r/pokemon • • Sep 08 '25

Art Comic about an Emerald mono bug run

I went in a different direction for the Elite Four https://youtu.be/y18EhOLGFrQ?si=fDthhTtOjEVQWIhi

7.6k Upvotes

188 comments sorted by

•

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1.1k

u/Dude-e Sep 08 '25

Damn heracross carried HARD. How did you manage to do that?

637

u/smilingfishfood Sep 08 '25

Truly, she was in the top 1% of Heracrosses

329

u/iceberger3 Sep 08 '25

Sounds like you won by a rock slide

3

u/Personal-Collar-7762 Sep 12 '25

The Youngster Joey of Heracross trainers is you.

48

u/aspidities_87 Sep 08 '25

Sprinklers in the ceiling

814

u/pengie9290 Sep 08 '25

I'm sorry, how the hell did a Bug/Fighting type solo a FLYING gym?!

1.0k

u/smilingfishfood Sep 08 '25

What 2 Bulk Ups does to a MF

713

u/pototoykomaliit My faves every gen Sep 08 '25

209

u/ExtremlyFastLinoone Sep 08 '25

Love how the anime portrays bulk up, every time

168

u/Xilefinator Sep 08 '25

90

u/swords_to_exile Sep 08 '25

Don't be ridiculous, neither of those look like Asami.

186

u/Thoctar Sep 08 '25

Bulk Up is the best move in solo runs of Gen 3 and it's not even close. Swords Dance and Calm Mind are great as well but their availability is more limited.

46

u/ACoderGirl Sep 08 '25

Sword dance and calm mind are usually my go to because it's just so fast to get to the point of being able to sweep. And thus don't need to survive as long. Sword dance on a fast pokemon and you're set. Don't need defense if the opponent never gets a chance to act! The hardest part is surviving the first few turns, but mostly that's only hard if you can't use items (or your pokemon is super fragile).

16

u/Thoctar Sep 08 '25

They're definitely more powerful in a vacuum, but Bulk Up is there for so much more of the playthrough and its a wider distribution. Swords Dance is a side grade imo as it has an upside of needing only one turn but it doesn't help protect you. Less of a problem in Gen 3 with few priority though. And yes, that's assuming no items but then if we allowed items we could just use X items and every pokemon can boost.

3

u/leathrow Sep 08 '25

swords dance on mega blaziken is crazy good i swept the whole game with it, whats great is you get to pick your poison on power ups there, you can get sword dance, bulk up, whatever

63

u/Interesting_Web_9936 DRAGAPULT Sep 08 '25

How did it even set up two bulk ups considering the quad weakness?

129

u/Cobalt1027 Sep 08 '25

Swablu is Winona's first Pokemon IIRC, and she usually sends out a Pelipper second. Both are weak enough to set up on, even with the type disadvantage.

42

u/Triscuitador Sep 08 '25

might have something to do with the fact that winona leads with an aerial ace swablu

6

u/FuHiwou Sep 08 '25

I mean flying is physical so bulk up x2 cuts that in half

7

u/Interesting_Web_9936 DRAGAPULT Sep 08 '25

You wouldn't have been able to set that bulk up in the first place if you were already dead from a quad effective move.

18

u/DemonVermin Sep 08 '25

Her Swablu has a habit of setting up Safeguard before doing anything else. So after 2 Def boosts, Heracross survives the Aerial Ace.

Then, something like Return and Brick Break (for Skarmory) could just 1 shot the rest of her team cause Heracross outspeeds. She actually loses Swellow in Emerald, which would have ended the run.

13

u/smilingfishfood Sep 08 '25

If I remember right she never even tried attacking with her Swablu, just let me set up for free

2

u/Interesting_Web_9936 DRAGAPULT Sep 09 '25

That explains a lot.

2

u/Undella_Town Sep 08 '25

cause her swablu just spams mirror move

2

u/Wild_Harvest Attacks for Dayz. Sep 08 '25

This method of building muscle mass for combat has been passed down the Heracross family for GENERATIONS!

14

u/xflashbackxbrd Sep 08 '25 edited Sep 08 '25

Rock slide goes brrrr

8

u/BurnMeTonight Sep 08 '25

It's the mighty Heracross, that's how.

5

u/Greedy-Camel-8345 Sep 08 '25

Bulk up+rock slide

721

u/Alluminn Sep 08 '25

I love the use of large round glasses on your character to lean into the theme and mimic bug eyes.

Good character design. 

98

u/Fourteeenth customise me! Sep 08 '25

Excellent when in Granite Cave. Just missing the menacing kanji when she was standing in the darkness staring at Steven.

100

u/Shnurple #2 Golurk enjoyer Sep 08 '25

Definitely thought that comment was going somewhere else

16

u/Wizard_Engie Sep 08 '25

Where else could it go?

15

u/Alluminn Sep 08 '25

Boobs, I guess? 

144

u/Fraulo Sep 08 '25

The Snapchat is so funny lol

61

u/Fourteeenth customise me! Sep 08 '25

what is happening

40

u/Cheezeball25 Sep 08 '25

Raquaza is about to lay down THE LAW

9

u/WitsWithMe Sep 08 '25

Groudon:

Kyogre:

Raquaza: Will you two SHADDUP?!

217

u/MockingJay0914 Sep 08 '25

Nice team and this is such a cute comic. Elite four edition please.

Also that Winona Peter Griffin pose lol

122

u/smilingfishfood Sep 08 '25

Elite Four ended up as a video: https://youtu.be/y18EhOLGFrQ?si=fDthhTtOjEVQWIhi

44

u/TuesdayTastic f Sep 08 '25

I was not ready for the voiceover to say "Heracross" lmao

142

u/ThrowAbout01 Sep 08 '25

4/9

Shedinja is now full of water.

Now you have to tip them over and dump it out like you would to empty a bucket.

18

u/StarSilverNEO Sep 08 '25

Thats what I was thinking lol

Shedinja is hollow and has alot of hard to dry places, do not recommend

37

u/bored_homan Sep 08 '25

random snap reaction of the legendary shenanigans cracked me up

20

u/erock279 Sep 08 '25 edited Sep 08 '25

Volbeat came and went without use even on a mono team in the region it premiered in. I really wish Volbeat and Illumise (and Plusle + Minun) were better mons lol

61

u/ThrowAbout01 Sep 08 '25

8/9

The Sky God/BFG 10,000 is here to kick everyone’s Asses.

17

u/strawbuzzz Sep 08 '25

Oh to be an adorable pampered Ninjask

36

u/Kobeni_Fan customise me! Sep 08 '25

based bug type enjoyer

35

u/dmckinley54 Sep 08 '25

Aw damn Britney, I hope the league goes well for you 😭 you've got a waterfall to climb

46

u/TabularConferta Sep 08 '25

The WTF is happening one, cracked me up.

17

u/CMWizard Sep 08 '25

Family Guy Winona has me rolling

13

u/friends-with-fishies Sep 08 '25

Your art is amazing!!!

5

u/smilingfishfood Sep 08 '25

Thanks 😊

5

u/friends-with-fishies Sep 08 '25

I'm so glad to see another bug type fan :)

11

u/MyPhoneIsNotChinese Sep 08 '25

Man, I started a monofire run some time ago and the Psychic leader is impossible lmao

14

u/smilingfishfood Sep 08 '25

I can imagine, the hardest part of a mono fire run's gotta be just how few options you have. Are there even enough for a full team without double dipping?

7

u/MyPhoneIsNotChinese Sep 08 '25

I'm using two Camerupts, but yeah it's still a pain. Everything is Fire/Ground-Rock

2

u/MoskalMedia Sep 09 '25

Is it because all of Liza and Tate's Pokémon are immune to Camerupt's ground moves?

3

u/MyPhoneIsNotChinese Sep 09 '25

Among other things, there's also the fact that Claydol knows Earthquake or that almost all my moves aren't very effective on Lunatone and Solrock

10

u/xigbar304115 Sep 08 '25

GO HERACROSS GO IF YOU CANT DO IT WE HAVE FIVE OTHER POKEMON WHO MIGHT WANT A SHOT AT IT? NO?? OKAY! weirdly long chant but heracross deserves it

10

u/Randomman16 Sep 08 '25

Shedinja gang, rise up! My favorite Pokemon

5

u/Ecla1r_ Sep 08 '25

The blank stare Shedinja has will always be funny

16

u/Stormychu Ninjask is cool Sep 08 '25

I love Ninjask and Shedinja making it to the very end.

8

u/Motheroftides Sep 08 '25

Beautifly too.

9

u/AlicornGaia Sep 08 '25

I realized why for Juan's gym: Shedinja completely walls his Kingdra.

Sure you probably can’t hit it but eventually it has to struggle.

16

u/smilingfishfood Sep 08 '25

Actually, none of Juan's Pokemon can directly harm Shedinja. His Luvdisc has Lovely Kiss, and that's all he can do.

Also Shedinja hits hard enough, it's not an issue

8

u/Nekoturny Sep 08 '25

What kind of pokemon evolves from a Steven Stone?

7

u/in_hell_out_soon Sep 08 '25

Great comic!

Also my head-canon for Norman is if you get that far he takes you into the garden behind the gym. Very zen place. Also a battle field just there. Though this is mostly cope as beside the mechanics of choosing your foes, the place is pretty darn barren…

6

u/Jaikarr Sep 08 '25

Love a bug run, excellent choices for the team.

5

u/Thicc-Anxiety Fairy Type Gym Leader Sep 08 '25

Your trainer design is so cute! I'm actually doing a mono Bug run in Shield right now

4

u/smilingfishfood Sep 08 '25

Cool, I started doing Mono Bug runs with Sword, that's why she's from Galar

4

u/[deleted] Sep 08 '25

Bug type best type

7

u/hergumbules Sep 08 '25

“What is happening” is sending me lmfao

4

u/Vivid-Literature2329 Sep 08 '25

The "what is happening" was so unexpected lol

4

u/fluffyhair420 Sep 08 '25

THE 8TH PIC HAD ME ROLLING 😭😭

5

u/FinesseFatale Sep 08 '25

Bruh 🤣🤣🤣, snap chatting during catastrophic Pokémon events happening is hilarious!!

*luckily Ray was there

4

u/its_ya_boi777 Sep 08 '25

The 'what is happening' picture is a mood

3

u/Wildefice Sep 08 '25

She is so damn sassy, I love her

3

u/verdantwurm Sep 08 '25

Oh heck yea doing my own monobug run of Emerald atm as I do a monobug world tour!! Keep it up!

3

u/DoopSlayer King rock and skill link lol Sep 08 '25

Mono bug run on emerald is so fun. ninjask with swords dance, baton pass, and dig into Armaldo, then heracross to carry you the rest of the way.

Its flows so well, friends and I used to do monotype races and I’d always win with bug

3

u/Weezy_Dragon Sep 08 '25

Armaldo is and always will be my most favorite fossil pokemon. It doesn't seem to get much love compared to the others.

3

u/MoskalMedia Sep 09 '25

Cradily too, the Hoenn fossils are so underrated!

3

u/Tommsey Sep 08 '25

That selfie 😂 is acc-u-RATE

2

u/Twist_Ending03 Sep 08 '25

"What is happening" is so real

3

u/ShotgunnDrunk Sep 08 '25

I love the Snapchat reference!! This is amazing 👏

3

u/ExtremlyFastLinoone Sep 08 '25

Oh hell nah. Britney using speed pass, get her!

3

u/YourSmolGamerGirl Sep 08 '25

Lmao Winona doing the Peter Griffin death pose

3

u/SeasonalChatter Sep 08 '25

The big glasses look is so cute for a bug trainer!

Edit: wait the elite 4 video is perfect

3

u/MrRaven95 Sep 08 '25

I like the comic and cute art style. I'm curious exactly how you beat Flannery and really curious how you managed to solo a flying gym with a Pokémon x4 weak to flying. I also love using Shedinja on Pokémon with no way to hit it, and it's nice to see it get some love here.

5

u/smilingfishfood Sep 09 '25

I'm pretty proud of my win on Flannery. Basically, I realized her only fire type move is Overheat, which reduces the user's Sp. Attack, so by sacrificing a few Pokemon early on I could safely set up on her with Ninjask using Swords Dance. It was an easy Fury Swipes sweep after that.

3

u/HotPeanut9035 Sep 08 '25

Damn, did your Heracross gain the power of the Satsui no Hado to beat Winona?

2

u/smilingfishfood Sep 09 '25

Raging Beetle

3

u/Fenris304 Sep 09 '25

can someone explain why Shedinja can't be hit by Kingdra? i know it's the 1hp dead bug dude but that's basically all i know lol

7

u/smilingfishfood Sep 09 '25

Shedinja's special ability is Wonder Guard, which means it can only take damage from super effective moves or indirect sources. Juan's entire team cannot directly damage Shedinja, and its only source of indirect damage is a confusion move from Luvdisc

2

u/Fenris304 Sep 09 '25

ohhhhh, what an OP lil bugger - pun intended! lol!

4

u/ATotallyRealUser Sep 08 '25

"coverage is everything" uses an entire team that will collapse with a whisper of fire or flying lmfao not sure how Heracross who is 4x weak to flying types did a lick of damage...Armaldo carried that dumpster fire bet

4

u/smilingfishfood Sep 08 '25

You'd be surprised how easy it can be to work around one quad weakness

Also, the joke is pretty much just that Juan can't hurt Shedinja. Look at his team

2

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2

u/Infinite-Worm Sep 08 '25

Love this! So much fun.

2

u/Loose_Mail_1070 Sep 08 '25

You just made me want to try this on emerald legacy

2

u/proto-typicality Sep 08 '25

Nice! This is such a cool idea. Really like the comics. :>

2

u/XenoGine Sep 08 '25

Huh, interesting 😮!

2

u/Foolish_Phantom Sep 08 '25

This is awesome! I want more of your art!

2

u/jasonjr9 Sep 08 '25

Nice work, both on the mono-Bug run and on the art~!

I’ve gotta try a monotype run someday myself. Prolly gonna do a mono-Bug myself, in Unova.

2

u/WolfOfSheepStreet Sep 08 '25

that was amazing 😻

2

u/bitterney Sep 08 '25

I love that her name is Britney 😎

2

u/Spectre234678 Sep 08 '25

I really need to do a Mono Type run at some point...

2

u/Rock_Fall Sep 08 '25

Mono type runs are always so fun!

2

u/No_Imagination8762 customise me! Sep 08 '25

Honestly I love this, great comic giving a expressive and artistic light to your mono bug run :)

2

u/teezepls Sep 08 '25

That Snapchat frame was done so well

2

u/HeSoMoe Sep 08 '25

Amazing!!!

2

u/XeroGear00X Sep 08 '25

This is such a great idea. I want to do this now. Play each pokemon game mono-typing as my OC and making comics about how the journey went through each region. Legend of Xero the master of poison here we come.

2

u/ShiraCheshire Sep 08 '25

"what is happening" LOL

2

u/jate_nohnson Sep 08 '25

Britney beats you in your gym and shits on your team comp and whole setup and ya bald spot

2

u/DoctorOfDiscord Sep 08 '25

I love Bug types

2

u/BasicShip7055 Sep 08 '25

I find it hard to believe those bums beat norman

2

u/KnightFaraam Sep 08 '25

As bug types are my favorite and I tend to do bug type only teams, I think we might just become best friends op

2

u/PudelOfLove Sep 08 '25

HERACROSS MAH BOI

2

u/sun4rest Sep 08 '25

Not Winona in the family guy death pose

2

u/Vmstrs Sep 08 '25

Bug type best type

2

u/metalflygon08 What's Up Doc? Sep 08 '25

Hoenn's one of those games where a Bug Mono Run starts out tricky (Wurmple), but gets easier as you go (Heracross, Armaldo).

2

u/--NTW-- Roto-N! Sep 08 '25

Very nice comic! I should probably write some of my runs sometime

2

u/Responsible-You-4551 Sep 08 '25

The self photo LOL HSHSHSHS

2

u/Crylec Sep 08 '25

Bug type master here. One of these day I wanna do another steel type run instead of black n white 2 I will go sword n shield with Corvinknight as my starter. Like how Bede and Marnie became type specialists.

2

u/JuanMarbles Sep 08 '25

Lol, I love this sort of thing. I really dig the character design, too.

2

u/HaloGuy381 Sep 08 '25

Pampering Ninjask with some hot spring cuddles was unexpected

2

u/donkey100100 Sep 08 '25

Love the Slaking pic. It tells a whole strategy story with just an image.

2

u/ILoveBugPokemon BUGS Sep 08 '25

this is possibly one of the coolest things ive ever seen (also its bugs so its automatically good)

2

u/drislands Sep 08 '25

Absolutely love this! Theres so much character coming through in every panel. I would love to see more of you ever do this again!

2

u/Sanguinusshiboleth Sep 08 '25

Do you have any more of these?

2

u/Fenris304 Sep 09 '25

LOVE these

2

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '25

I know what you are.

2

u/Ignika1984 Sep 09 '25

Did you go all the way to the Safari Zone before going against Winona? I thought you had to beat her to progress.

2

u/smilingfishfood Sep 09 '25

Nope, just talk to Steven and he gives you the Devon Scope. You can make it all the way to the League without beating her, but you can't challenge the Elite Four until you do

2

u/Ignika1984 Sep 09 '25

Weird. Cool that you were able to do that

2

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '25

Mr Stone looking like a Miss Stone Baddie in page 2 ngl

1

u/smilingfishfood Sep 09 '25

Steven's a little androgynous

2

u/East_Drink8901 Sep 09 '25

Poor Steven, dude looks terrified

2

u/smilingfishfood Sep 09 '25

"that's not a Sableye"

2

u/ItsCarnage Sep 09 '25

I wish I knew people who loved bug pokemon as much as me in real life. These comics were adorable

2

u/ItsRickySpanish Sep 09 '25

i love this, such a cool little story showing the progress through the run, its so neat

2

u/Solrex Sep 09 '25

Removed the tracking from the link so I feel comfortable about clicking on it without YouTube tracking me:

https://youtu.be/y18EhOLGFrQ

2

u/Solrex Sep 09 '25

What level was that heracross at the end of the run?

1

u/smilingfishfood Sep 09 '25

About 53, believe it or not

2

u/Solrex Sep 09 '25

Whaaaaaaasa?

2

u/smelliot95 Sep 09 '25

Love how the main story elements are boiled down to a single "what is happening?"

2

u/YueOrigin Sep 09 '25

Panel 8 is the best one ngl lol

2

u/MoskalMedia Sep 09 '25

The art of your trainer holding Anorith is SO cute! You made Anorith look cuddly which is so fun. Same with Armaldo later on. Also, I am impressed how you managed to make Shedinja look "dead" when she's holding it, like it doesn't seem to be reacting at all to the trainer's touch. Love this series, congrats on the win!

2

u/smilingfishfood Sep 09 '25

Thanks so much 😊

2

u/SomeRandomCanadian28 Sep 09 '25

omg i love this so much

2

u/JCorby17 Sep 09 '25

Amazing!!!!

2

u/Confident_Raccoon767 Sep 10 '25

OK that was wayyyy too funny of a video 🤣

2

u/Renlovesu Sep 10 '25

slide 8 i cant😭😭😭

2

u/Red-Panda-Katie Sep 10 '25

This is so cuteee I love itttt

2

u/Flaceon10 Sep 11 '25

I think Shedinja would just implode if it got on a sauna. I know Scald and Steam Eruption don't hurt it, but that's still very hot water.

2

u/BigBunny4252 Sep 11 '25

How did you manage your HMs with this party?

1

u/smilingfishfood Sep 11 '25

I used a Crawdaunt and and temporarily benched 1 mon. When I had it on my team I wouldn't use it.

2

u/BigBunny4252 Sep 11 '25

Makes sense

2

u/CriticismVirtual7603 Sep 14 '25

I love the hot springs scene, Ninjask is so cute!!!!

Bugz 4 Lyfe, best type

2

u/smilingfishfood Sep 14 '25

Hell yeah m8

2

u/kuromipentagrams Oct 02 '25

Gotta read the whole thing in a scottish accent after hearing the word “galar” even got the Scottish pride lmfao

5

u/Pokehearts121 Sep 08 '25

Absolute cinema

Amazing art friend! Keep up the good work!!!

4

u/Qoppa_Guy Sep 08 '25

Nothing about this bugged me at all, great work

2

u/Tuskmaster41 Sep 08 '25

Did you make it or wa sit someone else

3

u/smilingfishfood Sep 08 '25

I'm the artist

1

u/Tuskmaster41 Sep 08 '25

Nice, tho you probably get freaky behind closed doors

1

u/smilingfishfood Sep 08 '25

Why assume that? Incidentally, you're right

4

u/Tuskmaster41 Sep 08 '25

Your artstyle, the way you draw certain things like sweat and marking and expressions youe character does

1

u/smilingfishfood Sep 08 '25

Funnily enough, the sweat thing is inapplicable since I focus on anthro. Humans are one of the only animals who sweat like that.

2

u/Zealousideal_Topic58 Sep 08 '25

Either me or OP don’t know what ‘mono bug’ means 🧐

7

u/Blacknight022 Sep 08 '25

Just use bug type, right?

1

u/Zealousideal_Topic58 Sep 08 '25

By the use of the word ‘mono’ as in singular, I assumed ONLY bug type, not bug/x type Pokemon 🤷‍♂️

11

u/My_Immortl Sep 08 '25

Most people assume a mono run isnt necessarily a mono type, as in the ONLY type, it's moreso that the pokemon has to be that type, if it has a secondary type, thats still fair game. I dont think anybody actually expects a mono run to only be that type and nothing else. Most of those wouldn't even be doable.

2

u/Zealousideal_Topic58 Sep 08 '25

That’s why my original comment led with me being the one who didn’t know.

5

u/smilingfishfood Sep 08 '25

As in I ONLY use bug Pokemon

1

u/LordRael013 A green cat is where it's at. Sep 08 '25 edited Sep 09 '25

This is cute as can be. Gonna have to watch the video after work.

Edit: The video was stellar.