Pokemon Omega Ruby - 0 Exp Part 3: Brendan (Route 110)

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MoogleBoss

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Published on June 26, 2016 2:51:29 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKYmt8sWaVs

Game:

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (2014)

Duration: 3:10

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27

Second battle against your rival; this one's worth recording (iirc the battle itself proved to be pretty hard in original RSE when I did 0 exp... but I have more than a few options at my disposal here).

Challenge playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbSv8zSDR9c1PNYH-llf1dNbuoB3ONrsG

Regardless of the starter chosen, in an odd twist the rival will be running an elemental grass/fire/water party kinda like the original rival in RBY eventually does (Gyarados/Arcanine/Exeggutor replacing the missing starter, Gyarados being super weird with Hydro Pump already learnt @ Pokemon Tower running off what ended up its special defence stat). This time Wailmer/Slugma/Shroomish are said replacements; hardly as strong, but the capturable Pokemon in GSC/RSE are also generally weaker than what was available in RBY in-game.

Since I picked Mudkip, Slugma will be leading the rival's party, causing me to switch in the strongest water-type available at this point, though that's not saying a whole lot - underlevelled Wingull with Water Gun can sometimes fail to 2HKO Slugma, like he does in this video. A berry might've given it slightly better chances of success, but I wanted to put an Amulet Coin (actually, some Incense item that does the exact same thing, I forget the name right now) there somewhere and my strongest attacker wanted an Oran Berry more.

It's a bit odd that a 2HKO isn't even guaranteed with 55 base sp. atk. (Wingull line's main advantage; well, I guess Wingull is also really fast, but Pelipper gets an unnecessary physical defence orientation instead).

Wailmer switches in, and I release what will be one of my best mons during the midgame portion of the challenge - the Cosplay Pikachu! It comes at lv. 20, which is way higher than the wildmons for a while, with good stats for offence (and even some extra defence that it received in the transition between generation 5 and 6). Cosplay Pikachu can get a beneficial coverage move in place of Thundershock based on what costume you pick for it. The options it gets are quite interesting, but IMHO the choice is too obvious - Pikachu Belle / Beautiful gets Icicle Crash, an 85 BP ice-type move that runs off physical attack unlike Pikachu's readily available STABs.

Electric/ice is almost perfect coverage (the only better coverage in a vacuum would be fire/rock or rock/ground), known since the first generation as "boltbeam" from the two common ingredients - Thunderbolt and Ice Beam. The "Thunderbolt" in our case is Electro Ball, which is stronger against slower targets. Wailmer isn't particularly fast, yet it's still not OHKO'd by Electro Ball because one needs a really large gap in speed to really reap the benefits of the move. This is why Thunder Wave combos so well with the move (speed down 75%).

Grovyle will be the rival's last mon, and we keep Pikachu Belle in, this time planning to use Icicle Crash - an ice-type move so early is too good; the only other time where it was possible earlygame was Totodile's Ice Fang in HG/SS not counting cases like Odd Egg Smoochum in Crystal.

Grovyle is moderately threatening, with power-up moves like Fury Cutter and HP recovery via Mega Drain. To secure an advantage, Pikachu paralyses the victim first, then starts using Icicle Crash. It's about as effective as anything else at this point, and I really didn't feel like catching a Sludge!Gulpin just for this battle. Pikachu maintains its presence for a good while longer on the other hand. Who could've thought it could be useful in a 0 exp run?

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