Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver: How to beat Falkner without super-effective moves

How to Unlock Strong Gusts from the East RetroAchievement

To unlock the first missable achievement in Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver on RetroAchievements, you need to defeat the Gym Leader Falkner in Violet City using only Pokémon up to level 13.

As with other missable RetroAchievements against Gym Leaders in Pokémon HGSS, you are prohibited from using super-effective moves against this Flying-type trainer’s Pokémon, so do not use moves of the following types:

• Electric;
• Ice, and;
• Rock.

Using a Pokémon of these types is allowed — what is not allowed is using moves of these types against Falkner’s Pokémon.

Guide to Unlocking Falkner’s Rare RetroAchievement

My strategy for unlocking both RetroAchievements in this gym — one for normal progression (unmissable) and the other missable — focuses on lowering Pidgeotto’s Defense so that physical moves like Tackle deal a significant amount of damage, even while it uses Roost to recover HP.

The step-by-step process to defeat the first Gym Leader in Violet City in Pokémon HGSS is as follows.

1. Obtain an Onix with the Move Screech

Start by catching a Bellsprout on Route 31, to the right of Violet City.

Trade the Bellsprout for the Onix named Rocky with the boy in the house southwest (down and to the left) of Violet City’s Pokémon Center.

Since it has a different OT than yours, the Onix Rocky will level up faster because it will receive 1.5x more EXP in any battle.

OT stands for Original Trainer, a unique identifier for who captured a Pokémon.

Level up Rocky to level 6 so it learns the move Screech and stop training it at level 9.

2. Obtain a Rattata with the Move Bite

Catch a Rattata in Sprout Tower at any time of day, or on Route 31 at night, and train it until it learns the move Bite at level 10, then stop training it.

Tip for the next RetroAchievement

Since you’ll have to go through Sprout Tower anyway, make sure to grab the X Accuracy item on the second floor — accessible by going up to the second floor, taking the staircase on the right, and walking to the left side of the map to reach another staircase.

Also catch a Gastly, keeping the moves Hypnosis and Lick. Both the Pokémon and the item will be useful for unlocking the next missable RetroAchievement against the Gym Leader Bugsy.

3. Decide Whether to Battle Falkner’s Gym Trainers

There are two trainers before Falkner in the Violet City Gym, but they can be avoided by using the transparent platforms on the sides of the gym.

If you want the money or experience they give in battle, do not let Rocky exceed level 9, since traded Pokémon (with a different OT) will not obey from level 10 onward unless you have already earned the first badge — which is the one we aim to get now.

Using Onix Rocky is extremely risky because, as a traded Pokémon, it also gains extra experience, causing it to level up 1.5 times faster.

With that in mind, I caught a Geodude on Route 46 — between the starting town, New Bark Town, and the second town, Cherrygrove City — and trained it until it learned the move Rock Throw at level 11.

Defeating the two trainers before Falkner is not mandatory to unlock any RetroAchievements in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver — not even the two available in this first gym.

You can use Pokémon above level 13 to battle these trainers, and you can use super-effective moves against them without risking voiding the missable achievement against the Gym Leader.

4. Check the Battle Style

Upon reaching Falkner, place Rattata at the front of your team, make sure the battle style in the game options is set to Set instead of Shift, and save your progress in case you need to try again.

With the Set style enabled, the game will not ask if you want to switch Pokémon after defeating each of the opponent’s Pokémon, making the battle more challenging.

This is one of the main conditions for unlocking missable battle achievements in Pokémon HGSS on RetroAchievements.

Active Challenge Icon on RetroArch

If the program or app running the game is compatible — as is the case with RetroArch — you will know if the achievement is still valid to unlock if its icon appears in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

If it is present but then disappears, it means the achievement has been voided: you will need to restart Pokémon HeartGold or SoulSilver to try again, as long as you saved in front of Falkner.

5. Defeat Gym Leader Falkner Without SE Moves

After checking the battle style and saving the game with Rattata at the front of your team, start the battle against Gym Leader Falkner.

Use Bite to quickly take out Pidgey. As soon as Pidgeotto enters the field, switch to Onix Rocky.

For curiosity, I tried to set up a clean switch by sending out Hoothoot to be knocked out and force the switch to Onix, but it survived Pidgeotto’s Gust and put it to sleep with Hypnosis. Hoothoot is not necessary for the strategy to work — but I love this little fluffball.

With Onix Rocky face-to-face with Pidgeotto, use the move Screech two or three times.

Each use of Screech lowers the enemy Pokémon’s Defense by two stages — up to a maximum of six stages or three uses — making it vulnerable to physical moves that use the Attack stat to calculate damage.

After lowering Pidgeotto’s Defense, use Onix’s Tackle until the opponent faints. If Rocky is defeated, switch to Rattata and use Bite.

If you lose, restart the game until you earn both RetroAchievements in Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver after the victory.

The Wind Wasn’t with Him is the easiest RetroAchievement because it is part of the game’s progression when earning Falkner’s Zephyr Badge. Notice the icon in the right corner of the image above.

On the other hand, the Strong Gusts from the East achievement is missable and more difficult because it can only be unlocked by following the Set style requirements, keeping the level cap at 13, and avoiding super-effective moves — indicated by the exclamation mark in the bottom-right corner of the image above.

Remember that if your Pokémon exceeds level 13 even at the end of the battle, the achievement will be voided. Having Pokémon above level 13 in your team does not void the achievement, as long as they are not sent into battle.

If you save the game after defeating Falkner but without unlocking the harder achievement, you won’t be able to unlock it until starting a new game. That’s why I created my guides on how to 100% Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver on RetroAchievements.

Share Your Strategy

There are a thousand other ways to earn the rarest and most difficult achievement against Gym Leader Falkner, but with Pidgeotto’s high Defense and its tendency to recover HP using Roost, you could lose hours if you don’t take advantage of the move Screech.

Onix Rocky was designed in the game for this!

If you have a different strategy, share it with the CoimbraSan community in the comments, because knowledge is never too much.