Pidgeot-Line Solo Challenge - Pokemon FireRed

Rules:
1. Only my starter in battle
2. No items in battle, except held items
3. No glitches, exploits, save states, or RNG manipulation
4. No evasion moves before level 100*
Rule details:
-- *In gen1, evasion boosting is allowed if the Pokemon does it through means other than learning the move by level up or TM. For example, using Mimic or Mirror Move to boost evasion is allowed. (This exception is to keep ranking consistent with my legacy videos.)
-- I am allowed to manipulate my starter
-- I play the game at 4x game speed
-- For fair comparisons all my Pokemon have perfect (or near perfect) DVs / IVs
-- I am allowed to catch HM users - I can use all field moves
-- All in-battle glitches are allowed in generation 1
-- In generation 1, I'm allowed to skip Marowak with the Poke Doll
-- Surge's trash-can-puzzle is automatically solved
-- The bike is allowed in gen1, banned in gen2, and allowed for bypassing terrain in gen3
-- Saving between league members is allowed
-- If the solo Pokemon faints and I choose to blackout it counts towards my reset counter
-- I can pause the game and timer to take breaks
-- The footage is sped up / slowed down to match the pace of my narration
-- The ability Pickup can only be used if the starter has it
Patreon: / scottsthoughts
KZbin memberships:
/ @scottsthoughtspokemon
Twitter: / psychicflying
Twitch: / scottsthoughtspokemon
Illustrations by / sarinavail
Thumbnail art by / brianlsart
STAB: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
DVs / IVs: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
Damage Calculations: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
Gen1 Stat Calculator: pycosites.com/pkmn/stat_gen1.php
Gen2 Stat Calculator: pycosites.com/pkmn/stat_gen2.php
Gen1 Crit Rates: www.smogon.com/rb/articles/cr...
Learnsets: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...
Base Stats: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...)

[@nlb137]

Steel Wing would have been useful for taking on rock types over thief. Higher base power and being super effective is worth more than hitting the special defense stat (lvl 60 Pidgeot vs. lvl 50 Rhyhorn is 24-50% for Steel Wing while Thief is 25% to 29%. Lvl 70 Pidgeot vs lvl 51 Onix should be a 2HKO.

[@jf662]

Took the words right out of my mouth

[@bluestprotocol3972]

Correct think he noticed but hey it was funny

[@bp3366]

​@@bluestprotocol3972Yes inefficient are funnies, no kno best strateghee lol wat noob Scott

[@zenitfan4life]

@@bp3366 your mom must be proud of you

[@davidhannum9017]

​@@bp3366you mean like you are a noob at spelling coherent sentences?

[@SquallLionhart409]

You said you missed Steel Wing, but I think you also overlooked how useful Substitute is for the League. The frequency of the AI using non-damaging moves, along with it blocking intimidates, makes it absolutely invaluable for any physical attacker like Pidgeot.

[@shadowtitanx3962]

Eggceptional knows how insanely good Substitute is in Kanto Fire Red. It’s basically the Gen 3 equivalent to Hidden Power in solving a lot of fights/abuses the AI a lot. Especially if they try to Speed control with Rock Tomb/Scary Face.

[@darlhiatt8136]

Oh dang. Too bad Lance's Gyarados comes out first then, but good for Blue.

[@SquallLionhart409]

@@darlhiatt8136 Lance and Blaine still put you at -1, but its so much less painful if you avoid further status/speed/attack drops.

[@darlhiatt8136]

@SquallLionhart409 coming back after finishing the video and yeah I'm surprised how much he could do with -1.

[@Silvitewolf]

​@@shadowtitanx3962Eggceptional is an amazing up and comer

[@elk12429]

What Pidgeot really needs is a signature move that's basically flying-type Electro Ball - so it can turn that speed (including agility) into damage

[@Nikolaj11]

Or a speed-stat based Body Press. "Sonic strike!"

[@eliyaskiya]

I don't think it would be signature but would be really helpful to many of the early game bird Pokemon

[@Nikolaj11]

@@eliyaskiya To be fair, it's somewhat rare that a "signature move" remains unique for long. Watch Gallade get Glaive Rush, Kowtow Kleave and Stone Axe next gen :D

[@devondavies2637]

I gotta say man, its insane that you went for thief and featherdance over steel wing which would have helped against an absurd number of enemy pokemon

[@MichaelFawcett-91]

Yeah when I did that challenge I did use Steel Wing. It worked so amazingly well I don't understand his choice here.

[@javelin4646]

Notably, Weedle, the Pidgey line, the Rattata line, the Zubat line, and Staryu line all give speed EVs so considering how common/required those pokemon are to fight, especially from Rocket grunts, it's very likely that you'll end up with lots of speed evs during every run

[@nestrior7733]

An idea for Flying Types going forward: If they can, Steel Wing should be a very good for dealing with Rock Types. And it's accessible in the Safari Zone. So need to rely on Thief.

[@ZorziZone]

It always blows my mind the amount of techs and details behind your overlay's functioning - its so well done and must be SOOOO much work and dedication to get it to this level. You're like a producer and coder and pokemaster and youtuber and much more all in one LOL! Beautiful work!!

[@moblinmajorgeneral]

Something to note about the Silph Rival in FRLG. Alakazam's only attack is Future Sight. If it's the last Pokemon and you can kill it in 2 hits, you win.

[@TheModdedwarfare3]

You forgor the pokemon

[@moblinmajorgeneral]

@@TheModdedwarfare3 Fixed

[@BloodfelX]

It feels like they realised Alakazam is pretty insane for that point in the game for not even being the intended ace on the team and structured Alakazam's level up moveset to handicap it at Silph Co.

[@EmperorZaph1512]

This reminds me of one time I did a run where I had 5 Pidgeys and a Pidgeot. The Pidgeys were all named "Burd" and Pidgeot was named "Big Burd". I had to rotate a Pidgey or two for HM reasons obviously. It was a surprisingly fun run and rock types were definitely a pain.

[@JeffDvrx]

This would have been perfect if only they were named Birb instead of Burd

[@BloodfelX]

Honestly having a pivot to remove confusion and debuffs helps so much in solo runs, it cannot be overstated how much it helps. It definitely puts the integrity of it being a "solo" run into question, but for non-challenge runs it is such an effective quality of life improvement.

[@DarkMagicianGirl0]

I love it both Raichu and Pidgeot fall into my top 10 favorite gen 1 Pokemon. They are also guilty pleasures of mine in the sense that even knowing that they are not good, I will be a good chunk of the time trying to incorporate one or both of them into my team. 😅

[@mattiamerlo2688]

Having both in a team isn't bad, Pidgeot is immune to Raichu's only weakness and has feather dance to make that ground move useless. While Pidgeot is sometimes irrelevant Raichu is actually good at doing his job which is spam tbolt/twave on anything that isn't immune to those, tbh it's the only reason you want an electric type other than being a great defensive typing.

[@mastanvx]

STEEL WING! SUBSTITUTE!!!! AAAAAAA!!!! Sorry... watching this playthrough had me going "WHYYY!?" near the end... Pidgeot is actually not that bad! I really hope you can get around to another playthrough with it, because it's not that bad!

[@BrapGenius]

Pidgeot is my favorite Pokémon thank you for making this video!!!

[@tirandeshibaraki743]

TM Steel Wing might have been a better choice than Thief imho. It's in the Safari Zone on the route to the secret house.

[@fernandoguillen5996]

You can find the Steel wing TM in the Safari Zone. That will help all flying type pokemons against Giovanni gym battle, Lance's erodactyl and Blue's Rhydon

[@tsawy6]

Bruno's onix too!

[@tiemen9095]

Quick tip: if you set up a substitute, it will block the intimidate as well as other annoying status such as Scary Face, Sleep Powder, etc. On Rival 6 and champion you can set up Substitute to block the Feather Dance, and then if you can keep it up you can also block the intimidate from Gyarados. I think Pidgeot could have won this at a much lower level, like ~75, if you had Substitute.

[@vtmagno23]

I'm sure someone's already told about this, but try taking the Substitute move tutor into account more. It blocks both Intimidate and Status Moves, which really helps you against stat drops.

[@GuiItyUniverse]

I know there are better flying types. But as a kid I got Yellow Version for my 8th birthday. I was mad that i didn't get to choose my starter. And Pikachu was impossible to use against Brock. So my first pokemon that I got by choice was Pidgey. And Pidgeot was my firt level 100. I will one day tattoo this bird onto me.

[@johnh290]

im actually enjoying these line runs, i hope they keep going!!

[@robdog69]

Scott blessing our Friday with this epic video

[@nightfan1983]

geez, that was painful. Kudos to your stamina/stubborness, I certainly wouldn't have finished playing this one

[@hanswurst9120]

Has anyone ever pointed out that DUD-ley is the perfect name for the (formerly) self-destructing hiker?

[@vizzy61]

i think scott did in the first frlg video, but i don't remember

[@OcelotOmega]

I still love Pidgeot, and I'm always happy to see it being used!

[@2010supersonic]

The reason for the speed EVs are the Pidgey and Ratatta lines you often face

[@JeffDvrx]

Scott: (...) today I'm gonna beat Pokemon FireRed with the Pidgey line. FireRed: _so you have chosen death_

[@derrickbonsell]

Excited for the Rattata playthrough even though I'm sure it was a pain for you to do.

[@firedrake110]

13:58 I'd call it an "oversight" more than anything, since all the separate parts are working as intended (wild pokemon can be escaped from with doll, can use items in battle, etc...) but they just forgot to add a special interaction to that one unique instance

[@BloodfelX]

I think oversight it is the best way to refer to it, yes - but I personally like "shortcut", since I think the idea of calming Marowak's spirit with a Poke Doll is rather charming.

[@firedrake110]

@TeIeg-ram-ScottsThoughts perish, vile thing

[@davidgardner6677]

I want to say that you should preemptively ban substitute in all your challenges. The AI cannot figure out how to deal with it. Sub is even more powerful than double team because it will trivialize any battle. Love this new challenge!

[@Taubsiii]

I was so waiting for this!

[@ArchonZach]

These fire red videos have been like a redemption arc for Bruno. You're gonna have to turn Bruno tier to Giovanni tier or something lmao

[@BloodfelX]

Absolutely, Giovanni got nerfed into the ground compared to Yellow - a massive reversion from his difficulty there and possibly a step down from Red and Blue due to not even having a Rhydon. Honestly always sad to see Giovanni be easy, like - this is the guy who is supposed to rival the Elite Four, values strength above all else, and runs a criminal organisation so surface-level effective that they stormed the headquarters of a (presumably massive) corporation like Silph Co and had the entire building under lockdown. (Shout out to the Pokemon Origins anime for making Giovanni actually be a threat to Red.)

[@iantaakalla8180]

On the other hand, it ironically sells the fact that a random eleven-year-old can defeat Giovanni. If he was able to control Silph, then it is very obvious that a majority of Kanto trainer in FireRed/LeafGreen suck, so only you, the determined PC, can defeat Giovanni. Besides, the Kanto Elite 4/Champion are not that strong, are they? They are certainly not as easy as Kalos, but they are not the Sinnoh League.

[@retloclive9118]

Physical attackers have it so rough in FRLG with all the Intimidate users and the rival's Pidgeot almost always starting with Featherdance.

[@BloodfelX]

Not to mention Intimidate, the Champion is going to be a massive problem for any physical attackers going up against his Arcanine Gyarados team.

[@skeetermania3202]

Koga could also cause problems with his Acid Armor Muk.

[@BloodfelX]

( I just realised that you brought up Intimidate in your original comments, oops ^_^" )

[@tienshinhankikohobeam4970]

Damn what a good channel... Love from Brazil!

[@maliciousworld3095]

My very first playthrough was with a level 7 Pidgeotto from Veridian Forest. Thing carried me all the way through the elite four and a pokémon yellow. Great times

[@zenitfan4life]

How, that thing sucked bawlz in yellow. No return, fly is kinda garbage

[@iantaakalla8180]

Maybe OP was a grinder?

[@zenitfan4life]

@@iantaakalla8180 he said it carried him through, I can't imagine that's thing carrying anything. Kadabra carry, starmie carry, this thing though?

[@samrushin2476]

@@zenitfan4lifechildlike overlevelling combined with a reasonably high crit chance due to decent speed?

[@zenitfan4life]

@@samrushin2476 I mean, if he got it to lvl 90+ then maybe

[@youtubemixup756]

I haven’t watched the video yet and I know it’s just a repost of your old member exclusive content but thank you Scott for letting your fans eat good during the end of the year every year. I love your content and I always get excited to check your new content at the end of the year. I would support you if I could but I still love watching everything you post.

[@jairomorales2547]

Until this days, one of my favorite bird pokemon.

[@arckrokosz3123]

I'M SO EXCITED FOR THE RATICATE PLAYTHROUGH!

[@sethsevaroth]

Everytime you say pigeotto I can't stop thinking of the girl who described all men's haircuts as pigeotto style.

[@C_Train74]

So many fights where a Thief would have stolen a berry and made Scott’s life easier.

[@Willingmess]

So I’m sure you probably know this by now, but just in case you don’t, you can get leftovers by checking in the spot where snorlax was! Edit: Nevermind, that requires the itemfinder, sorry.

[@christianhanel2129]

You can find things without the itemfinder

[@RaulCarela]

@@christianhanel2129For some reason you can’t pick up the left overs w/o itemfindee

[@chris73462010]

Excited to watch this later!!! Thank you for all the great work, Scott!

[@IsuKen]

When I played Yellow version for the second time I wanted to use something other than the Pikachu so I decided to play through the entire game with the Pidgey I caught on the first route. I wasn't playing a challenge run or anything, I just loved birds cause I had pet birds at the time. I ended up finishing the game with my Pigeot and it has been one of my favorite Pokemon since. I've come to realize I'm a lot more critical of the Pokemon I use in recent generations than I was back then, I think there's just something about being an innocent child on an adventure unaware of things like DVs, just wanting to win with your favorites regardless of how good they are that gets lost when you get older.

[@mattprice302]

Starraptor laughing in the background. I’d love to see that Pokémon in this game especially once it gets close combat.

[@GamerKru1996]

Steel wing will be super valuable in this run.

[@chrisdaignault9845]

Yep. If only Scott thought so ;)

[@gonzoengineering4894]

Oh man 😂😂😂

[@dvillines26]

Gen II brain means Scott thinks of Steel Wing as the TM you get right before Red, when it's much more obtainable in every subsequent game and very vital as a coverage move for Flying types. also since it has a small chance to buff defense, it's not JUST coverage. though I don't know why you wouldn't just obsessively go over a moveset for a solo challenge and map out the use value of every single move the Pokemon can learn. That feels like it would have cut the reset counter in half, if Scott had done that properly.

[@maximumeffort6049]

Man i made it late to the Riachu video and when i finished watching that one this one popped up. What luck!

[@mahnameisj]

Hey Scott! Love the videos. Have you considered doing runs with egg/tutor(if only found in postgame)/event moves? It could be nice to see a comparison of how better or worse mons would do if they have access to some of these extra moves in their arsenal

[@zenitfan4life]

He has, he said he'll eventually do it in the future

[@Mavczers]

Pidgey Evolution line is THE haircut trendsetter line.

[@dvillines26]

forgetting about Steel Wing is really weird to me, because I would always use it for coverage on my Swellow in the Hoenn games, and I would always consider it on any regional bird that could learn it as an option if my birb had to fight a Rock type at any point. I also wonder if it would be possible to use Thief to hunt for good held items, or if that would be considered unfair. however, most Pokemon can learn Thief, so I feel like it's a strategy available to any Fire Red Pokemon. it's really unfortunate Pidgeot doesn't have an attack boosting move in this game.

[@darlhiatt8136]

Geez, that was harder than I expected... appreciate the TPP reference though.

[@charlessegale6493]

* sees Scott name Pidgey BIRDJESUS * Ah, I get the reference!

[@gemmabarnes]

Glad i saw this as a member exclusive and as a normal video

[@YeahBoy1019]

Wing Attack, Sand Attack, Quick Attack, Thief. This may just be the “bird-iest” move set I’ve ever seen 😂

[@skeetermania3202]

NGL, that Whirlwind strat against Brock was secretly genius.

[@RossSpeirs]

No matter what the game says, the chance of poison point taking effect is a solid 80%

[@depotheose7890]

i can't wait to see you use RAT POWER (tm)

[@RealCaptainAwesome]

Thief on Dragonite would have been a Galaxy Brain move

[@chrisdaignault9845]

Yup.

[@shimmianNS]

Still just so hyped these are now all public -- Leaf Green is one of my favorite pokemon games

[@yamilaxus]

Steel Wing (safari zone) could have made your life so much easier in this run.. it was painful to watch you using Thief istead of it. Will you do a Re-run someday? xD

[@archiiebarrett]

Scott, when you do Pokemon like Farfetchd or Marowak, are you going to run through their playthrough with their unique item equipped? Especially Farfetchd's Stick.... I feel like they need them to be viable.

[@TylerSmith-ds8qh]

Why get rid of wing attack if it has the same power and more pp than aerial ace?

[@gloweye]

Have you considered using Thief to take Machamp's Sitrus Berry? That bit of extra healing might be worth the slightly lower damage. Might also have helped against Lance's Dragonite.

[@alexkulis7295]

When you start doing Gen 3 optimization runs, do you think EV distribution will be something that you take into consideration for final runs?

[@TheBigHerman007]

I swore Early Bird was a pidgey line ability and that would help so much for rest strats to help it fill the role as the bulkier of the early bird archetypes. So much about the Pidgey line sounds cool but its just done so dirty. At least its Mega really helped for the few games it existed in

[@LunarWingCloud]

Could Champion Pidgeot be forgoing Featherdance because your level is so high that a single Featherdance isn't changing the number of hits it can take before fainting? Might see it as a waste of using it if you will still KO it in the same number of hits at -2

[@RandoMattz]

nice Whirlwind strat!

[@ktvx.94]

Hey Scott I just found out that the first Venomoth TCG card actually has a poke power that allows it to change types. It's not related to this vid but I thought it was really cool and I don't have much time until I forget to say it altogether.

[@ktvx.94]

Nvm it was relevant to this video, the meme just gets moved from Koga to Sabrina

[@robertodiaz7010]

Can you use Theif at the champion to steal the Sitrus berry after you use the Chesto Berry?

[@TigeriPlaysGames]

haven't watched yet, but this'll be interesting for sure. i never used a pidgeot until i stumbled into a shiny in LGPE that i instantly added to my team. since it was LGPE, i went out of my way to get it a bunch of stat-boosting candies and power it up to a degree far beyond that of any of its teammates. it was still the worst pokemon on my team by a longshot.

[@kabirdang1346]

I believe u should have used steel wing against the rock ground types!

[@MTM9191]

Would Mirror move - Outrage have been a better play? Would also have worked for Bruno using Rock tomb to allow counter control his speed on his onix? Maybe the Bruno stuff isn’t as good

[@Lunathekitty00]

Scott could you elaborate on how the name Terry would influence his natures because it intrigues me as a game devolper

[@zelio42]

That also caught my attention, the letters in rival's name have some influence on this ... ? If you find something mate help me too :D

[@lonewolfe5960]

So Scott I have an idea for when you do the eeveelutions... Basically it's an easy run until you get to cerulean I believe where you're finally able to buy the elemental stones to evolve Eevee... I think it'd be interesting to see how each specific Eevee run takes a turn when you get to that specific point if you will .. but of course that's probably a lot of unnecessary work ... But like I said it's an idea for when you get around to it... I'm sure you plan on doing something like that in the future

[@crimmson_keyblade9277]

Not bad but what about steel wing for the rock types and get rid of thief during the mid to late game

[@MegaLazyguy123]

I think when Scott does the mankey line, it will be the hardest one with it's ability

[@chrisdaignault9845]

14:05 "oversight" is my vote. Oh, and you'll have picked up all those speed (and defense) EVs grinding against bugs before brock. Weedle give 1 speed, caterpie give 1 HP, and kakuna and metapod give 2 defense. Pidgey and Rattata also give 1 Speed EV. So I'd imagine it's the grind (honestly, when maxing EVs, it's always the grind). Edit 2: Hilariously, Agility could have actually helped you vs Bruno. I don't know if you could have actually kept it on your moveset that whole time, mind you. Edit 3: vs Lance, you could have had that sitrus berry if you used thief. You'd already used your chesto berry.

[@Chefvonbreezy]

Ah man pidgey was my very first shiny so its always been close to my heart 😂

[@cameronneveu7277]

For the Lance Battle Did you consider the Mimic Move Tutor Copycat) or Mirror Move? Pidgeot has decent Special Attack

[@ceezeeemowndeadzombie4014]

Who edits these? They’re edited too good

[@zekemusic89]

When is Jynx coming, and in which generation? Ive been hoping to see this playthrough for a while now

[@Jirne]

I was wondering, is substitute blocking intimidate in this gen ? it could be useful for the fight with double intimidate for physical attackers

[@shadowtitanx3962]

It does

[@Killagoose77]

It might be worth trying to do a Pokemon with near minimum required battles then going to the department store to see the specific EVs that are necessary to get up to then. That was you can plan on which stats to put which vitamins to. I imagine that you will always get a large amount of speed early on as well as defense EVs thanks to the early game mons you have to fight.

[@moshpitsound7182]

Merch idea, I want a t shirt with all of the venemoth typings ❤

[@LinkLovesCrawfish]

Pidgeot is my favorite pokemon let's go!!!!

[@glavintimothy]

I feel like you should have done the Eevee Trio next cause they are the other “main starter” But that’s also 3 play throughs so I see why you wouldn’t at the same time

[@DLC88]

So d9es that guy outside the pallet town route give a potion?

[@christopherballero866]

Wouldn't feather dance & steel wing have been good against rock types to weaken their attacks or have a super effective move against rock types

[@bobjoe3492]

Great Scott I praise you 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@TJF588]

Nigh immediately Whirlwind came to mind; here's me posting in the first eight minutes wondering whether a subsequent run would hold on on evolving until one level later to get Whirlwind that much quicker.

[@devinmiracle7680]

20:31 I’m sure you’ve figured this out by now, but this Rival’s Alakazam only has future sight as a damage dealing move. So you were fairly safe in this fight.

[@draykenly8418]

Bird Jesus has appeared

[@draykenly8418]

Also u should have gave it adamant nature as u are no using any special attack

[@DallasDelahanty]

When are you doing all five eeveelutions racing Crystal?

[@pommyadam]

not steel wing for the Hiker's Onix (and maybe Lorelei)? especially when you're using aerial ace anyway against Agatha? being super effective against ice and rock basically covers two of Pigeot's main weaknesses

[@shadowtitanx3962]

Steel Wing only hits Jynx Super Effectively. The rest of her team doesn’t care about Steel moves.

[@alfredosanchez170]

Fly would have helped with dodging the feather dances, but not much Pidgeot can do to deal with intimidate

[@cameronneveu7277]

For the Lance Battle Did you consider the Mimic Move Tutor (Copycat) or Mirror Move? Pidgeot has decent Special Attack

[@ScottsThoughtsPokemon]

Mimic works very differently in gen3. It's less flexible so I didn't consider it.

[@cameronneveu7277]

@@ScottsThoughtsPokemon Yes, but stealing Ancient Power or Outrage could be useful. And Stealing a Fighting Move when fighting Bruno for the final Onix.

[@TheIssac1070]

Im curious as to why you didn’t use Steel Wing? It’s super effective against the rock types, and I believe even with it being physical, it’d still do more damage? Same as why I’m curious as to why you didn’t give Pikachu/Raichu iron tail

[@TheIssac1070]

Guess if I had watched a bit further I’d have seen you got Steel Wing. 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@MrVelyx]

"Thanks Tree-Jesus!!!" -Family guy

[@marcoschwarz971]

You can also steal the sitrus berry from the dragonite to keep on surviving after resto chesto.

[@bobdylan7299]

I really think Pigiot needs a 2nd playthough regardless

[@adventureoflinkmk2]

3:15 which mind you was due to user error.. I wanna see a redo of Pikachu line, however keep brick break and replace dig with rest

[@quinceekingston4335]

I've always loved the pidgey line, but recognize that dodrio was better. Fearow will always be my fave gen 1 bird though

[@brandonshelley3245]

@Scott's thoughts The rival refuses to use sand attack because of your pigeot having keen eye 😅

[@ryanbaker7434]

You should include the sevii islands and rematches as well