The A + B + Start issue in Kaizo IronMON

Yesterday I accidentally soft reset my Lapras run during the trainer grind after Whitney. I pressed A + B + Start at the same time while attempting to clear a text box and then open the menu. A + B + Start is the default soft reset combination in the Kaizo IronMON tracker. The Select button isn't used in the soft reset combo because it has some minor bugs in Bizhawk. Normally I change the combo to A + B + Start + Select, but yesterday I was using the default combo because I had just downloaded a new tracker that removed some major bugs.

My last save state for the run was before Union Cave, about 15 levels and 2 badges earlier. Since it takes multiple hours to redo this progress, and I would almost certainly get additional info about Pokemon's moves and stats during the repeated battles, I decided to consider the run dead and check the log. The Lapras had a mediocre mixed attacking moveset and seemed very unlikely to beat the game, so I was hoping this check would put the run to rest and allow me to focus on a new run with a fresh mindset. Unfortunately, the log showed this:

Level 50 move: Bubblebeam
Level 57 move: Thunderbolt

The other remaining moves and TMs were useless. Still, getting those two premium moves meant Lapras was about 50% likely to beat the game if I hadn't accidentally reset the run. Losing a 50% chance in Kaizo hurts a lot, since a run from the beginning is less than 1% to finish.

I gave this situation some thought, and I've decided I'm going to continue the run. I'll do my best to pretend I don't know what moves I'm about to learn or what additional info I have about Pokemon from the repeated battles. This is something every Crystal runner had to do anyway when using the old tracker, which often showed opposing Pokemon's moves even if they weren't used. I didn't use any healing items during the segment I'll have to repeat, so I will repeat the segment until I can do it with no heals.

I don't consider "open log" runs to be legitimate Kaizo runs in any normal circumstance. This is an unusual circumstance because 1) the old tracker showed cheated moves anyway, 2) my custom soft reset combination got reset to default when I downloaded a new tracker, and 3) Crystal has no fail-safes to protect against accidental soft resets. Other Kaizo games allow the tracker to be downloaded in a way that doesn't reset the soft reset combination, and they have a Time Machine feature that allows runs to be reverted to a more recent state.

By the way, at least three runners have lost runs to accidentally pressing A + B + Start, including Pie, the creator of the IronMON challenge. The tracker development team has done a fantastic job of improving the tracker in the past two years, but this appears to be a significant oversight. Losing a good run to a software malfunction that is so easily preventable is EXTREMELY frustrating, and I don't think this is an experience we want any Kaizo player to have.

Thanks for reading, and let's get that Lapras win!