Pokemon Fire Red Round 2 FAQ (May 2020)

Pokemon Fire Red Round 2 FAQ (May 2020)

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

Q: What are you playing on?
A: BizHawk, a mostly accurate emulator for Game Boy Advance games.

Q: Why aren't you playing on console?
A: I don't have a good TV for it right now, and emulator is more convenient anyway.

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 world record?
A: 3:32:55 by Gunnermaniac.

Q: What are the numbers on the chart in the bottom-left?
A: The top-left number (TOTAL) is the number of Pokemon I've caught. I start at 21 because that's the number of Pokemon I always catch, regardless of luck. The other 39 depend on luck.

The numbers to the right of that are:
- Number of Pokemon I still need to catch (starts at 39)
- Number of Pokemon I still need to catch that evolve with a Rare Candy (starts at 5 because I get 5 candies)
- How far ahead or behind I am on Pokemon, compared to an average run. If it says 1, I have one more Pokemon than I normally do, which is worth about 50 seconds. So my time is effectively 50 seconds faster than whatever it says on my splits. If it says -1, I have one fewer Pokemon than normal, so I'm effectively 50 seconds slower than my current time.

Below that, you can see which Pokemon I've caught and which I'm missing. The numbers to the right of each catching area are:
- The number of Pokemon I expect to catch in that area (e.g., 6 for Viridian Forest)
- The number of Pokemon I have actually caught in that area this run

If I catch a Pokemon that I can evolve without a Rare Candy (e.g., Growlithe, Nidorino, Exeggcute), that counts as 2 (or 3 in the case of Caterpie and Weedle, since they evolve twice). If I catch a Pokemon that I can trade (e.g., Venonat, Ponyta), that also counts as 2. Pikachu counts as 3 because I can evolve it into Raichu and then trade the Raichu for Electrode.

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

Q: What stats are you looking for?
A: I want 29+ IV Sp. Atk and 19+ IV Speed with a Mild (+Sp. Atk, -Def), Rash (+Sp. Atk, -Sp. Def) or Modest (+Sp. Atk, -Atk) 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'm testing multiple routes at the moment. Which one is optimal depends on the luck I get in the run.

Q: What is your goal?
A: For now, to complete a decent run with the new route. Eventually, I'll want to beat Gunner's world record.