Pokemon Soul Silver Aipom FAQ

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werster
| 18 days ago (Edited) |
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    Pokemon Soul Silver Aipom+ FAQ
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    Q: What does Aipom+ mean?
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    A: It means I'm going to catch a Aipom, and use it (along with it's evolution) to beat the whole game. In other words, an alternate Pokemon run using Aipom!
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    The + in Aipom+ is to differentiate it from a potential alt run with *just* Aipom, where you would never evolve it
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    Q: Why Aipom?
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    A: A couple months ago, LaqOfInterest created a bounty for beating HG/SS with Aipom+. Not opposed to routing almost any Alt Main, I decided to route this one and take it on.
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    The bounty ends at the end of Jan 30th.
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    Q: Is this run Glitchless or not?
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    A: Yes, it is glitchless. Alt poke runs are glitchless unless explicitly said otherwise.
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    Q: Where will you catch Aipom?
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    A: Aipom is a Headbutt encounter, so first I have to get Headbutt from ilex Forst after Cut. Then I backtrack to Azalea Town to catch him there.
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    Q: So is this faster than using Raikou?
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    A: No, the entire point of an alt Pokemon run is that it is not the fastest way to beat the game. Otherwise it would just be...the fastest way, and it'd be the main category.
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    Q: So how much slower is this going to be?
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    A: A decent amount. The Aipom part isn't great, but Ambipom does amazing. Probably sub 4 hours on a good run, but not by much.
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    Q: What are the hardest fights in this run?
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    A: Whitney, as you are still low level there and need to setup a decent amount on Clefairy. Means it gets a lot of chances to screw you over with Metronome.
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    After that, it's more annoying time losses than high death chance - Fairy Double, Rival 3, and Rocket Double all have them.
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    For Ambipom, Chuck can get a kill, and Jasmine can be annoying. Then it's pretty breezy until Blue and Red.
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    Q: Do you manipulate the Aipom? If so, what are it's stats?
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    A: Yes. It's IVs are 26 HP, 31 Att, 15 Def, 12 Sp Att, 14 Sp Def, 31 Speed with an Adamant nature. It's Female (to avoid Attract), and has Run Away as its ability (turns into Technician when it evolves).
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    This also gives it Hidden Power of Ground 59.
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    Q: Why do you pick Cyndaquil as the starter?
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    A: To do the early part of the run as fast as possible.
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    Q: What are the moves you use in the run?
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    A: Return, Tail Whip, Substitute, Astonish, Shadow Claw, Secret Power, and Hidden Power
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    Q: What are the rules for alt main pokes?
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    A: You can find the rules across the series here: https://pastebin.com/uTqgXp6m
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    ---
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    Q: What are you playing on, it is emulator?
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    A: No, I'm playing on a DS (phat) with a capture board installed allowing me to record game footage
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    Q: Why do you keep resetting and changing the time?
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    A: I need to use a specific time in order to use RNG manipulation, so I set the clock in such a way that I can use it.
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    The timer counts down to when I need to reset for the correct second.
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    Q: What is RNG?
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    A: Random Number Generator, the thing that determines everything random within the game, such as stats, encounters and pokerus.
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    Q: What is RNG Manipulation?
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    A: RNG manipulation is used in this speedrun, which involves resetting on a specific second starting from a specific time, and hitting the correct frame for the correct seed after resetting. This allows for manipulating of the wild encounters, Aipom's stats, and Pokerus.
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    Q: What causes the resets?
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    A: I missed initial starting seed. There are 2 ways to check whether I hit the correct seed:
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    1) I check my Trainer ID. The one I am aiming for is 41873. I know if I get this ID, I hit the right starting seed, as that is generated at the same time. This is what I used to do, as it is the first thing you can do to check.
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    2) I can also check the movement of the NPCs in New Bark Town. Because their movement is derived from the RNG, I can tell I hit it based on their movements.
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    If not I didn't hit the right seed, so I reset. The RNG for the seed advances every frame, so it is a frame perfect trick
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    Q: Why is your movement so strange at the start of the run?
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    A: Because you can't get the best possible results off the bat. The movement that I do is designed specifically to manipulate the RNG (from NPCs movement around me, and the like) so that I get my great Aipom, Pokerus in Slowpoke Well, and no unwanted encounters to Falkner (ideally all the way to Goldenrod).
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    Q: So why don't you just manipulate everything in the game?
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    A: There are multiple RNGs at play, and not all of them can be controlled the same way. Battle RNG for example, advances just about every frame, including lag frames, making it totally unpredictable.
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    Q: Why not Heart Gold?
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    A: Lugia is slightly faster to get to than Ho-Oh.
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    Q: Why do you play as the girl?
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    A: The counterpart does the catching tutorial, and the male does it faster, so it’s faster to choose the female for yourself
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    See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI1-PJ7Sy1w
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    Q: Why do you name yourself and Aipom 'I'?
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    A: Because it's faster to name them one character for text purposes, and the letter 'I' gives a nice spin as if the game was self-narrating
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    Q: Do you catch anything else?
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    A: I do obtain other Pokes. Those are: Dratini (DR for doubles + Whirlpool/Surf/Waterfall), Kenya (Fly), and Snorlax (Rock Climb)
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    Q: What is WR?
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    A: https://www.speedrun.com/pkmnhgssext?h=Alt_Main_Pokes-ambipom-ENG&x=mkeqgo6k-9l7121ql.q5vnz0nl-onvvdxmn.5lep3xk1
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    Q: What is your goal time?
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    A: Dunno.
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    Q: Do you plan to do other Alt Pokemon runs?
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    A: Yeah, in the future. I've already done a few of these in other games, which you can view here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKdCHbtiZdhA63-FROqfqamattnoWR0xd
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    I've got quite a few more on my list to do in the future (mostly across Gen 4/5). I definitely don't need suggestions on more - I've thought about and considered everything you can imagine. It's hard to find the right mix of something you get early enough in the game that is actually still interesting to use. But I've certainly got some more planned, it just takes a long time to route the whole game with something else.
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    Q: What is with those split icons? What does A and B mean?
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    A: This is a grading system for all of my splits. I'm sure you are familiar with grades, A+ being the best then going down from there. So the idea is, if the split has an A+ next to it, my time there was really good and would be very difficult to beat. If it's a C though for example, it was quite poor, and I should be able to save time there pretty easily.
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    This way, everyone watching has more accurate information on where I can save time, and where I should be making up time. Also that all time loss is not equal, as losing time vs an A+ split isn't really that bad, whereas losing time vs a C split is really bad. It'll probably take a while for a lot of people watching to pick up the meaning so I will appreciate everyone who explains how this works (correctly) in chat to new people.