Pokemon Fire Red round 2 FAQ (fall 2017)

Pokemon Fire Red round 2 FAQ (fall 2017)

Q: What are you playing on?
A: A GameCube using a GameBoy Player.

Q: What are you trying to do?
A: Beat the second round of the Elite Four as quickly as possible.

Q: Why are you catching Pokemon?
A: I need to catch 60 to get the National Dex, which unlocks several sidequests that unlock the second round of the Elite Four.

Q: What is the best time?
A: 3:34:33 by me.

Q: Why do you choose the girl.
A: Because she's adorable.  :)

Q: Why are you resetting?
A: Probably because my Squirtle's stats were bad.

Q: What stats are you looking for?
A: I want 28+ IV Sp. Atk and 21+ IV Speed with a Mild (+Sp. Atk, -Def) or Rash (+Sp. Atk, -Sp. Def) nature. Other stats aren't as important, but I won't take a Squirtle with terrible Attack or defenses.

Q: Why are you checking your trainer ID at the start of the run?
A: This enables me to RNG manipulate a good Squirtle, albeit with a couple of restrictions. Each ID produces a unique list of Squirtles, so by checking my ID, I'll know which Squirtles I'll get on certain frames. If there's a great Squirtle at, say, frame 4200, I'll want to select Squirtle in Prof. Oak's lab 4200 frames after my trainer ID was generated. This method is inconsistent because the RNG doesn't always advance at the same speed, so I might get Squirtle #4195 or #4205 in the example above.

Q: Any route changes?
A: Yes, I'll be using the Mewtwo route. This means Blastoise will do all but the final five fights of the run, which Mewtwo handles easily. This makes reaching 60 Pokemon a bit harder than it was with the Zapdos route, since you have to save your Master Ball for Mewtwo, but the fights are faster and safer.

Q: Is Mewtwo faster than Zapdos?
A: It's hard to say because the catching route varies so much, but probably. RNG manipulation and a superior moveset allow Blastoise to win fights faster than Zapdos despite its lower base stats, and Mewtwo's Elite Four is so fast that the detour to Cerulean Cave is worth it. Zapdos would be faster if we could manipulate its stats/Hidden Power, but we don't have a consistent method for that.

Q: What is your goal?
A: For now, to complete a run with the Mewtwo route. Eventually, I'll want to beat my Zapdos PB.