Summer is the ideal time to play Pokemon as far as I'm concerned. Never mind the fact that I spent two months glued to Sun and Moon just a couple of weeks ago; the gaming instinct wants what it wants, and it wanted some furry action. And so I dug up my still unplayed cartridge of White 2 from my precious collection and started yet another solo run. My initial plan involved an Flareon solo run, since both Eevee and the Fire Stone can be obtained quite early on in White 2; but destiny and my ever- dependable gaming instinct had other plans in store for me. See, I chose Tepig as my starter as a half-joke, naming him "Bacon" to understrike the humorous charge of that move; but as I played the game, I became unexpectedly attached to the piglet. He doesn't look half as bad as rumour has it, and he certainly packs a punch and rocks on the battlefield. When time came to recruit an Eevee and get the Fire Stone, I was so enamoured with the porcine starter that I couldn't bear the though of dropping him; and that's how my Eevee solo run was shelved and became a de facto Tepig solo run.
And my, what a great run it was. The pacing was amazing, brisk and sharp without feeling rushed; and the leveling-up speed was out of this world. I reached Lv. 30 after barely 3 hours of play, folks! Now that's how I love my Pokemon solo runs to be: fast-paced and with lightning-fast leveling-up. Clocking at 14:30 hours, my Tepig solo run was probably one of my shortest Pokemon solo runs ever; but there was still plenty to do during that time. I loved the fact that I got to tackle Unova in a completely different order from the one that was imposed in Black and White; that gave me a totally new and fresh vision of the region and make me feel like I was playing a different game that still felt pleasantly familiar. It was also a great idea to leave some towns out of the mandatory path, to be explored at leisure during postgame; it made the game more compact and the pacing swifter. All in all, I felt like I was cruising a brand-new Unova, glossier and shinier than the original, like a fresh doughnut covered with glaze. (Look at me, trying to sneak in an all-American metaphor to square with the Unova setting. This has totally nothing to do with the fact that I've been introduced to the heavenly Original Glazed Doughnut by Krispy Kreme lately and have been obsessed with it ever since, oh no.)
My lovely little Bacon did a great job in all things fighting, one-shooting his way to the Elite Four and generally treating all other 'Mons like insignificant obstructions. He was Lv. 91 when I finally reached the Champion; and suffice it to say that the whole Elite Four showdown was a mere formality. Bacon managed to one-shot most of his opponents, including the Champion's six 'Mons. Poor girl didn't even get to use a Max Potion or a Full Restore! But hey, my Tepig-turned-Emboar was just too formidable. For the record, my move pool during the second half of the game was Arm Thrust (Fighting), Return (Normal), Bulldoze (Ground) and Flamethrower (Fire); an efficient and varied quartet that allowed me to take care of pretty much all battle situations. I didn't bother taking Nature into account this time around — heck, I didn't even bother checking my Tepig's Nature. Experience has taught me that as far as Starters in older generations are concerned, Nature doesn't matter that much; these guys will always get an overwhelming edge in solo runs regardless of their Nature.
Only one thing rubbed me the wrong way in that otherwise delightful and fulfilling run, and that thing can be summed up in one sentence: my Trainer is a total PUSHOVER. Absolutely everybody in that game is bossing me around: Hugh, Alder, Professor Juniper, Colress, Cheren, and even airhead Bianca. Heck, even my own mum is sending me on the road after a couple of expeditive questions with the words "your course of action has been set" as an goodbye. Wait, set by whom? Don't I have a say in the matter? But that's only the beginning: Hugh, my supposed rival, treats me like a mere tool to serve his own purpose. He doesn't even see me as a genuine rival: sure, he fights me, but to quote his own words, that's only to make sure that I'm 'strong enough to back him up'. Back. Him. Up. Huh, excuse me?! Am I not supposed to be the bloody hero here? Is that game not supposed to be about me and my epic quest to Catch 'Em All and become the strongest Trainer that ever lived?
And the infamy doesn't stop here, oh nooo. Professor Juniper doesn't even
have the decency to invite me to her lab and treat me to pats on the back and
words of encouragement like basically every other Pokemon professor
since the dawn of the series; instead, she sends her assistant Bianca to boss
me around. Erm, could you actually care less about my endeavours? I met
Professor Juniper once throughout the whole game, only to have her throw
a few vague words of praise at my face and then run away like she couldn't bear
the thought of being seen with me. Then Hugh bossed me around some more, always
sending me on the front line while he stayed safely on the rear, only to pop up
as I was about to polish off a dungeon and claim all the glory for himself. Oh,
and don't even think of tackling the Elite Four before Hugh allows you to do
so: never mind the fact that you have reaped all eight Badges, you have to help
him reach his goal first. Because, you know, he's apparently the
bloody Hero here, not you. Cherry on the humiliation cake, people routinely
compare you to 'that great Trainer from two years ago', who is none other that
the Black/White Trainer. A Trainer who got the privilege to be
the Hero of their own game, unlike you. Looks like the '2' in the game's title
refers to my Trainer's station in life just as much as to the fact that this
game is a sequel, indeed! Seriously, I felt more like a bellboy than like a Pokemon
Trainer in White 2, and I didn't like it one bit. That game didn't
revolve around my heroic personal quest like all other Pokemon entries;
it revolved entirely around the stories and endeavours of NPCs, with me at
their beck and call, slaving away to serve their objectives. Sheesh, I guess I
should be glad this bunch of bullies even allowed me to tackle the Gyms and the
Elite Four at all instead of keeping me on a leash or something.
Playing second fiddle aside, this was a jolly good solo run that helped me
reassess the fifth generation as a whole and its Starters in particular. I
dismissed them as first glance; but as time goes on, I find them more and more
interesting. I was already quite fond of Oshawott, and Tepig has become a new
favourite over the course of that solo run; and I have to admit that I'm now
genuinely interested in tackling a Snivy solo run. Oh, and my initially planned
Eevee solo run is not forsaken, obviously. I still crave some Pokemon action
after this delectable Tepig solo run and I have yet to play Black 2, so
expect at least one more run report very soon. Thanks for reading, and be my
guest anytime!
Maybe that's
just me, but the fifth generation (both Black/White and Black 2/White 2)
quickly rose to the top of my favorite Pokémon generations. A shame I didn't
much any of the starters in them, otherwise I'd give another shot at soloing or
maybe running a Nuzlocke challenge.
>Arm Thrust (Fighting), Return (Normal), Bulldoze (Ground) and Flamethrower
(Fire)
Hot diggity damn. That's some great movepool you got there. Although, couldn't
you fit some Grass/Electric move instead of Return, for some Water coverage?
Not that it matters when you're, literally, bulldozing Pokémons 30 or something
levels lower than you.
>"I didn't bother taking Nature into account this time around"
And you shouldn't. Unless you're focusing on the online meta, the Nature of the
pokémon only gives a minimal effect, negligible in 90% of the cases. The
Ability, on the other hand, is really important for some Pokémon, in some cases
it's a difference between making the Pokémon OP or useless. Like those with Technician or
Super Luck.
The more I play
the fifth generation, the more I like it. I have to admit that I'm getting
seriously fond of the starters as well: I love the fact that their designs are
so definite, with a French, Chinese and Japanese influence for Serperior,
Emboar and Samurott respectively. Heck, I think Snivy is actually my favourite
Grass starter when it comes to looks.
Return was doing a great deal of damage from very early on, so I stuck with it.
And to be honest, I'm not sure I could have replaced it even if I had wanted
to, because TMs are so damn hard to find in games from that generation.
I'm a bigger
fan of Samurott, personally, despite hating both the base and first evolution's
designs. In the opposite side, I like Snivy's (or Smugleaf for those who
remember the original pre-showcase rumors) base form, but I don't like the
"evolutions" it got. I mean, you have a Pokémon with arms and then it
"evolves" into an armless Pokémon? That doesn't make sense.
Yeah, forget I said anything about Return. I was thinking in a more standard
fashion, but soloing in Pokémon games it's all about raw damage and elemental
advantage takes the back sit. Well, technically, you COULD probably fit in some
Electric move (Thunder Punch?) since it covers your Bacon's main weakness and
has a chance of paralyzing the target, but does anything survive an attack
anyway?
I'm quite fond
of the final forms of all the 5th generation starters, to be honest. As far as
anthropomorphic 'Mons go, Emboar is ten times better than goofy Incineroar or
shabby Delphox, and I already expressed my love for Samurott's design in my
post about Pokemon White. ^^ As for Serperior, like I said before, he's my
favourite Grass starter of all the Grass starters created since the dawn of the
series. Too bad he sucks big time on the battlefield... But more on that very
soon, he he. ^^
"But does anything survive an attack anyway": Indeed. I can safely
claim that Tepig is the best of the three starters for a solo run of the 5th
generation games. He hits harder than Samurott, has a wider move pool and great
stats. My run with him a really a blast, and I can't recommend him renough for
solo endeavours. ^^
>Emboar is
ten times better than goofy Incineroar or shabby Delphox
Oh, definitely. The 6th and 7th starters look terrible in my book. Maybe I give
a pass on the Froakie's line though, since I do like Frogadier but Greninja is
kinda meh.
>Grass starters created since the dawn of the series. Too bad he sucks big
time on the battlefield...
With the exception of the Treecko line, all Grass starters are Defense/Special
Defense focused and are meant to act as a wall. Treecko is the sole, radical
exception, with a very high focus on Attack and Speed and with several
offensive options instead of defensive/healing ones.
Oh, by the way, may I point out a small typo I found? In your second paragraph
you have "with (speed-lighting) leveling-up", shouldn't it be
"with (lightning-speed) leveling-up"?
Holy moly,
you're right! That's definitely a typo, and a big fat one at that. Thanks for
pointing this out, I corrected it! ^^
I know Grass starters are supposed to be all about Defense and Sp. Defense; but
to be honest, I don't think they perform honorably at all in that department.
Even with the benefit of over-levelling, they usually take much more damage
than I would expect from defense-focused 'Mons, and their pitifully low HP
makes matters worse. Also, they seem to have very limited move pools by default,
which is just unfair given that they're no real compensation for said limited
move pools. The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that Grass
starters act like a "hard mode" of sort in Pokemon games.
The value of a
defensive Pokémon, be it Grass type or not, is only appreciated in the online
meta. Take Venusaur for instance. It's more or less like Serperior in terms of
stats but just having an extra Poison typing makes it one of the best walls in
the online meta yet Venusar is kinda meh in the normal single player game. The
same thing can be said of Weezing for instance. It's on one of the top
defensive walls and always used when applying stalling strategies but outside
of the online it's a very underwhelming Pokémon.
One exception I can think of is Skarmory. Again, it's one of the best defensive
Pokémons around but it's also a very viable Pokémon if you only want to play
the regular game. The move pool and typing really helps out in this case,
though.
Wait... The
"online meta"? What is that? I googled it and couldn't find any
satisfying data. Would you mind explaining it for me? :)
Sheesh, Skarmory can be a complete pain in the behind. I remember being
confronted to him repeatedly in a recent solo run and struggling like crazy to
get rid of him. Now THAT's what I call a good Defensive 'Mon.
Online meta is
the usual way to say "Pokémon online metagame", basically the highest
of the high in terms of online competitive scene. It's more or less a set of
different rules (like forbidden to use Pokémon) and Pokémon with specific sets
and stuff like that. Sorry for not being clearer, I wrongly assumed you knew
what it meant. :p
In your typical playthrough, Skarmorys and Flygons are gigantic pains in the
ass in general, unless you know their specific weaknesses, something you don't
know the first time you play.
I don't know if
it's just me but I've had excellent luck using grass types, even underleveled.
Sure, they still take more damage than what you'd like, BUT, they also have
access to the some of the best healing moves in the game. Leech seed is
awesome, and the "drain" moves restore your health and damage the
enemy. And they do this without having awful side effects like falling asleep
(amnesia) or removing your type (Roost), or having a pathetic PP amount. Look
at all the other heal moves, if they're not double sided like amnesia they have
5 PP at most. Recover, milk drink, slack off and soft-boiled are good
exceptions, but they're restricted to a small pool of pokemon and don't have
the side effect of damaging the enemy. Whereas most grass types get giga drain
and leech seed.
Seriously, try playing without using any items at all and see how much of a
lifeboat those grass moves will become. Couple that with being able to status
effect the enemy to hell and back so they have less opportunities to damage
you, and I find the lack of HP to be a fair trade-off. Aromatherapy should
really be more a stapple to grass pokemon too, it's a miracle for a no item
runs but it's sadly limited to a few pokemon (in case you don't know,
Aromatherapy heals every status effect of every pokemon in your team).
Serperior has it BTW.
So, despite the fact that grass types are sadly weak to a lot of types, they'll
still reliable and are easy to get. Just don't put it against something it's
outright weak to and it'll surprise you a lot of the times. They are the
"hard mode" of pokemon no doubt, since they require a lot more
patience and startegy, but they are by no means a bad type.
That and I've also had awful luck in getting other typically defensive types
like ground and steel in my nuzlockes. I can't even get a darn geodude! So you
know, you learn to love what you have.
Sieg: Gen 5 is also one of my favourites. As a bug trainer, I adored the
variety of bug types that were added in this generation and a lot of them are
very viable pokemon as well. Also, Amoonguss is a fairly good replacement for
Venusaur. Its stats aren't nearly as good, but it makes up for it by actually
being a pokemon you can catch. And even in a nuzlocke it's easy to get, since
you can use a repel and catch one of the Foongus masquerading as a pokeball
instead of getting yet another Tranquill. Good stuff.
Also, shout out to Garbodor who is a really unfairly hated Pokemon just because
of his appearance, which is unfair in a world where Muk and Electrode have
existed since gen 1. He's another really good defensive pokemon with excellent
poison moves that grass types can only dream of. I had the good fortune of
catching one carrying black sludge during my nuzlocke, and it single handedly
saved me against Ghetsy. His Hydreigon would have ended my run otherwise; a no
items in battle + level limit nuzlocke can be brutal.
Oops, two
seconds after posting that I realized I confused Amnesia with Rest. Rest is the
move that heals you but makes the user fall asleep, Amnesia is just a typical
stat boosting move.
I made the confusion because I associate both moves with Slowpoke, who can use
both. This leads me to mixing them up sometimes. Not shocking conserding how
many moves the game has.
Exactly what
Kumiko said about Grass types. They're not bad per se, they just need a little
more attention and strategy other than bumrushing your way through, unless
you're using a clear offensive Grass type like Treecko. Basically, Grass types
are far from being a decent choice when it comes to soling Pokémon. I remember
failing to complete the Elite 4 on Pokémon Crystal with Chikorita while with
Cyndaquil and Totodile it wasn't much of a problem.
And I also agree with you on the bug types, Kumiko. I got myself a Venipede at
the beginning of Black and it lasted me until the post-game. Surpassed my
expectations, for sure.
>(in case you don't know, Aromatherapy heals every status effect of every
pokemon in your team)
What the hell? You serious? I assumed it worked only on the Pokémon you have
battling, which means it would only be more useful in a double battle for
instance. Thanks for this heads-up!
Eh, I'm probably one of the few who liked the more dubious designs in Gen 5.
For instance, I loved Klink and its evolution line despite just being cute
floating gears. But then again, as a Steel type lover, I guess that a rather
impartial opinion, right? :p But yeah, the hate on Garbodor is absurd.
Sieg: Nope, I
thought it that worked that way too, but I was pleasantly surprised. My whole
party in Ruby was suffering from burns and were about to die if they got one
random encounter; this was a no items run. I had the move on my Roselia to
counter paralyse if I ever needed it, so I used aromatherapy on a whim and bam,
whole party was healed and my playthrough was saved.
Heal bell does the same thing BTW, but it's restricted to even more pokemon
than aromatherapy is. Only Chimecho, Skitty, Milktank and Celebi can learn it
by level up. Yeah, putting it on Celebi sure helps making the move more visible
GF...still, it makes Milktank into even more of a monster coupled with milk
drink, and coupled with wish it can make Delcatty into an appealing pokemon for
a no item run. Especially now that it's a normal/fairy type.
Bug types are awesome. They just get a really bad rep because the Bug types we
mostly think of are the early games one that evolve really early and get bad
stats as a result. We all reach a point where Butterfree just falls behind the
rest of the team. And that's like judging all bird types by Farfetch'd stats.
But even back in gen 1 there were still awesome pokemon like Scyther and
Pinsir. Personally, I've always loved Venomoth myself, it was him who got me
started with using status effects. Venipede is one of my favourite bug types
introduced in gen 5, tied with Galvantula and Volcarona.
People were so unfair to gen 5! I for one appreaciated that the original Black
and White were games that gave us a completely new dex, instead of having the
same old staples like tentacool and geodude. But I guess people just get
attached to certain pokemon and really hate not being able to get it in one
single game. Oh well, at least Pokepark 2 and Gates to infinity were able to
get away with it.
And I don't think any of its designs were bad, especially if we compare them to
gen 1. How is Klinklang worse than Magneton again? How is Garbodor worse than
Muk? And what's wrong with the Vanillite line? It's cute, who cares if it's
based on ice cream? And it's not the worst designed ice pokemon by far. That
tittle goes to gen 1's Seal, who literally is just an albino seal. The only
pokemon I couldn't stand were the elemental monkeys, but that's just because I
really have a bias against monkeys and I think pokemon has enough of them
already. Plus, given that gen 5 pokemon were meant to fufill the same roles as
the original 150 pokemon, one must admit that the monkeys were a terrible
replacement for Eevee.
As usual, it all boils down to what you want to achieve in a given run. As far as my way of playing Pokemon games go, i.e. one-shooting my way to the Elite 4 through the use of brute force generated by overleveling, the average Grass starter doesn't do the job. On the other hand, I can totally believe that they are perform really well in other settings; heck, nobody would ever choose them if they were good-for-nothing.
Kumiko: Both
the Bug types and Gen 5 in general are severely underappreciated, yeah. Funnily
because, if you played the original Red/Blue Kumiko, Butterfree and its
Confusion move were very strong during the whole game. Not because the
mechanics allowed them but because Psychic moves and Confusion and the confuse
status were unusually strong given the bug-ridden engine at the time.
>How is Klinklang worse than Magneton again? How is Garbodor worse than Muk?
And what's wrong with the Vanillite line?
Eh, I actually enjoy those daily-objects designs (Vanillite not so much, but
its nowhere as bad as people make them out to be). My only gripe with the whole
Pokémon design debacle is the very humanoid-like Pokémon. For the life of me, I
can't like the Machop line or Throh and Sawk, for instance. But in the end, all
generations have some really bad designs and some great designs. It's just a
matter of taste and preferences.
Isleif: Exactly. It's not a matter of the Grass types in particular. If you
want to do a solo run, it's simply better to choose a fast and strong Pokémon
over a slow but defensive-oriented one.
However, if you ever solo Pokémon BW/BW2 with Roggenrola, I have to admit you
have some top-quality gaming caliber! :p
"However, if you ever solo Pokémon BW/BW2 with Roggenrola, I have to admit you have some top-quality gaming caliber!": Now don't rile me up, Sieg... I might well take up the gauntlet! :p It's not like I need but the slightest excuse to tackle new Pokemon solo runs, oh no... ^^
Sieg: Psychic
types and psychic moves were horrible in gen 1. Even with the nerfing the
typing got in gen 2, I still don't think that that issue with the games was
ever truly fixed until they did the Special stat split in gen 4. This is the
major reason it's so hard for me to even return to FireRed and LeafGreen, I
play Romhacks that add those features instead. I can go back to the days of
single use TMs just fine, but I can't live without my precious special split
due to the trauma of gen 1.
I am a bit more forgiving with human-like pokemon such as Gardevoir and
Lucario, but I have a pet peeve with pokemon wearing clothes. So Throh and Sawk
definitly pushed my buttons, but you know. Gen 1 had Jynx, Hitmonchan and
Machoke with its horrible speedo and belt, so I wasn't shocked about it. Makes
me wonder what those pokemon look like underneath...ugh. And I tend to forgive
gen 5 on that since they were trying to give these 150 new pokemon the same
feel as the 150 original, so that sin is gen 1's fault more than anything. It's
the same reason I wouldn't complain about Klinklang anf Foongus even if I hated
them, those designs are not truly gen 5's fault.
At least we didn't get a pokemon that copied Mr Mime's shtick, thank goodness.
People can unfairly complain about Amoonguss being a stupid pokemon all they
want as long as they don't remind GF that Mr Mime exists. There's no real Jynx
or Lickitung copies as well, and nothing as stupidly lazy as Dugtrio either, so
I can forgive GF for repeating the sins they did with Voltorb and Muk (even
though I actually like Muk). Considering Seal's existence, I even forgive
Cryogonal.
Isleif: Good luck with that, but I have a feeling it will end up like the Snivy
run :p
Well, you never
know...^^ It all boils down to Stats, really. Give me an Attack stat high
enough to one-shoot opponents, combined with high Speed and/or high Defense to
avoid taking too much damage and I can pretty much work my way around any
obstacle. And my Lycanroc solo run has proved that Rock 'Mons can be great solo
run material, so I'm definitely inclined to give Roggenrola a chance. Not to
mention that I can never resist a good challenge. :p
I have to admit that I'm quite fond of Cryogonal's design. In fact, I have a
soft spot for all Ice 'Mons, and I would have tackled a solo run with an Ice
'Mon a long time ago if not for the fact that these beasts are so rare and have
a way of appearing extremely late in most entries.
Kumiko: The
Special/Physical split was single handedly the best thing to ever happen in the
Pokémon franchise in terms of gameplay. It finally made some Pokémon actually
useful or being useful like they were intended to (like Absol and its absurdly
high Attack when Dark moves were classified as Special pre-Ge IV).
And Cryogonal's design is great. I'd easily put Seal/Dewgong, Grimer/Muk and
several others worse than it. But alas, I already said that I'm a big fan of
daily objects like Magnemite, Klink or Klefki so my opinion is biased as hell.
Isleif: Oh, god, Isleif, don't do it. I said Roggenrola because it may be the
worse exercise in frustration I can imagine (second only to a Magikarp run).
First, it's a Rock type so it has several weaknesses and a limited movepool;
second, it only evolves into his third rank through trading; lastly, Roggenrola
is very very slow so you'll always be getting hit first, although it packs some
really high Attack stat.
If anything, try making a solo run with your favorite starter WITHOUT evolving
it. What can be cuter than become champion with a cute little burning pig or a
small blue otter? Give it some thought.
I'm afraid it's
too late, Sieg... You might have created a monster. :P
A non-evolution starter run is a neat idea, although I would be more inclined
to tackle a solo run with a 'Mon that doesn't evolve in the first place. I
mean, spamming the B-button to cancel the evolution process every time your
'Mon gains a level is a royal pain in the butt, especially in solo runs where
'Mons level up every 15 minutes.
Well, Isleif, I
hope you're happy! I've finally read so many of your solo run posts that I
decided to do one of my own.
More specifically, hearing all about these Black/White runs has made me want to
go back and play the mainline games I never played. Well, maybe that's a pretty
big commitment (and right after my backlog post nonetheless) especially
considering I don't own any of them.
So I went on eBay and got a killer deal. Great condition DSi, and a CIB copy of
Pokemon Pearl. Looking to add Black and Black 2 to the collection after
completing Pearl. Paid $38 with shipping for both the DSi and the game! Awesome
price, looks like I sniped it before anyone else saw it.
For now though, it should be getting here Friday and I can't wait to check out
Pearl. There has always been a huge gap in the mainline games I _did_ play, as
I missed everything between R/Y/B and X/Y, so I'm going to try to fix that!
Anyway, you have inspired me, now I just need to figure out who to solo with! I
figure I can steamroll through all the games I missed, as these games aren't
too long if you rush through them. Just needing an old-school Pokemon fix since
finishing SuMo many months ago...
Well, I'm glad
I managed to inspire you! ^^ I sure hope you'll lap up Pokemon solo runs just
as much as me. It's such a different way to play these games that it will
certainly feel like a completely new and fresh experience, especially after
playing party runs for years. (As for me, I played only a measle three party
runs of Pokemon entries before switching to solo runs forever. They are such a
delight that I cannot think of going back to the classic party setting.)
I cannot recommend Water starter Piplup enough for a solo run of Pearl. He has
great stats, a good array of resistances and a varied move pool, and you
shouldn't have any problem one-shooting your way to the Elite 4 with him. But
as far as solo runs are concerned, the heart must decide! You'd better be
really fond of the 'Mon you pick up, because you'll be staring at him during
the whole game. :p
Please keep me posted about this! I'm really curious to know how this Pearl
solo run will turn out for you. ^^
No comments:
Post a Comment