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A '''speedrun''' entails completing a game, or an objective within a game, as quickly as possible within a prescribed ruleset. Performing a speedrun is known as speedrunning, and someone who speedruns is called a speedrunner, or simply runner.

Although video games often track the time spent playing, many—including Pokémon—typically do not explicitly encourage the player to complete them promptly, i.e. they do not encourage, or even acknowledge, speedrunning. Nonetheless, speedrunning often is considered an interesting challenge among {{pkmn|fandom|fans}}, with speedruns often recorded or played live on the internet, both for the purposes of verification and as entertainment for viewers. There are speedruns for virtually all Pokémon games, including [[core series]], [[side series]], and [[spin-off Pokémon games]]. Pokémon games are played at many speedrunning marathons and events, such as {{wp|Games Done Quick|GDQ}}, as well as Pokémon game-specific events.

As RPGs, core series Pokémon games tend to have more variance throughout different speedrun attempts compared to games in other genres. This is in part due to the battle system's use of [[Pseudorandom number generation|randomness]] to determine outcomes such as the amount of damage dealt by a [[move]], whether or not a move inflicts an [[additional effect]], or whether or not a move is a [[critical hit]]. Because of this, speedrunning Pokémon games is often more demanding of the runner's risk management skills than speedrunning games in other genres, as the runner must be conscious of how variance can affect the current game state and must prepare alternatives in routing to account for contingencies.

==Categories==
In addition to choosing a game to play, speedrunners will choose a specific category or categories for their speedrun as defined by the speedrunning community. Categories may limit the strategies available to a speedrunner, which results in different strategies employed by speedruns in disparate categories. There may be many different categories of speedrun which may or may not overlap for a single game.

* '''Any%:''' Speedruns that attempt to finish the game without achieving optional objectives. This is usually defined as reaching the [[game credits]]. In [[Generation II]] and [[Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions|its remakes]], this entails defeating {{ga|Red}}.
* '''Glitchless:''' Speedruns that do not use [[glitch]]es. Whether an aspect of a game is considered a glitch or an intended mechanic can vary depending on the community. For example, {{DL|List of battle glitches in Generation I|ghost Marowak bypassing}} is often allowed in glitchless runs of {{2v2|Red|Blue}}. In addition, glitches that are highly difficult if not impossible to feasibly avoid, such as the [[badge boost glitch]], are typically allowed.
* '''Manipless:''' Speedruns that do not use {{DL|Pseudorandom number generation|RNG abuse}}. RNG abuse or manipulation is not considered a glitch and manipless runs may or may not also be glitchless.
* '''RTA/TA:''' RTA is short for Real Time Attack, which refers to runs played continuously from beginning to end, with pauses counting towards the final time. TA is short for Time Attack, which refers to speedruns completed in non-contiguous segments. RTA and TA runs may be referred to as single-segment and segmented runs, respectively. TA/segmented runs were more common prior to the 2010s, while RTA/single-segment speedruns are considered the modern standard.
* '''TAS:''' TAS is short for Tool Assisted Speedrun, which is a speedrun that employs software emulation and external tools to achieve a speedrun that may be beyond human capabilities. TAS runs may manipulate the RNG to a great extent or perform glitches that would otherwise be difficult to consistently trigger.
* '''Category extensions:''' Speedruns that attempt to achieve specific optional objectives. In Pokémon, this could include an objective like capturing certain Pokémon, such as all of the [[Legendary Pokémon]] available, or defeating optional boss Trainers, such as the {{DL|Rematch|Pokémon League rematches}}.
* '''Alt main:''' In the context of Pokémon speedrunning, a "main" is a certain Pokémon used for the majority of the speedrun. Playing with an alt main means playing through the game with a less optimal Pokémon species or evolutionary line than those that would be typically used in the speedrun.

==Early history==
In the English-speaking community, discussion of Pokémon speedrunning appears on the Twin Galaxies forums in early 2004.<ref>[https://www.twingalaxies.com/archive/index.php/t-111116.html Pokemon Speed Run, Twin Galaxies] forum archives</ref> The first recorded speedrun of a Pokémon game is considered to be a segmented run of [[Pokémon Red and Blue Versions|Pokémon Red]] by 'Cygnus' in May 2005, which was listed as 2:40 based on the in-game timer, counting the hours followed by the minutes played.<ref>[https://speeddemosarchive.com/oldnews05q2.html Speed Demos Archive - Old News], News from April through June, 2005.</ref> This was followed in August by a segmented speedrun of {{game|Yellow}} by 'DTaeKim,' which got a time of 2:28.<ref>[https://speeddemosarchive.com/oldnews05q3.html Speed Demos Archive - Old News], News from July through September, 2005.</ref> Notably, this is the first recorded run to {{DL|List of battle glitches in Generation I|Ghost Marowak bypassing|bypass ghost Marowak}}. In October 2005, a tool-assisted run of Pokémon Blue was uploaded by 'Titus,' who completed the game in 1:51 without taking damage by aggressively manipulating the RNG.<ref>[https://tasvideos.org/428M SGB Pokémon: Blue Version by Tilus in 1:51:06.50], TASVideos</ref> A segmented run of [[Pokémon Gold and Silver Versions|Pokémon Gold]] by 'Brown Bomber' was uploaded in February 2006.<ref>[https://speeddemosarchive.com/oldnews06q1.html Speed Demos Archive - Old News], News from January through March, 2006.</ref> In July of 2007, 'Thomaz' uploaded a segmented run of Pokémon Blue that achieved a time of 1:26 through the use of various glitches, including the [[Pewter Gym skip glitch]], [[Mew glitch]], {{DL|Experience|Experience underflow glitch}}, {{DL|Glitch City|accessing Glitch City}}, and [[walking through walls]].<ref>[https://speeddemosarchive.com/oldnews08q1.html Speed Demos Archive - Old News], News from January through March, 2008.</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLUh_evaY6s&list=PLC155EC8561B9709D Pokemon Blue speedrun (old run)], ThomazSDA on YouTube</ref> The first recorded RTA run of a Pokémon game was done by 'Jacob91', who completed Pokémon Red in 2:39 in June 2008.<ref>[https://speeddemosarchive.com/oldnews08q2.html Speed Demos Archive - Old News], News from April through June, 2008.</ref>

==Common strategies==
Speedrunners will typically meticulously plan their progression throughout the game, including both overworld movement and in-battle strategies, in a practice known as "routing." A speedrun route may be highly specific to the point of dictating the exact steps a speedrunner will take while navigating the overworld and every move used during battle. Generally, speedrun routes should be able to be executed consistently, although speedrun attempts following the prescribed route may still fail as a result of either the speedrunner's inability to execute the route properly or because of bad luck.

* At the start of the game, speedrunners will usually enter the game's [[options]] to set the game's text speed to high, the battle style to set, and the [[battle effects]] off.
* [[RNG manipulation]] is frequently employed both to guarantee that the Pokémon used have the best possible stats and to cut down on the number of [[wild Pokémon|wild encounters]].
* Typically only one Pokémon is used to fight all the battles in order to make the most out of the limited experience and to avoid switching which slows the run down. In some games, the Pokémon used may change mid-run.
* Frequently used Pokémon are given [[nickname]]s of only a single character in order to reduce the amount of text displayed.
* Optional battles are avoided as much as is possible, and precise movement needs to be made to avoid "spinners", optional trainers who change the direction they face based on the RNG seed.
* The overworld is navigated precisely, and the speedrunner avoids talking to extraneous [[non-player character]]s or picking up unneeded [[item]]s.
* Speedrunners will often use one Pokémon found early in the game and concentrate [[experience]] on that Pokémon, though they may sometimes "pivot" to using another Pokémon later in the game if a sufficiently strong one becomes available, such as a [[Legendary Pokémon]].
* When the speedrunner must battle another {{pkmn|Trainer}}, it is typically faster to approach the Trainer and interact with them than to pass the Trainer's line of sight and let the [[player character]] be approached.
* Depletion of the main Pokémon's [[HP]] and [[PP]] is carefully monitored and the use of {{cat|HP-restoring items}} and {{cat|PP-restoring items}} is deliberately planned to avoid using [[Pokémon Center]]s.
* When possible, opposing Pokémon may be defeated with neutrally effective moves instead of super effective moves to avoid additional text.
* While using [[first partner Pokémon]], a speedrunner may deliberately keep their main Pokémon at low health in order to take advantage of {{a|Torrent}} or {{a|Blaze}}. If a speedrunner is playing [[Generation I]], in which [[Ability|Abilities]] do not exist, they may keep their main Pokémon at low health in order to take advantage of the {{DL|List of battle glitches in Generation I|red bar glitch}}.
* Because speedrunners often avoid battling optional Trainers, [[battle item]]s are often used to strengthen Pokémon during {{DL|Appendix:Fan terminology|boss}} fights.
* Some bosses carry HP-restoring items that they use when their Pokémon's HP is low. To avoid leaving boss Pokémon with low health, which would prompt the boss to use a healing item, speedrunners may use weaker moves to inflict damage before using a stronger move to knock out the Pokémon.
* In the early generations, [[arbitrary code execution]] via save corruption is used to get the fastest possible time by warping the player directly to the end credits, but use of it is banned in most categories, even the ones that allow other glitches.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.speedrun.com/series/pokemon Pokémon Series on Speedrun.com]
*{{wp|Speedrunning}} on Wikipedia
*[https://gist.github.com/0xabad1dea/0e2ac7119a543547e05cb51ed1aa5601 Speedrunning FAQ/Glossary by 0xabad1dea]

==Related articles==
{{Pokémon fandom}}
{{Project Fandom notice}}

[[Category:Fanon terminology]]
[[Category:Pokémon meta]]

[[it:Speedrun]]