Pokemon Platinum Starly+ Manipless -  FAQ
 
This is a speedrun by the way
 
Q: What are you playing on, is it an emulator?
A: Nintendo DS
 
Q: What's your PB?
A: 4:11:20

Q: What is Manipless Starly+?
A: Beating the game (entering the Hall of Fame) using neither glitches nor RNG manipulation, while maining the Starly evolution line.
 
Q: Are there glitches in this game?
A: Yes, there is tweaking, which saves a significant portion of the game. But i’m not using glitches in this category.
 
Q: Why do you name yourself and the pokemon you catch one character?
A: Because it's faster to name them one character for text purposes.
 
Q: Why did you choose the girl instead of the boy? Are you that kind of incel gamer?
A: No, the girl is faster because Lucas as Rowan's assistant talks less than Dawn as Rowan's assistant.

Q: What are the minimum stats of Starly?
A: Anything that isn't low -Atk and low -Spe is runnable. It takes about 30 minutes to get to the Starly catch.

Q: Why do you choose Turtwig?
A: I use Turtwig because it is the fastest of all starters in the first gym.
 
Q: What else do you use/catch?
A: I catch a random pokemon on Route 201/202, Starly, Marill/Psyduck, and Porygon. 
- Turtwig gets Cut, Rock Smash, Strength, and Rock Climb.
- The random pokemon I catch is to help with Rival 2.
- Starly is the main pokemon used for this route. It performs consistently and has less demons than the Piplup, Chimchar, and any other main you could think of in this game. Birb is the most viable main in Manipless. 
- Marill/Psyduck, which is useful for Surf, Waterfall
- Porygon, useful in doubles.
 
Q: What are the hardest fights in the game?
A: Many of the boss fights are troubling but none are that awful. There's also some trainer fights like Eterna double where they can end the run, and there's also Ruin Maniac Calvin who you just need to use Vaporeon to get by, but it's not like it's a hard fight, just annoying.
 
Q: Where can you save time in your PB?
A: Jupiter 1 (crit death), Byron (crit death), Mars 2 (crit death), Route 217 (optional, 3 pokes), Mt. Coronet (spinner, 1 poke), Pastoria to Sunyshore (hit Cyndy the spinner).