formatted guide with a couple pictures and some convenient manipulation tables available at this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HuWv1aaMALKGpzjPAjPPXJqwjaUdBolmtg7ohVjPUKU/edit?usp=sharing

The basic theory behind this route is that Electabuzz is more helpful for the Water gym than Scyther is for Gene. By rearranging the battles slightly, this allows runners to reset past bad luck earlier in the run, and to have a more consistent set of fights in the Water gym. To do this, I created a booster pack manipulation that gets Electabuzz and usually another good card (Computer Search, Dugtrio) with a little bit of practice.

Scyther is only really advantageous for the Gene fight. Scyther is used against two Fighting minions mostly out of convenience rather than because he is the best matchup - while Scyther semi-consistently wins these fights, they are not won that quickly. Electabuzz on the other hand solves some huge reliability issues in the Water gym. Paralysis helps with Horsea’s Smokescreen, and the ability to do 80 damage to Lapras, 40 damage to Poliwag, etc. can save multiple turns across the three fights. 70 HP for a basic is very durable, much moreso than the glass cannon Pikachu.

==Mailbox Manipulation For Electabuzz (or Scyther Early)== See the referenced Google Doc for these details and tables; they are too hard to format readably into plaintext: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HuWv1aaMALKGpzjPAjPPXJqwjaUdBolmtg7ohVjPUKU/edit?usp=sharing

==The Route:== Quick Summary: Jessica, Grass / Electric, Michael, Amanda, Chris(?), Gene, Manip, Water, Ken, Murray, Joseph, Rick, Mitch, E4

Fire Gym - Jessica Jessica is battled first because there is a low but reasonable chance you can beat Jessica with the starting deck, and she is otherwise a bit of a pain. Look for Mankey or Rattata starts ideally, with few to no Bench Pokemon.

Grass / Electric / Grass as normal, Michael (Grass lobby), Amanda (Water) This part is pretty normal; you can do Michael first if you want to, but it's a little easier to do it after beating Nikki. In any case, you have to go to the Water gym to deal with Amanda while you still have a Fire / Fighting hybrid deck. This does introduce a little extra movement.

Chris Here's where the route gets interesting. If you happened to pull an Electabuzz earlier, but not a Scyther, you can do a mailbox manipulation to get a Scyther. If you pulled a Scyther already, save your mailbox manipulation for Electabuzz later. If you got neither, not all hope is lost, but you need to proceed without Scyther.

If you have Scyther, edit to it and battle Chris with the Scyther deck. Otherwise, you can try this fight with a Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, or Diglett / Dugtrio deck. This one is tough without Scyther as a lot can damage you quickly and there aren't a ton of great starting frames, which is why the high HP Hitmonchan / Hitmonlee are sometimes used.

Gene Ideally you have a Scyther and you just play as normal against Gene. If not, your best bet is to build a Nidoran M / Nidorino deck. You should have many Nidorino by now as it is a frequent Uncommon in Colosseum packs. While they do not resist Fighting, Nidoran can do damage T1 / T2, and Nidorino can OHKO stuff as early as T2 with Double Colorless, and guarantees it by T4. Just watch your HP and you'll be fine. If you don’t do Nidorino, you can try Pinsir or Articuno.

Electabuzz Manip - Water Gym If you need to, do the Electabuzz mailbox manipulation detailed in another section at this point. Then edit your deck down to just Electabuzz, Trainers, Lighting energy, and filler, and sweep through the Water gym. It tends to go better than with Pikachu, as you have chances to OHKO Pokemon like Poliwag and Lapras that Pikachu couldn’t. Be sure to include Mysterious Fossil / Clefairy Doll so you can double switch against Horsea’s Smokescreen, and it can help to have cards like Energy Search that let you manipulate coin flips.

Ken, Murray Do these fights as normal, hopefully with a bonus Dugtrio. Don’t forget to grab Mewtwo!

Joseph (Science minion) You can either fight Joseph with Mewtwo or Electabuzz, who can be faster. When editing for Electabuzz, put in all your Psychic energy as if you were running Mewtwo, with Electric as filler. That way, swapping in Mewtwo after the fight is very fast and you don’t lose much time.

Note: It might be best to put this fight after the Water gym, actually? Saves a small deck edit in exchange for movement time. Up to you.

Rick, Mitch, Elite Four Play these as you normally would. You should have at least 2 Dugtrio so you won't have to run the back three fights with Dewgong or Gyarados, which is nice.