Pokemon Sun - 0 Exp Part 22: Elite Four Hala
38Challenge playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbSv8zSDR9c3UXPZqUgrokIuZtllPl-9A
One reaction I've been seeing a lot of recently is that the playthrough has been too easy, and that this run can't be called a "challenge" any longer. However, those who have been around my channel longer are able to say that 0 exp runs of the past haven't quite been known for their unreasonable difficulty. How much difficulty do you think there is in lv. 29 Dugtrio handling Lt. Surge in any of the Kanto 0 exp runs? The easy battles have always been there, they've been abundant too, but maybe it's hard to imagine until you play one yourself that a lot of the effort involved comes from catching all the useful new Pokemon and planning who to use and when.
The S/M 0 exp run has also had the usual number of battles that were pretty easy once figured out, somewhat standing out for a few midgame battles that were really hard for a change, something that not every 0 exp Pokemon run I've done can boast.
However, what pleases me the most about this run is how much the Elite Four portion of the playthrough "fixes" the challenge concerns. Each E4 member takes time to optimise with our familiar restriction of not using items in battle and being stuck with the same team of six mons who will be used in five battles without heading back to the PC.
The champion battle in particular shines here, with Kukui being quite comparable to the likes of Cynthia, ORAS Steven and Ghetsis (without attempting to sweep with Excadrill) in terms of being so complicated that you have to go back and manage your team specifically tailoring it to such an arrangement that doesn't get destroyed in the battle against him.
In general, being 10+ levels below type specialists and the champion who tend to have 255 EVs in the most relevant stats and 31 IVs in most stats (usually having 15 IVs in stats that are of no consequence) triggers a very noticeable change in challenge levels.
I've attempted the Elite Four three times with different teams. The first one featured Whimsicott, Aerodactyl and Absol alongside the staple trio of Alolan-Exeggutor, Machamp and Alolan-Ninetales, and found itself helpless against Kukui in spite of being pretty much perfect for the Elite Four battles. The second team looked a lot like the final one, except their IVs were "all wrong", causing me to miss crucial benchmarks for landing fatal strikes and withstanding critical enemy attacks. The third one had the appropriate statistics to emerge triumphant.
Hala is the only E4 member who's all physical (and male, since Nanu chickened out and sent a little girl instead!). Our underlevelled team doesn't like taking super-powerful fighting and coverage moves from any of his mons, so some protection is in order lest we want to get walloped.
The form of protection I employ is recurring in many of my battles in the Pokemon League (3 or 4 of them, I forget) - using Alola-Ninetales to use Aurora Veil while holding Light Clay (it will last 8 turns even if Knock Off destroys the item on the same turn it is used; good to know for Hariyama). This gives me Reflect+Light Screen and a very good chance to survive a neutral and sometimes even an effective move from the opposition while I hopefully have a OHKOing nuke of my own to utilise while taking half damage from attacks.
The old strategy used Whimsicott to cripple Hariyama with Charm + Leech Seed, allowing Ninetales to set up on it while hardly suffering any damage (I imagine I could emerge at full health if I also added Protect to its set), but I had to drop Whimsicott because I needed more fighters for the Kukui battle, some of said fighters also trying to replicate the things I needed Whimsicott for.
And the replica of 'Cott for setting up on Hariyama is... Growl Alolan-Dugtrio, believe it or not. At -1 attack and with the veil up, Ninetales cannot be 2HKO'd by Close Combat, allowing it to buff up with Nasty Plot and then take out Hariyama followed by the menacing Crabominable (which would KO Ninetales with its Z-move even with the veil up).
Primeape is faster than our moribund Ninetales however, so we need to switch to something that can take a hit. Machamp (poisoned with Guts of course!) can do that (OHKO'd by Cross Chop without the veil though - that's the enemy power we're dealing with here), taking the ape out with one hit with a 120 BP Revenge providing Primeape doesn't whiff (or crit...).
Bewear is the toughest threat here, because it's a phys tank and our team is mostly physical. That's the reason we took Exeggutor with us - the Alolan version learns Flamethrower by TM, and Fluffy makes Bewear weak to that. Two low damage rolls let the bear escape the 2HKO, which might have happened here if it weren't for the burn damage. Hammer Arm slows down Bewear and makes it slower on its 2nd action, so I didn't really need the Full Heal to survive with Egg there.
(one paragraph not fitting, added in comments)