Pokémon fans love to challenge themselves, turning fun and easy single-player titles into hardcore challenges. (Nuzlockes, anyone?) Recently, one fan decided to complete Pokémon Sword and Shield with just an Applin, a weak creature that’s literally an apple.
While Applin isn’t the weakest Pokémon around, that dishonour still goes to Magikarp, using the fruit to beat every trainer, gym leader and champion is still a hefty feat. Seeing a player accomplish this challenge is pretty cool and we’re sure others might attempt to do the same with other Pokémon.
It will be interesting to see if other players attempt to do the same thing with newer games like Scarlet and Violet. For now, it’s fun seeing gamers revisit Pokémon Sword and Shield with some fun in mind, considering all the controversy that followed them at launch.
On the Sword and Shield subreddit, user PlentyAd5204 talked up how he beat the game with just his Applin. Naturally, many fans congratulated the user for their actions and even talked up the Pokémon they used to beat these games.
The Redditor showcased his victory by posting the game’s championship finale. In the game, your trainer is shown alongside their winning team strutting down the stadium field. In this image, it’s just a boy and his apple.
Unsurprisingly, this was a very difficult task for the user, claiming they had to use Egg moves that can only be taught through special breeding. The user also claims that they didn’t use any items aside from held items, which are usually limited to berries or power-ups.
“This playthrough was extremely difficult. I did not use any items and battle besides held items. You have to use Egg moves to even have a chance with this challenge,” said the Applin user. “I have seen people say this challenge is impossible, but there are now wrong!”
Applin is a Grass/Dragon Pokémon so it does have some decent moves, though it won’t be able to beat the Elite Four through its basic learnset. While evolving it into Flapple or Appletun gives it a better fighting chance, that’s something the player didn’t want to do.
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Curious players that want to try this can purchase Pokémon Sword and Shield on the Nintendo Switch. For more replayability and Pokémon, players can also purchase the Expansion Pass for both games.