Soul Silver Ledian Solo Run

[ty_taurus]

So I'm going to do a Solo Run, and want some advice on my pokemon...

Pokemon: Ledian
Why?: Despite his bad stats, he's my favorite. Will it be hard? yes, but it would be nice to have a challenge

Ability: Early Bird
Nature: Adamant
Item: Not sure yet, probably Leftovers
Moves:
Drain Punch
Aerial Ace/Ice Punch
Swords Dance
Light Screen

Explanation: Yeah, I know, his base attack is awful, but he can use Swords Dance which I think is the better choice over Special Attack as he can't raise that, plus he can get Drain Punch which will be my life saver when its powered up, and its not only a better move than Mega and Giga Drain but has better coverage like dealing with Jasmine's Steel Gym. My biggest worry right now is I have no idea how to deal with the 2 Dragon using bosses in Johto, as I can't get Ice Punch until after the Johto league.
I picked Light Screen over Reflect because he will be able to tank almost all electric, fire, and some ice attacks that head my way. This means I have to watch out for flying types, rock moves, and physical ice attacks being the least threatening as they're not used much in the games

Any Advice?

[Excitable Boy]

Why on earth are you using physical Ledian?

Run Bug Buzz/Air Cutter/Ominous Wind or Giga Drain/Mud-slap with Modest. Since you can buy Awakenings in-game, Early Bird is pointless - go with Swarm. Light Screen is also useless, since you can buy X SpDs and you're only using one Pokemon anyway.

[ty_taurus]

Why on earth are you using physical Ledian?

Run Bug Buzz/Air Cutter/Ominous Wind or Giga Drain/Mud-slap with Modest. Since you can buy Awakenings in-game, Early Bird is pointless - go with Swarm. Light Screen is also useless, since you can buy X SpDs and you're only using one Pokemon anyway.

I explained why I wanted a physical one

[Excitable Boy]

I explained why I wanted a physical one

You can raise Special Attack with X Specials. Ledian's base Attack stat is so hysterically bad, +1 SpA is still better than +2 Atk.

Your moveset should focus exclusively on offensive options. X items can be bought immediately after Goldenrod, and healing items can be bought throughout. There is no valid reason for anything else.

[Ilan]

Sincerely I can't see it passing the first gym. it is so awful.. and you thing you can beat Red with him?
And it is wrong a + SP.attack is better than +2 physical attack at level 100 full inversment
+1 343 sp.attack
+2 370 attack
It is still horrible and ANY rock move (3rd gym miltank GOOD LUCK) always 0HKO him.

[ty_taurus]

You can raise Special Attack with X Specials. Ledian's base Attack stat is so hysterically bad, +1 SpA is still better than +2 Atk.

Your moveset should focus exclusively on offensive options. X items can be bought immediately after Goldenrod, and healing items can be bought throughout. There is no valid reason for anything else.

thanks for your opinion

[Ilan]

Oh and if you want to have any chance EV train him 252 attack, 252 speed, 4 defense

[Excitable Boy]

Sincerely I can't see it passing the first gym. it is so awful..

With enough grinding, it could beat anything.

That's generally how these types of runs work.

[ty_taurus]

About that... how do you EV train early without wasting 48 hours?

[ty_taurus]

Ugh... nature hunting is like pulling teeth, only less enjoyable :/

[Excitable Boy]

About that... how do you EV train early without wasting 48 hours?

By doing it beforehand, on another game.

[ty_taurus]

By doing it beforehand, on another game.

Can't trade using a rom...
Don't have 2 DS's either, so I couldn't use the cartridge game either.

[Ilan]

try using vitmins it will shorten the training a bit.. the problem is some gyme battles will create some useless EVs.. well you need to grind anyway so maybe grind on the first rountes for 252 + speed pokemons or 252 attack I think pidgey gives pedd EVs so you can advance to the next city maximum there are some EV nerf berries

[Excitable Boy]

Can't trade using a rom...
Don't have 2 DS's either, so I couldn't use the cartridge game either.

Then hack it with your preferred EV spread, I guess.

[★ Lucario ★]

You guys must not have heard of EV-reducing berries.
Btw, you won't get any STAB (except for Aerial Ace if you use it) with Ledian if you use it physically.
I would use a special Ledian (Bug Buzz STAB, Giga Drain regeneration), but that's just my opinion.

[ty_taurus]

The reason I went with physical was this... I want a draining move, because I don't like to have to burn through potions, I hate item management as it stands, and my strongest options are...

Giga Drain: Special (Ledian's stronger attack stat), no stab, 5 PP, 60 Base Power, requires me to constantly maintain X special attacks to make it stronger, (which I mentioned already how much I love item management)
Super effective against: Ground, Rock, Water
not very effective against: Bug, Dragon, Fire, Flying, Grass, Poison, Steel

Drain Punch: Physical (weaker of Ledian's attack stat by 20 points), no stab, 15 PP, 75 base power, I can boost faster than an X attack by giving Ledian Swords Dance (which I can use up to 3 times in a fight if I'm facing an enemy that can't hurt me, remember, the computer doesn't switch pokemon)
Super effective against: Normal, Rock, Steel, Ice, Dark
not very effective against: Poison, Flying, Bug, Psychic, (doesn't affect) Ghost

Can you see why I lean to try for Drain Punch? Yes, Ledian's special attack is better, but its not good either. I will need to rely on attack boosting to deal damage even with bug buzz, and I'd rather rely on using an ability rather than constantly shopping for x special attacks

[Excitable Boy]

The reason I went with physical was this... I want a draining move, because I don't like to have to burn through potions, I hate item management as it stands, and my strongest options are...

You understand that you're already gimping yourself substantially by trying to solo a game with Ledian, yes? Healing is free outside of battle, and you make so much money in-game that it's barely considered management.

Drain Punch: Physical (weaker of Ledian's attack stat by 20 points), no stab, 15 PP, 75 base power, I can boost faster than an X attack by giving Ledian Swords Dance (which I can use up to 3 times in a fight if I'm facing an enemy that can't hurt me, remember, the computer doesn't switch pokemon)
Super effective against: Normal, Rock, Steel, Ice, Dark
not very effective against: Poison, Flying, Bug, Psychic, (doesn't affect) Ghost

Can you see why I lean to try for Drain Punch? Yes, Ledian's special attack is better, but its not good either. I will need to rely on attack boosting to deal damage even with bug buzz, and I'd rather rely on using an ability rather than constantly shopping for x special attacks

You're trying to -solo a game-. You have no other options to fall back on should your coverage fail you. There is no shame in dropping Swords Dance for coverage and spending an extra 3000 or so to win major boss fights.

[An Enemy Spy]

In solo runs, can you still catch pokemon to give HMs to?

[ty_taurus]

You understand that you're already gimping yourself substantially by trying to solo a game with Ledian, yes? Healing is free outside of battle, and you make so much money in-game that it's barely considered management.



You're trying to -solo a game-. You have no other options to fall back on should your coverage fail you. There is no shame in dropping Swords Dance for coverage and spending an extra 3000 or so to win major boss fights.

Don't forget that as this is a solo run, Ledian's level will probably be noticeably higher than the level of pokemon the gym leaders and other bosses would have. This isn't 100 vs 100 format. Yes, he has some shortcomings, but wouldn't the level gap make up for that?

[britishlanguage]

Grind, grind, and grind. That's how these runs work. At least that's how my FR Caterpie solo run did.