Pokémon Let's Go, Pikachu! - Professor Oak Challenge F.A.Q.

Pokémon Let's Go, Pikachu! - Professor Oak Challenge F.A.Q. (updated 12/19/2020)

Q: What are you doing?
A: I am trying to complete the Professor Oak Challenge in Pokémon Let's Go, Pikachu! as fast as possible

Q: What's the Professor Oak Challenge?
A: It's a challenge playthrough where there are three rules:
	1 - Catch (and evolve) as many Pokémon as possible before each badge
	2 - No glitches are allowed to acquire extra Pokémon
	3 - No trading with other games; in-game trades are allowed
You can read more about it and see other people's attempts (for all Pokémon games) here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProfessorOak/

Q: Have you ever done this before?
A: Yes! I've done it twice in Let's Go, Eevee! and it took a little under 8 hours

Q: Can this be done on Let's Go, Eevee!?
A: Absolutely. I'm doing this on Pikachu, but it's possible on both. The two versions are going to be pretty negligible in terms of time differences for this category, however

Q: Where are the leaderboards?
A: The leaderboards are in a Google Spreadsheet, however they aren't really meant to be competitive. It's more about showcasing who has finished the challenge. You can find it here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15CbEXN2B2vmW0sWtXGWVdPG_PDDmHKZlK0VJM0Bqh9g/edit#gid=1288505796

Q: What's your basic strategy?
A: Lot's of catching for Experience Grinding. Let's Go inflates Catch EXP like crazy, so it's realistically the only way to gain levels fast. For the routing in Let's Go, I feel like there are four main parts of the run:
	- Pre-Brock: There are 23 Pokémon that are obtainable before Brock. This will be the hardest part for sure, mainly because there's no guaranteed money. We're given 50 Poké Balls to start off and have a way to make a little bit of money, but that won't be enough to get the first wave of Pokémon before Brock. We have to rely on getting items (Candies/Berries) from maintaining a Catch Combo as well. It seems like once you get to ~25-30 Catch Combo on a Pokémon, you'll start getting enough Candy to make up for the Balls you're throwing. Once you get to ~35-40 Catch Combo, you'll start getting enough for 2 Balls. This will enable us to start doing 2 Controller catches and gaining more Experience
	- Pre-Misty: There are 51 Pokémon that are obtainable before Misty. This is very similar to Pre-Brock, except we now have access to Mt. Moon. The reason this is important is they have placed a guy in some dungeons (Mt. Moon, Rock Tunnel, etc) that will give you Poké Balls if you have less than 10 remaining. This could be a saving grace if we start to run out of Poké Balls and money. Still, we have some Level > 30 grinds to do here so it'll take a while
	- Pre-Surge: This is where the run really opens up. There are a whopping 127 Pokémon available Pre-Surge. The game becomes non-linear at this point and, without any more badges, let's you access the entire map except for a few areas (Route 23 Grass, Victory Road, and Cerulean Cave). There are a couple of trouble Evolutions here that may take some grinding, but the nice part here is we're able to advance the plot a ton during this section which means many Pokémon will evolve naturally
	- Post-Surge: At this point, the run is basically over. After Surge there are only a handful of Pokémon to get (2 before Blaine, 2 before Elite 4 and 4 in the Post Game) and none of them involve level grinding

Q: What are the trouble Pokémon?
A: We need to evolve into Venusaur and Pidgeot before Brock. We need to evolve into Charizard, Blastoise, Venomoth, and Golduck, as well as catch Onix (1% encounter) before Misty. We need to evolve into Rhydon and Dragonite, as well as catch Kangaskhan and Scyther (1% encounters) before Lt. Surge

Q: Why are you cancelling evolutions?
A: Since Generation VI, Pokémon that are above the level they normally evolve at will gain 1.2x Experience. By keeping a 3-stage Evolution at Stage 1 for as long as possible, we'd be able to shave off a ton of Experience that would otherwise be necessary. For a Pokémon like Bulbasaur, we'd go from needing ~24k EXP from Level 16 to 32 normally, to only needing ~21k

Q: Why are you catching Pokémon using 2 Controllers?
Q: What do the glowing (blue or red) Wild Pokémon do?
Q: Why are you catching the same Pokémon over and over?
A: Catching Pokémon gives us the most Experience in the game. When you catch a Pokémon, there are a number of different multipliers that influence the Experience gained. Here are the pertinent ones:
	- New Pokémon: 1.1x
	- Excellent Throw: 2.0x
	- Large/Small (Glowing): 1.5x (or the rare 4.0x)
	- First Throw: 1.5x
	- Technique (Motion Controls): 1.1x
	- Synchronized (2 Controller): 2.0x
	- Catch Combo: 1.1x for Combo 1-10. 1.5x for Combo of 11-20. Add 0.5x for each 10 after 11
This means that if I caught a New Pokémon with an Excellent, First, 1 Controller throw, I'd get a 1.1 x 2.0 x 1.5 x 1.1 = 3.6x Multiplier. If I was on a 30 Catch Combo, Excellent, Glowing, First, 2 Controller throw, I'd get a 2.0 x 2.0 x 1.5 x 1.5 x 2.0 = 18x Multiplier. I believe there is a max multiplier, but I don't know what it is

Q: Why did you run away from that Pokémon?
A: I either didn't need it, or I didn't want to break my Catch Combo. There are a few ways to break your Catch Combo:
	- Catch a Pokémon that isn't the one you're on a combo with (this includes evolutions. I can't catch a Metapod on my Caterpie Catch Combo and keep it)
	- Have a Pokémon run away from you in battle. There are signs that indicate a Pokémon will run soon, however when I get high on a combo (30+) I'll probably run after 2 throws even if I don't see the sign, just to be safe
	- Exit the game

Q: Other than Experience, do Catch Combos give any useful bonuses?
A: Yes! Like you mentioned, the three main things that Catch Combos give us are:
	- More Experience
	- More Rewards (Candies/Berries)
	- More likely for Rare Spawns (Bulbasaur, Chansey, etc) to appear

Q: What are the Pokémon counts needed for each gym?
A: 23 before Badge 1, 51 before Badge 2, 127 before Badge 3, 129 before Badge 7, 131 before Elite 4, and 135 Post Game (As a note, Eevee has 24 before Badge 1 and 52 before Badge 2, because Eevee itself isn't obtainable until before Badge 3. Pikachu is obtainable before Badge 1, so there's a slight difference in the Pokémon counts until then)

Q: What is the tracker at the bottom of the screen?
A: That's my Pokémon Tracker program! It keeps track of Pokémon and allows me to mark them different colors so the viewers and I can have all sorts of information at a quick glance. You can find my version (and another, by BobChao87) at https://www.speedrun.com/pkmnletsgo/resources

Q: What do the colors on the tracker mean?
A: Black = Not caught | Gray = Not caught, but able to get before the next badge | Blue = Caught | Orange = Caught and able to evolve

Q: What Pokémon are not obtainable?
A: Ekans, Arbok, Vulpix, Ninetales, Meowth, Alakazam, Machamp, Bellsprout, Weepinbell, Victreebel, Golem, Gengar, Koffing, Weezing, Pinsir, Mew, Meltan and Melmetal

Q: Why is Meowth not obtainable, but Persian is?
A: There is a lady in Vermilion City who will gift you a Persian if you have caught 5 Growlithe. Since there is no breeding in the game, we can get the Persian, but then still can't get the Meowth

Q: Will you do this again?
A: Maybe! I've done this a couple of times already, so it's starting to get to an "optimized" point (as optimized as an 8 hour category can be), however if I come up with a new strategy, or if the time I get isn't satisfying, then I will likely come back in the future

Q: Do you have a guide for this that I'd be able to use to do my own attempt at the Challenge?
A: Not yet, but I will! Once I've done the challenge myself and am able to work out the kinks, I'll happily share my strategy/route with both the speedrunning and the POC communities :)