Pokemon X: The female Meowstic solo run

 

 

Yet another Pokemon solo run for your delight, Poke aficionados! Jeez, the Pokemon fever that struck me of late has been of unseen intensity—not that it bothers me, mind you: I actually lap up these irrepressible gaming frenzies. That being said, this particular run shouldn't have existed at all. I was initially planning to tackle a solo run of Omega Ruby and pondering my choice of 'Mon for said run when I happened to watch a video about gender dismorphism in Pokemons. (Jeez, those weird topics on Youtube.) The first 'Mon introduced in this video was Meowstic, and... I'm sure you can easily guess what happened next. Heck, I had an instant crush on that 'Mon—that's what happened. I immediately started gathering data about these lovely cats; and upon learning that the pair roamed the Kalos grasses only, I ditched my planned run of Omega Ruby on the spot and dug up my cartridge of Pokemon X instead. And the rest, dear fellow gamers, is history—history that is now going to unfold under your very eyes.

The first step was obviously to get my hands on an Espurr, the pre-evolution form of Meowstic. These adorable kittens can solely be found on Route 6, which involved cruising around with one of the starters until I reached the desired spot. I chose Fennekin and was surprised to get yet again a female Fennekin, just like during my first run of X. Given the low probability of getting a female version of that starter, I'm wondering if my cartridge is bugged or if I'm just extremely lucky. And talking about gender, I had to decide before capturing one of these adorable Espurr kittens if I wanted to cruise Kalos with a male or a female Meowstic. I was initially fonder of the male's colour palette and overall design, but his defensive and supportive move pool made him considerably more unfit for a solo run than his female counterpart, who boasted a more offensive move pool. My decision was thus made, and with a female Meowstic would I climb all the way to the Elite Four.

 

 

The (deeply satisfying) playthrough that ensued could totally have been dubbed the "I take back everything I ever thought about Psychic Pokemons" run. See, since I started indulging in Pokemon solo runs, I always operated under the assumption that Psychic 'Mons were no solo run material. I envisioned them as crappy fighters centering mostly on supportive and defensive abilities and able to dish out little damage beyond easily curable status effects. Oh boy, how utterly wrong I was. But I finally saw the light thanks to my lovely and highly talented Meowstic, and I now laugh at my own former misconceptions while rubbing my hands and licking my chops at the though of the new soloing avenues that opened to me now that I saw the errors of my ways.

To put it simply, the female version of Meowstic is an awesome fighter. That aloof cat with Chanel-ish elegance treated me to one of the most thrilling and enjoyable Pokemon solo run I've ever had, period. Not only does she have pretty decent stats—especially when it comes to Sp.Attack and Sp.Defense—but her move pool is absolutely staggering. Never before have I cruised with a 'Mon that can learn so many different types of special moves: on top of her trademark Psychic moves—which are beautifully destructive, en passant—my Meowstic could learn some Ghost moves, Bug moves, Electric moves and Grass moves as well as some Dark and Normal moves. Talk about a wide array of abilities! And since her Sp.Attack is quite high, lady Meowstic hits like a beast despite her delicate and gracious looks. Never judge a book by its cover indeed, and never assess a 'Mon's solo run abilities just by checking its type. The stats and move pool are what matters; and when it comes to the latter, the more moves, the merrier the solo run. By making my Meowstic learn moves belonging to four different types, I ensured that I would never struggle against any 'Mon—on top of keeping my run highly entertaining.

 

 

Technical considerations aside, cruising Kalos again was immensely pleasant. I enjoyed it even more than the first time around, because I knew what to expect and was not bothered anymore by things that annoyed me during my first X run—such as the bunch of kids following me, the mass of coffee houses and hotels and the tipping. Heck, even Lumiose became enjoyable once I figured out safe ways to navigate it! I also managed to wrap my head around the Pokemon-Amie feature and to use it to great effect, effectively making my Meowstic and I become "best friends forever"—to quote the game's own words. On top of being enjoyable, the Pokemon-Amie petting-heavy and treat-laden brand of pampering produced stellar performances in battles, with my Meowstic routinely landing critical hits and avoiding attacks and status effects. Cherry on the cake—indeed—the Pokepuffs looked like choux à la crème, a fluffy and delicious French pastry. Miam! Apart from that, it was business as usual: I cruised around, took down every single Trainer and Gym Leader standing in my way, beat the Elite Four, shed a tear when AZ was reunited with his beloved 'Mon Floette, and enjoyed the whole trip immensely.

In a nutshell, my Meowstic solo run of Pokemon X gloriously exceeded all my expectations. I had reservations regarding the possibility of tackling a solo run with a Psychic 'Mon, expecially one encountered after the first Gym rather than immediately at the start of the adventure; but my awesome lady Meowstic removed all these doubts with mighty punches of her cute little paws and taught me in the most glorious fashion that Psychic 'Mons can very much be solo run material. This was an wonderful solo run, and I look forward to tackling more solo runs with niche 'Mons—starting maybe with a male Meowstic, if only for the challenge of attempting a solo run with a mainly defensive 'Mon. Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!