I was only slightly less burnt out on Gen 3 Kanto than Hoenn when I did this run, but I was excited for some of the encounters I had planned for this run. I enjoyed this one a lot more than Sapphire, but I was certainly ready to move on to Sinnoh afterwards.
Suntail the Charizard, level 60, Champion
M, Blaze, hardy, starter Pokemon from Pallet Town
While Charizard is far from one of my favorite Starters, but I have a lot of good memories of the Charmander family in Gen 3, specifically a Charmeleon I ended up with in a failed randomizer Nuzlocke years and years ago. Suntail lived up to those memories, being a very solid starter. His Flamethrower and Fly were obviously good, but also he came in clutch a few times with Hidden Power Ghost. I'm real fond of this lil guy! As much as some people may be tired of Charizard, he's still an extremely solid Pokemon.
ThroatChop the Primeape, level 31
M, Vital Spirit, lonely, caught on Rt 22
Sorry ThroatChop, but the Pokemon that killed you did happen to take your place on the team... feels kind of gauche. ThroatChop was a very solid team member for the early game, and kept carrying his weight into the midgame, but unfortunately, that Lonely nature that made him such a powerhouse was a double-edged sword, and he couldn't take a hit from the Snorlax that would become his replacement.
Beloved the Raichu, level 61, Champion
F, Static, hardy, caught in Viridian Forest
It was hard to decide in which game I'd use my favorite Pokemon, but since I'll be playing Let's Go Eevee later in this challenge, I decided to use her here. As most Electric types do, her job was mostly spamming Thunderbolt, but she also used Return, Thunder Wave, and even Attract to keep herself and her teammates safe. I would've never recovered had she not made it, so I'm thrilled she's still here. My darling girl.
VenomTngue the Arbok, level 60
F, Intimidate, mild, caught on Rt 4
While I was using favorites of mine, I picked up an Arbok for this team, and she remained solid until the League. Intimidate is pretty solidly the best ability in the game, and while her STAB options in this game were sadly lacking, she could sure use Earthquake real good! Unfortunately, while we were battling Bruno, she barely missed the kill on Hitmonchan and got Counter'd into oblivion.
Sleepyhead the Snorlax, level 60, Champion
M, Thick Fat, bashful, caught on Rt 12
Snorlax is one of the Pokemon I was kind of saving in my back pocket for an emergency. Many Pokemon who are really consistently strong I'm keeping reserved for when I could really use a powerhouse on my team. By the time I ran into Snorlax during this run, I was... starting to feel a lack of power. Sleepyhead may have killed ThroatChop, but he became a very good wall for my team, one that was sorely needed. I also very much enjoyed taking advantage of my last opportunity to use physical Hyper Beam lol.
Headringer the Psyduck, level 28
F, Cloud Nine, careful, fished up on Rt 6
Every run needs one completely wasted team member who dies fucking immediately. If I remember correctly, I'd just finished a reread of a Nuzlocke comic that used a Golduck (can't for the LIFE of me remember the name... It's a Fire Red run though...) and I was kinda hype to try one of my own in this game! Unfortunately, some random Fisherman's Goldeen put those plans to rest.
Bombshell the Exeggutor, level 60, Champion
F, Chlorophyll, jolly, caught in the Safari Zone
Another Pokemon I've never really used before this run! I'm a big fan of Grass types, so there were just always other Grass types I wanted to use, and Exeggutor has some... barriers to entry compared to other Grass or Psychic types. While Bombshell didn't grow on me quite like some of the other Pokemon in this run, she was still a really good Pokemon! Honestly, and this is weird to say, she's made me wanna use an Exeggutor in another game some day and really get myself attached to this weird exploding egg tree.
Mythic the Lapras, level 60, Champion
F, Water Absorb, timid, received as a gift in Silph Co
Mythic was... fine. I've used Lapras before to great effect, but even though she was a great help throughout the late game, and she made it into the Hall of Fame, Mythic just constantly felt like she was falling short of her potential. Maybe that's because I've had those extraordinary Laprases to compare her to, but. Shrug. Kind of a lackluster finish.
Final Thoughts
This run wasn't nearly as frustrating as Sapphire, but instead it was mostly boring. Not easy, not the hardest run I've ever done, just. Boring. Suntail, Beloved, and VenomTngue were the standouts of the team in my mind, but even then, I've forgotten who my starter was in this game multiple times while charting out what encounters I've used. Next run gives us a lot more to work with.
Stats
