Pokemon Silver - 0 Exp Challenge Part 1: Falkner
50Was running out of challenging ways to play the old Pokemon games and nothing potentially interesting came to my mind. Then I thought of one way.
Rules:
0 Exp - after every battle, all Pokemon receive absolutely no experience. This is done with the help of a gameshark code. It's the only code allowed to use in this run, and it's the only way to have everybody remain at base levels.
The reason why this is a good rule is because for once you don't rely on grinding to win battles - the raw material to make your strategies out of is through catching wild Pokemon, who are severely underlevelled and don't know many fancy moves. The gym battles are a serious struggle (edit: not all of them ;) ), and even the trainer battles could prove difficult and demanding of resets.
Falkner is the first gym leader we face and a difficult one to start with. He uses two bird-type Pokemon, Pidget and Pidgeotto, who happen to also know Mud-Slap, a super-effective ability against Onix and Geodude who don't like being hit by it as well as its 100% chance to lower accuracy.
The starter I picked in this run was Chikorita. She's easily the best of the three starters for the first gym, and we need her badly in order to make the second battle against Rival possible (no possible way to beat Croconaw because he tears through everything with accurate and powerful attacks, and beating Bayleef is also next to impossible).
Onix is obtained by trading a Bellsprout in the same city. The highest levelled Bellsprout is only lv. 3, so we get a really sucky Onix, but it's the best we can get anyway, and we can't go without it in this gym battle.
The tactic for Pidgey is to make sure everybody is alive for Falkner's next (and last) Pokemon. Growl is employed to lower attack, and Screech to greatly decrease the foes' defence. Once Pidgey's attack has been weakened, switch to Jigglypuff and keep singing until it connects (55% accuracy).
The AI in GSC is clever compared to RBY but can be exploited nevertheless. For example, if Mud Slap is effective against the Pokemon currently out, you can switch to a flyer without eating any damage because the foe will still use Mud Slap (in RBY I believe the AI did things entirely randomly).
Berries are very beneficial here (later they become insufficient to maintain durability). The key characters each need one attached.
Geodude should be used as a physical attack sponge by tanking while the characters are prepared to re-enter the field fully healed with Potions.
Rattata is surprisingly the best attacker here. STAB Tackle is sexy, and her attack matches Geodude's and Onix's (who don't get a same type attack bonus).
Critical hits screw our chances of succeeding royally, as does Jigglypuff's Sing missing (45% chance) and the birds waking up too early. Unlike in RBY, the Pokemon attacks immediately when it wakes up.
So this gym battle is hard enough, but far from the most extreme in this run.
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