Abra Only - Pokemon Crystal

Typeless Damage: • How does typeless dama...
This is a re-upload. Errors were reported during the premiere and I took that video down in order to correct them. For more context:
- Somehow an entire video layer was deleted.
- This deletion occurred AFTER I finished my review and final edits
- But it occurred BEFORE I rendered the video
- I'll investigate my Premiere Pro setup to figure out how it happened because I want to prevent this in the future.
- Perhaps a cat pressed some keyboard shortcuts when I was out of the room?
Rules:
1. Only my starter in battle
2. No items in battle, except held items
3. No glitches, exploits, or save states
4. No movepool evasion-boosting moves before level 100*
Rule details:
-- I make no attempt to have the exact same rule details between generations.
-- I am allowed to manipulate my starter
-- I play the game at 4x game speed
-- For fair comparisons my Pokemon have perfect (or near perfect) DVs / IVs
-- I am allowed to catch HM users - I can use all field moves
-- Evasion boosting is allowed if the move is not obtained from the Pokemon’s movepool. For example, using Mimic or Mirror Move to boost evasion is allowed.
-- Surge's trash-can-puzzle is automatically solved
-- The bike is allowed in gen1 & 4, banned in gen2, and allowed only to bypass terrain in gen3
-- Saving between league members is allowed
-- I can pause the game and timer to take breaks
-- Items obtained with the ability Pickup can only be used if the starter obtained them
-- The footage is sped up & slowed down to match the pace of my narration
These Rule details apply only to generation 1:
-- All battle-mechanic glitches are allowed (glitches that occur outside of battle are banned)
-- In generation 1, I'm allowed to skip Marowak with the Poke Doll
If you didn’t read these rules and left a comment. Thanks for helping with the algorithm.
Patreon: / scottsthoughts
KZbin memberships:
/ @scottsthoughtspokemon
X: / psychicflying
Thumbnail art by BrianLS: / brianlsart
Illustrations by Sarina Vail: / sarinavail
Video Editing by Shawn McMullen
STAB: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
DVs / IVs: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
Damage Calculation: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
Stat and Catch Calculators: pycosites.com/pkmn/index.php
Gen1 Crit Rates: www.smogon.com/rb/articles/cr...
Growth Rates: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
Learnsets: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
Base Stats: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...)
If you're new around here, Venomoth is a Psychic/Flying type, you can't change my mind.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

This is a re-upload. Errors were reported during the premiere and I took that video down in order to correct them. For more context: - Somehow an entire video layer was deleted. - This deletion occurred AFTER I finished my review and final edits - But it occurred BEFORE I rendered the video - I'll investigate my Premiere Pro setup to figure out how it happened because I want to prevent this in the future. - Perhaps a cat pressed some keyboard shortcuts when I was out of the room?

[@mickgorro]

I assume you mean unlisted it? I can apparently still see it... Unless I'm being redirected to the new one, but there's two different comment sections so I doubt that...

[@hanswurst9120]

This would be a very cat thing to do.

[@Genwunner69]

It was ABSOLUTELY one of the cats.

[@BearofLightness]

Churro's plan to feature in every video continues unabated.

[@skeetermania3202]

@@BearofLightness He seems to follow in the legacy of Kirby.

[@retloclive9118]

They're not trainers, but I feel like the 3 Electrodes deserve their own art since it's possible to be caught off-guard by Self-Destruct.

[@charlessegale6493]

Scott: So, the cocoon Pokémon aren't really threats. Bugsy: And I took that personally.

[@mikescully6546]

The fact you did a 3rd run bc you were not happy with the 2nd is the reason we all love you Scott

[@jeremyhubbard2908]

25:57: Venomoth: Dark and "Bird". Hahahahahaha The bird typing caught me off guard.

[@Duothimir]

It's a legitimate type if you count Missingno.

[@Naxhus2]

Missingmoth confirmed

[@delfo8063]

Imagine being a random trainer challenging Scott, you see an abra, you're prepared for a mind game... And then his abra starts punching.

[@A_levs]

Metapod is too OP. Please nerf gamefreak

[@thebasedjarrod]

My favorite Scott’s Thoughts trend is him giving Venomoth a different typing every video I see it in

[@timpearson4202]

Really appreciated the creative decision to show all of the bugsy battles... sometimes in these types of challenge runs the difficulty and the pure RNG hell isn't fully communicated, but you nailed it. And it made it all the more exciting when you finally got the victory!

[@JDFrank20Diaz]

Go Bruno 👊 It makes my day when he defeats Scott

[@bettyunicorn6132]

Abra 2: The Bugsying

[@kyle666man]

48:22 watching a Scott’s video will NEVER be a waste of time. I’d be down for a 5 hour video. I usually listen at work.

[@HESOMADBRO]

Nothing like coming home drunk on a Saturday night and seeing a new upload by Scott :)

[@discgolfwes]

I love it when you don't give up and keep doing runs like this! I would have understood if you gave up, but the reason you don't is why I am always excited for your next video.

[@sebasimp]

Dude, you are awesome, thanks you so much for everything. i don't comment in a lot of videos but i really do watch everyone of them. I love your channel, it was love at first sight. please never stop doing this!

[@mairain6443]

I think this is the down side to some hidden powers, the stat drops might not seem much but the lower HP and Def slowed you down for Bugsy as the first time you got throw at 26 but with HP Psychic you need much higher and i think that made the game easier after Bugsy but harmed the start even more. Still great job!

[@RaynmanPlays]

As soon as he talked about it lowering HP and Def, I knew that Bugsy would be a problem.

[@SquallLionhart409]

The thing is that the lower DVs don't hurt stats by that much. Level 27 Abra with HP Psychic has equal or better stats in HP/Attack/Defense than level 26 with perfect DVs. The third run on level 26 had 2 fewer HP and 1 fewer defense. Watching the resets, it's down to RNG far more than the stat difference. The damage rolls for say, the first and second hits of Fury Cutter, are the exact same, meaning the statloss is effectively 2 HP. The damage range for Quick Attack even seems to be the same for 24, 25 and 26 defense.

[@SilverSmith459]

I was about to start cleaning the grout in my kitchen, and i was dreading the task so much until you uploaded to save the day. Thanks Scott's Thoughts!

[@therealmorganofficial]

Great work. I can't believe how much effort your put into these games, great job!

[@Zorgdub]

"and yeah, this is going to be a struggle." First sentence and already dropping a pun. That's the quality content I subscribed for.

[@spencerjohnson2462]

Quick note on the comment about how long it would take if you got the luck you needed on the 100th try: while with a 1/100 chance to win, the expected number of trys to win is 100, that's the average over a very large number of attempts at the run. In a single attempt, with a 99% chance of failing each fight, the probability of failing the first 100 fights is 0.99^100, so the probability of succeeding by the 100th fight or sooner is 1 - 0.99^100, or about 63.4%. So, the situation is actually worse than it sounds at first.

[@yuukidename403]

Probability is pretty counter-intuitive, and this is a great example. Most people tend to think it might take a little bit less or more than a 100 attempts, but not significantly so. In truth, the variance is pretty high. The situation looks even worse when you consider that the chance to fail the first 200 attempts is 0.99^200 or roughly 13%. And it works the other way around as well: There's an almost 10% chance to succeed within the first 10 attempts (1-0.99^10). Another way to think about it, imagine 10 people making an attempt. 1 will take 10 attempts or less, 1 will take 200 attempts or more, the other 8 somewhere in between. So it's not at all unlikely you get a very lucky first result and then struggle mightily on the next attempts. And that's not even mentioning the gambler's fallacy where people tend to think that as they approach the 100 attempts without a success, their odds of getting it soon somehow increase. On a side note, I remember an RPG named Ar Tonelico. It featured random encounters, but with a twist: After a battle, the encounter bar resets back to green (=very low probability of an encounter). As the player takes steps, the bar shifts from orange (medium prob.) to red (high prob.) The result is that you still have an average number of steps per encounter, but with a greatly reduced variance. That's a lot closer to how people expect probability to work, with only rare outlier and the average being fairly likely.

[@darastrixia22]

I do appreciate your overlay talk around 57 min on. It is one reason I really like listening. I can glance at time to time

[@huhneat8908]

The insight into your graphic design process was really interesting! I really appreciated it.

[@movezig5]

Just when I was starting to think the Venomoth joke was getting old, you hit me with the Bird type. Good on you for keeping it fresh.

[@Rubbly]

Glad to see you tried the semi-consistent strats you alluded to! Great work as always!

[@jolte2]

Loved the video as usual, the ui is looking really good one thing I’ve found though is when looking at the move learn set types is kinda hard to read which is poison type just cause how dark the purple is with black text. I know you’re always looking to improve visual clarity. Keep up the good work man been watching religiously for months love every second of it.

[@hardhatlunchpal]

Scott if I could do that heart thing with my fingers I would. I love that you foreshadowed the lvl 28 strat and did it even with such little time remaining in the video. It was a much appreciated surprise. You still are the most thorough trainer I've seen

[@RandysOfWar]

Wasn’t able to watch yesterday but so happy to see a Scott upload!

[@kyle666man]

NO 😂😭💀 25:57 I haven’t laughed this hard at the Venomoth typing since the first “fighting/fighting.” L M F A O

[@hippotuskman7808]

My guy! Life’s gotten in the way of watching but here we go! Love ya my guy

[@xfluffytraxy4996]

I love that you grow and use new styles like Abra. But I'm also happy you provide me with this amazing story. Your voice and this entire journey made me support you. Keep it going

[@Zebrakopf444]

This video is "can Abra defeat Bugsy?" in disguise.

[@evilvitamin]

If money for items is a concern while blackout training, don’t forget you can give cash to Mom. It’s unusual, but it does keep your money out of Karen’s hands if you desperately need it for later Coins or whatever.

[@isaacwright9837]

hell yeah always a good day when Scott's thoughts uploads!

[@Alpha725_]

Why didnt you use the pink bow on the second attempt vs Bugsy and vs the rival? Surely the damage bonus would have been way more impactful. Looking at the first play through you beat both of them at a lower level. Love the videos by the way!

[@NevG27]

I imagine that 10 extra hp would be more crucial since he was fishing for misses anyways. Maybe it didn't materially change the number of hits to take each opponent out, since like Scott said in the video it rounds down.

[@_Vengeance_]

AFAIK Pink Bow doesn't work with Struggle. Yeah, it's labeled as a normal move, but it's treated as typeless in every sense, including for item interactions.

[@devaventus3031]

​@@_Vengeance_ scott said in the beginning that it just skips damage calc and is treated as a normal move. At least for gen 2

[@_Vengeance_]

@@devaventus3031 Yeah, that's the same thing I said: it has the normal label (AKA is treated as a normal move), but it doesn't calculate damage as a normal move (which includes not giving the Pink Bow power-up). Though, it IS possible I remembered the exact details wrong on the Pink Bow at least.

[@TheDarkFiddler]

​@@_Vengeance_ Scott literally explained in the video that it counts as Normal for type-boosts

[@ragnamalamity]

i'm glad i'm not the only one who was having some - any, really - issue with the bulbapedia shift. like i totally get why they went for it but after looking at those pages often it feels so jarring seeing things now this way. thank you for making me feel seen. 🤙

[@ScottE-2]

I came back to make sure to HIT LIKE on this as well. Abra is nothing but pure... PAIN. And struggle to get through Scyther and Silver. I'm certain if it started with Confusion it would SWEEP through the early game with ease.

[@timpearson4202]

The fact that you did this multiple times... you have the patience of a saint

[@ktvx.94]

Hey Scott I have to commend the sheer grit you put into these playthroughs, just doing a second run is painful enough. If you ever feel like updating the UI design again, my suggestion is to keep things simple and clean. For instance, most things from icons to backgrounds have some kind of detailed texture. By reducing the level of detail it could get more pleasing to the eye. The fonts could also be a bit less out there, games from XY onwards do a pretty good job there.

[@Zorgdub]

Thank you for sharing so many interesting details.

[@shirounshiroun7555]

A 3rd run?? You're amazing Scott

[@TJF588]

Your new Water icon is very nice, with a horizon up at the top of the graphic~

[@mr.number9279]

I was hoping for a third playthrough for a Lv28 Bugsy and you did. Awesome runs. Abra... did good, surprisingly! Hilarious that after Goldenrod it's just a frailer Kadabra/etc. that people would use to speed down the game with minimal battles, lol.

[@piratebear3126]

I tried this and gave up at Rival 2 and Bugsy. So close to getting Headbutt and the Punches. My prediction is a brutal early game, easy but not free Johto with the punches but no Psychic, then another brutal challenge in Red.

[@garryfischer3679]

Great run Scot!!

[@Nathan_Moor]

Love your and the team's work

[@kulrigalestout]

I think this is one occasion in which Totodile would be the hardest for the pokemon in question to fight. Sure Razor Leaf basically always crits, but Abra has much higher SPDef than Def. Croconaw has pretty respectable Attack, and if it uses Rage early enough in the fight a Struggle using Abra would have a bad time. And should Thunder Punch fail to KO it in the third fight, a Bite would hurt pretty hard. Maybe. I dunno man, I'm just boosting the algorithm here.

[@skeetermania3202]

Another case would be with Blissey. Scott just seems to have a binary thinking pattern when it comes to the Gen 2 rival and which team will be hardest (for example, he never factors Bayleef’s Reflect into why it may be more difficult).

[@Nicoco_Mochi]

Haven’t watched the video yet, liked it already !

[@LotoTheHero]

Ah yes, a run with one of my favorites; Abra! The punching pokemon! Seems like Bruno took offense to you using a punching pokemon and went Super Sayian on you. 😁

[@marlysalt]

Honestly, I feel so vindicated that consistency beat risk in the end. Not only does abra deserve its spot now, but its performance proves the value that consistency has.

[@Smileyrat]

I like you new UI, but I would not have been able to say what you changed if you had not said anything. I'd enjoy more design talk. You work hard on the UI and it a bit of your chanle staple, so I'd like to be able to give proper apritiation it deserves. :) Also, I'd like to see a pop up for pokemon abilities so I don't have to pause and look them up. Thanks for the great videos.

[@888Grim]

Excellent video as always =)

[@Articision]

Little puncher! So much difference after you get the TM's. Does the Magnet give a different boost than the Nevermeltice, or is the calculation off for Ice Punch? Either way, awesome job as always

[@randycasto2009]

love the content as always.

[@PenguinMafia336]

Scott, you mad man doing abra 😂

[@michaelklos8089]

As part of your optimisation, if you're comfortable with your probability theory you should do the calculations for the win scenario and loss scenarios. With your basic programming knowledge, you can probably key the accuracy and special effect percentages into a program similar to your analysis tool and it would give you the percentage chance of a sequence of events that would lead to a win scenario and the same for a loss scenario. As an example: the odds of getting the win scenario in the bugsy fight would be chance of crit first turn, chance of fury cutter miss x2 which off the top of my head would be less than 1/100 chance of coming off - implying you were lucky to have it come off. If you had something that could automate that calculation, it would warn you of particularly low percentage plays and save you a lot of time playing doomed tactics. Also it would prevent that false sense of security you get from a lucky first run and you can know in advance to change up the tactics. One of those back room efficiency additions that I'm sure would interest you in the future when a suitable time occurred.

[@Penguindude1]

So... that second playthrough was definitely an experience.

[@PureStealth]

You know it's a unique run when metapod is an impenetrable wall

[@naraiceylob]

Hi Scott Do you know what point in a Pokemon Crystal run do generally you hit max stat experience. I'm wondering if theres any value training on trainers from extra stat experience compared to the running the elite 4 path. Elite 4 is probably better anyway but I just got curious. Not sure if this is something you can check. Good video.

[@banditrests]

I spent the first two attempts internally yelling “grab the charcoal!” But I figured the video is over an hour long, he’ll get there eventually.

[@marlysalt]

I think it's going to be a bit of a struggle.

[@NevG27]

Boooo Not really I chuckled

[@almocorongo5459]

This run makes me wonder how Gastly will be Yeah, it starts with Lick (so Falkner will be another Struggle fest) but gets NO SPECIAL MOVES besides Dream Eater and Thunder before Kanto (and Rain Dance in Slowpoke Well to help Thunder) Hidden Power Ice will be a must (maybe Giga Drain+Psychic by Kanto)

[@hippotuskman7808]

Love the abra sprite 💪🏽

[@Burningtreeblood]

It’s nice to see that a psychic type struggles against the bug gym.

[@calamelli209]

Man, this sounds like torture. I love it.

[@infinitesheldon5710]

Never thought I'd see Metapod being an actual obstacle

[@heartnet40]

Everyone on this day shall move forward with their lives remembering the "Massacre at Bugsy's Gym".

[@jordanj2164]

What's really heartbreaking is how close you came to beating Bugsy on (I think) the 2nd battle of that 2nd playthrough. If the Kakuna hadn't proc'd Poison, I think thay would have been a win. Instead it took another few dozen attempts 😂

[@francofaustini4568]

I'm at the pinkbow at the start of the video and I don't usually comment here (maybe in streams)... You should add struggle as "a move" typless/normal and effective power (also increase by the pinkbow/withney's normal boost... as an idea

[@n16r49]

Now I'm really curious what the odds for the first playthrough Bugsy fight were, and how much influence the perfect IV and pink bow have/had. Since you do knouck-out training in the league HP-Psychic might be less relevant. Hope in a future video we'll learn that someone posted an insane finish on discord or smth ^^

[@antonypost19]

20:40 Electrodes front sprite in this gen is so good

[@BigbagelBrandon]

Great video Scott. I'm wondering if a better strategy to get through Bugsy faster would be to obtain the gold berry by trading bellpsrout to onix in Violet city. In several of your attempts it seemed when you made it to the Kakuna @ level 26, you were so close to defeating it, if you had a few HP (IE from the Gold berry) you wouldn't have to level up to 28, and I bet you shave off several minutes of Abra's time. Edit----- Had to play crystal version for myself and to my dismay when you trade the bellspourt in violet it is indeed the bitter berry that the onix is holding not the gold berry. I apologize!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Unfortunately the Onix doesn’t hold a Gold Berry. It has a Bitter Berry. Source: www.serebii.net/crystal/trades.shtml#:~:text=Method%3A,Violet%20City%20in%20the%20grass. The Machop trade in Goldenrod is where you get the Gold Berry (which is just frustratingly late.)

[@Salnax]

“ Abra time, we have to joke about it being a Struggle!”

[@GerBessa]

You said Abra's ATK was awful against Bruno's Hitmontop, but it was actually nice.

[@thebigbean8783]

Abra. Absolutely brutal. Idk how you're about to get to goldenrod. I'm interested to see how well it fares once it gets the punches. This is gonna be a very memorable run, for better or for worse lol.

[@perkypenguin1663]

Watching this Struggle experience made me realize that this is going to be absolutely dreadful in Gen 4 (not Platinum because Return right off the rip) and beyond, in which Struggle deals a quarter of your max HP as recoil (rounded down to the nearest whole number), meaning battles with it will need to finish in 3 or 4 turns, and that assumes no damage taken from enemy attacks. I have no idea if resetting for critical hits or taking an immense amount of time for OHKOs would be more optimal for real time, but either way godspeed if/when you get into that situation.

[@iss2075]

I honestly thought for my entire life that Fury Cutter was 95 Accuracy. I guess you learn something new every day haha.

[@skeetermania3202]

Actually it is 95% accurate.

[@stevenmcqueen7433]

Why not equip the magnet for red since thunderpunch was just missing the range on charizard?

[@redwings13400]

After watching this, I'm not fully convinced that hidden power psychic was the right play. In your first playthrough, you had two extra hp at level 26 than in your second playthrough, and probably one extra defense point too, and I bet that made a pretty huge difference in the fight against bugsy! There were a bunch of times in your second playthrough where you got to the Kakuna with like 6 hp remaining, but with two extra total hp, and maybe a few extra hit points from taking one less damage from a hit or two, that might have made a difference and made the fight slightly more consistent at that level. Probably not anywhere close to consistent, but maybe in the 10 average resets territory instead of 50 resets. Meanwhile, you didn't really need hidden power psychic that much. Hidden power dark probably would have been just as good against ghosts, which means hp psychic really only is super valuable for making Chuck and Bruno more consistent, while also maybe having more pp in the overworld as you sweep random trainers. HP psychic definitely helps the midgame out, but I am curious to know if it helps the midgame out enough to justify Abra's slightly lower early game hp and defense, which felt like it really mattered during the struggle phase of the run.

[@PraefMace]

Abra must be a relief after the pain Electrode was, eh? Also...DROOOPPED MY BALLSSSS.

[@jackruby6696]

Thank you scott

[@Rayuzx]

Is going you of your way to make bird-type icon teasing a Missingno playthrough? 👀

[@PatrickStahlitrm]

If your solo Pokémon learns Surf, does that save you an HM helper, or do you always have the same number of HM helpers?

[@parkermacinnis3977]

Once you've ranked all of Gen 1 and 2, you could do the occasional "what-if?" video for fun. In this case, you could see how fast you could get through either gen if Abra learned confusion.

[@kotyrollins]

"I don't want to waste peoples time...." Scott. My friend. My brother in christ. I willingly clicked on an hour and a half long video about the Pokemon Abra. Wasting time is the POINT.

[@mikeCD62]

I feel like we need some evil bugsy artwork

[@lyonnaismatt]

Everyone stop, there's a new hour-plus Scott's video!

[@yamiryushi]

I tried to play a drinking game with every time Scott said PP. I woke up in the hospital and my liver is shot now.

[@Carnage88]

Abra, the real punchy in face pokemon

[@TJF588]

"And of course it makes Chuck easier."

[@raikaria3090]

WARNING: the hiker who squats in the elite 4 chambers got a win.

[@Gryphus_XA-26483]

lol "bird" type

[@dmann1982]

A thought over the Electrode; Assuming they are counted as Wild, why not use Teleport on them before they Self-Destruct?

[@davidgardner6677]

You can't flee from some Gen 2 Pokemon. Red gyarados is one.

[@naphackDT]

So how significant is the extra damage from the pink bow against Bugsy? Would the damage ranges change in any meaningful way or is the extra 10 health from the berry just more valuable? If it would reliably take a turn off the scyther, it would definitely be more useful than a berry. Did you do any calculations on this? To me it seemy like the berry would make the fight have a more more consistent outcome while the pink bow would favor the high rolls. That being said, with how low the chance of succeeding is, maybe going for the high roll would be the more consistent choice.

[@justsomejojo]

I was wondering why the Electrode never get featured, but it seems I just vastly underestimated most pokemon... I always end up losing at least one mon to them on regular playthroughs.

[@Jason-bd5iq]

Hidden power dark would be good for morty, I’ve used it for a few Pokémon that have no coverage for ghost early on

[@leetfukk]

blackout training against the league was my strategy as a kid, just threw myself at the it until I could beat them

[@ProjectMATHEW]

Gligar fan here. Abra may remain after the purge

[@kulrigalestout]

Speaking of algorithm boosts, I guess Fire Punch only really shines for Jasmine and Pryce. After that there really are no prominent trainers who would crumple to a Fire type attack, other than Koga's Forretress. But... is there a move that could reasonably replace it in either region that would be worth the time spent learning it? Shadow Ball is... well, it's physical, so would only really maybe help against Karen's Gengar. And Sabrina I guess. But other than that, anything Fire Punch can do, Ice Punch can do better.

[@mistermr2147]

Happy St Pats day!

[@bryceevans264]

Self imposed ultra hard gigachad amazing luck run 😂