Gen 4 Pokemon Pearl- 'Professor Oak Challenge Lite' Edition

Since 2 days ago I started replaying my physical cart of Pokémon Pearl (my Platinum rom is super laggy) and started a challenge I like to do these days. I call it "Professor Oak's Challenge Lite Edition" as it follows the same idea, but lessens some of the rules. Normal PO Challenge rules state that you have to have all the Pokémon found before a gym fully evolved (yes, even the lv 30+ Pokémon such as your starter- the ones that need stones not available are free to sit by until the stone is needed).
Self-Imposed Rules:
1. Must catch every kind of Pokémon available in the main game, evolve them all before the E4 if possible (A good 100~ are available post-game only via Battle Frontier areas and Swarms).
2. I can not use my Platinum, Sapphire, Emerald, or Fire Red games to do evo-trades, pal park, dual slot, or exclusives trades. The Pokémon caught must be available in Pearl by itself.
3. No Action Replay for Feebas, 999 Master Balls, or 5000+ EXP per battle. Going to try this legit. (I will allow myself to AR if Feebas takes over a month, but no less!)
4. Once a Pokémon has fully evolved, unless it has a HM that none of my non-evolved Pokémon can learn, will be put into the PC.

The first 2 days were quite hectic, I spent a hour on the route above Jubilife City looking for Budew (and had to return the next day during the morning to get it) for example. It took forever but I eventually got every Pokémon available before the first gym. Before fighting my rival (named Lewis), my Kricketot evolved into Kricketune- my first (and so far, only) evolution. Rowarak went by without much issue, although my Budew fainted in accident and ruined the friendship I had been building.
I made it to Floaroma Town and got rid of Mars in the Valley Windworks. I had to grind a bit and made it through with one Pokémon in red health (Budew made it with 3 Potions and Poison Point getting Purugly). Under several friends' opinions, I started using the Honey on the trees around Floaroma. The tree around the honey seller gave me a Wurmple, but something happened and the honey I used on the tree next to the Windworks' vanished without a spawn. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to get another honey and slather it before bed.

Pokémon in Team:
Sprout- lv 13 Turtwig
Rosie- lv 13 Budew
Paulie- lv 12 Starly
Sparko- lv 12 Shinx
Vlad- lv 12 Zubat
Boofy- lv 12 Bidoof

Pokémon in PC
Kricketune, Pachirisu, Onix, Machop, Abra, Geodude, Psyduck, Magikarp, Buizel, Shellos East Sea, Wurmple

 

Thanks guys! And yup, I did this on my FR Rom (I..think I forgot about it somewhere before E4 but after Giovanni, oops) and discovered how cool Magnemite was. He was pretty good for a steel type in Kanto
I'm still actively playing for today so I'll probably edit this later with more info on what happened. The Honey tree did work, and gave me a Cascoon! Here's to hoping my Wurmple is a Silcoon.. (but Silcoon should be available in the Eterna Forest so no huge worries). Sadly that means that it's likely in the same group pool as the tree near the honey seller- which is Group A, the 'worst' group (Wurmple, Cascoon/Silcoon, Combee, Burmy, Cherubi, Aipom- in order of common to rare). I will have to stock up on honey and continue on from Floraroma after Friday (for Driftloon).
I'm currently trying to level up my Wurmple to see what it evolves into, but the grind is slow as she's lv 12 among lv 7-8 wilds.
Moment of truth- Layla has hit lv 13.. AND SHE'S SILCOON! YES!! Paulie evolved at lv 14, a lot sooner than I expected. Figured it would be around lv 16 or higher like Pidgey and Pidove.. Layla has fully evolved and I have swapped her for Bugsy the Cascoon.
Training is getting a bit harder, with levels getting higher. Venturing out a bit further to get trainers and they're on par with my team. It's quite helpful, but also troubling as my team gets hurt more and more. After a difficult battle, Bugsy has fully evolved and I'm ready to swap back to Sparko.
After some more grinding, I've decided it's time to end it for the night. Purchasing some extra honey, I've put it on the tree in Route 205. Hopefully I'll get a spawn in the morning and get to put another honey on before I leave for the day.

Pokémon:
Vlad- lv 12 Zubat
Sparko- lv 13 Shinx
Boofy- lv 13 Bidoof
Paulie- lv 14 Staravia
Rosie- lv 15 Budew
Sprout- lv 15 Turtwig

Pokémon in PC-that needs to evolve:
Magikarp, Psyduck, Buizel, Geodude, Shellos East Sea, Machop, Abra

 

The tree on 205 gave me 2 uncommon Pokémon- Cherubi and Combee. Combee took 20+ resets, but I got a female before the 24 hour mark. With 3 honey on hand, it's time for me to move on- after getting Driftloon, of course. I horrifically scared myself due to hitting Rollout without thinking, but luckily Driftloon fainted my Bidoof before it got too bad.
I decided to swap Vlad with JJ the Driftloon as he was struggling too much and lagging behind in level. As I type now, I'm in Eterna Forest with Cheryl, and plan to use this as some key grinding time on my Pokémon. I may not hit Eterna City for a day or two, lol.
Hitting lv 15 led Sparko to evolving! Still no Spark though, haha... Following Sparko, at lv 15 Boofy evolved as well! I suppose it's time to let him go, and find someone else to train up. Might take back Vlad.. Nope, decided to take Queenie the combee, as in the meantime she can gather Honey for the trees until she hits lv 21.
At lv 18 Sprout evolved into Grotle! Queenie jumped up to lv 17 quickly, trying to keep it slow so I can get loads of honey out of her gathering before she evolves.
I managed to pull off a lot, but will call it a night for now. No honey trees in use for now, as all the trees here are Group A (rarest being Aipom, which is more common in the Group B trees).
Pokémon in Party:
Sparko- lv 17 Luxio
Queenie- lv 17 Combee
Paulie- lv 17 Staravia
Rosie- lv 18 Budew
Sprout- lv 18 Grotle
JJ- lv 22 Driftloon

Pokémon in the PC:
Psyduck, Buizel, Geodude, Shellos East Sea, Machop, Abra, Cherubi, Magikarp, Zubat

 

I forgot to charge my game so today I only have this to say.
I decided to do some training on the Pokémon I have in my PC, before it got too extreme. I swapped Sparko and Sprout for Kazza the Abra and Hiko the Magikarp. After a hour of grinding, Kazza evolved into Kadabra. Due to lack of trading, I will not get a Alakazam, ending Kazza's run. I'll probably swap her for Geodude when I can play again.

 

While grinding, I have decided I'll only grind everyone to lv 20. If they evolve at or before 20, that's great. If it's over 20, I'll wait for another time to grind them up. Paulie and Rosie have hit 20 so now I'm training Sparko and Sprout along side Hiko and Rocky the Geodude. Getting a good handful of Honey from Combee.
Ya know..when I first started re-playing, I was quick in Discord to point out things I had gotten used to in the 3D games compared to the 2D gens- instant running, 'zoomed in' graphics, faster battles/load times.. but after seeing Sprout use Razor Leaf for the 20th time against these bug types, I remember something I've forgotten so many years ago.
When Gen 4 was originally dropping, I saw those commericals for the games, and just latched onto the Razor Leaf animation. It was one of the best I've seen since then, with the glowy effect and the yellow 'hit' bursts.
It kinda..made me realize something- I found the 2D animations much better than the 3D ones. As a 2D animator, I know how much difficulty went into the battle/move sprites, the glowy effects, the explosion effects, ect.. However I can't understand the difficulties of 3D animations, nor what must go in to make them work. All that I do know is that several student animators have made more detailed 3D attacks within a week in comparison to what GameFreak pulled off in a year or so of work (granted they did more things than just moves). In that regard, in comparisons to the 2D attacks they made back then, it feels like it's just losing the fire, the spark and inspiration when looking at the Razor Leaf attack today. Heck, they could have done more with the Double Kick but it's exactly the same as the 2D era attack..
Anyways, training continues on...
Sprout hit lv 20, Hiko is close to evolving, but I'm going to take a break for now. Might update later.
It felt like eternity, but Hiko has evolved into Gyarados, so she, as well as Sprout and JJ, will be swapped with other Pokémon! They were swapped with Cherriboi the Cherubi, Vlad the Zubat, and Kappa the Psyduck.

 

Yesterday nothing big happened, so there wasn't a update.
Rocky finally hit 20, FINALLY.. Sparko also hit 20 right after.

 

I"m nearing the end of this lv 20 grind. Kappa was one of the fastest I've had, and he probably would have reached lv 20 in one night if it wasn't so late yesterday. Down to Buizel, Shellos East, Machop, Cherubi, and Zubat (and Combee)
Cherriboi has hit lv 20, just leaving Vlad in this party under 20. Vlad has reached 20 as well. Now it's time to switch the team around one last time.

 

Yesterday Delta the Shellos East hit 20 but it was almost 11 pm so I didn't document it. Whoops.
Down to Tails the Buizel, AllMight the Machop, and Queenie the Combee. I also have Cherriboi with me as I think he'll evolve in one level, if he is needed for any battles.
Tails has finally learned Swift, which hits both opponents- this should help speed up his grinding (lv 15)
Tails has hit lv 20, just down to AllMight (lv 11) and Queenie (lv 17).
After a tough time, involving needing to learn Foresight to handle the Misdreavus encounters, AllMight has reached lv 20. Soon I'll be free to move on, finally..
And now, I can pass through the forest, finally... ;w;
After passing through, I have 39 Honey. That should be enough for now..
Putting one of them on the tree outside the forest, I'm going to end it here for the night. Here's to hoping this is a Group B (Heracross, Aipom, Burmy spawing) or Group C (Munchlax).

 

The tree spawned a female Combee, what luck! (shame I don't need a female combee now, lol)
Of course that doesn't prove what tree it is, as both A and B have Combee.
I just realized I've been calling Delta East Sea, but he's West Sea. lol.
It took the female Combee and 2 Fishermen, but finally Queenie is the true queen she always could be. Although her time during the training/main story is over, I'm excited to see what she could do as a potential contender for the E4 battles.
I caught a Bunneary but have to wait for night for Misdreavus, so I went and honey'd the tree again and saved to wait 6 hours. Will update then.
It had a Wurmple, confirming it's Group A and not B.. Oh well..
She took all my Pokeballs, but Misdreavus is caught and I can leave the Forest for now. Up next is getting the Explorer Kit so I can start stone/shard/ect grinding!
No stones, but I did get a Armor Fossil! Next time I reach Oreburgh, I can get a Shieldon.

Pokémon:
Zubat, Machop, Budew, Buizel, Cherubi, Geodude, Psyduck, Bunneary, Grotle, Luxio, Starivia, Driftloon, Shellos

 

It was a bit of a struggle, surprisingly, but I beat Gardenia with just Sparko the Luxio and Paulie the Staravia. I gave Cut to JJ in place of Focus Energy, and now there's several places I can go.
Using Cut around the forest entrance/exit, I found a Honey Tree. I'll get back to you in a few hours over what this tree spawns.
I went into the Underground and got my first Plate and Stone. Flame Plate and Thunderstone. Fun fact- In Platinum, if you had a event arceus, a NPC in the Oreburgh Mines will give you a Flame Plate. :u
It gave me a Aipom! High chances of it being Group B, so I slathered again in hopes of getting something new and better.

Next morning and it gave Combee, which is also in Group A and B.. so I put on another Honey and saw my game was about to die. Welp sorry :c
I messed with the underground but only got another Armor Fossil. The tree spawned a Cherubi, but that doesn't answer the question either. I Honey'd again for tomorrow.. Hopefully this will give me my answer..

 

Finally I've found a Group B tree! It gave me Heracross! I used Honey again, as I need two Burmy to complete Group A+B set.
I got another Thunderstone and a Leafstone from the Underground. The stone I need right now, a Dusk Stone, is not available in the Underground so I don't need to go too extreme on the digging.
It has given me Cherubi and Wurmple, which while rare for Group B, is not needed. I have gotten a 3RD Armor Fossil from the underground.. I'm just hoping to get a Burmy or two...... :x

 

Finally got my first Burmy, and it's a male. Hopefully the female will come around soon, like maybe the next honey spawn? I'm tired of being stuck around this tree in fear of forgetting it like I did in my OG casual runs. :c

 

I got the female burmy, and now I can leave this tree. I'm going to try backtracking, see if there was any cut trees I missed, I think there was a honey tree before floraroma town, plus the Old Chateau.
In the time of doing the Underground while waiting for the honey tree to spawn, I've gotten a Flame Plate, a Leaf Stone, a Moon Stone, 2 Thunder Stones, and 3 Armor fossils, as well as several tutor Shards and Heart Scales. I've hit Red and Blue Sphere sized 99 and had to trade them off to make space. I don't even have a spot to put the bike I bought lol..
I used to spend hours in the Underground, even without a friend/my platinum copy interacting, and now it's just kinda hard to focus on it. Might be that I'm still unable to fly everywhere, so I'm kinda stuck when the items spawn outside of my reach. (and that I'm limited on my good drops, unlike Platinum that can get any fossil almost right away.)
In the Old Chateau I got Ghastly, which took a few 5+ encounters due to my team one-shoting them. Although it's still day, this place still unnerves me. The on-going, most likely true theory of someone killing the family via poison (thus the Antidote in the kitchen trash) ooo that sends shudders down my spine..
And now I've remembered I have to go back post Champion to get Rotom... ;x;
Route 211 has a ton of new Pokémon to catch, but some are night only, such as Hoothoot. I'm going to get some more Pokeballs and save to wait for the night to fall to get Hoothoot as all the others needed are also available at night. I've gotten a Meditite before realizing Hoothoot was available.
Got Hoothoot, Chingling, and Ponyta, last for Route 211.
Vlad evolved at lv 22! I swore Zubat evolve at 25.. oh well!
In Mt. Cornet I got Cleffa, a 5%er at night. (oddly it's 25% at Dawn??)
I beat Jupiter and got the Bike..AND EXP SHARE! YES Grinding should be a bit easier now.
Under the Cycling Road I got Bronzor. I have to come back here to get Gible, as it requires Strength in D/P. I found another Honey Tree and slathered it. Now that I'm just needing Munchlax, I can leave them if they don't spawn a Munchlax (as Group C only has Munchlax)
Pokémon
Burmy F, Gastly, Meditite, Burmy M, Aipom (Doesn't have Pick Up), Misdreavus, Buneary, Buizel, Budew, Shellos West, Grotle, Psyduck, Machop, Luxio, Golbat, Driftloon, Staravia, Geodude, Cherubi, Ponyta, Hoothoot, Chingling, Cleffa, Bronzor

 

I got Shelidon revived, and continued on. Outside Hearthome City I got the Odd Keystone, a item for Spiritomb..... a Pokémon..I can't get. Whoops..
Inside the city I got a Pokémon Egg, I forget if it hatches into Happiny or Togepi...
Richard the male Burmy evolved, swapping for Bertha the female Burmy.

 

I had a failed run in with Chansey, I'm still upset over that. I did catch Bonsly though.. SECOND CHANSEY Was a SUCCESS!!!
Cherriboi evolved into Cherrim Swapped with Rosie again. Bertha evolved into Wormadam. Got the Oval Stone, although I have a chansey now.. Swapped Bertha with Tails the Buizel.