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Unovia's Ultra Moon "Regional Variant" Run

What Starter Should I Pick For My Ultra Moon Run?


  • Total voters
    3
  • Poll closed .

Unovia

Author of Pokemon of the Week (Travelin' Dan)
Joined
Aug 10, 2020
Messages
1,516
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Pronouns
  1. He/Him
Hey Folks!
It's Unovia again, here with another Playthrough, this time of Pokemon Ultra Moon. If you have not seen my previous work, please check out the following:
Pokemon of the Week:

Here is my Previous Run, a "Beauty Run" of Pokemon Y (Now Completed):

With the promotion of my work, let's discuss the rules of this run.

1. I can only use the Regional Variants in battle.
2. I can have my Starter in my team until I get 6 different Regional Variants.
3. Trades are not allowed.
4. Dupes Clause is in effect.

Variants I Can Use (All Are Alolan Forms):
Rattata & Raticate
Raichu
Sandshrew & Sandslash
Diglett & Dugtrio
Meowth & Persian
Grimer & Muk
Exeggutor
Marowak
Considering the support of my previous run, I hope to get similar support for this one as well. Can I beat Alola using only Regional Variants? Only Time will Tell. Please Vote In The Poll for what starter I should pick.
 
Log #1-Clock Frustration
When I started up my game, I started as a girl, named myself Victoria, then went through the long beginning, saving Nebby and all of that. I was able to see an Alolan Rattata, but because it was the beginning of the game, I couldn't catch it yet. I also found out that at this point, the game is set to certain time because I guess they want to feature the festival at Iki Town before I get time control. Anyway...

I selected Rowlet as my starter, then when I could catch Pokemon, I caught a Pichu. Every time I have played these games, I had to practically get Pichu to 5 hearts of affection before it will evolve to Pikachu. This is going to be a long slog to get everything up where I need it to be. Until I get past the Festival, I will be using Rowlet as a significant part of my team. The handholding begins. My plan is to get Pikachu, Alolan Rattata, Alolan Grimer, Alolan Meowth, and Alolan Diglett before I beat the Melemele Grand Trial. We will see if my game cooperates.

My Team:
Rowlet-Lv.8
Pichu-Lv.7

Thank you all so far for the views. Keep it up.
 
Log #2-Iki Festival and School Registration
With my Rowlet and Pichu, seeing no other way forward, I participated in the Iki Town Festival. Rowlet defeated Pichu, while my Pichu beat his Popplio. Winning the Festival got me my Z Power Ring and signed me up for the Island Challenge. Heading back to Kukui's Lab, I battled some trainers down there, got the Rotom Dex, then worked to get back up to capture an Alolan Rattata. I trained it up so I could use it, then finished beating the trainers near Kukui's Lab.

Meeting Lillie at the Pokemon Center, I played through the explanation, then walked in the nearby grass of the school to catch an Alolan Meowth and Grimer. I think Pichu is close to evolving because it is already 4 hearts of affection. If I can get all of my Pokemon to have high affection, I should be able to dodge most of the attacks at the right moment.

My Team:
Rowlet-Lv.9
Pichu-Lv.9
Rattata-Lv.9
Meowth-Lv.8
Grimer-Lv.8

Next time, I will clear out the school students and the teacher. Plan is to get my team members up to level 13 before I battle the Teacher, since that starter could be an issue. Luckily I have the experience share and my Meowth has the Quick Claw, which I was surprised about, but that is awesome.

Until next time, see you!
 
Good luck! I think the Happiness = Affection thing was implemented until Gen 8, in Gen 7 you have to do other things to boost Friendship and evolve Pichu like walking a lot, give friendship berries and give massages in the Festival Plaza.
 
Good luck! I think the Happiness = Affection thing was implemented until Gen 8, in Gen 7 you have to do other things to boost Friendship and evolve Pichu like walking a lot, give friendship berries and give massages in the Festival Plaza.
That is odd, because I have done the evolution through affection in Gen 7, mainly by training up Pichu (for example), raising the affection every level.
 
I'm not sure if we're using the same terms: Affection is the hearts you see in Pokemon Refresh and Happiness is what makes Pichu evolve. Affection doesn't have an effect in Happiness evolutions, it's coded like that in UltraSun & UltraMoon.
 
I'm not sure if we're using the same terms: Affection is the hearts you see in Pokemon Refresh and Happiness is what makes Pichu evolve. Affection doesn't have an effect in Happiness evolutions, it's coded like that in UltraSun & UltraMoon.
Ah...okay. I will be paying attention to that then. :)
Thanks for the information.
 
Log #3-Schooling the Teacher, Hau'oli City, and Meeting Team Skull
To train up my team, I decided to clear out the students in the school, then finish the scaling of my team to level 13 before battling the teacher. Once I finished those tasks, I took on the teacher, which after switch battling to beat the Litten, I graduated from the Trainers School. After that, I walked through Hau'oli City, getting the Rotom Finder and a few other items. I started getting the Totem Stickers (I have 7 so far), then met Team Skull grunts, beating them easily, then fought Ilima. Ilima is a tough battle, mainly for his Smeargle. Ember is a really unexpected move, but after some struggles and switching, I proved myself to him. Hala started all of the drama with Tauros, prompting me to go onto Route 2, where I am stopping the play for now.

The next log will feature what happens next, because according to Bulbapedia, Alola Route 2 is a crossroads. Next time, we will play through the crossroads. North is Route 3 and Verdant Cavern. East is the Hau'oli Cemetery and the Berry Fields. West is Big Wave Beach. We will log through all of the directions.


Until next time, see you!
 
Log #4-Route 2 Crossroads
Starting the walk down Route 2, I battled trainers, then went through the Berry Fields, then to the Hotel next to Big Wave Beach, mainly because I was drawn there by the Crabrawler outside. I ran into a lost Meowth, returned it to its too loving owner, then walked down to Big Wave Beach. Team Skull grunts followed me there and hurt the Mantine. I helped the Mantine, then when I came to the Pokemon Center nearby, I was asked to find a Crabrawler myself. I caught one, then I remembered the woman who wanted to see an Abra, caught one, then showed it to her, boxing both respectively.

I deliberately avoided the Verdant Cavern, mainly because I don't feel ready to fight it. The last place I trained in was Hau'oli Cemetery, where I beat all of the trainers there. I saved after clearing it out, wanting to save the trial for the next log.

My Team:
Rowlet-Lv.15
Pichu-Lv.15
Rattata-Lv.15
Meowth-Lv.15
Grimer-Lv.15

I am not sure the level I should take the trial at. Totem Raticate is Lv.11, way too low level for a Raticate, but I think being 4 levels higher than it should be strong enough to beat the first Totem. See you next time!
 
Log #5-Verdant Cavern Trial
With some caution, I walked into Verdant Cavern, knowing I could not walk away without resetting the trial. Checking each Rattata den (and one RATICATE!), I moved through the trial. Pichu evolved during the trial! Then, Team Skull showed up, actually being helpful. Clearing the trial, I moved into the totem fight. The strategy for this fight was to take out the Totem no matter what the Ally did. It took my entire Alolan Pokemon team to take down the Totem, using revives and potions as needed. I won with my Alolan Grimer. It was close, very close, and now I am worried about the battle with Hala. It is going to drive me nuts. None of my Alolan Pokemon are going to be able to beat Hala without waiting him out due to my entire team being weak to Fighting moves. I will have to train up enough to withstand the hits. Luckily, I have some time before Hala thank goodness.

My Team:
Pikachu-Lv.16
Rattata-Lv.16
Meowth-Lv.16
Grimer-Lv.16
Rowlet-Lv.16

We will see you the next log, when I work to catch Alolan Diglett and go on Route 3.
 
Log #6-Where In The World Is Lillie & Nebby?
After the Trial, I walked around the cave area, eventually finding Alolan Diglett. Lillie and Nebby went missing, and I was requested to help find her. Instead, I trained Diglett up in the grass around the Route 2 Pokemon Center until it was Level 16 to work with the rest of my team before I went to find her and Nebby, not sure where she was. Traveling through Route 3, I battled all of the trainers while attempting to dodge the flying bird shadows.

Eventually finding myself at Melemele Meadow, I found Lillie and Nebby. While I was going through the Meadow, I reunited a couple then battled Meredith the Oricorio Actor the first time. As soon as I found Nebby, two pale aliens in suits that I had met in passing before battled me. As soon as I beat them, saving Nebby, Lillie walked with me out of the Meadow, and then I battled Hau. Eventually I beat him, and I was declared ready to face Hala. I know I am not ready. Nowhere near.

My Team:
Dartrix-Lv.17
Pikachu-Lv.17
Rattata-Lv.17
Diglett-Lv.17
Persian-Lv.17
Grimer-Lv.17

What am I to do now? Hala is level 16, so if I want to best him soundly, I probably should level up to level 20 so I have a 4 level baseline against him. This s honestly the most worrisome of the trials, mainly because most of my team is weak to fighting. Rattata evolves at lv.20 at night time, which is playing in the morning for me because of the alternate time scale of Ultra Moon. I will also equip Diglett with a Quick Claw, just to make sure I can out speed Crabrawler. Even though the crab is slow, having that Fightinium-Z is still going to make him an issue.

Members of My Team Weak To Fighting:
Raticate-Alolan Raticate, being Dark and Normal, is 4x weak to Fighting.
Diglett-Alolan Diglett, being Ground and Steel, is 2x weak to Fighting.
Persian-Alolan Persian, being Dark, is 2x weak to Fighting.


That is half my Team. As part of this run, even though Dartrix is part of my team, I can't use him. I will probably box him before the Hala fight. If I could get Pikachu to Raichu, it would learn Psychic, which would pretty much OHKO his entire team. The team I plan to use is Pikachu, Diglett, and Grimer. This is going to be a challenge, and hopefully it won't be too tough.

Grand Trial vs Hala on the next log! Tune in to see if I win or this run ends earlier than expected!
 
Log #7-Big Bad Hala
Here we go! We were having a hard time leveling up because the Alola Region has a similar grinding type to Unova, as when it comes to the Grand Trial, you end up grinding on weaker Pokemon. My plan a bit foiled, I decided I would try to battle Hala making sure to put Dartrix in the box. I was very nervous about the fight, and it really proved tough. I brought out Pikachu against Machop thinking that the speed would drop it down enough with Thundershock. When that didn't drop as much as I thought it would, I was surprised. Machop hit me with Revenge, OKHOing Pikachu, with no Static effect. Switching out to Diglett, I attempted to knock it down with Magnitude. Machop didn't fall, Diglett fell to Revenge. Grimer came out, and with Poison Fang, I bested it finally. Then came out Makuhita. We exchanged Poison Fang and Sand Attacks, and Grimer came out on top.

Finally came out Crabrawler, which finally beat Grimer using the Fightinium Z, through not without Poison damage. Grimer is tanky! Moving to Rattata, I used Breakneck Blitz through Hyper Fang to put a lot of pain on him, though Hala used a Full Heal, then made my heart drop using a Super Potion. I did another hit and Rattata fainted. With no other choice but Persian, I fought really hard, and eventually I beat Crabrawler while almost fainting myself. Grimer was the determining factor in this fight, as if it wasn't able to withstand a fight like that, I would have been crushed.

I couldn't believe I actually beat Hala, gaining the Fightinium Z as a reward. I also got the ride pager and the ability to use Tauros as a Ride Pokemon.

This was one heck of a challenge, but I am pretty sure I have a few easier challenges ahead because of my current levels. I am sure I have a few things left to do on Melemele Island before I leave, so I will be focusing on that until I clear the island officially. Until then, I will see you soon!
 
Log #8-Riding Tauros & Solving Mysteries
After I got Tauros as a Ride Pokemon, I broke some huge rocks, then rode through Hau'oli City, playing through the Photo Club, then stopped at the School, where I solved some mysteries. I considered catching the Gastly and the Driftloon, but I thought the best thing was to solve the mysteries and move on. Here are the Mysteries:


Mystery Description Trigger Event
Scary lights"At night. Near burning place. Scary lights show up and wander. Burning. Someone burning and crying. You hear girl's voice."Approach the main entrance, then the incineratorYouth Athlete Deedra is using the incinerator to burn love letters she wrote to a crush who is now in a relationship with someone else. She decided to burn them late at night so nobody would notice. When the player notices her doing this, she challenges them to a battle.
Lord Slimy"At night, you hear strange sound. Slimy, slimy—getting close. Footsteps of Lord Slimy... If you're found, Lord Slimy swallow you. You're gone."Go to 3FOnce they reach 3F, the player hears Lord Slimy's footsteps coming up the stairs, and has to hide (they cannot go down the stairs, due to the footsteps coming from there). They hide in a locker, but are found by the janitor's grandson and the cleaning Grimer, Grimo. Grimo has to clean the lockers, so has the janitor's grandson help him, since Grimo cannot open the lockers. Grimo works late at night to clean more than his rival Grimer, Grimey.
Scary PA system"At night, teachers' lounge, second floor. You hear broadcast from beyond grave. You're done for if you hear it. You can't leave. It's over for you."Enter teachers' lounge on 2FAs the player walks towards the door, they hear a broadcast over the PA system, telling them that they cannot get out. When they approach the door, a man with his Slowpoke appears. The man tells the player that the speaker was broken so he had to fix it. However, his Slowpoke fell asleep in front of the door and he couldn't get out.
Stairs to nowhere"Night, stairs, cursed. You go up and up, but still same place. You can't go down, either. Circle, circle. Can't go back."Go to 2FOnce they reach 2F, the player feels a cold breeze. Even if they go up or down the stairs, they remain on 2F. If the player goes to the west side of the floor, they notice the bulletin board. One piece of paper has black stains on it, which indicates the lower left, upper left, lower right, then upper right corner. If the player steps on the sparkles on the floor in these corners of 2F in that order, they can use the stairs again. When proceeding to 1F, they are immediately attacked by a wild Gastly.
Cursed diary"It appears on the shelf, third floor. Keep reading, and scary thing happens. If you finish reading it, someone take you away."Read book from shelf on 3FThe diary tells a story of someone who bought a seemingly haunted house. They would hear a constant scratching sound, which the player then hears. The owner would also see something moving in the house. After finishing the diary, the lights suddenly go out, and the player is attacked by a wild Drifloon. After completing the battle with Drifloon, the player reads the rest of the diary and discovers that it is in fact a horror fiction novel written in diary format.
Ghosts' class"At night, classroom, second floor. You hear laughter. Ghost are taking a class, too. Everyone says so."Enter classroom on 2FWhen the player enters the classroom, there is a teacher and students in the room. Many of the students tell the player to join them and be their friend. If the player interacts with the teacher, she is revealed to actually be a Hypno creating an illusion, who then flees and disappears. The students, also part of Hypno's illusion, also vanish.


Once I finished the Mysteries, I cut my hair then went shopping. I want to get an outfit for every Island. After the shopping, I came to the Mantine Surfing location, where I stopped play for now. I don't like Mantine Surfing mainly because the Circle Pad is strange for me. The next log will be heading to Akala Island.
Until then, see you!
 
Log #9-Mantine Riding and First Steps In Akala
I rode the waves on Mantine to Akala Island. Once reaching Heahea Beach. I was introduced to Olivia and Mallow, who welcomed me to Akala. Lillie walked to The Tide Song Hotel for a meeting, and as I was working to follow her there, Dexio and Sina stopped me, introduced themselves, then Sina battled me. Once that was completed, I met up with Lillie, who apparently missed the meetng she was planning to attend with somebody.

Walking onto Route 4, I began the long trek to Paniola Ranch. Battling a few trainers, I found myself in Pikachu Valley, playing with a few of them. That trailer is packed full of Pikachus! Once I was done playing with them, I continued training through to Paniola Ranch, where I battled Hau. I forgot that Hau has 4 Pokemon at this point, but he wasn't a threat at all, like usual. Collecting Totem Stickers, I eventually had 20, which lead me to talk to Samson Oak, who gave me a Totem Alolan Raticate, which went into the box since I have an Alolan Raticate now.

It's a long road back to Paniola Town and continuing onward. Next log will be all actions up to Brooklet Hill. Until then, see you!
 
Log #10-It's A Long Road To Brooklet Hill
Leaving Heahea Beach, I go back up Route 4, then through Paniola Town, settling into Paniola Ranch and meeting Mallow. Mallow hands me Stoutland, and we search through the farmland, battling trainers and sniffing out items. Eventually, I make it to the Day Care, where I receive an egg which hatches into Eevee and is promptly boxed. Moving from there to Route 5, I try at first to avoid Gladion and Team Skull by battling every trainer in the area. Once I clear those trainers, I meet up with Hau, who got beaten by Gladion and is now looking to me to beat him.

Gladion opens with Zorua, who is transformed into a Zubat. Zorua tricked me, but I rapidly switched out and changed to Raticate, which used Breakneck Blitz, stopping Zorua. I switch back to Pikachu for Zubat, then came Type:Null. Raticate fought against Type:Null, dodging many of it's tackles and eventually taking it out. The Grunts make fun of Gladion, saying he "is not one of them", and Gladion makes statements to Hau and myself, suggesting he will be back.

After beating Gladion, I cleared the rest of the trainers, setting myself up for the Brooklet Hill trial. The next log is the Brooklet Hill trial. See you then!

My Team
Dartrix-Lv.22
Pikachu-Lv.22
Raticate-Lv.22
Diglett-Lv.22
Persian-Lv.22
Grimer-Lv.22
 
Log #11-Brooklet Hill Trial
Oh boy! I thought Hala was tough! Lana's trial was even worse. It started easy enough. I crushed the Dewpiders and the Wishiwashis easily. I even battled all of the nearby trainers and beat them easily. Everything was easy...until the Totem came out. All of my dark types are INCREDIBLY WEAK to Bug type moves...well except Grimer. I opened with Diglett and tried to lower the HP. After some attacks, Diglett fell. I switched to Grimer and Poison Gassed it. I then hammered away at Araquanid, which slowly chipped away. Eventually, Grimer fell. As soon as it did, the fight began to fall apart, with one Pokemon trying its best and then dying quickly, even after using my Z-Move.

Getting down to Pikachu and Dartrix, I had Pikachu do its best to attack the Totem until it fainted. I was down to Dartrix. Dartrix had a hard fight against it, eventually beating it and the ally. Now comes the question. Should I consider the run failed or should I be able to continue? I have not yet been to the other islands and so I have not gotten exposure to most of the other Alolan Variants. I don't think it is fair to end the run yet, but I will leave it to you all.

I will create a vote and see what the end result is before I move forward or not.
 
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Log #12-Meeting Hapu
Hey Folks!
So I decided that winning or losing the Grand Trials mattered more than each individual trial. I thank my friends for their consultation and I am glad my viewers are patient with me.


After the Brooklet Hill Trial, I traveled through Route 6, battling many of the trainers. Suddenly a woman wearing a bonnet riding a Mudsdale named Hapu stopped me. We had the battle with Team Skull grunts, opening up Royal Avenue. Instead of doing that right when Rotom wanted, I headed back through to Hea Hea City and I decided to explore the Diglett Tunnel. That exploration will be the next log. My plan is to get to the point of getting Cubone and then training Cubone using the Diglett Tunnel.

Until next time, see you.
 
Log #13-Diglett Tunnel & First Steps At Wela Volcano Park
When I walked into Digletts' Tunnel, fully prepared to explore it, Olivia stopped me and said I should go to Wela Volcano Park. With that advice, I headed there in the attempt to catch a Cubone, which I promptly did. Right now, I am purposely avoiding the Battle Royal until my team is level 28 and able to just OHKO everything. That will allow my Diglett to be a Dugtrio and my Cubone to be a Marowak. That will also allow me to not have too many issues with the next few trials.

I have also officially placed Dartrix in the box for the foreseeable future. This marks the first run where I have stopped using the Starter through the game I think.

My Team (Once This Training Is Done):
Dugtrio-Lv.28
Pikachu
-Lv.28
Marowak-Lv.28
Grimer-Lv.28
Raticate-Lv.28
Persian-Lv.28


I don't think it will take no more than a few days to finish the training. After the training, I will do the Battle Royal, then go after Kiawe's trial. See you for the Battle Royal and Kiawe's Trial once my training is done!
 
I'm glad you continued, I would find it unfair that you have to finish a run just because you didn't have luck in one battle. Good luck in the Battle Royal, run by totally not Guzma.
 
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