Pokemon Colosseum! 100% 7:17!! Improvement on the way!!!

2009-02-27 02:21:16 pm

Also tenkiforecast

Just saw the most recent segment.

God, you made Miror B look like a pansy. Dear lord, in any run i've done of Colosseum, he is hell. That was insane, and awesome luck that Croconaw didn't flinch when hit by two astonishes. *shudders*

Toothache

2009-02-27 08:56:43 pm

Let the music play!

Segment 9:

Yeah, he may have looked easy there, but he sure wasnt. I love it when he starts with his L29 Ludicolo, cos that randomly likes to use Water Gun or even Absorb on Espeon of all things, which saves Croconaw from taking damage and being flinched. I usually have to contend with at least 3 Astonish flinches, which Croconaw rarely gets past. I decided to keep this segment, even though I lost Croconaw to a Sudowoodo crit which cost a bit of time, because I got one of my necessary berry requirements. I've had attempts which went just as well but I pulled out a useless berry at the end. I'm gonna attempt to manipulate another in segment 10, the Persim Berry, which is necessary for making Ein a little easier (and thats a pain in the ass fight at the best of times).

Toothache

Edit history:

Toothache: 2009-03-06 09:20:20 am

2009-03-06 09:02:00 am

Let the music play!

Segment 10 Part A:
Segment 10 Part B:

This went pretty well, with the exception that I couldnt manipulate a berry here. Why? Well, after picking one up in Segment 9, the game wouldnt allow me to get one from the Berry Master, unless I exited and entered Agate again, or waited around at least 6 more minutes. Neither was acceptable from a speed point of view, so I decided to leave it. This would mean I absolutely HAVE to use Segment 11 to get the Persim Berry, otherwise Ein will be more of a nightmare than he already is.

Speaking of Segment 11, this is a real headache to get right. My main philosophy behind getting the fastest time throughout this run is to reduce or eliminate the number of animations you have to sit through. In doing so, I had to backtrack right at the start of this segment and do an optional battle. Why?

Well, two main reasons. The first is that completing this battle gives me a free TM, meaning more money for items. The other reason is that the exp gained here pushes me an extra level up in the later battles for this segment, and the extra level is basically REQUIRED for speeding up these additional battles. The detour for this adds about 2 minutes, but it almost pays for itself in this segment alone.

Now, on to Mt Battle itself. Entering is annoying because the Athlete and Glasses Man that stand around the foyer often walk right into your path as you enter, and of course you are entering blind so you cant avoid them until too late if they do.

The battles start off easy. With a fully healed Feraligatr, I can spam Surf for the first 5 battles. The first 3 are all uneventful, with the only problem maybe coming from the Baltoy in battle 2. It always barely survives Surf here beyond getting a crit, and has Psybeam and Mud-Slap which have a small chance to mess you up with confusion or accuracy loss respectively. Either way, it takes the same number of turns so that is only a minor inconvenience.

Battle 4 is where the optional battle pays off. At L37, where I originally entered this battle, Baltoy again would survive Surf, and its first act would almost always be Dig. This makes this battle take an additional turn, slowing me down some. L38 gives me enough SpAtt to KO Baltoy... some of the time. This has the effect of KOing Baltoy before it can act, and means I dont have to wait around for him to pop up after Dig, saving me time on two fronts.

The only thing that can really mess me up in Battle 5 is if Barboach's Spark paralyses, and Surf is a 2HKO on Barboach. I use the end of Battle 5 to heal Feraligatr to full health (or as close to it after one Super Potion), use an Ether (since I only have 1 PP on Surf!), and all 4 vitamins that I have. The Attack and Speed are necessary for the very next battle, and the Iron and Zinc all add to Feraligatr's durability, which will also be needed. The reason I heal at the very start of the segment is for PP purposes.

Battle 6 is tough to get right. I did some testing on Cacnea's AI, and he will always use Teeter Dance if you use Surf, but almost always use Needle Arm if I use Slash. A Slash crit, however KOs Cacnea. This is a bad thing, since I want to use Cacnea to put Feraligatr into Torrent range by the end of this battle. The Attack and Speed gain from the vitamins are necessary here to deal with Kadabra, since without them he can outspeed Feralgatr and survive Slash more often. Using Bite would also work on Cacnea, but it has a higher chance of stopping Cacnea from doing what I need (ie attacking) over Slash.
Turn 1: Feraligatr uses Slash on Cacnea, Spinda uses Psybeam, Cacnea uses Needle Arm
Turn 2: Feraligatr uses Slash on Cacnea, KOs, Kadabra sent out, Spinda uses Psybeam
Turn 3: Feralgatr uses Slash on Cacnea, KOs, Spinda uses Psybeam
Turn 4: Torrent Surf on Spinda

Torrent is necessary to KO Spinda, it survives a non-torrent Surf.

Battle 7 is interesting, since it can start in two ways. It consists of Graveler, Sandslash and Vibrava. Torrent Surf is necessary here to KO Sandslash and Vibrava, but the important thing that has to happen is that Vibrava comes out last. If Vibrava leads, that is an instant reset, since it can suvive Torrent Surf in doubles, but not on its own. The reason I cant use 2HKO here is that all 3 use Dig, again costing me time. With Dig, this battle takes 4 turns, if I KO them all without Dig ever occuring it takes 2 turns.

Battle 8 is where the Rawst Berry would have been needed. All four of the Pokemon here know Will-O-Wisp, and again, Torrent is needed here. Without Torrent, Koffing survives a Surf, and Kirlia survives Surf unless it is on its own, so manipulating the battle in the following order is the way to go:

Turn 1: Feraligatr uses Surf, Houndour is KOed, Koffing is sent out, Duskull uses Will-O-Wisp (miss)
Turn 2: Feraligatr uses Surf, Koffing is KOed, Duskull is KOed, Kirlia is sent out
Turn 3: Feraligatr uses Surf, KOes Kirlia

Battle 9 is not a worry. I need to enter the Dakim battle at around 90 HP, using a second Ether here too for Surf.

Dakim's battle suffers from a curious AI. His Pokemon are Golem, Metang, Marshtomp, Camerupt and Shadow Entei. However, he always leads with Metang and either Golem or Camerupt, and never leads with Marshtomp, which always comes out third. Entei always comes out last. All of his Pokemon besides Marshtomp know Protect, but the curious thing is that the AI will not use Protect if Marshtomp is out in the battle. Knowing this, I can use that to my advantage.

The reason I heal Feraligatr to around 90 HP is because of his Metang lead, which will prefer to use Psychic on gatr rather than Earthquake. Metang's partner will always use Protect in the first turn no matter what you do here, so using Surf is the best option since it deals the most damage to Metang. After two Psychics, gatr should be in Torrent range again, with a little bit of leeway in case Psychic causes a SpDef drop.

Marshtomp is both a blessing and a curse here. It is a blessing because the AI will not use Protect while he is on the field, but it is a curse because he has two moves that can screw you over - Mud Shot and Muddy Water. Mud Shot is the move he generally uses, and since it can lower Speed it is a problem. Muddy Water is generally only used if Psychic causes a SpDef drop, and this can screw you because it has a chance to lower accuracy.

The timing of Torrent gives me the best way of finishing the battle with Entei on his own, since Torrent Surf fails to OHKO in doubles. Entei will go first regardless of whether Mud Shot was used or not, since it is a faster Pokemon than Feraligatr (and the level difference at this point is only 3). I need to survive to this point with either around 30 HP (enough to survive an average Fire Blast) or for Fire Blast to miss. (15% chance) If the SpDef drop occurs from earlier Psychics, I'm usually at too low HP to survive Fire Blast here, so I need for it to miss.

In summary:
Turn 1: Golem/Camerupt uses Protect, Feraligatr uses Surf, Metang uses Psychic
Turn 2: Feraligatr uses Surf, Golem/Camerupt is KOed, Marshtomp is sent out, Metang uses Psychic, Torrent range
Turn 3: Feraligatr uses Surf, Metang is KOed, Camerupt/Golem is sent out, Marshtomp uses Mud Shot
Turn 4: Feraligatr uses Surf, Camerupt/Golem is KOed, Marshtomp is KOed, Entei is sent out
Turn 5: Entei uses Fire Blast (either a miss or survive), Feraligatr uses Surf and KOs Entei.

And with that battle out of the way, that eliminates all the luck manipulation for this segment... except one. I am forced to return to Agate for story purposes, so I use this, my last opportunity to try and get a Persim or Lum Berry. I also decide to get the Exp Share here, I didnt get it last time I was here because I plain forgot, but it will be very useful when I get the Master Ball for supplying gatr with as much Exp as possible and still getting the guaranteed snags. I have around 23,000 cash after I sell my TMs, so I also do shopping here for a Calcium and some Revives, saving around 6,000 cash for later.

Visiting the Shadow Pokemon Lab for the first time. You cannot enter just yet, but you have to go here to get an e-mail, which allows you to continue the story progression. There is a box of 3 Hyper Potions I can pick up here, but I choose to ignore them since I have enough of them for now and it would cost about 20 seconds to run around the side of the fence to get it. I dont have to read the e-mail here, which helps. Next is to Pyrite, pick up the Jail Key, unlock Reath/Ferma's cell, get the Elevator Key from Reath, then enter The Under (avoiding the trainer near the elevator).

At this point I can actually buy the Blizzard TM for 5,500, which is why I needed to save cash earlier. I save it for now, since I want to test Bite's usefulness in the Venus 1 battle. I go to pick up the Powerup Part, since thats a story McGuffin, then save just after since I'm right at the save point here. My time here needs to be 2:30 or less, making this segment about the same length as Segment 7.

In summary, this segment is much harder than Segment 7, even though it is around the same length and has the same number of battles, mainly due to the fact that Feraliagtr is on his own in these battles. Now, you may wonder why I choose to solo Feraligatr. I do this for two main reasons:

1) It gives her more Exp. If I'd stuck with two partners throughout the whole game, I would reach the not-so Elite 4 battles at around L48. This makes Nascour and especially Evice particularly deadly, with 6 Pokemon each of L55 and L62 respectively, and I would struggle to survive here. Focusing on one Pokemon with all the exp gives her double the growth essentially, which means I can basically use any partners as support later if there are battles she cannot do on her own, or for the ball-dupe glitch. This is also the reason I get the Exp Share, since it grants Feraligatr most of the Exp for those battles where she is forced to have a partner (3/4 vs 1/2). Feraligatr has a good start also, since the Mt Battle section comprises of about 90% of the Pokemon which are all weak to water, and gains better coverage later with Blizzard and Earthquake. Feraligatr also gains 8 levels in this segment alone, thats almost a level per battle, showing the signficance of having her solo.

2) It reduces the number of animations. Feraligatr entering the battle on her own is faster than, say Feraligatr and Espeon, since it adds an additional animation. Espeon tends to become less useful as the game progresses, having poor coverage and a limited movepool. So, even if Espeon stayed in the battles, it would just waste time if Espeon actually did anything, and since you HAVE to have a partner select a move before either of you act, and Espeon is faster than Feraligatr, it would be a time waster having him in the battle for combat purposes. Espeon usefulness however comes in later, since it is one of two Helping Hand users I have access to, but then it is fulfilling a support role and not a combat role, and a combat role for Espeon becomes a liability in terms of time.

So, in summary, I know what I need to do for this segment, but it all involves luck. Expect this to take some time for it all to fall into place.

Segment 10 Part A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beB-t30LRTY
Segment 10 Part B: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULXO2DWRBI0

This went pretty well, with the exception that I couldnt manipulate a berry here. Why? Well, after picking one up in Segment 9, the game wouldnt allow me to get one from the Berry Master, unless I exited and entered Agate again, or waited around at least 6 more minutes. Neither was acceptable from a speed point of view, so I decided to leave it. This would mean I absolutely HAVE to use Segment 11 to get the Persim Berry, otherwise Ein will be more of a nightmare than he already is.

Speaking of Segment 11, this is a real headache to get right. My main philosophy behind getting the fastest time throughout this run is to reduce or eliminate the number of animations you have to sit through. In doing so, I had to backtrack right at the start of this segment and do an optional battle. Why?

Well, two main reasons. The first is that completing this battle gives me a free TM, meaning more money for items. The other reason is that the exp gained here pushes me an extra level up in the later battles for this segment, and the extra level is basically REQUIRED for speeding up these additional battles. The detour for this adds about 2 minutes, but it almost pays for itself in this segment alone.

Now, on to Mt Battle itself. Entering is annoying because the Athlete and Glasses Man that stand around the foyer often walk right into your path as you enter, and of course you are entering blind so you cant avoid them until too late if they do.

The battles start off easy. With a fully healed Feraligatr, I can spam Surf for the first 5 battles. The first 3 are all uneventful, with the only problem maybe coming from the Baltoy in battle 2. It always barely survives Surf here beyond getting a crit, and has Psybeam and Mud-Slap which have a small chance to mess you up with confusion or accuracy loss respectively. Either way, it takes the same number of turns so that is only a minor inconvenience.

Battle 4 is where the optional battle pays off. At L37, where I originally entered this battle, Baltoy again would survive Surf, and its first act would almost always be Dig. This makes this battle take an additional turn, slowing me down some. L38 gives me enough SpAtt to KO Baltoy... some of the time. This has the effect of KOing Baltoy before it can act, and means I dont have to wait around for him to pop up after Dig, saving me time on two fronts.

The only thing that can really mess me up in Battle 5 is if Barboach's Spark paralyses, and Surf is a 2HKO on Barboach. I use the end of Battle 5 to heal Feraligatr to full health (or as close to it after one Super Potion), use an Ether (since I only have 1 PP on Surf!), and all 4 vitamins that I have. The Attack and Speed are necessary for the very next battle, and the Iron and Zinc all add to Feraligatr's durability, which will also be needed. The reason I heal at the very start of the segment is for PP purposes.

Battle 6 is tough to get right. I did some testing on Cacnea's AI, and he will always use Teeter Dance if you use Surf, but almost always use Needle Arm if I use Slash. A Slash crit, however KOs Cacnea. This is a bad thing, since I want to use Cacnea to put Feraligatr into Torrent range by the end of this battle. The Attack and Speed gain from the vitamins are necessary here to deal with Kadabra, since without them he can outspeed Feralgatr and survive Slash more often. Using Bite would also work on Cacnea, but it has a higher chance of stopping Cacnea from doing what I need (ie attacking) over Slash. 
Turn 1: Feraligatr uses Slash on Cacnea, Spinda uses Psybeam, Cacnea uses Needle Arm
Turn 2: Feraligatr uses Slash on Cacnea, KOs, Kadabra sent out, Spinda uses Psybeam
Turn 3: Feralgatr uses Slash on Cacnea, KOs, Spinda uses Psybeam
Turn 4: Torrent Surf on Spinda

Torrent is necessary to KO Spinda, it survives a non-torrent Surf.

Battle 7 is interesting, since it can start in two ways. It consists of Graveler, Sandslash and Vibrava. Torrent Surf is necessary here to KO Sandslash and Vibrava, but the important thing that has to happen is that Vibrava comes out last. If Vibrava leads, that is an instant reset, since it can suvive Torrent Surf in doubles, but not on its own. The reason I cant use 2HKO here is that all 3 use Dig, again costing me time. With Dig, this battle takes 4 turns, if I KO them all without Dig ever occuring it takes 2 turns.

Battle 8 is where the Rawst Berry would have been needed. All four of the Pokemon here know Will-O-Wisp, and again, Torrent is needed here. Without Torrent, Koffing survives a Surf, and Kirlia survives Surf unless it is on its own, so manipulating the battle in the following order is the way to go:

Turn 1: Feraligatr uses Surf, Houndour is KOed, Koffing is sent out, Duskull uses Will-O-Wisp (miss)
Turn 2: Feraligatr uses Surf, Koffing is KOed, Duskull is KOed, Kirlia is sent out
Turn 3: Feraligatr uses Surf, KOes Kirlia

Battle 9 is not a worry. I need to enter the Dakim battle at around 90 HP, using a second Ether here too for Surf.

Dakim's battle suffers from a curious AI. His Pokemon are Golem, Metang, Marshtomp, Camerupt and Shadow Entei. However, he always leads with Metang and either Golem or Camerupt, and never leads with Marshtomp, which always comes out third. Entei always comes out last. All of his Pokemon besides Marshtomp know Protect, but the curious thing is that the AI will not use Protect if Marshtomp is out in the battle. Knowing this, I can use that to my advantage.

The reason I heal Feraligatr to around 90 HP is because of his Metang lead, which will prefer to use Psychic on gatr rather than Earthquake. Metang's partner will always use Protect in the first turn no matter what you do here, so using Surf is the best option since it deals the most damage to Metang. After two Psychics, gatr should be in Torrent range again, with a little bit of leeway in case Psychic causes a SpDef drop.

Marshtomp is both a blessing and a curse here. It is a blessing because the AI will not use Protect while he is on the field, but it is a curse because he has two moves that can screw you over - Mud Shot and Muddy Water. Mud Shot is the move he generally uses, and since it can lower Speed it is a problem. Muddy Water is generally only used if Psychic causes a SpDef drop, and this can screw you because it has a chance to lower accuracy.

The timing of Torrent gives me the best way of finishing the battle with Entei on his own, since Torrent Surf fails to OHKO in doubles. Entei will go first regardless of whether Mud Shot was used or not, since it is a faster Pokemon than Feraligatr (and the level difference at this point is only 3). I need to survive to this point with either around 30 HP (enough to survive an average Fire Blast) or for Fire Blast to miss. (15% chance) If the SpDef drop occurs from earlier Psychics, I'm usually at too low HP to survive Fire Blast here, so I need for it to miss.

In summary:
Turn 1: Golem/Camerupt uses Protect, Feraligatr uses Surf, Metang uses Psychic
Turn 2: Feraligatr uses Surf, Golem/Camerupt is KOed, Marshtomp is sent out, Metang uses Psychic, Torrent range
Turn 3: Feraligatr uses Surf, Metang is KOed, Camerupt/Golem is sent out, Marshtomp uses Mud Shot
Turn 4: Feraligatr uses Surf, Camerupt/Golem is KOed, Marshtomp is KOed, Entei is sent out
Turn 5: Entei uses Fire Blast (either a miss or survive), Feraligatr uses Surf and KOs Entei.

And with that battle out of the way, that eliminates all the luck manipulation for this segment... except one. I am forced to return to Agate for story purposes, so I use this, my last opportunity to try and get a Persim or Lum Berry. I also decide to get the Exp Share here, I didnt get it last time I was here because I plain forgot, but it will be very useful when I get the Master Ball for supplying gatr with as much Exp as possible and still getting the guaranteed snags. I have around 23,000 cash after I sell my TMs, so I also do shopping here for a Calcium and some Revives, saving around 6,000 cash for later.

Visiting the Shadow Pokemon Lab for the first time. You cannot enter just yet, but you have to go here to get an e-mail, which allows you to continue the story progression. There is a box of 3 Hyper Potions I can pick up here, but I choose to ignore them since I have enough of them for now and it would cost about 20 seconds to run around the side of the fence to get it. I dont have to read the e-mail here, which helps. Next is to Pyrite, pick up the Jail Key, unlock Reath/Ferma's cell, get the Elevator Key from Reath, then enter The Under (avoiding the trainer near the elevator).

At this point I can actually buy the Blizzard TM for 5,500, which is why I needed to save cash earlier. I save it for now, since I want to test Bite's usefulness in the Venus 1 battle. I go to pick up the Powerup Part, since thats a story McGuffin, then save just after since I'm right at the save point here. My time here needs to be 2:30 or less, making this segment about the same length as Segment 7.

In summary, this segment is much harder than Segment 7, even though it is around the same length and has the same number of battles, mainly due to the fact that Feraliagtr is on his own in these battles. Now, you may wonder why I choose to solo Feraligatr. I do this for two main reasons:

1) It gives her more Exp. If I'd stuck with two partners throughout the whole game, I would reach the not-so Elite 4 battles at around L48. This makes Nascour and especially Evice particularly deadly, with 6 Pokemon each of L55 and L62 respectively, and I would struggle to survive here. Focusing on one Pokemon with all the exp gives her double the growth essentially, which means I can basically use any partners as support later if there are battles she cannot do on her own, or for the ball-dupe glitch. This is also the reason I get the Exp Share, since it grants Feraligatr most of the Exp for those battles where she is forced to have a partner (3/4 vs 1/2). Feraligatr has a good start also, since the Mt Battle section comprises of about 90% of the Pokemon which are all weak to water, and gains better coverage later with Blizzard and Earthquake. Feraligatr also gains 8 levels in this segment alone, thats almost a level per battle, showing the signficance of having her solo.

2) It reduces the number of animations. Feraligatr entering the battle on her own is faster than, say Feraligatr and Espeon, since it adds an additional animation. Espeon tends to become less useful as the game progresses, having poor coverage and a limited movepool. So, even if Espeon stayed in the battles, it would just waste time if Espeon actually did anything, and since you HAVE to have a partner select a move before either of you act, and Espeon is faster than Feraligatr, it would be a time waster having him in the battle for combat purposes. Espeon usefulness however comes in later, since it is one of two Helping Hand users I have access to, but then it is fulfilling a support role and not a combat role, and a combat role for Espeon becomes a liability in terms of time.

So, in summary, I know what I need to do for this segment, but it all involves luck. Expect this to take some time for it all to fall into place.

Beenman500

2009-03-06 09:28:53 am

Joke of all trades

thats one pretty huge segment, you should try and put a brak in it or something, also why wouldn't you use the vitaamins asap rather than after battle 5.

gl

Toothache

2009-03-06 09:58:09 am

Let the music play!

I would have to backtrack to the save point if I wanted to break this segment up, and it would cost me a disappointing amount of time. Also the reason I dont use the vitamins straight away is that it saves me time going into the menu twice, once to heal Feraligatr after Battle 5 and use the first Ether, and once to use the Vitamins, I combine them into one menu section since going into the menu is a bit of a time killer, it is slow. Conveniently, I use them precisely at the point where I would need them, so thats just an awesome coincidence.

I'd say my sanity would be tested in this segment, but I dont have any sanity. I'm running Colosseum :-p

Thomaz

2009-03-07 07:18:05 am

Catchin' them all

Seems like a very difficult segment. But I'm sure you'll get it. Cheesy

Really nice process on the run so far. ^.^

Toothache

2009-03-13 10:40:03 am

Let the music play!

Segment 11:

No, this is not the epic segment I warned about. I decided to split that up into 3 parts to be more manageable. This part is an optional battle, but it grants me enough exp to gain an additional level just where I need it. Baltoy in Battle 4 of the Mt Battle segment is never KOed without this level, so the detour pays for itself already. If I had done this battle at the earliest point, the first trip to Phenac, then Croconaw wouldnt have gained any exp from it - experience points are only gained when the Shadow Bar has passed the second section. This battle also grants me an extra TM to sell though, another reason why it was worth the detour and why I chose that particular battle. It is annoying that you cant enter Phenac from the sides, otherwise it would make reaching the trainer faster.

Anyway, the upcoming Segment 12 will be the Mt Battle segment, and I save here to allow Segment 13 to be where I manipulate the Persim Berry (combining the two requires too much luck), and fulfil all the preparations after Mt Battle up to the start of the Under.

Segment 11: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vx4TIFh2D0

No, this is not the epic segment I warned about. I decided to split that up into 3 parts to be more manageable. This part is an optional battle, but it grants me enough exp to gain an additional level just where I need it. Baltoy in Battle 4 of the Mt Battle segment is never KOed without this level, so the detour pays for itself already. If I had done this battle at the earliest point, the first trip to Phenac, then Croconaw wouldnt have gained any exp from it - experience points are only gained when the Shadow Bar has passed the second section. This battle also grants me an extra TM to sell though, another reason why it was worth the detour and why I chose that particular battle. It is annoying that you cant enter Phenac from the sides, otherwise it would make reaching the trainer faster.

Anyway, the upcoming Segment 12 will be the Mt Battle segment, and I save here to allow Segment 13 to be where I manipulate the Persim Berry (combining the two requires too much luck), and fulfil all the preparations after Mt Battle up to the start of the Under.

Toothache

2009-03-14 09:55:04 am

Let the music play!

Segment 12 Part A:
Segment 12 Part B:
Segment 12 Part C:

So here it is, the long awaited Mt Battle segment. This took more retries than any previous segment, mainly due to the sheer amount of luck involved. The first 3 battles are inconsequential, Battle 2 has a slight chance of causing trouble but it doesnt. I finish Battle 3 by reaching L38 and learning Slash. Battle 4 is the reason why I backtracked to Phenac - I needed to be at L38 to actually have a chance of KOing Baltoy. I get a lucky crit saving me an extra turn, reducing this battle from potentially 4 turns to a mere 2.

Battle 5 goes the way I want it to, this has a chance of going wrong if Lileep leads, since Barboach can come in later and use Spark, which has a high chance of causing Paralysis. With Barboach leading, there are only 2 enemy animations, Sandstorm and Ingrain, but with Lileep leading there are four - Sandstorm, Ingrain, Spark and Acid.

I need to be at full health here, so I enter the menu, heal to full, use an Ether and the Vitamins. If I hadnt healed myself in the previous segment, I would have run out of PP for Surf during battle 5. As it turns out, I finish battle 5 with a mere 1 PP on Surf! Doing all the menu stuff in one go is an obvious time saver, plus the vitamins are actually necessary for the very next battle.

Battle 6, and this is where my luck is really tested. Cacnea needs to use Needle Arm and not Teeter Dance, and I need to finish this battle in Torrent range. If I'd used Surf to weaken Cacnea first, then finished with Slash, it would use Teeter Dance almost all the time. Bite has a high chance of flinching, so my only option to weaken Cacnea is a non-crit Slash.

The reason I use Surf to finish off Cacnea is because of Spinda. Surf + Torrent Surf does enough damage to KO Spinda, but after two Psybeams I am just short of Torrent range, having 44 HP and needing 41 HP or less. Getting Spinda out first would be faster since Kadabra's first attack is always Future Sight, which has a shorter animation than Psybeam. Considering the amount of things that went my way in this segment, it was impressive that, while I was confused from Psybeam, I did not hit myself.

Battle 7 is the start of where Torrent is needed. Sandslash survives a non-Torrent Surf. This battle can also start in two ways, if Vibrava led then I would reset since I cannot KO it unless it is on its own.

Battle 8 started off in a rare way. Normally it begins with Houndour and Duskull, but for some reason Koffing came out before Duskull. It was here the Rawst Berry would have been used, but Will-O-Wisp misses instead. Torrent is needed for the KO on Koffing.

I heal to an important number of HP for the Dakim battle, and use a second Ether to give me enough Surf PP for the last two battles. Battle 9 is a Surf wipeout.

Dakim battle goes basically as planned. I get extremely lucky by having Marshtomp miss with Mud Shot. Another Cipher Admin that is made to look easy. Honestly, could it get any easier?

Well, no actually. Venus is the next admin and she is perhaps the toughest of the lot. She certainly ranks among the most annoying. Next up is manipulating a Persim Berry, heading to The Under and preparing for the Shadow Ledian snag.

Segment 12 Part A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCGmvDsIdN4
Segment 12 Part B: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JXTdDG057Y
Segment 12 Part C: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOw1wTvNYAs

So here it is, the long awaited Mt Battle segment. This took more retries than any previous segment, mainly due to the sheer amount of luck involved. The first 3 battles are inconsequential, Battle 2 has a slight chance of causing trouble but it doesnt. I finish Battle 3 by reaching L38 and learning Slash. Battle 4 is the reason why I backtracked to Phenac - I needed to be at L38 to actually have a chance of KOing Baltoy. I get a lucky crit saving me an extra turn, reducing this battle from potentially 4 turns to a mere 2.

Battle 5 goes the way I want it to, this has a chance of going wrong if Lileep leads, since Barboach can come in later and use Spark, which has a high chance of causing Paralysis. With Barboach leading, there are only 2 enemy animations, Sandstorm and Ingrain, but with Lileep leading there are four - Sandstorm, Ingrain, Spark and Acid.

I need to be at full health here, so I enter the menu, heal to full, use an Ether and the Vitamins. If I hadnt healed myself in the previous segment, I would have run out of PP for Surf during battle 5. As it turns out, I finish battle 5 with a mere 1 PP on Surf! Doing all the menu stuff in one go is an obvious time saver, plus the vitamins are actually necessary for the very next battle.

Battle 6, and this is where my luck is really tested. Cacnea needs to use Needle Arm and not Teeter Dance, and I need to finish this battle in Torrent range. If I'd used Surf to weaken Cacnea first, then finished with Slash, it would use Teeter Dance almost all the time. Bite has a high chance of flinching, so my only option to weaken Cacnea is a non-crit Slash.

The reason I use Surf to finish off Cacnea is because of Spinda. Surf + Torrent Surf does enough damage to KO Spinda, but after two Psybeams I am just short of Torrent range, having 44 HP and needing 41 HP or less. Getting Spinda out first would be faster since Kadabra's first attack is always Future Sight, which has a shorter animation than Psybeam. Considering the amount of things that went my way in this segment, it was impressive that, while I was confused from Psybeam, I did not hit myself.

Battle 7 is the start of where Torrent is needed. Sandslash survives a non-Torrent Surf. This battle can also start in two ways, if Vibrava led then I would reset since I cannot KO it unless it is on its own.

Battle 8 started off in a rare way. Normally it begins with Houndour and Duskull, but for some reason Koffing came out before Duskull. It was here the Rawst Berry would have been used, but Will-O-Wisp misses instead. Torrent is needed for the KO on Koffing.

I heal to an important number of HP for the Dakim battle, and use a second Ether to give me enough Surf PP for the last two battles. Battle 9 is a Surf wipeout.

Dakim battle goes basically as planned. I get extremely lucky by having Marshtomp miss with Mud Shot. Another Cipher Admin that is made to look easy. Honestly, could it get any easier?

Well, no actually. Venus is the next admin and she is perhaps the toughest of the lot. She certainly ranks among the most annoying. Next up is manipulating a Persim Berry, heading to The Under and preparing for the Shadow Ledian snag.

Toothache

2009-03-18 02:58:53 pm

Let the music play!

Segment 13:
Segment 14:
Segment 15:

A big update, only featuring 3 battles across these three segment, but they are rather annoying ones.

Segment 13 is basically set aside in order to get a Persim Berry from the Berry Master. I will need that for the first Ein battle.

Segment 14 contains two battles, the first being the Shadow Ledian snag. I get lucky her and snag Ledian from basically half health. The second battle happens immediately after the first, and it is dealt with fairly handily too, with a necessary crit in turn 2.

Segment 15 is the battle I was most dreading - the first Venus battle. In my test run, I had a male Feraligatr which complicated the battle further. Now that I have a female gatr in the real run, things became a little easier.

My priority was to get rid of Banette and Steelix before either of them used Attract, and of course to get rid of Vileplume before it used Giga Drain on Feraligatr. The Attract users were easy to plan for, since Feraligatr has moves that are Super Effective on them both, although Banette needs a bit of special attention since he survives a Helping Hand Bite.

Vileplume was dealt with in the only way I could think of, by reviving Espeon later in the battle and having him perform a critical hit with Confusion. This also allowed me to get some early damage on Suicune as it came in, since Feraligatr caught it with Slash on the way in, and Steelix was still around and used Earthquake, doing half of the damage needed in one turn! I need to save snagging Suicune until much later, since it is replaced with Milotic which not only levels up with the rest of the team, but also has Recover which is an obvious dent into getting a fast time. This basically means I have to snag Suicune in the third Venus battle.

Each of the partners in this battle had a role to play. Espeon's role was to set up Reflect, and later return to deal with Vileplume. Plusle was there for Helping Hand, since I needed that to get rid of Banette. After two Surfs and two Double-Edges, Delcatty almost always barely survived, but knocked itself out with the third Double-Edge recoil. This allowed me to plan my next move, which was getting Espeon back into the fight. Ledian was already at around half-health after being captured, so I used that as a target to bait Delcatty into using DE for the third time. This also meant that Steelix's first attack would be Rock Slide and not anything else.

After a Revive is used, Espeon is around 45 HP, but takes around 15 HP from Rock Slide factoring in Reflect. With only around 30 HP, Vileplume can KO Espeon with Giga Drain, and I was counting on that in order to save Feraligatr from being hit by Giga Drain. The original plan would be to have Espeon do Confusion, Feraligatr use Slash, Vileplume would be around 15% health, then Vileplume would prioritise KOing the weakened Espeon rather than Feraligatr as it normally would have done, and finally Steelix would use Earthquake, KOing Vileplume - Giga Drain doesnt heal enough to Vileplume to save it from Earthquake if it hits Espeon, after suffering the damage from Confusion and Slash.

In this case, I got a lucky critical hit with Espeon on Vileplume, saving me a lot of time. Feraligatr's Slash on Suicune is normally around a 5-6HKO, not counting any critical hits I might get, so doing half of its health before it even gets to act was a massive time saver. Slash is my best move on Suicune here, since it has a high critical hit rate, but Torrent Surf also does more than a non-crit Slash. Steelix's next attack would have been Attract, so I get rid of it before it is able to use Attract. I didnt mind that Slash failed to crit on Suicune, since the rest of the battle had gone so well.

I get a free heal again, saving me healing and PP management. The next part is pretty tough and I am doing it without revives, which just adds to the challenge, and I need Helping Hand for all of these battles.

Segment 13: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDSyczwu8u8
Segment 14: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX06LZLIYyA
Segment 15: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqXfk2u6csA

A big update, only featuring 3 battles across these three segment, but they are rather annoying ones.

Segment 13 is basically set aside in order to get a Persim Berry from the Berry Master. I will need that for the first Ein battle.

Segment 14 contains two battles, the first being the Shadow Ledian snag. I get lucky her and snag Ledian from basically half health. The second battle happens immediately after the first, and it is dealt with fairly handily too, with a necessary crit in turn 2.

Segment 15 is the battle I was most dreading - the first Venus battle. In my test run, I had a male Feraligatr which complicated the battle further. Now that I have a female gatr in the real run, things became a little easier.

My priority was to get rid of Banette and Steelix before either of them used Attract, and of course to get rid of Vileplume before it used Giga Drain on Feraligatr. The Attract users were easy to plan for, since Feraligatr has moves that are Super Effective on them both, although Banette needs a bit of special attention since he survives a Helping Hand Bite.

Vileplume was dealt with in the only way I could think of, by reviving Espeon later in the battle and having him perform a critical hit with Confusion. This also allowed me to get some early damage on Suicune as it came in, since Feraligatr caught it with Slash on the way in, and Steelix was still around and used Earthquake, doing half of the damage needed in one turn! I need to save snagging Suicune until much later, since it is replaced with Milotic which not only levels up with the rest of the team, but also has Recover which is an obvious dent into getting a fast time. This basically means I have to snag Suicune in the third Venus battle.

Each of the partners in this battle had a role to play. Espeon's role was to set up Reflect, and later return to deal with Vileplume. Plusle was there for Helping Hand, since I needed that to get rid of Banette. After two Surfs and two Double-Edges, Delcatty almost always barely survived, but knocked itself out with the third Double-Edge recoil. This allowed me to plan my next move, which was getting Espeon back into the fight. Ledian was already at around half-health after being captured, so I used that as a target to bait Delcatty into using DE for the third time. This also meant that Steelix's first attack would be Rock Slide and not anything else.

After a Revive is used, Espeon is around 45 HP, but takes around 15 HP from Rock Slide factoring in Reflect. With only around 30 HP, Vileplume can KO Espeon with Giga Drain, and I was counting on that in order to save Feraligatr from being hit by Giga Drain. The original plan would be to have Espeon do Confusion, Feraligatr use Slash, Vileplume would be around 15% health, then Vileplume would prioritise KOing the weakened Espeon rather than Feraligatr as it normally would have done, and finally Steelix would use Earthquake, KOing Vileplume - Giga Drain doesnt heal enough to Vileplume to save it from Earthquake if it hits Espeon, after suffering the damage from Confusion and Slash.

In this case, I got a lucky critical hit with Espeon on Vileplume, saving me a lot of time. Feraligatr's Slash on Suicune is normally around a 5-6HKO, not counting any critical hits I might get, so doing half of its health before it even gets to act was a massive time saver. Slash is my best move on Suicune here, since it has a high critical hit rate, but Torrent Surf also does more than a non-crit Slash. Steelix's next attack would have been Attract, so I get rid of it before it is able to use Attract. I didnt mind that Slash failed to crit on Suicune, since the rest of the battle had gone so well.

I get a free heal again, saving me healing and PP management. The next part is pretty tough and I am doing it without revives, which just adds to the challenge, and I need Helping Hand for all of these battles.

Beenman500

2009-03-18 04:10:20 pm

Joke of all trades

love the venus battle. That one takes soooo long when she keeps using attract, i can see now why you'd use a female feraligator

yoshmaster5

2009-03-18 07:05:18 pm

Also tenkiforecast

Wow, very good segments.

Just epic AI manipulation on Dakim... that segment was nuts. 0_o;

And the Venus battle... yikes. That was absolutely nuts. Tons of luck, manipulation... wow.
I remember the portion that is right after Venus, and that is an absolutely insane part of the game. Freaking stairwell of hell... *shudder*

DoubleThink

2009-03-18 09:57:38 pm

There's a word for that

I've been watching these too. Very nice battles so far, especially since they're often against genuinely powerful enemies, and the level of forethought and planning is excellent. The only thing I saw that didn't look so great (aside from some slow menu work) was that battle against the Wynaut; using Bite instead of Shadow Rush after Intimidate might have ended the battle a turn earlier, unless Croconaw really couldn't survive one Mirror Coat. At a guess I would say the run will take about 7 to 8 hours all up, based on what you've said so far, so I guess there's a lot more content to come o_O

LemGambino

2009-03-21 05:33:27 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

I just finished watching all the segments so far, I'm impressed. My only question is how you're gonna handle the final battles, and fake hero Fien!

petrie911

2009-03-21 06:12:16 pm

Everybody loves Hypnotoad!

Quote from LemGambino:

I just finished watching all the segments so far, I'm impressed. My only question is how you're gonna handle the final battles, and fake hero Fien!

Once he gets the Master Ball, he can snag every remaining shadow pokemon instantly. That'll help a lot in the final battles.

Also, I would think the Deep King would be more worrisome than Fien.

Toothache

2009-03-21 06:55:35 pm

Let the music play!

Actually, by the time I reached both Agnol and Fein in the test run, both were pretty easy. The only problems I had were Deep King's Shedinja, and Fein's Gyarados. By that point in my test run, I'd deleted Bite so I had no move that was super-effective on Sheddy. The run officially ends when I snag the Togetic from Fein, so Gyarados here is less of a worry than in Gonzap's battle (Dragon Dance + Hyper Beam hurts!). Fein's Gyarados actually helps me since it has a tendency towards using Earthquake, hurting his own team in the process, so I usually end that battle with Gyarados on its own which is around a 2HKO with Blizzard.

Thanks for the support that everyone has taken in the run, its given me the motivation to continue, even when doing certain segments were being frustrating.

Oh, and as for Wynaut in the first Skrub battle, yes a Mirror Coated Bite would have KOed Croconaw there, and I wanted to use Shadow Rush to get into Hyper Mode for the improved critical range. A Helping Hand crit Shadow Rush barely was able to OHKO Wynaut here, but Espeon was busy doing other things.

As for the next segment, its not going too badly, but now I'm starting to rely on Blizzard, which obviously has a habit of missing right when you need it. I dont swap out any of my partners here, since they all have a role to play in these next four battles, but I do need to finish with gatr in Torrent range.

A quick battle summary of how things should go:

Battle 1: This battle needs to come out in a certain order - either Teddiursa and Jigglypuff first, or Gligar and Shroomish. I use Helping Hand Surf on the two normal types, and Helping Hand Blizzard on the ice-weak pair. Gligar barely survives a HH Surf, and neither of the normal types can be KOed with HH Blizzard.

Battle 2: Espeon's Confusion barely reaches KO damage on Roselia and Gloom. Kirlia is a simple matter of Slash. The real problem comes from Stantler - it can KO Espeon from full health with Take Down. I dont have any revives at this point, and Espeon is needed later, so I need Take Down to miss.
Turn 1: Feraligatr Slash -> Kirlia KO, Espeon Confusion -> Gloom/Roselia KO, Stantler and Roselia/Gloom sent out
Turn 2: Feraligatr Surf, Stantler Take Down miss on Espeon, Espeon Confusion -> KO on Roselia/Gloom
Turn 3: Helping Hand Surf on Stantler.

HH Surf fails to KO Stantler, so I need a bit of additional damage here. Using Surf also guarantees that Confusion will KO the remaining Grass/Poison type, since its a sketchy OHKO here otherwise.

Battle 3: This one has all sorts of things that can go wrong. First problem is Octillery - Octazooka has a chance of lowering accuracy, and it doesnt go down easily. Then there is Dunsparce, sporting Glare and Headbutt for a classic paraflinch pain in the rear. Masquerain isnt too much of a hassle, thats Blizzard bait, and then Piloswine needs HH Surf to prevent it from using Dig. I switch in Ledian as my partner to be the target of damage while Feraligatr does most of the work here. Again, this is one of many battles where the enemy order changes a lot, so you have to be pretty flexible in changing tactics to achieve a fast time.

Battle 4: After getting through all that, now you have to face Sneasel. Not only is it faster than you, it also has Screech which heavily lowers your Defence, and of course Shadow Rush hurts. Combine that with Corsola's Confuse Ray alone, and you have one bitch of a fight. Seviper is not a worry, and Loudred, while also having Screech is less of a threat also. Sneasel basically always comes out first, and its a 2HKO with HH Surf, so I need rid of that first. Apart from Seviper being weak to Espeon's Psychic moves (he usually ends up learning Psybeam in this battle), I have nothing that is super-effective here, which makes for a fairly tough battle.

After getting through all that, its back to the story - getting the Subway Key, which leads to the Maingate Key, which leads to the start of the Lab. This is the reason I need to be in Torrent range with Feraligatr:

Battle 5: Oh no 2 Voltorbs! Well, actually they are weak enough that I can KO them with Torrent Surf, and Feraligatr can outspeed them.

This battle grants you the Card Key, allowing you entry to the Lab proper. Here I dump all my partners off, and prepare for the second solo section of the game - thats right folks, Feraligatr gets to do the lab all on her lonesome!

Oh and I dont forget the box with 3 PP Ups! I use 2 of those for Blizzard PP and 1 on Surf, since Blizzard only gets 5 uses normally and Surf is my main attack. I will be picking up Aipom in the next segment, which is the only Pick Up user in the game, so be prepared for some luck manipulation of RCs!

Actually, by the time I reached both Agnol and Fein in the test run, both were pretty easy. The only problems I had were Deep King's Shedinja, and Fein's Gyarados. By that point in my test run, I'd deleted Bite so I had no move that was super-effective on Sheddy. The run officially ends when I snag the Togetic from Fein, so Gyarados here is less of a worry than in Gonzap's battle (Dragon Dance + Hyper Beam hurts!). Fein's Gyarados actually helps me since it has a tendency towards using Earthquake, hurting his own team in the process, so I usually end that battle with Gyarados on its own which is around a 2HKO with Blizzard.

Thanks for the support that everyone has taken in the run, its given me the motivation to continue, even when doing certain segments were being frustrating.

Oh, and as for Wynaut in the first Skrub battle, yes a Mirror Coated Bite would have KOed Croconaw there, and I wanted to use Shadow Rush to get into Hyper Mode for the improved critical range. A Helping Hand crit Shadow Rush barely was able to OHKO Wynaut here, but Espeon was busy doing other things.

As for the next segment, its not going too badly, but now I'm starting to rely on Blizzard, which obviously has a habit of missing right when you need it. I dont swap out any of my partners here, since they all have a role to play in these next four battles, but I do need to finish with gatr in Torrent range.

A quick battle summary of how things should go:

Battle 1: This battle needs to come out in a certain order - either Teddiursa and Jigglypuff first, or Gligar and Shroomish. I use Helping Hand Surf on the two normal types, and Helping Hand Blizzard on the ice-weak pair. Gligar barely survives a HH Surf, and neither of the normal types can be KOed with HH Blizzard.

Battle 2: Espeon's Confusion barely reaches KO damage on Roselia and Gloom. Kirlia is a simple matter of Slash. The real problem comes from Stantler - it can KO Espeon from full health with Take Down. I dont have any revives at this point, and Espeon is needed later, so I need Take Down to miss. 
Turn 1: Feraligatr Slash -> Kirlia KO, Espeon Confusion -> Gloom/Roselia KO, Stantler and Roselia/Gloom sent out
Turn 2: Feraligatr Surf, Stantler Take Down miss on Espeon, Espeon Confusion -> KO on Roselia/Gloom
Turn 3: Helping Hand Surf on Stantler.

HH Surf fails to KO Stantler, so I need a bit of additional damage here. Using Surf also guarantees that Confusion will KO the remaining Grass/Poison type, since its a sketchy OHKO here otherwise.

Battle 3: This one has all sorts of things that can go wrong. First problem is Octillery - Octazooka has a chance of lowering accuracy, and it doesnt go down easily. Then there is Dunsparce, sporting Glare and Headbutt for a classic paraflinch pain in the rear. Masquerain isnt too much of a hassle, thats Blizzard bait, and then Piloswine needs HH Surf to prevent it from using Dig. I switch in Ledian as my partner to be the target of damage while Feraligatr does most of the work here. Again, this is one of many battles where the enemy order changes a lot, so you have to be pretty flexible in changing tactics to achieve a fast time.

Battle 4: After getting through all that, now you have to face Sneasel. Not only is it faster than you, it also has Screech which heavily lowers your Defence, and of course Shadow Rush hurts. Combine that with Corsola's Confuse Ray alone, and you have one bitch of a fight. Seviper is not a worry, and Loudred, while also having Screech is less of a threat also. Sneasel basically always comes out first, and its a 2HKO with HH Surf, so I need rid of that first. Apart from Seviper being weak to Espeon's Psychic moves (he usually ends up learning Psybeam in this battle), I have nothing that is super-effective here, which makes for a fairly tough battle.

After getting through all that, its back to the story - getting the Subway Key, which leads to the Maingate Key, which leads to the start of the Lab. This is the reason I need to be in Torrent range with Feraligatr:

Battle 5: Oh no 2 Voltorbs! Well, actually they are weak enough that I can KO them with Torrent Surf, and Feraligatr can outspeed them.

This battle grants you the Card Key, allowing you entry to the Lab proper. Here I dump all my partners off, and prepare for the second solo section of the game - thats right folks, Feraligatr gets to do the lab all on her lonesome!

Oh and I dont forget the box with 3 PP Ups! I use 2 of those for Blizzard PP and 1 on Surf, since Blizzard only gets 5 uses normally and Surf is my main attack. I will be picking up Aipom in the next segment, which is the only Pick Up user in the game, so be prepared for some luck manipulation of RCs!

LemGambino

2009-03-23 01:42:40 am

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Nice strategy. I guess I underestimate the power of Torrent. Tongue

Semi-related question: I know you won't do an XD run, but I'd like to know: does the Pokeball glitch work in XD too? I'm just curious.

ForteGS

2009-03-23 02:05:11 am

Bring me the flaming voodoo canonball!

Quote from LemGambino:

Nice strategy. I guess I underestimate the power of Torrent. Tongue

Semi-related question: I know you won't do an XD run, but I'd like to know: does the Pokeball glitch work in XD too? I'm just curious.

You mean the Masterball duplication glitch? Nope, it sadly got fixed in XD.

Toothache

2009-03-23 07:40:44 am

Let the music play!

I might actually do an XD run after this, but I want to spend some time working on Saturn runs as well, since SDA has very few of those (maybe 2 at most). Apparently there was someone else interested in doing an XD run around the start of the year, but I havent heard anything about that since, so I dont know whether its happening. It would require an entirely different strategy for this than Colosseum, because you dont have easy access to a Pokemon that can hit both opponents until late in the run, so you're basically forced into using two Pokemon. I believe the original plan was to use Jolteon and Houndoom, since they're both available early in the game and are both fast and strong sweepers providing decent coverage between them.

If anyone else is willing to work on an XD run in the meantime, be my guest. However, if I dont think its good enough, I'll probably end up trying to beat it myself.

LemGambino

2009-03-23 01:20:13 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Quote from ForteGS:

You mean the Masterball duplication glitch? Nope, it sadly got fixed in XD.

I mean the glitch where you use a ball with one Pokemon, then swap it with another ball using the other Pokemon.

PMIT

2009-03-23 01:42:09 pm

I'm still working on the XD run, I'm just before Citadark Isle on my final test run to iron out what items to get and how to organize PP, and I'm expecting to finish within the next few days.

And even though it's already been said, the pokeball duplication glitch does not work on XD. However, it wouldn't cost too much time in an any% run like the one I'm doing considering most shadow pokemon can be ohkoed. That said, it would save a lot more time (and frustration) if it was going for all pokemon captured.

Now let's get back on topic.

LemGambino

2009-03-23 04:29:42 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Quote from PMIT:

I'm still working on the XD run, I'm just before Citadark Isle on my final test run to iron out what items to get and how to organize PP, and I'm expecting to finish within the next few days.

Show us that when it's done. Wink

Anyways, now that Venus is down, how will you handle Ein and his Thunderdancing Raikou, Toothache?

Toothache

2009-03-27 01:56:50 pm

Let the music play!

Segment 16:
Segment 17 part A:
Segment 17 part B:
Segment 17 part C:

Finally, a big update, and what a pain this section of the game was.

Segment 16 is just Feraligatr learning Blizzard. I should have done it at the end of Segment 15, and I tried to include it at the start of the next segment, but I was getting frustrated having to do that AND manipulate luck.

Segment 17 is the four battles in the staircase area, then the events leading to the start of the lab. Of all the segments I've done so far, this became one of the most frustrating ones. I was failing to KO in many places by single digit damage points, so in the end I had to give Feraligatr back the Mystic Water in order to guarantee those KOs. With such a heavily luck-oriented segment, I need to minimise as much of it as possible.

Giving the Mystic Water to gatr had a beneficial side effect. With the Exp Share, Espeon would learn Psybeam in battle 4, however now he learns it in battle 2, just in time for it to make an immediate difference in battle 3. Octillery is a tough beast, so the extra damage was necessary. I give the Exp Share back to gatr before battle 3 to try and claw back as much exp as I could.

The battles themselves were a sequence of RNG nightmares. Battle 1 required the AI to send out his Pokemon in a specific order, and Blizzard also had to hit. Battle 2 required Stantler to miss with Take Down. In battle 3, I need to manipulate the damage so I finish with Piloswine on its own. And I needed to do the same in a far more complex battle 4, and the icing on the cake is I have to hit through confusion status. Those last two battles could come out in any order, with the exception of the Shadow Pokemon, requiring me to be flexible while still aiming for a fast time and fulfilling additional requirements.

After all that nightmare, its the end of my pursuit of Venus. She gives us the slip, but not before dropping the key to the Shadow Liner, a tram that connects The Under to the Lab. Instead of honourably battling our protagonist, the peons waiting there instead trigger an explosion (!!) stopping you gaining entry to the lab from that direction. But - whats this? They appear to have left a key on this side of the barrier. So, you head to the lab, using the key to enter. Here, I enter the right side, open the left door, then go down to the other side of where the explosion was for some Elixirs. Now I battle some electric types - a pair of Voltorbs in fact. Thankfully, they cannot survive a Helping Hand Surf. I get the Card Key, allowing entry into the lab proper. Before I save, there are a hidden box of 3 PP Ups. I use one on Surf, since its my main attack and 2 on Blizzard since it has a mere 5 PP, taking it up to 7. Yes, I mess up finding the box of PP Ups and yes I use them slowly, but after such a luck-oriented segment I dont want to mess up here by using the PP Ups on the wrong move.

After all that, I equip the Mystic Water, deposit everything except Feraligatr, and prepare for the next segment. I have a non-Master Ball snag, and Thunder-using Magneton and Electrode to deal with- all of it solo! And thats not the hardest part of the run!! And if you wanna see how I handle Ein's team - well you gotta keep watching!

Stay tuned!!

Segment 16: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0nWavANRwE
Segment 17 part A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48kvtvd7a60
Segment 17 part B: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XFUB1vHNqI
Segment 17 part C: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbQo68xQEHA

Finally, a big update, and what a pain this section of the game was.

Segment 16 is just Feraligatr learning Blizzard. I should have done it at the end of Segment 15, and I tried to include it at the start of the next segment, but I was getting frustrated having to do that AND manipulate luck.

Segment 17 is the four battles in the staircase area, then the events leading to the start of the lab. Of all the segments I've done so far, this became one of the most frustrating ones. I was failing to KO in many places by single digit damage points, so in the end I had to give Feraligatr back the Mystic Water in order to guarantee those KOs. With such a heavily luck-oriented segment, I need to minimise as much of it as possible.

Giving the Mystic Water to gatr had a beneficial side effect. With the Exp Share, Espeon would learn Psybeam in battle 4, however now he learns it in battle 2, just in time for it to make an immediate difference in battle 3. Octillery is a tough beast, so the extra damage was necessary. I give the Exp Share back to gatr before battle 3 to try and claw back as much exp as I could.

The battles themselves were a sequence of RNG nightmares. Battle 1 required the AI to send out his Pokemon in a specific order, and Blizzard also had to hit. Battle 2 required Stantler to miss with Take Down. In battle 3, I need to manipulate the damage so I finish with Piloswine on its own. And I needed to do the same in a far more complex battle 4, and the icing on the cake is I have to hit through confusion status. Those last two battles could come out in any order, with the exception of the Shadow Pokemon, requiring me to be flexible while still aiming for a fast time and fulfilling additional requirements.

After all that nightmare, its the end of my pursuit of Venus. She gives us the slip, but not before dropping the key to the Shadow Liner, a tram that connects The Under to the Lab. Instead of honourably battling our protagonist, the peons waiting there instead trigger an explosion (!!) stopping you gaining entry to the lab from that direction. But - whats this? They appear to have left a key on this side of the barrier. So, you head to the lab, using the key to enter. Here, I enter the right side, open the left door, then go down to the other side of where the explosion was for some Elixirs. Now I battle some electric types - a pair of Voltorbs in fact. Thankfully, they cannot survive a Helping Hand Surf. I get the Card Key, allowing entry into the lab proper. Before I save, there are a hidden box of 3 PP Ups. I use one on Surf, since its my main attack and 2 on Blizzard since it has a mere 5 PP, taking it up to 7. Yes, I mess up finding the box of PP Ups and yes I use them slowly, but after such a luck-oriented segment I dont want to mess up here by using the PP Ups on the wrong move.

After all that, I equip the Mystic Water, deposit everything except Feraligatr, and prepare for the next segment. I have a non-Master Ball snag, and Thunder-using Magneton and Electrode to deal with- all of it solo! And thats not the hardest part of the run!! And if you wanna see how I handle Ein's team - well you gotta keep watching!

Stay tuned!!

Beenman500

2009-04-02 10:06:56 am

Joke of all trades

hows the segment going, its been a whilw...

Kryal

2009-04-02 02:55:53 pm

from red to blue

Quote from beenman500:

hows the segment going, its been a whilw...

Ein is probably owning him xD

Toothache

2009-04-02 08:13:35 pm

Let the music play!

Slowly, is the right word. I'm not doing Ein in the next segment, I will save after I get the Down St Key. Hopefully, I will be able to deal with the rest of the lab battles without having to retrace my steps to the only save point in the Lab.

Segment 18 involves snagging of Aipom. This is important for two reasons - it gives me Pick Up, which is not level based unlike Emerald/XD, giving me the advantage of getting PP Ups, Nuggets, Rare Candy and Proteins. The other reason is that this battle is out of the way when I have to return to the lab, so it saves me an additional refight later. Getting this battle done in a fast time is interesting, since the AI actually sets up Rain Dance, but I cannot use Surf more than once without KOing Aipom.

I equip the Quick Claw for the next fight. It contains Electrode, Magnemite and Magneton. Magnemite is KOed by Torrent Surf, but the other two electric types are 2HKOed. All three use Thunder to attack with, which has a 30% miss chance. I need Thunder to hit once from Electrode to put Feraligatr into Torrent range - I need it for the start of the next segment, and also to 2HKO Electrode. If Magneton hits with Thunder, it will OHKO me at this point. I either need for Quick Claw to activate in Turn 2, or for Thunder to miss twice - once from Electrode, once from Magneton.

From here, I grab the Down St Key, head back to the save point and save while still in Torrent range. Ideally I want to have at least 44 HP so Feraligatr can survive a Murkrow Night Shade (it is L43), but at my current level Feraligatr will have around 153 HP, so her Torrent range is only up to 51 HP, making this a tight requirement. Finishing between 44 HP and 51 HP is the reason why this segment has taken so long to finish.

Since I have to revisit the lab later when I have the Master Ball, Aipom is the only snag I do in this visit, so everything else will be used as a good source of exp. I should also clear some item inventory space for later, I will likely do this by throwing away the Ice Heals and Awakenings at least, as well as the Ether now that I have Elixirs. The Lab is the last place where I need to worry about PP conservation, except maybe in the second Snagem Hideout visit, and in the test run I never used the last Ether or 2 of the Elixirs.

Slowly, is the right word. I'm not doing Ein in the next segment, I will save after I get the Down St Key. Hopefully, I will be able to deal with the rest of the lab battles without having to retrace my steps to the only save point in the Lab.

Segment 18 involves snagging of Aipom. This is important for two reasons - it gives me Pick Up, which is not level based unlike Emerald/XD, giving me the advantage of getting PP Ups, Nuggets, Rare Candy and Proteins. The other reason is that this battle is out of the way when I have to return to the lab, so it saves me an additional refight later. Getting this battle done in a fast time is interesting, since the AI actually sets up Rain Dance, but I cannot use Surf more than once without KOing Aipom.

I equip the Quick Claw for the next fight. It contains Electrode, Magnemite and Magneton. Magnemite is KOed by Torrent Surf, but the other two electric types are 2HKOed. All three use Thunder to attack with, which has a 30% miss chance. I need Thunder to hit once from Electrode to put Feraligatr into Torrent range - I need it for the start of the next segment, and also to 2HKO Electrode. If Magneton hits with Thunder, it will OHKO me at this point. I either need for Quick Claw to activate in Turn 2, or for Thunder to miss twice - once from Electrode, once from Magneton.

From here, I grab the Down St Key, head back to the save point and save while still in Torrent range. Ideally I want to have at least 44 HP so Feraligatr can survive a Murkrow Night Shade (it is L43), but at my current level Feraligatr will have around 153 HP, so her Torrent range is only up to 51 HP, making this a tight requirement. Finishing between 44 HP and 51 HP is the reason why this segment has taken so long to finish.

Since I have to revisit the lab later when I have the Master Ball, Aipom is the only snag I do in this visit, so everything else will be used as a good source of exp. I should also clear some item inventory space for later, I will likely do this by throwing away the Ice Heals and Awakenings at least, as well as the Ether now that I have Elixirs. The Lab is the last place where I need to worry about PP conservation, except maybe in the second Snagem Hideout visit, and in the test run I never used the last Ether or 2 of the Elixirs.