Orre Colosseum Speedrun

Orre Colosseum is a post-game mode unlocked after completing the main story in Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness and is normally required to complete the Lovrina rematch in a 100% speedrun... but this is different. Instead, we are going to play through the entirety of one of the hardest series of Pokémon [double] battles.

Is this an official speedrun?

- Not on speedrun.com, no. This is an unofficial run that is done completely by my own rules! Hopefully in the near future it's something that can be considered as an official category.

What are you playing this on?

- Nintendo Wii, with GameCube backwards-compatibility.

What is my team?

- I'll be using Gengar, Electrode, Snorlax, Dusclops, Metagross, Moltres, and Jolteon; I will be switching a few out for strategic purposes. Most of my Pokémon were either caught in another game or RNG manipulated to achieve the stats to my liking.

Why do some of your Pokémon have bad defensive stats?

- Again, RNG manipulation. I went for very quick frames that gave me the offensive IVs that I needed. I got lucky with Moltres since I had caught it with a Mild nature AND Hidden Power Grass in LeafGreen.

How did you get Helping Hand on Dusclops?

- Dusclops learns Helping Hand through purification in XD; Sableye and Banette also have access to Helping Hand upon purification, but I use Dusclops since it has very strong defensive stats and checks the egregious Earthquake spam.

So why not use Duskull since it has Levitate?

- Weaker stats, which activates Kill AI.

How does the AI work in Orre Colosseum?

- The AI is designed to be "smart," meaning that it will tend to target the Pokémon it can deal the most damage with; or if it knows it can knock out a Pokémon with a minimum roll being extremely unlikely. It's still completely random as sometimes the AI will make questionable plays; it only sees your stats and not what moves you learn. In some cases, the AI will double target one of your Pokémon if both of their attacks result in a KO. Some AI have a guaranteed lead, while others may have a flowchart of sorts.

Why do some Pokémon avoid Explosion?

- Although Explosion has an accuracy of 100, some Pokémon hold a Brightpowder and a Lax Incense, which the former decreases accuracy by 10% and the latter by 5% [in Gen 3].

Any restrictions?

- No box legendaries (except Suicune) or mythical Pokémon; no two of the same Pokémon species (no two Gengar can be on the same team, but I can use Haunter and Gengar for instance); no two Pokémon can hold the same item; Soul Dew is banned.

Why are your Pokémon Lv. 60?

- The minimum level to participate in Orre Colosseum is 60, and the level is increased to match the highest level of your Pokémon.

Why are your Pokémon nicknamed? Doesn't that cost text frames?

- My Pokémon are nicknamed because the text boxes do not scroll, which won't cost any extra frames.

How do you get Explosion?

- Electrode is one of the only Pokémon who learns Explosion upon level up (Lv. 54); it is a single-use Move Tutor in FireRed, LeafGreen, and Emerald otherwise.

What is your strategy?

- 85% using Self-Destruct/Explosion as it is the fastest way to knockout most of the AI's Pokémon and nullify their gimmicky strategies; the other 15% is winning 1v1s by achieving ranges in the event that I cannot explode due to either type-resistance or the Damp ability, which nullifies Exploding moves.

Smogon says that Gengar/Metagross is the best lead to use. Why are you mostly using Electrode/Gengar instead?

- Speed is very important in the playthrough of Orre Colosseum. The later AI uses fast, hard-hitting Pokémon, and Electrode outspeeds every single of them. Also, the AI has a big thing for spamming Earthquake, Protect, and Endure.

How does Explosion work?

In Gen 3, Explosion has a base power of 250, but its special property is dropping the Defense of the opposing Pokémon by 2 stages. It makes weak but fast Explosion users like Gengar and Electrode super powerful. Pair them with Helping Hand, and they can deal some serious damage. Selfdestruct has a base power of 200, but even though its base power is significantly weaker than Explosion's, Snorlax gets STAB and with its strong Attack, it can one-shot mostly non-defensive Pokémon.

How do double battles work?

- Two Pokémon are sent onto the field, and most moves have you choose which Pokémon you target, inclusive of your teammate. Moves that hit the entire field, such as Earthquake and Explosion, do not have fixed damage (this was fixed in Gen 4), while double targeting moves like Surf, Icy Wind, and Heat Wave, all have fixed damage since you're only hitting two Pokémon. In Gen 3, if your Pokémon faints while the turn is still active, you are forced to switch in a Pokémon (fixed in Gen 4, where once the turn ends, you can switch in your Pokémon). This allows for certain fights to be done in 1 turn, but that's only a niche strategy.

How broken are the AI's Pokémon?

- The IVs (individual values) of the AI are well-rounded; they start at around 23 or so and then go up to about 28 or 29 across all stats. Basically after the Chobin & Robo Groudon set, the IVs of the AI's Pokémon are very close to perfect. And they mostly use speed-increasing natures.

Why do you have Shadow Ball on Gengar?

- Gen 3 does not have physical/special split, but Gengar gets Same Type Attack Bonus and KOs other Gengar without having to use Destiny Bond and potentially waste animation time.

Why do you have Protect on Gengar when it is not affected by neither Earthquake nor Explosion?

- Orre Colosseum has the most usage of Quick Claw, and some of the Quick Claw users carry Shadow Ball which knocks out my Gengar. It also pairs nicely with Dusclops' Thief.

...did that slow Pokémon just go first? I thought you were faster.

- Quick Claw is an item that has an 18% chance of allowing the holder to move first in its priority. This doesn't apply to priority moves like Helping Hand, Protect, Endure, Quick Attack, etc., unless the holder uses one of those moves and its Quick Claw activates.

Why is Dusclops not holding an item?

- Thief steals a Pokémon's item when the user isn't holding an item. This is a cheeky safety strategy that is mainly used to get rid of Quick Claw users, Endure + Salac Berry users upon switch-in, and rarely Brightpowder/Lax Incense users.

How do you get Self-Destruct on Snorlax?

- Move Tutor in Agate Village. Can be taught only once, though, so make sure to get a Snorlax with a good Attack stat.

What items are your Pokémon holding?

- Gengar @ White Herb, Electrode @ Silk Scarf, Snorlax @ Chesto Berry, Metagross @ Lum Berry, Dusclops @ none, Jolteon @ Magnet, and Moltres @ Charcoal

If you're running Explosion, why not use a Choice Band?

- Unlike Gen 4, Gen 3 still has very little items to work with. Not to mention the Duplicate Item Clause Orre Colosseum has, and in the event I need to use Protect in front of a Quick Claw user can really make a difference in a fight. Giving it to Snorlax or Metagross limits their defensive options as they are basically the slowest offensive exploders on my team, and if they get smacked by a speedy offensive Pokémon, it's joever.