Anstane's Water Mono

[Anstane]

It seems like everybody's doing these now...

 

Greetings, everyone. You might recognize me from my Ice Mono, overview posted here. Well, I finally decided to get started on my second Monotype run. However, instead of doing my second favorite type, being Dark, I went with my third favorite, Water, mostly because I saw a lot more Dark Mono's than Water Mono's and wanted to be more original.

Also, unlike my Ice Mono, I discovered the F8 button, meaning I can take screenshots on the fly and, with that, keep you viewers up on an episode-by-episode basis. With that said...

 

Part 1: A shocking introduction.

 

So, after we got nearly exploded and got a visit from Julia, we went on ahead and got our starter. Now, obviously, this is a big choice and there are plenty of choices to go over. One in particular helps immensely against Julia.

 

I did not go for it, though.

 

Spoiler

 

Instead I went for my second favorite Water starter because I already have a run with Swampert.

 

Anyway, the battles against Cain and Victoria go by easily and then it was off to search for Water-types to put into my team. It did not take long to (mostly) fill my team up.

 

Spoiler

 

I admit I was hoping to get Wingull, but I can't say no to a Mon that naturally learns Scald, at least for now.

 

 

Lumina greatly helped against Fern, using Attract to invalidate both his Lotad and Snivy. Also quite fast, if not particularly strong. And no, no relation to Lumi, just saying.

 

 

The queen Goldeen. Vital against Julia. If not for her, I don't think I'd be able to defeat her without Marshtomp.

 

 

I'm not going to be picky early-game, and Bidoof is pretty decent actually early-game. Helped against Fern, that's for sure.

 

I did not get Surskit simply because that requires rainy weather and, considering weather of kind of glitched in E16...yeah.

 

Anyway, as soon as I got my five Pokemon and cleared out all the other trainers, it was off to battle Fern.

 

 

The battle was...anticlimactic, to say the least. Lumina used Attract on his Lotad and Snivy, the former being KO'd and the latter being halfway there. Afterwards, Otto and Goofball jumped in and took both it and his Budew down.

 

The battle against Aster and Eclipse was nothing special either, even though their Elekid actually did a lot of damage to my team. After that, it was time.

 

My first two attempts fell apart very quickly as I got worn down and broken. So, it was time for a bit of a training session, during which this happened.

 

Spoiler

Yeah.

 

A bit of grinding later - most notably, for Goldeen to learn Water Pulse - it was time for the main event.

 

 

Spoiler

Her Helioptile lead was infuriating with it's Mud Slap spam against Goldeen and Glare usage. Gild was able to wear it down, thankfully. Then she sent out her Emolga, for which Goofball was send out and, while it did do some damage with Rollout, it couldn't KO. Gild had to jump in and finish the job. Afterwards, it was time for her two Voltorbs. Otto was mostly able to deal with one while the other one took out Lumina and exploded on Sea Monkee, leaving just Gild against her Blitzle and Electrode.

 

And then, this happened.

 

 

For reasons unknown, her Blitzle just spammed Thunder Wave on Gild, powering up her Water Pulse. I was able to get her up to +5 before finishing off the electric zebra. Finally, it was time for the Electrode.

 

It was pretty easy, though a bit tense too. However, two Water Pulses were able to strike the Electrode down.

 

 

With the first badge in hand, my aquatic adventure now truly takes off.

 

The team as of the end of E1:

 

Spoiler

 

I hope you enjoyed reading this.

[Paul25]

Wow

Nice monotype run as of ep1.....

Good luck...

 

Edited May 8, 2017 by S.paul

[Anime]

Good luck anstane, intresting to see a water mono, btw i can catch you a shellos if you want

[Zarc]

wasn't so hard for Julia ? good luck for Florinia aswell. Water type is one of the stronger type to me.

[Neco]

Good luck with your run. Before deciding for Grass in my mono-run, I actually considered to choose Water myself (which would be my favourite type, probably).

[Gentleman Jaggi]

There sure seem to be a lot of Monotype Runs popping up recently.

 

Lots of luck to you; Water is a pretty strong type so I doubt you'll have problems once you get a team going.

A friend of mine actually did a Water Monotype not that long ago, so in case you're interested here's one thing we ran into:

Spoiler

He ended up being completely incapable of defeating El's Dittoceus. He did have a Destiny Bond Sharpedo, but no way to make it live a turn.

 

[Wolfox]

maybe I should do a fire one... just maybe. either way good luck

 

If you want a magikarp to add to you team, I can hook you up

Edited May 8, 2017 by Wolfox Glace

[HongaarseBeer]

Are you doing this live? As in, are you still playing at this moment or have you already finished?

[Anstane]

2 hours ago, Zarc said:

wasn't so hard for Julia ? good luck for Florinia aswell. Water type is one of the stronger type to me.

Turns out LightningRod Goldeen is pretty good for Julia.

 

1 hour ago, Gentleman Jaggi said:

There sure seem to be a lot of Monotype Runs popping up recently.

 

Lots of luck to you; Water is a pretty strong type so I doubt you'll have problems once you get a team going.

A friend of mine actually did a Water Monotype not that long ago, so in case you're interested here's one thing we ran into:

  Reveal hidden contents

He ended up being completely incapable of defeating El's Dittoceus. He did have a Destiny Bond Sharpedo, but no way to make it live a turn.

 

Alright, I'll keep in mind to make absolutely sure I have a Sash ready for that. And yeah, after my Ice Mono, I shouldn't have too much trouble, simply because I already dealt with some of the worst matchups possible.

 

55 minutes ago, HongaarseBeer said:

Are you doing this live? As in, are you still playing at this moment or have you already finished?

I'm not playing it right now, but it is live, yeah. I basically play through an episode, taking screenshots, then will post an update here.

 

As for the offers for Pokémon, I appreciate them, but I think I want to keep this run as clean as I can, so no using online features. At most I'll ask to have the eggs changed to Seel/Ducklell/Tentacool if needed.

[Anstane]

Okay, sorry for it taking so long for me to get back to this, but I had some real life business to take care of, on top of me needing to do quite a bit of grinding this episode. But now I am able to continue.

 

Chapter 2: When Plants Attack

 

First things first, I went for the Daycare and...well, let's say the trainer with the Plusle/Minun combo before the Daycare couple wannabees was more challenging than the impostors themselves. This is only notable in that, after that battle, Otto evolved.

(By the way, I'd like to say that I love Dewott's design, many times more than Samurott.)

 

After that, it was off to battle Victoria before the slums.

Spoiler

The battle went by very quickly in my favor. Lumina attract-locked Ralts and Otto tore through the rest.

 

 

 

After that, it was time for an uneventful romp through the Obsidia Slums. The only thing of note to happen in there was the fact that we got a new team member!

 

Meet Louis the Ducklett and I assure you, he'll be much appreciated for dealing with any pesky Grass-types we'll be encountering. Afterwards, it was off to the Coral Ward and, after seeing Cain rescue an Oshawott (I would feel a little resentful if I hadn't picked Oshawott as my starter, so whatever), it was time for another duel against him.

 

Spoiler

After a completely uneventful start against his Grimer, then entered his Nidorina which proceeded to outspeed most of my team and faint a number of them before I was able to finally subdue him.

 

The rest of his team could not keep up. First, Flail on Gild took out Venonat and then Otto showed Cain's Oshawott what to aspire towards.

 

 

 

At this point, I would be heading towards the first PULSE Tangrowth battle. However, I also knew I can get Lotad in the area. However, it requires rain. E16's weather is messed up. So I asked for some help with that and, soon enough, I got a Lotad.

 

(Yes, I'm bad with names, thanks for noticing.)

 

After that it was time for the PULSE Tangrowth...or at least it would have been, however, I got ripped apart quickly. So it was time for the first of two grinding sessions this episode for me. After a lot of fighting the same trainer over and over again, as well as Louis being trained up properly, it was time for the rematch.

 

Spoiler

A turn 1 lick inducing paralysis greatly helped me out. After that, I managed to land so many flinches and many of the attacks that didn't flinch, paralysis prevented. Hence, I was able to overcome this obstacle.

 

 

And then, it was off to the Onyx Ward. Before we went for the school, though, we went to see if we can grab ourselves a Seel.

The egg was a Cacnea.

Undeterred, I asked around if I can trade the Cacnea for a Seel.

I did, but the Seel I got was...not what I hoped to get.

 

Too many perfect IV's! Ah well...it's only one Pokémon. It shouldn't cause too many problems...I hope.

 

Anyway...with that done, it was time for Onyx School. The trainers under Fern's command...were a bit annoying (Thank you Fire Fang Darumaka), but otherwise not too bad...and then we got to the top dog himself.

 

 

Spoiler

Let's just say that I needed to leave for a second grinding session, and even then it took a few attempts as his Servine and Roselia would proceed to take me from 4/5-1 to 0-1.

 

Eventually, though, I realized two things.

1) Otto has Fury Cutter.

2) Fern's Lombre only has Absorb.

As for his Roselia, I have had enough of it and just had Seel use Perish Song on it. Cheap? Yeah, but screw Fern.

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, it was time for Florinia. This is going to be a very rough battle for my Water Mono ag-erm, Florinia...why does your team only have two Grass-type attacks, Leech Seed not counting?

Louis and Goofball were the aces this battle, inflicting heavy damage and evading damage. I had hoped for Otto to deal with Cacnea, but two Fury Cutter misses ruined that possibility, alongside Gild and Lotus. However, overall, the battle was not that difficult. Now if she actually had Grass-type attacks, this would have been much nastier.

 

 

And with that, the second badge is ours, as well as Water's second weakness cleared. From here on out, it should be smooth sailing...right? ahahah i wish

 

The team at the end of episode 2:

 

Thank you all for reading.

[Sceptilespy]

Swanna is SO helpful in reborn.

[Jess]

My treasured baby in my shiny run. She always hits her Hurricanes, and confuses like 70% of times. Pure star.

 

 

Edited June 15, 2017 by Jess

[HongaarseBeer]

On 13-5-2017 at 2:54 PM, Anstane said:

(Yes, I'm bad with names, thanks for noticing.)

I like them!

 

Also, I enjoy reading this. Keep it up!

[Anime]

GOGOGO team Anstane i'm still going to offer you the shellos xD

[Anstane]

I see there is a lot of love for Swanna. I admit I haven't used it myself, but it will be interesting to see for myself just how good it is.

 

Also, sorry for my slow rate of posting, I will be getting back to my run tomorrow, though don't expect a post then, I doubt I'll make it to Corey tomorrow.

[Anstane]

Once again, sorry for the slow rate of posting here, but I got real life stuff to deal with as well as this chapter just taking a long time to complete.

 

Chapter 3: Difficulty Spike

 

So, after the Grass-leader-with-almost-no-Grass-Moves, it was time for the Jasper Ward. After getting asked to find some police officers, I set off and started hunting Meteors and Police Officers. (The former to defeat in battle, the latter to rescue.)

 

Soon enough, I get to the second PULSE-Tangrowth, this time guarded by Taka. After some words were exchanged, it was time for battle.

 

 

Spoiler

In an unusual twist, Taka's Lileep proceeds to prove itself a big problem, due to Confuse Ray being infuriating to deal with and Ingrain on the Forest Field being really painful, considering the limited movepool I can use against it due to Storm Drain. Louis came through, though, thankfully.

 

Next was the Chatot and, again, reversal of fate as it proceeded to not be much of a problem at all, with Otto taking it out.

 

 

And then, finally, the PULSE-Tangrowth. In the Forest Field. Against a Water Mono.

 

 

Screw. That. This is not the last time you'll see Perish Song, by the way, in this update.

 

Once Taka was defeated, it was off to find more Police Officers, tell a girl in a building the elevator works and then it was off to Beryl Ward...

 

*quiet whimpering*

 

Anyway, after falling for The Most Obvious Trap In The World and telling Fern to get bent, it was time to find and rescue the rest of the Police Officers.

Spoiler

 

And what was my reward for rescuing the five of them? A new team member, replacing Gild.

 

I will admit I was hoping for Tentacool, but I won't say no to Frillish either, especially considering it's the only Water/Ghost out there (that I know of). After this... *sighs* It was time for the Taka/ZEL double battle. And it took me *many* attempts, on a battle that I generally want to be done with ASAP for reasons that those familiar with me will understand.

 

 

Spoiler

This battle was horrible. Between Lileep spamming Confuse Ray and Espeon nuking my side with Psybeam or Umbreon just walling me, it finally led to me having enough and going to grab something I never grabbed before: Persim Berries, to deal with Confusion. And even then, it took me getting really lucky and hit every single Rollout with Goofball and almost every single Fury Cutter with Otto, culminating with me hitting the PULSE-Tangrowth with a 640-power Rock-type attack. Yep.

 

 

And this is after an extensive Grinding session to level up Jelliking and the others. It was that bad.

 

And with that, Corey was exposed and it was time for the main showdown with him. And it was even more horrible than the last battle.

 

 

Spoiler

It took me many, many battles. Corey had two main Problem Mons: Skuntank and Crobat. Skuntank just has solid bulk, a surprisingly strong moveset and a lot of speed. I eventually resorted to just having Goofball use Yawn on it and then hope that either Otto or someone else can handle it while it was asleep. For reference, Jelliking took out his Skrelp and Grimer, Louis took out Croagunk and, again, Otto deals with Nidorina.

 

And then enters the big problem: Crobat. Time and time again, I would get to this point only to have it effortlessly sweep my team aside. I tried fighting fair, but it just kept destroying me. So I finally had enough.

 

 

Even then, it was extremely close as Crobat decided to use Air Cutter on Frosty over Venoshock (And this is after using Nasty Plot, meaning Venoshock would have OHKO'd my entire team left and won last turn before Perish Song took it out.) But, mercifully, the AI derped.

 

 

And, finally, it was done.

 

Whew...this was the hardest part so far, and it is only going to get worse...hoo-boy...

 

The team at the end of Episode 3:

 

And now, something I want to say: I seriously wish to replace the sprites of Samurott with those of Dewott, or at least the back sprites, because, personally, I much prefer Dewott's looks over Samurott's. Main reason why I can't really go through with it, aside from my not knowing how, is that it might end up causing confusion among the viewers here.

[HongaarseBeer]

You know, to be fair, I don't even blame you for using perish song. And I'm still enjoying it, keep it up

[Anstane]

Alright, time to continue this run. Thankfully, this time I was able to get it out a bit faster.

 

Chapter 4: Damn you Struggle Bug!

 

Last we left off, we just broke Corey. After he leaps off the bridge and Fern's appearance, it was off to Lapis Ward. The first thing I had to do is get back with my bros in the Aqua Gang.

 

It feels good to be back!

 

With the Aqua Gang, we proceed to storm Craudberry's manor at the same time as the Magma Gang. We, of course, fight through the opposite gang and claim our prizes: A Water Stone, a Ponyta and this:

 

After that, while en route towards the Lapis Gym, Lotus finally hits level 30 and learns Giga Drain. That was enough for me. I finally let him evolve to Lombre and then used the Water Stone I just acquired.

 

After that, we made it to Shelly and Victoria, saw Corey's corpse be taken away and, after deciding to investigate Meteor's activities beneath the Grand Staircase, chased after Victoria. E route towards the bottom where Solaris, Aster and Eclipse were waiting, we made sure to pick this up:

NOTE TO SELF: Don't forget the Mining Kit this time!

Also picked up the Focus Sash.

 

Anyway, eventually we make it to the bottom where, after some more talking, it was time to take on Aster and Eclipse, with Victoria's help.

Spoiler

The battle started badly, with Frosty and Louis quickly being destroyed by Rock Slide spam. Then I sent in the newly evolved Lotus and things went badly for the Meteor duo as I started Giga Drain spamming. Sent in Otto near the end for some more experience and, soon enough, Victoria was rescued.

 

After that, it was off to the Orphanage to get help for Shelly. However, before we got anything, we needed to deal with Sigmund and Orderly John. Let's say it was quite rough, righting three Elec-types with a Water-Mono, but I was able to break through, with Lotus dealing with the Magneton, Goofball taking out Magnemite and...I don't remember who dealt with Eelektrik. Afterwards, it was time for Victoria to (try to) stop us again.

 

Spoiler

Louis started off by knocking out her Scraggy with little trouble. Next up was her Pignite, which Jelliking was able to handle with little trouble. Kirlia, similarly, didn't take long to deal with for Frosty. Then enter her Hariyama...Belly Drummed right off the bat before revealing surprise Knock Off to take out Jelliking. Goofball tried to take it out, but a Force Palm ended that attempt. Thankfully, Otto was in position to move in and finish Victoria's team off.

 

It was time for the Lapis Gym proper. After a bit of an annoying puzzle, we managed to make the Bookshelf Bridge and, with that, we were ready to battle Shelly.

 

 

Spoiler

This battle took a few attempts, pretty much for one single reason: Yanmega. Speed Boost + Forest Field + Giga Drain is a killer combo, especially when it's coupled with Struggle Bug to neuter 2/3'rds of my team. It took multiple attempts but, eventually, I was able to get Rollout rolling on Goofball and knock Yanmega out of the sky. After that, the rest of her team simply could not pressure me enough, though her Illumise and Volbeat put up one hell of a good fight. Alas for her, though, it was simply not enough.

 

Don't undersell yourself, Shelly. You put up one hell of a fight.

 

With that, the Cocoon badge is ours and it's time to move on towards the direction of the Grand Hall to tell of a need for Corey's replacement. Expect many zaps.

 

The team as of the end of Episode 4:

[Paul25]

Congrats  

The team is really good  

[Jess]

On 5/18/2017 at 7:06 PM, Anstane said:

Main reason why I can't really go through with it, aside from my not knowing how, is that it might end up causing confusion among the viewers here.

It is easy to do this, go to Graphics-->Battlers folder (in the game folder) and swap the names of Dewott sprites pics with the respective names of Samurott number pics.

More specifically, rename pics named 502 and 502b to 503 and 503b and vice versa.

 

Good job Anstane, a water mono is too hard based on type disadvantages early on, don't be discouraged!  

Edited May 21, 2017 by Jess

[Zellorea]

I'm looking forward to see how you deal with the Orphanage. With all those electric types it'll be hard for your water mono to progress.

[Paul25]

You can add a quagsire to your team  

[Anstane]

1 hour ago, Jess said:

It is easy to do this, go to Graphics-->Battlers folder (in the game folder) and swap the names of Dewott sprites pics with the respective names of Samurott number pics.

More specifically, rename pics named 502 and 502b to 503 and 503b and vice versa.

 

Good job Anstane, a water mono is too hard based on type disadvantages early on, don't be discouraged!  

Well, that still leaves the second problem of confusion for the readers, unless I keep making a reminder that I changed the sprites. Otherwise, yeah, thanks for the advice.

 

44 minutes ago, S.paul said:

You can add a quagsire to your team  

Not until I get to the Azurine Islands, sadly. And Barboach is only available if I joined the Magma Gang, so, really, aside from Lotus, I have no Elec resists and this is going to be a very Elec-heavy part of the game...

[Paul25]

7 minutes ago, Anstane said:

Well, that still leaves the second problem of confusion for the readers, unless I keep making a reminder that I changed the sprites. Otherwise, yeah, thanks for the advice.

 

Not until I get to the Azurine Islands, sadly. And Barboach is only available if I joined the Magma Gang, so, really, aside from Lotus, I have no Elec resists and this is going to be a very Elec-heavy part of the game...

I can give you one  

[Anstane]

3 minutes ago, S.paul said:

I can give you one  

Thanks, but I'd rather avoid trading as much as I can. I made an exception for Seel because I got a Cacnea egg, but otherwise I'd rather limit it to only Mons I can myself acquire.