Pokemon Stadium 2 (Switch) GLC R2 FAQ: Q: Is your route any different from PB? A: Well, it was, but I got a PB on my first attempt with these strats. So now the PB is pretty up to date on strats, but it still has 4 deaths. Q: How does team manip work? A: GMS cracked it in early 2022 and wrote up a great piece on it, along with a super easy to use tool that you can play around with to see how it works: https://genericmadscientist.github.io/posts/ps2-ai-teams The tool: https://genericmadscientist.github.io/AI-Team-Manipulator Q: Why are you using ? Why not ? A: Because the restrictions in running this game involve only using rental Pokemon (as otherwise it would be incredibly easy and not at all challenging) Generally speaking, worse stat Pokemon have better moves, it's about finding the right combinations. So in a lot of cases you will see me use for example, Kadabra (Has Psychic/Thunder Punch), but never Alakazam (Has Psybeam/Theif) Q: What is this category? A: This is the Gym Leader Castle, specifically Round 2. So basically beat everyone in there. They can be done in any order (so long as Red is last), so I start with some of the better fights to get out of the way early. (GLC R2 stands for Gym Leader Castle, Round 2) Q: Why is the order scrambled like that? A: Since this isn't a "full game" category, it's allowed to do the run from a full save file, and thus in any order. So I'm doing the hardest part of the run first (E4), then going through Kanto and backwards through Johto just to optimise menuing. Q: Why does that gym leader have a Pokemon that isn't of their type?? A: Because if every leader had only their type, all these fights would be easy. It's not like in the games where you only have a small team, since you have access to every Pokemon, they need coverage in order to be a challenge at all. Q: What is the record? A: https://www.speedrun.com/pkmnstadium2?h=Gym_Leader_Castle_Round_2-switchvc&x=zdn36e2q-yn23ze0l.qzngje2q (See: Splits) This game was released on the Switch NSO. It plays *way* faster on the Switch. It is considered an entirely different category. Q: How much faster is it? A: I can't say exactly, because I haven't done extensive testing or runs. Even if I had there isn't an exact answer, because the reason it's faster is because there's less lag - and the amount of 'lag' each run varies based on outcomes. From my short testing though, on average battles are about 7% faster (some more or less depending on how much lag there would be). Over the course of this run, that would mean it might be roughly 12-13 minutes faster. Of course this is just an estimate, it could be a bit lower or higher than this, and the exact value would never be static anyway (since it's variable every run based on what transpires) Q: Why is Round 2 so much longer than Round 1? A: They use much better pokemon, so in general they are harder to take out. They also have much better stats. Because of that, many don't fall to Explosion, or outspeed Haunter so you can't Destiny Bond, making 1 turning the Pokemon less possible too. Add on top of that, that the fights are much harder, and you need to switch a lot more in order to win as well. Every fight is just longer, in every way. Q: So what's your goal? A: Not sure. Sub 2:20 should be doable with the new strats as long as I don't die too many times. Current PB has 4 deaths. Q: What does "Round 2" or "Round 1" mean in this game? A: This game repeats itself over, after you beat Round 1 of the game you unlock Round 2. Round 2 gives the opponent different pokes, with different moves, and better stats. It is in general, much much harder.