Pokemon Ultra Moon - 0 Exp Part 1: Iki Town Festival (Hau 2)

Challenge playlist:    • Pokemon Ultra Moon - 0 Exp Run (COMPLETE)   0 Experience / no levelling up No item usage in battles No legendaries or lv. 60 Ultra Warp Ride mons (the latter would spoil the challenge) Species clause I got US/UM as fast as I could and naturally thought about the possibility of me playing yet another 0 experience challenge playthrough in the game. The choice wasn't easy. The mechanics are still the same as they were in vanilla Sun / Moon, so while I didn't hesitate much and played a 0 exp run Omega Ruby after having played the same challenge in Sapphire years earlier, the same wasn't the case here. The wild Pokemon from S/M are still generally (or almost entirely?) found in the same locations in US/UM and perform in very reminiscent ways. Since I didn't feel like playing, say, Diamond in addition to my Platinum run back in the past, it would make sense for me to ignore this one too. However, gameplaywise USUM completes SM's ideas, as underwhelming as it may be if we talk about the storyline (SM's was better imho, but this is not what I play Pokemon for). There are more Totem Pokemon now, but the old ones were either replaced or had their movepool redone so radically that they now happen to pose challenge, making it very interesting how a 0 exp run would handle them. Furthermore, there are the occasional new Pokemon that weren't there in SM, and I really like the early availability of various move tutors which make some fascinating strategies possible and which make different Pokemon viable. It's still not enough however, and in the end, a very big reason behind me doing this run (it is after all a time-consuming endeavour) is that I'm now doing it in Ultra Moon, whereas my previous 0 exp run was in Sun, not Moon. My choice for Sun back then couldn't have been easier to make. Cottonee had utility that remained strong even as it grew obsolete underlevelled compared to Petilil, but what really sold Sun was the access to Alolan-Ninetales who proved invaluable in many endgame matchups by setting Aurora Veil, usually for 8 turns, during which our party took hits that they otherwise couldn't. With Alolan-Sandslash in its place, I now have to rethink the entirety of the endgame all over again, and battles that were previously easy would not be easy anymore, and my choice of Pokemon to take with me to E4 for example would also change. The champion is a different character this time, but I already begin to question if the run will actually be possible without Aurora Veil being so easy to set up against a slowmon. I have a feeling that if I'd done USUM first, I wouldn't have gone back to SM at all, but the Totem battles are harder now, and the Rainbow Rocket section seems equally tempting. Some storyline trainers like Lusamine (notoriously easy to cheese in vanilla SM) are also tougher with more diverse coverage in their sets. The earlygame is very similar, with Hau running the same Pokemon he was last seen with (for now anyway, he gets a certain new bat next time we meet him), and my options are also pretty much the same. I end up choosing Popplio, which I have no idea about being a good choice longterm (specifically the champion battle martchups), yet, but having Ilima's Smeargle have Leafage makes him a whole lot easier to deal with in the most immediate future. I do think Leafeon is the easiest of the eeveelutions to deal with in the final stretch of the game? It all depends on the team I have to bring, which will only unfold towards the end of the game. Anyway, this battle features an unusually intense struggle to overcome the base 20 HP/15 def Pichu, who becomes especially tanky with repeated Charm usage on my normal-type attackers and even gets some hax in the form of Static procs and crits. Even though I use Leer to weaken its defence, the Charm spam makes the efforts in vain until I try switching again, after which Charm may well be repeatedly used. It's kinda dependent on the AI with regards to how this matchup unfolds. Pichu may well use Tail Whip (totally useless with Thundershock as its sole attacking move) on all of its turns and fall to the lead Yungoos. More realistically, I attempt to Leer Pichu to the point Buneary can handle it. This one's faster than Yungoos, but not enough so to outspeed Pichu, and more importantly has better special bulk, taking Thundershocks better (not 3HKO'd like Yungoos is). Pichu puts up quite a fight before going down. The second matchup is a trifle with the starters receiving a STAB move ever since the generation 6 games and (some of) the rival starters also being weak to yours. Anyway, that Popplio's exp bar is the closest I'll ever get to levelling up in this challenge (and still not close at all). We'll see what happens, we'll see.