Introduction:
Following my completion of the random Pokemon gauntlet for NFE (https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/the-ancient-lotus-gen-9-bh-peaked-top-500-randomly-generated-not-fully-evolved-pokémon-only.3728588/ ),: I was looking for other potential challenge ideas for randomizers as they offer an intriguing ordeal that truly puts one’s patience, creativity, and skill to the test. And then I remembered that no one had been crazy enough to attempt the random Pokemon gauntlet with the restriction of using only one type in my absence. And so I decided to take on the challenge myself.
The Challenge:
The ruleset for the challenge is as follows:
- Every team that is used must be randomly generated and contain only Pokemon of one type
- The ability Imposter is banned (Optional Rule I added for higher difficulty)
- The challenge begins with a fresh alt with the prefix RPG ( RPG stands for random Pokemon gauntlet)
- Boosting with other teams and forfeiting alts is prohibited
- To beat the challenge one must reach the top 500 on the ladder or higher
Creating the team (Mono-Dark):
As with any mono-type challenge, the first step is choosing the type to approach the challenge. I began by thinking about what the best offensive types and what the most brutal offensive monsters are in BH as those would be my adversaries on the ladder when I inevitably run into them. Fairy, Fighting, and Dragon right? Fairy has the powerful Pixilate Boomburst combination and brutal take Heart Sets, Dragon has busted moves like the 150 bp Dragon Energy, and Fighting hits all Steel types that run rampant and has powerful options like Sword of Ruin Close Combat. Following some careful consideration, I decided to use mono-dark. After choosing the optimal type for the challenge, I just needed to generate my team. Mercifully, the generator didn’t take long to create something usable as after a few rolls I got this team:
Which had many useful attributes like the overall solid Arceus Dark, Hygreigon with its decent special attack, Kingambit with Steel attacks to hit Fairies, Muk, and Mandibuzz for defense, and most importantly Mightyena for companionship.
The Team (Mono Dark):
Immutable Void (Arceus-Dark) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Fur Coat
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Strength Sap
- Take Heart
- Dark Pulse
- Spirit Shackle
Arceus-Dark has the highest physical bulk of any Dark Type bar Ting-Lu and has excellent base 120 stats across the board. With Fur Coat Arceus is bulky enough to avoid being OHKOed by basically every fighting type bar Choice Band Mega Heracross and survive several hits from Pixilate Population Bomb abusers. Arceus’s defense, ability to punish physical attackers with Rocky Helmet, and solid special attack stat enables it to serve effectively as a stop-gap for powerful fighting and Fairy-type physical attackers and a potent late-game wincon. Arceus uses a moveset with Strength Sap to stop the mention physical attackers in their tracks with attack drops, Take Heart to gather enough Special Boosts to eventually overwhelm an opponent's team, Dark Pulse as a reliable Dark-type STAB option with a massive 24 pp and a significant 20% flinch chance, and Spirit Shackle to ensure that if an Imposter Chansey or Blissey copies Arceus Dark it just gets trapped and is forced to KO itself with struggle.
Luminosity Coffin (Kingambit) @ Clear Amulet
Ability: Prankster
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Gigaton Hammer
- Destiny Bond
- Combat Torque
One of the most glaring disadvantages of mono-dark is that it struggles to hit Bulky Fairy types like Mega Audino and Arceus Fairy and gets skewered in return by moves like Moonblast and Judgement. Fortunately, there is a Pokemon that allows one to play around this flaw even in the event Imposter is banned: Kingambit. Kingambit has a 135 base attack stat and the coveted Steel Typing which offers a neutrality to Fairy moves and a way to hit back for super effective damage. For the challenge, I opted for a Prankster set-up with Swords Dance, a primary attacking move and secondary attacking move, and most critically Destiny Bond. The primary attacking: Gigaton Hammer has a disproportionately high base power of 160, which when put in tandem with a Swords Dance boost just OKHOs most Pokemon that don’t resist the move or have the ability Fur Coat. Combat Torque compliments Gigaton Hammer by giving Kingambit a fighting move to hit the ubiquitous steel types of BH with and giving Kingambit a move with a 30% paralysis chance to turn the tables on faster Pokemon. Destiny Bond serves a twofold purpose of ensuring that if an Imposter Chansey copies the set to attempt a counter-sweep the Chansey is forced to sacrifice itself and allowing Kingambit to trade with dangerous offensive threats like Eternatus, Gardevoir, and Mega Lucario.The item selected for the set : Clear Amulet, allows Kingambit to ignore the attack drop from Strength Sap so it can muscle past Fur Coat Pokemon.
Divergent Matter (Muk-Alola) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Knock Off
- Stone Axe
- Mortal Spin
- U-turn
While Kingambit is indeed useful for putting pressure on defensive Fairy types, it still lacks the special bulk to reliably absorb Fairy moves from more offensive Fairy types. And that is where Alolan Muk’s niche lies. Alolan Muk’s Poison/ Dark type in tandem with Regenerator and the 1.5x special boost from Assault Vest allow it to both absorb both Mortal Spin and the vast majority of Fairy moves for the duration of the game. Muk’s moveset is fairly standard as far as regenerator pivots go: the classic Knock-Off, Stone Axe, Mortal Spin, and U-Turn. The reasons for the inclusion of and the utility each of the moves provides is trivial and will be left as an exercise to the readers of the RMT. A Sassy nature and minimum speed EV’s and IV’s are used to ensure that it moves after any opponent in front of it in order to absorb hits and statuses for its frailer and less status-resistant comrades.
Skeletal Fabric (Mandibuzz) (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Defog
- Toxic
- Parting Shot
- Recover
As any trainer with knowledge of the Dark knows: Dark Types despise the existence of fighting types. Fortunately, Mandibuzz has high physical bulk and the flying type which enable it to easily absorb fighting coverage moves and survive weaker physical attacks like Ho-Ohs V-Create. Both of these traits enable it to work as an effective mid-ground against a variety of Pokemon with the ability Regenerator. Unlike most other regeneration pivots, Mandibuzz uses the item of Heavy Duty Boots over Assault Vest, so Stealth Rocks don’t cut its hp every time it switches in and so it can use utility moves Assault Vest pokemon cannot like Parting Shot, Defog, and Toxic. Parting Shot enables Mandibuzz to slow pivot out whilst softening attacks or nullifying Take Heart boosts for the rest of the team, Defog gives the team a secondary way to remove hazards even in the event an opponent has a Steel Type to block Mortal Spin from Muk, and lastly Toxic enables Mandibuzz to target and status the Convert Cloak Pokemon and Normalize abusers that can give Muk grief. Similar to Muk, Mandibuzz minimizes its speed via EV’s, IVs, and nature to ensure Madibuzz takes the hit for whichever teammate switches in when it pivots out of the game with Parting Shot.
Frigid Husk (Hydreigon) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Beads of Ruin
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 104 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Make It Rain
- Draco Meteor
- Blue Flare
- Volt Switch
Hydreigon has a respectable 125 base special attack and the incredible Dragon typing and thus is one of the best special wall breakers available for mono-dark. A 1.5x Choice Specs and 1.25x Beads of Ruin boost in tandem with the high 130 base power and STAB of Draco Meteor allows Hydreigon to OHKO or 2HKO most of the tier with the exception of Assault Vest users, Ice Scales pokemon, and Blissey. While Draco Meteor will be most frequently clicked, Hydreigon still wants moves to hit the Pokemon that resist or are immune to Draco. Thus Blue Flare is used as coverage to skewer steel types that don’t have any Fire Immunity abilities and Make it Rain crushes the Fairy types that will want to take advantage of Draco Meteor. Volt Switch enables Hydreigon to chip away at its counters and to capitalize on predicted switches to special walls like Kyogre and Ho-oH. The spread including 104 special defense EV’s might seem a bit bizarre at first as most Pokemon in BH want to maximize their defenses. However, in Hydreigons case 104 EVs ensures that once Eviolite has been removed from opposing Imposter users, Draco Meteor is guaranteed to land an OHKO on them. This KO is vital as the team isn’t fully watertight against Imposter.
Forlorn Whimper (Mightyena) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Encore
- Destiny Bond
- Burning Bulwark
- Mortal Spin
Mightyena is by far the most vital component of the team as without their companionship, I would be lost in a state of complete and utter despair. Every day would simply be an Encore of the last 24 hours I had suffered through with the weight of the world on my shoulders and a Taken Heart. As if by Destiny, our Bond keeps my head on my shoulders and returns my Heart back to my chest even after it has been Taken or crushed by worldly tribulations. Through the Mortal Spin of the Earth, they have never left my side and are the Bulwark that saves me from the Judgement of god and the Surging Strikes of the rapids of life. Though quite a Prankster, they don their favorite Focus Sash with jubilation as their footsteps trail their tail. I live to observe another game and another day solely due to them.
Creating the team (Mono-Ghost):
After completing the randomizer challenge for Dark and six other monotypes, I pondered: what other types would be doable. I first thought to myself: What is the most common move in all of Hackmons? Then it came to mind: Knock-Off. The Dark type move Knock-Off is truly the epitome of value in the hackmons metagame because it has a high base power and removes items. Using my insights and my endless wisdom, I decided that mono-ghost was clearly the most trivial and logical choice for attempting such a challenge.
Following many attempts at generating a team, I finally settled on this:
As Lunala, Necrozma, and Flutter Mane are among the most solid Ghost types one can roll and the remaining Pokemon, while less than stellar, are still somewhat possible to work with.
The Team (Mono-Ghost):
Endmost Flicker (Flutter Mane) @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Simple
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Burning Bulwark
- Judgment
- Focus Blast
The most explosive special boosting move in the game: Tail Glow has long since been banned, and that unfortunately leaves Nasty Plot as one of the best alternatives. However, with the ability Simple, Nasty Plot can still offer a large enough boost to cleave through most Ice Scales Pokemon and Assault Vest abusers assuming that the Pokemon that uses it has a sufficiently high special stat. And that Flutter Mane most certainly has as its special stat is 135. Moreover, Flutter Mane also has a 135 base speed stat and a superb Fairy-Ghost typing which enables it to threaten the Dark types that normally match-up well into mono-ghost, while also being completely self Imposter Proofed with the combination of Pixie Plate and Judgment. Since Flutter Mane already has all the offensive power and coverage it needs with Judgment for STAB and Focus Blast to hit Steel types, the optimal final move is Burning Bulwark. Bulwark might seem a bit puzzling at first, that is until you remember Flutter Mane’s Physical frailty. Burning Bulwark thus allows Flutter Mane to punish physical attackers and priority users for attempting to exploit Flutter Mane’s low defense stat while also weakening and chipping Regen-Vest.
Final Singularity (Necrozma-Dawn-Wings) @ Life Orb
Ability: Simple
Tera Type: Psychic
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 28 SpD
- No Retreat
- Astral Barrage
- Stored Power
- Moonblast
While No-Retreat does indeed trap the user, Necrozma (and the rest of my team for that matter) are Ghost types and consequently are immune to any trapping effects. Thus, No-Retreat is the only reliable Omniboosting option that doesn’t have any drawbacks for mono-ghost. Using the ability Simple in tandem with no retreat, Necrozma gains the ability to get to +2 Attack, +2 Defense, +2 Special Defense, +2 Special Attack and +2 Speed in a single turn at no cost. This in tandem with a STAB-boosted Stored Power and massive 157 special stat enables Necrozma to OHKO even the bulkiest special walls like Ice Scales Audino and Arceus Fairy. Considering the massive amount of boosts and BP Stored Power one might inquire, as to if the Life Orb is superfluous. However, Life Orb ensures that Necrozma always OHKOs its Imposter with minimized special defense EVs and that Necrozma can always OHKO bulky Dark Types like Yveltal or Ting-Lu with Moonblast.
Vantablack Veil (Lunala) @ Throat Spray
Ability: Simple
Tera Type: Psychic
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 12 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
IVs: 0 Def
- Clangorous Soul
- Stored Power
- Poltergeist
- Moonblast
Clangorous Soul is far and away the most formidable set-up move that is currently legal in Balanced Hackmons. (Edit: forgot Clangorous Soul and No-Retreat were recently banned). In one turn a Simple pokemon wielding the combination of Clangorous Soul and Throat Spray can go from zero boosts to +2 Speed, +2 Special Defense , +4 Special Attack, +2 Defense,+ 2 Attack. While gaining such a massive amount of stat increases is powerful in and among itself, the true power of such a strategy comes from the move Stored Power, which in one turn balloons from a 20 bp move to 260. In tandem with the aforementioned boosts to special attack, Stored Power when used on a powerful Psychic type like Lunala basically OHKOs everything in the tier with the exception of Assault-Vest Steel types, Dark Types, and Prankster Haze Pokemon. The rest of the moves Lunala uses are simply for coverage and Imposter Proofing. Moonblast OHKOs most of the Dark Types Stored Power cannot touch and Poltergeist in tandem with a consumable like Throat Spray and a custom EV spread of 12 def Ev’s and 0 Iv’s guarantees that Lunala can OHKO Imposter Chansey while Imposter Chansey can only 3HKO back.
Perishing Planet (Annihilape) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Final Gambit
- Trick
- U-turn
- Court Change
Hyper Offense teams often struggle with fast choiced wallbreakers like Mega Alakazam and Ash Greninja as they can outspeed and just OHKO most set-up sweepers before they can get off the ground. Henceforth, having a method of targeting and removing such Pokemon is critical. Annihilape fills this role perfectly via the combination Final Gambit and Choice Scarf. Since the Pokemon it wishes to target generally have a lower HP stat than it and don’t run Choice Scarf themselves, Annilape can reliably trade with them to make it more straightforward to find the opportunities the team needs to win the game. While in 99 percent of cases, Annilape will just be fodder to trade, it still runs Trick, U-Turn, and Court Change for general utility. Trick gives an opponent a Choice Scarf which helps with finding set-up opportunities, Court Change can temporarily relieve hazard pressure, and lastly U-Turn is useful for picking off heavily weakened threats and positioning.
Stygian Winter (Polteageist) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 SpD
- Nasty Plot
- Moongeist Beam
- Focus Blast
- Destiny Bond
While Polteagiest possesses a solid 134 base special stat, its other stats unfortunately leave much to be desired. Its terrible speed and bulk (by BH standards) mean it will almost be KOed right away by faster and stronger threats. However, that is precisely what this team wants. A strong threat or breaker dragged into the void with the combination of Prankster and Destiny Bond is one less threat the rest of the team has to contend with. The remaining moves on Polteageist are simply there to make it so it can’t be ignored so easily. Nasty Plot, in tandem with Moongeist Beam, and Focus Blast can do massive amounts of damage if the opponent tries to play around Destiny Bond by simply playing passively. Polteageist’s item of choice is Focus Sash to ensure that if hazards are not up, then it is guaranteed to be able to switch into a threat at full HP once. This is crucial to have as it allows the team some leeway to react if it encounters something it cannot deal with via offensive pressure.
Heat Death (Typhlosion-Hisui) @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Teleport
- Destiny Bond
Clangorous Soul and Simple can generate an absurd amount of power, but this power comes at the cost of not being able to run any defensive abilities and requiring frail Pokemon with exploitable weaknesses. Without anything like Fur Coat or Ice Scales or Assault-Vest and having a lot of weaknesses a problem emerges: How to defeat foes that will just KO before the team can power-up its threats. While unfortunately such weaknesses can’t be ignored, they can be mitigated through means like Light Screen and Reflect. Typlosion’s Fire Typing and ability Prankster make an acceptable screens setter for Mono-Ghost as Fire gives it critical resistances to Fairy and Ice Extreme speed, Drain Punch, Bitter Blade, Horn Leech, and Leech Life. Henceforth, Typhlosion through its Prankster ability and resistance to all the most common priority moves can almost always get screens up to temporarily reduce the damage its teammates take from attacks. The last options Typhlosion has are Teleport to slow pivot out once Screens have been set and Destiny Bond as an emergency check in the event that Polteageist’s Destiny Bond isn’t enough.
Proof of peak 1:
As can be observed by the screenshot above, the alt I used for the challenge was RPG Void and the ladder peak was a rating of 1465 with a gxe of 77.8.
Proof of peak 2:
As can be observed by the screenshot above, the alt I used for the challenge was RPG Phantom and the ladder peak was a rating of 1399 with a gxe of 74.1. Interestingly my rank is higher despite the overall worse elo and gxe. However, that can be attributed to the recent purging of inactive alts from the scoreboards of lower activity ladders.
Tips for the randpoke challenge:
1. 2001 Leappad:
To play Pokemon, a powerhouse of a device to deliver the performance you need is vital. No device since has ever matched the computing capabilities of the 2001 Leappad:
A LeapPad is a necessity for any serious contender in the Pokemon scene.
2. A Gaming Chair:
To play Pokemon for hours on end requires both being a homeless bum and an ergonomically sound set-up. As such, one requires a gaming chair that promotes proper posture and is comfortable enough to sit on.
A chair like the one above ensures that your posture remains perfect while you perform the physically demanding task of clicking the right button in a video game whilst also being so comfortable you will never sit on any other chair again.
3. Mastery of Inspect Element:
You too can get top 1 with this one simple trick. - Billy Mitchel 1420, Ohio
4. Emotional Support:
Running the randpoke gauntlet is a strenuous activity that can have serious implications like severe emotional damage and a strained funny bone from clicking buttons. So if one ever finds themselves vexed at losing ad nauseam or mentally disabled by the existential dread derived from how much time they have wasted on utterly meaningless nonsense that no one asked for, then chances are they’ll benefit greatly from a therapy animal. As such, one should not attempt with any team that doesn’t have a furry friend like an Eevee to provide unconditional companionship.
Importable:
Dark: https://pokepast.es/98b5dc90d83466ff
Ghost: https://pokepast.es/5628bc3dd40496e7
Epilogue:
With the completion of a myriad of randpoke monotypes and NFE by hackmons players, so the randpoke saga concludes. There is perhaps nowhere else to go with increasing the difficulty of randpoke challenges without making the challenge a complete impossibility. Perhaps with more sophisticated strategies randpoke LC might perhaps be achievable, but I sincerely doubt anyone in their right mind will attempt it (both because no one asked nor cares and it isn’t trivial). Regardless, many of the randpoke monotypes have yet to be completed. Feel free to mention any other types you’d like to see completed in the replies so I can ignore your suggestion (That’s what suggestions are for after all, don’t know what else you’d expect).
Replays (Mono Dark):
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9balancedhackmons-2103039725
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9balancedhackmons-2103209274?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9balancedhackmons-2102239952?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9balancedhackmons-2103192875?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9balancedhackmons-2104773590?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9balancedhackmons-2104420006?p2
Replays (Mono Ghost):
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/...04811094-jx9s703d18pj2v9ojysujm6vth3xze6pw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9balancedhackmons-2204822757-l6f6ym8wx18c0jhiahxxhdnrpdv6uo5pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9balancedhackmons-2204837427-esoj4i6rzzg9mmr7b76qo473wrbyjtypw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9balancedhackmons-2216672922-x94mx9y7l9refkdem7mi61qq3tur5gupw
Arceus Dark by kawayoo check out their artworks here:
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Kawayoo
Manadabuzz by illustration_room_nagi check out their art here:
https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts?tags=illustration_room_nagi&z=1
Muk by snook8:
https://www.deviantart.com/snook-8/art/Muk-204110972
KingGambit by maskrel:
https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts?tags=masktrel&z=1
Hydreigon by Evilapple check out their deviantart here: https://www.deviantart.com/evilapple513/art/HYDREIGON-417642798
Mightyena by Poketix check out their deviantart here:
https://www.deviantart.com/poketix/art/Mightyena-245117678
Flutter Mane by ririri893 check out their artworks here:
https://www.zerochan.net/ririri893
Necozma by DyBenji, check out their deviantart here:
https://www.deviantart.com/dybenji/art/Ultra-Lunala-Drop-the-Beast-716443737
Lunala by Invidiata: check out their artwork here:
https://alphacoders.com/author/view/22983
Annilape by Selachi Art check out their artwork here:
https://www.artstation.com/selachi_art
Polteageist by Gooompy, check out their artwork here: https://www.deviantart.com/gooompy/gallery .
Typhlosion by Tropp, check out their artwork here:
https://x.com/TropCycArt .
Leappad image from here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/SBCGaming/...host-and-dark-types-only-no-imposter.3755426/
Chair by Pixel Squid:
https://elements.envato.com/medieval-spiked-torture-chair-FVSE7K4
Eevee: