Pocket Monsters Stadium 2 GLC R1 FAQ

Pocket Monsters Stadium 2 FAQ:

Q: What is this game? It says 2 but this looks like Stadium 1?
A: The answer is in the title, Pocket Monsters Stadium 2. It is the Japanese equivalent of Pokemon Stadium 1. As Japan had a Pocket Monsters Stadium that never released internationally, this is the sequel and referred to as such. Short table to explain in case you still don't get it:
				Japanese name		|   English name:
Game 1: Pocket Monsters Stadium		|	Unreleased (Sometimes referred to as Pokemon Stadium 0)
Game 2: Pocket Monsters Stadium 2	|	Pokemon Stadium
Game 3: Pocket Monsters Stadium: GS	|	Pokemon Stadium 2

As such, please refer to this game as Pocket Monsters Stadium 2 (or PMS2), as that is the best easy to describe label (e.g. Pokemon Stadium 1 JP is awful, could refer to more than one thing)
Also note, the rentals/cups in the third stadium game are exactly the same between the releases, and so JP is no different there, and as such there's no point playing that one in JP. So it'll just be this one.

Q: So why are you playing in Japanese?
A: Because it's different. The rentals are totally different with their moves, so the Pokes and strats used completely vary. As such it's not like I'm playing in Japanese because it's got faster text, it's a different game. The cups in the Stadiums are also different in this version, and there are more of them, so it's totally different for Complete Game (I'll do that at some point in the future...)

Q: So the rentals are different. Are they better or worse in JP compared to English?
A: Almost always worse. There are some better options here and there. For example, Pika Cup has better looking rentals overall for example (though missing Ice Beam on Lapras sucks...), Petit misses Fire Blast totally, etc. But for Gym Leader Castle, since that's what I'm doing, I'll give a more detailed breakdown.

Bad differences for JP: (listed in order it really matters)
1) Way worse Ice options. You really miss Ice Beam Articuno, bad. The next best option is Ice Punch Jynx, which barely hits with half the power. It also gets Psychic in English, but doesn't in JP, making it a less viable option too.
2) Worse Earthquake option. In English, EQ is given to Nidoking, which proves to be quite useful. In JP the best option is Sandshrew, which is far worse. Dig is still given to Dugtrio, which is then used for Surge, because Sandshrew just dies there.
3) Missing Moltres/Zapdos. The birds also get good moves in English (Fire Blast & Sky Attack, Thunder), but sport nothing of use at all in JP. So best Fire Blast user is downgraded to Charmeleon/Ponyta. Thunder still has good options in Jolteon/Electrode, however they have a tiny bit less special than Zapdos.
4) Thunderbolt option. The best used to be Gengar, but is disappeared, so you're reliant on Thunder everywhere.
5) A few Pokemon have one useful move altered that is slightly worse, e.g.: Tentacruel has Poison Sting instead of Acid, Vaporeon has Double Edge instead of Quick Attack, etc. Starmie also does not have Thunder, which is a decent loss.

Good differences for JP:
1) Way more exploding options. Specifically Snorlax (Self-D & Body Slam), Weezing (Self-D, Sludge, Thunder), and Gengar (Self-D, Night Shade) mark themselves as quite nice. Snorlax especially is extremely strong, however quite slow, so it's more used for tougher battles to ensure a win rather than a fast win (e.g. will be quite useful in Round 2 I imagine)
2) Jolteon has Double Edge instead of Double Kick. This might not seem much, but the added power means you can use it to finish off a lot of Pokemon that you would otherwise have to hit with another Thunder. Given Jolteon is the most used Pokemon, even a little boost is nice.
3) A few Pokemon have one more useful move that was taken away in English, e.g.: Persian has Substitute (useful for exploding team), Dugtrio has Hyper Beam, etc.

Q: Why are you using <pokemon>? Why not <other pokemon>?
A: Because the restrictions in running this game involve only using rental Pokemon (as otherwise it would be incredibly easy and not at all challenging). A lot of the times the lower evolved Pokemon have better moves (e.g. Abra has Psychic, Alakazam has Confusion), so they end up being better options.

Q: What is this category?
A: This is the Gym Leader Castle, specifically Round 1. So basically beat everyone in there. They can be done in any order (so long as Elite Four is last), so I start with some of the harder fights to get out of the way early. (GLC R1 stands for Gym Leader Castle, Round 1)

Q: Why is the order scrambled like that?
A: It's allowed because doing it from a fresh file would be really annoying to reset the save data for (given you'd have to remake the teams every reset as well), so it's stupid to not allow play on a completed save. And since that's allowed, no reason to restrict order either. Elite Four still must be done last because timing ends during the cutscene after that battle (would be slower to not do him last because of that anyway).

As such, I fight the gyms in reverse order, as they are progressively difficult, so I get the harder ones out of the way this way.

Q: Why does that gym leader have a Pokemon that isn't of their type??
A: Because if every leader had only their type, all these fights would be easy. Though some of them actually do do that because Round 1 in Stadium 1 is actually fairly easy, and there are less Pokemon to choose between.

Q: Why is that Pokemon coloured differently?
A: Giving Pokemon nicknames in the Stadium games changes their colouration, so you can see some cool and different looking Pokes.

Q: What is the record?
A: http://www.speedrun.com/pkmnstadium (Click on JPN) | Note: It's not that much slower, just no one has done good runs yet

Q: So what's your goal?
A: Not sure, I'll have to do some runs first before deciding on a goal. It's definitely going to be a bit slower than English though, the rentals are worse overall. I'll start with sub 1:50 at first I guess, go from there.

Q: Does this game have the Gen 1 1/256 miss?
A: No, it does not. Stadium changed a few mechanics from the handheld Gen 1 games (for example, switching after Wrap/Fire Spin means the other Pokemon won't attack, so you don't get stuck forever, Hyper Beam needs recharge), and the removal of the 1/256 is one of them.

Crit mechanics are slightly different. See this spreadsheet for specifics: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lab4RC9Ngt3x1Eb7qOMYvLtqhKIekOVPmv4eaiyc4nY

Q: What does "Round 2" or "Round 1" mean in this game?
A: This game repeats itself over, after you beat Round 1 of the game you unlock Round 2. Round 2 gives the opponent different pokes, with different moves, and better stats. It is in general, much much harder.

Q: Are you gonna go back to that really long run that was like over 20 hours now that you have an JP cart?
A: Yes, I'll do Complete Game on PMS2 as well. It'll also be even longer than the English variant, as there are 12 cups in the stadium compared to 10, along with worse rentals, so that'll be fun. I still gotta route all that though, so it's a long way off.