Dragonite vs. Tyranitar - Which pseudo-legendary is FASTER?

Playthrough Rules:
1. Only my starter in battle
2. No items in battle (except held items)
3. No glitches or exploits*
4. No Double-Team TM before level 100*
Other rules:
-- My Pokemon have perfect genetics to ensure fair comparison between species.
-- *Pokeballs & Pokedolls are allowed in battle
-- *The badge-boost glitch is not restricted at all
-- *Skipping the Rocket Hideout & Marowak is allowed
-- I play the game at 4x game speed (238 frames per second)
-- My Pokemon has perfect DVs
-- The bike is allowed
-- Skipping the bike is not allowed
-- 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 & timer to take breaks
-- The footage is sped up / slowed down to match the pace of my narration
*Double-Team:
-- Almost every Pokemon can learn Double-Team through TM
-- The TM can be purchased in Celadon
-- Using it would centralize the meta
-- Every Pokemon would use it to overcome tough battles at lower levels
-- It raises evasion
-- It triggers the badge boost
-- Banning the TM allows Pokemon who learn it through level up to use it
-- I believe evasion is part of Pokemon and shouldn't be banned entirely
-- I don't want the videos to all be double-team spam though, that's not fun or entertaining
Terms:
-- STAB
-- Same-Type-Attack-Bonus - a 1.5x damage multiplier
-- Stat Experience
-- The Gen1&2 equivalent of effort values. You can invest in all stats until they max
out at 65535
-- DVs or Determinate Values
-- The Gen1&2 equivalent of IVs (individual values), these range from 0-15
Resources:
-- Gen 1 Stat Calculator: pycosites.com/pkmn/stat_gen1.php
-- All Trainer Pokemon have IVs (DVs) of 89888 (hp, atk, def, spd, spc)
-- All Trainer Pokemon have EVs of 0
-- Gen 1 Crit Rates: www.smogon.com/rb/articles/cr...
-- Crit rate is determined by dividing base speed by 512
-- High crit rate moves determine their rate by dividing base speed by 64
-- All crits have a 1/256 to fail, even if the rate is 100%
-- Crits don't multiple damage by 2, it's a formula based on level
Illustrations
Sarina Vail: / sarinavail
Support me on Patreon
/ scottsthoughts
My Stream
/ scottsthoughtspokemon
I stream some first attempts on Twitch
I will be streaming re-attempts and races on KZbin
~~Connect with me~~
Twitter
/ psychicflying
Email
[e-mail]

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Answers to your FAQ. I ran the numbers for all these with my routing software. Hidden Power Psychic isn't as strong against Bruno. It's the difference between two hitting the Machamp (hp psychic) and getting an 80% chance to knock it out in one hit (hp flying). Having 15 Attack (Hidden Power Psychic) instead of 12 Attack (Hidden Power Flying) raises Tyranitar's chances of defeating Red's Espeon in one hit from 26% to 37%. Defeating Falkner at a lower level is of course possible. However, with my current knowledge, I believe it isn't a wise choice because what does each Pokemon gain from defeating him earlier? Both need to train so they can reach at least lv70 for Red. Battling earlier trainers, obtaining Flash, and then defeat Falkner allows for a snowball to form earlier from which you can reap compounding returns. Red's Espeon: Blackglasses+Crunch 31% OHKO, Hard Stone+Rock Slide 26% OHKO. IMO the 5% boost for the one hit is not worth carrying Crunch for a large portion of the playthrough. Tyranitar will need to bypass Espeon with a lucky two hit after being hit by Mud-Slap. Setup Curse on Pikachu? I did try this. Thunder does 21%-26% per hit and has a chance to paralyze. So that's not a great start. Also, because of Tyranitar's speed, one use of Curse cuts its speed under that of Blastoise and Venusaur which harms is chances significantly in the rest of the battle. Rip Rock/Dark type :( You're correct: I should use Bite against Morty with Tyranitar I should use Fire Punch against Jasmine more (this is a recurring error I make in my playthroughs, mostly because I think that Ice Punch will be "good enough" and I don't want to waste time learning a new TM and replacing my held item with the Charcoal)

[@KageNoTenshi]

Lets put it this way, you saw a two turn solar beam coming and you had detect and you didn’t use it, you deserve whatever poor result you get

[@priestesslucy3299]

Love how you went through the effort to make this FAQ Scott 💞💞

[@iantaakalla8180]

Also, Ice generally sucks. Even given it is a coverage move, only the very versatile and Ice will use for it.

[@Chronoflation]

Fire Punch's benefits against Jasmine can also potentially apply to Pryce's Piloswine. It may take it to a 1-hit for some mons and save a few more seconds, making up for the inventory management slightly more than just Jasmine and remove a little bit of the risk for both leaders

[@MsCravenMoorehead]

*Applause*

[@megadick6000]

Wing Attack is what Dragonite would learn as he evolves from Dragonair at lvl 55 and grows wings, so that does kinda make sense haha

[@priestesslucy3299]

No reason Gamefreak couldn't have given it to Dragonite at Level 1 and 55 though. A lot of Pokemon have something like that going on (although less often in Gens 1 and 2, but it's still there)

[@somedogsarecops2354]

@Priestess Lucy You aren't supposed to have Dragonite at level 1 so no reason they would of thought to give it.

[@keni7566]

@@somedogsarecops2354 A lot of evolved Pokémon do actually have moves at Lvl. 1 because of the move reminders. So yeah, it wouldn't make sense for them to not give Dragonite Wing Attack at Lvl. 1. And either way, there is Move Reminder in the Stadium 2 game. Sure, for Gen 1 and Gen 2 standards it would be stupid, but it does make sense for them to do so since you need a mon from Gen 2 for Stadium 2.

[@itsthekid9815]

@@priestesslucy3299 because it isn't hyped about having wings. It had no arms or legs for 54 levels. At level 55 it's like omg I have wings ima use them. At level 1 it's just use to them being wings and hasn't thought of using them for violence. Unlike a pokemon that has been wrapping people for 54 level.

[@danielgloyd4529]

​@@itsthekid9815 The best head cannon response.

[@codgamer2556]

Woke up at 1am this morning with a raging ear infection but Scott’s thoughts make the pain go away Edit: I appreciate all the replies but my infection is not getting better despite having antibiotics prescribed to me, might have to get something stronger…

[@denis2381]

Dr. Thoughts :-) I hope you get soon better!

[@ruthlesace]

They always do

[@dislexyc]

I hope you get better I get those often, it gets rough sometimes

[@thatoneweirdbish6364]

Completely agree, his videos helped me a lot with getting through the v. And ear infections are the worst, hope you'll get better asap!

[@tayvongriffiths8546]

Ayooo

[@theiceman7590]

I feel like Salamence vs Metagross in Emerald would be a perfect successor to this video

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I agree

[@andyvanmuilekom7390]

Some cool new moves for ttar and dragonite as well might as well do all 4

[@michaelchavez7108]

I doubt it would be close metagross crushes the game

[@AJUniverse]

Dragonite learns Wing Attack so late because, if it were leveling up normally from Dratini, it wouldn't've had wings yet.

[@TheRilluma]

lol

[@PeTeThEgOtH]

i really love how you breakdown the stats and raising the pokemon to peak perfection. (exactly how i figured out how to get my pokemon to be even more effective in my future play throughs.) Thanks Scott for always giving us the nerdy stats! your number one poke-fan nathan !

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

We all need a bit more Pokemon statistics in our life!

[@Hanesboi]

That first run with Tyranitar would face much fewer issues if it's attack IVs weren't as cut by HP Flying

[@aprinnyonbreak1290]

Especially since it dropped it anyways

[@matttypes2695]

Lance: Check out my 3 inappropriately leveled Dragonites Scott: I too have an inappropriately leveled Dragonite Lance: Surprised Pikachu face

[@jordanalexander615]

Pokemon golder lol😂 I love that quote

[@seraph481516]

I've always enjoyed how you use the natural transitions in the game for your edits. Seeing you point that out made my day! Thanks for all the great content, keep it up!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Glad you're enjoying the transitions! We're still working to make them battle :)

[@desiccant]

The VS videos are my favorites, appreciate you doing them even though you said they were more work.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Much more work, but we've become really good at editing videos now, so one of these isn't unbelievably exhausting anymore!

[@Nathan_Moor]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon Thank you for all your efforts

[@fritz1651]

T-tars Gen 2 backsprite looks so sick, it already has the edge over the goofy plump dragon design-wise.

[@thecriticalghost4626]

Goofy dragon Is cool

[@exeledusprince9165]

Man you really are getting these runs optimized... From Falkner, down the route south of violet city, through union cave, and completing the slowpoke well scenario, beating every trainer on the way and reaching a trainer in azalea gym in a little over 4 minutes is insane.

[@101alan1]

I did a solo Larvitar play through a while back and it struggled in quite a few areas. It didn't evolve until right before the final Rival battle. I'm interested to see how this goes.

[@MrPeabody67]

The Rival fight against the water starter in Azalea town was brutal for larvitar

[@samrushin2476]

I really like how they slightly altered Tyranitar's design so it looks more like a rocky dinosaur monster than an angry piece of wall insulation.

[@grundgutigertv6170]

Venomoth is a GREAT representation of the fairy type right there. Its been one since gen 1 after all!

[@danclaydon6588]

Scott, your upload schedule has been insane lately. I dunno how you're making them so quickly but I'm loving the videos as always

[@ChaosWindScar99]

Battle of 2 titans nice! Never clicked so fast. Thanks for the great content! After watching, Honestly the results I was expecting, Although I was surprised to see your move set choice for Tyrannitar for your second playthrough red fight.

[@trombaritone86]

Tyranitar has always been one of my favorite mons. I transferred an egg over to Soul Silver a while back to use it from the beginning of the game. Larvitar hatched knowing rock slide, earth quake, dark pulse, and bite. Those aren't supposed to be egg moves, so I was more than a little surprised. Let's just say the beginning of the game was easier than I've ever had. One bit of constructive criticism with the overlay (which is awesome information to have as a viewer), it seems like the stats are in a different order for your pokemon vs the opponent. I'm colorblind, so I have no idea which is special defense and which is defense on the opposing pokemon. You put a ton of work into these. Thanks for the content!

[@RandomLombax37]

It goes HP Attack Defense Special Attack Special Defense Speed

[@JaharNarishma]

​@@RandomLombax37 The other order is HP Speed Att Sp. Att Def Sp. Def Speed being above or below the special stats is a bit confusing.

[@red-eyessolares1817]

Cool to see both Psuedos get to be in the Ho-Oh/Lugia tier. You mentioned how you felt like keeping Crunch for Espeon would be dead weight, but I think there’s a solution to that. Replace Return with Crunch since it’s relearnable. While it seems bad to lose that before Karen since Return’s not 1-shotting Umbreon, Rock Slide can flinch it. If you want to avoid turn 1 Sand Attack, replacing Hidden Power Flying with Detect can solve that issue.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Detect won't help because Espeon will just use Mud-slap on the next turn anyways. It's going to spam it.

[@ubermusli]

I started watching your videos maybe like six months ago, after a recommendation from my friend who watches you as they go to sleep. During these months, you've gone from being my go to channel for sleeping, to just always being on in the background, both day and night. No other channel comes closer to being the soundtrack of my time as a new father. And for that, I thank you. Happy holidays, and take care.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Congrats on being a new father that’s really exciting and probably really exhausting. I’m honoured that my content has become the soundtrack for you during this special time.

[@ScottE-2]

Haven't seen this yet but I get the feeling it is going to be quite close until they both get to Red. I will have to come back and edit this thing to go further into thoughts about this. These two are definitely the greatest rivals that never met. CALLED IT. ALSO Why no Fire Punch? You get a clean kill when fighting Steelix and Fortress. I've also noticed you didn't pick up A SINGLE PP UP. You could've picked up one or two to help Tyranitar from running out of Rock Slides an easy one in Ice Path right before you leave it. Same with the single PP up before facing Erika which is in the same location seen in Yellow in a tree. Heck you even went BACK for the charcoal and didn't even use it unless you just sold it so you could get your TMs and the like. Because it sells for a nice price of 4,800 P. At least now the whole stats have been fixed with just the names to work out with the next series of playthroughs. As for anyone to KO Umbreon, it would have to be either Primape (thanks to Cross Chop), Heracross (with Megahorn if level 54), MAYBE Hitmonchan if it has its High Jump Kick Egg Move, Hitmonlee (with Hi Jump Kick), Machamp definitely has a shot at KO'ing it but that is if it can be fast enough to even hit Umbreon before it uses Sand Attack.

[@james_ford86]

Being faster than Umbreon isn't difficult, as even though Umbreon has a higher base speed stat than Machamp, it doesn't get any stat exp boosting its speed, whereas the player's Machamp can. Plus, Umbreon isn't exactly known for being a speed-demon, with only a 65 base speed stat (only 10 higher than Machamp). This would be easy AF to overcome with either a few Carbos or just battling pokemon that have a high base speed stat, even if Machamp was a few levels lower than Umbreon,

[@homer23422000]

Hitmontop with High jump kick (egg move) should also OHKO Umbreon, and maybe a max attack Poliwrath with Submission can also do it.

[@pinoxio]

i am realy exited about this video! im sick and cannot drive home for christmas, and you are brightening up my late night wake up (slept a lot today) you are the only person i am commenting the videos because i loved them since the beginning of your youtube carrer! you are such a nice guy, i love your humor and positivity! like you, i loved the games as a kid and played them much to often and for too long.. i got the blue one back then and stayed up all night with my friends, and even on the toilet breaks i heared the beautiful sound of the first generation repeating in my head. dont forget to take a brake and relax, you gave us a such a huge amount of videos lately! i wish you and your better half a merry christmas, enjoy it, you deserve it :)

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Merry Christmas to you as well! Sorry to hear you’re sick and can’t drive home for the holidays. Thanks so much for the kind comment. I’m having a sort of bleh day. Finished production yesterday and I think the pace change is messing with me. Thanks so much for the pick me up! It means a lot.

[@TheThrownOutSofa]

This channel needs more attention your content is so interesting and enjoyable all Pokémon fans deserve to watch

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Thanks so much!

[@Leonomonn]

I'm really excited for this one. Tyranitar is my favorite Pokemon, but I love both these guys.

[@moritzgattaz3884]

I love how you explain your strategies for each section/major battle. The fact that you test out moves we generally wouldn't see a Pokémon using makes these challenges even funnier to watch. Feels like you bring each Pokémon to their full potential! Keep up the great work!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Thanks so much! I will

[@MrSaturnMusic]

These are so fun to watch, seeing the different strengths and weaknesses of these Pokemon back to back I'm hoping to see Slowbro vs Slowking

[@isaotron]

I love seeing two excellent Pokemon do excellent against each other. My favorite kind of versus videos

[@NativeGolfer10]

I’m looking forward to the new content and how you will be tackling all the new challenges across 4 games.

[@ReederMG]

Phenomenal video as always! And I appreciate the pinned FAQ comment. You covered my question about not using Bite against Morty.

[@LeathalAttack]

Dude, apart from the one speedrunner I've watched for years, you are the only person I consistently watch play through the same games repeatedly. I still love the content, so it keeps me coming back.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Well I'm glad the videos keep you coming back! Makes me happy to know I'm doing something right when making these.

[@johnnyrankin]

Omg I’ve been waiting forever! Thank you Dennis!

[@johntarver5684]

Scott, I hope that beer you got tasted delicious! You truly earned it with your month of hard work!

[@TheEliseblackbriar]

That fairy venomoth in the corner got me so bad I choked on my drink xD Merry Christmas Scott!!

[@ajifiblu4905]

great video as always. just noticed what looks like a bug with your software. at 24:48 when teaching hidden power the icon displayed is ground but in the next cut this is flying as it should. also the mechanics for burn should be implemented differently (referencing the snorlax video here.) burn halves the power of all physical moves as opposed to halving the attack stat, so instead of 500 atk turning to 250, double edge's power should be 90 instead of 180. possibly a trivial detail, but considering the depth of implementation with gen 1 paralysis, it could be a good thing to add.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

The stat shown on the screen is the stat the internal memory is recording. Burn halves the attack stat.

[@luciddreamworks]

Gosh Scott, you are pumping out content like no one I've seen!! You deserve success on KZbin It's been so cool to see the growth since I started watching a couple years ago Anyways, I hope you and your fiance are doing well..she's the same type as venemoth if I'm not mistaken? Ghost, ice type is OP!!

[@rainbowfish420]

Yet another great video. Tyrantitar was one of my fav Gen 2 pokemon when I was a kid but bc u get it endgame I could never enjoy it ,glad to see this playthrough

[@darnedchris]

Great video once again Scott! About the one-shot on Umbreon, I instantly think of Herracross Megahorn? Sure, 85% accuracy but still, 120 power super effective STAB move with high attack? :-)

[@joel2628]

Ooooh. My senses are telling me the Metagross versus Salamence race is finally going to happen soon! Nice.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Not exactly “soon” but it will happen in 2023

[@tsunlastspock2206]

I was a little confused why you weren't using Bite on Ttar's first playthrough against Morty, since even if your SpA. was 3/4 of you Att, the move base power was 50% higher and took fewer turns. Similar with Ice Punch vs HP Ground on Jasmine's Steelix for Dnite, it's happened a few times now that you've favored Ice over Ground moves against Steelix on first playthroughs. Even so, those battles were simple and it doesn't really change the overall risk. Thinking of the Punches, it's always been weird to me that Ttar got Fire Punch but not Ice Punch or Thunder Punch. The use of HP Flying to avoid the slowdown of not immediately facing Chuck was well-thought; since you've noticed on a few videos now that he can be a crucial slowdown if you delay him (access to Fly is massive) it might be worth considering accounting for him with HP type on future playthrough optimizations, if moveset diversity allows it. I do think changing this up on the second playthrough hurt Tyranitar's result a fair bit, since it barely struggled with Chuck in the first playthrough; one potential reset there I think would still save more real time. It's nice to see how the nameless opponent Pokemon from that earlier livestream came to be; every fix in programming is going to lead to at least one new bug. Good that you're able to notice these bugs and fix them, though! A good performance overall, it's no surprise to me that Dragonite did so well. The S tier is beginning to fill up, I wonder who else will join it going forward.

[@Lockirby2]

Ice Punch might have been the right call against Steelix because its defense stat is insane and Ice Punch can freeze while still probably doing similar-ish (probably even more) damage. I think that using Dig against Gengar was a misplay though. Sometimes I think Scott overprioritizes physical moves against Gengar/Alakazam in Gen II because they're so specially bulky in Gen I.

[@BoopaKing]

Steelix has the same base defense as Shuckle. Ice punch would deal more damage than HP ground.

[@andersonantunesdeleu8591]

Scott this video immediately caught my attention with its title! What a clash!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Indeed! I’ve been so excited for this one for at least a year’

[@d.a.d.-ohgosh]

My favorite video of yours so far!!!

[@danielkaragic7057]

Man how cute is this dragonite-graphic!? A chunky, friendly little dragon. Great as always scott, enjoy the holidays

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Dragonite is so cute

[@BigKingQ]

Glad I didn't have to ask for this one. Thank you Scott 😊

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

You’re welcome.

[@adventureoflinkmk2]

4:04 -- LOL I love the look on that Lapras when you call out Misty has ice moves

[@SteorraD]

I was looking forward to this run lets goo

[@TheRealBlakers]

This video has so much hype. I can't wait for the Gen3 Pseudo-4-Way.

[@SinnerChrono]

Dragonite is my favorite pokemon so im rooting for him. But no matter what im sure you always try to be fair scott. And i appreciate that. Happy holidays.

[@ivankelava9191]

My fav Pseudo Legendary Tyrararara :D Love this content man!! Thanks for that !!

[@charlessegale6493]

I distinctively remember learning about Twister hitting Pokémon flying up in the air and Earthquake dealing double damage when a Pokémon is underground with Dig in Earl's class in Pokémon Stadium 2. Twenty-odd years ago. ...crap, I feel old.

[@LemanRuss01]

TTAR

[@theamazingaj8755]

Just started the vid, voted for Dragonite so here's hoping 🤞 also don't know if you know diamond/pearl/platinum that well but flygon vs garchomp with phys/spec split could be fun or teddiursa/ursaring vs munchlax/snorlax would be good, love the vids man 🤘

[@InfernosReaper]

Honestly, dropping Crunch(effective 120 power) seemed a bit of an odd choice to, since it's comparable-enough to Return against everything except Fighting and Bug pokemon(aka, what Hidden Power Fly is meant to deal with) and would be super-effective against Espeon, so less potentially less Mudslaps to deal with. EDIT: The potential for debuffing is also a nice bonus of Crunch.

[@KylestyleTV]

Also, for Morty, using dig which takes 2 turns at 120 power seemed like not as good of a choice as using bite at 180 power since the ghosts have a low so def too

[@InfernosReaper]

​@@KylestyleTV Yeah, Bite's generally a better choice than Dig, but ya gotta factor in Special Attack vs Special Defense, rather than Attack vs Defense, which may affect the comparison Crunch at 80 power(effectively 120 base; 240 vs weaknesses) would definitely make up the gap to *destroy* Psychic and Ghost types.

[@KylestyleTV]

@@InfernosReaper yeah phone auto corrected SP Def to "so def". With their low SP def, bite shoulda been slightly* faster

[@InfernosReaper]

@@KylestyleTV that ghost's special defense is slightly higher than their physical. the physical attack of the attacker is higher than their physical defense. It looks like those gaps enough to make Dig and Bite about equal on paper, with Bite winning out overall for time, depending on stat experience. Crunch, on the other hand is so strong that there is not s contest.

[@PrincessGoth574]

Dratini vs larvitar would be adorable hehe. Love the vs videos its like 2 in 1!

[@mattulibarri6181]

2 of my favorite pokemon of all time (Dragonite #1) this is one of my favorite videos ever. Nice work! @scott

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Thanks!

[@snowyhyper2352]

Thank you so much this is the best Christmas present evere thank you I love you're videos they are really fun. You could try fools gold if you ever get bored of Pokemon crystal. merry Christmas

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

You're welcome. Merry Christmas!

[@jacobliston7339]

Thanks for the chuckle at 26:09 Plus, the idea of Tyranitar wearing a pink bow makes me smile

[@LinkLovesCrawfish]

Good Pokémon pics this video is going to be fun!

[@WillowEpp]

Speaking of your overlay, I'm curious: have you thought about adding damage range calculation to the individual moves to show in real time what the effects of BP+stats+enemy turns out to be? I realise it would probably reduce the delta between initial play and optimisation, but it seems very natural as an extension of what you've already done.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Yes. I have already written functions to do this. In 2023 at some point I’ll show exact damage ranges in the 2nd playthrough portion of the video. First playthroughs will still be done this way because I don’t want to take all the mystery out of things.

[@WillowEpp]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon Cool! I've definitely wondered in cases where, for example, there's a neutral move with high stat vs. super effective with low stat. Or the cases where the defensive stats come into play. Anyway, something to look forward to; the best Pokémon overlay is just getting better!

[@haraldstraume6892]

HP flying couldve been a mistake overall. That 15 DV mightve given some more favourable ranges in a few cases, though the consistency might be problematic. TTar also has good special options, so maybe that could be the necessary tech for him to improve even more, at least throughout Johto. DNite seems pretty much optimised on the other hand! Great vid!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I did check other hidden power types but not consciously thinking about the damage ranges because of the attack DV. I'll keep that in mind in the future.

[@Erstadan]

The amount of entertainment you and your team are producing is astounding. just make sure you don't burnout... thanks

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

FInished all the production for the year yesterday. I'm on vacation now :D

[@Erstadan]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon good to hear!

[@dragonknight1560]

Really happy Dragonite got that win hehe. I'm glad! But yea, this was a close match-up! Good work Scott! But yea, the random chance of going through Red is not easy.

[@DarkNia64]

That timeskip edit at 19:34 was superb. Looked like Ethan just ran past the hiker saying "I don't have time for you."

[@Red-jq6bw]

YOOOW! MY FAVORITE POKEMON VS POSSIBLY THE STRONGEST POKEMON IN REGARDS TO COMPETITIVE! I'M HYPED!

[@iamlordapollo]

Scott, as a fellow musician, I had a hilarious and thematically relevant idea for your channel. I think we can all agree that the abbreviation for same type attack bonus being STAB is pretty hilarious. But it's also sort of mundane that it's the only boost with a cool name like that when there's type advantage, and badge boost, and badge type boost from gen 2. Therefore I propose we assign note divisions to the different values: Obv same type attack bonus is +50% will be either whole or half STAB depending how you wanna do it. Type Advantage is x2 damage so we call it either whole or Double STAB. Badge boost and badge type boost each give +12.5% respectively, which would be an eighth STAB. Put both boosts together for +25% and that's a Quarter STAB. You could even meme it pretty in depth lol. Badge boost plus same type attack bonus would be a dotted Quarter STAB XD And so on and so forth.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Interesting!

[@peacocca190]

I notice the S tier filling up a bit. My guess is that it ends up with only 3 Pokémon in the end though. I remember you saying you wanted to redo the box art legends when you got better at the game, so I predict Lugia and Ho-Oh get optimized on a replay to be clearly a tier above the current S tier. Then you do Mewtwo and it beats both of them. The psychic nerf won't really hurt Mewtwo until gen 3 (darn you Poochyena!!!) since no dark type Pokémon appear in the game until after Mewtwo has a move to hit them. It's faster and hits harder than the birds making it's inferior (but honestly still pretty good) bulk rather a moot point.

[@williambaker5730]

Great video as always Scott! Although I do think having a maxed out hidden power of your choosing makes these runs slightly less challenging/entertaining. Would be interesting to see a pokemon overcome challenges such as Claire without just being given hidden power ice base power 70. Gen 2 (other than facing red) is easy enough without manipulating the DVs to get the perfect hidden power. Could start comparing runs with and without hidden power see if there’s a major difference (you hinted at that in this video at the end r.e. Ho-oh and Lugia). Would be interesting to see who is the best pokemon in the game in normal circumstances!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I’ll be banning hidden power in the new year. I think it’s sort of run it’s course and is becoming over centralized in the runs now.

[@vfranceschini]

Great content as always! Thanks! Kairyu/Dragonite has been my favourite mon since gen1 xD Cheers!

[@tannerlawrence3462]

I love the content, Scott! However, I'm a bit confused to why you did not use a strategy of setting up curse and return with Tyranitar on the Pikachu. With his high special defense, the worst thing the Pikachu could use against him was Thunder or Charm (a minor setback). Once set up, the rest of the team would be easy. Plus, Rock Slide is too inaccurate considering the Espeon will only use mud slap. Maybe the strategy is fairly cliche, and I am probably missing the damage ranges. Anyway, I am really enjoying the month and hope you have a relaxing holiday after this month of posting daily ends. :)

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I left a pinned comment about this. Curse means Tyranitar also gets hit by Blastoise

[@tannerlawrence3462]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemonmakes perfect sense, thank you!

[@skeetermania3202]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon Could Sandstorm also help alongside Curse, Rest, and Return holding Leftovers, Mint Berry, or Pink Bow (if necessary to hit a damage range)? That could maybe tempt Venusaur and Blastoise to set up their own weather rather than attack you. Since Venusaur always seems to come before Blastoise, if it sets up sun, which it probably will because Solar Beam’s power is cut in half in sand, you should be good to go if you can OHKO it. In this case, being outsped would actually be a good thing. Then when you get to Blastoise, it might set up rain or maybe use Blizzard (which, BTW, cannot freeze if sun is up, so there’s no risk of that), so once again, being outsped is either inconsequential or maybe a good thing. Hell, with this strategy, it might be possible to win at a lower level. However, if the order is reversed, then maybe set up Sandstorm on Pikachu?

[@zacharyessey5904]

Both did extremely well! Being a Dragonite fan, I have to say that I am very happy especially after seeing how it wasn't as good in Gen 1 for solo challenges.

[@JWStevens]

One of my fav runs you have done! I used them both, a 2 man team from Dratini and Larvitar to full evolve to beat crystal it wasn’t as easy as I thought. And you did it solo. But what really gets me is when clefairy uses Megahorn it occurred to me why don’t the Johto gym leaders only uses Gen 2 Pokémon like Gen 3. Never bothered me until then lol imagine Bugsy with a Heracross! Lol

[@Lotus_RT]

14:16 still better luck than when I did my Tyranitar playthrough. When I faced Whitney, what did Clefairy roll with Metronome? Cross Chop! (Yes, it hit)

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Omg that’s brutal. She did get Perish Song against me once!

[@dungeonpastor]

Dragonite proving why he's dominate. My favorite of all time. Great video, Scott.

[@ruisurengai]

To be fair the DVs didn't suffer like TTars

[@laureate90]

Ah, Godzilla vs Destroyah, can't wait :) I'd have gone with King Ghidorah, but that's clearly Hydreigon. Mothra of course being Volcarona... You totally have a potential series here, man.

[@GerBessa]

Or Venomothra...

[@laureate90]

@@GerBessa The legendary poison fairy pokemon? Too epic to contemplate...

[@danielspencer4665]

when you have a definite top 3 through the gen2 runs, maybe you could do a play off in heart gold/soul silver when the move-sets are better and the phys/spec split comes in. its a longer play through for sure and we understand youve got to maintain some consistency while avoiding burn but a gen4 run would be awesome between the best Jhoto mon

[@Kyle_MJ]

Next Pseudo Legendary Match: Metagross vs Garchomp Let’s make it happen! Merry Christmas Scott!

[@Rat2rrj]

Another interesting run would be poliwrath in crystal, chuck knows of the dynamic punch and surf combo, but how would you improve on those building blocks? Happy 2023 everybody!

[@wrathofgod943]

Also if I'm remembering gen 2 Ai correctly from crystal kaizo. The Ai will roll the damage for all it's moves then choose the one that does the highest damage. So for instance when the miltank used stomp, the game rolled a Crit for the stomp and checked it against a non-crit rollout. Then it picked stomp, but because it Crit on the test it was really unlikely to Crit when actually used.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

It does check the rolls, but Im not sure if it considers crits. I’ll have to look into that.

[@TJF588]

15:37 "But yeah, if _could_ use it, in that case, it would deal double damage~." Something about how "double damage" is said with that rising intonation is charmingly pleasant.

[@jordanalexander615]

The later generations Dragonite really shines with the physical special split. Great coverage and can utilize its good attack stat finally.

[@kingedgy6608]

Did you try to use the Curse + Detect strategy against Venusaur? I think it might work out pretty well to block solar beam and let you one-shot everything else (maximum of 1 mud slap taken).

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Pretty sure Blastoise ruined my day because it outspeeds

[@vava85]

Great video

[@MightyRyan1337]

I used both these Pokemon in my Scarlett playthrough and they are both fantastic, Tyranitar has one of my all time favorite designs. Also I nicknamed my Dragonite Stormfly, think it suits it well

[@dantemalick2872]

Dragonite learning wing attack at 55 makes sense since that's the level dragonair evolves and actually gets wings Another thing why not hidden power psychic on tyrannitar it only seemed to need it for fighting types and that's 15 attack ev

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Ahhh yes! That does make sense

[@dantemalick2872]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon the small difference probably would have made you need slightly less training in a few spots and you might have not needed to use a rare candy early either

[@marktheshark1918]

You did the eeveelutions for Pokémon Yellow, will you be doing the Legendary Dogs comparison for Crystal Version?

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I will be!

[@PortableFrog]

I'm ready for this >:)

[@TheArchit3cture]

25:23. This summarizes why they were like "no, you WAIT until later to get a Lavitar. You're going to get cooked."

[@keltikglider9188]

I had a question, when you do these verses videos do you fully play the game with one Pokémon or hop back and forth kind of like how you edit these videos?

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I used to hop back and forth but it ends up making both Pokemon perform worse. And it takes way longer. Now I start with the Pokemon I think is favored and then play the one I consider the underdog. My ADHD basically deletes all the short term memory if I do this 1-2 days apart. Then I optimize each one until I'm satisfied with it. I don't jump back and forth at all during that process.

[@JitteryJackanape]

Would you consider doing this playthrough again in HGSS? I am curious as to how the physical special split would effect results.

[@ReederMG]

Dennis And I just noticed in the video that the Bird Keeper's name is "Denis" and not "Dennis". Is it the same for the fan who comments on your videos? Because if so, I've been spelling his name wrong for a long time

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

It’s “Denis” just one N

[@Kiddblackstar94]

Ayoooooo that's crazy I literally had a thought about this run 2 days ago. 😭😭

[@healheart1600]

Hi Scott! I never saw you pick up the goldbeeries at the ruins of alph, do you know about them? Maybe they would help a few pokemon early game. They are in hidden rooms behind the puzzles.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Didn't not know about them! Thanks for sharing.

[@healheart1600]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon thanks for your awesome content. Merry Christmas!

[@RecRoomPlays]

Crunch/Rock Slide/Earthquake/a Normal move has always been my go-to Tyranitar moveset, it's surprising how much those three moves can cover

[@hansvantcg]

Yessssssss let’s go my boy TTAR!!!!! Hopefully he pulls out the win

[@felixjohansson4395]

Would be cool to see Metagross vs Salamence in Emerald.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Planned

[@DarkMagicianGirl0]

I think a gen 3 battle of Shelgon vs Pupitar video would be a lot of fun. :)

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Omg I guess I need to do it

[@DarkMagicianGirl0]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon no rush lol

[@shaiazulay8629]

Love your vids. Suggestion When you do a versus video. why not give the rival the opposing pokemon instead of a starter. ( while playing with tyranitar, give the rival a dragonite.) i think itll make the race more interesting

[@andyvanmuilekom7390]

Would make it unfair for some sets and then it would also become a vs between 2 Mons instead of checking the Mons vs the game

[@BarelyLegal23]

I have no idea how your pumping these videos out daily, I hope youtube is paying you well lol

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

We started working on all this at the start of November! That’s how ;)

[@ChaoticCrow]

It would be cool if in future vs video's it would be cool if the rivals starter Pokemon is the the other mon in the race and with the move's you had at that point in the race, that being said that could be more effort than it's worth to set that up.

[@coldfraps]

Hey Scott. I also wrote a comment on your last video regarding this. Here is one more both for the algorythm and if you didn't see it. If you want help with the data for easy comparison between all runs, I would like to offer my help for free setting it up easily in excel in a couple of ways, so there is something to choose between. Just let me know. If not, I also look forward to your future videos. You are doing really great and i love your videos!

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Send me an email. I’ve got some help with this already, but I may need more in the future.

[@jaredstivers]

If I remember from the Randomizer Speed Runner vs. Nuzlockers, the Gyarados is an easy catch since it shows off the new Shiny mechanic.