I’ve been inspired to take on itemless Pokemon solo runs. The puzzles of optimizing completion time and avoiding losses have put Pokemon games in a new light that I want to bring to Platinum. Most of the creators out there focus on the first three generations, as they’re shorter and less mechanically dense. However, Platinum’s overall experience fascinates me, with tougher Gym Leaders and many interesting or out-of-the-way Pokemon the average player has never bothered playing with. My current goal is to complete the game with every fully evolved Sinnoh Pokemon. Yes, that means a level 5 Torterra. It allows for kooky interactions with level-up moves never meant to happen legitimately and leaves the potential experiences of using Grotle and Turtwig untouched. Using Torterra made for a fairly easy but interesting run slowed down by getting my bearings on playing efficiently.
To get these runs done anytime soon, you need the proper equipment. Most creators rely on Game Boy emulators’ 4x speed mode, but DS emulation doesn’t have speed as luxurious. I used MelonDS, and according to my brief research, it and DeSmuMe are limited to what your hardware can handle. In my case, that means about double speed outside of battle and triple speed within it. Nowhere close to bad, but the difference is felt, especially in the infamously sluggish fourth generation. Solo runs in earlier games finish in a single sitting, but I didn’t come close and doubt I will even once I learn the game back to front. If anyone knows of better speedup options, please let me know!
Tabbing back and forth between the game and Bulbapedia made progress slow enough to rival Torterra itself. I combed each area’s item list to ensure I wouldn’t miss anything crucial. It turned out all those Rare Candies, PP restorers, and vitamins weren’t such a big deal. I had more power than ever needed just by fighting so many Trainers. In the future, I’ll play things a lot looser and only note any unusual items that are essential to my plan.
As for the actual run, it was an interesting mix of feeling overprepared and just prepared enough. Torterra has a lot going for it: power, bulk, Ground’s move suite, and a handful of Grass’s support options. Its low Speed and particularly nasty 4x weakness are impossible to ignore, though. Early-game it’s essentially just a Grass-type, so Roark was easy. Then it gets Curse, which presents cool sweep possibilities but didn’t see much use due to Torterra’s Speed being just good enough. No point in putting yourself at each foe’s mercy. I lost to Mars once by trying it against her Toxic Zubat (hold a Pecha Berry). Gardenia went fine. Jupiter almost won with a Night Slash crit. Fantina fell to Bite, Maylene to Curse, Wake to sheer level disadvantage, and Byron to Earthquake. I knew Candice would be the biggest problem of the run, so I went and bought Swords Dance from Veilstone Game Corner and got Rock Polish from Mt. Coronet. It turned out that level 60 Torterra is 4HKOed by her lead Sneasel’s Ice Shard, so I could boost Attack and Speed without fainting to Abomasnow’s hail. I lost once to not knowing her Froslass would be faster without Rock Polish and again to a crit, but third try is pretty darn good. I’m not sure Torterra’s level could have been much lower for that setup, so the excess experience worked out.
The rest of the game was cinched. I got the Rock Slide TM for my final moveset of Earthquake, Rock Slide, Swords Dance, and Rock Polish. Extremely few things can stand up to those two moves when boosted, and I found the setup I needed against each boss’s lead. Tragically but typically, a Grass-type move didn’t make the cut. The type just isn’t effective against enough of the strong Pokemon, and Torterra’s signature Wood Hammer and Leaf Storm aren’t conducive to a solo run. It’s a shame Torterra becomes an Earthquake machine, but at least it can solve its Speed issue.
This run’s biggest lesson was to not overprepare so much. I could have saved a lot of time by recognizing Trainer battles’ generous money and EXP payouts. I’m looking forward to how much I can push my luck with my next Pokemon, the all-in attacker Infernape.
