Fixing Gen 2's Gym Leaders

[@Mgauge]

The kindest compliment ever given to Ledian proclaiming that it's more challenging than two cocoons.

[@thundergamespt99]

​@@tylamcgilverson3923 ehm, acthually, its not HgSs, its GSC🤓

[@MaxiemumKarnage]

It allows Scizor to be a baton passer

[@juandiegotorres9632]

I wish it's stats were better but i love it's design

[@thecriticalghost4626]

I mean it really is decent enough for that point in the game, way More than the cocoons obviously

[@myhandleiswhat]

@@thundergamespt99 No, Tyla meant Stat Experience/EVs, not DV/IVs. You can't "train" those outside of Hyper Training which was introduced in Gen 7.

[@worldsboss]

Apparently Whitney was originally going to be into baseball (hence her outfit), complete with an Aipom. I think it’d be awesome to see her regain the Aipom, even if it’s not the strongest mon.

[@MrCyberGal]

100% she should get an Aipom

[@InfernosReaper]

I like that better than Toga line. Makes it more interesting, especially with his addition of Sir Furryton wrecking fools using Ice Punch

[@bestbeekeeper8931]

​@@InfernosReaper i like togetic more, because if she replaces it you can still kinda heracross sweep her

[@Shalakor]

@@bestbeekeeper8931 I mean, it's the 3rd Gym, perfect sweeping counters aren't really needed in the difficulty curve. Especially when there's a lot of threat to deal with from her and Heracross should be worth the effort of obtaining.

[@theamazingspooderman2697]

imo Whitney's team was fine but Aipom's addition would not hurt at all

[@andrewdeleon559]

I feel like Clair should have a Feraligatr instead of a Charizard because she is Johto's Dragon Master, so she should use a Dragon-like starter from the Johto region

[@robertlupa8273]

Plus she seems to prefer aquatic dragons (despite the fact that her gym is full of lava).

[@thebarbelllifestyle1478]

I agree. Give her feraligatr and keep Aerodactyl on lance's team and instead give Claire Lapras. Fits with the aquatic theme and it's also on her stadium 2 team. Take away Lapras from pryce and give him something like Slowbro/king or cloyster. Other comments have mentioned ursaring, which also makes sense.

[@notscorchingsands9718]

Gators aren't dragons...

[@matthewkuscienko4616]

@notscorchingsands9718 No, but it can learn dragon type moves and is more draconic than the other starters from the first 2 generations minus Charizard

[@trevorstevenson4038]

Yes, Feralgatr could definitely work on Clair.

[@willjoejack7469]

Pryce could have Stantler. It's winter-y/Christmas-themed like Delibird and they have compatible vibes imo lol

[@UntoTheBreach24]

Now this is the kind of lateral thinking we need around here

[@viniciuscomacento]

this is just brilliant, and then replace that Tentacruel

[@kirbyofthestarsfan]

Yes exactly

[@corvistein9016]

Def agree

[@Toast_94]

Unfortunately it doesn't exactly do the gym any favors, all Stantler it does is share the Ice type's fighting type weakness which isn't helping Pryce's difficulty or lack therof. Tentacruel at least resists fighting and is strong vs fire covering those two weaknesses. In turn Sneasel covers its psychic weakness, Piloswine covers its electric weakness, and the other water types cover its ground weakness; it's not always a bad thing to have a seemingly random "coverage-mon" in a gym leader's team.

[@pokegon100]

I feel like Clair should stick to Dragons of the Sea, as that fits her aesthetic while complimenting Lance's Dragons of the Sky motif (also fits with the duality of the games with Ho-oh & Lugia). So i feel like giving her more aquatic reptiles or serpents would fit the bill. Feraligatr & Arbok come to mind for her team. Hell, I could justify fitting in Seaking, with the Legends of fish becoming dragons, like magikarp.

[@robertlupa8273]

I never thought about the "sky vs sea" motif of the dragon masters mirroring the game mascots. :o

[@itsbmeGaming]

I think you hit the nail on the head. Clair's Pokemon incidentally are blue in color and is a nice contrast to Lance who's more eccentric and dramatic. I think Clair with Gyarados, Dragonair, Seadra, Lapras and Kingdra makes a good team that's also very sea dragon themed and as you said is a good contrast to Lance who has Aerodactyl and Charizard as sky dragons.

[@mokarokas-1727]

@@itsbmeGaming - You don't find Clair eccentric and dramatic, with her badge-withholding tantrum? =')

[@itsbmeGaming]

@@mokarokas-1727 in terms of her team I meant.

[@TheIcenick]

Agreed 100% and cool concept that makes them stand apart. Someone also mentioned Lance having charizard is iconic)

[@thenameisntimportant9008]

This has probably been suggested before, but if you look at Clair's base team, she is kind like the water counterpart to Lance's flying types. The Datini line has always been associated with water along with flying, what with the first two stages being based on Eastern dragons, and her ace is literally a water dragon. They even gave her another water type in the remakes in the form of Gyarados, so if you want to give her new Pokémon without too much overlap with Lance so as to keep her own identity, you could try and look at Pokémon that are water types that could be reptilian as well like Lapras. It would overlap with Pryce, but having a little overlap isn't unheard of but if that is a deal breaker, then maybe that could be a good reason to remove Lapras from his team and give him Cloyster and Dewgong instead.

[@brunofassio1346]

Feraligatr fits also

[@JayClearman411]

Yup I like her feraligatr with dragon rage/dragon breath

[@tatlxtael2303]

I think there's a very golden oppurtunity here to make Pryce the fifth gym leader since you're able to go that direction anyway, and swap the level scalings around with Jasmine since she honestly seems to be the most well balanced team thus far. It almost feels like a shame to have someone who's team is so good only be 6th, and followed by pryce.

[@smithplayspokemon]

WOAH, this is an interesting idea...

[@Tauposaurus]

It also moves the newly introduced steel type torwards a more climatic part of the game. Theres good ways to make the shift. Have her gym be closed while she heals ampharos, and then make her call you once the team rocket arc is over, saying she is ready to accept your challenge. This way she goes from a previ9usly sweet girl you helped in the past to a fearsome opponent displaying the potential of the new steel type. Having her later means, like op said, that she can pack ore punch than she used to without making pryce feel underwhelming.

[@robertlupa8273]

@@Tauposaurus Amazing ideas, you and Lunabell.

[@danielquinlan2457]

Tbh, Steel makes a lot more sense as the penultimate Gym's specialty than Ice.

[@timovos5371]

​@@smithplayspokemon this also handles the team rocket arc better. Now you do the annoying hideout, price and then the radiotower. By switching this up it gets more barable

[@michaelballack3051]

Here are my suggestions: For Whitney while I like the idea of giving Togetic some spotlight, I would much prefer a Snubull since its a very unapreciated pokemon and contrasts the cuteness of Clefairy For Morty's team I don't like seeing Houndoom, I think it makes more sense for Morty to have an Umbreon for example. Ecruteak has the Kimono girls after all. For Chuck I don't like Sudowoodo on his team so I would suggest an Ursaring. It's a fierce looking bear that also learns fighting moves, could have easily been a normal/fighting like Bewear in gen 7 As for Pryce's team, I would replace the Tentacruel with an Octillery. Another underrated Johto pokemon that honestly has an impressive movepool for a gen 2 game. The rest seems totally fine for me 👌👌

[@josephahner3031]

Snubull is adorable, fight me.

[@HarmonicDX]

Great changes! Snubbull makes total sense, but there should definitely be a trainer down the line with Togetic

[@sharky2404]

Maybe you should be a youtube i like these ideas and explanations a lot better then the ones in actual videos on thus topic

[@inspectorspinda]

I totally agree with snubull. Plus its better for the story because eggs are supposed to be a big mystery and elm didn't even know what a togepi was

[@pizzasheriff3562]

Another comment mentioned it, but there's some official art of whitney playing baseball/catch with an aipom, so I'd love for her to use one. Aipom already is criminally underused in johto (I literally don't remember a single time I've seen one; however that may be different in crystal as I played silver), and it portrays a sport she likes instead of just "I like cute things". I really dig when trainer's pokemon reference different parts of their character.

[@Shadowvanify]

I think Jasmine’s Ampharos needs to have Iron Tail, otherwise it just feels too out of place.

[@smithplayspokemon]

This is a really good call! Will definitely do this

[@zane6470]

@@smithplayspokemon It would also be a fun nod to name Jasmine's Ampharos "Amphy" if it's the same one from the lighthouse

[@LinkNinjaMaster]

@@zane6470 I'm not sure if regular enemy trainers CAN have nicknames on their Pokémon. Could be wrong, though.

[@trevorstevenson4038]

Perfect suggestion

[@gabriellejacquiet9925]

@@LinkNinjaMaster I mean it could be modded in but I don't think in the default state it's possible

[@NickAgatha]

It is insane to me how underused some of the most prominent Gen 2 were in their own debut. Also, the idea that gym leaders might feature a Pokémon that's not their usual type for extra coverage is very interesting. I like how you used Ampharos and Tentacruel. Ampharos also fits plot-wise.

[@Dabuddah]

Hear me out: Instead of Tentacruel we go with Slowking. An underutilized Gen 2 Pokemon in crystal that also is a reference to the anime "I could use pants" - since he's on an ice team. A bit of another reference but he gets Chilling Reception in S/V so he can leave snow, too. This allows Pryce to fully punish the Fighting/Rock/Fire types that are gunning for his icey boys and gives him a STAB that steel doesn't resist. Give him Psychic/Icy Wind/Surf and either Rain Dance/Toxic/Fire Blast. Rain Dance to weaken fire since hail isn't a weather in gen2 Toxic because he's bulky Fire Blast (or flamethrower but that's move tutor) to deal with the steel types on your team

[@smithplayspokemon]

I love this idea! Unfortunately I’m saving slowking for Will!

[@Dabuddah]

@@smithplayspokemon well if you're using a gen 1 Pokemon slowbro is the same, or are you saving him for Will, too?

[@marcelocapeljunior3579]

@@Dabuddah Slowbro is also a nice reference to Lorelei, who also had a Slowbro in the original games.

[@iantaakalla8180]

Slowking/Slowbro also is part Psychic type, meaning they perfectly counter the weaknesses of any Pokémon strong against Ice types.

[@ldluukke4125]

@@smithplayspokemon I think Octillery could be an interesting pick for Pryce's team that you should consider. - Strong water type that most players don't encounter in their playthrough since Remoraid is only catchable on one route in G/S, but is no where to be found in Crystal. - Learns 4 Ice type moves, 2 by level up. - Has a flexible move pool in general. - Has a cool signature move. - Can check Pokemon that are super effective to Pryce's team. - Simply a cool concept that had unused potential in GSC.

[@iamhaito]

I think Claire having a Lapras would make sense. Also Feraligatr instead of Charizard to keep her water theme. It'll be cool to have each dragon master have their own unique dragon-like starter ❤ maybe if her gym had perpetual rain instead of lava would be amazing too.

[@thegoldensealion9463]

Except feraligatr isnt dragonlike, unlike charizard

[@aceclover758]

True but Ferraligator can learn dragon Dance in later gens and I think dragon breath

[@Aurirang]

@@thegoldensealion9463 To be fair, nowadays Dragons are palm trees and apple-pies. I'd say a crocodile has more business beign a dragon than something that came straight out of grandmas oven. :D

[@JayClearman411]

@@Aurirangfacts especially given how many dragon type moves it capable of learning

[@BlockO008]

I saw a comment somewhere where someone said Claire should have mostly water/dragon types since she’s supposed to represent the Dragon’s of the Sea, and it makes so much more sense now with her team & look. I think instead of the Aerodactyl & Charizard she should just have a Seadra so you can see the drastic difference from a Seadra to a Kingdra, a Feraligtr cause it fits with the theme and contrasts Lance’s Charizard, and maybe add an Ampharos to her team instead of Jasmine’s since it was originally was supposed to be a Dragon and it could be her second lead so it could set up Rain Dance.

[@BlockO008]

She can keep the Gyarados, Dragonair & her ace Kingdra obviously, but you could always either cut her Seadra or Ampharos if you didn’t want her to have 6 mons as the 8th gym leader.

[@smithplayspokemon]

love this idea!!

[@yurirosario1829]

I never noticed they had this theme but now everything makes sense

[@AirikrStrife]

In that case adding Lapras would be a great choice! it's a dinosaur-isch pokemon (ancient reptile) and was also on Iris' team in later gens so works well

[@wargriz8213]

Come on guys, sure Lapris works for her theming but…Pryce already has so little, don’t do this to him.

[@nickdominique6015]

Pryce actually I feel like has some cool non ice options. I feel like Slowking has a lot of possibilities to shine here as a bulky option on an ice team. Good counter to fighting, steel, and fire while still having some ice moves too. Golduck I could see being a neat option too that gets overlooked but could do well here

[@HansPeter-gb9ep]

Ursaring is a good fit thematically imho

[@adnanilyas6368]

Slowking is a fantastic suggestion. In Gen 1, you found Slowpoke and Slowbro in the same region as Articuno and most of the game's Ice types, the Seafood Islands. I think giving Pryce a Slowking is a decent way to pay homage to that Gen 1 Legacy while still keeping a bit of Gen II style.

[@BlockO008]

I think Whitney should have either a Snubbull, Aipom or Teddiursa instead of her Togetic or Furret on her team since those are also extremely underused and underrated new gen 2 normal type Pokémon.

[@BlockO008]

Like I actually can’t even think of one trainer who even has an Aipom on their team in the entire game now that I am thinking about it. And I feel like Teddiursa is just a cute Pokémon that a lot of people would want to go out of their way to try to go get one after seeing it on Whitney’s team.

[@MageLeaderInc]

Whitney has so many options that are all good because they added so many new normal type Pokemon in gen 2.

[@BlockO008]

@@MageLeaderInc Yeah, I agree. I am not sure why they didn’t give her more options or at least more of a gen 2 representation.

[@jcohasset23]

@@BlockO008 Probably due to how challenging most players find her Miltank. Mostly just what makes Miltank difficult is the lack of pokemon choices and moves by that point coupled with Gen 2's poor level curve making it the first really challenging fight. In general Johto has poor Gen 2 representation until the player gets to Kanto.

[@JayClearman411]

Yup I like snubbull an aipom for Whitney…if she does have aipom im going give it max stats cuz it’s base stat total is pitiful

[@torru36]

Some of Gen II's decisions really make you wonder what they where smoking. Hound line, which is a great choice to showcase the new dark types and a fire type for those that didn't pick up Cyndaquil, is found in the Kanto region for one.

[@JitteryJackanape]

Tell me about it! I specifically wanted one for my team because I picked Totodile and I thought it was awesome in the Pokémon 3rd movie special with the 2 pichu. I was pissed. Started a new game. I feel like you can't pick anything but cyndaquil

[@felix_forrester]

I like Aerodactyl being exported to Claire's team, but I think Lance having Charizard is too iconic. It's a real wham moment when the strongest trainer's sequel fight features the most popular starter out of the blue like that.

[@notscorchingsands9718]

Was charizard popular then? It was the worst starter in RBY and TCG

[@animejerk05]

@@notscorchingsands9718 Charizard was extremely popular back then thats why its the only kanto starter in the silver and gold opening

[@ladyriethegoldendelmo5441]

How is it the worst starter when it can reach 4 hours for speed runners? K lol

[@notscorchingsands9718]

@@ladyriethegoldendelmo5441 So can poliwag

[@ladyriethegoldendelmo5441]

@@notscorchingsands9718 I mean true lol xd

[@azjeffs]

I was kind of surprised that you gave Furret Ice Punch and added a Flying type to Whitneys team. Players who choose Chikorita already have to deal with a Flying gym, a Bug Gym, a Ghost gym with mostly Poison types (that you added a Fire-type to), an Ice Gym and a Dragon gym (that you also added a Fire-type to) featuring Ice and Fire moves. I think it's great to make the Gyms more challenging, but in terms of Starters and Gyms, I feel like some of the decisions you made were really really unbalanced.

[@ganymedehedgehog371]

Yeah adding coverage like that to early gyms is really sweaty and makes chikorita unusable. This is why game freak doesn’t listen to fans.

[@Seth_Hezekiah]

He said this is meant to be a continuation of Gen 1. In Gen 1, the starter determined the difficulty. So this literally fits the style.

[@azjeffs]

@@Seth_Hezekiah in Gen II starter determines difficulty too. Chikorita is already hard mode. Doesn't make sense to make it harder 10 fold. It's like giving Brock's Onix Rockslide and Erika's Tangela Earthquake to make it more challenging for all 3 but significantly more challenging for Charmander than it already was. It should be easy, normal, hard. Not normal, hard, impossible. Just my thoughts.

[@Seth_Hezekiah]

@@azjeffs he didn't make it impossible. He buffed chikorita hard and because of the newly added pokes, chikorita can actually cover more options. Not to mention giving her giga drain that's also buffed in strength and pp.

[@azjeffs]

@@Seth_Hezekiah oh he did? Dang I haven't watched the video in a while and I totally don't remember him buffing Chikorita sorry! Might rewatch one day

[@eyalinbar4845]

Tentacruel just feels wrong. In my opinion, cloyster is the better option., but also give Dewgong instead of Lapras and then Claire or Lance can have it. It's draconic and it ia based on the Loch-Ness monster, a mythical creature.

[@mudkipqueen920]

Pryce had a pair of lapras in the manga, so there is evidence for him having a lapras but I agree about tentacruel

[@shineyydesigns7696]

Idk, Tentacruel fits Pryce's grumpy old man vibe, and gives good water coverage without a third Water/Ice type. Its also a good Fighting and Steel resist

[@RJRogerJ]

It’s amazing seeing how different your suggestions were for gen 2’s gym leaders vs the rom.

[@smithplayspokemon]

I’ve read every single comment on this video and I’m considering all your feedback! The biggest points I’m considering: - Falnker having Noctowl is too much for the first gym - Pryce should have just ice types. Thinking about bringing back dewgong for Lapras, and swapping tentacruel with Cloyster. - thinking about making Clair more ‘dragon of the sea’ themed and giving her a Lapras and removing her Lance pokemon

[@robertlupa8273]

Great ideas. If I may suggest something else, I think Morty could have his Houndoom replaced with Murkrow. Later games make it a counterpart to Misdreavus (which Morty already has), Houndoom feels like a bit too much for some reason (even though it's the 5th gym; I'm really not sure why it seems so unfitting. It's not like it's too "evil-looking", since Gengar feels perfectly fine) and lastly, I think it'd be positively ironic for someone described as the "seer of the future" to have a Pokemon that is disliked for bringing back luck. Soemthing about that feels funny to me.

[@somaxs-64]

I enjoyed your changes, but to keep faithful to the spirit that it's a sequel to Kanto/Gen 1, as you mentioned previously in the video, we should first and foremost have each Gym Leader have the same amount as pkmns as their Kanto counterparts did in R&B. 1)Faulkner 2 Pkmns [Natu&Noctowl/Hoothoot] You can keep the underlevel Noctowl if it's just only 2 pkmns, in my opinion. And as much as I wouldn't mind 3 pkmns against the first gym, Brock only had 2 (unlike 1st Gym Leaders Roxanne,Roark,Cheren&Katy, which have 3 pkmns). 2) Bugsy 3 Pkmns [Yanma/Pineco,Ledian,Scyther] Ariados is also a good choice, but since it appears in Koga EF team, we could also use Pineco instead since Koga uses Forretress. Yanma, I think, would be the best choice since he gets a Yanmega in his rematch team, and all of them being Bug/Flying makes it still easy enough for being the 2nd Gym Leader that a kid playing pkmn for the first time could handle against. 3) Whitney 3 Pkmns [Teddiursa,Clefairy,Miltank] I think Teddiursa is a fine choice since she has a Ursaring in her PKMN World Tournament team, which we should take into consideration as potential members for their teams. 4) Morty 4 Pkmns [Gastly/Murkrow,Haunter, Misdreavus,Gengar] I think we should just keep his team pure Ghost at the end of the day. But if I were forced to add another non Ghost pkmn to replace his Gastly, I would choose Murkrow instead since Houndoom is Karen Ace pkmn and Morty would essentially have 2 Elite Four Ace pkmns in his team (Agatha&Karen). Also, you could always replace Karen Murkrow for Tyranitar instead that way, Murkrow only appearance is in Morty's team, which is more fitting for his stats compared to being in a EF.

[@yorecf9641]

Personal opinion: Noctowl isn’t actually too much for the first gym. I’ve actually tried a rom hack with this and it wasn’t too much. People over obsess over BSTs to the point they don’t realize that Noctowl’s attack and speed stats are lower than both Pidgeotto’s and Murkrow’s. It may take one or two extra hits to KO, but it’s also the least likely of the three to KO you in return.

[@somaxs-64]

5) Chunk 4Pkmns [Hitmontop,Heracross,Primeape,Poliwrath] This would do and be a huge improvement from his lousy 2 pkmn gym team that he took inspiration from Fighting Dojo KM Koichi who lost his Gym Leader status to Sabrina because of it. 6) Jasmine 4Pkmns [Skarmory,Magneton,Scizor/Forretress,Steelix] Agree with Scizor over Forretress, but I just wanted to mention it since it's in her rematch team, and technically, Scizor is Bugsy Ace after it evolves in its rematch team which we have to take into consideration. 7) Pryce 4 Pkmns [Delibird/Sneasel,Jynx,Dewgong/Cloyster,Piloswine] You were overthinking it when sometimes being simple with your choices is the best. This is why I understand why you weren't too confident with the choices. His Pkmn World Tournament team does indeed have a Lapras, but yeah, that Lorelei Ace and we should try avoiding giving Ace pkmns as much as we can. 8) Clair 5 Pkmns [Seadra,Gyarados,Feraligatr/Charmeleon,Dragonair,Kingdra] Yeah, her rematch team is essentially Lance Champion Team, and her World Tournaments team is of no use to us. So, giving her Seadra, I think, is fine and references how both Clair&Lance are cousins, since they both like to have the pre evolution of their Ace pkmns in their teams (Just like Lance with his Dragonair & Dragonite) Feraligatr vs. Charmeleon: If you wanna give her more Johto pkmns, then Feraligatr is a good choice, and similar to her cousin, her team is more of the secondary type instead of the Dragon type they so proudly proclaim to have. If we give her Charmeleon that evolves into her rematch, Charizard, that would also make sense, but yeah, it's also on Lance team. Also, you could give Lance an Exeggutor on his team as reference to his Alolan Exeggutor in the Let's Go team if you really wanna make their teams not be total clones/copies of each other.

[@yorecf9641]

@@somaxs-64 Misty only uses 2 Pokémon and Erika only uses 3. If he does what you suggest, then Bugsy and Morty both need to drop a team member.

[@speedrobo99]

For Pryce, instead of Tentacrul, I recommend Kingler. Very under used in Gen 1 and it's always felt like an honorary ice type to me. There's lots to do with him.

[@MalevolentMinun]

Surprised you didn't give Claire a Seadra, it'd make sense to contend with one before she whips out the evolution to show the stark and drastic shift of it becoming a Dragon type.

[@matthewroberts198]

Thaaaat's interesting. Never thought of it that way (no sarcasm)

[@gabrielcastro9086]

I like this idea too, along with her army of dragonair

[@tyrant-den884]

Way to low-base for Clair.

[@yorecf9641]

@@tyrant-den884 Seadra has a higher BST (440) than the Dragonair she already uses (420).

[@JayClearman411]

Yup I like this idea it seems way more on brand then charizard smh

[@amesstarline5482]

The prescence of any Magneton is much better than how it was two Magnemites.. I also like these "within the theme" choices for external 'mons, allowing for variety without being a birdkeeper-Lance.

[@SpectralDarkon]

some alternate suggestions for clair's team in place of charizard or the second dragonair: -feraligatr: it's a big alligator that gets dragon dance in later generations -ampharos: i know jasmine already had one, but ampharos literally translates to "electric dragon" in japanese, which is why it later got a dragon type mega

[@luisvelez1952]

Feraligar and Ampharos suit well on Lance Team also instead of having a Charizard and two more Dragonites.

[@kvltofsobek90]

I love the thematic wild cards that cover weaknesses for type specialists. On the note of Tentacruel hesitation for Pryce, its fitting given that, if I recall correctly, the Kraken is scandinavian (cold place) mythology, and larger squid species tend to dwell toward the ice caps. Also resisting fire, fighting, and steel attacks helps the team

[@theharbingerofconflation]

I wonder how tricky it'd be to add the gym leaders to the phone thingy, so they can call you for rematches with upgraded teams. Imagine Bugsy calls you and brings out a scizor

[@austinjrb]

SHEEESH 🔥🔥🔥

[@mf-cf8tr]

I always disliked how the gyms never had a rematch option. even if you had to wait in game days or what ever, would have been cool.

[@TheGrandmasterfro]

thats a fire idea

[@DareDB]

Makes me think that if they ever do an updated remake to Pokemon Gold and Silver, it would be better to allow for more Pokemon to be found in the games. Johto is so limited as you describe here, and having the opportunity to use a Pokemon like Weavile or Glaceon in a playthrough, for example, would make for a much more fun experience, in my opinion.

[@jrmy__]

OMG! It's so random seeing you here! I love your channel so much!

[@DareDB]

@@jrmy__ Lol. You found me!

[@An_unaware_wooper]

The only reason furret has ice punch is because you want to bully chicorita or at this point bayleaf!

[@An_unaware_wooper]

Btw I love your videos

[@bvd_vlvd]

For real, two fuly evolved bugs that have a double resistance to grass along with that 500 BST mantis of death even though it's Jasmine's ace? Like, the reason to pick Chikorita has always been dealing with hardest gym leaders, Claire and Whitney, and no one else, without pulling your hair off lol

[@mr_mike_z]

You're right, it should have Fire Punch instead

[@Sky-lm1vg]

​@BɅD_VLɅD I noticed too... 🫠 chikorita being done dirty here

[@danielquinlan2457]

I made a "fixing Johto's Gymleaders" list once, and I think I actually gave Clair a Lapras (plesiosaurs are pretty Dragon-core, an Lapras can learn a few Dragon type moves).

[@ignisbad9158]

Whitney's new Togetic and Furret should be swapped for either a Snubbul, Teddiursa or Dunsparce neither of which see much love either (Togetic is the first egg mon's evo and Furret is the Raticate equivalent which is not Gym leader material)

[@ignisbad9158]

Chuck's new Sudowoodo should also be out, being an overworld encounter. Maybe, again, a Granbull or Ursaring (whichever Whitney does not have), which are bipedal physical monsters

[@ignisbad9158]

Pryce's Tentacruel could easily be switched for an Octilliery or Qwilfish if you wish to keep the anti Fighting mon, as Tentacruel is the Golbat of the sea

[@Kali_Krause]

​@Ignis Bad Chuck should get a Hitmontop since he's the Fighting type gym leader though

[@ignisbad9158]

@@Kali_Krause I agree with that, it is just the Sudowoodo I want gone

[@mr_earwig6477]

@@ignisbad9158 I don't see why Sudowoodo being an overworld encounter should be a problem for Chuck having it. The overworld one you originally encounter can't be the sole member of its species, and since it would crop up once with Chuck in this new version of Crystal, I think it fits quite well. It's also an excellent way of countering any Flying-type sweepers a player brings along. But to each their own I guess.

[@Brogie_21]

Changing the level scaling would be a huge improvement for crystal as well. So raising the level of Faulkner up for capping at 9 and continually raising the levels of gym leader would help the game feel so much better

[@aceclover758]

Yea I never understood the BS with lv scaling after the 7th gym And Kanto, no excuse that wild Pokémon were all below lv 25 They should’ve been 25 minimum and go up to lv 40 My.Silver should’ve had minimum lv 40 and go up to 60

[@Skarfar90]

I am in the process of making my own ROM-hack of Crystal that aims to have a level-curve which is more similar to that of Gen.1 - Yellow in particular. It will also be a full rebalance of trainer battles, move pools, wild encounters and all of that. In my version, all trainers are scaled to closely match the levels found near the respective Gen.1 areas. Route 30/31 - Being similar to Viridian Forest, where trainers have Pokémon between level 6 and 9. Violet City - Similar to the area near Pewter City. Most trainers inside Sprout Tower and the Violet Gym has Pokémon around levels 10-12 Falkner - Mirrors Brock (Red/Blue) in terms of levels, and his Pidgey line has gotten Sand-Attack as well. He also has a Hoothoot on the team, with the moves Peck, Mud-Slap and Tackle. Route 32 - Similar to Route 3. Most trainers has Pokémon at around level 12-13 Union Cave - Similar to Mt. Moon. Most trainers has Pokémon at around level 14-16 Route 33 + Slowpoke Well - Similar to Nugget Bridge. Most trainers in here has Pokémon at level 16-18 Azalea Town - Rival 2 is closely matching Rival 2 from Gen.1, with a team of level 17-18 Pokémon. Same goes for Azalea Gym. Bugsy - Now has a team of Pinsir, Heracross and Scyther, between levels 18 and 21, to match Misty from Gen.1 Route 34 - Similarly scaled to Route 6. Most trainers has Pokémon between levels 17 and 20. Goldenrod City (Before Rocket takeover) - Similar scaling to Vermilion City. Most trainers in the area has teams of level 19-21 Pokémon. Whitney - Has evolved forms of the Kanto "cuties", alongside her Miltank. She has a level 22 Clefable and Wigglytuff, and a level 24 Miltank. This is more in line with Lt. Surge's team. Route 35/36 and National Park - Scaled similarly to Route 9/10 and Rock Tunnel. - Most trainers has teams of level 20-24 Pokémon. Route 37 - Similar to Route 8. Most trainers has Pokémon in the level 24-26 range. Ecruteak City - Kimono Girls has a level 27 Eeveelution each. Rival 3 is similar to Rival 4 from Gen.1, with a team of Pokémon between levels 25 and 28. Same goes for the Gym trainers. Morty - Similar to Erika from Gen.1 His team is comprised of level 29-32 Pokémon He still has his Gastly line, but now he also has a Misdreavus in place of the second Haunter. Route 38/39 - Similar to Cycling Road and the routes around Fuchsia. Most trainers has Pokémon between levels 26 and 29. Olivine Lighthouse - Similar level scaling to Fuchsia Gym. Most trainers has Pokémon in the level 30-34 range. Sea-Routes 40/41 - Similar to Sea Routes 20/21 from Gen.1 - Most trainers has Pokémon in the level 30-34 range. Cianwood City - The fighting Dojo/Gym is very similar to its Kanto counterpart, where the trainers has Pokémon between level 33 and 35. Eusine - Has a team of level 35-36 Pokémon. Chuck - Similar level scaling to that of Koga/Sabrina from Red/Blue - He has a team of level 38 Pokémon, and he now has both Hitmontop and Sudowoodo added onto his team. Jasmine - Has a unique level scaling between 44 and 46, and her team now has a Skarmory and Scizor on it. Magnemite has evolved, and both it and her Steelix has new moves. Route 42 + Mt. Mortar - Most trainers on this route has level 36-38 Pokémon Route 43 + Lake of Rage - Trainers on this route has level 37-39 Pokémon Mahogany Town - Rocket Grunts and Scientists has teams of Pokémon between level 38 and 40 (excluding the Ditto Scientist). Executives has teams in the low 40's Mahogany Gym - Trainers has Pokémon between level 42 and 45 Pryce - Has a new team comprised of Articuno (48), Cloyster (50), Delibird (55), Dewgong (50) and Piloswine (52). Goldenrod Radio Tower + Underground Basement - Most Rocket Grunts has Pokémon in the level 43-46 range. Executives has teams of Pokémon up to level 50. Rival 4 - Has Pokémon at around level 47-50 Route 44 - Trainers has Pokémon between level 45 and 47 Blackthorn Gym - Most trainers has Pokémon around level 46-49 Clair - Similar to Giovanni from Yellow. Her team ranges from level 52 to 55. She now has a Gyarados replacing the first Dragonair, and a Dragonite instead of a third Dragonair. She also has a Charizard on her team. Dragon's Den - All trainers in this area has Pokémon at level 46-48. Route 26+27 - Trainers in this area have Pokémon at around level 50. Rival 5. Has a team of Pokémon between level 50 and 53. Elite 4 - Has the same level scaling as their Gen.1 counterparts. Will - Has a Girafarig in place of the first Xatu. Karen - Has a restructured team, and updated moves. She now has Tyranitar in place of Vileplume. Champion Lance - Has the same level scaling as Champion Blue. (60-65) SS Aqua - All trainers on the ship has Pokémon around level 50-52. Kanto (in general) - Most trainers has Pokémon at around level 55-60. Kanto Gym trainers - Has teams of Pokémon between level 60 and 65. Rival 6 - Has a team of Pokémon between level 63 and 70. Brock - Has a team of Pokémon between level 74 and 79. He now has a Ninetales as well, to stay true to the anime. Misty - Has a team of Pokémon between level 75 and 79. She has a Politoed and a Blastoise in addition to her original team. Lt. Surge - Has a team of Pokémon between level 70 and 78. He now has a Zapdos and an Ampharos on his team in addition to his other electric mons. Erika - Has a team of Pokémon between level 75 and 80. She now has a Venusaur and a Meganium on her team. Janine - Has a team of Pokémon between level 73 and 79. She now has a Tentacruel and a Muk on her team. Sabrina - Has a team of Pokémon between level 73 and 80. She has a new team with a Girafarig, Mew and a Hypno on it, in addition to her original team. Blaine - Has a team of Pokémon between level 78 and 82. He has gotten Arcanine back, and added Moltres and Charizard to the team as well. Cal - Has all three Johto starters at level 75. Blue - Has his original Red/Blue Champion team, with a +20 to the levels (81/79/81/81/83/85) Rival 7 - Has a team of Pokémon between level 75 and 82. Red - The ultimate final boss of Gen.2 - His team is all between level 90 and 100. Pikachu (100), Mewtwo (90), Snorlax (90), All three Kanto starters (95).

[@vulcanraven9701]

@@aceclover758 yes i agree. The level scaling in GSC was crazy broken. Especially in Kanto

[@crabmanster]

This entire project is amazing. I've wanted to do all of these things in Crystal with ROM hacks but I just didn't have the know how. I am just really excited to play my favorite game with all of the changes I wanted to see. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this huge undertaking.

[@hitlerisanoob]

Big facts after watching the first video I've just been excitedly waiting for more info on the ROM hack. Tbh it's probably my most anticipated game that I'm following at the moment. Can't wait to play it when it's done

[@briansherrod1916]

What I learned from these changes: don’t use Chikorita. It’s a goner! 😂

[@ganymedehedgehog371]

Fr man. These changes were made to delete chikorita from the game

[@PatriSjodin]

@@ganymedehedgehog371 That the original game did really well on its own tbh ;)

[@BlazeIgnitus]

@calebhopkins3588Yes. But you don't deal with leaders that specialize in those types until after you've beaten Lance and gotten to Kanto. The Johto gyms are notorious for being a nightmare for Chikorita already. These changes make it so only an idiot or masochist would choose Chikorita as their starter.

[@Maqya]

While I think Jasmine having a non-steel type makes sense due to her connection with it, I’m not sold on houndoom, sudowoodo or tentacruel in the ghost fighting and ice gyms. It doesn’t really feel like they fit.

[@PHNXFireBird]

Houndoom kinda makes sense, since it's based off of a hellhound, so it kinda connects to death and ghosts in a way

[@halcyonwild93]

agreed, Houndoom and Sneasel are dark (evil) types, they should both just be on Karen's team

[@FraserSouris]

I mean, what's the alternative? Gen 2 is really limited in terms of decent mons that fit a type. You can't make as many great monotype teams as would in something like even Gen 4 (There are HGSS ROM Hacks that do give these gym leaders great monotype teams. But that's only now possible because you have 400+ Pokemon by Gen 4). Like with Morty, if you exclude Houndoom, then his team will just be entirely the Gastly line featuring a guest appearance from Misdreavius. And if you want him to have more than 4 mons, you'll need to repeat mons. Plus, it's not uncommon for Gym Leaders to have rather unusual mons that don't fit their teams. In Gen 1, Sabrina had Venomoth which isn't a Psychic type. In Gen 2, Clair had Gyrados. In Gen 4, Candice had a Medicham which is super effective against her ice types. Volker had Ambipom and Octillery. Flint had Lopbunny, Steelix and Drifblim. In Gen 5, Cilian, Cress and Chili all have a Lillipup. In Gen 8, Raihan has a Gigalith, Flygon, Sandaconda and Duraladon. In Gen 9, Katy has a Tediursa. Brassius has a Sudowoodo. Iono has a Masmagius. Kofu has a Craboimbable. Ryme has a Toxicitry. Tulip has a Florges. Grusha has an Alteria. So it wouldn't really be that unusual for the Jotho leaders to have Houndoom, Sudowoodo or Tentacruel.

[@halcyonwild93]

@@FraserSouris off the top, for Morty, I think Haunter and Gengar should stay. Misdreavus could have a scary Perish trap set with mean look, and two more mons: Ninetales (it has lore of cursing people) and Stantler (it can know Shadow Ball and Hypnosis, and is a rare sighting right next to Ecruteak) Pretty sick I think

[@FraserSouris]

@@halcyonwild93 I like your points. I will say Misdrevius is really weak and frail. It's not going to survive long enough for Mean look and Perish Trap to feel like a threat (plus gen 2 trainer AI isn't guaranteed to be smart enough to even use that play). At least Houndoom packs some power so would be more immediately threatening even with the lacklustre AI. With Ninetales and Stantler, I feel they don't look "ghost-y" enough for the aesthetic. Yeah, Ninetales has the lore but it doesn't look like a spooky mon. Plus, it already has representation with Blane. Stantler doesn't even look spooky lol.

[@thelegacyofgaming2928]

"Gym leaders bad": Sees Whitney, arguably the hardest gym leader in pokemon for when you have to fight her: You are incorrect.

[@Dusk70]

Aside Whitney all gym leaders are easy

[@JokerDoom]

Price should have an Ursaring. You can find teddiursa in caves and he’s right next to ice cave, plus it fits his theme of having furry Pokémon that can withstand the cold.

[@d_sims]

Nice video. I have several team criticisms: Falkner: Pidgey - swap Sand-Attack for Mud-Slap. At this stage, only the ace needs it. Bugsy: Scyther - Twinneedle makes no sense since it's a Beedrill exclusive move. I'd swap it with Pursuit since it also is learned early. Cut is kind of irrelevant with the presence of Fury Cutter and would probably swap with Focus Energy, also learned early. Whitney: Furret - great choice, but really doesn't need Ice Punch. Pursuit already provides it with the coverage it needs against ghosts. Dig makes more sense since some ferret species spend most of the time underground. Togetic - makes no sense on the team. Whitney doesn't need a flying type on her team. Miltank is already strong as is and doesn't need a pokemon with its sole purpose to stop your own rollouts. I'd substitute it with either Aipom, Jigglypuff, or Teddiursa since they keep with the "Cute" theme of Whitney. Morty: Haunter's - improvements are nice, especially the Hypnosis & Nightmare combo which is never used in game. Houndoom - makes no sense on the team since it's already a staple on Karen's team and doesn't really keep with the ghost theming. I would just keep the original Gastly but with maybe a better movepool to choose from. Chuck: Sudowoodo - actually a great choice to add and makes sense, except for ThunderPunch. Most aren't bringing a Water type to fight Fighting Types. Flail should be fine enough to swap it out with since it will be high damage at low life. Primeape - Ice punch doesn't make sense. There's no reason that an angry monkey would ever learn an ice move and if you need to hit flying types with something hard, then Seismic Toss or Strength should cover that. Thief is fine though. Jasmine: Skarmory - great pokemon choice but sandstorm makes no sense as it never learns it, nor is the pokemon associated with sandstorms or desert. It's wings are the primary focus of the pokemon and would swap out Drill Peck for Steel Wing, and swap out Protect for Wing Attack. Magneton - rain dance would just nerf her Ace Steelix by powering up water moves. Also doesn't make sense for the pokemon to conjure a rainstorm. Ampharos - does it really need both Thunderbolt and Thunder. I'm already iffy on this, but since she does heal it, it kinda makes sense on her team. I would swap out Thunder with Headbutt or Thunder Wave. Scizor - seems more bug than steel, but I think it's overall fine since there's not much to choose from. Steelix buffs are also fine. Pryce: Tentracruel just sticks out like a sore thumb. I get that you don't want to just add another water Ice, but the jellyfish is more associated with the Poison type rather than the Ice type. I think you'd have to just sub it for either Dewgong or Cloyster. If you ask me, of the 3 Water/Ice pokemon Dewgong, Lapras and Cloyster i would omit Lapras and just use Cloyster and Dewgong. Clair: Aerodactyl also sticks out like a sore thumb. It's a flying rock and Clair is more known for sea pokemon. If you really wanted a fossil then even Kabutops or Omastar make more sense since they're water related. Charizard also suffers the same problem since he's essentially the opposite of a sea dragon being born of fire. The hard part is there's nothing really to substitute it for other than another Dragonair since Clair was known for NOT having a Dragonite. The lapras from Pryce team might work better here, but its not really a dragon either...

[@Regified]

Awesome video, and I love seeing alternative takes to Gen 2's... less than admirable Pokemon League. I do have some suggestions though, if you're willing to hear them out. Whitney: Echoing some of the other comment's thoughts, I think Aipom and Dunsparce would make more sense compared to Furret and Togetic, and although it would be an easier combination to deal with... This is Whitney we're talking about here, I think she's scary enough as is lol. Morty: I feel that Murkrow might be a more fitting Pokemon than Houndoom, for at least three reasons. 1st is that it's the version exclusive counterpart to Misdreavus, and I feel that that would be rather fitting to have them both owned by the same trainer. 2nd is that having Murkrow will fix Morty's Ground type weakness as well as his Psychic type weakness, whereas Houndoom merely fixes the latter. And 3rd, is that Houndoom already has some presence in the game by being the Ace Pokemon of Karen and Beta-Archer, so having it appear at Morty seem's a tad... anticlimactic, at least to me. Pryce: I think a good team for him would be the following: Cloyster, Dewgong, Jynx, Tentacruel, and Piloswine, preferably in that order. A lot of wild decisions, so I believe that explanations are in order. Cloyster instead of Delibird, since unfortunately, Delibird just isn't a Gym Leader worthy Pokemon this late into the game, though as a consolation prize, I recommend having at least one Delibird to appear on one of Pryce's gym trainers. I recommend Cloyster first specifically since it can setup Spikes, which I think in combination with Selfdestruct (if you give it that), could let it be a frantic and exciting way to start the battle. Dewgong instead of Lapras, since unlike Lapras, Dewgong has always been beside Pryce, even in cases such as Pokemon Stadium 2 and his rematch in HGSS, compared to Lapras's sole appearance in his teams in the PWT in Black/White 2. You can't just leave his buddy behind! Jynx is a very simple addition that I have no problems with. Tentacruel, surprisingly. An odd one to keep, but like you said, is one I think works very well, and would be an interesting foil to Lorelei's Slowbro, what with it being a Specially Defensive Poison type, which is basically the inverse of Slowbro. It also pairs nicely with Cloyster, and it actually does make an appearance in Pokemon Stadium 2 as well, so that's something at least. It also helps patch up his Fighting type weakness. And Piloswine is self-explanatory. Clair: It always felt off to me how Clair is literally just a second Lance... in so many of her appearances, she has a nearly identical team to Lance, and I feel that that's a bit of a misplay on GF's part. I want to give her a team that still fits the Dragon-like theming, as well as being something wholly unique to her. I think a solid team for her would be the following: Gyarados, Two Dragonair's, Charizard, Lapras (hear me out), and Kingdra, though I personally believe that a full team of six is a lot for a Gym Leader, so One Dragonair might be better. I think the only one that requires explaining is Lapras, and it's for several reasons. First, since Pryce is no longer using Lapras, the slot of relevance is open, and so I think Claire would make good use for it. Second, it would be a solid counter to opposing dragons. Third, it can learn Dragonbreath. Fourth and finally, it's a Pokemon Claire also uses in Pokemon Stadium 2, so it's something she's gone with before. And although not a Gym Leader, I think I'd still like to give out my thoughts of the removing of Lance's Aerodactyl, as I believe this to be a major misstep. It's a Pokemon that Lance has used in the vast majority of his storyline appearances (only NOT appearing in his Rematch in HGSS), and has always felt like a 'second in command' for his roster lineup, with it appearing even in both of his Pokemon Stadium 2 battles. I'm unsure what your plans for Lance and the rest of the elite four are, but I think him not having Aerodactyl would be a little saddening, at least for me. Like I said before, great video, these are just my personal thoughts on what could and could not be. Sorry for the avalanche of text, and have a good one!

[@robertlupa8273]

I like Whitney having Togetic and Furret because those two look very friendly and Whitney seems like that type of girl who'd love cute animals. Aipom and Dunsparce don't really fit that idea. I agree that Murkrow seems like a better fit than Houndoom. It would also be a bit ironic (in a good way) for Morty - who is described to possess limited future-seeing abilities - to use a Pokemon that brings misfortune (like a black cat... except it's a black crow). Since Smith said he's going to buff Delibird, I think Pryce could keep it. However, I'd rather give the Rest+Sleep Talk moveset to Dewgong, since it's a bit tankier and it's also what it uses in HGSS. Omninitng Sneasel is fine though, since I assume Silver would keep his. To me, it seems that Clair would specialize not just in dragons (not necesarily Dragon-types), but _aquatic_ dragons specifically. All three of Dragonair, Kingdra and Gyarados are either half-Water or live in Water. As such, Lapras makes perfect sense. I also think Feraligatr would make sense, although it might make her team a bit _too_ "watery". Agreed that Lance should keep his Aerodactyl.

[@friendlyanomaly6109]

Ravens are said to have the ability to see into the future & Morty is the "Foreseer" of Ecruteaq (it however you spell it. Lol.) Murkrow technically isn't based on a Raven, but it's close enough.

[@nift36]

1:36 dude I'm sorry but Noctowl has stupidly good bulk for this point in the game. It being level 9 means that Geodude doesn't have STAB supereffective Rock Throw yet and using a Mareep won't work as Noctowl has 100 HP and 96 SpDef, so your only options are to pit your Geodude/Mareep in front of the Noctowl as Noctowl Mud-Slaps the ever living shit out of you and your accuracy into oblivion, and since Mareep and Geodude are weak to ground, you'll be dead quite faster than you'd think. Giving him a Hoot-Hoot and raising its level to 12 might help here. This makes Falkner less of a pain in the ass to deal with and also makes it so Geodude can now use Rock Throw against Hoot-Hoot instead of being toyed around by its 450 BST evolution. (thank fuck the physical special split isn't implemented or you'd have Gusts coming off of an *86* special attack stat)

[@thomassalcedo5403]

I think a good way to help improve price’s team would be to give him an ursaring instead of tentacruel so that he could have some good coverage and because it’s a bear it goes with the theme of winter kind of Pokémon and it’s also gen 2, I also think stantler could work as well but maybe with some stat buffs to make it more of a challenge

[@Tauposaurus]

Agreed. Focus on Price as an older man and a winter themed person. Those are two good choices that fit the aesthetic more than a random tentacruel.hell, that o e would fit more on Claire's roster.

[@cholom2003]

​@@Tauposaurus Yep. Pryce has an Ursaring in Stadium 2 too.

[@david000rafael]

The first two gym changes make things even harder for Chikorita

[@Toon.Hamstreak_658]

Chikorita is hard mode. Anybody who doesn't choose chikorita is a pusshy who can only do easy mode.

[@blueberryoatmeal4009]

You're not supposed to rely only on your starter.

[@davidcollins1]

You could give pryce Lanturn, instead of tentacruel. Its also bulky, gives coverage, can spread status and learns ice beam. And its a gen 2 mon.

[@nicolasarroyo1746]

They're not ice type, what would he have it

[@maskyartist2127]

this is so silly but thank u SO much for including Ledian in the spotlight of Bugsy's gym, i love Ledian so much its one of my favorite bug types and it just brings me a lot of joy seein it here

[@Vesdus]

Did Smith forget Murkrow was introduced in Gen 2?

[@MrMatthias]

It would be such a perfect fit for Falkner's team and not feel as weird as a level 9 Noctowl

[@jazzercise300]

I think noctowl makes more sense thematically

[@sarcasm-aplenty]

The first gym having pokemon of the new types being introduced sounds like a fun way to get exposure of the types. So i think he should totally get they murkrow

[@yorecf9641]

@@MrMatthias at the very least, Noctowl should have its level raised to 13 like his Pidgeotto in HGSS. Honestly, I don't think he needs the Natu since Noctowl is incredibly bulky and decently strong for that point in the game, but it's Smith's hack and his call.

[@thecriticalghost4626]

​@@yorecf9641 Natu Is perfect

[@Vivorian]

I'd say instead of Tentacruel which destroys Pryces theme I'd say go Ursaring with Ice Punch. It's a bear that lives in icy mountains

[@BlockO008]

I think Bugsy should also have a Pineco as his lead since it replaces the Metapod & Kakuna perfectly, while he could have either Ledyba or Spinarak as his second Pokémon (maybe even do some cool mechanic where he has one instead of the other depending on if you are fighting him at day or night to highlight the new feature) and then keep his Scyther ace.

[@BlockO008]

If this was Gold & Silver he could even have the the Ledyba on the Gold version and Spinarak on the Silver version sort of like an early gym variation mechanic depending on what version you got. It would be the like an prototype version exclusive mechanic kind of like what they did in Gen 7 with Bea & Allister or Gordie & Melony being the different gym leader in the Galar region depending on which game you got.

[@kingkoi765]

Maybe add a pupitar to throwback on the cocoon theme and deal with pesky fire and flying mons

[@Purgatoriesify]

I just wanna start with a humongous shoutout to you and your team who worked on this. I’m two weeks into my first run of your modded Crystal and it’s an amazing love letter to my favorite generation. I routinely replay Gen 2 maybe once a year but I will never be able to go back after playing this. You guys fixed almost every issue while remaining true to the original and I had goosebumps during the Radio Tower plot in Goldenrod. I’m curious if Dunsparce was ever a candidate to be on Whitney’s team? I may sound like a masochist but going up against a Dunsparce paraflinching your early game team w Headbutt / Glare / Rock Slide / Attract would breed a new type of fear that most haven’t felt since the first face off with Miltank.

[@mrproki93]

Bro! The love you have for gen 2 is legit!!!! I love the improvement you gve to the gym leaders. It makes more sense than the qol done in some roomhacks.

[@CashMoneyBeater]

Really like the concepts here, great work. Based of what you said the goal of the game was (improvement but still feels the same game), thought of some suggestions to maybe make it feel more close to the base game concepts. Falkner: less an issue abt typing, but because Will’s ace is the natu line, I think replacing Falkner’s Natu with a Murkrow could be cool here. More difficult mon for the early game plus when Karen uses it, it’s stats are god awful by that point in time. Bugsy: Pineco’s lv up moveset is a raging dumpster fire in gen 2, so given what you’re going for, a Pineco lead w Pin middle, Tackle, Protect, and Self Destruct could be cool Whitney: Bc no Fairy typing, there a lot of cool options on the table. Thought about Wigglytuff over Clefairy, but Clef is fine here. Main consideration tho is Granbull over Furrett. Love the furrett idea, but I like the idea is Whitney, who’s all about cute and cuddly mons, also having something to represent her uglier, immature side. Also Snubull evolves at 23 so with expected lv increase it’s kinda perfect. If not granbull, I also really rate the Aipom shout someone made earlier. Morty: Not much to say, just replace houndoom with a 2nd misdrevous imo. Chuck: No Sudowoodo (give the mons rock slide), otherwise that’s as good as it gets (gen 2 giving 1 new fight line and 2 fight-type bosses was def a choice) Jasmine: Ampharos is a cool idea, don’t hate it, so no changes Pryce: I feel like Lapras got very good exposure in gen 1, so maybe replace that? A cloyster could be cool here, maybe Ice Beam, Bubble beam, Spikes, and Explosion? I’d love to say replace the Tentacrul, but I got *no* other ideas. Maybe Quag I guess but still. Clair: So few options, so I think that’s about as good as it can get. Again, all just suggestions, but really like the concept you’re going for with the game. Keep it up!!

[@3MinuteQuran]

Not only did you give Falkner a Natu, you also gave Natu Confusion! Finally!

[@arcisle5162]

great video and I'd even consider putting fortress on Jasmine's team since a full team by the 6th gym leader isn't that crazy to me. It's basically late game, you've been all over, the player probably has a full team at that point as well.

[@Nizzy37]

Bruh that jasmine team is straight fire props

[@sashasscribbles]

Thanks for the entertaining video! I think you did a great job with both of your goals; making them harder whilst still keeping them feeling authentic I think giving Claire a Seadra as her lead and replacing the Gyarados might be a cool idea. Its stats are actually very comparable to kingdras so it would still fit in the 8th gym and it's also a kanto mon that didn't get to shine much; whereas gyarados is used a *lot*. Id give it a set of Hydro Pump, Icy Wind, Agility and Smokescreen. Base 85 speed is decent but agility or icy wind would patch it up fully. Both Wind and Smokescreen help mess you up to aid the following dragonair, and then Hydro Pump to ensure its actually threatening Could also give it Toxic over Agility perhaps This video also made me realise how few ice types there are in johto considering theres a literally icy area in the game. Price's team still feels a bit lackluster to me and a bit too reminiscent of Lorelei with both Jynx and Lapras but there's not much you can do... Would be fun if you gave him Articuno lol if you could add lore around how he tamed it c:

[@lucasyoungers]

Tentacruel feels weird on Pryce. I think maybe you could go with a dark type, since they were introduced in the generation and are pretty underused? Something like Umbreon could fit the bill, since I feel like Pryce has a "snow at night" sort of vibe.

[@gasparperalta3725]

For Bryce another option could be donphan yes it's not an ice type but it does have the mammoth aesthetic to compliment his face piloswine. I was also thinking of ursaring instead of jynx because of the whole hibernating deal and I think both of these fit his grumpy old man vibes to contrast blaine

[@realsalu634]

Ok, hear me out: Ampharos for Claire, make it an Dragon type, as it was supossed to be in the beta

[@shadowbladesabre1945]

I feel like changing a type may be a stretch, especially for one gym battle. Plus, Ampharos is already used by Jasmine. One I've seen suggested is Feraligatr, since it's draconic (or close enough) and fits into an 'aquatic dragon' theme, so I think it'd be a better fit over something like Aerodactyl, which is an iconic member of Lance's team.

[@jakisrandom1]

9:48 no physical/special split, dark and ice type being special: I'm gonna stop you right there

[@TA20017]

So weird that one of the most famous Johto Pokémon is Whitney’s Miltank and it’s literally the first Gen 2 Pokémon that a gym leader uses. It’s the 3rd gym’s ace!

[@yorecf9641]

Only half of the Johto gym leaders even have a Johto Pokémon on their teams.

[@moonraven6145]

I liked that Chuck got a Hitmontop in your potential version, as that was also introducing the player to the new "Hitmon" evolution if they already knew about Chan and Lee, in fact a lot of your choices are a nice introduction to new Gen 2 Pokemon to keep players curious when they may get them, which is good. ^^ It was also utterly bizarre how Skarmory, one of the coolest looking Pokemon in early gens barely got any love in the actual version.

[@conansglasses2645]

Im not trying to be disrespectful or anything, but.... Noctowl on gym 1 ??? Are you insane ?!! 100hp and 90sp.def , how are you supposed to fight that thing with your level 11 starter who's strongest move is a 40bp SPECIAL move ??? Just keep the pidgeotto or if you REALLY want to give geb the spotlight just give him a Murkrow which is at least much more manageable than a noctowl Also i feel like 3 fully evolved pokemon by gym 2 us going way too overboard , Ledian and Scyther might be a little manageable with rock moves ( thats assuming you actually WANTED a rock type pokemon on your team ) but ariados is still mich for that point in the game where your strongest team member is your second stage Starter , honestly just keep ledian and ariados as a ledyba and a spinarak Personally I feel its more suitable to give Whitney a Snubbul instead of Togetic , whose pokedex entries outright say that's popular among women for its cuteness which i think fits in line with Whitney's personality , especially since Togetic is SUPPOSED to be an ultra special and rare pokemon I think Morty should be given a Xatu instead of Houndoom , Xatu's whole gimmick is that its a pokemon that constantly sees the future which is Mortys whole deal as " The Mystic seer of the future " Finally , instead of Charizard Clair should be given an Ampharos as its Japanese name is a pun on dragon ( its why mega ampharos is part dragon actually ) , also fun fact beta Ampharos was originally an Electric/Dragon type but got switched to pure electric during the balancing phase of development

[@ThatStan]

Yeah heavy agree in the Noctowl , most first gym leaders rarely have an ace whose stats are over 400 , but to give Falkner a pokemon with a 450BST even tho your team is only going to be in the 10-13 range is way too much

[@yorecf9641]

A buddy and I had been working on a Crystal rom hack before life got in the way and we gave Falkner a Noctowl. Honestly, it isn’t too bad when it’s stuck using physical moves since it’s physical attack is actually lower than Pidgeotto’s. I did half a dozen runs and tried every starter and it never felt too strong for that point in the game.

[@conansglasses2645]

@@yorecf9641 im also speaking from experience , I hack HGSS all the time ( and since I only gave it Tackle and Peck it should be similar to Crystal ) , and on 2 separate occasions I tried to give Falner a noctowl and it always ends up outspeeding and steamrolling my team as Cyndaquil and Totodile deal no damage to it thanks to its 100/96 bulk and the rest of the team doesn't deal enough damage even with status effects and the only way to lower speed at that point is string shot which is learned only by Caterpie and Spinarak and weedle who are out of the question , even with peck as its only stab it still KOs everything , the only ways to defeat were to have the tade onix which is the same level as the traded Bellsprout so 3-4 and it takes like an hour to grind it up ( which i then just boxed anyway ) or have a geodude who you have to grind from level 2 as well and even then its actually left at only third health ( and thats when I DONT give Noctowl roost btw with roost its impossible to defeat without grinding over the level cap or just hacking perfect IVs and a good nature to geodude) , and while i know its good to force the player to use the resources at their disposal i feel like Gym 1 is NOT the place to do that, Gym 1 should be when the player finally gets the ropes of things , while gym 2-3 is when you should start forcing the player to strategize around the gym leader ace , I just feel like there's a difference between making gen 2 a little harder and then just straight up making Drayano tier level of bullshit It also why I recommended Murkrow , Murkrow hits wayyy harder than Noctowl with peck and pursuit however with its paper thing defenses it gets very quickly worn down with team effort , gen 2 Murkrow is also a mid tier pokemon with high 300 to low 400 BST that received an evolution in future generations so its sorta like Onix and Nosepass in that regard

[@yorecf9641]

@@conansglasses2645 you appear to be talking about this from a HGSS perspective, not Crystal. Two different games. In Crystal, I had no issues. Also, Mareep is easily available in the remakes for reliable status with Thunder Wave at level 14 assuming Static doesn't kick in from a contact move. Your talk of level caps leads me to think you're playing as a Nuzlocker in order to intentionally make the game more difficult, bringing your difficulties onto yourself. If I pick Cyndaquil, I always have Quilava by Falkner because Sprout Tower is free EXP. Quilava handles him pretty easily in the Gen 2 runs I've tried and there's other options like Growlithe available before him as well, though I will admit I ahve no experience with Gen 4. The slogan of the games was, "Gotta catch 'em all." The developers WANT you to explore and find the Pokémon that are available to you. Find that Geodude. Trade for that Onix. Maybe find a Dunsparce with access to Rage, Yawn and Defense Curl even with level caps in place. We've got Mankey to handle Brock for in Yellow and FRLG, so what's wrong with having multiple options for Noctowl ? If you want Mukrow for him because you feel it suits him better, then by all means. Just make sure you give Ariana a different ace since she's already claimed it.

[@conansglasses2645]

@@yorecf96411. i dont nuzlock , most people play with some sort of level cap either consciously or not ( as a gym leaders ace pokemon is usually way higher leveld than you'd probably be at when you reach him unless you solely rely on one single pokemon ) 2. I just told you at that point Noctowls movepool is the same as in Crystal, there is 0 difference 3. Thunder wave at level 14 is beyond the level cap , also by the time you reach the route you catch mareep there are no more trainers so you have to level it up from level 6 all the way to 14 to even do that 4. Growlith is also a special attacker at that point its first physical move is take down at level 18 in crystal 5. Eh , Blues ace is Pidgeot kinda the same as Falkners pidgeotto , and archer and Karen also share an ace Houndoon its not really the end of the world tbh , also in her second battle Arianas Vileplume , Arbok and Murkrow are all the same level All in all Its fine if you don't mind grinding , however gym leader levels are suppose to be like goalposts ( this is the strongest possible level you should be at at this point ) and it works because unless you use your starter and ONLY your starter you won't even reach level 13 by the time you get to Falkner, so if you're counting on the player to go out of their way to level even PAST the boss trainer of an area just to stand a chance to beat him then thats just bad game balancing , either nerf Noctowls stats significantly to make up for it or just give Falkner another ace

[@sabastianmoore8467]

Have you ever heard of the rom-hack Polished Crystal? It sounds like exactly what you're trying to do. No major changes to the original game, but better Gyms, level curve, wild encounters, etc. It's extremely well done.

[@WelshPolitoProject]

Hey man, new to the channel, I came across your "why gen 2 sucks" video and saved it to watch since gen 2 pokemon is at the pinnacle of rose tinted nostalgia for me. This videos content is something I've considered so much before. I'm only halfway through but I know Morty is going to have a Misdreavus! He always should have! If you do drop this ROM I will absolutely play it. I get an itch to run crystal about once per year and updating movesets and trainer battles will be awesome. Subbed so that I can keep up with that release. I always loved that movepools were more limited in gen 2. Nowadays it feels like an arms race for the highest stats since pokemon all learn the same moves. Back in the day Lapras and Articuno were unique in their ability to learn Blizzard on level up, giving them that utility outside of stats alone. Just my take. Keep it up!

[@WelshPolitoProject]

Did some thinking on your Pryce dilemma, and I think Slowking could fill a spot on his team. Strong pokemon, Johto rep, has STAB that covers fighting and rock, has a mature wise vibe just like Pryce himself, and it's a nod to Lorelei's gen 1 team that included slowbro because they literally ran out of ice types lol. I think Psychic, Ice Beam, Surf, and whatever you want in the last slot (Fire Blast, Amnesia, Psych Up, Safeguard, Swagger) can work. Very fun to craft teams like this on a theme.

[@2000mphgirl]

To this day, it blows my mind gamefreak gave Will a Slowbro, Jynx and Exeggutor, to Will, 3 pokeomon who all were in the gen 1 Elite 4/Champion, over Girafarig, Slowking and idk, Wobbafett.

[@felix_forrester]

I like the idea of the gym leaders all having one thematically appropriate, but type variant pokemon. Houndoom for Marty and Ampharos for Jasmine are inspired af choices and I'm surprised I haven't played a romhack with a change like that in it

[@enpeyarblank]

Awesome video and I'm eagerly anticipating this ROMhack now!!! I haven't read other comments, but here are my thoughts and suggestions. Overall, I think I would prioritize avoiding repeated Pokemon/lines, in addition to what you've said about highlighting the Gen I left-behinds as well as Gen 2's introductions. Falkner: I don't hate an illegally low-level Noctowl replacing the Pidgeotto, but Murkrow is right there! Suitably low-middling stats for an early ace and introduces one of the game's new types early, and that way Falkner has three separate evo lines. That does go out the window if you wanted to give Karen a Murkrow buffed to be more like a Honchcrow, though. Bugsy: I think that's perfect. Love that you kept Scyther the way it is. Whitney: I think this team needs to prioritize tropes of girlishness and femininity: Metronome Clefairy is charming capriciousness and Miltank is obviously motherhood . Togetic makes sense to continue that theme, but Furret not so much, I'd give her a Chansey/Blissey instead. Morty: You've done everything you can do there. Chuck: Awesome fixes, Sudowoodo is an awesome addition. Jasmine: No notes. Pryce: I agree that the team should be built around Lapras. I don't much like Tentacruel as the new 'mon in the gym, though - I think it'd be cooler (no pun intended) to try to decouple Ice from Water where it's possible. Ursaring for a Pokemon based on a cold-climate animal and BoltBeam Porygon2 would be cool. Or, if it's a water type, I prefer Mantine, just for vibes. Clair: I assume Lance is getting Tyranitar? If not, Clair having a Pupitar to replace one of the Dragonairs would be cool.

[@Marcothy_]

I think Dewgong is quite associated with Pryce, I’d keep it

[@iantaakalla8180]

Though if you keep his Dewgong, Pryce has to be the fifth gym leader so as to make the level scaling make sense.

[@yorecf9641]

@@iantaakalla8180 or you just scale Pryce’s levels to be equal to or higher than Jasmine’s. Just having Dewgong doesn’t mean Pryce has to be fought earlier. Lorelei uses Dewgong and she’s an Elite 4 member.

[@Marcothy_]

@@iantaakalla8180 That makes 0 sense, why couldn’t Dewgong just be leveled higher?

[@kyledabearsfan]

Oh my gosh. You did so perfect. I absolutely love your changes!

[@casssieboy]

I actually love the fact you can choose where you go after Morty. Same in Gen 1, where the game really opens up after completing Rock Tunnel. Of course the level curve should be fixed, but Gen 1 shows its possible. It really gives the feel of exploring of the world, instead of just going where the game tells your to go.

[@zamykcaa]

I wonder if adaptive leveling is too hard of a concept to mod into one of these games. Levels depend on number of badges? Then it opens the slippery slope of wild pokemon levels also following the same issue.

[@tamerkoh]

@@zamykcaa Pokemon Crystal Clear does badge scaling.

[@zamykcaa]

@Tamer Koh interesting, I'm new to the mods so I really appreciate that info.

[@nc5958]

Koga and Sabrina in Red/Blue and Fire Red/Leaf Green have a Level 39 average team and their aces, Weezing and Alakazam, are Level 43. I like this design because most of Kanto is open at this point. However, I was not prepared for this when I played Leaf Green in 2011. I was not expecting a Level 39 average team for the fifth gym leader but my real mistakes were not knowing how to get the bicycle, my team was terrible, and I skipped most trainers that were available. GSC tried to do the same thing with Chuck and Pryce but they went too far in the other direction. Chuck's team was fixed in HGSS, the levels of Jasmine's team stayed the same, and the levels of Pryce's team are three levels higher in HGSS. I wonder if Jasmine's team should have been two Level 31 Magnemite and a Level 34 Steelix. These levels for Jasmine would have made things less confusing for me.

[@unboundsoul3582]

I was thinking of something like this for a couple months while doing a challenge run in HeartGold and it's reassuring to know I was on the right track with a lot of my own ideas being reflected here as well!

[@MongoIndyleo]

I like all the changes, including the aerodactyl change, except for one. The tentacruel. I like the idea of a non-ice water type on the team but there are so many other options and I feel like tentacruel is the least icy water type in game. I think Blastoise, Seaking, Starmie, and Vaporeon are all better choices but I think I would actually add Omastar. The fossils get no love and since you're adding Aerodactyl, it would be fitting to have another fossil on another team. To round everything out, you could even out Kabutops on Chuck's team too.

[@WindowsXPFrog]

I was weirdly thinking of doing this myself, fixing gen 2 like this. I haven’t really got the time so I’m glad someone else is doing this.

[@leonarcherjunior2090]

Love your list 😁😁 pretty much the best fix of gen 2 gym leaders by any KZbinr. Falkner✔️ bugsy ✔️ chuck ✔️ Jasmine✔️ Pryce✔️ Claire ✔️. Only thing I'd do is switch togetic to snubull or Teddiursa as Whitney prefers cute Pokémon. Not saying togetic isn't cute but cmon 😅you can't get cuter than a lil teddy bear/baby dog Pokémon.

[@ScuffTuff]

I honestly love the changes to Jasmine. It does kinda feel like a 7th gym but that’s fine. Pryce would be so much easier to work with if Mamoswine and Weavile were options but I think you pretty much did the best possible without them. I do personally prefer Cloyster for him over Tentacruel though. Houndoom and Ampharos make a lot of sense on their teams thematically but Tentacruel feels a little forced. I would argue the same is true for Sudowoodo as well but where there’s an easy replacement for Tentacruel, I think the alternative for Chuck would just be removing Sudowoodo and leaving him with 4. Overall, this is such a cool idea, can’t wait to see how it turns out

[@mrapplegate4065]

I would really love to see you widen the movesets of new pokemon and tweak their stats, and maybe change the availability of new pokemon in Crystal too.

[@giovannireyes9455]

Always love seeing content on Gen 2 thanks bud

[@Braddicusfinch]

Loving the idea so far. Speaking of Scizor and Steelix, please tell me we'll be getting a Metal Coat earlier in the game

[@superamogusbros5594]

You can get a metal coat from wild magnemites

[@robertlupa8273]

@@superamogusbros5594 But that's tedious >_

[@penpal222]

I LOVE THE ADDING OF MISDREAVIUS, I NOTICED THIS ODDITY TOO! GOOD PLAY BROTHERR!!

[@pebpebs4810]

I know it is kinda a weird choice, but you could give Lance or Claire "Meganium" - it's a Big Dino and her typing would really round them out. You could instead give Lance a starter effective against our choice like in the newer gens

[@Treavex]

This is a really cool project! All of your balances and changes are spot on And for experienced players this game is perfect.

[@MazterP28]

I think Clair could have pre evolutions. Like charmeleon instead of charizard, maybe a croconaw instead of an areodactyl. Just stage one in a egg group dragon

[@armorbearer9702]

I would swap out Sudowoodo for Wobbuffet(8:34). Wobbuffet being based off punching bags is more align with a fighting gym. Give Heracross Toxic then swap in Wobbuffet holding leftovers. Many trainers will slowly lose to the poison stall.

[@BleKz]

Tbh I'd like the gym leaders to have a team of 6. It was always weird to me that they were fighting with half the Pokémon you have

[@KumoriRyuX]

yeah, that'd be nifty. they should follow the manga in that regard, where gym leaders have tons of pokemon at the disposal and construct teams to adapt to the challenger's progression in the league which would also allow the gyms to be challenged in any order.

[@shrimpchris6580]

I was so fucking close to falling asleep to this (good vid, was just watching in bed) then my eyes snapped open when I realized I was hearing Genshin music and had to type a comment when I realized it was Itto's theme and Heracross was on screen, great taste lmao

[@Plexxii]

Something I like is the idea of solo Pokémon leaders like surge in yellow. I could easily see Claire just having kingdra. I also personally like the idea of Jasmine having just the two metal coat Pokémon. It highlights the new mechanic with trading with items. Have some text in the gym mention that as well.

[@abarette_]

surprisingly good video, people usually go too far into the "we need Johto mons" meme but here you went partially about it and that was great. The only problem I'd say is making the Ice leader after the Steel leader, and making Clair's team uh uninspired to say the least.

[@jamesroot1111]

Idk about ice punch on a Furret that early in the game but the challenge that poses for grass starters is still interesting

[@HighPriestFuneral]

As if Johto didn't hate Chikorita enough already, haha!

[@ElladanKenet]

Randomly found this channel! Great video to watch first, as I love Gen 2 and appreciate the more reliable leveling curve and higher difficulty. I think Jynx is a great inclusion to Pryce's team. Not only is Smoochum new, but Jynx is natively available in Johto; in Gen 1, she's trade only, implying that Jynx isn't even native to Kanto. I was also bummed while playing, and finding out that a lot of the new pokemon weren't even available until postgame and going back to Kanto, like Houndoor, Murkrow, and Sneasel.

[@flashaxl]

My take for this. I try to use as much as new Johto Pokemon and not increasing the number of Pokemon. First Gym: Falkner 1. Hoothoot 2. Natu 3. Murkrow (Ace) I would've drop Pidgey's line and Murkrow as his ace. Technically, Yanma and Mantine could be included since they are part Flying type, but Falkner is kinda a Birdkeeper who uses bird based Flying type, not a general Flying type user. Second Gym: Bugsy 1. Pineco (with Self-Destruct, at less than half HP, take that if you failed to time and faint it) 2. Ledyba/Spinarak (Version exlcusive) OR a Shuckle with a Berry Juice 3. Heracross (Ace) You can literally get a Heracross at the Azalea Town. Shuckle is great to introduce the new item exclusive to it. Third Gym: Whitney 1. Aipom or a Dunsparce 2. Furret or a Smeagle with Sleep Powder (Spore would be OP) and each of super effective moves against the Starter (Water Gun, Ember and Vine Whip) 3. Porygon2 4. Miltank (Ace) Good to introduce Aipom, Dunsparce, Smeagle and Porygon2. Menace Miltank will stay, lol. No Togepi or Clefairy for this iteration since they are not a Normal type in a later generation. Fourth Gym: Morty 1. Haunter 2. Misdreavus 3. Gengar (Ace) With lack of Ghost type, this is the best we can have. Fifth Gym: Chuck 1. Tyrogue 2. Hitmontop 3. Primeape (Ace) 4. Poliwrath We need Tyrogue to be introduced here. Not much of Fighting type selection really, and Heracross already assigned to Bugsy Sixth Gym: Jasmine 1. Magnemite 2. Skarmory 3. Scizor 4. Steelix (Ace) We need to introduce the new Steel moves, Metal Claw with Scizor and Iron Tail with Steelix. Magnemite need to be included since this is the first generation its typing was changed to Steel. Seventh Gym: Pryce 1. Delibird 2. Sneasel 3. Lapras (or a Smoochum for all Johto, Jynx as an evolved form of Smoochum also possible) 4. Pilowswine (Ace) Yes, I know Lapras a Gen 1 Pokemon, but a population of it exist in Johto, instead of Kanto. Otherwise, it is still possible to run with all Johto's Pokemon,. Eight Gym: Claire 1. Gyarados 2. Dragonair 3. Dragonair with Extreme Speed 4. Kingdra Not much can be done here except introducing a special Dratini's line that can learn Extreme Speed breed by the Dragon Clan. I prefer not to include underleveled Dragonite like those in Lance's team. Dragon type suffers the same rarity in Gen 2 for new Pokemon like Ghost, Ice, Steel and Dark.

[@alfonsopayan09]

🙏🏼 just made me wish johto didn’t suck and they had done what you said This 👆🏼 and more johto mons being native (catchable) and more appearances (trainers) would be lovely Instead of having handicap kanto 2.0

[@trueMCGRaven]

your bugsy team shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the level of power a team would have at that point in the game. What the fuck is a player supposed to do against a Shuckle after having their Flying or Fire Type blown up by Pineco? You're not gonna have a good water type unless you picked Totodile and you would need that at full power to deal with the for this point in time hilariously overpowered Heracross. Just the same you give Whitney Porygon 2 which is ridiculously strong for the third gym while you make Morty's team 100x weaker (Misdreavus is really fucking bad) as you continue to do later with Pryce. (Why the hell would you give him Delibird which has a good chance of HEALING you or Sneasel which as the Rival proves already is just bad). You also decided to make Claire just a worse version of Lance which is boring Edit: Also Claire couldn't have an Extreme Speed Dragonair. It is literally established in the lore of Crystal that the guy in the Dragon's Den didn't acknowledge her as worthy yet.

[@robertlupa8273]

Whitney should absolutely NOT have a Porygon2. It doesn't fit her "vibe". She's into cute Pokemon. Porygon2 isn't cute [enough].

[@PurpleFreezerPage]

Realizing mid video you used to make CoD zombie videos 😂 I think it's really cool you've learned to adapt and pivot so well! From CoD to Fortnite to this!

[@smithplayspokemon]

Thanks :)

[@ldluukke4125]

I think you should give Claire an Arcanine since it's so large and powerful just like dragon Pokemon, also it could learn Dragon Rage and Dragon Breath by TM in gen 1 and 2 respectively.

[@nickvang7]

Don't forget Jasmin is a former Rock Type Gym Leader before the Steel Type was discovered. So she could easily have some leftover Rock Types from her former team still in her current team. I think Corsola makes perfect sense as she lives in a coastal town, and Shuckle is only one town away. Any Fossil would also help to balance her team, and Pupitar could fool a few players into using a Fire Type move on it. Also I don't think it would make sense for her to send out Ampharos. Poor thing just got better and has an important job to do. It feels a bit whacky to cure a Pokémon just to beat it up a second later. You could also try to balance the Gyms a bit more towards the starters. Johto is notorious for being terrible after terrible Type machup for Chikorita. Adding some Rock and Electric Types into the Gym teams could help a great deal in making the starters more equal to one another.

[@nc5958]

Jasmine using Corsola is an interesting idea. Now you can't sweep Jasmine's entire team with a strong Fire Type move. (Or Fire Punch for her two Magnemite and Surf for Steelix)

[@nickvang7]

@nc5958 Steelix is weak to Fire too. And it uses Sunny Day, so Fire Punch would be better than Surf

[@nc5958]

@@nickvang7 I had trouble understanding how Fire Punch from my Level 33 Gengar was strong enough to OHKO Jasmine's Steelix in my current Pokémon Crystal playthrough. I wanted to limit the experience points in the battle because my team was already at a Level 33 average before Team Rocket takes over the Radio Tower. This is my problem with the low levels in the Johto games. In most of the game, it is easy for your team to become overleveled. However, there are a few parts of the game where your team will be underleveled.

[@soulmourne2698]

For bugsy, i would love him have a pineco as a first pokemon with spikes and explosion to set up, but that might be better to save for koga in the elite 4, it is probably too early to use tactics like that. I like your team ideas a lot, but it might be a good idea to give gym leader aces held items also, i mean johto is the game that introduced them and its logical that the best pokemon of a gym leader uses them, i would remove some things from the game like the badge boosts. Anyway love your ideas, nice video. This is the gen 2 game i always dreamt of, fixing the issues but maintaining what they made them amazing in the early 2000s, i played crystal clear but i didnt like it couse it doesnt mantain the essence of the gen 2 games and this game was not designed as an open world game and there are big issues for making it open world.

[@gbhtrain1325]

These are such cool changes to the Gen 2 Gym Leaders. I've always been in two minds about Johto: I love the lore and attention to detail, but I hated how under levelled and how lacking in Johto pokemon the gyms were. The changes you've made fixes a lot of that. I'm actually writing a Gen 2 series with altered Gym pokemon and this is gonna help me out a lot. Here's my list for the Johto Leaders so far: Falkner: Hoothoot, Natu, Pidgeotto Bugsy: Spinarak, Ledian, Scyther Whitney: Clefairy, Aipom, Miltank Morty: Misdreavus, Haunter, Gengar Chuck: Poliwrath, Primape, Hitmontop Jasmine: Magneton, Skarmory, Steelix Pryce: Delibird, Dewgong, Sneasel, Piloswine Clair: Seadra, Gyarados, Dragonair, Kingdra After watching this video, and reading some suggestions from the comments, I think I might change this around even change the order of the gyms. What do you think?

[@robbofwar57]

This is my first watch of the series and you’ve got something h go ood here. I’ll check out the rest soon

[@zidaryn]

I'm loving the idea of this rom-hack. You got yourself a subscriber and I hope I can play this one of these days. (Though I'm not familiar with how to play rom-hacks)

[@Joeyisagonnawin]

I'm a few months late, but I had an idea for Claire while watching through these. You say you made Yanma more in line with it being a dragonfly. I say replace one of her two questionable choices with Yanma.

[@LucasMartins-lm1ey]

Nice video and nice concept! However, I do think that Skarmory having Sandstorm and Magneton right after having Rain Dance is a little weird. It is a sub theme of a multiple weather team. It would be interesting to keep Skarmory for later in the fight since the team is very weak to Ground.

[@robertmeyer6837]

Love this concept. This layout would clearly be an improved experience. I like the idea of balancing Lances team then having Clairs look like his currnent. Gen 2 does have a midgame lull, but being able to choose Pryce or Chuck for the 5th badge is a unique replayable feature that later generations left behind. Also, although it would make them more fun and challenging, I dont feel like gym leaders need to have balanced team becuase they chose to be specialists, where elite 4 can contrast as having something to cover their weaknesses.

[@maniakk1300]

Falkner : I like lvl 9 Noctowl, but with your changes to BST, why not just have him use Murkrow as an Ace? Around same BST, but having the Natu/Murkrow symertry seems better, but if we want to keep the "some pokemon can evolve early", then Noctowl is fine (and fits with Falkner have a Noctowl while Sprout Tower final fight is against Hoot Hoot). But I would level them up a bit, not for difficulty, but because game kind of wants players to do Sprout tower first, so level 9 is a bit short, I would up them to like 12 as Ace. Bugsy : I like the addition, but I hate when a region's gym leader's ace isn't from that region. Since Bugsy is around where you learn headbutt, you could have him have a "Headbutt" team. Ace Heracross, Pineco/Leadian/Ariados (all 3 are available in Headbutt trees). It removes Bugsy's ace of Scyther, but it's better than giving Scizor (Stell type this early is bad and can be reused). It fits his Bug Pokemon expert since Heracross is a really rare pokemon, no player can even attempt to get it this early. Whitney : Clefairy/Togetic/Furret/Milktank is a great team for a pink team, but I would just replace Clefairy and Furret for Granbull + Aipom. Granbull doesn't get any love, and it works so well with Whitney's "Pink" team. Furret is an early rodent, normal trainers should showcase by now, so I would go with Granbull/Togetic/Milktank. And to add a 4th if you prefer, I would put Aipom, fits Whitney's vibe really well. Replacing all Gym leader's pokemon is fine if those pokemon have similar vibes to previous team. Morty : Misdreavus is the obvious choice, keeping 2 Kanto Ghost is fine, but idk about Houndoom. With Misdreavus, you already lose weakness to Psychic, and Morty doesn't fit with Houndoom. With Ecruteak's connection to Ho-Oh and Beast Trio, I would give him Unown M. He is in search of understanding Ecruteak City's secret, Unown fits that really well. Or this is where I would put Murkrow is not used on Falkner. Chuck : I think the choice is fine, just not a fan of 5 Pokemon team at 5th gym, especially with Crystal's open world after badge 4, that;s why in the original, they only have 2 pokemon. I would keep it at 4 until 7th badge. With Bugsy getting Heracross, I would remove it, have Hitmontop/Primeape/Poliwrath/Sudowoodo as team, it works perfectly fine. Jasmine : Ampharos is a good choice, and I'm fine with Gym Leaders having 1 Pokemon stray away from team when it feels appropriate, and Ampharos easily makes sense (also as a kid, I thought I would face it, and was sad when I didn't, because I didn't even know what it looked like). Skarmory/Steelix/Scizor/Ampharos is a great team, and yes we lose Magneton, but Ampharos already hit the electric aspect, and Magnemite never made sense. We see other ones in the lighthouse. Pryce : Delibird/Sneasel/Piloswine are obvious picks, but unsure about Lapras. It was Lorelei's ace, and with Johto feeling like an add-on on Kanto, I wouldn't see an Ace of E4 being on another gym's team. I don't understand Tentacruel. Doesn't fit the vibe well. But I would either keep Dewgong, it was on his original team, or maybe a Gyarados, he lives under lake of rage, would make sense to see him use one. Claire : Dragonair/Kingdra are definite keeps, but I would not put Charizard, if anything I would put Feraligatr. She is the final gym leader, but she has serious complex of being not worthy and overshadowed by her cousin, so I don't see her having Aerodactyl + Charizard like her cousin. Gyarados makes sense with Dragon Den. My vision for Claire would be : Gyarados, Dragonair, Feraligatr, Ace Kingdra. I don't think it needs to be a 5 man team, she is portrayed as still a rookie, Feraligatr can be her starter and fits Lance who also has a starter, but she doesn't seem to have left Johto yet. I could also see her go all 3 Johto Starters/Dragonair/Kingdra if you want 5 man team, and bypass Gyarados who is already used for Pryce and makes more sense with him.