed: 192
Surf
Return
Hypnosis
Belly Drum
As you can see here, MALLOW the Poliwag didn't have to go on a Rare Candy hunt or battle all the random Kanto trainers to watch the credits twice. Level 76 is below Red's Kanto starter trio, let alone the Pikachu. Poliwag doesn't need to rely on the usual Double Team evasion or Rest + Sleep Talk silliness that other solos may need for Red. Poliwag destroys the balance of Crystal by outrunning and disabling everything, then buffing its Return. Some of the deaths came because I was complacent and bored after too many easy wins. That, and I was close to Pokemon burnout at the time this playthrough happened.
This solo run took place in January, but I never bothered to post about it until now for some reason.
Unevolved Pokemon falter in no Battle Item Crystal solo playthroughs. This is due to the sparse move selection of the older games, but also because the enemy levels are so low that if you do have to grind, only the most patient players will see it through.
But there was one Water type who accepted the challenge: Poliwag! I named him MALLOW after another tadpole who would never become a frog, and sent him off to battle Hoothoots and Rattatas west of New Bark Town until he grew to Level 7 and learned the 60% accuracy sleep move Hypnosis. Now he was ready to blow Bubbles at enemy trainers until they surrendered their cash.
Except at Sprout Tower, that is. As pathetic as Grass types were in Johto, there was no way MALLOW was going to fight Bellsprouts with a base 20 move at half power.
So Poliwag hunted birds in Falkner's Gym in Violet City instead. When he reached the boss, MALLOW equipped a Berry for a one-time heal. The 1st Hypnosis failed against Falkner's Pidgey, and the Gym Leader retaliated with Tackle. When Pidgey started snoozing, Poliwag cast Bubble until it died. Pidgeotto woke up after 2 Bubbles, flapped its wings to send a Gust at Poliwag, then fell asleep again and took a Bubble bath. MALLOW won the battle with 20/32 HP at Level 11, then grew to Level 12 after beating Pidgeotto.
Youngster Albert was an annoying opponent because of self-inflicted confusion damage from his Zubat's Supersonic, but learning Water Gun by growing to Level 14 was worth the trouble.
Union Cave through the Team Rocket Slowpoke Well gauntlet was barely worth mentioning, though a Koffing once poisoned MALLOW with Smog. Amy and May in the Azalea Gym had a Supersonic Ledyba that nearly started the DEATH COUNT. Bugsy's Metapod decreased MALLOW's Speed with String Shot before being drenched by the final Water Gun. Hypnosis was used against Kakuna to avoid potential poisoning. After MALLOW was slowed down, Scyther was fast enough to outspeed him and start building up Fury Cutter power. Many Water Guns were needed to take down what was effectively a fully-evolved Pokemon, though Hypnosis helped near the end. Poliwag won at Level 20 with 32/52 HP and grew to 21.
Hypnosis proved its worth again during the Azalea Town rival fight. Gastly and Zubat couldn't try any status ailments while they were asleep, though Quilava was more annoying than it should have been when Smokescreen caused Poliwag to whiff a Water Gun. MALLOW triumphed at Level 21 and 48/54 HP, and rose to 22.
Headbutt from a TM replaced the unreliable Doubleslap in Ilex Forest. At 70 base power with Normal typing, Headbutt was the strongest move Poliwag had, and its 30% flinch chance could stun enemies it couldn't kill outright. MALLOW mugged the Goldenrod Underground trainers and rose to Level 25, replacing Bubble with the Water-themed weather Rain Dance.
Whitney's Clefairy dodged the 1st Hypnosis and Doubleslapped Poliwag, though the 2nd Hypnosis connected. Poliwag Headbutted Clefairy back into its Poke Ball, and out came Miltank. Fortunately, Hypnosis succeeded on the 1st try, rendering the cow harmless except for one critical Rollout late in the battle when it woke up. MALLOW collected his 3rd badge at 44/65 HP at Level 26. Sudowoodo had a fatal allergy to a critical Water Gun.
MALLOW gained the Surf HM by defeating all the Eevee evolutions the Kimono Girls had, and would use the base 95 power Water attack for the rest of the game. Water/Normal is perhaps the best attack type combination in the original Johto versions, since nothing resists both, and the strongest attacks like Return and Surf are available early in the game.
Burned Tower's rival battle was easy at Level 30 after setting up Rain Dance against Haunter. Its gradual Curse damage had no effect when +50% Surfs flooded the arena and killed everything in one hit, preventing the end-turn effect from occurring. (Poison has the same leniency towards the player in Crystal.) The same tactic applied to Morty, though his Gengar could take a Surf. Morty's own Hypnosis was foiled with a Mint Berry. The Ecruteak Gym Leader's final Haunter needed 2 Surfs to kill when the skies cleared. MALLOW won at Level 34 with 58/81 HP.
Once the 4th badge was available, MALLOW plundered Sprout Tower for the Flash HM and got the Water attack boost item Mystic Water in Cherrygrove. Older Pokemon games are noticeably less linear than the newer ones, which can be nice sometimes.
MALLOW had an accidental encounter with Raikou while I was looking for a Hoothoot to teach Fly to. Poliwag grew to Level 37 in the Olivine lighthouse and replaced Rain Dance with Belly Drum. Belly Drum combined with Hypnosis was the reason I chose Poliwag for an unevolved solo in the first place. 50 base Attack becomes much more impressive when you can multiply your stat by 4, and can risk the half max HP penalty when the opponents are slumbering.
Chuck in Cianwood Gym was easier than Yoshi's Story at Level 41 when MALLOW put Primeape to sleep, Belly Drummed, then returned both it and Poliwrath to death without taking a hit. Pryce didn't even require Hypnosis when MALLOW Belly Drummed in front of Seel and Return obliterated Dewgong and Piloswine too. Icy Wind's Speed drop was no match for a base 90 Speed stat, equivalent to Sonic the Hedgehog's in a game where most enemies were slow. Jasmine couldn't be killed with Return thanks to her high Defense Steel types, but Surf was more than Magnemites and Steelix could handle.
The rival struck again in the Goldenrod Underground during the Team Rocket Radio Tower sequence. His Golbat drifted off, and Return killed the rest of the team except for the Steel type Magnemite and the Ghost type Haunter. Surf dealt with those.
My first loss in this challenge came when I wasn't playing carefully. The Team Rocket members are pushovers much of the time, and the segment between the 7th and 8th badges is the most boring in the game. So the "Team Rocket Fortress" Executive and the Golbat companion caused a freak defeat when confusion damage took its toll. Didn't bother with Hypnosis because of its low accuracy, and thought Return would be enough to one-shot the enemy. I didn't make that mistake on Take 2!
DEATH COUNT: 1
Hypnosis + Belly Drum + Return = Team Rocket Disbands. As a reward for saving the Goldenrod Radio Tower, Mary gave MALLOW a Pink Bow to increase his Normal type attack power to +10%. Most hold items are underwhelming in Crystal compared to later games, but you take what's offered.
Unboosted Return was insufficient starting in the Radio Tower, and even random Seadra's in Clair's Gym in Blackthorn City could survive one occasionally. But MALLOW humiliated Clair herself at Level 55-56 by Belly Drumming against a sleeping Dragonair, then Returning everyone including Kingdra to their Poke Balls.
One odd note about the mechanics is that Calcium in Crystal increases "Special", instead of "Special Attack" or "Special Defense". This is a holdover from the original Kanto games before the Special stat was split. Later installments would add the Zinc vitamin for Special Defense.
The rival in Victory Road led with the most type-mismatched Pokemon before the physical/special split, Sneasel. Who thought it would be a good idea to make a Dark/Ice type, then give it base 95 Attack and base 35 Special Attack? You can see why no Hypnosis setup was necessary for Belly Drum. Surf swamped the Haunter, and Typlosion had enough dignity to strike with a Quick Attack before dying. Poliwag triumphed at Level 59 with 54/148 HP.
Will of the Elite 4 was a good example of the binary outcomes of any boss battle that Poliwag participated in. Either he boosted to +6 Attack and pulverized his enemies, or he whiffed the Hypnosis and was punished with Psychic mental torture from Exeggutor.
DEATH COUNT: 2
Poliwag succeeded on Will Take 2 after forgoing Hypnosis and going straight for the Belly Drum. The gamble worked when the first Xatu's Psychic failed to KO even at half HP. Poliwag destroyed the rest of the Psychic team at Level 60 with only 28/151 HP.
Rolling the dice against Koga failed. His Ariados Double Teamed to dodge Returns, then cast super effective Giga Drains. Forretress survived a Return and shot Swift stars for the final blow.
DEATH COUNT: 3
Hypnosis returned and put the spider to sleep on Take 2. Those who were wondering "Why did you click Return instead of Surf against Forretress?" will learn that the question is pointless anyway. Forretress needed 2 Surfs to kill, since Belly Drum had no effect on a base 40 Special Attack. No Hypnosis for Bruno when the weak Hitmontop Dug underground. All the Fighting types dropped dead when hit by Return, and Surf eroded the odd choice of the Rock/Ground Onix. MALLOW won at Level 61 with 59/153 HP.
Karen's dreaded Umbreon didn't live long enough to decrease MALLOW's accuracy with Sand Attack. A Hypnosis and critical Belly Drum powered Return was too much for even a defensive Eevee evolution. Gengar was the true threat since it couldn't be Returned to sender, but the stupid AI made it kill itself with Curse after one Surf. (No, the AI hasn't improved as of Sword/Shield. . .) Champion Lance's Dragonites and Flying types dropped out of the sky with the usual Hypnosis + Belly Drum + Return combo, except for Surf against Aerodactyl. MALLOW won Lance's belt at Level 63.
Being the Johto Champion alone wasn't enough. I don't consider a Crystal playthrough to be complete until Red is dead, and it always surprises me when people stop after Lance.
Hypnosis missed against Lt. Surge's Raichu. It's said that the Thunder used against MALLOW powered Vermilion City for an entire day.
DEATH COUNT: 4
Hypnosis failed again on Take 2, but somehow Raichu's Thunder Wave failed. Could someone please explain how Thunder Wave keeps missing in Crystal, when all sources say it has 100% accuracy? This is Generation 2, so the "Gen 1 miss" coding can't apply. A 2nd Hypnosis worked, and all the Electric types succumbed to Return at Level 65.
No Hypnosis needed for Sabrina when her Espeon failed to KO with Psychic. It was similar to the successful Will battle, except the Saffron City Gym Leader only had 3 Pokemon. MALLOW won at Level 66 with 19/167 HP. I was cautious against Erika and her Grass team, the last type disadvantage battle in the game. Hypnosis and Return weeded the garden. One random Gym trainer's Exeggutor was much more interesting when it put Poliwag to sleep for about 6 turns, then used Confusion, Stomp, or Egg Bomb instead of Giga Drain or any other Grass attacks. Enemy move lists in Crystal are weird.
Janine's Poison team had lower levels than Clair back in Johto, so I must have decided to punish her by killing her whole team with only Mystic Water powered Surfs. It worked, and the only action the Fuchsia City Gym Leader took in the whole battle was to increase Venomoth's critical hit rate with a Dire Hit item.
I was so bored by the time I got to Misty that I didn't Belly Drum. She and her Lapras in particular were better than most of Kanto at least. You can't say that many players will lose to a Perish Song countdown from an AI! The usual Hypnosis trick won the battle at Level 73.
DEATH COUNT: 5
Brock's Rock team was a flawless victory at Level 74 with Surf and Mystic Water, as was Blaine's Fire squad. Blue in Viridian City had the strangest incident in the playthrough when BOTH Hypnosis attacks missed on the 1st turn when Pidgeot copied it with Mirror Move. The 2nd Hypnosis stuck, and Belly Drum + Return meant the battle was effectively over. Except for the Rock/Ground Rhydon, which drowned in Surf, and a token priority Extremespeed from Arcanine. MALLOW acquired his final badge at Level 75 with 58/193 HP.
The final battle against Red began about as well as the Lt. Surge Gym Leader match did. Pikachu electrocuted Poliwag with the same move too when Hypnosis missed.
DEATH COUNT: 6
On Take 2, MALLOW got the free turn to set up Belly Drum, but not because Pikachu stayed asleep. No, Red fed his mascot Pokemon a Full Restore, which still wasted a round. The sheer power of +6 Return made Pikachu, Venusaur, Espeon, Snorlax, Blastoise, and Charizard faint like Gothic novel characters.
MALLOW the Poliwag Final Stats and Moves
Level 76 @ Pink Bow
HP: 196
Attack: 144
Defense: 122
Special Attack: 116
Special Defense: 116
Speed: 192
Surf
Return
Hypnosis
Belly Drum
As you can see here, MALLOW the Poliwag didn't have to go on a Rare Candy hunt or battle all the random Kanto trainers to watch the credits twice. Level 76 is below Red's Kanto starter trio, let alone the Pikachu. Poliwag doesn't need to rely on the usual Double Team evasion or Rest + Sleep Talk silliness that other solos may need for Red. Poliwag destroys the balance of Crystal by outrunning and disabling everything, then buffing its Return. Some of the deaths came because I was complacent and bored after too many easy wins. That, and I was close to Pokemon burnout at the time this playthrough happened.
