May is BETTER in Pokemon Emerald Speedruns. Here's why.

Pokemon Emerald speedrunning has a lot of weird quirks. One of those quirks is that playing as May (the female character) is actually faster. Let me know if you're interested in learning more stuff about Pokemon speedrunning! I find the community super fascinating.
twitter:
/ ackotaq
join the discord gangarang (if u dare)
/ discord
outro music:
• Highest In The Seaside...
Pokemon Emerald Leaderboard:
www.speedrun.com/pkmnemerald
Pokemon Emerald Speedrunning Guide:
docs.google.com/document/d/1S...
Thanks to@GatorEX, @AmoebaUK, @Werster , @Mixeli and @enosetc for the footage.
just to be clear, the reason i said it’s “understandable” that they made may speak more than brendan is because gamefreak made female characters talk more in other main series games, cool it with the weird anti-woman incel-y shit
#pokemon #speedrun #ackotao

[@thetakerofknees9737]

The Fact that The Male rival is programmed to talk less than the Female rival is so funny to me

[@soniablanche5672]

realism

[@GigaDarth]

@@soniablanche5672 best reply all day

[@danielpruitt8550]

There make these game next level immersive x'D

[@nobrain7828]

Realism 100

[@thoseriseofkingdomsadswith972]

What I love the most is how May's personality is reflected so well in the anime. She's outgoing and eager to explore and to share her experiences with her friends (in the anime, it's her family). The main difference is that aniMay hated Pokemon in the beginning, lmao.

[@yosiahw4305]

This explains why Norman abandoned his kids. His son will barely speak to him and his daughter won't shut up.

[@vitormanuel9889]

The rivals are Prof.Birch's kids

[@yosiahw4305]

@@vitormanuel9889 Yes, but depending on which character you choose both Brendan and May can be Norman's kids instead of Prof Birch's kids so it works both ways.

[@athan13590]

To be fair, May wasn't shown to be talkative. She was slowed down by her lack of verbal skills.

[@psycologo121]

Good thing that they are his kids in different dimensions, otherwise my fanfic would get weird

[@keithflippers4429]

@@psycologo121...

[@HachannEinzbern]

"Mom, choosing the girl is a speedrunning strat, I swear!"

[@dingchat555]

"THE SKIRT IS JUST FOR BETTER AIR CIRCULATION"

[@petelee2477]

It's a combat skirt

[@rhyderrek6155]

“The cat ear headphones are just the best brand, dad, I swear!”

[@alsparkproductions7849]

@@vlc-cosplayer ya got girl on your name so...

[@theskoomacat3106]

@@vlc-cosplayer I always pick Gaige in BL2

[@Dinoyipi]

Route 110 May: *uses Growl* Regular player: Oh no! Anyway... Speedrunner: Guess I'll die.

[@DKQuagmire]

I read the "oh no! Anyway..." in Jeremy Clarksons voice. ROFL

[@jofx4051]

I just even know now that can be happening like that like WHAAAAAT

[@Nonexistility]

​@C V What is a Roleplaying Game genre as a whole has to do with Random Number Generators?

[@Mewtwo_150]

@@Nonexistility Think of RNG as just chance. You're opponent could use one move in one instance. Or it could use a different move. Add critical chances and possible miss chances and that's where RNG comes in

[@pieloloon]

@@Nonexistility bro tried to sound smart! not very effective...

[@mostawesomeflyer6164]

This is why they had May join Ash in the anime instead of Brendan. Gotta keep those episodes running 22 minutes long somehow!

[@PancakebatterLuigi]

Brendan would make it only last 12 minutes.

[@mangosteak]

@@PancakebatterLuigibrendan wouldn't last that long, more like 1 minute episodes...

[@PancakebatterLuigi]

@@mangosteak No the reason he would last 12 minutes is because that marshtomp.

[@balancemaster55]

*Insert joke about the girl lasting longer than the guy*

[@HatKidPeck]

Brendan would get shit done, that’s why they had no choice BUT to use May.

[@greeniceking8398]

This isn’t the only case in gaming where the female character is better for speedruning. In Stardew Valley, Early on in the game, You get sent gifts in the mail from your mom if your playing as a guy or dad if your playing as a girl. Mom gives you a cookie and a cake but dad gives you 500 dollars and some stone for materials. This is objectively better for the early game because you only start with 500 dollars so doubling your money is helpful for an early game boost.

[@scraps7624]

Somehow it had never ocurred to me that people actually ran Stardew Valley lol

[@novaava]

I always pick female so I had no idea this was even a thing. Weird.

[@BananaReidy]

Screw the 500 cookies for me.

[@ShinyShilla]

Im sorry but Alex needs a husband not a wife

[@SonplaysMinEcraft]

female privilege moment

[@JoelTheParrot]

you see, the girl trainers were self-aware of the idea of speedrunning, so they spoke a lot as rivals and overall slowed down the game specifically so that people would play as them.

[@smokyprogg]

Doki Doki Pokemon League

[@JoelTheParrot]

@@smokyprogg lol

[@pooppooper9033]

And they didn’t send out a Fire type against a Water/Ground type.

[@ktoo7599]

Thanks for explaining Joel, now I get it

[@JoelTheParrot]

@@ktoo7599 d(^v^d)

[@GamerLMA]

May talking about buying dolls is one thing (you can even read brandons text as him wanting a doll) but seeing ethan go right to the battle had me dying

[@spinozilla4555]

It Brendan by the way

[@spinozilla4555]

@C V what do you mean Ethan

[@fawful9992]

@@spinozilla4555 Ethan is the male protagonist of HG/SS, it seems that whichever protag you don't choose will fight you at some point and Ethan starts the battle right away while the Female protagonist Lyra takes a few seconds to get started.

[@hellodolly7989]

I noticed right away that Ethan doesn’t do the mock battle beforehand. I was shocked lmao.

[@_Vengeance_]

Oh wow, never realized there was yet another May error (other 2 errors: Torkoal in the second battle instead of Slugma in 1 of her teams, and in the fourth battle Lombre instead of Pelipper in 1 of her teams). The rival is supposed to start with the Pokemon that is the same type as the starter neither of you picked (Lotad/Lombre counts as Grass for this purpose), in this case neither picked Torchic so the correct lead is what Brendan has, Slugma.

[@ackoladeTV]

never knew that about the lead starter types, nice catch!

[@TK11223]

I saw you before in Yugioh video lol

[@doodlesyoru2108]

The one where she has a Torkoal is only when you choose Torchic. I don't know why she replaces her Torkoal with Slugma, it's kilometers better.

[@shujinkoMK]

Slugma balls

[@rayanzz1410]

@@shujinkoMK I thought the same xd

[@stefanmayer9047]

So what I'm getting from the video is that when I transition I'll get a speed buff

[@ianb.2575]

Based

[@florapotat]

can comfirm

[@stefanmayer9047]

@@florapotat in addition to the stardard double jump ofc

[@krw137]

fuck yeah

[@abarette_]

you do get a speed buff by transitioning from girl to boy kekW

[@calebstearns5571]

Ok that clip of may chasing brendan on a bike was freaking hilarious.

[@Lyra]

Lyra's complete freakout in HGSS will never not make me laugh. It is so silly yet relatable! Thank you for the quick and informative video :')

[@Brahvim]

Oh hey there!

[@LRM12o8]

I find these gender clichés annoying, but the side by side comparison of Lyra being so over-enthusiastic that Ethan seems dead inside by comparison, that's hilarious 😂

[@joynelbonet194]

I find it interesting that they got programmed differently, you learn something new every day. Plus i wish they made them entirely different aside from these minor details, like i wish it was established from the start which one was the child of the profesor and which one was the child of the Gym Leader.

[@jdb2002]

May is the Gym Leader's kid in the anime (though she also got a little brother, so it may not be canon)

[@azsunaa]

@@jdb2002 the anime is not canon to the games

[@infpssassyarm3763]

@@jdb2002 and the manga she was prof birch daughter

[@LRM12o8]

So you'd have a slightly different story depending on which character you chose? That idea would be even better, if the game allowed for more than one savestate... 😅

[@joynelbonet194]

@@LRM12o8 Yes, it always should be.

[@Jw87563]

This is all new to me. That's interesting. I always thought the gender of your character was just an asthethic choice with no impact on the game.

[@batfurs3001]

To be fair most of the male trainer sprites suck serious ass so a lot of runners use the female trainer in other games too

[@obsidianfrost9514]

In casual playthroughs it is irrelevant. For speedruns even a single frame faster of dialogue would of made them pick it

[@gigalodon14]

@@batfurs3001 probably because some girls are designed with the Anime in mind

[@FuckYouho]

@@batfurs3001 I think May's gen 6 chibi model looks like dog shit so I always go brendan

[@Wizzkidwas]

In the gen 3 remakes Brendan has a pretty nice character arc if he's your rival compared to May who just kinda...stays the same

[@SiniAnimations]

"No mom, you don't understand, I'm always choosing the girl because it saves precious seconds in the speedrun."

[@HE4DSHOT059]

Mom, I choose the girl because I am horny.

[@Junnneee]

Hehe, I love the trans energy this comment section gives

[@kasumintailmon]

@plneet!! 👌 yes

[@shallot6774]

@plneet!! 👌 silence k-on pfp 💀

[@idklol4197]

"Whatever you say, gay son"

[@user-bk5kh7xn6g]

it's just better to play as may because she got better fashion

[@balancemaster55]

@@vlc-cosplayer only use drip in certain contexts

[@kiosk28]

Yeah the femc always has the better drip

[@alsparkproductions7849]

@@kiosk28 that's common. Their figurines always sell a bunch so more effort is put into their desing cuz cute anime girl. The fate franchise does something similar.

[@fennecfoxfanatic]

i mean any fashion choice is better than shorts over pants

[@AppleJacksCereal]

I disagree

[@thelionoob]

I love how brendan is basically talking to himself in all the dialogs.

[@codinginflow]

I can't believe there are people who have the patience to figure this sh** out. I admire that.

[@jasonreed7522]

Speed runners are a different breed, the amount of skill, patience, and theory that goes into it makes it both incredible to watch, but personally ruins it to execute for me. (So i will always be a casual in awe of the stuff that goes into a soeedrun, but watch a portal 1 speedrun to have your mind blown)

[@250914616672152]

speed runners sometimes know more about the game than devs

[@DylanYoshi]

QA testing is a miserable job that involves bashing your head against a wall for hours on end to make sure that the game doesn't break. Speedrunners do the same thing for fun.

[@mc4ndr3]

Every interaction as May also uses fewer characters, because her name is shorter. This leads to fewer speech bubbles.

[@jojough8283]

Well, they normally just nickname themselves . or something so that shouldn't matter except to backspace. I had the same thought but then I realized this.

[@nolongergabe]

@@jojough8283 grill

[@JudgeMocha]

I pick female characters just out of a preference of using female characters. I didn't realize there was a time bonus for making that decision.

[@enigmatic2878]

At first I really didn't care who I chose. I just pick the male protagoniet just 'cause I'm a guy. But heartgold and soulsilver made me regret that decision SO much

[@lukasg4807]

@@enigmatic2878 is there a difference depending on which one you pick in heartgold soulsilver?

[@enigmatic2878]

@@lukasg4807 yeah. I don't remember if there are others, but the one anyone will be talking about is during the catching tutorial. When you choose Lyra, Ethan will simply show you the procedure and that's about it. When you choose Ethan, Lyra will catch a pokemon without even showing it (AKA a battle sequence is not initiated and they are still in the overworld), and then after realizing she just caught a mon without you even seeing it, THEN she proceeds to tutor you how to catch a pokemon

[@Cecilia-ky3uw]

@buildblok85 ☕ I like Brendan, but fucking god does he look round outside of battles, may looks plain better

[@Cecilia-ky3uw]

@buildblok85 ☕ I hate the whole hat thing too, he looks fine in the emerald version ofc but my god I need white hair.

[@nexo42069]

Another one of the reasons why I think that this rival fight is hard if you don't use the Pokemon center beforehand is the fact that there's a young couple double battle

[@1umbreon4life]

You can avoid the double battle pretty easily by talking with them one at a time, though I expect that would slow the game for speedrunners

[@theconnorthatusedtoreactto6283]

If you actually lost a rival fight in this game I really think you need to rethink your life

[@danielotano8677]

​@@theconnorthatusedtoreactto6283 the infamous may fight disagrees

[@personalemail9329]

​@@danielotano8677sounds like skill issue.

[@danielotano8677]

@@personalemail9329 or rival 2?

[@CloutFPS]

As a casual Pokémon player since the 90s I’ve never really thought too hard on the most difficult fights. I just recently started an emerald play through after a few years and I just did this fight. I was actually blown away by how difficult it was. Glad it wasn’t just me. Love a good Pokémon history lesson

[@LRM12o8]

I never noticed any of these differences because I never played as female character in these games for more than five seconds. I simply can't identify with the female character but that makes part of the immersion for me.

[@jeremiahbelgrave2356]

Thanks a lot for breaking this down and answering the 2 questions I always ask about gen 3 (why everyone uses May and why do people say that rival fight is so hard)

[@Dan55888]

The battle STILL seemed pretty hard facing Brendan

[@TTVArgusGuy]

Damn, discovered your channel a week or two ago thinking you had a lot of potential, and you drop a viral banger like this! well done bro

[@ackoladeTV]

much appreciated brother, much more where that came from 😎

[@HeroOfRhyme]

This is a really good video. The background music, the lengh of the video, everything is just right

[@PikachuJaden]

Great video! Hope you get more attention for your work!

[@scantyer]

"Why are you playing as a girl?" "IT'S A SPEEDRUN TRICK I SWEAR!!"

[@LibertyLocalizer]

"Yeah I play as the girl but it's only cuz of the speedrunning strats I swear'

[@xExotic]

That rival fight is so brutal! Run killer right there!

[@nrostova5606]

I get that the battle on route 110 was really hard, but I never knew it was that hard to be considered one of the hardest in the franchise

[@teammcpe13]

Brendan's Grovyle has burned that battle into my memory as one of the most terrible fights to deal with underleveled.

[@iwantedtobethatanomaly2270]

That grovyle ain't havin no mercy

[@jouheikisaragi6075]

Be mindful that this is a speedrun context, where things play out *very* differently than normal or even Nuzlocke runs

[@marceloasensiofilho3833]

Both characters are great at the adventures manga. Both are amazing characters there but another reason to play as May is that she is pretty great at the anime.

[@kirbyfazendoummoonwalk9214]

Im so Glad Adventures gives major focus to the Male Characters because if it wasnt for it then they would have no personality as the Anime only gave a perdonality to Red and Gold lol

[@marceloasensiofilho3833]

@@kirbyfazendoummoonwalk9214 May is very different from her anime counterpart. Ruby and Saphire are both great characters who do subvert your expectations. (Not telling more to avoid spoilers spoilers on the best generation of adventures manga)

[@kirbyfazendoummoonwalk9214]

@@marceloasensiofilho3833 I have already read the Manga, can definitely say i wasnt expecting their "Roles" to be Reverted (The Boy doing Contests and the Girl doing Gym Battles) lol, they are my favorite ship in Pokemon and Some of my Favorite Characters in the Franchise Anime May is pretty close to Game May, both are pretty traditionally "Girly" and all, I Kinda prefer Anime May over Sapphire so in my Headcannon both May and Brendan do contests lol

[@teammcpe13]

May's Eevee is so cute

[@DemiIsNotHere]

I knew it was faster to run hgss as lyra cause when she is the rival she appears more. But never noticed dialogue was different for the male/female rival.

[@damaskoslocker2865]

Brendan making clear he doesn't buy Pokedolls is so weird after you read the Adventures manga.

[@demomantf2476]

@@damaskoslocker2865 what did he Say?

[@damaskoslocker2865]

@@demomantf2476 now that you mention it, I don't quite remember

[@KeroTheInvincible]

@@demomantf2476 Basically, Brendan's equivalent in the Adventures manga, Ruby (yes, that's his name) loves knitting, sewing, and making his pokemon look pretty. He even ran away from home to participate in Contests because he doesn't like battling. Cute pokedolls are exactly the kind of thing Ruby would be buying.

[@Henri11111]

I'm in the middle of my first run of pokemon inclement emerald (a hard rom hack) and the route 110 fight made me want to destroy my computer

[@belimvasim143]

I completed that rom hack on hard smoothly like butter

[@Henri11111]

@@belimvasim143 nice. I'm on normal but my challenge is no status moves

[@heather_foreather]

How 😱 I'm playing Pokémon uranium and it makes me so stressed its so hard and I only have 2 gym badges and 19 hours in and I'm only doing a regular run 😭

[@Henri11111]

@@heather_foreather im past norman but not at the next gym and i have almost 300 hours

[@switch1e]

Awesome video. Also congrats on the sudden success!

[@clownbread7755]

bro gamefreak really said women need to stay silent to make the game more convenient 😭

[@aetherius6221]

Gamefreak said "women talk more" and just sigma walked away

[@jeremyandrews3292]

I do tend to pick the girl trainers in later generations, but the reason isn't speedrunning... it's actually because in later generations there's an entire clothing system where you can dress your character in different outfits. And dressing up a female character tends to be more fun than dressing up a male character because there are a lot of different choices to play around with. Though honestly, I think playing as a male character dressed in outlandish clothing would feel weirder than playing as a girl experimenting with lots of different outfits to see what looks good. I wouldn't want the pressure women deal with to look good and/or pick the right clothing to not get stared at in real life, of course, but it can still be more fun to try different outfits on your character in a game where it's purely cosmetic and fun to play around with.

[@muzuchama]

aka nintendo sucks at making customizable males

[@daymboihethicc]

@@muzuchama oh want to customize a male character? take this *new hat* take it or leave it

[@AffyMoon]

@@muzuchama exactly like what the fuck. All the male character gets is jeans, shorts, t-shirts or shirts and hats.

[@BaconNuke]

@@AffyMoon Also fun are the haircuts.. Females: Long, Medium, Short, Pigtails, Ponytail, Wavy, etc. Males: Uhh... Long, Medium, Short.. maybe sometimes Cornrows

[@Rambo1338]

@@BaconNuke 💀

[@RustoKomuska]

I love watching videos about speedrunning but not speedruns themselves much. Would definitely like to see more about it for Pokémon

[@DuskTheHero]

Nice video man! Super interesting :)

[@datemasamune2904]

Professor: First question. Do you like to speed run? Trainer: Yes Professor: Ah, so you’re a girl!

[@pooppooper9033]

Is no one gonna talk about the fact that May is smarter to send out a Wingul against an opponent she knows has a Marshtomp, than sending out a Slugma (Which is weak to both Water and Ground)?

[@uruhaiP]

"no mom, it's just a speedrunning strat, i promise!" or something

[@OrganicDolphin]

This was an awesome video!! Subbed to your channel

[@MeloettaMarmalade]

Awesome video!

[@ackoladeTV]

thanks! there’s more where that came from

[@alicetheaxolotl]

"Mom, it's a speedrunning tactic, I swear"

[@Mint_soda.]

I always choosed May because i just choosed whoever looked cooler, just found another reason to choose May!

[@enigmatic2878]

I mean, unless you're playing the Kanto, Johto, or BW games the female protag will always be choosen more based on looks

[@teammcpe13]

May is the best! I actually want to look like her in real life!

[@stagdragon3978]

I love the example with hg/ss. I loved that game and I know exactly the scene. I can imagine why that would be the most frustrating thing for speedrunners XD

[@itsflappletime]

I always found the male rivals to have much less personality in the games where their gender depends on which one you pick and this explains why! Great video as always

[@Cecilia-ky3uw]

The less personality just probably means it is open to interpretation

[@jimpix7312]

Barry

[@itsflappletime]

@@jimpix7312 'where their gender depends on which one you pick' was careful with my wording on this for a reason lol

[@nlb137]

It'd be interesting to see which of those two issues would 'win out' if the teams were flipped and it was either-or; would the more consistent rival fight be worth the lost dialogue frames?

[@kuni2330]

You'd probably take the one with fewer dialogue options. Speedrunners are always resetting constantly anyway, and this fight is pretty early in the run.

[@user-dn9wz2si9w]

Can you do a video covering the most challenging parts of nuzlocking emerald? I love the way your explain with your calming voice

[@galarxa]

Man i get amazed when people go so deep in a game like this ❤

[@lizzettesantos7057]

I thought I was just bad at Pokémon when I lost the May fight over 50 times when I was 8. Turns out she's the second hardest fight 🤣

[@hamdepaf6686]

I am kinda happy to hear that this fight is a problem in speedrunning, because as a kid I remember struggeling hard on that one

[@Cecilia-ky3uw]

Hahahahaha me too, although I got through it really quickly because I learn quite fast

[@teammcpe13]

Brendan used to wall me when I got to that part of the game. It was like his Grovyle personally hated me.

[@Kieramon704]

"Mom it's a speedrun strat, I SWEAR!

[@Diamond123-17]

Nice vid acko🎉

[@dolphinmax9454]

I thought it would be the other way around becuse if you pick may their name is Brendon which takes longer to say and may is shorter so if you pick Brendon it would make npcs say may shorter but I quess it makes sense

[@testerwulf3357]

You can name your rivals so thats not an issue

[@channingpotter1194]

Why choosing May is better… because she has an actual personality

[@astraarc]

But if you choose May she will lose all of her personality, becoming your avatar

[@donovan_salgado]

It's either having a bland rival like nowadays or better speed run........

[@gil2644]

In the Manga, both have an interesting personality. Brendan was the one who loves to design and battle in beauty competitions whereas May is the tomboy who is collecting gym badges

[@magicwandstudio3141]

“because she has an actual personality” which is why i choose brendan, i get to see that

[@nachomolaolivera7580]

Brendan is perfect, that you are blind is not his fault.

[@dudemakememes878]

I thought fighting may as mudkip second time is hard for me but i realized that people struggle to beat her to

[@TBDEventually]

You need to combine 5 of these into one video

[@TealZero]

Same in HGSS; playing as Lyra won't make Ethan give you the catching tutorial cutscene before the actual catching tutorial, saving like 8 seconds

[@nautilume7114]

Honestly makes me kinda sad an entire gender doesn’t get to see that, I absolutely loved that cutscene

[@mewhunter27]

Mom it’s a speed running tactic I swear, also did you find my skirt?

[@teammcpe13]

I wanna wear a skirt and a cute hairstyle and a bandana like May too!

[@GamingtheOtter]

Almost 100k views! Congrats!

[@allanturmaine5496]

I always pick Lyra in HG/SS because I love the phone calls from Ethan.

[@xx1norm1xx]

I feel like the female protagonist is an after thought tbh, a lot of this can be explained by devs focusing on the male protagonist/female rival as the cannon story and having the female protagonist as an option because Pokémon attracts alot of girls too. The girl talking more and having extra animations points to them being more fleshed out and having more time committed, I think it’s why they switched to having set rivals rather than having the other gender protagonist as a rival because it allows more characterisation for our rivals/ friends.

[@kaulianpower]

*gets the world record as the male character*

[@ItsJustKiro]

refuses to elaborate

[@SNK_LRD]

Here I thought all the guy pro Pokémon players were just having an egg moment.

[@HybridHero]

Fantastic video bro

[@livy8168]

Interesting, nice job

[@ackoladeTV]

thanks! pokemon speedruns have such interesting mechanics, hoping to make more stuff about them in the future

[@romhackerplus6691]

Before watching: I think this is because of the rival fight being different in Emerald, and especially the Brendan fight too. It’s kinda cool how they make it like that, but it’s a little confusing and weird

[@TheAnimatedWonders]

That's amazing that people practice different battles for a speed run. Pretty cool though

[@Following1000]

Funny how it lines up with the PMD Red/Blue Rescue Team Speedruns, where the protag is almost always a hasty girl since Skitty is best for speedruns.

[@bigchungus420]

This is really funny considering studies over the last 50 years have consistently proven men talk more than women. Can't stop Game Freak's sigma mindset though

[@denji3397]

idk bout that atleast in my school.

[@MrAskmannen]

Men prob talk more in public spaces due to feeling more confident and entitled to that space, with some especially confident men taking up extremely disproportionate amounts of speaking time, i suspect each woman talks more on average when there are fewer men there.

[@athan13590]

To be fair, May wasn't shown to be talkative. She was slowed down by her lack of verbal skills.

[@Somebody23]

to be fair, your exact same reply can be read through a good portion of this comment section.

[@BananaReidy]

Nah I thibk just depends on the person.

[@seanboglio3605]

It's nice how simply you can add character. Also VERY accurate.

[@BigKinger95]

Underrated YT account subbed

[@Landofwolves666]

What TRULY makes this speedrun as amazing as it is is one simple thing: the bike it uses. I held the emerald record from 2019 to 2022 and I can assure you that I spent FAR more time practicing the movement than grinding. Was it painful? Not at all. In fact, it helped me mentally, quite a lot! I felt realization every time I would nail the movement on good pace. This speedrun is simply splendid.

[@ackoladeTV]

been trying to learn any% sapphire and mach bike has an INSANE learning curve lol. love your runs, huge fan!

[@Landofwolves666]

@@ackoladeTV that's great to hear!! Thanks for the content that you make, I'm also a huge fan!

[@zanwrightmfwr756]

I like how the effort in giving Pokemon playthroughs more characterization, heartfelt journeys and emotions are just being thrown away by Speedrunners and Nuzlockers. Pokemon are not friends to them, they're slaves hellbent to save a few miliseconds of the gameplay.

[@FaceFish9]

i hope you know that Nuzlock actually is a more in the category of "pokemons are friends/companions " than normal

[@ultrasquid579]

@@FaceFish9 more "casual nuzlockes" usually are (such as Jaiden's ruby nuzlocke) however high-level nuzlockers such as Pokemon Challenges do usually tend to think of Pokemon more as tools, often using strategies such as repels and dupes clause cheesing in order to perfectly plan their teams.

[@FaceFish9]

@@ultrasquid579 more hardcore versions of nuzlocke actually has rules to make it even harder, like no duping no same pokemon twice and more, so i fail to see your point.

[@ultrasquid579]

@@FaceFish9 as I said, expert nuzlockers such as Pokemon Challenges tend to use strategies such as abusing dupes clause and repels in order to plan out their team. For example, on one route there's a zigzagoon with a 90% chance of spawning and an arceus (remember this is just an example) with a 10% chance of spawning. Instead of taking the chance of getting a zigzagoon on that route and failing the run, a pro nuzlocker might wait to enter that route and catch a zigzagoon later, and when they return that guarantees them that they can get an arceus.

[@FaceFish9]

@@ultrasquid579 but.. they can't get two pokemons from same route on same run.. you know what, you have watched some people who don't take Nuzlocke the same way alot of others have and thats fine, but don't put all the runners in that same category

[@emmanuelakpomuje5241]

Since when was that battle hard? I’m I remembering it differently

[@toxikyle5419]

I think he means it's a run killer for RSE speedruns specifically due to all the luck based factors that can lose you a lot of time

[@asuperrandomguy8266]

I always had problems there if a don't had farm enough

[@Sheenifier]

Speed running wise otakus

[@obsidianfrost9514]

The fight is really only hard first or so playthrough. Mainly the shock factor of random rival in bum fuck nowhere

[@nicolaistuhlmuller8718]

It's only hard in speedruns, in a normal playthrough it's easy.

[@jay14n]

It took me YEARS but i eventually noticed this. Miss emerald it is my first game, favorote dragon and birthstone

[@snestendo]

Makes sense. It'd be fine, but it'd be pretty funny seeing May's dialogue from Brendan

[@lucas3342]

Well... I hope I am not worse in Platinum speedruns 😅

[@LightzyyPKMN]

It sucks that these very hard battles became cakewalks in the remakes of Ruby and Sapphire :\

[@danielotano8677]

At least we have the machop trainer and glacia as replacements in ORAS

[@Psycho_Psy]

Reminds me of how Calem and Serena's dialogues differ in vocabulary

[@wildwest8069]

So me getting completely dunked on that second fight was normal. Oh okay.

[@nice7647]

May is better because when she runs the hair moves

[@teammcpe13]

I want hair like May's hair! And I want a cute bandana to go with it!

[@Dogsparkster]

I didn’t know people had trouble with the second rival battle

[@Mito383]

It’s fairly notorious in Nuzlocke runs.

[@denji3397]

it's a speed run bruh

[@Dogsparkster]

@@Mito383 i just never really had an issue fighting her in general there myself. Never really noticed

[@nuclearcommando9729]

As a super dumb kid back when the game came out, it was one of the brick walls I faced (but eventually overcame somehow) Of course, back then I also thought the game cheated when mudshot 95 accuracy always "missed" Duskull and when I lost to the Elite 4 because "I had Groudon there is no way I should lose"

[@testerwulf3357]

In a speedrun it's a challenge, normal gameplay not as much

[@IcyAngels452]

The funny thing is Lyra takes way longer because Ethan doesn't pay attention the first time.

[@rpgfan007]

i struggled alot with this fight as a kid but i like to use is either tailow or beautifly

[@SourSalty]

Also may looks better

[@ShadowPlushGaming]

She kinda cute ngl

[@linkach8898]

@@ShadowPlushGaming kzbin.info/www/bejne/gpTTlWOinb6Ah6s

[@ItsJustKiro]

That's it, im out of the fandom

[@teammcpe13]

May is cute, lovely, beautiful, smart... And strong when she needs to be! "Rayquaza, use Overheat!" *Incinerates Brendan's Sceptile to Hell and back*

[@Donivar]

Some of these changes kind of make sense... But should be the opposite. In the original story Brendan is the one who talks all the time about the cuteness of his Pokémon, the dresses, etc.

[@lindseylindsey9200]

In the Pokémon Adventures manga? That came after the games

[@Donivar]

​@@lindseylindsey9200 By a few days... So they were being worked on at the same time. And well, the games are the way they are due to gameplay design and constrains of the first consoles that had Pokémon games (plus they were targeted to all ages). Satoshi Tajiri himself claims the manga is closest to how he envisioned the Pokémon world, so I tend to see the manga as more cannonical (and it kind of makes more sense as a society). But that's just me.

[@lindseylindsey9200]

@@Donivar Yes, but it’s still ultimately the games that were envisioned first, so Ruby’s characterization is a deviation from the games that Hidenori Kusaka chose to make, not a deviation the games made from the manga

[@oravlaful]

that battle has scarred my brain

[@empressredbird]

nice breakdown

[@AmoebaUK]

Would have preferred you ask to use my video before making this, rather than just the thanks in the description afterwards. Also the point about lillycove mart rival isn't relevant for runs, R/S and emerald both skip this fight. Nice video editting though, the style is quite clean.

[@ackoladeTV]

sorry about that!! will definitely ask next time - appreciate all the stuff you do for the community!

[@mischievousfish]

The fact that the male character sends out slugma is hilarious for all the wrong reasons Slugma-nuts

[@juancr4713]

Slugma-Balls BITCH

[@freshgames101]

nice video!

[@xyliamoonlight2970]

“Mom it’s a speedrun tactic I swear”

[@lemeres2478]

Because May is the stronger trainer, adn you want her with you, not against you.

[@magicwandstudio3141]

really? I triumph over that bitch over and over again I keep wishing she won the next battle

[@ItsJustKiro]

I destroyed her ass 9 times in a row because I was bored

[@meta527II]

You made a HUGE error in the route 110 battle segment. Your rival only has Wingull if you didn't choose Torchic, while your rival only has Slugma if you didn't choose Treecko.

[@keb_in]

is that for real? i always pick torchic as my starter and i always fight against wingull

[@UltraAryan10]

@@keb_in The rival teams in RSE have confused me endlessly so I also need answers

[@aetherius6221]

Mudkip is by far the objective best choice for speedruns

[@testerwulf3357]

Thats not an error..we're talking about speedruns where you choose mudkip, so wingull being the first out will always happen as you'll always choose mudkip because it's the best for speedruns!

[@skeetermania3202]

@@aetherius6221 Why do people like misusing the word “objectively” so much?

[@triforceofcourage100]

Never considered the idea that the male rival talks less I would have guessed that speedruns used brendan because he’s the default and selecting the female option takes a sec

[@ilikeninjagoiguess4590]

mom its a speedrun strat i swear