Pokemon Fire Red Round 2 FAQ (Charizard route, September 2022)

Pokemon Fire Red Round 2 FAQ (Charizard route, September 2022)

Q: What are you trying to do?
A: Beat the second round of the Elite Four as quickly as possible using Charizard as the main Pokemon.

Q: Why are you catching Pokemon?
A: I need to catch 60 to get the National Dex, which unlocks several sidequests that unlock the second round of the Elite Four.

Q: What is the world record?
A: 3:28:55 by Pokeguy, using the Blastoise/Mewtwo route. Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I14DUJeynn0

Q: Is Charizard faster than Blastoise?
A: No, but I think it's close enough that it can get world record, and it's a much more interesting route. Blastoise has a type advantage in almost every major battle and has great defenses, so most fights are consistent and reasonably fast -- yet quite boring. And then Mewtwo cleans up the endgame, which is quite difficult for Blastoise. Conversely, Charizard solos the entire game and uses many creative strats to compensate for its frequent type disadvantages.

Q: What is the fastest Charizard time?
A: 3:36:08 by me. Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEw5dS9BYZQ

Q: What is your goal?
A: To beat Pokeguy's Blastoise record. But first I would be happy to beat my own Charizard PB.

Q: Any changes since that PB?
A: Several, including a free 15-second movement time save in Victory Road. The most noticeable change is that I'll be running lower Speed IVs. This actually makes the Brock fight about 30 seconds faster on average since his Onix won't use Rock Tomb to lower your Speed; however, it requires an extra battle in the late game to get enough experience to outspeed Agatha 2's Level 70 Gengar. A full list of routing improvements can be found here: https://pastebin.com/aFmNRMri

Q: Why aren't you using the early Misty/Surge route?
A: That route doesn't allow you to run Speed IVs below 23. The most optimal Speed IVs are actually 19-22 since they don't get Rock Tomb from Brock (-30 seconds) and they only require 2 Carbos to outspeed Gengar (+15 seconds). Also, I think the Surge fight in particular is way too risky and slow when done early -- about 40 seconds slower than late Surge when accounting for risk.

Q: What are the numbers on the chart in the bottom-left?
A: The top-left number (TOTAL) is the number of Pokemon I've caught. I start at 19 because that's the number of Pokemon I always catch, regardless of luck. The remaining 41 (top middle) depend on luck. The number to the right of that is how far ahead or behind I am on Pokemon, compared to an average run. If it says +1, I have one more Pokemon than I normally do, which is worth about 50 seconds. So my time is effectively 50 seconds faster than whatever it says on my splits. If it says -1, I have one fewer Pokemon than normal, so I'm effectively 50 seconds slower than my current time.

Below that, you'll see the next major area where I'll be trying to catch Pokemon (e.g., Mt. Moon, Pokemon Tower). The number to the right of this area is a rough average of how many seconds it will take to catch 1 Pokemon in that area. Anything less than 60 is good -- that means I probably have at least a 50% chance of encountering a Pokemon I don't already have. Anything higher than 60 and it's usually not worth grinding for Pokemon in that area anymore.

Below that, you can see which Pokemon I've caught and which I'm missing. The numbers to the right of each catching area are:
- The number of Pokemon I expect to catch in that area (e.g., 6 for Viridian Forest)
- The number of Pokemon I have actually caught in that area this run
- The rough average of how many seconds it will take to catch 1 Pokemon in that area. If there are two numbers, that means there's two catching spots, like Safari Zone areas 2 and 3.

If I catch a Pokemon that I can evolve without a Rare Candy (e.g., Growlithe, Nidorino, Exeggcute), that counts as 2 (or 3 in the case of Caterpie and Weedle, since they evolve twice). If I catch a Pokemon that I can trade (e.g., Venonat, Ponyta), that also counts as 2. Pikachu counts as 3 because I can evolve it into Raichu and then trade the Raichu for Electrode.

Q: Why are you resetting?
A: Probably because my Charmander's stats were bad.

Q: What stats are you looking for?
A: I want 20+ IV Attack, 30+ IV Sp. Atk and 14+ IV Speed with a Mild (+Sp. Atk, -Def) or Rash (+Sp. Atk, -Sp. Def) nature. Defenses matter too; I won't take less than 12 IV Defense with a Mild nature, and it helps to have good Sp. Def.

Q: Why are you checking your trainer ID at the start of the run?
A: This enables me to RNG manipulate a good Charmander, albeit with a couple of restrictions. Each ID produces a unique list of Charmanders, so by checking my ID, I'll know which Charmanders I'll get on certain frames. If there's a great Charmander at, say, frame 4200, I'll want to select Charmander in Prof. Oak's lab 4200 frames after my trainer ID was generated. This method is inconsistent because the RNG doesn't always advance at the same speed, so I might get Charmander #4195 or #4205 in the example above.

Q: Why aren't you using more advanced RNG manipulation techniques like freezing NPCs?
A: In my opinion, RNG manipulation has gotten out of hand in Pokemon speedrunning, to the point where consistently performing manips is the most accurate predictor of a runner's success. Consistent manips happen when a runner has naturally good timing and extremely precise computer software. I think manips are a distraction from the core purpose of Pokemon speedrunning, which is to dive deep into the mechanics of battles, menus and movement and achieve mastery of a game. I'm fine with a simple stat manip because better stats allow for better routing. But, to quote Captain Picard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tleSnj4OD0g

Q: What happened to Kaizo?
A: It takes too long to get on a run -- like 2-3 times longer than the most difficult speedrun grinds I've ever done. And I don't like using speedups.