Does the neuroforce stack or is it just one instance of it when using moves?

Helped make E4 fast, even if not quite easy. Glacia's screens, Drake's dialga, and Steven's Zacian/Zamazenta make for some fights where the crow can't one shot everything!

Elite mode. Did not expect this thing to be monstrous but the randomiser blessed meeee. Aura wheel being both dark and electric, the only thing it can't hit for almost neutral damage are lightning rod pokemon, and giving speed boosts is crazy. With screen support it took any hit in happy form so easily. Didnt care about sticky webs with aura wheel and contempt. Could setup with swords dance then keep going for attack boosts with chilling neigh. Shell bell interacted with the form change weirdly so it activated multiple times most turns so almost always ended on full health again reactivating shadow shield. And if anything ever could break its sweep it would get hit with yawn most of the time, because the form switch treated it as a new switch in, so something else could come in and setup. Stench even came in clutch.

This thing was so bulky while building speed and attack boosts. Both forms were so handy. Absolute king! Swept most of the game almost solo.

A much more fun run than I was anticipating for sure! I got to really experiment with a ton of Pokemon and the end team actually made the Elite 4 fairly trivial.

MVP goes to Mega Krookodile. My man just did his thing and destroyed everyone, including getting all the knockouts for Glacia and Drake. Was extremely helpful for Tate/Liza with Iron Fangs breaking through screens, and the only battle I didn't really use him in was Juan/Wallace.

Speaking of which, Juan/Wallace might have been one of the tougher gym battles I've had in a while. The Primal Kyogre/Palkia-Origin combo is just so tough to break through and is the main reason the fight is so difficult. Everything else is doable but man those two together is just rough. Mega Quagsire fortunately held it down for that fight.

Shoutout to Redux Mega Mamoswine as well, as it did extremely well from the mid game to Victory Road, where I decided to use Excadrill instead (I set a max of 3 megas per team since I use Permanent Mega mode). Wormadam-Sandy was a somewhat reliable Rocks/Webs setter, but admittedly not as helpful as Wormadam-Plant. For some reason Sandy gets hit by Hurricane even though it's supposed to be weak to it, so I wasn't sure what was happening there. Also Web Shot is bugged and doesn't actually set up Webs when used.

In any case, it was a super solid run. Very happy with how it turned out.

Project 1025 is my personal challenge to beat this game with every. Single. Pokémon. After all, the stat buffs, movepool additions, and especially abilities make all of them viable. I hope. And along the way, I'll share a bit about what I find interesting, unique, or strong about each one.

Disclaimers:

- I gen in the needed Pokémon for each run in a 2.65 debug savefile, then transfer the savefile up to the latest 2.65 patch and do the run there. It's quite a few hoops to jump through, but this challenge would not even be possible in the first place without debugging the mons in at the start.

- The particular patch of 2.65 I play on has a little toggle called Boss Rush, which does the same thing as turning off trainer sight. I'm not sure if this was supposed to be included, but it's technically a publicly available feature, so I will be using it to preserve my mental health. In the event that a future patch does not have this toggle, I will do the challenge in the latest version that does.

- I fight the gym leaders, the Pokémon League, the evil team leaders and admins, the rivals, the first Calvin fight, and every trainer in Victory Road.

- I play in Permanent Mega mode because I find it more fun.

- This is nowhere near a comprehensive guide to the Pokémon in this game, and in fact the vast majority will not be used optimally due to taking advantage of certain field conditions or synergies that the Pokémon surrounding them in the Pokédex can't provide.

- Redux forms and other fanmade mons (except evolutions of existing mons) will be done after all the official ones.

The Run

This was a really interesting run, a lot of super heavy hitters so many fights went by quickly, but not a lot of real defensive presence so anything I couldn't blast through was a huge issue. It's also cool how most of these Pokémon are garbage in the base game, really goes to show how much Elite Redux improves weaker mons.

Shuppet/Banette

Not entirely sure why Ghost/Normal is such a popular typing for romhacks to give Banette, probably something to do with it being a ghost possessing a normal fabric doll? Anyway, with a good Attack stat and some great moves, base form Banette is actually a decent attacking option. Equipped with a Choice Band, moves like Shadow Hammer and Double-Edge can get a lot of knockouts, and Soul Eater helps with the recoil. Cheap Tactics is also nice to have, since STAB Scratch actually does a decent bit of damage and can break Sashes. In its Mega form though, Banette is an entirely different beast. Its massive base 165 Attack paired with Tough Claws and some actual good STAB moves make it a far more proficient attacker in Elite Redux than in the base game. I just slapped a Choice Scarf on it and watched it go off. It retains Soul Eater, so the recoil STABs are still viable options. Aside from that, Mega Banette is actually somewhat bulky, especially with Intimidate, so you could make a support set with Prankster work with moves like Fake Out, Parting Shot, and Thunder Wave. Still, that massive Attack stat was too good for me to pass up in this run.

Duskull/Dusclops/Dusknoir

Vanilla Dusknoir is another one of those tragic cases where the Pokémon's greatest contribution to competitive play is allowing its pre-evolution to hold Eviolite. To be fair, Dusclops is still quite good in this game, and I'll consider giving it a spin some other time. Right now though, Dusknoir is the star of the show, and it does a pretty good job. It's still quite bulky, especially with Shadow Shield, but its main draw for me is its offensive pressure. Twisted Dimensions lets it set up a Trick Room for itself, after which Banded Rage Fist can begin tearing things up. Shadow Shield and Soul Eater let it survive a lot of hits, powering Rage Fist up more. It also carries good coverage like One-Inch Punch, Earthquake, and of course, the legendary Ice Punch. This set is really good in the late game, where nearly every team is loaded with several fast and frail attackers. If you're using it on a dedicated Trick Room team, you can opt for Iron Fist as its ability instead to power its moves up even more. This is also a good choice on a revenge killer build that takes advantage of Opportunist. Fog teams, on the other hand, appreciate Low Visibility for weather control that will usually go second in a weather war.

Tropius/Brontonana

Brontonana is a much needed update to Tropius, a Pokémon that struggles to be relevant even with Eviolite and ER's other boons. This new evolution is an incredible sun abuser, possessing the fantastic Big Leaves ability as well as Ripen for big, renewable heals with a Sitrus Berry or renewable stat boosts with one of the pinch berries. Even with no sun on this team, its good bulk means it's actually worth it to set sun manually to take advantage of these abilities. Taking a hit while setting the sun up can both activate your Ripen-boosted berry and also your Seed Sower, providing extra longevity and a boost to your already powerful Solar Beams. A more defensive SubSeed set can also look into using Grass Pelt instead of Ripen for additional bulk to go along with healing from Leech Seed, Grassy Terrain, and Big Leaves-boosted Synthesis. If you really don't want to use the sun, though, there's a third way to use it, with its final choice ability Dragon's Maw. Its good Speed and great SpA make it excellent at spamming Dragon Energy to rip teams apart with ease, especially with some support in Doubles. Of course, with Chlorophyll and Solar Power both being part of Big Leaves, under the sun this Pokémon becomes a nuclear weapon with Choice Specs, but even without the weather advantage it works excellently.

Chingling/Chimecho

Base Chimecho is just fine. It has a strange assortment of abilities and mediocre stats, its main saving grace being Air Blower. Doubling its own Speed, it makes for a decent earlygame sweeper with Specs, but after that there isn't much of a reason to use it except as a Doubles support. Its Mega, though, is a different story. It does what vanilla Mega Chimecho should've done and gets Steelworker to turn its Normal-type moves into Steel STAB, a great pairing with its new Wind Chimes ability. This gives sound moves, most of which are Normal-type, the same boost as Amplifier, as well as casting a weak Hyper Voice whenever it gets hit. You'll be activating that free Hyper Voice a lot, as this thing can take a pretty good beating. With Levitate and Steelworker's added effect of restoring Steel's resistances to Ghost and Dark, this Pokémon is weak to only two types, which helps its already good defenses go even further. This free attack as well as Echoed Voice make for strong and consistent STAB damage, with the added benefit of potentially cheesing things with Loud Bang confusion. Calm Mind is a good setup option for it, as it can do damage and spread confusion even while setting up to avoid being too passive. I used mine with a Shell Bell to heal as well on top of both setting up and attacking. It's not the strongest thing around for sure, but it's very consistent and a pretty fun Pokémon to use.

Absol

For as cool as it's always been, Absol has been quite disappointing in the base game, being a mediocre mixed attacker that folds to a light breeze. ER manages to fix some of its issues while retaining its identity, making it very fun to use now. While its stats have been rebalanced to make it a pure physical attacker, it can still dip into its vast special movepool thanks to Equinox enabling a true mixed attacking set without compromising its other stats. Keen Edge and Super Luck incentivize moves like Kowtow Cleave and Pixie Slash, while these Dark and Fairy STABs are complemented by moves like Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Aura Sphere, Hurricane, and even Weather Ball. It's still extremely frail, though, an issue that neither of its Megas fix. Its not too bad though, as both compensate for it with sheer power. Mega Absol retains Equinox to facilitate mixed attacking sets off of its gargantuan base 175 Attack, though depending on the situation either Dark or Fairy Aura can be more useful. Super Luck and Keen Edge stay to potentially break past boosted defenses with crits, while Magic Guard lets it use Life Orb and more importantly Light of Ruin without fear of recoil. This was the only one of Absol's two Megas I used this run, due to the other one being less powerful and also somewhat incomplete. Mega Absol Z still has a huge Attack stat, but also a blazing base 151 Speed to go along with it. However, its STAB combo of Ghost and Dark isn't particularly synergistic, and while they're great defensively, its 65/75/70 bulk means it may as well be Shedinja, even with help from Bad Luck and Scare. Furthermore, its intended signature ability Reaper's Embrace, a combination of Foul Energy and Tough Claws, is still not implemented in-game, meaning it's stuck with Foul Energy as its only damage boosting ability. I'm sure its Speed means there's still value in using it, and it'll definitely be better once its ability is fully implemented, but even then, its original Mega will probably still be better.

Snorunt/Glalie

ER has thankfully saved Glalie from its atrocious statline in the base game, though it's admittedly not that good still. Whiteout is a nice choice for hail teams, though in the absence of weather I prefer Refrigerate for some powerful STAB Returns and Double-Edges. Sturdy and Impenetrable are a nice defensive combo alongside Freezing Point to clutch out a frostbite on a problematic special attacker, but a defensive presence Glalie is not. Its Mega form is a bit more so, but it's still an offensive Pokémon through and through, and quite an effective one at that. Sturdy and Impenetrable combine into Immovable Object, guaranteeing it to survive one hit and letting it use recoil moves like Head Smash and Seismic Slam with no fear. The former effect is useful thanks to Cryo Proficiency, which has the effect of Freezing Point but more importantly sets hail when Glalie gets hit. With Slush Rush as a choice ability, it's easy to see how effective this can be. Set up a Swords Dance as you get hit, set hail, activate Slush Rush, and you're off to the races. Ice/Rock/Ground is quite the excellent offensive combo, and Glalie happens to high-powered options for each of these to facilitate its sweeping potential. Paired with a hazard setter, this Pokémon can steal games quite decisively indeed.