Pokemon Y: The Lucario Solo Run

 

 

Let’s be honest: I’ve never been dying to run solo with Lucario. However, years of having a Lucario forced on me by Korrina in X&Y slowly but surely made me amenable to the vulpine creature; throw a mega Evolution on top, and you have a very interested little me.

Of course, I wasn’t going to wait for Korrina’s Lucario. I bred and hatched Riolus in my dedicated X cartridge, until I found the perfect critter. The Lucario line normally boasts higher Attack than Sp.Attack, which doesn’t quite align with its learnset that mixes Physical and Special moves; however, my Riolu was blessed with a Rash Nature, which meant boosted Sp.Attack — and thus making the most of the line’s learnset. 

 

 

One trade and a few steps later, my little Jaspe was all hatched, and ready to cruise Kalos! Riolu’s evolution being based on Friendship level, I couldn’t know when Jaspe would evolve; as it turns out, she evolved at lv. 34, right at the end of the fight against Grant. In terms of levels, it’s way later than what you’d expect; that kinda makes sense though, given that I had a double XP boost thanks to the combination of the Lucky Egg and Two Hearts in Pokemon Amie. 

 

 

For that last Gen VI run of the summer fall, I decided to spice things up a bit — and man, the Lucario line was more than willing to humour me! We’re talking about them moves: in all my years of Pokemon solo runs, I don’t think I’ve ever wielded combinations such as Normal-Fighting-Ghost-Ground, or Poison-Fighting-Steel-Dragon. So very exotic! Talking about Steel: as you can see below, Flash Cannon became part of my arsenal. How could that be, when Flash Cannon only becomes available after the credits roll? Simple answer: I cheated, folks. I sent Jaspe to my dedicated breeding X cartridge, taught her the move, and sent her back to Y. A seldom-used move, with a STAB boost cherry on top — sweet! Never mind that I had to cheat, it was totally worth it. 

 

My ultimate Elite Four move pool.

 

After a whole run of delirious one-shooting and glorious blazing through Kalos, it's time to talk about the Elite Four! That final showdown was all the more thrilling as it was pretty much the only time I used Mega-Evolution, bar the Lysandre fights in Team Flare’s Secret HQ in Geosenge. Why not use it more, you may ask? First, because regular Lucario is badass enough already; secondly, because using ME would have required dropping the Lucky Egg, and I really wanted Jaspe to hit the big 100 before the end without extra grinding. That plan succeeded beyond my wildest dreams: not only did Jaspe reach that coveted Lv.100 right on time for the Elite Four, but she reached it during the Victory Road fight against Veteran Gilles — a.k.a. the very last trainer before the Pokemon League. Talk about pitch-perfect timing! 

 

With that said, on with the report of a most interesting Elite Four showdown!

 

—      Malva: Aura Sphere for all bar Chandelure, which got a nice serving of Dragon Pulse. Needless to say, everybody went down in one clean, devastating hit.

—      Wikstrom: I unleashed Aura Sphere on Klefki, which left me with a nasty case of Torment as it bit the dust — talk about spite! I had to use Dragon Pulse against Probopass, who stomached the hit comfortably and survived with half of its HP. Fair enough, I finished it with Aura Sphere. Aegislash got a serving of Dig, Scizzor got a serving of Aura Sphere, fight over.

—      Siebold: Despite ME, things nearly went south against Clawitzer. I unleashed Flash Cannon on a whim, only to discover that it wasn’t very effective; that allowed Clawitzer to lash back at me with a critical hit, nearly wiping Jaspe out. Siebold produced a Full Restore, forcing me to redo the whole thing; fortunately, a single Aura Sphere got me rid of the armored shrimp. Gyarados went down with two Dragon Pulse — but not before Siebold spent his two remaining Full Restores on it. I was actually uber lucky, because Gyarados used Dragon Dance on the first turn instead of taking advantage of my depleted HP bar and finishing me with an offensive move. Super effective Aura Sphere on Barbaracle, two serving of Aura Sphere for Starmie — and I was lucky once again, as the latter used Light Screen instead of taking advantage of my still depleted HP bar.

—      Drasna: Flash Cannon, one-shot for all. Nuff said! Actually, no: using a Steel move on Drasna’s posse wasn’t the most strategically sound option, because none of her dragons are weak to Steel. Had I really wanted to steal the show, I should have used super-effective Dragon Pulse; but hey, no need to kick a mon when it’s down.  

—      Diantha: Critical Flash Cannon on Hawlucha. Flash Cannon on Goodra, which survived with a microgram of HP and retaliated with an offensive move that Lucario skilfully avoided; Diantha’s Full Restore did nothing to help, as Goodra went down the next turn with Dragon Pulse. One-shot Tyrantrum with Dragon Pulse. Tried to one-shoot his evil twin fellow Aurorus with Dragon Pulse as well, except it survived; Diantha didn’t use a Full Restore, which allowed me to finish Aurorus with Flash Cannon. A single Flash Cannon on Gourgeist, and a glorious single Flash Cannon on Mega Gardevoir. 

 

Them final stats. Not sure I've ever had a mon with equal Attack and Sp. Atk at lv. 100 🤩

 

The timer at the end of that thrilling showdown indicated 9:50, which is totally one of my shortest times — if not the shortest time — ever for an X&Y solo run. I’ll sure try that again, baby! Until next time, dear fellow gamers, keep doing your thing and take care!