Crobat Only - Pokemon Yellow

Rules:
1. Only my starter in battle
2. No items in battle, except held items
3. No glitches, exploits, save states, or RNG manipulation
4. No evasion moves before level 100*
Rule details:
-- *In gen1, evasion boosting is allowed if the Pokemon does it through means other than learning the move by level up or TM. For example, using Mimic or Mirror Move to boost evasion is allowed. (This exception is to keep ranking consistent with my legacy videos.)
-- I am allowed to manipulate my starter
-- I play the game at 4x game speed
-- For fair comparisons all my Pokemon have perfect (or near perfect) DVs / IVs
-- I am allowed to catch HM users - I can use all field moves
-- All in-battle glitches are allowed in generation 1
-- In generation 1, I'm allowed to skip Marowak with the Poke Doll
-- Surge's trash-can-puzzle is automatically solved
-- The bike is allowed in gen1, banned in gen2, and allowed for bypassing terrain in gen3
-- Saving between league members is allowed
-- If the solo Pokemon faints and I choose to blackout it counts towards my reset counter
-- I can pause the game and timer to take breaks
-- The footage is sped up / slowed down to match the pace of my narration
-- The ability Pickup can only be used if the starter has it
Patreon: / scottsthoughts
KZbin memberships:
/ @scottsthoughtspokemon
Twitter: / psychicflying
Twitch: / scottsthoughtspokemon
Illustrations by / sarinavail
Thumbnail art by / brianlsart
STAB: bulbapedia.bul...
DVs / IVs: bulbapedia.bul...
Damage Calculations: bulbapedia.bul...
Gen1 Stat Calculator: pycosites.com/...
Gen2 Stat Calculator: pycosites.com/...
Gen1 Crit Rates: www.smogon.com...
Learnsets: bulbapedia.bul...
Base Stats: bulbapedia.bul...)

[@philiphunt-bull5817]

Yellow IS the game that introduced friendship.

[@zacattak632]

Correct

[@Ubernewb111]

Eh, certainly the concept, but it was gen 2 that made it apply to more than just pikachu and make it actually matter.

[@philiphunt-bull5817]

@Ubernewb111 I know, I was making a joke about how well Crobat fits the game

[@patonosequecosa]

Um technically not because it only works in starter Pikachu and doesn't work equally as in generation 2 🤓☝

[@paulthepotato9311]

@@patonosequecosa They didn't say perfected... They said introduced.......

[@dm9910]

I really like Crobat. Even in difficulty hacks like Radical Red it's such a useful Pokemon with an early friendship evolution, three 4x resists, an immunity, fast u-turn, poison/toxic + roost strats, utility moves like taunt... A perfectly balanced mon, but not just a boring straightforward attacker either.

[@thomasquwack9503]

also cool design + nice pallet

[@tytar2132]

Isn’t slow u turn better

[@dm9910]

@@tytar2132 Depends on the situation. Fast uturn is better on offensive mons, and is basically free damage if you were going to switch out anyway. Slow uturn (or teleport) is usually better on a defensive pokemon because it lets you bring in a squishy attacker for free. E.g. I have Crobat out, I just killed something, opponent brings in their focus sash dugtrio with rock slide. In this case fast uturn is amazing because I can break its sash while bringing in my rock resist. If Crobat was slow, I would have to hard switch instead and my Dugtrio counter would have to take 2 hits instead of just 1

[@zarator7429]

I would agree but even in that role there are better mons in more recent games. For example, in Radical Red I used Dragapult for a similar role (U-turn/Will-O-Wisp/Dragon Darts/Phantom Force) and it feels so much better than Crobat thanks to the superior typing, higher power, higher speed and access to WoW

[@dm9910]

​@@zarator7429 I never claimed Crobat was the best, I said it was balanced. And besides, Zubat is a common early encounter that can evolve to Crobat as early as level 23 which is before misty. Dragapult is a pseudolegendary that you have to buy and doesn't reach its final form until level 60 which is after 5 gyms...

[@Dpmt]

It’s really interesting to see that Crobat gets Fly in Gen 2 and Gen 3 while Golbat does not. So Fly is totally appropriate. Looking forward to the spooky content this month.

[@valleyard8674]

"Say the line Scott" "So let's move on to the second member of the elite four Agatha" "Oh yeah, thats the good stuff" And no, we wont get tired of it (to be honest, most people probably don't even notice that it isn't the first time, and it's pretty much true) keep up the great work

[@mrunderachiever]

The transition between entering the surf house to Koga's gym was so good that my brain broke, took me a few seconds to realise what happened. Amazing playthrough as always though I couldn't believe Misty gave Crobat as much trouble as it did

[@andreapareti324]

1:50 keep in mind that Friendship evolutions are some of the ones that don't see a level increase in learning attacks from the previous stage, so I think it would actually be more accurate (and beneficial) to leave the levels the same as the previous stage, for this sort of thing.

[@ironleegaming8227]

Trade and Stone evolutions have the same issue, but they don't get compensated, I think it's only fair. For example, Gengar only learns Hypnosis and Dream Eater.

[@andreapareti324]

@@ironleegaming8227 No, Trade evos also don't see any level increase just like Friendship ones, because, with both of these methods, the devs have no way of knowing when you'd evolve a mon and therefore can't increase the levels accordingly, and evolving via these non-traditional ways is seen as a hurdle enough already, apparently, since trading is not as easy to come by as Stones are. Gengar only learns Hypnosis and Dream Eater via level up in Gen 1 because Gen 1 level-up Movepools were extremely limited: the entire Gastly line only learns those two moves (and start out with Lick, Confuse Ray and Night Shade).

[@kevinsips3658]

I am shocked at how good of a name the Surge tier is. "Shocked" I say!

[@alexprahauser3152]

Venomoth clutching it out again with the Bat/Bug type

[@svansiian2050]

Those graphs at the end is a our dream come true for us data nerds

[@Xianu-ld4tr]

My first Pokemon envolved with friendship.

[@shironeko1843]

Same here, I started with Emerald. Crobat is an amazing Pokémon.

[@sheahon1179]

Thank you Harry and Kevin! I love watching these videos and the graphs make it so much easier to understand!

[@DwunD016]

I am working on my own Backport/gross gen run as I am watching this. The work is so amazing. And I actually think your backsprite looks good

[@mattphoenix4702]

When I was a kid I hated Zubat and Golbat. Didn’t bother with Crobat in Gen 2. Finally decided to give the Zubat line a go in Sapphire and Crobat has been on every team I’ve made since. Ah, the memories

[@perkypenguin1663]

The back port series you do here is a very cool one! I was also surprised by how Crobat ended up comparing to Golbat. (Also someday I’d be interested to see Zubat redone considering it didn’t have a second playthrough in its Yellow video, but I get it if you don’t ever want to bother with Zubat since it is awful)

[@765craven4]

Crobat is definitely one of my favorite Mons, and it always impresses me how much better it is than Golbat. Not to say Golbat is terrible, it's surprisingly good (though not *that* good), but Crobat is genuinely *very* good, especially in Nuzlockes. Its resists and immunity are all amazing, and it being immune to the Poison and Toxic status is invaluable sometimes. And its movepool just gets better and better every generation, especially with getting U-Turn, Roost and Brave Bird in Gen 4. It's invaluable in Nuzlockes and is an almost guaranteed encounter in multiple regions, definitely a top tier in Nuzlockes, almost as good as Gyarados in Nuzlockes imo.

[@SilharaTheChosen]

This presentation is nutty. Great job, definitely subbing

[@briancaster2876]

Thank you to both Harry and Kevin! May they rule forever in the realm of darkness, with the dark lord at the helm!

[@cinnamonsugarcourtney6073]

I love that you're doing a Crobat Run, They're my favorite pokemon :3

[@beatnikbulba9891]

Sweet graphs man. Keep having those!! I love data representations.

[@Aaron.Seabolt]

A port I’ve been waiting for. Perfection.

[@SombreroPharoah]

The Best fly Mon gen2 introduced along with Delibird. The upgrade to Golbat should be amazing, even the mid stage isn't awful for RBY

[@ShiningJudgment666]

The extra Speed helps it thanks to better crit chances and outspeeding everything. Unfortunately, Gen 1 isn't kind to Poison/Flying typing and Crobat's moves have low base power. Passable bulk helps it somewhat but its offensive stats fall way short of making for its weak moves.

[@Speedrunner0218]

Crobat is one of my favorite Pokemon of all time. Plus it has a great typing with great stats and great moves in modern games. I used it on most of my first time playthrough, like i did in ultra moon and sword

[@smoky5555555]

Scott, the Ice + Psychic types logo on Koga's intro was great haha 18:31

[@Colin1Moriarty]

Crobat is a top tier Pokémon for me and I've always had it on my team! Gen 3 being my favourite. I am excited for this one hope it does very well! Not very confident however as poison types tend to fair badly in gen 1 but I will see Edit: thank you Harry and Kevin! Appreciate your work to help bring these videos to us :) Also was really thinking crobat would get sub 1 hour but it's still possible with more playthroughs I'm sure!

[@Mr.Not.Perfect]

Thanks to Harry and Kevin for making the graphs at the end happen. Yet another great addition to Scott's runs!

[@someguy53299]

I think the crobat sprites look fantastic. It's definitely what you'd see in 1st gen games.

[@postapocalypticnewsradio]

New tier! I counted it out. There are enough of them to reach I, of lettered alphabetically. So, that last tier is I for impossible. I'm not sure if that made sense, but it gave me a smile.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Oh that’s awesome! I must not add anymore tiers.

[@cueneytalpan3386]

Very amazing run - I love to see the gen 2 pokemons in gen 1. I hope your next Halloween Month video will comming soon ^^

[@tobiasgund8048]

Thank you Harry and Kevin, the graphs look really cool!

[@Nick_Slavik]

Was gonna comment about how Crobat is in gen 1 but it's laid out within the 1st 30 seconds lol can't wait to watch! 🙂👍

[@nightfan1983]

Thank you Harry and Kevin :)

[@UtubeWatchu]

You're right, with that unfortunate freeze luck, this month is starting off real spooky!

[@NativeGolfer10]

Backport Crobat is a great way to start October! Coming straight from your stream!

[@GerBessa]

Scott had a "Guys we need to defeat Misty" moment.

[@anthonypants9182]

Finally!!! The backport I've been waiting for ❤❤❤

[@CrimHawkins]

Thank you, Harry and Kevin!

[@SmashMath151]

Honestly surprised it wasn't that much better than Golbat, was expecting the sub-hour. It makes sense though because Crobat's stats aren't that much better (except for Speed, and Golbat has enough of that) and the same movepool issues. Looking forward to all of the content over the next 3 months!

[@SyndromeM]

Fitting. With the new tier added now “Impossible” tier is basically “ I “ tier.

[@o0camy564]

Ohhh i LOVE Crobat. Im the guy thats ALWAYS happy when he early on finds a zubat. Crobat is one of my all time team members!

[@bigsmoke44gaming44]

Thank you Harry and Kevin!

[@charlessegale6493]

Oh man, that tier name is really apt! The Surge Tier. XD Edit: Also, thank you Harry and Kevin! You guys rock!

[@HighPriestFuneral]

New tools are looking great, fine work to Harry and Kevin!

[@joemagill4041]

I love Crobat. People always tell me he isn't that good but in so many Pokemon games he ends up being just a super reliable Pokemon to have around. Plus he available super early and just does absolute work when he needs to.

[@machete777-l9g]

Whoever says Crobat isn't an amazing Pokemon for every Team Have obviously Zero knolewdge about Pokemon games in general LOL.

[@ShiningJudgment666]

@@machete777-l9g It's much better in later Gens. Gen 3 onwards namely.

[@n64_kfp]

Great video! I was hoping crobat would make it to a higher tier, but all that extra training that was needed just held it back too much. Love the addition of the surge tier, I got a good kick out of that announcement.

[@diamonddom60]

Look buddy, if you hadnt told me crobat wasnt in this game i wouldnt have noticed. This is perfect.

[@Articision]

Awesome! Love Crobat. Movepool really lets it down though.. and thanks Harry and Kevin. Stats!

[@javontehendrix86]

Yes something I was looking forward to keep them coming Scott🥰

[@qwirkt]

This time when Lorelei threatened you with getting frozen solid (at the start of the battle) she was not kidding

[@Crusina]

I'd love to see a back ported Porygon Z with hyper beam. I bet it could beat mewtwo.

[@LunarWingCloud]

Hyper Beam is physical in Gen 1 and with Porygon-Z being special focused I don't think that would be the case

[@Crusina]

​​​@@LunarWingCloudit can learn sharpen tho and after one or 2 could peobably one shot everything not resistent. And it has access to a ton of special moves for anything that is resistant to normal. Also stab hyper beam from 80 base attack is still good.

[@ShiningJudgment666]

@@Crusina Early game will be hell for it.

[@djb1317]

​@Crusina it only has 5 pp, it woul also hve a terrible broc split

[@888Grim]

Excellent video as always =) Thank you Harry and Kevin

[@Sangheili91]

Crobat is one of my favorite Pokemon! Can't wait to watch this run.

[@justinsabree6630]

Hey Scott! I’m really excited for the Halloween series and ESPECIALLY the end of year special! One request: you say “however” a quite a bit, especially in the Wooper video last week, and it feels a little like a whiplash trying to find the direction the story is going to go. Don’t get me wrong, I love it sometimes because it does pique my attention, but when it happens often, it feels like a whiplash. One suggestion is to use “but” instead sometimes. Just a suggestion and I still love your videos! However or not, I look forward to doing my chores with your videos on each week!

[@ScottE-2]

Thank you Harry and Kevin! Yeah, Crobat without Sludge or any real poison moves, makes it otherwise decent attacking stats utterly useless. If Wing Attack were at a power of 60 things would be different. Heck, you can technically give Zubat the egg move gust in gen 2 making Bugsy much faster as can be the case with Crobat and Golbat however... that wouldn't resolve the issue of it not having a good tool set to really utilize certain situations. If Leech Life instead had the base 80 power that it does today, I wonder how different certain fights would be.

[@dragonslayerz2220]

Gust is a normal type move in Gen 1.

[@ScottE-2]

@@dragonslayerz2220 Yes... which is why I said specifically "gust in gen 2 making Bugsy much faster...". You can also give it Quick Attack which if I'm honest should've learned naturally.

[@siggil9697]

Hey it is my favourite Pokemon. Which is actually a somewhat recent development. I always liked Crobat since it surprised me with the evolution in gold, but it claiming the top spot came over time as it might be the one I used most over the years. Exposure really creates affection when you are already sympathetic to something.

[@lyoukeefen7199]

I like that back sprite. It’s really good

[@reshawshid]

It may have been done nearly a hundred times by now, but the continued disrespect for Bruno is still funny. If I recall right, you started doing that while testing Tauros in a versus video. That was... two years ago. Holy moly it does NOT feel like I've been watching that long.

[@RFGfotografie]

I did quite like using this Pokemon in a game, I can't remember which one. Great video.

[@red-eyessolares1817]

I do think for Crobat, it could probably afford to be more risky because it has better stats at least for it to get a sub hour run.

[@wowallthosemovies]

Aah, so excited for everything you've got in store for us!

[@davidgardner6677]

Those graphs are so good!!

[@yoyojoost]

Crobat is my favourite pokemon, everyone thinks it’s weird but the bat just needs some love

[@MrVelyx]

"Because i'm Batman" -Superherocafe Batman

[@bateltheassistant]

Crobat is one of my favourites , I'm always happy to get it on my nuzlockes , that's why I kind of hoped that the Zubat line will get the redemption arc it need through Crobat.😮 But it was super unlucky with frezze from Lorelei. It was so sad to watch you reset like this. But hey,gen 1 is always going to be gen 1.😅 Most of Crobat's downsides are the lack of move diversity. You're basically relying on fly to hit for most battles like any flying type in gen 1,and mega drain which can't do enough because of it's base power,and in the late game it definitely shows. In theory, Crobat can be better if it had hyper beam , but gambling for hours is really time consuming.🤔 By the way ,Crobat's back sprite in really in the spirit of gen 1. You definitely are doing a great job making these spirtes . Well done.😊

[@tonysauruswrexu4623]

First time I ever got Crobat in Gen 2, I had NO IDEA it was even a thing. I was just plugging through the game with a Golbat on my team because I was enjoying using it. Then out of nowhere, it randomly started to evolve! Lol I was like “What is happening?? Golbat evolves??!? Oh! It’s pretty cool too, and look how fast it is!!” So I kept using it and loved it!

[@ext93]

I remember trying to get it by spamming haircuts for an hour straight and was confused when that didn't work 😂

[@tonysauruswrexu4623]

@@ext93 lol the friendship thing has always been confusing to me.

[@matversion2]

That flying typing nullifying the stat buffs it gets from evolving is crazy.

[@miqvPL]

Awesome technical improvements with the graphs generated, but I'm still waiting for pie charts. Because I like pies

[@SuperCJK333]

I have a theory that the Yellow Surge AI thinks your starter is Pikachu even in a randomizer & because Yellow is meant to be more closer to the original anime, Surge treats this fight as it is Raichu fighting Ash's Pikachu.

[@vizzy61]

that's literally how it is

[@iantaakalla8180]

It is funny to note that after all this time, Crobat would have been at home in Generation 1. Inability to deal with Psychic types directly, mismatched movepools and stats, one stand out trait that barely factors. It is a very classic Gen 1 Pokémon despite debuting in Johto.

[@iantaakalla8180]

In particular, it would basically be a Poison/Flying Electrode, that has stats mismatched to its actual role.

[@Gh0sTxFac3]

i love this playthrough crobat was an amazing run! can you do an ghost pokemon race?

[@mikeblades4839]

I was really excited for 24:38 when Crobat became invulnerable due to losing the second turn of Fly through confusion just for Fly to immediately get used again and it all to be wasted.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I believe only Paralysis triggers this glitch.

[@mikeblades4839]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon I keep trying to send this but it keeps disappearing (I assume it's getting deleted by KZbin so I'm going to try without the link). According to bulbapedia's list of battle glitches for Gen 1, both being fully paralyzed and taking confusion damage triggers the glitch. Hope that helps in the future.

[@LetustheDragon]

that first Lorolei fight was like using the forums on Neopets: always getting frozen

[@alejandroladreyt522]

Love the graphs at the end! Is it tracking the total exp per split as well? to see the impact on the deviations or extra trainers

[@ktvx.94]

You just made me realize that Flash should fail if the opponent is sleeping.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Oh yeah it should.

[@harrisondesborough2387]

So stoked for this episode!

[@TrojanSalesmen1]

Crobat!!!! My boy!! The one Pokemon I always have on my team

[@marklisowski6549]

In addition of the Surge Tier, any chance “improbable tier”, if it comes back, can get renamed the Agatha Lottery?

[@evansalerno3694]

Next we need Kingdra

[@LunarWingCloud]

He's done Kingdra already

[@Shenaldrac]

Strong agree vis a vis real time vs game time. Sure, real time is more easily impacted by player error... but that's why you do two playthroughs, one to feel things out and one to optimize and "get it right." It also means you actually have to play smart instead of mindlessly re-fighting the same trainer a dozen+ times hoping for them to miss or you to get enough crits. Winning that way doesn't make the pokemon's performance better imo, it makes it *worse* because it had to resort to luck. A good pokemon should succeed at a given level consistently, because any mon can win gen 1 through enough gen 1 misses if you're patient enough.

[@siphirath84]

Question, why not get the potion that is on the ground beneath the last bug catcher in V forest? Right before you set Infront of him. Save you a second or two over getting the other potion.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Sometimes we cut footage of dialogue boxes like that out of the video. In general though I have started skipping all early game potions just because they waste time.

[@Tneon40]

Wobbuffet fact: It was Designed by Hironobu Yoshida the same person who designed Celebi, Rayquaza, Deoxys and Darkrai wich supports the fact that it is a Godlike pokemon

[@modelomegatyler]

37:50 yes, the joke is getting old. but thank you for doing a crobat run. crobat is both one of my favorite pokemon and the only reason i like the zubat line, because if i had grown up with gen 1 or started with the remakes instead of sapphire, i'd probably hate the zubat line like everyone else.

[@bananaspice1967]

Gluebat cuz it is the glue that keeps the team together as the friend that organizes everything

[@Steve_A93]

I came for the Bruno jokes, but stayed for the other content :)

[@roymirke168]

What an awesome video again. Thank you so much Scott. Btw do you think HP Flying on acrobat would be good too? Because it isn't a 2 turn move like fly. Thank you for your good work

[@djkates1916]

Hidden Power didn't exist in Gen 1, so it wasn't an option for this run. In generations where Hidden Power does exist, it is generally better to have it be a coverage move rather than a STAB move. There are probably some Pokémon where there's a viable argument for using Hidden Power as a STAB move, but I don't think Crobat is one of them.

[@roymirke168]

@@djkates1916 oh yeah I mixed up the Gens. Well you should know my last comment was about HP Flying on gyrados. Naturally in gen 3. Because it doenst has a stab. I agree with you on the HP should be coverage, but sometimes it's a good stab option too. But you this one was my mistake. Thank you for letting me know.

[@ruthlesace]

You did it! You broke the code for the self destructing hiker. Remember that strat it should help allot from here on out.

[@ShiningJudgment666]

The Pokemon needs decent enough bulk, resistance or immunity to take the boom moves.

[@Hablamannen]

Graphs! Now we're talking. Thank you Harry & Kevin

[@Zorgdub]

37:48 I had to go back and re-listen to this part 3 more times before I finally understood what the joke was. Finally it hit me: Agatha isn't supposed to be the second Elite 4 member. I had actually came to think of the Elite 4 gauntlet as Lorelei, Agatha, Lance, and Rival.

[@zidaneishtar2852]

Haha always makes me smile seeing the slowbone trainer

[@TheMoogleKing93]

Oh those are some sexy graphs, I nerd more of those please Bonks per minute?

[@pommyadam]

interesting how Golbat beat the game at level 69, yet you went to 70 to enter Crobat for Lorelei even with better stats (uhh, did you do extra un-needed training?) what was the Golbat strat again? is Fly the main limiter when it comes to the endgame? edit: nope, moveset was basically the same (okay WingAttack instead of Fly, but Golbat had HyperBeam as a TM on its learnset instead of Rest), so looks like Scott gets overly fixated on the "rest to win" strat again

[@ryankrenisky8252]

love that retro backsprite

[@bomberwarren]

One of my all time favourite Pokemon

[@Skipatronic]

Happy 1st day of Halloween Scott

[@PrincessGoth574]

Im looking forward to all the videos this month!

[@lyonnaismatt]

To be honest, with both fly and the huge increase in base stats and crit rate, I'm floored that it increases by just 6 minutes

[@ShiningJudgment666]

Crobat doesn't have that much higher offensive stats than Golbat. But it is much faster. Also the Golbat run I think had a bit more luck.

[@alexsmith6724]

You should backport Pichu into pokemon yellow. You know it will be hilarious.

[@Gamenut5555]

Another reason why Fly is better than Wing Attack is that defense is calculated twice when you attack twice with Wing Attack and once for Fly so you deal more damage with Fly

[@skeetermania3202]

How does that make a difference?

[@TheMoogleKing93]

Annihilape backport next? It's a spooky ghost and a Gen 1 evo so could work.

[@innocentram1800]

When I did this run, I gave Crobat the 7th gen learnset. This is likely the strong Crobat learnset for solo run. Starting with Cross Poison(70bp high crit with stab), absorb(for brock), and bite(PP saver early game). At 19, it learns Air Cutter (55 bp high crit flying type stab), At Erica I swapped Mega Drain with Giga Drain (75bp grass move to fight rock/ground type). If I could've convinced myself to give it X-Scissors or mod Leech Life to 80 bp, I reckon it would've been a top run.

[@almocorongo5459]

47:25 "so essentially the only way to Crobat lose in this instance is if Blizzard freezes" My dear brother in Christ, my real fear was the 5% (50% in reality like any non-100% move) chance that Fly could miss, not the Blizzard freeze