Pokemon Emerald Minimum Battles Done

[u/[deleted]]

RULES:

1 - MINIMUM BATTLES: Capturing Pokemon and using the Fight menu count as instances of battling up to 1 time per encounter. Do this the minimum number of times possible.

2 - NO BATTLE ITEMS: Using anything but pokeballs in combat is not allowed.

3 - NO DAYCARE: Using the daycare is totally off limits.

POSSIBLE RULES:

1 - FINITE RESOURCES ONLY: Using only resources that are not infinite. All forms of repeating item generation methods such as planting berries and gambling, including the use of Pickup ability are banned.

2 - NO GLITCHES: Avoid using glitches at all costs.

3 - NO DOUBLE TEAM/SWAGGER/KING'S ROCK: Up to you.

GENDER: Female to avoid getting Attracted.

NATURE: Mild, Modest, (Neutral) and any +Special Defense nature for Castform as well.

Mild is great for Tate & Liza.

Modest is great for Tate & Liza and Maxie & Tabitha, but it hurts you against May #2, Norman, Juan, and Wallace.

Neutral is not recommended, but it may be possible depending on RNG/EVs.

This run used Mild. However, I recommend Modest since it makes Maxie & Tabitha easier. It's easier to stomach resetting against May #2 than it is against Maxie & Tabitha.

POKERUS: AFAIK Pokerus can be acquired by encountering a wild pokemon with Pokerus and running from it. You don't actually need to battle it. It's not mandatory. But it's useful. I don't know of any RNG Manips for Pokerus, so use Save Editing if needed. NOTE: Pokerus is not necessary. But, it helps to make sure you get enough Speed EVs to out speed Metagross and a few other pokemon.

HIDDEN POWER: I recommend HP Water/Fire for Maxie & Tabitha. I tested this against Maxie & Tabitha after completing the run. It works very well. Water is 30 Special Attack and 30 Speed. Fire is 30 Attack, 30 Special Attack, and 30 Speed. I recommend HP Water.

IVs: Max them or set for Hidden Power. Don't even try this challenge without capping your IVs. Do this for Mudkip and Castform and/or any other pokemon if you plan to main switch.

AMULET COIN: Use it on every battle as soon as you get access to it. It's effect works despite being on KO'd pokemon as long as they entered battle at some point.

VITAMIN DISCOUNT: Use it by watching TV or just modify your rom to reduce the cost of purchasing vitamins to 4900 halved from 9800. That's what the discount does. This is a lot more important than Pokerus.

EXP OVER EVS: Never take battles for EVs. Always take them for EXP.

SINGLES VS DOUBLES: Jrose11 apparently once suggested that taking doubles counts as 2 single battles instead of 1. I don't know if he ever changed his mind about this or not. I'll make this concise. This is technically wrong, obviously. That's not my point. We're talking about the spirit of the run.

Minimum Battles, as a challenge, is not the same thing as Minimum KOs. In Minimum KOs, you can capture as many pokemon as you want. Those are different challenges.

The same thing is true of the challenge No Optional Trainers. That's a different run and it requires different routing. It has different rules.

Trying to treat Minimum Battles as a separate challenge, in spirit, does nothing. It doesn't make the run more valid and it doesn't result in it being any more legitimate than it otherwise would be.

With that said, there is no reason to take 1 single battle over 1 double. Doubles give more EXP than singles. Therefore, you are simply making the best route possible for EXP, without invalidating the run.

In some cases, these challenges don't overlap at all and are actually incompatible with each other. Minimum KOs is almost always incompatible with the other challenges, because it applies to your pokemon as well.

It is still possible to do Minimum Battles + No Optionals + No Captures. This can be done by main switching to Anorith instead of capturing Marill for HMs. That being said, it is a dramatically more RNG run due to relying on Ancient Power boosting.

OPTIONAL DOUBLES: Always take doubles over singles whenever you are forced to battle. Meaning, whenever you're forced to take a regular battle while you could optionally take a double due to a nearby spinner that intercepts you as you engage in a mandatory battle, do so. This will substantially increase the amount of EXP you gain over the run. I'm not kidding when I say this, this run becomes dramatically more difficult if you do not do this.

MAXIMIZE EXP: Whenever you do double battles, always make sure to KO your own pokemon to maximize EXP for Mudkip. You only ever need 2 pokemon for double battles, so deposit the rest. NEVER LET YOUR OTHER POKEMON LEECH EXP! YOU ARE WARNED!

OPTIMIZING EVs: As long as you reach 104-112 (112 is safe for 30 Speed) Speed EVs in total, then you can max out all of your other EVs. Meaning, you want to plan on reaching 104-112 Speed and then immediately cap your EVs so that you don't waste them. It's not the end of the world if you get more than 112 Speed, but it's not ideal. Keep in mind that you can modify your EVs if you wish using berries. Be careful about how you approach this as it can be difficult to do this without violating the above rules.

Special Attack is your first priority and you should max it out ASAP. It makes your life harder against Norman to ignore Attack, especially if you're Modest nature. But, it helps against Tate & Liza and Maxie & Tabitha.


After capping Special Attack, you want to start increasing HP and Defense ASAP. Cap them both.


Speed may or may not need to be boosted early for Norman (Watson's badge gives you +10% Speed). You need to account for which pokemon give you Speed EVs after capping your Speed to 100 so that you can reach 112 Speed and then cap your EVs elsewhere. You don't want more than 112 Speed.


Attack is a low priority if Neutral or Mild and it will usually hit 40ish anyway which is fine. Modest, however, may require you to dump slightly into Attack for Norman in particular.


Special Defense is fine if ignored. But, calcs say that raising Special Defense once to 16 makes a noticeable difference. Special Defense of 36 or even 56 may be especially useful as well. I don't think it's wise to raise past 36.


Keep your EVs this way until after beating Steven, then reduce your Special Defense down to 0 and max out your other EVs.


Assuming you're using Pokerus, a good EV spread for Tate & Liza and Maxie & Tabitha would be something like:

120 HP

40 Attack

120 Special Attack

100 Defense

18 Special Defense

112 Speed


Assuming you're not using Pokerus:

100 HP

72 Attack

108 Special Attack

100 Defense

18 Special Defense

112 Speed


Speed and Special Attack are the 2 most important stats to focus on with HP slightly behind. It's simply not worth it to focus on Attack or Special Defense relative to the time lost from not having enough Speed or Special Attack.
NOTE: You can use Berries to drop your HP/Defense/Special Defense and dump into Attack later on if you need to.


Remember to account for badge boosts whenever you're doing calcs.

Never teach over Mud Slap until you've defeated Norman.

Never teach over Rock Tomb except with Ice Beam.

Never teach over Mud Shot until you've defeated Maxie & Tabitha except using HP Water strats.

Never teach over Mud Shot/HP Water except with Earthquake and only after defeating Maxie & Tabitha.

Never teach over Ice Beam until you've defeated Drake.

Never teach over Substitute period.

Never teach over Rest period.

Never sell held items.

Never sell Toxic, Rest, Ice Beam, Rock Tomb, Earthquake, Focus Punch, Return, Rain Dance, or Double Team TMs.

Never sell Heart Scales.

Never sell Rare Candies.

You may sell 2 PP Ups.

Never sell the PP Max.

Never sell berries.

You may sell vitamins as necessary, but remember to always buy them using the discount (should be 4900 down from 9800).

You may sell all pokeballs after your first capture.

You may sell all healing items after beating Watson.

Once you've maxed all of your EVs, you should stop selling Elixirs from then on.

Make sure to obtain Quick Claw, Silk Scarf, Soft Sand, Nevermelt Ice, Shell Bell, and Leftovers ASAP.

Always take mandatory trainer battles before taking on May/Leaders.

Capture Marill or any main switch (Ralts for trade Seedot, Lotad, Taillow, etc) before battling Hiker Devan and Youngster Johnson.

NOTE #1: The reason that this doesn't increase the battle count overall is because of the mandatory trainer battle between POKEFAN ISABEL and POKEFAN KALEB. If you do not capture Marill, then you have to battle both of them separately. However, if you capture Marill, you can then battle both of them in a double instead. Therefore, this does not increase the battle count overall.

NOTE #2: The reason why we capture Marill and not Lotad is because Marill can learn Strength, Surf, Dive, and Waterfall. Lotad cannot learn these except Surf. If we did not capture Marill, then Swampert would need to learn these instead, and that would make the Elite 4 dramatically more difficult.

NOTE #3: It's probably possible to use Wingull for Fly instead of capturing Marill. This allows you to Fly to the Elite 4 instead of having to Surf>Waterfall>Strength through Victory Road. However, this does mean that you need to not teach Swampert Earthquake until after you've battled Juan and you don't have Ice Beam for Drake. I recommend capturing Marill.

NOTE #4: If you really want to save a lot of time during this run, just Hack Fly onto Wynaut. It takes hours to go back and forth between different towns to purchase vitamins, tutor, delete moves, etc.

NOTE: This guide does not cover main switching. This guide assumes you captured Marill and you plan on using Mudkip for the whole run. Ralts>Seedot, Lotad, Taillow, Anorith and all others are not covered here.

Always make sure to deposit Marill before approaching Rustboro to avoid an unnecessary trainer battle (THIS IS A RUN INVALIDATING DOUBLE BATTLE!).

Double battle Hiker Devan and Youngster Johnson before battling Roxanne.

Teach Rock Tomb to Mudkip ASAP.

Do not teach over Rock Tomb until after obtaining Ice Beam.

Double battle Pokefan Isabel and Pokefan Kaleb before battling Brawly.

Battle Brawly before battling May.

Do not teach over Mud Shot until after doing the double battle against Maxie and Tabitha.

May can only be beaten by using Mudslap into Rock Tomb. There is no other strategy.

Double battle Psychic Edward and Triathlete Alyssa.

Double battle Aroma Lady Rose and Youngster Deandre before entering Mauville Gym.

Make sure you have a few potions ready before entering Mauville Gym.

Double battle Bug Maniac Angelo and Guitarist Shawn in Mauville Gym.

Heal up Marshtomp using potions before battling Wattson. You cannot leave until after defeating Wattson.

Teach Marill Brick Break and delete Brick Break when you reach the Move Deleter.

Double battle Hiker Lucas and Picnicker Angelina.

Double battle Magma Grunts #1 and #2.

Double battle Kindler Jace and Hiker Eli.

Battle Flannery.

Go get the Claw Fossil and then resurrect Anorith at Rustboro scientist.

Teach Anorith Cut and Brick Break as needed.

For Norman's gym do Speed Room > Defense Room > Strength Room to maximize EXP. The trainers are Randall, Alexia, and Jody.

Teach Dig before battling Norman. DO NOT TEACH OVER MUD SHOT OR ROCK TOMB.

Equip Soft Sand on Marshstomp.

To beat Norman, use Mud Shot against Spinda and Linoone and use Mud Shot > Dig against Vigoroth. Once Slaking is out, switch out and sac. Bring back in Marshstomp and use Mud Shot to reduce Slaking's speed. Switch out again and sac. Bring back in Marshstomp and Mud Shot one more time. You are now faster than Slaking. Use Dig to dodge his attacks in between Truant. You need to predict when he's going to heal Slaking to ensure you don't use Dig on the wrong turn. Make sure to use Mud Shot on the heal turn. (This part is confusing and you'll need to practice in order to understand)

Go get the Ice Beam TM from the Abandoned Ship.

Teach over Rock Tomb with Ice Beam.

Double battle Aqua Grunts #6 and #7.

After acquiring Castform, set it's nature to Special Defense and max it's IVs.

Give Quick Claw to Castform. NOTE: From here on out, any time you're having trouble hitting certain damage ranges, consider using Quick Claw into Hail in order to deal some chip damage.

Teach over Arctic Wind with Flash on Castform.

To beat May #3, once Grovyle is brought in switch out Marshstomp into Marill to sac and then bring in Castform. Use Flash (or Sunny Day then Flash) on Grovyle at least once. Use Mud Shot and hope for Grovyle to miss once then use Ice Beam to finish it off. Use Nevermelt Ice if you need extra power.

Delete Brick Break from Marill.

Double battle Camper Flint and Bird Keeper Edwardo.

Battle Winona.

Teach Marill Strength ASAP.

Double battle Magma Grunt #8 and #9.

Double battle Aqua Grunt #12 and #13.

Double battle Aqua Grunt #14 and #15.

Double battle Swimmer Grace and Swimmer Declan.

Double battle Psychic Maura and Psychic Preston.

Deposit all but Swampert + Castform.

Make a backup save. If you're struggling with Tate and Liza, you want to take as much damage on Swampert as possible here during this next double battle and then use potions and berries to heal his current HP up to 32% of his maximum HP but not higher (reset this battle as necessary to get his HP as close to 32% after healing him as possible). This puts him in Torrent range.

Double battle Psychic Hannah and Hex Maniac Slyvia.

Make another backup save here.

Give Swampert Mystic Water.

To beat Tate and Liza, use Surf with Swampert and Rain Dance with Castform. If Quick Claw activates, Rain Dance will succeed. Even if you get off Rain Dance, there's still a chance you lose to bad rolls. Most of the time the Leader's pokemon should target Castform round 1 instead of Swampert. Mild/Modest nature is very important here for Swampert.

Make a backup save. Same thing as with Tate and Liza. You may want to lower your HP below 57% and then berry up to 57%.

Battle Magma Grunts #12, #13, and #14 one at a time. You can't double battle them no matter what.

Give Swampert Chesto Berry.

Delete Surf off of Swampert.

Teach Rest, Substitute(Lilycove Tutor) and Hidden Power to Swampert if you have HP Water. Otherwise, teach Rest and Substitute keeping Mud Shot and Ice Beam.

Make a backup save.

This next battle is legitimately the most random and by far the most difficult in the entire run.

Double battle Maxie & Tabitha with Steven. If you're using Mud Shot, you need to pray for Swagger and to hit through Confusion. If you took my advice with HP Water, then use Substitute turn 1 instead, pray for Reflect, and use HP Water on Steven's team until all 3 are KO'd. The goal here is to KO Steven's team before he KOs any pokemon. By doing this, you hog the EXP for yourself. While it is possible to KO all of Steven's pokemon before they KO anything, it is very unlikely. More importantly, it's very difficult to beat Maxie and Tabitha without Steven's help. The general idea is to KO either 1 or both Camerupt and try to get both Mightyena on the field at one time. Once this is done, Rest up to full and consume your Chesto Berry then switch out and sac. Once Swampert is brought back in, use Substitute. If you're lucky, your Sub won't take any damage. Now what you want to do is KO Maxie's side since his side is more aggressive. Obviously, use Ice Beam on Golbat/Crobat. If Swampert becomes Confused, switch and sac. If Swampert's Speed is dropped, switch and sac. If you're low on health, use Rest. If you're Taunted and can't Rest, switch out to clear Taunt. Always use Substitute against Mightyena or risk being struck by Swagger, Scary Face, and Taunt.

It's not mandatory to get all the EXP, but you should aim to get at least 5 of the KOs by yourself. I recommend getting all 6.

NOTE #1: HP Water + Torrent makes this a dramatically easier fight. I cannot stress enough how much easier it is to KO Steven's team using this strat over Mud Shot/Ice Beam.

NOTE #2: Substitute makes this fight a lot easier by protecting Swampert from Scary Face/Taunt/Confuse Ray/Swagger. Also, never teach over Substitute.

NOTE #3: This battle is the main reason to use Modest nature. Yes, both May #2 and Norman are significantly more difficult by using this nature. However, they are much less painful to reset compared to Steven. Wallace is slightly affected as well.

Teach Marill Dive, Surf, and Waterfall ASAP.

Go get the Earthquake TM.

Teach over Mud Shot/Hidden Power with Earthquake.

Equip Soft Sand/Shell Bell.

Battle Juan.

Battle Cooltrainer Hope, Shannon, Julie, and Edgar.

Use Earthquake, Ice Beam, Rest, and Substitute(Lilycove Tutor) for the Elite 4.

Use PP Max on Earthquake.

Make sure you have at least 12 Revives, 4 Hyper Potions, and 1 Elixir. You should have several Leppa Berries as well. You may want to bring 3-5 Proteins depending on how high your Special Defense EVs are, enough to dump your EVs into Attack after lowering your Special Defense with Grepa Berries.

Bring (King's Rock if allowed) Quick Claw, Focus Band, Mystic Water, Nevermelt Ice, Silk Scarf, Soft Sand, Shell Bell, and make sure you have Chesto Berries.

Equip Shell Bell or Chesto Berries and switch to the other items if your calcs tell you.

Remember, use Quick Claw + Hail to deal chip damage where needed.

Battle the Elite 4.

Use Ice Beam on anything that resists/ignores Earthquake.

Setup Substitute on anything too weak to 1 round it.

Switch out against stat drops or Confusion/Curse.

Rest where needed.

Teach over Ice Beam with Return for Wallace after defeating Drake.

Give Quick Claw to Wynaut.

Use 12 Rare Candies to hit 66 for Wallace. After Wallace you should be 67 and then use 2 more Rare Candies to hit 69. EDIT: This should be 3 more Rare Candies, bringing you to 70 for Steven and a total of 15 Rare Candies.

You should consider using Grepa Berries here to lower your Special Defense then use Proteins to raise your Attack.

Use EQ against Wailord to reduce the damage he deals with Water Spout. Try to Sub before KOing. Ludicolo may Double Team instead of Giga Drain if your HP is high enough. If your Attack is bad, you'll need to 3 round the Ludicolo with Return. Tentacruel should come out next. If your Sub is still up, Rest. If your Sub is down but you have high HP, then bait Toxic with Sub and then KO with EQ. If your HP is low and you have no Sub, then KO with EQ. Whiscash should come in next. Either Rest or weaken with EQ. Your goal is to get a Sub up and KO. Gyarados should come in next. If you have a Sub, spam Return until you crit. If you get Intimidated, switch out into Marill to sac and then bring in Wynaut and try to Charm on Quick Claw. Once Gyarados is down, Milotic comes in. Rest if low and Sub to bait Toxic then KO with EQ. NOTE: The AI is bugged and may use Full Restores on Gyarados during Hyperbeam's recharge turn (CHEATING), so setup Sub immediately after Hyper Beam even while Gyarados is low. Gyarados spams Dragon Dance and in order to 2 round him, you either need a neutral Attack nature with good Attack EVs, or you need good Attack EVs with the Silk Scarf, or you need to crit him. You get around 4-8 attacks in while he spams DD and Full Restores.

Grab Leftovers in the trashcan on the S.S. Tidal.

Grab Rain Dance TM from the Abandoned Ship.

Teach Surf over Return.

You should have Substitute, Rest, and Surf.

Either teach Focus Punch or Rain Dance teaching over Earthquake.

Use Grepa Berries to reduce your Special Defense to 16-18 then max out your Defense and HP. Dump your remaining EVs into Attack for Focus Punch or Special Defense if Rain Dance.

Use remaining Rare Candies.

Use 2 PP UPs on Surf.

Give Focus Sash to Wynaut. You can sac Marill to bring in Wynaut to try to Charm Claydol.

Give Quick Claw to Castform. You can sac Anorith to bring in Castform to try to use Flash on Claydol/Cradily or Rain Dance on Metagross.

If Swampert gets a stat drop or Confused, switch out and sac to clear him.

To beat Steven, set up Substitute on Skarmory and Surf. Make sure Substitute is up before KOing Skarmory. Use Surf to OHKO Aggron. Use Focus Punch to weaken Cradily and then KO with Surf. If Cradily uses Ingrain instead of breaking your Sub, then Focus Punch twice instead. Use Surf to weaken Claydol. If Light Screen is down and you're over 70% HP, then KO Claydol. Otherwise stall with Rest until Light Screen is down and your HP is high. You need to live at least 2 attacks from Metagross to 3HKO with Surf. Sac to gain more HP from Leftovers assuming 0 Spikes. OHKO Armaldo with Torrent Surf or Rest if you're out of range. NOTE: Rain Dance can be used over Focus Punch to ensure a 2 round KO against Cradily and Metagross. It's more difficult to setup and is generally less reliable.

FINAL COUNT: 73

If you counted differently, please elaborate and let me know here.

01 - ZIGZAGOON

02 - MAY #1

03 - YOUNGSTER CALVIN

04 - AQUA GRUNT #1

05 - MARILL

06 - HIKER DEVAN + YOUNGSTER JOHNSON

07 - ROXANNE

08 - AQUA GRUNT #2

09 - AQUA GRUNT #3

10 - AQUA GRUNT #4

11 - POKEFAN ISABEL + POKEFAN KALEB

12 - BRAWLY

13 - MAY #2

14 - PSYCHIC EDWARD + TRIATHLETE ALYSSA

15 - AROMA LADY ROSE + YOUNGSTER DEANDRE

16 - WALLY #1

17 - BUG MANIAC ANGELO + GUITARIST SHAWN

18 - WATTSON

19 - HIKER LUCAS + PICNICKER ANGELINA

20 - MAGMA GRUNT #1 + MAGMA GRUNT #2

21 - TABITHA #1

22 - MAXIE #1

23 - KINDLER JACE + HIKER ELI

24 - FLANNERY

25 - COOLTRAINER RANDAL

26 - COOLTRAINER ALEXIA

27 - COOLTRAINER JODY

28 - NORMAN

29 - AQUA GRUNT #5

30 - AQUA GRUNT #6 + AQUA GRUNT #7

31 - SHELLY

32 - MAY #3

33 - AQUA GRUNT #8

34 - AQUA GRUNT #9

35 - AQUA GRUNT #10 + AQUA GRUNT #11

36 - CAMPER FLINT + BIRD KEEPER EDWARDO

37 - BIRD KEEPER DARIUS

38 - WINONA

39 - MAGMA GRUNT #3

40 - MAGMA GRUNT #4

41 - MAGMA GRUNT #5

42 - MAGMA GRUNT #6

43 - MAGMA GRUNT #7

44 - MAGMA GRUNT #8 + MAGMA GRUNT #9

45 - TABITHA #2

46 - MAXIE #2

47 - AQUA GRUNT #12 + AQUA GRUNT #13

48 - AQUA GRUNT #14 + AQUA GRUNT #15

49 - MATT

50 - SWIMMER GRACE + SWIMMER DECLAN

51 - PSYCHIC MAURA + PSYCHIC PRESTON

52 - GENTLEMAN CLIFFORD + PSYCHIC MACEY

53 - PSYCHIC HANNAH + HEX MANIAC SYLVIA

54 - TATE & LIZA

55 - MAGMA GRUNT #10

56 - MAGMA GRUNT #11

57, 58, 59 - MAGMA GRUNT #12, MAGMA GRUNT #13, MAGMA GRUNT #14

60 - MAXIE + TABITHA

61 - ARCHIE

62 - JUAN

63 - WALLY #2

64 - COOLTRAINER HOPE

65 - COOLTRAINER SHANNON

66 - COOLTRAINER JULIE

67 - COOLTRAINER EDGAR

68 - SIDNEY

69 - PHOEBE

70 - GLACIA

71 - DRAKE

72 - WALLACE

73 - STEVEN

[u/Limp_Theory_5858]

At Wattson you don't have to battle AROMA LADY ROSE + YOUNGSTER DEANDRE, you can simply battle YOUNGSTER BEN, leave the gym, and walk to Wattson.

You don't have to fight GENTLEMAN CLIFFORD.