Pokemon Shield Solo Wooloo Part 11
Opal liked Bede's pink clothes so much that she reinstated him into the Gym Challenge. Yes, it was only then that I realized Bede was a boy. His "grandma hair" gave him a feminine appearance.
What seemed to be an earthquake happened in Hammerlocke near the power plant. Some worried that Pokemon would then be able to Dynamax in the city proper rather than just the stadium where it would be safe. They said to "leave the quaking to the adults", but we all know how competent authority figures are in Pokemon games. rolleye
A Pokemon Center in eastern Hammerlocke sold elemental fang and terrain TMs, which I may want to keep in mind for future solos. One NPC inside said Champions were too strong, and recommended letting challengers use 10 Pokemon against them. But isn't it better to humiliate them with a Pokemon so weak I sometimes wish I were using Magikarp? (With Hydro Pump, the joke fish may actually be viable once enough Watts are acquired. . .)
Forgetting to swap out EWE's moveset was punished in the Route 7 Hop battle. He led with a Level 34 Trevenant that was immune to Headbutt and resisted Wild Charge due to being Ghost/Grass. Ten Wild Charges along with Rest were necessary to win that round. Trevenant restored some HP with Horn Leech attacks, and wasted at least one of EWE's turns when it shone a Confuse Ray on her.
Hop's next monster was a Level 35 Snorlax, and EWE had to Rest to recover on the first turn. Snorlax took the opportunity to Stockpile more Defense and Special Defense in the meantime, while occasionally Heavy Slamming. A Body Slam paralyzed EWE, creating a possibility of losing the battle. Headbutts slowly eroded Snorlax's HP. Level 34 Heatmor had Fire Lash which always debuffed Defense. Not favorable conditions for Resting, but both Sleep Talks rolled Headbutt and finished off the anteater. Level 35 Boltund fell to 2 Headbutts after it Crunched Wooloo twice.
Finally, Level 37 Inteleon loved to decrease EWE's Attack and irrelevant Special Attack with Tearful Look. Sleep Talk Wild Charge and Headbutt gradually defeated the Water starter, though EWE had to watch out for its signature Water move Snipe Shot. EWE won with 70/128 HP at Level 61. I made sure to replace Wild Charge with Payback in case Wooloo encountered any more pesky Ghosts.
Model Mila was another potential death. Her Level 35 Ribombee flew faster than EWE could walk and attacked with Dazzling Gleam and Pollen Puff. Level 36 Vespiquen was slow, but sturdy enough to take several Headbutts. It used Attack Order, a physical Bug move that bypassed Fluffy.
Route 8 involved climbing up and down ladders through some ruins. Musician Charles's Level 37 Togedemaru was part Steel and had to be attacked with Payback instead of the stronger Headbutt. Since this was a contact move, it activated the passive Iron Barbs ability that damaged EWE each time. Its signature Zing Zap attack combined with Iron Barbs hurt EWE enough that she left the arena at 31/131 HP.
Attempting Headbutt against Backpacker Barbara's Dreepy was useless because it turned out to be a Ghost type. A single Payback sent it back to the graveyard, however, and Headbutts broke through even Vullaby's Iron Defense buffs. A Terrain Extender item was available at the end of these ruins, and was worth noting for other potential solos.
The snow area of Route 8 had Pokemon like Snom the Bug/Ice monster, Sneasel, Snorunt, and Vanillish. The only trainer battle here was against Police Officer Bobby (get it?) and his Intimidate Arcanine and Level 37 Boltund. Headbutt couldn't make Arcanine flinch because it repeatedly used Extreme Speed priority. Hail damage finished off the Electric dog after more rounds of Headbutting.
Circhester was a snowy town with a Roman bath. Or whatever Rome's equivalent was called. Its Gym did not have ice sliding puzzles like you'd expect, but rather a puzzle where SOLEDAD had to use a Trap Detector to avoid pitfalls. In practice, I fell down most of the pitfalls, which only sent SOLEDAD back to the previous safe platform. The traps did not reset. Trainer battles ranged from 38-39. Lewis's Snom died to a single Headbutt, a rare event in this playthrough! Micah's Avalugg required around 6 Headbutts due to its massive Defense stat. Its Ice Fang was weak, however.
Her subordinates may have been easy, but Melony the Gym Leader rivaled Kabu and Allister. She led with Snom's evolved form Frosmoth at Level 40. It knew several nasty moves to use against a solo Wooloo, such as Icy Wind to debuff Speed and attack, Hail to cause 1/16 max HP damage per round for 5 turns, Bug Buzz to deal more significant damage, and the rarely seen Feather Dance, a -2 Attack debuff. It was simple to kill with about 2 Headbutts, however.
Galar's Ice version of Darmanitan appeared at Level 40. It started with Taunt to disable Rest and Sleep Talk for several rounds, then made Icicle Crash fall on EWE. Icicle Crash had a flinch chance too. A couple of attempts ended there, especially when Darmanitan lost more than half HP and turned into a snarling snowman with higher Attack in Zen Mode. It must have been one of the "snow demons" that Calvin prayed to in Calvin and Hobbes.
Eiscue the Level 41 pure Ice penguin came next. Its gimmick was that it wore an Ice Face ability that nullified one physical attack before breaking. This proved once again that GameFreak hated Pokemon that relied on the Attack stat, as if Intimidate, Burn status, contact move abilities like Iron Barbs, and common debuffs like Growl weren't enough. Ice Face could be regenerated if Eiscue set up Hail again, which was usually the case. It liked to attack with either Icy Wind or Freeze Dry, a move super effective against Water types. On rare occasions it would waste turns increasing its Special Defense with Amnesia.
Melony saved her Gigantamax Lapras for last. Its specialty was G-Max Resonance, an enhanced Ice Beam that generated a combination Reflect and Light Screen in the form of Aurora Veil. But this was a relief in comparison to a Surf powered Max Geyser that summoned Rain to boost future Water attacks.
It took 9 tries to win the 6th badge. Sometimes EWE held out until Lapras and couldn't Rest again in time. Darmanitan's Icicle Crash flinches sometimes did Wooloo in. And even Eiscue once got a KO with Freeze Dry after I clicked Reversal instead of flinch. (Don't remember whether Taunt was still active at the time.)
Success did not come until Level 70 with the help of more Wild Area candies. Reversal occupied the 4th move slot for the strongest possible Max Knuckle. Frosmoth slowed down EWE with Icy Wind before dying, and the first Headbutt sent Darmanitan into Zen Mode. Stupid AI helped when Eiscue used Amnesia, giving a chance to Rest. Headbutts combined with a Sleep Talk Reversal marched the penguin back into its Poke Ball. Lapras wasted all 3 of its turns on G-Max Resonance, when it probably could have won with Max Geyser. Two Rests outlasted the enemy's Dynamax time, and EWE grew to hundreds of times her natural size to Max Knuckle the plesiosaur to death.
Once again, I couldn't record the exact HP count, but EWE was roughly in the middle of her life bar. SOLEDAD got the Icy Wind TM as a reward, probably as a reference to the easier Gym Leader Pryce from Crystal. It was a relief to save and turn the game off after this slog. Playing a no Battle Item challenge with Wooloo is one step above the Kanto caterpillars. If the Wild Area candies didn't exist or were harder to obtain, you'd have to look at ugly Dubwool instead. At least Dubwool has Body Press, Zen Headbutt, Bounce, and most importantly the Swords Dance for +2 Attack. And decent Attack and Speed to begin with.
DEATH COUNT: 36
EWE the Wooloo Stats
Level 70 @ Eviolite
Ability: Fluffy
Nature: Relaxed
Characteristic: Alert to Sounds
HP: 147
Attack: 72
Defense: 111
Sp. Atk: 90
Sp. Def: 82
Speed: 94
Headbutt
Rest
Sleep Talk
Reversal
Opal liked Bede's pink clothes so much that she reinstated him into the Gym Challenge. Yes, it was only then that I realized Bede was a boy. His "grandma hair" gave him a feminine appearance.
What seemed to be an earthquake happened in Hammerlocke near the power plant. Some worried that Pokemon would then be able to Dynamax in the city proper rather than just the stadium where it would be safe. They said to "leave the quaking to the adults", but we all know how competent authority figures are in Pokemon games. rolleye
A Pokemon Center in eastern Hammerlocke sold elemental fang and terrain TMs, which I may want to keep in mind for future solos. One NPC inside said Champions were too strong, and recommended letting challengers use 10 Pokemon against them. But isn't it better to humiliate them with a Pokemon so weak I sometimes wish I were using Magikarp? (With Hydro Pump, the joke fish may actually be viable once enough Watts are acquired. . .)
Forgetting to swap out EWE's moveset was punished in the Route 7 Hop battle. He led with a Level 34 Trevenant that was immune to Headbutt and resisted Wild Charge due to being Ghost/Grass. Ten Wild Charges along with Rest were necessary to win that round. Trevenant restored some HP with Horn Leech attacks, and wasted at least one of EWE's turns when it shone a Confuse Ray on her.
Hop's next monster was a Level 35 Snorlax, and EWE had to Rest to recover on the first turn. Snorlax took the opportunity to Stockpile more Defense and Special Defense in the meantime, while occasionally Heavy Slamming. A Body Slam paralyzed EWE, creating a possibility of losing the battle. Headbutts slowly eroded Snorlax's HP. Level 34 Heatmor had Fire Lash which always debuffed Defense. Not favorable conditions for Resting, but both Sleep Talks rolled Headbutt and finished off the anteater. Level 35 Boltund fell to 2 Headbutts after it Crunched Wooloo twice.
Finally, Level 37 Inteleon loved to decrease EWE's Attack and irrelevant Special Attack with Tearful Look. Sleep Talk Wild Charge and Headbutt gradually defeated the Water starter, though EWE had to watch out for its signature Water move Snipe Shot. EWE won with 70/128 HP at Level 61. I made sure to replace Wild Charge with Payback in case Wooloo encountered any more pesky Ghosts.
Model Mila was another potential death. Her Level 35 Ribombee flew faster than EWE could walk and attacked with Dazzling Gleam and Pollen Puff. Level 36 Vespiquen was slow, but sturdy enough to take several Headbutts. It used Attack Order, a physical Bug move that bypassed Fluffy.
Route 8 involved climbing up and down ladders through some ruins. Musician Charles's Level 37 Togedemaru was part Steel and had to be attacked with Payback instead of the stronger Headbutt. Since this was a contact move, it activated the passive Iron Barbs ability that damaged EWE each time. Its signature Zing Zap attack combined with Iron Barbs hurt EWE enough that she left the arena at 31/131 HP.
Attempting Headbutt against Backpacker Barbara's Dreepy was useless because it turned out to be a Ghost type. A single Payback sent it back to the graveyard, however, and Headbutts broke through even Vullaby's Iron Defense buffs. A Terrain Extender item was available at the end of these ruins, and was worth noting for other potential solos.
The snow area of Route 8 had Pokemon like Snom the Bug/Ice monster, Sneasel, Snorunt, and Vanillish. The only trainer battle here was against Police Officer Bobby (get it?) and his Intimidate Arcanine and Level 37 Boltund. Headbutt couldn't make Arcanine flinch because it repeatedly used Extreme Speed priority. Hail damage finished off the Electric dog after more rounds of Headbutting.
Circhester was a snowy town with a Roman bath. Or whatever Rome's equivalent was called. Its Gym did not have ice sliding puzzles like you'd expect, but rather a puzzle where SOLEDAD had to use a Trap Detector to avoid pitfalls. In practice, I fell down most of the pitfalls, which only sent SOLEDAD back to the previous safe platform. The traps did not reset. Trainer battles ranged from 38-39. Lewis's Snom died to a single Headbutt, a rare event in this playthrough! Micah's Avalugg required around 6 Headbutts due to its massive Defense stat. Its Ice Fang was weak, however.
Her subordinates may have been easy, but Melony the Gym Leader rivaled Kabu and Allister. She led with Snom's evolved form Frosmoth at Level 40. It knew several nasty moves to use against a solo Wooloo, such as Icy Wind to debuff Speed and attack, Hail to cause 1/16 max HP damage per round for 5 turns, Bug Buzz to deal more significant damage, and the rarely seen Feather Dance, a -2 Attack debuff. It was simple to kill with about 2 Headbutts, however.
Galar's Ice version of Darmanitan appeared at Level 40. It started with Taunt to disable Rest and Sleep Talk for several rounds, then made Icicle Crash fall on EWE. Icicle Crash had a flinch chance too. A couple of attempts ended there, especially when Darmanitan lost more than half HP and turned into a snarling snowman with higher Attack in Zen Mode. It must have been one of the "snow demons" that Calvin prayed to in Calvin and Hobbes.
Eiscue the Level 41 pure Ice penguin came next. Its gimmick was that it wore an Ice Face ability that nullified one physical attack before breaking. This proved once again that GameFreak hated Pokemon that relied on the Attack stat, as if Intimidate, Burn status, contact move abilities like Iron Barbs, and common debuffs like Growl weren't enough. Ice Face could be regenerated if Eiscue set up Hail again, which was usually the case. It liked to attack with either Icy Wind or Freeze Dry, a move super effective against Water types. On rare occasions it would waste turns increasing its Special Defense with Amnesia.
Melony saved her Gigantamax Lapras for last. Its specialty was G-Max Resonance, an enhanced Ice Beam that generated a combination Reflect and Light Screen in the form of Aurora Veil. But this was a relief in comparison to a Surf powered Max Geyser that summoned Rain to boost future Water attacks.
It took 9 tries to win the 6th badge. Sometimes EWE held out until Lapras and couldn't Rest again in time. Darmanitan's Icicle Crash flinches sometimes did Wooloo in. And even Eiscue once got a KO with Freeze Dry after I clicked Reversal instead of flinch. (Don't remember whether Taunt was still active at the time.)
Success did not come until Level 70 with the help of more Wild Area candies. Reversal occupied the 4th move slot for the strongest possible Max Knuckle. Frosmoth slowed down EWE with Icy Wind before dying, and the first Headbutt sent Darmanitan into Zen Mode. Stupid AI helped when Eiscue used Amnesia, giving a chance to Rest. Headbutts combined with a Sleep Talk Reversal marched the penguin back into its Poke Ball. Lapras wasted all 3 of its turns on G-Max Resonance, when it probably could have won with Max Geyser. Two Rests outlasted the enemy's Dynamax time, and EWE grew to hundreds of times her natural size to Max Knuckle the plesiosaur to death.
Once again, I couldn't record the exact HP count, but EWE was roughly in the middle of her life bar. SOLEDAD got the Icy Wind TM as a reward, probably as a reference to the easier Gym Leader Pryce from Crystal. It was a relief to save and turn the game off after this slog. Playing a no Battle Item challenge with Wooloo is one step above the Kanto caterpillars. If the Wild Area candies didn't exist or were harder to obtain, you'd have to look at ugly Dubwool instead. At least Dubwool has Body Press, Zen Headbutt, Bounce, and most importantly the Swords Dance for +2 Attack. And decent Attack and Speed to begin with.
DEATH COUNT: 36
EWE the Wooloo Stats
Level 70 @ Eviolite
Ability: Fluffy
Nature: Relaxed
Characteristic: Alert to Sounds
HP: 147
Attack: 72
Defense: 111
Sp. Atk: 90
Sp. Def: 82
Speed: 94
Headbutt
Rest
Sleep Talk
Reversal