Pokemon Sapphire Classic Routing

Pokemon Sapphire Classic Routing
[Updated 12 Mar 2026]

TO-DO
- Look into late Brawly

MINIMUM STATS
- ATK: 14IV~/0IV+ (minimum to get the 25-30 MS roll on Rival 2's Grovyle at L19)
- SPATK: 27IV-/0IV~/0IV+ (minimum to get 13/16 Surf roll at L39 on Archie 2's Sharpedo)
- SPEED: 25IV-/10IV~/0IV+ (minimum to tie Archie 1's Sharpedo at L26 at +1 with Carbos)
- In practice (stat resets):
	> 18IV~ attack minimum (12 at L5 -> 16 at L7)
	> 25IV- special attack minimum (13 at L8; 25-26IV- get a 12/16 Surf roll on Archie 2's Sharpedo)
	> 20IV- speed minimum (can't discern 25IV- early on; need backup strats for 20-24IV-)
	> -spatk/spe natures are probably only worth it with +atk/spatk (Adamant/Brave/Quiet)
	> Jolly is probably runnable in fringe cases (high attack/spatk and decent speed)
- Defenses do matter, especially early on for Roxanne/Rival 2 rolls
- Although you can take 18-19IV~ attack, the biggest argument against it is probably Archie 1's Mightyena, where +1 MSx2 at L24 is only ~83% to kill, which means you'd always want extra experience for L25 (+19 exp on top of L19 for Grovyle, so +419xp total from Jose/Joey/encounters)
- 18-19IV~ also introduces a 7/8 range on Torkoal (+4 MS guaranteed from 20IV~/1IV+)

EXP NOTES
- On R116, always fight either:
	> Jose (323xp)
	> Joey (289xp)
	> PLUS 1 extra encounter
- Extra exp:
	> L19 for Grovyle (bad attack/certain +speed IVs)
	> L26 for Archie 1's Sharpedo (bad speed, sometimes in combination with Carbos)
- Not counting Jose/Joey and the encounter, you are short:
	> 400xp for L19 on Grovyle
	> 559xp for L26 on Archie 1's Sharpedo
- If you wanted L26 for Sharpedo, you could consider fighting both Jose AND Joey and cutting the wild encounter
- Winston/Cindy are always options in case you need extra money (they each give about as much as a wild encounter, maybe slightly more)
	> You could combine Winston/Cindy with Jose to get L19 for Grovyle, and skip the wild encounter
	> Winston/Cindy each give 90xp and $1400
	> With the extra money, you could either skip Thief or Stardust, or combine all three to make the money work for +6 Norman (the most costly shopping variant)
	> Jose's Wurmples have Poison Sting, so you pretty much need Torrent or you are risking a death
	> Torrent guarantees the WG on all three Wurmples on L15, so with bad spatk you may want to fight him on the way back from Rusturf Tunnel
	> Another issue with this strat is that fishing for encounters on R116 is a good time to catch a flyer so you don't have to grind for Swablu, so it might be an on-the-fly strat specifically if you have Torrent, know you are doing +6 Norman, and already have a flyer (caught just before first Poochyena fight)
	> You would fight Winston rather than Cindy, so you don't have to menu manip him, on the way to Briney (OHKO with WG)
- Assuming a bare minimum of L16 for Laura, you are:
	> L23 for Brooke's Roselia (+1 Strength always kills from 0IV~ attack)
	> L25 for Archie 1's Sharpedo
	> L26 for Flannery's Torkoal (256xp short of L27)
	> L28 for Jody's Zangoose (well short of L29; could desert candy here)

CANDY ROUTE
- Three candies: desert, pond, and 110
- Pick up desert after Flannery during deathwarp
- Early desert candy: L28 -> L29 before Zangoose to improve the MS 2HKO (18-31IV~/0-23IV+ attack; 24IV+ is 19 at L11)
- Regardless of when you use desert candy, you want L32 for Rival 3's Wailmer, which requires candying:
	> Early desert candy: candy x1 before Zangoose (L28 -> L29), then candy x2 after first grunt in Weather Institute (L31 -> L33)
	> Late desert candy: candy x3 before Rival 3 (L31 -> L34)
- Stat considerations:
	> Early candy L28 -> L29 before Zangoose if 18-31IV~/0-23IV+ attack; pond+110 candy L31 -> L33 just after first grunt in Weather Institute (extra menu)
- Desert candy skip
	> If you don't need early candy, you can do early herb shop and die inside Flannery's gym to skip the rival cutscene
	> In this case, you would only candy twice before Rival 3, then pick up lake candy as a replacement (could use Mt. Pyre candy if skipping candy on Kyogre, but I don't like that)
	> You then have three choices of where to candy: 1) before Mt. Pyre (L35 -> L36), 2) after Mt. Pyre (L36 -> L37), or after Matt (L37 -> L38)
	> (3) is the only way to get L38 for TnL, but requires doing Matt at L36
	> Between (1) and (2), the latter is the most efficient in terms of exp, but (1) allows you to do Mt. Pyre as Swampert
	> Even with the inefficiency of (1), you still always get L39 for Archie 2's Crobat and Sharpedo, so it's probably better than (2) no matter what
	> This is probably only a strat for the best kips; high +atk with good spatk (and also only if you can get a fast deathwarp inside the gym)

LEVEL BENCHMARKS
- Early desert candy
	> L29 for Zangoose
	> L30 for Slaking 2
	> L33 for Shelly 1's Mightyena
	> L34 for Rival 3's Wailmer
	> L34 for Winona's Swellow
	> L35 for Winona's Pelipper and Skarmory
	> L36 (Swampert) for Mt. Pyre
	> L37 for Matt 2's Sharpedo
	> L37 for Samantha's Xatu
	> L37 for TnL
	> Assume minimum TnL experience
	> L38 for Shelly 2
	> L38 for Archie 2's Mightyena
	> L39 for Archie 2's Crobat and Sharpedo
- Late desert candy
	> L28 for Zangoose
	> L29 for Vigoroth and Slaking 2
	> L30 for Shelly 1
	> L34 for Rival 3's Wailmer
	> L34 for Kylee's Swablu
	> L35 for Winona's Swellow
	> L35 for Winona's Pelipper and Skarmory
	> L36 (Swampert) for Mt. Pyre
	> L37 for Matt 2's Sharpedo
	> L37 for Samantha's Xatu
	> L38 for TnL
	> Assume minimum TnL experience
	> L38 for Shelly 2
	> L38 for Archie 2's Mightyena (L39 with any extra TnL experience)
	> L39 for Archie 2's Crobat and Sharpedo
- Desert candy skip
	> L28 for Zangoose
	> L29 for Vigoroth and Slaking 2
	> L30 for Shelly 1
	> L33 for Rival 3's Wailmer
	> L33 for Kylee's Swablu
	> L34 for Winona's Swellow
	> L34 for Winona's Pelipper and Skarmory
	> L35 for Winona's Altaria

KIP CATEGORIES
- "Standard" (neutral atk/spatk/spe): Hardy, Docile, Serious, Bashful, Quirky, Gentle, Lax
- High Attack (24+IV+ atk, 20+IV-/0+IV~ spe): Lonely, Naughty, (Brave)
- High Speed (20+IV+ spe): Hasty, Naive
	> 27-31IV+ can do X Speed-less TnL (27-28IV require Carbos)
	> This requires L38 for TnL, which requires late desert candy
	> This makes Zangoose much riskier, so it's advised only to try this with Naive and good defense (18IV minimum) to survive a potential crit
	> To make things simple, you could just look for 11 def at L5 (20IV)
	> While not required, it would be even better to also have at least 27IV attack (15 at L6), as it gets a slightly better MS roll on Zangoose too
- High Special Attack: Mild, Rash, (Quiet)
- Adamant:
	> Take only high atk (to check)
	> Reset for 12 spatk at L7 (29-31IV)
- Jolly (high spatk)
- Lax/Sassy (probably only worth it with high attack)
- Check damage ranges to determine the minimum IVs for -spatk

NORMAN CALCS
- Outspeed Slaking 1 at +1 at L28 from 14IV~/4IV+ (13IV~/3IV+ if Joey AND 1 speed encounter)
- Outspeed Slaking 1 at +1 at L29 from 10IV~/0IV+ (9IV~ if Joey AND 1 speed encounter)
- Outspeed Vigoroth at +1 at L29 from 21IV~/10IV+
- Cannot outspeed Slaking 2 at +1 at L29 OR L30; this means you need either +1 speed and a MS or +0 speed and 2 MS (so he is effectively -2)
- If you are 2HKOing Vigoroth (most kips), you need to make sure you outspeed after a MS, so you don't take any extra damage going into Slaking 2; thus, make sure to X Speed in those cases
- You need to be wary if you don't outspeed Slaking 1 at +1; even if you are doing X Speed, higher attack will probably lead with Strength (possibly even Strengthx2+MS), so you may not have a speed drop before the third hit

- L29 +6 MS @SS vs. Vigoroth (assuming early candy, so the Zangoose attack EVs don't count):
	> 17-20IV~/0-2IV+: 5/8
	> 21-23IV~/3-6IV+: 11/16
	> 24-30IV~/7-13IV+: 13/16
	> Guaranteed from 31IV~/14IV+
- L29 +3 MS @SS vs. Slaking 1:
	> 17-23IV~/0-6IV+: 46-55 [46, 47, 47, 48, 48, 49, 50, 50, 51, 51, 52, 52, 53, 53, 54, 55]
	> 24-30IV~/7-13IV+: 48-57 [48, 49, 49, 50, 50, 51, 51, 52, 53, 53, 54, 54, 55, 55, 56, 57]
	> 31IV~/14-16IV+: 49-58 [49, 49, 50, 51, 51, 52, 52, 53, 53, 54, 55, 55, 56, 56, 57, 58]
	> 17-20IV+: 51-60 [51, 51, 52, 52, 53, 54, 54, 55, 55, 56, 57, 57, 58, 58, 59, 60]
	> 21-26IV+: 51-61 [51, 52, 53, 53, 54, 54, 55, 56, 56, 57, 57, 58, 59, 59, 60, 61]
	> 27-30IV+: 53-63 [53, 54, 54, 55, 56, 56, 57, 57, 58, 59, 59, 60, 61, 61, 62, 63]
	> 31IV+: 54-64 [54, 55, 55, 56, 56, 57, 58, 58, 59, 60, 60, 61, 62, 62, 63, 64]
- L29 +3 Strength vs. Slaking 1:
	> 17-23IV~/0-6IV+: 41-49 [41, 42, 42, 43, 43, 44, 44, 45, 45, 46, 46, 47, 47, 48, 48, 49]
	> 24-26IV~/7-9IV+: 42-50 [42, 43, 43, 44, 44, 45, 45, 46, 46, 47, 47, 48, 48, 49, 49, 50]
	> 27-31IV~/10-16IV+: 43-51 [43, 43, 44, 44, 45, 45, 46, 46, 47, 47, 48, 48, 49, 49, 50, 51]
	> 17-23IV+: 45-53 [45, 45, 46, 46, 47, 47, 48, 48, 49, 49, 50, 50, 51, 51, 52, 53]
	> 24-26IV+: 45-54 [45, 46, 46, 47, 48, 48, 49, 49, 50, 50, 51, 51, 52, 52, 53, 54]
	> 27-30IV+: 46-55 [46, 47, 47, 48, 48, 49, 50, 50, 51, 51, 52, 52, 53, 53, 54, 55]
	> 31IV+: 47-56 [47, 48, 48, 49, 49, 50, 50, 51, 52, 52, 53, 53, 54, 54, 55, 56]
- L29 +2 MS @SS vs. Slaking 1:
	> 17-26IV~/0-9IV+: 38-45 [38, 38, 39, 39, 40, 40, 40, 41, 41, 42, 42, 43, 43, 44, 44, 45]
	> 27-30IV~/10-13IV+: 39-46 [39, 39, 40, 40, 40, 41, 41, 42, 42, 43, 43, 44, 44, 45, 45, 46]
	> 31IV~/14-20IV+: 40-48 [40, 41, 41, 42, 42, 43, 43, 44, 44, 45, 45, 46, 46, 47, 47, 48]
	> 21-26IV+: 41-49 [41, 42, 42, 43, 43, 44, 44, 45, 45, 46, 46, 47, 47, 48, 48, 49]
	> 27-31IV+: 43-51 [43, 43, 44, 44, 45, 45, 46, 46, 47, 47, 48, 48, 49, 49, 50, 51]
- L29 +2 Strength vs. Slaking 1:
	> 17-20IV~/0-2IV+: 33-39 [33, 33, 33, 34, 34, 35, 35, 35, 36, 36, 37, 37, 37, 38, 38, 39]
	> 21-26IV~/3-9IV+: 34-40 [34, 34, 34, 35, 35, 36, 36, 36, 37, 37, 38, 38, 38, 39, 39, 40]
	> 27-31IV~/10-16IV+: 34-41 [34, 35, 35, 36, 36, 36, 37, 37, 38, 38, 38, 39, 39, 40, 40, 41]
	> 17-23IV+: 36-43 [36, 36, 37, 37, 38, 38, 39, 39, 39, 40, 40, 41, 41, 42, 42, 43]
	> 24-30IV+: 37-44 [37, 37, 38, 38, 39, 39, 40, 40, 40, 41, 41, 42, 42, 43, 43, 44]
	> 31IV+: 38-45 [38, 38, 39, 39, 40, 40, 40, 41, 41, 42, 42, 43, 43, 44, 44, 45]

- L30 +3 MS @SS vs. Slaking 2:
	> 16-19IV~/0-2IV+: 54-64 [54, 55, 55, 56, 56, 57, 58, 58, 59, 60, 60, 61, 62, 62, 63, 64]
	> 20-22IV~/3-5IV+: 56-66 [56, 56, 57, 58, 58, 59, 60, 60, 61, 62, 62, 63, 64, 64, 65, 66]
	> 23-25IV~/6-9IV+: 56-67 [56, 57, 58, 58, 59, 60, 60, 61, 62, 62, 63, 64, 64, 65, 66, 67]
	> 26-31IV~/10-12IV+: 58-69 [58, 59, 60, 60, 61, 62, 62, 63, 64, 64, 65, 66, 66, 67, 68, 69]
	> 13-19IV+: 59-70 [59, 60, 60, 61, 62, 63, 63, 64, 65, 65, 66, 67, 67, 68, 69, 70]
	> 20-22IV+: 61-72 [61, 61, 62, 63, 64, 64, 65, 66, 66, 67, 68, 69, 69, 70, 71, 72]
	> 23-25IV+: 62-73 [62, 62, 63, 64, 64, 65, 66, 67, 67, 68, 69, 70, 70, 71, 72, 73]
	> 26-31IV+: 63-75 [63, 64, 65, 66, 66, 67, 68, 69, 69, 70, 71, 72, 72, 73, 74, 75]
- L30 +3 Strength vs. Slaking 2:
	> 16-22IV~/0-5IV+: 49-58 [49, 49, 50, 51, 51, 52, 52, 53, 53, 54, 55, 55, 56, 56, 57, 58]
	> 23-25IV~/6-9IV+: 50-59 [50, 50, 51, 51, 52, 53, 53, 54, 54, 55, 56, 56, 57, 57, 58, 59]
	> 26-29IV~: 51-60 [51, 51, 52, 52, 53, 54, 54, 55, 55, 56, 57, 57, 58, 58, 59, 60]
	> 30-31IV~/10-15IV+: 51-61 [51, 52, 53, 53, 54, 54, 55, 56, 56, 57, 57, 58, 59, 59, 60, 61]
	> 16-19IV+: 52-62 [52, 53, 53, 54, 55, 55, 56, 57, 57, 58, 58, 59, 60, 60, 61, 62]
	> 20-22IV+: 53-63 [53, 54, 54, 55, 56, 56, 57, 57, 58, 59, 59, 60, 61, 61, 62, 63]
	> 23-25IV+: 55-65 [55, 55, 56, 57, 57, 58, 59, 59, 60, 61, 61, 62, 63, 63, 64, 65]
	> 26-31IV+: 56-66 [56, 56, 57, 58, 58, 59, 60, 60, 61, 62, 62, 63, 64, 64, 65, 66]

- Since you wouldn't go for the Vigoroth OHKO until at least 24IV~/7IV+, you need an alternate 3HKO strat for both Slaking
- On top of that, you probably want an alternate 3HKO strat that works with any attack and low speed, since it's really sketchy to take a hit from the Vigoroth before OHKOing it
- This means you would have a set of strats for any attack depending on if you outspeed Vigoroth at +1 or not
- For bad speed (<21IV~/10IV+), you may need to 2HKO Vig AND X speed just for safety
- I think for bad speed, you always do the 3HKO/2HKO/3HKO strat; combine X Speed with MS speed drop to always get through Vig with high HP
- For really high attack (27IV+?), you would always do +2 strats, even with good speed
- Even on really low attack (18-23IV~), L30 +3 MS+Strength is quite likely to knock Slaking 2 into heal range; thus, the strat may be to always X Speed twice so you can Strengthx2+MS

- Ideally you would like to split kips into just a few categories based on early level-ups
- Neutral:
	> 18-23IV (L19 for Grovyle, probably some kind of +2-3 Norman)
	> 24-26IV (+6 Norman if good speed)
	> 27-31IV (+6 Norman if good speed)
- Plus:
	>

- 0-1IV: L19 R2, +1 CTB, +3/+0 Norman
- 2-6IV: L19 R2, +1 CTB, +6/+1 Norman
- 7-19IV: L18 R2, +1 CTB, +6/+1 Norman
- 20-24IV: L18 R2, +1 CTB, +2/+0 Norman
- 25-31IV: L18 R2, +0 CTB, +2/+0 Norman


NORMAN STRATS
- Standard "average" attack+good speed strat (24-31IV~/7-19IV+ attack, 21+IV~/10+IV+ speed):
	> Slaking 1: X Defend, X Speed, X Attackx6, MS+Strength
	> Vigoroth: MS (range)
	> Slaking 2: MS+Strength
	> On neutral speed, you could do this with any 10 speed kip, and just risk the tie in the event you're exactly 20IV (also tie Sharpedo, so you would know before Norman, but Archie is after the shop)
	> With bad speed, you could just do a second X Speed, but this requires more money, which you don't really have
	> Although this strat is nice, you are risking a range on Vigoroth on all but the highest "average" attack, and the shopping is extremely tight, so you are probably better off just doing the normal "bad attack" strat"
- Bad attack (18-22IV~/0-5IV+):
	> Slaking 1: X Defend, (X Speed), X Attackx2, MS, X Attack, Strength, MS
	> Vigoroth: MS, X Attack, Strength
	> Slaking 2: MS, Tackle, MS/Strength
	> Even though 23IV~/6IV+ is "bad" for Grovyle, it actually gets higher MS rolls here, which could be relevant (62 attack at L29)
	> Probably still worth treating 23IV~/6IV+ as bad, since they shouldn't go for +6 strats anyway (bad range on Vigoroth)
- Low +Attack (20-23IV+):
	> This strat needs further testing, since your attack is high enough to skip early candy, but you still get worse rolls than 2431IV+
	> Slaking 1: X Defend, (X Speed), X Attack x2, MSx3
	> Vigoroth: MS, X Attack, Strength
	> Slaking 2: MS, Strength, MS/Strength
- High +Attack (24-31IV+):
	> Slaking 1: X Defend, (X Speed), X Attack x2, MS+Strength+MS
	> Vigoroth: MS+Strength
	> MS+Strength/MS+MS
 _______________________________
|         | Outspeed Vig at +1? |
|---------|---------------------|
|   ATK   |   Yes   |    No     |
|---------|---------|-----------|
|   Bad   |    3/0  |    3/1    |
|---------|---------|-----------|
|   Okay  |    6/1  |    6/2    |
|---------|---------|-----------|
|   Low+  |    3/0  |    3/1    |
|---------|---------|-----------|
|  High+  |    2/0  |    2/1    |
 -------------------------------


- 18-23IV~ will want to do a 3HKO/2HKO/3HKO strat (60/61 attack at L29, 62/63 attack at L30, although 23IV gets 64)
- I think Slaking heal range is 25%, so it's <33 HP on Slaking 1, <36 HP on Slaking 2
- One issue is that M-slap strats (otherwise a very nice option) makes it even more likely to hit Slaking 1 into heal range with MS+Strength
- Sounds dumb, but in fringe cases where +2 isn't enough, and +3 is overkill, you could MS+Tacklex2+MS, since Tacklex2 is 10 less BP than Strength (35x2 = 70)
- Alternatively, go to +3, but use the first MS from +2, then go to +3, then finish with Strength+MS
- Although 24-31IV~ can do



~ATTACK
L5: 13 (20-31IV)
L6:

- Attack (from 13)
	> 27-31IV is 15 at L6; 30-31IV is 22 at L10
	> 20-22IV is 17 at L8; 23IV is is 22 at L11
	> 25-26IV is 28 at L14

- Attack (from 12)
	> 10-19IV is 14 at L6; 18-19IV is 16 at L7


Archie 2's Sharpedo (L39 +2 Torrent Surf @MW)
-