Pokemon Stadium 2 Complete Game FAQ

	Pokemon Stadium 2 Complete Game FAQ:

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) Generally speaking, worse stat Pokemon have better moves, it's about finding the right combinations. So in a lot of cases you will see me use for example, Kadabra (Has Psychic/Thunder Punch), but never Alakazam (Has Psybeam/Theif)

Q: Are the movesets the same between all the Cups and Gym Leader Castle?
A: Gym Leader Castle and Poke Cup have the same rental movesets. Prime Cup has a lot that are the same, but some are slightly different, and some are very different. This is because some Pokemon learn moves after level 50, so they only get them in Prime Cup. The two examples used in this run, are Hitmonlee (learns Reversal at 51, this replaces Mud Slap from the level 50 rental), and Heracross (learns Megahorn at level 54. Moveset is entirely different, as would be too OP with both Megahorn and Reversal)

Little Cup is just different. Only poke used in Little which gets use elsewhere is Voltorb, which actually has Thunder and Mirror Coat in both, however it has Rollout in Little Cup, and not Selfdestruct. (Also Curse instead of Rain Dance, but that's not too relevant)

Q: Is that Pokemon Shiny?
A: No, it isn't. However, when Pokemon get given nicknames, it can slightly alter their colour (which is why trainers that aren't leaders have nicknames on their Pokemon to show off this feature) | It is actually possible that a Shiny Pokemon will show up in Challenge Cup, as everything there is randomised. However, it will actually sparkle, like seen in this vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKx37qF79TA

Q: What is this category?
A: This is the Complete the Game. Essentially I finish the Gym Leader Castle, then do all 10 Stadium Cups (Little Cup, Prime Cup, 4 Poke Cup, 4 Challenge Cup) and then the Rival fight. That then unlocks Round 2, and I do it all again. And yes that timer is right, it takes about a whole day to do this.

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. It's not like in the games where you only have a small team, since you have access to every Pokemon, they need coverage in order to be a challenge at all.

Q: Can you manipulate the Pokemon the trainers use by using other Pokemon? Does it effect it at all?
A: Yes and no. The team of 6 Pokemon that you show -does- impact the Pokemon the trainer you fight use. However, it is both A) Never completely reliable, as they can always choose multiple teams, and B) Not as simple as you might think. For example, just having a team full of Fire types does not mean Misty won't choose Sunflora. They act differently seeing different Pokemon, but not in any coherent way. For example, one of my newer strats is to put a Heracross on the team that fights Sabrina, that I never use. This changes Sabrina from using the annoying Wiggly/Furret combo. To find good combinations is just a lot of trial and error. But most of the team, your focus is simply on being able to pick a team of 3 that can always win, very rarely do you have to space to try and manipulate like that anyway (but sometimes it's a tradeoff between the two)

This is not done really at all in the Stadium Cups, because you do 8 fights with the same 6 Pokemon, you always have to pick your team based on what's going to win the fights, rather than manipulate them. However I do know what certain teams I can get in certain situations because of the team I show (e.g. a fight might only have 3 combinations they can choose, so if I see lead Jolteon I know they have Sneasel/Vaporeon as their last 2, etc. This is not very common though, most trainers have far too many possible combinations)

Q: What is the record?
A: http://www.speedrun.com/pkmnstadium2#Complete_the_Game | See: Splits (no one else runs this lol)

Q: So what's your goal?
A: Sub 20 hours would be really nice!

Q: You're so far behind! Can you really make up that much time?
A: Yes. This game has a ridiculous amount of variance compared to others. I can without a doubt make back up over an hour. In fact it's happened in past runs. Check the bottom line of the splits - Best Possible Time, this reflects what my time will be if the rest of the run equals my sum of best, meaning the best time from this point onward.

Q: What's the hardest part/Where can you lose the most time?
A: Easily Elite Four Round 2. Not only are these fights incredibly stupid with all their hax items (Quick Claw, Bright Powder, Focus Band etc), but losing here costs more time than anywhere else, because you have to fight all of them again. In the Stadium Cups this is not an issue, as I setup Infinite Continue Glitch so that any death should just be a restart at that fight.

The singular fight where I think I have the lowest chance of winning is Baxter-Master-2 (Fight 7 of Poke Cup Master Ball-Round 2) - I can only win against Electrode leads (he can lead 5 things, but Electrode is the most common), and even then it's a coin flip whether I win from that position or not.

Q: What is Infinite Continue Glitch?
A: Basically if you already have a suspended (saved) battle, and then go to suspend another battle it'll ask whether you want to overwrite your previous one, or continue without suspending. If you choose the latter, the game allows you to restart the fight as if it was using a continue, but your continue is not used up. To have this option you must first have a continue however, so especially in the harder cups I'll specifically be playing for a continue in the first or second fights, because restarting the cup all the way from the beginning is a ridiculously long amount of time

Q: How many fights are in this run in total?
A: 238, 119 in each round.

Q: Why do you reset after completing a cup?
A: This is just to skip the small cutscene that shows all the Pokes you used in the cup. Saves just a few seconds each time.

Q: How are you going to play for 20 hours straight?? Don't you need to eat and shit??
A: I got some snacks. It ain't too hard to not use the bathroom for 20 hours, especially if you aren't drinking too much. I've done this whole thing before, it honestly takes no extra effort in that regard. Focused on the game, so I just get it done.