Pokemon Reborn - Smeargle Only Challenge

[MechSteelix]

Hey everyone!

I recently joined the Reborn forums, but I've been playing Pokemon Reborn for some time now. I'm starting up this run that was inspired by Pikasprey's infamous 6 Smeargle Challenge run of Pokemon Crystal. I've been meaning to do something like this sooner (and I have no idea if anyone attempted to do a run of Pokemon Reborn using the same challenge), but I will be attempting to do the same challenge.

 

Rules:

1. Can only use Smeargle on my team.

2. Bag items are allowed.

3. Am allowed to use the HM mod (for surfing, using rock smash, etc.) and other Pokemon for overworld interactions (e.g. headbutt).

 

I'm probably not going to last any further than the second gym, but let's see how far I can get with this.

 

The first thing I did was heading to the Grand Hall, get my starter Pokemon (Mudkip), and quickly rushing through the battles so I can box it as soon as possible. I then picked up my members of the team. I think they need no introductions, but here they are! :

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, I did get the genders right. 

(edit: In case if you're wondering how I got six Smeargles from the start, I bred all of them in a different game and used a Shared PC mod in the SVM modpack to transfer over them to this game.)

 

Some early thoughts: It seems that while Technician would be good in the early game to boost some of the weaker attacks (Tackle, Quick Attack, etc.), it would become useless beyond the first or second gyms. It'd ultimately boil down to evasion boosts from Moody spam (unless I can somehow get Transform on one of my Smeargles, but that seems highly unlikely). X items would also be great, but I'll probably only get them around mid-game (I forget when exactly). Terrains will also be annoying to deal with unless I can get some reliable way to beat the terrain effects that the gym leaders will inevitably have. Throughout its lifespan, Smeargle also only can learn 10 moves (only around 2 to 3 moves before the first gym, realistically speaking) so uh.... that's not a good sign. I might decide to breed multiple Smeargle? only if it gets really tough though.

 

I decided that I should find moves that I would use consistently afterwards, but it's so difficult finding moves with a high base power early game

 

As of now, I didn't have a single Pokemon with an attacking move, so I picked up a random trainer with a Yungoos that knew Tackle, and traced it on Willy Wonka, who has Technician. Tackle should receive a sizable boost because of that. I wanted Nani to be my special attacker, so I had it trace Water Gun off a trainer's Ducklett.

 

Willy Wonka was able to grow to level 11 by this time (since it was the only one with a decent attack), so I finally went through this double battle, so it could sketch Fury Cutter:

 

Spoiler

(edit: In case if people aren't sure of what double battle I'm talking about.)

 

 

I'm expecting Willy Wonka to carry our next few battles - Fury Cutter is just busted early game.

 

I then decided to battle the fisherman in Lower Peridot Ward? to sketch his Horn Attack with Jimbo (effectively a 97.5 BP move after STAB). It's a bit unfortunate that Horn Attack's BP (65) just barely misses the Technician boost, or else I would have used Willy Wonka to copy it. I found a Sea Incense in the back room, so I equipped it on Nani to give it a small boost to its Water Gun attack.

 

Spoiler

 

We find a Kricketot, which is so helpful. I know what I'm naming it:

Spoiler

 

I was then able to get Swift on Nani from a trainer's Ledbya:

 

Spoiler

 

I proceeded to get ember on my Elgreams by stealing it from a trainer's Salandit... (yea I'm using Sketch wayyy too liberally for my liking, but I will need the Fire type attack for later on... We'll definitely have to mass produce some more Smeargles after this one).

 

Spoiler

 

In the meanwhile, I trained up a Zigzagoon on the side and taught it Headbutt. With this, I could now use it to find Burmy in Seacrest's Garden, and obtain Protect for Gooper. Gooper doesn't have any attacking moves right now, but it should be fine because I can get attacking moves later on anyways. Protect just helps guarantee a Moody boost for me.

 

Spoiler

 

My goal for this update was just to beeline to Fern and quickly beat him, so that's exactly what I did.

 

Spoiler

 

I got Stun Spore'd by his Budew, but we managed to take him out with Willy Wonka's Fury Cutter after he used Growth two times.

 

 

I cut down his Sandile with another Fury Cutter, but Willy Wonka faints to Rowlet's peck.

 

 

I decide to send in Jimbo, and use Horn Attack but.... that didn't go well either.

 

 

Nani proceeds to fall to his Rowlet, but he manages to get some Swift Attacks off.

 

 

Fern uses a potion, but Elgreams carries us to victory with an Ember burn, and.....

 

 

both of us go down in a double knock out.

 

 

 

Yea, I feel the same way.

 

We beat Fern relatively easily... so that's a good sign, right? 

 

Team Recap:

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know Jabadamazo didn't get much action this time around. For that, I'm truly sorry Jabadamazo  I promise I'll treat you better next update.

 

 

This is my first time posting, so hopefully there aren't any mistakes >.>. Let me know if y'all have any suggestions, tips, or advice for my run! Will be posting later with more updates.

 

List of current updates:

Spoiler

Update #2 - Beating Julia

Update #3 - Beating first PULSE machine (Tangrowth)

Update #4 - Beating Florinia

 

Edited June 14, 2020 by MechSteelix
Added list of current updates.

[Liroy]

This is a really interesting run imo.

My recommendation is for you to get acid spray from ZEL's Tangrowth and tailwind from Julia's Oricorio, these moves should help out A LOT.

I know it might be rough to get a move in a gym battle but gyms might be the places where you get most of your moves.

YOU CAN DO IT!

Edited June 9, 2020 by Liroy
typo

[VividGrey]

Since there isn't a TM for EQ as of yet, this would be a great addition to the moveset of a smeargle. 

[MechSteelix]

8 hours ago, Liroy said:

This is a really interesting run imo.

My recommendation is for you to get acid spray from ZEL's Tangrowth and tailwind from Julia's Oricorio, these moves should help out A LOT.

I know it might be rough to get a move in a gym battle but gyms might be the places where you get most of your moves.

YOU CAN DO IT!

Thank you! I actually do copy Tailwind from Julia's Oricorio

I'll post the update later today.

 

6 hours ago, VividGrey said:

Since there isn't a TM for EQ as of yet, this would be a great addition to the moveset of a smeargle. 

This could be interesting, but I think it'll be a while before I can get EQ on my Smeargle. Still, definitely going to try to get this!

[MechSteelix]

Update #2 - Beating Julia

 

This is just another update of my run! My goal this time is to get past the first gym leader.

 

Spoiler

We first find a wild Tynamo because of the rainy / thunder weather outside. I manage to sketch Thunder Wave with Jabadamazo. 

 

 

I then run away from the Tynamo, but since it's a static encounter, it just stays there. I could probably copy Charge Beam on Jabadamazo, and that's what I exactly set out to do.

She only has one more level before she learns Sketch again, so I train her up on some trainers and return to the Tynamo to sketch its Charge Beam.

 

 

Now Jabadamazo actually has a decent moveset!

 

We make our way to the Mosswater Factory after Julia calls us to there:

 

Spoiler

 

We have Gooper copy a Metang's Take Down. There are other interesting moves here, of course. There was a Trainer with a Tympole that knew Bubble Beam (I have instant regrets of making Nani learn Water Gun....), but nothing else that was particularly good. Take Down is probably the highest BP STAB move I can get around this time, so I'll take what I can get.

 

 

We also beat our first Aster and Eclipse battle, but I forgot to take screenshots... It wasn't all that interesting though because they only had two Rockruffs. I didn't think copying the elemental fangs was worth my time, so I just breezed through this battle.

 

 

After the Mosswater Factory battle, I set the weather to harsh sunny so I can buy some healing items from the Ice Cream vendor. 

 

Spoiler

 

 

I then scurry onto my first battle with Julia. I'm going to be completely honest - I never intended on winning this battle: I just wanted to copy her Oricorio's Tailwind (and maybe Air Cutter, if I can get it). 

 

Spoiler

 

I manage to get Tailwind on Elgreams, after many many many soft-resets. I found out that Julia's Oricorio only uses Tailwind if the opponent is faster, making near-high impossible to sketch it as I move first on the turn she uses Tailwind and move last on the turn she uses a different move.

 

 

I then decide to forfeit the battle, having completed my objective.

 

 

We then return to her gym after healing... 

 

 

That was for charity, Julia.

 

I take down her Minun with three Fury Cutters from Willy Wonka.

 

 

Her Geodude comes out and defeats Willy Wonka, but he manages to get off one last Fury Cutter, bringing Julia's Geodude down to half.

 

 

The Geodude falls down to two sea-incense boosted Water Guns from Nani.

 

 

Nani manages to get a few Swifts off before falling to Plusle.

 

 

Now it's Gooper's time to shine! I first take her Plusle down with a Take Down.

 

 

I get a Protect off her Voltorb, and take it down with another Take Down.

 

 

I struggle with Oricorio for some bit, but managing to get two evasion and attack boosts really helped. Oricorio falls down as well.

 

 

I dodge her Electrode's Charge Beam, and knock it out with a Take Down. 

 

 

But..... her aftermath takes Gooper down as well.

 

 

She gives us the gym badge, a TM, and proceeds to go back to sleep.

 

Honestly, Julia wasn't so tough. I expect our first challenge to come with the Pulse Tangrowth (and possibly Florinia). Will update later!

Edited June 14, 2020 by MechSteelix

[Liroy]

Tbh I think Tangrowth will be easy, but Florinia... Oh boy, we pray.

 

[VividGrey]

Are you gonna steal some fire moves from the lil pansear under the bridge for the fight with Tangrowth?

[Edo]

looks very interesting, I wish you good luck!

 

Maybe the Grand hall trainers have some interesting moves, since they often get competitive sets, though I'm not sure how early/late they do.

Also event mons' egg moves might be worth it.

Edited June 10, 2020 by Edo

[MechSteelix]

On 6/10/2020 at 5:12 AM, VividGrey said:

Are you gonna steal some fire moves from the lil pansear under the bridge for the fight with Tangrowth?

Not from the Pansear under the bridge (I got a Panpour, which is a bit an oof), but from another Trainer's Pansear. I'll post my update soon about this!

 

On 6/10/2020 at 6:18 AM, Edo said:

looks very interesting, I wish you good luck!

 

Maybe the Grand hall trainers have some interesting moves, since they often get competitive sets, though I'm not sure how early/late they do.

Also event mons' egg moves might be worth it.

Thank you! There is a Pichu I could potentially steal Volt Tackle from, but I haven't looked into it yet. I did a doubles battle with two Grand Hall trainers, but they didn't have that much interesting moves tbh (I presume that I haven't finished enough of the story for them to have their competitive sets yet). I'll probably start looking at each day's trainers to see what moves they have after some more gym badges.

Edited June 11, 2020 by MechSteelix

[MechSteelix]

Update #3 - Defeating first PULSE machine

 

Hi everyone! This will probably the longest update I have because I just have so much things I need to go over that I don't even know where to start.

 

I guess I'll start chronologically. From where I last ended off, I had Jimbo sketch Yawn from a trainer's Slakoth:

 

Spoiler

 

I decided that I should train up my Smeargles up until level 21 to get another Sketch, so I found this place where I can get Woobats in the underground tunnel. This is also pretty good for farming speed EVs, but I think their impact will be relatively minimal at this point.

 

Spoiler

 

I forgot the recap last time, so here it is:

 

Spoiler

 

I manage to sketch Leaf Tornado on Elgreams....

 

Spoiler

 

and just before going into the Obsidia Slums, I'm stopped by Victoria for a second rival battle.
 

Spoiler

 

Her team isn't too much of a threat; her ralts falls immediately to Gooper's Take Down.

 

Gooper continues on strong, destroying her Pichu with some Take Downs.

 

Gooper also uses this as an opportunity to sketch her Torracat's Fire Fang.

 

And Gooper comes out on top by using another Take Down. Not too shabby for our promising Moody sweeper. 

 

We then get into more Sketchy stuff! I pick up the following moves for my Smeargles:

 

Spoiler

An Air Cutter for Nani (wild Pidove)...

 

An Incinerate for Jabadamazo (a trainer's Pansear; I also shuffled Jabadamazo's ability to Technician)

 

 

And a Light Screen for Jimbo (trainer's Espurr)

 

After reaching the end of the Obsidia Slums, I encounter the next boss battle with Scrafty:

 

Spoiler

Only interesting thing of note: I use Willy Wonka to copy a Scraggy's Swagger.

 

Nani does a good job of handling the Scraggy with Air Cutter, and the Scrafty boss is handled with a Yawn from Jimbo.

 

 

 

 

 

Cain Battle

Spoiler

 

I forgot to copy the VS Screen, so you get this piece of dialogue instead. Jimbo takes out his Grimer with a few Horn Attacks.

 

Jimbo falls to an Icy Wind from Cain's Popplio, but Jabadamazo avenges him with two Charge Beams.

 

 

Cubone falls to Jabadamazo from a Technician-boosted Incinerate from a boosted Sp. Atk stat.

 

Does this piece of dialogue bother anyone else? I get that Cain is talking about his Popplio, but he sends out Nidorino as his last... 

 

Jabadamazo falls to his Nidorino, but Nidorino proceeds to faint to Gooper's Take Down.

 

 

Everyone's really sleeping on the power of my six Smeargles. At this point, I'm ready to take the world by storm using my Smeargles that know moves like Ember.  

 

We get to progress a bit further into the story, and encounter our first PULSE battle:

 

Spoiler

I'm really bad at saving VS screenshots, so you get this epic stare-off between me and ZEL instead.

 

What words can I describe this battle other than "frustrating"? I quickly discovered that my ideal strategy was use Jimbo to set up Light Screen, put the PULSE Tangrowth to sleep with Yawn, and pray that I get the right Moody boosts.

 

Nani  is sent in to get a few Air Cutters in on the Tangrowth, but he barely dents this behemoth of a tank before fainting to the Tangrowth's Vine Whip.

 

 

Jimbo manages to get a Yawn off, and I use Gooper's Protect to ensure its Moody Boost.

 

 

I get incredibly lucky and manage to get around 3 turns before Tangrowth wakes up and uses Growth. After spamming a combination of Protects and Fire Fangs, the PULSE Tangrowth falls down.

 

 

I still don't know how you lost to just three Smeargles. You should be ashamed of yourself, ZEL.

 

This battle was incredibly tough, but I learned a couple of things: 1) It's more important that I get Def / Sp. Def / Eva boosts than Atk boosts, since that ensures my longevity. 2) Attacks that rely on Smeargle's attacking stats are just fundamentally unreliable. I'm going to need some safer alternatives. 3) Beating bulkier Pokemon (tanks) would be easier than beating fast sweepers that would prevent me from setting up Moody.

 

I decide to complete the Daycare side quest, so that I can mass produce more Smeargles:

Spoiler

Jeez, I wonder what gave it away?

 

Nani takes down the last Pokemon with a Sea Incense-boosted Water Gun, so maybe Water Gun wasn't completely useless?

 

And with that, the option to breed more Smeargles is now available. I won't be breeding on this save file, but I like having my options open before I decide to use them. This way, it feels less like cheating.

 

I'm really sorry if this post's commentary is so deadpan  ... I tried doing this yesterday, but nothing from the post I made was saved, so I had to remake this entire post. I then decided I'm breaking this up into two parts! Next update, you'll see me suffer against Florinia, as well as mass produce some Smeargles.

Edited June 14, 2020 by MechSteelix
Minor formatting error.

[Vinnie]

This looks like a lot of fun actually. Also shiny smeargle is justice. 

[MechSteelix]

On 6/12/2020 at 9:51 PM, Vinnie said:

This looks like a lot of fun actually. Also shiny smeargle is justice. 

It is! And thank you for your walkthroughs - I've been a big fan of them because they are helping me get through this run

 

Update #4 - Beating Florinia

 

Hi everyone! In this update, I tackle the second gym leader, Florinia. But before I do, I breed some more Smeargles, which I name after some famous historical painters / artists (I searched up most of these online):

 

Spoiler

 

I get into more Sketchy stuff, starting with the moves I sketch onto Michelangelo:

Spoiler

If I remember correctly, the moves come from:

• a wild Burmy, headbutted from the tree in Seacrest's garden
• a trainer's Vullaby near the Onyx Trainer's School
• a wild Grimer, fished using an Old Rod in the waters of Coral Ward

 

The moves I get for Frida are:

Spoiler

 

They are obtained from:

• a trainer's Wingull just outside of the Onyx Trainer's School
• a teacher's Wooper inside the school
• the same teacher's Shuppet inside the school (I forfeit against this trainer, so I'm able to obtain other moves from his Shuppet)

 

O'Keeffe will be a Moody sweeper, so it's essential I get about the same moves from Michelangelo onto O'Keeffe:

Spoiler

 

They are obtained from:

• a wild Burmy from a headbuttable tree in Seacrest's garden
• the teacher's Shuppet inside the school (the same one I forfeited against)
• a wild Grimer, fished using an Old Rod in the waters of Coral Ward

 

I decide to make Leonardo my "priority" Pokemon, so I feed it tons of priority-attacking moves.

Spoiler

 

These moves come from:

• a trainer's Glameow (underneath the bridge when you enter it from the Peridot Ward - it's where you find the Pansear / Panpour).
• the teacher's Shuppet (the same one I forfeited from before)
• a trainer's Starly in the Onyx Trainer's School

 

Artemisia gains a Moody sweeper's set-up:

Spoiler

 

They are obtained from:

• a wild Burmy from a headbuttable tree in Seacrest's garden
• the teacher's Shuppet inside the school (the same one I forfeited against)

 

Raphael won't be getting Moody for a while, so I just set out to find some powerful moves it can copy:

 

Spoiler

They are obtained from:

• a wild Oddish in the Obsidia Ward park (the one where I fought the Pulse Tangrowth)
• a trainer's Rattata in the Onyx Trainer's School
• that same trainer's Oshawott 

 

Some questions I anticipate that may arise from my move selections:

1. Why did you choose to copy Night Shade on O'Keeffe and Artemisia?  Because they offer consistent damage. If I'm not wrong, this should guarantee me a 3HKO on every Pokemon around my level (as long as the Pokemon doesn't have an absurd amount of HP, like Blissey or Wailord).
2. Why did you choose to copy Disable?  This should theoretically give me 3 Moody Boosts, if it is played right. Protect first scouts out my opponent's move. If my Smeargle is faster than it (which it should be), I can Disable it the next turn, and my opponent wastes a turn trying to use the move. I can then use Protect on the third turn to get another Moody boost. That's a total of 3 Moody boosts without having to lift a finger. I know it's a bit of a brain-dead gameplay, but I got to seize any advantage I can get. My only regret is not copying Disable on Gooper.

Anyways, our next battle... is against Fern.

 

Spoiler

Honestly, I don't even remember what I did to win this battle (this is why you do your commentary immediately after the battle, and not a few days later!). It's likely that I missed something, so apologies if I did!

 

 

I think Leonardo takes out his Sandile with a Fake Out and a few Quick Attacks.

 

I essentially use his Roselia as set-up fodder for Gooper. I think O'Keeffe falls here, but she manages to get some damage off the Roselia.

 

In a similar manner, I let his Dartrix attack Michelangelo, so I'm better able to set up on him with Gooper.

\

 

His Dartrix falls to a few Fire Fangs from Gooper, and...  the battle is over.

 

I do some preparations for Florinia:

Spoiler

 

And now we're prepared to face off against Florinia!

Spoiler

I don't have the VS screen (I forgot again!), but here's the battle:

 

Her Maractus falls to a combination of Leonardo's priority moves and Nani's Air Cutter.

 

Ferroseed comes in, but Jabadamazo takes care of it with two Incinerates.

 

From my countless soft resets of this battle, I know now that Florinia would never use Mach Punch against either Jabadamazo or Gooper because Mach Punch isn't an OHKO (it does around ~60 hit points) and will, instead, opt for a Spore. Gooper picks away at this weakness and ends it off with a Fire Fang.

 

Gooper doesn't really stand a chance against Cradily, which begins to use Stockpile (Gooper has negative Attack boosts). O'Keeffe comes in after Gooper faints, disables Cradily's Recover, and begins to chuck Night Shades at it until it faints.

 

O'Keeffee falls to Cacnea, but it's easy pickings for Michelangelo from here.

 

Michelangelo faints to Cottonee's Nature Power (Prankster is so unfair). Jabadamazo comes on in, but I forgot that it was Spore'd from Florinia's Breloom.

 

Aww yea. Jabadamazo, like the absolute MADLAD, is my last Pokemon, manages to survive on 9 HP, wakes up, and slays the Cottonee with an Incinerate.

 

Edit: I did use quite a few Choco Ice Creams (I'm not sure how many, but I'm sure it was less than 5). I'll try to manage the number of healing items I use if there's a better way to win, since I think it is kinda unfair. 

 

Congratulations are in order for the team that pulled me through:

Spoiler

 

And that's all for this update! Thanks for y'all who have been so patient / following up with my updates. I'll see you all in the next one!

Edited June 14, 2020 by MechSteelix
Added a detail.