No Guard might be one of the BEST solo challenge abilities...

[@JJSSBU]

"And Machop gets what feels like almost every Fighting type move" And yet they STILL can't learn Drain Punch to this day...

[@Buddy26420]

they can in Legends Arceus

[@Joker22593]

Pretty sure I move-tutored it in ORAS. Maybe I don't remember.

[@twitchtubeboyjamie]

That feels kinda dumb.

[@imogenvespertine2096]

You forgot Stone Edge which is in Victory Road. It would have guaranteed a one-shot on Togekiss and been another 100 base power move to hit things for at least neutral damage with when you couldn't Dynamic Punch. Not sure if Ice Punch is needed like you said in the E4, Rock Slide and later Stone Edge cover the flying types that are a problem as well as bug types, the only thing its more effective against than one of those moves is Garchomp, and even then, favorable confusion from Dynamic Punch might still be faster than having to go through all the time it takes to get shards and go to the move tutor.

[@ShiningJudgment666]

And Gliscor. Garchomp and Gliscor are quite bulky too so being able to trivialize them helps.

[@oliverh.1694]

And Roserade

[@myggmastaren3365]

Machamp + no guard + dynamic punch = win

[@veghesther3204]

It is but MOVES may still miss IE using Normal/Fighting moves even on GHOST types may possibly still not work despite that No Guard = a 100% HIT rate.

[@Trinthegay]

​@@veghesther3204 Yeah, No guard isn't scrappy, no one claimed it to be.

[@alexrobinet7576]

I see you too are a dynamic punch enjoyer.

[@veghesther3204]

That's why its not totally Broken since while No Guard would make moves like Dynamic Punch never miss it would still NOT work on immune types like the Ghost types and theirs at least 1 Ghost gym.

[@minzekatze]

@@veghesther3204 pokemon if coverage wouldnt exist

[@domc55]

I just noticed in this playthrough that when you changed the colors of the stats for your pokemon, you didn't change the color of the opposing pokemon's stats to correspond so I was getting confused when trying to compare some of your stats to the opposing pokemon stats. I also think it'd be better to either move your pokemon's speed to be at the bottom of the second column or to move the opposing pokemon's speed to be above the spA and spD, because the speed being at the end of their stat block but in the middle of yours also led to some confusion when I was comparing machamp's speed to Lucian's team's. I know you take a lot of pride (rightfully so!) in your overlay, so just two suggestions that I think could enhance clarity a bit. Awesome video either way though, this one was a lot of fun! No guard is a super cool ability!

[@shirounshiroun7555]

Seconding the suggestion on having Scott's pokemon's speed as the last stat, even if it makes it so that Atk/SpA and Def/SpD aren't next to each other anymore!

[@lewiscarter5575]

I agree, it takes my brain way too long to find where I'm meant to be looking to compare who's faster.

[@Dolph1nRacer]

I love that Ace Trainer Dennis gives us another gen to acknowledge Denis in the chat. Thanks Denis. Also, the bit with the Bidoofs and Starlys flying across the screen was hilarious.

[@TastyMeerkat]

Venomoth Fact #25: Even Venomoth went "Damn..." and needed to take a moment the first time they saw Cynthia. On that day, Venomoth learned that divine beings can come into existance without the aid of other divine beings, something Venomoth thought was exclusive to themself and Arceus.

[@MFMegaZeroX7]

Scott continually forgets this run that fighting type super effective against dark. I keep flinching every time you use earthquake against a Houndoom instead of dynamic punch haha.

[@PureStealth]

Mm PP was a big factor on this one though, it's possible he went with eq since the extra power wasn't needed and he needed to conserve PP

[@TotallyCluelessGamer]

I think part of it is just habit. Earthquake is also the answer to Karen's Houndoom in Gen 2 in just about every run so Houndoom=Earthquake.

[@CallMeNoa]

I've been watching your videos for a few weeks now and I just wanted to say I really appreciate your editing. The whole shebang: the stats, movelists, all the artwork moving across the screen. It's really fantastic presentation.

[@vincentsterel6448]

Just to correct you on something, Scott - you get one of each coloured shard for each star piece you trade to Mr. Fuego in the Fuego Ironworks.

[@mrinfinity5557]

Remember, this was with a sub-optimal machamp. It was shiny (longer animation) with sub optimal iv's, and a bad hidden power (even though i dont think hidden power would be useful). Id say theres at least 8 ish minutes that it lost due to these factors.

[@lz_paige]

It's really interesting seeing how you talk about Lucian in your solo runs. It goes to show how different enemies create different challenges because, while he is consistently the easiest Elite 4 member for you, he is considered one of the scariest run killers in Platinum nuzlockes. I think it comes down to the fact that your level advantage mitigates the impact of screens and makes his glass cannons less threatening since you have more Speed and SpDef.

I totally feel you for the psyduck encounter. When I recently played White 2, I spent over a bloody hour looking for Joltik, the 39% encounter in chargestone cave (Floor 1). Found 3 Tynamo at 2% and even more Boledor at 5%. I was furious.

[@funkydirk3797]

So fun fact(at least in earlier games) trade evos got their moves at the same level as their pre evo forms.

[@PillzmansFox]

6:08 thats exactly why you should have 100% catch rate, if you throw a ball first turn its not the pokemon's fault if the enemy breaks out but it lowers the pomemon's placement if your luck is bad

[@skeetermania3202]

It is something a player could be accountable for, though, as he could plan the run better by going in at a lower level so he could weaken the Pokémon without KOing it. This is one reason I find the stipulation of encounter manipulation to be questionable, as a player still has some sort of influence. It feels kinda robotic in a way.

[@dannykrise9721]

This seems like a perfect opportunity to run this again with a perfect iv machamp to compare time and measure the impact ivs have on a pokemon. For science.

[@shadowtitanx3962]

Who else finds it funny that No Guard is essentially Gen 1 X Accuracy in form of an Ability? Although, your opponent also cannot miss.

[@rooislangwtf]

Scott kept commenting Rock Tomb like it could miss lol (like in the Fantina fight)

[@ShiningJudgment666]

It's still very weak though.

[@britishpalmtree9268]

Scott, you're fantastic, seen me through some tough times, had a mild anxiety attack just before I got home and seeing this has made me feel so much comfortable. Thank you

[@somerandomgoblin2583]

hope you feel better!!

[@sopadumacacoumadelicia5]

I hope things get better KZbin user brithsh palm tree

[@f1redr1ve]

i like this mucch more then a "CAN YOU BEAT POKEMON WITH ONLY A LEVEL 2 MAGIKARP" type videos. its still a challenge but its fun to see one pokemon against the world instead of somebody yapping about leveling up to level 100 on their weedle

[@sopadumacacoumadelicia5]

Never had I thought that I'd hear Scott saying that Rock Tomb of all moves would be useful 😂

[@AnnLesbi]

My favorite Pokemon of all time. I am very excited for this one!

[@spencerjohnson2462]

It didn't matter in the end, but in the champion fight, I think using dynamic punch to confuse the togekiss would give you a slightly better chance of winning than using rock slide to flinch, since rock slide has a 30% chance to flinch while the guaranteed confusion from dynamic punch has a 50% chance to cause the togekiss to hurt itself. And the two moves have the same effective power, since togekiss is still normal flying in this generation.

[@sepg5084]

If Machamp had better IVs maybe it would have fared better.

[@PojoLoneWolf]

At 26:32 you compliment the developers on the elemental punches as you walked through a flower field. You could’ve made an on the nose joke with your compliment and “given the developers their flowers” 😂😂😂

[@rainbowphoenix1363]

I love how we can see these early runs as kinda just casual fun

[@bobosmith101]

Please make sure to have something in the title so this playthrough can be looked up! Also, A Tier non-perfect Machamp is crazy, and there was tons of room for optimization!

[@PraefMace]

Didn't know No Guard had that secondary effect related to encounter rates! Interesting. Also.... you know. DROOOOPPED MY BALLSSSS

[@TheMoogleKing93]

If you ever use another ability with a negative overworld effect you can mitigate them by having another pokemon fainted in the first slot, if that's compatible with your rules.

[@perkypenguin1663]

It's cool seeing a non-Gen 4 Pokemon appear in this tier list. I especially like that you got to use No Guard, which is indeed fun

[@thiffio9134]

There’s also Butterfree with the Compound Eyes, which is basically similar to No Guard. Imagine a Compound Eyes Butterfree + Stun Powder, Supersonic and Attract = broken. Please don’t ban.

[@tsawy6]

That set is kinda ass bro. You can't paralyse and sleep at the same time and even confuse ray is rarely worth using. Plus you need attacks! Anyways, Scott plays butterfree first in every gen! There's a platinum playthrough from late last year.

[@sopadumacacoumadelicia5]

Sounds like a fun gimmick

[@SaintoftheHonest]

You can get Ice Punch for Machop before you face the second gym, I don't see why Torterra would be hard to face at all. Side note: Yes, Flint and Volkner are childhood friends and rivals. In the anime, Volkner even saves Flint from being attacked by another trainer while his Chimchar was weakened.

[@iskander0725]

So, this was in an era where I was in college and thus had my first real access to friends who I could trade Pokemon. Man, I had a curated No Guard Machoke just ready for that day. Machamp is an absolute unit in Gen. 4. Glad you used him today! Before I finished the video, I'm guessing top 4 time in the ranks. Hope I'm right.

[@Neogeddon]

you now know that in gen 4, when a wild pokemon is going to break out of a ball, your own Pokemon's backsprite darkens slightly

[@Mrperson0]

Too bad it's impossible to get No Guard + Fissure on a Machamp.

[@blinkspot2667]

Well, you kind of can. You'd have to teach it Mimic as a Tutor move from gen 3

[@ostint912]

@@blinkspot2667that’s still just having mimic not anything else

[@Mrperson0]

@@blinkspot2667 Pretty sure NPCs don't have Fissure as a move in later gens, but I could be wrong and there is a one off NPC in Gen 4 through 8 with it.

[@bobosmith101]

Gen 1 FissureChamp. Too bad you can't preserve movesets anymore.

[@Mrperson0]

@@bobosmith101 Gen 1 Machamp can only transfer with its hidden ability, it can never have No Guard.

[@lenlimbo]

Yay, you are finally using the move tutors!

[@michelleslay2701]

Doesn’t being shiny add several minutes of animation over the course of a playthrough

[@ShadowKibago]

Been a while since I've passed by this channel Glad to see you're doing Pt runs now

[@Speedrunner0218]

If you want to allow traded pokemon to evolve the universal randomizer has a setting for that to where you can change it to where they only need a level up instead.

[@browncow5210]

Reminds me of when Platinum first came out. My brother kept a Machamp on his team that had foresight in its moveset. He used it to make Spiritomb tangible and punch it in the face for super effective damage.

[@765craven4]

At around 26:00 you talk about a limited supply of Shards. I don't know if you have a rule against using it (at least not in the description of the video) but the Underground, accessed with the Explorer Kit, does give access to unlimited Shards of all types. It would be potentially tedious to acquire them but if you need just one Shard to get a Tutored move it would be a good way to get them.

[@midge2946]

There's actually a double battle in the postgame with Flint and Volkner as I recall. And yeah, it has been said but Stone Edge would have been a great pickup. Love No Guard, makes you think about move choices completely differently. I'm someone who even winces a little bit when I'm using Fire Blast over Flamethrower, so moves like Stone Edge and Focus Blast really make me groan. But No Guard patches all that up very nicely.

[@bluethemew9273]

Probably my fav things about these videos with shinies it feels like a special episode but also you can tell when using the shinies it helps gives a slight advantage for when you later play the real episode for the Pokémon but it very much feels like when you do get a shiny how the Pokémon might play if we randomly caught it on a playthrough team then a solo run and why it’s always a good/decent Pokémon to get

[@elifretty1018]

I can’t wait to see the eggceptional videos to come

[@KimFareseed]

I did not know that No Guard had an out of battle effect. 20:15 Always found it odd that Gligar became purple in Platinum, when it normaly is pink. Night time shading to try to link it with Gliscor?

[@pommyadam]

also think the "shiny" animation would have an impact to GameTime as well, would be curious to see how the non-shiny version would compare

[@zaakutv862]

Gen 4 always brings the most fun challenges for me. I’m interested to foresight strats. Plus machop is one of my favorites so I’m glad the line gets some love(MACHOKE SHINY THO)

[@remydirt3158]

Idk if the champ can learn ohko moves but I think the strat for a solo run could be speed nature lower special attack then just IVs into speed

[@banditrests]

Weird revelation from bulbapedia, cross chop is fighting type stone edge. Or really, vice versa since cross chop was first.

[@chapolinm_]

a small observation, confusion is a 50/50 chance to hit itself, so against Cynthia Dynamic Puncj is always better than Rock Slide for the much smaller flinch chance :)

[@Dpmt]

For Gardenia, I wonder if the Machop being lighter would have offset the lower special defense to make Grass Knot weaker. Worth double checking for this.

[@TJF588]

I think I'd prefer to know moves' base accuracy during No Guard runs, just so we can appreciate the ability that much more by comparison.

[@popcorngenerator1925]

Just my own experience, but it seems like shiny pokemon always have really odd nature's. I've caught 4. Only 2 were after gen 2. One was a +SP attack - defence geodude. The other was a - attack snubbull...

[@nassimfortas3057]

Great video! I don't know if it can be of any help but at 36:29 the espeon has a displayed speed stat of 142 and still outspeeds so maybe the stat table isn't completely right^^

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Wait, I’m confused. Machamp has 132, Espeon has 142 and it moves first… that is what the stat table suggests would happen… Also the stats are pulled from RAM in real-time, so they are the values the game is storing for each Pokémon, not collected / calculated data that I curated.

[@L4NkYb]

I wonder if the increasing counter rate could be considered machop getting overexcited and going and getting into fights

[@popcorngenerator1925]

Or just mindlessly blundering through the tall grass without a care in the world, disturbing all the pokemon

[@stevencamphuis4419]

i would like to see a race between a no guard machamp and a guts matchamp

[@Spikkle]

Suprised you didn't know about No Guard until this challenge

[@UtubeWatchu]

I reckon it would place higher if it was a proper Machamp, the fact that it was just 13 minutes slower than Giratina with a Bold Nature, which cuts attack by 10%, it definitely affected some ranges in the playthrough, like how the rival's Turtwig barely survived a critical hit from Machop on the second battle. If it was an attack neutral or positive nature, it would've been a OHKO for sure.

[@FNJones88]

Great video, Scott!

[@KevinHosley]

12:03 Bulbpaedia?

[@raute2687]

I think not giving it drain punch is really holding it back in solo challenges. Healing a fair bit while also dealing damage is really handy, often allowing you to survive attacks that would otherwise knock you out. Gallade benefits from this massively as it is a bit frail and machamp's higher atk stat would cause it to heal even more.

[@rjante2236]

It doesn't learn Drain Punch.

[@Neogeddon]

@@rjante2236 drain punch's super weird distribution never fails to astound me. machamp? nah. togekiss? sure!!

[@rjante2236]

@@Neogeddon So I actually looked into this, and Machamp DOES get Drain Punch.... in Legends Arceus. Other notable users of Drain Punch: Vileplume Blissey (why?!) Shroomish (Togekiss learned from this one) Uxie Mesprit Azelf Accelgor Aromatisse Shiinotic (???) Alcremie (probably the weirdest one)

[@banditrests]

This evolution method is probably in the spirit of the games; I just wish they had kept the linking cord item from PLA. Now if only you had the forbidden no guard + fissure combo

[@mensb1936]

Whoever made the machamp in your thumbnail definitely had extremely greasy skin at the time of illustration

[@oskararvidsson3709]

I thought dynamic punch had 100 base power. Maybe I am seeing it wrong but when he is attacking and have fist plate it has an effective power of 180. But thought it would be higher with same type attack bonus and the fist plate

[@ZerglingOne1]

Hey Scott, I don't know if you realize, but the stat colors on the opponent pokémon are the old colors. Loved the Machamp performance this go-around.

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Yeah I’ve fixed it in more recent recordings. There wasn’t a way to correct it in post without ungodly amounts of effort.

[@auraswan951]

Honestly, I believe as long as you are consistent with your rules for trade evo Pokemon, you are fine with however you decide..... I know this is far off, but I'm kinda excited to see a Kerrablast Vs Shelmet BW video.... (Especially since they need to be traded with each other, it'll be fun to watch how you problem solved with them!). As for your comment on Pokemon released in the current Gen you're playing, I think BW vs B2W2 will be interesting to hear about when you do decide to debut Gen 5 (which I'm guessing will probably be next year or the year after....)

[@sopadumacacoumadelicia5]

No Guard, if anything, reduces RNG greatly. I agree Scott, its very good so you can strategize without worrying about Rock Slide trolling you with its 90% accuracy

[@AmityvilleFan]

I tend to use Bibarel instead of Psyduck, catched on Route 208.

[@kayoh9364]

It might be easy to say in hindsight, but Shell Bell might make hard fights like the Sky Pillar Double, Cynthia, and Lucian more consistent. It might also save time going back for healing during routes?... Then again, you probably lose more time from going through the healing animation.

[@Ruesen]

I never used no guard since i always felt like it made my pokemon too easy to hit, but this was an interesting journey!

[@jackieboy8923]

Id be very curious to see how good nature and IVs, and a lack of lost time to shiny animations would improve Machamp. Already an incredibly solid run

[@Reluxthelegend]

35:45 they are definetely friends. I the manga they are hanging with each other all the time

[@GMJinxer]

All I am going to say is if you redo this one with an Adamant Machamp with perfect IVs it might be first on the list. Barely not knocking out so many mons that would actually be changed by having a better nature

[@minzekatze]

i would love to see some runs or a run where you start with a pokemon that can be traded in game and play it till its tradeable and then continue with the traded pokemon

[@coolguy48457]

You should pause timer when hunting for hm pokemon so it doesnt skew results.

[@SuperCosmicSpaceMagnet]

The No Guard Fissure Machamp legend lives on.

[@popcorngenerator1925]

Yes! Machamp! My favourite pokemon since I got the intro pokemon TCG set back,... got 25 years ago or something? It came with a holofoil Machamp card, and since then I've loved fighting pokemon.

[@ScottE-2]

Leaving a new comment to say, you could probably save some time if Machamp was instead an Impish nature. It would let the attack stat remain unhindered while giving some necessary defense. As for the elemental punches, Ice is probably the only 1 you need. Revenge being ignored was definitely a mistake but not the worst one. The worst mistake was wasting PP Ups on a move you got rid of rather early. If something could be implemented in terms of PP restoring items, it would be to memorize where you can find Leppa Berries. Routes 208 (Berry Master), 209, and 221 have them. BUT. You can trade a Buizel for a Chatot that is holding a Leppa Berry in Eterna City. Meaning that, at minimum, you can get at least 2-3 and 4 at most if you go out of your way for it.

[@DwunD016]

So, gible line when?

[@branf1993]

My first shiny was geodude just through the building on the first route on heart gold. Didn't have any poke friends but god I loved that gravler

[@jinxtheunluckypony]

Oh hey, you actually used Rock Tomb as a speed control move against Roserade. The Gen 3 AI would be proud.

[@Jacob42086]

Next year it'd be really funny if you played (or replay) the 69th Pokemon on june 9th 😂

[@michaelklos8089]

Also worth noting if you miss that date, most of the world uses the DD/MM/YY system so 6th Sep will also work there 😁🙃

[@gmanz5]

I definitely think you could have ditched the elemental punches. Dynamic punch for everything that is a bird and then Rock Slide.

[@LughSamildanach]

So what's the reasoning behind the player mon and the enemy ones having different colours for their stat backgrounds?

[@gloweye]

Another time loss is the Shinyness. An additional animation in every battle matters.

[@dudeist_priest]

Machop was my first (non-gyrados) shiny as a kid! I found it by Lake of Rage so I just thought it was a glitch forever

[@danielearley8826]

Wow fantina would have been a nightmare without substitute

[@beejaytea5964]

Hey Scott, I've been working my way through your series, but I almost missed this one because it isn't in the Gen 4 Playlist (and anything published after). Is there anything I can do to help keep the Playlists organised, or is just mentioning it enough?

[@MrEnte3000]

You can mine for Shards in the Underground.

[@Silvitewolf]

since you drew attention to 69... you are so close to 69k subs

[@gabler7992]

shiny Machamp looks like Battletoads character

[@theking5116]

I wonder how much better perfect IV machamp would've done

[@legendx8365]

I wanna see you redo with guts might be fun

[@green90s]

Does the shiny animation factor into the real time as well? Isn't there like a little glistening animation whenever a shiny enters combat?

[@mufasa5851]

How much less damage would machoke take from grass knot over champ in gym 2?

[@ScottE-2]

14:20 I have found an error, you misspoke and said Cross Chop rather than karate chop. Enjoying it so far.

[@ScottE-2]

Also the reason Floatzel broke the substitute is because Brine deals double damage on par with Hydro Pump when the foe's HP is at half.

[@thediminished98]

Machamp yes, but in gen 1 😁. It is good at the start and at the end you teach it ice punch thunder punch and a badge boost glitch move

[@ChrisZi.]

Good Job Scott

[@ceulgai2817]

Hey, Scott! Can you show HP in double battles, please? It's available without hacking.

[@Atomic_Aegis45]

Which regiment do you think Gardenia is a member of, Scout Regiment, Garrison Regiment, or the Military Police?

[@blakelonestar]

I haven’t been keeping up with Platinum. Think eventually there will be multiple playthroughs with multiple abilities? Or just picking which one would be best at the start like selecting a nature?