The first time you meet Leon in Pokémon Sword and Shield, you are immediately told that the champion of the Galar region is undefeated. Imagine upholding a sterling record like that ... only to get wrecked by a little kid and his useless fish?
YouTuber PokeTips decided to try an experiment in his copy of the latest Pokémon games — what would it take for a player to defeat the toughest trainer in the game with nothing but a Magikarp? Despite being infamously useless, Magikarp does have something going for it this time around, as it can now learn the powerful Hydro Pump move. But one strong move isn’t enough to survive a high-stakes battle.
Through the course of the video, PokeTips tries a variety of different approaches to the Leon showdown. First, there’s an attempt without items, where Magikarp is leveled to 100 and trained to have high hit points and special attack. The idea is to make Magikarp sturdy enough to withstand attacks from enemies that know Electric-based moves, while also making it powerful enough to one-shot its rivals. Magikarp does get through a couple of monsters with this plan, but ultimately fails.
The next few attempts make use of items like Eviolite, which helps bulk up the defenses of any unevolved Pokémon. Magikarp gets a little farther, but still, no dice. The set-up that ultimately works finds Magikarp holding Choice Specs, which boosts special attack while limiting the Pokemon to a single move, along with Special X, which also ups a creature’s Special Attack.
Granted, the scheme doesn’t work right away — much of this comes down to luck, especially given that Hydro Pump only has an 80% chance of hitting. Still, Magikarp does persevere in the end. What a champ!
Comments
No one cares.
This gets done with every single game. It’s not a show of skill rather a show of how much time you have on your hands and this game made it easier than ever.
By Clennon on 12.02.19 11:30am
Cool comment.
By Celery Man on 12.02.19 11:34am
Thank you for this! As a newcomer to Pokemon, I initially thought, "haha, that’s amusing." Now that I’ve read your comment, however, I now realize that I, in fact, do not care. Who knows how long I would have gone being so misguided! You, sir or madam, are a true hero.
By psychoontherox on 12.02.19 11:36am
I’ve been playing Pokémon since gen 1. I’ve seen these comments on many forums since the late 90s. You could say I’m immune to comments like Clennon’s because I’m well aware of what they’re talking about. I simply didn’t care they didn’t care.
You both today are my heroes and I thank you.
However, today that changes! Your new found realisation that you also don’t care thanks to Clennon changing your mind has influenced me too. I also do not care about the efforts PokeTips has gone to.
By Fandabidozi on 12.02.19 12:06pm
I, too, finally realized the futility of life after reading all of your touching comments about the nature of apathy. I am now well on the path to true enlightenment by lying still in the southeast corner of my room in the fetal position, doing exactly nothing and thinking about exactly nothing.
I do flop around occasionally, and make splash attacks.
By jamuszero on 12.02.19 1:02pm
S&S is my first Pokemon game and there is a lot the game doesn’t communicate very well.
I went to r/pokemon for some tips and holy shit is that community angry about… something. Maybe everything? Whatever it is, they are adamant about one thing: GameFreak doesn’t care about them, so they don’t care about GameFreak. They don’t care about it so hard they bring it up constantly.
By Colin Munch on 12.02.19 4:12pm
Is there any community on Reddit that isn’t angry about something?
I’ve long said the best way to enjoy any game is to NOT read the forums about it.
By Rnixon on 12.02.19 5:58pm
I’ve said that I don’t like the game. I’ve had the game since release and enjoyed it a lot. Currently breeding my comp team for the first competition next week.
I just find this article totally pointless and shared my opinion. Seems like I upset quite a few man-children in the process.
Just don’t understand why this article is ‘news worthy’ when people have been doing this since Red/Blue/Yellow. The Author’s time could have been spent writing a more productive article about the game.
By Clennon on 12.03.19 9:58am
I don’t know that you upset anybody; I personally just wanted to offset your excessive grumpiness with something lighthearted. It’s okay that you don’t see the value in the article, but understand that you are one of seven billion people in this world. It’s highly likely that your opinion is not the only one.
By psychoontherox on 12.03.19 10:36am
It’s cool man, we’re just poking fun at your saltiness, don’t worry about it
By Colin Munch on 12.03.19 11:43am
A simple search on YouTube for almost anything Pokémon related will show you that everyone and his dog has done this challenge in some form or another.
By Clennon on 12.03.19 10:00am
cool
By mikegld561 on 12.03.19 1:11pm
Is this a paid promotional piece for PokéTips? Seems odd to just write up a YouTube video that, as you said, happens in every single Pokémon generation.
By vvarden on 12.02.19 2:27pm
With XP candies, one doesn’t even really have to grind out a Magikarp to do this anymore, which was the really the most "impressive" feat.
I, however, wouldn’t mind seeing a Wynaut or Present-only Delibird run. The same horrible stats, with incredibly more horrible moves.
By Rogue_in_the_Shadows on 12.03.19 7:10am