Ninjask Only - Pokemon Emerald

[@baconlabs]

Oh man, this thing so badly wishes it had been born a few years earlier, to hang around in Critsburg with the likes of Persian and Electrode

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I want to backport it into gen1!

[@redreoicy6698]

will it get a badge boost every turn? 😅

[@1stCallipostle]

Without speed boost, aren't we just... Reinventing Scyther then?

[@legeul]

@@1stCallipostle Prety much, although i guess Ninjask has dig for coverage, also has a ridiculous 160 base speed.

[@inventiveusername5191]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon I know you don't backport abilities but speed boost in a world where the badge boost glitch exists would be absolutely brutal. It probably wants to sweep with swords dance so crit rate would actually be its enemy I reckon. It might even be a rare case where gen1 focus energy would be quite useful.

[@TastyMeerkat]

Venomoth Fact #18: At Venomoth's full unrestrained speed, it looks like a blur to Ninjask in the same way Ninjask looks like a blur to us.

[@bradhurtz9173]

Ninjask is my favorite bug type so glad it did pretty well. Now you gotta try shedinja

[@wuguxiandi9413]

Venomoth is my favourite Fire/Water type Pokemon

[@Chronoflation]

It's basically got the power of the watch from Clockstoppers at max speed! Too fast to handle!

[@ultimapower6950]

It’s seems that Venomoth is Rock/Flying this time.

[@j.r.1704]

23:46 I know these videos are all about skipping the plot and going fast, but I just think the line delivery of “I did some plot stuff” while skipping over a small clip of one of the coolest cutscenes in the franchise is hilarious. It’s like Toph describing her adventures to Korra in Avatar. “Eh a dragon showed up and yelled at the Ocean, big whoop…” Also I would like to give mention to all the fantastic animations / transitions throughout the video using the Ninjask key art. Really funny, really entertaining, kudos to the editor this was super fun to watch

[@GhoullyXX]

As I sit annoyed at the ridiculously loud sound of the cicadas outside my house, I see that you uploaded a run. With the cicada pokemon. Talk about timing.

[@xXDarkWolfXx21]

Same, the difference between how loud they are when you're inside versus when you're outside with them is astronomical too. If you thought they were loud before you ain't seen nothing yet

[@seebassteterismaster7879]

ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzZZZZZZZZ Says every cicadas ever except for ninjask

[@Poppipower]

Seeing speed boost activate every turn is going to make the time interesting. I’ve thought about actually calculating how much time is lost over the course of a run through Drought/Drizzle/Speed Boost

[@marcoasturias8520]

If anything, intimidate is more like the weather abilities

[@Poppipower]

@@marcoasturias8520 No, after every turn the game will say “the sunlight is strong,” just like speed boost

[@marcoasturias8520]

@@Poppipower oh right

[@yamiryushi]

Here is an idea Scott. Make the arrows for the nature up and down dark like the numbers so you can see it well. It's very hard to see when it's faded like that.

[@lyoukeefen7199]

Agreed. If he didn’t point them out I might have missed them entirely

[@talandar5773]

I watched/listened to your entire Emerald series recently, as I was out of work for 2 weeks with head trauma and couldn't do anything, not even stare at a screen for a long time, so I just put on the playlist, closed my eyes and listened to you talk about obscure pokemon mechanics and strategies for at least 4 hours a day. Cool vids 👍

[@Chronoflation]

Oh, this was me back in early February. Hope you recover well

[@Penguindude1]

I liked how Steven's intro was handled with Ninjask zipping in, seeing Steven's team showing up, then Metagross takes it out.

[@clementcurtet3916]

We should talk about the transition from Winona to Mt Pyre more because it was the smoothest most satisfying thing ever

[@redwings13400]

Speed is the most important stat in pokemon, and Ninjask is the fastest pokemon in the game, so I'm sure it can use that speed to get a world record time! Right? ...Right? (glances at Steven's skarmory) Oh no, this is going to be bad... EDIT: Wow, that was better than I thought it was going to be.

[@banditrests]

1:59 The rival took Chikorita? Well that’s a surprise!

[@banditrests]

Fury cutter is really underrated especially on bug types, it’s 95% accurate and builds up pretty quickly, especially in later gens. More consistent than rollout at least.

[@inanimategaming]

28:22 Loved the foreshadowing that came with the usual introduction of Steven and his team ...only for the Ninjask to just go "nah, I'd still win"

[@myggmastaren3365]

The first gym is going to be extremely difficult isn't it

[@TheModdedwarfare3]

Sisyphus.mp4

[@christophertomlinson8097]

If you think this one is bad on the first gym shedinja needs to train till it learns shadow ball to win

[@marcoasturias8520]

​@@christophertomlinson8097sand attack ftw

[@ChefMonke07]

​​@@marcoasturias8520I did a Mono Ghost race with my friend and it took me 23 tries with Sand Attack Shedinja until I win. We ended the race the second I won because it was too infuriating for him....

[@christophertomlinson8097]

@@marcoasturias8520 horribly inconvenient I've tried

[@Witzwo1]

It is really nice to have a turn counter in the bottom left. But i think it is broken. It stops at 6.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Hehe

[@SpaceLombax]

The ninjask screen wipes made me laugh every time. Good show, old bean!

[@longdongmc.johnson]

man your voice really helps me sleep, you must be an amazing kind hearted guy i cannot immagine otherwise

[@discgolfwes]

Justice for speedy Spinda

[@JacktheRah]

Oh second attempts in Emerald? I must have missed (or forgotten) when that started but that's great! A bigger sample size really gives this more of a scientific approach.

[@danklin8648]

I've watched a lot of videos, but this whole series just calms me down a lot

[@davidviotto6544]

I really love when you use pokemon like this one, I never used it so it's fun to see how it does , unpopular pokemon runs are the best. Hyped for spinda

[@brendanmonshall9834]

I now have to scroll quite far in your channel to find a video I haven't seen so, here's a comment for the algorithm. I know you'll read it. LOL. Love the content man, also really helps with my insomnia, can throw on one of your videos and know there will just be a calming narration with no yelling or akin. Appreciate you homie - love from Sydney.

[@kevinsips3658]

Seems like you’re searching for that intro sweet spot :). Today’s seemed quick but still informative, which I think is a good thing.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I can take no credit for responding to feedback. This was finished before Sentret released.

[@kevinsips3658]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon fair enough. I did have that feedback in mind while watching and thought the intro was solid, though.

[@opzombie9612]

ive played emerald way too much and nuzlocked and also as a kid i was very interested at how the AI worked and some discoveries ive made that ive seen you havent picked up on yet(not many do) 1: in normans gym the slaking will almost always use counter IF YOU USED A PHYSICAL MOVE in the previous turn and will NEVER if you used a special attack in the previous turn. 2: in the fight vs tate and liza the claydol will almost always use earthquake(unless it has no effect on any pokemon or you take away levitate from solrock/lunatone) because its flagged as being synergistic with the other pokemons ground immunity. 3: the reason some pokemon (most notably flannerys torkoal) will have a small chance to use body slam even when another move does more damage and even can get a guaranteed knockout because its flagged as a "chance at causing status" which i have found by my own data that theres a move priority table that the AI has around a 1/10 chance to consider these moves and then a 1/* and *being how many moves have been considered, but if theres a gurenteed status move then the AI will always use that instead and FINALLY the AI does infact consider how many pokemon in YOUR party are present and that will effect the move priority of some moves like: spikes,roar and even explosion and moves flagged as "risky" that have drawbacks upon use like double edge or memento or overheat and so on certain fights depositing HM friends will be beneficial

[@ArchonZach]

This is one of those pokemon I'm looking forward to seeing Scott play in a future gen someday in the far off future since it will have much better bug moves eventually

[@ZerglingOne1]

Geodude probably saw a miss on Rock Tomb due to lower accuracy than Rock Throw (how many more times are you going to flub this fact? Lol. Remember Scott, Rock Tomb gen 5) on the seed it rolled its simulation. The fun part was realizing just how awful the situation with Ninjask is. At +6 defense, it's like having +0 and taking normal damage. And it's STAB, and Geodudes have a pretty high attack stat. Plus, it can crit which is going to probably 1-shot you well into the 20's. The deck is stacked SO hard against Ninjask for Roxanne. Edit: Final thoughts. Ninjask mirrors its growth rate perfectly with how it performed in the game as a solo challenger. Terrible early, and then a not-especially-difficult mid-game, into a late game stomp due to its amazing setup capabilities.

[@Mr_King96]

Love the animation for Wattson - that voltorb is clearly about to blow up. Nice job, animator-san

[@thatponybro6940]

Ninjask is probably my favorite Bug type in Gen 3, though i've taken the task of representing Bug type until Nintendo gives it the buff it deserves

[@jimbobtoco134]

Always wanted nijask to have it's own move like a bug move that increases in damage up to 120 based on the speed difference between you and the opponents Pokémon.

[@TNEGRA13]

Love your work

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Thank you so much. I really appreciate the support.

[@OnePieceRooster]

"I know you may have thousands of hours doing solo challenges but I downloaded and played Pokemon Showdown for 3 competitive battles 6 years ago and the team I ripped off some more competent person had speed raising natures on their sweepers. So basically, you're wrong"

[@Ectar2003]

I'm a bit surprised that your overlay isn't dynamically calculating Fury Cutter's power on subsequent uses.

[@Articision]

Very nice! Thought it would be a lot worse tbh. Imagine Ninjask in Gen I, it would crit with slash before you even have the chance to select it (even without speed boost), and so many set-up moves to utilize the badge boosts

[@justsomejojo]

I love how Fury Cutter of all things is the winning strat in the early game. I gained an appreciation for that move over the years because it's one of the easier ways to beat Whitney in regular playthroughs. If you ever get to Gen5, I think that move will become amazing, since Hone Claws exists then. Sidenote: In the early generations, the game takes a slight bit longer to display messages when a move misses, so if you can feel it out (which I got used to after 25 years) those slight pauses and slow-downs in your timer REALLY take an effect. I always think your move misses when you slow down for dramatic effect. It's quite funny now that I realize why.

[@Fangreius]

This is a first for me i dont normally type in youtube comments but i always find myself coming back here to say whatever and i just want to say thanks your videos are always great to watch and i 100% agree about the bulbapedia color's i wasnt on board with them at first but they have grown on me for the better now i can actually quickly glance and understand what color is what the placement just makes sense now at least for me Also love ninjask they always found a spot on my gen 3 team

[@jonathanfrank9207]

I love the transition at the beginning of the second playthrough!! It's so silly but I audibly chuckled when I saw that. 😂

[@marsella527]

This vid should be sponsored by Top Gun because Scott "has a need! A need for speed!!!"

[@CelticGuardian7]

Loved the Ninjask animations in this video! What a hyper little gal. =3

[@s641233]

28:23 this was a beautiful touch

[@c.m.9369]

SPOILER I gotta admit, even though it ends up being in Surge-tier, Ninjask did a lot better than I would have expected! I thought it would struggle throughout most of the game, but in reality it‘s literally just the start that sets it back. After that it clearly gets really strong and consistent! Nice! Always liked this pokemon, glad to see that it can hold its own.

[@Corysquestions]

I remember loosing a whole nuzlock to Lt. Surge after he used one double team while I was trying to hit it with dig… then another when I came up, after that it was impossible to hit and whiped my team which I was playing on a real game boy. So frustrating

[@mr.number9279]

Ninjask did really good. Its ability and level-up pool are just too good.

[@juanca2648]

Hello! Seen how ninjask did and in my opinion the tier structure is too harsh with pokemon like this. I mean, come on, apart from 1st gym, ninjask was not that bad. I expect very few pokemon would be C tier or above. C should be the standard for an average final evolution pokemon. By the way, I love your content, love from Spain!!! 😍

[@shimmianNS]

I have such extremely vivid memories of the first time I played Emerald -- when I first saw Spinda, I was hyped af by theories of what it would evolve into ---- having learned it didn't evolve, to this day, I've never played with one or had it on any team

[@bettyunicorn6132]

Spinda’s epic though

[@SkyNinja759]

One of my earliest Pokemon memories was evolving nincada in sapphire and being obsessed with ninjask. That save file basically became a solo run after that, only having the rest of the team for HMs and a fallback if the cicada fainted. Such a cool pokemon concept. It's sad it never found a footing outside of a baton passer in early generations. I'd love to see it find a niche as a insanely speedy frail attacker (please Gamefreak, buff older pokemon's BSTs).

[@perkypenguin1663]

I just knew Roxanne was gonna be brutal for Ninjask before I even clicked the video. With that said, I was quite surprised by how Ninjask ended up performing by the end! This whole ordeal also makes me very very afraid of how Shedinja is going to perform, considering a single Rock move will end the battle for it....

[@ggw1776]

23:18 Is it really worth playing around Hypnosis?

[@PraefMace]

YESSSS YESSSSS. I love Ninjask...even if it isn't that good. It is such a good design! And I bet it would kick ass in gen 1 with that absurd base speed and access to slash. Edit: Almost forgot to add this but, DROOOOPED MY BALLSSS

[@samzito8067]

It’s interesting to see these movesets contrasted with their competitive pokemon usage, This little bug has caused me more pain and more suffering than should be possible, the amount of protects subs and baton passes I’ve seen this wretched creation pull off makes me happy to see it in the f tier.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Oh that does seem like an annoying strategy.

[@wompus_king]

I want to know who you are and what you’re doing. Even if I’m just listening, I need to know what channel I’m on! Not being grumpy. Just giving the feedback you ask about in streams :)

[@wompus_king]

But that’s just my preference. I’m no true youtubist

[@Moooork]

The Ninjask transitions are gold

[@sowalemonz]

Why didn’t you get an extra swords dance on linoone? Even if it belly drummed you would just outspeed and ohko!!

[@sowalemonz]

oh. wait. am i stupid.

[@robertstrommer2778]

The one thing and I can’t stress this enough i was SO impressed by even the first run. Yeah it was slow. But it was very consistent which is almost unheard of from the big typing??? It was so nice seeing a big pokemon just … win even if it was slow

[@naraiceylob]

In your run where you skipped Brawley did you do the trainers in Brawley's gym as part of your grinding for Swords Dance? A few trainers in there (with trainer booster experience) would have made the grinding for swords dance easier and I'm not sure if you did or not. Also I'd consider if attack vitamins is the best choice. You boost attack anyway with set up. Perhaps defence vitamins or special defence vitamins would be better than protein.

[@randaljr.8581]

ironic that speed boost is gonna make the real time slower (since it does a message after every turn, every battle).

[@SilverSmith459]

How DARE you give Ninjask a speed lowering nature and not teach it agility! You were so close to accessing the speed force!

[@LovelyAlanna]

I want a run with torchic where it's called Chikorita

[@Bicker2k11]

Hey scott love your videos very insightful for sure, just wondering if you would think about doing an Articuno solo playthrough on crystal

[@frostedbyte0759]

Great video dude!

[@Sweet_S71]

Chikorita with the sad emoji cracked me up sooo much 🤣🤣🤣

[@apollobro91_2]

Up to this point, I did not realize that Ninjask leveled up more slowly in the early game than the rest of the game. This really puts it at odds with other early bug-type pokemon that aren't really designed to hang around on your team past the first 3 gyms. It seems like Ninjask really was designed to be an important Baton Passer for competitive players. Unfortunately, that doesn't translate well for solo runs! (Also I hope you get to play around with a Volbeat and a Dustox soon. This gen has some of the wackiest Bug types in the early gens!).

[@samrushin2476]

Ninjask is a very appealing Pokémon with a unique appearance and a fun sort of hyper support moveset with its multiple setup moves combined with Baton Pass. Unfortunately the stats skewed so heavily in one direction combined with its really bad typing, it has so much going against it. I still love the buzzy boy though and Cicadas are one of my favourite real life insects as well.

[@Denuhm]

I had the strangest Mandela effect thinking ninjask had sonic boom

[@red-eyessolares1817]

I wonder if there’s potential to take a more risky approach with Sand Attack at a lower level since a fast Ninjask run needs luck in the beginning already

[@pommyadam]

could be worth keeping a hold of LeechLife for the super-effective for Tate&Liza (and then also for Sidney, although the 20BP might be a bit outdated, lousy pre-Gen7) also Gen3 isms mean you can press Start to see the HP Bar numbers, rather than "a slither of health", which probably helps with the storytelling a bit for them

[@bryandauzat293]

Surprisingly good luck with fury cutter chains at least the ones shown

[@sussybaka-9796]

How convenient, I just saw cicada nymph holes all over my yard and was thinking about these cute critters then I open KZbin and see Ninjask🥰

[@iskander0725]

I'm so so curious how you're* going to route through Shedinja. Haven't even watched the vid yet. I can only infer you might be in the neck of the woods of thinking about it soonish. As for Ninjask, man, this dude is so much fun on a team. I'm curious if he'll still be as fun for you solo. I'd imagine you're going to have to go full aggro to get past the late game as Ninjask does unfortunately suffer from early game bug syndrome. Edit 2: lmao... that Torkoal death was peak, Scott. Thank you for that laugh.

[@EmpyreanRagnarok]

Ah yes, my favorite gen 3 starter. Chickorita.

[@skylercroghan6933]

19:20 WHAT HOW MANY PROTECTS DID THAT PELLIPER LAND IN A ROW LOL

[@DocDoesGamingTV]

One of my favorite Pokémon! Also went back to Emerald recently, a kingdom for X-Scissor hahaha

[@MadameTeqi]

Are you thinking of a different move? X was introduced in Gen 4

[@Undrave]

Ninjask is like my favorite bug type :D What I'm curious is what'll happen with Nincada. It has some absolutely stupid stat distribution :p

[@kalasrey1670]

Why offer us comment fodder when we can remind you of your own words in the Gloom run (I think) when you said "If I ever use Cut, someone check me into a hospital, I need help"

[@Panguinolucy]

Oh hey! A Pokémon that splits when it evolved! Sounds like us!

[@valor1omega]

If you had access to metal claw would it have made a difference? Because it was used as it it never Gaines access to metal claw. I know it wouldn't really work as you have to evolve it long past it's original evo lvl. But still I can't help but wonder if it could have access to metal claw Early on would it have made any difference?

[@shootingstardust97]

Ninjask definately puts a bad taste in the mouth for its growth rate type. But i believe this growth rate type can be redeemed by zangoose, who learns SD extremely early at lv 13. Looking forward to the time where zangoose is used in emerald by you, scott

[@atraxian5881]

Looking forward to a Shedinja run in the future.

[@davidwhidden9337]

I've always found it fun to swords dance fury cutter when I was younger. Just imaging the damage increases. Now? Ninjask is a grear baton passer.

[@cduck16]

It's hard to objectively evaluate Ninjask's performance due to its reliance on ability/setup moves and the AI's interaction in such cases e.g. Electrike using Howl rather than Shockwave, Altaria using Dragon Dance rather than Aerial Ace.

[@TheOriginalJphyper]

19:22 FOUR SUCCESSFUL PROTECTS _IN A ROW?!_ Well, if that doesn't sum up Gen 3 Pelipper, I don't know what does.

[@Smileyrat]

Ok, I just can't stop hearing "eevee" instead of EV. Now I need pictures of speed eevees and attack eevees and such. I'd like to imagine that defense eevees are just dressed up as Zamazenta.

[@1stCallipostle]

I mean, there's at least one each Eeveeloution to represent each stat already. As much as I'd love to see more Eevees in little costumes

[@marcoasturias8520]

That's exactly how Pokemon training works

[@jamtone4492]

I wonder how the nincada line run would work, would u use both ninjask and shedinja?

[@llSuperSnivyll]

Does not surprise me that it struggles so badly, as it's clearly a gimmick Pokémon. I still really like its design though, even if I prefer Beautifly among the Gen 3 bugs.

[@wilbert3842]

Speaking of speed lowering natures you should try duskull line with speed lowering natures since it’ll never outspeed anyway

[@justinsims655]

Your comment about shiny Whismur made me wonder: Does the ability to get shinies--or rare species for that matter--on demand with a randomizer cheapen the experience of stumbling on them in the wild, or are you able to compartmentalize and see the wild ones as more special?

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

I think there is no inherent value in a shiny (or at least very little, it’s just aesthetics). The value is entirely determined for me by the odds of finding it and the expectation. If I run into one, it’s going to be full odds and I won’t be expecting it so it’s really exciting. That story is then attached to the shiny and it makes it important to me.

[@silver_was_found]

Ah yes, my favorite fire-type starter, Chikorita

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Definitely the best chicken Pokémon.

[@idkxmanxjustxvibin7995]

Hey Scott had a random question. Most the time I see these playthrough the “item in battle” rule is usually no healing items. Yours is no items in battle at all. Was wondering if there was a reason in particular for that? Iv seen a couple playthroughs where vs brock a couple pokeballs to stall out onyx bide for a mon with only attack moves would have gone a long way so curious why you chose no items. Sorry for the totally unrelated comment on the most recent video but figured engagement algorithm would be better for the newest video not on a year old video lol

[@quinnthomazin]

Probably because x items are extremely good and would over-centralise the runs. They are used in speedruns of every game as far as I know.

[@That_Guy_Nee]

My guess before viewing. First gym should be a struggle, and the overall run may be quite slow. Speed Boost ironically being responsible for bleeding time in any battle thats not over in a single turn.

[@Armisael16th]

This is one of those things that's very small to the viewer but a huge pain on the backend, but do you think there's any chance you could have the power stat for moves like fury cutter update to show them increasing as the attack chain continues?

[@ItsASleepySheepy]

No disrespect on the speed lowering nature but if you already knew you wouldn't be using special moves why not go for Adamant?

[@robinobregon6546]

i wonder how good ninjask would be with the buffed leech life

[@archiiebarrett]

Another example of "results don't do justice" for this Pokemon. Ninjask is actually quite good, with the gen 3 games working against it for a solo run unfortunately. It's a great sweeper, fantastic baton passer, and utility Pokemon for any team, just a bit fragile.

[@lazypaladin]

*_Yes! I've popped off so much rn!_* Ok backstory: Ninjask is my favourite Pokemon of all time. My Adamant/Speed Boost Waka took on Steven's Mega-Metagross in Alpha Sapphire. *_AND ALMOST WON!_*_ I misplayed. I hope nothing for the best for my boi!_

[@goldbanker2777]

The fact that double team at lvl 20 would probably get past the gym much faster and more consistent. I know its against the clause. I think it is fair in my opinion that if accuracy/evasion is need to beat a trainer in a reasonable time double team should be allowed. I think the roxanne fight would have taken much longer without sand attack.

[@Pistachio_mini_hotdog]

Ok but what if there was a move that used speed as its power (like body press). It would make ninjask broken

[@mindustrial]

This been bugging me for a few videos now and it's time I just gonna say it. On the bottom of the screen the order of stats is: HP, Attack, Def, Speed, SpA, SpD with the proper colors. But on the right, on enemy Pokemon the order is HP, Attack, Def, SpA, SpD, Speed. It bugs the hell out of me! The order is not the same, so it's matter of checking colors but it's just confusing having two stat overviews in different orders.

[@Offbreed309]

30:38 Did you forget to use your rare candies after a blackout? You ended lower level than you started lol. 😅

[@f0rm0r]

Just in time for the cicadas taking over the Midwest!

[@kalkkar]

Oh sweet i get to catch another one!

[@davidestabrooks211]

Its really unfortunate that there is not a move that scales off of speed stat really well. For Pokemon like Ninjask that really don't have good scaling otherwise.