Hey, it's EelAnon. I probably won't update tonight, so I figured I could at least talk through some future Eel related things.
I've been thinking about what it would take to beat the run without evolving. The first step would be Clay, who, quite frankly, I don't think I could beat without either ridiculous grinding or spamming items the entire time. The fight just isn't good for Tynamo.
First off, Krokorok has Intimidate, which weakens my only move right off the bat. He also has Torment, and based on the few times I let him get a hit off against Eelektrik, he isn't shy about using it. This means I'll only be able to Tackle every other turn for the entire fight, since my other three moves are electric. I could circumvent this by deleting the other three moves, but dealing with Struggle recoil for the entire fight isn't much better.
Krokorok is only the new problem: Sandslash and Excadrill give Tynamo the same issues they gave Eelektrik. Sandslash just spams Crush Claw the entire time, so he's bound to get a ton of defense drops. I got lucky with this when I won with Eel, but Eel could take it down in two or three hits. Tynamo cannot.
Then Excadrill comes in, easily outspeeds, does too much damage (especially after the defense drops), can flinch with Rock Slide, and takes nothing from Tackle. Struggle hits twice as hard, but that's not saying much.
I haven't actually tried the fight yet, so I don't know exactly how much BS it would take, but it would certainly take a lot.
The other big thing, which some people brought up last thread, would be Golurk. Not sure if any required trainers have it before the E4, but I know Shauntal has one. My only option is Struggle: I'd go in with just enough Charge Beams to beat Cofagrigus (can't use Spark since I need Levitate), Struggle Golurk to death, then either use an Elixer or Struggle through the rest of the battle. Either way, I could probably get to level 100 and still need to heal at least once.
