Fixing Gen 2's Rival

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Credits: Craig Livingstone (Production), Weebra (Editing) Business Inquiries: [e-mail]

[@smithplayspokemon]

Hey guys! I've started a discord server for this project! Join here: discord.gg/4zEJwgku

[@mokarokas-1727]

I think you're doing him a little dirty saying he "sucks" and all... Most of your problems with him stem from the culmination of his character arc being post-game, and his team being a little on the weaker side right before you challenge the League. Contrary to the beloved Blue, at least Silver HAS a character arc.

[@mokarokas-1727]

I DO support these changes, though! Great work! However, as interesting as it would be to involve and kind of explain the early evolution at level 50 thing, aren't Lance's Pokémon going to be at a higher level in your version anyway? If so the source of the confusion would really only be transferred to Silver's team instead. lol

[@kevinniemann8218]

I do like the changes however i think with ampharos being on jasmines team it already got plenty of representation- How about in its stead you add a heracross- (since he is just intrested in power getting the strongest bug mon in a town known for its bug gym makes sense. You could then also add a line in the bugsy arena lines of how the king of bugs heracross still alludes him creating a tiny little arc there and an inworld explaination of why he doesnt have it ) This could also double up to display character growth with it at first just having horn attack, growl... Then takeover in the second (to show how he is recklessly forcing his mons into the battle with no regard with the recoil) Then in the third reversal to show hes wicked and isnt just having no regard but has his mons get hurt on purpose. Just to in the final encounter turn it on its head with endure (to show that both he and heracross now have so much trust in eachother that theyl endure anything) Final moveset sugestion for heracross Return, megahorn, endure, reversal. (This would make the battle more chalenging, while also being

[@randalljones4228]

YO! The main issue I have with it is taking out sneasel. In the manga Sneasel was his real first Pokemon and helped him steal the starter Pokemon. Even though your not going with the manga story line, It wouldnt make sense that a little kid was able to rob a lab full of grown men ALONE, unless he was a shinobi. Could make sneasel the "evil pikachu" on his team and maybe give it a move it wouldnt normally have, and better stats. 2nd issue I have giving him an Ampharos kinda takes away the feel for lighthouse scene with Jasmine. Not only that, but its like the only good electric type you can get in the game. Players often might not want to play against a rival that has the same pokemon as them. An Ursaring with Thunderpunch and/or maybe a grass move (Im not sure if it can learn seed bomb in gen 2) would be a challenge. Keep up the good work though!

[@aarong9288]

Hey there, love this series but I think you missed a couple thing about Silvers team choices and character arc. The fact that he has 2 unevolved pokemon It's sort of perfect because they both need trades to evolve. This highlights the point that you Need to collaborate and work with other people to be the best you can be. I think there's an opportunity for him to learn that and then unlock the potential of his trade evolutions. To make this extra spicy, There is some characterization to be mined from the fact that he is just going for the most powerful over represented pokemon and then hating himself and his pokemon when he can't bring out their true potential Which then drives him farther away from other people and the lesson he needs to learn in order to grow. It's a viscous cycle that the player character can have a direct hand in disrupting. Maybe after a battle the player character needs to trade with him in order to advance the story and in universe this is the act of good will that turns him around and allows him to be the best he can be. The next time you battle him, he's lost his attitude and approaches competition as mutually beneficial and not a zero sum determination of someone's entire worth.

[@edtouchables]

I think the reason he has the unevolved Kadabra and Haunter is that he doesn't trust people (or might just not have friends to trade with), so he's stuck with those unevolved Pokemon. Admittedly, I didn't make this connection until recently when I forgot his team and had to look it up on Bulbapedia.

[@smithplayspokemon]

That's definitely the reason! I still think it makes for a boring final fight unfortunately

[@MoramothHauntz]

I was going to say some similar for his Golbat. While he doesn't use Pokémon the same way his dad does, he's still a bit prickly with a Pokémon that evoles through friendship

[@edtouchables]

@@smithplayspokemon I think if it was just Haunter, it'd be fine. His team would still need serious changes, but it wouldn't be THE issue with his team. There was just no reason for them to double down with Kadabra especially when Oak's grandson (named Green in Japan and Blue in English-speaking countries) was the only other rival in the games at the time of GSC.

[@KamikazeCommie501]

I know his pain, the only way I ever got Gengar or Alakazam was emulating with gameshark codes

[@midend]

give how they established the way he treats pokemon, you'd think he'd dump them for better mons instead.

[@griskin_8202]

I think I'd have gone elekid rather than mareep. It evolves into a kanto Pokémon but it shows off the baby Pokémon that were added in gen 2, so his team would show both kanto to johto and johto to kanto evos, and their aesthetic is much more "I stole my first Pokémon" than a cute little sheep

[@Pero-zl4jp]

Also gives the Paul connection

[@parttimesaint3165]

I don't see a guy like Silver going "Hmm. Yes. A baby. That's a strong addition to my team."

[@joesplace2960]

To be fair though, elekid has a higher BST than mareep, and the same as flaafy.

[@robertlupa8273]

@@parttimesaint3165 a very mean looking baby

[@sunitharajesh9953]

Also matches the 2 stage evo thing

[@limon16025]

My biggest issue with Silver is that his whole personality is that he hates weak pokemon and blames his team for losing, but he always keeps the same team. I always felt like changing his team around after every battle becasue they lost makes more sense with his personality. I also really agree with the gen 1 thing. Even worse is that the gen 1 rival already has an Alakazam (and a Magneton in yellow if he doesn't have Jolteon). They could at least have given him different gen 1 mons.

[@devenvandyke1114]

And even though Blue dosn't hate his team, even he replaces his raticate for two stronger pokemon.

[@robertlupa8273]

They really messed up it up when creating his teams, haven't they?

[@dlake1224]

This is a great idea! Keeps their team fresh throughout, could even mean they get rid of the starter for a bit more variety. OR do they give their starter back as a form of repentance?

[@yaj_5002]

Thank you I am glad to know that I am not the only one who is bugged by the fact that silver uses the same pokemon every time he battles you and never switches any of his pokemon for potentially stronger ones despite his character suggesting other wise

[@Gocks92]

I think if you play with the idea of Silver having abandonment issues, that could explain why he doesn't swap out his team. I imagine his hatred of weakness stems from his own insecurity. He blames his own weakness for why he was abandoned by his father.

[@KrysKrossVA]

I think giving him a oddish into gloom then eventually into blossom instead of the mareep line. Changing electric for grass just sounds odd. The oddish fits him pretty well I think, and blossom kinda goes towards the character arc. Also I feel the dialogue with him before the victory road battle is a little to corny. While I like the idea to show more of the arc directly through his words, I don't think Silver is the kind of character to so openly express his emotions. There's other ways for him to say the same thing, without going all in on the direct love and affection. Especially right before a big battle.

[@robertlupa8273]

Thank you for saying this. I felt the same, but didn't have the confidence to say it.

[@iamhaito]

Yes I also felt like the dialogue was pretty corny. I don't think Silver would outright admit to loving his pokemon. I'd say it's in a good direction but bad execution. Maybe Silver just admitting the fact that he's been abusive towards his pokemon, and particularly pupitar and the fact that they still stayed by him and supported his dreams would be a good enough hint that he's changed.

[@nathan7031]

I mean there is a precedent for the Fire, Water, Electric core in Blue’s Pokémon Yellow teams. But that was moreso because of the 3 Eeveelutions instead of the starters.

[@number1analprincess]

i agree, the dialogue wasn't great... it needs some workshopping

[@digitaltailsmon4096]

I love this idea. the Mareep thing really does not fit him at all. It's to cutesy for him and something he would think is weak. Having a Oddish then Gloom could work given their poison nature so still fitting his more jerks attitude at first. Even also connecting to the rocket reveal in the remakes if they include that detail. He uses poison types like that group and like his family. Having it evolve into a Blossom would have him aspect his team and show care to them getting rid of that toxic nature and being a showcase of a cool new evolution in the form of Blossom while also keeping the core elemental idea. If you did need to use a electric type though my though is Elekid since Electabuzz is never used in gen 1 so it's a more unique mon than other electric types.

[@thomasjay3291]

I do think Bellossom could fit his team, and for one simple reason: Gloom. It wiil be pretty at home with the darker, edgy style of the rest of his team at the beginning, then blossom into something new and beautiful once he comes to terms with himself. Plus meganium is a beacon of hope incarnate, so he ending up with a gentle grass type wouldn't be out of character.

[@guilhermeteodosio40]

You're 200% correct my guy, besides the cute grass-type Pokémon being the odd one out would be pretty iconic to his character showcasing his soft side

[@tk24life]

Ampharos is a good idea but I think Bellossom wouldn’t be a bad idea either to conserve the fire/water/grass concept. Gloom can be creepy and his decision to evolve it to Bellossom can come after he goes heel/face. Sunkern/Sunflora also works. Sunflora can be kinda creepy.

[@danielquinlan2457]

The problem with Sunflora is that it sucks

[@sentient_typewriter]

​@Daniel Quinlan yeah it'd need a very necessary stat buff before it could be usable.. it's such an early game pokemon in a region where grass types are awful. Poor thing 😅

[@brendanboomhour7606]

​@@sentient_typewriter Sunkern/Sunflora are what you consider early game? You need 2 to 3 badges in order to get either one, while you can just get an Oddish or Bellsprout before that

[@C4rrEternal]

Plus his presumed mother uses a Vileplume-- the other Gloom evolution--as her Ace.

[@Rarest26]

@@brendanboomhour7606 It *could* be early game if Smith changes it, which he probably should lol

[@ivanbluecool]

Silver got so mad he forced a reset to the video

[@NotCzech001]

What

[@iIikepenguins]

​@@NotCzech001the original vid was unlisted

[@x2Scoop]

Loving this new Silver you've built up, but I disagree on the mareep instead of a grass type. If you're focused on the intimidation factor of the grass type I think you could give him either an oddish or a gloom during his encounter at Azalea Town. It could be used as a utility pokemon with status moves, leech seed, maybe synthesis or moonlight for healing, or what I think would be the coolest idea, Sunny day. This powers up his quilava's fire type moves and weakens water type attacks for his larvitar as well. Depending on where you think it's most appropriate he could get a bellossom on his 2nd to last or final battle, as a way to show how he's "blossomed" if you want a subtle way to show growth. This also makes it so he doesn't have 2 poison type pokemon on his team.

[@HighPriestFuneral]

This is a great idea! Gloom especially fits his overall demeanor.

[@C4rrEternal]

Not only that, but him using a Bellossom also shows how he has grown beyond his roots as the Son of Team Rocket. His mother is presumedly Rocket Executive Ariana--who uses Gloom's other evolution in Vileplume.

[@cellP8]

or maybe he could buff the hoppip family with good stats and amazing moves, i once played a gen 2 hack where a jumpluff obliterated me with aeroblast, i know its a signature but why not break the mold jumpluff with high speed and high offensive stats because of the physical special split, jumpluff would be a cool mixed attacker. buff giga drain from 60 base power to 80 or 90 buff gust or add a new move called tornado with 90 base power or just add hurricane from gen 5 we cant limit our imagination on this one, lets make the best pkmn crystal romhack of all time.

[@HighPriestFuneral]

@@C4rrEternal Touche! That would be a great symbolic, subtle touch.

[@pizzahutkidman8806]

Yeah, this also fits better than Amphoros overall. Plus it has a nice sun/moon connection with ursaring. Like only a small one but it's a neat touch.

[@worldsboss]

I actually prefer his official team and arc to be honest. Having the payoff be in the postgame makes more sense to me and his official team is a lot smarter than I realised back in the day. Golbat never reaches max happiness because he’s mean to it, so it doesn’t evolve, and the two trade evolutions are at their mid-stages because he has no friends to trade with. Sneasel is to highlight that he still isn’t above stealing. Kadabra also represents the Game Corner Team Rocket connection from Kanto, since Abra is a prize in the Goldenrod one iirc. Every pokemon is obtainable by the player at some point in the game.

[@TheHeavieKiwie]

Exactly this is what I want to say and it completely makes sense. I think his character is fine the way he is too. It's definitely better than some big character development and some big speech only for an embarrassing defeat and 5 bottles of copium. It's definitely makes more sense to *learn from a defeat* than exactly what I mentioned on the previous sentence. Also what's with others being too inclined to have Gen 2 Pokémon exclusively? Maybe for showcasing but it's literally a region right beside the previous one. It's obviously intended to be like the way.

[@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917]

Doesn't his Golbat evolve into Crobat eventually?

[@worldsboss]

@@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917 In the postgame, yes. That's to show that he overcame his past issues and started loving his pokemon.

[@TheHeavieKiwie]

@@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917 Yeah in the end, he does.

[@TheHeavieKiwie]

@@worldsboss Facts!

[@jesterclownmime]

He's supposed to be a bad heel loner with no friends. His team is perfectly designed around that concept. The only thing they could have done to improve him is have one more fight in Kanto where he's reflected upon all his defeats and evolves his team to their final forms through friendship. Then his team would offer a real challenge rather than just being a subtle sad narrative told through game mechanics.

[@iantaakalla8180]

Honestly, he had the Pokémon that had mechanic of leveling up. He could have had a Crobat (to show that he understands friendship) and an Alakazam (to show that he has gotten off of his high horse and made friends with possibly weak people)

[@BeyondTrash-xe1vs]

It may be serviceable character wise, but it's garbage from a meta perspective. Besides being a weak team, it includes pokemon who are represented elsewhere and so are forgettable. Not to mention having both Gengar and Alakazam is redundant.

[@jesterclownmime]

@@BeyondTrash-xe1vs Leave meta powerhouse teams to competitive play, it was just a narrative told through game mechanics. Like I said, it could have been made somewhat challenging with one last encounter and his whole team fully evolved.

[@daniellap.stewart6839]

Cool fanfic bruh nice excuse for his garbage tesm

[@jesterclownmime]

@@daniellap.stewart6839 If you want to troll you need to tone the stupidity down a few notches.

[@chaocobojun2098]

The “I love you” feels so fan fictiony it hurts. Especially with no vocal build up before that. Everything would have been fine without that.

[@sheafahy5161]

Having Tyranitar and Houndoom on his team would also be good representation for the dark type since it was introduced in gen 2, also kinda works with Silver being edgy lol. Plus I think the only in game trainer to have Tyranitar was the Blue rematch in FRLG.

[@geodude671]

One of the Trainer Tower enemies has one also. Roark uses one in his Platinum and BDSP rematches, Brock uses one in BW2, and Blue uses one again in HGSS.

[@groudonvert7286]

Blue also has a Tyranitar in his rematch of HGSS.

[@SeiLa-zf1sf]

@@groudonvert7286 Blue also has Tyranitar in Pokemon SM

[@egon3705]

evice uses one

[@tyranidswarmlord9722]

Tyranitar also screws over Ho-Oh(Rock for both Flying and Fire)/Lugia(Dark for it's Psychic, and still Rock for Flying), the Legendaries you would be packing in HS/GG before Elite 4. I dig it soooo hard.

[@edra2005]

Sneasel is such an iconic partner Hes the only trainer that actually has one on his team

[@lafolleauxmostisma]

True and in the manga it was the first Pokemon he own even before the starter

[@HollowIchigoKurosaki]

Fr. Disappointed it got cut.

[@kirbyofthestarsfan]

Yeah I really feel he could have made it a threat rather than cutting it, this new Silver just doesn't look nearly as cool

[@SuperKamehameha2]

I think an actual cutscene of Pupitar evolving (basically as if one of the players Pokemon were evolving) would give it a lot more oomph compared to just being text based. Beyond that though I love what you’re doing with this update

[@robertlupa8273]

I agree, but I'm not sure how easy (or even possible) that would be.

[@BeyondTrash-xe1vs]

Would definitely add more impact, but it's hard to say if that's even feasible to code.

[@A3STH3T1CS]

the problem would be coding a trigger to it, since they're probably tied to events in Pokémon games

[@pinkie723]

That would be cool! And either way it should say "Silver's Pupitar evolved" instead of "Your Pupitar evolved". It's like in Ocarina of Time when Ruto gets the spiritual stone and she holds it above her head and the item get jingle plays, but the text box says "Princess Ruto got the spiritual stone!" since Link wasn't the one picking it up. It's Silver's pokemon evolving, not yours. The system message text box should reflect that

[@Eric6761]

I think It would be cool for you doing a "Professor Elm sucks" because this guy is one of the most forgetable professors and he isnt even in the intro and i love the dialogue and i think would be cool Silver and Elm meeting at the league and the post game talk would be like The original version

[@ArgenteonYT]

i think it'd be neat to have Elm more involved in pokemon breeding somehow, since he had a minor quest with the togepi egg. maybe make the daycare couple related to him too

[@Anomaly188]

I feel like that was done on purpose to give a contrast to Oak. Oak is always engaged and willing to give advice in every appearance he makes but Elm's introduction in the anime shows he's completely checked out and autisticly focused on his research. He's so out to lunch that Team Rocket get to his lab first but he doesn't pay them any attention and just tells them to take a mon because he thinks they're new trainers looking for a starter. He only notices his mistake after they leave.

[@whoopsie-daisy]

Fun fact! In the Pokemon Adventures Manga, Silver has a ursaring! So that makes the choice of adding ursaring to his team make even more sense!

[@Alphafonz]

It might be worth while to change Ampharos for Victreebel as Bellsprout and sprout tower do have strong prominence in the Johto games!

[@tinkerermelon6599]

It's also the first place where he was told his ideology was wrong, so it adds an extra connection. It'd be super cool to have an optional encounter where you can see him at Sprout Tower between the Goldenrod fight and the pre-Elite Four fight.

[@cupasaza495]

If I may make a recommendation, if you're not changing the fact that he's Giovanni's kid, maybe have him assist you in taking down the team rocket hideout instead of Lance, hinting at this fact along the way instead of saying it outright. Show don't tell and all that.

[@shawnruby7011]

You mean in like kanto?

[@cupasaza495]

@@shawnruby7011 No, the one at Lake of rage. Either that one or the one at goldenrod

[@primaster9360]

No I'm pretty sure he means in the Mahogany Hideout

[@tenkenroo]

I think that would be cool but maybe have him want to use the radio waves to increase the power of his team at the cost of their friendship. Maybe at the end of the rocket radio tower defeat he regrets his actions cause he just sees his team fear and distrust him so he tries to repent and build trust between him and his team.

[@shawnruby7011]

@@cupasaza495 wouldn't that force the final battle to be earlier or would it be like they both find each other there by accident and team up as he assesses why he keeps losing thing?

[@DiamondIceNS]

I'm really enjoying this improved arc for Silver. While I will miss the Sneasel slot for him, I do think that pairing him with Larvitar suits his character much better. Especially considering that the entire Larvitar line is straight up unused by essentially every NPC in the entire game. Like, I owned Gen II and played it as a child back in the day and I didn't even know Tyranitar existed until Pokemon Colosseum. True of a lot of Johto Pokemon in general. Many such cases... I like your choice to alter his penultimate encounter text at Victory Road to make him complete his arc sooner, as well as making his arc with Larvitar the focal point. Though, I do find the written dialog to be kind of... uncharacteristically sappy? I know you're going for an emotional cracking of the shell moment for Silver, and that's good, but I feel like it's leaning a bit into the extreme with the dialog. Even if he's repenting for his past ways, I don't think he'd have such a radical tonal shift. He'd still be buried under that more brooding personality. Just look at his postgame dialog lines. To put my money where my mouth is, here's a script I've written for the scene with what I think he might say. I'll annotate it with commentary on my thought process. > Hold it. > ...Are you going to take the POKéMON LEAGUE challenge? > ..... While I do think him insulting you here is part of his character, I think him being so brazenly antagonistic to you immediately before going on an introspective monologue is a bit of a tonal whiplash. It was appropriate for the original scene, since he's still being haughty then, but I don't think it's appropriate here. So I've deleted it altogether and replaced it with a hesitant pause. > I've begun to understand what that dragon master said to me. > I have not been kind to my POKéMON. > I have treated them like pawns in pursuit of strength. > Even PUPITAR, the first POKeMON I ever truly caught. > My dream of becoming the strongest POKéMON trainer... > I can't realize it if I don't treat my POKéMON better. > My POKéMON are the closest things to friends I've had. > And if we want to get stronger, we must do it as a team. For the first line, I'm trying to keep it brief. This is a Game Boy game, after all. On a platform where more dialogue-heavy scripts are more permissible I think referencing the Dragon's Den sages would be great here. But I think a whole extra sentence is dwelling on things a bit. This dialog interaction is already longer than that of most if not all characters in the game. Maybe I'm overthinking it? IDK. You be the judge. After that, I've decided to lean into some more of of Silver's prior dialog by referencing his statement of his dream to the player in the Rocket Hideout. I believe his character arc is made even stronger by folding this detail into it, with Silver realizing that he cannot achieve his dream if he doesn't change his ways. I also try to tap into his loner personality here. It makes sense to me that his Pokemon really have been his only friends this whole time, and him realizing this now further strengthens his arc. I've also made good to mention Pupitar here early, just as you did, so it doesn't come out of the blue a few sentences later. I've addressed all of this to the player. I do think Silver switching his address to his Pokemon like in your dialog is quite impactful, but I also think it's a bit jarring for him to switch who he is speaking to so suddenly. Especially since he's not speaking to anything visible on the screen. In fact, he's still facing the player. Just feels odd to me, is all. > I vow to care for them. All of them. > Especially you, PUPITAR. And here we have the resolution. It's not quite as strongly stated as "I.. I love you." But I don't believe Silver would utter those words out loud anyway, especially in the presence of another person. I think my dialog is a bit more his speed, being emotionally reserved while still remaining sincere. I've also kept that final address to Pupitar here, because I do think it's more impactful if Silver does in fact speak to Pupitar directly. I've just kept it here neatly at the end of this block of the exchange, just before the evolution, to keep it succinct. > [play Pupitar cry sfx] > [Silver turns to face aside] > ...Hmm? PUPITAR? > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > [play Tyranitar cry sfx] > ...PUPITAR... evolved..? > ..... > [Silver turns back to face player] My memory is a bit hazy on whether there's other dialog in the game acting as precedent for how offscreen evolutions play out, but I don't think showing us the game UI text for *our* Pokemon evolving is the way to go here... I think it can be delivered in a more "show, don't tell" way if it's instead punctuated by audio cues of Pupitar acting up, followed by the roar of the newly-evolved Tyranitar. I'm not sure what your scripting capabilities allow you to do, so, might be a big ask. But I think it would deliver the scene much better. Might also pay to momentarily cut the background music here and let this part play out in silence to futher heighten the impact. Also, Silver not directly name dropping Tyranitar right away leaves a hypothetical player that has never experienced the game before (yes, the audience of people who will actually play this is not lost on me) a small shard of surprise when it appears in the battle ahead. > ...Humph. Gotta get one of these in here somewhere, lol. It's his trademark verbal tic, after all. Seems poetic to me to use it in a context where, instead of being an indignant scoff as it usually is, it's used as a more neutral expression here. A mark of his character shift while still remaining true to his core self. And a reasonably decent palate cleanser from the extraordinarily personal thing he just witnessed back to his conversation with the player. > I also intend to take the POKéMON LEAGUE challenge. > We will not be defeated. > Not by the ELITE FOUR, not by the CHAMPION... > Not even by you. > My friends and I, we're invincible! > ! I challenge you! A statement by Silver that bluntly affirms why he's here and acts as bookend to the start of the conversation. This is followed by an attempt to repurpose the "I'm invincible" line from his original dialog, this time re-contextualized by his now completed arc. It felt appropriate to salvage it somehow. I guess it's up to you whether you think any of this is any good. Feel free to use or adapt any part of it. I don't need or even want credit for it if you do. If you made it this far, thank you for your consideration. Looking forward to the completed romhack!

[@robertlupa8273]

Splendid job. I hope Smith sees this. I can definitely imagine wide-eyed Silver looking at Tyranitar and going "...humph."

[@smithplayspokemon]

Damn this is awesome! I’m going to take some inspiration from this

[@BeyondTrash-xe1vs]

Wow, I can always admire someone who puts their money where their mouth is. I thought Pat's original script was good already, but then again I don't really mid sappy stuff personally. However, reading your version I have to say was quite improved It felt a lot more in character while still hitting the same beats, and throwing his signature in there is great too. Thanks for sharing!

[@Hydraina]

Best comment on this video. So well thought out and executed. I hope heavy inspiration is taken from this.

[@simonhoran9775]

I think it makes sense for his arc to be shifted up, but honestly I don’t think Silver would say this. He’s far too proud of a person to openly admit he was wrong. It would be more in character for him to do it indirectly, maybe through a backhanded compliment or something.

[@Gocks92]

I like the trajectory of the team! I agree with others here who have recommended Victorybell or Bellossom over Ampharos. As much as I love Ampharos, it gets a significant spot in the story with Jasmine and her altered team. His change will feel natural if the dialogue is tweaked and his realization is gradual. You might even explore abandonment issues. He may hate "weak" Pokemon but he keeps his team despite that because he knows the pain of being abandoned by a father. So instead of giving up on his team, he continues to make them stronger. Just like he hopes his father will accept him if he becomes strong enough.

[@lucasfialho1374]

Wow, thats a really good concept!

[@Hydraina]

I agree with everything here except putting a grass type on his team. I don't like ampharos either, but grass is both terrible in gen 2, and also there's really not a grass type that I feel truly fits him. One comment suggested swapping elekid for ampharos which also gives the opportunity to show off baby Pokemon, which I agree with.

I feel Scizor should be on his team. It isn't featured a lot on the game and is also one of the most iconic mons of Johto. Great video!

[@edra2005]

Agree

[@Noobly533]

Would also buff his burned tower team with a freshly caught scyther.

[@Hydraina]

I deeply agree. Scizor fits him perfectly

[@keatonjohnson3057]

I was thinking the same thing. Also, it would keep the bit about trading to evolve without using Haunter or Kadabra.

[@jpcsdutra]

There is something else to Silver's unevolved Pokémon in Haunter and Kadabra. It's the game literally saying "look at him. He has no friends to trade with" If you want to fix him story wise, he NEEDS to appear in every rocket encounter wanting to disband them for good and or find Giovanni for himself. Also, I understand the urge to have him have a completely viable competitive team, but I feel like he need to have at least ONE useless Pokémon after he learns his lesson that he should care for creatures for something other than power.

[@megamuffin15]

The rival having an early Tyranitar also works symbolically because Lance has early Dragonites! I love it!

[@fenistereinc.5797]

I really hate it. Tyranitar is supposed to be a really exclusive pokemon, a pokemon only champions have. Not an edgy kid.

[@Rusty_Spy]

@@fenistereinc.5797 and it's also kinda a slap in the face to the player since we've been loving and caring to our Pokemon the whole time yet we never get to see our Pokemon evolve early but this punk gets one even though he just started to not be an asshole?

[@jakebeaudry3888]

I think this Sliver team works great. But I think the Magnimite line works well as the Grass type substitute. It also nods at the introduction of Steel types while also being a counter to Water types.

[@seineevee]

Agreed!!

[@ryapowa]

I'd agree if we didn't have a Steel-type Gym Leader

[@jlyn608]

The twist of having his Pupitar evolve is absolutely a fantastic capstone for his character arc, but the dialogue could use a bit of work. At the point where he begins to consider "but there's more to it than that," perhaps you could start by having him be like "Love. Trust. Maybe I still don't understand what that dragon master said to me. That I need to care for my team. But... even so, they've been with me through it all." Starting by introducing a bit of uncertainty, to reinforce that he still doesn't fully understand what it means to care about his team, can go to reinforce that he's taking the long way around, while also not *totally* having him just adopt someone else's values. And he could continue with "Even PUPITAR, the first POKéMON I ever truly caught. They've been so loyal to me, and yet I... I... haven't been good to it. I haven't been good to any of them. But I promise! I vow to better... to be the best, for them. Because I believe in my POKéMON! That they're the best! That they're the strongest! Especially you... PUPITAR?" Having him question what it even means to care, and yet struggling to be better for the sake of his pokemon, gradually shifting as his detached language of referring to his pokemon only indirectly shifts into more specifically talking to Pupitar after exclaiming that, even if he *can't* yet understand, he hopes to be better, and that he believes in them... it's a phrase that the anime always brings into huge importance, and a bit less on-the-nose than an "I love you," while also being a way to emphasize that he's still not exactly come to terms with things, but that he's still come a long way. Basically, just keeping him super awkward about it, but then nonetheless ironically showing that he *does* trust them, and *wants* to learn how to care for them, in a way that makes huge strides but doesn't *completely* paint over his edgy persona. He remains fixated on power, yes, but... it's changed a bit. He *believes* in their strength, rather than *demanding* it. Which is a bit more subtle, yes, but then the evolution? That would prompt him to almost forget the player, and *then* refocus his attention. From there, he'd say something to the effect of "...Tyranitar? [some kind of evolution explanation] Does that mean... you believe in me, too? I... I'm sorry. And... thank you." And, from there, he could continue with talking to the player. Maybe starting with an "... ... ...," as a bit of a callback that's inverted to show that he's genuinely touched, as opposed to when he used it previously to express his disdain, before he says something like. "...Oh. Right. ," or some such awkward segue, before perhaps starting with "We challenge you!," emphasis on the 'we', and THEN going into the "My friends will beat you, and then the elite four!" line, as if he's rushing to start the battle after that, while fumbling a bit with expressing that they're his friends as a punchy final line that cements his progression of "oh... he finally gets it." Despite that he's just hella clumsy about it. And the evolution explanation could be something about how if a pokemon believes enough in its trainer, or something? A biiit less on-the-nose, and also means it serves to "answer" the rival in a meaningful way by giving the clear message of "I believe in you" right back. But it's the post-battle text that I feel like would be most important. Because, for the first time, he could express that his pokemon are still the strongest, and that it's just him who was lacking. Maybe by inverting his Mt. Moon defeat speech a bit, by ending it with something like "prove that *they're* the greatest by beating you." Or perhaps something where his entire end-text is "we" and "they," rather than "I," to sort of punctuate his shifting mindset. Or maybe reserving the use of "I" for when he's admitting to fault. --- ...that was a bit more of a deluge of text than I'd intended. But I also wanted to mention that Elekid/Electabuzz could be another nice option for an electric type, as Mareep is, itself, not especially threatening-looking, and Ampharos does get plenty of representation from Jasmine's subplot (and now, team). But lacking a grass type does create other problems, like compounding the team's ground weakness, giving fire types a disproportionate disadvantage, and leaving the team without a meaningful water resist, while Ursaring leaves Crowbat to singularly cover three fighting weaknesses *and* three ground weaknesses (on a team without Meganium). Buuut there's no easy solution to that, within the parameters of using gen 2 exclusives... The most balanced possible end-game team, in terms of weakness/resistance comparisons, would probably be Bellossom as the grass type (the nearest-equivalent to Meganium, for having a ground resistance without creating an extra rock weakness, as Jumpluff does), and Heracross as a replacement for Ursaring (to get rid of the extra fighting weakness while fulfilling a similar role, and also resisting fighting and ground type attacks). Bellossom is obviously not a great fit, aesthetically, but... neither is Meganium, to be fair, whereas Oddish and Gloom aren't a bad fit. Gloom introduces a temporary psychic weakness, but Heracross is his last 'mon, by which point it would have evolved into Bellossom. Which is at least an easier sell than Jumpluff, which starts off as Hoppip. Fire/water/grass cores are exceptionally useful for reasons beyond just the water matchup, so the type balance may suffer a bit too much when substituting in an electric type while already working to support Tyranitar and a fire type. But type balance certainly isn't everything, so it's hard to say whether those options are worth the trade.

[@cyrus106]

I agree. Making the dialogue less on the nose would sell it more!

[@Alakadoof]

You gotta remove a period from the "Love, friendship... It's what the sages in the Dragons Den said too." That first line is too long and breaks the text box border. Somebody else mentioned that the "I love you" line is a bit much, and I agree. It's shown already, you don't need to say it as well.

[@joshmeche1320]

Yeah I totally agree with that too. Silver is supposed to be somewhat of a tough character and adding that line makes it feel a bit too cuddly.

[@smithplayspokemon]

100% agree

[@ChaddyFantome]

I always felt Silver's team was meant to make the connection to Team Rocket. He felt like an elite Rocket trainer.

[@NotTheWheel]

I know you said you wanted Silver to have an all Gen 2 team... but actually a great Grass pokemon for him to have as part of the Trio is actually Victreebel. Victreebel is a great grass pokemon. Is very menacing looking and also fits because Johto has the Sprout Tower so it explains where Silver would have got it from.

[@EeveeReturn]

The Larvitar thread is pretty inspired, I really like it! I think there's a good move thread to follow through its growth as well: have it know Thrash in most of its Larvitar appearances, switch it for Outrage as a Pupitar, and finally swap it for Return as a Tyranitar.

[@KeitaroHirochi]

There's a little problem with that last switch: enemy pokémon don't have friendship, only yours do, so return used by literally any opponent will hit about as hard as a wet noodle.

[@squid.3044]

Ursaring was a great pick and Silver in the manga uses it too. Glad you decided to do it.

[@jplm5394]

I'd kind of like the idea that your rival goes back to Elms lab right before you meet him again in Burned Tower. Figuring that he took the 'bad' starter since he lost twice to you, he decides to steal the third starter for his own as well. Would make thematic sense. Perhaps he even returns that 'third starter' to Elm when you meet him in Mount Moon, to complete his story arc fully.

[@MaxEdrox]

I'm all about giving more Gen 2 Pokemon to Silver, but the whole "I love you guys" thing was so out of character as if you don't know Silver at all, he would be more like a Tsundere type of character, he wouldn't admit his feelings out loud. The Crobat was enough proof of it or if you don't like Crobat it could be replaced by any other Pokemon that evolve by friendship... But there are no good designs that fit his character so Crobat should stay, also, Zubat and Larvitar fit him perfectly. A Team of unrepresented Pokemon of Gen1 and 2 would be Zubat-Golbat-Crobat Larvitar-Pupitar-Tyranitar Skarmory Houndour-Houdoom/Magikarp-Gyarados/Bellsprout-Weepinbell-Victreebell Teddiursa-Ursaring Starter I like that he changes Pokemon depending on the player's choice

[@freddyfangamer1964]

I'm personally not the biggest fan of your explanation of early evolution. It kind of implies that the player does not love their pokemon enough.

[@notme8232]

Yeah, IMO, Lance saw his potential and covertly gave Silver the GameShark code he used on his Dragonites.

[@christykamori2265]

If we're giving Silver an electric type, maybe consider Elekid? It's a two-stage evolution to blend in with Remoraid & Houndour! And I feel Electabuzz fits Silver's m.o. better than the cute & cuddly Ampharos

[@kirbyofthestarsfan]

Precisely, a fierce Electabuzz would be much better, plus Elekid doesn't look cuddly at all compared to the other baby mons, he looks like a total brat, perfect for Silver's team

[@Sanisgillon]

Yes! Thank you for keeping the Golbat to Crobat plot. That was always super important to me. Also something about the image of Silver secretly having a sweet little Teddiursa just tickles me.

[@Yakkosprite]

Let me tell you only one thing: That animation where you threw a garbage can on top of Silver was priceless and I had to stop the video to stop laughing

[@OhDangItsBazn]

Irrelevant, but as a kid playing GS for the first time back in 2000, I hope I wasn’t the only kid who named silver “???” Because that’s what the first encounter called him. When the cop asked me what his name was, I didn’t realize it was the game allowing me to “name my rival”, I legit thought to give the name from that encounter. Dude’s name was ??? My entire first play through.

[@suplannie]

You definitely weren't the only one, I was about 7 when I first played and figured "Well, the game didn't tell me his real name," so I did the same thing. Whenever I play the VC versions or the remakes I always name him ??? out of tradition lol

[@ethandaniels6056]

Silver to me is more of a philosophical piece of story rather than any real game challenge and therefore i think the story designed around him reflects that and will need to be changed as well. The point of silver is to show the player what happens to those who dont care about the wellbeing and friendship of both pokemon and other trainers. So for him to obtain these evolutions, the rom hack MUST pull an extra story-pokemon-platinum-eqsue arc where he learns to become a good person too. Otherwise the team change is going to feel unearned by silver as a character

[@JRPOGM]

this is the kind of Johto master version I am looking for. I will be keeping up with this for the wonderful adventure you bring. Thank you for your hard work.

[@m.m.2341]

The changes are all great. But ditch the "I love you". That's way too weird and cringe.

[@smithplayspokemon]

lmao agreed, i couldn't even voice it in this video, as you can hear

[@m.m.2341]

@@smithplayspokemon yeah, you probably noticed when reading it out loud 😂

[@agm5424]

Silver having a Tyranitar also makes sence lore wise since too most fans his canonical choice among the three starters is Tododile as opposed to Ethan's/Gold's Cyndaquil. That way both of Silver's starters will have a type advantage against the main character's fire type starter making him a bigger threat as a rival.

[@fenistereinc.5797]

No it doesn't make sense. You said it Feraligatr is just an option not his cannon team or anything. If you really care for the lore you should know only champions can have access to Mt. Silver and Tyranitar.

[@icecreamorc]

Love these changes other than the Mareep pick. His Magnamite always felt like a very solid choice that didnt need to be changed.

[@jakebeaudry3888]

And as a bonus, it nods the introduction of Steel types.

[@icecreamorc]

@@jakebeaudry3888 Yeah that was my back up thought too is that it's good at showing the new type off. I still have memories of hitting that thing with cut only to be shocked at how little damage it took when I was a kid.

[@dkfunentertainment3778]

Love this new video series! Very much interested in this and looking forward to the finished rom hack. I will definitely be playing it when it comes out!

[@XellossBoi]

Watching and liking again! ^__^ Love this so much. I was surprised you swapped Whooper for Remoraid, but I love it. I still think in early bbattles he should still give his Pokémon recoil moves. I'm going to join the crap out of that discord!

[@MrFantocan]

Silver is not meant to be the Blue/Gary of Gen 2, he is a criminal, closer to Team Rocket, and less a rising star young trainner, I read somewhere that he is Giovanni's bastard child... So he is just a small obstacle, you can't compare him to a Champion, the idea here I believe was to build up Lance and latter Red as the big Boss of the game. Also Gen 2 is less a new generation and more an expansion of Gen 1 as the majority of Gen 1 pkms are in Johto, so him having Gen 1 is a no brainner. To exemplify the idea of Gen 2 being an expansion the majority of Gym's are of Gen 1 pokemon. So Silver is more a Team Rocket pre recruit that happens to know how to train.

[@MrFantocan]

And for Gen 2 grass type you could give Bellossom.

[@SoulXCross.]

I LOVE these changes! I'd really like to see more involvement with Silver in Kanto; honestly I want to see more happen in Kanto in general. Kanto was so bland and needed some story elements. Excellent video! This will be the best crystal romhack!!

[@corylee88]

The fact that there is data on an Imposter Professor Oak almost makes me wonder if he would have played in with that?

[@pyrosianheir]

If you look into the manga versions of Silver, the choices for his team makes sense. He starts with a Sneasel, and steals the starter. Then the rest of them (barring golbat) end up being trade evos, which is supposed to be his big thing in the Manga. He trades a seadra from gold with Dragon Scale in exchange for something and then has that Kingdra as one of his big aces from then out in the manga.

[@mphdude4199]

Can't wait to see your rom. I'll donate seeing how much thoughts you've put into the characters.

[@LuxyHugs]

As other people have mentioned, he doesn't trade due to being afraid of people. I really like your inclusion of tyranitar but another one that could take the place of crobat could be Scyther/scizor. Intimidating, reps steel, and emphasizes his cageyness with people. Also I know you went exclusively gen 2 but victreebel would fill that grass slot perfectly.

[@3MinuteQuran]

Hard to imagine the rival, who was so disdainful at Sprout Tower, picking up a Bellsprout of his own...

[@fenistereinc.5797]

Tyranitar doesn't make sense lore wise.

[@hammdogporkington3058]

Love almost all of this Having Silver talk to you while the last cutscene happened feels really weird and inorganic to me, I don't know if the GSC engine can do it but having him talk to his team separately before you approach him (maybe the camera pans up to him?) could feel more natural and less performative

[@robertlupa8273]

I don't think the camera could move independently of the player character before Gen 3.

[@3MinuteQuran]

There's no need to pan the camera; there is a similar situation in Sprout Tower where the player witnesses the rival talking to the elder at the top of the tower before the player gets too close and it doesn't require a camera pan. This is a great suggestion.

[@infint9939]

I love how well thought out you you changed Silver teams, as well making each people fit his personality more. I think an interesting change would be swapping the Mareep line with the Elekid line. They're a 2 stage line like Houndour and Remoriad, is also a mon Paul had (which inspired by Sliver). The Elekid line fits that intimidating/weapon aesthetic than the Mareep line imo, and has more options to move pool wise Love the Crystal project you're doing!

[@ryrysamurai92]

My head canon for Silver’s team has always been, his story is about change, and his change is illustrated through his Pokémon. Crobat, Alakazam, and Gengar all need specific requirements to evolve to their final form. Silver having Kadabra, Golbat, and Haunter for so long illustrates that his philosophy of using Pokémon as mere tools for power was holding him back. You the player, beat him time and time again, and each time you pull further and further ahead as your bonds with your pokémon grow. When Silver finally accepts that love and treating your pokémon as partners is what sets you and him apart, he unlocks the true potential of his pokémon, and himself as a trainer. golbat‘s friendship with Silver grows enough to allow the Crobat evolution, and Kadabra and Haunter see such a change in Silver, it’s almost like they were traded to a totally different trainer

[@hhjan594]

I'm fairly sure Silver used an Ursaring in the Pokemon Adventures Manga, which is actually a pretty good pick. In the manga, there's even this chapter where Silver wants to catch the strong Ursaring (yeah he wants strong Pokemon)so he went to visit Kurt to make Apricon balls. Eventually, he caught it with a heavy ball. BTW funny enough Silver actually also carries a Tyranitar in the manga too.

[@dlake1224]

I love that you've made Silver more difficult but it feels a bit like they all just have hard hitting moves rather than any utility. After all, the most annoying teams are the ones that keep paralysing and putting you to sleep or use set up moves. Surely the Crobat needs to come after the climax too?

[@haddythegamer]

I actually love silver's team. He is Giovanni's son, so of course he'll use steretypical rocket exec pokemon like gengar, crobat, and magneton. he had an ace- sneasel, which was really cool and unique (even though it wasn't strong) and fit with his overall vibe well. plus he kinda reforms throughout the game and becomes kinder, and his crobat evolves from friendship!

[@haddythegamer]

wait but I do love him with tyranitar and houndoom tbh...

[@dietsodadude]

I noticed that you also suggested houndoom for Morty and ampharos for Jasmine in your gym leader fights, which starts to overlap pokemon. Something I'd suggest would be to use slugma/magcargo for the fire type, and sunkern/sunflora for the grass type, as they have a theme of "slow but can hit hard" along with remoraid/octillery. Sunflora and Magcargo could act to set up sunny day which could be used to power up solar beam or fire blast for meganium and typhlosion. As for using crobat, it also overlaps with Koga's ace, so I think a fun substitution could be gligar and giving it guillotine as an early move, to show how Silver's team focuses on raw power over other stats like defense or speed.

[@shadowmarauder6033]

Not to his team, but maybe involve him in the team rocket story more. As he is the son of Giovanni, maybe some grunts you speak to say that they’re looking for a red-haired kid before getting their boss back.

[@SinisterPixel]

I can't say I really vibe with that new Silver dialogue. It just doesn't fit his character, even after his reform. He remains a very emotionally unavailable character with very obvious character flaws. I think perhaps a speech where he remarks that after traveling with his Pokémon for so long he realised that all they wanted to do was support him, so he felt he had a duty of care to them as well would be a lot more fitting. How about this? "But there's a lot more to it than that. That dragon master... They told me how much my Pokémon cared for me, and I began considering how I had treated them in turn. By listening to my Pokémon and returning that care, we discovered a new kind of strength together. So now we'll show that strength to you, and the Elite Four! Together!"

[@YiruKS]

Yeah, I also felt that the dialogue was too cheesy with the "I love you" n shit. Even if he truly felt like this he would never say it out loud, I think it would be best to find a way to convey this indirectly, like early in the game (maybe a recurring theme across the game) the player is informed about love makin a pokemon able to evolve, etc. And then when pupitar evolves early after the dialogue it's up to the player to connect the dots and realize ourselves that Silver loved his mons

[@briansherrod1916]

I love the final speech you changed. That would be phenomenal! With the change I would be for this!

[@chasingplatypus]

(This comment is more like a discussion, I'm giving my point of view without condemning yours.) So... I know you wanna put the elemental triangle on Silver's team and grass is very bad on this generation but... doesn't Ampharos is already present on Jazmine's remade fight? On the prior generation you wouldn't also see the full elemental circle on your rival fights until later on and I really think Zubat fits his team. Maybe the battle on Azalea could be just phase 2 starter, Larvitar and Zubat. Then, on Burned Tower he could add one more neutral Pokémon, like Teddiursa/Snnubbul or even Phanpy (three very underrepresented species and you even picked Teddiursa for later). On Goldenroad Underground I'd give him both missing elemental trio Pokémon - Remoraid, Houndour, Skiploom. At Victory Road he gets his fully evolved elemental trio + neutral Pokémon from burned tower. Tyranitar would only be present on this battle too! Now a bit of twist: Crobat evolves from friendship and his arch is all around that. He could then swap this Pokémon out as it wouldn't evolve. On Goldenroad Underground it could be missing (battle of elemental trio + neutral + Larvitar) and on Victory Road he gets... maybe a Skarmory (another underrepresented species)? So that Crobat would replace it on postgame as he learned the value of loving it. Or Crobat could just come back on this last fight. Don't know. That's my take.

[@zioplys]

Very well made argument, i agree!

[@captncapri1094]

Aw, I really love Sneasel. I get it sucks in Gen 2 but its design looks so cool and I loved it in the manga as the pokemon that Silver used to steal the starter. For gameplay the new teams are great. However, Ursaring feels weird for him to have even though its ferocious since Teddiursa is adorable. I feel like Scizor would fit his aesthetic more. I like how you handled Silver's arc alot though. I do feel like its a bit awkward having him tell his Pupitar he loves it in front of the player. In my opinion, having us walk up to him accidentally eavesdropping, Pupitar evolving, then Silver giving us the speech of how he understands friendship might flow nicer.

[@asafesseidonsapphire]

Sneasel design also is similar to Silver, i actually think he's supposed to be his Ace or at least that's what it always seemed to me.

[@captncapri1094]

@@asafesseidonsapphire Yeah I agree. To me, taking Sneasel out feels like taking out a part of Silver.

[@ponyboy9765]

I think the new team works so much better for him and sounds like a much more formidable challenge. I think the only thing I might change back would be his Magneton for mareep. It’s just so damn cute and fluffy I can’t see him using it over Magneton who gives off those cold lifeless steel vibes. Which seem much more on brand for him.

[@user-oy2zg3bt6n]

ok his final team moves and all: 1. Ursaring: slash, faint attack, rock smash, rest 2. Crobat: toxic, double team, confuse ray, wing attack 3.1./4.1. (without Feraligator) Octillery: Surf, ice beam, psy-beam, hyper beam 3.2./4.2. (without Typhlosion) Houndoom: flamethrower, iron tail, crunch, sunny day 3.3./4.3. (without Magenium) Ampheros: light screen, thunder bolt, cotton spore, thunder wave 5.1. Feraligator: ice punch, surf, slash, bite 5.2. Typhlosion: flame thrower, quick attack, iron tail, thunder punch 5.3. Magenium: reflect, giga drain, solar beam, body slam 6. Tyranotar: crunch, earthquake, rock slide, outrage personal pet peeves and suggestions: 1.houndoom's iron tail is bad, not just as a move but for this pokemon as well. i suggest a solar beam replacement because it will cover the one team where he doesn't have magenium but does have houndoom. 2. typhlosion's iron tail is the same deals as houndoom (and unlike quick attack it has no good reason to be there), generally bad move on a mon that should not have this move on it in any generation but instead of solar beam i suggest replacing the move with hidden power water. 3. this is very optional but tyranotar's outrage does not support it in generation two as a general all attacking move because dragon is a special type, instead i suggest giving it iron tail a move with the same but slightly different concept of powerful but risky, the steel type also is supported better in tyranotar then in the fire type pokemon as an answer to things it's other moves don't cover. i get the thematical fitting but my points still stand

[@genevievemeuniere4047]

It's so funny to me that when i was a little wee child and played Crystal I do was frightened of him, but mostly because I only had one strong mon (like my dear Arcanine Ambrosius) and a bunch of low-level-junk in my pocket. Seeing the new teammates you and the community picked make me shudder, the teams look so good! I do feel like the Zubat should be part of the team earlier though? One of the reason he seemed to scary for me back in the day was the fact he has so many Pokemon on his team so early. The fight after the second bage was terrifying! And the Zubat being with him earlier might actually be also furthering from the plot point with trusting your Pokemon. But anyway I love the idea with the Larvitar 👌👍 Seeing the concept progress for this Rom Hack is exciting 😄

[@robertlupa8273]

Ambrosius, huh? That's a very nice name.

[@lordinfernape4753]

I think a better way to explain the illegal early level evolutioms is because team Rocket's radio signal made Pokemon evolve earlier, people even believed that the red gyarados was red because it was forced to evolve too early

[@ShiningJudgment666]

But how would you explain Lance? In the base games, he has a trio of Dragonites rather than a Dragonite and 2 Dragonairs like in Red/Blue/Yellow yet they're lower level and at levels before they evolve. I believe that's an instance of continuity while maintaining game balance (his team level scaling to that point in the game). There's also low level evolved Pokemon that can appear wild.

[@nicholasargiros1331]

Lance was training at the lake of Rage when the radio signals were happening (where you meet him pre red gyarados). Actually thought that was the canon reason haha @@ShiningJudgment666

[@Bedroskeskeskeske]

Really great series, thanks for pulling in feedback. It's awesome that you're willing to fix so many aspects of these games! Also, not only Paul in the anime, but Silver in the manga have an Usaring so it's a great choice.

[@guilhermeteodosio40]

In the GSC manga, Silver is a powerful rival who bewields a team composed by Feraligatr, Murkrow, Ursaring, Kingdra, Tyranitar, the red Gyarados and his starter Sneazel

[@G00lden]

I think you should keep a grass Mon, and should be Bellossom, as it could also speak of Silver new way to look at things. It must be kept as a gloom until later in the game, so one would think it might evolve into Vileplum, as a dark and moody Mon, but Bellossom could be as spunky and revel as himself. Fantastic work on the video! Keep up the cool work :)

[@lightningyonko7490]

Would you be able to randomize team rockets Pokémon. They should all have different Pokémon because there while thing is stealing them. It would be great to see a huge variety from them. Just spins wheel and start plugging i. Pokémon to all there teams. According to the level they should be at.

[@Sunaki1000]

I think you underrestimate the Storytelling, and Intentions for his Team. Besides him having mostly scary Pokemon, he got exactly 3 Kantos and 3 Jothos in his Final Fight, repressenting the duality of the two Regions. A Dark and a Steel Type for repressenting the two new Types. Crobat evolves only whit Friendship, what in itselfe was a new Mechanic introduced in Gen 2, therefore not only storyrelevant, but a hint towards a Gameplay Mechanik. And its implied he stole Sneazel from its former Trainer in the Island City. Also Statwhise he seemns to favor Speed bevor anything else, whit 4 very fast Pokemon.

[@MINTY_FN]

I know I'm a little late to the party but I had a couple of thoughts. Overall I really like what you've done but I think you're overexplaining the Ttar evolution. I don't think Silver expositing why the evolution is happening early adds anything. I think just leaving it at him being caught off guard by the evolution and then challenging you to the battle has more emotional impact than having Silver essentially turn to the camera and go "this is why this makes sense".

[@gideonantonissen6275]

I like the team set up you did however if an you needed an grass type than maybe Victrebell because he could probably train an Bellsprout better than the sages when he defeated them for the Flash HM. Also i honestly like Silver how for who he is an edge lord that was left alone by his father and vowed to be stronger and prove his father wrong but at the same time i do agree on what you have in mind. Still i can only give an idea what you do for it is up to you.

[@narutoshadowclone1]

I think giving Silver Larvitar is a great idea and besides it being in Dark Cave for players Silver’s could’ve come from Mt. Silver and had always been carrying it around, but never used until they absolutely had to. (in his gym battle against Falkner which would be a 2 Pokémon each) It could also be a nod to the flashback Celebi event we get in the Heart Gold and Soul Silver remakes, where we see Giovanni and Silver talking in Kanto on Route 22 before leaving.

[@KefkeWren]

This video in a nutshell, "What's diegetic gameplay?" Silver's team is bad because _Silver_ is bad. He doesn't trust people, so he can't get trade evos. He only cares about raw strength, and expects his pokémon to pull all the weight without his help. Silver is literally _holding his team back_ with his incompetence in the main game, and his team is meant to reflect this. Your fight against him is easy because his story arc is about how he hasn't learned how to be a good trainer and keeps losing because of that. He _isn't_ your rival. You're his.

[@mikepost1630]

With crystal’s focus on suicuine and the trio I think it would actually be cool to see either entei or raikou ( preferably raikou due to moveset) at the end of his character arc. Tyranitar is a great choice for his team not sure I agree on the mareep line also if you give him a houndoom you’ve now got that line on 3 prominent trainers in the game with morty (changed in your gym leader video) silver and Karen.

[@JaKeW138]

His un-evolved pokemon are all via trade. He has no friends

[@Black-bn6ic]

It takes an earthquake to destroy half of that team lmao.

[@Subgenrelol]

Nah ngl that fanfic final battle dialogue would be absurdly hype, that might be my favorite part of the game if implemented

[@GoundG]

You made Gary 2.0 instead of reworking silver

[@owengonzalez6819]

…dude. This is incredible! I never really noticed the flaws with Silver’s character arc until this video! Every part of this was brilliant! The only change I would make is change Octillery for Kingdra. Kingdra being a trade evolution would show that Silver has some trust in others (I found this idea of lack of trust in another comment, and I thought it was interesting, so I’m gonna use that cool idea here!). Also, i LOVE Kingdra, and it could add more bulk to the team. Just a suggestion, but I think it could work! Edit: Nevermind. Kinda forgot Kingdra is Dragon type and is neutral to Electric

[@DustyGogoat]

I actually love that the stolen Pokémon eventually becomes his ace through friendship and love. Great video bro!

[@jptoner]

A minor thing, comparatively, but it always kinda bugged me that the single most interesting thing about Silver as a character (his relation to Giovanni) was never even mentioned in the main series outside of an event.

[@marklastname373]

I actually teared up a little bit with the dialog change, it made me think of myself when I was younger; a total bastard, and not nice to animals. I've changed so much since then but I'll never forget the moment I first felt truly ashamed of how I'd been acting. This managed to drag a little of that up, so props to you man. Best believe I'll be all over this hack when you're done ❤️

[@Rodri34451]

That thing of evolution through friendship even if that Pokemon doesn't evolve doing that sounds so great. The idea of your Pokemon evolving earlier to be more capable of defending you or help you compete better is something I'd love to see in an official game.

[@abominationdesolation8322]

Silver would never be written to say that exact dialog. It has no stoicism or emotional reservation. You can make him feel those things but that's not how someone like him would express it. At least add something about how he's only comfortable being honest with the player because they've fought enough to really know each other without speaking.

[@HeyNodnoc]

I've seen so many diff opinions on this red headed step child. He's the best rival he's the worst rival hes the most well fleshed out rival he wasint well fleshed out he's just Giovanni's son and that's the only point of interest for him. He's too similar to blue but more of a dick, he actually is sincere and learns a valuable lesson in the end that redeems him. no one can make there mind up on this guy.

[@OmegaPhlare]

Oh no, please don't make him monologue in front of you like this unless your rom hack is already planned to have a lot of these monologues. It's very lengthy and out of place for the tone of this game.

[@RoiOfTheSuisse]

but isn't the whole story about Silver that he IS a bad trainer because he didn't understood the power of FRIENDSHIP or something like that?

[@OmegaSaiyanPrince]

I love your editing and video content, I'll be subbing here, thanks for the massively great videos!!!! Keep up the great work, love ya stuff.

[@venzivenzivenzi]

When you started mentioning Larvitar as the first Pokémon that Silver caught, I could see where you were going with his arc. I love it, it feels genuine and cohesive with a way better pacing of his story. I like it very much!

[@devonerichardson2065]

Here come the comments flooding with people saying "no you're wrong silver is the best rival and there have been bad rivals since" or "Gen 2 perfect in every way" it's coming i know it is

[@DArtagnonW]

I like the sped up character arc for Silver, and I like the team choices. I think it would be a nice subtle indicator to have Pupitar know coverage moves for the last/next gym for each Silver fight along the way. Pupitar _is_ the heart of Silver's team; it _was_ there for all of the challenges he overcame, even if it has always been too weak to overcome the protag.

[@cheribogummy]

hmm...while i LOVE the framing device of Larvitar (& i especially have never realized how much its design & gameplay function can so beautifully match Silver's arc), i feel like the pacing here is off. in this version, someone tells him he's being bad, he immediately realizes he's being bad, and then he's immediately rewarded for realizing that. it feels formulaic & doesn't reveal much about Silver's character. the original game's way of doing things does seem purposeful. Silver has never had a healthy adult in his life to help him on the straight and narrow, and so he has little reason to trust people like the Elder in Sprout Tower, or the "dragon master" in Blackthorn - still believing all he needs to do is push himself and his Pokemon to be stronger and stronger. so him rejecting the dragon master's advice is just one more denial of what he needs to hear. that being quickly followed by a crushing loss to the player right before the Pokemon League is what helps make the defeat he feels more real to the player. this is the last time you see him in Johto, and it was Silver's last chance to prove himself against you, before you venture toward the Elite Four. he truly has nothing left to blame his losses on. to me, it reads as the crushing blow to his ego that he needed, and is the impetus for him to go off and do some soul searching - just in time for you to finish up the first half of the game. i love the Larvitar angle so much, though. it's ridiculously clever. maybe instead, Silver catches Larvitar for the first two battles - the player gets to easily steamroll it, and Silver comments how frustrated he is that this supposedly "strong" Pokemon ended up so weak. afterwards, it disappears from his team. after all, Silver does seem like the type to throw away Pokemon when they aren't useful, and at this point in his arc it's likely he's too stubborn to admit to feeling any kinship with something so "weak". but then, after his pre-League defeat, he clearly takes the loss to heart - and the next time you see him, in Kanto, he now has a Pupitar on his team. mentioning how he's now given Larvitar a chance, and has already seen that there's more potential in it then he realized. it could also be a Tyranitar, i suppose. but if you were to make the battles with him in the Pokemon League mandatory, that instead could be the first reveal of its final evolution.

[@GiantMushrooms]

Pokemon gen shamer with bad opinions on pokemon gens.

[@IVightSky]

could also take a page out of the manga, where his totodile started out with frustration which changed to return at the end.

[@UnderratedBurnyBadger]

I'm a huge Gen 2 (and specifically Silver) fangirl. I agree with all of these changes. I would just suggest toning down the sappiness of that dialogue before Pupitar evolves. Silver has changed, yeah, but I think he would still do his best to avoid being *too* sappy since he's spent most of his life seeing emotional attachment and things of that sort as 'weakness.' I think he would definitely get the point across but would do it in the most reserved way possible just based on old habits. It would show he's changed but still has some work to do instead of having such a complete personality shift at that point.

[@ScourgeBladeZelda]

I believe at least one of Silver's teammates should be swapped out every battle from his second fight before Ilex Forest to his fight in the Rocket Hideout. Part of Silver's shtick is that he hates weak Pokemon. I think that should be emphasized more by having him abandon Pokemon after every loss. Like maybe have Ursaring in the Burned Tower fight and have him abandon it after it loses to you. Stuff like that. Kadabra and Haunter could be part of this trend too symbolizing that he can't get them to their full potential because he doesn't trust people with his tools so he won't trade them, locking them out of their final evolutions causing him to ultimately abandon them. I like the new arc with Larvitar being his first real Pokemon and sticks with him until the end despite him talking down to it. Love it. The reason I suggest Ursaring for earlier though is that I don't agree with him having it on his final team. Allow me to explain. His "starter" and Crobat are obvious staples on Silver's arc, but I think Sneasel works because of his dark nature. It's stated by an NPC is Cianwood City that Silver stole one of his prized Pokemon. It's the same guy that gives you Shuckie the Shuckle. In your next fight with Silver, he has Sneasel confirming that this is the Pokemon he stole. It's a dark type and just works well for him considering Sneasel and it's twisted nature stated in it's Pokedex entrees. So for that reason, I think he should keep Sneasel in his final team. it's also just memorable and Silver's final team just wouldn't feel right without it. The Pokemon Adventures Manga farther cements this as well to me. Also, another thing I want to suggest is changing Ampharos. I get the choice but since Jasmine has it and from your positive feedback for the comments suggesting Clair to have it as well means you're considering that as well. But that also means Ampharos is a member of 3 bosses teams. While I and many others love Ampharos (It's one of my favorite Pokemon both in and out of Johto), This gives it a bit too much exposure. It also just doesn't fit Silver at all. So might I suggest Electabuzz. It's a Gen 1 Pokemon, yes, but it also got a baby version in the form of Elekid so I think it's worth considering. You previously did this same thing to justify Jinx on Price's team and I feel you could do a similar thing here. It's much more intimidating than Ampharos and fits him better imo. With this, Silver's team not including the starter choices would theoretically be Tyranitar, Sneasel, Houndoom, Octillery, Electabuzz and Crobat. Also also, what about Team Rocket? If Giovanni is going to make more of an appearance I personally hope his relationship with Silver get more expanded upon. It'd be cool to see the game explore what Giovanni thinks of Silver as his son and why Silver hates team Rocket so much. How did Silver become the way he is now? I think that would be so interesting. Even without any of this though, this is still miles better than his arc and team in the original despite the loss of Sneasel.

[@Shalakor]

Now Crystal Legacy version of Silver is canon in Pokemon Masters. He got the T-taur, and is specifically post character development Silver.

[@lissastargazer]

Pokemon Adventures also thought he should have one way back when GSC first came out, although it was Lance's Ttar that he had and he couldn't actually control it

[@jaxsomon3333]

I know I'm late to the party, but here is how you could make the golbat at evo work with the arc: make it so after you fight him in the penultimate fight, his crib at evolves. And his dialogue after the fight is him contemplating why that is the case, thus kick starting his arc.