Pokemon Crystal Kaizo IronMON FAQ

Pokemon Crystal Kaizo IronMON FAQ
Updated October 2023

Q: What are you doing?
A: I am attempting to beat a randomized version of Pokemon Crystal using the Kaizo IronMON rules.

Q: What are the Kaizo IronMON rules?
A: A bunch of settings and restrictions that make the game much, much harder. Some of them include: You can only use one Pokemon and must beat the game without that Pokemon dying, you can't use healing items outside of battle, you can't buy any items except Poke Balls and Repels, opposing trainers are a much higher level, and you can't use Pokemon with 580+ BST. A full list of rules can be found here: https://gist.github.com/valiant-code/adb18d248fa0fae7da6b639e2ee8f9c1

Q: What is your goal?
A: To optimize the route and beat the game at least once.

Q: What strategies do you use?
A: Patiently grind for a very strong Pokemon at the beginning. This usually requires high BST (490+), high Attack or Special Attack, at least average defenses and Speed, and at least one strong move. If I can't find a Pokemon that meets these requirements before Sprout Tower, I will reset. Once I have a good Pokemon, I will try to fight every trainer possible for experience. I will only skip a trainer if the odds of dying or losing valuable resources are high.

During easy battles, I will usually just use my strongest move against each Pokemon. During hard battles, I will usually use a stat-boosting (setup) move or X item before sweeping. On the Elite Four, I will try to stay above 50% HP as much as possible, and I will try to heal to full HP for the beginning of each battle if possible.

Q: What are the biggest run killers?
A: Crystal has many trainers with high DVs and good AI, so almost any trainer can kill any Pokemon. The hardest trainer by far is Red, since he has a full team of Level 100s and can deal massive damage to you or just end your run by landing an OHKO move. In terms of moves, the big four from FireRed -- Perish Song, Destiny Bond, Counter and Mirror Coat -- are still major threats here, although Smart AI discourages Perish Song in most cases.

Q: Why do you always choose the right ball in the lab?
A: You have to choose your starter Pokemon before seeing the choices. The easiest way to do this is to always pick the same ball each time. If the right ball is a banned Pokemon (580+ BST), I can choose either middle or left.

Q: What are your favorite Pokemon?
A: Espeon and Lapras. This is important for Kaizo IronMON because you are allowed to choose a favorite from any of the three balls in the lab.

Q: Why do you set the time to 6 p.m.?
A: There are three trainers who only battle you at night, and their experience is valuable.

Q: Why do you try to catch male Pokemon?
A: Because males have higher Attack in Generation 2 games. If a Pokemon is 50% likely to be female, it will have 0-7 DV Attack when female and 8-15 DV Attack when male. Yes, Game Freak was sexist.

Q: Why don't you use speedups?
A: I explain this in detail here: https://pastebin.com/CZmTgZx7

Q: What are those calculators at the bottom of the screen?
A: I show my damage calculator, my "best move" calculator, and Sfayne's IV calculator during runs. These can all be found in the #kaizo channel of my Discord: https://discord.gg/Tu6QwBT