Pokemon Crystal: The Venomoth Solo Run

There she is, dear fellow gamers: the shining star of my Crystal run, the 'Mon I never though I'd ever run solo with. To say that Venonat and Venomoth are rare is a gigantic understatement: half of the cannon entries don't host them at all, and the other half makes you jump through ridiculous hoops to even catch a glimpse of them. The only region where they can be found with relative easiness is Kanto; but alas, they appear so late there that a solo run featuring them was simply out of the question. Or was it? We already know the answer, of course; yet that was not the case when I started playing Crystal. My first foray into the game featured Rattata, in what I envisioned as a giant, epic 'Crappy Route 1 'Mon' solo run.  Alas, the thrill was missing: despite my Rattata's honourable battle prowess, I was kinda bored and plodded through Johto. As I had just set foot in Ilex Forest for a bout of grinding one quiet evening, the battle animation triggered; and time — and my heart — stopped when a Venonat appeared on the screen. I couldn't believe my eyes: what was that elusive creature doing here? I ran to Bulbapedia and confirmed the unthinkable: in Crystal, and only in Crystal, Venonat had a 30% chance of appearing at night in Ilex Forest.

That was the most unexpected and delicious gift from the RPG gods ever, and it led to an instant ditching of my Rattata run. I started a new game, rushed to Ilex Forest, and recruited an adorable Venonat I fittingly named Murasaki. My heart bursting with the giddy happiness of the Trainer that managed to catch the 'Mon of their dreams, I started leveling up my cute little bug for the trials to come. Not the easiest of tasks, that: my Venonat was a weak debutant, and I had to backtrack to Route 32 to even have a chance to survive battles. The many Bellsprouts roaming the area made my grinding smoother and faster, along with the conveniently placed Pokemon centre; and once Murasaki hit lv.12, I went and raided Slowpoke Well. Cleaning the place of the Rockets was a challenge that required several tries, but I finally triumphed. Once that hurdle was overcome, I knew that my Venonat's epic solo epopee had started for good, and that I'd pretty much be on a roll from then on. Or nearly so — but more on that later. 

When it came to Move pools, I didn't entirely leave things to chance as usual. The Veno line boasts an excellent leveling-up learnset, with the powerful Psychic triad Confusion, Psybeam and Psychic and the self-healing Bug move Leech Life — all Moves I learnt and made the most of. However, I wanted more: my beloved Return to replace the crappy Tackle, and Sludge Bomb to take advantage of the STAB and indulge (at last) in wielding a kickass Poison Move. A quick search on Bulbapedia revealed me the location of those TMs (which I'd totally never have found myself), and they quickly turned my already powerful Venomoth into a weapon of 'Mon destruction. The final touch came with the obtention of Giga Drain in Celadon City, which came to replace Leech Life right on time for Kanto's late stages.

Made you my b*tch too, just like your pal Blue ♪

So, how did little Murasaki fare through two Regions, 16 Gyms, one Elite Four and two Champions? Pretty well indeed, if I say so myself. She had the trajectory of a typical Bug 'Mon, i.e. starting painfully weak and slowly but surely growing into a powerhouse. Even after my initial grinding bout, I kept struggling for a while: the Azalea Gym was a pain because Bugsy's Scyther was stupidly sturdy and resistant to my best attacks, and I had to postpone Goldenrod City's fight against Whitney as much as I could because her Milktank was just too infuriatingly strong. It was pretty much smooth sailing after that, with only the random strong Fire 'Mon to worry about — nothing that Murasaki's stellar stats and Battle Items couldn't take care of. One-shooting soon became our bread and butter, making that run pure delight all the way through. I know of someone else who should be delighted about that run; and that's faithful reader Kumiko, who's a great fan of the Veno line. Here's to you, my fellow Bug 'Mon lover: the Venomoth run both of us never though would happen! And to all of you fellow Pokefans who appreciate the subtle charms of Bug 'Mons: rest assured that this is not my last run featuring one of those lovely creatures indeed. Take care — until next time!