Yeah... that Red fight was ROUGH. But you made it through! And I gotta be honest, I wasn't expecting Aqua Ring to be nearly as helpful as it was. It's never been that good when I've used it but turns out it can be really good if you just go all in. Who'da thunk? Thank you for running Empoleon, they'll always hold a special place in my heart. One thing I do wanna point out though is that I think you held onto Metal Claw a little bit long; steel isn't very good as an offensive type, and while STAB is good, neutral damage is better. Drill Peck would probably have been good for Bruno if nothing else, and maybe neutral damage against some water types? Also, random thought; Shell Bell against Red? Given how much damage you're doing by that point, it might actually help. No idea if that's a good idea, but it's definitely an idea. And yes, Ice Path's music is fantastic. Even if I got stuck there for ages as a kid before I realized pushing the rocks through the holes meant they'd be on the bottom floor. Blame me learning that game logic and brain logic don't always mix and having trouble figuring out which one a game wants from you for that one.
I feel like the Red fight, though super difficult, is going to become easier as I gain knowledge/experience in this game. I was super curious about Aqua Ring! That's a big reason for this early series. It's less for posting competitive times, and more about just learning the game, playing with strategies, and trying to force myself to think differently. I was definitely eyeing up Drill Peck, but I feel that I was so stubbornly forcing myself to stick to Special I may have made a few bad calls. Metal Claw as a place holder for Flash Cannon didn't need to be there as long as it was. Thank you!
I'm glad my mental prediction played out, but poor Torterra. Infernape being the leader is unsurprising. It might be a glass cannon, but it has good coverage and speed to help with that. Good job with Empoleon. Tough act to follow, but it did well for itself
For the double battle after Whitney that you were talking about, without your cheerleaders it becomes a double-header (two battle back-to-back) as opposed to a full-on double battle. This would be true for any set of 2 trainers that are not a paired trainer class. For instance, a "paired" trainer class is the Twins trainer class, like the duo right in front of the tree below the double battle you are talking about (you can see it in frame right before the battle starts).
Man at first I wasn't convinced of aqua ring but as time went on it changed ny mind and loved you saw its potential with the bulky stats of the penguin. Very nice one. But wow red fight was a STRUGGLE. Ggwp
That Rival 2 with a Bayleef is an absolute nightmare! I reset five times because of the combo of Curse and Poisonpowder with my Spheal run! It was a hot mess.
Happy feet was really happy that the Red split wasn't it's final time😮. The hail damage and no moves that can make this fight efficient, were making you relying on luck a lot. That's why I think that you can reset for female starter,so you can use the luck from attaract to make some hard battles easier if you have the correct luck. Piplup's aqua ring was really helpful in the Jhoto section,but in my opinion you held into it too much in this run. I'm not sure if replacing it with yawn would have been better 🤔... But having rain dance for that fight was well played! The funniest thing I found about Empoleon is that it has more access to physical moves than special ones ,and they gave it sword dance 😮, while it's stats are shows that it's a great special attacker. That's why I think that you went with special set. Overall for your third run you are learning fast! Keep it up!😊
Oh gosh that Red battle. I recognize that as I get more knowledge/experience in the game the fight will likely become "easier" or at least easier to navigate. I really wanted to experiment with Aqua Ring, even if it ended up not being the best move in the end. Restoring 1/8 health every round was kind of silly :P When I first saw Empoleon all I wanted was the outstanding physical coverage, including physical Waterfall, with SD. But I'd just done that the previous two weeks. Since SS isn't for time right now I just wanted to play around :P
@@Eggsceptional That make sense if you were going for a physical set , because you need to set up, and you'll want the extra hit points to survive the battle up until the set up is finished. Red is pretty brutal for special attackers especially while facing the Snorlax .The gen 4 Snorlax is scarier than gen 2 legacy Snorlax mostly because of that hail damage that puts you on a timer.
@@bateltheassistant For sure! That hail damage and the 100% accurate Blizzards were something else to deal with in Red's battle. I really want to run Snorlax early once I get back to Pokémon. He's always been one of my faves.
Nice run overall, regarding the final red fight, other than setting the weather to clear, u may wanna consider the wacan berry (the electric reducing berry) to reduce volt tackle damage to be more favorable or just reteach aqua jet to KO pikachu. The rest u can just SD, rest and return sweep the rest of red's team since his team does not resist normal type move. Alternatively, pick agility as an egg move to have a big setup at maybe blastoise and sweep the rest of the team with agility, SD, rest and return.
Wacan berry sounds familiar enough that I feel like I've had one of those in a SS playthrough. Is it available through the money you send to mom? Concerning moveset - absolutely SD and some other moves would have made things easier. I'm trying to force myself to think differently right now because SD and win isn't going to teach me much about this game.
Eggsceptional, I'm sorry for the torture you endured for this evolution line. This line needs more to be successful; the only redeemable quality I can find in this line is that Piplup is beyond cute. Prinplup and Empoleon are such forgettable Pokemon for me personally. This playthrough was EGGregious, and I hope you take a well-deserved break after this one. Come on over tonight, I'm making butter chicken.
This guy wasn't too torturous! Maybe leaning away from the physical set cost me, but I wanted to eggsperiment! I'm "kicking my feet up" in Stardew Valley this week, so yes. It's been a nice break :)
Ah Empoleon, my first starter Pokémon, and my favorite water starter. While I’ve never actually played a Johto game, I’ve been enjoying the Soul Silver videos, and I’m glad Empoleon was covered so soon! I’m excited to see how the physical-special split spices things further if/when you do Pokémon you’ve covered in the Fire Red series. Keep up the great work!
Hopefully I did your first start proud! Ish... I haven't eggsactly figured out SS yet :P I'm looking forward to learning more and getting better! It'd be nice to feel competent enough to start pursuing second playthroughs :D
@@EggsceptionalDon’t stress it, you have more experience in SS than I do after all hahaha. The Aqua Ring strategy was not something I would have considered, but it made things all the more interesting!
This was an interesting video. I like that you're experimenting with strategies other than Swords Dance and sweep, so I'm not gonna comment on that aspect of the solo. What I will say is that the Grass Knot TM would've helped against Red, having 80 BP against Blastoise and 120 BP against Lapras, and that's not accounting for super effective damage. Against Chuck, you could have taught Pluck, the TM for which is south of Olivine on a small island. Not only would it be super effective against Poliwrath, but it would also eat his Sitrus Berry (which frankly makes Pluck quite good, I think Flying types in general will make great use of it, especially against Jasmine). Also with abilities like Torrent, I think it's worth considering a pre-damage strategy with which you go in the fight with a third HP or so and sweep with powerful Surf or Flamethrower, especially combined with Choice Specs. Furthermore, Blizzard has infinite accuracy in hail, so you can use that against Red in lieu of Ice Beam. Based on damage ranges, I feel like Empoleon definitely could have OHKOed Venusaur with Blizzard. It's interesting that you're using the round 2 finish instead of Red to determine the final rankings, but that makes total sense to me. Red is very tough and unforgiving, so making him a special bonus fight is fun (and who knows, maybe even a tiebreaker). I'm interested to see how your methodology evolves over time in your SoulSilver solos (mine has for sure)!
Thank you! I've had a few comments suggesting Grass Knot so I definitely have it written down for future runs :) Pluck against Chuck is a fantastic idea! I keep forgetting too how many helds berries the gym leader Pokémon actually have. My poor FR brain... Concerning Torrent, it's always something that I'm aware of but I find it so hard to route in effectively. Being below 1/3 opens some risk, but having access to things like the Choice Specs may allow me for more opportunities in this game. That's true! The Hail does work both ways I could have used Blizzard. I've written some notes, thank you for all of your tips :D
@@Eggsceptional Of course! I'm happy to help others get better. Also I remembered another tip I wanted to mention: to avoid potential double battles, like the Beauties with Clefairy and Wigglytuff, you can either deposit all of your HM users or make them all faint. Then they'll battle you in two consecutive single battles. I always have my HM users faint and just make that a general rule of mine (except when I'm in the E4, then I deposit them so that only my soloist shows up in the champion screen), that way they have no impact by passively existing (ie. AI will use entry hazards as well as Roar or Whirlwind if you have conscious Pokemon in the back, but it'll still use trapping moves like Mean Look).
@@perkypenguin1663 Another eggscellent tip! Once I have some tech upgrades behind the scenes with SS I should be able to lock all of my cheerleader's HP to 0 and never have to worry about it :) In theory...
I love this penguin! But wouldn't Swords Dance with Waterfall, Drill Peck and Earthquake have made this much easier? Like run a mixed set until Blackthorn, unlearn Surf there and go fully physical? Almost want to give it a try myself now. Anyway awesome evening entertainment as always :)
He said in the last video he's iffy on using the game corner regularly in these runs. He's new to this game so playing it by ear. IMO I'm totally fine with the TM being hacked in. It's like the post game in fire Red....the Pokemon you run makes no difference it's just extra time. A lot of pokemon are going to need swords dance to get their best time
Swords Dance and a physical set would have absolutely done better, but I'm really trying to force myself to think differently in this initial series. The timer is there for fun more than pressure :P Once I move to start optimizing playthroughs I'll be most focused on completion time so we'll be seeing a lot of SD sweeps, but for now I want to force myself to think differently. It'll hopefully hep me navigate problems in future runs!
to future Egg: 7:46 clefairy is also a troll in her own right !!! before the big one comes.. love your reaction sm lmfao 22:15 EGGZATUUUUU XA XA XA XA XATU XA XA XA
I will admit that this is the group of starters I have the least attachment to. So in that sense it's been interesting to see how they handle during runs like this. That one rival battle...wow. Chikorita takes a lot of heat but in a situation like that second rival battle her evolutionary line can be problematic! Especially for a matchup like this one. Probably was the best move to just fish for metal claw luck and go from there.
They've been an interesting set for me! I'm not convinced by them, but the Water/Steel and Grass/Ground dual typings were sure interesting. I was not prepared for that Bayleef! I'll find some clever ways around it I'm sure :) ..probably
STAB Metal Claw is worse than neutral Drill Peck, especially considering that Metal Claw doesn’t help cover Water type foes that also resist Surf + Ice Beam. Drill Peck is neutral against Water and also has a handy advantage against the Fighting type. (While STAB Surf coming off Empoleon’s higher SpA is stronger in a vacuum, Drill Peck could be useful against Bruno in particular, as the Hitmons have higher SpD.) Earthquake is another late game option that is neutral against Water and helps cover a scary type (Electric). The TM is in Victory Road. TM27 Return is also always an option unless you’re a gigachad who bans it. Depending on your ruleset, you could manipulate IVs for 70BP Hidden Power Flying, Ground, Grass, Electric, or Psychic, all special attacks (in Gen 4) neutral to Water and super effective against a scary type you don’t already cover. Steel has an advantage only against Ice and Rock until Fairy is introduced in Gen 6, and Rock is already weak to Water and Ice doesn’t resist it. Even paired with Water to resist Surf, Water also resists Steel, making resisted STAB Surf about as strong (or actually STRONGER when considering Empoleon’s higher SpA, let alone possible Torrent boost). If you’re dead set on carrying a Steel move into the late game, you can obtain the Flash Cannon TM in the Goldenrod Department Store raffle on Tuesdays. If you’re holding onto Aqua Ring (a dubious but curiosity-piquing decision in a timed run), there’s also an argument to delete Metal Claw for Aqua Jet. Empoleon is slow, and being able to force an outspeed for a finishing blow might be helpful, if only to consistently beat Gengar’s Destiny Bond.
I was so stubborn about sticking with my special set that I definitely carried Metal Claw with me for waaay too long as a placeholder for Flash Cannon in Kanto. This initial series is more about learning the game, and forcing myself to think differently than posting optimal times. My last 2 SS runs just Swords Dance'd and won. That, to me, isn't going to help me learn the game. Thank you for all of the tips! I've taken notes :)
@@Eggsceptional I don't know how much will be applicable for runs with other Pokémon, but in general you might want to keep a closer eye on when your resisted STAB moves are more powerful than your neutral coverage moves, and keep an eye on what exactly those coverage moves are actually helping you cover. I know there were some times in at least one other video where you would have been better served by resisted STAB attacks than your coverage moves. This can be extra tricky if you're not as familiar with type matchups. They're second nature to me, and I tend to quickly assume other people know them that well too. 😅
@@realperson69 In FR I'm generally pretty good at knowing when to use the resisted moves (STAB Surf being the first that pops into my mind). So many of the type matchups outside of like.. Normal/Fire/Electric/Water I'm decent with but Poison, Bug, Steel? I start getting quite a bit less accurate. Then they went and changed stuff between generations with Steel! It leaves me scrambled
This is exactly the case where manually setting the date for diamond dust would have helped a ton, although you still managed it eventually and rain has its own advantages. Empoleon is such an interesting Pokémon, it has one of the best defensive typings period that’s still totally unique but doesn’t really have the stats to do much with it. At least getting competitive gave it a niche.
I've found that if I manually set the date it breaks all of my other software unfortunately. I've been working on alternates, but right so far I've been having to suck it up a bit.
@@banditrests It became a question of effort vs reward. Now that I'm stepping back from Pokémon a bit I'm hoping it'll give me some more time/motivation in the back end of thing to upgrade. Especially in SS.
I can't remember where you get it, but if you were going for Leftovers and Aqua Ring, TM90 is Substitute and you could use that for your run.... It'll help with the stat drops... Just not a solution for Red. Also I watched because of the Venusaur/Richu stream with Scott's Thoughts! (I still have your first stream with him to watch with Blastoise)
Yes, Substitute would have been a great addition with that absurd level of recovery. I've been given myself a Game Corner budget to spend, and unfortunately Ice Beam ate that budget so I couldn't grab Sub too. I've been really trying to force myself into new ways of thinking, and my FR runs use a LOT of Substitute :) Thank you for the tips! And welcome! I hope you've been enjoying the content :) My FR content is definitely a bit more refined than my SS content at the moment.
I love Empoleon but Prinplup might be the worst middle stage evolution of all the starters, it always feels like it's in that stage way longer than the other two gen 4 starters
Monferno is the one that stays on the middle stage the longest levels wise. And if we're speaking across all generations, I'd find it hard to argue that there's a middle stage evolution worse than Quilladin.
@@jellybunz8357 I was referring to feeling not actual levels required, for some reason I rarely notice how grindy D/P/Pt are with the other two starters. HG/SS don't feel grindy to me until Kanto
@@jamesgrenier8856 what are you even talking about? Feels like? Unless you been battling strong faster Pokémon, prinplup would have a hard time especially in the sinnoh main games…
I honestly kept forgetting Prinplup's name because it was so forgettable to me :P The Water starter is usually my fave to play but I have to say. Within the Gen 4 starters I had the most fun with the Chimchar line for sure in HGSS.
I feel like the problem with prinplup is that it's moveset is mostly filled with physical moves even though it's a special attacker. It's physical attack is not very good so basically you'll have surf and a bunch of weaker physical moves. If a person has a water resistance then you are just kinda screwed
@@Eggsceptional my cats all seem to understand than animals in the house arent food. To a degree that makes them bad at being cats...while it was nice that they didnt assault my mother's pet rabbit but ate all the wild bunnies, they also wont harm mice inside the house even though outside mice are very much on the menu.
eggcellent sir, eggcellent. ok that one was interesting, not in the slightest the way I thought it would go, the all special set was a surprise to me and looking at the chat everyone else as well. yes special is its better attacking stat, but we all know how much you love the swords dance and how effective it is. aqua jet would of been good with it, priority water STAB boosted to the max can't be a bad thing, rock slide and earthquake would of been nice too, especially for Red who, lets face it, you really need all you got for. speaking of Red, yikes, that was rough, sequentially rough though, every time you got through one problem with hi, you got another one to figure, Red earns his title of hardest in the Game, aside from that, that went very well, I said Empoleon is awesome, the steel typing really pulls its weight despite the few extra weaknesses that comes with it. there is nothing like that long list of resistances. I do maintain with the full special set, HP would of been a genuinely good option because it is purely special in Gen 4 onwards so any type was a viable for it, electric or grass, maybe ground would of been good for it. overall you did really good with it, but I would still love to see a physical run of it, for the sake of comparison if nothing else, you know how much I love trying that kind of run just to see how it goes. I have been catching up with your live stream from Tuesday, I enjoyed it immensely, but oh my shit Venasaur was rougher than I remember I need to try it myself. for the sake of argument in regards to acquiring HP, I know its random and Scott doesn't use it for FR runs, but getting it in a legit way is not out of the question for a standard run. Meowth is a good HP slave with cut, flash and dig (clearly you needed a digger for that one as well). it would eventually get a TM10. also do not discount the usefulness of bullet seed, it would of sorted your PP problems for a lot of the run until razor leaf was an option. Raichu I am still working on, but it was looking good, I had a feeling you'd run it with the starters, just not in a live stream. I now wonder if the other Gen 1 starters will get a viewing. the Eeveelutions and Clef of course. and you mentioned its been a while since you done a VS, I wonder what you are running for us next, I am hoping for many different things, really hope its Castform or the Nidos, but I shall wait and see. my team run is going well, I am doing my game corner chores right now, very expensive chores, but once I got my Dratini on the team, worth it and once I have beat Erika, I shall trade over the rest of my team, confusion Nidoking, Meditate electabuzz and thunder punch HP ice Magmar, its going to be good. I wait to beat Erika for this because her badge is the one that enables trades to obey at higher levels and I may face Sabrina early to make sure I have them obeying properly for the rest of the run.
Thank you! It's true that I usually go for the SD/physical set which is exactly why I went with the bulky special set this time. I'm trying to expand my horizons a bit and force myself into other lines of thinking. These runs after all are not for a competitive time right now. HP would have found its way in nicely to the set, but again I'm trying to force myself to think differently. I'm hoping that it'll help me learn the game more in the long run. Clearly I'm lost without having my Meowth to Dig me out of trouble. It's amazing how much something so simple can trip up your game plan. There were plenty of mistakes that I made in all of the races with Scott. I definitely am not somebody who can focus on "x" AND "y" and still perform like I usually would. Oh gosh.. With how everything has been lately I don't know when the next VS will be. I may be realizing lately that I'm incredibly burned out of Pokémon. I've loved it for many, many years, but it's never been my sole focus like it has been for the last year. That's longer than I ever would have given myself to do one thing over and over without going insane. Obedience issues, at least, are something that I never have to deal with in my runs. I wonder just how brutal an RNG run you could make? Full Metronome, no obedience, etc. Your poor laptop! Summer will be time to start leaving the laptop in the fridge while you're at work :P I apologize for being so inconsistent with responses. I really try to be thoughtful with every response, but to be perfectly honest I've been struggling a lot lately. I'm having more and more trouble balancing my time effectively, and I've been having to re-think how I go about doing some things. I always appreciate the input, feedback, and discussion :D
@@Eggsceptional I'd say thats fair, you are at the same time as running these runs, trying to learn the game and SS is a different, a nastier beast than FR. the FR Post game is a bit simpler for a start, the SS post game is another whole game pretty much, you add in new Pokemon and new mechanics that mean nearly everything you usually do in FR is changed. its hard to say what is going to work. FR is simple in comparison, set up and sweep and maybe a sub strat in there just in case for good measure, thats no longer the case in SS despite being Swords dance being a TM of course. I think gen 2 and 3 were very much the physical Gens, Curse for Gen 2 and Swords dance for Gen 3, but Gen 4 I think is more special based, the physical special split did a lot more for special attackers than the physical, calm mind is still a TM, growth and nasty plot are scattered about for those that need it most and HP is pure special. HP is a great fixer in Gen 3 for any physical attacker that swords dance for anything that needs to get around the intimidates and boost the perfect coverage of earthquake rock slide brick break aerial ace shadow ball return etc, but Gen 4 flips it and says any type you want and its special damage. the adjustments needed for that are massive, but so far the possibilities. Empoleon did well as a special but I am curious as to the physical with it, lets face it drill peck would of been handy. its the opposite for Torterra and Infernape of course as growth is an egg move for torterra and nasty plot is a pre-evo move on Chimchar only, but the prospect of a pure special set for infernape is interesting. thats the thing with Gen 4, the capacity to go one way or the other is expanded massively, being pure one or the other is an option for nearly every Pokemon in the game without much compromise as to coverage, I have spent years in Diamond and Pearl experimenting with this and you will find it to, with time. you're getting tired egg my friend, you've been playing hard for a year now, its one thing to do it because you love it, making it your job is a different matter. adding in SS and than Gen 5 made it rougher than it needed to be. you gotta be kind to yourself egg, you took one rest already, wouldn't blame you for taking another. and doing a race with Scott will do that anyone, he is kinda a beast when it comes to runs, completely dedicated to the science of a run, but not as much heart. you're doing good egg, have that re-think and have a rest for a while. and come back fresh, maybe lay off the SS for a while I'm a little further into the run and I have found that Erika's badge means there is obedience up to level 50, I thought 40, so the traded half (and I do mean half) of the team will obey for a good long time yet, I do lots of grinding through runs for the whole team but never enough for obedience issues. that sounds genuinely painful, I am not down for that. I don't know if you recall but my original Venonat run had that eggact issue, I traded a venonat in at level 5 with signal beam as its egg move and it fell apart at Brock in a way that would of made the run impossible or at the least unbearable, straight up your 1st run with Parasect painful. I can live with the random jank of metronome and I will do my own run to demonstrate that eventually but disobedience will not be tolerated in a run. I will do early Sabrina if I have to get around that.
@@jptheflipper3825 It's true. I feel that so much of the time in FR I'm running different versions of the exact same set. In SS you're definitely forced to think differently because the variety of what you can encounter. Can't one shot Blue's Exeggcutor? Your level 80 Pokémon now gets owned. Can't deal with Gyarados, and only Gyarados? Get wrecked. There's no doubt in my mind that if I'd gone for the physical set with Empoleon it would have done much better time wise. There's a chance it may have even beaten Infernape, but I couldn't bring myself to SD and sweep for a 3rd week in a row. That is something that I've been loving in Gen 4, the fact that I can choose whether I'm phys/spec and have options within both. I think losing the race with Scott had less to do with it. It was more that I was already feeling the burnout, then I collaborate with the creator that flicked the lightbulb on in my head to create my own. That was peak levels of excitement for me in all dimensions, but it didn't make the Pokémon feel any more enjoyable. A break is needed :P Hey half of an obedient team is still better than none! Ooph yeah, that is a nasty thing to run into. That traded Venonat sounds like it would be on par with Parasect. At what level with a disobedient Venonat rocking Signal Beam actually reliably make it through Brock? I don't even think I want to know. Disobedience will not be tolerated! You should get the item from the Pokéranch - the "Crop". It'll keep them in line :P
@@Eggsceptional having run FR many times recently myself I am inclined to agree, most of the time its either the same moveset for most Pokemon or something completely off the wall in order to overcome a very poor moveset or stats or both. your recent Sunkurn for example. in SS, its different and the problems, when they do come, are absolute walls and you are at a point in the game where there is little to do short of grinding to overcome it. Blue is a good example, a good precursor to Red, similarly diverse team and individual problems that come with it, SS is built much like crystal was, not made for solo running, grinding levels is a nightmare and the jump in levels when you get to the later stages of the R2 and Red s almost too much for a solo that isn't sporting the classic curse, return, rest sleep talk set. the swords dance and sweep is a favorite move of yours in a run, but you are right too many times in a row is a little samey, especially when the option to do many over things is available. I think Empoleon might of been able to beat Infernapes time, but it would of been close and I think it would be a matter of how well red goes and considering Pikachu is the opener, setting up would not of been safe, it would come down to thunder missing at least once. but thats straight up relying on miss luck and that is rarely consistent thats fair enough, I understand. trust me, I am about to embark on something myself that may end up the same way, you have made something you love your profession, it is not just done for the love of it, its done because it is your job and a job becomes something we do not enjoy and something that can grind us down over time. yes a break is needed, something you love done sparingly is sometimes better than doing it all the same. I am about to spend 6 months doing my what I love, making guitars, by the end of it I may be sick of it, I hope its not the case. it happens to all of us, hell even Scott needed a break, I forget exactly when, but he had a few weeks off with a few streams. you do what you need to. my disobedient Venonat did not get past Brock is the short answer. I could of grinded up to Venomoth but that would of caused a different and more disastrous problem. I learnt a short time before attempting that run that the higher the level of the disobediant pokemon is over the level cap afforded by your badges, the more it will disobey. grinding would of made it worse and not grinding would of made it impossible, it is why I have to play completely vanilla, the physical trade over that early makes a run impossible.
@@jptheflipper3825 It's so true. I'm wondering just how Sunkern is going to do with the upcoming leagues in a couple of hours.. If we can get there :P I only have HP Rock for Giovanni right now.. I also agree in SS. At least in the remakes there's the option to re-run the R2 league (assuming they aren't too nasty) to train for Red. It's still not ideal, but there's only so much certain Pokémon can do against those super diverse teams in the endgame (Red and Blue as you mentioned) It's true. With a physical set I might have been able to Quick Claw EQ Pikachu or something then grab a turn of set up against Blastoise? Focus Blast was survivable after all... Something like that, either way it would have been different. I almost feel bad not going SD and sweep with Empoleon simply because it could have done it so much faster. Oh well, I got to play with insane recovery! I appreciate you saying that. Making guitars sounds super cool! The level of craftsmanship involved has always wowed me. I hope that you enjoy it in the long term! There's nothing wrong with loving what you do. It's been interesting switching gears because I'm finding that the excitement is back in my process. I'm planning things in my dreams again! Oh interesting! I wonder what the math is on that? Like.. the probability of disobeying VS the level difference to your highest badge? Would it possible with an egg Venonat that you hatch instead of a trade? Or does is the OT still the trainer that bred it?
Hi @eggceptional pretty new to the channel but love seeing how you work around these games which games/ Pokémon do you think is best to start solo run challenges?
Welcome, and thank you! Honestly, just pick a Pokémon that you love playing. I just ran the game a few times with Pokémon that I really enjoyed and some guides. Hidden items locations, TM locations, item locations. Practice makes perfect! And don't be afraid of "bad" results. Learn from them! I have plenty of runs that I want to revisit in the future :)
kingdra is a bad ass pokemon. I use it frequently in my SS runs. Yes, I'm one of those gen-1 folks who has a soft spot for dragon type, and any new evolution of a gen-1 pokemon. GEN 1 FOREVER. BOW DOWN BEFORE THEIR SUPERIORITY.
I feel like hydro pump is the better egg move. a 180 base power move (includig stab) and 90 base power move on resists. The slowest pokemon that can outspeed reds pikachu (189 speed) in hgss without setup or held items is gastrodon.
I'm more playing with strategies and learning the game at this point. The lack of accuracy on Hydro Pump always deters me. A base 39 speed can outdo Pikachu? That must be with +speed nature and max IV/EVs
That Bayleef is nothing but trouble in the 2nd and 3rd Rival battle. Also at 8:32 if you just have one Pokémon in the party those two trainers just battle you one at time albeit it will be back to back without a chance to heal outside of battle. Starting in Emerald they added the mechanic where if two trainers spot you it will always be a double battle which I kinda have mixed feelings about but overall I don't think it's a bad mechanic outside a solo run...in a Nuzlocke though it can be a run ender if you're not ready for it
I didn't understand how bad that Bayleef would be! Concerning the trainers hearing to Ecruteak - back to back sounds like it would be waay easier to control than the 2v1. I'll have to try to remember to box my cheerleaders before moving north from now on I suppose
@@Eggsceptional Totodile is my go to Starter and every time I get annoyed by those two Rival battles. Though for the 3rd one sometimes I have a Heracross with Brick Break and Aerial Ace just to use against Bayleef. That double is annoying but thankfully off the top of my head it’s the only one that’s unavoidable in the game
@@lumineinfinitussilverkagat8094 I think you're right about it being the only unavoidable one. It's so wild the difference between playing them game and playing the game well. That Bayleef is a menace :P
You're definitely doing a great job at playing the game, I love the johto games but even I understand why most people are annoyed by them and how bad certain battles/sections are (looking at Team Rocket and Red) Beyleef is no early-mid game Ivysaur/Venusaur with sleep powder but it definitely doesn't make things easy for solo runs. Good luck with future runs and with your non Pokémon related content in the future. I look forward to seeing your channel and community grow @@Eggsceptional
@@lumineinfinitussilverkagat8094 I appreciate it! I feel like stepping back from Pokémon for a bit will allow me to miss it. When I miss something I start obsessing, then I get great ideas :D I was having such a fun time playing Johto, I'm looking forward to getting back into it.
Steel type attacks are not that good offensively so it would have been better to replace metal claw with drill peck. This would have eliminated the resets versus Bruno
16:50 This is without a doubt my favorite cave music of the entire series, it's great, it knocks every other one out of the park, the rest are all lame, even in gen 6 although the original is better.
I've had a few comments about Grass Knot! If I had been going physically, then I probably would have been more inclined towards it. I'm so stuck in my Gen 3 brain
@@Eggsceptional you’re doing great buddy . I’ve gotten a lot of solace and peace watching your videos . Thank you for doing what you do . I saw your community post on mental health . It can be tough . I’m battling it too . Just wanted to say that your vids have been helping calm me down, and re energize me a bit
seeing clefairy pull out a sub via metronome was a bit funny, but it also made me realize how annoying she can be and how metronome can REALLY screw you over with its access to pull over 200+ moves. ive had clefairy pull out moves like sacred fire (ho-oh's signature move) and get tagged with that nasty 50% burn affliction AND she managed to pull perish song on me while i was doing a solo run. people talk about how much whitney's Miltank gave them a hard time, but that pink space fairy alien can knock you out of the park just when you'd least expect it.
Right?? Until I did this run I didn't give the Clefairy a second thought aside from "if I need to set up I can do it there". Metronome can be a nasty! I've heard way too many stories of the Explosions from her :P
Yeah... that Red fight was ROUGH. But you made it through! And I gotta be honest, I wasn't expecting Aqua Ring to be nearly as helpful as it was. It's never been that good when I've used it but turns out it can be really good if you just go all in. Who'da thunk?
Thank you for running Empoleon, they'll always hold a special place in my heart. One thing I do wanna point out though is that I think you held onto Metal Claw a little bit long; steel isn't very good as an offensive type, and while STAB is good, neutral damage is better. Drill Peck would probably have been good for Bruno if nothing else, and maybe neutral damage against some water types? Also, random thought; Shell Bell against Red? Given how much damage you're doing by that point, it might actually help. No idea if that's a good idea, but it's definitely an idea.
And yes, Ice Path's music is fantastic. Even if I got stuck there for ages as a kid before I realized pushing the rocks through the holes meant they'd be on the bottom floor. Blame me learning that game logic and brain logic don't always mix and having trouble figuring out which one a game wants from you for that one.
I feel like the Red fight, though super difficult, is going to become easier as I gain knowledge/experience in this game. I was super curious about Aqua Ring! That's a big reason for this early series. It's less for posting competitive times, and more about just learning the game, playing with strategies, and trying to force myself to think differently. I was definitely eyeing up Drill Peck, but I feel that I was so stubbornly forcing myself to stick to Special I may have made a few bad calls. Metal Claw as a place holder for Flash Cannon didn't need to be there as long as it was. Thank you!
I'm glad my mental prediction played out, but poor Torterra. Infernape being the leader is unsurprising. It might be a glass cannon, but it has good coverage and speed to help with that. Good job with Empoleon. Tough act to follow, but it did well for itself
That STAB Flare Blitz/Close Combat combo backed by SD on Infernape was ridiculously powerful. My Water boy just fell short in Gen 4 I guess :)
For the double battle after Whitney that you were talking about, without your cheerleaders it becomes a double-header (two battle back-to-back) as opposed to a full-on double battle. This would be true for any set of 2 trainers that are not a paired trainer class. For instance, a "paired" trainer class is the Twins trainer class, like the duo right in front of the tree below the double battle you are talking about (you can see it in frame right before the battle starts).
Gotcha, thanks for letting me know! I'll have to try to be in the habit of leaving my cheerleaders in the box when I pass north to Ecruteak.
Man at first I wasn't convinced of aqua ring but as time went on it changed ny mind and loved you saw its potential with the bulky stats of the penguin. Very nice one. But wow red fight was a STRUGGLE. Ggwp
I took a lot of heat for using Aqua Ring instead of blasting through with my usual Swords Dance but hey! I was trying something different!
@@Eggsceptional you had that eggceptional foresight
That Rival 2 with a Bayleef is an absolute nightmare! I reset five times because of the combo of Curse and Poisonpowder with my Spheal run! It was a hot mess.
Seriously! There are a few battles throughout that feel like such hard counters to my runner. This is 100% one of them
Happy feet was really happy that the Red split wasn't it's final time😮. The hail damage and no moves that can make this fight efficient, were making you relying on luck a lot. That's why I think that you can reset for female starter,so you can use the luck from attaract to make some hard battles easier if you have the correct luck.
Piplup's aqua ring was really helpful in the Jhoto section,but in my opinion you held into it too much in this run. I'm not sure if replacing it with yawn would have been better 🤔...
But having rain dance for that fight was well played!
The funniest thing I found about Empoleon is that it has more access to physical moves than special ones ,and they gave it sword dance 😮, while it's stats are shows that it's a great special attacker. That's why I think that you went with special set.
Overall for your third run you are learning fast! Keep it up!😊
Oh gosh that Red battle. I recognize that as I get more knowledge/experience in the game the fight will likely become "easier" or at least easier to navigate. I really wanted to experiment with Aqua Ring, even if it ended up not being the best move in the end. Restoring 1/8 health every round was kind of silly :P When I first saw Empoleon all I wanted was the outstanding physical coverage, including physical Waterfall, with SD. But I'd just done that the previous two weeks. Since SS isn't for time right now I just wanted to play around :P
@@Eggsceptional That make sense if you were going for a physical set , because you need to set up, and you'll want the extra hit points to survive the battle up until the set up is finished.
Red is pretty brutal for special attackers especially while facing the Snorlax .The gen 4 Snorlax is scarier than gen 2 legacy Snorlax mostly because of that hail damage that puts you on a timer.
@@bateltheassistant For sure! That hail damage and the 100% accurate Blizzards were something else to deal with in Red's battle. I really want to run Snorlax early once I get back to Pokémon. He's always been one of my faves.
Hey, my man! I'm waiting sooooooooooo much for a Magmar only playthrough, Fire Red or Emerald, it would be sooooo cool... Great vid as always!
Thank you! I will get to them eventually I promise! Plus, now that we're breaking into SS a bit I'm looking forward to their evolved runs as well :D
Nice run overall, regarding the final red fight, other than setting the weather to clear, u may wanna consider the wacan berry (the electric reducing berry) to reduce volt tackle damage to be more favorable or just reteach aqua jet to KO pikachu. The rest u can just SD, rest and return sweep the rest of red's team since his team does not resist normal type move. Alternatively, pick agility as an egg move to have a big setup at maybe blastoise and sweep the rest of the team with agility, SD, rest and return.
Wacan berry sounds familiar enough that I feel like I've had one of those in a SS playthrough. Is it available through the money you send to mom? Concerning moveset - absolutely SD and some other moves would have made things easier. I'm trying to force myself to think differently right now because SD and win isn't going to teach me much about this game.
Eggsceptional, I'm sorry for the torture you endured for this evolution line. This line needs more to be successful; the only redeemable quality I can find in this line is that Piplup is beyond cute. Prinplup and Empoleon are such forgettable Pokemon for me personally. This playthrough was EGGregious, and I hope you take a well-deserved break after this one. Come on over tonight, I'm making butter chicken.
This guy wasn't too torturous! Maybe leaning away from the physical set cost me, but I wanted to eggsperiment! I'm "kicking my feet up" in Stardew Valley this week, so yes. It's been a nice break :)
Amazing gameplay and. Great commentary! Love you egg head ❤
Thank you :D I really need to get back to this game at some point
Just leaving this comment here to help spread this vid in the algorithm, great content my guy 👌🏻 :)
I appreciate it! Thank you :D
Ah Empoleon, my first starter Pokémon, and my favorite water starter. While I’ve never actually played a Johto game, I’ve been enjoying the Soul Silver videos, and I’m glad Empoleon was covered so soon!
I’m excited to see how the physical-special split spices things further if/when you do Pokémon you’ve covered in the Fire Red series.
Keep up the great work!
Hopefully I did your first start proud! Ish... I haven't eggsactly figured out SS yet :P
I'm looking forward to learning more and getting better! It'd be nice to feel competent enough to start pursuing second playthroughs :D
@@EggsceptionalDon’t stress it, you have more experience in SS than I do after all hahaha. The Aqua Ring strategy was not something I would have considered, but it made things all the more interesting!
@@MisterVictini That's saying something eh? :P It definitely wasn't the fast one, but hey! I'm playing!
This was an interesting video. I like that you're experimenting with strategies other than Swords Dance and sweep, so I'm not gonna comment on that aspect of the solo. What I will say is that the Grass Knot TM would've helped against Red, having 80 BP against Blastoise and 120 BP against Lapras, and that's not accounting for super effective damage. Against Chuck, you could have taught Pluck, the TM for which is south of Olivine on a small island. Not only would it be super effective against Poliwrath, but it would also eat his Sitrus Berry (which frankly makes Pluck quite good, I think Flying types in general will make great use of it, especially against Jasmine). Also with abilities like Torrent, I think it's worth considering a pre-damage strategy with which you go in the fight with a third HP or so and sweep with powerful Surf or Flamethrower, especially combined with Choice Specs. Furthermore, Blizzard has infinite accuracy in hail, so you can use that against Red in lieu of Ice Beam. Based on damage ranges, I feel like Empoleon definitely could have OHKOed Venusaur with Blizzard. It's interesting that you're using the round 2 finish instead of Red to determine the final rankings, but that makes total sense to me. Red is very tough and unforgiving, so making him a special bonus fight is fun (and who knows, maybe even a tiebreaker). I'm interested to see how your methodology evolves over time in your SoulSilver solos (mine has for sure)!
Thank you! I've had a few comments suggesting Grass Knot so I definitely have it written down for future runs :) Pluck against Chuck is a fantastic idea! I keep forgetting too how many helds berries the gym leader Pokémon actually have. My poor FR brain... Concerning Torrent, it's always something that I'm aware of but I find it so hard to route in effectively. Being below 1/3 opens some risk, but having access to things like the Choice Specs may allow me for more opportunities in this game. That's true! The Hail does work both ways I could have used Blizzard. I've written some notes, thank you for all of your tips :D
@@Eggsceptional Of course! I'm happy to help others get better. Also I remembered another tip I wanted to mention: to avoid potential double battles, like the Beauties with Clefairy and Wigglytuff, you can either deposit all of your HM users or make them all faint. Then they'll battle you in two consecutive single battles. I always have my HM users faint and just make that a general rule of mine (except when I'm in the E4, then I deposit them so that only my soloist shows up in the champion screen), that way they have no impact by passively existing (ie. AI will use entry hazards as well as Roar or Whirlwind if you have conscious Pokemon in the back, but it'll still use trapping moves like Mean Look).
@@perkypenguin1663 Another eggscellent tip! Once I have some tech upgrades behind the scenes with SS I should be able to lock all of my cheerleader's HP to 0 and never have to worry about it :) In theory...
I love this penguin! But wouldn't Swords Dance with Waterfall, Drill Peck and Earthquake have made this much easier? Like run a mixed set until Blackthorn, unlearn Surf there and go fully physical? Almost want to give it a try myself now. Anyway awesome evening entertainment as always :)
He said in the last video he's iffy on using the game corner regularly in these runs. He's new to this game so playing it by ear.
IMO I'm totally fine with the TM being hacked in. It's like the post game in fire Red....the Pokemon you run makes no difference it's just extra time. A lot of pokemon are going to need swords dance to get their best time
Swords Dance and a physical set would have absolutely done better, but I'm really trying to force myself to think differently in this initial series. The timer is there for fun more than pressure :P Once I move to start optimizing playthroughs I'll be most focused on completion time so we'll be seeing a lot of SD sweeps, but for now I want to force myself to think differently. It'll hopefully hep me navigate problems in future runs!
to future Egg: 7:46 clefairy is also a troll in her own right !!! before the big one comes.. love your reaction sm lmfao
22:15 EGGZATUUUUU XA XA XA XA XATU XA XA XA
I have another Clef video on the roster, maybe I need to get to that one soon. Thanks :D
I will admit that this is the group of starters I have the least attachment to. So in that sense it's been interesting to see how they handle during runs like this.
That one rival battle...wow. Chikorita takes a lot of heat but in a situation like that second rival battle her evolutionary line can be problematic! Especially for a matchup like this one. Probably was the best move to just fish for metal claw luck and go from there.
They've been an interesting set for me! I'm not convinced by them, but the Water/Steel and Grass/Ground dual typings were sure interesting.
I was not prepared for that Bayleef! I'll find some clever ways around it I'm sure :) ..probably
Yet another eggcellent video sir egg
Thank you :) Plenty more to come!
STAB Metal Claw is worse than neutral Drill Peck, especially considering that Metal Claw doesn’t help cover Water type foes that also resist Surf + Ice Beam. Drill Peck is neutral against Water and also has a handy advantage against the Fighting type. (While STAB Surf coming off Empoleon’s higher SpA is stronger in a vacuum, Drill Peck could be useful against Bruno in particular, as the Hitmons have higher SpD.) Earthquake is another late game option that is neutral against Water and helps cover a scary type (Electric). The TM is in Victory Road. TM27 Return is also always an option unless you’re a gigachad who bans it. Depending on your ruleset, you could manipulate IVs for 70BP Hidden Power Flying, Ground, Grass, Electric, or Psychic, all special attacks (in Gen 4) neutral to Water and super effective against a scary type you don’t already cover.
Steel has an advantage only against Ice and Rock until Fairy is introduced in Gen 6, and Rock is already weak to Water and Ice doesn’t resist it. Even paired with Water to resist Surf, Water also resists Steel, making resisted STAB Surf about as strong (or actually STRONGER when considering Empoleon’s higher SpA, let alone possible Torrent boost).
If you’re dead set on carrying a Steel move into the late game, you can obtain the Flash Cannon TM in the Goldenrod Department Store raffle on Tuesdays.
If you’re holding onto Aqua Ring (a dubious but curiosity-piquing decision in a timed run), there’s also an argument to delete Metal Claw for Aqua Jet. Empoleon is slow, and being able to force an outspeed for a finishing blow might be helpful, if only to consistently beat Gengar’s Destiny Bond.
I was so stubborn about sticking with my special set that I definitely carried Metal Claw with me for waaay too long as a placeholder for Flash Cannon in Kanto. This initial series is more about learning the game, and forcing myself to think differently than posting optimal times. My last 2 SS runs just Swords Dance'd and won. That, to me, isn't going to help me learn the game. Thank you for all of the tips! I've taken notes :)
@@Eggsceptional I don't know how much will be applicable for runs with other Pokémon, but in general you might want to keep a closer eye on when your resisted STAB moves are more powerful than your neutral coverage moves, and keep an eye on what exactly those coverage moves are actually helping you cover. I know there were some times in at least one other video where you would have been better served by resisted STAB attacks than your coverage moves. This can be extra tricky if you're not as familiar with type matchups. They're second nature to me, and I tend to quickly assume other people know them that well too. 😅
@@realperson69 In FR I'm generally pretty good at knowing when to use the resisted moves (STAB Surf being the first that pops into my mind). So many of the type matchups outside of like.. Normal/Fire/Electric/Water I'm decent with but Poison, Bug, Steel? I start getting quite a bit less accurate. Then they went and changed stuff between generations with Steel! It leaves me scrambled
This is exactly the case where manually setting the date for diamond dust would have helped a ton, although you still managed it eventually and rain has its own advantages. Empoleon is such an interesting Pokémon, it has one of the best defensive typings period that’s still totally unique but doesn’t really have the stats to do much with it. At least getting competitive gave it a niche.
I've found that if I manually set the date it breaks all of my other software unfortunately. I've been working on alternates, but right so far I've been having to suck it up a bit.
@@Eggsceptional Well that’s unfortunate, really gotta get you a better software setup
@@banditrests It became a question of effort vs reward. Now that I'm stepping back from Pokémon a bit I'm hoping it'll give me some more time/motivation in the back end of thing to upgrade. Especially in SS.
I can't remember where you get it, but if you were going for Leftovers and Aqua Ring, TM90 is Substitute and you could use that for your run.... It'll help with the stat drops... Just not a solution for Red.
Also I watched because of the Venusaur/Richu stream with Scott's Thoughts! (I still have your first stream with him to watch with Blastoise)
Yes, Substitute would have been a great addition with that absurd level of recovery. I've been given myself a Game Corner budget to spend, and unfortunately Ice Beam ate that budget so I couldn't grab Sub too. I've been really trying to force myself into new ways of thinking, and my FR runs use a LOT of Substitute :) Thank you for the tips!
And welcome! I hope you've been enjoying the content :) My FR content is definitely a bit more refined than my SS content at the moment.
This was beautiful
NOW THIS IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR BABY! Thank you!
More to come :)
I love Empoleon but Prinplup might be the worst middle stage evolution of all the starters, it always feels like it's in that stage way longer than the other two gen 4 starters
Monferno is the one that stays on the middle stage the longest levels wise. And if we're speaking across all generations, I'd find it hard to argue that there's a middle stage evolution worse than Quilladin.
@@jellybunz8357 I was referring to feeling not actual levels required, for some reason I rarely notice how grindy D/P/Pt are with the other two starters.
HG/SS don't feel grindy to me until Kanto
@@jamesgrenier8856 what are you even talking about? Feels like? Unless you been battling strong faster Pokémon, prinplup would have a hard time especially in the sinnoh main games…
I honestly kept forgetting Prinplup's name because it was so forgettable to me :P The Water starter is usually my fave to play but I have to say. Within the Gen 4 starters I had the most fun with the Chimchar line for sure in HGSS.
I feel like the problem with prinplup is that it's moveset is mostly filled with physical moves even though it's a special attacker. It's physical attack is not very good so basically you'll have surf and a bunch of weaker physical moves. If a person has a water resistance then you are just kinda screwed
37:11 for the brunononono... aka that beefy hiker 😂
Bruno no no no...
I havemt heard a Fred Penner reference in forever. Now i want a jaw harp and a pet packrat
No dice. My cat would keep coming back to eat it ;)
@@Eggsceptional my cats all seem to understand than animals in the house arent food. To a degree that makes them bad at being cats...while it was nice that they didnt assault my mother's pet rabbit but ate all the wild bunnies, they also wont harm mice inside the house even though outside mice are very much on the menu.
@@shaynecarter-murray3127 You may not be aware of this, but you may have a Disney cartoon happening in your walls where they're all friends :D
@@Eggsceptional that would explain the music
eggcellent sir, eggcellent. ok that one was interesting, not in the slightest the way I thought it would go, the all special set was a surprise to me and looking at the chat everyone else as well. yes special is its better attacking stat, but we all know how much you love the swords dance and how effective it is. aqua jet would of been good with it, priority water STAB boosted to the max can't be a bad thing, rock slide and earthquake would of been nice too, especially for Red who, lets face it, you really need all you got for. speaking of Red, yikes, that was rough, sequentially rough though, every time you got through one problem with hi, you got another one to figure, Red earns his title of hardest in the Game,
aside from that, that went very well, I said Empoleon is awesome, the steel typing really pulls its weight despite the few extra weaknesses that comes with it. there is nothing like that long list of resistances. I do maintain with the full special set, HP would of been a genuinely good option because it is purely special in Gen 4 onwards so any type was a viable for it, electric or grass, maybe ground would of been good for it. overall you did really good with it, but I would still love to see a physical run of it, for the sake of comparison if nothing else, you know how much I love trying that kind of run just to see how it goes.
I have been catching up with your live stream from Tuesday, I enjoyed it immensely, but oh my shit Venasaur was rougher than I remember I need to try it myself. for the sake of argument in regards to acquiring HP, I know its random and Scott doesn't use it for FR runs, but getting it in a legit way is not out of the question for a standard run. Meowth is a good HP slave with cut, flash and dig (clearly you needed a digger for that one as well). it would eventually get a TM10. also do not discount the usefulness of bullet seed, it would of sorted your PP problems for a lot of the run until razor leaf was an option. Raichu I am still working on, but it was looking good, I had a feeling you'd run it with the starters, just not in a live stream. I now wonder if the other Gen 1 starters will get a viewing. the Eeveelutions and Clef of course. and you mentioned its been a while since you done a VS, I wonder what you are running for us next, I am hoping for many different things, really hope its Castform or the Nidos, but I shall wait and see.
my team run is going well, I am doing my game corner chores right now, very expensive chores, but once I got my Dratini on the team, worth it and once I have beat Erika, I shall trade over the rest of my team, confusion Nidoking, Meditate electabuzz and thunder punch HP ice Magmar, its going to be good. I wait to beat Erika for this because her badge is the one that enables trades to obey at higher levels and I may face Sabrina early to make sure I have them obeying properly for the rest of the run.
Thank you! It's true that I usually go for the SD/physical set which is exactly why I went with the bulky special set this time. I'm trying to expand my horizons a bit and force myself into other lines of thinking. These runs after all are not for a competitive time right now. HP would have found its way in nicely to the set, but again I'm trying to force myself to think differently. I'm hoping that it'll help me learn the game more in the long run.
Clearly I'm lost without having my Meowth to Dig me out of trouble. It's amazing how much something so simple can trip up your game plan. There were plenty of mistakes that I made in all of the races with Scott. I definitely am not somebody who can focus on "x" AND "y" and still perform like I usually would. Oh gosh.. With how everything has been lately I don't know when the next VS will be. I may be realizing lately that I'm incredibly burned out of Pokémon. I've loved it for many, many years, but it's never been my sole focus like it has been for the last year. That's longer than I ever would have given myself to do one thing over and over without going insane.
Obedience issues, at least, are something that I never have to deal with in my runs. I wonder just how brutal an RNG run you could make? Full Metronome, no obedience, etc. Your poor laptop! Summer will be time to start leaving the laptop in the fridge while you're at work :P
I apologize for being so inconsistent with responses. I really try to be thoughtful with every response, but to be perfectly honest I've been struggling a lot lately. I'm having more and more trouble balancing my time effectively, and I've been having to re-think how I go about doing some things. I always appreciate the input, feedback, and discussion :D
@@Eggsceptional I'd say thats fair, you are at the same time as running these runs, trying to learn the game and SS is a different, a nastier beast than FR. the FR Post game is a bit simpler for a start, the SS post game is another whole game pretty much, you add in new Pokemon and new mechanics that mean nearly everything you usually do in FR is changed. its hard to say what is going to work. FR is simple in comparison, set up and sweep and maybe a sub strat in there just in case for good measure, thats no longer the case in SS despite being Swords dance being a TM of course. I think gen 2 and 3 were very much the physical Gens, Curse for Gen 2 and Swords dance for Gen 3, but Gen 4 I think is more special based, the physical special split did a lot more for special attackers than the physical, calm mind is still a TM, growth and nasty plot are scattered about for those that need it most and HP is pure special. HP is a great fixer in Gen 3 for any physical attacker that swords dance for anything that needs to get around the intimidates and boost the perfect coverage of earthquake rock slide brick break aerial ace shadow ball return etc, but Gen 4 flips it and says any type you want and its special damage. the adjustments needed for that are massive, but so far the possibilities.
Empoleon did well as a special but I am curious as to the physical with it, lets face it drill peck would of been handy. its the opposite for Torterra and Infernape of course as growth is an egg move for torterra and nasty plot is a pre-evo move on Chimchar only, but the prospect of a pure special set for infernape is interesting. thats the thing with Gen 4, the capacity to go one way or the other is expanded massively, being pure one or the other is an option for nearly every Pokemon in the game without much compromise as to coverage, I have spent years in Diamond and Pearl experimenting with this and you will find it to, with time.
you're getting tired egg my friend, you've been playing hard for a year now, its one thing to do it because you love it, making it your job is a different matter. adding in SS and than Gen 5 made it rougher than it needed to be. you gotta be kind to yourself egg, you took one rest already, wouldn't blame you for taking another. and doing a race with Scott will do that anyone, he is kinda a beast when it comes to runs, completely dedicated to the science of a run, but not as much heart. you're doing good egg, have that re-think and have a rest for a while. and come back fresh, maybe lay off the SS for a while
I'm a little further into the run and I have found that Erika's badge means there is obedience up to level 50, I thought 40, so the traded half (and I do mean half) of the team will obey for a good long time yet, I do lots of grinding through runs for the whole team but never enough for obedience issues. that sounds genuinely painful, I am not down for that. I don't know if you recall but my original Venonat run had that eggact issue, I traded a venonat in at level 5 with signal beam as its egg move and it fell apart at Brock in a way that would of made the run impossible or at the least unbearable, straight up your 1st run with Parasect painful. I can live with the random jank of metronome and I will do my own run to demonstrate that eventually but disobedience will not be tolerated in a run. I will do early Sabrina if I have to get around that.
@@jptheflipper3825 It's true. I feel that so much of the time in FR I'm running different versions of the exact same set. In SS you're definitely forced to think differently because the variety of what you can encounter. Can't one shot Blue's Exeggcutor? Your level 80 Pokémon now gets owned. Can't deal with Gyarados, and only Gyarados? Get wrecked.
There's no doubt in my mind that if I'd gone for the physical set with Empoleon it would have done much better time wise. There's a chance it may have even beaten Infernape, but I couldn't bring myself to SD and sweep for a 3rd week in a row. That is something that I've been loving in Gen 4, the fact that I can choose whether I'm phys/spec and have options within both.
I think losing the race with Scott had less to do with it. It was more that I was already feeling the burnout, then I collaborate with the creator that flicked the lightbulb on in my head to create my own. That was peak levels of excitement for me in all dimensions, but it didn't make the Pokémon feel any more enjoyable. A break is needed :P
Hey half of an obedient team is still better than none! Ooph yeah, that is a nasty thing to run into. That traded Venonat sounds like it would be on par with Parasect. At what level with a disobedient Venonat rocking Signal Beam actually reliably make it through Brock? I don't even think I want to know. Disobedience will not be tolerated! You should get the item from the Pokéranch - the "Crop". It'll keep them in line :P
@@Eggsceptional having run FR many times recently myself I am inclined to agree, most of the time its either the same moveset for most Pokemon or something completely off the wall in order to overcome a very poor moveset or stats or both. your recent Sunkurn for example. in SS, its different and the problems, when they do come, are absolute walls and you are at a point in the game where there is little to do short of grinding to overcome it. Blue is a good example, a good precursor to Red, similarly diverse team and individual problems that come with it, SS is built much like crystal was, not made for solo running, grinding levels is a nightmare and the jump in levels when you get to the later stages of the R2 and Red s almost too much for a solo that isn't sporting the classic curse, return, rest sleep talk set.
the swords dance and sweep is a favorite move of yours in a run, but you are right too many times in a row is a little samey, especially when the option to do many over things is available. I think Empoleon might of been able to beat Infernapes time, but it would of been close and I think it would be a matter of how well red goes and considering Pikachu is the opener, setting up would not of been safe, it would come down to thunder missing at least once. but thats straight up relying on miss luck and that is rarely consistent
thats fair enough, I understand. trust me, I am about to embark on something myself that may end up the same way, you have made something you love your profession, it is not just done for the love of it, its done because it is your job and a job becomes something we do not enjoy and something that can grind us down over time. yes a break is needed, something you love done sparingly is sometimes better than doing it all the same. I am about to spend 6 months doing my what I love, making guitars, by the end of it I may be sick of it, I hope its not the case. it happens to all of us, hell even Scott needed a break, I forget exactly when, but he had a few weeks off with a few streams. you do what you need to.
my disobedient Venonat did not get past Brock is the short answer. I could of grinded up to Venomoth but that would of caused a different and more disastrous problem. I learnt a short time before attempting that run that the higher the level of the disobediant pokemon is over the level cap afforded by your badges, the more it will disobey. grinding would of made it worse and not grinding would of made it impossible, it is why I have to play completely vanilla, the physical trade over that early makes a run impossible.
@@jptheflipper3825 It's so true. I'm wondering just how Sunkern is going to do with the upcoming leagues in a couple of hours.. If we can get there :P I only have HP Rock for Giovanni right now.. I also agree in SS. At least in the remakes there's the option to re-run the R2 league (assuming they aren't too nasty) to train for Red. It's still not ideal, but there's only so much certain Pokémon can do against those super diverse teams in the endgame (Red and Blue as you mentioned)
It's true. With a physical set I might have been able to Quick Claw EQ Pikachu or something then grab a turn of set up against Blastoise? Focus Blast was survivable after all... Something like that, either way it would have been different. I almost feel bad not going SD and sweep with Empoleon simply because it could have done it so much faster. Oh well, I got to play with insane recovery!
I appreciate you saying that. Making guitars sounds super cool! The level of craftsmanship involved has always wowed me. I hope that you enjoy it in the long term! There's nothing wrong with loving what you do. It's been interesting switching gears because I'm finding that the excitement is back in my process. I'm planning things in my dreams again!
Oh interesting! I wonder what the math is on that? Like.. the probability of disobeying VS the level difference to your highest badge? Would it possible with an egg Venonat that you hatch instead of a trade? Or does is the OT still the trainer that bred it?
Hi @eggceptional pretty new to the channel but love seeing how you work around these games which games/ Pokémon do you think is best to start solo run challenges?
Welcome, and thank you! Honestly, just pick a Pokémon that you love playing. I just ran the game a few times with Pokémon that I really enjoyed and some guides. Hidden items locations, TM locations, item locations. Practice makes perfect! And don't be afraid of "bad" results. Learn from them! I have plenty of runs that I want to revisit in the future :)
Ive been curious about this run since you mentioned how difficult red was
Red was definitely a super hard battle, but a certain amount of that comes down to lack of knowledge/experience. It was still a fun run :D
kingdra is a bad ass pokemon. I use it frequently in my SS runs. Yes, I'm one of those gen-1 folks who has a soft spot for dragon type, and any new evolution of a gen-1 pokemon. GEN 1 FOREVER. BOW DOWN BEFORE THEIR SUPERIORITY.
I will always have a soft spot for Gen 1 as well. We just need to convince GameFreak that Gyarados deserves the Dragon typing.
I feel like hydro pump is the better egg move. a 180 base power move (includig stab) and 90 base power move on resists.
The slowest pokemon that can outspeed reds pikachu (189 speed) in hgss without setup or held items is gastrodon.
I'm more playing with strategies and learning the game at this point. The lack of accuracy on Hydro Pump always deters me.
A base 39 speed can outdo Pikachu? That must be with +speed nature and max IV/EVs
That Bayleef is nothing but trouble in the 2nd and 3rd Rival battle. Also at 8:32 if you just have one Pokémon in the party those two trainers just battle you one at time albeit it will be back to back without a chance to heal outside of battle. Starting in Emerald they added the mechanic where if two trainers spot you it will always be a double battle which I kinda have mixed feelings about but overall I don't think it's a bad mechanic outside a solo run...in a Nuzlocke though it can be a run ender if you're not ready for it
I didn't understand how bad that Bayleef would be! Concerning the trainers hearing to Ecruteak - back to back sounds like it would be waay easier to control than the 2v1. I'll have to try to remember to box my cheerleaders before moving north from now on I suppose
@@Eggsceptional Totodile is my go to Starter and every time I get annoyed by those two Rival battles. Though for the 3rd one sometimes I have a Heracross with Brick Break and Aerial Ace just to use against Bayleef. That double is annoying but thankfully off the top of my head it’s the only one that’s unavoidable in the game
@@lumineinfinitussilverkagat8094 I think you're right about it being the only unavoidable one. It's so wild the difference between playing them game and playing the game well. That Bayleef is a menace :P
You're definitely doing a great job at playing the game, I love the johto games but even I understand why most people are annoyed by them and how bad certain battles/sections are (looking at Team Rocket and Red) Beyleef is no early-mid game Ivysaur/Venusaur with sleep powder but it definitely doesn't make things easy for solo runs. Good luck with future runs and with your non Pokémon related content in the future. I look forward to seeing your channel and community grow @@Eggsceptional
@@lumineinfinitussilverkagat8094 I appreciate it! I feel like stepping back from Pokémon for a bit will allow me to miss it. When I miss something I start obsessing, then I get great ideas :D I was having such a fun time playing Johto, I'm looking forward to getting back into it.
Steel type attacks are not that good offensively so it would have been better to replace metal claw with drill peck. This would have eliminated the resets versus Bruno
I was too narrow minded holded my Steel slot for Flash Cannon later. Drill Peck was calling me, but I wanted to much to not go physical again!
My comment was referenced in this video. I am immortal!
I try my best to include the feedback!!!
16:50 This is without a doubt my favorite cave music of the entire series, it's great, it knocks every other one out of the park, the rest are all lame, even in gen 6 although the original is better.
The Ice Path music is so good!! Any eggscuses I find to include it in a video now I likely will
It’s just me, but I would have utilized a empoleon with the moveset of surf, agility, ice beam, grass knot is a questionable fourth move
I appreciate the feedback! I'm mostly playing with different strategies/learning the game at this point :)
Actually 39:52 Garchomp still outs speeds with Sword Stance on you and you beat Garchomp anyway
I caught that while watching the premiere! D'oh! I missed that one, thanks for keeping me honest
5:55? Express? Eggspress!!!
Eggsactly :)
sandwiches are beautiful sandwiches are fine. I like sandwiches I eat them all the time.
I eat them for my supper and I eat them for my lunch
If I had 100 sandwiches I'd eat them all at once!
While the cat comes back
I would’ve prob dropped aqua ring for grass knot , def for blastoise for red
I've had a few comments about Grass Knot! If I had been going physically, then I probably would have been more inclined towards it. I'm so stuck in my Gen 3 brain
@@Eggsceptional you’re doing great buddy . I’ve gotten a lot of solace and peace watching your videos . Thank you for doing what you do . I saw your community post on mental health . It can be tough . I’m battling it too . Just wanted to say that your vids have been helping calm me down, and re energize me a bit
@@Shawnzy1 I'm happy to hear it! Thank you :) I wish you all the best with your own journey. We've got this!
For Whitney it might be a good idea to make your starter female to avoid attract rng
Very good idea! It's looking that way in SoulSilver for sure.
Empoleon ftw 🎉!!!
This dapper gentleman was so fun :) The recovery was insane!
Staraptor!!!!!
Ooohh yeah I'm looking forward to that one :D
Hiya Egg!
Hiya :D
The tcnick3 run
The "it gets easier" run 😅
We doin Swampert right? 👀
Boo yeah :) But... that run is likely a long ways off in SoulSilver. I have to be honest!
@@Eggsceptional NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! 😢😢😢😢😢
@@mattprice302 After playing Swampert in FR I'm excited to do it! Just.. not now :P
can we see arkoos?
I had to look up what Arkoos was. Google says Arceus. If this is correct, then absolutely. It's on the list for a future run :)
Do you use DesumE
Yes, currently, but I've been looking into Bizhawk lately
Hi :)
Hi :D
Discord invite not working...
Interesting.. I've double checked it all and it should be working?
Update: I figured out why the link was broken. It's updated now and should be working
Egg, will you please run an Absol in FR pls?
It's on the list! I only ask your patience :)
@@Eggsceptional I can wait 100 years, just as long as I get to see the edgy little boi eventually :)
seeing clefairy pull out a sub via metronome was a bit funny, but it also made me realize how annoying she can be and how metronome can REALLY screw you over with its access to pull over 200+ moves. ive had clefairy pull out moves like sacred fire (ho-oh's signature move) and get tagged with that nasty 50% burn affliction AND she managed to pull perish song on me while i was doing a solo run. people talk about how much whitney's Miltank gave them a hard time, but that pink space fairy alien can knock you out of the park just when you'd least expect it.
Right?? Until I did this run I didn't give the Clefairy a second thought aside from "if I need to set up I can do it there". Metronome can be a nasty! I've heard way too many stories of the Explosions from her :P