Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky is a spinoff Pokémon game which plays as a roguelike. This means that the game changes from playthrough to playthrough.
One might think that Speedrunning such a title might be kind of impossible, since traditionally Speedruns rely on developing consistent strategies to get through the game reliably. Yet, there's a community of people who have managed to do it quite well, and I also personally find it to be one of the most interesting and enjoyable games I've ever Speedrun.
In this video, we will go over what goes into this run, covering many intrecacies, as well as why despite it ultimately presenting a lot of RNG (luck), it actually makes for a great run which highly rewards skill.
My own video on RNG Manipulations: youtube.com/watch?v=wtNyVfiTQFk
TheZZAZZGlitch's video on Dungeon Generation: youtube.com/watch?v=fudOO713qYo
PMD Explorers of Sky Speedrunning Leaderboards: speedrun.com/pmdsky
PMD Speedruns Discord: discord.gg/c2DwcY9
PMD Speedruns Wiki: pmdspeedruns.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page
Some assets taken from Pixabay and pexels.com.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
2:36 Run Start
4:29 Which Pokémon to choose?
6:20 Navigation Strategies
8:29 Run Continued
11:15 Combat Strategies
12:57 Drowzee, Missions
19:27 More Navigation Strategies
22:32 Expedition Segment
26:58 Why RNG can still make for a great Speedrun
32:21 Mid Game
37:02 A Skill Sky
39:04 Future Segment
47:12 What is even optimal?
50:33 End Game
56:49 Conclusion
Music used (all from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky):
Time Gear
A Grand Tale of Time and Darkness
Beach Cave
Mt. Travail
Welcome to the World of Pokémon!
Drenched Bluff
Barren Valley
Mt. Bristle
Wigglytuff's Guild
Hidden Land
Craggy Coast
Mt. Horn
Steam Cave
Amp Plains
Boss Battle!
Guildmaster Wigglytuff
Wigglytuff's Guild Remix
Surrounded Sea
Treeshroud Forest
Chasm Cave
Sealed Ruin
Aegis Cave
Hidden Highland
Temporal Tower
Dialga's Fight to the Finish
"Don't Ever Forget..." Lo-Fi Hip-Hop Remix by FiveNineSquared: youtube.com/watch?v=8MikHLVmp0I
Speedruns Channel: youtube.com/@SBDWolfSpeedruns
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sbdwolf.bsky.social
Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky is a spinoff Pokémon game which plays as a roguelike. This means that the game changes from playthrough to playthrough.
One might think that Speedrunning such a title might be kind of impossible, since traditionally Speedruns rely on developing consistent strategies to get through the game reliably. Yet, there's a community of people who have managed to do it quite well, and I also personally find it to be one of the most interesting and enjoyable games I've ever Speedrun.
In this video, we will go over what goes into this run, covering many intrecacies, as well as why despite it ultimately presenting a lot of RNG (luck), it actually makes for a great run which highly rewards skill.
My own video on RNG Manipulations: youtube.com/watch?v=wtNyVfiTQFk
TheZZAZZGlitch's video on Dungeon Generation: youtube.com/watch?v=fudOO713qYo
PMD Explorers of Sky Speedrunning Leaderboards: speedrun.com/pmdsky
PMD Speedruns Discord: discord.gg/c2DwcY9
PMD Speedruns Wiki: pmdspeedruns.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page
Some assets taken from Pixabay and pexels.com.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
2:36 Run Start
4:29 Which Pokémon to choose?
6:20 Navigation Strategies
8:29 Run Continued
11:15 Combat Strategies
12:57 Drowzee, Missions
19:27 More Navigation Strategies
22:32 Expedition Segment
26:58 Why RNG can still make for a great Speedrun
32:21 Mid Game
37:02 A Skill Sky
39:04 Future Segment
47:12 What is even optimal?
50:33 End Game
56:49 Conclusion
Music used (all from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky):
Time Gear
A Grand Tale of Time and Darkness
Beach Cave
Mt. Travail
Welcome to the World of Pokémon!
Drenched Bluff
Barren Valley
Mt. Bristle
Wigglytuff's Guild
Hidden Land
Craggy Coast
Mt. Horn
Steam Cave
Amp Plains
Boss Battle!
Guildmaster Wigglytuff
Wigglytuff's Guild Remix
Surrounded Sea
Treeshroud Forest
Chasm Cave
Sealed Ruin
Aegis Cave
Hidden Highland
Temporal Tower
Dialga's Fight to the Finish
"Don't Ever Forget..." Lo-Fi Hip-Hop Remix by FiveNineSquared: youtube.com/watch?v=8MikHLVmp0I
Speedruns Channel: youtube.com/@SBDWolfSpeedruns
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sbdwolf.bsky.social
Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf
![[Former World Record] All Bosses Speedrun - 30:41 - Current Patch, Regular, Solo - Cuphead](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fPgVB1D1TXQ/mqdefault.jpg "[Former World Record] All Bosses Speedrun - 30:41 - Current Patch, Regular, Solo - Cuphead
Was a record set on the 27th of August 2018 for a few hours before I got my 30:29.
My controls:
Jump: Right Bumper
Shoot: Left Trigger
Ex Shoot: A
Switch Weapon: X
Lock: Left Bumper
Dash: Y")
![[Former World Record] Low% Speedrun - 36:16 - Current Patch, Expert, Solo - Cuphead](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fjS6O6Mb5jg/mqdefault.jpg "[Former World Record] Low% Speedrun - 36:16 - Current Patch, Expert, Solo - Cuphead
Deathless. Solid
My controls:
Jump: Right Bumper
Shoot: X
Ex Shoot: Left Trigger
Switch Weapon: A
Lock: Left Bumper
Dash: Y")
![[Former World Record] All Flags Speedrun - 41:14 - Current Patch, Expert, Solo - Cuphead](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gLHXSGRD4OQ/mqdefault.jpg "[Former World Record] All Flags Speedrun - 41:14 - Current Patch, Expert, Solo - Cuphead
Deathless, not bad. Though its not by any means optimal.
I had my mic muted for the first part of the run. Apologies
My controls:
Jump: Right Bumper
Shoot: Left Trigger
Ex Shoot: A
Switch Weapon: X
Lock: Left Bumper
Dash: Y")
![[Former World Record] Any% - 29:10 - Current Patch, Solo - Cuphead](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gm15TJnM42Q/mqdefault.jpg "[Former World Record] Any% - 29:10 - Current Patch, Solo - Cuphead
If youve never seen a Cuphead speedrun before, Id highly recommend you to watch an All Bosses run instead. The Any% category allows the use of the Menu Glitch, which means that the pause menu is going to cover the screen most of the time. This glitch is banned in all other categories.
About the run itself, I had a death, on top of missing the Menu Glitch on 3 fights, so the time could be more than a minute lower. But somehow I dont feel like I want to run this category again in the near future :P
My controls:
Jump: Right Bumper
Shoot: X
Ex Shoot: Left Trigger
Switch Weapon: Right Trigger
Lock: Left Bumper
Dash: Y")
![[Former World Record] All Flags Speedrun - 27:15 - Current Patch, Simple, Solo - Cuphead](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/guc1Cddu9lg/mqdefault.jpg "[Former World Record] All Flags Speedrun - 27:15 - Current Patch, Simple, Solo - Cuphead
Kind of an okay run. Improvable for sure but Ill take it considering how niche of a category this is.
Watch live at https://www.twitch.tv/sbdwolf
My controls:
Jump: Right Bumper
Shoot: Left Trigger
Ex Shoot: A
Switch Weapon: X
Lock: Left Bumper
Dash: Y")
![(Former WR) The Lion King Any% (Easy, SNES) Speedrun in 12:08 [Live Recording]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/h7eKGHLOdHM/mqdefault.jpg "(Former WR) The Lion King Any% (Easy, SNES) Speedrun in 12:08 [Live Recording]
Apologies for the doubled audio in the first half of the run, check further down into the description for a gameplay only version if its too bothersome. Or for any other reasons. Its there.
Good run overall, but had some bad stages both in the early and late game. I will keep running this game to attempt a Sub 12 minutes time!
This run was broadcast live on my Twitch channel.
Run FAQ: https://pastebin.com/GUhxe3Ts
For a gameplay only version click here: https://youtu.be/GSoJl_PGJG8
Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/sbdwolf")
![[Former World Record] All Bosses - 35:42 - Current Patch, Expert, Solo - Cuphead](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hAbWKjKectA/mqdefault.jpg "[Former World Record] All Bosses - 35:42 - Current Patch, Expert, Solo - Cuphead
Finally got a good deathless run! It took me a lot of attempts to get one, and Im really proud of the final time.
Expert mode is really difficult: some bosses just get a health buff and minor tweaks here and there, but others like Wally become considerably tougher. Overall this speedrun is really fun if you feel like challenging yourself.
About the route I used: the Regular mode equivalent of this run gets 4 coins form the tutorial and from talking to Apple Man to buy the Spreadshot. By using the Spreadshot and the Peashooter efficiently, you can beat all bosses with very competitive times, and theres no need to buy anything else.
For Expert mode, thats not the case. A lot of bosses require a lot more dodging in general such as Cagney, Grim and Brineybeard, so for these situations its good to have the Charge Shot. Unfortunately it costs 12 coins, which means that doing the two Run & Gun stages in Isle 1 is required in order to be able to afford it. But Im pretty sure that having the Charge Shot saves enough time to make up for that.
Another option couldve been to only do Forest Follies and use the Roundabout and the Spreadshot. The Roundabout is a great option offering great range and trap possibilities, but it doesnt quite provide the same freedom in movement as the Charge, so I figured it would be slower and more inconsistent.
Also I want to mention that since expert mode is not unlocked on a file until beating the game on that specific save, the way people do an expert run is by using the Fresh Expert Glitch. It requires loading a pre-existing save file and simply selecting expert there. From that point on up until the game window is closed expert mode is selectable even in new files that shouldnt have access to it.
My controls:
Jump: Right Bumper
Shoot: X
Ex Shoot: Left Trigger
Switch Weapon: A
Lock: Left Bumper
Dash: Y")
