How many Pokemon beat Falkner without Optional Battles? - Episode 14 - Unown....

Minimum Battles is the ultimate challenge. But how many Pokemon can beat the first Gym of Gen 2 on Minimum Battles?
On my main channel ‪@RBYPokemonChallenges‬ , I have already completed this challenge with all 151 Pokemon on Gen 1, but Gen 2 presents a massively different challenge - sleep and Wrap were nerfed, there's no Gen 1 miss (1/256 glitch), and all the trainers have better AI. But Minimum Battles might just be possible with some effort and ingenuity.
Today's challengers:
Unown
This one is a little different. Since Unown can have many different types on it's only attacking move, Hidden Power, we will use different DVs to test just how good each type actually is against Falkner.

[@acdcljb]

Props for completing the Unowndex! I honestly did not see that coming. I guess Psychic type will go far because even resisted it still will be stronger than Struggle - good luck on Karen though. From the rest, I only see Dragon type getting far enough because of its good DVs and being resisted only by Steel - Jasmine will probably be pretty tough.

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

Yeah, I doubt any of the Unowns finish the game!

[@vikorovstock2432]

I like the new overlay. I think you should keep the known moves displayed at all times though, I don't like how it changes to a facecam for only a second or two whenever you reset. Besides that, I think you should add a move's effect and effect chance to the known moves box. We're getting close to the end of the Falkner section and I imagine you'll be teaching Mudslap to many pokemon.

[@samuelwinnie5464]

I love the UI too!!! As an audio engineer and fan of the Shure SM7B, it sounds like you might be overusing/overworking a de-esser on the mic? Might want to dial back the intensity/change the frequencies it’s applying to somewhat just so that it’s not noticeably chopping out your “ess” sounds and such!

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

Both good feedback! Thank you! I will work on the de-esser.immediately. Facecam showing in between for a second or two is also something that needs addressing, I was thinking about that too. like I said, it's still very much "alpha" stage at this pojntm

[@nautgamingnautgaming9949]

​@@GSCPokemonChallenges If you have to do shenanigans like this it IS STILL LEGITIMATE because of the fact the randomizer failed n we shouldn't disqualify a Pokémon based on a technicality instead of not performing

[@ericwolf9664]

This is the one episode I was not looking forward to because minimum DV's mean that not only are they going to be weaker but Hidden power will go from base power 70 to base power 30. I know you're testing for completeness but honestly these are going to be the test mons that deviate the furthest from the proper full run scenario.

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

Absolutely true. This one had to be its own episode because it really deviates into setting DVs and testing, whereas the others we know they have max DVs. The fact that Dark-type Hidden Power got through though means Unown is still legitimately in the competition, since it does beat Falkner reliably with w neutral Hidden Power on Max DVs.

[@Taerdan]

The new overlay looks nice! I'm not sure how much of the physical Hidden Powers' failings were the fault of the DVs; I figured that most of those failed because Falkner's Pidgey has better Defense than Special Defense (12 vs 10), same with his Pidgeotto (16 vs 15). Reality probably is a bit of both. The lower DVs brought Attack down just enough and Falkner's Defense was just high enough to bump every physical Hidden Power from a success to a fail if it wasn't Super Effective.

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

It definitely is a mix, but also most physical Hidden Powers aren't super effective (other than Rock)

[@DoctorNovakaine]

HP is going to be the DV most affected by these. Because HP DVs are affected by your other DVs, rather than being their own value. But they're also unevenly affected, so having an even Attack DV drops the HP DV by a whopping 8 points, while having an even Defense DV drops it by 4. Which means Grass, Fire, Poison, and Fighting are going to be hurting for HP compared to the others, but especially compared to Dark, Ice, Steel, and Bug.

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

Oh yeah I wasn't even getting into HP DV calculations, but those would definitely affect the run later as well

[@stardf29]

SPOILER for quick recaps... ... ... All Unown. Numbers in parentheses are Attack and Defense DVs respectively. Dark (15/15): The baseline. Gets past both Abe and Falkner on red health through spamming a neutral 70BP Hidden Power. PASS Dragon (15/14): One less defense DV does not change stats at this point, so same result as Dark. PASS Ice (15/13): First super-effective type. Absolutely destroys the gym. PASS Psychic (15/12): STAB does nice extra damage to make this still easy. PASS Electric (14/15): Another super-effective type makes short work of the gym. PASS Grass (14/14): First not-very-effective type and as expected, it doesn't do enough damage to get past Spearow. FAIL Water (14/13): Does the same as other neutral special types. PASS Fire (14/12): Another neutral special type that performs fine. PASS Steel (13/15): First physical type with one point less in Attack against Falkner, and that drop is enough to hold it back from victory. FAIL Ghost (13/14): Has to struggle against the early-game Normals and that makes Spearow too much. FAIL Bug (13/13): Not very effective = no chance. FAIL Rock (13/12): Super-effective damage still makes this easy even with the lower stats. PASS Ground (12/15): Forget having to struggle against the birds, can't even get past the rival. FAIL Poison (12/14): At this point, lower Attack IVs means neutral physical damage doesn't cut it. FAIL Flying (12/13): See Poison. FAIL Fighting (12/12): See Poison. FAIL Final Results: PASS: 8 FAIL: 9 Fun group coming up! The stars will likely power through, as will Magmar, Mr. Mime, and Houndoom with their STAB moves. Jynx and Electabuzz also have STAB moves to start which will make their runs a breeze. Skarmory should do fine since it resists Normal and Flying and is immune to Mud-Slap. On the other hand, the bugs are getting squashed, and Mantine's starting movepool is terribad and will likely hold it back. As for the other unevolveds, I think Smoochum gets stopped by Spearow, and Elekid depends perhaps on getting a key move before Falkner. Magby and Houndour are the biggest question marks since they have a pretty good STAB but likely have to deal with the mudslinging Pidgey.

[@Mariokemon]

hidden power was never changed to always be super effective. you are prob thinking of legends arceus, where multiblast was given that

[@turtersvongenbu]

In Legends Arceus only, hidden power is always super effective. It is only on Unown in that game.

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

Sorry, this is what I was referring to.

[@DarKnightKilla13]

I like the new overlay ideas, good work there! Obviously just some touching up to keep it working properly, but with time comes great success! Was quite looking forward to this run, was happy to binge it legit 2-3x fully to rewatch certain parts. Also at around 39:20 love your brutal honesty about the WIP and the mouse overlaying, haha... too funny, makes for a good bit. I appreciate the honesty a ton! Keep it up, enjoying this series a TON!

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

Absolutely, I am coding this whole thing myself and learning as I go, so there are definitely some glitches and minor improvements to be made.

[@DarKnightKilla13]

@@GSCPokemonChallenges I'm impressed with your coding, wish I knew how to!

[@Encephalophage]

Doesn't affect things all that much, but having the Hive Badge gives Hidden Power Bug a 12.5% boost in power Certainly not much compared to STAB Psychic giving the 50% boost to that type, especially considering the resistance to Bug type that's involved with Falkner's birds

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

I didn't realize that I'd left the Hive Badge on, but yeah, it makes basically no difference

[@alexrobinet7576]

I was excited for this 1

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

LFG!

[@michaelpapili4139]

This new UI is fantastic. Well done.

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

Thank you! It still needs more improvements, but I will mess with those as we go along. Ultimately, the plan is to get it into a state that it can be shared so we can do some fun community challenges.

[@lionyx98]

Your challenge is so cool

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

Thank you, more to come!

[@celticv]

yes steel type really surprised me . a part from that all them where easy to guess :) was very excited watch this home :) its great that finally to see your face

[@celticv]

i am expecting two pokemon to fail for next challengers :) thanks again for video

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

Absolutely! Steel was surprising because it kind of showed that the Attack DV matters more than the defense DV, especially since most of the high attack DV Hidden Powers are Special, while the lower DV ones seems to be more physical.

[@brolsroyceyt2362]

He’s facecam official love to see it my G been a long time coming 🔥🔥🔥

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

For sure, trying to get it so my face can be on screen during explanations etc, without cluttering up the view when something is actually happening lol

[@DamnUsernameAvailabi]

I like the new overlay!

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

Thank you! There will be continued improvements.

[@myhandleiswhat]

I like how the opponent went from "Bird Keeper Abe's" to "Rival1 1 Chikorita's..." I think the overlay needs some adjustments. Also, you might want to check on OBS to hide your mouse cursor in recordings.

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

Yes on both. The mouse cursor thing is a weird one. I am using a virtual camera to stream the gameplay into the overlay so I can actively managed it's position, size and opacity (for some things I have planned for future improvements/tweaks) but even with OBS set to hide the mouse cursor, it captures it when on top of a source being output by the virtual camera....

[@myhandleiswhat]

@@GSCPokemonChallenges The new overlay is neat, I hope you can get the issues ironed out. I guess perhaps since Unown doesn't learn anything that could be why it just replaces it with Totodile's data. Although, I'm not sure on the enemy stuff, is it from using save states maybe?

[@jussioman]

Great episode and the new overlay looks good as well. Its a bit sad that physical hidden power Unowns are getting disadvantage just because of dvs but I guess the game wasnt meant to be played with perfect or nearly perfect dv pokemon anyway.

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

I mean it:s all just the nature of the challenge on Minimum Battles, of course, every Unown would be Falkner eventually.

[@philipmurphy2]

Happy 2024 to RBY and GSC Pokemon Challenges, Now we see how Unown will do. Through the face reveal was like bypassing the fourth wall in some way

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

On to the fifth wall I suppose 😂

[@stevepierce227]

Hype for this episode! I love the new overlay!

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

Thank you!

[@Camurgladius]

The question brought up by the early section here is if Missingno could beat Falker on minimum battles...

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

The true question that needs to be answered

[@135forte]

I don't think they put as much thought as you think they did into the gym types in Gen 2. Johto is just all the types (except Dark) that weren't in Kanto. Somewhat by default that makes the types that struggled in Kanto do better in Johto and the types that did well in Kanto struggle in Johto (on paper, Water never struggles because it is just a great type to name one exception). Then Meganium gets it rougher than even that because it is bulky support mon, which isn't what most players want in a playthrough starter (though iirc it did better in Gen 2 competitive because of that).

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

Absolutely true. But I find it ofdd the order in which thy put the types for Hidden Power that seems to give such a disadvantage to certain types. Stall/Support is basically always much better competitively than in full-game solo runs. You also have the fact that viewers HATE stall strats, so the solo run KZbin meta is also all offense as a reslt.

[@anonymously_yours]

ahh perfect timing, lets see how unown does!

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

Interesting results. I tested a bunch to find the limits and surprisingly, we found exactly where the cutoff is in this one.

[@anonymously_yours]

@@GSCPokemonChallenges honestly the IVs playing such a huge role surprised me, I figured all neutral dmg types would have made it.

[@johncalabro8710]

Could you use the Pkhex save editor to put Unknown in? Get your starter and then save. Edit the save

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

For sure. This method also worked without needing to do anything too crazy.

[@mackowens7234]

Was a decent episode but I'm more excited to see the other mons finish up falkner so we can finally get to bugsy!

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

For sure, we're back to the normal runs from here!

[@adventureoflinkmk2]

3:30 hey we get a first time teo face reveal as well!!

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

Give a happy smile!

[@ABZB13]

tbh I don't understand why you didn't just use a save editor to replace your starter in your party with the desired Unown after picking up the pokeball? Is there some particular rule-thing that I'm missing?

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

I was using the ultimate Pokemon randomizer for these roms. I didn't want to use PKHex etc because they would involve closing my emulator, editing the save, and then setting everything up again. It's far more efficient time-wise to take the approach shown with Gamehook

[@nautgamingnautgaming9949]

I see interesting right hand side glitchest with wrong trainers being named Like i didn't know rival 1 had a pidgey instead of a chikorita or bird keeper rod had 2 chikorita lol

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

Yeah, this is a known issue that I am fixing as we speak

[@tautop1222]

I cheer for Unkown Rock

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

aw yeah!

[@tautop1222]

@@GSCPokemonChallenges I did you can add an unkown with the pokemon type icon next to it like that we know which unkown successed.

[@tautop1222]

@@GSCPokemonChallenges unkown Rock is the best of the worst lol ;)

[@irishrunner27]

i know it would be far too complicated for the unown runs but shouldnt the rival's starter be changed to pick the most difficult for each type? (like fire gets totodile etc) for a truly fair comparison? i know thats a dumb amount of work though

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

I will definitely do this if I do a full-game solo run with the different Unowns one of these days.

[@bitterzombie]

Trying to imagine what level electric unown would have to be to beat Jasmine. Definitely not on minimum battles

[@DoctorNovakaine]

It's not getting through Pryce either, due to Piloswine. Of course, that's more or less academic, because probably zero of them get through Whitney on minimum battles. That bulky Miltank that can heal at will is just going to stall out the very limited PP of Hidden Power.

[@bitterzombie]

​@@DoctorNovakaine I wasnt even thinking of minimum battles, just what is even possible even with exp. I considered Pryce, but it could be feasible with optional battles. Im just saying that to beat Jasmine it would probably take a lot of extra levels, even taking the optional trainers might not be enough

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

Teah, the fact that Ground completely neutralizes Electric means that typing is actually quite bad overall. same for Ghost walling Fighting or Dark walling Psychic, but we:ll get there lol

[@jawonjones1877]

Missingno 😂😂😂😂😂

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

My brain is missing, know?

[@tautop1222]

I like to be able to see your face

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

For sure. I've gone back and forth on Facecam, but decided to go with it. noticed most solo runners don't, but not sure if it's just because they are shy or if there's a good reason

[@TheLeviathan1293]

Hello there!

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

Howdy!

[@theteutonicorder9158]

I think we should let the strugglers pass.

[@GSCPokemonChallenges]

I plan to continue with them to the next section!

[@user-dh7pr8lo2i]

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