Kanto's Rival Problem

Download Both on PC and Mobile for FREE!: bit.ly/SmithPlaysPokemon and get 40+ heroes for free!
Use my CDKey AFKJourney88 to get 100 Diamonds & 18888 golden coins!
It has come to our attention that another channel Droomish made a video on a similar topic last year. None of us had seen the video, and it's quite different to ours. It's a very cool video and you should watch it if you're interested in the topic 🙂 • The Original Pokemon R...
Join the Discord:
➤ / discord
➤ Twitter: / thesmithplays
➤ Instagram: / thesmithplays
Credits: Craig Livingstone (Production), Weebra (Editing)
Business Inquiries: [e-mail]
➤Music Tracks used:
Vacation - Persona 5 Strikers
03. 平静と困惑のあいだ - Yakuza 0
Color Your Night (instrumental version) - Persona 3 Reload
Breakin' Showcase - Yakuza 0
Steam Gardens - Super Mario Odyssey
Price - Persona 5
Sophisticated Fight - The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
One-Eyed Dancer - Yakuza 0
Camping Trip - Persona 5 Strikers
One-Eyed Assassin - Yakuza 0
Receive You (Tech Trance Arrange) - Yakuza 0
#AFKJourney #RPG #freetoplay

[@smithplayspokemon]

Download Both on PC and Mobile for FREE!: bit.ly/SmithPlaysPokemon and get 40+ heroes for free!

[@cmbaz1140]

I dont know if this is possible but it would be awesome if blue had a different team evertime you challenge the pokemon league after winning it for the first time...

[@TrueGunFred]

Hey, I have a great idea for an April's Fools joke if you are interested.

[@Aerogod223]

@@cmbaz1140 we are considering this for Crystal Legacy in a form as coding in gen 1 is just a nightmare.

[@cmbaz1140]

@@Aerogod223 woah...nice...looking forward to that... Do you guys plan on making a guide for making romhacks? i am very curious about that?

[@ricardotemporalgrein4482]

Smith, do we have a RELEASE DATE for this YELLOW LEGACY MASTERPIECE you are currently working on???

[@PixelPikmin]

Blue’s like that one kid on the playground that swears you can get mewthree, but won’t show you

[@audreybsullivan84]

“I swear he evolves at level 101!”

[@666blaziken]

"I caught a mew, it was under the truck at the ss Anne

[@PixelPikmin]

@@666blaziken Same bro. Did you catch the starters in the grass behind Bill’s house?

[@TheCatabolicTrex]

I started playing pokémon when it came out in the mid-90s, was about seven or eight at the time, I swear so many of the kids I talked to on the playground were just habitual liars

[@yaziyo]

"I have a mewthree" "Oh wow can you show it to me?" "I don't feel like it"

[@SuperBatSpider]

I always thought he got Sandshrew to counter my Pikachu

[@garg4531]

That’s what my thoughts are

[@Aerogod223]

But he spends his time in the game telling ypu basically he isn't even worried about you. So why pick a pokemon weak to misty just to counter you when he isn't worried about you as a trainer.

[@TheReZisTLust]

​@@Aerogod223"Fuck you Red"- Blue probably is my guess

[@RyoCaliente]

@@Aerogod223 What does Misty have to do with anything? The entire idea behind literally every version of Gary/Green/... is the fact that he catches pretty much all the Pokemon and then switches them out however he pleases. He has already beat Misty; you can see this by checking the pillars in the Cerulean Gym. With Sandshrew, he checks you (which is fun, because he's made your Pikachu useless) AND he is already prepping for Lt. Surge.

[@curtismanning6129]

@@RyoCalienteI love that he conditions you with starting with a flying type so you get cocky and confident to start with Pikachu and then boom, the next fight he starts with a ground type and you go cry in a corner

[@KenBladehart]

>Gary is Prof Oak's grandson >Caught 40 Pokemon by the time at SS Anne I mean, that makes sense. He could use his fame for advantage

[@CyberDrewan]

I know they aren’t technically the same character, but all I can think of now is Gary from the anime using his car full of cheerleaders to somehow get his hands on 40 Pokémon before the SS Anne fight

[@smithplayspokemon]

It has come to our attention that another channel Droomish made a video on a similar topic last year. None of us had seen the video, and it's quite different to ours. It's a very cool video and you should watch it if you're interested in the topic 🙂 kzbin.info/www/bejne/hnTMnpmvfspgd9E

[@Br0oham]

I wish to like this, but it's at 69 likes... So treat this comment as a like. But also, this video is far from Droomish's video, it begins with the same criticism of the character, but very quickly becomes an entirely different beast. Both great videos, both unique though

[@sethroelke2311]

@@Br0ohamI haven't seen the droomish video, but unless they are also making a "pokemon yellow but smoothing rough edges while maintaining the fundamental gen 1 jank" romhack, I believe you on it being a different beast.

[@daniel6678]

honestly I’m just grateful for this to know I wasn’t losing my mind when I felt like I’d seen this video before during the first minute or two lmao

[@daniel6678]

@@sethroelke2311yup, it becomes pretty clear pretty quickly that they’re very different videos. droomish’s is all about proving how it’s not possible that blue could have caught 40 pokemon by that point

[@SamuraiMasenko]

Blue's additional lie in his champion speech is that he never actually became Champion. He was waiting for his grandpa, professor Oak himself, to show up to battle him. Oak was the Indigo League Champion, while Lance was merely the 4th member of the Elite Four. But when Oak shows up and finds out that two trainers who beat the Elite Four had already battled for the title, he gives his title to the victor. (Just like in Pokemon GSC, the Hall of Fame is specifically stated to be for champions only, which is why Oak walks you in to record your team.)

[@LiShuBen]

I remember trying to catch more than 40 kinds of Pokémon before St Anne when I was a kid so I could shove it in my rivals face. All that time wasted 😅

[@yoseftreitman7226]

It is possible, but incredibly tedious. For example, in Red version, if you start with Charmander you can obtain and fully evolve Charmander, Pidgey, Rattatta, Caterpie, Weedle, both Nidorans (there are two Moon Stones available that early), Spearow, Paras, Ekans, Mankey, Drowzee, Diglett, and Zubat, can catch but not evolve Pikachu, Jigglypuff, and Clefairy, and can partially evolve Oddish, Abra, and Geodude. That's 43 right there, there may be a few others I'm missing.

[@RyoCaliente]

​@@yoseftreitman7226 You can also get Magikarp line

[@TheLeviathan1293]

@@yoseftreitman7226 The funny, yet unfair, thing is, Blue can catch even more than that. Judging by the Lavender Tower encounter in Pokemon Yellow in which he can have a Shellder, he has a Super Rod. You can only catch a Shellder with a Super Rod, either in Vermillion or the Cycling Road. And if you have a Super Rod, you can catch Tentacool, Horsea, Staryu and Shellder in Vermillion and Goldeen in Cerulean. Of course, that's just the in-game explanation, the devs probably didn't think as far and gave him a rare pokemon just because.

[@mazeppa1231]

@@yoseftreitman7226Don't forget magikarp and gyarados. Also, I think farfetch'd as well. But wondering if it's possible in Yellow? Coz you can't get some of these pokemon in that game... like, weedle, or farfetch'd that early. But I think you can get venonat but not sure.

[@user-lh5dc5cy1b]

​@@mazeppa1231yes you can get Gyarados in yellow His is illegal however, as it has HYDRO PUMP at level fuckin 22 So yea, hes cheating even in red and blue

[@sometimesjoeyplays]

when I first beat lance, and went to the next room, I definitely shouted the 6 year old equivalent of “aw wtf you can’t be serious”

[@antoinepolnareff8970]

In reality he probably just isn't limited by version exclusives

[@SymmetricalDocking]

He caught the Pokemon and traded with the trainers before you got there, leaving little for you.

[@theknightwithabadpictotall7639]

He also didn't leave you a lot of moon stones to pick up

[@1080ike]

Or the same game path as you.

[@koltensmith3974]

He's not. Proof is in his team. Because no matter which game you play, at least in the gen 3 games, which are remakes of gen 1, if you pick charizard, he will ALWAYS have an Arcanine. So even if you play Leaf Green, despite it being a Fire Red exclusive, he will still have said Arcanine. Meaning he's not limited to version exclusives. Though red and blue might be different. Don't remember, haven't played them in a while, lol

[@Seth_Hezekiah]

Even that would only make him barely able to hit 40 kinds... With him evolving and stoning EVERYTHING, as well as in game trades that he clearly didn't make since they're available to you.

[@EmeralBookwise]

Hmm... I sorta feel like this lineup still doesn't adequately demonstrate how Blue beats Brock. Given that his anime counterpart Gary is known to use a Nidoking, I think his second Pokémon for the optional encounter should be a Nidoran which is found on that same route and which learns double kick to use against Brock.

[@Aerogod223]

This is valid however the argument for this is he learned from his gym 1 experience hence why he caught bellsprout. He probably struggled his first fight and had to adapt thus why he's at the level he is then.

[@EmeralBookwise]

@@Aerogod223: Maybe, but Nidoran would still need to be at least level 12 before learning Double Kick, so it wouldn't just be a free win without extra training.

[@primaster9360]

Alternatively, you could just give Water Gun to Rattata since that's a thing you can do in RBY (just not before Brock in vanilla but hey, its the rival not us)

[@craigyeah1052]

Nidoking is a good idea, since this is Yellow, the anime version, and Nidoking is obviously a great mon.

[@Sombres]

gary does use both, actually, but yeah, in kanto, he uses a nidoking, while later on he uses a nidoqueen up to the johto league. nidoran male would be more in line with the anime

[@austinwilburn1772]

This isn't directly related but in Pokemon Gold/Silver when you entered the 8th Kanto gym to fight Blue, there is tons of boxes all over the gym with Pokeballs sitting on top of them. If you count all the Pokeballs, the number is the exact count of every Pokemon in the games of gen 1 and gen 2, minus the 3 legendary birds and dogs, Ho-oh, Lugia, Mew, Mewtwo, and Celebi. 240 in total.

[@austinwilburn1772]

@@j.d.714 to be fair, I thought they were mega blocks when I was a kid lol

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

Also minus the Fossil Pokemon and Unown

[@evanwilliams6406]

I thought they were legos or megablocks. I always thought Blue made it look a kid's room.

[@jhawkkw87]

I've personally never been a fan of Blue having Alakazam at the Silph Co. fight. You're forced to fight him before you can face Sabrina who uses Alakazam as her ace. It really takes away some of the luster of the Sabrina fight.

[@9gangentertainment]

theory: he gets sandshrew to get ready for lt. surge because he's so ahead of you....thats why he's so shocked you still havent even attempted Misty...(little does he know you had a massive run in with team rocket)

[@apocrypha5363]

I love Droomish's coverage of that '40 Pokémon' lie, such wonderfully flowery and verbose, like Colson Whitehead.

[@soyalexpop]

Yeah I loooove his video, first time this was brought to my attention

[@apocrypha5363]

@@soyalexpop I love how Droomish uses really OTT and verbose language but plays it totally straight, it really works as a stylistic choice. It almost sounds like a hard-boiled monologue from a noir film.

[@kleptrep94]

I was wondering where I saw this video before.

[@Aerogod223]

It was a cool video and is in the description of this video with a shout-out. Also the context of both videos is pretty different as Smith actually looks more at his champion dialogue for the inspiration of our team building in Yellow Legacy.

[@alphasierrazulu]

My first thought on seeing this pop up, too

[@SymmetricalDocking]

In the game his role is your *Rival* not the gym leaders rivals. Sandshrew is because it is immune to electric and you have pikachu. It's a counter to you.

[@sethroelke2311]

He's also a step ahead of you in getting the badges and through the league though. It's not like the two things are mutually exclusive.

[@TrentR42]

Canonically, he defeated all the same leaders as you.

[@DemonVermin]

And, if we consider the fact that he beat Misty already, Sandshrew is an easy choice to train up for Lt. Surge as prep.

[@deoxysandmew2162]

17:42 - Blue: "Huh... I always wondered why people never use their strongest pokemon first." On the side note, the whole changing difficulty given the win loss ratio reminds me a lot of "Dynamic Difficulty" from Spyro 3. Basically, if the player dont lose lives consecutively thourought the levels, the game slowly converts itself to make the game rougher around the edges, such as some gems are turned into enemies and boss fights are harder.

[@marinagaleotti]

Is that a sans undertale reference, kind sir?

[@deoxysandmew2162]

@@marinagaleotti Heh. Perhaps...

[@octolockg5059]

I just want to say Gary's "I caught 40 'Mons" isn't technically a lie. Version exclusives and he could've gotten additional Moon Stones before we got to Mt. Moon since he's always a step ahead of us.

[@nazeersadek6705]

Exactly people keep forgetting version exclusives only apply to the player character

[@yoseftreitman7226]

Even with version exclusives, inability to trade, and limitations on evolutionary stones, a single player with one copy of the game can get more than 40 pokemon.

[@octolockg5059]

@@yoseftreitman7226 Droomish's video proved it impossible.

[@TheLeviathan1293]

@@octolockg5059 If Blue plays by your rules, maybe. But Blue does not play by your rules. He has a Super Rod, judging by the fact that in Pokemon Yellow, in Lavender Tower he has a Shellder (that can only be caught using a Super Rod in Vermillion and Cycling Road), and he also has Surf, judging by the fact he also has a Magnemite (which can only be caught inside or outside the power plant). In Pokemon red/blue he can also get a Growlithe, which suggests he has access to Saffron and he got to Lavender from there (because not only it's a Pokemon Red exclusive, but that's the route where you find it), He also has an Exeggcute which can only be found in the Safari Zone.

[@octolockg5059]

@@TheLeviathan1293 That's not what I was talking about. I was referring to Droomish's video how it's impossible for the player to get more than 40 Pokémon by the time Blue himself has. So he clearly got more moon stones than us. I'm well aware Blue is filthy rich and was probably given the best tools at the start.

[@Bassynater2500]

The Vulpix back sprite is restored 😭❤️😭❤️

[@fulguratingbean9489]

There is something that english-speaking Pokétubers never seem to think of when analyzing dialogue, it is that Pokémon is originally a Japanese games, and that the dialogues are rarely perfectly translated. It's entirely possible that Blue says something completely different in the Japanese version, that, during localization to the US version, was modified to something else. This is how people make the mistake of assuming that Fantina is from Kalos because she speaks French, whereas in every non-english version, she does in fact speak english, indicating that she would probably be from Unova or Galar instead.

[@spazerdazer8421]

Exactly! It's so infuriating, especially as someone who knows Japanese. Translations are horrible especially for older games, it just reeks of idiocy and laziness. If you want to prove a point or do analysis why not use the original dialog in case of any fishy statements...

[@F14thunderhawk]

i would assume thats because its most probable that english speakers would have a preliminary understanding of french within the expected markets for Pokemon sales where as Japanese and French speakers would most probably have a grasp of english. Conversely since theyve stopped pretending to that pokemon regions arent espies of real places Nemona speaks *national* and Spanish.

[@RiderNexus]

@@spazerdazer8421 I'd love someone to actually make a re-translated script document for each game, as someone who is into learning Japanese, I'd love to play these games with any corrections

[@fulguratingbean9489]

@@spazerdazer8421 To be quite fair, translations are bound by the character limit on older games. By the DS era, I don't think this was an issue anymore, but, although the translations of the early gens was questionable at best, this shouldn't be held against the localization team. Content creators, though, I think should definitely take the original dialogues into account when assessing a character's personality.

[@fulguratingbean9489]

@@F14thunderhawk Well, for living in France, I can assure you that the level of English is pretty laughable around here. You're not wrong, though.

[@danielgloyd4529]

I think it's fair to assume Blue used other teams against gyms the player never sees. He tries to build a well-rounded team that can cover eatch others' weaknesses because the layer will also likely do the same. I have also used teams against gyms, grinding the pokedex, and other points in the game that Blue never saw in the game.

[@LordButtersI]

> ... the power of ground types Shows Rhydon being ohkod with a move that heals the attacker

[@LPcrazy_88]

Feels 4x weakness man.

[@vyor8837]

A buffed move, to note.

[@XyrnaTheTrainer]

They don’t make rivals like they used to

[@generalsynnacle23]

We literally just got Nemona in the most recent generation, the hell you talking about? I'll definitely admit TPC seriously dropped the ball three times prior with Gen 6-8 rivals, but Nemona is such a breath of fresh air.

[@vwxyz345]

Nemona was lame

[@TheQuilavaQueen]

@@generalsynnacle23 Nemona was OK but still not the legendary type of pure arrogance and ego of gen 1 and 2. The kind that just makes you wanna knock 'em out for talking so much crap

[@cursedkevin]

Are we jus gonna ignore Bede

[@TheQuilavaQueen]

@@cursedkevin Straight up forgot about him but yes he was a breath of fresh air. I really wish he was the primary rival instead of being the lesser of 3 progressively worse ones

[@HomeCookinMTG]

Blue has a sandshrew because you have a pikachu. It has nothing to do with misty, it’s not that deep bro lol

[@kirbyofthestarsfan]

I hope the final build keeps the Sandshrew or another ground type to counter the Pikachu. He did make changes on the video's final version for his Crystal Legacy release after all

[@droomish1]

I really dig the way you're using team building as a lens for character analysis, it's some of the coolest stuff in Pokemon when the storytelling overlaps with the mechanics. just got this in my recommended, I super appreciate the shoutout 🙏

[@user-wo5hi8kk2b]

I mean, has anyone ever brought up the fact that blue uses 0 HMs for his Pokemon, and none of his Pokemon are seen having them, he COULD'VE used an HM Mule, but if so, what'd he use, and why isn't at least cut present on any of them.

[@Br0oham]

I imagine all the non-6 mon teams actually have a HM butler as the final member(s) that he chooses to not use

[@DanielGalimidi]

He's always a step ahead of the player, he's the one challenging us. So perhaps when he knows we're coming, he prepares his team accordingly and ditches the HM Pokémon.

[@Wingman_max]

Probably a happy accident, but Blues final Jolteon team represents the types off all of the Kanto gym leaders (minus a poison type), almost like he has seen the power of those trainers and learnt from them.

[@dominicmoisant8393]

No rock type either

[@luizfelipevbf5567]

​@@dominicmoisant8393Rhydon

[@zeldagamer2123]

@@dominicmoisant8393 But he has Rhydon in his final Jolteon Team, which is part Rock. It's representing both Brock and Giovanni.

[@OrisX]

Makes me wonder what small child Blue bullied into trading to get Alakazam.

[@AshleyWilliamsN7]

He actually got a bunch of pokemon that appear once on the map, like the legendaries or the Lake of Rage Gyrados in GSC. But since he is always one step ahead of you, he never uses them because he doesn't want to steamroll the game with all his ubers. He likes to play in the RU bracket.

[@ohhellwhereami2574]

Still loses to red🗿

[@rjante2236]

Except Alakazam. He's not stupid enough to skip over Alakazam.

[@ohhellwhereami2574]

@@rjante2236 but is stupid enough to not evolve his abra at lvl 16

[@rjante2236]

@@ohhellwhereami2574 It's like that infamous MoistCritikal moment. "Misinput, Misinput! Calm down! You calm down!"

[@ohhellwhereami2574]

@@rjante2236haha

[@Handles_be_dumb]

Getting rid of Sandshrew for just one fight to then bring it straight back feels odd, especially since his dialogue makes it clear he's already beaten Misty. He picked a ground type to counter Pikachu, which he baits out at first with the Pidgey. I feel that alone shows some competence.

[@myworstenemy7966]

Blue could catch over 40 if he caught every available Pokémon from route 1 to 11, version exclusives included, leveled non party ones up to Surge’s Raichu, traded a Graveler, and used moon stones on Nidorino, Nidorina, Clafairy, and Jigglypuff.

[@HenlipHTG]

OMG THE BACK SPRITE OF PIKACHU 8:54 Edit: OMG ALL THE BACK SPRITES IN THE VIDEO ARE AWESOME

[@ohhellwhereami2574]

But he isn't fat anymore 😟

[@HenlipHTG]

@@ohhellwhereami2574 but its so cute

[@theknightwithabadpictotall7639]

@@HenlipHTG Too bad I'm never gonna use it the moment I can get my hands on a Raichu

[@GoikOShea]

Having Nidorino/Nidorina on Nugget Bridge would give him a canonical answer to Brock and would be OK lorewise. Instead maybe Eevee could get early double kick as a bit of flavour.

[@StuartJandrell]

Wouldn't it be hilarious if the rival picks up a starter just before the elite 4 and adds it to his team instead of the element type he has been using so far.

[@blueeclipse395]

I’d imagine that to be the case, but in addition to his Eeveelution; for example, using Charizard alongside Vaporeon.

[@JonnySpec]

@@blueeclipse395 And then Blastoise could cover Jolteon's weakness to Ground, while Venusaur could cover Flareon's weaknesses to Water, Ground, and Rock.

[@blueeclipse395]

@@JonnySpec I was thinking the same thing, good sir. Thank you.

[@skibbitybebop]

Smaller channel called Droomish did this back in Jan, was very well made vid too Glad to see Gary's lies getting exposed more

[@mimithewienerdog6928]

I always found it weird how they created Marowak-Alola which is fire and ghost and no ROM hack has gone back and added it to back to the part of lavender town where mother Marowak that was protecting her Cubone child was killed. This would make so much more sense and added another ghost type for Agatha.

[@Disguised_Cat]

Radical Red makes A-Marowak a big boss.

[@LocalMaple]

8:50 So we shouldn’t assume he took the ground type to beat Brock? I like Sandshrew. It not only counters Brock but Pikachu as well. Also, if he brings the Sandshrew to Misty only to learn the weakness, this serves as a precedent to his dialogue about type coverage as the Champion.

[@brendanmcgrath2790]

Great updates - very much looking forward to the improved rival in Yellow Legacy I noticed in Rival 3, Spearow lost its only stab move Peck, and again for Rival 4, Bellsprout lost its only stab move, Vine Whip. I was just curious if this was a preloaded move set based on their levels or an intentional decision? I thought one of the best improvements to the game was ensuring mons got at least one stab type move relatively early in the game to improve them offensively. Thanks again for all the hard work on this--cant wait!

[@nazeersadek6705]

These are actually great teams the only change I’d make is to give him a Nidoking in one of his teams

[@Alienldr]

I do like how the teams move around. Not only does it imply that he's experimenting so he can learn what's best, but it also implies he's better than most players, which was his theme throughout the game. He's always ahead of you. Beats all the gyms before you. And here, he's showing he trains more efficiently too. Most players catch their pokemon and it sticks in their team the whole game. Blue here is boxing someone he trained so far, and swapping it to train up others. Be honest, when you get to silph Co, you only have the 6 pokemon you've trained that can keep up with most pokemon in that part of the game. All the other Pokémon were boxed and never used, or you stopped using once you got a new pokemon you wanted. Blue changes pokemon so much that it implies he has a good dozen or so that can still keep up. Most people don't have both a high leveled Cloyster and Golduck, where they're not both on their team at once. Its usually just one or the other, and the only thing done to the other is made to evolve for the pokedex.

[@NZGFOX]

Noticed the new gen 1 front sprites you're implementing for Yellow Legacy. They look great! Can't wait to see the rest!

[@ShadowXeldron]

There's something I did in my FireRed hack wherein Blue manages to pick up a Pineco and a Minun (who have been added as rare encounters to Routes 22 and 1 respectively). He's still using them in the Nugget Bridge fight but by the time you get to the SS Anne you find that they are both at level 15 as he stopped training them. Honestly I might actually stick Flash on the Minun to hammer the point home. By the fight in the Pokemon Tower he's boxed his Pineco and Minun in favour of different Pokemon. I'm probably going to steal the idea of these radically different teams based on starter choice but I actually think it would be hilarious and make sense in universe if he brought a HM slave to Victory Road. Gotta get past those strength puzzles somehow.

[@robertlupa8273]

Interestin' stuff.

[@andrewfarris8467]

I think it’s because of bill’s collection filling up his Pokédex

[@Aerogod223]

He says he caught 40 pokemon why would bill give him pokemon. He would only show him pokemon to get pages in his dex open.

[@jefferyfeistel3843]

No, its because he isn't limited by Version Exclusives like we are. For example, in Red, you'll find people using Bellsprout despite the fact that you can never get one yourself without trading.

[@alecrutz6979]

@@jefferyfeistel3843 likewise with blue version where you can't get oddish or ekans and yet...

[@tgyo99]

Bro you can totally catch more than 40 Pokemon before the SS Anne... I even had 2 mews by that point

[@xboxcrusher]

I can't believe I have to keep making this point... But Ninetails SHOULD NOT be on the Weak Team. I'm gonna cross-post what I said from "Best Gen 1 Fire Type" from Reddit. "There is some odd, and one piece of incorrect, info here. You need to look past simple BST and look at the stats that matter. As well as the role they will play on the team. And remember, this is BEFORE the Special split, SPC was both for attacking and defense. First, Charizard CAN'T learn flying moves in Red & Blue, only Yellow and later. So you shouldn't use that as a metric. I'd say that there is a case for it being tied for first overall, as the Flying Type at least gives it immunity to Ground moves. It is fast and learns Slash, so it has some Crit play as well in the case you come across something that resists fire through Type or Stats. The one that ties with, or beats, it? Ninetales, not Arcanine. Arcanine has a much lower SPC and a slightly lower SPE. Its BST? That comes from its ATK... which doesn't MATTER for Ninetales because it doesn't use physical moves. In other words, Arcanine does better at moves that aren't Fire Type. Hell, Arcanine doesn't even learn Fire Spin, one of the most broken moves in Gen 1. Add that in with a look at their movesets, specifically at the LEVELS they learn certain moves in relation to when you can catch them? Ninetales has Def and HP slightly lower than Charizard, but on par with it. Ties for SPE, and blows right past it for SPC. Arcanine only beats it in the physical stats. It is more frail, but it isn't meant to be a brawler. This makes it a GREAT sweeper. Fire Spin would lock down your opponent completely, and could STAY locked down as long as you kept outspeeding the opposing pokemon. Then Flamethrower for a powerful STAB in between reapplying Firespin and any other status moves you want. From here you can either get something like Confuse Ray to cover you in the event Firespin wears off, as well as Toxic to double up on the damage build up. Then based on how you want it built for coverage, you could go with Dig, Rest, or Light Screen. If you are talking about simply as a tank? Then I'd say Arcanine beats out Charizard and Ninetales. But the best FIRE TYPE? Ninetales the whole way in Gen 1 minus Yellow. Though in Yellow, Charizard's Flying Type with the ability to learn Fly would elevate it to tie for 1st. On the other hand, if you are looking at this from Gen 2 onwards? Yeah, Ninetales sucks from then onward. But in Gen 1, Ninetales was king! Charizard - HP: 78 ATK: 84 DEF: 78 SPC: 85 SPE: 100 - BST: 425 Arcanine - HP: 90 ATK: 110 DEF: 80 SPC: 80 SPE: 95 - BST: 455 Ninetales - HP: 73 ATK: 76 DEF: 75 SPC: 100 SPE: 100 - BST: 419"

[@isuckatgaming1873]

You've made a fantastic argument Here's hoping people both see it and actually read it

[@casualcallahan7039]

Funny enough, Ninetales got moved up to RBY UU, so this argument has its merits.

[@MadMalMan]

Its the best pokemon at using fire moves, What it went up against a Chansey with no defence and high special? A Pokemon uses lightscreen, a pokemon resists fire. Arcanine has good enough special, but can also flatten special attackers and can take more diverse coverage. It has a lot more bulk and only 5 base speed less meaning typically it can get more attacks in. I rate Arcanine above Ninetails as an all around strong Pokemon but recognise Ninetails as best at what it does.

[@isuckatgaming1873]

@@MadMalMan unfortunately, as much as arcanine wants to think it has the upper hand on chansey, it really doesn't. If the chansey has 0 dvs in defense and the arcanine has max dvs in attack, it still can't 2 hit ko with body slam without a crit, so the chansey can just paralyze it and heal off the damage. Furthermore, since gen 1 allows for all stat experience to be maxed out and chansey to have max dvs in all stats, chansey can take up to 4 body slams from arcanine, and a crit hyper beam isn't guaranteed to ko. Without STAB, arcanines physical attacks really aren't hitting as hard as it wants, so in the cases where you would choose between ninetales and arcanine, ninetales is more likely to be chosen. If ninetales is in a situation with chancey or a fire resist, it's able to do one nasty thing - status plus fire spin. Ninetales can either burn the opponent with fire blast or poison th opponent with toxic, and then can fire spin them which stops them from being able to act. During this whole period, they are taking chip from fire spin and the status, and cannot do a thing about it.

[@MadMalMan]

@@isuckatgaming1873 According to Damage calculator a level 50 Arcanine vs a Level 50 Chansey has a 76% chance of 1 hitting a chansey (both have an average 8 DV in attack and defence respectively, Chansey has 11 DV in HP won't let me change it but thats still good) On a side note if you can lower its defence 2 stages you can guarantee 1 hit KO with hyper beam, on a side note Ninetails would deal up to 80% of its health under same circumstances. The Fire Spin deals an average of 11 Damage per hit so yes you can toxic it and wait it out but any pokemon can utilise that strategy Tangela would do twice as much damage with wrap and have access to leech seed.

[@demi-femme4821]

I think by the time Blue is bragging about the number of Pokémon he has, he reslly should have a full team.

[@HomeCookinMTG]

It’s a game balance issue. It really doesn’t make sense to have this one random NPC trainer with a full team of 6 before the 3rd gym when literally none of the other ones do throughout the entire rest of the game

[@yoseftreitman7226]

​@@HomeCookinMTGGood point. A way they *could* have gone with it would have been to have him catch a bunch of stuff, but train none of it, showing a character flaw.

[@lpfan4491]

There is an easy way to answer that actually. Gen 1 has the "Underpowered Share" in that it divides your EP by the number of mons in your party. If we assume Blue just has the share already and wants to powerlevel only a few mons, he would simply do what players of newer gens do and deposit the mons he thinks he does not need. He didn't expect to run into you afterall, and only challenged you impulsively since he has nothing to lose besides some cash.

[@user-xs3wb6ec3s]

That pikachu backsprite goes hard

[@MadMalMan]

This is all brilliant! I get what some people are saying with Sandshrew against you not the Gym leaders but personally I think its much better for him to focus on his own growth (and bellsprouts). Also a normal Pikachu isn't a great Pokemon why would he waste time countering it? I imagine his mindset Lose to both Rivals - Yeah Pikachu is rubbish just ignore it Win 1 - Best not take the risk evolving into an electric weak Win 2 - Wow if Pikachu is strong I need a faster more powerful electric pokemon for myself!

[@dylanogg347]

"Smell ya later..." - He would be the most irritating rival from my childhood if Eric Sparrow didn't exist.

[@nich6200]

If the player loses in the lab regardless of if you fight or skip the optional fight he will be vaporeon. If you skip the optional fight and win in the lab he’ll be flareon

[@nich6200]

You don’t have to do both fights to get vaporeon, but you do to get jolteon

[@grunkleg.3110]

Damn, Pokemon fans kinda dumb. The content of this video is clearly very different from Droomish's video, the context around this vid is entirely different too, yet people are like "credit the original". It's not like Droomish has a monopoly on SS Anne Rival, other people can talk about that guy too

[@Aerogod223]

Most people just read the title and then choose to hate based off that. Its the way of the internet

[@petrie911]

You need a secret fourth difficulty with some crazy requirement like always beating blue without losing a pokemon. Then he just goes all out and shows up to the league with a gen 1 OU quality team.

[@STDynamite8008]

Jesus christ man's eyebrows going ham

[@craigyeah1052]

While analyzing Blue's dialogue leads to these lies being uncovered, my biggest complaint was always with Oak's dialogue about Blue. There is no evidence that Blue did not treat his pokemon with trust and love, keeping the same team all along and training them despite their constant losses to the player. Paul is a great example of how I feel Blue was meant to come off, discarding pokemon that lose too often and quickly replacing them, but in gameplay Blue is a great kid and his grandfather is a jerk to him.

[@Rukir]

I keep forgetting that you branched out to other channels lol. I’ll always watch you man

[@Neyuun]

You know, Blue making the comment that he searched long and hard for Pokemon, I think a real surprise that shows off his dedication in the Jolteon path would be having an Articuno. As rare as they are, we've seen examples of multiple legendary Pokemon of the same species existing. Because the player could have caught the Articuno in the Seafoam Isles, the implication would be that that in his dedication to discover Pokemon searching high and low, he's gone places you haven't. Mt. Silver is right there after all, the idea he might have found it while lost in Victory Road isn't far fetched, and the snowy peak seems like the perfect place for an Articuno to have been hanging out.

[@kaizenpkmn7339]

Loved the video, on the Eevee Evolution Blue chose, we could add on Flareon's that since there are not a lot of inmediate Fire types on the region (being Celadon and grass between Celadon and Lavender Town first wild Fire encounters) he chose to evolve Eevee into Flareon cause he trusted more his own and seasoned Pokemon rather than new caught ones and bought the Fire Stone on that very same city. Just throwing a curveball but your video made me think that there could be a more elaborate reason on Flareon, idk if it makes any sense tbh

[@typhoon008]

Sad not to see a psychic drowzee at St Anne's battle, it's nearby and pretty powerful using the type Also, a little extra experimentation with safari zone hard normal types like tauros, chansey, or even another snorlax is kind of disappointing 😢 surely Blue did fight some competitive battling using first simulators

[@Alienldr]

Now i have to count, since i swear he could catch and evolve that much up to his team's level. If not, its really close. He is not at his best team though, since nidoking, gyarados, and the lvl 29 or 31 free dugtrio would make him better

[@drunkenmmamaster419]

Really enjoy these deep dives on the old Pokémon games man so much nostalgia

[@lordravenblade]

Blue has heaten misty by the time of the nugget bridge fight. His name is on the pillar by the gym entrance before you ever get to Cerulean. Sandshrew is actually a really good idea to spam Sand Attack at the start of a battle (the ai just isn’t that mean against the player) against wild pokemon or random trainers with 1-2 pokemon

[@KokuroSame]

Just an addendum to something you said, “capturing 40 Pokémon” at that point in the story is possible in two ways. The first is obviously just catching 40 of the same critter. But if you consider what was asked of the two of them, and completing the Pokédex, then “catching” could also count as registering, and it is possible to get upwards of 45 Pokemon in the Pokédex through evolution. I’ve done it twice specifically to tell Blue to frack off lol

[@thecoolbroscoolman4672]

Blue is such a great, smug rival

[@raddaradda8682]

Droomish did it first lol. Nah for real tho, cool video! Each has it's own little twists that make them unique. Also really like how you adressed his channel in the description, lotta people don't do that for some reason

[@patrickh6571]

At least in RB it is possible if you level up like a mad person 😊 ☆ Starter Line (3/40) ☆ Pidgey Line (6/40) - Route 1 ☆ Rattata Line (8/40) - Route 1 ☆ Spearow Line (10/40) - Route 22 ☆ Nidoran Lines (14/40 until Moon Stone) - Route 22 ☆ Caterpie & Weedle Lines (20/40) - Forest ☆ Over-rat-ed yellow mascot (21/40) - Forest ☆ Jigglypuff (22/40) - Route 3 ☆ Zubat & Paras Line (26/40) - Mt. Moon ☆ Geodude Line without trade (28/40) ☆ Clefairy (29/40) - Mt. Moon ☆ Ekans or Sandshrew Line (31/40) - Route 4 ☆ Mew via the Glitch (32/40) - Route 24 ☆ Bellsprout or Oddish Line without Stone (34/40) ☆ Abra Line without trade (36/40) ☆ Mankey or Meowth Line (38/40) ☆ Diglett Line (40/40) - Diglett's cave Assuming Gary doesn't glitch Mew and considering he doesn't evolve his Starter to the final form: ☆ Drowzee Line on Route 11 ☆ 2 or 3 Moon Stone Evolutions

[@anothergamer112]

This makes me realize how much potential there is with rivals experimenting with teambuilding, much like the player. And how Hop has been the only one to do it, and even so, it was brief.

[@cathallynch8269]

In the animation Gary also gets more than 8 badges, so there are a few leaps with what we can achieve and what he has achieved.

[@parttimesaint3165]

I always assumed he had access to a lot of trades we didn't get. That would explain how many different kinds of pokemon he could get. But yeah, he really should have a much more diverse team to back up his claims. Well done!

[@igorlopes8463]

If you are assuming Blue went to Celadon first, he wouldn't have reasons to not evolve growlithe, vulpix, shellder and so on, would he? It's not he would know that most stone evos don't learn new moves before trying that

[@Tedscwa]

This is so cool! Love the variety you've added to the rival fights

[@seankemsley3893]

In Blue's defense, he might have a ton of other Pokemon that were in the Box, which would make him not a liar. It's also possible he did in fact create multiple teams, but we're only seeing one of them. It's also true that his number of Pokemon on his team changes throughout the game (eventually getting to 6), so it can be said that he is searching far and wide to get the right Pokemon to complete it. In other words, there is no proof that he is lying. I however, like the exercise in editing the rival to create an even more direct link between the gameplay and the rival's statements.

[@Brycen950]

This is probably the thing I'm looking forward to playing the most, thank you Smith and team

[@vectinator7605]

I think it would cool if Blue got a hold of the Areodactyl if the player reaches a point and hasn’t claimed the fossil.

[@sicklenickle]

Those new back sprites look awesome! Kudos to the team for all their hard work and going above and beyond

[@smithplayspokemon]

Yellow Legacy is LIVE May 4th! Go watch the video ‘I made the Perfect Yellow Romhack’ to get the download the patch link!!

[@Aleins4u]

Blue: I learned the how strong Electric type is, so I evolved a Jolteon! Also Blue: I got a quad weak Gyarados!

[@KagedStorm]

In the original games, Gyarados being quad weak to Electric isn't much of a downside. It's pretty much its only downside and if you don't OHKO it, it will probably KO your Electric user with Hyper Beam

[@sethroelke2311]

Is this the sneak peak of new backsprites?

[@Slickcactus]

1:51 if he created teams to counter any pokemon type I wonder what the psychic counter team looks like? A team full of pokemon that know Leech Life, Twineedle and Pin Missile. I highly doubt it would be an impressive team!

[@anilbalram7768]

The anime proved that he had multiple teams though. Maybe he beats the gyms with different Pokémon

[@zuperzach]

New back sprite jumpscare

[@lordravenblade]

Blue has his “anti-PC” team that he uses against you out of stubbornness, and programming limitations kind of only allow it to be anti-your starter. In yellow kind of the same except depending on your record. He presumably used other teams for other fights.

[@Radahn_is_ez]

Great vid hope you can do other rivals just like this in future games.

[@LegendRed01]

I honestly would love to see him experiment with his eevee. Maybe for the battle right before the league he considered changing for a different water/fire/electric mon but because with that new mon he lost again he cahnges it back to his starter

[@ShackleYT]

Will we still be able to get this legacy yellow game now that relic castle is down? i'd love to relive my childhood with a fresh coat of paint.

[@Eric-gp3hi]

Awesome video man. I love all of the different teams Blue has to reflect his growth as a trainer.

[@BeyondTrash-xe1vs]

I've always found Blue's evolution of eevee to be one of the coolest features of Yellow, and this is a really cool way to flesh that out narratively and mechanically!

[@BrandonKellogg22]

I'm surprised you didn't give Double Kick and/or Pin Missle to Jolteon as those moves have some unique and otherwise hard to acquire type coverage for Gen 1, unless you are already taking that into account by boosting certain bug type moves power, making Karate Chop a fighting move, and make Cut a Bug move and such.

[@rishabhanand4973]

8:59 to be fair, i feel like it can be explained away by him being like the player in that he has caught a bunch of pokemon but chooses just a few of them to have on hand at a time. So the team you see at nugget bridge might not have been the team he used against brock or misty

[@SoulXCross.]

The only similarities between Smith's video and Droomish's is the title...and even that isn't the same. This video is all within context of Pokemon Yellow Legacy as a whole, it does not analyze the aspect of catching 40 pokemon before the Rival fight in SS Anne. Droomish made a great video overall and it's cool it has a shout out in the description though!

[@sageofthestrawberries8127]

I think Blue should be very similar to N in black and white but on crack. He should have full teams (or at least 5 pokemon) from cerulean onwards and they should reflect the pokemon and trainers in the area. For example, in Pokemon tower he should have a team designed to get around the ghost types and ground types like cubone and marowak like a bunch of normal pokemon with some water types that appear on route 12 like farfetch'd, venonat to deal with ghosts and seadra/gyarados. Meanwhile on the SS anne since there are a lot of water, fighting, elec and fire pokemon he should have a team that can steamroll through all of them like good ground types with some grass/poison types since that deals with water and resists fighting like weepinbell/gloom, sandshrew/diglett etc. He should feel like the kind of trainer whose team isn't just evolving but is very specifically adapting to the area that he is in to make it feel like he's the type of rival that does his research before going in. I think that would be really cool and lead to some nice consistent team variety given while also leaving a lot of the more powerful options off the table cause they aren't found until much later. Just a thought to make him feel more than him just learning but also being very thoughtful of where he is at at all times.

[@deviousspirit3156]

This is the sort of thing one does to tout themselves as better than you. In this case he is doing this in a sense of competition. With his looking around could've been advice he has recently come across or come to realise and bestow it upon you so you don't fall behind and give him a proper challenge. As a rival you want to provide a unique tough challenge to them, but you also want them to provide the same.

[@LaughingGun92]

What will the team count if you skip the first battle on route 22? I'm always pretty bad about leaving that route after just checking the grass right at the beginning.

[@Alakadoof]

It counts as a loss, same in the original Yellow.

[@XellosNi]

I'll give "Yellow" Blue credit that, weakness to Pikachu aside, Water typing is otherwise a solid choice defensively and will steamroll the mountain and cave regions.

[@killwillv2610]

I love this video! I never knew the reasoning behind the Eevee evolution choice. I guess because I always refused to lose, so I'd restart if I did. Thanks for that!!

[@Jw87563]

Hey Smith, I have a question. Since the player can technically skip the fight next to the League, what happens if the player doesn't fight him there? Does he just get a Flareon as default?

[@jessekrutsinger7667]

Does anybody know what program/website Smith uses to show off the teams and moves? I love the layout of the sprites with the move types color coded.

[@mh11213]

Probably Bulbapedia

[@EP1CxEMAN08]

He probably just inspect elemented the Bulbapedia page about Blue.

[@ritwikism]

The teams plural is supposed to refer to the fact that his final team and Eeveelution choice changes based on not only your starter choice but also on whether you win or lose against him in earlier meetings

[@David7793]

My only criticism is I imagine the optional fight with blue is he would have caught a full team prior to going to the elite four which you see later on in other fights, like Pidgeot and primate.

[@Timetobebrave]

Dude, such an awesome video. Love these changes so much

[@feasibilyheretical]

Really glad executor made it onto the final team, for me I found it to be the most iconic member for his team considering no other trainer uses it, and it's unquie and wacky design always made it memorable for me, I always wondered how to get one as a kid. (I never did the safari zone because I thought it was boring, and I still don't like it).

[@BirdieSenpai]

This reminds me of this kid I knew who wrote down this long, convoluted way to get a level 100 wild Charizard to spawn in Gold's Victory Road. I never tried it, not because I didn't believe him, but because I just really wasn't interested. I already had a level 100 Typhlosion and had completed the story. What was a level 100 Charizard, which I already had in Red, going to do for me?

[@numbug1234]

Minor correction, but if you lose to Blue in the lab fight then it doesn't matter whether you beat him in the optional fight or not, he'll always go with Vaporeon.