Absol Only - Pokemon Emerald
Scott's Thoughts
96,510 views
Playthrough Rules:
1. Only my starter in battle
2. No items in battle*
3. No glitches or exploits*
4. No Double-Team TM before level 100*
Other rules:
-- *Pokeballs are allowed in battle when I need to catch an HM user
-- I play the game at 4x game speed (238 frames per second)
-- I allow myself to manipulate my starter (IVs, nature, HP type)
-- Using the bike for movement speed increases is banned (it can be used to obtain items)
-- Saving between league members is allowed
-- If the solo Pokemon faints and I choose to blackout it counts towards my reset counter
*Double-Team:
-- Almost every Pokemon can learn Double-Team through TM
-- The TM can be purchased in Celadon
-- Using it would centralize the meta
-- Every Pokemon would use it to overcome tough battles at lower levels
-- It raises evasion
-- It triggers the badge boost
-- Banning the TM allows Pokemon who learn it through level up to use it
-- I believe evasion is part of Pokemon and shouldn't be banned entirely
-- I don't want the videos to all be double-team spam though, that's not fun or entertaining
-- Only two Pokemon learn Double-Team through level up: Pikachu & Scyther
-- Minimize is the other evasion raising move, these Pokemon learn it through level up:
-- Clefairy, Clefable, Grimer, Muk, Chansey, Staryu
Illustrations
Sarina Vail: Twitter: SarinaVail
Support me on Patreon
Patreon: scottsthoughts
~~Connect with me~~
Twitter
Twitter: psychicflying
Email
scottsthoughtspokemon@gmail.com
20 Comments
Matt : its ok I don't consider Scott a Major battle.
Even if you were faster, Sharpedo's ability Rough Skin would've knocked you out if you attacked it with a contact move
The biggest one is that you didn't ascent Mt Pyre. Shadow Ball can be found at the top and it's the most important move in Absol's arsenal. You can pick it up before Tate & Liza, and it makes that fight significantly easier, able to oneshot the Xatu and maybe even the Lunatone. You easily oneshot everything after a Sword's Dance. You then carry it all the way through the game, sweeping Phoebe with ease after a single SD boost. This, in combination with Return will beat just about anything that isn't a steel type.
You used Shock Wave very late in the playthrough when you could have just used Thunderbolt in that slot instead. Shock Wave is useful as soon as you beat Wattson as it can be used against Maxie to ignore Intimidate and serves as a backup plan for if you eat a Sand Attack, as well as against Flannery, hitting her Torkoal on its weaker defensive side. Speaking of Flannery, you had spammed Double Team for so long, trying to rely on boosts to get you through. There's an NPC you encounter after Fiery Path that gives you Secret Power. This is a 70 BP move with a range of useful effects including but not limited to paralysis, sleep, and flinches. This would have been much better to use against Flannery than Quick Attack and you need to get the TM before you can face her. If you didn't want to use Secret Power and instead wanted pure damage, then you have access to Strength after beating Wattson, and that will serve you well up until the point at which you reach Lilycove. This has the added benefit of having a higher BP than Return by the time you get access to Return, so you have a stronger early/mid game. By the time you reach the move deleter, Return will be the better move. In addition, you should have used Bite against Torkoal to avoid the 140 base DEF. The combination of Secret Power and Bite would have meant much less time spent boosting and potentially a lot less attempts, too. You also don't have to put your fate into the hands of RNG.
You could have done something similar to Shock Wave with Ice Beam. It's not quite as useful, since by the time you need it, you can use SD more reliably, but it's best not to ignore it until the end of the run.
Based on your footage, you skipped the Silk Scarf. It can be given to you by an NPC in the house that's right there as you get off of the boat when you first arrive. This will boost your damage throughout the entire run since you rely so heavily on normal moves for what amounts to the entire run.
Pick up the Blackglasses as soon as you can reach that side of the cave, which is basically as soon as you beat the notorious rival fight north of Slateport. It'll make your Bites that much better, setting you up for an easier time into Wattson and Flannery.
If you really want to use Hidden Power, go for either fighting or ground type. This is primarily to deal with steel types. They resist your main attacking combo of Shadow Ball and Return, but out of the three types that steel is weak to, these two options make the most sense for Absol since they're physical and benefit from SD boosts. This way, you have access to the ability to hit anything for at least neutral damage with this combination of moves. You can forget Hidden Power for the League, but then teach it again when preparing for Steven.
This is just about everything I can think of. I don't want to seem like I'm nitpicking, since you're clearly working on learning your way through the 3rd generation of games. It's like your gen 1 content - you went back to revist 'mons you had already used in the past once you learned the game more. I see this as no different. You could make better decisions in-the-moment and long-term in each gen 3 run you do, and so I just want to help you out by filling in the gaps in your knowledge.
I'm looking forward to your Tropius run! I've done that one myself and it turned out to be much more difficult than I expected it to be at some stages of the game.
Also I'm not sure how viable it is, but against Steven instead of a Pecha berry maybe a Chesto Berry+Rest would be a better way to deal with toxic, to cure it and get a full heal for 1 turn, letting you play through toxic a bit? Something to consider for future runs at least!
side bonus: Super Luck also increases the odds of wild Pokémon having hold items, so use the 4th slot for Thief.
very good utility in one Pokémon.
People only seeing the one uploaded today: What do you mean? It's brand new!
Absol Only - Pokemon Emerald
Scott's Thoughts
96,510 views
Playthrough Rules:
1. Only my starter in battle
2. No items in battle*
3. No glitches or exploits*
4. No Double-Team TM before level 100*
Other rules:
-- *Pokeballs are allowed in battle when I need to catch an HM user
-- I play the game at 4x game speed (238 frames per second)
-- I allow myself to manipulate my starter (IVs, nature, HP type)
-- Using the bike for movement speed increases is banned (it can be used to obtain items)
-- Saving between league members is allowed
-- If the solo Pokemon faints and I choose to blackout it counts towards my reset counter
*Double-Team:
-- Almost every Pokemon can learn Double-Team through TM
-- The TM can be purchased in Celadon
-- Using it would centralize the meta
-- Every Pokemon would use it to overcome tough battles at lower levels
-- It raises evasion
-- It triggers the badge boost
-- Banning the TM allows Pokemon who learn it through level up to use it
-- I believe evasion is part of Pokemon and shouldn't be banned entirely
-- I don't want the videos to all be double-team spam though, that's not fun or entertaining
-- Only two Pokemon learn Double-Team through level up: Pikachu & Scyther
-- Minimize is the other evasion raising move, these Pokemon learn it through level up:
-- Clefairy, Clefable, Grimer, Muk, Chansey, Staryu
Illustrations
Sarina Vail: Twitter: SarinaVail
Support me on Patreon
Patreon: scottsthoughts
~~Connect with me~~
Twitter
Twitter: psychicflying
Email
scottsthoughtspokemon@gmail.com