Over time, thePokemonseries has introduced fans to hundreds upon hundreds of unique monsters. As the franchise now celebrates a monumental milestone withits 25th anniversary this year,it’s not surprising that each new generation of mainlinePokemongames has added anywhere from around 70 to 150 new Pokemon to keep things fresh, always brining new concepts and ideas to the table.
For years, fans have set out in differentPokemongames using unique teams consisting of all kinds of Pokemon, like one player who beatSwordandShieldusinga team inspired by Gary Oakfrom the anime. That being said, with so many monsters to choose from, there are bound to be fan-favorites, with some of the most common ranging from Charizard to Lucario. Now, one fan has proven that it is entirely possible to win with one’s favorites, even the smallest of Pokemon.
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Over on Reddit, user ZachMannIkea posted a clip of themselves defeating the Champion Leon inPokemon SwordandShield. However, what is most surprising about this clip is the Pokemon that the Reddit user did it with: a Shiny Alolan Sandshrew. Of course, ZachMannIkea could have easily used other Pokemon only to then finish off the Champion with their Sandshrew, but they also revealed that the Alolan Sandshrew was the only Pokemon in their party.
It is quite humorous to see the enormous Gigantamax Charizard tower over the 2-foot-tall Sandshrew, only for it to deliver the first and final blow, knocking it out with a single Ice Punch. While the Sandshrew was 20 levels higher thanChampion Leon’s Charizard,there’s a good chance it still wouldn’t be able to make a dent on the Fire-type Pokemon on its own, so ZachMannIkea looked to X items for help. For those unfamiliar, X items like X Attack, X Defense, and X Speed are items players can use in battle to temporarily increase the stats of their Pokemon.
In the comments section of the Reddit post, the user even showed off a clip of themselves hatching the Shiny Alolan Sandshrew, so the small Pokemon really has come a long way. ZachMannIkea also mentions that they chose to beatPokemon Shieldwith the Ice and Steel-type Sandshrew because otherwise, it would have a hard time against theFighting and Rock-type GymsinPokemon Sword.
WhenSwordandShieldfirst launched, one player also managed to beat the entire game with an unlikely Pokemon:a level 1oo Wooloo.As fans argue that the series is getting progressively easier and easier, more of these sort of challenge runs have been popping up, so it will certainly be interesting to see how fans attempt to playPokemonnext.
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