Pokemon Emerald speedrun :-)

Edit history:

DTaeKim: 2006-04-20 07:41:23 pm

2006-04-20 07:40:16 pm

Well, then, here are my problem spots. Maybe you can figure out a faster strategy.

2nd Rival Battle - Treecko MURDERS Mudkip with Absorb. Torchic/Combusken blazed by this battle.

Norman - No reliable move until Level 37 for Mudkip (as his final form) compared to Level 34 - 35 for Combusken.

Bulblax

2006-04-20 08:38:40 pm

hi

no, rayquaza is after elite 4 too

rock1644

2006-04-21 03:33:28 am

yes, a man carrying a gimp

Quote:

no, rayquaza is after elite 4 too

You can get it before the Elite 4 in Pokemon Emerald. You have to go to him in the Sky Pillar to stop the fight between Groudon and Kyogre in Sootoplis City before you can enter the final gym. Once you do that, you can go back and catch him.

fluffyflyingpig

2006-04-21 07:18:50 am

Meh, tried things again. Couldn't come up with anything clever for the second rival battle, best bet is the bide trick, which isn't all that great. Continuing on to Norman wasn't promising either.

Looks like Torchick it is. Additionally, you'll want an Abra for teleport, caught right after the first badge. You'll only need to hit the pokecenter in the first hour or so of play twice: once Petalburg and once again in Mauville. You get the free heals from storyline stuff for the rest, so you can abuse teleport a bit to save more time. Specifically, you teleport to Petalburg after the first badge, back to Mauville after Meteor Falls, again after Flannery, and again after Normon.

Other than that, generic flying pokemon + zigzagoon + generic dive/waterfall slave + partner for Liza and Tate would round out the team. For killing Liza and Tate, I'm thinking a high leveled Wailord should work. You should be able to find a lvl 40+ Wailmer in the water route that leads to Victory Road. One those guys + a saved Rare Candy == instant giant whale, which should make Liza and Tate fairly easy.

On the note of interesting Emerald specific changes: Rayquaza is catchable early, Liza and Tate added a Claydol and an Xatu, Normon dropped a Slaking, Swagger and Double-Edge are as move Tutor TMs(making Norman with Mudkip easier perhaps?), and Abra is catchable early.

Any more specific stuff you remember, Forgotten One? Otherwise I'll continue posting my various observations here as I go along.

Meh, tried things again.  Couldn't come up with anything clever for the second rival battle, best bet is the bide trick, which isn't all that great.  Continuing on to Norman wasn't promising either.

Looks like Torchick it is.  Additionally, you'll want an Abra for teleport, caught right after the first badge.  You'll only need to hit the pokecenter in the first hour or so of play twice: once Petalburg and once again in Mauville.  You get the free heals from storyline stuff for the rest, so you can abuse teleport a bit to save more time.  Specifically, you teleport to Petalburg after the first badge, back to Mauville after Meteor Falls, again after Flannery, and again after Normon.

Other than that, generic flying pokemon + zigzagoon + generic dive/waterfall slave + partner for Liza and Tate would round out the team.  For killing Liza and Tate, I'm thinking a high leveled Wailord should work.  You should be able to find a lvl 40+ Wailmer in the water route that leads to Victory Road.  One those guys + a saved Rare Candy == instant giant whale, which should make Liza and Tate fairly easy.

On the note of interesting Emerald specific changes: Rayquaza is catchable early, Liza and Tate added a Claydol and an Xatu, Normon dropped a Slaking, Swagger and Double-Edge are as move Tutor TMs(making Norman with Mudkip easier perhaps?), and Abra is catchable early.

Any more specific stuff you remember, Forgotten One?  Otherwise I'll continue posting my various observations here as I go along.

Lag.Com

2006-04-21 09:39:14 am

sda loyalist

Quote:

Normon dropped a Slaking [...] and Abra is catchable early.

Those are both true on Ruby/Sapphire, you can catch Abra inside the cave next to the fishing guy, right? That's fairly early if you ask me. Smiley

Norman's last pokémon has always been a Slaking hasn't it? I remember having craploads of trouble beating it with my team on Sapphire.

DTaeKim

2006-04-21 06:38:57 pm

Let's see...

1) Cut was skipped in R/S. Don't know about Emerald though.

2) Flash can be skipped with some difficulty. I remembered asking for a map of Victory Road, which someone provided.

3) There are no Rare Candies to be found. Only Zigzagoon can find them. Chances are slim to begin with, so don't rely on them.

I was Level 14 - 15 when I entered Rustboro. You'll probably need to venture north and fight a trainer or two before evolving Torchic.

I bought as many Repels as I could in Petalburg City.

I bought 2 X-Attack for the two Gym Leaders.

I remember having Rock Tomb, Double Kick, and Bulk Up for most of the game. Overheat replaces Ember when you defeat Flannery.

I remember catching a Tentacool by Surfing for my Dive and Waterfall. I caught Tropius for Flash and Fly, though if you decide to brave Victory Road without Flash, you can catch any Flying pokemon.

If you have any questions, I'll try and address them.

fluffyflyingpig

Edit history:

fluffyflyingpig: 2006-04-21 11:16:11 pm

2006-04-21 09:49:05 pm

Lag, in R/S Norman had a 2 Slakings, in Emerald he only has one. Abra is catchable before the first badge in Emerald. Slight version specific changes.

Unfortunately, storyline changes and moronic trainers calling for rematches and nonsense slow things down quite a bit for Emerald compared to R/S.

http://www.psypokes.com/rs/victory.php : victory road map if anyone wants it. Flash looks skipable, same for cut.

X Atack for the gym leaders is interesting. I ended segments in front of the leaders for the first two gyms and used Focus Energy and reset till I get the crits I needed. I haven't put much thought into stat boosters yet. I missed the Repels in Petalburg and waited till Rustboro, should've changed that. Going to Lilycove first then backtracking up Mount Pyre and flying off is slower than Mount Pyre first. Didn't mention Dig yet, which is fairly easy to get and seems to save some time.

Moveset wise, I'm not really sold on Rock Tomb. There's not all that much to use in that slot, but 50 strength and only 10 pp isnt great. Perhaps Secret Power/Facade/No TM would save some time? Bulk/DK/fire move is clearly the best setup for the rest.

I HATE randomly moving trainers. >.<

Lag, in R/S Norman had a 2 Slakings, in Emerald he only has one.  Abra is catchable before the first badge in Emerald.  Slight version specific changes.

Unfortunately, storyline changes and moronic trainers calling for rematches and nonsense slow things down quite a bit for Emerald compared to R/S.

http://www.psypokes.com/rs/victory.php : victory road map if anyone wants it.  Flash looks skipable, same for cut.

X Atack for the gym leaders is interesting.  I ended segments in front of the leaders for the first two gyms and used Focus Energy and reset till I get the crits I needed.  I haven't put much thought into stat boosters yet.  I missed the Repels in Petalburg and waited till Rustboro, should've changed that.  Going to Lilycove first then backtracking up Mount Pyre and flying off is slower than Mount Pyre first.  Didn't mention Dig yet, which is fairly easy to get and seems to save some time.

Moveset wise, I'm not really sold on Rock Tomb.  There's not all that much to use in that slot, but 50 strength and only 10 pp isnt great.  Perhaps Secret Power/Facade/No TM would  save some time?  Bulk/DK/fire move is clearly the best setup for the rest.

I HATE randomly moving trainers.  >.<

Bulblax

2006-04-21 10:03:49 pm

hi

norman has 2 in rs, in emerald i think he only has one slaking

DTaeKim

Edit history:

DTaeKim: 2006-04-21 11:08:25 pm

2006-04-21 11:04:34 pm

You're probably right on Rock Tomb; I questioned its effectiveness, even against Flying-type pokemon. However, I have to say the reduction in speed is highly useful against Archie/Maxie's Golbat.

I skipped Dig; I bought Escape Ropes instead.

I have no idea on Blaziken's effectiveness against the Elite 4. If you're going to use Blaziken, you probably want to replace Overheat with Blazing Kick. I do remember that Blaziken's level was 45 when I captured Kyogre (right before the final Gym Leader). I have NO idea how Blaziken will deal with Wallace or Wallace's replacement in Emerald.

fluffyflyingpig

Edit history:

fluffyflyingpig: 2006-04-22 12:13:18 am

2006-04-21 11:30:07 pm

E4 and Wallace-knockoff Juan are not a concern in Emerald. I can just Masterball (or reset abuse and use Ultra Balls) the lvl 70 Rayquza after the 7th gym and use that to sweep through the rest of the game. Only concern there is having enough PP items to make it through.

Dunno about moveset for Rayquza yet though. Captured is Extremespeed/Fly/Outrage/Rest, not that useful. But it is lvl 70 =D.

Dunno if theres a point to killing Steven after the E4. No credit roll for beating him, and the Rayquza should be able to steamroll him, like everything else.

Tate & Liza's added Claydol and Xatu both rape Blaziken. I think a detuor to grab a rare candy to evolve Wailord is going to be a must. =\

Here we go, found a Rare Candy (kinda) on the route:

Mt. Pyre (Outside)
Rare Candy. After battling the third Grunt, head into the passage to the right. There'll be two graves surrounded by grass. Look in the bottom right grass patch.

Forgotten One, is your Sapphire time 3:52 or 2:52?

DTaeKim

2006-04-22 01:01:16 am

3:52. I should've corrected that.

My best run was 3:45, but I didn't record it. I'm pretty sure I can go lower, but right now, I'm focusing on another game.

When I used Kyogre, I changed his moveset to Calm Mind/Ice Beam, Surf, Thunder

You probably need a Electric-move in there somewhere. Ice is necessary for Drake, probably some powerful move to KO Phoebe. Forget the Dark guy's name, but Surf/Ice Beam took care of him.

DBoyWheeler

2006-04-22 03:50:43 am

I like to move it move it!

Quote:

You probably need a Electric-move in there somewhere. Ice is necessary for Drake, probably some powerful move to KO Phoebe. Forget the Dark guy's name, but Surf/Ice Beam took care of him.

The Dark guy is named Sidney.

fluffyflyingpig

Edit history:

fluffyflyingpig: 2006-04-22 06:10:22 am

2006-04-22 05:46:09 am

Well now the fun starts. Time to find a way to kill Liza and Tate's Claydol, Xatu, Solrock, Lunatone. I'm thinking Wailmer -> Wailord and/or a Tentacool-> Tentacruel and/or Sharpedo, perhaps a few stat boost items or some such. No way in heck is Blaziken getting lucky against 4 pokemon who ALL 2HKO him.

Thinking about Marshtomp again. You loose time when you're too slow to attack first or cannot get the OHKO, but Liza and Tate are easy. I think using the Bulk Up tm on Marshtomp to stat up on something harmless before Slaking vs Normon, which would make that doable. As for the Rival... according to the damage calculator, Grovyle shouldn't OKHO with absorb, so Bide followed by a bunch of Super Potions should work... in theory. Heck, Bulk Up 5-6 times against the Rival's leadoff Wingull and you should OKHO Grovyle with Rock Tomb. I haven't tested either plan yet though.

Meh dunno. Liza and Tate are not looking good atm with Blaziken.

Mr_Nice_Guy

2006-04-22 10:33:24 am

Battle Is My Forte

the bad thing is you cant capture any legendary (except Rayquaza) to assist you with the elite4(5) untill after the game =(
Kyogre would have been great against them(also Lv70)

I played the game again recently. I mainly only leveled Blaziken and Pelliper. Used marril as Surf/Waterfall/Dive Slave and Geodude for Strenght/Rock Smash.
I cought Rayquaza befor fighting the 8th gym.

i won the 7th gym by maxing out pellipers speed with status boosters and using Surf/Supersonic the entire battle.

I also bought lots of PP fillers, so i could extremespeed the E4

DTaeKim

2006-04-22 05:41:15 pm

One Bulk Up and Blaziken SHOULD 2HKO Lunatone, IIRC, with Double Kick.

Sharpedo is probably the best bet, since he's caught relatively quickly. I would try and use Overheat if Claydol and Xatu come out, since Sunny Day should sitll be in effect.

fluffyflyingpig

Edit history:

fluffyflyingpig: 2006-04-23 06:14:18 am

2006-04-22 08:16:59 pm

Sharpedo seems to be the right way of doing things. The most elegant solution is to just catch two. Xatu/Claydol leadoff. Xatu is running Psychic/Sunny Day/Calm Mind/Confuse Ray, and thus can't hurt anything Dark type. Sharpedo out-speeds Claydol, Lunatone, and Solrock and Crunch is a 2HKO on all of them. In double battles, you can have both pokemon attack the same target AND if a pokemon faints before its attack phase, the replacement doesn't attack that round. So sent out both Sharpedos, Crunch the non-Xatu pokemon, then kill Xatu at your leisure. Nice and clean, and any 2 random average Sharpedo can pull it out.

A single max lvl/max SpA IV/Mild (-Atk, +SpA) Sharpedo with a X Special should also sweep, but is a LOT more work to get. Claydol can't quite OHKO you with Earthquake, so you can use the stat boost and then sweep. I kinda like the elegance of the 2 Sharpedo solution myself.

Unfortunately, then you need to get the rod and catch Sharpedo. Meh, at least the rod and the Sharpedo are all found in the same town as the Gym.

I acquire a total of 7-8 Pokemon: Torchick, Abra (Teleport/Flash if needed), Marill (Dig/Rock Smash/Strength/Surf), generic flying Pokemon, Castform (forced into party >.<), 1-2 Sharpedo (Dive/Waterfall), and Rayquaza.

I'm thinking an Adamant Extreme Speed/Double Edge/Fly?/Outrage? Rayquaza might do the trick. Not too sure yet. Mr_Nice_Guy, what did you have your Rayquaza run for the E4?

EDIT:

Completed practice/refresher run. Clocked in at 4:20. Should be able to cut 30-60 minutes off by avoiding optional battles better, not getting lost, learning the route well enough to use the twitchy Mach Bike more, perfect nature and IVs, etc. Still not entirely certain Torchick is the right starter. I think adamant might be the better nature, Overheat should overcome the -SpA. I went with a neutral nature this run.

Might as well keep all my notes here.

WALL OF TEXT WARNING

Route:
Get the potion from the computer. Go through storyline dialouge.
Grab Torchick. Reset till you get the IVs and nature you want.
Go up and kill the rival, running from fights. Return for more dialouge, and running shoes.
Go on to Petalburg, kill all trainers for the exp. The berries might be worth getting.
Buy a potion and as many repels as you can afford in Petalburg. Use the Pokecenter. Say "Hi!" to dad again for more talking.
Aack, randomness. Go off and catch a Marill outside the forest area and a Tailow or Wingull or something that can Fly. When you have both, start using repels.
Continue north to Rustboro. The poison and paralyze heal berries are worth grabbing.
You should only be level 14-15 when you get into Rustboro. Use Potions/berries and not the pokecenter. You'll need to kill a trainer to two to the North East of town to get to lvl 16.
After evolving to Combusken, go kill Roxanne. Focus Energy first turn and Double Kick for the win.

More blather from Devon and Aqua. Run over to the tunnel, kill the Aqua grunt, listen to more blather.
More random fun. Catch an Abra outside the tunnel area. Abra that are rare and teleport out of battle. >.<
Talk to the Devon guy again, more talking.
You get the PokeNav, an amazing device through which people can eat up your time to tell you how their day went. Grand. At least you get healed.
Teleport back to Petalburg. Run and chat with Mr Briney in his hut, hop on the Ferry.
Go find Brawly.

The Brawly fight sucks, since you're kinda underleveled. Save next to him. Focus Energy first turn and hope the crits go your way.
Run the cave, grab the escape rope and use it at the end.
Back to boat, off to Slateport to visit the shipyard.
Go up in the museum to kill more grunts and more talking. At least its a free heal.
Head north for the rival fight. Get potions/repel if needed.
Rival fight shouldn't be a problem, just Bulk Up and sweep. Use the TM if needed.
Enter Mauville, get the Mach bike, use the Pokecenter, get Rock Smash. Find the Gym.

Watson... could get ugly. Equipt a parlyz heal berry, Bulk Up and sweep. The leadoff Voltorb likes to SelfDestruct >.<. Save to be safe.
Rock Smash for Marill, head north avoiding the evil rotating trainers, through the Fiery Pass to Fallarbor. Buy 3 escape ropes and a bunch of Super Repels. Potions as needed.
Off to Meteor Falls, avoiding more rotating trainers. Say "Hi!" to the Magma guys, escape rope out and teleport back to Mauville.
Take the Cable Car up the volcano, kill the Magma guys, go down the volcano to Lavaridge. Grab a cookie on the way from the old lady to be safe.

Flannery is easy enough, Bulk Up and Double Kick away.
Teleport back to Mauville and bike off to Veridanturf.
Smash open the tunnel, backtrack to Petalburg, find Normon.
Normon is easier than Flannery, Bulk Up and Double Kick away.
Teleport back to Mauville, teach Marill Surf and away we go to the Weather Center. Yada-yada-yada grunts Castform weather stuff. On to Fortree.
Steven is on the bridge beyond Fortree. Get the Devon Scope and go off to the gym.

Wiona shouldn't be too bad. Bulk Up and Slash/Rock Tomb for the win.
Climb up Mt Pyre, find more grunts. Visit the Lilycove Pokecenter then fly to Lavaridge. Go back up the Cable Car and down the pass to the Magma hideout. Even more grunts here. Bulk Up against Mightyna for Maxie.
Escape Rope out, fly to Slateport. Talk Stern at the dock. Teleport to Lilycove and Surf to the Aqua hideout.
Be sure to get the Max Elixir and the Master Ball before chasing them out of town.
Surf East to Mossdeep. Grab some Net Balls and Max Repels at the mart, and full heals and hyper potions if you see the need. Throw Castform and Abra in the PC.
Get the Super Rod from the fisherman in the house one level below and NW of the Space Center.

More random-ey goodness. Fish up a couple of Sharpedo from the bay.
Use them to sweep though the Gym. Xatu can't hurt them and they 2HKO Liza and Tate's other pokemon before they can attack.
Off to clear out the Space Center. Remember to swap Blaziken back to the front of the lineup. Yada-yada-yada, Steven, grunts, fuel, underwater cavern.
Underwater Caven is in Route 128. I got lost the first time. >.>
ZOMG, weather! Enter Sootopolis. Watch the cinematic battle of wiggling sprites! Go find Steven.
Steven sends you down the cave to find Wallace. Wallace wants to play hide and seek. Tell him bout the Sky Pillar, then escape rope out and go find him. Fly to the Pokecenter and get out of town
Surf SW to Pacifilog, then backtrack up to the Sky Pillar. Tag Wallace and Rayquaza, than fly back to Sootopolis.
More cinematic wiggling. When everything stops, fly back to Pacifilog and climb up the Pillar.

Bike your way to the top and introduce Rayquaza to your Master Ball. Reset till you get the IVs/nature you want.
Fly back to Sootopolis and tag Wallace again. Introduce Juan to Rayquaza.
Fly to Mossdeep and surf over to Victory Road. Hustle on through, the E4 can't wait to meet Rayquaza.
Rayquaza will tear through the E4 at lvl 70. Outrage is 90 str and gets STAB. Plus it is good for 2-3 attacks per pp.
Stock up on full restores/revives and march on through. The one Max Elixir should ensure you have enough pp.

Route Considerations: I think that its faster to go to up Mt Pyre first then continue to Lilycove, rather than go to town first then backtrack.
I think going to Pacifilog first then backtracking to the Sky Pillar and flying off is faster. I should test both of these again.
I need to visit both towns at some point to so I can fly back there again later.

Double Battles: A new twist to Emerald is that you now have double battles against two different trainers together much more frequently. I'm not sure if its faster to kill each trainer individually or have a single double battle. Other than Blaziken, a lvl 5-10ish Abra/Marill/gnereric flying type would enter the double battle and I'd loose time sending out new fodder when they get OHKO'd

Items:

Petalburg is the first place for Repels, Fallarbor for Super Repels, Mossdeep for Max Repels (since the rival won't let you in to the Lilycove mart without a fight). You find one escape rope in Granite Caves and use it there, you need one for Meteor Falls, and one more for the Magma Hideout, one for Cave of Origin and... that's it I believe. Looks like dig is less efficient than escape ropes. Everything else either a building you cannot warp out of or a storyline auto warp. You want to avoid picking stuff up as much as possible of course. No TMs are really useful and on the way, only thing that MIGHT be useful is the Earthquake at the end of Victory Road and Hidden Power.

Maps and stuff:
http://www.psypokes.com/emerald/gymlayouts.php
http://www.psypokes.com/rs/victory.php

Movesets:

Blaziken: Double Kick/Bulk Up/Overheat/???
Not sure on last move. Slash is learned at lvl 42, 70 power , 25 % crit, 20 pp. Rock Tomb is 50 power , 80% accuracy, 50% speed down, 10 pp. Strength is 80 power , 15 pp.

Rayquaza: Outrage/Fly/Extreme Speed/Filler
Outrage is 90 power and STAB for a OHKO on most everything the E4 have. It also attacks 2-3 times but causes confusion. I'm leaning towards a +SpA nature and just sweeping with Outrage. If there were a bunch of confusion cure berries (either Lum or Persim berries) someplace along the way, I'd be set. I also am thinking of Double Edge via Sootopolis move tutor as the filler; 120 power is better than Fly's 105 (with STAB).

Berry Locations:
Persim Route 114 x 6 Route 121 x 2

/WALL OF TEXT

Sharpedo seems to be the right way of doing things.  The most elegant solution is to just catch two.  Xatu/Claydol leadoff.  Xatu is running Psychic/Sunny Day/Calm Mind/Confuse Ray, and thus can't hurt anything Dark type.  Sharpedo out-speeds Claydol, Lunatone, and Solrock and Crunch is a 2HKO on all of them.  In double battles, you can have both pokemon attack the same target AND if a pokemon faints before its attack phase, the replacement doesn't attack that round.  So sent out both Sharpedos, Crunch the non-Xatu pokemon, then kill Xatu at your leisure.  Nice and clean, and any 2 random average Sharpedo can pull it out.

A single max lvl/max SpA IV/Mild (-Atk, +SpA) Sharpedo with a X Special should also sweep, but is a LOT more work to get.  Claydol can't quite OHKO you with Earthquake, so you can use the stat boost and then sweep.  I kinda like the elegance of the 2 Sharpedo solution myself.

Unfortunately, then you need to get the rod and catch Sharpedo.  Meh, at least the rod and the Sharpedo are all found in the same town as the Gym.

I acquire a total of 7-8 Pokemon: Torchick, Abra (Teleport/Flash if needed), Marill (Dig/Rock Smash/Strength/Surf), generic flying Pokemon, Castform (forced into party >.<), 1-2 Sharpedo (Dive/Waterfall), and Rayquaza.

I'm thinking an Adamant Extreme Speed/Double Edge/Fly?/Outrage? Rayquaza might do the trick.  Not too sure yet.  Mr_Nice_Guy, what did you have your Rayquaza run for the E4?

EDIT:

Completed practice/refresher run.  Clocked in at 4:20.  Should be able to cut 30-60 minutes off by avoiding optional battles better, not getting lost, learning the route well enough to use the twitchy Mach Bike more, perfect nature and IVs, etc.  Still not [i]entirely[/i] certain Torchick is the right starter.  I think adamant might be the better nature, Overheat should overcome the -SpA.  I went with a neutral nature this run.

Might as well keep all my notes here.

[b]WALL OF TEXT WARNING[/b]

Route:
Get the potion from the computer.  Go through storyline dialouge.
Grab Torchick.  Reset till you get the IVs and nature you want.
Go up and kill the rival, running from fights.  Return for more dialouge, and running shoes.
Go on to Petalburg, kill all trainers for the exp.  The berries might be worth getting.
Buy a potion and as many repels as you can afford in Petalburg.  Use the Pokecenter.  Say "Hi!" to dad again for more talking.
Aack, randomness.  Go off and catch a Marill outside the forest area and a Tailow or Wingull or something that can Fly.  When you have both, start using repels.
Continue north to Rustboro. The poison and paralyze heal berries are worth grabbing.
You should only be level 14-15 when you get into Rustboro.  Use Potions/berries and not the pokecenter.  You'll need to kill a trainer to two to the North East of town to get to lvl 16.  
After evolving to Combusken, go kill Roxanne.  Focus Energy first turn and Double Kick for the win.

More blather from Devon and Aqua.  Run over to the tunnel, kill the Aqua grunt, listen to more blather.
More random fun.  Catch an Abra outside the tunnel area.    Abra that are rare and teleport out of battle.  >.<
Talk to the Devon guy again, more talking.  
You get the PokeNav, an amazing device through which people can eat up your time to tell you how their day went.  Grand.  At least you get healed.
Teleport back to Petalburg.  Run and chat with Mr Briney in his hut, hop on the Ferry.
Go find Brawly.

The Brawly fight sucks, since you're kinda underleveled.  Save next to him.  Focus Energy first turn and hope the crits go your way.
Run the cave, grab the escape rope and use it at the end.
Back to boat, off to Slateport to visit the shipyard.
Go up in the museum to kill more grunts and more talking.  At least its a free heal.  
Head north for the rival fight.  Get potions/repel if needed.
Rival fight shouldn't be a problem, just Bulk Up and sweep.  Use the TM if needed.
Enter Mauville, get the Mach bike, use the Pokecenter, get Rock Smash.  Find the Gym.

Watson... could get ugly.  Equipt a parlyz heal berry, Bulk Up and sweep.  The leadoff Voltorb likes to SelfDestruct >.<.  Save to be safe.
Rock Smash for Marill, head north avoiding the evil rotating trainers, through the Fiery Pass to Fallarbor.  Buy 3 escape ropes and a bunch of Super Repels.  Potions as needed.
Off to Meteor Falls, avoiding more rotating trainers.  Say "Hi!" to the Magma guys, escape rope out and teleport back to Mauville.
Take the Cable Car up the volcano, kill the Magma guys, go down the volcano to Lavaridge.  Grab a cookie on the way from the old lady to be safe.

Flannery is easy enough, Bulk Up and Double Kick away.  
Teleport back to Mauville and bike off to Veridanturf.  
Smash open the tunnel, backtrack to Petalburg, find Normon.
Normon is easier than Flannery, Bulk Up and Double Kick away.  
Teleport back to Mauville, teach Marill Surf and away we go to the Weather Center.  Yada-yada-yada grunts Castform weather stuff.  On to Fortree.
Steven is on the bridge beyond Fortree.  Get the Devon Scope and go off to the gym.

Wiona shouldn't be too bad.  Bulk Up and Slash/Rock Tomb for the win.
Climb up Mt Pyre, find more grunts.  Visit the Lilycove Pokecenter then fly to Lavaridge.  Go back up the Cable Car and down the pass to the Magma hideout.  Even more grunts here.  Bulk Up against Mightyna for Maxie.  
Escape Rope out, fly to Slateport.  Talk Stern at the dock.  Teleport to Lilycove and Surf to the Aqua hideout.
Be sure to get the Max Elixir and the Master Ball before chasing them out of town.
Surf East to Mossdeep.  Grab some Net Balls and Max Repels at the mart, and full heals and hyper potions if you see the need.  Throw Castform and Abra in the PC.
Get the Super Rod from the fisherman in the house one level below and NW of the Space Center.

More random-ey goodness.  Fish up a couple of Sharpedo from the bay.  
Use them to sweep though the Gym.  Xatu can't hurt them and they 2HKO Liza and Tate's other pokemon before they can attack.
Off to clear out the Space Center.  Remember to swap Blaziken back to the front of the lineup.  Yada-yada-yada, Steven, grunts, fuel, underwater cavern.
Underwater Caven is in Route 128.  I got lost the first time.  >.>
ZOMG, weather!  Enter Sootopolis.  Watch the cinematic battle of wiggling sprites!  Go find Steven.
Steven sends you down the cave to find Wallace.  Wallace wants to play hide and seek.  Tell him bout the Sky Pillar, then escape rope out and go find him.  Fly to the Pokecenter and get out of town
Surf SW to Pacifilog, then backtrack up to the Sky Pillar.  Tag Wallace and Rayquaza, than fly back to Sootopolis.
More cinematic wiggling.  When everything stops, fly back to Pacifilog and climb up the Pillar.

Bike your way to the top and introduce Rayquaza to your Master Ball.  Reset till you get the IVs/nature you want.
Fly back to Sootopolis and tag Wallace again.  Introduce Juan to Rayquaza.
Fly to Mossdeep and surf over to Victory Road.  Hustle on through, the E4 can't wait to meet Rayquaza.
Rayquaza will tear through the E4 at lvl 70.  Outrage is 90 str and gets STAB.  Plus it is good for 2-3 attacks per pp.  
Stock up on full restores/revives and march on through.  The one Max Elixir should ensure you have enough pp.

Route Considerations: I think that its faster to go to up Mt Pyre first then continue to Lilycove, rather than go to town first then backtrack.
I think going to Pacifilog first then backtracking to the Sky Pillar and flying off is faster.  I should test both of these again.
I need to visit both towns at some point to so I can fly back there again later.

Double Battles:  A new twist to Emerald is that you now have double battles against two different trainers together much more frequently.  I'm not sure if its faster to kill each trainer individually or have a single double battle.  Other than Blaziken, a lvl 5-10ish Abra/Marill/gnereric flying type would enter the double battle and I'd loose time sending out new fodder when they get OHKO'd

Items:

Petalburg is the first place for Repels, Fallarbor for Super Repels, Mossdeep for Max Repels (since the rival won't let you in to the Lilycove mart without a fight).  You find one escape rope in Granite Caves and use it there, you need one  for Meteor Falls, and one more for the Magma Hideout, one for Cave of Origin and... that's it I believe.  Looks like dig is less efficient than escape ropes.  Everything else either a building you cannot warp out of or a storyline auto warp.  You want to avoid picking stuff up as much as possible of course.  No TMs are really useful and on the way, only thing that MIGHT be useful is the Earthquake at the end of Victory Road and Hidden Power.

Maps and stuff:
http://www.psypokes.com/emerald/gymlayouts.php
http://www.psypokes.com/rs/victory.php

Movesets:

Blaziken: Double Kick/Bulk Up/Overheat/???
Not sure on last move.  Slash is learned at lvl 42, 70 power , 25 % crit, 20 pp.  Rock Tomb is 50 power , 80% accuracy, 50% speed down, 10 pp.  Strength is 80 power , 15 pp.

Rayquaza: Outrage/Fly/Extreme Speed/Filler
Outrage is 90 power and STAB for a OHKO on most everything the E4 have.  It also attacks 2-3 times but causes confusion.  I'm leaning towards a +SpA nature and just sweeping with Outrage.  If there were a bunch of confusion cure berries (either Lum or Persim berries) someplace along the way, I'd be set.  I also am thinking of Double Edge via Sootopolis move tutor as the filler; 120 power is better than Fly's 105 (with STAB).

Berry Locations: 
Persim      Route 114    x 6  Route 121    x 2

[b]/WALL OF TEXT[/b]

Mr_Nice_Guy

2006-04-23 02:20:31 am

Battle Is My Forte

i removed Rayquaza's Fly and added Thunderbolt.
I mainly used Outrage and Extremespeed.
When i get confused, i use a berry to unconfuse him.
(also attached the berry so it will automatically activate when confused).
And if Rayquaza faints, i just use a revive. I also saved up some Ethers and used all my money on Carbos, Zinc etc to boost its stats.

fluffyflyingpig

2006-04-24 01:49:00 am

More random notes:

Went off and killed Steven on the practice file. No credit roll, so I don't see a point in killing him.

The 6 confusion heal berries on route 114 require Surf to collect, which is impossible to have at that point. At least the 2 other confusion heal berries are on the way. If you want to abuse segmentation, you can get an any-status-heal berry from a man in Lilycove, 1/8 or so chance. Or you could plant the 2 berries you find end a segment and wait 12 real time hours to double you berries.

A maximumal 10 Calciums (+SpA EVs) will only boost Rayquaza's SpA by 20 points or so, and isn't worth the time in a speedrun. I don't think going back to get Ice Beam or Thunder Bolt is worth it for a speed run either. Any time saved battling will be lost getting the coin case, coins, and teaching the TM.

I think the hardest part will be perfecting the Mach Bike route that aviods trainers, dismounts when necessary to sneak past rotating trainers, and doesn't crash into walls. I always crash into walls on the bike. The rotating people who turn in your direction when you run or bike are particularly annoying.

The most unsatisfing thing about speedrunning this game is that there's no spectacular shortcuts or sequence breaks or anything along the route. Just lots of random fustration as you build up your killing machine and collect HM slaves while avioding everyone. Then you Master Ball the giant dragon and kill everyone you can't aviod till the credit roll. Everything else is pointless talking, hiding from people, and repelling pokemon.

More random notes:

Went off and killed Steven on the practice file.  No credit roll, so I don't see a point in killing him.

The 6 confusion heal berries on route 114 require Surf to collect, which is impossible to have at that point.  At least the 2 other confusion heal berries are on the way.  If you want to abuse segmentation, you can get an any-status-heal berry from a man in Lilycove, 1/8 or so chance.  Or you could plant the 2 berries you find end a segment and wait 12 real time hours to double you berries.

A maximumal 10 Calciums (+SpA EVs) will only boost Rayquaza's SpA by 20 points or so, and isn't worth the time in a speedrun.  I don't think going back to get Ice Beam or Thunder Bolt is worth it for a speed run either.  Any time saved battling will be lost getting the coin case, coins, and teaching the TM.

I think the hardest part will be perfecting the Mach Bike route that aviods trainers, dismounts when necessary to sneak past rotating trainers, and doesn't crash into walls.    I always crash into walls on the bike.  The rotating people who turn in your direction when you run or bike are particularly annoying.

The most unsatisfing thing about speedrunning this game is that there's no spectacular shortcuts or sequence breaks or anything along the route.  Just lots of random fustration as you build up your killing machine and collect HM slaves while avioding everyone.  Then you Master Ball the giant dragon and kill everyone you can't aviod till the credit roll.  Everything else is pointless talking, hiding from people, and repelling pokemon.

petrie911

2006-04-24 03:50:49 am

Everybody loves Hypnotoad!

You may want to consider Fire Blast/Thunder/Blizzard on Ray. they're cheap and easy to get, and not THAT inaccurate. They can be bought at the Lilycove mart.

rock1644

2006-04-24 04:15:40 am

yes, a man carrying a gimp

Quote:

You may want to consider Fire Blast/Thunder/Blizzard on Ray. they're cheap and easy to get, and not THAT inaccurate. They can be bought at the Lilycove mart.

You can't afford to miss when you're fighting the Elite 4, especially Wallace. His Milotic and Tentacruel will destroy Rayquaza in 1-2 hits with Ice Beam.

DTaeKim

2006-04-24 05:43:17 am

Thunder also has 5 less PP than Thunderbolt. That's another issue.

With regards to the fact there is little sequence breaking, well, welcome to linearity.

fluffyflyingpig

Edit history:

fluffyflyingpig: 2006-04-25 05:50:06 am

2006-04-24 06:10:21 am

Quote:

You may want to consider Fire Blast/Thunder/Blizzard on Ray. they're cheap and easy to get, and not THAT inaccurate. They can be bought at the Lilycove mart.

The other major problem with that is time lost in the mart getting the TMs. I think your rival will block the entrance until after you beat the E4. Even if he goes away, it takes a significant amount of time to bike to the mart, take the elevator to the right floor, buy the TMs and teach the TMs. I don't think the time saved for OHKOs is going to be worth it, especially if you get unlucky and miss.

In my test run, the Elite Four fight went really smoothly, MUCH less trouble than anticipated. You can't possibly loose with a lvl 70 Rayquaza and a bunch of revives, the only question is how quickly can you win. Heck, Outrage and/or Double Edge is a OHKO on almost everything, 2HKO on everything.

PP didn't seem to be a problem. Outrage is 15 PP and good for 2-3 attacks each use. Only used one Max Elixir, which I don't think was absolutely necessary.

I think I'm leaning towards

Rayquaza +SpA nature, NOT -Atk
Outrage (Super Effective on Dragons o.O)
Double Edge
Earthquake (Filler)
Fly (Filler)

Double edge takes a few seconds to get and learn in the Sootopolis Pokecenter. Earthquake is on your path in the Seafloor Cavern and is filler. Fly is filler. Outrage is standard.

You are faster than everything anyway, so no need for Extreme Speed. Double Edge does more damage than Extreme Speed or Fly (even with STAB). Earthquake only is useful on Tentacruel, and Double Edge might OHKO anyway (needs testing), so I think it's skipable. Break Brick, Surf, and Shock Wave might be worth thinking about.

*EDIT*

Hmm, I wonder if getting Dragon Claw is worth it. That would mean getting a Heart Scale and Flying back to the Fallarbor Move Tutor. 120 attack power total with the same type attack bonus AND no confusion as for Outrage.

Or Crunch, for that matter, which would OHKO the Dusclopses.

Easiest Heart Scale: Route 118 This is to the West of Mauville

Heart Scale in the brown boulder one step to the West of the trainer dressed in red.

Hidden Items Locations: http://db.gamefaqs.com/portable/gbadvance/file/pokemon_rs_item_finder.txt

I hate the open ocean. Always get lost. Map: http://db.gamefaqs.com/portable/gbadvance/file/pokemon_rs_ocean.png

Bah, linearity is evil. I tried skipping a cutscene by teleporting out of town, but my stupid rival followed my to Mr. Briney's hut. How the heck he ran there faster than I teleported I'll never know.

[quote]You may want to consider Fire Blast/Thunder/Blizzard on Ray.  they're cheap and easy to get, and not THAT inaccurate.  They can be bought at the Lilycove mart.[/quote]

The other major problem with that is time lost in the mart getting the TMs.  I think your rival will block the entrance until after you beat the E4.  Even if he goes away, it takes a significant amount of time to bike to the mart, take the elevator to the right floor, buy the TMs and teach the TMs.    I don't think the time saved for OHKOs is going to be worth it, especially if you get unlucky and miss.

In my test run, the Elite Four fight went really smoothly, [b]MUCH[/b] less trouble than anticipated.  You can't possibly loose with a lvl 70 Rayquaza and a bunch of revives, the only question is how quickly can you win.  Heck, Outrage  and/or Double Edge is a OHKO on almost everything, 2HKO on everything.

PP didn't seem to be a problem.  Outrage is 15 PP and good for 2-3 attacks each use.  Only used one Max Elixir, which I don't think was absolutely necessary.

I think I'm leaning towards

Rayquaza +SpA nature, NOT -Atk
Outrage (Super Effective on Dragons o.O)
Double Edge
Earthquake (Filler)
Fly (Filler)

Double edge takes a few seconds to get and learn in the Sootopolis Pokecenter.  Earthquake is on your path in the Seafloor Cavern and is filler.  Fly is filler.  Outrage is standard.

You are faster than everything anyway, so no need for Extreme Speed.  Double Edge does more damage than Extreme Speed or Fly (even with STAB).  Earthquake only is useful on Tentacruel, and Double Edge might OHKO anyway (needs testing), so I think it's skipable.  Break Brick, Surf, and Shock Wave might be worth thinking about.

*EDIT*

Hmm, I wonder if getting Dragon Claw is worth it.  That would mean getting a Heart Scale and Flying back to the Fallarbor Move Tutor.   120 attack power total with the same type attack bonus  AND no confusion as for Outrage.

Or Crunch, for that matter, which would OHKO the Dusclopses.

Easiest Heart Scale: Route 118  This is to the West of Mauville

Heart Scale in the brown boulder one step to the West of the trainer dressed in red.

Hidden Items Locations: http://db.gamefaqs.com/portable/gbadvance/file/pokemon_rs_item_finder.txt

I hate the open ocean.  Always get lost.  Map: http://db.gamefaqs.com/portable/gbadvance/file/pokemon_rs_ocean.png

Bah, linearity is evil.  I tried skipping a cutscene by teleporting out of town, but my stupid rival followed my to Mr. Briney's hut.  How the heck he ran there faster than I teleported I'll never know.

DTaeKim

Edit history:

DTaeKim: 2006-04-24 06:42:56 am

2006-04-24 06:42:31 am

Dusclops was an annoying Pokemon to fight. Lucky for me a STAB Surf with Rain Dance from Kyogre OHKO them. You may be better off with a PP-restoring item though.

How many PP does Dragon Claw have? It may be worth the time saved especially from healing confusion.

fluffyflyingpig

Edit history:

fluffyflyingpig: 2006-04-29 08:47:02 am

2006-04-24 11:41:06 pm

Semi-Single Segment practice run complete. Saved before boss fights and only restarted if I lost, had to restart Watson and Maxie. I think Watson will be the hardest fight, oddly enough. I got the Maxie fight down now though. I think I can get Pokecenter usage down to the 2 times required to set teleport points. Not sure if I can keep Pokemart visits down to the 3 repel stops though.

Time was a sub 4 hour, but only just at 3:58. 10 min spent finding my HM slaves + Abra, 20 (!!!) min spent finding 1 Sharpedo and killing Liza & Tate. Emerald should be about the same time as Ruby/Sapphire. You loose time from extra storyline and random morons calling your phone, but you gain time as Rayquaza slices through the E4 like a hot knife through butter.

15 PP for Dragon Claw. Definitely worth getting. I think Crunch may be worth it as well. That gives me Outrage/Dragon Claw/Fly (takes too long to delete)/Crunch (replace with Earthquake after the ghosts?). Only problems now is Milotic. Stupid Milotic. Replace Dragon Claw with Shockwave before Wallace once PP is gone.

Blaziken runs Double Kick/Bulk Up/Overheat/Strength. Rock Tomb just isn't useful (or accurate) enough. Strength OHKOs Baltoys, which I can't normally. Overheat for the Golbats/Crobat. Winona's Swablu doesn't attack, so Strength OHKOs everything after 6 Bulk Ups.

NOTES:

Wall of Text Warning

Recap boss fights:

Roxanne: no problem at lvl 16
Brawley: Focus Energy, no problems
Rival: Bulk Up, no problem
Watson: Problems! Avoiding all optional fights leaves you under-leveled. Static causes random paralysis. Most attacks are Special type, so Bulk Up doesn't help. Worst fight in the game, I think.
Flannery: Bulk Up and sweep, no problems
Normon: Slight problem, leadoff has Psybeam. Bulk Up on it anyway.
Rival: Easier than the first time.
Winona: Bulk Up on Swablu and sweep with a physical attack. Don't bother trying to evolve.
Maxie: Problem! Mightyna PHASES away Bulk Up boosts with Roar. >.< Kill off your HM slaves before this fight to get around this. Cheesy

Liza & Tate: Tried with 1 Sharpedo. Took 15 min and lots of items. 2 is worth the extra time. 8-10 net balls should be enough
Archie: see Maxie.
Rayquaza takes over at this point. OHKOs stuff.

Items:

Going into Rustboro, 4 potions, 4 parlyz berries, Potions above flower shop maybe.
Escape Rope in cave. Revive on beach. Heart Scale behind old man on beach. Heart Scale on rock in beach E of Mauville.
Confusion berries after Weather Institution.
Max Revive in Magma. Max Elixir, Master Ball, and Nugget (faster than killing an Electrode) in Aqua. EQ TM in cavern to kill Steven.

Buy 2 potions + 8 Repels in Petalburg. 13 or so Super Repels + 3 Escape Ropes + Super Potions in Fallarbor. 8 Net Balls + 10 Max Repels + Hyper Potions/Revive/Full Heal in Dewford. Biggest problem is getting through Watson without extra Super Potions.

With lots of segmentation and patience, the Master Ball and Net Balls can be skipped. You get 5 Pokeballs and 2 Great Balls from the storyline and only need to catch 6 Pokemon. Of course, good luck catching Rayquaza with 2 Great Balls.

Maps With Path, Victory Road:
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/7204/floor17cp.jpg
http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/6200/floor26lt.jpg
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/9379/floor30gg.jpg

Semi-Single Segment practice run complete.  Saved before boss fights and only restarted if I lost, had to restart Watson and Maxie.  I think Watson will be the hardest fight, oddly enough.  I got the Maxie fight down now though.  I think I can get Pokecenter usage down to the 2 times required to set teleport points.  Not sure if I can keep Pokemart visits down to the 3 repel stops though.

Time was a sub 4 hour, but only just at 3:58.  10 min spent finding my HM slaves + Abra, 20 (!!!) min spent finding 1 Sharpedo and killing Liza & Tate.  Emerald should be about the same time as Ruby/Sapphire.  You loose time from extra storyline and random morons calling your phone, but you gain time as Rayquaza slices through the E4 like a hot knife through butter.

15 PP for Dragon Claw.  Definitely worth getting.  I think Crunch may be worth it as well.  That gives me Outrage/Dragon Claw/Fly (takes too long to delete)/Crunch (replace with Earthquake after the ghosts?).  Only problems now is Milotic.  Stupid Milotic.  Replace Dragon Claw with Shockwave before Wallace once PP is gone.

Blaziken runs Double Kick/Bulk Up/Overheat/Strength.  Rock Tomb just isn't useful (or accurate) enough.  Strength OHKOs Baltoys, which I can't normally.  Overheat for the Golbats/Crobat.  Winona's Swablu doesn't attack, so Strength OHKOs everything after 6 Bulk Ups.

NOTES:

[b]Wall of Text Warning[/b]

Recap boss fights:

Roxanne: no problem at lvl 16
Brawley: Focus Energy, no problems
Rival: Bulk Up, no problem
Watson: Problems!  Avoiding all optional fights leaves you under-leveled.  Static causes random paralysis.  Most attacks are Special type, so Bulk Up doesn't help.  Worst fight in the game, I think.
Flannery: Bulk Up and sweep, no problems
Normon: Slight problem, leadoff has Psybeam.  Bulk Up on it anyway.
Rival: Easier than the first time.
Winona: Bulk Up on Swablu and sweep with a physical attack.  Don't bother trying to evolve.
Maxie: Problem!  Mightyna PHASES away Bulk Up boosts with Roar.  >.<  Kill off your HM slaves before this fight to get around this.  :D
Liza & Tate: Tried with 1 Sharpedo.  Took 15 min and lots of items.  2 is worth the extra time.  8-10 net balls should be enough
Archie: see Maxie.
Rayquaza takes over at this point.  OHKOs stuff.

Items:

Going into Rustboro, 4 potions, 4 parlyz berries,   Potions above flower shop maybe.  
Escape Rope in cave.  Revive on beach.  Heart Scale behind old man on beach.  Heart Scale on rock in beach E of Mauville.
Confusion berries after Weather Institution.
Max Revive in Magma.  Max Elixir, Master Ball, and Nugget (faster than killing an Electrode) in Aqua.  EQ TM in cavern to kill Steven.

Buy 2 potions + 8 Repels in Petalburg.  13 or so Super Repels + 3 Escape Ropes + Super Potions in Fallarbor.  8 Net Balls + 10 Max Repels + Hyper Potions/Revive/Full Heal in Dewford.  Biggest problem is getting through Watson without extra Super Potions.

With lots of segmentation and patience, the Master Ball and Net Balls can be skipped.  You get 5 Pokeballs and 2 Great Balls from the storyline and only need to catch 6 Pokemon.  Of course, good luck catching Rayquaza with 2 Great Balls.

Maps With Path, Victory Road:
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/7204/floor17cp.jpg
http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/6200/floor26lt.jpg
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/9379/floor30gg.jpg

DTaeKim

Edit history:

DTaeKim: 2006-04-25 12:25:26 am

2006-04-25 12:24:20 am

Against Milotic, you may be better off with a physical attack. Milotic's Special Defense is among the highest in the game (base stat of 130). By comparasion, Lugia/Ho-Oh have 154. However, Milotic's Defense is a paltry 79 base stat.

In addition, you almost matched my Sapphire run. The biggest differences I think are the fact I fight the rival in order to gain access to the Mart for Thunder and you go to Mt. Pyre before the town. How do you leave Mt. Pyre quickly? Escape Rope?