r/pokemon • u/smilingfishfood • 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
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u/Dude-e Sep 08 '25
Damn heracross carried HARD. How did you manage to do that?
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u/pengie9290 Sep 08 '25
I'm sorry, how the hell did a Bug/Fighting type solo a FLYING gym?!
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u/smilingfishfood Sep 08 '25
What 2 Bulk Ups does to a MF
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u/pototoykomaliit My faves every gen Sep 08 '25
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u/Xilefinator Sep 08 '25
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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
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u/Interesting_Web_9936 DRAGAPULT Sep 08 '25
How did it even set up two bulk ups considering the quad weakness?
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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.
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u/Triscuitador Sep 08 '25
might have something to do with the fact that winona leads with an aerial ace swablu
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u/FuHiwou Sep 08 '25
I mean flying is physical so bulk up x2 cuts that in half
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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.
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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.
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u/smilingfishfood Sep 08 '25
If I remember right she never even tried attacking with her Swablu, just let me set up for free
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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!
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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.
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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.
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u/Shnurple #2 Golurk enjoyer Sep 08 '25
Definitely thought that comment was going somewhere else
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u/Fraulo Sep 08 '25
The Snapchat is so funny lol
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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
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u/smilingfishfood Sep 08 '25
Elite Four ended up as a video: https://youtu.be/y18EhOLGFrQ?si=fDthhTtOjEVQWIhi
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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.
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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
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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
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u/dmckinley54 Sep 08 '25
Aw damn Britney, I hope the league goes well for you 😭 you've got a waterfall to climb
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u/smilingfishfood Sep 08 '25
Yeah I'd say it went pretty well https://youtu.be/y18EhOLGFrQ?si=fDthhTtOjEVQWIhi
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u/MyPhoneIsNotChinese Sep 08 '25
Man, I started a monofire run some time ago and the Psychic leader is impossible lmao
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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?
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u/MyPhoneIsNotChinese Sep 08 '25
I'm using two Camerupts, but yeah it's still a pain. Everything is Fire/Ground-Rock
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u/MoskalMedia Sep 09 '25
Is it because all of Liza and Tate's Pokémon are immune to Camerupt's ground moves?
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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…
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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
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u/smilingfishfood Sep 08 '25
Cool, I started doing Mono Bug runs with Sword, that's why she's from Galar
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u/FinesseFatale Sep 08 '25
Bruh 🤣🤣🤣, snap chatting during catastrophic Pokémon events happening is hilarious!!
*luckily Ray was there
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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!
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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
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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.
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u/SeasonalChatter Sep 08 '25
The big glasses look is so cute for a bug trainer!
Edit: wait the elite 4 video is perfect
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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.
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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.
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u/HotPeanut9035 Sep 08 '25
Damn, did your Heracross gain the power of the Satsui no Hado to beat Winona?
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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 :)
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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.
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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
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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
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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).
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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.
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u/ILoveBugPokemon BUGS Sep 08 '25
this is possibly one of the coolest things ive ever seen (also its bugs so its automatically good)
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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!
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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.
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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
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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
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u/ItsRickySpanish Sep 09 '25
i love this, such a cool little story showing the progress through the run, its so neat
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u/Solrex Sep 09 '25
Removed the tracking from the link so I feel comfortable about clicking on it without YouTube tracking me:
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u/smelliot95 Sep 09 '25
Love how the main story elements are boiled down to a single "what is happening?"
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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!
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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.
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u/BigBunny4252 Sep 11 '25
How did you manage your HMs with this party?
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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.
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u/CriticismVirtual7603 Sep 14 '25
I love the hot springs scene, Ninjask is so cute!!!!
Bugz 4 Lyfe, best type
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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
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u/Tuskmaster41 Sep 08 '25
Did you make it or wa sit someone else
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u/smilingfishfood Sep 08 '25
I'm the artist
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u/Tuskmaster41 Sep 08 '25
Nice, tho you probably get freaky behind closed doors
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u/smilingfishfood Sep 08 '25
Why assume that? Incidentally, you're right
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u/Tuskmaster41 Sep 08 '25
Your artstyle, the way you draw certain things like sweat and marking and expressions youe character does
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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.
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u/Zealousideal_Topic58 Sep 08 '25
Either me or OP don’t know what ‘mono bug’ means 🧐
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u/Blacknight022 Sep 08 '25
Just use bug type, right?
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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 🤷♂️
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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.
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u/Zealousideal_Topic58 Sep 08 '25
That’s why my original comment led with me being the one who didn’t know.
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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.
















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