Hmm, Monke: A Pan-only run of Pokémon Y

[khlaylav]

Hi there! I'm Smogon member khlaylav. You may remember me from such hits as "Why is he running through Pokemon Y with only Burmy" and "Oh he failed at that Nuzlocke that one time." Well, I'm back! Way back when in the early stages of the pandemic, I noted that I'd had my friends vote on 2 challenge runs of Pokemon Y: only Burmy, and only elemental monkeys. I completed said Burmy run and now, just 3 short years later, I'm ready for the other run. So here we go!

General strategy and musings on elemental monkeys

You know them. You love like tolerate acknowledge their existence. They're Pansage, Pansear and Panpour! First introduced in Unova, what could've been a fairly clever way to teach about type advantage got run into the ground when seemingly every other trainer had all 3 monkeys in their arsenal. The monkeys are aggressively similar, and aggressively mediocre: They all have 75 HP, 98 Attack and Special Attack, 63 Defense and Special Defense, and 101 Speed for a somewhat decent 498 total. They all have Gluttony as their ability and the elemental boosting ability of their type as a hidden ability. They all start with Scratch (and Play Nice in Gen 6) and learn various moves at the exact same level. They all get an elemental move every 12 levels. Of the 3, Simipour is probably the best, considering it learns Ice Beam, Blizzard and Surf, but the other 2 can (sort of) handle themselves.

Thanks to their inherent Fire/Water/Grass core, the 3 monkeys aren't too terrible to build around. Of note, they learn Acrobatics at level 31 if I'm patient enough to let them stay unevolved until then, which is a very nice coverage move. Their variety is sort of weak but not bad, either: Dig, Rock Tomb/Slide, Power Up Punch, Shadow Claw and Hone Claws all have their uses. Crunch would be nice, but that's all the way at level 43, and I am WAY too impatient for that. Really, the most unfortunate thing is the monkeys get decent physical set up moves but their best moves are special.

So, how is this going to go? Well, Viola will be kinda tricky, because of Surskit, and also that Pansear is aggressively weak. Grant will be fine with Pansage/Pour. If I'm patient enough for Acrobatics Korrina will be easy along with Ramos. Only Simisage resists Clemont but with Dig and Flame Burst I should be fine. Simisear will help against Valerie; my best option might be to set up on Mawile then go to town with coverage moves because annoyingly, the monkeys don't learn Steel or Poison moves. Olympia will be annoying but doable, and Wulfric... Wulfric uses Fire types. I should have Flamethrower at this point. I trust you see where this is going.

Update 1: Cool name to be thought of later

I choose Froakie because it lets me destroy Chesnaught with Acrobatics. My name is Tarzan because... well, I know apes aren't monkeys but they're still primates and it's close enough. The first of the monkeys to join the team is Pansage, who I name Grookey. Because I can. Perhaps as a rebellion against its name, it has a Quiet nature, reducing its speed and increasing special attack. then catch a Panpour, and my sarcastic nickname theme falls apart immediately because there's not really another water monkey Pokemon. So I just call it Urshifu. Don't worry, Panpour, you're legendary in my heart. Unfortunately, Urshifu has an Adamant nature, reducing the power of the eventual Scalds, Surfs and Hydro Pumps. While I could hunt for another Panpour (and actually run into one shortly after catching Urshifu), I decide not to. Finally, there's Pansear, who it takes a few more encounters to find and catch. Chimchar has plus defense, minus speed for its nature, which is terrible, but oh well.

Team roster:
Grookey, level 6, Scratch/Leer/Play Nice
Urshifu, level 5, same
Chimchar, level 4, same
Froakie, here for HMs and moral support

 

[khlaylav]

Update 1: It Just Bugs Me, Man

(I should also note I've actually tried this challenge run before, I just got bored with it. Ah well.)

With work done, I keep playing. Annoyingly, the elemental monkeys don't learn an elemental move until level 10. So I had to suffer through switch training until Grookey learned Vine Whip, Chimchar learned Incinerate and Urshifu learned Water Gun (best move: easily Chimchar's Incinerate). I also learn Lick and ignore Fury Swipes.

Viola was fairly easy. I rotated through Surskit until I ended up with Grookey and let Grookey take it out with Vine Whip. I was then foolish enough to switch train on Vivillon; nearly lost Urshifu, but a Potion and an early freeing from Infestation let me switch Chimchar in and eventually take it out with Incinerate. My prizes: a worthless TM, money and an Exp. Share.

(In case it's not obvious, I'm not Nuzlocking this.)

The next bit of drama is what I pick after beating up Professor Sycamore. As you can imagine, having Fire/Water/Grass Pokemon make life preeeeeeeetty easy against underleveled Kanto starters. Incinerate burns Bulbasaur to a crisp, Vine Whips smack down Squirtle, and Water Guns put out Charmander's flame. With Froakie, I don't really have much of a need for an HM helper, so I go with Bulbasaur, cause I like it the most.

Thus begins the very, very long journey towards Grant and the second gym. One thing about doing this kind of challenge run is I can pick and choose what I want to engage with based on the rewards. For example, none of my monkeys can learn Venoshock, so there's really no point in exploring around the route that leads to Camphrier Castle.

Right now, my biggest decision is when to evolve the monkeys. Unless I have a serious problem, I'm leaning towards waiting for Acrobatics at level 31. That'll make Korrina extremely easy and seems like the right time to evolve them. Also, none of the moves at level 34 are worth it; I get Grass Knot from Ramos and Brine is just worse than Scald. The only one that might be worth it is Fire Blast, but that is inaccurate.

Anyways! I just keep plugging away at the routes. I'm not going to go out of my way to fight trainers because I don't think I'll be hurting for levels especially with the Exp. Share. Two TMs I do pick up are Hone Claws and Thief, from Route 5 and Camphrier Town respectively. Hone Claws is a decent set up move, and Thief can be handy for hitting Dark type vulnerabilities. I don't teach either yet, though.

Team:
Grookey, level 15: Return/Play Nice/Lick/Vine Whip
Chimchar, level 15: Return/Play Nice/Lick/Incinerate
Urshifu, level 15: Return/Play Nice/Lick/Water Gun

 

[khlaylav]

Update 2: Enter Sandman

One of the things that put me off this run the last time I tried it (other than just general burnout from starting it shortly after the Burmys) is that the monkeys are just aggressively competent. Their stats aren't great, but they're fast, learn decent moves and have acceptable enough attacking stats. That's on full display as I reach level 16 with the monkeys and get three new moves: Chimchar gets Yawn, which has a slight delay but is a reliable way of putting enemies to sleep, Grookey gets access to recovery with Leech Seed, and Urshifu gets... Water Sport. Hey, they can't all be winners. Plus, Urshifu wins the lottery at level 22 anyways.

Once the annoying but also kind of charming Parfum Palace sidequest is done (I detour to pick up Cut for Bulbasaur to take care of), I continue on my way. That also gets me Protect, which may have some use later on, but not for now. Then I fight the Snorlax. Does it go well? ...Nah. I cycle through the team to get Grookey in to use Leech Seed. He takes a Tackle then a critical hit Lick that also paralyzes. That's hilariously bad luck. Chimchar then uses Yawn as Snorlax crits on Tackle. Buuuuut I'm stubborn and keep trying by switching to Urshifu, but because I got crit, I didn't feel confident using Incinerate, so it heals with the Sitrus Berry it has. I am able to get two Play Nices off to lower its attack, though. I then switch back to Chimchar and get lucky as Snorlax decides to use Amnesia then Defense Curl as I yawn. A Return then finishes it off, which gets all of my monkeys a nice chunk of experience and is easily the funniest fight I've had in a long time.

I'll finish this relatively short update with the weird rival battle on Route 7. I do accidentally run into the double battle with Smeargle on this route, though. I appreciate the Artist class of trainers in these games a little more than I should, since they all have extremely diverse movesets that would scare anyone... were it not for the fact that it's coming from Smeargle. Anyways, the weird thing about Serena/Calum in these games is they start off with a Fletchling that eventually disappears. Did they just drop it from the team? Did it fly away when its trainer wasn't looking? Did it mysteriously die so that it could be part of an insufferably edgelord fan theory about you killing your rival's Pokémon? No one will ever know.

Anyways, weird rival double battle time. I lead with Urshifu and switch into Chimchar then Grookey to be that experience hunting guy. Her Fletchling quickly gets KO'd, so Quilladin and Grookey become Grass type bros to take out Corphish with Vine Whip. I switch back into Chimchar to avoid a potential Static paralysis from Pikachu... then get paralyzed off a Thundershock the next turn. I have wonderful luck today. Still, Chimchar nails it with an Incinerate, so I switch back around through the team to Grookey so it can take out Flabébé with Vine Whip.

Grookey level 18, Return/Vine Whip/Leech Seed/Thief
Chimchar level 18, Return/Incinerate/Yawn/Thief
Urshifu level 18, Return/Water Gun/Play Nice/Thief

 

[khlaylav]

Update 3: Rock n' Roll Ain't Noise Pollution

I'm surprised on Route 8 when a trainer switches out his Pancham into a Skiddo to take advantage of Sap Sipper from my Grookey's Vine Whip. A competent AI switch! Will wonders never cease? ... Granted, Chimchar then literally Incinerates it, but hey, gotta praise it where you can.

Glittering Cave, as always, is neat. I know Pokemon is never going to be considered a technical or graphical masterpiece, but there are little bits I quite enjoy, and Glittering Cave is one of them. I just like the claustrophobic elements and the little patches of shadow that denote an encounter. Serena, competently enough, uses Psybeam on the Croagunk in the Team Flare fight. ... she then Taunts the Scraggy with her Absol. You know. A Pokemon weak to Fighting moves. It's a good thing I'd been plugging away with Returns from Chimchar, because if I'd lost out on the experience I would've been severely annoyed.

I've been relatively diligent about my experience so I'm at level 21 when I get to Cyllage City. From there, I start grinding; the moves at level 22 are too useful to pass up when heading to a Rock gym. Annoyingly, it's raining when I play, so I'm not confident that I can take on the Masquerain with Chimchar's Incinerate weakened by that much. Which, frankly, is sorta embarrassing. The monkeys are starting to fall off stat wise; I'm still confident in my plans, but it might take some time.

Because I'm "smart," I level up the most useless monkey for the next gym first (though Exp. Share is still on in the background). Chimchar learns Flame Burst at level 22, which has a respectable 65 base power... until you look at what Urshifu and Grookey learn. Urshifu's the clear winner with Scald thanks to that sweet burn chance, though Grookey's physical Seed Bomb isn't half bad. Both of those have 80 base power, leaving the poor fire monkey dead last. If it weren't for the fact that basically no trainers use berries, there'd be a pretty interesting debate about whether Incinerate or Flame Burst is more useful, but I lean towards the slightly higher base power. With the elemental upgrades, it's time to storm the Cyllage City gym!

As you might imagine, Urshifu and Grookey show out in this gym. Annoyingly, the menace to my team only Relicanth comfortably survives a 4X super effective Seed Bomb and could've taken Grookey down with a second Rock Tomb; for whatever reason, it decided to Yawn instead, so my grass monkey survives and takes it down with a second one. Shout out as well to the Hiker who boasts about his defenses and then sends out a single Roggenrola that only survives a Scald thanks to Sturdy.

By the time I reach Grant, all the monkeys are level 23. Maybe I'm a bit overconfident, but at the same time, I've got a Grass type and a Water type; worst case scenario, I level up once and come back because I'm close to a level up. ... then Amaura comfortably survives a Scald, paralyzes Urshifu and gets off 2 nasty not very effective Take Downs before Urshifu can finish it off. Whoops. I switch to Grookey for Tyrunt and set up a Leech Seed, because I have a feeling I'll need it. I'm rewarded with a massive Rock Tomb. I've got no choice; I switch to Chimchar as a sacrifice and am lucky to get a Bite on the switch, letting me set up a Yawn. Urshifu then goes down to ensure the Yawn and it's all up to Grookey. I am ridiculously lucky that Tyrunt stays asleep and two Seed Bombs do just enough to ensure it's taken down.

Yikes. I talked about how the stats are catching up to the monkeys, and that's proof. I'll end the update here while I sit back and reconsider my level 31 strategy, because I'm not sure I can comfortably handle the next few routes, trainers and the rival fight to come.

Grookey: level 24, Return/Leech Seed/Seed Bomb/Bite
Urshifu: level 24, Return/Play Nice/Scald/Bite
Chimchar: level 23, Return/Flame Burst/Yawn/Bite

 

[khlaylav]

Update 4: Fight for your Right

Funny story: When I go back and challenge the Masquerain trainer on Route 8, it crits Chimchar. Twice. On Bubble and Quick Attack. It sitll got the win with Incinerate, but it's just a testament to how bad the monkeys are.

The stretch to Shalour City shows just how mediocre they are unevolved. Fighting most of the trainers (except for The Actual Fighting Gym Leader Battle Girl Hedvig) leads to one or multiple monkeys getting taken out, and culminates in the monkeys getting absolutely destroyed by Serena. Grookey can't even finish off Meowstic before getting taken down by Psybeam, Chimchar loses straight-up to Quilladin, and Urshifu gets taken out by Absol. I've been too Laser Focus(ed) on Acrobatics. I can get it as a TM down the line if I wait.

Then, I discover a problem. Turns out, funnily enough, I missed something: the monkeys don't learn Aerial Ace. The monkeys. Who learn a bunch of the physical TMs. Don't learn one of the most common physical moves in the game. ...I hate the monkeys. So damn much.

Am I furious? Yes. Will this stop me? No. I head back to Reflection Cave, slap down the Hiker (rotating through to get experience to level the 3 to level 30) and begin leveling the monkeys up to level 31. Acrobatics was my win condition against both Korrina and Ramos. If I get it, I can evolve Grookey and Urshifu at least; I'd ideally like to get Chimchar to 34 to get Fire Blast before evolving, and I figure having 2 of 3 evolved monkeys should be fine enough.

In one of the most embarrassing moments I've ever had in Pokemon, I had to run. From a horde of Mime Jrs. Because Urshifu was gonna faint. (In fairness, the monkeys were on super low HP at that time, but... still.) Anyways. The leveling finally ends with Urshifu and Grookey at level 31, learning Acrobatics over Rock Tomb and Rock Smash, respectively. Chimchar can hang out at level 30 for a little longer.

Evolutions of Urshifu and Grookey acquired, it's time to beat Serena (hopefully). It goes... a little better. Grookey is able to beat Meowstic and heavily damage Absol before going down; Urshifu cleans up, surviving on just 11 HP against Quilladin. This still isn't good, but I think I have a shot against Korrina, at least, though overleveling might be an issue.

I don't get why you have to go behind the trainers in Korrina's gym to stop them rather than in front, but whatever. As expected, the monkeys do quite nicely during the gym; Chimchar is even able to solo the Heracross one trainer has, picking up Acrobatics in the process. He, unfortunately, is the only one not at 32 before going into the Korrina fight, but that's actually to his benefit; it gives me more experience to play with leading up to the next gym and rival fight.

Korrina time. I slap Protect on Chimchar in place of Shadow Claw to avoid the opening Fake Out from Mienfoo and go in with him as the lead. The Mienfoo actually uses Power-Up Punch, but that's fine, it's still avoided and it still goes down to one Acrobatics. I get a bit fancy against Machoke and use Yawn/Protect to put it to sleep, taking a strong but survivable Rock Tomb in the process. Two Acrobatics take it down. Hawlucha then takes out both Chimchar and Grookey (I was going for Leech Seed). Hawlucha sets up a Hone Claws its first turn, and it takes three Acrobatics from Urshifu to take it down (and the third one crit for a one-shot). Works for me!

Chimchar, 32, Acrobatics/Yawn/Flame Burst/Protect
Urshifu, 32, Acrobatics/Play Nice/Scald/Shadow Claw
Grookey, 32, Acrobatics/Seed Bomb/Leech Seed/Shadow Claw

 

[Hugin]

Word of advice: Always run from the horde of wilds. If you have a spread move on your lead, sure, one-shot all 5 of them. But otherwise the XP is too low, PP vs XP investment is too high, and they LOVE to spam status moves that make the fight take even longer(Sand Attack my beloathed). The optimal fight, if you never miss, always one-shot, outspeed, and nothing else goes wrong? Takes 5 turns, with 15 moves used total. NOT worth it.

 

[khlaylav]

Update 5: Burn Baby Burn

I start off my next session by using Mega Evolution for the first and only time in this playthrough, defeating Korrina's Mega Lucario through the standard procedure: Mega, Power Up Punch twice. I also pick up Surf but decline to teach it to Urshifu; I like the single-target nature of Scald and its burn chance over the higher power of Surf for now. I also bring Froakie out of the box to use Cut to pick up the Leftovers. The single crumb of serotonin I have is engaged when I see a sleeping Skiddo and ride the Skiddo to avoid the trainers, as my levels are getting a bit iffy. Unfortunately, I pick up the entirely worthless Trick Room at the TM quiz in Courmaline; hopefully the next day I can pick up Acrobatics.

The world's most extraneous rival battle in front of the Courmaline City gym (seriously, the only difference is levels. We just fought in the last town!) goes fine-ish. Urshifu fights through Confusion to take out Meowstic, but not before it sets up a Light Screen. I then promptly forget about that Light Screen and use Flame Burst on her Quilladin with Chimchar, allowing it to get disturbingly close to taking out my Fire type before I finish it off with Acrobatics. Grookey is able to clean up Absol with Seed Bomb afterwards.

As a Fire type with Acrobatics, Chimchar is appropriately the gym's worst nightmare. He levels up to 34 on the penultimate gym trainer, allowing me to finally use the Fire Stone once he learns Fire Blast over Flame Burst. For reference, Panpour learns Brine at 34; it might outdamage Scald with 2 consecutive shots, but I'd just rather use Scald, and Pansage learns Grass Knot, which I get from this gym anyways.

I get needlessly fancy with Ramos here, but I gotta tell ya: It's fun! I give Chimchar Leftovers and teach Hone Claws over Protect. With the accuracy boost, Fire Blast cleanly one-shots every Pokémon Ramos has, though I get a crit on Gogoat that I'm not sure matters. Even if it hadn't, I've got two other speedy Pokémon with Acrobatics: I think I had this one in the bag.

Annoyingly, I get Confide on the next TM quiz. I'm glad I burned your dang gym to the gym, Courmaline.

Chimchar, level 35, holding Leftovers, Acrobatics/Fire Blast/Yawn/Hone Claws
Grookey, level 32, Acrobatics/Seed Bomb/Leech Seed/Shadow Claw
Urshifu, level 34, Acrobatics/Scald/Play Nice/Shadow Claw

 

[khlaylav]

Update 6: Oh Yeah This Is A Thing/Thunderstruck

(I just really lost motivation for a while there. My b.)

I finally pick up Acrobatics and a few Hyper Potions in preparation for the Team Flare bit at the Kalos Power Plant. I also test something minor but neat; you don't have to beat the Team Flare grunt to get the Power Plant pass, you can just pick it up. I thought for a bit it might be spawned in by the Grunt after beating Houndoom and Golbat, but nope.

For a bit, I decide Urshifu will be the only one to fight at the Power Plant to save experience and make sure the other 2 monkeys don't over level. This lasts approximately until I realize Grookey is level 32, and Grookey's reign of terror lasts until a Golbat demolishes him with Acrobatics. Whoops. I decide against making the trek to the Pokemon Center to heal, mostly because I hate the desert route. Besides, Urshifu can do just fine with Acrobatics, Scald, Rock Tomb and Low Sweep. (It's absorbing the experience because unless I'm forced into it, I'm not using a Water type for Clemont.) Once again, this lasts right up until I get Toxic-d by the Swalot, and I give up and make the annoying trek back to get healed, pick up other healing items, and figure it out.

It's also at this point that I grit my teeth and decide I should make my life easier and go out and catch a Chatot for Fly purposes. Since I'd skipped the trainers on the closest route, I now have to fight the Zangoose/Tauros trainer, which I'd avoided for saving experience purposes. Grookey immediately gets crit on a Slash before taking out the Zangoose in 2 hits. Great job. Thankfully, Grookey 2-shots the Tauros thanks to a crit of his own, and the very first Chator I find survives a Seed Bomb quite well... before taking out Grookey with a Chatter. And then I realize I only have Poke Balls. I plan great, everybody! Yawn helps with that, and my next Poke Ball captures my Fly helper. I then head back to Shalour City and pick up Dig, which thanks to the weirdly wide Monkey Movepool all can learn.

Back to the Power Plant! Grookey has a wonderful time with a Swalot that Encores and Toxics after Liepard had used Torment. At least it doesn't faint, though he's all but useless now. Urshifu steps up to finish off the rest of the base, and I head off to the coolest city in the series (fight me).

I tell Shauna I don't know who stopped Team Flare because I feel like screwing with her. I then see the dramatic relighting of Lumiose City... during the daytime. Way to waste electricity, Clemont!

Grookey gets Dig and Rock Tomb over Shadow Claw and Acrobatics as well as Leftovers. I also slap Dig on Chimchar over Acrobatics. Grookey does excellently here with its varied moveset keeping PP high and even getting some nice healing opportunities with Dig and Leftovers. It is perhaps fitting that he gets to level 37 on the last trainer of the "Which monkey is it?" ... or would have, if Ampharos didn't unexpectedly demolish my team with Power Gem. Oops. Urshifu has to bat cleanup and get to level 38 in the process, overleveling him for the Clemont fight. Granted, I wasn't going to use him anyways, but it's still annoying. I'm eventually able to get Grookey to 37 and Chimchar to 36 for Clemont.

Two Rock Tombs are enough to take out Emolga, and Grookey survives an Aerial Ace to start things off. A Dig brings Magneton down to Sturdy while it uses Electric Terrain and a Mirror Shot misses, allowing Seed Bomb to break Sturdy. Another Dig finishes off Magneton, and Leftovers has healed Grookey up by the time it falls and Electric Terrain expires. A combination of Rock Tomb and 2 Seed Bombs are enough to take out Heliolisk as Thunderbolts are not enough. I got very lucky during that fight-no crits, no paralysis, Mirror Shot missing, Rock Tomb not missing-but hey, Simisage sweep! That's nice.

Grookey, level 38, Rock Tomb/Seed Bomb/Leech Seed/Dig
Chimchar, level 36, Fire Blast/Yawn/Dig/Hone Claws
Urshifu, level 38, Low Sweep/Scald/Dig/Acrobatics

 

[khlaylav]

Update 7: Witchy Woman

The rival battle, like so many of the rival battles in this game, is unspectacular. Two Shadow Claws from Grookey put paid to Meowstic after a Protect, an Acrobatics from Urshifu demolishes Chesnaught for style points, then Low Sweeps take out Absol.

I'm kind enough to tip the old man's crappy story, but I only give $100. My generosity only goes far.

I've been dreading Valerie's gym for a while now because my stats and lack of type effectiveness will be a massive challenge. Sylveon is bulky as all get out, Mr. Mime can hit hard and Mawile is... present. This is immediately vindicated because I come close to wiping to the first trainer's Dedenne. Not the Azumarill (though I acknowledge it did big damage with Double Edge). Dedenne. Have I mentioned I hate everything?

After struggling through the rest of the trainers, I realize I need more levels. I get everyone to 40, hoping it's enough. I've got a general plan going in, and it revolves around Chimchar, who was slightly underleveled heading into the gym. Seriously, they learn seemingly every physical type under the sun but Poison and Steel. "Oh, but they learn Iron Tail!" Yeah, by move tutor, in OMEGA RUBY AND ALPHA SAPPHIRE. And Iron Tail is a godawful move anyways! Rassle frassle grumble grumble

Anyways, gym fight. It is delightfully easy to set up on Mawile with Leftovers to keep me healthy, so that's what I do! A Hone Claws from Chimchar is countered by that great Fairy type move, Crunch, and a Yawn from Chimchar is countered by an Iron Defense. At least that's sort of helpful... or it would be, if I wasn't going for the same strategy I used on Ramos. In the intervening turn before Mawile takes a snooze, I slap on another Hone Claws, and Crunch crits. Which would matter, if not for the fact that a Fire Blast immediately burns it to a crisp. So passes Mawile, perhaps the most useless gym Pokémon ever. Mr. Mime is next out and is immediately dismissed with a +2 Shadow Claw, and only Sylveon remains. A Yawn is countered by a not very effective Dazzling Gleam, and a Shadow Claw does a little under half followed by Sylveon falling asleep. Fire Blast does very little damage, so I switch back to Shadow Claw, and after two Hyper Potions from Valerie, a barrage of Shadow Claws finishes off the latest Eeveelution.

Is abusing sleep, set up and Leftovers an honorable way to win a fight? No. Do I care? Also no. Simisear sweep babyyyyyyyyy

Chimchar, level 40, Shadow Claw/Yawn/Fire Blast/Hone Claws
Grookey, level 40, Protect/Leech Seed/Seed Bomb/Shadow Claw
Urshifu, level 40, Acrobatics/Low Sweep/Scald/Rock Tomb

 

[khlaylav]

Hey, remember this? I do! (Sort of.) Anyways, expect an update relatively soon.

 

[khlaylav]

Update 8: Four days later is "soon," right? Right/The Clarivoyant

Here's the thing about this run, and especially this part. I've never been a super big fan of the run from the sixth gym to the seventh, and at this point, there's not a ton of strategy to the monkeys. The closest thing to strategy is using Hone Claws on Chimchar, or Yawn.

Team Flare at the Power Plant is handled through a combination of strong neutral attacks and STAB moves. The closest I come to having issues is against a Swalot and that's because I was determined to get Grookey the experience. And I got paralyzed immediately by Body Slam. Still, it only took 3 Acrobatics to take it out.

The fight at the end, on the other hand? Deeply annoying. The Manectric targets me. The Pokemon with no particular type effectiveness to its Dark move. WHEN THERE'S A MEOWSTIC RIGHT THERE. It eventually falls, even though I get flinched multiple times.

Frost Cavern? Fairly academic, too. The Houndoom gets bopped by a Scald from Urshifu, and I move on. Closest to an issue I have here is the optional fight against Gabite on the route outside of Laverre, and that's only because I have Chimchar in and he gets bopped by a Dig.

Serena fight? Straightforward as always. Again, not a ton to say here. The same strategies as before work, with the exception of Vaporeon, which gets worn down by Urshifu so I don't have to deal with Aurora Beam.

Chimchar tanks a High Jump Kick from a Medicham in the gym! Wasn't expecting that, well done buddy. He handles a lot of this gym with Shadow Claw or Fire Blast. Once he levels to 48, I switch the Leftovers to Urshifu and let him take over the rest of the gym... including the leader.

See, Olympia's Sigilyph setting up screens makes things tricky. But I've got a plan. One you might recognize. By slapping Hone Claws onto Urshifu, I get to do the same trick I've done before. ... this plan immediately goes awry when Sigilyph tanks a Blizzard easily and gets two Psychics off on my water monkey, allowing Slowking to clean it up easily after getting a decent hit off with Shadow Claw. .Crap. I'm able to get a Yawn off on the King, and after some switching to shake off the Yawns, it falls to a Chimchar Shadow Claw. Meowstic comes out, and after a Protect, everyone's least favorite monkey tanks a Psychic to get a Yawn up (compounding the idiocy, I hadn't healed before the fight so he was at about half health). I let him fall; his job is done. A Leech Seed from Grookey lands, I layer in a Power-Up Punch to boost attack as Meowstic snoozes, and a Seed Bomb gets me an aggressively messy win.

... Yeah, I'm an idiot. I underestimated the game and nearly paid for it. Time for a little bit of strategizing before I move on to the Team Flare finale.

Urshifu, level 47, Shadow Claw/Hone Claws/Scald/Blizzard
Chimchar, level 48, Shadow Claw/Yawn/Protect/Fire Blast
Grookey, level 48, Acrobatics/Leech Seed/Seed Bomb/Power-Up Punch