speed run [speed-run]
noun
1.
Video games. The act of a player/s taking on a video game related challenge, especially beating a game under specific conditions, as quickly as possible.
EX. I've replayed a lot of my games before, that's sorta the point of keeping them instead of trading them into Gamestop, but I don't think I've ever set out to speed run a game before. I tend more toward the Completionist route and obsessively hunt down every side mission and item (unless tedious). For example, I have all of the achievements in Elder Scrolls: Oblivion on the Xbox 360 (I'm sure that's not that impressive, but it was a bit of an undertaking and I'm proud of it). But after a frustrating round of League of Legends games, I decided to take a break and try to beat a Pokémon Yellow Emulator as quickly as possible:
The goal was to beat the Elite Four and Champion as quickly as possible.
Some of the reasons my run didn't go as quickly as I wanted were that, rather than focusing on maxing the stats of one Pokémon that could easily dominate the gyms and elite four, I was preoccupied with keeping a full balanced team. I also fought every trainer that I could and searched for certain items that were unnecessary. This play thru was mostly to reteach myself where everything was and develop a strategy for future Let's Play action. Still, I beat the game pretty quickly but don't have the exact time due to a glitch in my emulator.
Now, let's talk about my team a little bit:
BUTTER THE PIKACHU
The weak link of the team, Butter's only real assets were his Body Slam & Thunderbolt (giving him the sweep on Lorelie) for Paralysis, Quick Attack to speed out for last hits, and as my Flash slave. Still, I was glad I played through with Pikachu to remember just how cute but useless of a starter he is even in a game completely centered on him.
CHUNK THE NIDOKING
I've always been a big fan of the Nido Pokémon and I discovered, for myself, that Nidoking is pretty much the most OP Pokémon for sweeping the Elite Four. He has great stats and can learn a variety of awesome moves/movesets. For my run, Chunk was Moonstone evolved before I had my second badge and by the end his moveset was: Earthquake to take out just about anything, but especially Poison Pokémon like Agatha's Gengar, Surf to take out Bruno's team, Rockslide for flyers like Golbat and Dragonite, and Thrash (which I should've swapped for Horn Drill in retrospect).
Chunk is the King.
POMA THE NIDOQUEEN
Body Slam, Thunderbolt, Icebeam, and Toxic seemed liked a great combination of abilities to paralyze, freeze, and poison her targets, but Poma was too gentle. Still, she made for a great tank and I was glad to have used her despite the fact that a Psychic Pokémon probably would've been more appropriate.
GOJI THE CHARIZARD
Goji was probably the second most valuable member of my team thanks to his mobile moveset; Fly is a stab move that also helped me travel, Dig helped me wipe out Lt. Surge and sweep lots of Pokémon, Slash provided a good reliable damage dealer, and Flamethrower is the classic killer in many situations.
Charmander is still probably my favorite 1st Gen starter.
TUSKY THE BULBASAUR
Tusky is a simple boy. Tusky is a good boy. Well, he would be... If I hadn't accidentally overwrote Sleep Powder to give him a toolset to set up sweeps with Sleep Powder and Leech Seed. Instead, Poison Powder was a somewhat useful combo with Mega Drain and Cut for needs (I didn't want to waste time picking up an HM slave). Unfortunately for Venusaur, I always find him to be the least useful in 1st Gen games because of his weaknesses to already OP in 1st Gen Ice and Psychic with neither the tank nor the speed to make up for it.
ZENDO THE BLASTOISE
The funny guy of the group had to be Zendo. He was a clincher in situations thanks to his powerful Surf and Blizzard attacks. He also had Strength to help me on Victory Road and Skullbash (which I should've traded for Takedown or some other attack). I didn't use him nearly as much as Goji or Chunk, but I definitely appreciate Blastoise more as I get older.
In the end, I beat my Rival Numchuk after a few trial runs of the Elite Four.
In a real speed run, I would focus on Nidoking, skip certain objectives, and take advantage of the AI's weaknesses to push as quickly as posisble.
To see a real speed run, as opposed to my lame amateur attempt, check out the link below. Neat to know that my theory about Nidoking being the perfect Pokémon to sweep the Elite Four is apparently the dominant strategy... with which Werster, below, beats his previous record with a time of 1 Hour & 55 Min.
