Pokemon Soul Silver Vulpix FAQ

      Pokemon Soul Silver Vulpix FAQ

Q: What does Vulpix mean?
A: It means I'm going to catch a Vulpix, and use it (NOT its evolution) to beat the whole game. In other words, an alternate Pokemon run using Vulpix!
A run where I would evolve Vulpix would be called "Vulpix+".

Q: Why Vulpix?
A: A few months ago, Sakharu created a bounty for beating HG/SS in under 4:30 with an Alt Main that has the lowest BST Pokemon possible. Vulpix was the Pokemon I routed by the end that I thought would win.
It would've won if I finished a run under 4:30, however I only had one attempt and came a few minutes short. The eventual winner was Gastly (at 310 BST), Vulpix has 299.
The bounty has ended now (The deadline was the end of July 2024), but I still want to get the sub 4:30.

Q: Is this run Glitchless or not?
A: Yes, it is glitchless. Alt poke runs are glitchless unless explicitly said otherwise.

Q: Where will you catch Vulpix?
A: On Route 36, the route below Sudowoodo. Because it's possible to enter this area before Whitney, the rules state I must go up there first and catch Vulpix before Whitney, and use it to beat her (and everyone else)

Q: So is this faster than using Raikou?
A: No, the entire point of an alt Pokemon run is that it is not the fastest way to beat the game. Otherwise it would just be...the fastest way, and it'd be the main category.

Q: So how much slower is this going to be?
A: A fair bit. The aim is to get under 4:30, and the Glitchless run with Raikou sits at 3:29:21

Q: How good is Vulpix?
A: It's good for how bad it's BST is, but overall yeah it's got worse stats than even Cyndaquil, so some fights are not easy!

Q: What are the hardest fights in this run?
A: Some fights are so difficult that you use particular strats to make them easier, at a sacrifice to a lot of time, that make them not so hard.
For example, Red is so hard that it's worse doing a S&Q to attempt to manip the fight.
Lance is so difficult that it's worth teaching Grudge on the Gyarados to get rid of Waterfall, and Max Reviving back.
Chuck is so difficult, that you often use the Red Gyarados to damage Poliwrath after hitting it with Vulpix

Outside of them, some notable fights are: Proton's Raticate in Rocket HQ, Rocket Double in HQ, All of the Kimonos, All of the E4, Sabrina, Misty, Brock, & Blue

Q: Do you manipulate the Vulpix? If so, what are it's stats?
A: Yes. It's IVs are 30 HP, 27 Att, 30 Def, 31 Sp Att, 26 Sp Def, 30 Speed with a Modest nature. It's a Female (for Attract), and with these IVs it has a Hidden Power of Rock with 70 Power.

Q: Why do you pick Cyndaquil as the starter?
A: You have to use the starter up to getting Vulpix, and Cyndaquil is the best at the early game.
As such, I'm using the normal Glitchless seed for the first part of the run, until getting the Coins from the Game Corner (Where I then do another S&Q to hit a different seed for Vulpix)

Q: What are the moves you use in the run?
A: Flamethrower, Hidden Power (Rock 70), Extrasensory, Grudge, Dark Pulse, Attract, Secret Power.

Q: What are the rules for alt main pokes?
A: You can find the rules across the series here: https://pastebin.com/uTqgXp6m

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Q: What are you playing on, it is emulator?
A: No, I'm playing on a DS (phat) with a capture board installed allowing me to record game footage

Q: Why do you keep resetting and changing the time?
A: I need to use a specific time in order to use RNG manipulation, so I set the clock in such a way that I can use it.
 The timer counts down to when I need to reset for the correct second.

Q: What is RNG?
A: Random Number Generator, the thing that determines everything random within the game, such as stats, encounters and pokerus.

Q: What is RNG Manipulation?
A: RNG manipulation is used in this speedrun, which involves resetting on a specific second starting from a specific time, and hitting the correct frame for the correct seed after resetting. This allows for manipulating of the wild encounters, Vulpix's stats, and Pokerus.

Q: What causes the resets?
A: I missed initial starting seed. There are 2 ways to check whether I hit the correct seed:
1) I check my Trainer ID. The one I am aiming for is 39391. I know if I get this ID, I hit the right starting seed, as that is generated at the same time. This is what I used to do, as it is the first thing you can do to check.
2) I can also check the movement of the NPCs in New Bark Town. Because their movement is derived from the RNG, I can tell I hit it based on their movements.
If not I didn't hit the right seed, so I reset. The RNG for the seed advances every frame, so it is a frame perfect trick

Q: Why is your movement so strange at the start of the run?
A: Because you can't get the best possible results off the bat. The movement that I do is designed specifically to manipulate the RNG (from NPCs movement around me, and the like) so that I get my great Cyndaquil, Pokerus off the first trainer battle, and no encounters to Falkner.

Q: Why don't you check Cyndaquils stats? What are Cyndaquils stats like?
A: Cyndaquils starting stats are the same every time RNG manipulation is used, and also quite decent using RNG manipulaton, but not perfect. The reason for this is because there are a limited amount of seeds you can RNG manipulate for, as you are manipulating so many things, it's literally a game limitation how good they can be. The Cyndaquils IVs are 4 HP, 23 Att, 21 Def, 28 SP Att, 5 Sp Def, 31 Speed with a Rash nature

Q: So why don't you just manipulate everything in the game?
A: 1) There are multiple RNGs at play, and not all of them can be controlled the same way. Battle RNG for example, advances just about every frame, including lag frames, making it totally unpredictable.
2) Some things simply aren't worth it, as they are limited by the amount of possibilities in the game. For example, having Cyndaquil be a Female would be better to avoid Attract on Miltank, but there are simply 0 seeds that have all the other requirements needed AND get a Female Cyndaquil, making it slower overall.

Q: Do you manipulate Voltorb Flip? How does it work?
A: Yes, I do. Voltorb Flip works off the Secondary RNG, not the main one that impacts encounters and IVs and such. The Secondary RNG advances only during the route between Union Cave and Azalea Town, because it is raining, and the rain advances the Secondary RNG.

Once at Voltorb Flip, I take specific patterns on the boards to manipulate future boards. The first thing you need to know about it Level 8. Level 8 is the highest level in Voltorb Flip, and as such where the most coins are. Accessing Level 8 is different to the prior levels, instead of beating the level 1 below, Level 8 is unlocked by having a continuous streak of 5 boards in a row, and all 5 of those boards having at least 8 panels flipped over. So after Level 5, I can jump straight to Level 8. Also note: The streak means you must win, except on the 5th board, so I actually quit out of that level and still get the jump.
Outside of that, the panels I flip also matter, as some panels do not advance the secondary RNG, where most do. The ones that don't are those that are on either a column or row that has no bombs.

Q: Why not Heart Gold?
A: Vulpix is only in Soul Silver.

Q: Why do you play as the girl?
A: The counterpart does the catching tutorial, and the male does it faster, so it’s faster to choose the female for yourself
See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI1-PJ7Sy1w

Q: Why do you name yourself and Vulpix 'I'?
A: Because it's faster to name them one character for text purposes, and the letter 'I' gives a nice spin as if the game was self-narrating

Q: Do you catch anything else?
A: I do obtain other Pokes. Those are: Abra (Teleport, and also Synchronise to get a good Modest Vulpix), Dratini (Dragon Rage for double + Surf/Whirlpool/Waterfall), Kenya (Fly), Red Gyarados (Intimidate) and Snorlax (Rock Climb)

Q: What is WR?
A: https://www.speedrun.com/pkmngen4ext#Alt_Main_Pokes_HeartGoldSoulSilver | See: Splits

Q: What is your goal time?
A: Under 4:30. A really good run will be under 4:25.

Q: Do you plan to do other Alt Pokemon runs?
A: Yeah, in the future. I've already done a few of these in other games, which you can view here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKdCHbtiZdhA63-FROqfqamattnoWR0xd

I've got quite a few more on my list to do in the future (mostly across Gen 4/5). I definitely don't need suggestions on more - I've thought about and considered everything you can imagine. It's hard to find the right mix of something you get early enough in the game that is actually still interesting to use. But I've certainly got some more planned, it just takes a long time to route the whole game with something else.