Gameplay Journal Pokemon Shield but I'm boycotting Pokemon Centers

To tell the truth, I've never done a challenge run. I'm a pretty casual player of games by nature. However, I saw a Youtuber/streamer of mine do a no Pokémon center run of Pokémon Diamond and I thought it would be interesting (he didn't invent this challenge, he was just my first exposure). Apparently, this is one of the hardest Pokémon challenges period. A great way to try out a challenge run, huh?

So let's lay out the rules:

• Obviously, no using Pokémon centers for healing. This also includes any other free heals that aren't required
• Healing items, including berries, are allowed
• No deleting and relearning moves
• No using Raid Dens to heal (so really, never using Raid Dens)
• No resetting/reloading if things go bad
• If I white/blackout, I have lost the challenge

Some people use even harsher rules than this, but I'm not doing that.

I plan on starting with Scorbunny, I'll post an update to this thread with the events of the first day!

 

Time for the first update! I've been really feeling Xenoblade Chronicles lately (lol memes), so I decided the names for this challenge run will all be XC2 themed.

I named my PC Pyra and got my Scorbunny, who happened to be female. I named her Crosette (Fire? Soccer? Bitball? I thought it was clever) and had the obligatory beginning rival battle. I caught myself a Chewtle on route 2, who is already proving himself with his respectable defense to tank hits. His damage output at the moment does leave something to be desired - his moves won't be very good until he evolves. I got through the second rival battle without too much hassle, but already I'm feeling the pressure with the PP conservation. The free heals are fairly generous early game, but will most definitely prove to be an issue later.
The stretch to Motosoke was slightly nerve-wracking. I forget sometimes how high-leveled a lot of the Wild Area Pokémon are compared to you. Nonetheless, I did a bit of grinding and caught myself a Ralts. I did thinking that you got a forced heal as soon as you got to Motosoke, which isn't the case, but you do get one after the fight with Team Yell. Afterwards, I decided to grind up my Ralts a bit more, which may not have been the greatest idea in hindsight, but alas. I played the third Hop fight cautiously to preserve as much PP as I could. On route 3 I got a forced heal from Sonia (much appreciated), made my way up to the Galar Mine where I caught myself a Drilbur. This is a lot of Pokémon to start out with, yes, but I figured it would be a good way to spread out PP in the first part of this adventure, especially leading into the first Gym battle.

While I will be careful with my PP going into the gym battle, I'm not really worried about that fight itself. I can't remember if you get a forced heal before the gym leader fight, but I believe you do after, which will be something to keep in mind going forward. Coming up the next fight I'm actually worried about is Bede. I may have never lost a Bede fight, but that first battle with him is honestly brutal. His Pokémon hit hard, so he'll be eating up a fair amount of resources.

Spoiler: My current team and movesets

Crosette (Raboot) Lv. 16
Ember
Quick Attack
Tackle
Double Kick

Aegaeon (Chewtle) Lv. 14
Water Gun
Bite
Tackle
Protect

Wulfric (Drilbur) Lv. 13

Rapid Spin
Scratch
Hone Claws
Fury Swipes

KOS-MOS (Ralts) Lv. 13

Confusion
Draining Kiss
Double Team
Hypnosis

 

Big update time! I've played this game quite a bit today. Also, for those of you who are hawkeyed you may have noticed I removed the rule about using the PC to heal. That's because the PC doesn't even heal you in this game, so there's no need for it.

Spoiler: Long update ope

I got through the Galar Mine and had the first battle with Bede. This battle is rough even on a normal playthrough. His Solosis ate through half of my team before I was finally able to knock it out with Ralts. The rest of his team fell much easier. I did a bit more training before heading into the first gym. It's important to note here that you get an instant heal upon starting the Gym challenge, and another when you beat it. This is huge. Essentially it meant I could grind a bit without having to worry about my PP going in. The first gym was cleared basically without a hitch.

At the next route my initial plan was to get the Toxel from the daycare as my next team member. Then I remembered that Toxel has basically no moves until it evolves at level 30, so I scrapped that idea and went back to catch myself a Roselia. After a brief training montage, I started heading to the next gym. I crushed Hop's hopes and dreams and beat all of the trainers on the route, resulting in Ralts evolving into Kirlia and getting Pysbeam at last. Insert joke about Rose's dad bod here and I went into the gym.
Nessa's gym always reminded me of Crasher Wake's in DPP. There's not much actually similar other than there being a water-related puzzle and it being a water gym, but it does anyway. With Roselia, this gym is honestly a joke. Combined with her and Kirlia having Magical Leaf this was practically an automatic win.

Then it was time to head to Motosoke, and with that some much-needed training because Kabu will kick your ass if you aren't careful. From the Bede fight my Chewtle, at last, evolved into Drednaw. I was able to clear all the trainers in the area, but by the Team Yell fight my PP was getting pretty low. Luckily after that fight Hop gives you a forced heal.
I was a bit worried about the Kabu fight, especially going in slightly underleveled. His Ninetales and Arcanine proved to be very annoying with Will-O-Wisp and Intimidate. I didn't want to waste Drednaw's Razow Shell or Rock Tomb PP, so I ended up having to do a fair bit of shuffling between Drilbur, Raboot and Kirlia. Sand Tomb from Drilbur came in very handy for over-time damage. His Centiskorch thankfully fell in one hit.

After Kabu the game hits you with a bit of a spike in levels, so I decided to do a bit of grinding at the expense of PP. I managed to get everyone to level 30 with some effort. Kirlia evolved into Gardevoir and I taught her Moonblast, which honestly is OP at this point in the game. I did the Team Yell battle at the beginning of Route 6, which is where I'll be leaving things off for today.

The Stow-on-Side gym is a possible bump in the road. It's not particularly hard, but other than Drednaw's Crunch I don't have a very good answer to this gym. I'll be relying on duel-type effectiveness for this one. Looking at these levels, grinding might be a good idea...

Spoiler: Current team and movesets

Crosette (Raboot) Lv. 30
Flame Charge
Quick Attack
Fire Pledge
Double Kick

Poppi (Roselia) Lv. 30

Magical Leaf
Giga Drain
Leech Seed
Poison Sting

Wulfric (Drilbur) Lv. 30

Sand Tomb
Metal Claw
Rock Slide
Rapid Spin

Aegaeon (Drednaw) Lv. 30
Razor Shell
Crunch
Headbutt
Rock Tomb

KOS-MOS (Gardevoir)

Psybeam
Moonblast
Magical Leaf
Draining Kiss

 

Been a little bit since I've updated this. I'm gotten quite a bit done, so let's get started.

Spoiler: Another big update!

I did a bit of grinding for the Stow-on-Side gym, getting everyone to about level 44. I also caught my last team member - a Sinistea named Azami, who I evolved right away into Polteageist. Unfortunately, they weren't very useful since they don't get Shadow Ball until level 48, and I didn't feel like dealing with the Watt traders at that point. The gym from that point on was actually quite easy. Aegaeon was hitting pretty damn hard, as well as Wulfric who took out that big scary Gengar. I leveled up quite a bit in this gym, so I don't think grinding will be something I'll have to worry about in the future. I taught Azami my newly acquired Hex TM and had my battle with Bede which... was a joke, to be honest. After that first, maybe second fight, he's not very hard.

I fought all of the trainers in the Glimwood woods or whatever it's called and got to Ballonlea. As a side note, I agree as much as the next guy that Ballonlea is beautiful, but it's disappointing how tiny it is. I wish you had more reasons to go there after the Gym battle asides from literally three things. At the least I would've loved for there to be a clothing store with a similar aesthetic to Laverre City clothes in XY. That aside, after buying a bunch of items I headed straight for the gym. With a combo of Poppi and Wulfric, this gym was not hard. Opal's Alcremie with its big HP and special defense did give me some grief as I was using Poppi (I was worried about Wulfric being roasted to bits) but after some special attack buffs from dynamax moves I was able to fell it.

At Hammerlocke I had a fairly easy encounter with Hop. I don't find Hop particularly challenging, but his Snorlax is making me wanting for a good fighting type move. Crossette, unfortunately, can't learn Brick Break in place of Double Kick, though I may teach it to Wulfric at some point. Anyway, I got to route 7 and got my long-desired Shiny Stone to evolve Poppi. I also decided to take a detour to the Wild Area to grind for Watts to get Sludge Bomb and Shadow Ball for Poppi. It only took like 20 minutes, thankfully, and from there I headed to Circhester and what's probably my least favorite gym. I know ice gyms are all pretty hit or miss, but I dunno, I'm just not a fan of this gym puzzle. Thankfully this gym was a breeze thanks to Crossette, and Wulfric helped take out Melony's Lapras.

From there I had an also pretty easy battle with Hop. Also I don't understand why Sonia heals you before the battle here rather than afterward, you get healed after the gym challenge anyway. But otherwise I was able to mostly sweep through Hop and head to Spikemuth. I considered myself decently overleveled at this point so I didn't fight all of the trainers, mainly just who I ran into along the way. Marnie was a very easy fight. It was probably good I didn't fight everyone because apparently they don't force heal you for Piers' gym challenge. Because of this, I had to ration KOS-MOS' Moonblasts up until Piers. Once I got to him though it was more or less a free win, asides from a couple scares from his hard-hitting Obstagoon.

And that's where I'll leave this for today. We're at the end stretch my dudes. Raihan is kind of an annoying fight but I honestly don't think it'll be too bad. The only actual potential end runner I think is the Eternatus fight. For how easy this game is by comparison, Eternatus absolutely kicks your ass. Asides from that, I don't expect the rest of this run to be very hard.

Spoiler: Current team and moves

Poppi (Roserade) Lv. 46
Giga Drain
Sludge Bomb
Shadow Ball
Leech Seed

Azami (Polteageist) Lv. 46
Hex
Giga Drain
Nasty Plot
Strength Sap

Aegaeon (Drednaw) Lv. 46
Razor Shell
Rock Tomb
Crunch
Headbutt

Wulfric (Excadrill)
Drill Run
Metal Claw
Rock Slide
Swords Dance

KOS-MOS (Gardevoir) Lv. 47
Psychic
Moonblast
Magical Leaf
Calm Mind

Crosette (Cinderace) Lv. 47
Flame Charge
Bounce
Pyro Ball
Double Kick

 

I've done quite a bit since the last update, so let's get right into it.

Spoiler: Near the end!

I always forget that Raihan's thing is both double battles and weather. I'm used to just fighting him in the tournaments, so I only remember the weather bit. Anyway, the combination of KOS-MOS and Wulfric made this gym honestly pretty easy. KOS-MOS was able to take out most of his team without much trouble, and Wulfric took out his Duraladon. Real talk, why is this dude's Gigantimax a literal tower. That's always been weird to me.

From there it was on to Wyndon! This is probably my favorite city in SwSh. The town theme honestly slaps and reminds me a lot of Team Rocket. I flew through the Semi-Finals without much difficulty. The Rose Tower portion went by almost as fast. I don't really care for this portion of the game, but there's a Macro Cosmos employee who laments about his mortgage which it honestly the best part of this entire game. Gonna be honest, I just clicked buttons and barely paid attention to the Oleana fight. This is about my fourth time playing this game and I still don't get what her deal is. I also think her team is weird. For the most part it makes sense, but she has Garbador as her star mon which doesn't really fit with anything else. Ah well.
Then it was time for the Finals. I almost felt bad for Bede - he crashed the league finals wanting one last battle and I one-shot all of his mons. Keyword almost. Everyone else fell pretty easily. Poppi practically soloed Nessa, Azami was amazing against Allister, and poor Raihan has a fairy allergy.

From here we go to probably my least favorite section of this whole game. I don't mind Eternatus, I think it's cool, and plus that boss fight is actually pretty neat. I just can't stand Rose. Oh well, Crosette absolutely decimated his team and it was on to Eternatus. I actually didn't struggle that much this time around. Wulfric really held his own, being immune to Cross Poison and resistant to dragon type moves. Excadrills can be bulkier than you think thanks to that Steel typing.

All that's left is the Leon fight. I'm not very worried about it, but I do want to grind. His strongest mon is level 65, so I'm not very optimistic about being able to get through it without a lot of difficulty at my current levels. Hopefully this weekend I'll have the final, victorious update for beating Pokémon Shield without healing at Pokémon Centers.

Spoiler: Current Team and Moves

KOS-MOS (Gardevoir) Lv. 56
Psychic
Moonblast
Magical Leaf
Calm Mind

Poppi (Roserade) Lv. 56
Giga Drain
Sludge Bomb
Shadow Ball
Leech Seed

Crosette (Cinderace) Lv. 57
Fire Punch
Bounce
Pyro Ball
Double Kick

Wulfric (Excadrill) Lv. 57
Earthquake
Metal Claw
Rock Slide
Drill Run

Azami (Polteageist) Lv. 57
Shadow Ball
Giga Drain
Nasty Plot
Strength Sap

Aegaeon (Drednaw) Lv. 57
Liquidation
Rock Tomb
Crunch
Body Slam

 

At last, this challenge comes to a close.

Spoiler: Leon Battle and advice

I learned that Pokejobs do not force heal you, so I used those to do some quick grinding. I went into the fight with most of my mons around level 65. I also learned that apparently they don't heal you before the Leon fight, so anyone else doing this challenge should keep this all in mind. Since this fight is the only thing I'm covering in this update, I'll give a detailed walkthrough and advice for this fight in general.

I led with Azami to deal with Leon's Aegislash. I would recommend any hard-hitting Pokémon with good special defense to lead this fight as this Aegislash is running a special set. This Pokémon would preferably be a special attacker so you don't have to worry about mispredicting King's Shield, but if you're familiar with how you usually play Aegislashes you should be fine.
For Dragapult I have similar advice to the above. You'll be hard-pressed to outspeed this thing with a regular in-game team unless you have a Dragapult of your own. Pick something that can take a strong special attack and take it out with a super-effective attack. For me, Azami was once again holding their own.
Haxorus is a bit of a coinflip for how dangerous it can be. Most fairy and ice types probably aren't going to be faster than it, so ideally you'll have something on the field with decent bulk. KOS-MOS doesn't have much in the way of physical defense or speed so she wasn't the greatest choice for this. Luckily for me, Iron Tail is somewhat inaccurate so I took it out in one Moonblast.
His next two mons change depending on your starter so they range in how difficult they are. Since I chose Scorbunny, he had Mr. Rime and Inteleon. Mr. Rime is probably the least noteworthy. Any decently fast mon with a super-effective physical move is going to take it out with ease - in this case, Wulfric was the man for the job. Inteleon would be more worrying if it had Ice Beam. Thankfully it does not, so Poppi was able to take it out without much threat.
Last is his big bag Charizard. I probably should have put a focus sash on Aegaeon so it would survive Max Overgrowth. It ended up being one shot, so I had to get creative. I sent out Crosette as a sack while I used a Max Revive on Aegaeon. Crosette managed to survive a Max Rockfall somehow, so I took the opportunity to heal Azami as well just in case. After sacking Crosette and successfully stalling out Leon's Dynamax, I sent out Aegaeon. Charizard is highly allergic to rocks, so it fell in one Rock Tomb.

Overall I found this to be a pretty fun challenge! Due to the large number of force heals throughout the game, this challenge isn't as difficult as it is in other titles. Plus you get so much money that items aren't really an issue, not even considering the large number of free items. I ended this run with 10 Max Revives. For those wanting to do a challenge run, I think this is a good intro for doing challenge runs in Shield.
Should I do another challenge run? What should I play and what run should I do?