Ongoing The CapsLocke - TheCapsFan's Nuzlocke Challenge Series

[TheCapsFan]

Spoiler: LeafGreen Episode 13

Spoiler: LeafGreen Episode 14

Spoiler: LeafGreen Bonus Stream (Elite 4 Round 2)

No major update, but I wanted to give a small update on progress for the challenge:

• We went through the rest of the Sevii Islands, grabbing all possible encounters and doing all the fights
• We challenged the Elite Four Round 2 and lost to Blue - which I consider a success, all things considered.
• Game 2: BDSP will start soon. I've picked Shining Pearl because I already have that version and don't want to get the other if I don't have to.
• Still haven't solidified what I want to do regarding the Underground. I'm leaning towards giving myself one extra encounter for each sectioned-off area in the underground, but I have a bit more time to figure out what I want to do there.

 

[There Is No Arceus]

what i did for the underground was give myself one encounter in each of the big hideaways, with the first pokemon i spotted being my encounter for that hideaway. Anyway, good luck with this; the mid-game is piss-easy, but the pokemon league is very difficult.

 

[TheCapsFan]

Spoiler: Shining Pearl Episode 1

Spoiler: Shining Pearl Episode 2

And so, with our adventure through Kanto complete, we're now venturing out to Sinnoh to begin our journey through Pokemon Shining Pearl! The difficulty will be about the same as for LeafGreen, given the QoL aspects of this game (global EXP share, friendship mechanics, etc), though the fights will be a bit harder than in LeafGreen.

To make sure that the difficulty is increased just a bit further as well, I'll be adding a new rule into this challenge:

• I will be disallowing healing items in battle for this challenge. I think that in the first game, I relied too much on this in big moments - I tried not to, but I still ended up doing it to ensure victory (most notably in the Lance fight and the Blaine fight, I think). So - this will force me to use more healing moves, as well as consider sacrifice as a potential strategy.

There are also a couple of adjustments I'll be making to some existing rules:

• I will be adjusting the dupes clause rule to only affect pokemon that have a "captured" icon next to their name. This means, if I catch a Pidgey, I can catch a Pidgeotto later on if I don't evolve it. I'll be using this rule for future challenges & updating it in the OP accordingly.
• For the Underground, I will be allowing one encounter for each of the "larger rooms." There are seven of these such rooms. I will go for the first pokemon I see that is valid. I'm anticipating these encounters to be tough because I think the Underground is scaled a bit above your current level.
• For encounters that can happen at times outside of normal stream time, I'll be allowing myself to save those encounters and take them later. For example, Drifloon at the Valley Windworks, or any Honey encounters. Or any routes with possible encounters that can only be done in the morning. I'll try to identify these beforehand & work to adjust during the streams.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway, I've already done two streams towards this challenge, and through two gyms, we have zero deaths, albeit with a few close calls! Turtwig was the starter (per a D10, since I can't access my trainer card before picking my starter), and although I would have preferred to get Chimchar, it's not bad considering all the Sinnoh starters are pretty decent.

We almost had an early reset when my Rival (named after @DapperCody this time) nearly took me out - all three of my Pokemon at the time were in redbar/death range - but his terrible AI didn't notice the kill & chose to Leer instead of attack.

Roark was a fine battle, no issues & pretty easily taken out, and with Gardenia, I only had issues when her Zubat just would not miss her Supersonics.

Also, I had planned to use my Valley Windworks encounter on Drifloon & my Floroama Meadow encounter on a Honey Tree, but missed both of them yesterday.

Overall, it's been a smooth run so far and I think I have a pretty good team - only un-optimal encounter IMO was not getting Shinx, which would have been useful. Also we ended up with a really crappy Magikarp which is unfortunate (-Attack +Speed) but it's okay because we already have another Intimidate user with Staravia. Here's the team after beating Gardenia:

• MORRIGAN the Golbat (Lv23)
• Mrs. Chops the Machop (Lv19)
• Pikastachio the Grotle (Lv22)
• Krickenback the Kricketune (Lv19)
• DuskingWinds the Misdreavus (Lv20)
• BIRB the Staravia (Lv22)

I also have a Psyduck and a Geodude in the back, amongst others. Not bad!!

Anyway, enjoy the vods & I'll be back next week with another stream!

 

[TheCapsFan]

Oh, one more thing - I've added a poll to this thread so you can vote on whichever game I play next. The options are: Pokemon White, Pokemon Moon, Pokemon Omega Ruby, and Pokemon Gold/Silver. Feel free to show your support for your favorite!

I don't have a preference between Gold and Silver, but I want to play Moon/White respectively since I haven't actually played Moon (only Sun), and I've not played White 2 - so I want to make sure I play the same version for the Unova games since it makes more sense continuity-wise.

 

[There Is No Arceus]

Have you started thinking about how you're going to deal with Cynthia's Garchomp? cause that thing is insane. it swept my entire team even though i play on switch mode and i allow healing items in battle. the only way i ended up beating it the second time was with a cheesy Sturdy+Metal Burst strat from a bastiodon with HP investments.

btw i find it funny that you have prohibited yourself from grinding higher than the gym leader's ace in Shining Pearl, of all games. every member of my team was almost 10 levels higher than the Ice gym leader's ace even though i hadn't grinded since Eterna.

 

[TheCapsFan]

Have you started thinking about how you're going to deal with Cynthia's Garchomp?

In all seriousness, no. We'll see what I get as I progress & I'll be sure to train something up once I get access to it. As of right now, I don't think I have anything I can use.

btw i find it funny that you have prohibited yourself from grinding higher than the gym leader's ace in Shining Pearl, of all games. every member of my team was almost 10 levels higher than the Ice gym leader's ace even though i hadn't grinded since Eterna.

It will probably be the case that I am overleveled for at least some, if not most of the fights. I'm mostly implementing it so I'm used to it being there for the future/to prevent me from overgrinding if I need to level up something specific.

 

[There Is No Arceus]

what's your rule on fossil pokemon? They aren't regular underground encouners after all. If your rules allow you to get them, i'd advise doing so; Bastiodon is really great. It has good bulk, and the combination of Sturdy and Metal Burst is very good. It's how i beat Cynthia's Garchomp.

 

[TheCapsFan]

what's your rule on fossil pokemon? They aren't regular underground encouners after all. If your rules allow you to get them, i'd advise doing so; Bastiodon is really great. It has good bulk, and the combination of Sturdy and Metal Burst is very good. It's how i beat Cynthia's Garchomp.

Good question!! Fossils would be allowed. I would count it as the Oreburgh City encounter since that’s where the Pokemon is revived.

Speaking of, I need to give some updates soon - we’ve had quite a few streams since the last.

 

[TheCapsFan]

Ugh, I PROMISE I'll get an update out soon. Like, tonight, maybe. I'll try and cover 4 streams in the first one, and the rest in the next. Sorry guys!

 

[TheCapsFan]

I guess I should stop procrastinating on this :U

So, it's been a while since I've updated this thread on my progress with Shining Pearl. And, I'm happy to report that progress has been going mostly smoothly...until very recently, at least.

I'm not going to bother linking all...7? streams since the last update; rather, I'll provide you with the highlights (or, rather, the lowlights) of the run so far. If you really want to watch, though, here's the link to the collection that has all the videos I've been able to grab from my streams. You'll notice Episode 10 is missing...unfortunately I didn't save it in time, and it's since been lost to the void.

Anyway, the run! So yeah. In the last update, we had started with a solid core of Grotle, Golbat, Machop, and Staravia. Now, after seven gyms and halfway through climbing up Mt. Coronet, only two of that core remain, with a fresh set of new faces. Let's find out what happened to our fallen comrades & their untimely deaths.

THE FALLEN

• Quackor the Psyduck (Lv27)
• BIRB the Staravia (Lv30)
• Arceus the Bibarel (Lv38)
• Mrs. Chops the Machamp (Lv42)
• SpongeBob the Gastrodon (Lv41)

We've only really had two problem sections so far in the run: the Veilstone Gym, and the Snowpoint Gym. In the Veilstone Gym, we had ran right up to the cap with a lot of our stronger Pokemon with type advantages, such as Crobat, which forced Pokemon like Quackor into action that was unecessary. As such, Quackor fell to a gym trainer, and the only way I was able to get out of that battle was some lucky Hex strats using my Haunter. In the battle against Maylene (which was also very tough), BIRB got hit with a really untimely crit and fell as well.

In the Snowpoint Gym, I felt like a lot of the casualties there were due to my own incompetence & arrogance. I felt like we had a lot of options in the gym fight itself, but failed to account for a few things that required me to sacrifice some team members to win. Arceus died in one of the trainer fights, trying to tank some of the ice-type attacks for some of my other teammates. SpongeBob fell to a crit from one of Cynthia's Pokemon (I believe it was Medicham), and Machamp was a necessary sacrifice to get my Rapidash in safely to set up speed in prep for Sneasel and Abomasnow, since I knew boosted Sneasel could knock out a decent portion of my team. This was one of the tougher battles I've had in this challenge so far, and unfortunately the footage is lost, but trust me when I say this - I came out of it completely beaten down and really uncertain about the battles ahead.

THE FIRST TEAM
I've been alternating who I keep on my team consistently based on a few factors - specifically, level cap and utility in the next gym battle. The low level caps combined with the permanent EXP Share has forced me to start thinking about the next gym fights more early and more strategically. That being said, there are a few Pokemon that have come with me to many an important fight, and I'd consider them to be my "first team" of strongest Pokemon:

• Pikastachio the Torterra (Lv45)

Pikastachio has earned his place at the top of the list by coming in clutch multiple times. As an Earthquake user, he's been able to take care of the rare double battle pretty nicely as well, with someone like Pillow or MORRIGAN by his side.

• ponx the Rapidash (Lv45)

ponx has been a vital member of the team, covering for a lot of stuff that Pikastachio has trouble hitting, as well as being the lone fire type on the entire team. Sinnoh is notorious for its lack of fire types, but Rapidash is one of the better ones, and I'm glad she's here.

• Pillow the Bronzong (Lv45)

Pillow is a newer member to the team, but has managed to single-handedly change my perspective of Bronzong. I had never used this tanky Steel/Psychic type before, and with the potential for either Levitate or Heatproof (mine has the former) to nullify one of its weaknesses, it's really easy to play around. Plus, a strong Psychic type is always welcome, and Steel gets some good utility as a backup counter to Fairy-types if Don Zaloong is unavailable.

• Hoppip the Golem (Lv44)

Yep, I'm using another Golem in this run - it's just that awesome. Part of the reason for this is because Gastrodon is gone, which was more of a utility Earthquake user (also having access to Recover), but Golem is all about the power. It's not as good as my Golem from LeafGreen (since that one was EV trained very specifically) but it still holds its own - and I'm holding onto Explosion for just the right opponent.

• Don Zaloong the Drapion (Lv42)

Don Zaloong is another newer member to the team, being brought in to deal with Candice and Cyrus. He hits hard and quickly, with decent Defense to boost. Whirlwind is a good utility move, just in case I'm not okay with a particular matchup, and Toxic is good for chip damage as well. I think I can see this one becoming pretty useful down the line, especially due to its typing.

• MORRIGAN the Crobat (Lv41)

MORRIGAN has seen less action recently (given that the last two gyms have been primarily Ice and Steel, and the next one being Electric), but I can't deny that Crobat has been an incredible boost to the early and mid game.

THE BACKUPS
Not going to go into as much detail with these guys as with the first team, but I'll provide a short blurb on each of them:

• Rick Gastly the Gengar (Lv40): Now aptly named. Has Hypnosis/Hex as well as Levitate.
• FanOfCaps the Raichu (Lv41): Has been a decent fill-in in lieu of a lack of Shinx line this run, but has kind of ran out of its utility with the fights going forward.
• Josephine the Quagsire (Lv39): Might use this one as a backup for Gastrodon, but I think I can probably fill that niche elsewhere.
• Serenity the Drifblim (Lv37): I had a lot of ghost types this one (three between Serenity, Rick Gastly, and DuskingWinds) but Serenity has some potential for some usefulness going forward with both Phantom Force and Fly as two-turn moves as well as Destiny Bond for any necessary sacrifice.
• Ban the Rhyhron (Lv38): Haven't used them yet, but serves as a backup for Hoppip the Golem if necessary.
• Robert the Medicham (Lv36): Similarly haven't used them, but could come in handy now that Mrs. Chops is gone.
• Hogan the Blissey (Lv29): Honestly I think this is my best option for dealing with Cynthia's Garchomp at the moment, as well as Cyrus' team. I think it could MAYBE become a huge core of my team for the remainder of the game, if I train it up properly.

Anyway, that's my update! Pretty long but what did you really expect after a few months lol. I am going to try and get the game finished by the end of January, so we can move on to (what looks to be) Omega Ruby!

 

[TheCapsFan]

Spoiler: Shining Pearl Episode 12

Spoiler: Shining Pearl Episode 13

Spoiler: Shining Pearl Episode 14

Spoiler: Shining Pearl Episode 15

As we get to the end of things, I figured I'd update this thread one last time with my progress. We're standing at the edge of the Pokemon League, but I want to train a bit more before we take it on. With the holidays and a vacation last week, I haven't had much time to train or teambuild. So, tomorrow's gonna be another training stream, where I'll just procrastinate & keep leveling up all the 'mons I'm considering taking to my final team. Here's the list of potential candidates:

• Pikastachio the Torterra (Lv57)
• FanOfCaps the Raichu (Lv57)
• Josephine the Quagsire (Lv57)
• Grant the Mamoswine (Lv57)
• Pillow the Bronzong (Lv56)
• ponx the Rapidash (Lv56)
• Don Zaloong the Drapion (Lv55)
• Bob the Medicham (Lv54)
• Blofeld the Purugly (Lv53)
• marshmallow the Clefairy (Lv51)
• BLÅHAJ the Garchomp (Lv50)
• Marth the Palkia (Lv50)
• Rick Gastly the Gengar (Lv49)
• Fettuccine the Steelix (Lv49)
• Liam the Lucario (Lv48)
• Hogan the Blissey (Lv47)
• Sheldon the Shieldon (Lv47)
• Serenity the Drifblim (Lv43)

As you can see, there are plenty of options here. Right now I'm thinking something like Torterra, Lucario, Medicham, Garchomp, Palkia, and Rapidash. But I'm not totally certain on it, so any suggestions would be more than welcome. (And yes, Palkia is on the team for now because I really am scared about this challenge and might need it in order to survive lol) Oh, and the level cap is 57. So that's what I'm training all these up to!

We've also lost a few team members as well since the last update:

• MORRIGAN the Crobat (Lv46) - Sacked to Cyrus (iirc)
• Flygon the Sneasel (Lv43) - Lost en route to Sunnyshore
• Hoppip the Golem (Lv48) - Lost to something in Victory Road
• bingull the Pelipper (Lv45) - Lost to something in Victory Road
• Toadette the Toxicroak (Lv54) - Sacked to Final Rival fight

So yeah. Tomorrow will be another training/teambuilding stream, and then the week after is when we'll stop procrastinating and challenge the Elite Four. Sorry to be a bit light on the content recently, but I've had no motivation to grind offstream at all and have been busy with other things. I'll give another update once the E4 has been challenged!

 

[mastermind lissi]

My messages aren’t showing up in the twitch chat, do you know why? (sorry if this is the wring place to ask)

 

[TheCapsFan]

(Just for others, in response to the above - you need to have at least your email verified to chat with us on Twitch!)

 

[TheCapsFan]

So.

We tried. And failed. Made it all the way to Cynthia, but she crushed us.

Here was our team:

• Pikastachio the Torterra
• Marth the Palkia
• ponx the Rapidash
• Don Zaloong the Drapion
• Sheldon the Bastiodon
• Serentiy the Drifblim

But I'm not giving up. We're gonna give it one more shot, with Blahaj as our core member.

We started training a couple streams ago, and we're gonna keep going on Thursday.

Then, next week, we'll challenge them again. This time with the cap all the way at 66. If we can't do it this time...we'll move on.

 

[There Is No Arceus]

I'd advise using your Blissey on your next attempt. It's a really good pokemon that completely walls Cynthia's Spiritomb and potentially also her Milotic. It also does well against many of Aaron and Lucian's pokemon.

 

[TheCapsFan]

I'd advise using your Blissey on your next attempt. It's a really good pokemon that completely walls Cynthia's Spiritomb and potentially also her Milotic. It also does well against many of Aaron and Lucian's pokemon.

Honestly at this point I'll take anything I can get. I'll toss it in the lineup.

 

[There Is No Arceus]

shame to see what happened last stream. All that work, just to lose again. That Milotic truly is a beast.

That said, my screen rarely has to endure this much shouting at. Not all of your plays were optimal. Though i guess i also do dumb shit when my plans fall apart and i didn't have a backup plan.

 

[TheCapsFan]

shame to see what happened last stream. All that work, just to lose again. That Milotic truly is a beast.

That said, my screen rarely has to endure this much shouting at. Not all of your plays were optimal. Though i guess i also do dumb shit when my plans fall apart and i didn't have a backup plan.

Lmao. I had realized before the stream started that there really was no counter left for Milotic.

I know I definitely made some unoptimal choices (we had a decently long chat in vc about it afterwards) but curious to hear what you think I could have done better!

I hope it was at least entertaining i do apologize for being the cause of screen-yelling tho.

 

[There Is No Arceus]

Lmao. I had realized before the stream started that there really was no counter left for Milotic.

I know I definitely made some unoptimal choices (we had a decently long chat in vc about it afterwards) but curious to hear what you think I could have done better!

I hope it was at least entertaining i do apologize for being the cause of screen-yelling tho.

One thing you could have done better was to not give Alakazam the time to set up as many Nasty Plots as it wanted. Pokemon with setup moves need to die quickly, lest they become unstoppable. It occured to me after our conversation yesterday that your planned strategy against Garchomp would have run into similar issues.

Another poor move was to have your Blissey forget Softboiled. Blissey is a stall mon; its survivability is what makes it great, not its damage output. I'm not sure what move you should have forgotten for Flamethrower, but i am sure that Softboiled was the most important move in your moveset. I'd also have spammed Light Screen against the Spiritomb until it was out of sucker punches; doesn't matter that you already have a screen up, what matters is wasting Spiritomb's PP.

I'd also have used Steelix against Lucario. Sure, Steelix has no special defense and is weak to Lucario's moves, but he has sturdy so he's guaranteed to get a hit in. And of course there's the chance that Cynthia just spams Flash Cannon for some reason and throws the fight, allowing Steelix to live.

 

[TheCapsFan]

Spoiler: Omega Ruby Episode 1

So, after a second failed attempt at the BDSP Elite Four, I've decided to mark the game as "shelved" and come back to it closer to the end of the challenge.

In the meantime, I've marked the next game as Omega Ruby and we had our first episode on Thursday, which you can see in the spoiler above. Notably we caught a shiny Zigzagoon! Though we won't be able to use them :/

Spoiler: Catching Shiny Zigzagoon

It's gonna be a bit before I can do another episode - we've got Catch A Million this whole week, so we're all gonna be focused on that - but once we do, I'm really excited to get into it a lot more!