RBY Single-Pokemon Challenge

[Cabron the Swan]

So, I have decided to hold a little contest in the hopes of stirring up a little HG/SS excitement and luring some of our Spam Can hermits out into the open, myself included.

I recently started emulating Pokemon Yellow again, and it reminded me of my single-Pokemon speed run way back when. The guide I followed finished in 1h 58m, but my time was closer to 2:15-2:30. It is entirely possible to beat Red, Blue, or Yellow in under 3 hours with absolutely no glitching (unless you want to use a rare as your single Pokemon) and I would like to extend the challenge to my fellow Culties. The three fastest people to beat Pokemon Red, Blue, or Yellow with a single Pokemon will receive prizes. surprised

First prize: 100,000 gold
Second prize: 50,000 gold
Third prize: 25,000 gold

The next few posts will contain the contest rules and tips for getting the Pokemon you want as early as possible and shaving minutes off your time. If you have any questions please ask in the thread, in case anybody else is wondering the same thing.

You can find ROMs, emulators, and even a play-in-browser function at emuparadise.org; I am not permitted by Gaia ToS to provide links.

 

[Cabron the Swan]

Rules of the Challenge

1. You may emulate or play on a cartridge, but you must have some way of screencapping and/or recording certain battles. For cartridges I suggest a Game Boy Advance or Super Game Boy because the GB and GBC screens are too dark to get a good picture. You can download a free trial of HyperCam screen-recording software here.

2. You may not use save states. If I have reason to suspect you are using save states, I have the right to disqualify you. You do not have to play start-to-finish without resetting, but you must use the save method provided in the game.

3. You may not change your Pokemon species (you may catch a new Pokemon of the same species) or use an HM slave in battle. The exception to this rule is if you do not have your chosen Pokemon yet or need to raise it, in which case the only Pokemon you may use is your starter.

4. You must provide screenshots of Gym Leader/E4 battles to prove you only used that one Pokemon. If you can record your battles, even better. You do not have to submit screencaps from battles you lose. Please provide screenshots of each save as well, so I can keep track of who is leading.

5. You must record (or time) your final battle with Gary. The reason for this is the last chance you get to save (and therefore check your save timer) is after Lance. We will not count the credits, so you need to add Gary's fight time to your final save time to get your end time.

6. You must catch all Pokemon used (including HM slaves) on the speed playthrough. You may not trade Pokemon over or use a Gameshark - however all ingame glitch exploitation, with the exception of sequence breaking and duplicating Rare Candies, is legal.

7. This is a speed run. Any times over 12 hours will be disqualified. It can and has been done many times in 2, and hell, you can beat FF9 in 12 hours, so this is a very generous window.

 

[Cabron the Swan]

Tips & Tricks

1. Red and Blue have less storyline-related disruptions, but Yellow has easier Gym Leaders. In the end you will probably lose a similar amount of time to setbacks, so choose the version in which your desired Pokemon is easily obtainable.

2. Avoid Pokemon Centers unless you need to refill PP. Compared to healing items they are a waste of time. Try to keep your saves to a minimum, too: they add up!

3. Keep Horn Drill and Fissure in mind when selecting your Pokemon; a single X Accuracy renders them deadly in the first gen.

4. Save Rare Candies as long as you can; the more EXP they're worth, the more time they save you.

5. Refer to this glitch guide to obtain rare Pokemon quickly; even Mew if you so desire. If you want to catch rares before you obtain Fly, you will need an Abra from Rt 21 for Teleport, or a long-range trainer in a cave or building so you can use an Escape Rope. Keep in mind that Teleport will take you to the Pokemon Center you visited last and not the nearest one. This can be a curse or a blessing. wink

6. Repels are a speed gamer's best friend. X Stat and Guard Spec can also be huge helps.

7. Use a map (or in R/B's case a Game Boy Color, press B^ at the logo screen) to get through Rock Cave without wasting time getting Flash.

8. If this is your first speed run, play through problem areas twice - the first time slowly and carefully, figuring out the quickest path to your destination, and then reset and do it a second time with a fire under your butt. Alternatively, you can do a casual playthrough or watch a Let's Play first to help you find problem areas and work out solutions ahead of time.

9. Recording will probably work better than screencapping, unless you are on a Mac or you find an emulator with a built-in screencap function. Copy-pasting into Paint all the time will slow you down. You can download a free trial of HyperCam to use for this challenge here.

 

[Cabron the Swan]

Competitors

None yet :c

Entry Form

Copy and paste the following code into your reply, and fill it out with the appropriate information. There is no entry fee, and there is no limit to the amount of competitors.

[size=14][b]I wanna be the very best...[/b][/size]
[b]Username:[/b]
[b]Version:[/b]
[b]Emulator or cartridge?:[/b]
[b]Pokemon:[/b]

 

[[Kegan]]

But don't you get a Lapras automatically?  

[Cabron the Swan]

[Kegan]

But don't you get a Lapras automatically?

I never said you couldn't collect extra Pokemon. You're simply not allowed to use them. xp

 

[Xilo The Odd]

i think the ultimate goal is to keep you pokedex count as low as possible.
seriously if i was oak and you became champion with a pokedex of only 3 caught i would go "BWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH?!" and stroke.  

[Cabron the Swan]

Xilo The Odd

i think the ultimate goal is to keep you pokedex count as low as possible.
seriously if i was oak and you became champion with a pokedex of only 3 caught i would go "BWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH?!" and stroke.

Or you could go the other way and fill your Pokedex up past 200. xd Cinnabar Island glitch Pokemon get their own Pokedex spots for some reason.

 

[Xilo The Odd]

Lady Psycho Sexy

Xilo The Odd

i think the ultimate goal is to keep you pokedex count as low as possible.
seriously if i was oak and you became champion with a pokedex of only 3 caught i would go "BWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH?!" and stroke.

Or you could go the other way and fill your Pokedex up past 200. xd Cinnabar Island glitch Pokemon get their own Pokedex spots for some reason.

like my super awesome level 255 snorlax. i couldn't use him against the e4 though. he'll level to level 0 and die the next round.  

[Cabron the Swan]

Xilo The Odd

Lady Psycho Sexy

Xilo The Odd

i think the ultimate goal is to keep you pokedex count as low as possible.
seriously if i was oak and you became champion with a pokedex of only 3 caught i would go "BWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH?!" and stroke.

Or you could go the other way and fill your Pokedex up past 200. xd Cinnabar Island glitch Pokemon get their own Pokedex spots for some reason.

like my super awesome level 255 snorlax. i couldn't use him against the e4 though. he'll level to level 0 and die the next round.

Flying surfing Kangaskhan for the epic, epic win.  

[Xilo The Odd]

Lady Psycho Sexy

Xilo The Odd

Lady Psycho Sexy

Xilo The Odd

i think the ultimate goal is to keep you pokedex count as low as possible.
seriously if i was oak and you became champion with a pokedex of only 3 caught i would go "BWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH?!" and stroke.

Or you could go the other way and fill your Pokedex up past 200. xd Cinnabar Island glitch Pokemon get their own Pokedex spots for some reason.

like my super awesome level 255 snorlax. i couldn't use him against the e4 though. he'll level to level 0 and die the next round.

Flying surfing Kangaskhan for the epic, epic win.

i had a golem that had the moltres move set. and it was either me or a friend that got mewtwo with splash  

[Xahmen]

This is awesome and you are awesome, if you could contact me via AIM to help me "procure" a version of R, B, or Y, I'd appreciate it.
I'm computer retarded.

AIM = damienamarty  

[Cabron the Swan]

Zahmen II

This is awesome and you are awesome, if you could contact me via AIM to help me "procure" a version of R, B, or Y, I'd appreciate it.
I'm computer retarded.

AIM = damienamarty

I don't have AIM. Can I send it through Wylr?

 

[CYBERPUNK PANDA]

hm slaves? wtf? @.@

So the challenge is only one pokeman the entire game on top of those other rules you listed?  

[Cabron the Swan]

xX_Kyro_Freed_Xx

hm slaves? wtf? @.@

So the challenge is only one pokeman the entire game on top of those other rules you listed?

None of my rules should interfere too much with the actual playthrough, they are simply to even the playing field between cartridge and ROM users and help me to weed out cheaters. If this is too hard to understand I will make the competition ROM-only, but I don't think it's that hard.

HM slaves are permitted because it'd be impossible to go through the game with just one Pokemon in this generation; their moveset would have to be Cut/Surf/Strength/Fly. You are permitted to have as many Pokemon as necessary for access to HMs and field techniques, but these Pokemon cannot be used in battles.

So yeah, the challenge is only one Pokemon the whole game. And be fast.