Pokemon Emerald All Gold Symbols (no RNG manipulation)

ROUTING: https://pastebin.com/1QdFBXQ0
CHANGELOG: https://pastebin.com/7gEMAZ9b
BATTLE FACTORY LEADS: https://pastebin.com/XpU87rhg
MANIPPED AGS ROUTING: https://pastebin.com/mnkDHsBN
MANIPPED AGS RUN NOTES: https://pastebin.com/fhqj99Ju
ENCOUNTER SLOTS: https://sites.google.com/site/pokemonslots/gen-iii/emerald
IV CALCULATOR: http://www.metalkid.info/pokemon/calculators/iv.aspx

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This spring and summer, I will begin routing the most challenging category I've ever done: Pokemon Emerald All Gold Symbols (no RNG manipulation). Skip to the bottom for a tl;dr.

Here are my routing notes so far: https://pastebin.com/1QdFBXQ0

I completed a manip-assisted run of All Gold Symbols in October 2018 in 17 hours, 4 minutes. Winning all the Gold Symbols means winning many increasingly difficult battles in a row at each of the seven facilities at Emerald's Battle Frontier, culminating in a battle against a Frontier Brain. The number of battles varies, but most of the time it's between 40 and 70 per facility. Losing means you have to start from the beginning of that facility, which is a 1- to 2-hour time loss.

I only lost once in my manip-assisted run, which is lucky considering the amount of hax at the Battle Frontier -- things like Quick Claw, Brightpowder, and Ice Beam freezes. I used a team of Latios, Metagross and Swampert. This is one of the most consistent teams you can possibly make without relying on PP stalling strategies, which are too slow for a speedrun.

My 17-hour run can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNrYjGYJWKY

While I'm proud of that run, it seems in some ways like cheating. I used RNG manipulation to get nearly perfect stats on Latios, Metagross and Swampert. I manipulated perfect teams at the Battle Factory, making the most difficult facility one of the easiest. I manipulated perfect luck in the first rooms of the Battle Pike and the first floors of the Battle Pyramid. I manipulated a Lum Berry held item for Latios. These manipulations gave me a huge advantage; I wouldn't have finished in a single segment without them. If I were to do another run, I would use additional manipulations that have been discovered since then. At a certain point, it won't feel like playing a Pokemon game anymore.

I'd given some thought to a manipless run over the years, but it seemed impossible since good stats are so important. Recently, after trying some segmented Forbidden Memories 100% runs, I wondered if a segmented manipless run of All Gold Symbols would be possible. Unfortunately, it's not -- unless you leave your game on in between segments. That's because every time you reset Pokemon Emerald, the RNG starts over from 0, which makes the RNG very easy to predict and manipulate. Even if you tried not to manip, you would end up seeing the same RNG again and again during practice, which would cause you to subconsciously prepare for that RNG.

The game also forces you to reset after defeating the Elite Four, and you can't access the Battle Frontier without defeating the Elite Four. And one of the most important manips occurs immediately after this reset -- Latios' stats. You can manipulate Metagross' stats and obtain the Lum Berry soon after the reset as well. The Battle Frontier manips happen much later, so they can't realistically be manipulated without additional resets.

In other words, the only way to do a true manipless run of All Gold Symbols would be to obtain all of your Pokemon, plus any RNG-based held items, before the Elite Four. This seemed so ridiculous to me that I gave up and shifted my attention to individual facilities runs, which use premade teams. I discovered that one of the best Pokemon to use for individual facilities runs is Slaking. It OHKOs nearly everything with Choice Banded Return, and it also can learn Earthquake, Shadow Ball, Fire Blast, Brick Break and Hyper Beam. Its ability is only a minor handicap at the Battle Pyramid and Battle Dome, which have 1-on-1 and 2-on-2 battles.

I soon realized that Slaking might be the Pokemon that makes manipless runs possible. It can be obtained before the Elite Four, it can survive having less-than-perfect stats, and it can learn all the moves and obtain its necessary item (Choice Band) with ease. It also has good synergy with Swampert, which is an easy choice for the team since you can reset efficiently for a good one.

Finding the third Pokemon was a challenge -- many good options were not possible. Salamence, for example, can't learn Dragon Dance without extensive breeding, nor can it use a Choice Band since Slaking requires one. Heracross can't learn Megahorn by Level 50 without extensive breeding, and catching a good one is very difficult. Skarmory can't support the team effectively without using PP stalling strats. And Gyarados can't learn Hidden Power Flying unless you get absurdly lucky.

I decided to try Gyarados anyway since its typing was nearly perfect for my team, it can be caught easily, and it could still Dragon Dance sweep a lot of teams with Earthquake + Return. Teaching Earthquake to Gyarados would mean I don't have a spare Earthquake TM for Slaking, but that's OK since Slaking mostly uses Return and Shadow Ball, and it can use the extra move slot to learn Double-Edge or Brick Break. And Gyarados did quite well! Intimidate is a godly ability, boosting my team's defenses while reducing the encounter rate in the Battle Pyramid and Pike.

I believe that with enough preparation and practice, the following team can complete a manipless All Gold Symbols run in a single segment of 24 hours or less:

Gyarados @ Silk Scarf/various berries
STATS: Reset for good IVs (~average 22 in all stats except Sp. Atk) and any nature that isn't -Atk; max Attack EVs, train Speed to 112 or 117
Dragon Dance
Earthquake
Return
Substitute/Surf/Dive/Leer (depending on facility)

Swampert @ Leftovers
STATS: Reset for good IVs (~average 24); EV train Speed to 81 or 91
Surf
Ice Beam
Earthquake
Protect

Slaking @ Choice Band
STATS: Reset for good IVs (average ~21 in all stats except Sp. Atk) and any nature that isn't -Atk or -Spd; max Attack and Speed EVs
Return
Shadow Ball
Hyper Beam
Double-Edge/Brick Break

While I'm happy with this team, it won't go anywhere if my execution isn't on point. I need to know damage calculations, speed marks, and AI and use that information to make the safest decisions during fights. I struggled with this during my initial tests, but I improved after slowing down and studying strategies found here: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/gen-iii-battle-frontier-discussion-and-records.3648697

I'm hoping to attempt a run of this within the next year. I will stream some of my routing and practice during the summer.

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Tl;dr -- All Gold Symbols with manip feels like cheating; doing it without manip will be a real challenge and probably my biggest gaming accomplishment to date. Any Pokemon obtained after the Elite Four can be accidentally manipped, so all Pokemon must be obtained before the Elite Four. I think a team of Gyarados/Slaking/Swampert can complete a manipless run in 24 hours or less, and I will be preparing to attempt this run within the next year.