Pokemon White 2: The Flareon Solo Run

Here it comes at last! My long-awaited Eevee solo run, which I kept delaying to have fun and experiment with the Unova Starters. After I got this out of my system, I was able to focus on the cute little fox at last and put it to the solo run test. I've been curious about Eevee's performance on the battlefield for the longest time, ever since I discovered him in my aborted Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team playthrough; but alas, that versatile creature is not exactly ubiquitous in Pokemon entries. Not only can I count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I stumbled upon a wild Eevee in my Pokemon runs, but the adorable fox also has a way of appearing really late in the games, making him a somewhat unfit candidate for solo endeavours. After a lot of research and an inspired suggestion from faithful reader Kumiko, it appeared that the Black 2/White 2 pair offered the best setting for an Eevee solo run, with Eevee himself being available for recruitment right after the second Gym and various Stones being ready for the taking not too far after that. And thus I started my long-awaited Eevee solo run in bucolic automnal Unova, eager to see what magic the kawaii creature could work on the battlefield.

I'll be blunt: my lovely female Eevee, affectionately renamed Eeveeta (I usually suck at choosing 'Mons' nicknames, but I'm quite proud of that one), blew away virtually all my expectations. I never thought a mere Normal 'Mon could pack that much punch — which shows once again that my relative inexperience in all things Pokemon generates plenty of big fat stereotypes that only beg to be quashed through multiple playthroughs. I feared I would have a hard time with Eevee's Normal form, but my worries were unwarranted: my Eeveeta's fighting performances were so stellar that I delayed her Stone-triggered evolution and cruised with her base form much longer than I initially planned. When I finally decided to make her evolve after leaving Driftveil City, I was confronted with the torturous question that probably plagues every Eevee Trainer before that important milestone: which form do I want? I only owned a Fire Stone and Thunder Stone at that point, which gave me access to two forms on top of Eevee's two "natural" evolutions; a bit of testing showed quickly that Flareon was the form best fitted for solo endeavours in general and for my run in particular. The fiery fox boasts massive amounts of HP that can compensate his relatively low Defense and Sp.Defense by allowing him to be a damage sponge; as for its Attack, it's so impossibly high that I gave me good hopes I could blaze (indeedy) through the rest of Unova without a single scratch.

The Attack stat was the key there, because my whole Move pool was on the Physical side. And my, what a kick-ass Move pool it was. Three Normal Moves (Return, Quick Attack and Covet) and a Dark Move (Bite) to take care of the occasional Ghost type, and I was set for pretty much the whole game. Upon entering Victory Road, I switched Quick Attack and Covet for Dig (Ground) and Firethrower (Fire) to give me a wider array of fighting options during the Elite Four showdown; and armed with this awesome Move quatuor, I proceeded to blast the whole Elite Four crew. It was mostly piece of cake, apart from Fighting Trainer Marshal, who forced me to use a battery of Battle Items for the first and only time in the whole game. The Champion's Dragon 'Mons, on the other hand, couldn't sustain the combined assault of my overpowered Moves, which happened to target their weaknesses to a T in what I can only describe as a giant stroke of luck. And so was I crowned Champion after 17 delighful hours of cruising Unova with my irresistible — in every sense of the word — Eevee-turned-Flareon.

Not only was my Eevee solo run pure glee from beginning to end, but it also gave me ideas for future solo runs. On one hand, experimenting with the Thunder Stone on Eevee made me realize that I yet have to attempt a solo run with a Electric 'Mon. I have two valid candidates for the job, whose identities I will keep under wraps until I do tackle solo runs with them. On the other hand, I stumbled upon a 'Mon that delighted my retinas so much that I nearly gave up my Eevee solo run on the spot to cruise Unova with that new recrue. I managed to restrain myself and stick to the original plan, but a solo run with that newly encountered creature that fits my Pokemon tastes to a T is definitely in order; and once again, I will keep the identity of my new crush hidden for the time being. At any rate, the Black 2/White 2 pair has inspired me beyond my wildest expectations. A mere couple of months ago, I was ready to swear these games off after discovering that they sported the same starters as Black/White; and here I am now, cruising them like there's no tomorrow and loving them more by the solo run. There will definitely be more 5th generation action on that blog, dear fellow gamers! Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!