Let's Play! Herman Gigglethorpe's Pokemon Solo Playthroughs

Pokemon Violet Solo Jumpluff BONUS 2


This is the true finale of Jumpluff's travels in Paldea. Geeta interviewed REDACTED after the rematches. She said Katy was the easiest Gym Leader, Ryme was the hardest, and Larry was the most liked. (The "depressed office worker" personality makes Larry stand out.) Uva Academy was holding the Academy Ace Tournament, which consisted of four matches against random opponents from Lv 67-69. Jumpluff was healed after each match, but had to fight all rounds consecutively without saving.


Arven was the first foe. Greedent failed to paralyze with Body Slam and fell to +2 Acrobatics. Garganacl was relatively weaker than last time because of the high level gap, and Jumpluff made its Seed Bomb grow in its salty soil. Scovillain, Toedscruel, Cloyster, and Mabosstiff also died to one use of Acrobatics or Seed Bomb.


Jacq the Biology teacher was second. His Intimidating Arcanine was a wise choice for an anti-Jumpluff lead. +1 Acrobatics still managed to kill Arcanine after it had taken recoil from Flare Blitz. Seed Bomb sprouted in Mudsdale, and Jumpluff set up Swords Dance against Swalot. This was an almost fatal error. Swalot cast Toxic, and the terminally ill Jumpluff had to slay Swalot, Slowbro, Lurantis, and Farigiraf in one hit. She did so with her usual attacks, and made it to the third round with only 32/297 HP.


Dendra the Battle Studies teacher did not study team building, and gave in to the temptation to use only Fighting monsters. Falinks made a half damage First Impression because Jumpluff Terastallized right away. (She Terastallized in all of the BONUS fights.) Falinks, Tauros #1, Medicham, and Hawlucha all fell to Acrobatics. Tauros #2 had a second Intimidate and a different form from the first. Tauros #2 had a new move called Raging Bull that dealt neutral damage to Flying. Acrobatics eliminated Tauros #2 and Hariyama, and Jumpluff moved to the final at Lv 94 with 218/297 HP.


Geeta was the last enemy trainer in Jumpluff's journey. Jumpluff Swords Danced against Espathra, though fearing Opportunist and a secret physical move I didn't want to get greedy. Being greedy would have been the correct play. Kingambit knew how to aim its Stone Edge this time, and Jumpluff needed to flip with Acrobatics twice to kill it. Veluza ate a Seed Bomb. Avalugg had better HP and Defense now, and held on after a +2 Acrobatics. Jumpluff was buried in an Avalanche, never to be seen again. Even the sky seemed to be crying for Jumpluff, since it looked like it was raining as the line "You were overwhelmed by your defeat!" appeared. As a wise rabbit would have said: "What did you expect from a solo Jumpluff challenge, a happy ending?"


(Since it was the postgame anyway, I wanted to make it a fair tournament.)


Jumpluff Lv 94 @ Nothing


HP: 297
Attack: 162
Defense: 192
Special Attack: 145
Special Defense: 219
Speed: 229


Seed Bomb
Acrobatics
Swords Dance
Sleep Powder


See you in the next solo!
 
Pokemon Violet Solo Flamigo Part 1


For every Solo Red Mage, you need a Solo Samurai or Ninja to relax. Couldn't quite make a proper analogy between Pokemon species and Final Fantasy classes, but this will do. (Jumpluff isn't bad enough to be compared to Solo Geomancer!) To give my readers an idea of how much better Flamigo is than Jumpluff, I looked at their base stats on Serebii.


Jumpluff

HP: 75
Attack: 55
Defense: 70
Special Attack: 55
Special Defense: 95
Speed: 110


Flamigo

HP: 82
Attack: 115
Defense: 74
Special Attack: 75
Special Defense: 64
Speed: 90


Besides its superior stats in everything but Special Defense and Speed, Flamigo has a superior typing in Fighting/Flying. Fighting covers the Steel and Rock types that Flying hates so much, and defensively makes the flamingo neutral to Rock. Since my Flamigo has Flying as a Tera Type, he can simply Terastallize to play around Fairy, Psychic, and Flying monsters that Fighting would be weak to. Flamigo gets even better when you learn its ability is Scrappy. In all Pokemon games in which Scrappy appears, it lets Fighting and Normal attacks hit Ghosts for neutral damage. In Violet, Scrappy now blocks the Intimidate that would ordinarily hinder physical attackers.


Flamigo's moves will be covered in the playthrough proper, though I should note that he can learn Liquidation from a TM on a rocky island on the way to Alfornada. Maybe after getting high jump from Titan Orthworm, I can find it early.


Since Violet's plot revolves around a boarding school in a Spanish-speaking country, I named the heroine MARIZZA after the Rebelde Way character. Expect Director Clavell to shout "Never in the history of Uva Academy has a similar thing occurred!" every week like Director Marcel "Heatlair" Dunoff. MARIZZA started with Quaxly for variety's sake, and actually lost to Nemona's Terastallized Pawmi before reaching Mesagoza. The story moved on after the defeat, much like with Hau in Moon.


There were several solo candidates, including Flapple or Appletun based on finding a Tera Raid Applin. But I settled on Flamigo because flamingos are funny birds. He doesn't have an official nickname in the game since I don't know how to change names in Violet, but you can call him SYLVANDO after everyone's favorite Dragon Quest 11 circus performer. (Yes, he's more of a peacock kind of guy and would prefer Espathra, but I'd think he'd like flamingos too.)


SYLVANDO the Flamigo Initial Stats at Lv 5

Docile (neutral nature)
Ability: Scrappy

HP: 23
Attack: 17
Defense: 13
Special Attack: 13
Special Defense: 12
Speed: 14


Peck
Copycat
Double Kick


Flamigo fought easy trainers and terrorized wild Pokemon with auto-battle until growing to Lv 9, when he learned Detect. Auto-battle failed to kill a Vespiquen, which was probably higher leveled than Flamigo. At Lv 12, SYLVANDO replaced Peck with the 60 power Wing Attack. He was slightly underleveled for the first Gym, as seen when a Wing Attack failed to kill a Lv 13 Kricketune in one hit. After the first Gym, SYLVANDO annihilated Severino the Office Worker to avenge Jumpluff. He had the shortest romance in Pokemon history when Severino's Jigglypuff Cute Charmed him upon dying.


Katy: Her entire team from Nymble to Teddiursa died in one hit to Terastallized Wing Attack.


Titan Klawf: This was the first legitimate challenge for Flamigo at Lv 16. The Rock crab Rock Smashed to lower SYLVANDO's Defense, then squeezed his HP down to 23/52 HP with an Anger Shell powered Vise Grip. Fortunately, SYLVANDO had a break between the two phases to heal. In Round 2, Double Kick only quarried around 1/4 of Klawf's HP. Arven's Shellder was the real hero. It Leered to reduce Klawf's Defense, took a Rock Smash, and doused the crab with Water Gun as Flamigo was cowering behind Detect at 13 HP.


Brassius: The second Gym was also weak to Flying, but was not a clean sweep like with Katy. Terastallized Wing Attack struck down Petilil and Smoliv. Sudowoodo could have braced itself against Flamigo even without Sturdy, as Wing Attack only sliced for 2/3 HP or so. Sudowoodo's Terastallized Trailblaze surprised Flamigo down to 49/58 HP at Lv 18, but Brassius was still an easy opponent.


Titan Bombirdier: Bombirdier was the first boss to humble SYLVANDO. Despite the danger of Rock Throw, it was best to Terastallize to blunt Wing Attack or Pluck. I knew Flamigo was in trouble when his Wing Attack only hit for around 1/3 of the stork's HP. Bombirdier's own Wing Attack tripped SYLVANDO into his Poke Ball at Lv 19. He came back and Lv 21, and won an undeserved victory. Unlike other Titans, Bombirdier did not give SYLVANDO a break between phases, so he went into phasse 2 with 7/66 HP. Arven's Nacli repaid Bombirdier's bad karma for Rock Throwing boulders at passerby. But it seemed that Bombirdier threw the battle by wasting turns Tormenting both SYLVANDO and Nacli! With the help of Detect stalling, Flamigo killed the second Titan with Wing Attack.


Giacomo: Flamigo defeated the Team Star Grunt's Lv 19 Murkrow, but took so much damage from Wing Attack that it was clear he wasn't going to beat an enhanced Revavroom. SYLVANDO roamed eastern Paldea to cull the Tauros herds and mug several trainers. At Lv 29, Flamigo was perhaps overprepared for Giacomo. Double Kick didn't even need the second hit to dent Pawniard. SYLVANDO's Scrappy attitude outmatched Giacomo's Intimidating Revavroom. One turn of Double Kick destroyed about half of Revavroom's HP bar, Revavroom shot Swift stars at Flamigo to reduce him to 70/87 HP, but the first Team Star base was disbanded.


So far, Flamigo has been competent but not invincible. I'll probably put off Iono until Flamigo can get a decent Normal move or other coverage for an Electric bird. (No, Take Down does NOT qualify!)


SYLVANDO the Flamigo Lv 29


HP: 87
Attack: 81
Defense: 53
Special Attack: 55
Special Defense: 48
Speed: 58


Wing Attack
Copycat
Double Kick
Detect
 
Pokemon Violet Solo Flamigo Part 2


Nemona: MARIZZA's rival has performed much better overall than in REDACTED's timeline. Pawmi paralyzed SYLVANDO with Static upon dying, and Lv 22 Crocalor managed to kill Lv 30 Flamigo with Terastalliized Incinerates. . .in the rain.


Kofu Take 1: Terrastalized Wing Attack wasn't even enough to drop Veluza down to 1/4 HP. Wugtrio was fragile, yet surprised Flamigo with its Speed reducing Gooey ability after the fatal Wing Attack. It was already fast enough to Headbutt SYLVANDO before going down. Crabominable was slower than a -1 Speed Lv 31 Flamigo, though its Crabhammer bludgeoned the bird so hard, not even Roost could save him. Recovery moves are overrated when you have mediocre defenses.


Titan Orthworm: The dopey worm was a pushover at Lv 31. Two Double Kick uses sent Orthworm burrowing to phase 2. Herba Mystica enhanced Orthworm lost around 1.3 of its HP per Double Kick, though the sandworm was as stupid as it looked. It summoned Sandstorm two turns in a row! Arven's Toedscool helped a bit with its Grass Knot.


Iono: MARIZZA took a detour to Alfornada after Miraidon gained the ability to high jump. The monsters and trainers would have been too strong for SYLVANDO, but they were easily avoided. A careful jump to a rocky island earned Flamigo the Liquidation TM for an 85 power Water attack. MARIZZA also bought Leftovers for SYLVANDO in Cascarrafa. (That was an endgame item in Crystal. . .)


Iono's team had up to a 10 level disadvantage against Flamigo, but MARIZZA's caution was vindicated. Liquidation soaked Wattrel, though Double Kick was stronger against the non-Flying members of Iono's team. Bellibolt survived one round of Double Kick and zapped Flamigo down to 48/98 HP with a Spark. Scrappy blocked Luxio's Intimidate, and Terastallized Mismagius wasted its action on Hex.


Mela: Torkoal's Drought temporarily negated the super effectiveness of Liquidation. Flamigo needed about three Wing Attacks to crack Torkoal's shell, and Roost recovered damage from Flame Wheel. Revavroom scorched SYLVANDO with Overheat in the sun, but this cut the Starmobile's Special Attack and forced it to resort to a weaker Blazing Torque. The sun expired, though it still took three Liquidations plus a Wing Attack to shut down the Starmobile.


Kofu Take 2: Cascarrafa's Gym was on the border of Asado Desert, so there was always a chance of Sandstorm. SYLVANDO fished out Veluza with a critical Terastallized Wing Attack and buffeting damage from the sand. Wugtrio was still faster than Lv 34 Flamigo and Headbutted him. Crabominable pounded SYLVANDO flat with a critical Crabhammer.


Larry: MARIZZA skipped the entire Gym Test because I'd memorized the secret menu order. Lv 35 SYLVANDO Double Kicked Komala back into its Poke Ball with one move. Dudunsparce was fit enough to take one round of Double Kick to the face, and Glared at Flamigo. Scrappy once again helped against an Intimidate. SYLVANDO refused to Terastallize until Staraptor, hoping it would lead with a weaker Flying move. Aerial Ace was weaker than Facade, atl least, but there was no hope of victory at this level.


Kofu VICTORY: Flamigo had massacred the wildlife of the cavern near Alfornada in auto-battles, especially Dugtrios and Sableyes. SYLVANDO grew to Lv 40 after his training regimen and took revenge on the Water Gym Leader. Wing Attack with Terastallize still wasn't enough to sink Veluza, who Plucked out some of Flamigo's feathers. Wugtrio still dug faster than Flamigo could fly, and Headbutted him before dying. SYLVANDO ate Crabominable legs with the help of two Wing Attacks. He earned his fourth badge with 67/117 HP.


Flamigo Stats Lv 40


HP: 117
Attack: 113
Defense: 72
Special Attack: 75
Special Defense: 64
Speed: 79


Wing Attack
Roost
Double Kick
Liquidation


Flamigo has Roost due to being a bird, but it's really meant to be offensive rather than defensive. One hindrance in the early to mid game is that it has to learn its best moves through either a high level (Brave Bird), or acquire them from TMs that are difficult to obtain (Swords Dance, Close Combat). Its performance should improve dramatically near the end of the game.
 
Pokemon Violet Solo Flamigo Part 3


MARIZZA and SYLVANDO the Flamigo began the session by looking up the ingredients for an Acrobatics TM. The required parts came from Wattrel and Bombirdier. The Wattrels were easy to kill, but the wild Bombirdiers near Alfornada could reach Lv 42, outpace Flamigo, and thrash him with moves like Dual Wingbeat.


In the Glaseado Mountain region, MARIZZA found a Low Sweep TM and downloaded its contents to SYLVANDO's brain. Low Sweep was a 65 power move, or a bit stronger than a round of Double Kick. Miraidon the mount did NOT need either the glide or wall climb abilities to reach northeastern Paldea, and so Flamigo got to learn Swords Dance early.


Larry: Unusually for this session of terrible Herman Gigglethorpe play, I had prepared for a fight in advance. SYLVANDO equipped a Chesto Berry to immediately awaken from Komala's Yawn. Komala was the best opportunity for Swords Dance, and Low Sweep + Terastallized Wing Attack clobbered Dudunsparce and Staraptor as well at Lv 43. Lv 36 Staraptor was still faster than Flamigo and hit him once with Aerial Ace.


Nemona: Lycanroc opened with the priority Accelerock, though one Low Sweep tripped it back into the Poke Ball. A Terastallized Wing Attack eliminated Pawmo without Static, and Goomy was weak enough to set up a Swords Dance. Nemona's last monster was the final form of Fuecoco, a Lv 37 Skeledirge. It started raining as I was selecting my actions, so you'd think Liquidation would, well, liquidate the Fire starter. But it survived at critical HP and sang a Torch Song. Flamigo fainted. Even though Torch Song was Terastallized, the fact that it dealt 56 damage at half power was alarming.


Tulip: Take 1 is embarrassing to write: I forgot to unequip the Sharp Beak after SYLVANDO learned Acrobatics at last. At +2 Attack, Acrobatics failed to break Farigiraf's neck, and Flamigo was Zen Headbutted in retribution. Take 2 was a victory, though Espathra outran SYLVANDO and cast Psychic to reduce him to 20/137 HP at Lv 47!


Nemona: This may be one of the worst battles in any of my solos in terms of stupid mistakes. I Terastallized on the first turn against Lycanroc, and Flamigo was fossilized in Rock Slide + Accelerock. Still, the fact that day Lycanroc was faster than a Lv 49 Flamigo was a bad omen, and he would have had to survive all the other Pokemon including Skeledirge.


Ryme: SYLVANDO didn't need to Swords Dance because the audience kept buffing him with their cheers. Banette, Houndstone, and Toxtricity collapsed after one Acrobatics each, and Mimikyu Slashed the Lv 50 Flamigo down to 53/146 HP.


Grusha Takes 1 and 2: Felt like SYLVANDO needed to Swords Dance at some point, so he tried it against Beartic. Icicle Crash pinned Flamigo to the floor. On the second attempt, Beartic barely survived a Terastallized Acrobatics. Clearly SYLVANDO needed to gain some levels. His training grounds were the bamboo forests of Paldea, where Heracross, Bisharp, and Scyther were common.


When SYLVANDO reached Lv 54, he learned Brave Bird and hoped to put it to use against Team Star's Fighting base. The description said it "damages the user quite a lot", but I didn't guess that the recoil was THAT high! Was it altered at some point? Several moves have been changed in Violet. For example, Roost has only 5 PP now.


I learned online after the blind Jumpluff challenge that you could buy Bottle Caps at Delibird Presents to max out a Pokemon's IVs, or hidden stat bonuses between 0-31. Chansey Supply had nature-altering mints, which I used to set SYLVANDO's personality to Jolly (+Speed, -Special Attack). However, this did not change the official nature listed, only the associated stat bonuses. Wasted a lot of money before going online and learning why the mints "didn't work". For future solos, Delibird Presents sells the original evolution stones, the apples for Applin's evolutions, and nectars for Oricorio forms.


To test the Bottle Caps, I started with Attack and Speed with the Hyper Training guy in Montenevera. Attack only went up from 155 to 156, but Speed shot up from 116 to 134! SYLVANDO must have had a rock-bottom Speed IV, which would explain why so many enemies went first. And keep in mind that IVs only take their full effect at Lv 100.


Eri: Flamigo tried Sharp Beak + Brave Bird. This pummeled Toxicroak and Annihilape, but the recoil was SYLVANDO's worst enemy. Passimian conked Flamigo on the head with a critical Rock Tomb. Take 2 with itemless Acrobatics was much more successful. A Terastallized Acrobatics beat Revavroom down to slightly under half HP, though its Stamina ability increased its Defense after being hit. Flamigo Swords Danced and took a critical Spin Out to the legs. Revavroom Shifted Gear for +1 Attack and +2 Speed to make up for the Spin Out penalty, though another Acrobatics wrecked Revavroom at 88/156 HP at Lv 54. Flamigo was actually a bit underleveled. Eri's reward was Close Combat, which was the best Fighting move for Flamigo.


Grusha Take 3: Acrobatics + Close Combat annihilated his entire team from Frosmoth to Terastallized Altaria without Flamigo taking a hit. Some time during this session, I used Bottle Caps for SYLVANDO's other stats.


SYLVANDO the Flamigo Lv 54 @ Nothing


HP: 172
Attack: 156
Defense: 103
Special Attack: 96
Special Defense: 93
Speed: 134


Acrobatics
Swords Dance
Close Combat
Roost


Liquidation turned out to be redundant since it couldn't even douse Nemona's Fire in the rain, and Flamigo's Fighting type already covered Rock types. Roost is not useful because Flamigo is too fragile to benefit from half HP recovery most of the time.
 
Pokemon Violet Solo Flamigo Part 4


Atticus: When SYLVANDO was at Lv 54, this Team Star Base was only a formality. Acrobatics + Close Combat destroyed Skuntank, Muk, and the regular Revavroom. The Lv 32 Starmobile version of Revavroom required two Acrobatics, and allowed it to drive long enough for a Flame Charge.


Ortega: Azumarill Charmed Flamigo on the first turn and dropped his Attack. SYLVANDO got to keep his +2 Attack after the second Swords Dance since he defied the Charm offensive, and Azumarill Played Rough. Azumarill, Wigglytuff, and Dachsbun all stumbled after one Acrobatics. Ortega's Lv 50 Starmobile still functioned after one Acrobatics and ran over Flamigo with Steel Roller. At Lv 55 with 62/176 HP, SYLVANDO conquered the last Team Star base.


Titan Iron Treads: During Phase 2 it held on after one super effective Close Combat, which was impressive. Iron Treads Rapid Spinned against Arven's Scovillain, but lost the Speed war when Scovillain gave it a Scary Face look.


Titan Dondozo + Tatsugiri: The catfish should have been the real Titan. Dondozo confused SYLVANDO with Water Pulse, Body Slammed him, and finally lashed at him with Aqua Tail. Arven's Greedent provided surprisingly good assistance with Tail Whip of all moves during phase 2, and damaged Dondozo a bit with Take Down. Greedent also took an Aqua Tail for Flamigo. SYLVANDO had to clean of Tatsugiri's Muddy Water after being drenched with it, and he was down to 92/176 HP. A single +2 Terastallized Acrobatics was enough to gut the frail fish.


Clavell: The "shogun" of Uva Academy had still more Oranguru surprises for me. I was expecting a Reflect, a Psychic attack, or even Foul Play, but Clavell told his ape to Yawn! Flamigo fell to sleep, and his body went into rigor mortis after sleeping through an Abomasnow Blizzard. For Take 2, MARIZZA gave SYLVANDO a Chesto Berry to counter Yawn, and the battle was quite successful at first. Even Gyarados fell to a critical Acrobatics. But Meowscarada was faster than a Flamigo, and delivered a knockout Thunder Punch.


Arven: Sure, Flamigo was underleveled at 57 compared to Meowscarada's 61. So it seemed like a good time to defeat a weaker trainer like Arven. His Greedent attacked with a surprise Psychic Fangs on the first turn. Didn't even know Galar's slow squirrel could learn the move normally associated with Bruxish. Greedent, Garganacl, Scovillain, Toedscruel, Cloyster, and Mabosstiff all died of Acrobatics or Close Combat. This was in spite of Flamigo being 5 levels lower than Arven's best monster.


Clavell Again: SYLVANDO ate a month's supply of experience candies to grow to Lv 62, then tried to fight the principal again. It still wasn't enough to outrun Meowscarada's Thunder Punch. . .but Flamigo survived at 63/197 HP and flipped into the Grass cat with Acrobatics!


Penny: Cassiopeia's Jolteon might as well have been the final boss of the game. Umbreon usually tried to start an Attack stat war with Flamigo's Swords Dance versus its Baby-Doll Eyes, and eventually gave up and cast Psychic. Jolteon cast a fast Thunder which never missed despite its low accuracy. Lv 67 was still too slow.


Rika: Entering the Elite Four challenge seemed like it would be easier than trying to race Jolteon. Although Rika's levels were lower than either Arven or Penny's, she still put up a good fight. Donphan poked SYLVANDO to 51/213 HP with Stone Edge. Camerupt looked like it would survive an Acrobatics, so Flamigo tried to Roost and Swords Dance while hoping for Fire Blast misses. All of the Fire Blasts connected, and Flamigo also had to wake up from Yawn. He defeated Clodsire with only 37/213 HP remaining at Lv 67.


Poppy: I forgot she had a Sturdy Magnezone, and Flamigo paid for that mistake with a high voltage Discharge. But MARIZZA had a secret weapon. Relearning moves could happen anywhere, and Sturdy would fail against a multi-hit move. . .like Double Kick. The initial Copperajah Played as Rough as you'd expect from an elephant, but +2 Attack with Close Combat was sufficient to scrap all of Poppy's Steel types at Lv 68 with 138/216 HP.


Larry: No matter whom you pick as the hardest Gym Leader in the interview, Larry will always be the 3rd Elite Four member. Tropius spent a turn summoning Sunny Day, allowing for a free Swords Dance to cause one-hit Acrobatics kills.


Hassel: SYLVANDO actually outsped Noivern the fast Dragon! Flamigo was happy to take an Air Slash in exchange for the Swords Dance that would wipe out Hassel's team. Dragalge did in fact have Poison Point as I suspected, but at least it wasn't Toxic poison. Flamigo conquered with 75/219 HP.


Geeta: Paldea's Top Champion scored a critical hit with Lumina Crash during the Swords Dance turn, but Flamigo had Terastallized to prevent super effective damage. Unlike Jumpluff, SYLVANDO had an answer for Bisharp's evolution Kingambit: Close Combat. That also smashed Avalugg's high Defense. Close Combat or Acrobatics eliminated Geeta's other team members such as the final Lv 62 Glimmora at Lv 70 with 114/222 HP.


Penny Again: Umbreon used Psychic right away instead of reducing SYLVANDO's Attack with Baby-Doll Eyes. AI patterns like this make me wonder if they take the player's level or stats into account when picking moves. Lv 70 wasn't enough to beat Jolteon's Thunder, and Flamigo had to eat Rare Candies to go up to Level 75 to smack it with Close Combat. Leafeon gave SYLVANDO a Baby-Doll Eyes look to cut his Attack, but it wasn't enough to stop Acrobatics from murdering all the Eevee evolutions.
 
Pokemon Violet Solo Flamigo FINALE


Nemona: SYLVANDO may have lost every previous rival battle, but he won when it counted. Day Lycanroc was so feeble it tapepd out after one round of Double Kick, and Flamigo outsped the Lv 65 dog too. Acrobatics unceremoniously kicked Pawmot back into its Poke Ball with Acrobatics. Goodra was a defensive monster, which seemed like a safe opportunity to Swords Dance. Goodra proved me wrong by spitting Ice Beam, but Flamigo endured with enough HP to win. Dudunsparce and Orthworm were Double Kicked with talons. Skeledirge happened to be the slow starter, and so SYLVANDO took revenge with 130/238 HP at Lv 75.


AI Turo: I knew the final boss was going to be trouble when the Lv 62 Iron Bundle guarding one of the locks was faster than my Lv 76 Flamigo and chilled him to 49/241 HP by Ice Beam, and that was not a critical. SYLVANDO auto-battled his way through the crater's wildlife to Lv 79 before fighting the robot professor. His Iron Moth happened to know Discharge, an Electric special attack with a high paralysis chance. If SYLVANDO was paralyzed, the fight was over. Iron Hands survived a +0 Acrobatics and Thunder Punched Flamigo in the face if he survived Iron Moth.


The successful take was a fluke at Lv 80, as AI Turo's Lv 66-67 team gave Flamigo a substantial amount of experience per kill. One trick I had learned was NOT to Terastallize against Iron Moth, since the robot Volcarona was frail enough to fall to a regular Acrobatics. This would make Iron Bundle come out second for some reason. I tried Double Kick against Iron Bundle instead of Close Combat to prevent Defense and Special Defense loss. . .and it didn't KO. What did robo-Delibird do next? Waste its next turn setting up Snowscape, and then casting Freeze-Dry. A threatening move for sure, but weaker than Ice Beam unless you're aiming it at a Water monster. Flamigo had the time to Swords Dance, and was faster than Iron Bundle. +2 Terastallized Acrobatics scrapped Iron Hands and Iron Jugulis, and Close Combat shattered Iron Thorns. Iron Valiant was slow and vulnerable to Acrobatics, and Flamigo had 92/254 HP during the final turn.


Flamigo was a more difficult solo than I'd anticipated. Roost was only useful in a few situations, as Flamigo was really a "hyper offense" monster. If it could last long enough to use Swords Dance, and fly faster than its opponents, victory was assured. But the Speed stat actually mattered in Violet. Even a +Speed nature like Jolly and maximum IVs didn't guarantee the first move against Jolteon or Iron Bundle. This wasn't Crystal where a Slowbro could outrun most enemies. Flamigo also learned its better moves fairly late. It was stuck with Wing Attack or Double Kick for a while. Close Combat came from the highest level Team Star base, and gaining Acrobatics required killing Bombirdiers who could fight back with strong Rock or Flying attacks. Liquidation was so disappointing it couldn't even beat a Fire type starter in rain! Scrappy was more useful for its anti-Intimidate property than for ignoring Ghost immunities, since Flying coverage was enough for them.


I gained new respect for Jumpluff in retrospect. It had much lower Attack, a hindering nature, and didn't have the advantage of Bottle Caps, and still won at only 6 levels higher than Flamigo. Flamigo won't bother with the postgame, since if I do that again, it will be with a more interesting Pokemon in combat. The next solo will either involve a slow monster, or a faster one that can't simply boost its attacking stats to win.


Final Stats at Lv 81 (AI Turo's last Pokemon gave Flamigo its last level)


HP: 257
Attack: 242
Defense: 157
Special Attack: 150
Special Defense: 142
Speed: 204


Acrobatics
Swords Dance
Close Combat
Double Kick
 
Pokemon Violet Solo Arboliva Part 1


Wanted to try a slow Pokemon for a different kind of challenge. Arboliva the Grass/Normal type doesn't disappoint with these base stats:


HP: 78
Attack: 69
Defense: 90
Special Attack: 125
Special Defense: 109
Speed: 39


Arboliva also has a unique ability called Seed Sower that summons Grassy Terrain when hit by an attack. Grassy Terrain enhances the power of Grass attacks by 30% and heals all combatants on the ground for 1/16 HP per turn. So it's useful both defensively and offensively for Arboliva. Its signature move is Terrain Pulse, a 50 power special Normal attack that becomes 100 power and changes type based on terrain. Arboliva learns other uncommon moves such as the Ground spell Earth Power as well.


But to get to Arboliva, I had to start with Smoliv, a Pokemon with far inferior stats. Flamigo was viable right from the start as it was a single stage, and Jumpluff was at its final evolution at Lv 27. Smoliv had to wait till Lv 25 just to get to its middle form Dolliv! Here are Smoliv's base stats:


HP: 41
Attack: 35
Defense: 45
Special Attack: 58
Special Defense: 51
Speed: 30


ACEITUNA the trainer picked Sprigatito as her starter. Sprigatito was the one starter I hadn't picked, and it would match Arboliva's type fairly well. The walk to the lighthouse led to the ridiculous spectacle of Sprigatito fleeing from a Tarantoula in an auto-battle. Tarantoula is the Pokemon that evolves into Spidops, the bad Bug type that everyone makes fun of on Smogon! After too much time spent in the early game tedium, ACEITUNA recruited her Smoliv to the west of Mesagoza:


Lv 7

Nature: Docile (neutral)
Ability: Early Bird (wake up from Sleep earlier)
Tera Type: Normal

HP: 24
Attack: 11
Defense: 11
Special Attack: 14
Special Defense: 13
Speed: 10


Tackle
Sweet Scent
Absorb
Growth


Tackle was immediately replaced with the stronger 60 base power Swift from the TM Nemona gave to ACEITUNA. Smoliv hunted the local Psyduck population in auto-battles to level up, and promptly lost to a trainer's Lv 8 Drifloon. A Ghost/Flying monster was one of the most feared combinations possible for a Grass/Normal type.


At Lv 13, Smoliv learned Razor Leaf. She had to Terastallize and use a Growth + Swift tactic just to beat the Lv 13 Kricketune a Gym Trainer had in Cortondo. The other Gym Trainer's Lv 13 Venonat confused her with Supersonic and Disabled her Swift for a while. With that woeful performance, I knew Smoliv had to gain some more levels before confronting Katy. After making the Jigglypuffs near Cortondo throw in the sponge, she returned to the first Gym at Lv 17.


Smoliv couldn't even get past Katy's Lv 14 Nymble. It liked to use Struggle Bug to lower Smoliv's Special Attack and then Double Kick her to death. You know a Pokemon is bad when it loses to the first monster in the first Gym after Terastallizing away the Gym's official type advantage. The Normal type was a clear defensive liability. ACEITUNA's chosen solo also lost to the Titan Klawf that it was supposed to beat with its Grass typing. Razor Leaf missed, and I was so surprised that I looked up the attack's accuracy: 95. Klawf used Vise Grip and a super effective Rock Smash to pulverize Smoliv.


The first challenge that Smoliv conquered was actually the second Gym Leader Brassius at Lv 18. Smoliv did NOT Terastallize in order to keep her resistance to Grass attacks like Petilil's Mega Drain. Smoliv set up three Growths against Petilil and shot Swift stars at it and the enemy Smoliv. Terastallized Sudowoodo had enough Special Defense to survive the first Swift and hurled Rock Throw at Smoliv, taking her down to only 3/46 HP!


While my solo was a Smoliv, I used the secret weapon of Quick Claw to sometimes override her low Speed. She fell to Klawf again at Lv 19, and at least managed to get to Katy's Teddiursa on another failed attempt at the Cortondo Gym. She was even struggling to kill a wild Skiddo. Her perseverance paid off when she learned Mega Drain at Lv 20. Any draining move would be useful for a slow Pokemon that had to take many hits.


Smoliv Mega Drained Klawf down to its second phase at Lv 21 after two Growths. She only won during Round 2 with the help of Arven's Shellder taking a Rock Smash. Razor Leaf gave it death of a thousand cuts. Katy defeated Smoliv AGAIN at Lv 21, and she had to grow to Lv 23 to beat that Fury Cutter Teddiursa. That was so overleveled by most standards that she was outspeeding Nymble naturally.


Bombirdier pelted Smoliv with Rock Throw and gashed her with Wing Attack, and it was the stork's Attack instead of a type disadvantage that cost Smoliv the fight. Evolving her into Dolilv and feeding her experience candies to reach Lv 29 sounded excessive until I actually fought Bombirdier again. Arven's Nacli helped with a Rock Throw kill, as Dolliv was unlikely to have had enough time to win with Swift. That, and Bombirdier wasted a round on Torment. Dolliv earned the power to swim with 30/75 HP.


While catching the ceremonial Magikarps, I learned that Dolliv stood on a floatation device while in sea battles. Bombirdier's power allowed ACEITUNA to bypass Giacomo's base to reach Porto Marinada, and from there to Cascarrafa. Cascarrafa's Delibird Presents sold Leftovers, one of the most important items for a sluggish defensive Pokemon.


At Lv 30 with the Leftovers, Dolliv was ready to smash her first Starmobile. Lv 21 Pawniard mostly attacked with a Metal Claw, which was partially offset by the 4 HP recovery per turn. After two Growths, Dolliv unleashed Seed Bomb artillery and had 30/77 HP remaining for the Dark type Lv 20 Revavroom. Wicked Torque crashed into Dolliv and reduced her to 9/77 HP, but she simply healed it back with Mega Drain + Leftovers. It took around four Mega Drains to complete this round of Operation Starfall.


Another advantage of beating Bombirdier is that several important TMs are on small islands in the ocean. To the east of Levincia was the Hyper Beam TM, which could reach as high as 300 power with Normal type Terastallize. Dolliv couldn't learn that move, but perhaps Arboliva could zap Dondozo + Tatsugiri, a Starmobile, or a Gym Leader's star Pokemon with it. Being able to traverse rivers prevented Dolliv from having to fight Mela and her Fire base early, since its barricade blocked the land route to Levincia.


Nemona was. . .easy with a Lv 30 Dolliv. Growth + Mega Drain healed the minor damage that Nemona's Lv 21 Rockroff dealt to Dolliv, and Pawmi and Quaxwell didn't even use attacking moves. Dolliv had many disadvantages, but she could boast that she did better against the rival than Flamigo!


Dolliv Lv 30 @ Leftovers


HP: 77
Attack: 44
Defense: 42
Special Attack: 56
Special Defense: 58
Speed: 29

Swift
Mega Drain
Seed Bomb
Growth
 
Pokemon Violet Solo Arboliva Part 2


Dolliv had a difficult choice when fighting Iono. Terastallizing removed her weakness to Wattrel's Pluck, but also removed her resistance to Spark from Luxio and Bellibolt. If Dolliv was willing to take super effective Flying attacks, Luxio would instead Bite and try to make her flinch. Spark paralyzed Dolliv on multiple attempts, and although the Speed loss wasn't a problem, the 25% chance to lose a turn was. Bellibolt had high enough Special Defense and HP to take several Mega Drains to kill. If Dolliv lasted long enough to reach Mismagius, she Terastallized to avoid ailment-boosted Hex, only to be electrocuted with Charge Beam and confounded by Confuse Ray.


Dolliv had no better odds against Titan Orthworm. The fight seemed easy at first when Orthworm constricted her with weak Wraps, but when victory seemed assured it lashed Dolliv with Iron Tail. Experience candies were the favorite food of all solos, and so Dolliv grew to Lv 34 and replaced Seed Bomb with Energy Ball, which used her superior Special Attack.


Lv 23 Wattrel could still fly faster than a Dolliv could. . .uproot herself? Dolliv was Plucked on the first turn, but shot Wattrel down with a single Swift. Luxio Bit Dolliv as she used Growth twice. Afterwards, she Mega Drained her HP back to 77/89. Lv 34 Dolliv won the race against Bellibolt and hit its Electric bullseye stomach with Energy Ball. Dolliv Terastallized against Mismagius for no good reason and had to cast Energy Ball twice and power through confusion to win.


Dolliv evolved into Arboliva at Lv 35 after defeating Gym Leader Iono, aka Miss "comments are good for the YouTube algorithm". Her stats were much better after the metamorphosis:


HP: 107
Attack: 62
Defense: 69
Special Attack: 98
Special Defense: 89
Speed: 38


Arboliva can learn Mirror Coat, which might be funny to use against a special attacking boss. It would be of limited use since many of Paldea's more dangerous foes are physical.


Arboliva challenged Titan Orthworm and won this time. Iron Tail was striking for a little under a third of her max HP, which was still a threat. With two Growths, it took about two Mega Drains to send Orthworm to the next phase. Arven's Toedscool confused Orthworm with its Supersonic, and it actually knocked itself out. Orthworm summoned a Sandstorm that buffeted Arboliva for several turns, yet somehow it also started raining during the fight. Was this a glitch, or could there really be two weather effects at once in the single player campaign? Arboliva cast Energy Ball instead of Mega Drain to speed up the battle a bit.


In South Province Area Six, close to the Leaking Tower of Paldea, was an essential TM for Arboliva: Hyper Voice. This special 90 base power Normal attack would benefit from Terastallize and serve as coverage against several types tbat resisted Grass. There was no reason to keep Swift any longer.


In Atticus's base, Arboliva had a weird problem that no other solo had to deal with. She lost the auto-battle segment! Team Star's Poison types, especially Grafaiai, clobbered Arboliva since she wasn't overleveled enough to beat her weakness. Auto-battles only seem to take level + typing into account. After losing, a Grunt gave ACEITUNA a tip: "We wouldn't have got off so easy if she'd had a team of Ground or Psychic types. . .Phew!"


Team Star's Fire base, however, was at a low level in comparison to Arboliva. A Terastallized Hyper Voice screamed at Torkoal and killed it immediately. Now I'm thinking of the scene in Amor Real where Fernando Colunga's character kills his father-in-law by yelling at him. Two Hyper Voices were necessary to cause Lv 26 Revavroom to break down, and Arboliva took heavy damage from a Screech enhanced Blazing Torque ram in the Drought. She won the battle while Burned at 55/107 HP at Lv 35.


Being a fully evolved Lv 36 Grass type turned Gym Leader Kofu into free experience. His Veluza was actually the most dangerous monster as it critically Plucked Arboliva. She shot Veluza with Energy Ball and Mega Drained to recover after Wugtrio's Headbutt. Crabominable was so slow that an olive tree could outpace it, and Energy Ball won Arboliva the 4th badge.


Note for future solos: there's a Thunderbolt TM close to Porto Marinada. A sign pointing to Casseroya Lake warned "Beware of strong Pokemon!", which was considerate of the developers. A Sudowoodo dashed by ACEITUNA the trainer much faster than its low base Speed would suggest. She took a detour to leap onto a hill and obtain the Giga Drain TM.


I tried to see if Miracle Seed would work better than Leftovers against Larry, and the answer was "no". Dudunsparce Hyper Drilled a hole in Arboliva. On Take 2, Arboliva spent two turns on Growth and fell asleep for a few rounds after a koala Yawned at her. When Arboliva woke up, she had +2 Special Attack and Grassy Terrain on her side and Giga Drained Komala. Dudunsparce Glared instead of using Hyper Drill, but still became a dessicated corpse after Giga Drain sucked it dry. All Arbolvia had to do was shout with a Terastallized Hyper Voice against Staraptor. . .and she succeeded after taking an Aerial Ace! The chance of full paralysis could have made this a loss.


Nemona was easy in the solo Arboliva timeline. She fully recovered from Lycanroc's Accelerock with Giga Drain. She set up Growth against Goomy since it was a weak Dragon Pulse caster, and then she cried with Hyper Voice. Pawmo was the main threat due to being part Fighting, and it slapped with a three hit Arm Thrust before succumbing to Giga Drain. Quaquaval cast a super effective Air Slash before dying to Giga Drain. During the fight, Arboliva refused to learn Leech Seed, but it may come in handy in the future.


Arboliva Lv 39 @ Leftovers


HP: 118
Attack: 70
Defense: 77
Special Attack: 109
Special Defense: 99
Speed: 42


Hyper Voice
Giga Drain
Energy Ball
Growth


The nature mints and Bottle Caps should be available after getting the 6th badge. I'm considering Bold for a Defense boost.
 
Pokemon Violet Solo Arboliva Part 3


Arboliva surprised me by defeating wild Lv 50-53 Dondozos in Casseroya Lake at Lv 41 while riding a tiny raft. She also conquered the Titan Dondozo + Tatsugiri, which was intended for a Lv 55 party! Giga Drain + automatic Grassy Terrain + Leftovers kept Arboliva alive as Arven's Greedent attacked with Take Down. It helped that Arboliva's leaves resisted Dondozo's Aqua Tail and Tatsugiri's Muddy Water. She did suffer from paralysis during the second phase due to Body Slam, however. Tatsugiri's boosted stats were so high that Giga Drain was only dealing minor damage, and the goal was to outlast the boss rather than a more dignified victory. Arboliva Terastallized after the first Icy Wind, and Tatsugiri wasting a round on Taunt bought her a turn. When Tatsugiri was at critical HP, its Muddy Water swamped Greedent but missed Arboliva. One last Hyper Voice allowed Arboliva to kill a Titan out of order at Lv 42.


The point of fighting Dondozo + Tatsugiri at this time was to unlock the climbing ability for Miraidon, which was required to get the Earth Power TM on top of a rock pillar in Asado Desert. Arboliva tested it out against Iron Treads, and the eruption knocked it down to low yellow health. Arboliva was actually at about the recommended level this time since Arven's Scovillain was at Lv 44. Arboliva spent much of the fight Giga Draining while Scovillain bit with Fire Fang. Arboliva flinched after one of Iron Tread's Iron Heads, but another of robo-Donphan's turns was wasted on Rapid Spinning into Scovillain. Scovillain earned the KO.


ACEITUNA and her Arboliva faced an unexpected obstacle in Alfornada's Gym: the Gym Trainer with the Lv 43 Medicham. One High Jump Kick ended the "ESP" exercise minigame. She tried her luck against Ryme's Gym and fared much better. For once, her Normal type was an advantage rather than a Fighting weakness. Giga Drain wasn't even strong enough to beat a Lv 40 Greavard in one hit. Another Gym Trainer's Haunter had Levitate, much to my annoyance when Arboliva was told in the menu that Earth Power was super effective. I knew Gengar lost Levitate a couple of generations ago, but didn't know Haunter still had it. Haunter cast a Curse on Arboliva, but she endured. MC Sledge was a funny fight because his Drifblim could have beaten Arboliva if it didn't waste its life on Self-Destruct!


Most of the difficult Ghost families were used by her underlings, so Ryme had to resort to weaker spirits. Her Banette whiffed with a Shadow Sneak that Arboliva was immune to, and Mimikyu's Shadow Sneak killed the ceremonial Magikarp. Terastallizing on the first turn gave Arboliva the equivalent of an Ancient Power stat boost for the next round. Mimikyu Slashed for the rest of the fight and was the last to die. Giga Drain + Earth Power exorcised Banette, and the next Special Attack boost allowed Arboliva to Giga Drain Houndstone and Terastallized Toxtricity in one attack. Earth Power broke Mimikyu's Disguise, and Giga Drain healed Arboliva to full HP at the end.


ACEITUNA bought enough Bottle Caps for every stat except Attack, only to find out that Hyper Training required having a Lv 50+ monster. The Bold Mint took effect immediately.


Arboliva Lv 45 @ Leftovers


HP: 136
Attack: 72
Defense: 97
Special Attack: 126
Special Defense: 114
Speed: 48


Hyper Voice
Giga Drain
Earth Power
Growth


This has been a strange run! Arboliva can beat all the Titans before getting her 6th Gym badge, but loses to the auto-battles in Team Star bases and random Gym Trainers.
 
Pokemon Violet Solo Arboliva Part 4


ACEITUNA found a Protect TM in South Province and fought Nemona again in Alfornada. Arboliva recovered the health lost to Lycanroc's Rock Slide with a Giga Drain. Sliggoo was a special defensive Dragon rather than a threat, so Arboliva set up Growth and then shouted in a Hyper Voice. Terastallizing earlier must have messed with Pawmot's AI, since it attacked with Spark rather than a Fighting move. Giga Drain absorbed the Spark, as well as Quaquaval's Aqua Step. Arboliva triumphed at Lv 46.


Arboliva thought she could outsmart the Medicham in Alfornada's Gym Test, but Gym Trainer Rafael had planned for the occasion. Instead of High Jump Kicking into Protect invulnerability and committing suicide by recoil, Medicham used Accupressure for a random stat boost and THEN used High Jump Kick.


Casseroya Lake was the perfect training spot for a Grass type due to Lv 50+ wild enemies such as Golduck, Veluza, and Dondozo. When Arboliva reached the Lv 50 milestone, she Hyper Trained in every stat but Attack in the snowy town of Montenevera. I'll post the before and after comparison so you can see the effect that IVs have:


Before

HP: 151
Attack: 82
Defense: 107
Special Attack: 140
Special Defense: 127
Speed: 53


After

HP: 156
Attack: 82
Defense: 124
Special Attack: 148
Special Defense: 131
Speed: 61


Grusha the Ice Gym Leader, who was intended to be saved for last, would be easier to fight than random people in Alfornada. Arboliva made sure to Terastallize away her Grass type as Frosmoth used Tailwind to boost the speed of Grusha's team. As if they needed help to outrun an olive tree! During the Tailwind turn, Arboliva set up Growth, and then dodged a Blizzard and screamed with Hyper Voice on the next round. Giga Drain warmed up Arboliva after Beartic's Icicle Crash. Cetitan countered Arboliva's Seed Sower ability by removing Grassy Terrain with Ice Spinner. No, being hit by Ice Spinner on the next turn does NOT bring back Grassy Terrain. Two Giga Drains sank Cetitan, and Arboliva avoided Altaria's Hurricane to yell with Hyper Voice for the victory. Arboliva was at Lv 50 with 110/156 HP.


It seemed like a good time to avenge the loss at the Poison Team Star base. Arboliva slapped the Poison types with her branches in auto-battles, and Earth Power came in handy for Atticus. Skuntank cast Venoshock which dealt minor damage and activated Seed Sower. Arboliva was actually faster than Muk. Revavroom charged with Iron Head but had a fatal allergy to Earth Power. Atticus's custom Lv 32 Revavroom ran over Arboliva with Noxious Torque exhaust a few times, and two Earth Power casts made it break down.


Arboliva had no Fairy weakness, so Ortega was a safe opponent. Azumarill Bounced on the first turn, causing Arboliva to Terastallize before it landed. Turn 1 was safe for Growth, and Turn 2's Giga Drain undid the damage from Bounce. Against Wigglytuff and the rest of Ortega's team, I experimented with Terrain Pulse. It seemed to count as a Normal move for Terastallize purposes regardless of whatever type it turned into. Wigglytuff was slower than Arboliva! Dachsbun's Baby-Doll Eyes was an empty threat to a dedicated special attacker like Arboliva. The Lv 50 Revavroom did put up a decent resistance with Magical Torque and once erased the Grassy Terrain with Steel Roller. Arboliva's final attack was a Giga Drain, and the 4th Team Star base was conquered.


Arboliva lost to Gym Trainer Rafael yet again at Lv 51, but won at Lv 55. Medicham was acting weird on the successful attempt. On the first turn, it used Accupressure which boosted evasion and made a Giga Drain miss. On Turn 2, it used Power Trick to switch its Attack and Defense! The player's level definitely has something to do with how the AI behaves.


Gym Leader Tulip was weaker than her underling Rafael. Farigiraf was slow and set up Reflect as Arboliva used Growth. Did the computer trainers not know a Special Attack stat when they saw one? A Terastallized Hyper Voice toppled the giraffe, and Giga Drain cured Psychic damage from Gardevoir. Espathra seemed potentially dangerous due to Geeta having one that could reduce Special Defense, so Arboliva blasted it with Terrain Pulse after its Psychic. Florges was a Special Defense specialist, and barely held on after a full power Terrain Pulse. Florges aimed Moonblast at Arboliva twice, and the olive tree won her final Gym badge at Lv 56 with 107/176 HP.


Arboliva Lv 56 @ Leftovers

HP: 176
Attack: 92
Defense: 138
Special Attack: 166
Special Defense: 147
Speed: 68


Hyper Voice
Giga Drain
Earth Power
Growth


The next stop should be the Elite Four, as they have lower levels than Arven, and are probably less vicious than Team Star's Fighting base.
 
Pokemon Violet Solo Arboliva Part 5


Arboliva fought the Elite Four members so many times that I'll mainly write about the highlights. She never made it past Hassel even at Lv 78. Rika's Whiscash sounded like Growth bait until it started casting Blizzard. Blizzard often missed, but one attempt it used Muddy Water instead and practically blinded Arboliva when she tried to aim Giga Drain. Dugtrio's ability increased evasion in Sandstorm, which it set up manually on its first turn. Several times I mistakenly clicked Earth Power against Clodsire, forgetting that it would Terastallize into a pure Ground type. On the Lv 56 attempt, Clodsire stayed alive after a +1 Giga Drain, indicating that it was a Special Defense tank compared to its Johto cousin Quagsire. Clodsire tried the Toxic + Protect combo during one run.


Poppy was one of the most formidable obstacles in the entire playthrough. Her Copperajah threw its weight around with Heavy Slam, and it survived a +1 Earth Power during the Lv 57 attempt. Corviknight was usually second, and Arboliva had no answer for a Steel/Flying bird. Corviknight also knew the Fighting attack Body Press to capitalize on Arboliva's Normal type.


After failing often enough at the Pokemon League, Arboliva managed to defeat Arven on the first try. She certainly had to earn it. Greedent paralyzed Arboliva with Body Slam before falling to Giga Drain. Hyper Voice harvested Scovillain's peppers after it scorched Arboliva with Fire Blast. Garganacl may have learned Body Press from Poppy's Corviknight, though Arboliva Giga Drained her HP back. Toedscruel attacked with Power Whip yet its half Ground type made it neutral to Giga Drain. Cloyster lowered Arboliva's Defense with Liquidation and succumbed to Giga Drain. Mabosstiff was also dangerous because of its Terastallized Crunches, though Arboliva roared with Hyper Voice for the victory.


Arboliva failed another Team Star auto-battle challenge when a Flamigo kicked her in Eri's base. At Lv 62, Arboliva barely survived the auto-battles yet was pounded by Eri's Passimian's Close Combat.


Poppy's Corviknight died for the first time when Arboliva was Lv 63, thanks to it having too low Special Defense to take Hyper Voice's decibels. Bronzong hit with feeble Zen Headbutts or Iron Heads, making it decent Giga Drain fodder. Several attempts were bludgeoned by Tinkaton's Terastallized Gigaton Hammer, and Magnezone had always set up Light Screen to cut Earth Power's damage before then. Victory was delayed until Lv 72, when Tinkaton perished after two Earth Power eruptions.


Larry's leading Tropius was unworthy of the Elite Four even with Sunny Day + Solarbeam. However, both his Staraptor and his Flamigo knew Close Combat. Arboliva snapped out of Oricorio's Teeter Dance confusion and cast Hyper Voice to win with only 80/230 HP at Lv 73.


Hassel's Noivern consistently pierced Arboliva with Super Fang to reduce her current HP by half. If her HP was low enough, it would cut with Air Slashes instead. +1 Earth Power could outrun and kill Dragalge, but without Growth it would survive. Terastallizing too soon put Arboliva in peril of Leech Seed. I reset after one fight where Dragalge poisoned Arboliva and Flapple planted seeds, since it was over at that point. If Arboliva got as far as Baxcalibur, she would be impaled by Glaive Rush.


Arboliva ate candy until growing to Lv 81, then marched to Eri. She was still hard! Earth Power blasted under Toxicroak after its Poison Jab. Both Passimian and Annihilape punched with Close Combat before Giga Drain dessicated them. To show you the real risk of losing to unlucky criticals, Arboliva fell from 250/254 HP to only 128 after Annihilape's attack. Lucario's Aura Sphere was weaker because it was a special attack with lower base power, and it died to Earth Power. Eri's custom Lv 56 Revavroom had Combat Torque, which paralyzed Arboliva when it ran into her. Only two Giga Drains were needed to win, but Revavroom had a chance of victory if Arboliva were fully paralyzed a few times. Giga Drain restored all of Arboliva's health at the end.


Arboliva Lv 81 @ Leftovers


HP: 254
Attack: 137
Defense: 202
Special Attack: 240
Special Defense: 213
Speed: 99

Hyper Voice
Giga Drain
Earth Power
Growth


Arboliva is now one level higher than Flamigo was when it struck down the final Iron Valiant. Will she perform worse than Jumpluff? At least now she can fight Clavell and Penny. . .
 
Pokemon Violet Solo Arboliva FINALE


Arboliva's roots could walk faster than Poppy's Corviknight could run. Speed was her worst stat, but she was not as sluggish as a Shuckle. Larry's Flamigo bashed Arboliva from 226/259 HP down to 80, and a critical hit would certainly have resulted in a loss.


Hyper Voice failed to kill Hassel's Noivern, so Arboliva had to use Growth and cast Giga Drain as the finisher while Super Fang and Air Slash split her HP. Earth Power blazed under Dragalge before it could act, and Arboliva Giga Drained against Haxorus's mild Dragon Claws to recover. Flapple whiffed a Dragon Rush instead of planting Leech Seeds. Arboliva delayed Terastallization until Baxcalibur appeared, hoping to bait it into a weaker Ice attack instead of a Glaive Rush. The plan worked, and better than I'd hoped as Icicle Crash missed! Hyper Voice was too loud for Baxcalibur and Arboliva finally made it to the Top Champion at Lv 82.


Geeta's Espathra was a threat since its Lumina Crash automatically cut Special Defense by 2 stages, and Growth would trigger a corresponding Opportunist boost. But Arboliva would probably not knock out her whole team safely without setting up. Espathra wasted its second turn on Reflect against a pure Special Attack monster and succumbed to Hyper Voice. Arboliva bounced on its branches before Avalugg and Kingambit and cast Hyper Voice and Earth Power on them respectively. Gogoat thought it was safe to Bulk Up, but no amount of Defense could save it from Hyper Voice. Glimmora's Sludge Wave drenched Arboliva down from 262 max HP to 150. And that had no Terastallize enhancement or type advantage, as Arboliva had Terastallized. Giga Drain healed Arboliva and dethroned Geeta.


Clavell was an anticlimax after the hardships of the Elite Four. At Lv 83, one Terastallized Hyper Voice permanently damaged Oranguru's ears. Abomasnow tapped Arboliva with a Wood Hammer as she set up Growth, and Hyper Voice felled the yeti. Gyarados was durable enough to require two Giga Drains to kill, and it lashed with Aqua Tail. Amoonguss, Polteageist, and Skeledirge were even slower than Arboliva, and died to Hyper Voice, Giga Drain, and Earth Power.


Penny was about as easy as Clavell. Umbreon uselessly looked at Arboliva with Baby-Doll Eyes as she used Growth, and then had to flee to its Poke Ball after Hyper Voice. Flareon and Vaporeon lumbered in comparison to Arboliva's movements, and perished by Earth Power and Giga Drain. Since Jolteon was faster than Flamigo, it was definitely faster than Arboliva, and struck her with Thunder before the fatal Hyper Voice. Sylveon had such high Special Defense that it took two Hyper Voices to kill, and it aimed Moonblast at Arboliva. She triumphed at Lv 83 with 168/263 HP.


Even Nemona's final battle was a breeze. Lycanroc's Stone Edge missed, leading to a free Giga Drain. Pawmot used Ice Punch instead of a Fighting move for some reason, and fell to Hyper Voice. Earth Power would have been useless against Orthworm's ability, so Arboliva used Growth and then Hyper Voice to use Orthworm as bait. Orthworm was able to fight back with a Body Press that reduced Arboliva's HP from 263 to 173. Dudunsparce was another Hyper Voice victim, though Goodra was as tenacious as Penny's Sylveon and managed to cast Dragon Pulse. I used Giga Drain, forgetting that Goodra had Sap Sipper immunity, but this did not make the battle much harder. Quaquaval was a Water/Fighting type and karate chopped with a Brick Break from 206 to 102 HP before the final Giga Drain.


The Iron Hands that Arboliva and Penny's Umbreon had to fight in Area Zero was slower than my solo monster, which was a good omen for the final boss battle. AI Turo failed to poison Arboliva with Sludge Wave, and Terastallizing immediately before casting Earth Power was an appropriate precaution for Iron Moth. Arboliva set up Growth against Iron Hands because she was faster and had no good chance of a one-hit knockout. Iron Hands Drain Punched Arboliva from 238 HP to 130, though a +1 Giga Drain in Grassy Terrain recovered her entire health bar. Iron Thorns attacked with Brick Break, though it was a robo-Tyranitar and therefore susceptible to Giga Drain. Iron Jugulis cast Dark Pulse for minor damage before dying to Hyper Voice. Iron Bundle's Freeze-Dry was weak since Arboliva had Terastallized, making it more Giga Drain food. The ordinarily slow Iron Valiant was actually the biggest danger in this battle due to Quark Drive increasing its Attack. Its Brick Break knocked Arboliva down to 129 HP from a full 269. Hyper Voice won the game at Lv 85, placing Arboliva just ahead of Jumpluff.


Slow Pokemon are more challenging than fast ones. You're forced to take more damage and often fall victim to status ailments. Arboliva adds to these problems with a horrible defensive typing of Grass/Normal. Grass has many weaknesses in general, and Fighting attacks like Brick Break and Close Combat are everywhere in Paldea to deal with Normals. Normal is not the best type to combine with Grass offensively either, since both are resisted by Steel.


At least Arboliva can learn Earth Power to deal with some metal monsters, if not the ones that can fly or eat dirt to heal. Seed Sower is a great ability, superior to even Tapu Bulu's auto-Grassy Terrain in the context of a solo challenge. +30% Giga Drain damage combined with 1/16 HP healing makes the olive tree sturdier than it should be. Arboliva has an easy time with battles that other solos hate, such as AI Turo, yet can fail to even get to the boss of a Team Star base at an appropriate level. The Elite Four gives Arboliva headaches. It's super effective against Rika, yet all three of the rest put her at a type disadvantage.


Final Stats Lv 85

HP: 269
Attack: 152
Defense: 215
Special Attack: 258
Special Defense: 226
Speed: 107


Hyper Voice
Giga Drain
Earth Power
Growth


If I do another solo, it may involve my favorite item Eviolite. . .
 
Pokemon Violet Solo Mudbray Part 1


SHREK the trainer was disoriented after being cast out of the fairy tale lands, and now seemed to be a human boy with green Space Buns hair instead of an ogre. It was probably the Fairy Godmother's fault. He had been separated from his longtime companion DONKEY, and didn't find him again until cruising through West Province. Appropriately for a magical talking donkey, he had a Quirky nature. His base stats were decent for an unevolved Pokemon:


HP: 70
Attack: 100
Defense: 70
Special Attack: 45
Special Defense: 55
Speed: 45


With an Attack stat like Mew's, DONKEY was ready to fight as soon as he was caught. His initial stats:

Lv 16

HP: 52
Attack: 39
Defense: 30
Special Attack: 22
Special Defense: 24
Speed: 20


Iron Defense
Double Kick
Bulldoze
Stomp


SHREK punched DONKEY in the face to make him forget Iron Defense. DONKEY did not like the static electricity feeling of a TM downloading the move Rest to his brain, but he would have to deal with it until they could both go home.


Gym Leader Katy defeated SHREK and his DONKEY on the first attempt because he just happened to be at a Speed tie with Teddiursa, who scored a critical hit after a Terastallized Fury Cutter combo. DONKEY's ability was Stamina, which increased Defense by one stage after being hit by an attack, but critical hits ignored stat boosts. He was also at a Speed tie with Katy's Nymble. On Take 2, DONKEY grew to Lv 17 during the fight and outpaced Teddiursa. Stomping on a teddy bear didn't make it flinch like SHREK had hoped, but DONKEY brayed in triumph with 13/54 HP.


Carcinization had become extreme when DONKEY had to face a Rock type Titan Klawf at Lv 17. He had the weight of the world on his head, or at least one hemisphere of it when he Terastallized and started stamping his feet to Bulldoze. He sent Klawf skittering down the hill at 31/54 HP for the second phase. DONKEY had a special problem when it came to fighting Titans: his Ground moves also hit his partner! What was "collateral damage" among friends like Arven? At least one of the Bulldozes was a critical against Klawf. Rock Smash had the rare effect of raising a Pokemon's Defense when it hit DONKEY. Klawf wasted a turn on Blocking DONKEY, as if he would retreat. The long-suffering Shellder took credit for the victory by spraying Water Gun.


Strength was a rare move in the post-HM era, but Mudbray learned the 80 power Normal move naturally. DONKEY confronted Bombirdier at Lv 22 after he badgered SHREK into giving him candy. He resisted Rock Throw, and merely gained Defense after taking Wing Attack. DONKEY was annoyed after Pluck ate his Chesto Berry. DONKEY took a Spanish siesta during both phases of the fight to recover HP. Arven's Lv 19 Nacli had to do most of the work with Rock Throw and Smack Down. Smack Down sent Bombirdier crashing to the ground, so of course DONKEY killed his Nacli ally with a Terastallized Bulldoze after waking up from Rest. To insult Bombirdier, DONKEY finished the fight with a Double Kick.


DONKEY the Mudbray Lv 22


HP: 67
Attack: 52
Defense: 40
Special Attack: 28
Special Defense: 32
Speed: 26


Rest
Double Kick
Bulldoze
Strength


Mudbray disappointed me a bit against Katy, but other than that, he's been doing well. Certainly better than Smoliv and Dolliv. I insisted on fighting Bombirdier early so SHREK could take the sea route to Asado Desert and fight the trainers there to teach DONKEY Earthquake. He'll need to visit the southeastern region of Paldea as well to battle trainers to earn the Eviolite.
 
Pokemon Violet Solo Mudbray Part 2


DONKEY didn't have his Eviolite yet, but one item in Porto Marinada took its place for a few battles: Assault Vest. SHREK struggled to slip it over DONKEY's hooves later in this session, but he gained +50% Special Defense at the cost of being unable to use non-attacking moves like Rest. DONKEY defeated the Asado Desert trainers and replaced Bulldoze with Earthquake, the standard Ground attack for physical monsters. While in the desert, DONKEY held Soft Sand to increase his Ground power.


South Province Area Five was SHREK's favorite region. The small swamp reminded him so much of home! A trainer named Sofia was difficult as she had a Surfing Azumarill, but DONKEY outlasted her on the second attempt with Assault Vest. Other foes were much easier and DONKEY earned his Eviolite for +50% in both defenses.


Artazon's Gym Test was unusual in this timeline because SHREK did not have to look in the hedge maze to find any of the Sunfloras. Being at Lv 27 with an Eviolite equipped seemed like overkill for a Gym where the strongest Pokemon was ten levels lower. But Pokemon challenges always turn out differently from what the player expects. Terastallized Earthquake was DONKEY's strongest attack even at half power, so Petilil and Smolvi tumbled to the Ground. Sudowoodo, however, had high Defense and resisted Earthquake as well when Terastallized. DONKEY's Earthquake tickled its roots for perhaps 40% HP. Sudowoodo's Trailblaze eventually caused even a fake tree to outpace a DONKEY. By the end of the fight, he was only at 43/81 HP, and would have been in much worse shape if he had lacked Stamina.


Fire was one type that Ground had an advantage against, so Mela was the best opponent for DONKEY to fight next. However, Ground did not resist Fire, and both of the Team Star boss's Pokemon worked together to make a difficult matchup. Torkoal's shell was so hard it survived a Terastallized Earthquake and spun with Flame Wheel. Its Drought enhanced Revavroom's Overheat by 50%, and DONKEY held on with only 5 HP before he Rested. Revavroom kept casting Overheat and decreasing its Special Attack due to accounting for Stamina, while Blazing Torque was rare.


Giacomo's Revavroom also had a trick for Mudbray: cutting his Attack by 1 stage with Intimidate. It intended to drop DONKEY's Special Defense with Metal Sound and then Snarl at him. DONKEY's tremors caused the Starmobile to collapse after about 5 uses of Earthquake. He won at Lv 28 with 44/93 HP. One reward for clearing the Team Star bases was the chance at new TMs to craft, and Rock Tomb happened to be available now. DONKEY replaced Strength with Rock Tomb because he needed something to deal with Flying or Levitating Ghosts.


There seem to be two types of Herman Gigglethorpe timelines in Pokemon Violet: Easy Nemona and Hard Nemona. DONKEY happened to live in a Hard Nemona world, as the starting Fuecoco had lost to her Terastallized Pawmi in the second match. It was my mistake that caused the loss here, as I should have used Earthquake twice against Floragato instead of expecting it to be a Dark type and using the weak Double Kick. Floragato's Terastallized Magical Leaf sliced DONKEY's neck.


The hardest opponent for a Ground type like Mudbray so far was. . .the Electric Gym Leader Iono. It took three tries to beat her with a monster that was supposed to be immune to her type. Luxio Intimidated DONKEY and sometimes caused flinches with a fast Bite. Mismagius had Levitate (which I found out the hard way) and Terastallized into an Electric type with no weaknesses. Its Hex dealt enough damage already, and it also happened to gain power while DONKEY was Resting. Even with better tactics on the second try, DONKEY had to flip a coin to attack due to Confuse Ray. DONKEY did win on the third attempt, though he had to be Lv 31, and even then, he only had 35/92 HP. Two Rock Tombs slowed Mismagius enough for DONKEY to move first, and Double Kick was safer afterwards because of its higher accuracy.


Orthworm the Steel Titan was the last foe in this session. Headbutt and Iron Tail were light taps against a high Stamina DONKEY holding Eviolite in his mouth. Since its ability actually made it heal from its Ground "weakness", Double Kick was the best option in both phases. Arven's Toedscool contributed to DONKEY's efforts with Screech to lower Orthworm's Defense and Supersonic to confuse the boss. Orthworm wasted its last move on Sandstorm, which would have done nothing to Mudbray the Ground type. Double Kick erased the last bit of red from Orthworm's HP bar after Toedscool tripped it with Grass Knot.


DONKEY the Mudbray Lv 32 @ Eviolite


HP: 94
Attack: 75
Defense: 56
Special Attack: 40
Special Defense: 44
Speed: 36


Earthquake
Rock Tomb
Double Kick
Rest
 
Pokemon Violet Solo Mudbray Part 3


SHREK found a Rock Slide TM on the ground in the unusually rainy "desert" north of Levincia. Rock Slide overwrote Rock Tomb in DONKEY's brain, and SHREK rode Miraidon the Poke-motorcycle to Atticus's base. Abilities have no effect in auto-battles, as seen when DONKEY kicked Gastlys with his Ground element without having to deal with Levitate. DONKEY had about 3/4 of his HP remaining once the auto-massacre was finished.


Atticus's Skuntank struck first with priority Sucker Punch, as if it needed that to outrun a Mudbray. Earthquake toppled Skuntank, the regular Revavroom, and Muk, though all of them showed off their attacks before fainting. Revavroom headbutted with Iron Head and Muk failed to poison with Sludge Wave. Atticus's Starmobile Revavroom ineffectually Spun Out and kept decreasing its Speed. After three Spin Outs, even DONKEY could go first and summon Earthquake for around 40-45% damage. The Starmobile Flame Charged to regain its Speed, and eventually succeeded in turning a final Spin Out before breaking down while DONKEY was at 73/97 HP at Lv 33.


Larry the Normal Gym Leader seemed like an easier opponent than the Water Gym Leader Kofu. This wasn't the case in practice. When DONKEY was at Lv 33, Komala survived Earthquake and Yawned. Double Kick finished off Komala, and when DONKEY fell asleep, Dundunsparce turned on Hyper Drill. Earthquake didn't even undermine half of Dudunsparce's HP. Larry figured out a tactic that Stamina could never defeat: roll for critical hits! Dudunsparce also knew Drill Run, a Ground attack with a high critical chance. One Drill Run ignored DONKEY's Defense boosts and left him helpless against Staraptor's Facade.


As SHREK was riding toward Alfornada Cavern to auto-battle wild Toxtricitys and Salandits, he saw the greatest synchronicity in a Pokemon playthrough since the time CEDRIC died to a "POIsonous Ekans" in Crystal. He caught a Lv 16 yellow Mudbray with a Repeat Ball. Shinys are more common in Violet, but the chances of this incident happening have to be expressed with scientific notation. The first shiny I find in four playthroughs happens to be the same species as my solo monster. Shrek roleplay tempts fate! This Mudbray was named THE SHINNING and was promptly shoved into a PC Box.


DONKEY tried his luck against Larry again at Lv 36. Earthquake shook Komala in one hit, and this time Dudunsparce gave the usual Glare to the solo Pokemon. All was well when DONKEY Rested once Staraptor flew into the arena. But Larry didn't need Drill Run to beat up a Mudbray. Staraptor's critical Terastallized Facade knocked DONKEY down from 81/105 HP to a mere 9!


At Lv 37, Kofu was counterintuitively the easier Gym Leader. Veluza used Pluck for reasons only known to the programmers before falling to Earthquake. Wugtrio cast Water Pulse instead of going for the typical Headbutt. Since it had the same pitiful Defense and HP as its Ground equivalent Dugtrio, one Earthquake was enough. Crabominable was durable enough to take one Earthquake, though the dice were not on Kofu's side and Crabhammer failed its critical roll. Crabominable was also sluggish, so DONKEY struck with Earthquake once more for the victory at Lv 37 with 32/108 HP.


The one hit KO against Komala was a fluke. When DONKEY returned to Larry at Lv 38, his usual Terastallized Earthquake left Komala with a tiny red bar of HP. Komala whiffed with Slam instead of trying Yawn on the first turn, but corrected this error just before dying. Earthquake now battered Dudunsparce for more than half HP, and none of its feeble attacks were criticals this time. DONKEY's Stamina activated so many times that Staraptor's Facade only knocked him down from 87/111 HP to 75. Since Staraptor was a pure Normal type after Terastallizing, Earthquake was an eligible move, and two uses sent it crashing to the ground.


A strange scene happened with Nemona in SHREK's timeline. She talked to him as if he were still going for the 4th badge, and then immediately returned to challenge him to a rival battle. Lycanroc Bit DONKEY, obviously trying to make him flinch, but Earthquake buried the Rock wolf. Goomy was only a waste of PP and time. Pawmo's Quick Attack did little more than increase DONKEY's Stamina. However, Nemona had the perfect counter to a SHREK team: Puss in Boots. Or a Lv 37 Meowscarada in game terms. It Slashed DONKEY on the first turn, perhaps as a nod to Puss in Boot's swordfighting. After that? A Terastallized Flower Trick which had a 100% critical chance! SHREK definitely lived in a Hard Nemona world.


DONKEY performed better than the game's expectations when he felled Iron Treads at Lv 39. Two Earthquakes shattered the first phase, but there was a real risk of losing to two Iron Heads. Iron Treads's second move was thankfully Knock Off instead. During the second phase, DONKEY abstained from Earthquake until the final turn. Double Kick was the preferred move for minor damage and keeping Arven's Scovillain alive. Iron Treads attacked DONKEY with Rapid Spin before focusing on Scovillain. Scovillain's Fire Fang was helpful. Iron Head caused Scovillain to faint just before the final Earthquake.


While climbing Glaseado Mountain, SHREK and DONKEY took the time to kill the entire pride of the Lion King in one auto-battle session. They were Dreamworks characters, and were not going to let Disney Pyroars run free on their turf! Gym Trainer Lani in Montenevera was much more difficult than the actual Gym Leader. Her Misdreavus and Haunter both had Levitate, and yes, I tried Earthquake on one attempt.


(Pokemon is inconsistent when it comes to Levitate. A monster can float in midair without having this ability, so Ghosts such as Banette CAN be killed by Earthquake. This series is going to collapse under its own complicated mechanics at some point. If the board game Go is simplicity, then Pokemon is centrifugal bumblepuppy.)


Rock Slide's power was reduced to balance its ability to hit both targets. After another failed run, the solution was to feed DONKEY an Adamant Mint that I'd found and teach him Heavy Slam. I was planning on Careful for the Special Defense, but 100 Attack benefits from the 10% boost of Adamant, and does make the difference between two hit and one hit kills. This was proven when the first Gym Trainer's Greavard died in one hit from Earthquake, when previously it had survived the first round.


Gym Trainer Lani did not attack the ceremonial Magikarp at all, another freak occurrence in an already bizarre playthrough. Instead, they cast Night Shade and Hex at DONKEY as he Heavy Slammed their light ectoplasm. MC Sledge made his Drifblim Self-Destruct as always, and I anticipated this to go for the Earthquake KO against his Sableye.


Gym Leader Ryme's Banette endured the first Earthquake, though Mimikyu only lived by throwing away its Disguise. Mimikyu Shadow Sneaked up on Magikarp, and Banette did the same to DONKEY. Terastallizing on the first turn gave DONKEY the Ancient Power all-stat boost, and killing both Pokemon with the next Earthquake resulted in another Attack boost. Toxtricity and Houndstone had no chance against the third Earthquake, though the air guitar lizard was at least fast enough to scream with Hyper Voice first. DONKEY won his 6th badge with 61/127 HP at Lv 44.


At this point, SHREK bought the 5 Bottle Caps in Cascarrafa, but I forgot about the Lv 50 requirement for Hyper Training. Oh well, DONKEY might be able to beat Tulip without perfect IVs at least.


DONKEY the Lv 44 Mudbray @ Eviolite


HP: 127
Attack: 114
Defense: 76
Special Attack: 48
Special Defense: 59
Speed: 49


Earthquake
Rock Slide
Heavy Slam
Rest
 
Pokemon Violet Solo Mudbray Part 4


Nemona's next encounter went mostly the same as last time, except now she had a Sliggoo that was faster and aimed Dragon Pulse at DONKEY's low Special Defense. Puss in Boots as Meowscarada Slashed to show off, then showed DONKEY a Flower Trick to make him beg for mercy. DONKEY may have fared even worse than Arboliva in the Emotional Spectrum Practice exercises, where the frame rate went to die. He shook his head when the instructor told him to look excited!


The "ESP" battles themselves were miserable for a slow Ground type. Arboliva at least had to wait for Gym Trainer Rafael before having difficulty. Gym Trainer Emily had a Kirlia who psychoanalyzed DONKEY with Psychic, which left him at low HP for Rafael. He endured a Psyshock from his Grumpig at 1 HP and Rested to heal. Psyshock was an unusual Special Attack that hit Defense, which DONKEY could counter with Stamina. But in the end Rafael's Indeedee cast Psychic to send DONKEY back to the Pokemon Center. Now I'll list the obligatory stat comparison for Hyper Training at Lv 50:


Before

HP: 144
Attack: 130
Defense: 86
Special Attack: 54
Special Defense: 68
Speed: 56


After

HP: 148
Attack: 140
Defense: 92
Special Attack: 54
Special Defense: 77
Speed: 68


With his new stats, DONKEY's Earthquake made Rafael's Grumpig into bacon before it could move. Medicham tried Power Trick gimmicks which didn't work, while Indeedee's Psychic didn't reduce DONKEY's HP below half.


Tulip was still more difficult than her minions. Farigiraf nudged DONKEY with Zen Headbutts but could survive an Earthquake. Gardevoir sent Grass type Energy Balls at DONKEY. Espathra's Opportunist was more relevant than in other solos, since it could copy DONKEY's automatic Stamina increases. DONKEY fell to the peacock's Psychic on two occasions, once at Lv 51, and again at Lv 54.


Grusha had a type advantage against DONKEY, and his Frosmoth supported the team by speeding them up with Tailwind. Beartic impaled DONKEY with two consecutive critical Icicle Crashes.


At Lv 60, DONKEY's Terastallized Earthquake finally went high enough on the Richter scale to topple Farigiraf in one move. Gardevoir, Espathra, and Florges fell to Earthquake as well. Tulip put up a solid resistance, and Florges's last Moonblast shined on DONKEY, leaving him with 36/176 HP..


Lv 60 was fast enough to outpace Grusha's Frosmoth, and it was buried in a Rock Slide. Terastallized Earthquake was better against the rest of the team. Beartic didn't move at all, though Cetitan held on with red HP and whirled in an Ice Spinner. Altaria was still faster than a Mudbray, and made DONKEY shiver with Terastallized Ice Beams.


DONKEY could defeat both forms of Titan Dondozo with Earthquake and Rock Slide, though Titan Tatsugiri was too much. Its Muddy Water swamped both Arven's Greedent and DONKEY.


Ortega's Fairy tale freakdown was possible at Lv 62, but the fight itself was silly. It was raining at the time, and Ortega led with Azumarill. But it didn't go for the obvious Water move, and instead went for a much more devious tactic: Charm. At -2 Attack, this Team Star boss battle dragged on for many turns. Wigglytuff and Dachsbun stirred up cartoon dust clouds with Play Rough, but this was a physical Fairy move that DONKEY shrugged off. DONKEY Rested in front of the Fairy Revavroom in spite of Misty Terrain, since he knew the Starmobile would just run over the ground with Steel Roller. DONKEY Rested again later in the battle, and hit himself multiple times for minor damage due to Confuse Ray. Magical Torque only tapped DONKEY when he had such high Stamina. DONKEY ran out of Earthquake PP and tried both Rock Slide and Heavy Slam against Ortega's Starmobile. Rock Slide seemed better, and so DONKEY conquered his 4th Team Star base.


DONKEY has performed so badly in this playthrough that he actually lost in a Tera Raid, something I've never seen with the other three solos. A 4* Bellibolt outlasted him with the help of Confuse Ray, and DONKEY died after a failed attempt to break the shield with Terastallized Earthquake. Bellibolt's energy burst and sent all combatants out of the arena.


DONKEY managed to hold onl long enough to clear the final auto-battle section in Eri's base. Her Fighting monsters such as Toxicroak, Passimian, and Annihilape were physical attackers but still hit hard with a critical Brick Break and Close Combat. Lucario picked off DONKEY with an Aura Sphere cast. Perhaps he could have Rested against Annihilape, but whatever the case, DONKEY will need more levels to win the next few challenges.


DONKEY the Mudbray Lv 63


HP: 185
Attack: 178
Defense: 115
Special Attack: 70
Special Defense: 97
Speed: 85


Earthquake
Rock Slide
Heavy Slam
Rest
 
Pokemon Violet Solo Mudbray Part 5


DONKEY's signature Ground move High Horsepower was inferior to Earthquake on most occasions, since it had 5 less base power and accuracy. But Titan Dondozo + Tatsugiri was an abnormal circumstance. High Horsepower had the advantage of not hitting Arven's Greedent. Greedent took a Dragon Pulse for DONKEY, and wagged its bushy Tail Whip to reduce the Dragon fish's Defense. Tatsugiri may have thrown the fight by casting Icy Wind against two slow Pokemon rather than drowning them in Muddy Water, and DONKEY survived with only 30/186 HP at Lv 63.


In the lighthouse lab, I finally learned how to take off that stupid uniform hat so SHREK could show off his Space Buns "horns"! Had to look it up online. Arven's threat was Toedscruel, who made up for its "low priority status moves" by surviving a hit to spread Spore sleep and then Power Whipped DONKEY like Balaam would have done. I'd also forgotten to swap out High Horsepower for Earthquake, not that it would have made a difference.


Lv 70 was overkill for Grusha. Heavy Slam crushed Frosmoth, and DONKEY outran the rest of his team and made them tremble with Earthquake. However, Lv 70 wasn't enough for Eri of Team Star. Toxicroak struck with a critical Brick Break, while Passimian preferred Close Combat. DONKEY
Rested when Annihilape was on the field. Annihilape tried several ineffectual moves such as Fire Punch and Rage Fist, though it only managed to increase DONKEY's Stamina. In the first attempt, I'd forgotten to recharge the Tera Orb after Grusha, and DONKEY came close to victory anyway. But Eri's Starmobile also had Stamina, and could boost its Attack by +1 and Speed by +2 with Shift Gear. DONKEY ran out of Earthquake PP, and had to try his other feeble attacks. It came down to which side would roll a critical first to ignore Defense, and the Starmobile did it first. The second attempt failed because of bad luck rather than lack of forethought, as Combat Torque scored two criticals.


At this time it seemed best to take on the Elite Four. I was only paying half attention when Donphan was out, and used Heavy Slam once instead of a second Earthquake. It failed to KO, and gave Donphan the chance at another Earthquake. Dugtrio directly attacked with Earthquake instead of setting up Sandstorm evasion. Clodsire used its usual Toxic + Protect combo, and the poisoned DONKEY defeated Rika with only 57/210 HP at Lv 71.


SHREK had a "clever" tactic to use against the members of Poppy's team that were insolent enough to fly or Levitate. Rock Smash would lower their Defense, and in Corviknight's case, softened it up for Rock Slide. One Rock Slide even made Corviknight flinch. Repeated Rock Smashes broke Bronzong. The rest of the team was Earthquake bait, and the final Tinkaton only dealt 22 damage. Magnezone built a Light Screen instead of shooting Flash Cannon. Poppy was an easier victory than I'd expected at Lv 72 with 156/213 HP.


DONKEY swapped out his third move again for Larry, this time selecting Rock Tomb. Rock Tomb was backup in case Rock Slide ran out of PP, and its higher accuracy made it a good choice for weakened enemies. Tropius of all Pokemon was a threat since it survived Rock Slide and shined Solarbeam at DONKEY. Altaria was faster on the first attempt and shot a frigid Ice Beam. Rock Slide missed it too. Even at Lv 80, Tropius still endured Rock Slide, and Altaria still out-flew DONKEY. Rock Tomb was necessary after all. DONKEY Rested to recover against both Staraptor and Oricorio. Oricorio cut with the special attack Air Slash and blew Icy Wind. Flamigo bashed DONKEY with Terastallized Brave Birds, but Rock Slides conked it on the head. The third Elite Four member surrendered when DONKEY was at Lv 80 with 36/235 HP.


Hassel was a. . .hassle. Noivern infiltrated DONKEY's defenses with Super Fang. DONKEY was lucky against Flapple and made it flinch with Rock Slide. Haxorus attacked with Dragon Claw scratches. But it was Baxcalibur who would take out DONKEY multiple times with Icicle Crash. He didn't even get to measure his Earthquake damage on the first two attempts due to flinching. Heavy Slam flattened Flapple in one attempt, but this was merely a high roll as Flapple survived in the next round. Flapple threw Seed Bombs. At Lv 83, DONKEY tried a new tactic of Resting against Haxorus to build up Stamina for Baxcalibur. Even at +6 Defense, the battle was tense since DONKEY flinched twice to Icicle Crash!


If Geeta's Espathra lived for too long, it would drop DONKEY's Special Defense with Lumina Crash and gain Defense from his own Stamina via Opportunist. But Terastallized Earthquake killed it in one hit after the starting Lumina Crash since DONKEY had to be at such a high level to conquer Hassel. Earthquake sank Veluza, and Gogoat's Horn Leech was weak in spite of being super effective. Two Earthquakes slaughtered the Grass goat. Avalugg's Avalanche was also a physical move and therefore blunted by Stamina. Two Earthquakes shattered the iceberg. Resting against Kingambit was the best idea since it could only poke DONKEY with its signature move Kowtow Cleave. This was a wise idea since Glimmora's Earth Power reduced DONKEY to 90/244 just before the last Earthquake made SHREK a Champion.


Being at Lv 84 made Eri into a modest opponent. Annihilape and Lucario were still able to knock DONKEY down to 158/247 HP before Eri's Starmobile. But all the modified Revavroom did was Shift Gear, and two Earthquakes disbanded the last Team Star squad.
 
Pokemon Violet Solo Mudbray FINALE


DONKEY feared Nemona more than even the final boss. Her Lycanroc only prodded him with a Drill Run before falling to Earthquake. Goodra turned down the temperature with Ice Beam before succumbing to Terastallized Earthquake. DONKEY Rested against Pawmot since it was an Electric type. It tried both Close Combat and Ice Punch, but both built up DONKEY's Stamina. Earthquake bisected Dudunsparce before it could act. Eri's TM had a secret weapon for DONKEY in Close Combat, which dented Orthworm and was the main attack against the dreaded Meowscarada. Puss in Boots shone the Flower Trick spotlight. . .and DONKEY lived with 15/247 HP! On the next turn, Puss in Boots used Shadow Claw?! He must have pitied DONKEY and wanted him to win without having to reach Lv 100.


Defeating Nemona sent SHREK to his dorm at Uva Academy, and exiting the building immediately threw him into a fight with Clavell. How rude! Rock Slide couldn't kill Abomasnow in a Snowscape, and Houndoom's Fire Blast burned DONKEY. He had to Rest to get rid of the Attack decrease, only to have his Special Defense falter after Polteageist's Shadow Balls. DONKEY was about to pass out already when Quaquaval Aqua Stepped on him.


The reason the forced Clavell fight annoyed me was that I wanted the Iron Head TM specifically for his Abomasnow. The added base power and a timely critical hit made the difference and cut down the Christmas tree in one hit. Houndoom didn't burn DONKEY this time, and he survived an Aqua Step to use Earthquake against Quaquaval for the victory with 97/247 HP.


Penny was another dreaded fight since several of her Eevee evolutions could use Baby-Doll Eyes to cut DONKEY's Attack. But only Flareon did this, and that was when DONKEY was Resting to heal. Vaporeon died in one hit, and Stamina could deal with Leafeon's Leaf Blade. It took two Earthquakes to beat Sylveon, and DONKEY had 105/251 HP.


Arven was saved for last because I didn't have to fight him at night. Toedscruel was still tough when it failed to flinch by Iron Head and tried its typical Spore + Power Whip combo. Scovillain's secondary Fire type was a disadvantage this time because that made it neutral to a Terastallized Earthquake. At Lv 85, Earthquake was so strong that even Cloyster's high Defense shell was shattered. DONKEY Rested in front of Garganacl because there was nothing the salt golem could use against him other than a minor Earthquake. Mabosstiff put up a fight with Intimidate and Terastallized Crunch, but two Earthquakes convinced the final Area Zero companion to join.


The mandatory Lv 62 Iron Bundle before one of the Great Crater of Paldea research stations was frightening because it survived an Earthquake. If a robot bird 24 levels lower than DONKEY could take his strongest attack, what would happen when he fought AI Turo's stronger version? DONKEY's Earthquake made him a terrible doubles partner, especially since it killed Penny's Umbreon and made her summon Jolteon. SHREK knew Nemona wasn't a "pampered princess": he had seen her at night, and she didn't turn into an ogre!


AI Turo's Iron Moth was faster and attacked with its ancestor Volcarona's Fiery Dance. Iron Bundle was suspiciously pacifist since it set up Snowscape twice in a row. Iron Thorns the robo-Tyranitar was slightly faster than DONKEY and attacked with a weak Earthquake. The true threat on the robot professor's team was Iron Jugulis the robo-Hydreigon, since its Dark Pulse was a special attack with a flinch chance. And if DONKEY could flinch in any battle, he did.


AI Turo's team gave such high experience yields that DONKEY was at Lv 87 when he tried again. Iron Bundle's tactics were the funniest part of the playthrough. It set up Snowscape, cast Freeze-Dry to freeze DONKEY and then. . .did nothing but use Snowscape over and over until DONKEY thawed out to finish it off with a second Earthquake. DONKEY Rested against Iron Thorns for safety's sake, and was now faster than future Tyranitar. Rock Slide + Iron Head sent Iron Jugulis crashing to the ground, but Dark Pulses knocked DONKEY down to only 75/257 HP. Resting was safe against Iron Hands after the Fake Out, and its Drain Punch was a light tap after the initial critical. Iron Valiant's Spirit Break failed to live up to its name when DONKEY persevered and used the final Earthquake of the game at 138 HP.


Final Stats Lv 87


HP: 257
Attack: 255
Defense: 161
Special Attack: 101
Special Defense: 137
Speed: 119


Earthquake
Rock Slide
Iron Head
Rest


Mudbray somehow did worse than Jumpluff, and that was a blind playthrough! 100 Attack ain't what it used to be since Pokemon in general have gained higher stats after the early installments. Being slow is one of the worst liabilities a solo could have, as seen in the Arboliva challenge. You take more damage overall, and you have to deal with more status ailments and flinches. Terastallized Earthquake works well much of the time, but when something is immune or resistant to Ground, you're in trouble. Rock would be a reliable complement to Ground if it weren't based on weak and inaccurate moves like Rock Slide. Mudbray has a shallow move selection in general, and wishes it had Body Press to take advantage of its Defense, or even Flame Charge to increase its Speed and hurt Grass types. Eviolite isn't enough to stop the stronger special attacks, and Rest is the only method of HP recovery. Stamina's automatic Defense boosts work great against physical attackers most of the time, but there's always a chance enemies could roll a critical.
 
Pokemon Crystal Solo Seaking Part 1


On Smogon, there was a thread that claimed Seaking was one of the least used Pokemon in the series. Is Seaking maligned, or is it overlooked for good reason? Of course the conventional wisdom is correct! Seaking is a mediocre fish competing in the most crowded type. Even if you choose the Fire or Grass starter, another Water will have superior stats or a secondary typing that makes it stand out. Or at least it will be memorably bad like Magikarp. In later generations, Lumineon forces Seaking to defend its title as "blandest Water Pokemon". The most Seaking has going for it is being an HM hipster due to learning Waterfall in the original Kanto games.


In honor of the writer who has meditated on mediocrity more than anyone else on the Internet, the trainer was named RAO and the Pokemon VENKATESH. VENKATESH was reeled into a Poke Ball in a Union Cave pond at Lv 10 with the following stats and moves:


HP: 29
Attack: 20
Defense: 17
Special Attack: 12
Special Defense: 15
Speed: 17


Peck
Supersonic
Tail Whip


Goldeen was so bad that it had to evolve to reach the median tier of Pokemon. With 35 base Special Attack, its Water moves would be a trickle. . .if it learned any on its own. Despite his type disadvantage, VENKATESH Pecked his way through Sprout Tower and defeated Sage Li at Lv 13 with 21/36 HP. The first Berry was NOT used on the monk, however, but a trainer with a Lv 15 Magikarp that knew Tackle on the way back to Union Cave. VENKATESH's Valley of Humiliation was Fisher Ralph. His Goldeen was only Lv 10, yet managed to convince VENKATESH to kill himself by Supersonic confusion.


Goldeen's performance improved when he learned Horn Attack at Lv 15. Union Cave was surprisingly easy for VENKATESH as he had a method of dealing with Rock types that fellow "Water type with no Water moves" Tentacool lacked: Tail Whip! This humble Defense lowering technique was the way to beat Geodudes and an Onix.


Team Rocket was easy to rout in Slowpoke Well, but Bugsy was not. Kakuna injected its venom into Goldeen with Poison Sting, and Scyther's Fury Cutter hacked him to pieces. On Take 2, Kakuna failed to poison VENKATESH, and Scyther opted for Quick Attack rather than Fury Cutter combos after Supersonic broke its concentration. VENKATESH won at Lv 20 with only 12/51 HP.


The real Venkatesh Rao's "rival" was columnist David Brooks, so the red-haired thief was named DBROOKS in this timeline. His Bayleef's Razor Leaf gutted Goldeen with a critical hit on the first attempt. Another attempt had an inauspicious beginning with a 5 turn or so Hypnosis from Gastly. The third try was a victory at Lv 21 with 18/53 HP, but that was probably because of a whiffed Poison Powder.


(Goldeen at least has a method to hit Ghost types through Peck, unlike some other early Pokemon in Johto like Ledyba!)


Since Goldeen aspired to be as average as possible, he lost to Whitney's Miltank several times. Usually this was because of Stomp rather than the dreaded Rollout combo. No amount of Supersonic confusion luck could get past the enemy's high Defense and Attack. To win, VENKATESH had to train with the people on the route north of Goldenrod and in National Park. At Lv 27, Goldeen succeeded with 12/67 HP. Return wasn't fully powered up by friendship yet, so VENKATESH switched to Horn Attack later in that battle.


(Clefairy's Metronomes on the failed attempts included Megahorn and Hydro Pump, if you're curious.)
 
Pokemon Crystal Solo Seaking Part 2

VENKATESH the Goldeen was so subpar that I thought the Kimono Girl with the Jolteon would be a threat. She wasn't. Jolteon was gored by a critical Horn Attack. He had earlier surprised me by defeating Sudowoodo with some Supersonic confusion help after forgetting to heal before the fight. Surf was not only the best Water attack in Crystal, but the first and last Goldeen would learn. Goldeen's Surf tide was too low to even kill DBROOKS's Lv 18 Magnemite in Burned Tower with one cast. Haunter sacrificed itself to Curse VENKATESH, which was fatal when combined with Bayleef's Razor Leaf.


Goldeen would have to evolve in order to even reach Morty, let alone beat him using only his Special Attack stat. VENKATESH became a Seaking in the Olivine City lighthouse at Lv 33, improving his Special Attack from about 36 to 55. When Seaking returned to DBROOKS at Lv 34 after clearing the lighthouse, his Surf was sufficient to swamp both Haunter and Magnemite. Bayleef needed two Returns to kill, but the only damage VENKATESH took was from a Zubat Bite due to a prior Reflect preventing a one hit Return kill. (It should tell you something that I wasn't confident in Surf even after its earlier success!)


Morty was a surprising flawless victory. Gengar wasted its turn on a Hypnosis that VENKATESH cured with his Mint Berry. All of his other Ghosts were buried at sea with Surf at Lv 36. Catching HM mules Pidgey and Red Gyarados was much harder than the 4th Gym. I must have offended the Pidgey spirits when the first candidate broke out of my small supply of Poke and Great Balls, and VENKATESH Surfed it to death out of spite. The second Pidgey took multiple Poke Balls before submitting to Fly drudgery. Red Gyarados killed VENKATESH three times before surrendering on the fourth attempt.


Team Rocket in Mahogany Town wasn't worth mentioning. Pryce's Dewgong survived the first Return and Headbutted Seaking down to 121/133 HP at the time of the Lv 42 win. By this time, Seaking had Mystic Water equipped to make Surf slightly stronger. Both Chuck and Jasmine were perfect victories at Lv 44. Chucik's Primeape collapsed after a critical Return, and VENKATESH ignored Poliwrath's belly spiral Hypnosis. Jasmine's Magnemites and Steelix never had the chance to attack, and she was so easy that it wasn't necessary to restore PP at the Pokemon Center after Chuck's Gym. Say what you will about a lackluster fish, but the hardest Gym Leader in Johto is trivial for him.
 
Pokemon Crystal Solo Seaking Part 3


Nothing during the sequence of Team Rocket holding the Goldenrod Radio Tower hostage was interesting except for the battle with DBROOKS. Golbat barely held on after a Return and dazzled VENKATESH with Confuse Ray. Golbat later swung with Wing Attack before crashing to the ground. Magnemite paralyzed Seaking with Thunder Wave while he was still confused. Meganium set up a Reflect barrier to weaken Return and shot Razor Leaf until Seaking went belly up.


The second take was a "fluke", as DBROOKS might have said. Golbat survived a Surf this time, though Confuse Ray wore off by the time Magnemite returned. Instead of picking Razor Leaf or Reflect, Meganium. . .missed with Poison Powder, just like it did as a Bayleef in Azalea Town. Seaking grew to Lv 48 with 111/152 HP.


Clair was a flawless victory at Lv 52, which I would never have expected from a Seaking! Even if he was wearing a Pink Bow for both style and Normal type power. All three Dragonairs died to one Return each, and the Return that slew Kingdra was a critical.


DBROOKS in Victory Road was easier since he had fallen behind the level curve. And that's accounting for VENKATESH skipping many Johto trainers. The only damage taken came from Golbat's Wing Attack, cutting VENKATESH down to 163/182 HP at Lv 57. Meganium cast Reflect earlier in the fight, and Surf was not enough to soak Golbat in one hit.


Seaking's now ready for the Pokemon League. Can Icy Wind kill Lance's Dragonites, or will VENKATESH have to resort to the most generic Johto moveset possible?
 
Pokemon Crystal Solo Seaking Part 4


Will of the Elite 4 had only two Pokemon that could take a Seaking's Pink Bow Return: Exeggutor and Slowbro. Exeggutor planted Leech Seed on VENKATESH, which sprouted and drained him to 160/182 HP at Lv 57 when Slowbro forgot how to not be at +2 Special Defense with Amnesia.


Koga's Forretress had much lower Special Defense than Defense, but this was still enough to avoid dying in one hit to Seaking's average Surf. It shot Swift stars at VENKATESH, and Crobat poisoned him with Toxic just before fainting. Crobat was actually faster than a Lv 58 Seaking, and created Double Team illusions after surviving one Return. VENKATESH moved on to the 3rd Elite Four member at Lv 58 with 169/186 HP.


Bruno had the honor of cutting Seaking's HP to the lowest amount out of any of the "Four Heavenly Kings". Hitmontop was the defensive Tyrogue evolution and survived one Return to undermine Seaking with a critical Dig. His other Hitmons died in one hit to Return. Machamp slammed VENKATESH with a non-critical Cross Chop, and Bruno fed his four-armed monster with a Max Potion to hold on for another round. Critical Surf and a critical Horn Attack prevented Machamp from healing again, and Seaking won with 88/189 HP at Lv 59.


Karen should have been the hardest Elite Four member due to her Umbreon's Sand Attack and Confuse Ray, but this Eevee evolution was the victim of a critical Return. Vileplume paralyzed VENKATESH with Stun Spore and healed a bit with Moonlight. Gengar's Curse only made it easier for the Ghost to drown in Surf. Murkrow struck VENKATESH with Faint Attack and Houndoom chomped with Crunch, but Return and Surf killed the other Dark types respectively. Seaking got a surprisingly easy victory at Lv 59 with 119/189 HP.


Many solos choke at Lance, and Seaking was no exception. It took three tries to beat the Champion wearing a Batman cape. Icy Wind was completely useless in this playthrough, as it couldn't even kill a Lv 47 Dragonite with the Nevermeltice equipped! This left Seaking open to Thunder Wave paralysis from the Dragonites. VENKATESH died once to an Outrage from the Lv 50 Dragonite, and another attempt failed due to Hyper Beam. Thunder was a major threat from the first Dragonite Lance sent out.


VENKATESH had to fall back on the most "premium mediocre" moveset imaginable in Crystal: Surf, Return, Rest, and Sleep Talk. Rest + Sleep Talk is a reliable tactic for Red in many solos, but Seaking had to rely on it to even get to the rest of Kanto. The first Dragonite whiffed its Thunder Wave thanks to the chance of enemy status moves missing in Crystal. A Thunder Wave from another Dragonite did paralyze Seaking, but VENKATESH was able to Rest against the Lv 50 Dragonite who insisted on locking itself into Outrage.


Lv 50 Dragonite hit itself once in confusion after the Outrage ended, and Sleep Talk sometimes rolled Surf or Rest instead of Return. Eventually, Dragonite crashed to the floor once Seaking woke up. Charizard was too slow to fly out of the way of Surf, but Aerodactyl made a Rock Slide fall from the ceiling before becoming extinct again. VENKATESH became the Champion at Lv 60 with 102/192 HP, but grew to Lv 61 immediately after killing Aerodactyl.


Lt. Surge and Sabrina were perfect victories at Lv 63 and 64 respectively. Most Kanto Gym Leaders are wimps even when you don't fight every random trainer in Johto.
 
Pokemon Crystal Solo Seaking FINALE


All of the Kanto Gym Leaders except for Blue were flawless battles. To be fair to Misty, her Lapras botched a Blizzard after surviving one Return. Mystic Water ensured that even a Seaking could Surf the wave of victory as Brock's Kabutops and Omastar wiped out. DBROOKS's last stand in Mount Moon was also a no hitter, and he was forced to write New York Times articles from then on.


(Venkatesh Rao isn't the only person on the Internet who dislikes David Brooks. I've seen disparaging comments about his columns on random websites.)


Cal in Viridian City copied DBROOKS's tactics when he told his Meganium to miss with Poison Powder. At this point something is meddling with the Pokemon RNG to troll me.


Blue's Pidgeot was faster than VENKATESH and slapped him with Wing Attack. Exeggutor's Sunny Day sounded like a reasonable tactic, though he didn't send out his Water-weak monsters to take advantage of it. Gyarados's Twister wasn't even an F1 because Leftovers recovered the damage. Rhydon entered the arena right after Sunny Day faded, and one Surf dampened it and Arcanine. Arcanine's Extremespeed dashed into VENKATESH, leaving him at 192/230 HP at Lv 71.


(The DBROOKS battle happened after Seaking won the final badge.)


At Level 79, Seaking was not prepared for Red. A fully evolved goldfish could not beat the game when he was three levels higher than Poliwag. The main reason was that VENKATESH was slower than Lv 81 Pikachu, who jolted him with a paralyzing Thunder. His only choice against Venusaur was to Rest, and that left him open to Solarbeam and Giga Drain.


RAO the trainer searched for the remaining three Rare Candies in Johto and fed them to VENKATESH. At Lv 82, he was finally fast enough to strike Pikachu down with Return. Venusaur came out second as before, only to use Sunny Day instead of Giga Drain. Two Returns uprooted Venusaur. Espeon cast Psychic twice as it was still faster than Seaking despite being Red's lowest level monster. Snorlax set up Amnesia as Seaking Rested to recover. Many rounds of Sleep Talk ensued. It would sometimes pick Surf for minor damage, or re-sleep Seaking. Snorlax consistently attacked with Body Slam as it was smarter than a Meganium.


Seaking was too tired in the aftermath to avoid Resting again versus Blastoise. Blastoise and Seaking both Surfed at each other, though VENKATESH impressed the judges because he did it while asleep. Returns eventually cracked Blastoise's shell. Charizard had Speed in common with Espeon and smacked VENKATESH twice with Wing Attack. Seaking's Surf was so bad that it couldn't even kill a Fire type 5 levels lower with one cast. VENKATESH earned his disgraceful victory at Lv 82 with 126/265 HP.


Final Stats at Lv 82

HP: 265
Attack: 213
Defense: 151
Special Attack: 150
Special Defense: 175
Speed: 155


Seaking feels like an "identity crisis" Pokemon. As a Goldeen, it pretends to be a Normal/Flying type with moves like Peck and Horn Attack. Goldeen doesn't learn a Water attack until Surf in Ecruteak City, and that's with an HM. Even after evolution, Seaking pretends to be a Normal type and prefers Return to Surf. Water is still a Special Attack type in Crystal, and that is Seaking's worst stat. This fact also makes Ice attacks, otherwise common for Water types, irrelevant to Seaking.


Seaking reminds me a bit of Breloom in Sapphire, who wants to forget it's a Grass type and play with Fighting and Normal attacks instead. Tentacool's early game in Crystal is another comparison, as both Goldeen and Tentacool need Supersonic's low chance of confusion to deal with difficult opponents.
 

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