Hello guys ! I've tried many challenges in most Pokemon games because it makes the games way harder and that's a lot of fun to think outside of the box. Some challenges were "classical" like completing the adventure log in Mystery Dungeon Red, it took lots of times between recruiting everything (Quick save manip still helps a lot in that regard), finding Munchlax and making everything leader (this really takes forever but at least seeing every design makes up for it) and I managed to do it after around 150 hours. No experience challenge was also cool to test in gen 1-4 and while difficult, it's always great to use overlook things like Swords Dance Baton Pass Mawile in ADV. No damage challenge is also something I experimented but it's not as fun because it's more about grinding a lot and it requires less strategy and more OHKOing while outspeeding everything.
My favourite challenge remains beating the game without healing. This was done in this forum on both Yellow and Sapphire and it was fun to both read and try it. These generations are harder because they are few free heal, with just a forced heal after the very first battle. I still wanted to try this in another generation, in this case GSC because it's, in my opinion the best "old" generation. While the story isn't as good as others, Johto region is great, it has the best sprites (especially in Gold and Crystal), best themes and arguably best post-game (outside of maybe Emerald). Kanto will be especially fun in this challenge because in spite of having the worst gym leaders, Blue and Red are going to be difficult. There are several forced heal so I'm going to add a few new rules, detailed later to make this harder.
For this challenge, I'll play on Pokemon Crystal because animations on Pokemon are cooler and seeing the location when entering it is great. There isn't any relevant difference between Gold, SIlver and Crystal for this type of challenge anyway.
Here are the rules regarding health, Pokemart and PPs :
And few rules I added to make up for the presence of several forced heal :
Without further ado, let's get started!
New Bark Town
The first things to do is choosing the time and day. It's not that important but I decided that Sunday morning would be great because it's the day to obtain the Return TM, one of the best one. With that done, there is the important choice of the starter let's see the options here :
Named it A because it's the shortest name and it's A-tier in the viability ranking thread lol. DVs ranges are the follow :
Road to Falkner
In this game, you get a free heal after talking to Mr. Pokemon and one after beating Silver thus I tried to grind. I looked at the options available to me and most Pokemon looks similar for the grinding. Hoppip is the safest option because it has no attacking moves but it only has a 5% encounter rate so it's better to not rely on just encountering as it's too time consuming. While at level 5, I mostly tried to find level 2 Pokemon to get the 2HKO as opposed to the 3HKO because Totodile is going to be overwhelmed otherwise. I first fought a level 2 Rattata (it was perfect as it used Tail Whip) and a level 4 Caterpie which was a 3HKO. I then got lucky and encountered a Hoppip and afterwards a level 3 Caterpie, getting me to level 7. I then faced many others Caterpie and Weedle while avoiding Pidgey because it only has Tackle whereas the bugs are a 50/50 between String Shot and Tackle/Poison Sting. Once out of Scratch's PPs, Rage was usable as it 3HKOes without getting hit and 2HKOes if getting hit. Totodile was quickly earning experience and from level 8 onwards, it was easier as Totodile outspeeds even after a String Shot Caterpie and Weedle. Then, when I had no attacking move at level 10, nearing level 11, I got the first free heal. I continued the grind after the free heal and it was easier as starting from level 12, Totodile could OHKO level 3 Pokemon and at level 13 it could OHKO level 4 Pokemon. During the training, I tried to use every PP but 2 for Scratch in the optic of the rival fight and got to level 15. Ironically, I encountered 4 Hoppip (including 2 in a row) while having only Water Gun PP left and just fled as Water Gun doesn't kill. Then, Totodile easily defeated Chikorita with 2 Scratch as it used Growl. Things were great from this point as I had a level 15 Totodile before fighting the second trainer fully healed. I didn't mind losing health as the next healing point isn't too far and Totodile, soon Croconaw is easily going to sweep until Azalea Town and I tried to fight every trainer from Route 30.
Route 30 and 31 weren't interesting honestly and either Rage on level 2 Pokemon or Scratch for hgiher level Pokemon were more than enough to kill everything. I was unsure if Bellsprout's tower was worth trying so I saved before the gym to see how Totodile would fare. The Spearow is actually 2HKOed but doesn't do too much damages so I decided to see the second trainer where it was still a 2HKO. Hence, the Bellsprout's tower was the best choice as after the training, Totodile might be able to OHKO Pokemons from the gym. Bellsprout aren't OHKOed by Rage even at level 3 so Scratch was used on them. Level 7 Bellsprout are 2HKOed by Scratch but I got lucky and all of them used Growth while the latter got crited by Scratch. Only Hoothoot got to hit Totodile and it barely did damages. What was a great feeling is that Totodile evolved rightafter fighting the last sage, not only it is a great timing but it means the gym will be far easier. Indeed, the second trainer's Pidgey were OHKOed by Scratch. Falkner was easy as usual, Pidgey got OHKOed by Scratch and Water Gun+Rage was enough for Pidgeotto. Croconaw had 46 HP reminaing and while having only 4 Scratch's PP sucks, it won't be needed too much later on.
Road to Bugsy
Route 32 wasn't too much of an issue and I fought every trainer but the fishers. Water-types aren't OHKOed, require Scratch and the Magikarp one consumes too much PP and is bad experience wise. I used Rage to 2HKO everything (Wooper used Water Gun so that helped), except for Nidoran female where I used Water Gun and the move lost all its PPs as it was barely needed here anyway. From Bird Keeper Peter onward, Water Gun was used and it OHKOed everything except for Machop from Hiker Anthony. I picked the Swift TM which might be useful later on while avoiding Pokemaniac Harry until level 21 where I deleted Leer for Bite and could OHKO Slowpoke. Slowpoke Well was trivial, everything was OHKOed by Water Gun and the Scratch PPs I preserved. I left the location to grind in the Union Cave, only leaving 2 PPs for the Rocket Grunt. Croconaw got to level 23 and 2HKOed Koffing from the last Rocket Grunt with Water Gun.
Azalea gym is nothing complicated. Rage was enough to 2HKO Spinarak and Ledyba, while taking only 1 damage from Tackle from the latter and the former used String Shot. Then, I went to the right as Bug Catcher Al was better to fight because unlike Paras, Caterpie and Weedle are OHKOed by Scratch. Bug Catcher Benny means losing health with is Beedrill thus it was better to avoid it and to directly fight Bugsy. It wasn't a problem at all here as 4 Rage was enough for Metapod as it went for Harden and 2 Tackle, 1 hit was enough for Kakuna and Scyther was a speed tie. First turn, it missed Fury Cutter while taking half and Croconaw outsped and ko it with Rage second turn. This was quite an easy win and afterwards, Croconaw has 71/76 HP remaining and in spite of having a far next health point, things are looking great for now.
That's all for now ! Next time, we'll fight the rival and Whitney and get another Pokemon. It will spear the opponents and eventually be fearsome !
My favourite challenge remains beating the game without healing. This was done in this forum on both Yellow and Sapphire and it was fun to both read and try it. These generations are harder because they are few free heal, with just a forced heal after the very first battle. I still wanted to try this in another generation, in this case GSC because it's, in my opinion the best "old" generation. While the story isn't as good as others, Johto region is great, it has the best sprites (especially in Gold and Crystal), best themes and arguably best post-game (outside of maybe Emerald). Kanto will be especially fun in this challenge because in spite of having the worst gym leaders, Blue and Red are going to be difficult. There are several forced heal so I'm going to add a few new rules, detailed later to make this harder.
For this challenge, I'll play on Pokemon Crystal because animations on Pokemon are cooler and seeing the location when entering it is great. There isn't any relevant difference between Gold, SIlver and Crystal for this type of challenge anyway.
Here are the rules regarding health, Pokemart and PPs :
- No healing at Pokecenter or using a PC.
- No buying at Pokemarts (unlike RBY it's not neccessary to buy something there to complete the game).
- No whiting out as it would defy the principle of not healing.
- No healing items like Berry or Potion.
- Gaining PPs is forbidden thus it's not possible to use Ether or Elixir.
- No re-teaching as it would be too easy to forget a move and re-learn it afterwards.
And few rules I added to make up for the presence of several forced heal :
- Using items is forbidden outside of TMs and HMs. This means no Pokeball nor in-battle items like X-Speed. Held items are still allowed as long as they don't heal.
- Buying something in Game Corner isn't allowed as it's really similar to Pokemon Shop.
- It's allowed to save and reset as it changes nothing and makes the challenge quicker
- Likewise, resetting clock is allowed because waiting several days is pointless.
Without further ado, let's get started!
New Bark Town
The first things to do is choosing the time and day. It's not that important but I decided that Sunday morning would be great because it's the day to obtain the Return TM, one of the best one. With that done, there is the important choice of the starter let's see the options here :
- Chikorita is in spite of its good design well-known for being among the worst starters. The game despises it as it has type disadvantage against Falkner (that's winnable but losing too much health isn't recommended in this kind of challenge), Busy, Morty, Jasmine outside Steelix, Pryce and Clair. Whitney, probably the hardest gym leader of the region is hard to beat with Chikorita too and rival is troublesome too. I don't know why the game hates Chikorita so much but I won't pick it for this challenge.
- Cyndaquil is way better than Chikorita because except for Whitney which is roughly the same, it fares way better against other gym leaders as well as Rival and has a really strong Elite 4 performance. The problem is that Cyndaquil has a below-average mid-game before getting Flame Wheel and struggles too much in key battles like against Sandra for instance, thus I won't choose it.
- Totodile is without a doubt the best starter in this generation. Except for Rival's starter, it has no outrigh bad matchup and can quickly walk through the game assuming a high level. Whitney is a way better fight and as is Clair and these are the only stricly hard gyms. Even Kanto looks better because Ferraligatr can easily dispatch Arcanine and Rhydon from Blue who may prove to be difficult.
Named it A because it's the shortest name and it's A-tier in the viability ranking thread lol. DVs ranges are the follow :
Road to Falkner
In this game, you get a free heal after talking to Mr. Pokemon and one after beating Silver thus I tried to grind. I looked at the options available to me and most Pokemon looks similar for the grinding. Hoppip is the safest option because it has no attacking moves but it only has a 5% encounter rate so it's better to not rely on just encountering as it's too time consuming. While at level 5, I mostly tried to find level 2 Pokemon to get the 2HKO as opposed to the 3HKO because Totodile is going to be overwhelmed otherwise. I first fought a level 2 Rattata (it was perfect as it used Tail Whip) and a level 4 Caterpie which was a 3HKO. I then got lucky and encountered a Hoppip and afterwards a level 3 Caterpie, getting me to level 7. I then faced many others Caterpie and Weedle while avoiding Pidgey because it only has Tackle whereas the bugs are a 50/50 between String Shot and Tackle/Poison Sting. Once out of Scratch's PPs, Rage was usable as it 3HKOes without getting hit and 2HKOes if getting hit. Totodile was quickly earning experience and from level 8 onwards, it was easier as Totodile outspeeds even after a String Shot Caterpie and Weedle. Then, when I had no attacking move at level 10, nearing level 11, I got the first free heal. I continued the grind after the free heal and it was easier as starting from level 12, Totodile could OHKO level 3 Pokemon and at level 13 it could OHKO level 4 Pokemon. During the training, I tried to use every PP but 2 for Scratch in the optic of the rival fight and got to level 15. Ironically, I encountered 4 Hoppip (including 2 in a row) while having only Water Gun PP left and just fled as Water Gun doesn't kill. Then, Totodile easily defeated Chikorita with 2 Scratch as it used Growl. Things were great from this point as I had a level 15 Totodile before fighting the second trainer fully healed. I didn't mind losing health as the next healing point isn't too far and Totodile, soon Croconaw is easily going to sweep until Azalea Town and I tried to fight every trainer from Route 30.
Route 30 and 31 weren't interesting honestly and either Rage on level 2 Pokemon or Scratch for hgiher level Pokemon were more than enough to kill everything. I was unsure if Bellsprout's tower was worth trying so I saved before the gym to see how Totodile would fare. The Spearow is actually 2HKOed but doesn't do too much damages so I decided to see the second trainer where it was still a 2HKO. Hence, the Bellsprout's tower was the best choice as after the training, Totodile might be able to OHKO Pokemons from the gym. Bellsprout aren't OHKOed by Rage even at level 3 so Scratch was used on them. Level 7 Bellsprout are 2HKOed by Scratch but I got lucky and all of them used Growth while the latter got crited by Scratch. Only Hoothoot got to hit Totodile and it barely did damages. What was a great feeling is that Totodile evolved rightafter fighting the last sage, not only it is a great timing but it means the gym will be far easier. Indeed, the second trainer's Pidgey were OHKOed by Scratch. Falkner was easy as usual, Pidgey got OHKOed by Scratch and Water Gun+Rage was enough for Pidgeotto. Croconaw had 46 HP reminaing and while having only 4 Scratch's PP sucks, it won't be needed too much later on.
Road to Bugsy
Route 32 wasn't too much of an issue and I fought every trainer but the fishers. Water-types aren't OHKOed, require Scratch and the Magikarp one consumes too much PP and is bad experience wise. I used Rage to 2HKO everything (Wooper used Water Gun so that helped), except for Nidoran female where I used Water Gun and the move lost all its PPs as it was barely needed here anyway. From Bird Keeper Peter onward, Water Gun was used and it OHKOed everything except for Machop from Hiker Anthony. I picked the Swift TM which might be useful later on while avoiding Pokemaniac Harry until level 21 where I deleted Leer for Bite and could OHKO Slowpoke. Slowpoke Well was trivial, everything was OHKOed by Water Gun and the Scratch PPs I preserved. I left the location to grind in the Union Cave, only leaving 2 PPs for the Rocket Grunt. Croconaw got to level 23 and 2HKOed Koffing from the last Rocket Grunt with Water Gun.
Azalea gym is nothing complicated. Rage was enough to 2HKO Spinarak and Ledyba, while taking only 1 damage from Tackle from the latter and the former used String Shot. Then, I went to the right as Bug Catcher Al was better to fight because unlike Paras, Caterpie and Weedle are OHKOed by Scratch. Bug Catcher Benny means losing health with is Beedrill thus it was better to avoid it and to directly fight Bugsy. It wasn't a problem at all here as 4 Rage was enough for Metapod as it went for Harden and 2 Tackle, 1 hit was enough for Kakuna and Scyther was a speed tie. First turn, it missed Fury Cutter while taking half and Croconaw outsped and ko it with Rage second turn. This was quite an easy win and afterwards, Croconaw has 71/76 HP remaining and in spite of having a far next health point, things are looking great for now.
That's all for now ! Next time, we'll fight the rival and Whitney and get another Pokemon. It will spear the opponents and eventually be fearsome !